I WAS a believer in the game. I hung in for over a year despite a very rough launch. Then the company decided to do what it said it would not do......make you pay for future major expansions. AvA my primary reason for buying the game remained a disaster,and most pvp oriented guilds left. I felt I had been taken advantage of, so I left.When people lie to you there is no reason to believe anything they have to say going forward.
Currently I do not play an mmog,though I'm looking forward to the CU beta....when ever that happens.
I hope its not using auto leveling so depending on what zone you go to it's autoleveling you up so you can kill mobs. I also thought that to be the cheezist easy mode thing added to modern MMO's. I hate the autolevel system by zone in GW2.
I hope its not using auto leveling so depending on what zone you go to it's autoleveling you up so you can kill mobs. I also thought that to be the cheezist easy mode thing added to modern MMO's. I hate the autolevel system by zone in GW2.
@Iselin posted his experiences during beta. To answer your question in a single word: no.
I WAS a believer in the game. I hung in for over a year despite a very rough launch. Then the company decided to do what it said it would not do......make you pay for future major expansions. AvA my primary reason for buying the game remained a disaster,and most pvp oriented guilds left. I felt I had been taken advantage of, so I left.When people lie to you there is no reason to believe anything they have to say going forward.
Currently I do not play an mmog,though I'm looking forward to the CU beta....when ever that happens.
If you subscribe you don't have to buy any of the new content it is included with your subscription - so arguably they haven't lied about that.
What they have introduced is the option of not subscribing. However those who choose not to have to buy the DLCs. (And for anyone who hasn't there seems to be an offer to buy crowns at 50% off - buy 5,500 and you can get the 4 pack DLC.)
The first year though was indeed rough but things have improved.
As far as AvA goes though - well one result of abandoning the mandatory sub model is that there are more players in the game and as a consequence more players in PvP. Although most are PvE. There are PvP guilds though should you ever decide to check things out again. No sub needed!
This game desperately needed something like this. The game felt too on rails and limiting originally. I may have to give this game another shot. The questing is likely still boring but at least I can move on to a different zone if I tire of one. Should also be nice to have all the dungeons open. I may have to reinstall.
It has been a while since I played, you have reminded me that you spent the latter two thirds of your levelling experience fighting for those you never would anyway! It was only in the first third of the MMO that the players you saw made any sense. So in many ways the new system is not that much worse in that regard than the old.
*** I dunno, I would definitely say the new system is better for the reasons I explained above. I love being able to go anywhere in the world on one character, and interact with players, regardless of race. Now, if they had NPCs of other factions/territories regard you differently, or perhaps give you poorer deals, etc because they don't like you.. that could help maintain a sense of that rivalry in the gameplay. But the game isn't terribly lacking without that, either. ***
But I will say, the old system occurred because there was not enough zones, content etc to get you to top level in your own faction. Now it is fair to say that to provide that might have been beyond what is possible on todays AAA budget. But the answer as always is to give lore a kicking.
*** For me, it had less to do with how many zones there were. The world felt huge, even with the "limited" areas I could access. And again, that "limitation" was only 'til I unlocked the ability to go elsewhere. The difference is, I can now go anywhere in the world without having to first finish up my own faction. Also, I *can* see other players in the world, regardless of their faction, which is more believable than everyone who isn't in EP (in my case) is somehow invisible, or doesn't exist at all. ***
I agree with you game design has to put gaming before lore, but if you do that always in MMOs and over the years it has become always, then the lore is irrelevant.
*** Lore is much more than "who likes or dislikes who". Tamriel is steeped in lore and history, and ESO presents it by the bucket-full. Almost anywhere you go, you're going to come across ruins with some kind of history, a dungeon with clues and such left behind of those who existed there, etc. etc. It's conveyed through NPC dialog, through the quests.
All of that is completely relevant, whether I have an Argonian standing next to me, or an Altmer. ***
Remember in the run up to launch and I am sure even now great fanfare is being made about the Elder Scrolls background. That's why I think this is important, not just for roleplayers, we were promised a world not just a game. *** ESO's Tamriel is absolutely a world to me, and not at all just a game. It's the first modern MMORPG I've played where I felt like I was in a world and not just a game; where the world exists and goes on despite my existence, not moulded and streamlined specifically for it. The world is internally consistent, there's no breaking of the fourth wall. Jokes, figures of speech, metaphors, and such... all are rooted in the cultures and lore of Tamriel - they're not "nod-wink" real-life cultural references (at least none I've encountered, yet). It's very clear the writers/designers take the world seriously, and present it as respectfully and faithfully as they can, within the limitations they have. I, for one, totally appreciate that.
