Elder Scrolls Offline. concept...

Sparxlost

this concept adds offline play to the game (disconnect from servers still but can still play the game)

the important thing to address is the gameplay changes that would be in "offline" mode.

Offline characters will be put into the "Offline" or "no server" server option.

Player character can now have up to 3 companions and there are a lot more to choose from.. (ex.base game main story you gain friends and it would be cool if at some point you could use them to increase your party size for some of the later battles) mostly effects characters from main questlines and maybe some sidequestlines..

there is now a tab in most crafter merchants that sells top tier loot but it is super pricey. also some quests give you much more gold than they used to.. (ex. zone questlines where you basically fight a factions wars for them like some giga chad who does it for fun.) the amount of gold you get from completing a faction should roughly come out to the price of one fully gold set as crafting SHOULD be an option but NOT mandatory..

you still have to go online to purchase dlc but otherwise the game would be pretty offline-ified.. typical events will be on a set schedule...

I imagine this would take soloing the game to a whole new level of enjoyability as you could fine tune an entire party (to the extent that companions can be tuned) and Pve until you drop..

let me know if there are some issues with gameplay im forgetting to address and ill try and add them to this post..

raid mechanics. I havent done many raids in eso just because there isnt really any incentive for me to but i suppose the difficulty would need to be brought down some and the mechanics more accessible (or they could just be disabled entirely) maybe even have groups of Non party npcs that do most of the mechanics but cant to the raid without you..

jtm1018

Yeah, just overland, story and delves.

No dungeons and trials and pvp area.

Would definitely like to see this.

Braffin

Sparxlost wrote: »

this concept adds offline play to the game (disconnect from servers still but can still play the game)

the important thing to address is the gameplay changes that would be in "offline" mode.

Offline characters will be put into the "Offline" or "no server" server option.

Player character can now have up to 3 companions and there are a lot more to choose from.. (ex.base game main story you gain friends and it would be cool if at some point you could use them to increase your party size for some of the later battles) mostly effects characters from main questlines and maybe some sidequestlines..

there is now a tab in most crafter merchants that sells top tier loot but it is super pricey. also some quests give you much more gold than they used to.. (ex. zone questlines where you basically fight a factions wars for them like some giga chad who does it for fun.) the amount of gold you get from completing a faction should roughly come out to the price of one fully gold set as crafting SHOULD be an option but NOT mandatory..

you still have to go online to purchase dlc but otherwise the game would be pretty offline-ified.. typical events will be on a set schedule...

I imagine this would take soloing the game to a whole new level of enjoyability as you could fine tune an entire party (to the extent that companions can be tuned) and Pve until you drop..

let me know if there are some issues with gameplay im forgetting to address and ill try and add them to this post..

raid mechanics. I havent done many raids in eso just because there isnt really any incentive for me to but i suppose the difficulty would need to be brought down some and the mechanics more accessible (or they could just be disabled entirely) maybe even have groups of Non party npcs that do most of the mechanics but cant to the raid without you..

Sorry, but just no.

I think you are simply looking for another game at this point. They are called singleplayer games. Try skyrim or oblivion with a bunch of interesting mods (there are many of them), but stop trying to kill off the multiplayer-aspect of a multiplayer game.

It won't happen and it shouldn't happen. Period.

TaSheen

Nah. I'd just go back to deep modded Skyrim. Sorry, doesn't sound fun to me.

jtm1018

But skyrim dont have skills?
Just the boring hack and slash with magic and shouting, it gets d really fast.
Weapon, armor, class, undaunted, fighters, mages, psijic, vampire, werewolfs etc...
If there are mods that add these to skyrim, I would definitely play skyrim again.

AzuraFan

It doesn't make sense to do it when the game is alive and kicking.

But I've mentioned before that when the ESO servers shut down, it would be nice if there were a way to play it as an offline single-player game. But not before then.

(And yeah, the hope that it would convert to a single-player game is pie in the sky.)

