Elder Scrolls Online
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Elder Scrolls Online shows new zones, active world PvP, and more at Quakecon
Quakecon is the place to be if you want the latest Elder Scrolls Online news. Last night during the Future of ESO panel, ZeniMax showed off a boatload of upcoming features including video of new zones, further discussion of the veteran rank revamp, and details on the justice system. This last bit is particularly interesting since it involves some sort of "active world PvP" outside of Cyrodiil. In a nutshell, the system allows players to murder NPCs and steal items. If caught, you can choose to pay a bounty (and lose the stolen goods) or run, exposing yourself to guards. You can also be a guard and hunt down player bounties, hence the PvP. In terms of new zones, there are videos for Imperial City, Murkmire, and Wrothgar after the cut, as well as a look at the stealing and justice system mechanics. Dulfy has a breakdown of the panel, too, including info on new armor and weapons, spellcrafting, and more!
Perfect Ten: Why the second half of 2014 will be awesome for MMOs
In the midst of mid-summer doldrums, it's easy to fall into a mild depression thinking that everything cool that was going to happen this year already has -- especially in gaming. The spring launch blitz is now officially over, with two highly anticipated MMOs launched, and now some people might be wondering if the rest of 2014 will be all downhill. Spoiler: It will not be. We started talking the other day in the Massively office about just how much there's coming for the latter half of this year and why we're excited to see what the fall and winter months bring. There's so much to look forward to, in fact, that it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to a mere 10 entries. But that's my job, and that's what I did. Here's why the second half of 2014 will be awesome.
Report: SWTOR fourth biggest sub MMO, Elder Scrolls has over 770k subscribers
Market intelligence firm Superdata says that Star Wars: The Old Republic earned $165 million in worldwide revenue last year. This would make SWTOR the fourth biggest sub MMO in the world (behind World of Warcraft, Lineage, and TERA). Superdata's report also says that the pay-to-play MMO market has been in a constant decline since 2010, with monthly active worldwide subscribers bottoming out at 23.4 million. "Despite the overall decline, this category has so far managed to maximize their ability to monetize a shrinking yet loyal player base," the firm says. Finally, Superdata says that Elder Scrolls Online has a subscriber base of 772,374 while WildStar is seeing "four to five times" as many concurrent users as it saw during open beta. Superdata's information is purportedly "pulled directly from publishers and developers."
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls' ginormous post-50 update plan
Earlier this week, Elder Scrolls Online creative director Paul Sage dropped by the Elder Scrolls OTR podcast and proceeded to drop a ton of update info on fans of ZeniMax's fantasy themepark MMO. We put out a corresponding news post, of course, but there was so much meat on those bones that I couldn't let an issue of Tamriel Infinium go by without adding my two cents. Plus, hey, it was only two weeks ago that I was advocating for an adjustment to the game's post-50 approach. Ask and ye shall receive, right?
The Elder Scrolls Online coming to Steam today
Starting later today, The Elder Scrolls Online Standard and Imperial Editions will be available to download on Steam. This announcement was made to kick off QuakeCon 2014 in Dallas, Texas, where Zenimax Online will be hosting a panel entitled "The Future of The Elder Scrolls Online." The presentation will begin on Friday at 6:00 p.m. EDT and can also be viewed on Bethesda's Twitch.tv channel for those not able to attend. [Source: Bethesda press release]
Elder Scrolls Online offers new guild heraldry
If you're excited for August's Elder Scrolls Online upcoming update, then today's ZeniMax devblog will be a welcome one... though not one that promises sweeping changes for the game. Specifically, the new post previews some of the new symbols that guilds can adopt as their official crests. "You'll probably recognize some of them, like the symbols for the Divines and the Daedric Princes," write the developers. "Combine these with even more crests, a huge color palette, and different tabard shapes, and your guild will have its own memorable look." We've included the images below. See one you like?
Last Week on Massively: ESO's slash-and-burn update
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post. This week, The Elder Scrolls Online team revealed plans for its third major patch; due in August, the update will include the first part of a slash-and-burn overhaul of the unpopular veteran ranks system. Meanwhile, Massively ESO columnist Jef Reahard opined on why immersion is so important for ZeniMax's MMO. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories.
