Multiplayer in Skyrim?

[The_Gray_Aegis]

Has there been any mention of the possibility of any form of multiplayer experience in the next addition to the Elder Scrolls series? I personally have not heard any mention of the possibility, but that would not surprise me since the vast majority of my information comes from this site and I cannot recall any mention of it on here.

So has there been even the shadow of a hint of multiplayer implicated?

Also, what do you think the effects on the gameplay and overall game experience might be if multiplayer forms of gameplay were to be incorporated into Skyrim?

[Vinja]

nope nothing has been said regarding multiplayer as far as im aware. and i actually think it is a good idea as long as its done like fantasy star online or diablo. basically no real plot just dungeon crawls with up to four different players or something in randomized dungeons.

[Goblin voice]

nope nothing has been said regarding multiplayer as far as im aware. and i actually think it is a good idea as long as its done like fantasy star online or diablo. basically no real plot just dungeon crawls with up to four different players or something in randomized dungeons.

or/and some kind of arena mode

[Vinja]

nope nothing has been said regarding multiplayer as far as im aware. and i actually think it is a good idea as long as its done like fantasy star online or diablo. basically no real plot just dungeon crawls with up to four different players or something in randomized dungeons.

or/and some kind of arena mode

not something i would play personally but thats also a good idea! only downside is i can already see all the people crying for them to nerf "teh uberblade of forgotten souls +1" XD

[Spiney]

Making a multi-player side to the game will detract valuable time Bethesda has to work on the single player side. I would say no to any form of multi-player.

Too many games focus on the multi-player to keep players investing time. Oblivion has kept me entertained for four years with no multi-player what so ever. I would like Skyrim to keep that track record.

[Goblin voice]

Making a multi-player side to the game will detract valuable time Bethesda has to work on the single player side. I would say no to any form of multi-player.

Too many games focus on the multi-player to keep players investing time. Oblivion has kept me entertained for four years with no multi-player what so ever. I would like Skyrim to keep that track record.

Yeah, multiplayer shouldn't be "number one priority" but it would be nice if there was some kind of possibility to play with friend or foes or something...

[Hackattack]

I agree with Spiney about that almost all TES games entertain for as long as you want them too (sorry weird wording). If you want to have a Dark Elf Battlemage Thief-Assassin, than so be it. Oblivion and Morrowind never needed a multiplayer, then why would Skyrim? I can't see anything positive with a multiplayer, the series would just take a step in the wrong direction (cough, cough Fable series).

If they absolutely had to have a multiplayer, then I they should have it a Arena option in that you would fight with pre-made "classes" so to speak. If you won, you get a small sum of gold that you could spend on your Arena character only. I can just imagine if they let people use their characters from single player; there would be a mage casting an insanely powerful spell killing in one or two hits.

[dennis]

Anyone here ever play Demon's Souls? I've always thought that the only type of multiplayer that would work for TES would be something like that.

Imagine going down into a dungeon and finding the body of a dead adventurer. Except instead of this being placed there by Bethesda, it would be the body of another player. You could loot the body for perhaps a small amount of gold and an item or two, but they should make sure that A) The other player does not actually lose the items in his game and B) You cannot loot unique or quest items from other players.

Perhaps they could also implement some kind of "helping hand" system. Rather than two adventurers raiding a dungeon together, what if one could leave clues to some hidden treasure for the next player? You could manipulate the objects in the environment to have an arrow on the ground pointing toward a secret door, or place an item on a floor panel to mark a trap? What if players could even deposit their own loot in chests for others to find?

You can just imagine the possibilities with this sort of system, and it would also help to keep dungeon crawling fresh every time. Also, it would still allow Bethesda to make an highly detailed world and to preserve the feeling of immersion that you find in every ES game. To me, this would be much cooler than fighting alongside another player.

[Kestral]

There is no hint, and I believe Bethesda said that they'd never do it. The idea is also wasteful and stupid, no matter how you slice it.

[dennis]

Well, that was an opinion, and this is speculation.

I know how edgy us TES fans can get over the idea... and I agree that one on one, player to player multiplayer is a bad idea, but don't you think that an indirect system of interaction might have a place in the game? I know that the focus always will be single player, as it should be, but you can't deny that online play is a big part of gaming these days.

Don't get me wrong, I dig having a Tamrielic country to explore all to myself and I think that playing with another person would take away from that feeling. But what's really wasteful and stupid is for a game company to ignore such a big part of the industry, rather than finding new and innovative ways to make it work in a way that pleases old school fans and keeps it up to date for new gamers.

[T PoPTartZz T]

I'm pretty sure I read of a mod that did this in Oblivion already... Where
2 players could dungeon raid together over a LAN or something.

But Skyrim should not implement it. I think it would just cut away from
the immersion.

