The rest of Tamriel

Sausage · May 2015

lordrichter wrote: »

No, I do not think they will ever fill in the entire map that we can see in the game today.

Hmm, you know MMOs have lifespan of 10+ years. Considering they have single playing ES games supporting this on regular basis, this game isnt going nowhere.

.

Elsonso · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

No, I do not think they will ever fill in the entire map that we can see in the game today.

Hmm, you know MMOs have lifespan of 10+ years. Considering they have single playing ES games supporting this on regular basis, this game isnt going nowhere.

.

Yes, but I do not think they will completely fill in the Tamriel map.

Gidorick · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

No, I do not think they will ever fill in the entire map that we can see in the game today.

Hmm, you know MMOs have lifespan of 10+ years. Considering they have single playing ES games supporting this on regular basis, this game isnt going nowhere.

There are a good... 25+ more Zones to be made in Tamriel... and one of the areas they're working on now isn't even a zone, it's beneath a zone. So ZOS isn't even focused on releasing the overworld zones at this point.

+25 Zones... Lets say 30 to include things like the Clockwork City and the inevitable Shivering isles DLC. That would be 3 DLC a year... 1 every 4 months. Do you really foresee ZOS releasing a FULL DLC Zone every 4 months @Sausage?

Sausage · May 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Sausage wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

No, I do not think they will ever fill in the entire map that we can see in the game today.

Hmm, you know MMOs have lifespan of 10+ years. Considering they have single playing ES games supporting this on regular basis, this game isnt going nowhere.

There are a good... 25+ more Zones to be made in Tamriel... and one of the areas they're working on now isn't even a zone, it's beneath a zone. So ZOS isn't even focused on releasing the overworld zones at this point.

+25 Zones... Lets say 30 to include things like the Clockwork City and the inevitable Shivering isles DLC. That would be 3 DLC a year... 1 every 4 months. Do you really foresee ZOS releasing a FULL DLC Zone every 4 months @Sausage?

With expansion maybe? Some developers add content and make expansions too. Think about if, if they raise the level cap, they need to add new zone to every faction and thats 3 zones already.

I see your point though.

Gidorick · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Sausage wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

No, I do not think they will ever fill in the entire map that we can see in the game today.

Hmm, you know MMOs have lifespan of 10+ years. Considering they have single playing ES games supporting this on regular basis, this game isnt going nowhere.

There are a good... 25+ more Zones to be made in Tamriel... and one of the areas they're working on now isn't even a zone, it's beneath a zone. So ZOS isn't even focused on releasing the overworld zones at this point.

+25 Zones... Lets say 30 to include things like the Clockwork City and the inevitable Shivering isles DLC. That would be 3 DLC a year... 1 every 4 months. Do you really foresee ZOS releasing a FULL DLC Zone every 4 months @Sausage?

With expansion maybe? Some developers add content and make expansions too.

I see your point though.

I also dream @Sausage ... I hope we not only see the rest of Tamriel but more of Nirn. There's also the open seas that I hope we get to travel. Imagine sailing the Eltheric ocean on your own ship or as a member of the crew, fighting sea monsters, battling through raging storms, pirating, smuggling, finding sunken treasure....

I need to stop this.. lol. They would have to have 4 teams working on DLC, each making 1 DLC every 8 months to have a sliver of a chance of all this being released.

Anyway, here's a thread where I do a bit of dreaming about expnsions and DLC: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/149340/hopefully-someday-we-will-travel-all-of-nirn/p1

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · May 2015

We can dream, but I seriously doubt the lights will stay on for 10 years to come. Successful MMOs live for 10 years or more, but so far, this isn't one of them.

Sausage · May 2015

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO wrote: »

We can dream, but I seriously doubt the lights will stay on for 10 years to come. Successful MMOs live for 10 years or more, but so far, this isn't one of them.

