Is it goodbye to the cinematic trailers?

Maitsukas · May 15

The last two CGI trailers for Necrom and Gold Road were made by The Mill, its parent company Technicolor shut down in February, laying off all employees under the latter's wing in the process:
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/technicolor-shut-down-mpc-the-mill-b2704018.html

Mathius_Mordred · May 16

It's a shame, I miss those awesome trailers. I still think the woman in the original trailer was a real actress, she looks much more realistic than the later ones where you can clearly see it's CGI. In any case I think the first was one of the best in terms of realism despite it being 10 years old now. High Isle is my second favourite and I main my tank as the Ascendant Lord in all the gear, even having to do all those damn Galen quests to get the final piece, the Greatsword lol.

colossalvoids · May 16

Seems like it at least for now, I'm good if the money are going into other directions instead. Personally never liked those besides the first ones for the base game, which were much more lore relevant and structured lot better, newer ones were more like a fantasies from people who never played the game, had no relation to them whatsoever and being not applicable at all for the actual game or the plot most of the times or being too vague with it. Elsweyr being kind of exception with it, but still not even close to relevancy of base game ones. Personally you do it good or you don't do it at all, respectfully.

alternatelder · May 16

colossalvoids wrote: »

Seems like it at least for now, I'm good if the money are going into other directions instead. Personally never liked those besides the first ones for the base game, which were much more lore relevant and structured lot better, newer ones were more like a fantasies from people who never played the game, had no relation to them whatsoever and being not applicable at all for the actual game or the plot most of the times or being too vague with it. Elsweyr being kind of exception with it, but still not even close to relevancy of base game ones. Personally you do it good or you don't do it at all, respectfully.

Sounds like you didn't even watch the new ones.

colossalvoids · May 16

alternatelder wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Seems like it at least for now, I'm good if the money are going into other directions instead. Personally never liked those besides the first ones for the base game, which were much more lore relevant and structured lot better, newer ones were more like a fantasies from people who never played the game, had no relation to them whatsoever and being not applicable at all for the actual game or the plot most of the times or being too vague with it. Elsweyr being kind of exception with it, but still not even close to relevancy of base game ones. Personally you do it good or you don't do it at all, respectfully.

Sounds like you didn't even watch the new ones.

Got enough with necrom, ty!

ZOS_Kevin · May 20

So this year, we worked on a live action trailer. Never say never to cinematic trailers, but this year, we wanted to focus on a different kind of trailer. You can see the new live action trailer now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobhrqdVjBg

TaSheen · May 20

Um. Okay for what it is, but I definitely prefer the "You belong here" one from before Gold Road.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour · May 20

Wow...that trailer was just terrible.

Syldras · May 20

Ah, I see, they've decided to go full-on cosplay for mer now

sans-culottes · May 20

The_Meathead wrote: »

Silaf wrote: »

I personally prefer if ZOS would focus on a real TV series instead of trailers.

I'm sure an Elder Scrolls tv adaptation would sell well and increase the games sales too.

Man, I shudder to think what Amazon or Netflix would do with the Elder Scrolls.

There would be absolutely NO nuance or shades of grey, it would be 100% black and white/good vs evil, with "good" being a ham-fisted barely hidden representation of whatever chosen social agenda is on the current modern radar.

No thank you. Even ESO is starting to get hesitant with certain themes that have been present in ES games since inception, I cannot imagine the folks who ruined Wheel of Time or made Rings of Power getting a hold of it. Showrunners are hell on intellectual property.

Funny how “nuance” so often means “let’s avoid anything that might resemble modern social reality.” TES has always been full of morally ambiguous factions, imperial collapse, religious zealotry, and cultural conflict. The idea that exploring those same themes today would somehow be an “agenda” says more about the viewer than the writing.

If anything, then the real risk with a TV adaptation isn’t “too much agenda,” it’s the opposite. That is to say, a watered-down fantasy stripped of the complexity and contradictions that made TES what it is.

And for those worried that a more inclusive or contemporary lens would destroy the series, I’d gently suggest revisiting the actual games. They’ve never been as apolitical as you might wish.

