Combat

Combat is not real-time due to latency, and is based around stamina which can perform actions such as blocking and breaking incapacitating effects. Blocking can also stop the secondary effects of an attack, such as an ice attack slowing you down. Healing is a big part of the game, despite Zenimax describing stamina as breaking the Holy Trinity - tanks, healers and DPS classes - in MMORPGs.

There is no aggro mechanic.

More screenshots in next pages.

Setup and development

“The Imperial throne sits empty. The Dragonfire’s cold, unlit, and from every corner darkness rose. Now, ancient enemies band together. Unlikely alliances are forged. Old ambitions rekindle. And as enemies rise faster than allies, salvation cannot come through one hero alone … but from many,” the trailer voiceover says.

The game has been in development since 2007 across a team of 250 people. It is played from a third-person perspective, and is built around the idea that the evil force is defeated at the beginning of the game and everyone wants to be the Emperor. The game is also fully voice acted, it was confirmed by GameInformer.

There will also be Daedric prince Molag Bal, the antagonist in the game, and others like Vaermina who has a sphere of influence that extends into the nightmares and dreams of mortals.

Mechanics

Like traditional MMOs, the game uses a hotbar for skills and visually looks like Star Wars: The Old Republic as it shares the Hero Engine. Skills can be changed whenever out of combat: a light and heavy attack take up the first two spots, with additional class-related spells and a final ultimate skill. The art style is similar to RIFT, or Everquest 2.

Zenimax Online also confirmed players cannot become a vampire or werewolf, unlike previous titles. Crafting, alchemy and soul stones will exist in an unrevealed form. Soul stones are used in the single player games to recharge weapon augments, which are magic-based.

Radiant AI will not be present, but known towns from the franchise will be such as Imperial City and Daggerfall. Flying mounts won’t be in also, but ground mounts feature. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t feature flying mounts as ArenaNet believes the scope of the game is ruined, as entire sections of the world can be skipped. Online’s world is bigger than Skyrim’s - set 1000 years before - so that could be in the developer’s minds.

Talking of towns, wayshrines are Online’s version of waypoints that double up as resurrection points. Once a wayshrine is visited, players can teleport to locations. Some large areas will be saved for expansion packs and are therefore inaccessible.

There most likely won’t be dragons, which players could fight and gain abilities from in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Player housing also isn’t included and players can’t romance or marry NPCs.

“It needs to be comfortable for people who are coming in from a typical massively multiplayer game that has the same control mechanisms, but it also has to appeal to Skyrim players,” Zenimax Online said.

Traditional mechanics such as classes and experience points are in, but the team is trying to represent the core fantasy experience presented in other Elder Scrolls games, such as righting wrongs or seeking riches.

The level cap takes about 120 hours to reach, and each faction has its own levelling content.

World design

Three player factions feature: the Ebonheart Pact which is made up of the Nords, Dunmen and Argoninans; the Aldmeri Dominion which includes the Altmer, Bosmar and the cat species, the Khajit; and finally the Daggerfall Covenant which includes Bretons, Redguards and Orcs.

There are no hubs in The Elder Scrolls Online because the developers wanted to emulate the scope of previous Elder Scrolls games. An example given was players don’t pick up quests, but instead might stumble upon a cave where a certain number of enemies need to be killed and a person needs rescuing. That person would then give players a reward.

NPCs also do and don’t give players a waypoint towards a quest, though the developers didn’t say whether it depended on high- or low-level content.

PvP, dungeons

Players vs Player combat is based around taking keeps by using trebuchets and other weapons to capture areas. High-end PvP is 100-player battles, with farms and mines to take over. Most of this happens in Cyrodiil where the goal is to take over and hold Imperial City to get faction wide bonuses.

The most accomplished player on the team becomes the Emperor when you take over the capital. Taking over Cyrodiil allows players to venture in it as a hostile city, like Kvatch in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which was under siege by enemies who came through the oblivion gates.

Dungeons allow everyone in the sever to be involved at the same time, along with standard instanced dungeons that are team-based. The former sounds like Dynamic Events in Guild Wars 2, where all players can play together to complete the same objective.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.

The Elder Scrolls Screenshots Surfaced

The Elder Scrolls Online is the franchise’s first entry into multiplayer, a feature requested by many fans over past games. After revealing the game on GameInformer’s July issue cover image, ZeniMax Online released a teaser trailer even as screenshots of the game surfaced.