The Elder Scrolls: By the VIII Divines

[NineThePuma]

Thread Title suggested by Osiris_Shadowblade

Previous threads:

• Who's excited for Skyrim?
• Skyrim II: A Dragon A Day Keeps The Draugr At Bay.
• Skyrim III: Get rich selling protective knee gear!
• Skyrim IV: Oblivion
  Skyrim Thread VI: Dov Riders, AWAY!
  The Elder Scrolls VII: Do you believe in mod?

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[GungHo]

Talos weeps.

[Landis963]

Dang, beat me to it.

[Sharoth]

You Stormcloaks and your rebellious ways. The Empire will defeat you. Then, after we are done with our upcoming war with the Thalmor, we will let you worship Talos again.

[Landis963]

I still think there's no point to that peace conference if you can't pull off an old-fashioned décapiter during it.

[JediSoth]

Well, I bit the bullet and joined the Dark Brotherhood. I figure I've already shown questionable morals on this playthrough already, so why not? Besides, it's not like it's a Bioware game where my choices with one faction will affect anything else. I've decided this playthrough (my 4th!) will be the Ultimate Playthrough of Ultimate Completion. I'm already Harbinger of the Companions and Dovahkiin. I'm going to work on becoming Thieves' Guild Guildmaster (and Nightingale), Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Archmage, Thane in all the holds, owner of all the houses and builder of the three stand-alone houses, and slayer of Alduin.

Still can't support the Stormcloaks, though.

[Calemyr]

I'm probably stepping on a third rail, here, but I've gotta ask, has anybody looked into information on the Imperial Edition of Elder Scrolls Online? I'm just curious what the general opinion about it is.

[DemonicAngel]

so, mods?
something to make the combat a bit more fun, something to make dragons terryfing, and something to make me feel like trading through an icy wilderness like th elone wanderer that I am.

From the last thread. anyone?

[Ailurus]

From the last thread. anyone?

There are multiple combat overhauls. Skyre is probably the most well known, though it changes all the perk trees and other stuff along the way. On a more minor note, I like Dance of Death, which doesn't change any mechanics, but does let you adjust kill move frequency and variety, as well as letting them happen mid-fight too.

Dragon scariness, Deadly Dragons. More common dragons, random dragon spawns, multiple dragon spawns, dragons with higher stats, and above all a bunch of new dragons, including invisible ones and a super cool but super nasty steampunk/dwemer dwemer mechanical dragon.

Icy wilderness and such, there's Frostfall which was discussed over the last few pages of the last thread.

[Togath]

I'm probably stepping on a third rail, here, but I've gotta ask, has anybody looked into information on the Imperial Edition of Elder Scrolls Online? I'm just curious what the general opinion about it is.

I'm not sure what you mean?
As far as I can tell, it adds a mount, a non-combat pet(though why WoW has been the only game to give them a use so far[as far as I know] is beyond me, pokemon battles with vanity pets is fun =3 ), a "recruit a friend" bonus, and the ability to play any faction(which is a deal killer for me.. since it's pretty clear the company plans on it being a pay-to-win game given that).

I'd had some hope for it.. Until they revealed that the "special" edition gives you the pay-to-win-esc ability to play any faction as any race.
I'll be surprised if it lasts a year. Heck, I doubt it'll last even six months.

Unless I missed something about it, anyway.

[Antonok]

What all the Imperial Edition nets you:

~ Imperial Race
~ Imperial White Horse mount
~ Mudcrab Vanity Pet
~ Rings of Mara (bonus XP when questing with a friend)
~ 5 Days Early Access
~ Any Race in Any Alliance
~ Scuttler Vanity Pet
~ Bonus Treasure Maps

I'm not sure what you mean?
As far as I can tell, it adds a mount, a non-combat pet(though why WoW has been the only game to give them a use to far[as far as I know] is beyond me), a "recruit a friend" bonus, and the ability to play any faction(which is a deal killer for me.. since it's pretty clear the company plans on it being a pay-to-win game given that).

I'd had some hope for it.. Until they revealed that the "special" edition gives you the pay-to-win-esc ability to play any faction as any race.
I'll be surprised if it lasts a year. Heck, I doubt it'll last even six months.

Unless I missed something about it, anyway.

The any race/any alliance thing isn't pay to win by any means at all. I'd be more worried about the bonus treasure maps.

