You, setting the pace of your adventure in Tamriel.

I've touched on this topic quite a bit in the last two days, proceeding the BETA event, throughout this sub-reddit: how can TESO be successful for both the RPG player coming from TES series and to the MMO player coming from other titles in the genre?

This question is raised a lot as many aren't too keen on losing the core of what makes TES a unique experience in favour the more competitive, theme-park tropes and elements in the genre.

Likewise, MMO'ers feel the beginning of the game offers nothing new to the genre. I think these pitfalls can be observed for what they are and avoided by addressing both play styles as valid, without affecting level progression, immersion or competitiveness.

The solution to this quandary - from what I've come to grasp - is very simple. Assuming as little as possible from my end, but drawing upon what I know lends itself to a great RPG experience, here's what I've come up with:

• Create two different ways to play the game by activating a toggled feature in your game settings - just like you do in Skyrim to increase the difficulty.

  I believe the tension rests between the operating agendas of each side, that of the MMO'er and the RPG'er. Playing the game like an MMO allows you to progress and reach end-game content quicker by being more competitive, reaching that pinnacle sooner rather than later. If you focus on immersion over being competitive you might suffer for it, and, if you enjoy being competitive, RPG elements in the game could sometimes detract from reaching that goal or achievement you have in mind. The same tone runs true for players who prefer the RPG'er side of the game: sometimes, they too, merely want to create another character with no strings attached for secondary or tertiary activities: crafting, banking, playing with a friend.

• RPG toggled-on would remove quest giver indicators, while leaving quest identifiers in tact as you've discovered them. Coupled with this toggle feature, more feeder quests would be tied, concurrent with quests as we know them presently, to create a medley of possibilities and interactions with the formative storylines. This is possible because the majority of quests in TES are layered already, and sometimes, you skip portions of them without even realizing it; there are already feeder quests in place.

  An example is the tavern in Daggerfall that takes you to an Ayleid ruin just north of the city. After completing this you area you notice a camp just north if it.. your adventure continues unabated, without quest givers distracting you: you're making the choice based on observations in the environment around you.

• RP toggled-on would require far more auxiliary quests/objects to function properly. Because players will be interacting with NPCs much more. In order to stay within the appropriate level, more child to parent quests are needed to bridge this sort of interaction style. Even if you skip some parts of this 'proto-layer cake', the corresponding feeder quest merely replace a rung of that quest cake, as a corollary to it, not isolated from it, just an extended arc.

  Although lots of quests could happen interdependently, being reliant on an antecedent or descendant quest, some could be intradependent: existing just for themselves alone. RP toggle-on would give you access to content you wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to as a reward to the player. Nothing TOO game-breaking, just a Glowing Brightwood Staff as a reward, maybe two (I kid, I kid)

• Simple interactions that create large, complex ones: that's the idea. Something could happen, but doesn't have to as a result of that interaction: otherwise you wouldn't be caught off guard; you're just in the moment. And sometimes a road bandit might just come out of nowhere to surprise you while you're AFK, dying as a result!

  In this manner, the conflict is still resolved in the world at large - but your way, and sometimes you discover new things not accessible to players who play in a typical MMO-fashion. This additional content can only be discovered by interacting with NPCs in the game and environments at large which-all from consequence of previous actions or randomly generated manifestations/occurence appear, based on your inaction or action i.e., because you didn't help out with the bandits before X level, now you have to deal with a much bigger mess than before . I could go on and on about the many interactions that are possible. Let your imagination guide you!

• This increases replay-ability even for the most esteemed connoisseur of MMO titles, whose overriding goal may simply be achievement and end-game PvP/Adventure content: willing to rush RPG elements in the short run for a competitive advantage in the long run.

  Even if they disregard the option on the first play through for lack of interest, once they understand the game more, or roll an alternative character, this would always be available for them should they choose: easing them more into the sandbox, immersive RPG world around them at their leisure.

Here are some topics with stereotypical responses or dilemmas between the two camps of players as best as I could draw upon. Feel free to add your own contrasts and comparisons:

Instanced dungeon crawls associated with quest chains: caves, cellars, buildings with quest objectives in them, castles et cetera

• MMO PLAYER: For the MMO player it means leaving public crawls as they currently stand for ease of content progression and for the ability to meet people while delving into these areas. You have to make friends somehow, right? And it lets you progress quicker: the zerg is your friend.

• RPG PLAYER: Turn public dungeon crawls into private crawls they can invite friends to join, with content that scales in difficulty concurrent with the amount of players involved in that specific instance (up to 4): the zerg is not your friend.

Only have one on-rails starting zone, like the Dominion. Allowing the player to skip it in favour of other zones after its completion:

• MMO Player: This would speed up access to level 10 content, such as AvA, that many players are looking forward to as their end goal, getting a quick jump on earning gear that they can use to progress quicker to level upper echelons of the game: PvP preference > PvE

• RPG Player: Intermediary zones - like Bretnikh - should be not be obligatory after you leave Stros'Mkai. Do you want to go with the Privateer captain or would you rather hop on a barge, pay some gold for passage to Daggerfall in order to meet up with the Prophet as soon as possible? All this in lieu of sailing with the Redguard Captain to Bretnikh, should be at your own discretion. PvE preference > PvP

Upon reaching the Harbor at Daggerfall, if you paid for passage from say a Merchant you rescued, you could come back to port and sail to Bretnikh through other channels of exploration, not being forced to do so. This makes sense, too, because you'll eventually learn about the Bloodthorns just by exploring Glenumbra, easily creating an auxiliary quest that sends you on a diplomatic mission to Bretnikh.

