Question #2: 27/01/2005

[Dark0ne]

The thought of a multiplayer Elder Scrolls game has been harboured and revered by many, but also shunned by others. Oblivion, like the other ES games before it is strictly a single-player game, but would a multi-player aspect (particularly a co-operative mode) appeal to you?

 

In light of the recent MMORPG releases such as World of Warcraft and Everquest 2, would a MMORPG style Elder Scrolls game be appealing, and would Bethesda do a good job of making such a game considering their single-player focus up to now?

 

Here's your chance to exalt or whine about multiplayer Morrowind, Oblivion, or a future MMORPG from Bethesda set in the ES universe.

[Abramul]

I think it could work well, if they ditched the idea of having a main storyline, and instead used Radiant to generate 'first-come, first-serve' quests. However, MMO isn't healthy for a real role-playing atmosphere. "Plz free stuff, I died!". However, the evolving social aspects could be interesting - spontaneous marketplaces, and such. I think that if Bethesda were to make a game INTENDING FROM THE START that it be multiplayer, they would do an excellent job. As far as 2-4 people cooperating, again---that wouldn't work well for a storyline-oriented game.

[ThetaOrionis01]

Ditch the main storyline? The main storyline is a large part of the appeal of the game...

 

I can't see any advantage to a multiplayer option, and many disadvantages. Imagine you've slogged from one part of the gameworld to the other for some pointless randomly generated quest taking some NPC's socks home to his mum to get washed, and when you return for your pitiful reward you find that another player has killed off the questgiver. Well, I suppose you still have the clean socks....

 

About randomly generated quests.... not sure I like the sound of that. It could become extremely boring and repetitive.

 

 

And then there's always the chance you might run into Pimpy-Ho female dog-Slapper, the Argonian. :laugh2:

[loveme4whoiam]

I don't think the currently level of story-telling in games is up to the challenge of a MMO yet, at least not on the same level as Oblivion's. Bethesda is good at doing single-player games, and should stick to it. Not to say i wouldnt play a MMO from Bethsoft if it came out - i'm just not sure it would be up to the same standard as WoW or Everquest 2, as they are a different type of game.

[Dark0ne]

I find that one of the most lacking things in MMORPG's at the moment is the lack of a storyline. I'm currently playing WoW and I find it queer that one quest giver has asked 600,000 people to go kill 10 wild boar in the region -- they'd all be extinct by now...yet then it becomes a "first-come first-served" game whereby the first players get all the quests and there's no incentive for people to actually bother joining the game except for the XP grind (which bores me to hell).

 

Having said that, if a team could be made where by the developers were constantly adding quests, removing old NPCs and adding new ones (imagine coming back to a town in an outer region to hear "We lost 6 guards this week to those damn <insertenemyhere>, we're being reinforced in a few days" then it could make it all the more enjoyable.

 

Morrowind co-operative, I've always thought, would be fun as hell. Limiting the game to 1 - 4 players would encourage team work and make things more interesting.

 

I loved playing Neverwinter Nights on a LAN and I think the same could work for Morrowind.

[Abramul]

Mostly what I meant as far as the storyline goes is this:

You are (in MW) the Hero, and therefore (I assume) unique. In IV, I would guess we get a similarly unique role. Given this, it seems odd to have 2 or more people, who both occupy that unique role, running around doing stuff together.

 

What would be better is a version where you were a just an ordinary adventurer who had just joined one of the Guilds, or Houses, or Cults, and were doing stuff for them. At the same time, others would be working to increase the powerbase of their individual factions (which could be the same as yours).

 

It would make more sense to have a MP version which, while set in the same world, had a storyline that suited multiple players.

[Slaiv]

If Bethesda made a game solely for cooperative play, it could work. It would take a lot of skill, and the right ideas, but it could happen. NWN - It worked, didn't it?

 

MMORPGs have never really appealed to me. TOo many things that haven't been perfected - poor communication, poor graphics, no storyline, boring quests, leveling is the main aspect, the obligatory uber-character %&$!.... it goes on.

 

But most of all, for the complexity of an MMORPG, I have yet to find one that is "noob-friendly" at all. They all thrust you into this world of extreme complexity, and give you no indication as to what to do. Sure, it's technically freedom, but with so much you can do, and nothing explaining it, you get some problems.

[Malchik]

I have never been tempted to join a multi-player game. I have friends who swear by them and others to cry "unclean, unclean" so I think they appeal to a certain type of player and I don't fit that type.

 

If Bethesda decided to issue a game in such a format I see no reason why it should be any worse than others of the genre. And it could as easily be an Elder Scrolls game as any other.

 

The idea of being able to play as a small group of adventurers together, where the number activated would depend on how many players were available (say to a max of 6) would appeal to me more. Quite often there are friends who want to try out the game on my PC and all I can do is watch and occasionally kibitz. To be able to set up a joint game on a LAN would be more fun for both.

[Peregrine]

would Bethesda do a good job of making such a game considering their single-player focus up to now?

 

No. It is not possible to make a MMORPG that is actually good. Therefore Bethesda's hypothetical game would be unimpressive and generic at best.

 

At best, a MMORPG can be a decent hack & slash game suitable for random monster slaying. This would be the exact opposite of Morrowind (and hopefully Oblivion!), and would be so different it would be Elder Scrolls in name only.

 

would a multi-player aspect (particularly a co-operative mode) appeal to you?

 

A lot. LAN/IP multiplayer with a small group of friends would be a ton of fun. Unfortunately, the engine changes required to support it would divert attention from making a quality single player game, so I agree with the decision to leave it out.

[Dark0ne]

LAN/IP multiplayer with a small group of friends would be a ton of fun. Unfortunately, the engine changes required to support it would divert attention from making a quality single player game, so I agree with the decision to leave it out.

 

Could do what 3DO did with Heroes of Might and Magic IV (maybe not for the same reasons). They released the full game first, all finished, then released the multiplayer functionality patch 6 months later. Lets not go into how bad it went, but only because the network protocol was borked.

 

Focus on the SP aspect, then focus on the MP aspect, just simply leave the game in a state of having a MP possibility.