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I thought this was an excellent interview as even as a fan, I was leery of this game following in the footsteps of games like GW2 or TOR as far as end game goes. However, lately I feel much more optimistic for end game content based on this video and a few other articles I have read. Highlights include:
End Game:
1) Most already know about the 120-150hrs per faction. When you reach level 50, you can then do the 2nd alliance, and then the 3rd for a minimum of 360 hours of PVE content which means for someone like me it will be double that since I tend to socialize, do side things, just explore aimlessly, craft, trade, etc.
2) When you get to the end game, they are estimating that you will have only completed about 30% of your skills. To me that is HUGE, as it shows that you can still work on a ton of skill progression after reaching the end. Normally, you already have most of your skills if not all by end game.
3) They are releasing with 16 regular dungeons and 6 Master Dungeons. Master Dungeons have a similar layout as the previous regular, but the story expands, you will face different enemies, and some of the dungeon will open up further which to me makes it feel a lot less stale then simply replaying the same dungeon over and over again that you may have played while leveling to 50.
4) Of course you can PVP. Kind of interesting in this realm was how they described the goal of becoming Emperor while raking up Alliance Points for Keeps, Healing, Killing etc. What I thought was interesting is that the faction with the Emperor also affects both PVEers and PVPers which means everyone has an interest in who is Emperor at that time.
5) Adventure Zones consisting of 4 players to approx 24 players.
6) They have committed to an aggressive 4-6 week recurring release schedule post Launch where we will see the introduction of the Imperial City under Siege Story, A Justice System around Stealing and Theft, and introduction of both the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood.
Other Points of Interest:
1) They mentioned that the videos we may have seem at the summer events were with Low Textures and they will be implementing some better animations and higher textures. Considering I felt the game has improved dramatically in both from a year ago, I can't wait to see how it looks with high textures.
2) They confirmed that their technical challenge included a) introducing first person which they initially scrapped b) ensuring FPS was good on all 4 systems even when 200+ were on the screen at one time. Certainly sounds like an MMO to me.
3) This particular Eurogamer previewer was extremely skeptical in 2012 and called this a WOW wannabe, but has now changed his mind as a result of his experiences. If anything the above should put to rest for those who make TOR comparisons that this game is not going to suffer the same end game issues that plagued that game. TOR had a horrible release schedule and their PVP end game was broken..not to mention their PVE endgame wasn't extensive enough.
4) About the changes they made due to direct feedbacks, and "If it's not an ES game, then, what's the point?"
There Is Always Hope!
Comments
Thanks for the heads up Keithian!
Cheers!
MMO Vet since AOL Neverwinter Nights circa 1992. My MMO beat up your MMO. =S
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Thanks for the link. Great video. And that Maria is a bonus too.
My biggest fear is that this will not be a real fully-fledged Elder Scrolls game. To that end, the high point of the interview is this:
"It needs to be an Elder Scrolls game. And if it's not an Elder Scrolls game, then what's the point?"
I was very happy to hear that they are conscientious of this very fact.
Regarding endgame, it sounds like they are doing enough. The updates they are planning like the crime system, thieves guild, and dark brotherhood are CRUCIAL (I mean like they define TES games), so I hope they don't space them out too much. Konkle also said earlier that there is a good chance dueling will be added at some point = more endgame! On top of that we heard the good news that guild stores can be public (as in you don't have to be a member of the guild).
Many on these forums have been doubtful of the potential TESO has. The Eurogamer author says himself he started out disliking the game and it fell off his radar (in other words there is no suspicion he is embellishing things). After major revisions, he now feels "Right at home." So I hope this interview allays some of the concerns many had about TESO.
I remain very optimistic at this point.
Yea I agree with what you wrote and hopefully the 4-6 week updates will be a reality and not just wishful thinking. I am encouraged that they made a point several weeks ago that the developers had a separate team of folks already working on that recurring content so that was good to hear. I think without a doubt we will see dueling, if not at launch shortly after launch.
