I'm curious about Elder Scrolls Online

[Oly J]

Hi all, my 2nd year of uni is almost up, and I don't have much of a social life at home to speak of, so I need a way to kill several months of summer, I'm sure I'll manage one way or another, but I have lately been thinking about getting ESO, I love the Elder Scrolls, I sunk so many hours into Oblivion and Skyrim, and then I got a gaming PC and sunk yet more hours into both (and I have, and totally plan to play Morrowind at some point) but I was all set to give ESO a miss, partly because it's an MMO, and I'm not great with them historically, but it's Elder Scrolls so maybe it'll be different, mostly it was the paying full price for the game and needing to pay a subscription that was putting me off, but I understand that the subscription is no longer a problem. with that in mind I'm wondering if I can get some impressions of the game from people who've played it first-hand, is it your standard MMO fare? how much of Tamriel do we have access to? basically, since you can take as read that I like Elder Scrolls as it is in the main series, it ESO a worthwhile investment?

 

[Barbas]

It started off basic and not tempting enough to draw people in due to the subscription fee that you mentioned. I understand it has gotten better with the patches that have added various features. Since you're a fan of the series, I'd say go ahead and give it a shot, but stick around to look for discounts if you do; Dealzon leaves some in the Featured Content forum every now and then, and you can follow GreenManGaming's Twitter account for some more luck.

 

[Aetrion]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well just remember that this is as standard as MMOs get, every up and downside of your run of the mill MMO will be in ESO.
And ESO plays nothing like other TES games, they share the same skin for sure but you will not have a comparable experience so don't go buying this because it might be TES, it is not.

 

[Remus]

The gameplay in ESO is similar to the single-player games. Quests are far from the kill-20-rats, collect-50 spider eye slog present in so many MMOs these days, with actual interesting storylines rather than timesinks. Major features are still being added with every patch. The last major patch pre-B2P added the justice system so you can steal and launder goods, or get killed by guards in failed attempt. I actually like ESO's graphics better than Skyrim's because there's actual color, not just gray, white, and brown. It even runs well on old computer systems, mine being 8 years old and running at 25-35FPS on medium-high settings. It has a diverse crafting system, with racial styles and rare styles, always popular items for auctioning, and the graphics, did I mention the graphics, will draw you into the game. It caught a lotta crap early on for not being a WoW clone or not being simply multiplayer Skyrim. There were bugs - an armor-ability combination that allowed one to run at horse speed in sneak, occasional lag in pvp post-major patch, cuz the best way to test a game is to put 80-100 players together and a fortress between them to fight over. But these issues are few and far between over a year after launch.

There are enough similarities in this game and the single-player games to make a smooth transition and, though there is an item shop now, it is not pay to win, only selling largely cosmetic items such as pets or mounts, or food and potions that you can pick up for a few gold anyway. PvP can be played casual, but if you get hooked on it and get running with a good group of people, it will be hard to pull away as you carve out a piece of enemy territory. Ranged builds, liberal use of ballistas can be the safest bet but it can be just as fun to play cleanup as melee while the ranged players rain firey death on crowds of enemies from a distance.

Coming down the pipe soon - several new armor styles to come with the opening of the Imperial City for pvp, currently blocked off by hordes of daedra and destroyed bridges. This along with the assassins guild and with it the possibility of a somewhat limited pvp system in the standard game - people will be out to capture bounties - oh, and spellcrafting - will add even more variety to a game that, like the single-player ES games, you can already play almost any way you could imagine and do well.

 

[Shaels]

What you have to understand is that ESO is, first and foremost, a MMO before an Elder Scrolls game, which I think is partly why it gets so much flak. Folks went in expecting Skyrim online, and got a game that was much more akin to a textbook MMO. If you love the lore of Elder Scrolls, I'd say give it a run. Even on a MMO level, I'd say it's a tad more sandbox-ish than something like World of Warcraft or Rift.

I'll give the disclaimer that I haven't experienced the endgame in ESO, which I've heard suffers from being quite stale, but I have no point of personal reference to support/refute that, so take that for what it is.

I'd definitely give it a run if you ever catch it on sale.

 

[Shaels]

(double post)

 

[Leoofmoon]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Yet the game will have a sub, its is going the same road as Star war: Old republic you have the free mode and then a "Premium mode". In star wars this meant less XP bonus, mount restriction, hotbar locking and a host of many more.

Also the game had a large issue with the Mega server it advertises and the quest were not all that flashy. If you are very interested in the MMO I would wait until MMOgrinder gets a video out or until someone you can trust makes a video or blog on it.

 

[Aetrion]

Also the game had a large issue with the Mega server it advertises and the quest were not all that flashy.

The Megaserver thing may have been a bit overhyped, but it actually does do some significant good for the game. In a game where you can't significantly change the world anyways (which is most MMOs, so I don't hold it against ESO), I prefer instancing to sharding, simply because that way you will never run into the problem of not being able to play with friends because they are on a different server. Unfortunately the game still limits you to one faction, I'd have hugely preferred if faction membership was only a factor in PvP matters, so I can freely play with members of other factions.

