From past experience, I feel the best route to go in this situation is to wait a few months after it releases and see not only how the playerbase responds, but also what Zenimax does for the game after release. Better to observe a sink or swim than to be a part of it.
Another review that makes me think the press has decided that ESO is the Eliot Spitzer of MMOs and must be dragged down at all costs.
Your comments on the starting area are either out of date, or plain wrong. You can chat, craft, join a guild and party up with others from the very beginning. The zone starts you off gently, while building an overall story culminating in you moving on, which is, to me at least, a lot better than menial task quest hub grinding to reach some arbitrary level after which you can go to another zone to do the same.
Originally posted by KaitarBesh I was more than willing to give TESO a fair shot, but the fact they've gated areas off due to levels? Early in the game or not? No, I am -so- sick of linear, railroaded MMOs. Dump me in a world and let me go. Why is it that games 10+ years old can do this but these new MMOs have to gate everything off and lead you around by your nose?
From "PRESS REVIEWS" i really thought they would have captured the freedom of ES games, only their signature feature of the entire ES series ffs. But no "from press reviews" this is not the case at all.
Off topic here for a sec guys, what's that other name for a hallway? oh yes a CORRIDOR.
Anyway back on topic, when i first heard about ESO i literally nearly shipped my pants FREEDOM, comes to mind, Braveheart flash in my head, FREEDOM, but immediately these guys lacked massive amounts of confidence, so wishy washy on ever topic, f2p, p2p, boxed, open world, pvp, no pvp, pve focused not pvp focused pvp focues, no wait PVE focused, open world, compact, wait not open world, cash shop, sry no cash shop, oh hang on Cash Shop, almost like they knew ES fans would not be happy, or they were being forced to make a game (or simply playing it safe and wrapping up a mmo boilerplate in an ES skin) that was not going to be a signature staple of the ES series. But maybe just another SWTOR, from what i've gathered from "PRESS REVIEWS"
I recently subbed back up to SWTOR, 2 years later it's got what was missing at launch, much more polished and have been jumping in and out since it went f2p, was having a great time so i subbed.
This time i'm passing on the exorbitant admission fee, and go straight to the 15 sub option when it's more polished and goes f2p. From what i gather from "PRESS REVIEWS".
My faith is my shield! - Turalyon 2022
Your legend ends here and now! - (Battles Won Long Ago)
Originally posted by Talemire From past experience, I feel the best route to go in this situation is to wait a few months after it releases and see not only how the playerbase responds, but also what Zenimax does for the game after release. Better to observe a sink or swim than to be a part of it.
Cheaper too.
Heck, i'm sure there are plenty of people out there that wish i'd step away from their corn flakes and you know what, i am, if you're a massive ES fan like me, then i completely understand wanting the box or CE, be there at launch, i totally get all that... I'm a gargantuan fan of the ES series and i wish you the best, and most of all have fun.
My faith is my shield! - Turalyon 2022
Your legend ends here and now! - (Battles Won Long Ago)
all this blabla while everyone (who wants to ) knows that its about the pvp! like someone said in the other thread: did you also review DAOC leaving out the RvR? This is an RvR game goddammit ^^ and its a great one.
I was on the fence before the beta but full of hope - Love elder scrolls love bethesda but was a bit wary about whether it would transition to MMORPG .
Scenery and graphics are good and the main storyline is good .
Character creation is fine but it has way too little choice when levelling the only nice touch is being able to morph a skill . Apart from that its the same old cookie cutter builds
Combat is stupidly simple - absolutely no threat or skill needed - one can only assume thats so that console players can use it .
Quests are pedestrian and linear and for those who like exploring there are tiny bits to find but quests are railroaded and linear with no choice
Crafting is very poor - Not much to say bout it really .
The game feels very pedestrian and dumbed down for consoles - hugely let down, wont even be playing it if it goes to f2p
There is also way too much emphasis put onto pvp even though so few people bothered looking into it .
all this blabla while everyone (who wants to ) knows that its about the pvp! like someone said in the other thread: did you also review DAOC leaving out the RvR? This is an RvR game goddammit ^^ and its a great one.
