The MMO-ification of beloved franchises appears to be a trend that’s sweeping the industry right now. After Warcraft led the charge, Bioware thought their next Knights of the Old Republic game should be an MMO instead. Now even Bethesda will jump into the fray, as news today brings the announcement of…a coming announcement in May about an Elder Scrolls MMO.

The tip comes from multiple sources speaking to Tom’s Guide, and the game will reportedly be set 1,000 years before Skyrim, during the “second era.” There will be three playable factions, one represented by a lion, another a dragon and the third a bird of prey.

With wide open worlds and loot and leveling galore, the Elder Scrolls series might seem ripe for an MMO. But even long time fans are reacting to the news with unease. Even in its single player games, Bethesda titles are notoriously buggy, and so the prospect of building an MMO without major operational issues seems to be a point of concern.

Then there’s the fact that just because something is a good single player series, that doesn’t mean it will translate into an effective MMO. After SWTOR got a mixed response from fans, many wished Bioware had simply made a next-gen single player Knights of the Old Republic sequel instead. Blizzard fans bemoan the fact that WoW has caused production of all other Warcraft games to cease entirely. If we get an Elder Scrolls MMO, chances are any possible sequel to Skyrim will be delayed for years, and many gamers (myself included) would rather have that game than an MMO variant of the existing series.

MMOs are a risky gamble for any brand, no matter how established they may be. They’re harder to build, harder to maintain, and so far no one has been able to compete with WoW on a significant level. Yes, WoW’s numbers have fallen in recent years, but it’s still the most played subscription based MMO by a mile. Promotions like a free copy of Diablo 3 with a year’s subscription would indicate that it will likely retain its crown for at least another few years.

Games like SWTOR and Guild Wars 2 are attempting to unseat WoW, and if done correctly, an Elder Scrolls MMO could be a major player. But if it’s incredibly buggy and isn’t the type of game players are looking for (Elder Scrolls’ current combat system doesn’t at all lend itself to an MMO), it could be a colossal failure.

Granted, this is all being said without an official announcement yet. We’ll have to wait until May for Bethesda to comment, and perhaps this will ending up being a better idea than it seems. ~ Forbes

Grakmar wrote:No thanks.

No MMO. Don't even make it co-op.

These games are some of the best single-player open-world RPGs with an incredibly in depth story, tons of gameplay, and background lore that puts everything else to shame. And, the entire point of each of them is that your character is one of the heroes foretold in ancient legend.

Don't ruin them by turning them into a grind-fest MMO with no real plot and generic characters running around killing all the shopkeepers.

KingCracker wrote:The failure rate is pretty damn high. Most MMOs launch, do terribly, and have to switch to "free to play" ASAP to try and squeeze some type of money out of it.