[Preview] Elder Scrolls Online: Free to Choose Your Own Path

SBFord

I have to admit a dirty little secret: I have never played even a minute of Skyrim. I’ve watched my bestie play, but never partaken of the wildly popular title myself. So how on Earth did Elder Scrolls Online end up on my personal “most anticipated games of 2014” list. The long and short of it is that Zenimax grabbed my attention by making a game that I believe is largely missing in the often too cartoony genre these days: In short, a more “realistic” looking MMO.

Read more of Suzie Ford's Elder Scrolls Online: Free to Choose Your Own Path.

Nilden

I think your better off not having played Skyrim because from my point of view the only thing ESO does better than Skyrim is having multiplayer.

VooDoo_Papa

nice write up

just to add from my personal experience, people who play this game like a quest hub combat grinding MMO are really missing the game entirely and will have a completely different opinion of the game.

that said, really being immersed in a game isn't everyone's cup of tea. I am finding myself completely involved in the world and the character I'm playing and haven't felt this much roleplay aspect in an MMO In a very long time.

kabitoshin

The questing  sofar is pretty great it's Elder Scrolls quality with a traditional MMO questing.

Vonatar

The nice thing about you not having played Skyrim, Suzie, is that you don't do what so many previewers do. They start off with complaining how ESO is so much worse than Skyrim, without realising that this is an MMO. It is going to look and feel and play like an MMO with a Tamriel setting. It is not multiplayer Skyrim and was never going to be.

 

Imagine criticising WoW for not being like Warcraft III? Who would do such a thing? But comparisons between Skyrim and ESO are in a similar vein - Skyrim, while also set in Tamriel, is an entirely different game.

 

As an MMO, I think ESO does a lot of things very well, and better than MMOs of recent years. Without breaking the NDA, the one thing I would commend ESO for is its ability to immerse the player in the world and story. I agree with Suzie - it has brought back some of the reason why I play MMOs in the first place.

Telondariel

What I keep hearing are comments about depth, benefits to exploration, and immersion.  I like that.  I am an explorer at heart, and I like to take my time.  I'm also not a fan of cartoony character models and landscapes, so ESO gets big points in that area as well.   It is sounding more and more like something that would be up my alley. 

 

One thing that none of these reviews is talking about, however, is the limited hotbar.  I'd like to hear more perspectives on how people are finding working with it.

Iselin

"I have to admit a dirty little secret: I have never played even a minute of Skyrim."

 

Nice. I wish there were more previewers writing their honest impressions who also hadn't played. I've seen many previews from many different sites such as PC Gamer, Gamespot, etc. who can't  seem to mention anything about this MMO without the Skyrim comparison. As a matter of fact, those first impressions are often nothing but Skyrim comparisons.

 

Perhaps it's Zenimax' own fault for promoting the MMO often using that comparison themselves- presumably to attract the non MMO playing Skyrim players... whoever both of them may be

 

There is a lot of MMO here and many things to be happy about... And you nailed the most important one: immersion. This is a world to get lost in with friends and strangers. Isn't that why we started playing this genre to begin with?

 

Hellidol

ESO does so much more then Skyrim, thoses that play it will have a ton of fun, at first it might feel slow but after some time you will just forget about leveling and really enjoy the quest. The game is well built

GwapoJosh

"Free to Choose Your Own Path" as long as you buy the collectors edition..

EndoRoboto

ESO does so much more... like multiplayer? Thats about all Skyrim didn't do or did we not play the same game?

EndoRoboto

Seriously I don't rush quests and i take my time doing whatever I'm doing when i play any game. To say i felt anchored in ESOs world and fully immersed couldn't be a bigger lie.

Id like to suggest the reviewer play Skyrim. For one thing it's already out and not broken anymore unlike it's red headed stepchild ...

Wizardry

It is a great idea aka UO to pick something up and use it,but that lacks depth.You SHOUlD have a SKILL based system,the more you use something the more you become skilled with it.

Otherwise it looks bad,you can't tell me you might swing a club for 5 months and only have the same skill as just picking up a steel sword.

Also freedom to play is a far stretch from the truth,the game starts you off with a linear quest that EVERYONE will be doing exactly the same.I can't stand that linear design,i hater anything  where everyone is doing the same thing,that is a single player design NOT a MMO design.

IMO this game does too many of the ideas i enjoy about a mmorpg wrong,they as i figured are just making another Skyrim with internet access.Sure as the game opens up and we see more information released it might look better,but so far they are doing too many things not the way i like to see it .Oh well i think it will have some mild success but not so sure it will last too long.

R.Lima

Originally posted by EndoRoboto
ESO does so much more... like multiplayer? Thats about all Skyrim didn't do or did we not play the same game?