Elder Scrolls' Sage explains new Champion alternate advancement
Elder Scrolls Online creative director Paul Sage released a lot of interesting info about the future of the game on a recent ESO Off the Record videocast. Sage talks about everything from the new Dragonstar Arena in Craglorn to an Imperial City three-vs.-three PvP map to guild management and class balance additions to extensive VR changes. The veteran rank tweaks are so huge that they'll be rolled out in phases, the first of which debuted earlier this week and featured "lower difficulty" in existing VR zones. Phase two will remove veteran points in favor of normal XP and will also include increased PvP XP. Phase three will completely replace the current VR system with the Champion System, which involves alternate advancement that Sage compares to the AA system in EverQuest II. That's not all, either, as Sage's interview runs for nearly two hours. You can watch the whole thing after the cut. If you don't have time for that, Dulfy has published a summary transcript.
One Shots: Requiem for a rancor
You know what scene from Return of the Jedi that always got me teared up? When Luke kills the rancor and the beast's owner breaks down sobbing. You just know that thing was his best friend and now... now there is a large, monstrous hole in his life. Reader Chris could have had a lifelong companion but chose to go the Luke route in Star Wars: The Old Republic. "I let a Sith escape Belsavis in order to save the injured fighter pilot Conrad Gall from an 'ancient beast' -- a rancor, as it turns out. It was a close fight, as you can tell by where my Trooper finally took it down." Hats off to the brave rancor, whose only crime was being born a big, fat, sharp-toothed freak. Stop the bullying, I say!
Tamriel Infinium: Immersion matters in Elder Scrolls Online and every other MMO
I'm fully on board with all of the changes ZeniMax listed in its latest state-of-the-game update. My only concern has more to do with personal OCD issues than it does with any long-term effects on Elder Scrolls Online. See, as I mentioned in a previous piece, I love the fact that ZOS allows me to play all of the game's quest content, which is spread across three different factions, on a single character of a single faction. I hate alts, or more accurately, I hate the need for them because they pull me right out of the game world. Oh yes, I'm going to talk about immersion, even at the risk of inviting a bunch of anti-immersion comments. I'll even define the dreaded "I" word, though of course it's pretty subjective.
The Elder Scrolls Online's third update lands in August
ZeniMax says that The Elder Scrolls Online's next patch, which includes the preliminary veteran rank system changes and balance fixes previewed in yesterday's dev blog, is officially on the way next month. The patch is coming in early August and introduces armor dyes, guild tabards, public guild store locations, a new difficulty mode for Trials, and plenty of fixes and improvements. You'll be able to personalize your look more than ever before, represent your guild, and charge with them into a new level of challenge. The team has posted a preview video focusing on the many changes to guilds due in the patch. Wanna join our guild? We have tabards, yo! Enjoy the video below.
Elder Scrolls Online plans massive revamp of veteran rank content
ZeniMax has just posted a new Elder Scrolls Online dev blog, titled The Road Ahead, which outlines the studio's plans for the game in the relatively near future. Of note to MMO players are details for update 3, which is due to hit the test server "soon." The patch will enhance guild creation and management (with ranks, bank permissions, and heraldry) as well as address class balance changes, itemization issues, and combat feel. The team also means to revamp grindy veteran rank content with short-term balance tweaks in endgame zones, some of which are live on servers already; ultimately, the veteran points system will be deleted entirely from the game and replaced with a new system "based on new character customization and growth mechanics" that will be discussed at this year's QuakeCon and beyond. The full post can be found on the official site.
One Shot: The eternal vigil
Some MMO tableaus attempt to tell a wordless story, and some of those stories are up for personal interpretation. I love finding these scattered around the world because they invite my imagination to be a part of the experience instead of spelling it out for me. Reader Chiara came across our first screenshot of the week here in Elder Scrolls Online, and it brought out strong emotions: "I don't really know what this man's story is -- but I can't help but wonder about it since I've first seen him. Did he die there? Did someone arrange his skeleton? I've no idea, but the scene just struck me as incredibly sad." Maybe he was keeping a vigil for a loved one. Maybe that vigil is not yet over. Who knows?
Tamriel Infinium: About that Elder Scrolls VR grind
Last time around I took a little flak from people who felt that my positive opinion of Elder Scrolls Online would change once I reached a certain veteran rank. In the past two weeks, I've gotten most of the way to VR2 whilst playing primarily solo a couple of hours per day. I would've gotten higher, but I got sidetracked into ESO's addictive crafting minigame! Anyway, so far my opinion of the world's first Elder Scrolls MMO hasn't changed despite the fact that the VR content does seem pretty grindy. The game is still a first-class themepark that's full of content, incredible art direction, and interesting progression, and the cherry on top of this particular sundae is one of my favorite IPs. All that said, ZeniMax could stand to alter its post-50 approach.
