For over a decade, The Elder Scrolls Online has captivated millions of players.

But what does it take to keep an ever-evolving world alive and thriving? Sure, it helps that it has the strength of the Elder Scrolls IP — but often online games like these need so much more to lean on.

There’s new content updates out now and plenty more on the way. So to get caught up, I sat down with Rich Lambert, the Game Director of The Elder Scrolls Online.

The journey of The Elder Scrolls Online has been a long one, predating its 2014 launch.

The studio itself was founded in 2007, and work on the game’s lore and setting began almost immediately. 

ZeniMax Online Studios opened the vault for us to a few early concept pieces from the game.

With stunning landscapes, weapon design and architecture — it’s clear how far the game has come.

Now, 18 years on for the developers, and 10 years for players, Lambert reflects on key lessons learned.

“Never underestimate the player, ever, right? The players are exceedingly smart and resourceful and will always find a way to do something,” Lambert said. 

Understanding how players actually play the game is crucial. For Lambert and his team, it shapes how they approach the game’s design. 

“When we first launched ESO, we were trying to find this kind of happy medium between MMO and Elder Scrolls, and we tried to walk that line in there and appeal to everybody. And we didn’t really hit either side particularly well,” he explained.

Eventually, the solution was a clear and the team changed the game’s trajectory.

“When we finally decided that it’s Elder Scrolls first, MMO second, all of that started to come together and we really started to make progress on improving the game, delivering features and content that players were actually excited about and having fun playing,” he told 9news.com.au. 

Lambert’s commitment to player experience led to the development of features like housing, a highly requested addition that faced early technical hurdles.

A major highlight in the latest update, The Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 1, is “subclassing”, allowing players to diversify their character builds significantly.

“I’m really excited for subclassing, which is the ability for you to use other classes’ skills.” “You can choose up to two other class skill lines to do that with.”

There’s plenty of possibility, with the game’s system designer estimating over 3,000 potential combinations.

Update 46 also brings a significant narrative advancement, revisiting the base game’s story in a way that serves as a true sequel.

“This is the first time we’re really advancing time. And also treating this like a true sequel,” Lambert said.

“Players who have played through the base game, main story, everything is going to make sense… and they’re interacting and dealing with the worm cult again.”

That said, Lambert says there’s a clear path for new players to dive straight in. 

Lambert says there’s multiple updates, years ahead, already in production, including Update 48, 49, and 50. 

He’s got a clear message for players:  

“We’re not done. There’s so much more that we want to do. We have so many ideas of things we want to do and continue to build and stories to tell. And as long as players continue to play and want to have more stuff in the game, we’re going to support that,” he said.

The Elder Scrolls Online: The Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 1 is out now on PC, Xbox and PlayStation.

Watch more from our interview with Rich Lambert in the player above.