Sparxlost

Braffin wrote: »

Sparxlost wrote: »

this concept adds offline play to the game (disconnect from servers still but can still play the game)

the important thing to address is the gameplay changes that would be in "offline" mode.

Offline characters will be put into the "Offline" or "no server" server option.

Player character can now have up to 3 companions and there are a lot more to choose from.. (ex.base game main story you gain friends and it would be cool if at some point you could use them to increase your party size for some of the later battles) mostly effects characters from main questlines and maybe some sidequestlines..

there is now a tab in most crafter merchants that sells top tier loot but it is super pricey. also some quests give you much more gold than they used to.. (ex. zone questlines where you basically fight a factions wars for them like some giga chad who does it for fun.) the amount of gold you get from completing a faction should roughly come out to the price of one fully gold set as crafting SHOULD be an option but NOT mandatory..

you still have to go online to purchase dlc but otherwise the game would be pretty offline-ified.. typical events will be on a set schedule...

I imagine this would take soloing the game to a whole new level of enjoyability as you could fine tune an entire party (to the extent that companions can be tuned) and Pve until you drop..

let me know if there are some issues with gameplay im forgetting to address and ill try and add them to this post..

raid mechanics. I havent done many raids in eso just because there isnt really any incentive for me to but i suppose the difficulty would need to be brought down some and the mechanics more accessible (or they could just be disabled entirely) maybe even have groups of Non party npcs that do most of the mechanics but cant to the raid without you..

Sorry, but just no.

I think you are simply looking for another game at this point. They are called singleplayer games. Try skyrim or oblivion with a bunch of interesting mods (there are many of them), but stop trying to kill off the multiplayer-aspect of a multiplayer game.

It won't happen and it shouldn't happen. Period.

Other games dont have the range and the story that ESO does and not to mention the gameplay. i doubt we will ever get another elder scrolls game on this scale so i personally think it is worth putting the time into doing.. some day majority of people are going to stop playing this game and when that day comes wouldnt you want it to be playable for any one person who decided to try it out?? Just because it is advertised as an online game doesnt mean it shouldnt be able to be played offline..

Braffin

jtm1018 wrote: »

But skyrim dont have skills?
Just the boring hack and slash with magic and shouting, it gets d really fast.
Weapon, armor, class, undaunted, fighters, mages, psijic, vampire, werewolfs etc...
If there are mods that add these to skyrim, I would definitely play skyrim again.

Nobody hinders you to create such a mod for any singleplayer you like. It just takes a bit of time and maybe a few likeminded people to start.

People are doing amazing projects with TES singleplayers (tamriel rebuilt, skyblivion, endereal and many more), try them or fulfill your own fantasy doing your own.

[snip]
[edited for baiting]

Sparxlost

AzuraFan wrote: »

It doesn't make sense to do it when the game is alive and kicking.

But I've mentioned before that when the ESO servers shut down, it would be nice if there were a way to play it as an offline single-player game. But not before then.

(And yeah, the hope that it would convert to a single-player game is pie in the sky.)

i mean fallout 76 has an offline mode (though you have to pay for it idk why its not like it costs money for players to play offline)
for some reason there are people out there who make good games that HAVE to be played in groups online.. its a good option but it isnt for everyone.. and i doubt they would be making less money by giving more people reason to play the game..

Braffin

Sparxlost wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

Sparxlost wrote: »

this concept adds offline play to the game (disconnect from servers still but can still play the game)

the important thing to address is the gameplay changes that would be in "offline" mode.

Offline characters will be put into the "Offline" or "no server" server option.

