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Thinking of picking this up!
Dhaenon
Member UncommonPosts: 150
Hey all!
I am thinking about picking this game up. A few questions!
1) How is the population?
2) Is it a quest hub to quest hub to quest hub kind of game?
3) Is it sticking around for a while? Years?
Thanks for the answers.
Comments
Population is hard to judge as it uses megaserver, my impression is that it is busy. The console versions are new and have large populations.
Quests as a whole are very well done they are story driven, tend not to be kill 10 enemies mindlessly. There are quests that are available from hubs as well as in the environment. There is alot to explore.
It is hard to say where the game is heading in the longer term. Since the b2p transition the first major dlc is the imperial city around the end of august. How the game will fair in the long term will depend on the quality and cost of the dlc. The existing game is good but reserving judgement on the future.
1. Population is fine. (EU anyway)
2. No, the majority of quests you'll get will be found exploring.
3. IMO yeah, it will be sticking around for a while.
Thanks for the fast replies. Sounds groovy so far.
I hear a big negative comment on the game is that they are more aimed towards consoles now and are leaving the PC players behind. Any truth to this stuff?
In what way are they prioritising console over PC? I can see why they would as the console has just released.
I don't see any content coming out that is console first exclusive. In fact, the PC version of imperial City is coming out on PC first.
Define "leaving the PC players behind" ?
As with all cross-platform releases, all future content will be done in such a way that it is equally accessible across all the platforms. So it's unlikely that they'll add anything that can't be played on the console version.
1. On PC I see bunch of people running around the lower level zones and chat is always busy.
2. No, there scattered around the the world, but you can use add-ons that basically tell you where everything is.
3. Yea, since the release of the consoles it has got its second wind, kinda like FFXIV did. I do think they need to get out content sooner than every 8 months, but I don't blame them since they were working on the console launch. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a full x-pac in a year or 2.
Also, PC gets the stuff first because it doesn't have to go through Sony or MS first. Plus, I wouldn't be so scared that it's catering to the console crowd. PC crowd will alawys be more hardcore, and since it's an MMO I wouldn't worry to much.
Population is good. And it will likely always be pretty good, since it's a megaserver.
Quests are great. You don't just gather 20 quests in a city and then wander out into the world. You actually explore the world in order to find the quests. Very few kill x quests and gather y quests. They all have a story and a reason for them.
I believe ESO is one of the top MMO's currently. I don't see it going away any time soon, especially so, due to Imperial City content being dropped in the very near future.
To comment on your concern about console overtaking PC. Don't believe it. Any content that the console gets, the PC will get. And it's likely that the PC will actually get the content first. If anything, it's the consoles that are left in the dust. As PC has better graphics and mods. Consoles will never get those things. You get people who cry about things that aren't happening all the time on the internet, and I think that's what you experienced.
The doom and gloom you see from the PC crowd was earned by zeni. I think many PC users (myself included), felt that they were nothing more than beta testers who paid a monthly sub to test the game for consoles. The games UI screams console as do some of the other game mechanics. Just before the console version drops, the game drops the sub and becomes B2P.
I won't go off on a tangent about what I know or don't know about that, but I dropped the game about a month before the announcement it was going to B2P as a little birdie told me it was coming.
The fist 50 levels are well done and enjoyable. Anything after that is nothing but grinding. Maybe that has changed since I played last., IDK. PVP was a lag fest and unbalanced and from what I hear is a little better, but not where it should be this far in.
The safest bet would be to wait until they have a free weekend or something so you don't have to pay to find out if you like it or not. Only you know what you like. For me, I will never touch it again. Lets hope the CS doesn't go down the same road as LOTRO or RIFT. It's B2P so it may not, but for the sake of those who are playing it, I hope not.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
They released a major PC patch in March when they dropped the subscription requirement and then they focused (as they should have) on getting the console versions out in June... some whining was related to that as well as the brilliantly original complaint that PC players had been lab rats beta testing the game for a year while paying a sub... ignore that emo shit
Paid DLC IS their new pay model that replaced subs. Sadly, they're not a charity that allows the world to play 100% free... maybe a benevolent multi-billionaire will one day give us a 100% free MMO... I won't hold my breath though.
The game is very robust with a healthy, mostly helpful, population - it ain't going anywhere.
Questing is one of the game's strengths with a lot of well-written, professionally voice-acted content. You get those quests in a variety of ways, some using a more standard breadcrumb method and many that you'll find only if you explore around the maps.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
care to elaborate on that? because from my perspective, it's almost exactly the same. the difference is you don't get an attribute point/skill point by leveling up post 50 and there is no main story line.
you get champion points and VR's. the content itself is exactly the same post 50 as it is before 50.
it's not like some other games where the fun stops and its just a raid grind or the game completely changes into something else.
