I played the beta for over 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday.
I think I spent 50% of the time doing everything BUT the main storyline....crafting/gathering materials/opening chests/farming monsters/looking for new areas not on the map/climbing areas lookin for skyshards, etc..
The game so far has tons of content and I already made level 8 not even following the main storyline... just doing side quests I found around the starter map.
It's stupid how I have seen a few reviews from websites saying they played 4 hours and trying to give a review of the game....
Ya that .50/day is a heavy financial burden to bear. It ages you man. Must...stop...thinking about it..../ack!!
Breaking it down by cost/day is the wrong way to look at it. That's what people do to make an amount look as small as possible so it's easier to justify it to themselves. Tally that up over the course of the year and now you're looking at $180.
If someone was willing to give you $180 and said you could either pay for 1 year of ESO or spend it on something else, I'm willing to bet that many would have to think about it.
Ya that .50/day is a heavy financial burden to bear. It ages you man. Must...stop...thinking about it..../ack!!
Breaking it down by cost/day is the wrong way to look at it. That's what people do to make an amount look as small as possible so it's easier to justify it to themselves. Tally that up over the course of the year and now you're looking at $180.
If someone was willing to give you $180 and said you could either pay for 1 year of ESO or spend it on something else, I'm willing to bet that many would have to think about it.
But you don't have to pay $180 up front. It's $15 a month, so your argument should be "If someone was willing to give you $15 a month..." More than likely, if someone were to give me $180 up front, I'd by 3-5 new games. That's what, 2-6 months worth of gaming?
Originally posted by KaitarBesh Uhm, kind of hard to run around the world when they have it gated off due to faction or levels. That's the very definition of on-rails to me. Stop with the quest way markers all together, open up the ENTIRE world and do not gate it off for any reason. Drop us into the world and let us go. I had every intention of giving this game a fair shot, but the tutorial is on rails, newbie island 1 is on rails and then ANOTHER zone after that is on rails until you hit level 10-ish? No, I'm utterly fed up with that type of game play. At that point, it's just a generic MMO with a TES skin, not a TES game. I liked several aspects of the game but the on-rails and gating off, the far too many treasure chests/easy loot and quest indicators on the compass need to go, or I'll simply pass on this one and wait for something else - EQN:L and EQN most likely.
Ok, if they open up the entire world I want it just like the original UO but instead of Red vs Blue it'd be faction v faction and open pvp between them. If you group with opposing faction members you open yourself up to attack from your own faction, stronger death penalties, lowering of faction level if grouping or healing and opposing faction member.
Well I will say that you will not find what you want, like my cat runing form one room to the next looking but not knowing what she wants, only knowing that she wants something and cant find it.
I played bouth beta weekends and loved the game, The only rails are what YOU put in place, I played up to lvl 7 and late in the beta entered a higher level dungeon, and ran in to the end boss and was killed over and over. yes I knew I would be over mached, But I could try the dungeon which in most games I would not be able to do as level 7 Fighter. That I could try do that says that there is no level gate. Much better than Aieon were you are blocked by a level gate.
.. to be fair .. I can count on one hand the number of MMO's I've stuck to over a year on. So $60 entrance fee, plus $45 for 3 months is 4 months. That's $105. Now.. imagine that on a Steam sale. That's a LOT of games and a LOT of play time.
Add in the fact that the MMO community has been falling apart and degrading itself. You can't trust people to be fair, people act like idiots for the lulz, the umadbro group.
Honestly, I don't know that I'd even have started playing MMO's if this generation of idiots was playing MUDs/UO with me back in the day.
And now they cater to these power gamers. The endless Raiders. The PVP'ers/Gankers. The twinks. It just makes me throw my hands up in disgust and wonder why I even bother following MMO's anymore.
I find I play RPGs like Bravely Default more than I want to bother with MMO's. Hell, I played landmark and can tell you.. of the 5 dozen or so people I've seen in game, I might have had a wave by 5 of them? Only one of them responded when I talked to them.
I think some folks are going to have a hard time shaking off that rush to max level, and missing a lot of the game, that is just the way some folks play, but I hope a lot of folks take time to smell the roses and see there is a lot more to ESO, than has been offered for a long time.
