The MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online introduced its new expansion Greymoor. Players will be taken to Skyrim. We at MeinMMO were able to ask the Creative Director of ESO, Rich Lambert, in an interview about it. He explained the new Antiquities system that is supposed to bring fresh air into the game.
The Zenimax Online Studios unveiled the new chapter for ESO. The story takes you into the black heart of Skyrim. It goes to the western part of Tamriel and even underground. You will delve into the deepest depths of Blackreach and fight against a powerful vampire lord. The chapter is set to be much darker than all previous chapters.
Here are the key facts about the new chapter Greymoor:
- the new story begins in February with the DLC “Harrowstorm”
- Greymoor is released on May 18 on PC, with the release on Xbox One and PS4 following on June 2
- Greymoor takes place 1,000 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The story is titled “The Black Heart of Skyrim”.
- with the Antiquities, a new system is introduced that doesn’t consist of quests and killing
Before the chapter was unveiled, we were able to learn more about the background of the new chapter at MeinMMO, together with our colleagues at GameStar, in an interview. We spoke with Rich Lambert about how Zenimax wants to bring fresh air to ESO with the new expansion – aside from the icy storms in the west of Tamriel.
ESO hasn’t received new systems for 3 years
Even though ESO is considered one of the top MMORPGs in 2020 due to its rich story, there are of course some criticisms. In recent years, ESO brought extensive expansions. In 2019 it was the Season of the Dragon, which led to the area of the Khajiit Elsweyr. New content is generally a great thing, as there are always new areas to explore.
Since Zenimax introduced housing in ESO in 2017, however, there have been no new systems outside of quests and killing. The variety is simply lacking in some areas, although there have been new classes like the Necromancer. The performance issues are another story.
This is how Zenimax wants to bring fresh air to ESO: Creative Director Rich Lambert told us in the interview about a completely new system that is coming into the game with the Greymoor addon.
We wanted to know how Zenimax plans to keep ESO fresh, as the MMORPG has been around since 2014.
ESO isn’t running on a slow track. We’ve gained a mass of new players this year. We are now over 15 million. We are constantly working on creating new content. Bringing something new every quarter is working well for us. This year our focus is to improve performance. That is a big thing that our players want. […]
As for new mechanics and features. That is actually something we are now introducing with the new chapter in the second quarter. We have a new gameplay system called Antiquities. Since housing (2017) this is the first major new system that does not just consist of quests and killing. Here the focus is more on lore and discovery.
Rich Lambert
With the Antiquities, you can find forgotten artifacts all over Tamriel. The relics can only be recovered through a series of mini-games consisting of searching and digging. The games can resemble battleship.
Through the Antiquities, you will also receive new items. These can be cosmetic items for your house or character, but there will also be weapons or a new mount to earn.
Lambert further explained that through the Antiquities system, there will also be a new type of gear to obtain, called Mythic Gear. This equipment is supposed to be strikingly powerful, but only one piece can be equipped at a time.
I’ll give you an example of one of the [new] items, so that you understand the difference from our equipment that is already in the game. There is, for example, a piece of jewelry that you can obtain through the Antiquities system that gives you a speed bonus in combat. […] When you’re out of combat, the speed bonus is doubled. So it changes your character setup differently depending on whether you’re in combat or out of combat.
Rich Lambert
Imagine you are Indiana Jones on a quest
The Creative Director particularly emphasized that the exploration of lore and the world is significant for the new system. The developers had a clear image of Indiana Jones and archaeologists in mind, recovering ancient relics.
We wondered why the developers wanted to place such a strong focus on lore and discovery with the new system:
This is a really big part of Elder Scrolls: exploration. Since there is so much lore in the game, we thought it would fit really well with Elder Scrolls. In recent years, our players have continuously mentioned how much they love the lore and that they enjoy how much freedom they have when exploring. So we developed a system that brings these major touch points together. […]
What we really want to achieve with the Antiquities system is that we no longer have the same thing. This is something completely different that no one really expects. It doesn’t consist of quests or killing.
Rich Lambert
Summary of the new system: Through the Antiquities, there is an incentive to roam all of Tamriel looking for rare relics. This will be a type of puzzle, and you can only recover the relics through mini-games. Through the relics, you unlock rewards that may consist of useful equipment and cosmetic items like new furniture.
The goal of the system is to give players something completely new that hasn’t existed before in ESO. The strengths of ESO should especially come into play: the freedom to explore and the lore.
What do you think of the Antiquities? Will the new system bring a breath of fresh air to ESO?
For more information about the DLCs and the chapter Greymoor, check out our comprehensive hub:
