The Elder Scrolls Online channels the legacy of years upon years of single player adventures and, according to Game Director Matt Frior, the new game sets out to avoid most of the trappings found in Massively Multiplayer Online Games.
In an interview with GameReactor, Firor explains that The Elder Scrolls Online "is more a multiplayer Elder Scrolls game than an MMO. [The game has] very limited UI, nice and clean, not a lot of bars. The combat system is very much action-based. It's also soloable, you can solo almost the entire game. We wanted to get Elder Scrolls players who were unfamiliar with online games and MMO terms to get in, play, have fun and get introduced to the multiplayer aspects (via JustPushStart)."
In another throwback to past games in the series, Bethesda has introduced a first-person mode and tied together several Elder Scrolls settings that fans, a move which will likely strike a nostalgic chord with long-time fans.
Firor adds, "We promote that you're the hero, you get to make choices, because even if you're not in a group and you're talking to a NPC, and they give you a choice - that choice is yours. Not your group; there are no group decisions in this game."
While not all of the familiar Elder Scrolls gameplay elements will carry over, the developer is hard at work in adapting the spirit of the franchise to a multiplayer space.
As for the story, lead writer Wynne McLaughlin explains the premise:
"Using daedric machines called Dark Anchors, he plans to merge the world Tamriel with world of Coldharbour in Oblivion, which is the realm he rules...There is an ancient prophecy in The Elder Scrolls that says the soulless one will thwart Molag Bal's plans; and in fact the player is the soulless one."
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