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A bit different kind of a game, some thoughts.
Kuinn
Member UncommonPosts: 2,072
ESO sure handles a bit differently from a generic themepark playstyle, and I think it's one of the reasons some people who approached the game as "the next themepark in line" attitude are having hard time playing it.
Doing the shopping list style questing and rushing to max level does not really work here, and I think that's a very poor way of playing the game anyway. That's exactly why I'm finding the game better each day I log in, I was getting so tired of the focus on getting to max level asap to join in the gear race on other games, which has been the main focus of themeparks for a long time, that it's just nice to relax for once and enjoy the world.
Not having the laundry list of quests on your right side of the UI makes the game feel a lot more like an adventure, and having no rush, just experience a quest at a time, and sometimes just wander around looking for skyshards or chests... I dont know, it's hard to explain, I dont feel like I have to rush anywhere to get to the meat of the game, and that's wonderful.
Also the lack of "flying text" sprouting up from the heads of mobs, no damage numbers, no XP gains filling your screen, no healthnumbers on mobs giving away their toughness, it must be hard to approach a game with the default themepark mindset when everything combat wise is not presented by the decimals and straightforward math, which is great too making the game feel more like an adventure and immersive world rather than some kind of calculated performance test.
Though, the whole game makes me often wonder why it even is in a standard MMO mold when it comes to open world. I'm basically doing the quests solo, and I am the hero as always in these games, my character is the only one handling these situation, yet there's all those other "ghosts" running around doing the same things, without having any impact on MY world.
I really feel like this game would have been a lot better as solo/coop PvE game, with massive multiplayer main cities as hubs, and massive multiplayer Cyrodiil (+ group dungeons). So have all those other people where they fit in, the PvP, hubs, and dungeons, but they are kinda pointless, and more a distraction and sometimes even a factor that ruins the mood when I'm supposed to dig up some ancient mysteries in long forgotten dungeons, yet they are filled with these "ghosts" running around hitting everything looting everything.
I can really immerse my self in the world, love many of the quests and overall design, but the other players outside cities and group activities does give me a headache more often than not. The game is heavily phased to begin with, so it makes me wonder even more why does the PvE (questing) playground have to be open-multiplayer when it serves very little purpose for that, quite the opposite, it feels like an oddity and hindrance more often.
Tldr; game plays a bit different, no rush, flowers smell great and lack of numbers is good I'd say. Why is Barry in my quest dungeon? Main city and pvp is multiplayer certified, other than dat, why tbh?
Comments
WOW -I concur
I think you nailed my feelings as well. The heavy questing ruined it...Badly. For me anyhow.
I wanted a more sandbox approach where not "everyone is the hero" and from my experience the game is only really questing and pvp. It felt like a sub par Elder Scrolls game for a single player with 'ghosts' running around (as you put it and I would agree)
It looks too much like a cash grab on the es name. It looks to me as if this really is being made to transition into a F2P model since the questing/pvp isnt going to last long for even those who totally enjoy those aspects.
A missed opportunity which will be huge on console and have enough longevity to keep it going but always missing the mark.. I hope I am wrong. I am waiting another year and see where its at at that point. There is potential here but...I wouldnt play it if it were F2P atm mainly because I didnt like the quest grind, everyone is the hero dideal- For an ESO that was a bit more sandbox (a lot) I would pay a hell of a lot more than $15/month
The game surely could be more accessible and have more positive feedback if there were bunch of other ways to level for people who are not enjoying the questing much. I can see this becoming a problem also when playing alts, at that point you're probably skipping the "quest text" even if you previously enjoyed it and then I cant see even my self enjoying it as much as I do now.
Perhaps if they just increased the overall XP gains from exploration, monster grinding, and made professions to give general XP too besides crafting XP the game would appeal a lot more to a wider audience, it certainly would be a lot more rewarding experience, as right now the only rewarding thing progression wise is questing, so you either quest or stall.
I'd say they probably will in future, but it's a shame mmorpgs always are released in a state where it's kind of still under testing to see what works and what does not and then later down the line it becomes better, but the first impressions train has already left at that point.
I also noticed the main story lines (character and fighters guild and mages guild stories at least) are the same no matter which faction you pick, even the quest NPC names are the same, just different locations (I made a couple of chars on different alliances before settling down with the Covenant) so having more ways of gaining general XP would be extremely welcome change.