I know I am looking forward to getting back into a game where my toon feels like it lives in the world and not just playing though the world, and the journey is a huge part of the game, end game will be there when I get I there..:)
I read some other reviews that they are saying the starter areas is boring and i found my self very confused about this because i enjoyed a lot the 1st area as Aldmeri Dominion..maybe because i liked a lot the look of the world and explored everything discovering treasure maps, hidden caves,guests with great story and materials to craft cool looking armor different from the others.
Now im on the fence with my self if i dont know how to play a mmo & im doing it wrong or the others doing it right & we must rush a mmo and hit max lvl in one day.
Kudos to you. You are one of the very few people here and elsewhere that has got the point. 99% of the reviews that I have read feel like the reviewer went into ESO trying to play it like WoW or Rift or any other themepark mmo and to get the best out of the game you cannot do that. You have to think outside the box a little and actually stop to smell the roses, not charge along a linear path to max level just because you can. As was mentioned in another thread, this is not for the power-gamers that like to hit max level in a week.
Well put. The hardcore, min/max, power-gamer types that make up a decent chunk of the MMO community will most likely NOT like this type of gaming. Would like to say much more but that pesky NDA is in the way.
Originally posted by Telondariel It's the nuances, the depth, the rewards for exploration, and the immersion that ultimately hooked me. I am chewing at the bit for the next beta weekend.
Same here, I can't say anything atm due to the NDA we all had to sign but I will DEFINITELY be pre-ordering TESO so I can get back in and enjoy all that I discovered in this last beta weekend plus more I'm actually sitting here the last couple of days missing the game, that's how I know I should pick it up. When a game you only played for a few days leaves you wanting more and missing the experience at the end of the weekend when the beta shuts down, you know it's something you need to pick up because this means you thoroughly enjoyed it.
I am very excited, and can hardly wait for April, myself. I really enjoyed the crafting, and loved the different crafting styles you could learn and use in the game. I can't wait to try and explore every area of the map, stop and read the lore books and other books I find around the world. I look forward to just sitting back, and spending however long it takes me on a map to find everything I can find, and read everything readable.
Im on same boat. TESO is different and fresh, im hooked after play last beta weekend. Im not PvP player but Siege RvR matches looks fun too so i can join it to sometimes when bored from PvE ...
Not gonna read through the pages of the same ole thing....this sums it up for me.
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."
Originally posted by Rockniss While I agree with Judge above you get out what you put in, if you're someone who has played ES games before, you're not used to that $15/month clock ticking away as you stroll at your own pace through in my case, Skyrim. Though I prefer the sub model, it does not fit a game like the ES series provides one with. The ES games are truly a walk in the park rather than a sprint to the finish.
If $15 a month is 'burning' a hole in your pocket, you should probably be looking for a source of revenue rather than playing an online game. The average wage in America would cover a month of play in a single hour of work. Most people pay more than that for a single meal. For a single person to go to the movies... for whatever. For hundreds of hours a month of potential entertainment, I don't see how $15 can be treated like a lot of money.
This is not a $15 burger we're talking about. This is untold hours of entertainment.
I was paying $15 a month over 10 years ago and didn't have a problem then, so I certainly don't now when the average income is way higher than it was then. I find also that whilst I was very happy to play FTP games for a while...they cost too much...yes if you want a bag, bank slots, to go into an area, to open the chest you just found, whatever, you are constantly reaching for your wallet. Give me a budgeted amount a month any day.
I also tried the Beta this weekend..and both hubby and I are already experiencing TESO withdrawal...cant wait until April!
This is the very beta review that sounded like the person played the game. Most of the reviews are full of the wrong info so clearly they did not experience everything they claimed to.
The funniest one was the one complaining they had to do the starter areas before the rest of world not understanding that starter areas are locked off so that they don't have to limit the mobs outside them to insignificant areas for the rest of the players. I'd rather have starter areas and have more actually map I can play on.
With the reviews that happened I think ESO would have been better off with fan reviews of people who have +10 character or more than 20 hours in the game.
Lol, I see so many people complaining about how loooooong it took before they could get off the starter island.
I just stare blankly at them...
