Well.... get ready to say hello
 
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ZeniMax-Bethesda-Elder-Scrolls-Online-MMO,news-14481.html
 
While details are still few and far between, Tom’s has learned that ZeniMax Online Studios and Bethesda will officially announce Elder Scrolls Online in May 2012.
An industry source that wishes to remain anonymous revealed the name of the new MMO to us, and confirmed that the game would take place a full millennium before The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Using the Elder Scrolls Wiki timeline as a guide, Elder Scrolls Online will likely take place during the “Second Era,” or several hundred years before any of the other Elder Scrolls games. This information was corroborated by two additional sources before publication.
Elder Scrolls Online will have three playable factions, according to the tipster. Not much is known about the factions, except each is represented by one of three animals: A lion, a dragon, and a bird of prey (either a phoenix or an eagle, we aren’t sure).
A May 2012 announcement would likely be followed by some sort of presence at E3, the annual Los Angeles video game convention. The game would also be shown at Quakecon 2012 in August, along with id Software’s Doom 4 and several other titles.
The fact that ZeniMax and Bethesda are working on an MMO is hardly a secret, as related job postings have been on ZeniMax’s website for quite some time now. What remained unknown until now was the universe in which this MMO would take place. While some were certainly hoping for a Fallout MMO of some sort - a game that ZeniMax and Bethesda control the publishing rights for – that is not to be the case.
When Tom’s reached out for confirmation, the response from ZeniMax and Bethesda was a “no comment.” We will update this article as more information comes in.

Hmmm.  Well, the Elder Scrolls games have long (since Morrowind, at least) felt very much like 'single-player MMOs'.
 
But...that was basically the appeal of them.  You get something roughly like the MMO experience...paid for once instead of recurring...and not having to deal with online d-bags.
 
Currently skeptical, but...we'll see...

Another MMO, the plague continues.

I honestly dont believe that they can pull it off. They cant make single player games that arent plagued with bugs and glitches, what makes them think they can add a more complex component?

Not only that but the combat is dreadful, and the "boss fights" are likewise dreadful. Their appeal is story and interaction within that story.
 
Sadly without great combat and amazing boss fights the game will flop, and as blacksapphire state those glitches would be unacceptable in a MMO.

Not interested. My thinking is similar to xanderf's... Skyrim for me is a way to stay away from online trash...

This will probably end up like Star wars.. Bioware is best for single player games.. and that's why Star wars the old republic feels like a single player game instead of a MMO.. *grumble*

Afterburner


Not interested. My thinking is similar to xanderf's... Skyrim for me is a way to stay away from online trash...

 
+1, I'll definitely pass. 

uhhh.
 
I see this as being really hard to pull off...

They are definitely walking on thin ice here. I am not sure what to think about an Elder Scrolls MMO. Like many of you have already said, if they had a lot of trouble making skyrim bug free i am not so sure how an MMO would turn out.
 
Not to mention they could potentially ruin what is in my opinion one of the greatest series of all times.

Phoenixx45


They are definitely walking on thin ice here. I am not sure what to think about an Elder Scrolls MMO. Like many of you have already said, if they had a lot of trouble making skyrim bug free i am not so sure how an MMO would turn out.

Not to mention they could potentially ruin what is in my opinion one of the greatest series of all times.

Eh? Most MMOs at launch aren't any better than skyrim was. Some have been better, but those are few and far between.

There was supposed to be a "fallout online" for past 2 years
 
nonthing yet
 

As long as they don't let the guy that designed Skyrims UI anywhere NEAR this game. In fact he should be made to wear an electric shock device that jolts him with 220v every time he even THINKS of designing another UI.

warlord420


There was supposed to be a "fallout online" for past 2 years

nonthing yet

That's what this was.
 
Bethesda has been known to be hiring MMO developers for about that long, everyone assumed it was a 'Fallout' MMO because...seriously, Elder Scrolls MMO?  ****?  Gotta be Fallout, right?
 
Well, turns out, no.  All that hiring and work has been for this guy.
 
EDIT: That does mean, presumably, this was done by and large in parallel with Skyrim...almost certainly by a different team.  So shouldn't share too many of Skyrim's foibles...at least, not those which are not chronic to the series.

