If Skyrim were an MMORPG, I'd be subbed...

[DeaconX]

I love how my adventures are unfolding seemingly naturally.

I love how much control over the development of my 'blank slate' character I have. The world feels alive, it's visceral, it's interactive and it just feels for the most part, really 'right'.

I may catch a bit of flame here but honestly, I'd say if PFO turned out anything like SKYRIM with a lot more sandbox features, I'd be subbed and getting my friends online in no time.

I'd MOVE IN. :D

[Coldman]

DeaconX wrote:

I love how my adventures are unfolding seemingly naturally.

I love how much control over the development of my 'blank slate' character I have. The world feels alive, it's visceral, it's interactive and it just feels for the most part, really 'right'.

I may catch a bit of flame here but honestly, I'd say if PFO turned out anything like SKYRIM with a lot more sandbox features, I'd be subbed and getting my friends online in no time.

I'd MOVE IN. :D

I think that's got something to do with the game setting itself as predominantly a roleplaying game; one offering an authentic and believable world with appropriate systems to play to the games strengths, not pandering to it's players every tear inducing lip quiver.

[Scott Betts]

The dynamics of game design change fundamentally when you add an extra 10,000 Dovahkiin to the game.

[DeaconX]

Scott Betts wrote:

The dynamics of game design change fundamentally when you add an extra 10,000 Dovahkiin to the game.

Well, obviously that shouldn't happen ;) I'm not saying take SKYRIM's single player specific story...

But the way the game is designed overall, if it could be an MMORPG it's the one I'd want to be in.

[Fake Healer]

DeaconX wrote:

Scott Betts wrote:

The dynamics of game design change fundamentally when you add an extra 10,000 Dovahkiin to the game.

Well, obviously that shouldn't happen ;) I'm not saying take SKYRIM's single player specific story...

But the way the game is designed overall, if it could be an MMORPG it's the one I'd want to be in.

I am also feeling the love for Skyrim. Best RPG ever IMO. Anything that Pathfinder Online gets from this game is a bonus in my book. I do see however that some things wouldn't work in an MMO.

I do love the leveling, feels so natural and works so well....use a skill, get better at it. Get enough skills to go up, gain a level. I know others have done it before but the execution of Skyrim is absolutely fluid.

[Coldman]

Fake Healer wrote:

I do love the leveling, feels so natural and works so well....use a skill, get better at it. Get enough skills to go up, gain a level. I know others have done it before but the execution of Skyrim is absolutely fluid.

There is no reason preventing Pathfinder Online from using something similar to this. It would not be the level system present in the OGL, but painting a level system over what is predominantly a skill based system would really pay off in my opinion. Skyrim hit the nail on the head, no reason PFO cannot capitalise.

[Count Buggula]

I haven't actually played Skyrim yet, but I've been dreaming of an Elder Scrolls MMORPG ever since Daggerfall.

Maybe PFO will satiate that need. I'm being cautiously optimistic.

[Fake Healer]

Count Buggula wrote:

I haven't actually played Skyrim yet, but I've been dreaming of an Elder Scrolls MMORPG ever since Daggerfall.

Maybe PFO will satiate that need. I'm being cautiously optimistic.

You are missing out on a truly amazing game....I can't even give words to how great it is. I can and will be playing this game for the next 3-4 years easily with some minor breaks.

[Count Buggula]

Fake Healer wrote:

Count Buggula wrote:

I haven't actually played Skyrim yet, but I've been dreaming of an Elder Scrolls MMORPG ever since Daggerfall.

Maybe PFO will satiate that need. I'm being cautiously optimistic.

You are missing out on a truly amazing game....I can't even give words to how great it is. I can and will be playing this game for the next 3-4 years easily with some minor breaks.

I'm just having a hard time bringing myself to go and get it after having my heart broken by Oblivion. I already know enough about the character mechanics (or dumbing down/removal thereof) to make me cringe. I guess the key is if I can play the game as a standalone game, removing any expectations that I carry over from Daggerfall and Morrowind, I think I could enjoy it.

