Let me just start by saying I'm VR1 - I still play. I enjoy my time in game. I'm not a hater. BUT. Saying any game is the best theme park game in years is like saying it's the fastest lawn mower on the race track.
I see ESO as a cash grab and a ton of wasted potential.
On the graphics and music and voice acting- Top notch. The World is stunning imho. Just bland and boring. Pretty colors and great visuals are nice but should be secondary to gameplay.
So we will have to agree to disagree.
Ummm- On the best "theme park" in years- You MAY be right. But imho that isnt saying much.
well, alot of us disagree. with you too
as i said before, love it or leave it - that's how it works.
i totaly love the game how it is atm, and i seriously hope they won't change it too much for people who don't like it anyway ^^
Yeah, I mean personally I think the game will do just fine. The above poster isn't totally wrong, though. This game definitely was conceptualized during the WoW themepark gold rush and it probably received more backing than it will ever manage to recoup.
I would say, personally, that Rift was and is better.
So, no.
Rift combat is horrible.. same old tab target.. sterile gameplay with lackluster skills and combat animation.
You mean the exact same combat mechanics ESO has?
Your arrows and fireball curve. They LOCK-ON to targets. You trade Tab Targeting for Reticle Targeting. Exact same mechanics, only difference is how you lock on.
I would say, personally, that Rift was and is better.
So, no.
Rift combat is horrible.. same old tab target.. sterile gameplay with lackluster skills and combat animation.
You mean the exact same combat mechanics ESO has?
Your arrows and fireball curve. They LOCK-ON to targets. You trade Tab Targeting for Reticle Targeting. Exact same mechanics, only difference is how you lock on.
How are people still missing this?
Love Rift, it is my top MMO and probably the best one I have played out of many top-played MMOs. That being said, the difference in how it feels to reticle target, vs tab target is much more realistic for lack of a better word. Combat in ESO is fun and it works, there isn't much that it doesn't have and find it more engaging than almost any MMO except TERA, who I personally feel perfected combat. (TERA fell short for many other reasons). Plus I love the fact I can switch skills back and forth and experiment different builds on a whim.
Now Playing: Bless / Summoners War Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
The ESO had nothing really original or new to stand out above the current crop of MMOs that are cheaper to buy and play.
PvP? GW2 has it beat with WvW + sPvP.
Dungeons? TSW currently has the best dungeon content around, but Rift, SWTOR, and WoW (probably others too) have better and more meaningful dungeons AND a better LFG mechanic.
Questing? TSW beats any MMO around for questing. SWTOR also gets an honourable mention and ESO is probably on an equal footing with SWTOR but with less cutscenes.
General PvE? GW2 beats any other game with it's level scaling, shared loot, chests, resource nodes etc.
Combat? First person combat is tacked on and only works ok if you get the FoV mod. In general ESO combat is reasonable but I wasn't really able to find a class/style I liked.
Crafting? Interesting, but in the end just a time sink where you have to research for months to get the best gear. GW2 crafting is better.
Graphics? GW2 beats it here, again by a large margin. The way the grass in ESO turns to face your camera is really offputting and overall it's a very bland uninteresting looking world.
And then my pet peeves with ESO
Repair costs are far too high making it impossible to save any large amount of coin.
Horses are too expensive and this is obviously done to push the more expensive version of the game.
Pay-walling one of the races, especially as this race has the best racial traits for tanks and melee dps roles making it almost a must have.
World Bosses/Elite Areas are already abandoned and now impossible to do at level. You can come back at higher level but get no loot making them now a worthless addition to the world.
The worst looking character armour in any game bar none. It's hard to get into a game when you have an ugly looking character running around. Also any lack of wardrobe system beyond the costumes.
Elder Scrolls is the complete package. Definitely the best MMORPG of the year if not ever.
Thempark better than WoW? Check.
RvR that blows GW2 out of the water? Check
Storyline, quests and voice acting that puts SWTOR to shame? Has that too.
