Bethesda and ZeniMax recently announced the creation of an MMORPG set in the Elder Scrolls universe. Gamers were curious, at first, but now that we have details the whole affair seems to be falling apart. The screenshots shown are generic, the game design is rooted in the early days of World of Warcraft, the combat is turn based, and the controls are all hotbar buttons instead of realtime actions. The game appears to be class-based, the races are limited to specific factions, and there is no player housing or NPC relationships. In short, absolutely nothing gamers enjoy about the Elder Scrolls series will be in the MMORPG. The response from the gaming community has been less than enthusiastic. The Bethesda forums have the story.
This one shows every sign of a failed generic MMORPG being salvaged to cash in on Skyrim’s popularity.
The best part is the developers have gone on record defending the game’s turn-based combat because real-time combat is impossible online. This should be news to the folks at another MMO, TERA, which features real-time arcade combat and went live last week.
Sad, sad.
Any Skyrim MMO should take what’s amazing about the single-player and expand it into the multiplayer realm, not trap it back into the staid and well-known of the MMO industry. Skyrium isn’t just a movie or an IP property — it’s a cultural phenomenon that extends from the mechanics of the game play.