The last part is precisely why some people are so vehemently against the idea of a multiplayer component in the next game. “The Elder Scrolls” has always been about deep immersion and connecting properly to the game’s world, something which contradicts the idea of multiplayer gameplay.
Sure, it can work if it’s implemented properly, especially if it’s limited to cooperative features or something like that, but in general we can’t really say how successful Bethesda could be if they decided to go down this road.
It’s also worth noting that this would take away development resources from the actual single player which is the core of the franchise, and that would definitely not go over well with the majority of fans. Especially those who don’t care at all about having multiplayer, who are not few.
Bethesda know what’s best for their franchise though – or at least they generally do – and if they decide to include multiplayer, they should at least try to give it sufficient polish and prevent it from having serious bugs, something which is sadly quite common for their games in general. It’s not rare that a Bethesda game would come out in a somewhat buggy state, requiring multiple patches, and this is something that the community has gotten used to at this point. It’s also something that has been worrying some about the upcoming “Fallout 4”.
I think that TES online would have been a lot better if it had less people in it, more worlds etc… I loved Skyrim, however I really didn’t want to play Elder Scrolls online because it looked too overcrowded with players. It would have been better if it was a co-op game rather than multiplayer, where perhaps the maximum of people would be 6, and only friends would be invited to the game world. If Skyrim had the co-op option, it would have been interesting if people would get to decide which home they want for example and would go on missions together.