Most MMOs live 10 year, definitely more than 50%, Some oldies what are still alive and were supposedly to fail in first year, like Age of Conan, Lord of the Ring, or Dungeons and Dragons Online. If you think the IP of ES and also how important ES is to the whole game industry, it will live long time. ES is iconic in game industry, every damn nerd gets shivers when he thinks ES.

Lets see 10 year... 4 expansion, thats 12 new zones, and if they add 1 zone per year, thats 22.

Robo_Hobo · May 2015

I like to think the reason for the similarity in names is due to 'senche' possibly meaning something along the lines of 'feircesome' in ta'agra, and the khajiit senche was originally called 'senche-khajiit' before just being called 'senche' out of convenience, hence the confusion.

If this is true it also explains how the city of Senchal in southeastern Elsweyr got it's name - for what we know of it, it is quite an unfriendly and dangerous city to live in.

LMar · May 2015

Looking forward to explore loads of new and familiar places!

Faulgor · May 2015

We haven't seen a new zone in a year. How long do you expect this game to run?

BigM · May 2015

Faulgor wrote: »

We haven't seen a new zone in a year. How long do you expect this game to run?

With the new bots in game along with no new content, it is already in a death spiral.

Elsonso · May 2015

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO wrote: »

We can dream, but I seriously doubt the lights will stay on for 10 years to come. Successful MMOs live for 10 years or more, but so far, this isn't one of them.

Isn't one that has lasted 10 years or isn't a successful MMO?

I will agree that ESO is not the first, since it has only been out for a year. As to the second, it depends on whether you expect ESO to be top-of-the-market successful or insanely-popular successful, or making-a-profit successful. I strongly suspect that ESO will fall in with the last of those, a making-a-profit successful MMO. As far as longevity and new content goes, that is the only one that matters.

That said, there is really no reason for them to make it a priority to fill in the Tamriel map, and doing so heralds the end of game expansion options in Tamriel. We will never have a "walk-from-zone-to-zone" map like Azeroth in this game, so a full map really does not mean as much. There are endless opportunities for Daedric realms, sub-realms, and other daedric vacation spots, as well as places outside of Tamriel that are part of Nirn.

jkemmery · May 2015

I think whether or not we do will depend on how long it's around. At the moment, ZOS seems to be concerned about the console. If the console version takes off, then yeah, I suspect within a year or so we will see more of it. If not, then I suppose it depends on how much effort ZOS will put in to the PC version and whether or not it continues to be profitable. I think it's a much better game than WOW, and that's been around a while. Moreover, there are other continents on Nirn. Heck, they could add several Tamriel sized continents. I mean, really Tamriel is not that big, maybe the size of Australia. There could be 7 or 8 easily, of not more. Considering the overall success of the Elder Scrolls series, I think it's likely that we'll see it happen, eventually. When it happens is anyone's guess at this point. I honestly hope that in 10 years we will see all of Tamriel and more in EOS. Why not? Keep paying and hope enough other people do too, and EOS could join the likes of EVE and WOW as a long standing, mature(I don't mean the personal maturity of the players!) online gaming community.

cmetzger93 · May 2015

Well in my mind the only way eso will be around for 10 years, and be successful is if they release new content fairly regularly. I don't personally foresee this as being much of a problem, after console releases and becomes steady they should hopefully have the capital to start on new content.

Enodoc · May 2015

Back before launch, the online map had zone borders on it, which I annotated. They removed the border lines for the current version. The only differences between the original and this one, aside from my annotations, are the border I put down the side of the VH zone, the border between RS and WG, and the border between BF and ST, which are where those borders exist on the in-game map but were missed off this one:

Zone code key is inside the below spoiler. Further analysis can be found on my UESP page.

