The Elder Scrolls Online is the hugely anticipated MMO spin off based in the Elder Scrolls universe – not to be confused with The Elder Scrolls 6, the rumoured single player sequel.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was one of 2011’s best releases. Immense in both its scope and ambitions, it set players loose in a gigantic open-world map filled with quests  to complete and monsters to fight.

Its gameplay was a seamless marriage of FPS magic and hack ‘n slash and deep and layered RPG levelling. It was such an astonishing achievement that players could easily forgive it the odd bug or two.

Its 10 million unit sales pretty much guaranteed a sequel, but what no one expected was Bethesda to add even more scale to the already enormous IP. The Elder Scrolls Online will be the latest sword and sorcery MMO to challenge the dominance of World Of Warcraft.

Although we may not be seeing it for some time, rumours surrounding the launch of this title have already started to emerge.

The Elder Scrolls Online Setting

According to a rumour piece on GamesRadar, The Elder Scrolls Online will be set around 1,000 years before the events covered in Skyrim.

The main antagonist for the game will be the Daedric Prince Molag Bal, who is hell-bent on conquering the mythical lands of Tamriel.

The site states that the opening levels of The Elder Scrolls Online see the player escaping from Bal’s clutches in a plane of Oblivion called Coldharbour.

The opening of the game introduces the players to the main plot and walks them through the control set up at the same time.

The Elder Scrolls Online Characters & Gameplay

Players will have 50 levels of progression to grind through on The Elder Scrolls Online, and there are three factions in the game they can choose to align with: The Daggerfall Covenant, The Ebonheart Pact, and The Aldmeri Dominion.

According to a piece published on the Shadowed Mare Elder Scrolls Community website, Bethesda offered fans a hands-on look at the game at PAX this last weekend.

From their time with the game, the site reported a series of details, including the fact that the there are three major skills trees: Class, Weapon and Armor, and each tree has 6 – 7 sub-skill trees enabling players to specialise in weapon types.

The Elder Scrolls Online Release Date

There’s no word yet on a street date for Elder Scrolls Online, but the game’s public beta is currently taking registration.

If you sign up for the game’s beta you stand a chance of being allowed to play Elder Scrolls Online before launch – and, naturally, you’ll be a massive help to Bethesda, who’ll use data they collate from the beta to iron out any in-game bugs.

Signing up for the beta doesn’t guarantee you a spot, but nothing ventured is nothing gained. We don’t know when the beta will launch, but we urge you to follow this link if you’d like to be a part of it: