We have a saying here in Sweden. "Smaken är som baken" (lit. Taste is like (a/your) butt) It basically means that tastes differ, and preferrances and values is a very personal thing. Evaluations based of preference are never universal. I wish people would remember that a bit more.
Sure, TES games has always been very free, very single-player oriented experiences, and making an MMO addition to the franchise sure was an unconvetial move. I find thinking of TESO as a spin-off game rather than an official entry in the main series to be much easier on my poor mind.
Now, different people have different priorities and preferences when it comes to TES games. Me, I'm a lore nut. My prime source of worry when it came to TESO was that they would not stay true to the established canon. The small trivia. The smaller, more obscure Khajiiti factions. The old races of the Black Marsh. Things like that.
After playing in the last beta, some of those fears were placated. Sure, I didn't go very far and only played as a Khajiit, but the moment I found out that the guys I had just helped in a side-quest were part of the flippin' Ahzirr Traajijazeri, well, I had a rather lengthy fangirl squealing fit.
...I tend to obsess about the beast races. A lot.
Anyway, when it comes to the main story, as far as I played, I have to admit I was positively surprised. It starts off quickly and I have to admit I found myself more engaged in it than I did in Skyrim, albeit not by a great margin. Like I said, Lore Nut. I easily get absorbed in the story.
Art-wise, not bad. Not as grey and gritty as previous installations, and I like colour. Sure, it might be a bit more simplistic than Skyrim, but that's a matter of resource management. TESO is a big game. A really big game. One can't expect massive, in-depth visual detail from an MMO. There are people who are making these models. Human people. Me, I find it appealing. Perhaps not as appealing as the Grove in GW2, but that's like the most beautiful place ever. Because plant people.
Flower-power, yeah!
Ehrm... So, back to TESO.
Combat-wise, well... It plays like an MMO, except more like a TES game. It's an odd mix, but it works, and the combat never was the strong point of the TES franchise in the first place, so I'm willing to forgive a relatively sub-par combat system, as long as I get my treasure trove of trivia. If I wanted engaging combat, I wouldn't go to an Elder Scrolls game anyway. Personally, i do not mind MMO-style combat, and do not find the TESO version detrimental to the experience. Bottom line, It's not perfect, but in my opinion it definitely plays better than Skyrim or Morrowind's combat system.
In conclusion, I find TESO flawed. Like every dev team, Zenimax are only human, and I try to keep that in mind, and so should you. Humans are flawed. That is a fact of life.
However, I still find TESO very much enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to the beta this weekend. It's not perfect, nothing is, and I can think of a dozen things they should have done differently, but I still consider buying it. Because I find the game fun to play and the world interesting enough to dig for my treasured trivia in, and for me, that is enough to give it a chance.
Well, as soon as they drop or at least lessen the subscription fee, I mean for the love of Mara... ._.
