I just got my pre-order badges in the mail last night, woo! Will anyone else be attending this year?

No...but I wish

Do me a favor and while you're there play The Elder Scrolls Online and let me know if it's good or not!

Aww, sorry you can't go!

And I can try, hehe. I'm expecting massive lines for EVERYTHING there. I've signed up for the beta, but since I only use a tablet PC now I doubt my DiaxDialog is impressive enough for 'em

Yeah, I signed up for the beta as well. The invites are supposedly suppose to go out at the end of this month. My expectations for the game are really low...from what I've seen anyway...so I'm hoping that it'll actually be a good game and not crap.

That's good to know, since I figured they'd gone out already and I'd missed out. My expectations are pretty low, too. I feel like MMO's are a constant disappointment now, which is sad because I really miss playing them. I think that's why I love here so much -- it feels a bit like a mini-WoW, but in a good way.

Yep...all MMO's that have came out honestly since EQ/WoW have just really haven't been very good (imo). There are two big problems with why I think this is...#1 being that the developer pool for games is very small. It's hard to get a job as a lead developer if you haven't had some previous experience...because of this there is literally about ~20 of the same people that keep making these games (in terms of being the lead creative dev).

For example...the lead guy in charge for TESO is Matt Firor. Firor was the lead dev for DAOC. So what does this guy decide to do with the Elder Scroll's IP? He decides he's going to make a spiritual successor to DAOC. I mean I don't know about everyone else...but when I think of the Elder Scroll games I don't think of PvP/RvR/Hard Factions/Lock Continents. No...I think of an awesome sandbox explore game where you can go where you want and be whatever you want your character to be. I'm not sure how anyone comes to the conclusion of RvR...considering that wasn't ever a part of the games.

So that...is a shining example of why MMOs refuse to evolve into something that we haven't already played 10 times over.

Then the second thing which is honestly holding things back is the companies that are funding these studios. These guys don't care really if you make a good game, all they care about is getting their investment back. So of course they'll want them to make games that are copies of another successful game...WoW for example. :/

Really, the only way I see some type of MMO coming out that isn't some rehashed version of another game is by an indie studio. There are a few games that have looked interesting that have tried to get funded by Kickstarter...so it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next like 5-10 years in terms of MMO games.

But yea...sorry long rant!

Haha, no need to apologize! I agree completely!

I was so disappointed in WAR because (well, for many reasons) it was *supposed* to be a spiritual successor to DAOC and wasn't. A game like that was made for RvR and just fell flat. Elder Scrolls doesn't seem appropriate for RvR in the slightest, and as soon as I heard that the MMO was highly anti-sandbox I was immediately turned off by the idea.

But you're right, indie is the way to go. There's a game on Kickstarter right now (Torment, I think? Not an MMO, but still) that's already up to $2.7 mil. That's crazy! You'd think someone could get at least a fraction of that for a new MMO. Then again, I think the target demographic for those games have shifted too far (IMO) into the casual/newbie and hardcore ends of the spectrum. It's hard for someone like me to be happy with either of these types of gameplay, and it seems more and more difficult for a game to pull off all levels at once.

I hope any of that makes sense... my brain is fried from too much MS cert studying, ha.

Yeah it does. Honestly games just need to stick to a niche and not try and cater to all audiences. I think that ends up ruining games, what ruined WoW for me anyway when they start to try and appeal to the super casual crowd (even though that's the MMO I'm playing atm...because there is just literally nothing else to play). I think they just need to accept that WoW gaining millions of subscribers is honestly a fluke...and to just try to appeal to smaller niches instead of trying to be the next big thing. I don't really think you plan being the next best thing...it just sorta happens.

Anyway though...I just really hope that TESO is somehow playable. I listened to like a 2 hour podcast of some guys that got to play the game...and they made it sound really fun and amazing with exploring. But I have a hard time believing it...as it's just hype.

The hard factions really turn me off...plus it just seems like a huge waste of resources when you make it so that your players only have access to 1/3 of the content that you created. I honestly don't need 'factions' to make me want to do PvP, I'll be happy to kill you even if you're the same alliance as me lol.

Like look at this map! http://i.imgur.com/QAg9u.jpg Why wouldn't you just play the Ebonhart Pact? The other two get shafted in terms of land to explore etc lol. Idk...just bad decisions all around...

@Kylana,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTzFoM5WxGA

New video came out today....they address factions and being able to explore. Which kinda made me feel better about it, but we'll see how it is.

Okay, so the line to play TESO was incredibly long and I didn't enough time to try it :\ I did at least take a really bad photo of their area for you... it looked amazing up on the big screen!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/kylana/IMAG0376_zpscc0165ee.jpg

AND my boyfriend just ran into one of the main devs the other day at work. We live close-ish to Bethesda and apparently they're working on most of it here! I figured that would be sent off to LA, ha.