The only reason why I rushed off the starter island in the last few hours of beta weekend was because I wanted to at least glimpse the next area before beta was done. I could probably have easily spent another day or two on n00b island just exploring every nook and cranny and experimenting with stuff...
You get out what you put in is the old saying. If people just run from quest to quest they'll be the ones shouting their disappointment.
Too often now it's a rush to level cap then the cry of there's nothing to do is heard.
I've watched a couple of reviews where the reviewer has got to lvl 5 and based his whole game experience on rushing round killing mobs to get there. These aren't proper reviews, I probably played more than they did Friday - Monday.
This review made a lot of sense, and a lesson to some of those other reviewers. People don't take the time to go off and explore, then moan the game is on rails - go figure.
Man you completely took the words out of my mouth. I see it over and over and over again nowadays with this genre. Back in the day of EQ, AC and DAoC for example it was completely nonexistent, now all everyone does is buy the game, BLAST through the leveling portion to cap faster than you thought was even humanly possible, then whine that there's nothing to do at cap, it drives me insane. THIS IS NOT THAT GAME. From now on when I read about another person's "boring" experience to level 8 or so, I'm going to link them this article and tell them that they are flat-out playing it wrong. Every single negative review I've read I was sitting there scratching my head wondering if they were truly playing the same game as me, not only was I not even remotely close to bored, but I was plain blown away by it, and I was not expecting that to happen. The majority are expecting this game to be another built similar to WoW, so they are playing it that way, and this is so not that game it isn't even funny. But when someone has reasonable constructive criticism I'm all ears, because there is some that would really help make this game even better. I cannot wait for April.
I didn't get to play as much as I would have liked over the last beta but what I did was fun I took my time to level much like I do in skyrim and oblivion before that. Loved the starter area was shocked how I got there so well done to the team on finding a new way to start a game can't wait to get into this more and if it's anything like skyrim which I still haven't 100% compleat and a mix of MMO IM GOUNG TO BE HAPPY FOR ALONG TIME
Dude i honestly think your just a die hard fan of Elder scrolls and you are exagerating a bit too much on certain things. Let me get this clear, your happy and enthusiastic because the color changes and the texture changes as you craft at different levels ? your happy that you see treasure maps ? i mean have you played other mmo's compared to them this is nothing, even mmo's on mobile and tablets offer this.
I honestly do not see anything special in what ESO is doing that others are not doing. I would say that the other mmo's are doing it much better and far advanced than this. ESO have a lot to prove by going online and they have done a mistake in putting it P2P as they have pushed their standards of expectations from customers higher than by not going F2P.
I personally have played every ES game before and i am just disappointed in what i am seeing. Little things matter sure but these are seriously insignificant and the things that you mentioned every single mmo should have. its like when you eat a sandwich im sure you would expect butter in it.
People who think an MMO, is rushing to end game, max level and standing around in max gear as soon as possible, will be gravely disappointed in this game.
Such a great column, thanks for writing this, you get the point of ESO and that is nice to see. I agree with you on all opinions. Can't wait to play it, have put in 100 hours already.
This game is so fresh for MMOs but not so much in ruins the experience (GW2), with echoes of the other past Elder Scrolls game, but also offers intense PVP combat, the likes of which I have never seen. The crafting is interesting and amazing (the sets as you said), plenty of reason to explore without rails, good lore, and great voice acting.. graphics are nice too.
I feel the people who hate this game, don't accept it for what it is, only what they wanted it to be. Don't like it? fine. But move along, there are other MMOs coming out this year. A game isn't bad because it doesn't play to your tastes.
Originally posted by Rockniss While I agree with Judge above you get out what you put in, if you're someone who has played ES games before, you're not used to that $15/month clock ticking away as you stroll at your own pace through in my case, Skyrim. Though I prefer the sub model, it does not fit a game like the ES series provides one with. The ES games are truly a walk in the park rather than a sprint to the finish.
Your logic here is totally flawed...just because you are paying a sub does not in any way mean you have to "rush" through the game. If that makes the game less enjoyable I would say your an idiot if you rush it while at the same time paying for it.
Stop thinking of a sub fee as paying for quantity and start thinking of it as paying for quality...and don't rush.
Btw, this article put thIs game on my radar...I hadn't been following it at all but now I'm interested. I prefer Sub over F2p but am tired of mmos that are all about rushing to end game than just grinding for gear.