Player character can now have up to 3 companions and there are a lot more to choose from.. (ex.base game main story you gain friends and it would be cool if at some point you could use them to increase your party size for some of the later battles) mostly effects characters from main questlines and maybe some sidequestlines..

there is now a tab in most crafter merchants that sells top tier loot but it is super pricey. also some quests give you much more gold than they used to.. (ex. zone questlines where you basically fight a factions wars for them like some giga chad who does it for fun.) the amount of gold you get from completing a faction should roughly come out to the price of one fully gold set as crafting SHOULD be an option but NOT mandatory..

you still have to go online to purchase dlc but otherwise the game would be pretty offline-ified.. typical events will be on a set schedule...

I imagine this would take soloing the game to a whole new level of enjoyability as you could fine tune an entire party (to the extent that companions can be tuned) and Pve until you drop..

let me know if there are some issues with gameplay im forgetting to address and ill try and add them to this post..

raid mechanics. I havent done many raids in eso just because there isnt really any incentive for me to but i suppose the difficulty would need to be brought down some and the mechanics more accessible (or they could just be disabled entirely) maybe even have groups of Non party npcs that do most of the mechanics but cant to the raid without you..

Sorry, but just no.

I think you are simply looking for another game at this point. They are called singleplayer games. Try skyrim or oblivion with a bunch of interesting mods (there are many of them), but stop trying to kill off the multiplayer-aspect of a multiplayer game.

It won't happen and it shouldn't happen. Period.

Other games dont have the range and the story that ESO does and not to mention the gameplay. i doubt we will ever get another elder scrolls game on this scale so i personally think it is worth putting the time into doing.. some day majority of people are going to stop playing this game and when that day comes wouldnt you want it to be playable for any one person who decided to try it out?? Just because it is advertised as an online game doesnt mean it shouldnt be able to be played offline..

If you think it's worth the time, invest it. There are several projects out there doing so for former TES games already.

This game was an online game since the beginning and there is no need to change that given the healthy playerbase.

It is out of the question, that this playerbase would have to pay even a single minute of a developers time for an alternative offline mode.

Of course, if one day the servers are shut down (hopefully in the far future) an offline mode can be discussed. But that is not your intention, as you clearly state it would be fine to come online for the latest updates.

AzuraFan

Sparxlost wrote: »

i mean fallout 76 has an offline mode (though you have to pay for it idk why its not like it costs money for players to play offline)
for some reason there are people out there who make good games that HAVE to be played in groups online.. its a good option but it isnt for everyone.. and i doubt they would be making less money by giving more people reason to play the game..

Hey, I love playing single-player games (which is essentially what you want with an offline mode and full companion party). I play loads of them. ESO is an MMO, not a single-player game. I can sympathize with wanting to be all alone in the ESO world and to do all the content with a companion party, but it's an MMO.

As for making less money, they would probably lose money by diverting development resources to make an offline mode at the expense of the majority of players who don't want it.

TES6 is on the way (watch Todd Howard's interview with Lex Friedman and you might be surprised at how far along some of the development is) and there are some great single-player games coming out this year (Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield, to name just two). If you don't like MMOs, there are lots of other options for you.

Hapexamendios

Doesn't sound appealing. I wouldn't be interested.

phaneub17_ESO

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. the mod Advanced Follower Tweaks (AFT) let's you run with up to 5 followers. If you know how the Creation Kit works you can modify the Housecarls to your liking as they are the easiest (most of them) to obtain.

In mine I changed Iona to a dual-wielding Argonian, Lydia is a Khajiit ranger, Jordis is a tanky Dunmer, and that Markarth dude I made into an two-handed berserker Orc. I made Eola blue skinned, Serana red skinned and have them as my duo mages, capping out at 7 of us roaming the world. I also upped the stats of every enemy, took out the Dragonborn's 100% damage to dragons so things aren't a push over. If I were to solo anything I would get smashed, it's a lot of fun.

jtm1018

Braffin wrote: »

jtm1018 wrote: »

But skyrim dont have skills?
Just the boring hack and slash with magic and shouting, it gets d really fast.
Weapon, armor, class, undaunted, fighters, mages, psijic, vampire, werewolfs etc...
If there are mods that add these to skyrim, I would definitely play skyrim again.

Nobody hinders you to create such a mod for any singleplayer you like. It just takes a bit of time and maybe a few likeminded people to start.

People are doing amazing projects with TES singleplayers (tamriel rebuilt, skyblivion, endereal and many more), try them or fulfill your own fantasy doing your own.

[snip]

The subject was, if your ok with eso offline, and I was responding that I would go back to skyrim if they only have mods that give the mc in eso those skills that is in eso.

And I am not whining about multiplayer aspect of eso, love running dungeons and trials and trying hard in bg coz I suck in pvp.

[edited to remove quote]

AScarlato

This game wouldn’t appeal to me offline. I just had a stint in Skyrim and the difference for being offline is significant in level of detail for specific npcs and the game world.

Tessitura

I don't entirely get why anyone would want to do that. There are waaaay better options for single player games, way better options for Elder Scrolls games too. And the Story here is very hit and miss.

katanagirl1

Only use for offline mode I can see would be to work on a housing build. In fact, it would be nice to have some free-form create mode where you had access to all housing items and you could build a template to use to estimate the cost and materials you would need to decorate your real house.

spartaxoxo

I think an offline mode could be fun. But, nothing you do in offline mode should count towards online play or vice versa. It should be like a separate server type deal.

mocap

katanagirl1 wrote: »

it would be nice to have some free-form create mode where you had access to all housing items and you could build a template to use to estimate the cost and materials you would need to decorate your real house.

PTS

Bobargus

I love the concept. In fact, i want to have the option of being able to play and complete ALL parts of the game, in a completely solo setting.

Not that i hate ESO's multiplayer nature, i just don't want to feel like i need to rely on anyone to do anything.

If i want to so solo complete a trial, then i should be able to do so with the help of companions, for example.

If i want to do pvp battlegrounds but without other players, then i should be able to play with and against AI teammates and opponents. If For Honor can do it, why shouldn't ESO do this as well?

All in all, it is always good to have options.

Hylhe

FBS94 wrote: »

Not that i hate ESO's multiplayer nature, i just don't want to feel like i need to rely on anyone to do anything.

That's a pretty weird take in a game designed with group content. I mean, the purpose of a huge part of this game is to rely on other peoples.

If you want to solo a trial, then, you should be able to try to do so, that i can agree with you, but definitly not succeed because it is designed for 12 people sharing strenghs to overcome. It's weird enough that some dungeon can be done in solo but let's say that good knowledge of a specific content and appropriate gears are almost worth 3 other persons.

Also, i really don't like the fact that if a game do a thing, then the others should do it too. Each game has it's own design, it's own purpose.

Braffin

@FBS94, please read again what exactly you wrote: "If I want to do pvp [...] but without other players"

It's not even laughable anymore at this point.

Bobargus

@Braffin, Sounds like you've never played For Honor. In it, you can play player vs ai matches, even with ai team-mates.

I also have written the name of the game as an example in my first post. Perhaps you could do some research about it in the future.

Bobargus

@Hylhe, If i understood it correctly, you believe that since ESO is an mmorpg, it should rely on the existence of it's active players to be relevant and usable, at least in terms of activities that require more than one player. If so, i disagree.

Braffin

FBS94 wrote: »

@Braffin, Sounds like you've never played For Honor. In it, you can play player vs ai matches, even with ai team-mates.

I also have written the name of the game as an example in my first post. Perhaps you could do some research about it in the future.

Of course I have played it. That's why I tell you, that comparing a MOBA with a relatively short singleplayer campaign (well, even this is untrue, as doing it coop is possible and much more fun) and the possibility to train a few essentials using bots to a MMO like eso is completely failing both genres.

Northwold

I love the idea but a couple of issues.

1. Would BGS actually allow this when the mainline Elder Scrolls games exist?

2. You'd need it to be not permanently offline. One reason for that is that otherwise people would buy ESO and then permanently cripple their purchase by switching to offline mode. They might want from time to time to go online. The second is that the whole business model for ESO depends on continuing payments, and I don't think people paying that way for a purely offline game has arrived yet.