Would this be the RvR that's going to be based on piss poor animations, horrible combat and no collision detection?!?
Oh yeah.
And no. According to anyone that replies to someone stating the base game design is based on PvP, we are told it isn't, its all about the PvE.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I hate to say it, because I really, really wanted to like Elder Scrolls Online... but I think it's going to rival SWTOR in the 'disappointed fans' department.
It feels like an MMORPG I wouldn't have played five years ago. Very dated, very restrictive, very boring-- even by yesterday's standards.
Add to all this the studio's triple-dipping monetizing decisions, and you've got a package that's way too easy to hate.
Honestly I didn't get much more play time this weekend. It needs some polish, and if I had gotten a little further I may be able to comment better on the overall experience. This game is very linear at first, I will agree, but the simple fact that quest givers usually aren't marked, and that npc's and players look similar and can be hard to tell apart, that I really felt like this was an actual living world.
It does give you some incentive (they could do more here, again I got to level 7 so I can't make an accurate judgement here) to just go explore and learn the map. It has been a long time since a new mmo has had me actually try to learn about my surroundings instead of just spoon feeding.
There are other games doing combat better. I don't think there are other games doing the world+combat+free progression in a single package in the mmo space let alone doing it better. It is not tab targeting, which for me personally makes or breaks a game now. I refuse to play a tab targeter anymore. The pacing is good, and your resources matter, even if the animations need some work. Every class seems to use magicka, which is a little odd, but again it allows for well rounded characters to really be great at multiple play styles. I definately won't need to re-roll characters all the time to get a different playstyle. This is something other mmo's fail at imo where this game does it right. Tera, Neverwinter and even Dragon's Prophet all have somewhat better combat, but not enough to matter to me as their game-worlds are too cartoon like for my taste. My perfect game would be the combat from Tera with the gameworld of AoC and the pvp of an FPS. This gets pretty close (sans pvp because I haven't played it, cant comment there).
The atmosphere is not stylized like most mmo's. Biggest turn off for me personally about most mmos and why I played AoC the most. Gritty, realistic(ish) world. I don't want bright colors and swords that are 200 pounds. This is what attracts me to ESO. No other MMORPG is going with this look right now.
Is the endgame PVP going to be good? That is the real question, and I don't feel we can really comment until several months after the game is launched. The early game, while having a few problems, shows enough promise to get me involved in the game and give it a go. The game feels like an ES game to me so far, so even playing a couple months then dropping the sub is going to feel like good entertainment value and worth the price of admission imo.
Hmm I'm sure most mmos out today wish they had the revenue, population and profits Swtor is generating over two years in.
Hmm I'm sure most SWTOR fans wish they had official numbers to back up that claim. Sadly EA only does that for games that are actually doing good and we are left with outside companies using averages and circumstantial evidence to come up with what they say like they state on their own sites.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I agree with some of what you said and disagree with other things but can't go into detail yet.
But I will say this: it's a game with a split personality: I mean PVE and PVP with respect to the social aspect - The PVE open world leans heavily toward solo content but this type of PVP leans heavily the other way to a far greater extent than most other MMOs.
The emphasis of this game when it was first announced was clearly the Cyrodiil PVP... it's worth remembering that. Too bad you have to wait till level 10 to get started on that part - especially if group activities are what you're looking for.
The difference between the two is so stark that you might as well think of this as two games: the alliance war game where grouping, strategy and tactics are king and the Elder Scrolls PVE game where lore and story content rule the day.
Some will like one...some will like the other... and if you're lucky, you'll like both. I'm happy to be in this 3rd category.
"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
I hate to say it, because I really, really wanted to like Elder Scrolls Online... but I think it's going to rival SWTOR in the 'disappointed fans' department.
It feels like an MMORPG I wouldn't have played five years ago. Very dated, very restrictive, very boring-- even by yesterday's standards.