Honestly, that's pretty fricken' major. With multiplayer comes PvP, which includes sieging, capturing keeps and resources, becoming emperor, etc. With multiplayer comes group questing, raiding, and adventuring. With multiplayer comes a player-driven economy, with craftsmen, trading, buying, and selling to others. With multiplayer comes the entire aspect of an in-game community, with the formation of guilds, the making of friends, and the sharing of experiences.

Nemesis7884

Originally posted by nilden
I think your better off not having played Skyrim because from my point of view the only thing ESO does better than Skyrim is having multiplayer.

thought that was the point...did people really expect that lvl of single player game in an mmo? yeah sure...minimum requirements gtx titan...

R.Lima

Originally posted by Wizardry

It is a great idea aka UO to pick something up and use it,but that lacks depth.You SHOUlD have a SKILL based system,the more you use something the more you become skilled with it.

Otherwise it looks bad,you can't tell me you might swing a club for 5 months and only have the same skill as just picking up a steel sword.

There is a skill-based system though.. You use a bow and your skill with bows goes up.

Also freedom to play is a far stretch from the truth,the game starts you off with a linear quest that EVERYONE will be doing exactly the same.I can't stand that linear design,i hater anything  where everyone is doing the same thing,that is a single player design NOT a MMO design.

Every game with a central storyline will be linear in this aspect then, because there will always be a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you want 100% non-linearity, then you can't have story, and might as well go play Minecraft. Still, ESO is leaps and bounds better in the freedom aspect than pretty much most other MMORPG's. In WoW, for instance, if you do not follow the quest hubs, you simply can't progress. In ESO, like this preview states, you can explore the world and find quests in the middle of nowhere.

IMO this game does too many of the ideas i enjoy about a mmorpg wrong,they as i figured are just making another Skyrim with internet access.Sure as the game opens up and we see more information released it might look better,but so far they are doing too many things not the way i like to see it .Oh well i think it will have some mild success but not so sure it will last too long.

Honestly, at this point all I can tell you is to test the game out yourself instead of relying on previews to formulate an opinion. Only you will know whether or not a game is for you, and you have to play it to truly find out.

 

tawess

My fundamental problem with the ES games are that they are.. well... ES games. They always suffer from poor animations and lack of weight. While they are well crafted story wise the graphics always end up having to be worked over by dedicated fans in order to really shine.

 

Also i am not even going to pretend that there will ever be any balance in tES:O. It is the backside of the free-form game.

 

But as i said, these are my opinions and i have in no way had any time with TESO to confirm or dispell my view. Problem is i am in no hurry to find said time either. To me it looks like another ES game and for that i might as well run Skyrim. It also have the added bonus of less funknuts and no goldspammers. =P

Dreamo84

Originally posted by Itherael

Originally posted by Wizardry

It is a great idea aka UO to pick something up and use it,but that lacks depth.You SHOUlD have a SKILL based system,the more you use something the more you become skilled with it.

Otherwise it looks bad,you can't tell me you might swing a club for 5 months and only have the same skill as just picking up a steel sword.

There is a skill-based system though.. You use a bow and your skill with bows goes up.

Also freedom to play is a far stretch from the truth,the game starts you off with a linear quest that EVERYONE will be doing exactly the same.I can't stand that linear design,i hater anything  where everyone is doing the same thing,that is a single player design NOT a MMO design.

Every game with a central storyline will be linear in this aspect then, because there will always be a beginning, a middle, and an end. If you want 100% non-linearity, then you can't have story, and might as well go play Minecraft. Still, ESO is leaps and bounds better in the freedom aspect than pretty much most other MMORPG's. In WoW, for instance, if you do not follow the quest hubs, you simply can't progress. In ESO, like this preview states, you can explore the world and find quests in the middle of nowhere.

IMO this game does too many of the ideas i enjoy about a mmorpg wrong,they as i figured are just making another Skyrim with internet access.Sure as the game opens up and we see more information released it might look better,but so far they are doing too many things not the way i like to see it .Oh well i think it will have some mild success but not so sure it will last too long.

Honestly, at this point all I can tell you is to test the game out yourself instead of relying on previews to formulate an opinion. Only you will know whether or not a game is for you, and you have to play it to truly find out.

 

It's either too much MMO for the Skyrim fans, or too much Skyrim for the MMO fans...can't win. lol

arieste

Similar to the poster earlier, i haven't played a minute of Skyrim.  Until the day before yesterday.  Tired of waiting for (my 2nd) beta weekend, I downloaded Skyrim and gave it a whirl thinking that I would learn a bit about the world ahead of ESO.   

 

Well, after playing Skyrim for a day, friday came and I was able to play the beta.  I can't tell you anything about beta, since i"m under NDA.

