hmmm… that's what a lot of people have been saying since this game was launched… neither MMO nor SPG… neither fish nor fowl…
What's the reason you think DArt? ZeniMax's inexperience or hubris?
I don't know the budget for the game, and we don't know how it'll do on consoles - which is potentially the biggest thing about it.
I think it's been a miscalculation on the part of the designers or the shot-callers, because they obviously expected more people to appreciate a strong focus on lore and a "singleplayer" TES approach to quests.
Personally, I found it to be a very refreshing change in the MMO space, but then again - I'm way past the treadmill and questhub design of modern themeparks.
Also, I prefer to play solo most of the time, so the real issues with the game never bothered me much.
It was a clear-cut mistake NOT to have enough focus on the social aspect - and I'm not sure what they were thinking there.
But, overall, I think the game deserves better - and that it's been given a raw deal.
That said, there's really no arguing with the audience. They want what they want - and if they're looking for more WoW - there's Wildstar now.
Personally, I think that kind of design loses its appeal once you've spent enough time learning that there's really no carrot in the carrot. I have this theory that a lot of MMO fans don't actually understand their own psychology - and they don't understand the long-term impact of certain design choices.
The thing about MMOs is that they take a LONG time to evaluate - and you can spend months having "some fun" until you come to understand whether you really want to have it as a home or not.
There are so many MMOs around today, that people jump from one to the other - and there's no clear winner or clearly superior design. At least, not based on the extremely fickle nature of the audience.
As such, there's a decent chance that ESO will have a comeback down the line, either because of F2P or simply a general change in how it's perceived.
Much like SWtOR - which was almost universally hated for a long time, and though the game is still essentially EXACTLY the same - people are now cutting it much more slack.
People will use whatever excuse for how their opinions change - but I don't think F2P will change anything about ESO for the better. It will just give people an excuse to come around.
People are funny that way