It doesn't even benefit from it's license like SWTOR does, since the Elder Scrolls license is more about open-ended exploration than a specific cast of characters and locations. The thing people love about the Elder Scrolls setting is that it always represented free-form gameplay... until now, that is.
Hmm I'm sure most mmos out today wish they had the revenue, population and profits Swtor is generating over two years in.
You mean profit? Because that's relative. Could be MMOs with less revenue are generating higher profits. Populations don't mean a thing if nobody's buying anything F2P games (Not saying that's the case here).
Not really sure how much of a success SWTOR really is. My thought is that if it really was a success, the game would still be P2P with a boxed fee hosting between 2-5 million active subs.
At best "Plan B" isn't as much a failure "Plan A" was.
Either you didn't really play this game, or its already changed significantly since you have. Almost everything you said about the starter zone is incorrect, and I just finished it myself yesterday. I didn't feel like I was running erands, I felt like I had to find and help all of the villagers before the Covenant attacked and killed everyone. There were lots of other real people running around, and I even got friend requests. I was able to immediately start crafting. The chat box was so busy I had to work hard to ignore it.
There are still some bugs. I'm sure some of the things you were looking for will be implemented. It just seems like in an effort for you guys to find a differing opinion, what you did instead was something ignorant.
I wholeheartedly agree. I was crafting at level 1 before I had even finished my first quest. The chat window was humming non-stop, people were everywhere, and the starter isle wasn't bland at all. I found it to be quite the opposite of what the OP wrote, so I have to believe he was just predisposed to dislike it, or listened to Angry Joe to have his opinion handed to him.
Want to zero in on the starter island stuff since I see it come up a lot:
I really think the reason we can't square the starter island experience is because we (MMO vets) aren't actually the target audience for it. That's why you're seeing all these weird reactions this weekend. People who don't like the game at first and then warm up to it once they get off the island.
If not us, then who? Well, ZOS is trying to get non-MMO playing ES fans, and more importantly, console players, into the fold. The starter island is more than likely designed with them in mind, which is why it's a much shallower experience than the rest of the game. Imagine being a console only player who has never played an MMO and being dropped into the post starter island zones immediately? Would probably be pretty overwhelming, no?
Does that mean it has the potential to just turn some MMO vets off immediately? I'm sure. But it looks like a lot of people gave it another whack and humped through it into the real game.
The emphasis of this game when it was first announced was clearly the Cyrodiil PVP... it's worth remembering that. Too bad you have to wait till level 10 to get started on that part - especially if group activities are what you're looking for.
The difference between the two is so stark that you might as well think of this as two games:
You actually HAVE TO think its two games, otherwise you would think the makers of the game are the worst in history.
One part has 3 factions solely focused on the lands of a dead empire that is no threat to anyone.
The other has an invasion by THE GOD OF RAPE wanting to take over the world.
I do believe I have touched on this many times. They are trying to make a game for TES fans and trying to make a game for MMO fans and have created a royal mess. If they had dropped the moronic DaoC design of splitting the world into pieces and created an open world they could have created a story that made sense where there are alliances that are working together against molag bal, yet still actually at war with each other, wanting to take over Cyrodiil.
Hell, they showed that closed race to faction actually meant nothing to them with the pre-orders and thus the idea of closed faction lands really means nothing also.
Being trapped in the past, it kills new ideas. This game could have been beautiful if in the right hands.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
Want to zero in on the starter island stuff since I see it come up a lot:
I really think the reason we can't square the starter island experience is because we (MMO vets) aren't actually the target audience for it. That's why you're seeing all these weird reactions this weekend. People who don't like the game at first and then warm up to it once they get off the island.
If not us, then who? Well, ZOS is trying to get non-MMO playing ES fans, and more importantly, console players, into the fold. The starter island is more than likely designed with them in mind, which is why it's a much shallower experience than the rest of the game. Imagine being a console only player who has never played an MMO and being dropped into the post starter island zones immediately? Would probably be pretty overwhelming, no?
