The Elder Scrolls Online

By Mystic Mungis
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Grand Master

trag3dy

Posted
Posted

They're working on the phasing quest thing for future updates.

 

If you want to see what they're working on go here for everything they talked about at Quakecon.

 

http://dulfy.net/2014/07/18/eso-quakecon-the-future-of-eso-panel-notes/

 

All of it looks promising. Especially the justice system which will pave the way for the dark brotherhood and thieves guild updates and the spell crafting system.

 

However it's mostly too late because the majority of people who played at launch have moved on. The game shouldn't have been released for at least another 6 months and maybe closer to a year from when it was. People who were looking to get the game on a console should be thanking them for delaying it.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

They're working on the phasing quest thing for future updates.

 

If you want to see what they're working on go here for everything they talked about at Quakecon.

 

http://dulfy.net/2014/07/18/eso-quakecon-the-future-of-eso-panel-notes/

 

All of it looks promising. Especially the justice system which will pave the way for the dark brotherhood and thieves guild updates and the spell crafting system.

 

However it's mostly too late because the majority of people who played at launch have moved on. The game shouldn't have been released for at least another 6 months and maybe closer to a year from when it was. People who were looking to get the game on a console should be thanking them for delaying it.

 

I was turned off by the beta and the initial reviews, but I love the ES universe.  My friend and I decided that for $30, we'd check it out for 30 days and see if we liked it.  Wish they would be cheaper than $15/month, but WoW is still that price too.

 

Edit: Looks like quite the over haul.  Not seeing when it lands... surely within this 6 month time frame of the console version.  And I see what you mean about it being good that they waiting on releasing the console version.  Looks like they really took in a lot of player feedback.

Grand Master

trag3dy

Posted
Posted

I was turned off by the beta and the initial reviews, but I love the ES universe.  My friend and I decided that for $30, we'd check it out for 30 days and see if we liked it.  Wish they would be cheaper than $15/month, but WoW is still that price too.

 

Edit: Looks like quite the over haul.  Not seeing when it lands... surely within this 6 month time frame of the console version.  And I see what you mean about it being good that they waiting on releasing the console version.  Looks like they really took in a lot of player feedback.

 

Some of it's coming soon, like the justice system and spell crafting are slated for their next big update that should be in the next month or so as far as I know. But I don't know that the rest has any time line, just stuff they're working on.

 

I always felt it extremely weird that they decided to launch the game without a proper justice system and the dark brother and thieves guilds. They are such a huge part of the Elder Scrolls universe and could have gone a really long ways towards providing some decent end game instead of just monotonous questing and completely over tuned veteran dungeons that get boring after the first or second time.

 

In another 6 months (assuming the game survives that long) the game will probably be worth a sub fee. But at launch specifically, I don't think it was. I only managed to make it 1 month before I ran out of things to do.

 

Good game but poor decision making by the devs has severely hindered it. Reminds me of Warhammer Online.

Grand Master

HawkMan

Posted
Posted

Because they weren't essential to the game and every month the game is being developed without sales and subscriptions costs millions. 6 months later without a release would have meant cancel or studio bankruptcy, just not economically feasable. Not MMO can launch feature complete. Heck with modern graphics no MMO is rivaling the functionality of EQ2, SWG or Vanguard. EQ2 probably the only MMO ever to have interesting and engaging crafting, and Vanguard the only one to have politics, and SWG the only one ever to have classes(though it was technically class less) that was completely combat less, like dancer and musicians.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

The game looks and feels great to play.  The engine runs smoothly and the UI is really nice compared to Skyrim.  I really appreciate being able to turn the UI scaling all the way up to children's story book levels (especially after playing some old skool Morrowind this weekend).

 

Seems like a great foundation for a good game.  If they can keep paying the developers on it, and keep listening to player feedback (which it seems like they are at least attempting to do), then it has some potential I think.  The fact that they are moving forward on a console release and have a schedule for release on console (although delayed) tells me that they won't be tossing in the towel anytime soon.

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

This game is OK.  I'm getting more "hooked" on it, and getting "lost" in the world.  I do like that there are lots of small things to do just off the path that are not obvious.  The crafting system is also very engaging, and I still have not mastered it.

 

I'm having a lot of difficulty with keeping my Sorcerer alive in some areas.  My buddy who has been playing a Templar has had no issues w/s/e.  I'm fine with the challenge (as WoW has none when it comes to leveling), but I suspect there are some class balance issues.  Then again, it could just be the way I'm spec'd.

 

What bothers me the most about the game right now is how terrible the vast majority of NPCs look.  Almost all of the female NPCs look like surprised drag queens.  I'm glad that they are addressing this in the next patch.  The "artist" who thought that these NPCs models looked good needs to fired and needs to go into another line of work or something.  The mangers and producers who reviewed that "artist's" work and approved it should probably be fired as well.