[Vivec's Tears]

NO multiplayer in an ES game. Ever.

ES games are and only should be single player imo. Multi player would ruin the whole mood of them, being the sole hero and all that jazz.

[dennis]

I'm pretty sure I read of a mod that did this in Oblivion already... Where
2 players could dungeon raid together over a LAN or something.

But Skyrim should not implement it. I think it would just cut away from
the immersion.

NO multiplayer in an ES game. Ever.

ES games are and only should be single player imo. Multi player would ruin the whole mood of them, being the sole hero and all that jazz.

Hence my point with the indirect interaction... I know nobody actually wants to adventure with another player, but I think that giving them the ability to make minor changes to another players game could help it feel more realistic, and even help to make the game more immersive.

The only reason I keep bringing it up is because everyone keeps on saying "no multiplayer whatsoever, in any form." I just kind of want some opinions on the idea that I came up with (even though I'm well aware it is highly unlikely to happen."

[The_Gray_Aegis]

nope nothing has been said regarding multiplayer as far as im aware. and i actually think it is a good idea as long as its done like fantasy star online or diablo. basically no real plot just dungeon crawls with up to four different players or something in randomized dungeons.

I actually really like that idea. I have no desire to have other players be incorporated into the whole game, I just would like to be able to interact with others through different forms of gameplay not at all related to the single player gameplay. I agree with what most of you have said, that the ES games thrive on single player gameplay and that it would be detrimental to the game itself to take away from that, as one person said (can't recall who and am too lazy at the moment to check), the game has kept me occupied for multiple years now and has never gotten old and it'd be a shame if it lost that quality of gameplay because Bethesda decided to add things that do not fit the game series. In my opinion, the greatness of the ES games, what makes them so successful, is the complete immersion of the player within the world. I would not like this to be sacrificed for any reason, I am completely comfortable playing by myself.

However, that being said, there are some things I would like added, there are forms of multiplayer gameplay that I think could add to the game's quality while still retaining what makes the game so great. Such as I stated before, I think the concept of being able to go through a dungeon with one other player, or possibly more, would and could be very enjoyable and would open up a whole new way to experience the game itself. Also, I would like to see some sort of arena PvP combat incorporated. Perhaps a PvP combat system ranging from a simple 1v1 fight to an all-out 10v10 brawl, I don't know how well this could be done, but I would like to see some way for this to happen. As one other person said (once again, too lazy to check who it was), multiplayer gaming is a major aspect of the gaming world right now, many people are no longer content to play a game solo, while I do not believe that anybody on this site is of this disposition, more and more games are being made recently with their sole focus being on multiplayer gameplay, though they may not market it as such, it is undeniable that many games' success is reliant on being multiplayer, for example the Gears of War games, the COD games, and the Halo games. For the record, not at all a fan of Halo or COD. I realize that all these games have "campaign" modes, but it is obvious that all the games are focused on being multiplayer games. I also realize that as I am at the moment a solely Xbox360 player, I am ignorant of the complexities involved with multiplayer gaming on consoles, which most likely could pose a problem.

I am as well aware that one person (once again, too lazy) posted above that Bethesda has stated that there will be no multiplayer aspect created in the ES games, I have never heard of this every happening, but if it has I would not be surprised that I do not know, I'm not all that in-the-loop when it comes to newsfeeds and news releases and whatnot. I would like to say, however, that if this has been said, it's a shame that they have completely ruled out the possibility, I would expect Bethesda, of all people, to be able to come up with a way to include the multiplayer aspect within a game without sacrificing what makes the game great.

All that being said, I would like to give a brief summary of my opinions.

Basically, I am 100% supportive of there being optional multiplayer aspects incorporated to the next installation of the ES games, so long as it does not effect the single player gaming experience that has created the fan base that it has and which has built up the excitement for the upcoming installation.

[hoodedrobin]

What about all those RP's out there? Nobody finds the idea of being able to interact with other characters online... think ES meets WoW. Actually being able to buy weapons or armor from a blacksmith who is actually someone else online. Someone coming to me to buy ingredients because im an alchemist... if its done right, i could see this being pretty cool... if not, then ill stay offline.

[Vendetta]

If bethesda makes an elder scrolls multiplayer, I will sue them

[DarkGodShadow]

What about all those RP's out there? Nobody finds the idea of being able to interact with other characters online... think ES meets WoW. Actually being able to buy weapons or armor from a blacksmith who is actually someone else online. Someone coming to me to buy ingredients because im an alchemist... if its done right, i could see this being pretty cool... if not, then ill stay offline.

That would be pretty cool, but then again if Beth added some sort of multiplayer component to the game it could end up taking away from the single player experience. But if done right that idea could actually work and improve on the series with that said I've always hated the idea of multiplayer in TES.

[dennis]

I still kind of wish someone would respond to my idea, lol.