 

I'll tell you this:  I spent all of Friday playing Skyrim.     Take it anyway you will.  

 

One can say "you can't compare single-player to MMO", but really, when you're talking about themepark MMOs that feature primarily solo content and as result are played primarily alone, the comparison comes pretty naturally.    Like comparing KOTOR to SWTOR. 

 

JJ82

Its true, if you have NOT played Skyrim or any other TES game for that matter, TESO will seem so much better.

If you have played TES games before, or TSW, you know you CANT play your way or choose your own path. That is just lip service to make the game sound more appealing to TES players.

You are still locked into your class. You still cant cast every spell in the game, you still cant use every melee skill in the game. Its BS. The game is trying too hard to be everything for everyone instead of just focusing on either MMO players or TES players and se we end up getting lied to again as meanings are twisted to make a game look like something it isn't.

What ever happened to a product that stands on its own, for what it actually is?

Nzscorpion80

I think the combat in ESO is better than all the elder scrolls games, hell I got sick of just attack/power attack cast/ block simple, ESO has more depth.

Nzscorpion80

People need to stop trying to compare the single elder scrolls game to the online jeez, same Lore dont mean they have to make it exactly the same as the single player games.

Nzscorpion80

Originally posted by Vonatar

The nice thing about you not having played Skyrim, Suzie, is that you don't do what so many previewers do. They start off with complaining how ESO is so much worse than Skyrim, without realising that this is an MMO. It is going to look and feel and play like an MMO with a Tamriel setting. It is not multiplayer Skyrim and was never going to be.

 

Imagine criticising WoW for not being like Warcraft III? Who would do such a thing? But comparisons between Skyrim and ESO are in a similar vein - Skyrim, while also set in Tamriel, is an entirely different game.

 

As an MMO, I think ESO does a lot of things very well, and better than MMOs of recent years. Without breaking the NDA, the one thing I would commend ESO for is its ability to immerse the player in the world and story. I agree with Suzie - it has brought back some of the reason why I play MMOs in the first place.

Exactly what all the simpletons need to understand, two different games based on the same lore. I was also going make the comparison with Wow and WCIII. ESO looks alot better than skyrim, combat/fighting is better. If all people do is complain about eso then by all means load up your skyrim & play that.

 

 

Fappuccino

Originally posted by arieste

Similar to the poster earlier, i haven't played a minute of Skyrim.  Until the day before yesterday.  Tired of waiting for (my 2nd) beta weekend, I downloaded Skyrim and gave it a whirl thinking that I would learn a bit about the world ahead of ESO.   

 

Well, after playing Skyrim for a day, friday came and I was able to play the beta.  I can't tell you anything about beta, since i"m under NDA.

 

I'll tell you this:  I spent all of Friday playing Skyrim.     Take it anyway you will.  

 

One can say "you can't compare single-player to MMO", but really, when you're talking about themepark MMOs that feature primarily solo content and as result are played primarily alone, the comparison comes pretty naturally.    Like comparing KOTOR to SWTOR. 

 

Welcome to the wonder that is Skyrim. It becomes that much more better, liberated, with a few well-placed add-ons here and there.

If ultimately you do decide to go down that slippery path, I can't recommend Mod Organizer enough.

Azaron_Nightblade

I know exactly what you mean, Suzie!

I also never got into the Elder Scrolls games before, and after liking what I saw during one of the beta weekends actually decided to give Skyrim another go (and I'm very glad I did).

I've enjoyed the storylines very much so far; the voice acting is indeed wonderful; and I love having the option to find out more about the NPCs I encounter and to have a choice in what the outcome of certain quests will be.

I can't wait for the headstart to begin so I can start playing for real!

rojoArcueid

Originally posted by Nemesis7884

Originally posted by nilden
I think your better off not having played Skyrim because from my point of view the only thing ESO does better than Skyrim is having multiplayer.

thought that was the point...did people really expect that lvl of single player game in an mmo? yeah sure...minimum requirements gtx titan...

did you just say that we have to accept mediocre mmos for alot more money than single player higher quality games?..... just no.

GuyClinch

I didn't find Skyrim that good. It feels dead the world - that my first gripe. Yeah its kinda sanboxy but the NPCs are smart enough to make it feel like a living breathing world.

But the REAL problem with Skyrim is this:

If you play to optomize your character in anyway its one of the worst games ever made. There is absolutely no attention paid to balance. Some builds are just incredibly overpowered. Without cheating you can turn the game into easy mode.

ESO will fix this and for me will be a much better game for this reason. I will give up some sandbox elements to play a game that rewards combat skill and makes it possible not to have to play purposely bad to have fun.