So from the start of the demo it looked almost exactly as I have seen every other Elder Scrolls game look. Meaning that this MMO does not seem to be following the combat mechanics as every other MMO currently on market. It is all more of a real time, action oriented style to it. Like I said it looks just like someone playing Skyrim just with the ability to run into more players in the world as well as the option to band together for all of the instance and dungeons.
As for the instances and dungeons, you will all be given two options when it comes to them. You have the basic six player instances but also you will get massive public dungeons where you can run into people who may need help or that you can ask as well. Or hells you can ignore them altogether and try to run the dungeon all solo like. This also lends to one of the key elements that Zenimax is aiming for and that is a truly social experience for those MMO players out there that are all about that kind of thing. If they can pull it off and balance it from the asshats that I can see "trolling" those public instances just to be dicks I can see that being a definite pull for the title.
From there the demo moved into locations in the game world as well as the playable races. The whole world is based on the franchise taking place about 1000 years before the events in Skyrim so you don't really need to play any of the other games to under stand everything, but I'm sure it will be filled full of Easter Eggs for those who have. Also in this portion it was discussed on the three factions, and thus how the game world is split up. You have the North East that is home to the Ebonheart Pact. The races from there are the Nord, Dunmer and Argonians. Then you have the Daggerfall Covenant in the N. West that consist of the Breton, Redguard and Orc races for your playing experience. And finally wrapping up is the Aldmeri Dominion in the S. West that is home to the Altmer, Bosmer and Khajiit. I'm sure that makes more sense to all of the fans out there.
After selecting a character and skipping over the classes and creation process, they were not ready to talk about it yet, they demonstrator went in to show how movement and quests are set up. Just like many of the other titles I viewed at E3, there was no HUD to be seen until you hover your mouse over specific areas. This is an option that can be turned on and off for each menu for those MMO purists out there, but the whole idea is to make you feel you are that character.
The character then moved to accept a mission from the Mage's guild to go and kill an Undead Werewolf who was messing with them. Then came something a bit different that I haven't seen in a MMO before, dynamic side missions that randomly pop up and are linked to your main quest in some cases. In this instance it was. Instead of needing to find a NPC to hand out the quest you are actually allowed to accept there on the spot. Why would you want to deviate from the main quest like this? Well for this one it opened up an experience where you travel back in time and learn a few hints as to how to take down said Undead Werewolf. There is also the option to save another NPC's ancestor during this quest. Why? So when you go back into the future your game's story is slightly changed as well as it opening up another quest for some hidden loot. So pretty much each time you play the same quest with different characters it can be different if you so choose.
Lastly in the demo it was shown very little on the PvP of the game. 1000+ people in one PvP instance at that and that was just because of the size of the map and demo they were showing. It looked like quite a bit of chaos and made no sense, but we were all assured that hen they are ready to dole out more details it will make more sense. I hope so.
So after 5 years of development it looks like it has some interesting features for all of you Elder Scrolls and MMO fans out there. There was no talk on pricing structure, but I am sure that we will hear about leading up to its 2013 release on PC and Mac. Here's a teaser for you as well.