3. In order to keep the game switchable between offline and online modes, you need to think about things like rewards. You can't give solo players more gold, you can't give them gameplay mechanics that allow them to rack up experience more easily than in the online mode, you can't give them buffed rewards, because if you do you're effectively incentivising people to spend most of their time playing offline and only come online to play actual PvP and group content. So you end up damaging the PvP experience / unbalancing how good players are depending on how much time they spend away from multiplayer / distorting the online economy.

4. The other option is to say that offline characters can only be offline and nothing done offline can carry into online. But then you're effectively saying that players who mostly play offline should never go online because none of their playtime will have counted for anything. So I think that would be a non-starter in terms of keeping the online game world alive.

I essentially only play solo. I really would love to see this. But as you need the flexibility to go online when desired, solo offline can't become more rewarding than online.

Bobargus

@Braffin, do you seriously believe that the developers of ESO can not implement a player vs ai battleground system?

Because i believe that they can do this.

Dr_Con

FBS94 wrote: »

@Braffin, do you seriously believe that the developers of ESO can not implement a player vs ai battleground system?

Because i believe that they can do this.

The devs can make scripted and reactive encounters, but nothing can quite simulate all the mistakes someone makes and their poor build choices.

Braffin

FBS94 wrote: »

@Braffin, do you seriously believe that the developers of ESO can not implement a player vs ai battleground system?

Because i believe that they can do this.

Sure it would be possible. But sacrificing precious development time for a gimmick like this is out of the question at the moment.

Battlegrounds are playable just well how they are, although of course they should be expanded: They need more maps to play on together, maybe a new and funny playmode and options for different teamsetups (3x3x3, 4x4, and so on). The very least point on that list, if everything else is done, can be the implementation of a few bots to play with, if really needed.

And even then it had to be a training mode (exactly as in game for honor, which you mentioned). That means rewards would be restricted to pvp. Same goes for achievements, even it's possible to add a few to this training mode (something like "bot butcher" for killing 1000 bots).

amig186

It's a nice concept, but would it be worth the effort to make? ESO was created with MP in mind and a lot of it's aspects are rather shallow compared to SP RPGs. I can't deny that the size of the world and amount of customisation options have the SP games beat, but that's about it. I support making an offline mode if/when the game dies, it would be a shame for so much content to be lost.

FBS94 wrote: »

@Braffin, do you seriously believe that the developers of ESO can not implement a player vs ai battleground system?

Because i believe that they can do this.

Programming bots with player like behaviour is difficult, especially in a game with this many skills, gear sets, etc. It would likely take a lot of time and the end result would be less than satisfactory. You could try playing Smite vs AI modes if you want something similar. I can guarantee you'll have a much better time with it than with whatever abomination results from ZOS's attempts at BG with bots.

Braffin

jtm1018 wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

jtm1018 wrote: »

But skyrim dont have skills?
Just the boring hack and slash with magic and shouting, it gets d really fast.
Weapon, armor, class, undaunted, fighters, mages, psijic, vampire, werewolfs etc...
If there are mods that add these to skyrim, I would definitely play skyrim again.

Nobody hinders you to create such a mod for any singleplayer you like. It just takes a bit of time and maybe a few likeminded people to start.

People are doing amazing projects with TES singleplayers (tamriel rebuilt, skyblivion, endereal and many more), try them or fulfill your own fantasy doing your own.

[snip]

The subject was, if your ok with eso offline, and I was responding that I would go back to skyrim if they only have mods that give the mc in eso those skills that is in eso.

And I am not whining about multiplayer aspect of eso, love running dungeons and trials and trying hard in bg coz I suck in pvp.

Well, misunderstood you then 😳😹

My bad, shame on me and my apologies for you.

[edited to remove quote]