Comments
I played the beta for over 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday.
I think I spent 50% of the time doing everything BUT the main storyline....crafting/gathering materials/opening chests/farming monsters/looking for new areas not on the map/climbing areas lookin for skyshards, etc..
The game so far has tons of content and I already made level 8 not even following the main storyline... just doing side quests I found around the starter map.
It's stupid how I have seen a few reviews from websites saying they played 4 hours and trying to give a review of the game....
Breaking it down by cost/day is the wrong way to look at it. That's what people do to make an amount look as small as possible so it's easier to justify it to themselves. Tally that up over the course of the year and now you're looking at $180.
If someone was willing to give you $180 and said you could either pay for 1 year of ESO or spend it on something else, I'm willing to bet that many would have to think about it.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
But you don't have to pay $180 up front. It's $15 a month, so your argument should be "If someone was willing to give you $15 a month..." More than likely, if someone were to give me $180 up front, I'd by 3-5 new games. That's what, 2-6 months worth of gaming?
Ok, if they open up the entire world I want it just like the original UO but instead of Red vs Blue it'd be faction v faction and open pvp between them. If you group with opposing faction members you open yourself up to attack from your own faction, stronger death penalties, lowering of faction level if grouping or healing and opposing faction member.
Well I will say that you will not find what you want, like my cat runing form one room to the next looking but not knowing what she wants, only knowing that she wants something and cant find it.
I played bouth beta weekends and loved the game, The only rails are what YOU put in place, I played up to lvl 7 and late in the beta entered a higher level dungeon, and ran in to the end boss and was killed over and over. yes I knew I would be over mached, But I could try the dungeon which in most games I would not be able to do as level 7 Fighter. That I could try do that says that there is no level gate. Much better than Aieon were you are blocked by a level gate.
.. to be fair .. I can count on one hand the number of MMO's I've stuck to over a year on. So $60 entrance fee, plus $45 for 3 months is 4 months. That's $105. Now.. imagine that on a Steam sale. That's a LOT of games and a LOT of play time.
Add in the fact that the MMO community has been falling apart and degrading itself. You can't trust people to be fair, people act like idiots for the lulz, the umadbro group.
Honestly, I don't know that I'd even have started playing MMO's if this generation of idiots was playing MUDs/UO with me back in the day.
And now they cater to these power gamers. The endless Raiders. The PVP'ers/Gankers. The twinks. It just makes me throw my hands up in disgust and wonder why I even bother following MMO's anymore.
I find I play RPGs like Bravely Default more than I want to bother with MMO's. Hell, I played landmark and can tell you.. of the 5 dozen or so people I've seen in game, I might have had a wave by 5 of them? Only one of them responded when I talked to them.
Not so nice guy!
I think some folks are going to have a hard time shaking off that rush to max level, and missing a lot of the game, that is just the way some folks play, but I hope a lot of folks take time to smell the roses and see there is a lot more to ESO, than has been offered for a long time.
I know I am looking forward to getting back into a game where my toon feels like it lives in the world and not just playing though the world, and the journey is a huge part of the game, end game will be there when I get I there..:)
Kudos to you. You are one of the very few people here and elsewhere that has got the point. 99% of the reviews that I have read feel like the reviewer went into ESO trying to play it like WoW or Rift or any other themepark mmo and to get the best out of the game you cannot do that. You have to think outside the box a little and actually stop to smell the roses, not charge along a linear path to max level just because you can. As was mentioned in another thread, this is not for the power-gamers that like to hit max level in a week.
Same here, I can't say anything atm due to the NDA we all had to sign but I will DEFINITELY be pre-ordering TESO so I can get back in and enjoy all that I discovered in this last beta weekend plus more
I'm actually sitting here the last couple of days missing the game, that's how I know I should pick it up. When a game you only played for a few days leaves you wanting more and missing the experience at the end of the weekend when the beta shuts down, you know it's something you need to pick up because this means you thoroughly enjoyed it.
Not gonna read through the pages of the same ole thing....this sums it up for me.
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."