The ability to toggle on or off quest givers on the compass and/or map could increase immersion and role playing opportunity. :

• MMO Player: Could potentially find this a bit annoying even frustrating, but gives them the ability to experiment and enjoy more RPG elements at their leisure. What could be more annoying than a bandit coming out of nowhere and skewering you while you're AFK? Dying from it of course!

• RPG Player: This is a godsend for immersion and the suspension of disbelief i.e., this is not just a theme park and not everyone is experiencing things in the same manner that I am. This creates a lot of potential tension and dynamism needed for the auxillary quests required to support this kind of playstyle, without the player becoming under-leveled.

These (optional) quests aren't visible as quest markers to MMO players, they'll gloss over them, because they tend to interact with NPCs with quest markers above their heads. Through gossip, rumor mongering and just plain happenstance due to having RP-toggle enabled, the RPG'er will experience more immersion as a result of their interaction style within the general backdrop of the zone. The protagonists, circumstances and the antagonistic elements may become harder over time if you neglect to deal with the problems at a certain level. Example: If you choose to deal with the Dominion Elves in Glenumbra over dealing with the Cult, you'll be faced with a stronger cult, because both zones start at roughly the same level.

MMO players can participate in them, too, but because of their interaction style with quest NPCs they usually won't run into them, because they aren't seeking this sort of interaction. Because this interaction style cares less about completing all the quests in a zone for their narrative elements, merely seeking to level, grab shards and get out, as such, their quests will remain static without this RP-quest avoidance difficulty scaling. This emergent gameplay occurs because of a choice the player made on which content to enjoy and can be facilitated with private instanced crawls to be more difficult.

In furtherance of the RPG ideal; player agency (capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices):

• Through casual conversing with NPCs, players could play more of an anarchic, anti-hero role: aiding or abetting the cultists for short-term gain only to later having to right their wrongs through personal tragedy, be it: moral, financial or physical pressures: you are a member of an Alliance after all, right? Well, at least you have to pretend lest you be thrown in jail, ending your career in Cyrodiil. :)

  This would allow a greater capacity for NPC and player-character development. Toggling this quest mode on would also allow more random occurrence, similarly, to the dragon encounters in Skyrim that occurred in the field. Assassins, bounty hunters claiming the price on your head or NPCs you helped previously coming to you for aid, gaining a quest based off of a rumours or action you previous made.. all relevant here

• Continuing on this notion of circumstance, maybe the assassin drops a promissory note or the bounty on your head - signed by the guarantor: feeding you into the parent quest for that area in the zone. There is no guarantee this will happen but the threat of imposing doom/serendipity at any time is part of the allure engendered by this sort of immersion.

  Going a step further, this sort of play style could even create opportunities where the player can steal items not otherwise available to them in instanced zones i.e., houses, castles and in towns. Even being thrown in prison, having to pay a fee to get out, or letting you out on condition that you carry out a task as a mercenary/double-agent.

I explored some of these topics in far greater detail through former replies to topics in this sub-reddit, which I will link below. When taken together, they attempt to address problems and inconsistencies players experience and ways to redress them. I apologize if my writing style isn't palatable, but I am trying as best as I can to convey this material to the best of my ability.

• Public vs. private experiences, agency vs. agency via proxy, personal agency vs. insurgency via another's agency (Dark Anchors), toggle RPG elements vs. standard themepark MMO, instanced public vs private crawls, scaling difficulty and the suspension of disbelief.

  By elucidating and touching on these concepts, my meanderings were ultimately geared towards trying to make sense of what went right and what went wrong - where was the disconnect? Upon understanding these concepts, and subsequently applying them to the game world, one could invariably create an exceedingly polished, healthy game for everyone to partake in: fans, MMO players and newcomers to the genre alike.

• On redeeming the PvE elements of the game without compromising its RPG integrity: http://redd.it/1xqbja

• A gilded post where I talk about immersion, 'agency', 'suspension of disbelief' and curtailing the sense of meaninglessness for players who enjoy the RPG side of TES vs. the MMO theme-park. Delineating how both camps can benefit: http://redd.it/1xnei3

• If you like what I have to say feel free to read my /u/Antreus as I rant, ramble and rave about my obsessive interest in the potential of this game. Go with my blessing for I know naught what you may find or cringe upon uncovering.

My background: D&D, RPG-MUD content contributor/player (Text-Based, Multi-User-Dungeons), P2P MMO and F2P, TES:Morrowind,Oblivion,Skyrim, Neverwinter, social science pedagogy and international relations major. I'm just a normal gamer dude with a love of RPGs, sandbox, strategy and simulations.

Through my analysis of what was wrong with this game I drew upon two lenses: Bartle and psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek.

To read more about Slavoj Zizek and former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld concept of the 'unknown and known' see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_known_knowns.

For an understanding of Bartle's Four Archetypes in MUDS (multi-user-dungeons) that many of these worlds are balanced around, consistenting of 1. Achiever, 2. Explorer, 3. Socialisers and 4. Killers go here: http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/wiremud3.htm

To learn more about agency go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(philosophy)

To learn more about suspension of disbelief go here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief

Special thanks to /u/TroubleViking for helping me edit the mess I wrought unnecessarily. I'll check this thread in the morning and reply to any comments.