I’m just starting to get over the announcement of The Elder Scrolls Online yesterday and I’m beginning to accept it. While I still don’t think it’s a good idea to move an established single-player franchise into the MMO space, ZeniMax can do whatever they want with the franchise. If the first trailer is any indication, at least it will get the feel right.
As promised, the first trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online appeared today and it tells us absolutely nothing. It does set up the story of the game which we already knew about. The game will be set 1,000 years before the events of Skyrim and focus on the fight for the imperial throne in Cyrodiil while Molag Bal is trying to destroy all of Tamriel.
While the trailer tells us nothing, the recently released screens and Game Informer article tell us a lot more. The game will be presented in the third-person view so those hoping for a first-person Elder Scrolls MMO are out of luck. What else will the game bring with it? Pretty much the same stuff that every other MMO has done before. This is due to the creative director stating that the game must be comfortable for those coming in from other MMOs. So don’t expect any kind of innovation or creativity, just another WoW clone hoping to get noticed from brand alone.
I know that I’m being overly critical of the game, but I think we deserve that. The team knows that too as they are trying to convince traditional Elder Scrolls fans that the game will be good. I’m relieved to know that while the team seems to be sticking to conventions that they also want to put on a show of good faith to the Elder Scrolls fanbase.
NeoGAF has all the details you would want on all the features confirmed in the newest Game Informer article. The June issue should be hitting houses about now, but it won’t be until next week when the information hits the Web site proper.
I’m going to remain cautious until we get more information and perhaps some gameplay footage. As of now, I’m skeptical and many people who were excited by the announcement yesterday are also starting to get cautious as well. The Elder Scrolls name brings with it certain promises and the MMO seems to be ignoring those in favor of creating a generic MMO that will appeal to the WoW-playing fanbase.
As Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett put it:
“People always wonder why no MMO has ever beaten World of Warcraft. It’s because the people who want to play World of Warcraft…already play World of Warcraft, and don’t need to play something built using the same system.”
I completely agree. Here’s hoping that the game brings something new to the table. I want to like an MMO and The Elder Scrolls has a good chance of getting me on board. If it’s just like WoW, however, I won’t be impressed and neither will anybody else.