AL Alik'r
AN Anequina (including the Rimmen city area, shouldn't be called this as Reaper's March also includes part of Anequina, but this name is in the text files)
AU Auridon
BE Betnikh
BF Bal Foyen
BI Bleakrock Isle
BK Bangkorai
BW Blackwood (as seen in Oblivion)
CL Craglorn
CH Colovian Highlands (also could be West Weald)
CY Cyrodiil
DE Deshaan
EM Eastmarch
FA Falkreath (as seen in Skyrim)
GC Gold Coast (as seen in Oblivion)
GL Glenumbra
GS Greenshade
GW Grahtwood
HJ Hjaalmarch (as seen in Skyrim)
KR Khenarthi's Roost
MM Murkmire
MT Malabal Tor
NB Nibenay Basin (as seen in Oblivion, although the text files just calls this Nibenay, which is inaccurate)
NV Nibenay Valley (as seen in Oblivion)
PA The Pale (also includes the Winterhold area)
RE The Reach (also includes the Haafingar area)
RI The Rift
RM Reaper's March
RS Rivenspire
QR Quin'rawl (from the text files, although that says Quin-rawl, which is incorrectly puntuated)
SF Shadowfen
SH Stormhaven
SM Stros M'Kai
SO Solstheim (as seen in Bloodmoon, Dragonborn)
SS South Summerset (No source for name; I made it up)
ST Stonefalls
SU Sunforge (from the text files)
TE Tenmar (from the text files, this area includes the Corinthe city area)
TI Topal Island (from the text files)
TM Thornmarsh (as stated in the Loremaster's Archive)
VH Velothi Highlands (the northwest Morrowind area with Blacklight, but the in-game map doesn't currently allow for the correct geographical shape)
WD The Weeping Desert (from the text files)
WG Wrothgar
WR Whiterun

bertenburnyb16_ESO · May 2015

nah they dont care anymore about new content since btp, only crown store items to make some quick cash, I would be happy if we even get IC, wrothgar and murkmire

cmetzger93 · May 2015

Wow @Enodoc that's an awesome map!

Gidorick · May 2015

bertenburnyb16_ESO wrote: »

nah they dont care anymore about new content since btp, only crown store items to make some quick cash, I would be happy if we even get IC, wrothgar and murkmire

That's the concern. Why spend 10,000 man hours on a new Zone to sell for $30 when you can spend 100 mam hours on a mount skin that will sell for $25.

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

If you think the IP of ES and also how important ES is to the whole game industry, it will live long time. ES is iconic in game industry, every damn nerd gets shivers when he thinks ES.

I'm not sure that the iconic nature of ES works in ESO's favor here. People come to the game expecting a high quality product, and the owners of the Elder Scrolls lore are probably not happy with ESO on the PC platform being a disappointment. Let's hope the console versions fare better.

TheShadowScout · May 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

That's the concern. Why spend 10,000 man hours on a new Zone to sell for $30 when you can spend 100 mam hours on a mount skin that will sell for $25.

All too true.
Although, if they -don't- add new zones, they will loose the very people who'd also buy the mount skins to show off their characters in those new zones... while if they do add new zones, those people will stay and visit the crown store more often as time goes by, and spend money there on mere fluff and style as well... especialyl when they make their alts following some new character idea, and suddenly decide they need a new mount that fits their desired theme better... etc.

Sausage · May 2015

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO wrote: »

Sausage wrote: »

If you think the IP of ES and also how important ES is to the whole game industry, it will live long time. ES is iconic in game industry, every damn nerd gets shivers when he thinks ES.

I'm not sure that the iconic nature of ES works in ESO's favor here. People come to the game expecting a high quality product, and the owners of the Elder Scrolls lore are probably not happy with ESO on the PC platform being a disappointment. Let's hope the console versions fare better.

When did ES become high quality? Have you seen the first ES Arena from 90s? I dont know what is iconic if 20+ year old series isnt, and by the look of it, ES lives at least 10 year more.

Elsonso · May 2015

Nice map, Enodoc.

People wonder why some people think that Argonia will be the location of TES 6. They should just look at this map and see what is missing from the map and supporting files.

bertenburnyb16_ESO wrote: »

nah they dont care anymore about new content since btp, only crown store items to make some quick cash, I would be happy if we even get IC, wrothgar and murkmire

Some games do this. Time will tell whether ESO is one of them. They have a backlog of areas that we know about that they can release to provide an illusion of continued zone development. We will see if they work on anything else beyond them.

