You can sign up here. They gave me an Excellent chance of getting in, but then they might be saying that to all the potential testers. Hussies.
It doesn't mean anything with regards to 'solo' TES games, as this is being developed by a separate studio, Zenimax Online, as opposed to Bethesda Softworks, even if they're both under the same producer - Zenimax.What's the general feeling on this? Last I heard people thought it was a TERRIBLE implementation of a good idea, or something. I kinda feel sad it probably means no new solo elder scrolls for a while, but it also intrigues me.
"Elder Scrolls Online" is a TERRIBLE name, though. MMOs need to stop adding "Online" to their titles, it's the 64-plague of the N64 days all over again.
That's my point. Modern high-profile (that's important! Not "most" or "the interesting ones", the HIGH-PROFILE ones, like Fallout MMO (which will hopefully never get made ), TOR, TESO,....) are made to combat WoW and have WoW-like subscription numbers. MMos aimed at numbers such as Eve are perfectly viable, and there are many of them. Hence, thse high-profile MMOs have all failed, because their targets were unrealistic.Why did you include Diablo 3 and Borderlands 2 in that? Neither are mmo's, and both have always been multiplayer oriented games throughout their franchise.
Both of those games have also sold extremely well, and are hits, even if I don't like Diablo 3.
The other games you bring up are more victims of poor management (like EA) than indications that gamers don't like MMO's. You cite EVE as only having 500,000 subscribers (I don't know if this is accurate) but your perspective is wrong. That is a HUGE amount, and is in fact around the best mmo's can get. You lose perspective by comparing it to WoW, which is a statistical anomaly in the genre, not the standard. Publishers do the same thing, and this is why games like TOR fail, because, well, EA. 'nuff said.
I think the MMO paradigm has peaked and is on the down slope now, honestly. The inherent weakness in MMOs - your reliance on other people to shape your game experience there - has started to eclipse the technological novelty of participating in a world with thousands of other players.I think the only solid MMO that's been released recently is Secret World. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how that game isn't doing better. It's pretty much flawless I've found so far.
I find it's because the people who would be interested in it...I think the only solid MMO that's been released recently is Secret World. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how that game isn't doing better. It's pretty much flawless I've found so far.
TOR did an excellent job of this. Adding to the lore while not taking away. They did make the mechanics and UI a bit too WoW ish but then again, WoW stole alot of it's MMO components from Everquest and other previous MMOs. TSW has it's own world and lore and fuck it's amazing.I've said it before and I'll say it again. These studios have got to stop trying to make WoW-killers, and just concentrate on making a good game that's a lot of fun without destroying the lore of their universe (if it's an MMO version of an existing IP) or just really nail some fun dimension of gaming. At this point, the only people who are going to be able to kill WoW are Blizzard. Everyone else just has to wait for it to die off if they want to be the next world class heavyweight. It's not like WoW is everybody's cup of tea, there are plenty of people out there that don't like the game but do like online gaming.
I haven't been as enveloped in an MMO since UO/EQ/WoW as I am in TSW and I've played 95% of the commercially released MMOs that have seen state-side release.Basically, TSW would be a WoW killer if more people played it and it had more end-game content. Thankfully, they seem to be adding in new stuff monthly/bi-monthly.
Rift was really really good, but it's dungeon model (lack of LFG), lack of good speed movement options (in a huge land locked world), very obvious over powered specs and very obvious worthless specs, the lack of a customizable UI or allowing the public to make UI improvements, and a progressing storyline that leaves new players out of the story are what turned me off.I wish Rift had done better, because Trion is easily the best MMO dev I've ever dealt with in terms of getting new content out at a great pace. I don't know what kept it from really prospering, but if it ever goes to the GW2/TSW model I'd be back in it in a heartbeat.
I loved Rift, I just had three problems with it. The first, and biggest problem, was that it nuked my computer. Just overheated it and slagged the CPU, and even before that the massive raids were a little too much for my video card, which doesn't have any issues with WoW (no surprise there, really) or with Skyrim. The second problem was how they handled launch day with people playing on the pre-release servers. Because they locked the pre-release servers down and kept release day players out, the pre-release servers dropped behind the others on population pretty severely. The third issue, which I'm sure they fixed eventually, was how few of the crystals or whatever they were dropped from mid-level range incursion events. I was never able to get any of the good gear from levels 15 or so through the upper 30s. I hope it does eventually go f2p with a good f2p model, because I'd happily go back, now that I have a more robust computer.I wish Rift had done better, because Trion is easily the best MMO dev I've ever dealt with in terms of getting new content out at a great pace. I don't know what kept it from really prospering, but if it ever goes to the GW2/TSW model I'd be back in it in a heartbeat.
Yeah, the downside of the Soul system, as much as I liked it, was that it fell prey to the same issue WoW's old trees had. There were some really cool talents that just didn't cut it in the long run and were generally worthless. The LFG was introduced a few months after launch, and works pretty well. The main issue the game has now is there aren't many new players/alts, so it's still pretty alienating for new folks as you're mostly alone in lower level areas (which means you'll be skipping many zone events/rifts and thus losing out on the currency for gear). UI customization took awhile, but that's in too, along with mods.Rift was really really good, but it's dungeon model (lack of LFG), lack of good speed movement options (in a huge land locked world), very obvious over powered specs and very obvious worthless specs, the lack of a customizable UI or allowing the public to make UI improvements, and a progressing storyline that leaves new players out of the story are what turned me off.
Yeah, getting the crystals you need is easy with the Instant Adventure system, which drops you into a raid group in a zone around your level to do rifts and such, earning the crystals as you complete them (and getting you 5 or so of the epic quality gems for doing 7 IAs). The IAs are fairly short can you can drop out anytime with no consequence. Sadly, like I said above, the lower-level population is scarce and makes for lonely leveling. There's still the Mentor system for LFG, though, which allows high-levels to come in and help without soaking up XP.I loved Rift, I just had three problems with it. The first, and biggest problem, was that it nuked my computer. Just overheated it and slagged the CPU, and even before that the massive raids were a little too much for my video card, which doesn't have any issues with WoW (no surprise there, really) or with Skyrim. The second problem was how they handled launch day with people playing on the pre-release servers. Because they locked the pre-release servers down and kept release day players out, the pre-release servers dropped behind the others on population pretty severely. The third issue, which I'm sure they fixed eventually, was how few of the crystals or whatever they were dropped from mid-level range incursion events. I was never able to get any of the good gear from levels 15 or so through the upper 30s. I hope it does eventually go f2p with a good f2p model, because I'd happily go back, now that I have a more robust computer.