I saw some very good ideas on how to make ESO feel more open-ended and less linear. Progressing to level 50 and through veteran ranks in other ways like using trade skills would have been a great idea considering how in-depth the crafting system was.
Why have an Alliance War between 3 preset factions when player-created guilds and alliances would have been enough in Cyrodiil. That would also eliminate the boundaries between factions zones. Now you have a variety of areas to progress through for each level bracket, essentially choosing where to level first. And in my opinion making your adventure more diverse. Being able to choose any race from the beginning and choosing your starting area.
I will admit that in older MMORPGs, especially in Asheron's Call, exploration and danger were very important to creating a open-world experience. To start in one place and go off in any direction[regardless of the consequence] is one reason why I love Asheron's Call and a single player game like Skyrim. In AC, there was a town called Holtburg you could start at. A person could look out to the river below and cross it. On the other side of the river there was an opening to a forest and you could choose to enter it. As you kept heading further into the woods, in the distant landscape you could see Arwic Mountain about 15 to 20 minutes away on foot. By this time night has come and you can't see !@#$%. You're a newb, so you're having trouble navigating through the forest. Plus the mobs are progressively getting tougher. In fact, attracting aggro is certain death.
Finally you made it to Arwic Mountain, but everything that is set out to kill you here is 17 levels higher. Snow begins to fall as you scale the rocks. You realize you're in a bad place and you don't know how to get back to Holtburg. Not to mention, you've been alone for the pass 2 hours! But wait! It's a group of players and they're willing to escort you back to a town called Arwic. You find a portal in a mountain pass and it leaves you to a safe haven where there are tons of players!
What you failed to realize is that you took the hard way to Arwic since there's a road to it from Holtburg. In fact it's much safer. This was my first experience with Asheron's Call. Surprisingly, I've had similar TES stories.
There is a reason why most games, no matter how detailed they try to be, do not try to simulate brushing your teeth, dressing one sock at a time, peeing or crapping: most people are perfectly fine leaving those more mundane things as abstractions.
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+1.
Then again maybe TESO should be mundane .... The Sims is hugely successful after all and it has ze brushing of the teeth ... nah .....
+1 from me, too.
Gervaise1, it is interesting that you should bring up The Sims, as their game was wildly successful but the MMO version, The Sims Online, did very poorly despite it being rather faithful to the original game.
Indeed as EA said they were disappointed with sales over its lifetime - I was really picking up on Iselin's comment about "most games". Then got told you can brush your teeth in The Sims (my wife plays). not a franchise I personally play I must confess) but my wife does.
I believe that EA learnt a lot though from The Sims Online. Not least what people will and will not pay for. Resulting in them sticking with a tried and trusted formula: B2P + DLC.
So The Sims 3 has had 11 full expansions, 9 stuff packs and the Medieval/Pirates spin off since it launched just about 5 years ago. The equivalent of about 3 years of subscription income. And this September The Sims 4 will do it all again. The very same financial model that worked for other ES titles.
Some people like the ES saga for its breadth of lore. If that's the case, you'll be pretty happy with TESO.
Some people like the ES saga for its breadth of classes/skill choises. If that's the case, you'll find better combinations in TESO than in Skyrim...lol. Way better.
Some people like the Single Player ambiance of the ES saga. You probably won't get this in TESO. Although people say it's not "social" there are tons of people running around assisting you with things. You're never alone really.
Some people want the same Combat. I actually feel a lot more nimble in TESO than in say Skyrim. My character acts exactly how I want it to.
And probably the biggest things is this....
Some people like the infinite amount of choices in the ES saga. You'll get more choices than most themeparks, but an infinite amount isn't possible here...because people don't like infinite choice in their MMORPGs nowadays. BUT on that note...the devs do want to add pick-pocketing/a karma system/ and player guards in cities. That stuff will greatly improve player choice and social aspects. The game might have been more fun for me if it emulated the freedom in single-player MMOS, but the masses would have HATED getting killed and griefed all the time. Am I right? The game would have utterly TANKED.
