Rich-Lambert
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Elder Scrolls Online's Craglorn zone 'harkens back to old school games'
The folks over at ZeniMax have started a new series on the official Elder Scrolls Online website called the Loremaster's Archive, with the very first issue dedicated to the not-smelly-at-all-why-do-you-ask topic of the undead. The post differentiates between the four varieties of undead -- Reanimated, Returned, Accursed, and Abominable Miscegenations -- and provides a some backstory as to why people would pursue necromancy as a hobby. Meanwhile, on the fansite Tamriel Foundry, there's an interview with Lead Content Designer Rich Lambert about the development of the upcoming Craglorn zone. Citing his history of extensive raiding in MMOs, Lambert said that he was excited about developing this high-level group PvE area: "It harkens back to some of the old school games, (ugh I said 'old school') where grouping was really important for survival and stuff was hard." Lambert goes on to explain the various mechanics and specifics of how group adventures will proceed in the area, so check it out if you've hit level cap already and are ready for the next big challenge.
Today's Elder Scrolls Online AMA discusses bug fixes, housing, spellcrafting, and more
The Elder Scrolls Online's Paul Sage, Matt Firor, Rich Lambert, Brian Wheeler, and Nick Konkle descended upon Reddit today along with a bevy of community managers to run another ask-me-anything, perfectly timed after the release of this morning's release of ZeniMax's plans for the game in 2014. Here are just a few of the highlights: Spellcrafting will involve the rediscovering of "traditional" Elder Scrolls schools of magic, like alteration and destruction. Wheeler hinted that aesthetic changes might be en route for the Imperial City. There are no current plans for smaller scale PvP zones or dueling. Grouping, werewolf, quest achievement, and PvP vampire issues are being worked on. SLI support arrives with Craglorn. Lambert confirmed the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood will have their own skill lines. There's no time-frame for player housing right now. "We want to do it right," Community Manager Jessica Folsom said. Guar mounts are also planned sans timeline. Aside from weekly stability patches and "after the dust settles," the team still plans content updates every four to six weeks. The complete AMA is on Reddit for your review. [With thanks to tipster Leiloni!]
Creative staff discuss the story setting of The Elder Scrolls Online
MMOs in an existing franchise always present certain issues: You need enough conceptual space to advance a game's storyline, but you may not want to be locked in to never doing another title in the franchise. So The Elder Scrolls Online has to be set in just the right time period for the game to work. In a recent video interview, creative director Paul Sage and content designer Rich Lambert sat down to talk about the why behind the when. Sage and Lambert explain that the real draw to this particular time period was the fact that there's neither a great deal of recorded in-game history nor a lot of huge events that might affect future titles -- it's a time when almost anything can happen without derailing future events in the universe. The duo also discusses keeping the game aligned with existing lore and ensuring that nothing gets thrown off by mistake. Those looking forward to the game will want to watch the full interview, which goes into more details regarding specifics of lore and setting.
