The Elder Scrolls Online is an upcoming
massively multiplayer online role-playingvideo game developed by
ZeniMax Online Studios, to be released in 2014.
[4] It is a part of
The Elder Scrolls video game franchise, of which it is the first open-ended
multiplayer installment. It was announced on May 3, 2012, in an exclusive reveal by
Game Informer and formally revealed in the same month's issue of the magazine.
[1]
As with
Oblivion and
Morrowind, there will be classes. In this particular game there will be four, these include: Dragon Knight, Templar, Sorcerer and Nightblade.
As in previous
The Elder Scrolls titles, the gameplay will be mostly
nonlinear[6]with a mixture of
quests, random events, and encouragement for players to simply explore the world.
[7] The game has no offline mode, although the developers have stated that there will be "plenty of content" designed to accommodate players who prefer to play solo.
[8]
As with other games in
The Elder Scrolls franchise, the game will be set in the continent of
Tamriel and feature a storyline indirectly connected with the other games. The game will be set a
millennium before the events of
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and around 800 years before
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, with the
Daedric Prince Molag Bal appearing as the main antagonist as he attempts to pull all of Tamriel to his realm of Coldharbour.
[1]
Most of the continent of Tamriel will be playable in the game (although much of it will be locked off for expansion content), and players will have the opportunity to join any of the three factions warring over the throne of the Emperor of Tamriel:
[1] The Aldmeri Dominion (represented by an
eagle), composed of Altmer (High elf), Bosmer (Wood elf), and Khajiit; the Daggerfall Covenant (represented by a
lion), composed of Bretons, Redguards, and Orsimer (Orcs); and the Ebonheart Pact (represented by a
dragon), composed of Nords, Dunmer (Dark elf) and Argonians.
The Elder Scrolls Online had been in development for 5 years prior to its announcement in May 2012.
[1] It is the first project for ZeniMax Online Studios, which was formed in 2007. Matt Firor, studio lead at Zenimax Online, is also the director of
The Elder Scrolls Online.
[2]
While there have been rumors of a massively multiplayer
The Elder Scrolls game for years, accurate information about the game and its imminent May 2012 announcement was leaked in March 2012 to online publication
Tom's Guide by an anonymous industry source.
[9] According to the leak, the game was scheduled to be shown at
E3 2012 in June (which it was) and
QuakeCon 2012 in August. The current release date is April 4, 2014 for PC and Mac.
[4]
Published November 8, 2012, Bethesda released a video on
YouTube called "An Introduction to The Elder Scrolls Online", in which the game's developers talk about the game's content and how it was made.
[10]
On January 21, 2013, Beta sign ups for
The Elder Scrolls Online began.
[11] Rounds for the closed beta were sent out on 26 March 2013,.
[12] 8 April 2013,.
[13] 9 July 2013, 20 November 2013, 7 January 2014, 4 February 2014, and 26 February 2014.
On June 10, 2013,
Sony announced that
The Elder Scrolls Online would be available on
PlayStation 4 at their E3 press conference. It was later clarified by Bethesda that it would also be available on
Xbox One.
[14] While players on PC and Mac play together, those on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 play only with others on the same platform.
[15]
On August 21, 2013, at
Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, it was announced that
The Elder Scrolls Online will have a monthly subscription fee upon release for all platforms.
[16] The monthly fee is set at $14.99.
[17] While it was announced on January 28, 2014, that the game will not require a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online,
[18] the Xbox One version will require an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription in addition to
The Elder Scrolls Online's $14.99 /mo. subscription.
[19]
On January 23, 2014 several actors were announced to voice cast the characters of
The Elder Scrolls Online, among them
John Cleese,
Bill Nighy,
Kate Beckinsale,
Lynda Carter,
Alfred Molina,
Michael Gambon,
Jennifer Hale,
Malcolm McDowell, and
Peter Stormare.
[20]
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Online