Skyrim Online isn't an MMO. It'd be a coop. I think the next Single-player ES game will probably have a co-op, but it won't be an MMO.
People that wanted Skyrim Online would cry even more about Phasing. Phasing is the only way to make ESO feel like Skyrim, except they would have to make every area phased. People cry if you don't phase to make it like Skyrim, people cry if you do make it phased to make it like Skyrim...people just need to play the game if they like it or stfu already lol.
Comments
I saw some very good ideas on how to make ESO feel more open-ended and less linear. Progressing to level 50 and through veteran ranks in other ways like using trade skills would have been a great idea considering how in-depth the crafting system was.
Why have an Alliance War between 3 preset factions when player-created guilds and alliances would have been enough in Cyrodiil. That would also eliminate the boundaries between factions zones. Now you have a variety of areas to progress through for each level bracket, essentially choosing where to level first. And in my opinion making your adventure more diverse. Being able to choose any race from the beginning and choosing your starting area.
I will admit that in older MMORPGs, especially in Asheron's Call, exploration and danger were very important to creating a open-world experience. To start in one place and go off in any direction[regardless of the consequence] is one reason why I love Asheron's Call and a single player game like Skyrim. In AC, there was a town called Holtburg you could start at. A person could look out to the river below and cross it. On the other side of the river there was an opening to a forest and you could choose to enter it. As you kept heading further into the woods, in the distant landscape you could see Arwic Mountain about 15 to 20 minutes away on foot. By this time night has come and you can't see !@#$%. You're a newb, so you're having trouble navigating through the forest. Plus the mobs are progressively getting tougher. In fact, attracting aggro is certain death.
Finally you made it to Arwic Mountain, but everything that is set out to kill you here is 17 levels higher. Snow begins to fall as you scale the rocks. You realize you're in a bad place and you don't know how to get back to Holtburg. Not to mention, you've been alone for the pass 2 hours! But wait! It's a group of players and they're willing to escort you back to a town called Arwic. You find a portal in a mountain pass and it leaves you to a safe haven where there are tons of players!
What you failed to realize is that you took the hard way to Arwic since there's a road to it from Holtburg. In fact it's much safer. This was my first experience with Asheron's Call. Surprisingly, I've had similar TES stories.
I heard the Nords wanted too much compensation and they couldn't make it work.
Indeed as EA said they were disappointed with sales over its lifetime - I was really picking up on Iselin's comment about "most games". Then got told you can brush your teeth in The Sims (my wife plays). not a franchise I personally play I must confess) but my wife does.
I believe that EA learnt a lot though from The Sims Online. Not least what people will and will not pay for. Resulting in them sticking with a tried and trusted formula: B2P + DLC.
So The Sims 3 has had 11 full expansions, 9 stuff packs and the Medieval/Pirates spin off since it launched just about 5 years ago. The equivalent of about 3 years of subscription income. And this September The Sims 4 will do it all again. The very same financial model that worked for other ES titles.
It really depends...
Some people like the ES saga for its breadth of lore. If that's the case, you'll be pretty happy with TESO.
Some people like the ES saga for its breadth of classes/skill choises. If that's the case, you'll find better combinations in TESO than in Skyrim...lol. Way better.
Some people like the Single Player ambiance of the ES saga. You probably won't get this in TESO. Although people say it's not "social" there are tons of people running around assisting you with things. You're never alone really.
Some people want the same Combat. I actually feel a lot more nimble in TESO than in say Skyrim. My character acts exactly how I want it to.
And probably the biggest things is this....
Some people like the infinite amount of choices in the ES saga. You'll get more choices than most themeparks, but an infinite amount isn't possible here...because people don't like infinite choice in their MMORPGs nowadays. BUT on that note...the devs do want to add pick-pocketing/a karma system/ and player guards in cities. That stuff will greatly improve player choice and social aspects. The game might have been more fun for me if it emulated the freedom in single-player MMOS, but the masses would have HATED getting killed and griefed all the time. Am I right? The game would have utterly TANKED.
Skyrim Online isn't an MMO. It'd be a coop. I think the next Single-player ES game will probably have a co-op, but it won't be an MMO.