Still, I don't see it doing well with all the costs. 60 for the game, 15 a month sub, plus an in game cash shop for all your vanity items. Couple that with the rather steep (as far as mmos are concerned, most lower end systems that can play GW2, TERA, WoW, SWOTR, etc can't play it) system requirements and I don't see it having a very big player base either.

[Togath]

I more meant; it seems wrong for an mmo to have something that costs extra money(other than an expansion pack) that adds things that have an effect on gameplay, such as a race, or a removal of normal limitations(such as having any race in any faction, if that isn't the norm).

[Antonok]

Well, the faction specific races were a bad idea to begin with and they've been adamant about keeping it.

[Togath]

Aye, definitely.
Given the fact that you could choose any race in the main series games, They really should of known better.
On the plus side, Zenimax is not connected to Bethesda other than this game, as far as I know, so the production of the next main series game shouldn't have any significant delay from this failed spinoff.

[Divayth Fyr]

Well, the faction specific races were a bad idea to begin with and they've been adamant about keeping it.

Unless you give them your money in advance (preorder) in which case you don't need to care about that!

I really, really hope the thing fails miserably - if only because:

• they talked so much about how the Imperials won't be playable because everyone hates them and how the racial division is important, now to drop all that for those willing to pay.
• several unnecessary retcons and moronic changes to the lore
• the fact that an island in Elsweyr has fauna which would work perfectly somewhere near the Morrowind/Skyrim border...

[Calemyr]

I'm not sure what you mean?
As far as I can tell, it adds a mount, a non-combat pet(though why WoW has been the only game to give them a use so far[as far as I know] is beyond me, pokemon battles with vanity pets is fun =3 ), a "recruit a friend" bonus, and the ability to play any faction(which is a deal killer for me.. since it's pretty clear the company plans on it being a pay-to-win game given that).

I'd had some hope for it.. Until they revealed that the "special" edition gives you the pay-to-win-esc ability to play any faction as any race.
I'll be surprised if it lasts a year. Heck, I doubt it'll last even six months.

Unless I missed something about it, anyway.

There's not much pay-to-win, although the mount and the recruit-a-friend are distinct advantages.

Play any race in any faction is the pre-order bonus, not the Imperial Edition. Not sure how I feel about that feature, but they already said that anyone who reached level 50 with a race could then play them in other factions, so it's not that big of a deal. A headstart, not a locked out feature.

The Imperial race is the big thing, I think. Supposedly their abilities are balanced to other races, so they aren't "I Win" buttons. The fact that they can belong to any faction is, again, unsettling, but the only PVP in the game is in Cyrodil, where they make pretty clear who's in what faction. They get their own armor style that seems a bit flashier than other styles, though any craftsman can learn it if they find a manual (same as the other racial styles).

It's not like enemy silhouettes will mean much anyway. Alliance and Horde had very different styles for all major roles, but anyone can wear any armor (and craft any style if they learn how), so playing a dark elf in the Daggerfall Covenent isn't really an advantage.

It's definitely a departure from standard convention, but I think they have to do so. If they play by Blizzard's rules, they're going to lose every time. The graves of dozens of MMOs will tell you that sad story.

[NEO|Phyte]

Not sure how accurate this is, but as I've heard it the game is a fairly decent MMO, but a terrible TES game.

[Antonok]

There's not much pay-to-win, although the mount and the recruit-a-friend are distinct advantages.

Oh yea, the mount is. Those things cost ridiculous amounts of gold.

Minorly breaking NDA here : 15,000 gold for a %$#@$%^ starting mount

[Calemyr]

Oh yea, the mount is. Those things cost ridiculous amounts of gold.

Minorly breaking NDA here :

That's beta, though. They'll probably tweak the prices for the live game. They darn well better tweak the prices. (Blizzard had to do that as well, after all, and they sell mounts for cash as well). The point of a beta is to test things to make sure they work. Complaining about broken things in a beta is stupid. You might as well complain about the voice acting. Complaining about them when they still appear in live, however, is absolutely legitimate.

[Sajiri]

As far as I can tell, it adds a mount, a non-combat pet(though why WoW has been the only game to give them a use so far[as far as I know] is beyond me, pokemon battles with vanity pets is fun =3 ),

Hey now, they had a use in Ragnarok Online long before they did in WoW

[KillianHawkeye]

I thought there were nine divines?

[mythmonster2]

Officially, the Empire says there's only 8, since Talos isn't supposed to be worshiped. Many people in Skyrim (with the exception of most Stormcloaks, obviously) have gotten used to it and swear by the Eight.

