Matt Firor Interview Gamescom 2018

nTranced

This is an audio only interview; the video is just ESO trailers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InykB4dA6KI

Some points (not in order):

• Story DLC such as Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, Clockwork City and Murkmire are deep dives into specific parts of Tamriel
• Chapters such as Morrowind, Summerset (and I would guess Orsinium) are bigger story arcs with world changing events
• ESO is much too big ~60-70GB for the Nintendo Switch which only has 16GB capacity
• Already working on 2019 Chapter and planning 2020 Chapter
• If the community likes a character such as Razum-dar, Naryu, etc. may return in future DLC or Chapters
• Some people only played Morrowind then left the game until Summerset and then left again after completing Summerset
• Chapters are not expansions because there is no character leveling required unlike other MMOs

Narvuntien

I think the players that buy expansions complete them and leave are elder scrolls fans that hate MMOs.

Reverb

Thank you for summarizing. I learned about 2 years ago that listening to Firor interviews puts me in a bad mood, I'm always grateful for people who pass along the info.

VaranisArano

Those Players who played Morrowind and skipped Clockwork City and came back for Summerset must have been rather confused as to why

Nocturnal didn't just use the Skeleton Key on Crystal LIke Law one she had the heart and just WIN. Instant Game Over.

I didnt understand the importance of Clockwork City's plot, which prevents Nocturnal from getting the Skeleton Key, until Summerset. in hindsight, wow. Well played, ZOS writers, well played.

Elsonso

Well, he confirmed that we will get two dungeon DLC per year, like this year, and only one story DLC (not counting the Chapter).

Aside from the fact that I play the game for the story content, not the dungeon content, I have to wonder whether ESO is going to be so dungeon heavy that it will end up being a problem.

AlienatedGoat

lordrichter wrote: »

Well, he confirmed that we will get two dungeon DLC per year, like this year, and only one story DLC (not counting the Chapter).

Aside from the fact that I play the game for the story content, not the dungeon content, I have to wonder whether ESO is going to be so dungeon heavy that it will end up being a problem.

Honestly its not dungeon heavy enough. 4 dungeons a year is still very few compared to some other games. Add a trial a year, maybe an arena every couple years - and endgame content is pretty sparse.

MLGProPlayer

lordrichter wrote: »

Well, he confirmed that we will get two dungeon DLC per year, like this year, and only one story DLC (not counting the Chapter).

Aside from the fact that I play the game for the story content, not the dungeon content, I have to wonder whether ESO is going to be so dungeon heavy that it will end up being a problem.

Dungeons take about an hour to figure out and complete. That's 4 hours of content per year.

Chapters take 30 hours to complete, story DLC 10 hours. That's 40 hours of content per year.

And you're complaining...

This is the most story-driven MMO ever released. The endgame content is sparse if anything.

Tan9oSuccka

I hope they ditch the dungeon DLCs.

Elsonso

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Well, he confirmed that we will get two dungeon DLC per year, like this year, and only one story DLC (not counting the Chapter).

Aside from the fact that I play the game for the story content, not the dungeon content, I have to wonder whether ESO is going to be so dungeon heavy that it will end up being a problem.

Dungeons take about an hour to figure out and complete. That's 4 hours of content per year.

Chapters take 30 hours to complete, story DLC 10 hours. That's 40 hours of content per year.

And you're complaining...

This is the most story-driven MMO ever released. The endgame content is sparse if anything.

Not complaining. Wondering. Sheesh.

SantieClaws

So they are already planning the next two chapters yes?

Please tell Khajiit there are not two more islands full of elves she must save yes?

Elsweyr please. The age of the elf has passed and now the torch passes to Khajiit who will put it safely somewhere while she takes a nap.

Khajiit met Mr Matt once but he would say nothing when asked. He only laughed, probably while secretly inventing islands full of elves we do not even know yet!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Recremen

I love ESO and the things in it but there seems to be so much pointless effort trying to brand things as something they aren't. Chapters, DLC, Expansions all fall into exactly the same category of "stuff you pay for that gets added to the game after launch" and trying to make up differences between them when they aren't even internally consistent is just silly. I mean we had Imperial City branded as a "DLC" even though there was a character leveling requirement built into it. Should we go back and call that an expansion?

EDIT: okay so ACTUALLY I typed a hot load of BS based on the summary before I went and listened to the interview. Firor literally says "and realistically, they are just expansions" in the video. I was wrong in characterizing the actual thrust of the interview in this way.

Elsonso

SantieClaws wrote: »

So they are already planning the next two chapters yes?

Please tell Khajiit there are not two more islands full of elves she must save yes?

Elsweyr please. The age of the elf has passed and now the torch passes to Khajiit who will put it safely somewhere while she takes a nap.

