The Elder Scrolls Online

[xXbikergirlXx]

Having just played a bunch of Skyrim, I was kind of excited to get a Beta key for last weekend in EMail.
Tried to get in a couple of times over the weekend, but the waits were insane. Finally got in Sunday
night and played for a couple of hours.

Game looks and plays almost exactly like Skyrim which is all good.
Bad news is that there's nothing to recommend it over Skyrim - which you can get for $20 or less
these days.

This is totally going to go the way of SWTOR...

Sometimes its great to play GMT no long load times for me.......

'played for a couple of hours', so you barely scratched the surface....

Yes you can get Skyrim cheaply now but look at it this way, you would pay a lot more for a 'sequel' and ESO is a NEW story....

How ESO will stand the test of time is anybody's guess but if you liked Skyrim and get another Beta invite try it for a bit longer you might be surprised

[Ungood]

Your write up makes this game sound a lot like GWII in many aspects, I would be glad to plop down 80 for the game, as I get a good feeling that it will be fun, but I dropped my DDO sub for a reason, I simply do not like the idea that I have to continuously keep up paying to keep playing, I like the idea that I buy the game, and then play it as much as I like, if you put some baubles in the store that catch my eye, I'm gonna buy those suckers up as well. I have no issues spending money on something I enjoy.

I have spent at least several grand on DDO, I sent at least a few hundred on GWII in the few short months I played it. So Money and spending it, are not what gets me.. I just don't like the sub idea anymore.

[Zillee]

Thanks for your review of ESO. Having taken part in the last two betas I would agree on the whole with your thoughts.

When I tried the beta in January, I was left feeling a little 'meh' about it as I prefer the combat system here and the customisation that DDO offers for characters. I didn't like the limitations on swapping weapon and spell selections and all the characters felt very similar.

But this time around, I dropped my need to tweak a character to create something that was min/maxed and instead just tried out all the different things it offered.

I did a lot of exploring. It is a beautiful game to look at and I loved being able to run about and explore the vast landscape and all its surprises.

I tried out the crafting and found it interesting (once I figured it out as it wasn't particularly intuitive) and rewarding even at low levels.

The quests were fairly short and some were quirky enough to make me smile. I found myself tabbing through the NPC conversations a lot after the initial novelty of them wore off. I felt the rewards and the xp gained from questing was good enough to make me want to continue on.

What really got me excited however was the pvp area. Let me preface this by saying I am not a pvp fan in general. I dont bother with it in DDO at all. However the pvp area felt like you were part of an enormous ongoing raid - it kinda blew me away. The way they have it set up made you feel like you could contribute no matter what your level was - and you could be part of the mass zerging group, or you could do your own thing. It was extremely exciting and fun to be part of the action and I stayed up to 6am, when the beta closed, completely hooked.

Definitely worth the money. I havent been that impressed with the last expansion on DDO and the iniital cost of buying this game is comparable to that. As for the subscription ... well, I guess I'll find the 9 pounds a month from somewhere. I'll still play DDO but I think that ESO may become my main online entertainment.

[cdbd3rd]

I think we've missed one of the most important questions, tho...


Is there FISHING?


Part of the (flower-sniffing) fun in LOTRO is wandering to wild desolate landscapes, and seeing if the fish are biting.

[Memnir]

Is there FISHING?

Yep.

[xXbikergirlXx]

I think we've missed one of the most important questions, tho...


Is there FISHING?


Part of the (flower-sniffing) fun in LOTRO is wandering to wild desolate landscapes, and seeing if the fish are biting.

Lots of fishing........ can't say more

[stoopid_cowboy]

I was probably a victim of my own high expectations - but I feel EOS was a bit of a let down.

Agreed!

I did find that the scenery and artwork are probably better than ANY game ANYWHERE! Absolutely amazing!!!
But the combat felt, well, WoW'ish. To me, the combat felt like Rifte. Semi real time with constant clickies. I also hated the whole stamina concept! Nothing worse than sprinting up to a bad guy and basically having to wait for your stamina to regen enough to be able to fight.
Speaking of regen, I have never been a fan of stats always regenerating. Kind of rules out the need for a balanced party. "You're hurt? Go hide for a minute while I beat on this guy."

Story lines were great and very in depth. But who plays games for the story?

[cdbd3rd]

Yep.

Lots of fishing........ can't say more

Y'all serious?? !!

I might have to move my time-table forward a little. *Begins adjusting budget to make CC space.*

[Teh_Troll]

Hmmmm . . . no monks right?

Is troll a playable race?

[waryJerry]

Having read a number of interviews with the game's lead designer, he strikes me as a really arrogant know-nothing and I hope he loses his job when the game's subscription numbers drop radically. Then again, he might just be an apologist for the suits whose strategy may be to milk this game for every dime possible before the back-up f2p plan goes into effect.

[murf201]

Agreed!

