Discussing the design of quests in The ESO

Instead of wiping out these skeletons and the dread necromancer animating them, let's go back to the village and wipe out the villagers.  Less complaining.

The Elder Scrolls Online has certain player expectations going in, such as an expectation of the sort of quest structure you usually find in the series. More specifically, it’s the sort of structure in which you start off on some simple quest and wind up wandering off into some completely unrelated point of interest. A recent interview with creative director Paul Sage and lead content designer Rich Lambert reveals that the team is aiming for just that sort of model in the game.

As Lambert explains, the team wants to move away from the usual hub design in favor of several points of interest, each of which provides a little snippet of content and story. The points aren’t meant to be structured as an A-to-B affair; instead, you have several points of interest in a given region which build into a large overarching story. Take a look at the full interview for more information about how quests will work in the game and how players will be guided through objectives as they play.

 

The ESO using HeroEngine ‘as a whiteboard’

The Elder Scrolls Online - using HeroEngine as a whiteboard

Fan outcry over the announcement of The Elder Scrolls Online was long and loud, not just for the presumed MMOification of a beloved single-player franchise but for the toolset chosen by ZeniMax Online Studios to bring the world of Tamriel to its new audience.

Game Informer confirms that ZeniMax is using the HeroEngine, which also powers Star Wars: The Old Republic and which has come under fire from some in the MMO fan community. Game director Matt Firor says that the firm isn’t using the engine as you may expect, though.

“Think of HeroEngine as a whiteboard for us –- a great tool to get some ideas in the game and start looking at them while the production engine was in development,” he explains.

ESO embraces solo story, traditional MMO format

TESO

Ever since Game Director Matt Firor announced that Elder Scrolls Online would have a 100% soloable main story, we’ve been wondering just how much this will impact the game’s appeal and approach. Firor spoke with PC Gamer to elaborate on TESO’s format, saying that it was essential to make the story solo in order to establish the player as a hero.

While portions of TESO’s endgame and its PvP experience require grouping, Firor said that the core of the game will be played alone: “The way we do that in Elder Scrolls Online is there are parts of the game that you just do solo and you just do in a story instance. So the main backbone story of the game, which is your interaction with Molag Bal, one of the Daedric princes, you’re the hero in that story, so you experience that only yourself.”

Firor also addressed the team’s decision to eschew the skill-based system seen in newer Bethesda titles in favor of returning to systems seen in earlier Elder Scrolls games. “What we had to do to make it an MMO is to kind of evolve over to the multiplayer side and there are some things that come with that,” he admitted. “Since we have a PVP component to our game, it’s very difficult to make a skill-based game like in Skyrim.”

 

ESO devs talk questing and public dungeons

The Elder Scrolls Online concept art

There are a couple of new Elder Scrolls Online features on tap at Edge. First on the agenda is a piece about the game’s public dungeons, which game director Matt Firor says haven’t been seen in an MMO since EverQuest. “When you think back to the fun MMOG moments in the first generation, it’s standing there, terrified, in an enclosed space, waiting for someone to come along and save you. We can’t do that punitive gameplay that they did in those days, but we can put people together in places where they want to work with others,” Firor says.

The other feature centers on the game’s questing mechanics, and it finds Firor and creative director Paul Sage talking at length about what makes a good quest as well as various high-level creative approaches taken by the dev team.

 

The ESO designers talk combat and PvP in a new video

Can we try the negotiation option?  Has that ship sailed already?

For all the talk about the latest entries in The Elder Scrolls series being single-player MMOs, there are some pretty big issues translating the mechanics of the single-player games over to The Elder Scrolls Online. For starters, there’s the simple fact that the combat in single-player entries is built around the idea that you can pause and pick out your abilities at a slower pace if necessary. A new interview with designers Brian Wheeler (lead PvP designer), Maria Aliprando (creature combat designer), and Nick Konkle (lead gameplay and combat designer) discuss how the team overcame these issues and what players can expect from the game’s battles.

In PvE, players will find that each given monster has a very unique set of behaviors that players can react to, as well as elements that play off one another in the environment. Rather than rewarding players simply for defeating monsters, players will be rewarded with a rating called “finesse” for how the monster is defeated, with greater rewards coming to players with high finesse scores. The goal is to make combat less a matter of winning or losing and more about defeating enemies skillfully. But that only scratches the surface of the full interview, so click on past the break for the full 17-minute discussion.

The Elder Scrolls Online previews characters, more in new trailers [Update]

The Elder Scrolls Online -- Character teaser trailer screencap

We’re expecting big things out of The Elder Scrolls Online during this year’s E3, and to kick things off, Bethesda and ZeniMax have unveiled a new teaser trailer that shows off a small sampling of the characters players can look forward to taking control of when they get their hands on the game. While it’s not exactly gameplay footage, perhaps the new video will assuage fans who are uncertain about the game’s art direction. That, or it will enrage them further.

At any rate, the sample characters run the gamut of what you would expect from The Elder Scrolls: big bearded dude with an axe, sultry elven spellcaster, cloaked assassin — you get the idea. The video’s short and doesn’t serve as much except for eye-candy, but if you’re voracious for new TESO tidbits, it’s definitely worth a look. Just head past the cut for the full trailer, and be sure to check back later this week for a chat with the folks behind the upcoming title.

[Update: We’ve also added another video, this one an interview of TESO’s game director discussing and showing off the game, and the official site has updated with a new look and FAQ. Thanks to Paul for the tips!]