Syldras · May 20

sans-culottes wrote: »

Funny how “nuance” so often means “let’s avoid anything that might resemble modern social reality.” TES has always been full of morally ambiguous factions, imperial collapse, religious zealotry, and cultural conflict. The idea that exploring those same themes today would somehow be an “agenda” says more about the viewer than the writing.

I'm not the person you replied to, but I think that user criticized exactly that: That some topics might not be shown anymore today because they might make someone "uncomfortable"; and that some people nowadays seem to think that to be a commercial success you have to avoid being "unsafe" at all costs. Which in the end makes the whole thing boring, because the world of TES has never been a safe place and it's exactly all the conflicts and cultural differences that makes Tamriel interesting.

I'm personally not someone who believes in "hidden agendas" or anything like that. But I fully believe that movie or tv show writers nowadays could remove topics because "We can't show that anymore!", or that every cultural aspect in TES that's incorrect from a moral real-life standpoint has to be resolved in a safe way in writing somehow. Like "Oh no, cannibalism will turn the viewers away, let the Bosmer just decide to give that up and eat fruit".

In a way this would be the "contemporary lens" destroying the lore, in the way that it is believed that only things that are in line with today's real world sentiments are allowed to be shown. Since less and less people seem to be able to understand that fiction doesn't not need to mirror the real world, that fictional morals can be different to real world morals, and that not everything a writer portrays is meant as a moral teaching or endorsement of the acts shown, I fully see this risk. And this is not specific to TES, but a general problem with media and even art today.

Pixiepumpkin · May 20

Syldras wrote: »

I'm personally not someone who believes in "hidden agendas" or anything like that.

As someone who worked in Hollywood (and I mean Hollywood proper and Burbank) for about 15 years, rest assured "hidden agendas" are very real and very much take place.

Syldras · May 20

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

As someone who worked in Hollywood (and I mean Hollywood proper and Burbank) for about 15 years, rest assured "hidden agendas" are very real and very much take place.

I believe there are agendas - or background motives, to use a less controversial term - , and maybe there are also arrangements and deals. I wouldn't even call that unusual, people and companies usually have some kind of goal or might have messages they want to convey.

I'm just not sure how secret and hidden they are, as the messages in media are often, well, rather staightforward, today.

Pixiepumpkin · May 20

Syldras wrote: »

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

As someone who worked in Hollywood (and I mean Hollywood proper and Burbank) for about 15 years, rest assured "hidden agendas" are very real and very much take place.

I believe there are agendas - or background motives, to use a less controversial term - , and maybe there are also arrangements and deals. I wouldn't even call that unusual, people and companies usually have some kind of goal or might have messages they want to convey.

I'm just not sure how secret and hidden they are, as the messages in media are often, well, rather staightforward, today.

I understand these concepts more than you can possibly imagine and still stand behind what I previously said. The agendas are not as transparent as you might believe.

Syldras · May 20

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

I understand these concepts more than you can possibly imagine and still stand behind what I previously said. The agendas are not as transparent as you might believe.

Just because I'm curious now: If they are hidden, how can so many people know about them then? It's a topic I see discussed quite often.

phantasmalD · May 20

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

So this year, we worked on a live action trailer. Never say never to cinematic trailers, but this year, we wanted to focus on a different kind of trailer. You can see the new live action trailer now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobhrqdVjBg

That..... map. Thanks, I hate it.
Absolute AI garbage.
AND it didn't even fix that atrocious Skyrim-Morrowind coastline. Double whammy.

Cloudtrader · May 20

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

So this year, we worked on a live action trailer. Never say never to cinematic trailers, but this year, we wanted to focus on a different kind of trailer. You can see the new live action trailer now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobhrqdVjBg

Fun commercial!

rothan117 · May 20

That trailer/ad certainly would not get me to play.

AllenaNightWood · May 20

i love them

Credible_Joe · May 20

Buncha negative nellies in here.

That trailer isn't for us. We're at a level of engagement that does not require advertisement. Just viewing the forums puts us WAY past that level. Posting is yet another order of magnitude above it.

Everywhere else that trailer's been platformed has had an overall positive reception. Even reddit, which surprised me.

So please. Consider the perspective of a complete stranger to Elder Scrolls that's looking into a new game with a community. That's who this trailer is for.

