Bethesda game director Matt Firor was at PAX East 2013 these past couple days, and revealed to GameIndustry his thoughts…
Bethesda game director Matt Firor was at PAX East 2013 these past couple days, and revealed to GameIndustry his thoughts on the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online game, and where it would fit in between the MMO heavy-hitters already out, such as World of Warcraft and Everquest.
“It is a crowded space, but this is Elder Scrolls. One of things of having a huge IP like Elder Scrolls is it cuts through the noise. It’s safe to say – looking at the lines for people to play – that everyone knows about it. That is the first step to getting a lot of people into the game.”
“Part of the crowded landscape is it’s hard to get your message out there. When you say ‘Elder Scrolls‘, we don’t have a problem getting the message out, which helps us immensely,” said Firor.
He goes on to state his lack of fear of the player expectations of the game. To him, The Elder Scrolls are perfectly suited for an MMO transition.
“We know we have Elder Scrolls players and MMO players that are interested. Skyrim and Elder Scrolls players won’t have problems adapting to the system; it’s very similar. If you’ve never played an Elder Scrolls game, you’re going to need to wrap your brain around it.”
When addressing the comparisons of The Elder Scrolls Online to such games as Star Wars: The Old Republic, Firor is adamant in differentiating the two, stating that Bethesda’s gamewill have fully voiced NPC characters, but will not have full voices for the players, as opposed to The Old Republic. “Old Republic, you had your voice for your character. Here it’s just NPCs, like Skyrim. You supply your character’s voice.”
For Those who are long-time Elder Scrolls fans, such as myself, you know that the series is absolutely perfect for an MMO component. The game’s setting is already vast, the character development is immense, and each player can play the game they want, whether it be as a lone ranger or a member of a large horde. The storyline isn’t narrow, and you have many opportunities to branch out. In fact, there’s already been a few mods to incorporate an MMO capability in Skyrim. That alone proves that the Elder Scrolls community yearns for massive multiplayer, and I’ll be very pleased to see an actual MMO from Bethesda when it releases.