ESO is a flagship product and there is more at stake here than just an MMORPG. This is incentive to keep the game going for as long as they can. It will not die off prior to TES 6. This does not imply that they will release new zones at a rapid pace during this time.

Gidorick · May 2015

lordrichter wrote: »

Nice map, Enodoc.
People wonder why some people think that Argonia will be the location of TES 6. They should just look at this map and see what is missing from the map and supporting files.

If TES6 is in black marsh, releasing those Zones in ESO about 6 months after TES releases would be a VERY smart move. Especially if they can intertwine the two by establishing history in TES6 that we get to play in ESO.

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

When did ES become high quality? Have you seen the first ES Arena from 90s? I dont know what is iconic if 20+ year old series isnt, and by the look of it, ES lives at least 10 year more.

Arena has very little to do with the modern reputation of ES, and I don't quite see the relevance of bringing that up. I saw Arena in 1994, I played it, but I didn't really like it. Perhaps I was too deeply entrenched in the FPS genre at the time, but that game didn't leave me flabbergasted. I played Daggerfall for a while, and it was better, but I never really spent a lot of time with it. Those two games were good enough at the time to make an impression, rich in lore and with lots of content, but not stellar.

When I said that people expect high quality products from the ES franchise, I was talking about Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, the games people would be most likely to have played and the titles that defined the series. Morrowind was a smash hit, and I remember forgetting to go to bed because of it. At the time of its release, it was an amazing game in almost every respect, possibly excluding some of the character graphics and the clunky animations. Oblivion blew me away once more, and I still have Skyrim installed on my computer.

I'm sure ES will live on -- it's a fantasy world with great fame and depth. I just don't think ESO is going to be more than a short and fairly unimportant parenthesis in this. The game already seems to be dying on the PC platform, and I see a remarkable lack of anticipation for the imminent console release. The game that will carry the ES torch into the future will not be ESO. It will be TES VI, whatever that will be.

Gidorick · May 2015

TheShadowScout wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

That's the concern. Why spend 10,000 man hours on a new Zone to sell for $30 when you can spend 100 mam hours on a mount skin that will sell for $25.

All too true.
Although, if they -don't- add new zones, they will loose the very people who'd also buy the mount skins to show off their characters in those new zones... while if they do add new zones, those people will stay and visit the crown store more often as time goes by, and spend money there on mere fluff and style as well... especialyl when they make their alts following some new character idea, and suddenly decide they need a new mount that fits their desired theme better... etc.

oh I completely agree but I point you to the content released in the 8 month period from November 2014 to June 2015 for analysis on the subject of releasing content to retain players.

UrQuan · May 2015

Enodoc wrote: »

Back before launch, the online map had zone borders on it, which I annotated. They removed the border lines for the current version. The only differences between the original and this one, aside from my annotations, are the border I put down the side of the VH zone, the border between RS and WG, and the border between BF and ST, which are where those borders exist on the in-game map but were missed off this one:

Zone code key is inside the below spoiler. Further analysis can be found on my UESP page.

AL Alik'r

AN Anequina (including the Rimmen city area, shouldn't be called this as Reaper's March also includes part of Anequina, but this name is in the text files)

AU Auridon

BE Betnikh

BF Bal Foyen

BI Bleakrock Isle

BK Bangkorai

BW Blackwood (as seen in Oblivion)

CL Craglorn

CH Colovian Highlands (also could be West Weald)

CY Cyrodiil

DE Deshaan

EM Eastmarch

FA Falkreath (as seen in Skyrim)

GC Gold Coast (as seen in Oblivion)

GL Glenumbra

GS Greenshade

GW Grahtwood

HJ Hjaalmarch (as seen in Skyrim)

KR Khenarthi's Roost

MM Murkmire

MT Malabal Tor

NB Nibenay Basin (as seen in Oblivion, although the text files just calls this Nibenay, which is inaccurate)

