This is the first installment of The Rubicon, a podcast hosted by Byronyk and Fizzle. Both hosts are members of Entropy Rising, the featured guild of Tamriel Foundry, and have been gaming together for around 15 years. Our goal in The Rubicon is to look at the Elder Scrolls Online from a perspective of min/maxing and personal character advancement. We will primarily focus on gameplay mechanics, so whether you’re a powergamer or only have time to play 1 hour per day, this is the place for you. Our podcast will be a weekly Wednesday feature on Tamriel Foundry.
In our first episode, The Crossing, we introduce ourselves and have a special guest appearance of someone many of you might know. After that, we dive right into the discussion on three major topics of the past week. We hope you enjoy!
If you have any questions regarding the show, it’s hosts, or really anything, feel free to email us with the contact information below. You can download the podcast in .mp3 format directly HERE.
Contact Information
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/TamrielFoundry.com
- Twitter: www.Twitter.com/TamrielFoundry
- Website: www.TamrielFoundry.com/Entropy-Rising
Adept
Aldmeri Dominion
Total Posts: 140
We accidentally a podcast.
It’s good to learn from your failures, but I prefer to learn from the failures of others.
Expert
Aldmeri Dominion
Total Posts: 429
StackOverflow said on February 13, 2013:
We accidentally a podcast.
You dun goofed.
You will learn… No king rules forever. Only death is eternal.
Daedric Prince
Aldmeri Dominion
Total Posts: 1649
Just finished listening, nice work guys.
As for the housing issue, DAoC was another game that had a really robust player housing system. Lots of room for customization with regards to trophies, crafting stations, utility NPCs, etc… As a result, people spent a ton of time in their own homes. I tend to agree with regards to crafting that I would rather have crafting stations be in common areas to make cities feel more vibrant and populated.
As for the leveling curve, I don’t know… I kind of think that the attitude “the game doesn’t start till max level” is a bit of a bogus philosophy that has been imposed by certain raid-progression centric MMOs. Personally, I really enjoy the leveling experience, and I think it should be a long and challenging journey. Then again, despite my nature as a competitive gamer, I’m not going to be gunning for server 1st. I’m too much of a completionist to level in a maximally efficient manner. If I had my way, I’d throw the MMO genre back into the dark ages of 300+ hour level curves, although I know that isn’t realistic for ESO. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if it takes more than 50 hours to cap, but that’s just the state of the MMO genre these days.
Regarding the day/night cycle, I think that it should be obvious that this is simply an aesthetic mechanic to make the world have better variety and realism. I think there’s no way in hell it will have any mechanical implications in PvP. Maybe certain PvE quests might be triggered on time-of-day conditions…
Anyways, nice work. Looking forward to hearing what you guys talk about next time.
Founder, creator, and developer of Tamriel Foundry. Guildmaster of Entropy Rising.
Journeyman
Aldmeri Dominion
Total Posts: 55
Nice vid. Keep up the work.
Bosmer Brotherhood of Archers - Our arrows will block out the sun; and in the darkness, we will claim the Ruby Throne.
Adept
Aldmeri Dominion
Total Posts: 140
Atropos said on February 13, 2013:
Just finished listening, nice work guys.
As for the housing issue, DAoC was another game that had a really robust player housing system. Lots of room for customization with regards to trophies, crafting stations, utility NPCs, etc… As a result, people spent a ton of time in their own homes. I tend to agree with regards to crafting that I would rather have crafting stations be in common areas to make cities feel more vibrant and populated.
As for the leveling curve, I don’t know… I kind of think that the attitude “the game doesn’t start till max level” is a bit of a bogus philosophy that has been imposed by certain raid-progression centric MMOs. Personally, I really enjoy the leveling experience, and I think it should be a long and challenging journey. Then again, despite my nature as a competitive gamer, I’m not going to be gunning for server 1st. I’m too much of a completionist to level in a maximally efficient manner. If I had my way, I’d throw the MMO genre back into the dark ages of 300+ hour level curves, although I know that isn’t realistic for ESO. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if it takes more than 50 hours to cap, but that’s just the state of the MMO genre these days.
Regarding the day/night cycle, I think that itshould be obvious that this is simply an aesthetic mechanic to make the world have better variety and realism. I think there’s no way in hell it will have any mechanical implications in PvP. Maybe certain PvE quests might be triggered on time-of-day conditions…
Anyways, nice work. Looking forward to hearing what you guys talk about next time.
I would expect them to have certain quests happen on daytime triggers. Remember that elf Fargoth you had to follow at the very beginning of Morrowind in Sedya Neen? I remember being so confused by him not being around when I looked for him, and then night rolled in and he appeared. As for the game not really starting until you hit cap, I think it ultimately depends on how they design the game. I probably should have covered this in the podcast, but if you have games like Everquest where they take a long time to level, and are designed to take a long time to level, I think it is more acceptable for players to be at a non-cap level for a longer period of time. If the game is designed around players being all levels and lets you raid/experience a majority of relevant content regardless of level cap then I think it is alright. Sadly, I think the MMO genre as a whole is shifting towards the WoW paradigm where you can do dungeons while leveling and cool quests, but you are barred from raid content until you hit max level, and even then you need to acquire appropriate gear to take on those raids. I think that is what has led to the current mentality that being at max level facilitates accomplishing your goals in the game. That is to say, if you need to go collect some ore or something, it is easier to do when you can one-shot mobs and get it than if you have to take a few seconds to fight each one.
Ultimately it will come down to how they design the game and what they decide to focus on. It will be interesting to see what they do because from the interviews they have given they seem to have a very good grasp on how they want to support their playerbase.
It’s good to learn from your failures, but I prefer to learn from the failures of others.
Apprentice
Daggerfall Covenant
Total Posts: 42
As with Elder Scrolls games, you should definitely be more stealthy at night, and the team or persons riding out in the night be beware. That adds another rich layer to game play and strategy.
Remember, all classes can sneak and Zenimax has said they are looking to create the battle atmosphere of sneak attacks and ambushes.
Founder, Apprentice
Ebonheart Pact
Total Posts: 45
Really enjoyed it, looking forward to the next one
”Altmer, they act all high and mighty until you leave them in a pool of their own blood” – Owyn
Apprentice
Daggerfall Covenant
Total Posts: 42
I lost the ability to edit my posts? oh well.
Is there any word from Zenimax thats saying this game in an MMO first or is that just pure speculation by the Entropy Rising folks? I havent read or heard anything like that and by all accounts it seems that Matt Firor and crew and going more for a balanced (if thats possible) approach to mixing the two genres.
I will be greatly disappointed if a nightime cycles doesnt make characters harder to see. Remember that rouges will be putting skill points in stealth classes to remain undetected while a mage or warrior will be putting it into attacks and such.
Just because an MMO hasnt done it before, doesnt mean Zenimax cant implement something.
Daedric Prince
Aldmeri Dominion
Total Posts: 1649
Cyrus-the-Hammer said on February 13, 2013:
I lost the ability to edit my posts? oh well.
Post editing is a feature I’m still working on for article comments (since they work quite a bit differently than the forums, despite the fact that they look the same). You didn’t lose the ability, it just wasn’t there to begin with yet.
Cyrus-the-Hammer said on February 13, 2013:
Is there any word from Zenimax thats saying this game in an MMO first or is that just pure speculation by the Entropy Rising folks?
I can’t speak for Byronyk/Fizzle…but I think by necessity ESO is an MMO first. What’s going to cause it to survive and profit, or fade away after release is the strength of it’s sustainable MMO mechanics, the features of the game which make it sticky and persistent. ZOS has been very politically correct in attempting to appease both sets of fans, but I think it’s hard to credibly believe that their primary emphasis isn’t coming from an MMO perspective.
Founder, creator, and developer of Tamriel Foundry. Guildmaster of Entropy Rising.
Founder, Novice
Daggerfall Covenant
Total Posts: 21
I like leveling but always start rushing myself to get to max level. I do remember the share leveling days Atropos. I was glad to get a level/week.