The Elder Scrolls Online

Utnayan_sl said:

I think you took that post out of context. I meant that Tesotester is obviously someone from the old FoH forum days. (He talked about a lot of forum members) And with about 95% certainty, works in the industry as I know the testing pool for TESO is limited right now to the vertical. Meaning Journalists and game developers.

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You are wrong about the testing pool.

Utnayan_sl said:

Well, it's a given people are going to say that they are game developers/journalists on the application when they are not.

No controlling that aspect.

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Are you implying they've only asked devs and journalists?

Utnayan_sl said:

^^

When you apply for the beta, your application has a section where you can say you are either press or a game developer. If it can be verified, access is 100%. There are others that are F&F and referrals. Those don't count obviously.

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I don't doubt for one second that people lie on a beta app to get in but that's not what I am debating here. It is not 100% guaranteed access if you're either press or game developer once verified, that I am sure of. I also don't see why F&F/referrals do not count especially when your original statement was that you were 95% sure that Tesotester works in the industry based on the limited testing pool.

My point is, what makes you so sure that Tesotester is in the industry and not F&F or a referral?

Utnayan_sl said:

Although at that point it doesn't matter because they are fanboys of the game for obvious reasons anyhow. I, on the other hand, know for a fact that through the application process, according to a few folks at ZO, access was determined based on those answers and verification.

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So let me make sure I understand.

Are you stating that those that are in the beta that aren't devs or journalists (which means F&F/referrals) are fanboys of the game? Are you also implying that the only way access was given was whether or not someone checked off that they were in the industry?

Utnayan_sl said:

Can you read?

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Depends, can you not be condescending?

I wanted to make sure I understood your statements before I told you that you were wrong, yet again. I have to wonder though, were you fired from Zenimax?

By the way, in case you were wondering I think TESO looks like shit so far.

I love how utnayan pulls facts out of his ass, and people lap it up. I love how people say Firor is talentless. Sounds like jealousy, plain and simple. He is largely responsible for my favorite game ever. He got people to invest 100+ million on his vision for their IP. How does your track record stand up to that, Denaut? I dunno, maybe you created another of my favs? Did you make Wizardry? Hmmm... Bards Tale? Trying to think what other games stack up to DAOC in my memory. Pretty short list.

So, is there any reason to be skeptical of this unreleased MMO? Sure! Is there any reason for rabid hatred and personal attacks? No.

Ut, let's get back on the meds and try sticking to facts for a while.

Valderen_sl said:

I think people's opinion of the game will be largely dependant on if you come from an Elder Scroll background or a MMO background. It will also depend on how much you want the game to be like the Elder Scroll series or a regular MMO.

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I'm a fan of both and from what I have seen from the leaked videos and information, I am not impressed.

Utnayan_sl said:

No one is saying he is a shitty human being. People are saying he isn't to be trusted when it comes to the PR hype (Who is these days), he is lazy, uninspiring, doesn't know how to lead a team, and has no motivation to make things better in this genre. And that's the truth. I could give two shits what he did 12 years ago. But I can tell you this, you were wrong about that too. Rob Denton made DAOC. Firor worked fucking customer service. Did you even fucking know that? That's how worthless he wasin terms of design. Later he worked up to producer. Where he showed great promise with Trials of Atlantis...

Right?

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Technically, DAOC was Mark Jacobs, Matt Firor, and Rob Denton. Development was led by Denton and Firor was the producer.

Utnayan_sl said:

And after all post 35 itemization was not done, nothing was on schedule, and the game almost turned into vaporware, Firor took a nice break down to customer service.

Point being, Denton made DAOC. Not Firor.

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I'm not disagreeing on Matt's role but Rob didn't do it alone.

Utnayan_sl said:

And after all post 35 itemization was not done, nothing was on schedule, RvR not complete, and the game almost turned into vaporware, Firor took a nice break down to customer service.

Point being, Denton made DAOC. Not Firor.

I think Firor's job so far is evident in this development cycle company wide. 6 years in and they still haven't implemented aggro properly...

Yeah. That about sums it up.

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I've read at least one post mortem that contradicts your take on this. Also, crazy that Zenimax gave such a massive project to a customer service rep! Wowza, no wonder you're bitter!

The problem is, because of the recently added watermarks, everyone and their grandmother could be in TESO beta testing program right now : you don't have to show any credentials, all you have to do is write educated guesses about the game' s mechanics. Guesses which can be quite elaborated if you read some private gaming forums or random /vg/ threads (leaking shit on a daily basis). What comes suspicious is, when some random tester pops up praising TESO during a harsh hatred campaign about the game's actual gameplay videos. TESO suffered from "Worst Youtube" 20mns video, and that other 1m37 dungeon crawling video randomly popping on the Internet.

What's Betacake featuring nowadays it what people read if they'd be registered in some private forums. Nothing more. No breaking news ? Well, the beta is quite unfeatured right now, beta forums are heavily enforced on the behalf on Community Managers, you can't really bring out credentials without revealing your identity. Big deal ? Well, based from a former beta tester of last decade's MMOs : Big Fucking No. If you like the product you will never ever discard your beta access, and if you hate the game you'll make vids out of it, which aren't possible anymore (watermarks and the hussle blurring them).

So no real news to break ? Well, that's the whole problem with TESO : beta right now is all about mandatory testing "newbzones" (1st priority), RvR isn't ingame yet, crafting is clunky at best, economy is non-existant, most social interactions are hinted but not functional. Hell, let's break it : most of the endgame features are hinted, but not functional right now. It's beta, why would anyone cares ? Well, you'd care because the game's obvious deadline is November, and it's crystal clear, based on my former experience about upcoming MMOs and general expertise about the current business model, that the game will be delivered EXACTLY as SWTOR was delivered : sketchy MMO lacking 1 year development at best.

Now, is Utnayan being too harsh ? I've been reading his posts and, besides the obvious hatred upon Matt Firor or any glorified "game director", the guy spokes with his guts. I don't even know him, but he predicted some stuff that has happened since. Not randomly : the guy even predicted the PR campaign. Fuck, I disagree with him when he's going Inquisition mode on some dev guy, but I know that's the best I'll get from an obvious "insider related" person. I strongly disagree when he's acting like he's on a witch hunt, but I'm old enough and have the videogames industry experience to say he's quite right on most topics. The biggest lie about videogaming industry is based on a 1960 era advertising : "when it's ready." No, games never get released when they're ready. They're being released when they'll make 99.9% the more of a buck being financed at. We're not talking about a niche market anymore, we're talking about a market that generates more profit than fucking cinema.

Is the game really due in November? I missed that part. Given the state of the game (as much as we know it), that seems a bit early. GW2 this time last year was getting ready for the weekend betas.