NV Nibenay Valley (as seen in Oblivion)

PA The Pale (also includes the Winterhold area)

RE The Reach (also includes the Haafingar area)

RI The Rift

RM Reaper's March

RS Rivenspire

QR Quin'rawl (from the text files, although that says Quin-rawl, which is incorrectly puntuated)

SF Shadowfen

SH Stormhaven

SM Stros M'Kai

SO Solstheim (as seen in Bloodmoon, Dragonborn)

SS South Summerset (No source for name; I made it up)

ST Stonefalls

SU Sunforge (from the text files)

TE Tenmar (from the text files, this area includes the Corinthe city area)

TI Topal Island (from the text files)

TM Thornmarsh (as stated in the Loremaster's Archive)

VH Velothi Highlands (the northwest Morrowind area with Blacklight, but the in-game map doesn't currently allow for the correct geographical shape)

WD The Weeping Desert (from the text files)

WG Wrothgar

WR Whiterun

You've posted that before in another thread haven't you? I'm sure I've seen it before. You get another awesome for it though, because it's very cool and I like that map

Sausage · May 2015

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO wrote: »

Sausage wrote: »

When did ES become high quality? Have you seen the first ES Arena from 90s? I dont know what is iconic if 20+ year old series isnt, and by the look of it, ES lives at least 10 year more.

Arena has very little to do with the modern reputation of ES, and I don't quite see the relevance of bringing that up. I saw Arena in 1994, I played it, but I didn't really like it. Perhaps I was too deeply entrenched in the FPS genre at the time, but that game didn't leave me flabbergasted. I played Daggerfall for a while, and it was better, but I never really spent a lot of time with it. Those two games were good enough at the time to make an impression, rich in lore and with lots of content, but not stellar.

When I said that people expect high quality products from the ES franchise, I was talking about Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, the games people would be most likely to have played and the titles that defined the series. Morrowind was a smash hit, and I remember forgetting to go to bed because of it. At the time of its release, it was an amazing game in almost every respect, possibly excluding some of the character graphics and the clunky animations. Oblivion blew me away once more, and I still have Skyrim installed on my computer.

I'm sure ES will live on -- it's a fantasy world with great fame and depth. I just don't think ESO is going to be more than a short and fairly unimportant parenthesis in this. The game already seems to be dying on the PC platform, and I see a remarkable lack of anticipation for the imminent console release. The game that will carry the ES torch into the future will not be ESO. It will be TES VI, whatever that will be.

Sure, your first open world game is memorable, even couple next one too. I still dont think its high quality is what ES is known for, its exactly that massive open world design and its iconic status. Skyrim is freaking adventure with A.

AH93 · May 2015

I think they'll definitely add more zones in coming years, through DLC's and expansion etc. I'm not entirely sure they'll fill the whole of Tamriel though, that's an absolute ton of content to develop.
We need to consider they will be not just be adding new zones, but new systems, dungeons/trials (that could very well be within new zones, or placed in existing zones). New PvP areas or expanding on Cyrodiil, (or adding arenas in certain cities).
They'll add zones that focus on solo content, and probably some more Craglorn-esque zones (adventure zones).

However, I would not expect too many zones in the next few years, since they seem to be content on adding new items into the crown store rather than actual content and improvements, now they say they are focusing on console release so you can think about that as you will. We'll have to see how it goes after console launch.

nimander99 · May 2015

I've been playing ES games since Daggerfall hoping for one game with ALL the land explore-able (yes I know about Arena). This will most likely be the only game in the series (in our lifetimes) that has a chance to deliver that so I am wholeheartedly with the OP in the hopes that we see it!

Elsonso · May 2015

AH93 wrote: »

However, I would not expect too many zones in the next few years, since they seem to be content on adding new items into the crown store rather than actual content and improvements, now they say they are focusing on console release so you can think about that as you will. We'll have to see how it goes after console launch.

At this point, the "we are concentrating on console" is a smokescreen, at least as far as zone development goes. The people working on new zones have been off doing their thing for a while now.