Does that mean it has the potential to just turn some MMO vets off immediately? I'm sure. But it looks like a lot of people gave it another whack and humped through it into the real game.
That's my take, anyways.
That has been touched on by many of the non-media reviewers and many fan sites. The base design, the DaoC model, is not for them nor is giving the game a subscription for them. If they were actually really targeting TES fans, they would have made the game more like TES from the ground up.
They are trying to be everything for everyone and coming up short in so many ways. They should have either focused on TES with a TES MMO, or focused on MMO and no even use the IP.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I actually loved the starter zone. Had plenty of people to help out if only in a causal way. Finding bodies and parts that lead to other quest lines was quite enjoyable. While I agree that there was some errand running it felt less so because the questing had stories behind them. Not just the typical "go kill X monsters" that plague a lot of MMOs. I think I'm really looking forward to this game!
Every other post is either telling the OP he's dead on or telling the OP he's dead wrong.
Which is it?
There are benefits to taking advantage of Beta Weekends. I did, and formed my own opinion. People like it, or don't, but those people aren't you. I imagine there are going to be more of these before launch, so I'd hop in and play when you can to see for yourself.
Every other post is either telling the OP he's dead on or telling the OP he's dead wrong.
Which is it?
There are benefits to taking advantage of Beta Weekends. I did, and formed my own opinion. People like it, or don't, but those people aren't you. I imagine there are going to be more of these before launch, so I'd hop in and play when you can to see for yourself.
Maybe. The game looks interesting enough. But, it still looks OP (over priced) . I want to see how the game will fair later on. Starter tutorials can make or break a game, but so will the endgame. And I wouldn't be a dedicated beta player enough to get much beyond the start of it. So, I'll wait until much more info is out. But again, the cost of the game, and by that I mean with ALL the options, is too high for what it seems I'd be getting.
Want to zero in on the starter island stuff since I see it come up a lot:
I really think the reason we can't square the starter island experience is because we (MMO vets) aren't actually the target audience for it. That's why you're seeing all these weird reactions this weekend. People who don't like the game at first and then warm up to it once they get off the island.
If not us, then who? Well, ZOS is trying to get non-MMO playing ES fans, and more importantly, console players, into the fold. The starter island is more than likely designed with them in mind, which is why it's a much shallower experience than the rest of the game. Imagine being a console only player who has never played an MMO and being dropped into the post starter island zones immediately? Would probably be pretty overwhelming, no?
Does that mean it has the potential to just turn some MMO vets off immediately? I'm sure. But it looks like a lot of people gave it another whack and humped through it into the real game.
That's my take, anyways.
I think that's a valid point. An introduction isn't a bad thing, and if you see it as such and just work through it, there is an entire world of game out there shortly after you start. Basing opinions on the intro and extending that to the entire game is disingenuous at best. Unfortunately there are reviews out there doing just that and hordes of their supplicants are drinking it up.
Want to zero in on the starter island stuff since I see it come up a lot:
I really think the reason we can't square the starter island experience is because we (MMO vets) aren't actually the target audience for it. That's why you're seeing all these weird reactions this weekend. People who don't like the game at first and then warm up to it once they get off the island.
If not us, then who? Well, ZOS is trying to get non-MMO playing ES fans, and more importantly, console players, into the fold. The starter island is more than likely designed with them in mind, which is why it's a much shallower experience than the rest of the game. Imagine being a console only player who has never played an MMO and being dropped into the post starter island zones immediately? Would probably be pretty overwhelming, no?
Does that mean it has the potential to just turn some MMO vets off immediately? I'm sure. But it looks like a lot of people gave it another whack and humped through it into the real game.
That's my take, anyways.
I think that's a valid point. An introduction isn't a bad thing, and if you see it as such and just work through it, there is an entire world of game out there shortly after you start. Basing opinions on the intro and extending that to the entire game is disingenuous at best. Unfortunately there are reviews out there doing just that and hordes of their supplicants are drinking it up.
