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How has ESO met/missed/exceeded your expectations?
coventryhagdog
Member Posts: 85
The NDA is gone, HOORAY!
I came into the game expecting it to be a terrible WoW clone.
I left the game indifferent about a GW2/DAoC-like game, because I'm simply burnt out in that genre.
The game did leave me pleasantly surprised at times past the starter area with the nifty, hidden content that is somewhat ESO-like, however, the boring, clunky, soft-tab-target combat made me get bored in a matter of a day.
While the character building is decent, especially in terms of crafting, the actual actions involved progression, i.e. combat/crafting itself, is kind of crappy in my opinion.
So.... summarized:
Expected bad combat, got bad combat.
Expected severely restrictive environ, got slightly better after the initial phase.
Now that the NDA is terminated (for the most part), how has the game met/missed/exceeded your expectations?
Comments
slightly missed. I expected a decent mmo and I think it's ok. the world is not immersive enough for me. at least not the parts I've been to. in other ES titles I can get sucked in at times and really be in the moment and truly immersed. that has not happened yet for me in ESO.
I really like the skill system. combat is fine. pvp seems like it will be fun.
I was afraid the game would be very linear and handholdy. Glad it wasn't. Unless a person has such limited playstyle.
It felt more Elder Scrolls then I expected.
Starter area's already able to explore more so and more meaningfull then in most "themepark" games.
Very clean UI, makes the gameworld allot more immersive.
I feel it's a great mix of Elder Scrolls and MMORPG. Was also somewhat afraid they might have taken the SwtOR route but very glad it's nothing like it.
Also a big plus is the subscription fee.
Strongly Exceeded, i didn't actually have expectations for it to "deliver" for me nor did i actually thought of buying it.. i thought "oh, another great IP wasted on a typical "run-of-the-mill" themepark junk" for the bin, man was i wrong!
Sure it's themepark and it has it's MMO-quirks that all of them have, but the feel is so fresh and "different".
My expectations where quite high
but they managed to exceed those... The game is very immersive and just fun to play.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
I applied for the beta, but wasn't really interested - it sounded like a cash-grab on the series rather than a proper MMO, and the "we decided to add a first person view" mess made me think that the dev team weren't strong enough to pursue their vision.
I downloaded the beta, played it and I was surprised:
- once I started 'playing properly' the combat is actually pretty good. At lower levels I was just spamming special abilities - as the levels increased (on a melee/shield templar) I started blocking/interrupting/dodging and using the left/right mouse... it became a lot more interesting.
- I feel like I can just wander around and find stuff to do, rather than looking at the minimap for the nearest green/red circle then blindly killing everything until the quest updates.
- I don't tend to be asked to collect "boar giblets" or whatever they're called. (pretty sure there are some of those quests though).
- the crafting seems to be useful/practical, and there's an attempt to create a 'different' form of economy. [although someone needs to rethink medium armour...]
- RvR seemed to be decent fun.
- it appears that class!=role, most classes can fill most roles. They just do it differently, that's very 'elder scrolls-ish'.
Complaints?
- the actual quests are often rather meh, but then I can't say that skyrim ever bewitched me either. The 'puzzle' quests which put a helpful arrow over the solution are particularly noteworthy...
- the imperial edition mess.
- there's quite a lot of running, especially for one of the starter zones (DC, I think?).
- the interface is terrible ('how do I smelt iron?' is spammed in chat, buffs/debuffs you can't track, the meaning of magicka/stamina/health is obscure especially with caps and soft caps, it's unclear how the core game works).
- RvR lag during the tests was terrible.
- there's no instanced PvP (I actually like instanced PvP
).
- naming system is insane.
No idea if it's a long-term winner, but ESO isn't a "wow clone", it tries to be different, and succeeds. Whether it's a successful game is another matter.
The graphics are smoother and more detailed then I expected but the game can't match a modded Skyrim.
The addition of hot bar skills is not as bad as I thought (the single player games don't have hotbars).
One the whole, it is not the disaster in my eyes that many claimed it was going to be,.
But I see it as a game that I will play more as a regular RPG, enjoy the story once, maybe twice then move on. Not an old style MMORPG where you would play the same game for years.
Sinister Savant MMORPG Community
Strongly Missed, for me.
When announced, I envisioned a NEW MMORPG that could break so many "cliches" in today's games.
Skill based character progression (my favorite type of progression) was first and foremost. It kind of, sort of has this, but many of the skills are "locked" behind classes, not available to everyone.
Exploring ALL of Tamriel in a single setting was the second thing I imagined. When they went with a faction locked PvP emphasis and closed off the other factions areas (later opened at level 50), exploration went out the window.
Strong Guild based influence in the world. They could have been the major source of quests and conflicts. PvP and War are the major contributors instead. Guilds are present, but they really do not factor into the world design much at all. They are just a source for character definition, which is not a bad thing, but could be so much more.