I don't think yet another Three Heroes cinematic would help very much with that. At a certain point it starts looking like too much to catch up on. Don't get me wrong, I love them. The High Isle cinematic has its own fan base. But it still doesn't convey what ESO is to prospective players, nor does it convey that there's no bad time to join in.

For a while it's been like watching a bunch of GREAT trailers for sequels. Entertaining. But for the most part, only the people caught up are going to see the next entries in the series.

katanagirl1 · May 21

I thought this was a fun and entertaining video. Who hasn’t been toiling away at work and also daydreaming about going home and hopping on ESO and taking out the day’s aggression on some virtual enemies?

Zyaneth_Bal · May 21

It’s like all the good stuff is slowly being taken away from the game

Warhawke_80 · May 21

Fun video...but I prefer the epic cinematic trailers....

Here is a truth bomb

In "doing things differently" You guys are making us believe that ESO is on the Back Burner and the next stop is maintenance mode...

Stop doing that.... We want ESO to be the huge larger than life experience we all know and love.

alternatelder · May 21

phantasmalD wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

So this year, we worked on a live action trailer. Never say never to cinematic trailers, but this year, we wanted to focus on a different kind of trailer. You can see the new live action trailer now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobhrqdVjBg

That..... map. Thanks, I hate it.
Absolute AI garbage.
AND it didn't even fix that atrocious Skyrim-Morrowind coastline. Double whammy.

What? You've never explored areas such as Berchensod, Smagewfen, Murrmirf, Grantwido?

Nissowolf · May 21

the trailer is simply horrendous. Like, the costumes are cheap, the CGI is cheap, the dragon looks like it comes from a ps2 cinematic, blatant use of Artificial intelligence for the map, the make-up of the dunmer is vomit-inducing. I swear, this. is. the. worst.

Rungar · May 21

Nissowolf wrote: »

the trailer is simply horrendous. Like, the costumes are cheap, the CGI is cheap, the dragon looks like it comes from a ps2 cinematic, blatant use of Artificial intelligence for the map, the make-up of the dunmer is vomit-inducing. I swear, this. is. the. worst.

its not the worst but if zos really wants new customers they just need to fix the combat system and revamp the dungeon experience. A trailer is fine but its pretty shallow compared to having the right systems in place for your proposed audience.

amig186 · May 21

alternatelder wrote: »

phantasmalD wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

So this year, we worked on a live action trailer. Never say never to cinematic trailers, but this year, we wanted to focus on a different kind of trailer. You can see the new live action trailer now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobhrqdVjBg

That..... map. Thanks, I hate it.
Absolute AI garbage.
AND it didn't even fix that atrocious Skyrim-Morrowind coastline. Double whammy.

What? You've never explored areas such as Berchensod, Smagewfen, Murrmirf, Grantwido?

Are you sure it's AI and not just a hand-drawn map with scribbled names?

As for the video itself, I think it would make me curious about ESO if nothing else, so it does its job.

barney2525 · May 21

I liked the trailers. I admit I never understood why the 3 of them started attacking the knight.

Seemed like we knew from the get-go that no one was going to win.

ADarklore · May 21

It's interesting... because I've been saying many times about how Rich said years ago in a podcast that ESO failed as a true MMO and that they realized the majority of players wanted "Skyrim with friends". Every time I'd state what he said, some people would be in denial about it, that ESO was an 'MMO', that when devs would make changes that pushed ESO further towards 'Skyrim with friends' they would complain that it's not following MMO rules- many of the same people complaining about Subclassing today. I've said that ESO caters towards players who are solo or who want 'Skyrim with friends', and again people would say I was wrong. And yet, here we have this new trailer, and at the very end it even says, "Play alone or with friends". So if this wasn't an advertisement for "Skyrim with Friends" then I don't know what would be.

Syldras · May 21

ADarklore wrote: »

So if this wasn't an advertisement for "Skyrim with Friends" then I don't know what would be.

It certainly shows that direction.

There was also a statement in the last reveal stream about how they imagine this game to be some "TES online world" where you could basically just "live" in it. For me that sounded like they were focussing even less on combat, but plan to go for social aspects or maybe minigames more. So not even story content, it seemed to me. Which would be something I dislike. I mean, I'm not against getting more tavern games or something like that, but as the only new additions to the game, that would clearly not interest me.