I was a lot more worried about this on Friday. I even wrote a blog about it. But I've been going through a lot of the feedback here and on other sites and there is a very clear trend of opinion shift for a lot of people who made it through the starter area and saw the rest of the game over the weekend. That's not to say everyone will be this way, ESO isn't for everyone, but thankfully it looks like a ton of people gave the game a real chance.
I agree with some of what you said and disagree with other things but can't go into detail yet.
But I will say this: it's a game with a split personality: I mean PVE and PVP with respect to the social aspect - The PVE open world leans heavily toward solo content but this type of PVP leans heavily the other way to a far greater extent than most other MMOs.
The emphasis of this game when it was first announced was clearly the Cyrodiil PVP... it's worth remembering that. Too bad you have to wait till level 10 to get started on that part - especially if group activities are what you're looking for.
The difference between the two is so stark that you might as well think of this as two games: the alliance war game where grouping, strategy and tactics are king and the Elder Scrolls PVE game where lore and story content rule the day.
Some will like one...some will like the other... and if you're lucky, you'll like both. I'm happy to be in this 3rd category.
Same here. Without going into specifics, this is definitely the title for me.
Comments
I can't say much due to NDA of course, but I'll be passing on ESO.
I never got into Morrowind, or Oblivion, but I got into and played the hell out of Skyrim.
ESO? Like MW and OBV before it, just... nope, not for me.
Another review that makes me think the press has decided that ESO is the Eliot Spitzer of MMOs and must be dragged down at all costs.
Your comments on the starting area are either out of date, or plain wrong. You can chat, craft, join a guild and party up with others from the very beginning. The zone starts you off gently, while building an overall story culminating in you moving on, which is, to me at least, a lot better than menial task quest hub grinding to reach some arbitrary level after which you can go to another zone to do the same.
From "PRESS REVIEWS" i really thought they would have captured the freedom of ES games, only their signature feature of the entire ES series ffs. But no "from press reviews" this is not the case at all.
Off topic here for a sec guys, what's that other name for a hallway? oh yes a CORRIDOR.
Anyway back on topic, when i first heard about ESO i literally nearly shipped my pants FREEDOM, comes to mind, Braveheart flash in my head, FREEDOM, but immediately these guys lacked massive amounts of confidence, so wishy washy on ever topic, f2p, p2p, boxed, open world, pvp, no pvp, pve focused not pvp focused pvp focues, no wait PVE focused, open world, compact, wait not open world, cash shop, sry no cash shop, oh hang on Cash Shop, almost like they knew ES fans would not be happy, or they were being forced to make a game (or simply playing it safe and wrapping up a mmo boilerplate in an ES skin) that was not going to be a signature staple of the ES series. But maybe just another SWTOR, from what i've gathered from "PRESS REVIEWS"
I recently subbed back up to SWTOR, 2 years later it's got what was missing at launch, much more polished and have been jumping in and out since it went f2p, was having a great time so i subbed.
This time i'm passing on the exorbitant admission fee, and go straight to the 15 sub option when it's more polished and goes f2p. From what i gather from "PRESS REVIEWS".
Cheaper too.
Heck, i'm sure there are plenty of people out there that wish i'd step away from their corn flakes and you know what, i am, if you're a massive ES fan like me, then i completely understand wanting the box or CE, be there at launch, i totally get all that... I'm a gargantuan fan of the ES series and i wish you the best, and most of all have fun.
all this blabla while everyone (who wants to ) knows that its about the pvp! like someone said in the other thread: did you also review DAOC leaving out the RvR? This is an RvR game goddammit ^^ and its a great one.
I was on the fence before the beta but full of hope - Love elder scrolls love bethesda but was a bit wary about whether it would transition to MMORPG .
Scenery and graphics are good and the main storyline is good .
Character creation is fine but it has way too little choice when levelling the only nice touch is being able to morph a skill . Apart from that its the same old cookie cutter builds
Combat is stupidly simple - absolutely no threat or skill needed - one can only assume thats so that console players can use it .
