[promo title=”Will Your Expectations Be Met?”][/promo]
Ever since the project of the Elder Scrolls MMO known as ‘The Elder Scrolls Online’ was announced, fans of the popular franchise have been strongly divided. Although many await its release eagerly, plenty of fans are concerned about the direction of its development. Those who are concerned often bring forth the argument that the new title might not be able to maintain the ‘feel’ and immersion, the previous titles provided in the past.
As you dig deeper into the concerns of the fan base of the franchise, you come to realize that the fans, although very excited about a new title from their beloved series, are worried that the scale of Elder Scrolls Online will result in the project’s downfall. The previous titles that were released were known for their immersive worlds and universes, which were based upon gorgeous landscapes, cities and characters.
Over the course of the last few years, the cost of producing a high quality MMORPG have risen significantly. If we look back to the release of ‘World Of Warcraft’ in 2004, the $40 million dollar budget seems like peanuts compared to, for example, the almost $300 million budget spent on ‘Star Wars The Old Republic’ back in 2011. The Elder Scrolls Online is also massive in terms of production costs, with more than $200 million invested to date.
During an interview with Creative Developer Paul Sage, he was asked wether meeting the expectations of both the fans of the franchise as well as the fans of the MMORPG genre would prove to be difficult.
“I think we have such high demands for ourselves as a development team, and we represent both those audiences internally, so there was a series of steps we took to, to say: “What are the things we as developers want to do, to make a great Elder Scrolls RPG, and what are the expectations that will be common amongst the MMO crowd?”
So we had this big exercise, where we wrote down what we wanted from the game as MMO players, and what we wanted as Elder Scrolls players, and it was amazing where those things synced up. That’s where we started to lay the base of the game down. So I don’t know if it’s been difficult, as much as it has been an interesting exercise in trying to find the “good game”, and from there, making the baselines meet.”
The last Elder Scrolls Online beta test (which began on Friday, February the 28th and ended Sunday, the 2nd of March) left the fans of the franchise divided.From what can be discovered by playing the various beta tests, it is obvious that the development team is forced to focus on many more aspects than is the case with single player releases, due to the sheer amount of new features and content a high quality MMO demands.
Although these facts and arguments have led many to believe the project won’t deliver, plenty of others still have hope for the eagerly awaited release. The next beta tests will, without a doubt, allow us to do more research into the minds and opinions of the consumers and the long-time fans of the renowned franchise.
Will the new title from the developers of the Elder Scrolls franchise, Bethesda, provide yet another immersive and unique experience? Or will the alterations and differences regarding budget focus result in the title’s downfall? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.