14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Bethesda has now confirmed that they are working on an MMO set in the Elder Scrolls universe and the development team at ZeniMax Online Studios has revealed some more details about the experience it plans to craft.
The Game Informer cover story about The Elder Scrolls Online says that players will be able to join every guild they have found in previous Elder Scrolls video game, with the Fighters, Thieves and Mages Guild mentioned by name, although it is not clear whether the Companions and the Dark Brotherhood are also included.
The development team plans to create a complex skill system and a progression that takes around 120 hours to reach the level cap.
The actual combat will be focused around stamina and mana use, as it was in Skyrim, but a new element called finesse will be added, allowing skilled players to unleash stronger attacks in order to finish an enemy quickly and get more loot.
Gamers will be able to join three very distinct factions: The Ebonheart Pact that links the Nords, the Dunmer and the Argonians in the north and the east of the game world; The Aldmeri Dominion that includes the Altmer, the Bosmer and the Khajiit in the south east; and The Daggerfall Covenant that binds the Orcs with the Bretons and the Redguards in the north west.
Elsewyr, Summerset Isle and Skyrim will be included in The Elder Scrolls Online from launch day and Cyrodiil will be the main Player versus Player area, with more provinces delivered via expansions.
The development team at ZeniMax Online says that the quest system will be similar to that of single-player titles set in the same universe, with big quests linked to smaller random encounters and a design that emphasizes a number of cities where gamers can interact with NPCs and with each other.
The Elder Scrolls Online is expected to launch in 2013, on Mac and PC.