4 Classes to start. Terrible decision. Do I wait to play until the class I want to play becomes available? Do I scrap the character I spent time building up when that class becomes available?
No Imperials. With their 3 faction PvP, the 10 races available in previous Elder Scrolls games did not figure in properly (3.33 repeating), so they dropped the one where the PvP is taking place.
This game could have been so much more than it is. What I like about playing Elder Scroll single player games is not present in TES:O.
I have to admit that with the success of Skyrim, my expectations were rather off-base. Still, this IP could have been such a different MMO. I am very disappointed with the direction they took it.
For those that like it, I am happy for you. I hope the game does well and you have many, many hours fun playing TES:O
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
I'm not an Elder Scrolls fan, so I went in with a fairly neutral stance. I have requirements that I need if a game is going to make me invest time and money in it, but I did not have preconceived expectations of ESO itself. From reading the forums, I was seeing a lot of mixed information. Strange that. So a few weeks ago they started doing their Beta Weekends and I took advantage of one, then also the following Beta opportunity. I had to see for myself.
I was quite impressed. It exceeded my expectations, but only based on what the genre has regurgitated over the last 8 years. Matt and his team have certainly created a game with the depth, content, customization, immersion and sheer beauty that steps it up quite a few notches from the current market selections.
I'm not one of those people that will only spend a month in a game after racing to level cap and say they beat it, then move on to the next banquet in their line of vision. If the game is good enough (I come from EQ/EQ2 and DAoC) I'll stay there for years. ESO, in my mind, is more than good enough to capture me for quite some time.
I was expecting very little. Was very surprised at the game I played.Exceeded my expectations!
Has flaws, but what game is 100% perfect.
Learn one important thing in your life and be ever happy and satisfied: Never expect anything.
Why? Because your human mind is tiny. Is about to evolve. It can only scoop out of the experiences you have previously made and that will always be what we call "the past". Give yourself the answer how much you will understand about greater events when you stay in that very, very narrow frame of mind?
Expectations forms a future out of that tiny human mindset, rather than letting in reality how it is. Expectations are fantasy and when you are precise: Not a single expectation will ever be met. Ever.
If it does, then it is no expectation anymore. The sole nature of an expectation is misconception and a creation of something that is not real.
So what can we do? We simply wait until we get, dive into the experience and have a great time. Be honest to yourself how much misery you have created yourself in your past by expecting.
Exceeded.
I've had some doubts about it a few months ago. But the strong points crafting, PvP and exploration just exceeded my expectations. This will be just a good game.
Hodor!
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
Strongly exceeded my expectations. The best aspects are:
Elladan - ESO (AD)
Camring - SWTOR (Ebon Hawk)
Eol & Justinian - Rift (Faeblight)
Ceol and Duri - LotRO (Landroval)
Kili - WoW
Eol - Lineage 2
Camring - SWG
Justinian (Nimue), Camring - DAoC
I was very pleasantly surprised by ESO's storylines, I didn't expect to see Skyrim style dialogues where I get to make actual decisions.
The voice acting is also impressive, the world is beautiful, the crafting seems pretty solid - and the PvP looks outright awesome (though I haven't tried it yet, nor am I likely to during beta).
It definitely exceeded my rather cautious expectations by a generous margin, and convinced me to pre-order it.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Haha. I seen what you did there.
This is about what I expected/feared what would happen if they turned the Elder Scrolls into an MMO.
Help us Todd Howard, your our only hope.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
I had no expectations going in blind into the beta.
And even those non-existant expectations weren't met.
Not interested in this game at all.
slightly exceeded
I was not sure how the combat would feel compared to what I was used to from previous mmorpg's that I have played. I was surprised to find how intuitive it felt and I easily adapted to the mouse block and interrupt mechanics. I was expecting the pvp to feel like DAoC (which I wanted) and found it was more than that. With the addition of pvp/pve blended quests, a transit system, guild vendors and a surprising variety of objectives, I was grinning ear to ear. I was a bit disappointed with how swimming works, but love the switch from a fatigue bar to crazy "they are eating me alive!" piranha. I did not play the Elder Scroll line of games and was unfamiliar with soul crystals and how they work, but again, I am adapting to the change faster than I had thought I would.
Slightly missed.
A game with action combat where you can only use offensive abilities when you have a targeted enemy loses its action an becomes a target based game with the reticle replacing the tab part. That is a really bad design for any action based combat game but i can live with it because at least it works smoothly.
And then we still have the awful core-content-locked-behind-preorder-cash-grab-of-doom
Yup, they slightly missed my expectation. I decided not to preorder and they cant force me to do so, but I wont pay the same price and subscription as other people and still have limitations they dont have just because they preordered or got the CE. That alone made the entire game not worth a sub to me.
Closed wallets have more influential power than cash grab greedy publishers