It's the first MMORPG I've played in I can't remember how long where many of my actions have direct impact on my own experience. ESO is one of the first modern MMORPGs I've played where exploration is not only encouraged - constantly - but is frequently rewarded in some way.
I could give an excellent example of a MMO that absolutely qualifies as a "game", not a "world". I'd rather not name it here, 'cause I don't want this to go off-course as a "this game vs. that game" debate. I can PM you which one I'm talking about, and give examples of why, if you're interested.
So, for me, I see ESO completely opposite of you in that regard. There are times where I spend an entire session just running around, gathering and/or exploring, and just being in the world is incredibly rewarding.
As a side, slightly tangential thought... I feel like there's a lot of people whom have their own so-called "head canon" - where they have expectations of how things should be based on their own preferences or biases or ideals toward the game in question. So, when they play, and they find it doesn't match what's in their head, they feel as though the developers got it all wrong. I see this with so many MMORPGs (and even books, movies, bands, etc). I've never looked at it that way, and I've never imposed my own expectations of what the game "should be" or what it "should have" on the game itself. I've accepted the game on its own terms and, if it was in line with what I like, then life is good. If not, and I find it too incompatible, then I move on to something else.
It's like when a band puts out a new album and you see people who don't like it saying "It's not a true "band name here" album. Anyone who disagrees isn't a true fan". That crap happens all the time on Amazon's reviews.
All mobs are the same level. At level 1 you are the same level as those mobs. As you gain levels you lose power/strength/efficiency. In order to stay as powerful as you were at level 1 you must equip better skills and equipment. This process continues at each level.
a system like that kill the fealing of advancement in a mmorpg, get better gears ? why ?? gain more level, why?
the bunny you first encounter in the games will still be the same challenge.
for me ( im kinda old school, played all the good games back then who defined the genre)
when you get a nice weapon ( with a hard fight back then, not everyone did get this amazing rare sword... now everyone got the same sword easy but that something else im not going talk )
this fealing when you got a realy hard to get drop, was what make mmorpg fun, also the seamless world with no loading screen, so you play with others players, and you needed form group for instance ( not this auto match bullshit, actual players trying to find group and talking )
also when you gain level and good item you become realy powerfull.
that what make good mmorpg but they lost the recipe .....
let me say the recipe : community + item/level/ rare items + hard instance you need finds groups + seamless worlds = next wow killers.
that funny because peoples enjoy wow curently and what they added ? world boss for help the community and item drops.... ( rng but still good )
a system like that kill the fealing of advancement in a mmorpg, get better gears ? why ?? gain more level, why?
Nah... not going to repeat myself... never mind lol.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
In order to stay as powerful as you were at level 1 you must equip better skills and equipment.
Go ahead, solo a world boss at level 1. I did it with a level 45 a couple of days ago. Let us know how your level 1 makes out.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Lots of players and dueling when I logged in the other evening. Haven't seen so many since launch. Should be nice going wherever I want to do quests now. Looking forward to spending more time with the game.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
World bosses are truly world bosses now. Pre update I soloed WB's and the overland events. I can still do the overlands provided I pay close attention but all of the WB's have been buffed where I can't solo them on my best day.
Graufang just beat the crap out of 5 of us for a good 10 minutes before he went down. I died and rezzed 4 times during the fight when I let him get too close. He was one shotting everyone. The only way we took him down was trading agro back and forth.
He has been the toughest fight so far in my attempts to back in fill in the missing pieces of zones I out leveled or skipped content in. Got a nice gold tier provisioning recipe for a reward though, so he was well worth it
I went back. I'm still on the starter island again but MAN, things have changed. And I like them.
Gone is all the stealing every chest. Do you steal? Yep. Can you get caught? Yep.
It was a bit confusing at first but once I sorted it out, it became fun just to see what I could get away with.
Now, I'm running around and it's pretty decent. Somethings haven't changed but it's nice to see so many people running around with me.
I'm not sure how the level thing is going to affect my play. I really dread getting to level 60 (or whatever) and having that evil lvl 1 bunny beat me down but we'll see. For now, I'm playing my bow wielding mage until something better comes along.
FYI in case anyone cares. 5500 crowns gets you ALL DLC packs. Due to the One Tamariel update they are running a sale on the crown store. 5500 crowns... 23 bucks. Considering it.