Quests are pedestrian and linear and for those who like exploring there are tiny bits to find but quests are railroaded and linear with no choice
Crafting is very poor - Not much to say bout it really .
The game feels very pedestrian and dumbed down for consoles - hugely let down, wont even be playing it if it goes to f2p
There is also way too much emphasis put onto pvp even though so few people bothered looking into it .
Would this be the RvR that's going to be based on piss poor animations, horrible combat and no collision detection?!?
Oh yeah.
And no. According to anyone that replies to someone stating the base game design is based on PvP, we are told it isn't, its all about the PvE.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I hate to say it, because I really, really wanted to like Elder Scrolls Online... but I think it's going to rival SWTOR in the 'disappointed fans' department.
It feels like an MMORPG I wouldn't have played five years ago. Very dated, very restrictive, very boring-- even by yesterday's standards.
Add to all this the studio's triple-dipping monetizing decisions, and you've got a package that's way too easy to hate.Honestly I didn't get much more play time this weekend. It needs some polish, and if I had gotten a little further I may be able to comment better on the overall experience. This game is very linear at first, I will agree, but the simple fact that quest givers usually aren't marked, and that npc's and players look similar and can be hard to tell apart, that I really felt like this was an actual living world.
It does give you some incentive (they could do more here, again I got to level 7 so I can't make an accurate judgement here) to just go explore and learn the map. It has been a long time since a new mmo has had me actually try to learn about my surroundings instead of just spoon feeding.
There are other games doing combat better. I don't think there are other games doing the world+combat+free progression in a single package in the mmo space let alone doing it better. It is not tab targeting, which for me personally makes or breaks a game now. I refuse to play a tab targeter anymore. The pacing is good, and your resources matter, even if the animations need some work. Every class seems to use magicka, which is a little odd, but again it allows for well rounded characters to really be great at multiple play styles. I definately won't need to re-roll characters all the time to get a different playstyle. This is something other mmo's fail at imo where this game does it right. Tera, Neverwinter and even Dragon's Prophet all have somewhat better combat, but not enough to matter to me as their game-worlds are too cartoon like for my taste. My perfect game would be the combat from Tera with the gameworld of AoC and the pvp of an FPS. This gets pretty close (sans pvp because I haven't played it, cant comment there).
The atmosphere is not stylized like most mmo's. Biggest turn off for me personally about most mmos and why I played AoC the most. Gritty, realistic(ish) world. I don't want bright colors and swords that are 200 pounds. This is what attracts me to ESO. No other MMORPG is going with this look right now.
Is the endgame PVP going to be good? That is the real question, and I don't feel we can really comment until several months after the game is launched. The early game, while having a few problems, shows enough promise to get me involved in the game and give it a go. The game feels like an ES game to me so far, so even playing a couple months then dropping the sub is going to feel like good entertainment value and worth the price of admission imo.
Hmm I'm sure most SWTOR fans wish they had official numbers to back up that claim. Sadly EA only does that for games that are actually doing good and we are left with outside companies using averages and circumstantial evidence to come up with what they say like they state on their own sites.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I agree with some of what you said and disagree with other things but can't go into detail yet.
But I will say this: it's a game with a split personality: I mean PVE and PVP with respect to the social aspect - The PVE open world leans heavily toward solo content but this type of PVP leans heavily the other way to a far greater extent than most other MMOs.
The emphasis of this game when it was first announced was clearly the Cyrodiil PVP... it's worth remembering that. Too bad you have to wait till level 10 to get started on that part - especially if group activities are what you're looking for.
The difference between the two is so stark that you might as well think of this as two games: the alliance war game where grouping, strategy and tactics are king and the Elder Scrolls PVE game where lore and story content rule the day.
Some will like one...some will like the other... and if you're lucky, you'll like both. I'm happy to be in this 3rd category.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Lo ! There be a rotten, big turd hiding under those pretty flowers ! And it's name is ESO !
