The Elder Scrolls Online Preview and Video Interview
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As in Guild Wars 2 and other recent MMOs, players will not be forced to group to take out the baddies but can opt to assist one another ungrouped. Every person contributing in any given battle will share in its rewards whether grouped or not. This approach nullifies (kill stealing) and instead promotes camaraderie between players.
The dungeons themselves stay true to The Elder Scrolls IP with various puzzles for players to figure out. Clues will be hidden around the dungeon or within objects that will contain the key to unlocking a door or opening a secret passageway. As Fowler puts it, this game is the (familiar Elder Scrolls, but with friends.)
One of the restrictive effects of having group-only content in older games sprouted from the requirement of very specific classes for specific content and encounters. Some dungeons in these old games required a rogue to pick a lock, for instance. TESO will make use of player skills, but the group makeup and requirements are a lot more forgiving since every class will be able to fulfill multiple roles with multiple skills.
MMORPG:
There's a minimal UI in place, with the same three main stat pools we're used to from TES: stamina, health, and magic. Blocking attacks with your shield will use stamina, spells use magicka, and health, well... it's health. The blocking is an active ability: think of it like the Lancer mechanic from TERA. There's no auto-attack, and from the UI we saw, there's only about six skills available at any one time on the hotbar. Some will be tied to your weapon choice, while others will come from your ability choices while leveling up through the game's 50 levels.
An example of PVE content we saw was really promising. Matt's tank character charged a group of three mobs, one frost mage, a necromancer, and a rogue-like mob as well. The mage raised a wall of ice to deflect incoming ranged attacks, and laid down a sheet of ice to immobilize Matt. Meanwhile the rogue got in close to try and take down Matt's HP. Matt dropped him quickly, but the necromancer raised the corpse into a skeleton. Meanwhile Matt's focus turned to the frost mage, as he used a jumping charge skill to leap over the wall of ice and take out the ranged damage dealer. The whole time he was blocking attacks, dodging swings, and slamming his shield into enemies in real time. It's halfway between TERA and GW2 in terms of pacing and "action", if I had to put it to a comparison. It's not as twitch-based as En Masse's game, but it's certainly not just another tab-target affair.
I asked Matt later how class progression will be handled, and here's where I got a really big smile on my face. You won't be able to create your own "classes", as everyone will choose an archetype from the start: tank, healer, mage, rogue, etc. But once in the game, it's up to you how you build that character. You can be a tank who wields a healing staff, or a mage who uses a sword and a shield. Sure a a real healer is still going to do that role better than you, but essentially Matt wants to make sure players can and will take on several roles with their play. Level 50 may be the cap, he said, but it's just a number. Progression won't end there.
Finally, Joystiq is offering a video interview with lead gameplay designer Nick Konkle. Among the subjects treated are the game's visual design (though, to be fair, it's pretty clear that it's not Konkle's area of expertise), the team's aims with the title's design, the differences when compared to other MMOs and more.