 

[Remus]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Yet the game will have a sub, its is going the same road as Star war: Old republic you have the free mode and then a "Premium mode". In star wars this meant less XP bonus, mount restriction, hotbar locking and a host of many more.

Also the game had a large issue with the Mega server it advertises and the quest were not all that flashy. If you are very interested in the MMO I would wait until MMOgrinder gets a video out or until someone you can trust makes a video or blog on it.

Hey look, there is one! Yes, there is the option to sub still. The rewards for subscribing include small exp bonus - which being a completionist I wish I could disable because I find myself outleveling the zone I'm in, but I gotta collect all da quests! In other words, the exp bonus for subscribers is more of a detriment than an advantage. You also get any planned DLC for free - there hasn't been any yet and no, this doesn't include patches. A patch for a nonsubscriber is exactly the same as for a subscriber. You also get 1500 crowns every month - the cash store currency, which is the same as you would get if you simply spent $15 on crowns anyway. What this does is encourage cash store planning unless you're a binge buyer and need every mount, every pet, every costume. So sub or don't sub, the game is more or less the same unless you are into level grinding and only play to max your level as quickly as possible.

 

[Leoofmoon]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Yet the game will have a sub, its is going the same road as Star war: Old republic you have the free mode and then a "Premium mode". In star wars this meant less XP bonus, mount restriction, hotbar locking and a host of many more.

Also the game had a large issue with the Mega server it advertises and the quest were not all that flashy. If you are very interested in the MMO I would wait until MMOgrinder gets a video out or until someone you can trust makes a video or blog on it.

Hey look, there is one! Yes, there is the option to sub still. The rewards for subscribing include small exp bonus - which being a completionist I wish I could disable because I find myself outleveling the zone I'm in, but I gotta collect all da quests! In other words, the exp bonus for subscribers is more of a detriment than an advantage. You also get any planned DLC for free - there hasn't been any yet and no, this doesn't include patches. A patch for a nonsubscriber is exactly the same as for a subscriber. You also get 1500 crowns every month - the cash store currency, which is the same as you would get if you simply spent $15 on crowns anyway. What this does is encourage cash store planning unless you're a binge buyer and need every mount, every pet, every costume. So sub or don't sub, the game is more or less the same unless you are into level grinding and only play to max your level as quickly as possible.

to be all honest I don't mind cash shops or F2P games having a sub but with elder scrolls I just don't give a shit.

The game advertised the mega server so fucking hard yet it was a half truth not to mention when you ave Rpers like me who are trying to enjoy the game and maybe learn a little lore at the same time HulkHogan1987 is in trade chat spamming to buy treasure maps. and the game spouted the whole faction system so we can have all the races of the land mixing and people getting interesting interaction with Kajit or whatever no no you have three people to fuck around with and a 4th in you give us some cash. Also lets not ignore they gimped the money drop rate when it was released, Monsters dropped 1-3GP per kill I don't know if this had improved (watch MMOgrinder) so a to get something worth a shit you had to grind bandits and you couldn't do dungeons because guess what people you don't know and are not partied with are also running though that cave and killing all the bosses.

I really do not like ESO and lets not forget it is coming out on consoles before long when it had been heavily advertised on the fucking boxes since the start of the next generation but there launch of lack of testing pulled it back as well they brought a bunch of MMO players into to tell them to Do's and Do not's and they fucking ignored them. I play FFXIV and the F2P crap I enjoy is War thunder and Warframe I get more enjoyment from just one of those in a hour then I can think of what anyone enjoyed in ESO.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Quoting this for truth. As an MMO, it's a good game. Voice acted, looks good, interesting levelling mechanics ("evolving" powers) and so on. If you compare it to SKyrim, it will be dissappointing insofar as the world lacks the interactivity of its offline predecessor. You cannot steal things, you cannot pick up great weapons and armour after defeating an enemy wearing them (but instead follow the level restricted path). As a B2P title, there's no subscription any more so you can play as little or as much as you wish and not worry about cost.

 

[Remus]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Yet the game will have a sub, its is going the same road as Star war: Old republic you have the free mode and then a "Premium mode". In star wars this meant less XP bonus, mount restriction, hotbar locking and a host of many more.

Also the game had a large issue with the Mega server it advertises and the quest were not all that flashy. If you are very interested in the MMO I would wait until MMOgrinder gets a video out or until someone you can trust makes a video or blog on it.

Hey look, there is one! Yes, there is the option to sub still. The rewards for subscribing include small exp bonus - which being a completionist I wish I could disable because I find myself outleveling the zone I'm in, but I gotta collect all da quests! In other words, the exp bonus for subscribers is more of a detriment than an advantage. You also get any planned DLC for free - there hasn't been any yet and no, this doesn't include patches. A patch for a nonsubscriber is exactly the same as for a subscriber. You also get 1500 crowns every month - the cash store currency, which is the same as you would get if you simply spent $15 on crowns anyway. What this does is encourage cash store planning unless you're a binge buyer and need every mount, every pet, every costume. So sub or don't sub, the game is more or less the same unless you are into level grinding and only play to max your level as quickly as possible.

to be all honest I don't mind cash shops or F2P games having a sub but with elder scrolls I just don't give a shit.

