Elder Scrolls Online - Not What I Expected

It was inevitable really, but the Elder Scrolls Online is now official. While I thought it would be cool to have an MMO of the Elder Scrolls world, first information about this game is what I had in mind. Down from the first images of the game to the game not being played in a first person perspective left me worried for the worse.

I bet Elder Scrolls fanboys are flaming the MMO as I type this. From what I'm reading so far and with the images leaked; This will come out as yet another generic MMO with just a famous franchise stamped in front of it to draw people in. ZeniMax Online is developing Elder Scrolls Online, and I hope they have something unique to show gamers in the next few months because all I see and read so far is not enough for this MMO to be the one to watch for 2013.

I still believe an online Elder Scrolls would work, but if only they stay true to why we love the Elder Scrolls. The fact that we are going to be playing Elder Scrolls Online in third person, not in real-time, and abilities accessible via the hotkeys makes it not Elder Scrolls at all.  When I heard about the changes in gameplay, I already lost all hope for the Elder Scrolls Online. Then I saw how the game will look like thanks to the leaked images, which makes it even worse.

I'm sorry, the graphics look a bit dumbed down to the level of MMO's like Lord of the Rings Online or EverQuest. A bit underwhelming and looks like a step backwards in terms of visuals. The first image above was the first image officially released. The rest are leaked images of the game which doesn't change what I think of how the game looks like.

Its 2012. MMO's have been around for years now and have been built on what is considered as a generic formula that makes a good MMO. They all look the same to me now. Its time for something revolutionary - A big step forward to get people excited for an online game again. With this planned for 2013, I can tell you already that this won't be it. Elder Scrolls Online will have the usual features of any MMO - PVP, questing, dungeons to explore with groups but nothing unique to keep it apart from the rest.

Together with the reveal, a teaser trailer was released. Which is pretty much the Skyrim teaser all over again that shows absolutely nothing. This is actually worse since it's just the game's logo in close up.

A unique feature is what MMO is going for nowadays. That's the only way to survive alongside  the behemoth that is World of Warcraft and millions of other MMO's trying to stay alive as well. What is Elder Scrolls Online's unique feature? I have no idea. GameInfomer's June issue is said to have a full coverage of the game and hopefully they can answer that question. Also, IGN has a great wiki that has all the information so far about Elder Scrolls Online. So if you want to educate yourself further about this game, click here now.

I was really hoping for Elder Scrolls Online to be Skyrim or Morrowind but with online features, but I guess that was too good to be true. Maybe its a bit too soon to judge this title, but like I said - Not what I expected at all. What do you guys think of this reveal? Excited? or do you feel the same way.