Why would gamers worry about Elder Scrolls Online's game engine?

When Elder Scrolls Online was announced, everyone got excited including us. When we read about fans worrying about Elder Scrolls Online last week, it surprised us. According to the reports, fans worried about Elder Scrolls Online turning out to be a disappointing MMO just because they thought it'd use the Hero Engin, the game engine used in the making of Star Wars The Old Republic. But since when do the gamers worry about game engines?

Elder Scrolls Online - Fans worry about game engine?

I won't be talking about fans worrying about Elder Scrolls Online because it was assumed to be using Hero Engine. And I won't talk about what Zenimax Online developers said about it all too. Apparently, they won't even be using Hero Engine as they have created their own game engine from scratch which they believe will make the game run perfect on any PC/MAC that has been built in the last 5 years. That's all great but the problem is the debate.

Pre-judging a game because of the Game Engine?

Since when a gamer worry about Game Engines? I surely have never done that and to be honest, I have worried about many other things. The developer, its past work, designers, development team, the story of the game...instead of the game engine itself.

I believe this all started because SWTOR used the same engine and some people consider SWTOR as a game that is not really the most innovative game and even a production that has not lived up to the hype. ( That's of course debatable, as DevilsMMO editor M.Growcott thought otherwise here-> )

In his review he wrote:

The Old Republic is a game that some people would have loved to have hated. Those people will be disappointed because, if it isn’t a game that other developers should aspire to, it’s a game that is incredibly well made.

Sure it's his personal thoughts but I am sure there are others who rate SWTOR as highly as him.

Are you disappointed in SWTOR?

For those of you who are not familiar with Hero Engine, it's a game engine developed by Idea Fabrik Plc. If you take a look at the games list at Hero Engine's official site, apart from SWTOR, you can see games like Dominus or Sand in the Gears. I only see Faxion Online which was an MMO with a short life-span. Other than that, it's hard to say that Hero Engine has been used in terrible MMOs.

A Game Engine by definition is:

... a system designed for the creation and development of video games. The leading game engines provide a software framework that developers use to create games for video game consoles and personal computers. The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine (“renderer”) for 2D or 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, and a scene graph. (Source:Wikipedia)

It does absolutely play a big role in game's success but is it enough to judge a game that you have never seen before, just because you know which game engine is being used? And does it even make sense for gamers to worry about a game because they played another title that has been developed with the same engine, which they didn't find that great? I believe the answer is NO. I simply can't understand why people talk about the game engine because they worry that Elder Scrolls Online would be a FAIL. I would care about other aspects of a game before I even considered the game engine. What do you think?

Use the Subscribe button and we will send you updates on this game. (You need to be logged in)