A new Elder Scrolls Online video has been released by Bethesda. The video reveals footage of the gameplay.
The video also contains commentary from the game's developer Zenimax Online. The video covers topics like real-time combat, groups, the mega server feature, level 50 content, armor and player-versus-player content. It reveals the game's environment, characters and user functionality.
This is "the most revealing look at the massively multiplayer online game (MMO), due out 2013, so far," Eurogamer reported.
The characters from the online version are different from the single-player games in the series like Skyrim. The Zenimax Online versions are more cartoony and stylized. The reason for this, Zenimax Online explained, was the limitations that are involved in making online games of that scale.
"My view is that MMOs - we're not really at the technical state with MMOs, the graphics technology, to really be able to pull off photo realism. We can't do it," TES Online art director Jared Carr told GameInformer earlier this year.
The game will not feature shards and all the players will be housed on a single server. This has been possible through Zenimax's "Megaserver" technology.
Matt Firor is heading the Elder Scrolls Online project. He has previously been involved with Mythic MMO's Dark Age of Camelot.
The Elder Scrolls Online is set 1,000 years before Skyrim. The developers have tried to keep the art style consistent with what players of Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim are used to. Players will be able to explore Tamriel, the continent on which the Elder Scrolls games takes place, Gameranx reported.
The online game will let players choose one of the nine races and a class, and this will determine and differentiate every player's quests and abilities, Bethesda said.
The Elder Scrolls Online will be out in 2013. At the time of launch, the game might be paid subscription but will eventually become free-to-play.