[Derek Vande Brake]

I have to say that, game mechanics-wise, Morrowind is my favorite CRPG so far. And the Baldur's Gate Trilogy is my favorite in terms of plot and character interaction.

[FoxBat_]

DeaconX wrote:

Scott Betts wrote:

The dynamics of game design change fundamentally when you add an extra 10,000 Dovahkiin to the game.

Well, obviously that shouldn't happen ;) I'm not saying take SKYRIM's single player specific story...

But the way the game is designed overall, if it could be an MMORPG it's the one I'd want to be in.

His point has nothing to do with story, and everything to do with giving 10,000 players the Elder Scrolls experience.

Elder Scrolls games are to a large extent an open sandbox. You can do whatever you want in the world and your actions make a lasting impact. Thing is you don't have to worry about competing with 10,000 other players that want to get in the way of whatever you are doing.

Anytime you give different players power over the same virtual object or world, and they want to do different things, there will be competition. The PFO devs sound like they want to channel that competition in certain interesting directions, but it makes for a very different experience than being the Skyrim hero and automatically winning at whatever you want to do with a mild effort.

[Mok]

Ever since I played Elder Scrolls Arena eons ago what I've really wanted would be some kind of multiplayer coop version of a Bethesda Softworks game.

If you went back earlier, when we'd play Wizardry or some of the early Ultima games, such as Ultima III, you did get to have a multiplayer coop experience by having you and your friends just all gather around the computer, make your characters and then go through the game as a party. Either one person just typed everything in, or it was hotseat. A lot of games worked like this in the 80s.

It was in the 90s when Arena came out where you got this great FPS perspective, but were now trapped in a single player experience that it got frustrating.

This is the problem I've always had, as nothing is made that fits into being a party well. MMO's suffer from a cast of thousands which transforms the game into something different from a traditional narrative. Meanwhile, to make a rich setting and detailed NPCs and plots has always veered towards single player games, because the sheer amount of work to weave multiple PCs through complicated dialogue trees is evidently too hard.

I think the perfect game for me would be something like Fallout 3 or Skyrim, but with four player coop, which somehow retains all of this elaborate NPC interaction.

Hopefully someday it will be made.

I'm still not sure about PFO. I've never enjoyed MMOs before. This sandbox approach sounds appealing in some ways, but having to cater to the lowest common denominator in so many ways degrades my interest. Just have to see how it unfolds...

[Elth]

Count Buggula wrote:

Fake Healer wrote:

Count Buggula wrote:

I haven't actually played Skyrim yet, but I've been dreaming of an Elder Scrolls MMORPG ever since Daggerfall.

Maybe PFO will satiate that need. I'm being cautiously optimistic.

You are missing out on a truly amazing game....I can't even give words to how great it is. I can and will be playing this game for the next 3-4 years easily with some minor breaks.

I'm just having a hard time bringing myself to go and get it after having my heart broken by Oblivion. I already know enough about the character mechanics (or dumbing down/removal thereof) to make me cringe. I guess the key is if I can play the game as a standalone game, removing any expectations that I carry over from Daggerfall and Morrowind, I think I could enjoy it.

I never enjoyed Morrowind or Oblivion, but I thoroughly enjoy Skyrim.

I'm looking forward to seeing some hardcore mods too.

Scott Betts wrote:

The dynamics of game design change fundamentally when you add an extra 10,000 Dovahkiin to the game.

Then remove the Dovahkiin story.

This is the same problem I had with Age of Conan, Rift and the upcoming Star Wars MMO. I like MMO's, but I want to make my own character and have my own story. Surprisingly it's possible to do this in WOW and WAR.

I hardly even bother with it in my own games. I started to on my first play through, then rerolled because I don't want to be a special snowflake. I'm now trying to play the game on it's hardest difficulty as a thief with just a bow and a single dagger. No armor either. It's taking me a lot longer to get through, but every encounter also requires a more strategic approach.

[Slaunyeh]

Fake Healer wrote:

You are missing out on a truly amazing game....I can't even give words to how great it is. I can and will be playing this game for the next 3-4 years easily with some minor breaks.