Nothing that has come out or will come out this year will be even close to the caliber of TESO. And anyone who can't see that just don't understand this game and/or are haters.
This game will survive for a long time and will only get better. With the release of Craglorn and adventure zones the raiding will be far superior to Wildstar and will beat it in that category as well.
Elder Scroll has everything for everyone just open your eyes and you'll see that it's one of the best games to come out in a while.
Totally agree with OP. Could it be better? Yes. Could the world feel more alive. Yes. Will the game get better. Yes. Will it get as good as I would like it to be...probably not. Regardless, it is the best 'exploration' based themepark that I've ever played.
Tried Rift, just felt way too much like every game before it with tab targeting and wall of texts along with a VERY boring story line and lackluster quests. GW2, though I LOVED the artwork of some of the cities, started out great, felt fresh, but by level 20 most of the skills that were interesting you accumulated, there was no feeling of progression, and the entire dynamic hype was far from as dynamic as advertised. You felt by end game like you were doing the exact same thing over and over again with no progression. Wildstar just isn't my target crowd with its cartoony goofy theme and its fake explorer class which is nothing more than a platform pull the character on a leash questing system. I tried Final Fantasy, just felt like Rift but in a more more charming world. May try it again from the comfort of my couch on my PS4.
For the next few months, I don't see leaving ESO. Will it keep me 2-4 years, I doubt any game will. There is way too much on the horizon with Virtual Reality, newer games on PC and consoles, but if they add some exciting stuff down the line if the game succeeds longer term who knows.
It's the best exploration based themepark game? Everything I've seen online from reviews and lets plays seems to suggest that it is incredibly boring to explore. What is there to make exploring worth it for the player?
Unlike just about every themepark before it, to enjoy the entirety of each zone which to me are very large (especially in comparison to Age of Conan or EQ2), you must explore. Unlike previous themeparks, a large percentage of quests are not in the hubs. They are throughout the zone. In addition, many things aren't tied to quests that are ripe for exploring, be it the lorebooks, shards, public dungeons, instanced dungeons, anchors, hidden crafting stations, beautiful vistas (IMO), treasure locations, etc. This isn't even including all the books scattered everywhere for the lore nuts. In fact there are plenty of NPCs and notes scattered around that don't have exclamation points over them that reveal locations on the map or new quests altogether. No themepark has executed this as well as ESO. That is just reality.
As far as reviews, thank god I don't have that outlook. If I did, there would have been a ton of great movies I would have skipped and restaurants around my area I would have also missed. You don't have to agree with my opinion if you try something you don't like, but listening to reviews and making sheep decisions without trying sometimes has you missing out on some good stuff.
....love the graphics , been amazed and have been standing still so many times just staring
the combat feel awesome, blocking dodging, heavy attack , light attack , etc
stories are so good ...makes me laugh or feel sad, or feel epic...
pvp , best there is atm
first time i ever crafted aswell ...great system
thank you zenimax...
there is still lots of room for improvement , but your doing it great in my book
i rarely post on forums , but i simply do not understand the new level of hating that has arisen for a game i consider the best i ever done .
some people spend so much energy hating on someone loving.
Why you hef to be mad???
When ArcheAge goes live go play that. It is what ESO should have used as a base. There are so many 'little' things in that game it shames a subscription based game like ESO. ESO should have been what ArcheAge is and then some. But it honestly isnt half the game AA is.
And performance wise it isnt even close. I have put in about 30 hours total the past week or so and you know how many crashes/incidents I have had? ZERO. On my old (ancient) computer I had a couple blue screens because I over heated and Windows shut down, but on a machine that can handle it I have had zero issues. Other than a couple missing dll files that are easily fixed with a DX update. I have only lagged maybe 3 times total and that was because there were probably 20 NPCs, 12 or so mobs and maybe 30 players in the vicinity, as well as player made houses, and farms. But it was like an eye blink.
