The Elder Scrolls MMO

[H2O Darth Kitti]

So I just got my Game Informer in today, and it told me of the magical new game, that I am going to buy a new computer for: The Elder Scrolls MMO. It looks really really cool. I read the whole article and so far it looks like they are going to do a pretty good job on it. So I am going to break it down into a few different parts starting with the background story.

Background Story:

So it is set about 1000 years before Skyrim. And well before the Septim dynasty rose to power in the third Era. It is the second Era and there is no clear ruler of Tamriel. The Imperials are weakened from previous wars and Cyrodiil is in a state of constant strife, battling with the three neighboring factions that hate them. (More on that in a bit) The Imperial rulers hatched a plan to seize control of Tamriel again by forging a dark pact with the King of Worms, Mannimarco, who is a Altmer necromancer. He promised to bring dead bodies back to life for the Imperial army, in order to make the wars easier. But being a necromancer, he kinda sorta struck a deal with Molag Bol, the Daedric prince of Domination to enslave all of Tamriel. So that kinda put a damper on the Imperial's plan to rule.

Factions and Races:

So that is the main villain and background to the story, however there is much more going on in the game, because it is after all an MMO. There are three main factions and nine playable races. The first faction, hails from the north and east of Cyrodiil, and is comprised of The Nords, The Dunmer (Dark Elves), and The Argonians. It is called the Ebonheart Pact, and although these three races have some resentment for each other (particularly the oppressed Argonians) they realize that they need to join together to face their unified enemies. Another faction is the Aldmeri Dominion, which is comprised of the Altmer (high elves), Bosmer (wood elves), and Khajiit. They are from the south and southwest of Cyrodiil. The final faction is known as the Daggerfall Covenant, which is a democratic association between the Bretons, Redguard, and Orcs. They hold up in the northwestern part of Tamriel, and uses their military might to secure premium trade routes. That is all that is known so far, although the races are going to play differently, there are no racial traits announced as of yet.

Gameplay:

So it is an MMO, and it is going to have an action bar, however it has many radical changes from the traditional WoW mechanics: A stamina bar, class neutrality, automatic loot sharing, a smaller more confined hotbar, the idea of finesse, and a few more changes as well. The stamina bar does not serve the traditional role, however it allows you to do things like block incoming magic attacks, parry blows, etc. without having much damage being transferred to your health, and stopping a secondary effect like slowing in a frost attack. This really changes things up by allowing you to survive a volley of magic enough to get close to the mage and bash his face in with your sword. Or you can survive several crowd control spells, allowing you to keep fighting instead of becoming a sheep. Class neutrality is an interesting concept, in that it tries to do away with the “Holy Trinity” of MMO’s the DPS, the healer, and the tank. Instead the classes will kind of blend together, with everyone pulling their own weight in a group. Not relying on each other for the specific roles. Automatic loot sharing just means that everyone who participated in a kill, regardless or not of being in a group, gets all the loot, exp, and quest credit. The smaller hotbar is to get players to include the most important actions that they have and nothing else, to get them to think about combat in a new way, and not focus on “rotations” as much. Now finesse is basically just a new bar that players fill up by skillfully playing the game. It fills up when players block a blow, or magic attack for example. Once full it allows you to use your class specific “ultimate attack”, and while soloing it also gives players a bonus loot chest. This is designed to get players to learn how to play well while soloing, so it is easier once they need to play well in the end game.

So this really just sums up a lot about what I have read about this incredible new game, if you have any other questions ask them, and I may be able to answer them. I know I missed a lot that was in the article. And you have the opportunity to read the article in this issue of Game Informer, I would highly suggest that you do, it is a very detailed article with a lot of cool info in it.