Elder Scrolls Online! Who will make Addons?
 

Anyone else had chance to Betatest The Elder Scrolls Online yet? The release will be on 04.04.14! Is anyone planing on writing lua addons for ESO?

Last weekend I had the chance to test the ESO beta for 3 Days. I have tested some mmorpgs like Guidwars, StarWars, Aion, LOTR etc. but ESO was very different and I liked it very much. The UI is very different from wow. The beta was a bit to much questing at the beginning but that helped to understand the new controls until I was able to join the first dungon. I like the freedom of gear and profession. You can make a mage that is waring plate armor and using dagger and shild so its very individual. Overall I think its a great start and I woud love to see many cool addons for it!

Does it even Support mods?

I have tested it but I don't see where it is fundamentally different from any of the other new MMOs we've seen over the years. To me it feels like they're building off the TES fan base to make an MMO that will be as expensive as possible while it's new (retail game price + sub cost similar to WoW + cash store), but ultimately fails to do something truly innovative with the MMO genre that could convince WoW players to give up on a portion of their friends/guild and all their characters they've built up over the years.

That's not to say it's bad, I just doubt many WoW fans will be won over in the long run.

Is the somewhere a public download for the beta client? Would like to see their file formats.

Only reason I'm going to play is because of the TES connection. Huge fan. But once I've seen the storylines I'm out.

@Duugu
Its Lua and XML. They have released a survey addon, just checking it now if anything related to me is stored in it.
They are extremely protective of their stuff. Account name is plastered all over the screen as a watermark to prevent screenshots. Can't imagine what else they have done.

update: No foul play, let me know if you want a link to it. Don't think I'm allowed to post a link to files outside wowi.

Well I have streamed some minutes with censored acc name anyway :p - link removed, please don't link to NDA breaking videos, screenshots, etc. ~ Cairenn

I beta tested this weekend, loved it. I signed up *so to speak* to join their addon beta when one arises but it looks like our guild ( whats left of it ) will be shifting to ESO when it comes out, but based on history I won't be cancelling my wow account quite yet rofl. Just switching off the second one to use for ESO.

A fellow guildie got in as well so we chatted while playing but we clearly hated the beta finishing so soon rofl.

I personally liked the crafting side of the game, and how the levelling and gearing works to make your characters somewhat unique.

Can't wait to see what the API access will be like.

I was talking about the game files format. Like Blizzards mpq files. Is it a known format?

Nevermind ... I've registerd myself for the beta. Maybe I'm lucky. :)

Where is the link to the existing AddOn? And do they have links to their API?

It was removed because the game is still in closed beta, and the beta testers are under an NDA that forbids them from posting screenshots, videos, and presumably any other game materials.

Got into the stress test and uninstalled it after about 20 minutes, looks & feels like those single-player-mmo-like games that came out 10+ years ago.

Personally I'm waiting for WildStar (signed up for the beta in 2011 but had no luck so far, only got into 2 stress tests) - they support addons (also Lua) and have the cutest vegetable NPCs you've ever seen.

Well after 20 min you have not even left the first starting zone thats maybe why it looks and feels like this for you. Isen't it the same in WoW? If you are not in a guide or group you feel like a singelplayer until you reach the first city.

I don't know about that... I've been leveling on EU servers recently, and there are tons of people everywhere, even in starting zones. It's actually pretty annoying having to fight over quest mobs when it's not even the first week of an expansion. Fortunately I'm usually playing during the middle of the night and early morning EU times, so I don't have to deal with it all the time, but if you're playing during your region's normal hours, you're definitely not alone. :p

It looked like to me that the first area is a solo tutorial phase. I only ever saw NPCs in that area. As I moved further out I could see other players and as I moved further into the game more people appeared.

Being a stress test however I was expecting more people around but perhaps the fact that I was taking my time testing everything including the crafting element that people had levelled past me already rofl.