Its graphically better too. I gauge graphics by how the water looks. ESO is good, but AA is like youre actually in water. When you pan the camera out of the water there is still water on the 'lens' (another game did that and to me that is cool). Draw distances are incredible as is rendering. Again you need a pretty high end system to get the full effect but its better. On lower end systems ESO might come out ahead because they dont tax as much.
AA is also a semi themepark with some sandy elements thrown in. Impossible to make a full blown sand box any real amount of people would want to play for very long because people dont have any imagination anymore and need guidance. But AA blends it well, better than ESO because ESO despite what people say is straight up riding the rails. Sue you can go off the beaten path and maybe find something but AA does that as well and then some. Hidden kill quests, hidden proximity quests. You can be riding around seemingly in the middle of no where and suddenly you hit a spot and a random quests pop up telling to go find something. No hand holding (a general area circle but no x marks the spot).
I try not to compare games directly but since these two games are in sort of the same time frame and one is what the other one should be, and one is free and one is sub it makes for a relevant discussion.
When ArcheAge goes live go play that. It is what ESO should have used as a base. There are so many 'little' things in that game it shames a subscription based game like ESO. ESO should have been what ArcheAge is and then some. But it honestly isnt half the game AA is.
And performance wise it isnt even close. I have put in about 30 hours total the past week or so and you know how many crashes/incidents I have had? ZERO. On my old (ancient) computer I had a couple blue screens because I over heated and Windows shut down, but on a machine that can handle it I have had zero issues. Other than a couple missing dll files that are easily fixed with a DX update. I have only lagged maybe 3 times total and that was because there were probably 20 NPCs, 12 or so mobs and maybe 30 players in the vicinity, as well as player made houses, and farms. But it was like an eye blink.
Its graphically better too. I gauge graphics by how the water looks. ESO is good, but AA is like youre actually in water. When you pan the camera out of the water there is still water on the 'lens' (another game did that and to me that is cool). Draw distances are incredible as is rendering. Again you need a pretty high end system to get the full effect but its better. On lower end systems ESO might come out ahead because they dont tax as much.
AA is also a semi themepark with some sandy elements thrown in. Impossible to make a full blown sand box any real amount of people would want to play for very long because people dont have any imagination anymore and need guidance. But AA blends it well, better than ESO because ESO despite what people say is straight up riding the rails. Sue you can go off the beaten path and maybe find something but AA does that as well and then some. Hidden kill quests, hidden proximity quests. You can be riding around seemingly in the middle of no where and suddenly you hit a spot and a random quests pop up telling to go find something. No hand holding (a general area circle but no x marks the spot).
I try not to compare games directly but since these two games are in sort of the same time frame and one is what the other one should be, and one is free and one is sub it makes for a relevant discussion.
I love AA graphics also. I see AA as the only game that will be competing with ESO in the near future. I however think Trion lacks the ability to go full out on development of thier games. I know there is also a Korean aspect to the game, and worry that it will be a very very huge grind which isnt something I enjoy as much as themeparks with quests and rpg.
I will still try AA but my hopes are pretty low, although I think EQ Next and ESO has inspired AA to be top notch I am happy for that and hope it will be for the sake of the game industry. Until then, I think ESO is the best Adventure and RPG based mmo out up to date.
No, not really. It's OK... nothing special. If it was the best I wouldn't have had to force myself to play it.
you could always play what is the best for you ....right?
i am not gonna spend time going on wow forums expressing my opinion about their game.....though it does give me a chuckle to see the hate from some players seeing what games they play.
You seem to go with this theme through the thread and it is more incorrect than those voicing displeasure for the game. Why? Because they have as much right as you do to voice how they feel about the game. The invested just like you did and if you want to see improvement in a game then guess what, glowing reviews when there are some issues are not going to get it done. Not everyone will share your opinion plain and simple no matter how much you love it. People are built the same so them having reasons for not liking it is not so out of the world strange.
So really, get off the high horse and condemning these folks for having a different opinion than your own. Just like there are 'haters' (what an overused word) there are those 'jock riders' or 'fanboys' too. Just because someone doesn't like it doesn't mean they are a hater. They just didn't like it. Get over it. And sometimes them voicing it helps those still trying to decide weigh those cons or negatives they post against the positives post by those who enjoy it.
Leveling in the zones of other factions is really interesting. I learn a lot about certain key characters that helped me defeating Molag Bal and I finally decided which second spec to go for. I love the crafting and the given option to craft high quality set gear, but hate the limited bag & bank space. However, limited space in the end means that you simply have to organize yourself.
So far I ran 1 Veteran Dungeon and think that these are quite challenging. You must move away from AE effects, need to develop tactics to react on certain special things like environmental dangers and have to micro manage your magicka/stamina pools. Realla nice and challenging!
With the first adventure zone soon becoming available and the interesting features announced, TESO has caught my attanetion for at least 6 more months.
Best 'recent' Themepark MMO no, both FFXIV;ARR and SW;TOR do it better, where ESO has a chance to really shine is in the terms of Best PvP in a Themepark MMO. Its the PvE experience of ESO that lets it down really. Overall, i doubt whether ESO even makes it into the top 5 MMO's for its PvE gameplay. The PvP on the other hand, could be the making of the game, providing people stick with it and are not turned off too much by the PvE part of the game.
Originally posted by Phry Best 'recent' Themepark MMO no, both FFXIV;ARR and SW;TOR do it better, where ESO has a chance to really shine is in the terms of Best PvP in a Themepark MMO. Its the PvE experience of ESO that lets it down really. Overall, i doubt whether ESO even makes it into the top 5 MMO's for its PvE gameplay. The PvP on the other hand, could be the making of the game, providing people stick with it and are not turned off too much by the PvE part of the game.
I haven't played FFXIV:ARR, so I can't say much about it, but I have played SWTOR to full extent.
If I had to decide between SWTOR and TESO by their themepark content, I'd chose TESO. The stories in TESO feel more polished, well-written and mature and some of the decisions you have to make are really tough. This adds a lot to immersion and makes me feel more connected to the game world than in SWTOR.
I call Wildstar & The Elder Scrolls Online. "The Two Towers." These are the last themepark giants from the west, then we won't be seeing a themepark game in a while. Themeparks have come to the end of their cycle, we all know that. The industry titan is still in decline and losing customers faster than before. Even AAA titles such as World of Darkness get cancelled right off the bat, sales of MMO with TES IP doesn't sell well (I'd assume if it did sell well they'd boast it all over the place, yet I haven't seen such boasting) and now we're just waiting for the second tower, Wildstar, to fall.
MMORPGs are now gearing more and more towards sandboxes. Even the trailbrazer IP of themeparks, EQ has gone "sandbox" if the devil's advocate is to be believed. The era I have dreamed off is here, now all I need is some personal jesus to guide the way for the lost, so they'll accept freedom, risk vs. reward and consequences, so we can have real worlds of danger, where character deaths finally matter and players are no longer restricted by stupid artificial barriers.
Originally posted by Neherun I call Wildstar & The Elder Scrolls Online. "The Two Towers." These are the last themepark giants from the west, then we won't be seeing a themepark game in a while. Themeparks have come to the end of their cycle, we all know that. The industry titan is still in decline and losing customers faster than before. Even AAA titles such as World of Darkness get cancelled right off the bat, sales of MMO with TES IP doesn't sell well (I'd assume if it did sell well they'd boast it all over the place, yet I haven't seen such boasting) and now we're just waiting for the second tower, Wildstar, to fall. MMORPGs are now gearing more and more towards sandboxes. Even the trailbrazer IP of themeparks, EQ has gone "sandbox" if the devil's advocate is to be believed. The era I have dreamed off is here, now all I need is some personal jesus to guide the way for the lost, so they'll accept freedom, risk vs. reward and consequences, so we can have real worlds of danger, where character deaths finally matter and players are no longer restricted by stupid artificial barriers. Welcome to the New Age.
You realize WoD was supposed to be a sandbox, right..?
But... we asked for a multiplayer skyrim - and received a singleplayer wow with pvp. Even as a themepark it is far from being "best", look at rift, ff14, or even good old eq2 and wow if you want to play a top themepark. Teso lacks so many features (e.g. social gameplay, "endgame"), instead it provides bugs and poor performance for nono-us players, that it is hard to See longivity here.
As I wrote in another thread, this game have slowly turned for me. It was irritating in the beginning, I had problems with it. Bugs, phasing, hand held quests. But now I really enjoy the slow pace leveling, gathering, crafting, exploring, public dungeons and outdoor bosses. Even like the quests now, strange feeling.
Originally posted by Gaeluian Haters these days are nothing but wanna be hipsters. They think they're cool by saying things like, 'oh, it doesn't have underwater combat, crappy game' or, ' has got a better '. They'll find any reason not to like something. It's what gives this type of person an ego they can live with. Fact is, this is the best MMO in years. Best graphics, best combat, best questing system, great leveling. Honestly, what is there not to like? What is great is that there are very few haters out there. The majority of those who've tried the game love it.
Just the one point- Where are you getting this from?
Even if true- The majority of people wil generally love EVERY NEW MMO for the first few months. Its called the 'honeymoon phase' so discussing how much you "love" it and that its the best thing ever and you wil "be playing for years" (all quotes I have read here btw) is silly.
The same goes for any relationship of any sort really. They always start wonderfully and everything she does is cute and wonderful. Slowly the 'cute' things start to annoy you. 3 months later you have had enough and have no idea what you ever saw in her. Granted, its a sloppy analogy but quite true with many things especially MMORPGs.
The sheer amount of "hate" or people not liking the game (myself among them) is quite worrying for a game that is not yet a month old.
The test for all these things wil be determined within a year. Anything else is speculation. These game hoppers who get caught up in hype and marketing and then think they must spread the gospel and defend their sacred game (similar to the old Nike vs Addidis fights which sometimes happened in schoolyards in the 1980s) will all have moved on to the next shiny they will profess love for and claim to be playing for "years".
An MMORPG is about longevity not some box sales for folks who sway whichever way the wind blows.
So hopefully you will be singing the praises of ESO in a year. Right now you SHOUL be as you are new to a game world. The problem is, many are not feeling the same and thats a huge red flag for a new subscription game.
Comments
Yeah, I mean personally I think the game will do just fine. The above poster isn't totally wrong, though. This game definitely was conceptualized during the WoW themepark gold rush and it probably received more backing than it will ever manage to recoup.
You mean the exact same combat mechanics ESO has?
Your arrows and fireball curve. They LOCK-ON to targets. You trade Tab Targeting for Reticle Targeting. Exact same mechanics, only difference is how you lock on.
How are people still missing this?
Love Rift, it is my top MMO and probably the best one I have played out of many top-played MMOs. That being said, the difference in how it feels to reticle target, vs tab target is much more realistic for lack of a better word. Combat in ESO is fun and it works, there isn't much that it doesn't have and find it more engaging than almost any MMO except TERA, who I personally feel perfected combat. (TERA fell short for many other reasons). Plus I love the fact I can switch skills back and forth and experiment different builds on a whim.
Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
The ESO had nothing really original or new to stand out above the current crop of MMOs that are cheaper to buy and play.
PvP? GW2 has it beat with WvW + sPvP.
Dungeons? TSW currently has the best dungeon content around, but Rift, SWTOR, and WoW (probably others too) have better and more meaningful dungeons AND a better LFG mechanic.
Questing? TSW beats any MMO around for questing. SWTOR also gets an honourable mention and ESO is probably on an equal footing with SWTOR but with less cutscenes.
General PvE? GW2 beats any other game with it's level scaling, shared loot, chests, resource nodes etc.
Combat? First person combat is tacked on and only works ok if you get the FoV mod. In general ESO combat is reasonable but I wasn't really able to find a class/style I liked.
Crafting? Interesting, but in the end just a time sink where you have to research for months to get the best gear. GW2 crafting is better.Graphics? GW2 beats it here, again by a large margin. The way the grass in ESO turns to face your camera is really offputting and overall it's a very bland uninteresting looking world.
And then my pet peeves with ESO
Repair costs are far too high making it impossible to save any large amount of coin.
Horses are too expensive and this is obviously done to push the more expensive version of the game.
Pay-walling one of the races, especially as this race has the best racial traits for tanks and melee dps roles making it almost a must have.
World Bosses/Elite Areas are already abandoned and now impossible to do at level. You can come back at higher level but get no loot making them now a worthless addition to the world.
The worst looking character armour in any game bar none. It's hard to get into a game when you have an ugly looking character running around. Also any lack of wardrobe system beyond the costumes.
The Enlightened take things Lightly
Elder Scrolls is the complete package. Definitely the best MMORPG of the year if not ever.
Thempark better than WoW? Check.
RvR that blows GW2 out of the water? Check
Storyline, quests and voice acting that puts SWTOR to shame? Has that too.
Nothing that has come out or will come out this year will be even close to the caliber of TESO. And anyone who can't see that just don't understand this game and/or are haters.
This game will survive for a long time and will only get better. With the release of Craglorn and adventure zones the raiding will be far superior to Wildstar and will beat it in that category as well.
Elder Scroll has everything for everyone just open your eyes and you'll see that it's one of the best games to come out in a while.
Unlike just about every themepark before it, to enjoy the entirety of each zone which to me are very large (especially in comparison to Age of Conan or EQ2), you must explore. Unlike previous themeparks, a large percentage of quests are not in the hubs. They are throughout the zone. In addition, many things aren't tied to quests that are ripe for exploring, be it the lorebooks, shards, public dungeons, instanced dungeons, anchors, hidden crafting stations, beautiful vistas (IMO), treasure locations, etc. This isn't even including all the books scattered everywhere for the lore nuts. In fact there are plenty of NPCs and notes scattered around that don't have exclamation points over them that reveal locations on the map or new quests altogether. No themepark has executed this as well as ESO. That is just reality.
As far as reviews, thank god I don't have that outlook. If I did, there would have been a ton of great movies I would have skipped and restaurants around my area I would have also missed. You don't have to agree with my opinion if you try something you don't like, but listening to reviews and making sheep decisions without trying sometimes has you missing out on some good stuff.
There Is Always Hope!
When ArcheAge goes live go play that. It is what ESO should have used as a base. There are so many 'little' things in that game it shames a subscription based game like ESO. ESO should have been what ArcheAge is and then some. But it honestly isnt half the game AA is.
And performance wise it isnt even close. I have put in about 30 hours total the past week or so and you know how many crashes/incidents I have had? ZERO. On my old (ancient) computer I had a couple blue screens because I over heated and Windows shut down, but on a machine that can handle it I have had zero issues. Other than a couple missing dll files that are easily fixed with a DX update. I have only lagged maybe 3 times total and that was because there were probably 20 NPCs, 12 or so mobs and maybe 30 players in the vicinity, as well as player made houses, and farms. But it was like an eye blink.
Its graphically better too. I gauge graphics by how the water looks. ESO is good, but AA is like youre actually in water. When you pan the camera out of the water there is still water on the 'lens' (another game did that and to me that is cool). Draw distances are incredible as is rendering. Again you need a pretty high end system to get the full effect but its better. On lower end systems ESO might come out ahead because they dont tax as much.
AA is also a semi themepark with some sandy elements thrown in. Impossible to make a full blown sand box any real amount of people would want to play for very long because people dont have any imagination anymore and need guidance. But AA blends it well, better than ESO because ESO despite what people say is straight up riding the rails. Sue you can go off the beaten path and maybe find something but AA does that as well and then some. Hidden kill quests, hidden proximity quests. You can be riding around seemingly in the middle of no where and suddenly you hit a spot and a random quests pop up telling to go find something. No hand holding (a general area circle but no x marks the spot).
I try not to compare games directly but since these two games are in sort of the same time frame and one is what the other one should be, and one is free and one is sub it makes for a relevant discussion.
I love AA graphics also. I see AA as the only game that will be competing with ESO in the near future. I however think Trion lacks the ability to go full out on development of thier games. I know there is also a Korean aspect to the game, and worry that it will be a very very huge grind which isnt something I enjoy as much as themeparks with quests and rpg.
I will still try AA but my hopes are pretty low, although I think EQ Next and ESO has inspired AA to be top notch I am happy for that and hope it will be for the sake of the game industry. Until then, I think ESO is the best Adventure and RPG based mmo out up to date.
You seem to go with this theme through the thread and it is more incorrect than those voicing displeasure for the game. Why? Because they have as much right as you do to voice how they feel about the game. The invested just like you did and if you want to see improvement in a game then guess what, glowing reviews when there are some issues are not going to get it done. Not everyone will share your opinion plain and simple no matter how much you love it. People are built the same so them having reasons for not liking it is not so out of the world strange.
So really, get off the high horse and condemning these folks for having a different opinion than your own. Just like there are 'haters' (what an overused word) there are those 'jock riders' or 'fanboys' too. Just because someone doesn't like it doesn't mean they are a hater. They just didn't like it. Get over it. And sometimes them voicing it helps those still trying to decide weigh those cons or negatives they post against the positives post by those who enjoy it.
Reached VR2 and am still enjoying the game.
Leveling in the zones of other factions is really interesting. I learn a lot about certain key characters that helped me defeating Molag Bal and I finally decided which second spec to go for. I love the crafting and the given option to craft high quality set gear, but hate the limited bag & bank space. However, limited space in the end means that you simply have to organize yourself.
So far I ran 1 Veteran Dungeon and think that these are quite challenging. You must move away from AE effects, need to develop tactics to react on certain special things like environmental dangers and have to micro manage your magicka/stamina pools. Realla nice and challenging!
With the first adventure zone soon becoming available and the interesting features announced, TESO has caught my attanetion for at least 6 more months.
I haven't played FFXIV:ARR, so I can't say much about it, but I have played SWTOR to full extent.
If I had to decide between SWTOR and TESO by their themepark content, I'd chose TESO. The stories in TESO feel more polished, well-written and mature and some of the decisions you have to make are really tough. This adds a lot to immersion and makes me feel more connected to the game world than in SWTOR.
I call Wildstar & The Elder Scrolls Online. "The Two Towers." These are the last themepark giants from the west, then we won't be seeing a themepark game in a while. Themeparks have come to the end of their cycle, we all know that. The industry titan is still in decline and losing customers faster than before. Even AAA titles such as World of Darkness get cancelled right off the bat, sales of MMO with TES IP doesn't sell well (I'd assume if it did sell well they'd boast it all over the place, yet I haven't seen such boasting) and now we're just waiting for the second tower, Wildstar, to fall.
MMORPGs are now gearing more and more towards sandboxes. Even the trailbrazer IP of themeparks, EQ has gone "sandbox" if the devil's advocate is to be believed. The era I have dreamed off is here, now all I need is some personal jesus to guide the way for the lost, so they'll accept freedom, risk vs. reward and consequences, so we can have real worlds of danger, where character deaths finally matter and players are no longer restricted by stupid artificial barriers.
Welcome to the New Age.
You realize WoD was supposed to be a sandbox, right..?
Completely agree with the OP, ESO is the themepark in many years !
I predict that ESO will be the #2 MMORPG behind WoW...
Currently playing: EverQuest
Waiting for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
Smaller brains also create short comments with no content. Just saying.
Congratulations on winning the Irony award of the month
..Cake..
As I wrote in another thread, this game have slowly turned for me. It was irritating in the beginning, I had problems with it. Bugs, phasing, hand held quests. But now I really enjoy the slow pace leveling, gathering, crafting, exploring, public dungeons and outdoor bosses. Even like the quests now, strange feeling.
I can see myself playing this months from now.
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+1