That being said, I thought over it again and realized it would be kind of annoying to see a dead adventurer wearing the same unique armor as you. But I still think it would be cool if other players could effect certain things in dungeons (leaving clues, markers to secrets, etc) that you could stumble upon...

[Rariow un Irskand]

I still kind of wish someone would respond to my idea, lol.

That being said, I thought over it again and realized it would be kind of annoying to see a dead adventurer wearing the same unique armor as you. But I still think it would be cool if other players could effect certain things in dungeons (leaving clues, markers to secrets, etc) that you could stumble upon...

I think your idea would be pretty cool. But I don't know if I'd actually like it, because it would feel like a gimmick, and believe me, if I had even a slight suspicion of an Elder Scrolls game with a major gimmick, I'd go and... and... do something bad to Bethesda. However, I do think it'd work very well if they did it properly, imagine this:
You walk down a dark hall, with your torch in hand. You're very confident, as this cave has only had a couple of Mudcrabs in it as enemies. However, your confidence fades as you almost trip on the body of a fellow adventurer. He has extremely good equipment on him, and seems to be very high-level. A bit later on down the hall, you find a note pinned to the wall "Careful. The next room is full of Dwemer Centurions. They are equipped with light-sensors, but will not notice any sound. Just put your torch away, and all will be fine." You put your torch away,and find the next room is indeed full off the things. You count a giant army of about 20 of them. There would have been no chance if your unknown friend hadn't warned you.

But then there's the problem of some attention-seeking kid just jumping off a cliff repeatedly to have thirty of his body on the floor, or leaving random notes saying "L0LZ MDE U L00K" everywhere. And I think the Elder Scrolls works perfectly well without a multiplayer or on-line option, and in case it was there Bethesda would just either
A) Have to release the game later on to have both a good On-Line and Off-Line mode (If I can get the game without an On-Line mode in July instead of November, I will)
B) Release the game unfinished in the Online-Mode (Which will make it feel unsatisfying)
C) Release the game unfinished in the Offline-Mode (Which I will not stand for, and will just continue pestering Todd Howard until he says he'll remake the game)
D) Release the game unfinished in both Modes (In which case I will threaten with bombing the Bethesda Headquarters until they say they'll remake the game)

Of course, if they make a good interaction with other people tool, I'll be happy. And if they go for an MMORPG (Which I'm sure won't happen, but there's still that 0.0001% chance), I'll try it out, but I won't expect it to be even near the level of so to say "Medium-Quality" games such as LotRO, yet alone of WoW.

[dennis]

Those are all pretty good points, and the scenario you described is pretty much exactly the way I was imagining it. And as for your issue about annoying people spamming their death and leaving bodies cluttered all over the place, well, that could be fixed if they made it so only one or two bodies will appear throughout a dungeon. Like I said, I know the system could have some credit because it worked beautifully on Demon's Souls. With a little tweaking, I feel that sort of thing would fit into Elder Scroll's world.

It would be quite annoying to have someone lead you unwittingly into a trap or something as well, but I feel that would also help to add to the immersion. Who's to say there aren't some trouble making marauders out their who would delight in tricking an adventurer into walking into a spike pit?

[Ethelred]

I think this would be bad. Very bad.

The previous example of buying something from a blacksmith who is also a player: who the hell wants to pay (real life money) to have a job and be the blacksmith? If I'm a killer alchemist, I don't want to grub around for ingredients only to sell them on to others, I want to use them to make poisons and potions and loot dungeons.

Each to their own, of course, but in my opinion TES is about a rich single player experience, not a multiplayer one.

Arena combat would also be terrible, unless they dramatically changed the combat style.

Farm a TES arena/dungeon hack style game out to a third party developer and keep the core series as pure TES as possible.

[Hadrianus]

There wont be any multiplayer...

[Sonixboom]

no, multiplayer will RUIN the elder scrolls.

keep it solo

-Sonix

[Regalius]

I'm astonished that most people saying "multiplayer = bad, must not have" haven't realised that u can (if there will be a MP) press the offline button and continue on playing in your beloved single player.

My idea of the multiplayer is simplya cooperative game, you choose to start it with others or you don't. Then you can save that game, and play it with the person later on or not play it with the person later on.

My second idea is to have something like a server list (Just like in counter strike). You choose a server, you go on it, you play. The admin could save it and then u can load him and play there again.

Now befor everyone starts theyr "Multiplayer = bad" talk, I want to remind them that there will most likely be an "offline" button, wich u can press and play offline.
There are people out there that WANT a multiplayer, some people think that being sealed off in a singleplayer is boring (those that cant grasp the brilliance of TES series singleplayer for example).

[Sublymonal]

I don't see a problem adding co-op. Not exactly "multiplayer", but the ability to invite a friend in would be nice.