Khajiit met Mr Matt once but he would say nothing when asked. He only laughed, probably while secretly inventing islands full of elves we do not even know yet!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

In the interview, he practically told us where they were going next.

Dracane

You didn't list the most interesting point, which is at the very end.
The stuff coming after Murkmire is probably their most ambitious work yet. That does sound exciting.
And you also did not list the biggest turn off. Eso+ only being increased from 1500 to 1650. I love Eso+ and I will not complain about free stuff. But 150 crowns is not convincing people to sub where they haven't before.

mdylan2013

lordrichter wrote: »

SantieClaws wrote: »

So they are already planning the next two chapters yes?

Please tell Khajiit there are not two more islands full of elves she must save yes?

Elsweyr please. The age of the elf has passed and now the torch passes to Khajiit who will put it safely somewhere while she takes a nap.

Khajiit met Mr Matt once but he would say nothing when asked. He only laughed, probably while secretly inventing islands full of elves we do not even know yet!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

In the interview, he practically told us where they were going next.

I must have missed it

KerryG

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Well, he confirmed that we will get two dungeon DLC per year, like this year, and only one story DLC (not counting the Chapter).

Aside from the fact that I play the game for the story content, not the dungeon content, I have to wonder whether ESO is going to be so dungeon heavy that it will end up being a problem.

Dungeons take about an hour to figure out and complete. That's 4 hours of content per year.

Chapters take 30 hours to complete, story DLC 10 hours. That's 40 hours of content per year.

And you're complaining...

This is the most story-driven MMO ever released. The endgame content is sparse if anything.

I lurk on the forums, mostly to pick up tips. I saw your post and had to comment.

I think you're right. I'm new. I'm still finishing my first run through the game (just finished my first faction story - EP). Some days I feel like there's more content than I'll ever be able to finish. Dark Brotherhood? Wrothgar? Haven't even started. Morrowind? I bought it and still haven't done more than 20% of the content. I play for an hour or so a day - sometimes four or so on a weekend. And I've been playing for months, with breaks to play other games.

Because I haven't played since launch, the story is still new to me. When I finished EP, I told myself I'd create a new character and do it again - because I do like the story.

I play it for the story. I hate MMOs but I love this game. And what's cool is I'm not the only one. In my guild, people keep telling me: "Wait until you do AD. It has a great story," or some other thing. A lot of people play for the story.

I stopped running dungeons because I want to "be in the story." I want to read the books, the stuff you find. I want to know who The Whisperer is and why I need to kill them.

I don't play the meta. I don't min/max. I play the story.

Sorry to interrupt. This is just some random thoughts from a relatively new player.

Edit: I'm not criticizing your post. Your comment about the new content gave me something to look forward to. That probably wasn't clear.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Dracane wrote: »

The stuff coming after Murkmire is probably their most ambitious work yet. That does sound exciting.

Thing is, they always say stuff like that. Like IIRC Summerset was touted as being their biggest map to date...never mind most of that was ocean and/or unclimbable mountain. It's just marketing. The real question is, can they deliver on that?

rfennell_ESO

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

The stuff coming after Murkmire is probably their most ambitious work yet. That does sound exciting.

Thing is, they always say stuff like that. Like IIRC Summerset was touted as being their biggest map to date...never mind most of that was ocean and/or unclimbable mountain. It's just marketing. The real question is, can they deliver on that?

I'm pretty sure not saying things like "most ambitious work yet" is the quick way to sending out resumes.

It's to be expected.

Hopefully it's not Morrowind retextured, which is sort of how I felt about summerset. If it's another island that is roughly the size of Morrowind/Summerset... well, I got some reservations haha.

Of the "chapters" the only one I thought highly of was Orsinium, even though it wasn't technically "a chapter". Now that's not saying that I thought Morrowind was bad (Warden and BG's were a great addition) or that Summerset was bad (psijic skill line ain't a lot though, Jewelcrafting was a nice addition).

rfennell_ESO

lordrichter wrote: »

SantieClaws wrote: »

So they are already planning the next two chapters yes?

Please tell Khajiit there are not two more islands full of elves she must save yes?

Elsweyr please. The age of the elf has passed and now the torch passes to Khajiit who will put it safely somewhere while she takes a nap.

Khajiit met Mr Matt once but he would say nothing when asked. He only laughed, probably while secretly inventing islands full of elves we do not even know yet!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

In the interview, he practically told us where they were going next.

I listened to it, he didn't really say where they are going next.

Overall though... they did Craglorn, then they did Wrothgar, then they did Morrowind, then they did Summerset. So Centerish, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, ?.

? would be Southeast, but they are doing a smaller DLC zone there... so who knows.

Dracane

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

The stuff coming after Murkmire is probably their most ambitious work yet. That does sound exciting.