The game advertised the mega server so fucking hard yet it was a half truth not to mention when you ave Rpers like me who are trying to enjoy the game and maybe learn a little lore at the same time HulkHogan1987 is in trade chat spamming to buy treasure maps. and the game spouted the whole faction system so we can have all the races of the land mixing and people getting interesting interaction with Kajit or whatever no no you have three people to fuck around with and a 4th in you give us some cash. Also lets not ignore they gimped the money drop rate when it was released, Monsters dropped 1-3GP per kill I don't know if this had improved (watch MMOgrinder) so a to get something worth a shit you had to grind bandits and you couldn't do dungeons because guess what people you don't know and are not partied with are also running though that cave and killing all the bosses.

I really do not like ESO and lets not forget it is coming out on consoles before long when it had been heavily advertised on the fucking boxes since the start of the next generation but there launch of lack of testing pulled it back as well they brought a bunch of MMO players into to tell them to Do's and Do not's and they fucking ignored them. I play FFXIV and the F2P crap I enjoy is War thunder and Warframe I get more enjoyment from just one of those in a hour then I can think of what anyone enjoyed in ESO.

These are the ravings of a person who played the game for 5 minutes at launch, hated it, then spent hours likely typing similar rants in both ESO's own forums and these. I do still play the game, and yes, money drops have much improved, but even before that cashflow was a non-issue with the amount you get from item drops and quests. But whatever, you bought the game obviously but refuse to check back in to see how it has changed since launch. Bias is bias. If you want to stick to your opinion and not check in from time to time even though it costs nothing, that's your loss. I'm sorry that ESO isn't the RPer's paradise that you were searching for, but unless a game has RP-specific servers with penalties for not staying "in-character", it's rare that you will find any online environment that will stick to this playstyle.

 

[Oly J]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Quoting this for truth. As an MMO, it's a good game. Voice acted, looks good, interesting levelling mechanics ("evolving" powers) and so on. If you compare it to SKyrim, it will be dissappointing insofar as the world lacks the interactivity of its offline predecessor. You cannot steal things, you cannot pick up great weapons and armour after defeating an enemy wearing them (but instead follow the level restricted path). As a B2P title, there's no subscription any more so you can play as little or as much as you wish and not worry about cost.

Can I ask how much of Tamriel is in the game? much as I love Skyrim, the actual country of Skyrim just didn't do it for me the way Oblivion did with Cyrodill, I don't even know why, but I'd still love to be able to go back there

 

[LetalisK]

I'm going to piggy back here. I'm mostly interested in casual pvp. Is it possible to casually pvp, mostly puffing without breaking your keyboard in frustration? Just for reference, I've found WoW and TOR in their current forms satisfying to casually pvp in.

 

[Remus]

ESO is actually quite good if judged against other MMOs, it just gets a lot of shit because people judge it against Skyrim instead. Especially for a game that doesn't have a subscription fee you are getting something extremely high in quality. It's pretty standard fair as MMOs go, get levels, get gear, do dungeons etc. The PvP in this game would have been the outstanding part, if it wasn't wracked with lag and imbalance. Some people still enjoy it though.

Quoting this for truth. As an MMO, it's a good game. Voice acted, looks good, interesting levelling mechanics ("evolving" powers) and so on. If you compare it to SKyrim, it will be dissappointing insofar as the world lacks the interactivity of its offline predecessor. You cannot steal things, you cannot pick up great weapons and armour after defeating an enemy wearing them (but instead follow the level restricted path). As a B2P title, there's no subscription any more so you can play as little or as much as you wish and not worry about cost.

Can I ask how much of Tamriel is in the game? much as I love Skyrim, the actual country of Skyrim just didn't do it for me the way Oblivion did with Cyrodill, I don't even know why, but I'd still love to be able to go back there

I'd say about half of it. The two major Skyrim zones contain Riften, the wastes, Windhelm, areas in between including dwemer ruins, and a small section of the path to the graybeards (the mountain is almost wholly blocked off). Since the pvp game is centered around a war for emperorship in Cyrodiil, the areas from prior games represented are those immediately around that map. So far off places like Solitude are not yet in the game. All the major cities in Cyrodiil are present, in varying degrees of decrepitude due to daedric anchors, occupying forces, other issues that you can find out for yourself if you so wish. Just know that outside your faction's home base, there are no safe havens on the pvp map so it is possible to get ganked in Cyrodiil while you're questing.

I'm completely with you on Skyrim. The color palette wasn't nearly so inviting as Oblivion's was. And that's just another reason I prefer ESO over Skyrim. Lots of places to see, lots of variety.