Forums » Elder Scrolls

Am I the only one who dislikes where ESO seems to be going?

    • 966 posts
    December 11, 2013 10:42 PM EST

    I don't know, the Elder Scrolls already has a large fanbase.

    But anyway, only time will tell.

    • 91 posts
    December 11, 2013 10:45 PM EST

    True enough, but Star Wars had a HUGE fanbase too and that didn't stop Old Republic from going f2p. In the end going f2p usually ends up saving an MMO from extinction anyway. Age of Conan was on the verge of shutting down and now they're doing fairly decent since going f2p. Also a massive chunk of the Elder Scrolls fanbase started with Skyrim so you could be right in that the lore changes won't effect it as bad. *shrug* Either way I won't be playing until LONG after it has come out anyway so it's all moot for me. I hope that anyone that buys it does enjoy it though cause I know what it's like to shell out 60 buck for a game plus a couple months of sub just to end up completely crushed.

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    December 12, 2013 2:50 AM EST

    I'm more concerned with some of the game mechanics. I almost exclusively play magic-based classes, and the Sorcerer's really aren't that appealing to me. I was expecting the standard three element ensemble with related perks, illusions, conjuring atronachs and daedra, etc. We get lightning only spells and have to use a staff for fire and frost, not to mention healing? No permanent summons as far as I can tell, and a compilation of debuffs, DoTs, and passives instead of distinct magic trees. It sounds like the Inquisitor from SWtOR, which was not a fun experience.

    I'm not too hip on the controls they're incorporating so everything is controlled from the mouse. I get you want it just like the rest of the series, but I I'm used to the standard controls for an MMO and would at the very least like to see that option in-game.

    Lastly, and this was a huge turn off on WoW as well, this phasing business and cross-realm/realm merge stuff. I mostly RP in my games, and it's a pain in the butt to RP out in the world when people phase in and out, questlines determine who and what you see, and groups are required to get everyone together. 

     

  • December 12, 2013 3:57 AM EST

    It's an MMO, you should expect it to be about the community and about PvP. MMO's are still role-playing games, hence the title MMORPG. You need to understand that the role play is done between the players, not between you and the game world. Everytime you purchase a sword from a player, or when you help people and make allies, or instead when you insult some opponent guild and make enemies, you're role playing. You're developping your reputation within the server and you're contributing to its general ambience. The purpose of a MMO is for you to strive for success within the community.

    Some of you might have the same expectations many had for Guild Wars 2. You may think you're getting into TES Online just so you can go explore, learn lore, make tons of friends, play together in a "friendly" community and do other innocent things. That's not how it works. I don't mean to disrespect that opinion, but if you go into an MMO with that mindset, you're just driving straight into a wall.

    What keeps an MMO alive is the drama. It's logging in and knowing that some member of your guild has been humiliated by some other guild, and wanting revenge on them, having a reason to try and best your opponents. It's logging in and having some belligerent moron competing with you for resources or for killing monsters and getting the experience for it before you do. It's all about the competition. It makes you want to create a greater guild, to have a better character, more influence over others, and attempt to dominate the server.

    It's not a question of bad sportsmanship. Again, it's about the role play. In a MMO you don't have NPC's to insult you or to attack you, you don't have Civil War questlines, you don't have all those quests with "villains" for you to defeat. The replacement for that are other players. It's us who create the wars, the drama and the need for confrontation which keeps the server alive. It's us who make the story of the server, we are the lore in a MMO. When TES Online is over, it's not "Molag Bal invaded Tamriel bla bla bla" that will be remembered, it's which guilds were the most succesful and which players kicked the most ass. They become the "Talos" and "St Alessias" of our community, the people who we end up admiring and respecting.

    I have this video we made for a Silkroad Online community after we were done with the game, and it illustrates quite well how the players and guilds, and their confrontations, wind up making the lore of the game:

    I think it's why Bethesda has bothered with creating those 3 warring factions, they want to force players into fighting each other because they know much of their fanbase are carebears who will otherwise try to create a "friendly", stagnant community that just dies out quickly. It's just like Aion with its two factions.

    Really, if you're just here for exploring and PvE and whatever, don't even bother buying the game, it's a waste of money. MMO's are for all those things you consider evil. It's not a secret garden for you to enjoy happiness alone like a single player game.

    • 108 posts
    December 12, 2013 5:23 AM EST

    Thanks for the vivid discussion. Many valid points and I am looking forward to stories of your exploits in ESO.

    • 297 posts
    December 12, 2013 1:16 PM EST

    so revenant you will have no issue enjoying the game and more power too you,

    But what you must take into consideration when debating this is people of this blog care very much about lore and the integrity of the elderscrolls licenses,

    For a long time i was singing the praises of ESO and what it was attempting but honestly since i saw their idea of a paywall and full priced game along with an in-game marketplace..im disgusted at the sheer gall of it, and people will say "but they are charging this much for additional content'"...what a load of nonsense at this very second im backing a game called star citizen a massive openworld multiplayer space-sim...you buy your ship with a package and that's it...no recurring fee's and they are committed too updating content 'monthly' yes monthly content updates the ESO team are saying they need money too develop content?! that my friend is horse shit they are greedy and have shown their true colours, i hope one day they see the error of their ways but it is already too late,

    And you state the game is still in beta but let me tell you i have beta tested around 10 games and NEVER has any company changed their core values because of it ,now they may fix bugs etc. but they never change lore ,missions or things like skill tree's because they are too far into development by the time beta rolls around,

    • 297 posts
    December 12, 2013 1:18 PM EST

    here here! lol

    • 297 posts
    December 12, 2013 1:32 PM EST

    the division looks very interesting

    • 1913 posts
    December 12, 2013 2:15 PM EST
    To be fair, you won't know the game is good or fun until you play the full version. Example: we all thought Mass Effect 3 was gonna be great... And then we played it. A lot of us thought Black Flag was gonna be a big flop, and it is great.

    To say you will enjoy something before you even get the full experience is premature and is doomed to blow up in your face...
  • December 12, 2013 2:37 PM EST

    Because that's not the type of "role play" that is expected in a MMO. It's not a PvE game.

  • December 12, 2013 3:01 PM EST

    They should've just gotten rid of the sneak skill altogether, I mean sure it would be cool to have a MMO where people had as many abilities as on a single player, but fact is other players are going to see you whether you are standing or crouching.

  • December 12, 2013 3:22 PM EST

    According to lore, how was this settled?

    • 185 posts
    December 12, 2013 3:32 PM EST

    Dragon Break = Oh Shit! button

    • 1913 posts
    December 12, 2013 3:42 PM EST
    Hey, the key rule of game designers is to not commit. Never finalize a date or something that is important to the plot that will leave other face ons failing. That way you won't look like an idiot later.
    • 91 posts
    December 12, 2013 4:13 PM EST

    I need a dragon break button in real life. Would help when I screw things up.