You mean profit? Because that's relative. Could be MMOs with less revenue are generating higher profits. Populations don't mean a thing if nobody's buying anything F2P games (Not saying that's the case here).
Not really sure how much of a success SWTOR really is. My thought is that if it really was a success, the game would still be P2P with a boxed fee hosting between 2-5 million active subs.
At best "Plan B" isn't as much a failure "Plan A" was.
Elder Scrolls, Elder Scroll and Elder Scrolls, yet i still can't murder an entire town just to take their sweetrolls.
I wholeheartedly agree. I was crafting at level 1 before I had even finished my first quest. The chat window was humming non-stop, people were everywhere, and the starter isle wasn't bland at all. I found it to be quite the opposite of what the OP wrote, so I have to believe he was just predisposed to dislike it, or listened to Angry Joe to have his opinion handed to him.
Want to zero in on the starter island stuff since I see it come up a lot:
I really think the reason we can't square the starter island experience is because we (MMO vets) aren't actually the target audience for it. That's why you're seeing all these weird reactions this weekend. People who don't like the game at first and then warm up to it once they get off the island.
If not us, then who? Well, ZOS is trying to get non-MMO playing ES fans, and more importantly, console players, into the fold. The starter island is more than likely designed with them in mind, which is why it's a much shallower experience than the rest of the game. Imagine being a console only player who has never played an MMO and being dropped into the post starter island zones immediately? Would probably be pretty overwhelming, no?
Does that mean it has the potential to just turn some MMO vets off immediately? I'm sure. But it looks like a lot of people gave it another whack and humped through it into the real game.
That's my take, anyways.
You actually HAVE TO think its two games, otherwise you would think the makers of the game are the worst in history.
One part has 3 factions solely focused on the lands of a dead empire that is no threat to anyone.
The other has an invasion by THE GOD OF RAPE wanting to take over the world.
I do believe I have touched on this many times. They are trying to make a game for TES fans and trying to make a game for MMO fans and have created a royal mess. If they had dropped the moronic DaoC design of splitting the world into pieces and created an open world they could have created a story that made sense where there are alliances that are working together against molag bal, yet still actually at war with each other, wanting to take over Cyrodiil.
Hell, they showed that closed race to faction actually meant nothing to them with the pre-orders and thus the idea of closed faction lands really means nothing also.
Being trapped in the past, it kills new ideas. This game could have been beautiful if in the right hands.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
That has been touched on by many of the non-media reviewers and many fan sites. The base design, the DaoC model, is not for them nor is giving the game a subscription for them. If they were actually really targeting TES fans, they would have made the game more like TES from the ground up.
They are trying to be everything for everyone and coming up short in so many ways. They should have either focused on TES with a TES MMO, or focused on MMO and no even use the IP.
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
There are benefits to taking advantage of Beta Weekends. I did, and formed my own opinion. People like it, or don't, but those people aren't you. I imagine there are going to be more of these before launch, so I'd hop in and play when you can to see for yourself.
Maybe. The game looks interesting enough. But, it still looks OP (over priced) . I want to see how the game will fair later on. Starter tutorials can make or break a game, but so will the endgame. And I wouldn't be a dedicated beta player enough to get much beyond the start of it. So, I'll wait until much more info is out. But again, the cost of the game, and by that I mean with ALL the options, is too high for what it seems I'd be getting.
I think that's a valid point. An introduction isn't a bad thing, and if you see it as such and just work through it, there is an entire world of game out there shortly after you start. Basing opinions on the intro and extending that to the entire game is disingenuous at best. Unfortunately there are reviews out there doing just that and hordes of their supplicants are drinking it up.
I was a lot more worried about this on Friday. I even wrote a blog about it. But I've been going through a lot of the feedback here and on other sites and there is a very clear trend of opinion shift for a lot of people who made it through the starter area and saw the rest of the game over the weekend. That's not to say everyone will be this way, ESO isn't for everyone, but thankfully it looks like a ton of people gave the game a real chance.
Same here. Without going into specifics, this is definitely the title for me.