 
Big map...big mmo

^ I'd love the next Elder Scrolls game to take place on the entire continent (with some loading screens obviously), but keep it a single player RPG and not an MMO.  That would be an amazing game.... 1500+ hours of content!

They need to make a co-op RPG or one where players can host on dedicated machine that can hold a lot of players. They could sell expansion and allow modding community to make stuff for the game.
That is the kind of RPG/MMO i would like to see made.

boredgunner
^ I'd love the next Elder Scrolls game to take place on the entire continent (with some loading screens obviously), but keep it a single player RPG and not an MMO.  That would be an amazing game.... 1500+ hours of content!

Instanced Areas and Non-instanced Towns.  Most MMO are massive areas but they weren't always that way for example the first MMO Neverwinter was party based instanced.

seronx

boredgunner
^ I'd love the next Elder Scrolls game to take place on the entire continent (with some loading screens obviously), but keep it a single player RPG and not an MMO.  That would be an amazing game.... 1500+ hours of content!

Instanced Areas and Non-instanced Towns.  Most MMO are massive areas but they weren't always that way for example the first MMO Neverwinter was party based instanced.

 
For a single player game on all of Tamriel, a loading screen for each country/province would be ideal I think.  For an MMO... don't waste your time Bethesda!

I would not enjoy this at all!

boredgunner


^ I'd love the next Elder Scrolls game to take place on the entire continent (with some loading screens obviously), but keep it a single player RPG and not an MMO.  That would be an amazing game.... 1500+ hours of content!

 

 
I like your idea boredgunner, that would be awesome!
 
or if a community team did a project to combined Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim into 1 game, that be cool as well.

I think if they can do it, I will be all over it.  I love SW:TOR simply for the fact that I can solo most of it (single player), but I can also play with my friends if I want (very small, friends and family guild).  If this is similar, I'm in.  I should note that I am an MMO player and rarely play outside the genre.
 
I wouldn't mind an idea like Sim had with a co-op style MMO if they could make it up to around 8 players.  That would be awesome.

seronx




Big map...big mmo

 
Thats depresing the combined europe and asia to create a  map instead of creating something original... freaking lame

xanderf

warlord420


There was supposed to be a "fallout online" for past 2 years

nonthing yet

That's what this was.

Bethesda has been known to be hiring MMO developers for about that long, everyone assumed it was a 'Fallout' MMO because...seriously, Elder Scrolls MMO?  ****?  Gotta be Fallout, right?

Well, turns out, no.  All that hiring and work has been for this guy.

EDIT: That does mean, presumably, this was done by and large in parallel with Skyrim...almost certainly by a different team.  So shouldn't share too many of Skyrim's foibles...at least, not those which are not chronic to the series.

 
fallout does seem better than skyrim ... my point is that they been laggin it years and unless they announce something at E3 its gonna be another 2 years until done
 

Personally, I see no issue with a MMO TES. The content and world is definitely there. The average TES mod user could go into detail why TES was never multi-player though.

I think having it more like a 2-8 player scale, like Diablo rather than a full MMO.  they have talked about this since the 90's, right after Battlespire came out.  I just have a bad feeling that while it definitly has possibilities, that it would be a franchise breaking game.

^ Couldn't have expressed myself better.  +100

I hate this new trend to make everything an MMO. Its a good idea but the MMO player base is not big enough to support so many. 
 
Guild Wars 2
Elder Scolls MMO
World of Warcraft
Blizzards new MMO
The Old Republic
Fallout MMO (Rumored) 
 
All great MMOs im sure but an MMO needs to be played at the time of release imo. Playing after the initial surge makes it a lot less fun. If all of the aformentioned MMOs come out, i would want to play them all but i cant afford the $100 a month to play them. Let alone the time to play them all and the money to buy them in the firstplace. 
 
I just dont like games that are supposed to be singleplayer but they make it an MMO to milk more money out. The Old Republic might be great but i would have preferred a KOTOR 3 as a singleplayer game. Same as Elder scrolls and same as Fallout. 
 
I bet you Bioware will make a Mass Effect MMO. It would be awesome, but it just doesnt do the franchise justice. 

Cooperative gameplay, definitly, MMO, not so much.
I agree, I wish StarWars had been single player.

ive always wanted to play elder scrolls with my twin brother..
we've always had characters but they could never interact!
 
will i finally be able to do this? i dont know? im sceptical..