[druid91]

So, favorite use of a rune spell so far?

I'd have to say (And I think I've said this before) that putting a fire-rune on the balcony at Vittoria Vicci's wedding was my favorite way of accomplishing that mission.

[Winter_Wolf]

I'm a mad fire rune bomber. Stealth + quiet casting + rune master + throw voice shout = lots of explosions and flaming ragdolls.

Trying to find anything in the aftermath is kind of a hassle at times, though.

[Gnome Alone]

I'm a mad fire rune bomber. Stealth + quiet casting + rune master + throw voice shout = lots of explosions and flaming ragdolls.

Trying to find anything in the aftermath is kind of a hassle at times, though.

Maybe someone should mod a shout like Aura Whisper but that works for scorched bits of remains.

It could be called... Aura Whisper II: Not Just for Finding Your Horse Anymore.

[DigoDragon]

Well, the faction specific races were a bad idea to begin with and they've been adamant about keeping it.

My wife doesn't know much about ES, but she didn't like the fact she couldn't play an Altmer loyal to the Ebonheart Pact (She's watched me play Skyrim so she knows a little about that area).

[KillianHawkeye]

Officially, the Empire says there's only 8, since Talos isn't supposed to be worshiped. Many people in Skyrim (with the exception of most Stormcloaks, obviously) have gotten used to it and swear by the Eight.

Okay, it used to be nine before Skyrim, right? I mostly played the older games.

[Calemyr]

Okay, it used to be nine before Skyrim, right? I mostly played the older games.

Near as I can tell, it started with nine divines, but one (Lorkhan) sacrificed himself to serve as the physical plane during the creation of the world, so there were 8. Then Tiber Septim became the 9th. Then strongarmed the Empire into banning Talos worship. Now anyone who follows the official Imperial party line worships only 8. At least openly.

[Divayth Fyr]

Near as I can tell, it started with nine divines, but one (Lorkhan) sacrificed himself to serve as the physical plane during the creation of the world, so there were 8. Then Tiber Septim became the 9th. Then strongarmed the Empire into banning Talos worship. Now anyone who follows the official Imperial party line worships only 8. At least openly.

Nope - Lorkan was killed by others because he tricked them into getting bound to the world and the strongest of the spirits that were left after that became known as gods by the races of Tamriel (which obviously came much later). When the religion was created by Alessia it did consist of 8 divines (Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, and Zenithar) with other, "lesser" gods also being venerated but not included in the "main part" of the cult's doctrine. This included Shezzar (cyrodiilic version of Lorkhan).

Of course this is TES, so technically Lorkhan also WAS a part of the 8 divines cult (since Lorkhan is Akatosh) while not being there...

Okay, it used to be nine before Skyrim, right? I mostly played the older games.

Tiber as god was introduced in Morrowind (with a guest appearance in the game itself).

[Driderman]

Not sure how accurate this is, but as I've heard it the game is a fairly decent MMO, but a terrible TES game.

Been playing over the weekend.
It's pretty standard MMO fare. Graphically nice, but so was Age of Conan and look where that got it.
The game itself seems rather boring. It's very typical Elder Scrolls in the sense that the quests are so bland and uninspired you want to slit your wrists, but on the other hand it follows the dated MMO-design system of having quest hubs, so exploration seems like it's not really going to happen either.
To be honest, the game seemed hammy and uninspired. I guess it might be fun if you're just looking to switch your brand of MMO-drug, but it certainly doesn't bring much in the way of new ideas.
Well, the not-so-class-based classes I guess are slightly new-ish. Instead of choosing a archetypal class and being relegated to a few different options as per standard MMO style, you now choose between 4 archetypal classes with funny names (yes it's basically just Warrior, Wizard, Rogue and Cleric) and have the option to screw up your build by choosing abilities that doesn't complement your chosen class at all. At least, with the amount of skill points I had accessible(not a lot, that is), it certainly didn't seem like focusing on my summon and 2-handed sword was a particularly good idea. Still, the option is there and this is only a beta after all.

Overall, it seems to me like Elder Scrolls Online is mostly just a Zenimax attempt at making a cash-cow like World of Warcraft is/was, which would also explain why they're absolutely feel it has to be sub-based.
Most of it is standard MMO-design, with the added benefit of having none of the usual exploration freedom of Bethesda games, but all of the really bad writing.