Elder Scrolls Online is walking a treacherous tightrope between the trappings of a standard MMO and the recognisable single player experience of The Elder Scrolls franchise. Stray too far to the former and Zenimax will disenfranchise the fans of the series they hope to hook into subscribing; too far to the latter and it’ll beg the question of why make an MMO at all?
The latest video from the studio shows just how many familiar elements of the series appear in the MMO – lockpicking, cooking, gathering herbs – but also how they’re now social skills.
It’s uncanny seeing the familiar elements of The Elder Scrolls games overlaying an MMO. For instance, that same lockpicking mini-game introduced in Oblivion but applied to randomly appearing crates. Also, the same approach to cooking – throwing ingredients into a pot to make a random potion – except now, rather than being instant, you watch an idle animation of your character stirring a pot.
I’m not convinced this coupling of The Elder Scrolls and MMOs has created a pretty lovechild. I mean, are you excited by the prospect of standing next to a friend and fishing? Does that make an online Elder Scrolls justified?
That said, I’ve not played the game. Our Tim has and he was thoroughly impressed.