Its another whine post OP. Level 50 is not max level, it carries on to Level 64 aka Vet levels. When you Complete the main story line you can switch to the other factions and go through all the questing in those zones, so double the number of zones you visited to level 50. Same quality of questing, so about 120 hours * 3.
At Max level V14/64 you can then do a lot in comparison to other end games:
- 5 man Dungeons, Trials (think raids)
- Crafting. In ESA crafting remains relevant, you can craft all gear fairly easily. Gathering is also therefore relevant as is trade. Note there is a gear cap that anoyonre can achieve through a number of means.
- WVW, this is where its at, the WVW is awsome imo, and about to get expanded hugely with Imperial city where there will be a level rise for players to 66 and new gear sets and rewards.
- SKill lines, for e.g PVP gives extra skills over time, as with Undaunted (Dungeons), Thievery skill lines, other Weapons..
-Skill points, initial Goal is 300 Skill points that you can spend on everything including above, E.g Archery skills and PVPskills as a sorcerer. Skill points are gained through levelling in PVP, exploring the world, Open world Dungeons, Questlines including those in the other faction lines after 50.
-Then the usual Achievments, exploring, fishing, Open world dungeons (think soloable mini dungeons), world bosses etc etc achievments award dyes.
- Champion points. AA advancement, seperate skill trees. You continue to gather Xp after max level, and every 400k you gain a champion point. 3600 points available.
As a real example, my last couple days on hols at max level has been about 3 hours in wvw in random groups, 1 hour in dungeons, 1 hour collecting skill points, 2 hours failing in a trial
daily crafting quests and messing about with my build sets and experimenting with a new mix in PVP, 2 hours farming mobs for extra champion points using an XP boost scroll, and buyin/selling in preparation for the level increases.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Well, against my better judgement (lol), I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he did qualify it with "when I played."
The transition from 1-50 to VR leveling was pretty jarring once upon a time when the game launched. The experience WAS the same as you say in that you were still doing quests but the difficulty level of just random groups of mobs while doing those quests was over-the-top tough and because of that, much more time consuming. And of course, CPs didn't exist then so lack of feeling the advancement was a real, valid concern.
That has all totally changed over the months and the VR leveling via questing is now much more in line with the 1-50 experience and the CPs do give you that feeling of advancement that was once lacking in between VR levels.
It is much. much improved over the release version.
Of course, mindless grinding in your favorite "super seekret" good XP + fast re-spawn spot is still there for those who don't want to quest - but it's optional of course.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Well, I picked it up. Now I am trying to figure out what I want to play! Haha, so many builds apparently, I love it. I was playing FFXIV with their completely non-customizable classes and I was hating it.
Question, is there a build that is a jack of all trades? Blue Mage/Vampiir style, a heal, a nuke and melee centric?
My problem with it was the solo quests and the heavy phasing made it really hard to team. For me that was all I needed to make me move on. If I could not level with friends I didnt want to play at all. I loved the skill system and was really looking forward to playing with it. I wish more MMOs had something like this. You really can be what you want.
Best place to find popular builds is over at Deltia's Gaming. Look under "Race and Class Guides" and he has many builds with videos on how to play them that will take you all the way from level 1 to end game.
I'm not saying that you should become a Deltia Disciple lol, but when you're first starting out it's useful to see what others have done and why they have done it. Once you get some experience under your belt, the true fun is in inventing your own.
If you want to PVP, Nightblade variants are the best class to start with because they get a lot of very useful skills quite early at low levels - other classes take a bit longer to develop for PVP, but they are all very viable at the end.
For solo PVE and questing, the same can be said about Templars.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Green Man Gaming has ESO at 75% off
At 15$ it's a steal, and with the code encore-encore-encore it's an even $12
That's a lot of gaming for a dozen dollars!
Yup. I picked up a second account for extra bank and mule space as well as to feed my altitis - can't beat that $12 deal. Also handy to mail stuff back and forth between accounts instead of needing to go back to empty bags.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
The key here is that you better love questing to tolerate this game. Those looking for freedom from being ordered around by an NPC are going to have a tough time getting through this game. Mob loot is a little lackluster as well. It suffers from universal loot table syndrome. Not much of a reason to farm for a piece of rare gear on a rare spawn boss mob (not sure rare spawns exist?). Mobs don't drop much gear in general, I think they want to force people to craft or something.
As someone who likes to pick between 5+ farm spots to level up depending on mob loot and exp (think EQ) this game is not much up my alley. It may be yours though. You can't go to the opposing faction's area if you want to hit a different dungeon or farm spot, until VR ranks I believe.
I tried soloing dungeons and the exp was a slight bit better and actually fighting with some tactics was fun. But there is only one set of dungeons around your level for your faction. The loot on non boss mobs was, as usual, nothing interesting. They should at least throw a rare drop something on all mobs that are available in the dungeon. At least something hope to farm for while fighting mobs with tactics and a bit more challenge (unlike the open world).
Everything other than being basically required to quest it's pretty solid and well worth the buy to play model.
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