 

ZeniMax: The ESO’s real-time combat ‘is all pretty much new’

ZeniMax TESO's realtime combat 'is all pretty much new'

If ZeniMax seems a bit defensive about The Elder Scrolls Online, you can hardly blame the company. Since its announcement this spring, the upcoming MMO has been met with a steady chorus of fan disapproval due to perceived similarities with other themepark fantasy MMOs.

In a new interview with Kotaku, ZeniMax head honchos Matt Firor and Paul Sage attempt to accentuate the positive and differentiate TESO from its genre competitors. “When people sit down and play it, they’ll realize it’s different. Like our whole real-time combat system of blocking and dodging is all pretty much new,” Firor explains.

Firor also comes out swinging vis-à-vis the notion that TESO is nothing more than a World of Warcraft analog. “Making an MMO is making an MMO. I worked in the industry before World of Warcraft, so I can tell you that World of Warcraft had a lot of influences from a lot of games. Our priority is to make a great game and not to make a clone of anything,” he says.

 

The ESO’s latest Q&A talks phasing, PvP, and more

The Elder Scrolls Online's latest Q&A talks phasing, PvP, and more

The latest edition of The Elder Scrolls Online’s Ask Us Anything series is live on the game’s official website. In it, you’ll find a focus on Cyrodiil and PvP, as the well as the answers to questions about fast travel and sweet rolls.

In terms of PvP, one thing to note is that zone level scaling will bump everyone up to max level (50). ZeniMax says that “you’ll be able to remain competitive, but a true level 50 will have the advantage of having more skills and abilities than you.”

There’s also a bit of info on layers and channeling in TESO, including answers to questions about gameplay choices and how player actions will affect the ability to play with people who make different choices.

As far as I know, phasing – the way it’s done in WOW by Blizzard – is NOT a form of instancing. It might feel similar in effect, but from what I remember a Blizzard developer’s words on the forums, it’s fundamentally different:

Instancing does a separate load of the zone (a dungeon, a room, a whole map as it’s done in the form of “channels” in some games)… whereas phasing is more like the “death state” in WOW, where the game doesn’t do a separate load for you but just changes some flags as to what you’re seeing, such as objects, NPCs and players.

By the looks of it, TESO will have both: It does have channels, which are in essence instances (that will work like  dynamic servers here)… And then it has phasing – they call it layering – which would keep you in the same “loaded area” with your friend, but you’ll see different things.

Myself, I think phasing is really cool when done subtly and care is taken to keep the players together as much as possible. I also don’t mind instances when they’re used for dungeons or isolated personal story “rooms”. What I’ve always disliked is channels (many different loads for a map), but seeing as the game is not using separate servers, it’s pretty much obligatory… And seeing as it’s got some plusses as well (like getting to play with like-minded players or whatever you’re in the mood for), I’m really willing to keep an open mind.

 

 

ZeniMax devs ‘unapologetic’ about making ES MMO

The Elder Scrolls Online - concept art

ZeniMax Online recently called in to the Game Informer podcast to talk up its Elder Scrolls Online title. Game director Matt Firor and creative director Paul Sage were the devs of record, and the 30-minute chat featured some interesting tidbits.

Firor mentions that the game will release simultaneously on PC and Mac, but ZeniMax has no plans for a console version. Sage talked a bit about the progression system, which, while level-based, does feature skill-based advancement as well. In the current build, characters gain experience in skills that are slotted. Sage also mentions that you do get better with weapons as you wield them, though the gain is not 100 percent usage-based.

There’s also a bit of discussion about art style, camera modes, and the decision to MMOify the Elder Scrolls IP. “We’re making an MMO; we’re unapologetic about that. This is the Elder Scrolls MMO. It’s not Skyrim. Skyrim already exists, and you can go play Skyrim. We’re making the MMO version of the Elder Scrolls, and with that comes some conventions that are different from a console RPG,” Firor says.

However, I would have preferred that instead of an MMO, a single-player with coop capabilities across the traditional LAN, over the internet with IP, or even GameSpy Arcade would have been better. I’ve been finding that MMO’s seem to take substantial significant chunks out of games that were previously not MMO. I just hope that they don’t take anything out, which of course they will, and I hope they make it so that we can set up our own little game and play with our friends without being forced to connect to specific servers like most MMO’s do it.

 

ESO art director talks MMO limitations and stylistic influences

Elder Scrolls Online art director talks MMO limitations and stylistic influences

The Elder Scrolls Online - concept art

What’s up with the stylized visuals on display in The Elder Scrolls Online’s recent screenshot and video reveals? It’s all about marrying various takes on Tamriel with the limitations of MMORPGs, according to ZeniMax Online art director Jared Carr.

“We’re not really at the technical state with MMOs to be able to pull off photorealism,” Carr explains. He goes on to say that the target is 200 characters on screen for the game’s massive battles, and he also notes that despite concessions to tech limits and travel times, TESO is heavily influenced by previous Elder Scrolls games, particularly Oblivion and Morrowind. Head to Game Informer for the full video dev diary.

Firefall and Tera both have action combat that is more fun than Skyrim’s action combat. I can’t help but wonder what could have been, and now we’re left with a compromise for probably 10-15 years. By then, game genres are going to be blending I think. Every genre will have single player and MMO versions of itself, we don’t have to pretend anymore with tab targetting.