The Elder Scrolls Online

[Gimaru]

How do you think it will be? Seeing as the game director worked on Dark Age of Camelot I'm well excited.
Keeping an open mind though, it does worry me thinking back to how KoTOR was turned into an mmo and wasn't as good as people thought it would be. They are using the same Hero3 engine as SWToR, which I must admit sounds a bit dodge. Too early to pass judgement, so we will see.

Rumours and speculation surrounding an online component of Elder Scrolls have been floating around for quite some time and now official details of the MMO RPG have finally been unveiled.

Featuring on the cover of GameInformer’s June issue, The Elder Scrolls Online is set to take the massively online multiplayer game world by storm.

Developed by the team at Zenimax Online Studios, the Elder Scrolls Online is set to bring everything expected of the large, intricate and ambitious series, and combine it with the scale and social aspects of a MMO.

Game Informer Link

Some info:

Within the world of Tamriel there are 3 alliances users can join, each consisting of 3 three races to chose from. The Nords, Dunmer (Dark Eves) and Argonians make up the Ebonheart Pact. Forming the Aldmeri Dominion are the Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves) and Khajiit. Finally the Daggerfall Covenant consisting of Breatons, Redguard and Orcs make up the third available alliance.

The main villain of the story is the King of Worms, Mannimarco who plans to take control over the mortal realm together with the Daedric prince of domination, Molang Bal.

Source

First leaked screenshot (Click for full size image):


Source

Lots more to be found here, includes concept art:

Elder Scrolls Online Screenshots, Art Look Nothing Like Skyrim

 

[Gimaru]

Announcement trailer added.

First screenshots, details and art revealed/leaked, links added as well.

 

[Sou1Co11ector]

I don't like how it looks... Too cartoony for an Elder Scrolls game.

 

[Gimaru]

I have to admit, yeah, the graphics in those shots look awful.

 

[Nakedwooki]

I dont like the graphics, i would of thought they would have gone for the more realistic approach considering it is an elders scroll game, and i have heard many say it could end up being a "Guild Wars 2 clone"..

 

[Gimaru]

It will now be interesting to see now how this and Neverwinter compare. Although NW looks good, I am rather leaning towards this one at the moment. Will be playing both in the end anyway.

 

[skullo13]

I am probably getting this, the only thing that will really scare me away is if it is subscription based

 

[BlackSwan]

It is subscription based. The bad news (for some) is that I expect all future MMO releases will be following suit.

 

[Duke Dude]

I'm scared to get excited for this game. I LOVE Elder Scrolls games and being able to return to Morrowind is just amazing! I just don't know how it will play...

Will it go full out DPS for it's classes like GW2 or will it have the trinity? And what how in-depth will the social features be?
It looks like a solid ES game but that's from a SP view, I just dunno how group content will work...

 

[Crzwaco]

 

[Rhymelark]

Nice character creation. I'm still a bit skeptical about how the game will play though.

 

[InSanity]

Nothing really new or spectacular about that most MMO's these days allow for the same customization

 

[Crzwaco]

Nothing really new or spectacular about that most MMO's these days allow for the same customization

To be expected but you never know they might have you in this bland looking character and you had to buy customization...

 

[Isengard]

To be expected but you never know they might have you in this bland looking character and you had to buy customization...

They could shove it if that was the case. That kind of gating is only acceptable in f2p. :/

 

[Gimaru]

And so early access had come to an end, the game has officially launched and requires retail keys to play.

For those who kept their clients up to date as of last night, there's only a 50mb patch.

Read a note from Game Director Matt Firor and watch the latest in our series of cinematic trailers to celebrate launch day.

We’re excited to welcome you to The Elder Scrolls Online’s official launch. To mark the occasion, we’d like to share a message from Matt Firor, Game Director on ESO:


"Welcome to April 4, 2014! Today’s worldwide release of The Elder Scrolls Online for PC and Mac is a landmark day for our many fans and all of us here at ZeniMax Online Studios. I am incredibly proud of the team that has been working hard to bring Tamriel to life online and am extremely grateful for everyone in the ever-growing ESO community. Making a AAA online RPG with the scope and scale of The Elder Scrolls Online is a daunting development effort, and we couldn’t have done it without our talented team and the most supportive fans in the world. Thanks for helping us reach this day.
Development doesn’t stop here. Soon we’ll be unveiling Craglorn, our first Veteran-level, end-game zone tailored for small and large groups which offers lots more hours of gameplay and new areas to explore– and we’ll continue to add new systems and exciting content regularly. And of course, we are still hard-at-work on the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game as well. I sincerely hope everyone has as much fun playing the game as we had making it. You are in for a thrilling journey, and as this is the first Elder Scrolls game to go online, we hope you share the fun by making friends -- whether you’re joining groups and guilds or fighting hundreds of enemy players on the battlefield. We’ll definitely be out there with you – see you in Tamriel! And stay tuned for all the new and exciting things we’ll have to share with you in the coming weeks and months. This is only the beginning. - Matt"

Get ready to start your adventure off right by watching “The Siege,” a new chapter in our cinematic series. Welcome to Tamriel!

Source

Original game sound track sample released

 

[Isengard]

Wow, once again they are doing maintenance during EU prime time. This is totally unacceptable.

 

[Clive Woofer]

It's to be expected in the first month after launch though, isn't it?

Maybe I'll hold off on activating my game key another week or two.

 

[diabolus]

Wow, once again they are doing maintenance during EU prime time. This is totally unacceptable.

What is more unacceptable is the fact that the EU server is still in the USA and they expect us to pay in euros?

 

[Isengard]

It's to be expected in the first month after launch though, isn't it?

Maybe I'll hold off on activating my game key another week or two.

Expected yes, during prime time, no...

 

[Shirou]

This is rather upsetting.. getting from work, then trying to login with a maintenance message which just started.. and this is not the first time it happens in EU prime time.