I'm holding out for f2p before I look at this game....Paying monthly fees for video games is so outdated.....Tons of free options out there no need to pay for one that is still trying to figure out what to do.
Originally posted by Theocritus I'm holding out for f2p before I look at this game....Paying monthly fees for video games is so outdated.....Tons of free options out there no need to pay for one that is still trying to figure out what to do.
The bread and butter of the ES games have always been with console purchases.
TESO might have been decent in it's own right but compared to Skyrim it is a complete joke. Which only makes you wonder if they used the Elder Scrolls name for no other reason but to sell copies.
I will say this game tries to be both an MMO and an Elder Scrolls game....and does not do either great. Instead you are left wanting at both levels. You want the open world freedom the Elder Scrolls games give you? Not here. Looking for that social MMO experience? Not here.
What you will find is an okay RPG that happens to be online but is mostly played as a single player game. You won't have as much freedom as you did in Skyrim. I did not find a full MMO experience with this game, it was simply a single player RPG. If you look at it like that you might like it. Just my opinion.
The game doesn't try, it IS both TES and MMORPG.
It is impossible to convert a game from single player to massive multiplayer themepark and at the same time retain all the originality from sp. The game IS tes multiplayer themepark, I think it's doing pretty good at that.
I enjoy the game but I disagree that "it's impossible to convert a game from single player to massive multiplayer". Unless the crux of your argument was "themepark".
I can easily imagine an MMO that was more like Morrowind or Skyrim and still be an mmo.
We are talking about thempark conversion yeah. Still there is light years difference between imagining and actually creating a massive online world.
Originally posted by Theocritus I'm holding out for f2p before I look at this game....Paying monthly fees for video games is so outdated.....Tons of free options out there no need to pay for one that is still trying to figure out what to do.
Your going to be waiting a long long long time then because its not going f2p. They have over a million subs and the game is just getting better (the justice system is coming in january) and after that the console launch which will just add more paying players to the game like FF14.
Themepark: The age of questing MMOs has been upon us since 2004 and this game is THE FIRST of the type that I actually pay attention to the quests. The tasks can get repetative, but the lore behind it is teeming with Elder Scrolls. And in my opinion, the TES lore is the most important part of the series. If you are a fan of questing MMOs, this game does it better than any of them. If you're a fan of TES lore, you will have so much of it in the form of books, guilds, schools, random people like Mik the Liar that you'll remember from the TES games. If you love both of these this game is 100% for you. There are tons of interesting PvE challenges you can take part in once your...basically max level, but there's great dungeons that come as a normal and veteran rank difficulty. The veteran versions CONTINUE the story of the normal ones, so you basically get 2 dungeons in one.
Sandpark: So you hate themeparks? That's okay. Like I said above, so do I most of the time. How did I alleviate this issue? I spent level 30-50 in Cyrodiil's "open world". There are tons of repeatable quests that range from scouting out keeps and resources, killing enemy players, capturing keeps and resources, neutral quests from NPCs that need your help with defeating daedra or other monsters, and these neutral quests take you into ENEMY territories and dungeons all over the map. If you want a fairly open-world feel that includes faction based PvP where you are never really safe (except for the safe zone), this is for you and starts at level 10. I'd suggest waiting to 15 though to get your weapon swap.
Skills/Classes/future updates: The skill system is very Sandbox-like. You start off with one main class (that has 3 sub classes!) and then you can choose 2/6 weapons and missmatch between 3 armor types with complete freedom. If you want customizability and a way to truly make your own build, this game is pretty close! Right now there are a lot of Flavor of the Month builds, but I still see a large variety of builds even in the PvP area. The future Champion System (which debuts today during the twitch episode) should ease this FoTM issue at least a little. Then add in the Justice System (debuted already) and now you have a pretty decent Sandpark MMORPG.
PvP: I touched on this a little bit above, but in Cyrodiil, 3 factions fight for supremacy to rule the Imperial City. Each faction has 2 Elder Scrolls, 2 Safe Zones, and every other keep can be taken over. Each keep has 3 Resouces (Farm, Lumber mill, Mine) that buff the keep in the center of them. You can place siege equipment (trebuchet, ballista, catapult, oil pots) ANYWHERE in this map... except the dungeons. And oil pots don't work unless from tipped from above. There's usually an Epic Scroll Run, an Epic Defensive Battle, an Epic Offensive Push at least once per every other day. There's also at least one dire situation where you're double-teamed because you've stretched too far at least every other day. They've done a great job at PvP so far. See a zerg? Use the siege equipment!
So here's everything about ESO in my opinion. If this stuff seems fun for you, I'd say give it a go. The bugs and bots that were basically it's only complaints were eradicated 2 months after release. They've been pushing out LARGE content updates consistently every month-and-a-half.
Themepark: The age of questing MMOs has been upon us since 2004 and this game is THE FIRST of the type that I actually pay attention to the quests. The tasks can get repetative, but the lore behind it is teeming with Elder Scrolls. And in my opinion, the TES lore is the most important part of the series. If you are a fan of questing MMOs, this game does it better than any of them. If you're a fan of TES lore, you will have so much of it in the form of books, guilds, schools, random people like Mik the Liar that you'll remember from the TES games. If you love both of these this game is 100% for you. There are tons of interesting PvE challenges you can take part in once your...basically max level, but there's great dungeons that come as a normal and veteran rank difficulty. The veteran versions CONTINUE the story of the normal ones, so you basically get 2 dungeons in one.