Well, it's basically a classic style MMO that is doing nothing or little different from others. The only difference is that it is not as polished as an 8 years old MMO like WoW. If you're looking for an innovative new MMO style or 'the next big thing' it will be a disappointing experience. Waiting for EQ Next or something probably would be a better choice in that case. :)

Personally I can't see any sense in developing just another 'classic' MMO today. My feeling is that it won't attract that may MMO payers aka customers. But I think they are targeting mainly at all the Skyrim players who never tried an MMO at all.

But do the teeny weeny, shimmy shiny new netizens know that. Where's dadies credit card, his WoW is old $$$.

I don't know how large the starting area is, the last zone I've been to was somewhere outdoors after I jumped into some kind of vortex or whatever right after saving an important NPC (I skipped all the chit chat dialogs, but I'm pretty sure that guy was really important). I remember being in a small town where I killed some cows and ravens. Oh and i mined some ore. Then I went to a nearby tower, killed 2 enemies (or atleast tried to, they jumped around like crazy) and uninstalled the game.

Was this still the starting zone? I only ran across 2 other players after I left that town and the chat was totally quiet.

I don't know why ... but the first thing that comes to my mind is No Child Left Behind. ;D

Wow, there was a lot of chatting while I was playing.

Race Related starting zone - up to vortex part you described
Faction Related questing hubs - where the vortex sends you

I never went higher than level 5 so can't say what happens later on but I spent time in 2 quest hub zones which looked to be faction zones. Looking at the map these areas are pretty big, not sure when you start mixing with other factions.

I won't be bothering. ESO online is horrible.

Well I'm going to if anything for personal stuff. I got a job as a support rep for the game so I might as well learn how the ui works.

They actually have a lua and XML class lined up for me next week as well. I'll keep ya guys posted if you need anything btw though I would be the last to know any news.

Unfortunately, I've already had to add the Elder Scrolls Online to my long list of disappointing MMO's. It feels very rushed and uninspired—definitely not worth the price of admission.

I just know there is also this side http://elderscrollsonline.com/en

Nevermind. Got the interface files. ty

e: http://elderscrollsonline.com/en has no forum or community or I'm to stupid to find it. :/

ESO is like most of the new MMO's that have been coming out, heavy in voice over and lacking content.

I'm currently in the beta and the game play isn't anything new or inventive. 3 specs per class and they go straight down in a line of upgradeable spells (obviously may change due to still being in beta but still...).

Right off the bat most of the info you need is not available. Health / enery / etc are just a bar and no text amount displayed.

They're going to release an API page at some point but until then they do, they don't go into any details about where addons are stored or their minimum requirements to create one.

Well, their UI is stored under \The Elder Scrolls Online\game\client\EsoUI\Ingame
There's an ingame.txt that contains all the lua and XML filenames + the path to them.

My guess is that it you have to add the path to the game directory, then add your addon to the ingame.txt and place a XML+lua file into your new addon folder. Something like that. I'm sure a bit of trial an error is enough to get it working. ;)

The basic API and XML structure is inside their ui files.

E: Just to be sure: I'm just speculating. I don't know or tried anything. :)

The esoUI folder doesn't exist unless you have been given access to it I guess. I'm on the volunteers list but not been chosen yet so thus do not have the folder in existence on my install.

Just finished my 3 day test run of the game, loved every minute of it. Did my feedback and bug reports and awaiting the usual survey and await the next beta weekend.

I'm glad to here that there is someone else enjoying the game as much as I do. I hope to get invited to the next beta weekend too!

I plan on making some simple addons for it, whenever they let people get their hands dirty coding. I've not as of yet seen any API documentation, so I'm awaiting that.
I hope, considering the robust Skyrim modability, they have a pretty mod-able UI. We'll have to wait and see.
I can already think of dozens of addons the UI might need for many people who are used to the more traditional MMO setup.
Here's how the basic UI looks, for reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfpYnehJ5TE
This is the latest Dev Play session, posted by Zenimax.

It's planned to be a different format before release it's like that for testing purposes.

I've heard nothing official BTW. I'll keep ya guys posted when I do (that's really all I'm allowed to tell you as well NDA's can be frustrating).

Kinda feels awesome to get paid to play games btw

Zygor has announced a leveling guide for ESO, for those interested. No screenshots as of this writing.