If $15 a month is 'burning' a hole in your pocket, you should probably be looking for a source of revenue rather than playing an online game. The average wage in America would cover a month of play in a single hour of work. Most people pay more than that for a single meal. For a single person to go to the movies... for whatever. For hundreds of hours a month of potential entertainment, I don't see how $15 can be treated like a lot of money.
This is not a $15 burger we're talking about. This is untold hours of entertainment.
I was paying $15 a month over 10 years ago and didn't have a problem then, so I certainly don't now when the average income is way higher than it was then. I find also that whilst I was very happy to play FTP games for a while...they cost too much...yes if you want a bag, bank slots, to go into an area, to open the chest you just found, whatever, you are constantly reaching for your wallet. Give me a budgeted amount a month any day.
I also tried the Beta this weekend..and both hubby and I are already experiencing TESO withdrawal...cant wait until April!
This is the very beta review that sounded like the person played the game. Most of the reviews are full of the wrong info so clearly they did not experience everything they claimed to.
The funniest one was the one complaining they had to do the starter areas before the rest of world not understanding that starter areas are locked off so that they don't have to limit the mobs outside them to insignificant areas for the rest of the players. I'd rather have starter areas and have more actually map I can play on.
With the reviews that happened I think ESO would have been better off with fan reviews of people who have +10 character or more than 20 hours in the game.
Omg that's exactly what I did also XD
Man you completely took the words out of my mouth. I see it over and over and over again nowadays with this genre. Back in the day of EQ, AC and DAoC for example it was completely nonexistent, now all everyone does is buy the game, BLAST through the leveling portion to cap faster than you thought was even humanly possible, then whine that there's nothing to do at cap, it drives me insane. THIS IS NOT THAT GAME. From now on when I read about another person's "boring" experience to level 8 or so, I'm going to link them this article and tell them that they are flat-out playing it wrong. Every single negative review I've read I was sitting there scratching my head wondering if they were truly playing the same game as me, not only was I not even remotely close to bored, but I was plain blown away by it, and I was not expecting that to happen. The majority are expecting this game to be another built similar to WoW, so they are playing it that way, and this is so not that game it isn't even funny. But when someone has reasonable constructive criticism I'm all ears, because there is some that would really help make this game even better. I cannot wait for April.
Dude i honestly think your just a die hard fan of Elder scrolls and you are exagerating a bit too much on certain things. Let me get this clear, your happy and enthusiastic because the color changes and the texture changes as you craft at different levels ? your happy that you see treasure maps ? i mean have you played other mmo's compared to them this is nothing, even mmo's on mobile and tablets offer this.
I honestly do not see anything special in what ESO is doing that others are not doing. I would say that the other mmo's are doing it much better and far advanced than this. ESO have a lot to prove by going online and they have done a mistake in putting it P2P as they have pushed their standards of expectations from customers higher than by not going F2P.
I personally have played every ES game before and i am just disappointed in what i am seeing. Little things matter sure but these are seriously insignificant and the things that you mentioned every single mmo should have. its like when you eat a sandwich im sure you would expect butter in it.
People who think an MMO, is rushing to end game, max level and standing around in max gear as soon as possible, will be gravely disappointed in this game.
Such a great column, thanks for writing this, you get the point of ESO and that is nice to see. I agree with you on all opinions. Can't wait to play it, have put in 100 hours already.
This game is so fresh for MMOs but not so much in ruins the experience (GW2), with echoes of the other past Elder Scrolls game, but also offers intense PVP combat, the likes of which I have never seen. The crafting is interesting and amazing (the sets as you said), plenty of reason to explore without rails, good lore, and great voice acting.. graphics are nice too.
I feel the people who hate this game, don't accept it for what it is, only what they wanted it to be. Don't like it? fine. But move along, there are other MMOs coming out this year. A game isn't bad because it doesn't play to your tastes.
"What tastes like purple?"
Your logic here is totally flawed...just because you are paying a sub does not in any way mean you have to "rush" through the game. If that makes the game less enjoyable I would say your an idiot if you rush it while at the same time paying for it.
Stop thinking of a sub fee as paying for quantity and start thinking of it as paying for quality...and don't rush.
Btw, this article put thIs game on my radar...I hadn't been following it at all but now I'm interested. I prefer Sub over F2p but am tired of mmos that are all about rushing to end game than just grinding for gear.