There Is Always Hope!
Nice summary, but you missed the (imo) best part. +1 to superconducting for spotting it.
As I posted in the other ESO thread after the interview (http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/5972264#5972264) the best part is that she's talking about the changes they made due to direct feedbacks, and "If it's not an ES game, then, what's the point?" A very welcomed line, and a nice change from the original "daoc2 in Tamriel" vision
I absolutely agree. Seems that it took time but they finally understood that TES had tens if not hundreds of times bigger following than Daoc.
the emperor skill line sounds so epic, you get to keep it too?
they haven't changed the pvp at all, this game was never anything like Daoc other than the pvp system and the three factions, both still intact. lol
I agree that they'll prob have more success via the Heavy ES route than the DAOC 2 route. However that choice also comes with a little baggage. The ES crowd is acclimated to a certain quality, feel, and play style; it will be interesting to see if they can pull that off in an mmo environment. My biggest concern is that they are still trying to combine the two wich I don't see working quite so well.
Still intact - yet
I know (and wrote it earlier) it's way too deep in the core of the game for a change, but there's a developement delay ("because of the new console generations" lol) and their latest PR is all about ES, so one can hope I guess...
I mean only a year ago it was a hard f*cktion locked game with RvR in the end, period. Now the invisible walls are (somewhat) gone, there's fps view and some ES upgrades, and there are a couple new things to do after the cap besides Cyrodiil. They have at least 6 more months... we'll see the end result
I seem to recall in my admittedly flaky memory similar design focus shifts right at the early betas for war hammer vis a vis pve/pvp. I'm of the persuasion that chasing multiple disparate demographics instead of focusing on a more limited number is an excellent way to end up with none.
Agree but at least they seem to understand now that 3 faction RvR game in TES skin was a wrong decision and the way to go is TES MMO with 3 faction PvP as one option for an end game. I honestly hope that Daoc devs haven't done too much damage and this game will be a success. Year ago they were bragging about their war game with 3 somewhat artificial factions and invisible walls between them, now they are talking about a true TES game which is great. Better later than never imo.
The game is starting to tick the boxes for me.
lol Thanks guys. I edited the OP and put it in Bold and Green. I guess my initial focus was on the End Game since I know that is such a huge concern to so many even though I really am much more about the journey than the end game, but I agree with what you wrote and it is a good sign so I added it :-).
Thanks again to you and Superconducting.
There Is Always Hope!
they haven't changed the pvp at all, this game was never anything like Daoc other than the pvp system and the three factions, both still intact. lol
Still intact - yet I know (and wrote it earlier) it's way too deep in the core of the game for a change, but there's a developement delay ("because of the new console generations" lol) and their latest PR is all about ES, so one can hope I guess... I mean only a year ago it was a hard f*cktion locked game with RvR in the end, period. Now the invisible walls are (somewhat) gone, there's fps view and some ES upgrades, and there are a couple new things to do after the cap besides Cyrodiil. They have at least 6 more months... we'll see the end result
I seem to recall in my admittedly flaky memory similar design focus shifts right at the early betas for war hammer vis a vis pve/pvp. I'm of the persuasion that chasing multiple disparate demographics instead of focusing on a more limited number is an excellent way to end up with none.
they changed the appearance of the graphics and implemented the fist person perspective to look and feel more like skyrim.
but what they had before was not like Daoc, that was a common misconception simply because of the pvp system, the three factions, and the ex Daoc devs that are working on this project.
i don't know if you can say it was like warhammer either, there wasn't really enough information about the combat at the time to make that determination.
either way though, they reacted to the displeasure of their fans and made it more like an ES game, which i think was the right move.
meanwhile the one aspect of the game that actually is like Daoc remains in place to cater to the mmo crowd
well there are the adventure zones and small group dungeons too, but i wouldn't say that is like Daoc so.....
Be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi
I have a question.
Will there be loosing Exp when you are dying in game? I really like that to see that in this game.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi