Exclusive: Bethesda to Announce Elder Scrolls MMO in May
Bethesda and ZeniMax are hard at work on a new MMO, and it's taking you back to the world of Skyrim, Oblivion and Morrowind.
While details are still few and far between, Tom’s has learned that ZeniMax Online Studios and Bethesda will officially announce Elder Scrolls Online in May 2012.
An industry source that wishes to remain anonymous revealed the name of the new MMO to us, and confirmed that the game would take place a full millennium before The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Using the Elder Scrolls Wiki timeline as a guide, Elder Scrolls Online will likely take place during the “Second Era,” or several hundred years before any of the other Elder Scrolls games. This information was corroborated by two additional sources before publication.
Elder Scrolls Online will have three playable factions, according to the tipster. Not much is known about the factions, except each is represented by one of three animals: A lion, a dragon, and a bird of prey (either a phoenix or an eagle, we aren’t sure).
A May 2012 announcement would likely be followed by some sort of presence at E3, the annual Los Angeles video game convention. The game would also be shown at Quakecon 2012 in August, along with id Software’s Doom 4 and several other titles.
The fact that ZeniMax and Bethesda are working on an MMO is hardly a secret, as related job postings have been on ZeniMax’s website for quite some time now. What remained unknown until now was the universe in which this MMO would take place. While some were certainly hoping for a Fallout MMO of some sort - a game that ZeniMax and Bethesda control the publishing rights for – that is not to be the case.
When Tom’s reached out for confirmation, the response from ZeniMax and Bethesda was a “no comment.” We will update this article as more information comes in.
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how about instead of pursuing these stupid MMO ideas, you actually focus on what you have going for you right now?
Because when they do it right it works and if no one tries then we'll never get decent mmos anymore. I say let them do what they want. I prefer online games anyway. Single player rpgs just get so boring.
yea when you beat everything and do every quest and hit the absolute end game, single player rpgs are very boreing... mmos are to once you hit the end game and do every quest ( that you can do)
to their credit, skyrim was interesting, and interesting for longer than oblivion... where as oblivion needed mods before i called it playable, skyrim is out of the box, and mods enhance it.
That aside, I'm really looking forward to an Elder Scrolls MMO as this may actually get me to play an MMO for more than a week. I hope they come out with a Fallout MMO (or didn't force the one being made to be stopped).
2 universes I've always felt that, if done correctly, could be better online.
I see no fail
I disagree. I've been playing Skyrim for quite some time while my wife sits and watches from the chair behind me. We've made countless comments about how much fun it would be to play it together, even if she were only allowed to control the companion. We wouldn't have to deal with Lydia running in and taking my fireball to her back, pulling tons of extra mobs, or not equipping the items I give her. I mean, why use the 50 damage legendary ebony greatsword with dual shock and fire damage when you can use the 25 damage base version with no enchant?
Things like that are pretty annoying and constantly make me think of how the game needed multiplayer coop, 2 player, basic stuff.
Now, how would this game work as an MMO? I don't know, but my first thought would be that the world would have to be an instance and you only see people in cities.
^^^^
THAT.
What makes TES games fun is the epic adventure feeling you get from it. To have schmo roll in and jumping all around saying pwned pwned haha roxors, etc, etc would spoil it.
They need to make it so it plays like a singleplayer game, but your friends can join you for that MMO feel.
Your wife actually watches you play skyrim?. My gf always want me to watch some shitty sitcom with her when I'm playing.
Exactly. And if they come out with an entirely different game called TES: MMO it will probably just make a lot of people upset and 'disappointed'. Unless they change it to something really good. I'd like that because most bethesda games bore me anyways.
Basically they are saying it would be impossible to balance their open ended skill system. They'd likely have to adapt a whole new skill advancement system if they went into an MMO. Asheron's Call is the only open skill system MMO I've seen, and while it wasn't terrible, it definitely had balance issues.