BUT the best Best BEST part of subbing was the crafting bag. ZOMG it emptied all my mules and is SOOOOOOOO very nice.
I just hope Zenimax shows some class and re-thinks their loot box plans. If the person in charge decides to drop them, I will personally buy them a beer
I hope its not using auto leveling so depending on what zone you go to it's autoleveling you up so you can kill mobs. I also thought that to be the cheezist easy mode thing added to modern MMO's. I hate the autolevel system by zone in GW2.
@Iselin posted his experiences during beta. To answer your question in a single word: no.
a system like that kill the fealing of advancement in a mmorpg, get better gears ? why ?? gain more level, why?
the bunny you first encounter in the games will still be the same challenge.
for me ( im kinda old school, played all the good games back then who defined the genre)
when you get a nice weapon ( with a hard fight back then, not everyone did get this amazing rare sword... now everyone got the same sword easy but that something else im not going talk )
this fealing when you got a realy hard to get drop, was what make mmorpg fun, also the seamless world with no loading screen, so you play with others players, and you needed form group for instance ( not this auto match bullshit, actual players trying to find group and talking )
also when you gain level and good item you become realy powerfull.
There is still a lot of advancement and feeling of getting stronger in the game, and you need those powerful items and levels you mention above to be really strong.
<snip> when you get a nice weapon ( with a hard fight back then, not everyone did get this amazing rare sword... now everyone got the same sword easy but that something else im not going talk ) <snip>
Yeah everyone runs around in Legendary (yellow) gear .... cough, splutter, choke.
Do you understand how ESO's gear system works?
From a - lets call it a justification point of view - there are various places where crafters can make sets with particular stats throughout the land. So sets dropping off mobs aligns to this concept: a place in Oblivion maybe where enslaved crafters are churning them out or whatever. Drops are not automatic but - post patch - if you spend time in a zone you can get a set. This is a good thing imo.
However what makes for an "amazing sword" is its quality. Most normal drops will be white or green, sets green. Blue drops are rare; purple rarer still. So not everyone will be running around with "amazing" stuff.
Now people can buy - if they have accumulated enough money - purple gear. So in time they will be able to equip gear of purple quality.
Above that though you have yellow Legendary gear ...... and lets just say that's not easy to come by.
nope I am still out but a fan of ES single player titles
There's controls to slide the camera from one side to the other, or put it directly behind your character, move it up or down, etc. You can position it pretty much anywhere you want. I have mine directly behind and above my character, 'cause I've never liked the "off to one side" thing.
I think for the most part this was a good move but I dont agree with the level synching and I never will. Thats removing a huge part of progression feels... I think by doing that the game will feel bland and stale and frankly im tired of the copying other mmos can we get done with that already I mean GW2 and WoW have already done this and I hate it.
I think for the most part this was a good move but I dont agree with the level synching and I never will. Thats removing a huge part of progression feels... I think by doing that the game will feel bland and stale and frankly im tired of the copying other mmos can we get done with that already I mean GW2 and WoW have already done this and I hate it.
That's more true in some MMOs than others. If an MMO is heavily level-focused then yeah, by removing the levels you take away a huge part of of the feeling of progression.
ESO can get away with this because levels here have always been just a minor part of the progression. The real progression here is all about training individual skill lines.
The mage's skill line for example is totally separate from level and depends on exploration and finding rare books.
The Fighter's guild skill line is all about closing the dolmens that connect the world to Coldharbour and killing daedra and undead.
The Undaunted skill line is about running dungeons.
The PVP assault and PVP support skill lines (both of which have many skills that we routinely use also in PVE) is advanced through PVP.
And all the weapon, armor, werewolf, vampire and even class skill lines are leveled independent of character level by using the abilities in those skill lines.
Then there's the fact that you use skill points to unlock skills in every skill line - including crafting skills - and that less than 1/4 of those skill points are earned through character leveling. The rest come from exploration, questing, running dungeons and PVP.
And BTW no, WOW had not "already done this" ESO did it a long time ago in both PVP and all the new zones that have been added for more than a year. This update just does what was already in place for some zones to the rest of the world. And what GW2 did is very different.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Comments
Currently I do not play an mmog,though I'm looking forward to the CU beta....when ever that happens.
What they have introduced is the option of not subscribing. However those who choose not to have to buy the DLCs. (And for anyone who hasn't there seems to be an offer to buy crowns at 50% off - buy 5,500 and you can get the 4 pack DLC.)
The first year though was indeed rough but things have improved.
