The Elder Scrolls Online Interview

The folks over at MMORPG.com were able to track down ZeniMax Online’s Paul Sage for a brief article-style interview about The Elder Scrolls Online and the progress they’ve made on the massively multiplayer RPG since we saw it at last year’s E3. A few paragraphs to kick things off:

We then chatted about the combat and how it’s coming along. Since E3 the team’s been working on making combat much more “Elder Scrollsy” in that left click controls your attacks while right click will block. Then there is a singular hotbar that controls special skills, but no more than that. The team doesn’t want the UI to prevail the entire game’s action. Now the team’s working on balance, mob AI, and the sort of synergies between skills that that mobs and player’s can use to gang up on each other. A player can lay down an oil slick for instance, and then a magic-user could light that oil on fire. The mobs can do this too, but now the team is making sure these synergies are as varied as they realistically can be so that combat throughout the game is exciting and reactive.

We then chatted a bit about the progression model for the game, and Paul said that even since we visited the studio in October a lot has changed. They’re really focused on making sure that every single player can build the character of their dreams, and that even when one hits the level cap of 50, you’re still only about 1/3 of the way towards fully developing your character. Once at the cap, the game becomes about broadening your horizons and lateral progression: making your character as diverse and capable of handling all comers and any situation. Achievers and will love this game, according to Paul.

In terms of Guilds, Paul told us that the goal is to make sure they’re as connected as possible, and that they give players a place of belonging in the world. That you’ll want to serve for your guild, represent them, and help them in the Alliance War effort in Cyrodiil, even if you’re not a PVP fan typically. You’ll be able to join multiple guilds, but without giving to many details, Paul assured us that there will be functions in place to make this a fairly inclusive feature, not exclusive (sacrificing one guild for the other, etc.). When I asked him if players from different Alliances (factions) in TESO would be able to join the same guild, he said that it was a good question and to wait and see… interesting, no?