 

There was one quest line early on in the game where you catch-up to an NPC at various parts in the quest progression.  Every time you go to the NPC in a new spot, she is wearing something completely different.  Lol.  Really?  That makes no sense.  Let me see if I can find the quest line.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

I feel like I'm in an empty room talking with myself.

 

Must say, I'm pretty addicted to this game now.  Once I got past what it was "missing" from Skyrim and WoW, I really started focusing on what this game "has".  One area that is definitely a huge improvement over Skyrim and previous Elder Scrolls games is that there is no more save/load system. I always hated the obsessive quicksave/quickload nature of previous Elder Scroll games.  Another aspect I like much more in ESO than in Skyrim is the combat system is so much better defined. There are actual melee abilities, unlike Skyrim that focused primarily on magic and shouts. I'm a little confused why they decided to go with Magik use for the melee abilities, but at least they have them.  Potions cannot be "chugged" continuously so more strategy goes into using potions.  Food (IMHO) is more-or-less in previous Elder Scrolls games for role playing, but ESO moves the tasks of previous "fortify" potions to food/provisions. Overall, the crafting system is really engaging.

 

There is also a lot of different activities just off the path in ESO.  So many reviews slam ESO for being linear, and I'm having a hard time agreeing with that assessment. If you just walk in a direction in ESO, you'll find something to do that the game did not directly lead you to in a linear way.

 

I still have some gripes concerning group play... the game feels like a solo game, and I'm enjoying it as a solo game.  My understanding is that the group play is more significant at higher levels, so I look forward to that.

Mentor

Dadwen

Posted
Posted

Played it for a bit but kept getting a bug that it lost all the quests I was on whenever I went into an instance, If I went and found the quest giver and got the quests back it would have my progress but after about the 5th time of having it happen I got a little sick of trying to track down all the quest givers again and gave up on the game for now.   Was fun but a bit annoying bug wise, may give it a try again in a year and see if they have it running a bit smoother.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

I haven't had issues with a bug like that.  A huge patch just landed today (about 2.6 - 2.7GB worth of stuff). Quite a bit of new stuff coming according to the presentation they gave at Quakecon. I would expect most of this stuff to be implemented prior to the console game launch in about 6 months...

Grand Master

HawkMan

Posted
Posted

Played it for a bit but kept getting a bug that it lost all the quests I was on whenever I went into an instance, If I went and found the quest giver and got the quests back it would have my progress but after about the 5th time of having it happen I got a little sick of trying to track down all the quest givers again and gave up on the game for now.   Was fun but a bit annoying bug wise, may give it a try again in a year and see if they have it running a bit smoother.

 

I suspect you didn't lose or drop the quests, but rather it stopped tracking them.

Mentor

Dadwen

Posted
Posted

I suspect you didn't lose or drop the quests, but rather it stopped tracking them.

on one of the quests as you finish more of it it unlocks buildings in the town, I came back to the town after one instance and every building was locked again and the place looked like when I first got there, once I went to the quest giver and got the quest back all the buildings and vendors were "phased" in again.

Grand Master

Emn1ty

Posted
Posted

There are actual melee abilities, unlike Skyrim that focused primarily on magic and shouts.

 

One of my primary issues with ESO was that melee combat felt like it took a back-seat to powers. Just hitting things with your sword and moving around... being an effective melee combatant didn't seem to matter and did very trivial damage. I played Skyrim for the melee combat which still seems to be the best first person melee simulation outside of Chivalry. And yet, ESO transferred all the power out of your hits into standard MMO pattern powers.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

One of my primary issues with ESO was that melee combat felt like it took a back-seat to powers. Just hitting things with your sword and moving around... being an effective melee combatant didn't seem to matter and did very trivial damage. I played Skyrim for the melee combat which still seems to be the best first person melee simulation outside of Chivalry. And yet, ESO transferred all the power out of your hits into standard MMO pattern powers.

 

I'll have to make it a bit further before I can form more of an opinion about it, but it has my attention for now. Overall I still think Skyrim is a better game, and I've logged a ridiculous amount of hours playing it (over 300 in Steam, and I had it on XBox 360 before that).  One thing I miss is the gore. Skyrim had decent gore and that has been stripped out of ESO.

 

I hope that ESO never becomes that popular though, to be honest. If it did Bethesda may decide to stick with online only going forward.

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

I cancelled my subscription yesterday. Had two characters in their "teens" so didn't get to see the entire game but this is why I canceled:

* Played Skyrim for a bit and am just taken away by how much better the whole game feels compared to ESO.

* Hated the limited inventory/bank space on ESO. Hated that my characters shared the same bank stash in ESO (even though different factions). Too much uncertainty on what is useful and what is not in terms of crafting.  It all seemed useful to me, especially the provision mats which take up the most space. Crafting takes more time than it should due to the lack of inventory space and the constant need to "work on crafting" as part of inventory space management.