I did find that the scenery and artwork are probably better than ANY game ANYWHERE! Absolutely amazing!!!
But the combat felt, well, WoW'ish. To me, the combat felt like Rifte. Semi real time with constant clickies. I also hated the whole stamina concept! Nothing worse than sprinting up to a bad guy and basically having to wait for your stamina to regen enough to be able to fight.
Speaking of regen, I have never been a fan of stats always regenerating. Kind of rules out the need for a balanced party. "You're hurt? Go hide for a minute while I beat on this guy."

Story lines were great and very in depth. But who plays games for the story?

Yeah my char was beasting on mobs in beta , The more levels the higher your stamina gets if you don't fail to put points in it !!

There is gear as well btw !

Is there not clickies in most other games ? in the aspect of ddo aren't we waiting for cooldowns and blitz charges and such ?

[jalont]

You forgot one thing....

Subscription ONLY. and an Expensive one at that.

I dont see how an MMO will survive this day and age without a Free to play option. and I certainly dont feel anything I've seen from ESO so far to be worth a $80 initial investment PLUS $15 a Month.


I loves the early ES games. Have not gotten into the latest, but I was very excited to learn of ESO.. but the expense turned me completely off.
So funny that a few $$ can completely change your perspective on a game......

I thought the subscription model was in doubt now after the initial beta bomb? Either way, this seems to be the new model. Stay subscription for a few months and get the money from early adopters and then go f2p. Unless your name is final fantasy.

[stoopid_cowboy]

Yeah my char was beasting on mobs in beta , The more levels the higher your stamina gets if you don't fail to put points in it !!

There is gear as well btw !

Is there not clickies in most other games ? in the aspect of ddo aren't we waiting for cooldowns and blitz charges and such ?

No need to justify the game to me. I was there and played it. Not my thang...

I personally don't care for clicky gameplay. To me, it takes away from the fun. One button here and there, no biggie. The concept of mashing 1-2-3-4-5-2-3-4-1-2-3-5-4-1 repeat, annoys me. Mash LMB and go to town!

If you enjoyed the Beta, by all means go play. I didn't, so I won't.

[Ungood]

I thought the subscription model was in doubt now after the initial beta bomb? Either way, this seems to be the new model. Stay subscription for a few months and get the money from early adopters and then go f2p. Unless your name is final fantasy.

If they drop the sub, I'll check it out.

I kinda like the Up-front cost for some products that have proven themselves, like GWII, which I read a dozen reviews before I invested my money, and I was really glad I bought the game, it was a great investment. But, I am also glad I waited, I treated like something I was looking froward to playing and thus I think I put in more effort to play then if it was F2P and since learning the controls of the game took some effort, and if it had been F2P I would have given up much sooner, and had not experienced such a great game.

I think a F2P model like DDO is better for a MMO trying to prove itself, and need to get people in to show them what a great product they have, where DDO is just fun walking in the door, it feels like a DnD game.

[taurean430]

DDO was the first MMO I've played. And I've been playing it now going on 6 years. So I don't have a backround consisting of trying out many other games. That said though, I actually like their sub model. And I only say this because people who are paying for access to a game for entertainment are overwhelmingly:

1. More helpful to other players.
2. Less disruptive to other players.
3. More interested in actually playing the game as opposed to exploiting it or other players.
4. Interested in making their characters viable and relevant to the content you run.

The list goes on and on. I could be wrong here, but I don't believe I am. Just watching: the quality of pugs, interactions with other gamers, laziness of other gamers joining your groups for difficult content completely unprepared, over a 6 year peroid has convinced me of this.

Throughout the beta I've encountered a very small number of players who choose to be a burden or attempt to grief. I wasn't suprised to read them trolling general chat with open complaints about the subscription model. And although I didn't have a problem with them doing it, I'd pay to not have to deal with people like that at all...

[Orratti]

I've looked over videos of the game and despite the slower combat just the appearance of the game is enough to make me want to play, that and the subscription model. The initial price is too high for me though. The slow combat and lack of quick action I expect in a non pvp MMO. If I were going to return to a pve game this is the one I would be going to right now. I wish I could afford to kick out the money to support the subscription model as I prefer playing games that follow this model and I want to support games that do so. It's fair in every facet. Everyone pays, everyone gets the exact same game. That's the kind of game I enjoy.

[Orratti]

I'd pay to not have to deal with people like that at all...

Now that is what I call p2w

[Qhualor]

i watched the videos on it and it does look pretty amazing. if it wasn't for the high cost i probably would check it out. the combat does seem a little slow, but didn't seem that slow to me. i guess playing it would be another story. the graphics are very cool and i liked a lot of the graphics from spells and weapons. i didn't look into character customization though.

[twigzz]

Hmmmm . . . no monks right?

Is troll a playable race?

I just watch a video of you at war. I can't believe you troll snipers!! You're awesome!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zY_VU_dqE0


As for ESO, I also felt let down a bit but I didn't play too long. And noway am I paying that much money to play....last game I did that with was DDO...

[Jasparion]

$80 up front and $15 a month?

No thanks.

I was seriously hooked on Morrowind for years, then hated Oblivion so much I didnt bother with Skyrim.

If the $80 purchase included 3 months I would consider it, but probably not for the first few months so the early adopters can sort out of the bugs/issues. Im too old to waste my money on half finished games. Done that too many times...