Elder Scrolls patch adds veteran dungeon, improved lighting, and more
It's patch day in Tamriel, as ZeniMax has rolled out Elder Scrolls Online's 1.2.3 update. The main content addition is the veteran Crypt of Hearts dungeon. Additionally, there's now a field-of-view slider for first-person fans as well as improved interior lighting and a number of bug fixes. Full details are available via the patch notes. [Thanks Zjeven!]
Last Week on Massively: Keeping sand in the sandbox
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post. This week, Trion Worlds declared that the long-awaited western version of MMORPG ArcheAge will launch later this year with some sand in its sandbox. The original 1.0 patch, criticized for dumbing down the game, was previously deployed to Korean players but will be passed over in favor of the 1.2 update, sure to make sandbox fans on this side of the ocean happy. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories.
Tamriel Infinium: In which you're told that Elder Scrolls Online kicks ass
Welcome back to Tamriel Infinium, folks. I'll be your new writer, but don't worry about Larry. He's alive, well, and we're lucky to have him back at the helm of Hyperspace Beacon here on Massively. I've done plenty of dedicated game columns in the past, but it has been a while, so you'll have to bear with me while I shoot from the hip for a week or three and figure out what's best for this space. One thing I know already is that I dig Elder Scrolls Online, even though that's a pretty unpopular opinion in some quarters. With that in mind, let's poke fun at anti-ESO hipsters after the break, shall we?
The Elder Scrolls Online illuminates its veteran dungeons
A new Creating ESO blog post on the official Elder Scrolls Online site today aims to give players an inside look at the process of creating the game's veteran dungeons. These dungeons are "much more than just tuned-up, harder versions of the original dungeon[s]," the post insists; they're special boss encounters and storyline expansions that include complex mechanics and battles. They likewise include elite loot, the acquisition of which often requires repetition, something the developers say they keep in mind when writing dialogue and staging the area. ZeniMax also emphasizes the importance of testing for these dungeons: Much like we do for Trials, we have groups of skilled, coordinated testers ready to take them on. The Dungeon Team wants to kill you, don't get them wrong, but they don't want bosses to be unfair or impossible. It's a difficult tuning and balancing act to get them just right, especially considering the broad range of character builds that will be attempting them. When the testers wipe several times learning the fight and let out a cheer when they finally manage to scrape by with a win, we know we're on the right track. The video that accompanies the post is embedded below.
Elder Scrolls Online on solo veteran content, dungeon scaling
ZeniMax is back from E3 with a brand-new Elder Scrolls Online ask-us-anything variety pack. Here are the highlights: The Craglorn update will be included as launch content when ESO arrives on consoles. Dungeon-queueing intentionally locks out overleveled characters for balance reasons, but the devs are working on a scaling system that will eventually adjust dungeons to the leader's level. ZeniMax is aware that Enchanting levels slowly. It'll be tweaked in a future update. Using Equilibrium to exchange magicka for health to gain Ultimate power isn't considered an exploit but might be revised in the future. There will eventually be veteran content that doesn't require grouping. Notably, the developers request that players continue to use the report player chat option to help combat bots and gold spammers. More questions and answers await over on the official site.
E3 2014: The Elder Scrolls Online offers small-scale PvP at cons
If you are one of the fans who has been begging for a smaller-scale PvP experience in The Elder Scrolls Online, E3 2014 offers a glimmer of hope. Instead of dishing out a large production, ESO offered attendees a a unique 3v3 experience that was made specially for the convention. The map itself, which utilizes art assets from Cyrodiil and is about the size of one fort (like Glademist), took the devs only about two weeks to put together. There are no kill counts or rankings, and players battle for control of a single flag in King of the Mountain-style gameplay. The drop-in-and-play scenario has apparently been well-received; game representatives on the floor reported that players really like the size and the fast pace of it, which is perfect for short allotments of time. If you want to try out this small-scale PvP yourself, it will be be available again at both Gamescom and QuakeCon later this summer. And if you want to see a version make it into the game itself, be sure to let the devs know on the official forums! Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 10-12, bringing you all the best news from E3 2014. We're covering everything from WildStar and Landmark to Skyforge and H1Z1, so stay tuned!