How does Skyrim compare to Morrowind or Oblivion?

[Franz Lunzer]

I played Morrowind, Oblivion and now Skyrim, and I have to say, I like Skyrim best.

But really, what do you want to compare? Graphics? Number of bugs? Story/quests?

Yeah, the skill-system has changed (just a bit, really), but I like it now.

[MicMan]

The fact that the devs of Skyrim stated that they didn't include even an multiplayer option (not MMO just 2-4 peeps) because they would have to fundamentally change the game for the worse, should tell that it is not that easy.

Most things that make Skyrim so cool are not transportable into the MMO world and these that are, can already be found there.

[Fake Healer]

Slaunyeh wrote:

Fake Healer wrote:

You are missing out on a truly amazing game....I can't even give words to how great it is. I can and will be playing this game for the next 3-4 years easily with some minor breaks.

How does Skyrim compare to Morrowind or Oblivion?

IMO Skyrim is a much better game, not to put down either of the previous because I have around 800 hours on Oblivion and love it...I just find Skyrim to be a much more satisfying experience. There are encounters that you can't beat until you reach a certain level which makes you need to avoid some places or areas until you are stronger. Giants are crazy tough. Trolls, don't mess with until you hit a higher level. The interface is easy and the ability to have a follower is fun. Planning on marrying mine today. lol

[superfly2000]

Skyrim feels like an action/shooter game rather than an RPG to me (at least how the combat is handled)...

The lack of multiplayer makes it totally uninteresting for me...even though I have to admit it kinda looks cool :-)

[Count Buggula]

superfly2000 wrote:

Skyrim feels like an action/shooter game rather than an RPG to me (at least how the combat is handled)...

The lack of multiplayer makes it totally uninteresting for me...even though I have to admit it kinda looks cool :-)

That's kind of why I'm still feeling unsure about it. I didn't really play Arena, but Daggerfall and Morrowind felt very much like immerse RPGs to me, and ever sense then with Oblivion and now Skyrim they've been drastically cutting away at the actual characterization mechanics and simplifying it to become more of an "accessible" action game.

Good for them in making a game that makes them way more cash, but it's no longer the kind of game I want to play. I LIKED having way more skills, weapon choices, stats, and options to choose from. Heck, half the fun I had in Morrowind was going back over the first few hours of the game over and over again because I loved creating new characters and trying all the new and different kinds of concepts you could do.

[Elth]

Count Buggula wrote:

superfly2000 wrote:

Skyrim feels like an action/shooter game rather than an RPG to me (at least how the combat is handled)...

The lack of multiplayer makes it totally uninteresting for me...even though I have to admit it kinda looks cool :-)

That's kind of why I'm still feeling unsure about it. I didn't really play Arena, but Daggerfall and Morrowind felt very much like immerse RPGs to me, and ever sense then with Oblivion and now Skyrim they've been drastically cutting away at the actual characterization mechanics and simplifying it to become more of an "accessible" action game.

Good for them in making a game that makes them way more cash, but it's no longer the kind of game I want to play. I LIKED having way more skills, weapon choices, stats, and options to choose from. Heck, half the fun I had in Morrowind was going back over the first few hours of the game over and over again because I loved creating new characters and trying all the new and different kinds of concepts you could do.

Some quests in Skyrim absolutely blew me away, had me enthralled for every second of it. While others were obvious fillers and I merely ignored them or forgot about them and made my own fun. I would put Skyrim above Oblivion and Morrowind, but not as indepth as Arena/Daggerfall (this is probably because of nostalgia though).

I would definitely recommend it over any other single player or MMO RPG currently on the market.

[Sebastian]

I don't think I'd like a Skyrim MMORPG, but I wouldn't mind either (a) having a finite Skyrim game (I can play in the same world as a small handful of my friends, say 2-4) or (b) being able to play multiple characters each of whom has an effect on the world (so, if my first character kills everyone in one town, the second character I make/play will find everyone in that town killed).