* Ultimately the monthly sub cost is too high. I'd hate to see them go f2p with some p2w or pay to wear a hat model, but $15/month is asking too much from casual players. I think WoW is too expensive as well.

* Multiplayer felt disconnected outside of dungeons. Beyond multiplayer combat, the game didn't feel like I was playing with a buddy (especially when we had to perform the same in-game tasks to complete quests). This really killed the immersive gameplay style of previous ES games for me.

* Slow action performance made the game feel very laggy. Opening doors sometimes took multiple "E" strokes before the character animation (which looks terrible) finally occurs. Same with looting some things and talking with some people. A lot of times I thought, "well, maybe I'm off target" and clicked again only to find that it was just lagged or something. Combat feels snappy and fine, so not sure if Internet latency related or still non-ideal performance bugs in the engine.

 

 

ESO is made by Zenimax, not Bethesda. How will it does will likely have little effect on future Elder Scrolls games.

 

I hope not. Bethesda still profits from ESO, and where there is money there is influence. I have a small fear that if ESO takes off and becomes a big money maker then Bethesda may not want to release a game that competes with the same audience... I find that highly unlikely, but still consider it possible.

Grand Master

HawkMan

Posted
Posted

 

I hope not. Bethesda still profits from ESO, and where there is money there is influence. I have a small fear that if ESO takes off and becomes a big money maker then Bethesda may not want to release a game that competes with the same audience... I find that highly unlikely, but still consider it possible.

 

Zenimax owns bethesda, Zenimax decides what bethesda will make in the future. 

Veteran

+Asmodai MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

I hope that ESO never becomes that popular though, to be honest. If it did Bethesda may decide to stick with online only going forward.

This is my fear as well. How many Warcraft games have come out since WoW became popular? As HawkMan mentioned Zenimax owns both studios and while they are two different sets of developers I can see the parent company cutting the single player Elder Scrolls if the MMO is raking in the money.

I also strongly disagree with the current pricing scheme. I don't think subscription MMOs are dead but I don't think paying $60 up front then $15/month on top of that makes sense. Either have it a $60 game with no subscription and charge for Expansion packs like Guild Wars or make the game software a free download and charge a subscription fee with expansions included in the subscription. If you take the second option then if you're charging $60 for the game on disc then include 4+ months with it.

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      AdGuard Family lifetime deal now only $14.97 by Steven Parker Today's highlighted Neowin Deal comes via our Apps + Software section, where you can get a lifetime subscription and save 91% on a lifetime AdGuard Family Plan. AdGuard is a unique program that has all the necessary features for what they claim to be "the best web experience." The software combines the an advanced ad blocker, a privacy protection module, and a parental control tool—all working in one app. This software deals with annoying ads, hides your data from a multitude of trackers, protects you from malware attacks, and even lets you restrict your kids from accessing inappropriate content. Install AdGuard and see the internet as it was supposed to be: clean and safe. Get rid of annoying banners, pop-ups & video ads once and for all Hide your data from the multitude of trackers & activity analyzers that swarm the web Avoid fraudulent and phishing website and malware attacks Protect your kids online by restricting them from accessing inappropriate & adult content Good to know Family Plan Length of access: lifetime This plan is only available to new users Redemption deadline: redeem your code within 30 days of purchase Max number of devices: 9 Access options: desktop & mobile Software version: AdGuard Family Updates included A lifetime subscription of AdGuard Family Plan normally costs $169.99, but this deal can be yours for just $14.97, that's a saving of $157.02. For full terms, specifications, and license info please click the link below. Get this AdGuard Family lifetime deal for just $14.97 (was $169.99) Although priced in U.S. dollars, this deal is available for digital purchase worldwide. As an online publication, Neowin too relies on ads for operating costs and, if you use an ad blocker, we'd appreciate being whitelisted. In addition, we have an ad-free subscription for $28 a year, which is another way to show support! Support queries If you have queries or need support for any of the Neowin Deals, please use the contact form here. Neowin Deals are managed and sold by StackCommerce who represent Neowin on an affiliate basis. Why we post these deals We post these because we earn commission on each sale so as not to rely solely on advertising, which many of our readers block. It all helps toward paying staff reporters, servers and hosting costs. So for those that keep moaning and complaining, be thankful we're still online for you to even do that. Other ways to support Neowin Whitelist Neowin by not blocking our ads Create a free member account to see fewer ads Make a donation to support our day to day running costs Subscribe to Neowin - for $14 a year, or $28 a year for an ad-free experience Disclosure: Neowin benefits from revenue of each sale made through our branded deals site powered by StackCommerce.
    • Newegg offers insane combo deal on Amazon Prime Day 2026 that beats Steam Machine

      By sphbecker · Posted

      Sadly "beats Steam Machine" isn't much of a brag.

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