As far as AvA goes though - well one result of abandoning the mandatory sub model is that there are more players in the game and as a consequence more players in PvP. Although most are PvE. There are PvP guilds though should you ever decide to check things out again. No sub needed!
All mobs are the same level.
At level 1 you are the same level as those mobs.
As you gain levels you lose power/strength/efficiency.
In order to stay as powerful as you were at level 1 you must equip better skills and equipment.
This process continues at each level.
the bunny you first encounter in the games will still be the same challenge.
for me ( im kinda old school, played all the good games back then who defined the genre)
when you get a nice weapon ( with a hard fight back then, not everyone did get this amazing rare sword... now everyone got the same sword easy but that something else im not going talk )
this fealing when you got a realy hard to get drop, was what make mmorpg fun, also the seamless world with no loading screen, so you play with others players, and you needed form group for instance
( not this auto match bullshit, actual players trying to find group and talking )
also when you gain level and good item you become realy powerfull.
that what make good mmorpg but they lost the recipe .....
let me say the recipe :
community + item/level/ rare items + hard instance you need finds groups + seamless worlds = next wow killers.
that funny because peoples enjoy wow curently and what they added ? world boss for help the community and item drops.... ( rng but still good )
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
nope I am still out but a fan of ES single player titles
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Graufang just beat the crap out of 5 of us for a good 10 minutes before he went down. I died and rezzed 4 times during the fight when I let him get too close. He was one shotting everyone. The only way we took him down was trading agro back and forth.
He has been the toughest fight so far in my attempts to back in fill in the missing pieces of zones I out leveled or skipped content in. Got a nice gold tier provisioning recipe for a reward though, so he was well worth it
I miss DAoC
I have tons of first person videos on youtube. I have a really boring and weak spec but it is doable.
I went back. I'm still on the starter island again but MAN, things have changed. And I like them.
Gone is all the stealing every chest. Do you steal? Yep. Can you get caught? Yep.
It was a bit confusing at first but once I sorted it out, it became fun just to see what I could get away with.
Now, I'm running around and it's pretty decent. Somethings haven't changed but it's nice to see so many people running around with me.
I'm not sure how the level thing is going to affect my play. I really dread getting to level 60 (or whatever) and having that evil lvl 1 bunny beat me down but we'll see. For now, I'm playing my bow wielding mage until something better comes along.
FYI in case anyone cares. 5500 crowns gets you ALL DLC packs. Due to the One Tamariel update they are running a sale on the crown store. 5500 crowns... 23 bucks. Considering it.
BUT the best Best BEST part of subbing was the crafting bag. ZOMG it emptied all my mules and is SOOOOOOOO very nice.
Just made a Wood Elf Night Blade.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
There is still a lot of advancement and feeling of getting stronger in the game, and you need those powerful items and levels you mention above to be really strong.
Do you understand how ESO's gear system works?
From a - lets call it a justification point of view - there are various places where crafters can make sets with particular stats throughout the land. So sets dropping off mobs aligns to this concept: a place in Oblivion maybe where enslaved crafters are churning them out or whatever. Drops are not automatic but - post patch - if you spend time in a zone you can get a set. This is a good thing imo.
However what makes for an "amazing sword" is its quality. Most normal drops will be white or green, sets green. Blue drops are rare; purple rarer still. So not everyone will be running around with "amazing" stuff.
Now people can buy - if they have accumulated enough money - purple gear. So in time they will be able to equip gear of purple quality.
Above that though you have yellow Legendary gear ...... and lets just say that's not easy to come by.
ESO can get away with this because levels here have always been just a minor part of the progression. The real progression here is all about training individual skill lines.
The mage's skill line for example is totally separate from level and depends on exploration and finding rare books.
The Fighter's guild skill line is all about closing the dolmens that connect the world to Coldharbour and killing daedra and undead.
The Undaunted skill line is about running dungeons.
The PVP assault and PVP support skill lines (both of which have many skills that we routinely use also in PVE) is advanced through PVP.
And all the weapon, armor, werewolf, vampire and even class skill lines are leveled independent of character level by using the abilities in those skill lines.
Then there's the fact that you use skill points to unlock skills in every skill line - including crafting skills - and that less than 1/4 of those skill points are earned through character leveling. The rest come from exploration, questing, running dungeons and PVP.
And BTW no, WOW had not "already done this" ESO did it a long time ago in both PVP and all the new zones that have been added for more than a year. This update just does what was already in place for some zones to the rest of the world. And what GW2 did is very different.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED