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The Elder Crowd Online - Good Game
Poachinator
Member UncommonPosts: 80
Loving to Game together
We have decided to take the time to write up our impressions of the game ESO and the MMO generational gap from a middle aged married couple who as a hobby love to game together. The wife and I met in EQ, but in reality lived within a few towns and had mutual RL friends. Growing up we individually played similar style RPG and RTS games. We are very lucky to have found each other! Gaming is something we look forward too and most of all gaming with friends. We are in our 30’s and have been enjoying the heck out ESO since 6:30AM EST on 3/30/2014. The list of MMO’s since EQ is very large, we will spare you the details and just touch on a couple.
MMO Background -The Good Times and The Bad Times
Everquest was our original first love. We only knew each other in game at this point but grouped up with crew of regulars nightly. In our opinion the best thing about EQ was the lack of quests and it seemed to be more of a choose your own adventure type of game. You could group up with folks and just head to a zone and kill, there were some epic quest lines to follow and they indeed were epic from a time consuming standpoint. Sure there were additions to the game that started to mold the MMO iterations to come, specifically Lost Dungeons of Norrath! The first group instanced zones we had ever experience and probably put the most time in over our MMO careers. The raids were quite large and epic with 72 or so in a raid force, it was quite fun for its time! Then along came Vanilla WoW, which introduced plenty of dungeons, tons of quests, and a bit more manageable but still difficult 40 man raiding format. Sure the art style took a while to get used to for me personally, but this game grew on us fast. Before we knew it we ran a 40 man raiding guild and had a close society of friends that spanned the globe.
Those were the good old times for us and lasted quite a few years. All the way up until the end of Burning Crusade. The next expansion then started to crumble the MMO world from our standpoint. Zone phasing, and Looking For Group and Raid became the bane of our MMO experience. Guilds went from a large gathering of friends doing the same thing to a large gathering of friends doing their own thing quickly. Joining any Looking For tool became similar to playing CoD on Xbox live with a boat load of immature kids and internet tough guys. Dungeon running and Raiding with these tools just brought out the worst in gamers ranging from your typical greedy ninja looter to inpatient content locusts that just wanted to complete the dungeon the fastest way possible. These people held no reservation for putting anyone down as there was no need to know you later. The LFG/LFR tool really broke the MMO gaming community. Future expansions and other games were nothing more than a copy/paste with more features.
ESO Questing/Phasing
Along comes ESO with its trademark RPG reputation and a crap load of quests. Questing is not my favorite part of ESO but I deal with it due to the nature leveling in today’s MMORPGs. They do phasing, which can be a pita at times but so far our main duo has run into around a dozen out of 200 completed quests. Not terrible but still at times we were left on a solo mission and that’s not what we would rather be doing. They could of took a page from SWTOR and allowed others to join the main story line missions, they sure as hell took the voice acting thing and ran with it. I could go for less voice over acted quests but then again if you’re taking your time with it they do provide a bit of entertainment. The other thing we do not like about phasing is the prevention of going back and helping a friend who may not be up to speed with where you are at. Half the time they are invisible the other half the time it would be helpful to see what quests they were working on ala EQ2’s quest journal system. Minor quirks to us all together, wish they would get rid of phasing or find a way to fix it and allow others to join. - To those who complain that the voice actors are similar throughout the game, really this is what we are finding to complain about now? /facepalm
Exploration
There is a bit to be said about the exploration, no it’s not get out of jail and run rampant upon the universe that most Bethesda games had a knack for, but you can get out there and adventure. At times when we are sick of questing we turn to shard, lore book, elite named, dark anchor, and dungeon hunting. This breaks things up just enough for us from time to time. Being completionists we get right back on track where we left off the next day. We may be a bit overpowered for where we are but the game has been quite entertaining for us this way. With our main toons in the mid 30’s with four weeks in the books we still feel that there is a ton more to explore. This gives us the drive to get on and play ESO at the end of a long work day. We really look forward to enjoying the exploration of Adventure Zones that require a small group of four, to us that has the potential to create some memorable times with guildmates and friends!
Enjoy the slow ride
The game really is meant for those who want to stop and smell the roses along the way. We have made it a point to listen to each quest and follow the story lines to the best of our abilities while uncovering every rock, barrel, crate, chest, cabinet, bookshelf, desk along the way. The wife and I have several duos and have invested heavily into a crafting system that is deep and can be very time consuming. In turn this style of play brings out another flaw in the game surrounding inventory management. At times we come back to town after a couple hours of questing needing another hour or so to sort out inventory, hop on mules, and squirrel away items we may not want to sell or break inadvertently. Another needed EQ2 rip off is that of a Personal Bank and a shared bank, not just one shared bank. We are positive with time ZoS will get to overhaul the inventory system. It’s easy enough to mitigate, just takes a bit of patience and time
Generation Get Off My Lawn!
I work in IT so you can imagine there is a bunch of gamers that I call co-workers every day. They range from their early 20's up to their late 50's. Every one of the older gamers, I would say 30's and on up love ESO. All the younger kids dislike the game and either have stopped playing after a couple days or jumped on the “I hate ESO!” review bandwagon to begin with. A thought we had on the generation gap is the effort this game takes. It’s our opinion that the large new generation of paying WoW subscribers wants INSTANT gratification. If they can't get to level 10 within a couple hours and queue up with LFG to run Dungeons and PvP until level cap then they are severely outraged. Once they hit level cap if there is no LFR to get them instant half-a$$ raid groups to get purples than the game doesn't have enough content.
We believe instant gratification and content locust types are most of the pundits that are out there in droves killing this game all over the internet. There is also a fair share of Bandwagon Game Trashers, aka mindless sheep, that range from forum posters to some main stream reviewers. It was funny to watch them at first trash the game a year or so ago, then towards the end of beta turn the other cheek and admit to their mistakes, to only go right back and ride the wave of negativity to the bank with their online reviews. Some of them threw in a small unspoken caveat that ESO could be great with a bit more development. Hmm reminds me of another MMO giant in this space 11 or so years ago, but at that time it wasn’t so easy for people to storm the castle gates and wave their torches and pitchforks. But hey these online “Entertainers” posing as “Reviewers” need to keep you watching, reading, and clicking, to keep making money.
Game Experience is all in perspective
A lot of people are having a great time in ESO. Your experience with the game will vary depending on who you are and what may happen to you while playing. My wife and I are laid back folks who have been part of just about every MMO launch since WoW and can honestly forgive game bugs and are patient enough to let the developers do their part to fix them. We can honestly say that no game breaking bugs have hit us to date. Then again we are not as far along as most people are, but with a lot of time put into the game so far we have only had to relog to fix just a few busted quests. For our record ESO launch has been the smoothest in the history of any MMORPG launches we have been a part of. As for the “I paid good money I want a flawless game so I am out!” argument, that’s nice and I am glad that you put some money into ZoS pocket to keep hope alive, I did too in fact two times over and will continue to throw the $30 a month for the foreseeable future. Rage on the game all you want but it’s a beautiful breathe of fresh air for us, and we think it could be for others so we decided to put this out there to help try and counter the Naysayers, which should be a new required class in every new and old MMO.
And in before we get replies that you are a game developer, marketer, lawyer, doctor, this that or the other, who cares really. If you’re all that and a bag of chips then go develop the next BIG MMORPG that everyone falls in love with, stop wasting your time trashing everything here.
TLDR: Don’t listen to all the typical online reviewers, game site staffers, and other viral internet momo’s out there reviewing this game. They do not get paid to review one game that is the MMORPG end all, they get paid to keep you guessing, viewing, and clicking. Give the game a try yourself if you are mature enough to take your time, enjoy the ride, and exude a little patience then this game can be very rewarding.
Comments
I have similar feelings almost word to word with you, but I dont think crafting is time consuming
I have a routine I run through every time after my inventory gets full and it takes from 5 to 10 minutes. Also, cooking does not take half of the inventory like a popular opinion might suggest, the key is to concentrate only on few recipes since skilling provisioning is super quick.
I have to agree that the game is more for the patient sort and perhaps for a bit older audience like you said. All the sprinters who are racing through levels mouths frothing must go insane when they stumble upon quests where you have to listen to some npc's speak until you can continue. Personally I've skipped the story of only few side quests where you can tell right from the start that it's some boring chore "pick up bones 0/4, bury bones 4/4" sort of quests.
Also it suggest very much that impatient people are raging at ESO because there is a sigh worthy amount of people complaining about how hard it is to make gold in this game, mainly to buy a horse or inventory unlocks. I have 90/90 inventory and bank slots few levels past 20, and I've bought hmm, I think at least 3 skill respecs that amounts for more than 10k gold.
Just saying that if someone saved for the horse, they can get it in few days and then unlock inventory in few extra days, or the other way around. If couple of days is way too hard, takes way too long waah waah to get it, in a mmorpg, then I'm at a loss of words, all I can think is that it must be whining for the sake of whining?
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
Not everyone finds it buggy. I have hardly run into any.
If I had taken this advice, I would have missed out on a lot of fun the past few weeks.
"I don't give a sh*t what other people say. I play what I like and I'll pay to do it too!" - SerialMMOist
First, you're not middle aged. I'm 37 and most certainly am not. Close, but not quite there.
Next, my wife and I have experienced things pretty much the same way with notable differences being that we've been playing MMOs longer together (from Asheron's Call beta on), we don't have alt itis (1 character each...I craft, she hates it but loves the thing I craft, lol) and that since we have small children (3) that are all under the age of 3 our characters are half the level of your mains.
We are having a great time playing. We encounter a bug every so often but it certainly is nothing that qualifies as "game breaking" or that comes close to being worse than anything we've seen in other MMOs.
I must admit too that amongst my 29 and younger gaming friends that have played ESO the vast majority have found some ticky tacky reason to complain about it and stopped playing. Those older continue to play. /shrug
Anyway, as I said my wife and I are having fun. We'll play til we no longer have fun. If we would have listed to some of the jokers on forums like this we would have missed many hours of fun. Having been at this hobby as long as I have, though, I know better than to listen to forum crusaders who want to "save me from a bad gaming experience". They don't know me, how can they?
Glad to see another 30 Something couple enjoying Tamriel!
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
It is a fun game despite the bugs that ruined a lot for many players to be honest, i know a lot of them that play the game. And yes those still play the game, just because there will of liking the game is stronger then the BUGS are and they have the nerfs to endure the Grindfest from VR1 till VE10. Most causal players will quit not of the bugs ( because Zanimax is in full Fixing MODE atm ), but because of the VR grind that those low lvl are not yet aware of. But it will be clear to them when they start VR grind, what they heard from other VR ranked players that it is not at all FUN far far away from it and it takes ages.. If it was fun no one would say a damn thing about it even if it would take 6 months. Fact is VR grind is so linear just doing quest and no variation at all, that it will burn out the causal game and make him quit the game. Some people agree other disagree but i am sure 70% will not endure the grind till VR10 or even VR12 if they don't change things soon.
Only the very very hardcore gamer with a strong will to see something worth playing the game after VR10 or VR12 will stay. VR12 Will be more insane, VR12 is again quest in the adventure zone ofc 4 man hardcore dungeons, this could be causal worthy depends how many will reach VR10 of those by that time, because Craglorn doing solo will be not a option. Causal's will never see Endgame in this game not a chance, those are the 12 man Trails/Raids.
I could be wrong ofc, but i think i am pretty close with some points that i have given my opinion on above here.
I'm pretty sure it is possible to get to max level in less than a day so to say the game is for the slow paced is kinda wrong. Sure you can take your time and do all the side stuff so it takes 20-30 times longer to level.
But speaking as someone who didn't buy this game but played beta (I'm only 28 but i still played EQ and AC when they came out when i was in 8th grade), I think this game is broken at its core, from the mega server and phasing aspects to the many problems this game has already experienced that i know i don't need to go into detail about.
Anyone calling themselves a fan of original EQ or AC that thinks ESO is a good game, i think time has broke your memory. I still play an Emulator of EQ called Shards of Dalaya that plays alot like original EQ (up to about Velious) and i can tell you with its dated graphics it still blows the crap out of this shitty ESO excuse for an mmo.
This is not a troll, its my honest opinion and i cannot understand how anyone can like this game, seriously get back to me in a month when you are all not playing anymore.
Do you like lollipops? Suck it. Don't bite you greedy twit.
Not everyone finds it fun. I too have hardly run into any... you decide which.
The time consuming part of crafting for us is that we decided to have a separate toon for each profession due to the lack luster inventory system and distribution of skill points in the long run. This means on occasion we have to play these alts to get them skill points to stay in tune with where our mains are adventure level wise. But again this has slowed the game down for us and increased the enjoyment of the game overall as we get to play with different classes/builds.
The game is very much enjoyable to the point we are eating breakfast in and getting ready to log back in for our Sunday full day together!
Honestly we shall see how grindy it is. I look forward to the story lines, exploration, and environment of the opposing faction zones for VR1-10. I am sure with PvP, VR Dungeons, and the Adventure Zones that will be out by the time we hit 50 cap there will be enough options to take a break from the quest leveling to do something else. Heck last night was our first foray into Cyridiil and it was a nice break from the norm for us.
It may be possible to hit 50 in one day if your on speed, but it would most likely take 3 days if that is the case to hit Max Level with VR10.
As for a fan of EQ I am also an admitted graphics whore. As great a game as that is going back I can't stand to play it unfortunately. That's my problem though I know a lot of people who are still playing it to this day and love it. I do wish that was the case for me, but hey ESO has really turned a light on for the wife and I!
I am glad to see the positive response and even the honest opinions in this thread so far. I am sure its only a matter of time but it was nice to read this thread while enjoying my morning cup of joe.
Thanks all.
You like the game obviously, and that's fine.
What makes you believe it's mostly the "instant gratification" crowd that is "killing" this game on the internet? I have only seen one thread on these boards complain about leveling speed and they are referring to VR ranks with PVP I believe. No, I'm afraid the biggest issues I see with the game that most of us "haters" have, other than bugs which all MMOs deal with, is simply the game design. Leveling speed or amount of content has nothing to do with it. It's the presentation.
Again, if you like the game then fine. Just check your assumptions on who disagrees with you at the door.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
Ok I guess we will add game designers to the list. Don't get angry bro, this section of the forums are for Reviews and Impressions. That is what I wrote and some people will agree and disagree. So my assumptions will go with me out the door and wherever I may roam.
No need to assume I'm angry just because I called you out for being condescending.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
You could have made your point without generalisation and being condscending too you know? it is quite possible.
To me it sounds that even though you want people to make their own mind by not listening to reviewers and critics, the type of language and wording you use implies that you would rather have people listen to you.
So in my opinion your advice at the end of your review or impressions is just dishonest.
QFT. I was really put off by the haters however my friend convinced me and I'm so glad he did. I'm about 25-30 hours into the game and haven't ran into a single bug or problem yet.
Why should I hold back on my feelings, writing a post about my impressions, of what is going on with the game outside of the actual game itself? It's not like the other side of the coin is doing the same thing. Yet here you are jumping from thread to thread picking fights with people and showing your true opposition to the game on a whole. Your opinion is yours and mine is mine. Move along son.
I am too old to be your son. However, why the pretending about 'listen to the reviewers and make up your mind'?
If you are incapabale of giving your impressions without being condscending then don't be surprised if people react to it. This is open forums after all.
To me it seems like you just wrote this topic to not have any discussions or listen to opposing views..in that case why not open your own blog or something? that way you can edit comments and only keep those which agree with you.
Picking up fights? nah just calling spade a spade here.
nevermind was mistaken
I am sure this is your go to statement as you go from thread to thread and trash everyone's views, impressions, and reviews of the game. Whatever makes you feel better in the end. A Multi Game MMORPG fan site with a heavily moderated forum site would be a welcome change, instead you have this one where if someone says anything nice about a game and makes their thoughts and opinions known on how its received they get constant folks like you picking them apart and wandering from thread to thread to boost their post count and own ego. That's it for me today, I got a game to play.
Hey! be more gentle with people in middle age crisis (although a bit premature)!
Angry Joe was the only other review topic on which i posted few times and now yours. I wouldn't even have bothered if it wasn't for your condscending tone.
So i don't know what you mean by jumping from one topic to another trashing reviews. And yes if you don't want to get called out..stick to fan sites. You won't have to deal with opposing views and everyone will agree with you like a drone.