With such long development cycles, it's difficult to create an MMO that feels modern. As the game director of The Elder Scrolls Online, Matt Firor wants to ensure that the game is heeding lessons from past MMOs. Working extensively in this one genre, Firor thinks that he has pinpointed several key downfalls of the genre and is looking to avoid them for ESO. Check out the video below to hear him talk about the evolution of MMOs, how to make a player feel like a stand-alone hero in an online game, and how he plans on handling criticism of the game.
This is going to hurt the Elder Scrolls franchise. If it were being made by Bethesda and all of their focus, it would have been exciting. But World Of Warcraft in Tamriel is just destroying the lore and unique experience that is The Elder Scrolls series.
"He who cannot draw on 3,000 years is living hand-to-mouth." -Goethe
I see games like The Old Republic getting favourable reviews then haemorrhaging subscribers and wonder if there's any gas left in the MMO tank. Every developer out there thinks they've got a WoW-killer on their hands, but the genre is defined by the dull rinse-repeat formula that people are either tired of or still paying Blizzard for.
Unless this is one of the downfalls Matt has pinpointed (unlikely), I can't see TES doing much better.