Sandpark: So you hate themeparks? That's okay. Like I said above, so do I most of the time. How did I alleviate this issue? I spent level 30-50 in Cyrodiil's "open world". There are tons of repeatable quests that range from scouting out keeps and resources, killing enemy players, capturing keeps and resources, neutral quests from NPCs that need your help with defeating daedra or other monsters, and these neutral quests take you into ENEMY territories and dungeons all over the map. If you want a fairly open-world feel that includes faction based PvP where you are never really safe (except for the safe zone), this is for you and starts at level 10. I'd suggest waiting to 15 though to get your weapon swap.
Skills/Classes/future updates: The skill system is very Sandbox-like. You start off with one main class (that has 3 sub classes!) and then you can choose 2/6 weapons and missmatch between 3 armor types with complete freedom. If you want customizability and a way to truly make your own build, this game is pretty close! Right now there are a lot of Flavor of the Month builds, but I still see a large variety of builds even in the PvP area. The future Champion System (which debuts today during the twitch episode) should ease this FoTM issue at least a little. Then add in the Justice System (debuted already) and now you have a pretty decent Sandpark MMORPG.
PvP: I touched on this a little bit above, but in Cyrodiil, 3 factions fight for supremacy to rule the Imperial City. Each faction has 2 Elder Scrolls, 2 Safe Zones, and every other keep can be taken over. Each keep has 3 Resouces (Farm, Lumber mill, Mine) that buff the keep in the center of them. You can place siege equipment (trebuchet, ballista, catapult, oil pots) ANYWHERE in this map... except the dungeons. And oil pots don't work unless from tipped from above. There's usually an Epic Scroll Run, an Epic Defensive Battle, an Epic Offensive Push at least once per every other day. There's also at least one dire situation where you're double-teamed because you've stretched too far at least every other day. They've done a great job at PvP so far. See a zerg? Use the siege equipment!
So here's everything about ESO in my opinion. If this stuff seems fun for you, I'd say give it a go. The bugs and bots that were basically it's only complaints were eradicated 2 months after release. They've been pushing out LARGE content updates consistently every month-and-a-half.
I agree with everything you said except for this one bit... which just falls under the category of friendly tip:
"... faction based PvP where you are never really safe (except for the safe zone), this is for you and starts at level 10. I'd suggest waiting to 15 though to get your weapon swap."
Yeah, to really get into the PVP, post-weapon swap is better than before BUT... around level 10, you're really going to be scrambling for more skill points to morph abilities and get some very useful active and passive skills that make the PVE go a lot smoother. So... as soon as you hit 10, you should go to Cyrodiil and do the siege equipment tutorial quests that will give you 2 skill points + one shard you can pick-up in the mostly safe area near one of the Elder Scrolls. Additionally, as soon as you pick a home campaign you'll get some buffs to damage and damage reduction based on how your faction is doing in Cyrodiil which also help with PVE.
Even for someone who has no plans to ever PVP in Cyrodiil, this little 15 minute trip is well worth your time.
Otherwise, good write-up - ESO is really two very different games in one: a Themepark with some very nice twists (the skill system, especially) but mostly quest driven, and a huge area where the players themselves create emergent, sandbox-like conflict that is always a bit different than the last time you were there.
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“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
As someone mentioned before, the game is on sale on Steam, so its a good time to try it if you're going to. I'm personally thinking about it, but I'll wait for more information from players before I come to a decision.
Aside from the story and beautiful aesthetics the game has one of the most underrated build systems and it will just get better with the coming champion system. Not to mention the justice system (coming soon) for getting to either play a thief and get away with stealing/pick pocketing or murder inside city walls and trying to get away with it (think GTA style "Heat").
This leaves all sorts of possibilities like when the assassins and thief guilds launch getting contracts to assassinate or theft missions.
Comments
The bread and butter of the ES games have always been with console purchases.
In other words... Don't hold your breath
21 bucks, and then he says free.
Why don't you give me $15 /o/
and I'll give you FREE smile on the radio o
How cool is that! Best offer ever (does it work :U)
We are talking about thempark conversion yeah. Still there is light years difference between imagining and actually creating a massive online world.
Your going to be waiting a long long long time then because its not going f2p. They have over a million subs and the game is just getting better (the justice system is coming in january) and after that the console launch which will just add more paying players to the game like FF14.
This is ESO:
I agree with everything you said except for this one bit... which just falls under the category of friendly tip:
"... faction based PvP where you are never really safe (except for the safe zone), this is for you and starts at level 10. I'd suggest waiting to 15 though to get your weapon swap."
Yeah, to really get into the PVP, post-weapon swap is better than before BUT... around level 10, you're really going to be scrambling for more skill points to morph abilities and get some very useful active and passive skills that make the PVE go a lot smoother. So... as soon as you hit 10, you should go to Cyrodiil and do the siege equipment tutorial quests that will give you 2 skill points + one shard you can pick-up in the mostly safe area near one of the Elder Scrolls. Additionally, as soon as you pick a home campaign you'll get some buffs to damage and damage reduction based on how your faction is doing in Cyrodiil which also help with PVE.
Even for someone who has no plans to ever PVP in Cyrodiil, this little 15 minute trip is well worth your time.
Otherwise, good write-up - ESO is really two very different games in one: a Themepark with some very nice twists (the skill system, especially) but mostly quest driven, and a huge area where the players themselves create emergent, sandbox-like conflict that is always a bit different than the last time you were there.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Aside from the story and beautiful aesthetics the game has one of the most underrated build systems and it will just get better with the coming champion system. Not to mention the justice system (coming soon) for getting to either play a thief and get away with stealing/pick pocketing or murder inside city walls and trying to get away with it (think GTA style "Heat").
This leaves all sorts of possibilities like when the assassins and thief guilds launch getting contracts to assassinate or theft missions.
Playing: varies every day it seems.