Thing is, they always say stuff like that. Like IIRC Summerset was touted as being their biggest map to date...never mind most of that was ocean and/or unclimbable mountain. It's just marketing. The real question is, can they deliver on that?

In a way, with everything combined, it was the biggest map. And they never really said, that their project is so ambitious.
Sure, Bethesda always says "this is our biggest game to date"when they release something new. But Matt in particular, did not use this term before. So I am very much looking forward to it.

ArchMikem

2019 Chapter already being worked on, wonder where this one will be. And the 2020 one already being planned?

Hopefully one of those is Elsweyr.

Sylvermynx

I'd love Elsweyr.... I'm not thrilled with Murkmire, nor Wolf-whatever.

Elsonso

ArchMikem wrote: »

2019 Chapter already being worked on, wonder where this one will be. And the 2020 one already being planned?

Hopefully one of those is Elsweyr.

Elsweyr would be a prime location for a Chapter. However, I don't think ESO is going there. My gut instinct says that BGS does not want TES 6 to follow where ZOS has been. If they want to keep TES 6 on Tamriel, they have to go somewhere ZOS has been, somewhere they have already been, or Elsweyr. ZOS is gobbling up Tamriel like a kid with Halloween candy, and BGS likes elbow room.

Troneon

You mean he didn't say NO ETA?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOCD_Jzre3c

Recremen

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

The stuff coming after Murkmire is probably their most ambitious work yet. That does sound exciting.

Thing is, they always say stuff like that. Like IIRC Summerset was touted as being their biggest map to date...never mind most of that was ocean and/or unclimbable mountain. It's just marketing. The real question is, can they deliver on that?

Every area has unclimbable mountains so that.s not exactly a point against Summerset. And when they said that it's the biggest map, they specified quite explicitly that it was the biggest playable area, even larger than Morrowind's total playable area. That said it's of course safer to remain skeptical than just believe everything that gets claimed in these press releases.

SirAxen

I will be very surprised if 2019 Chapter isn't Elsweyr. Seems like the next logical location on Tamriel to explore and expand upon.

Lylith

Dracane wrote: »

You didn't list the most interesting point, which is at the very end.
The stuff coming after Murkmire is probably their most ambitious work yet. That does sound exciting.
And you also did not list the biggest turn off. Eso+ only being increased from 1500 to 1650. I love Eso+ and I will not complain about free stuff. But 150 crowns is not convincing people to sub where they haven't before.

imho, given the ever-increasing c/s price structure, 150 additional crowns per month is pretty much ***.

ArchMikem

lordrichter wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

2019 Chapter already being worked on, wonder where this one will be. And the 2020 one already being planned?

Hopefully one of those is Elsweyr.

Elsweyr would be a prime location for a Chapter. However, I don't think ESO is going there. My gut instinct says that BGS does not want TES 6 to follow where ZOS has been. If they want to keep TES 6 on Tamriel, they have to go somewhere ZOS has been, somewhere they have already been, or Elsweyr. ZOS is gobbling up Tamriel like a kid with Halloween candy, and BGS likes elbow room.

Doubt it. Even from that short little teaser with a landscape shot for TES:6 it does not look like Elsweyr. Many have already claimed it resembles High Rock, besides I also doubt there's that kind of feud between the studios over "You can't go here cause we want to go here!". ZOS is going to keep giving us locations as long as they deem it profitable, which means they're going to keep opening up the map, Elsweyr included, and there are numerous players who'd like to go to kitty land.

Rohamad_Ali

Meanwhile at ZoS's PvP headquarters .....




The infamous tumbleweed of Cyrodiil trains for its next post .

Bam_Bam

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

Meanwhile at ZoS's PvP headquarters .....




The infamous tumbleweed of Cyrodiil trains for its next post .

I loved the bit where he said about the TLC that they've been secretly administering to Cyroodiil and PvP....

Oh wait.

He didn't say that, my meds just kicked in, that's all.

Rohamad_Ali

Bam_Bam wrote: »

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

Meanwhile at ZoS's PvP headquarters .....




The infamous tumbleweed of Cyrodiil trains for its next post .

I loved the bit where he said about the TLC that they've been secretly administering to Cyroodiil and PvP....

Oh wait.

He didn't say that, my meds just kicked in, that's all.

Cyrodiil Chapter 2 ?!

Bam_Bam

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

Bam_Bam wrote: »

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

Meanwhile at ZoS's PvP headquarters .....




The infamous tumbleweed of Cyrodiil trains for its next post .

I loved the bit where he said about the TLC that they've been secretly administering to Cyroodiil and PvP....

Oh wait.

He didn't say that, my meds just kicked in, that's all.

Cyrodiil Chapter 2 ?!

Hell yes! Have said it often, I would love to see...

Elder Scrolls Online: Cyrodiil

Except now, I'd like to see.....

Elder Scrolls Online: Cyrodiil - The End of the Alliances