[Megathread] Elder Scrolls Online

[Razael]

And most of the buildings don't even have loading screen at all. Or if they do, they're so quick you don't even notice it (playing on a non-SSD with a 2007 processor and 2010 graphics card)

Yep exactly. There was this black screen sometimes for like a second or two, and that was it.

[Lane]

Of course they're subjective. But with ESO, I was feeling bored of the gameplay by the time I hit level 3. I mean, that's never happened to me in a game before. It threw me for a loop.

O_o I almost always hate the beginning of games with very few exceptions (WoW being one of them). I've certainly played plenty of games where even the first 1.5 hours were practically unbearable, but the rest of the game was phenomenal (looking at you FFX :P).

While I agree Coldharbour is terrible -- and I sincerely hope they're going to offer a means of skipping it in the future for alts -- Stros M'Kai was a lot of fun (haven't finished any of the other starting zones yet).

To play devil's advocate, a game should at least be somewhat engaging before level 10. I enjoyed WoW from level 1 just as much as I did Guild Wars 2. A "play until a certain level to have fun" mentality will shoot Zenimax in the foot.

This is my second beta weekend. My DK was already level 5 when I started. I only just hit level 8. I've been engaged since, well, basically since getting out of Coldharbour. >_> (I swear, more games really need to work on their intros, Tera's is just as bad if not worse. Also, I find it interesting you mention GW2 as I did not like any of the racial pre-starts and it has irritated me to no end that there's no way to skip them, even now.)

[Trix]

This is my second beta weekend. My DK was already level 5 when I started. I only just hit level 8. I've been engaged since, well, basically since getting out of Coldharbour. >_> (I swear, more games really need to work on their intros, Tera's is just as bad if not worse. Also, I find it interesting you mention GW2 as I did not like any of the racial pre-starts and it has irritated me to no end that there's no way to skip them, even now.)

Elder Scrolls has always been terrible with intros. Oblivion has to be the worst.

Problem is, if you throw big stuff at the player at the very start, it then has to die down. Which could be even worse.

[creamo42]

No, ESO does not use the Hero Engine. They use their own engine that they created from the ground up. I wish people would stop persisting with that inaccurate rumor.

People are still going on about this? Two years ago called, people.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...eroengine.aspx
You licensed HeroEngine a long time ago. What role did the Hero Engine play in the development of ESO?

We started ZeniMax Online from scratch, with no employees and no technology. We had to build everything ourselves. It takes a long time to write game engines, especially MMO engines, which are inherently more complicated than typical single-player ones. So, we decided to license the HeroEngine to give us a headstart. It was a useful tool for us to use to prototype areas and game design concepts, and it provided us the ability to get art into the game that was visible, so we could work on the game’s art style. Our plan is for ESO to be a world class MMO, with the most advanced social features found in any MMO to date – so while we were prototyping the game on HeroEngine, we were simultaneously developing our own client, server, and messaging layer that were specifically designed with ESO in mind. Think of HeroEngine as a whiteboard for us – a great tool to get some ideas in the game and start looking at them while the production engine was in development.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

One thing about Elder Scrolls that bugs me is being a prisoner and when you're roleplaying. Now the ESO version is a tad bit tolerable IMO anyways.

[Zeek Daniels]

Bethesda is funding/publishing it so their name is on it, Zenimax development teams are actually making it. Bethesda's development teams I assume are writing/creating for the next fallout or TES singleplayer or whatever else it is they do.

The company Zenimax Media owns both Bethesda and Zenimax Online. Zenimax Online is making TESO. Bethesda as far as i know is only doing lore for TESO. They are not funding the game thats what the parent company is for. This isnt their baby its Zenimax's baby. Dont blame bethesda for anything other than inconsistent story.

[Sharuko]

I miss not having names above players heads.

[Dhrizzle]

Elder Scrolls has always been terrible with intros. Oblivion has to be the worst.

Problem is, if you throw big stuff at the player at the very start, it then has to die down. Which could be even worse.

I thought Rift had that problem. You start out in some epic, apocalyptic battle, go back in time as some sort of Chosen one then get down to business-as-usual; helping farmers and taking part in magic school high jinks.

[Sharuko]

I thought Rift had that problem. You start out in some epic, apocalyptic battle, go back in time as some sort of Chosen one then get down to business-as-usual; helping farmers and taking part in magic school high jinks.

So did Tera with their improved Intro, you have cool gear and all the abilities, then after the intro you are back to level 1 with crap gear and abilities.

[notorious98]

I thought Rift had that problem. You start out in some epic, apocalyptic battle, go back in time as some sort of Chosen one then get down to business-as-usual; helping farmers and taking part in magic school high jinks.

The Hectic life of an early level Guardian.

[jearle]

I've never been a fan of the Elder Scrolls series, not big on single player RPGs in general, I think the last one I played was Morrowind?

The game looks amazing though on Ultra so Im not sure why all the talk about graphics.
Combat is slow and boring early on but the more levels you gain it does get more fun although haven't run into anything too challenging yet though. The combat is pretty impactful though which is nice imo.
Animations and movement are pretty terrible this was a known thing though, they need to address that somehow/sometime.
I would like to see how PvP is as it could be good or it could be reallllllly bad. I would have to try it to see.

If I was a fan of the series I would def be able to get into the game a little bit more.

The voice acting Ive encountered so far has been terrific, I actually found myself listening and reading quests for once. This is rare for me.

[Barnabas]

These are subjective points, Mark Morhaime from Blizzard had stated 70% of players quit WoW before level 10. What you might find fun, others don't.

Subjective points also make or break your mmo. If the negatives, regardless of personal taste, outweigh the positives then you lost a potential subscriber, right? Wouldn't you want your starting quests to be fluid and lead you to want to continue the adventure you are set on?

Those were trial accounts also if you want to quote him correctly. Those players may not have had any intention to buy the game at all. I have a trial account with several toons below level 10. I sub on another account so you can't say I quit the game. I just see no point in activating and upgrading that account when I have one that is active with plenty of level 90's to play. If you want to compare teso beta to a trial account we can do that. I mean if you can't get people into your game to level past 10 then I guess after you do the maths you can guess who is gonna buy standard or paywall version of the game plus subscribe right?

[c0da]

Subjective points also make or break your mmo. If the negatives, regardless of personal taste, outweigh the positives then you lost a potential subscriber, right? Wouldn't you want your starting quests to be fluid and lead you to want to continue the adventure you are set on?

Those were trial accounts also if you want to quote him correctly. Those players may not have had any intention to buy the game at all. I have a trial account with several toons below level 10. I sub on another account so you can't say I quit the game. I just see no point in activating and upgrading that account when I have one that is active with plenty of level 90's to play. If you want to compare teso beta to a trial account we can do that. I mean if you can't get people into your game to level past 10 then I guess after you do the maths you can guess who is gonna buy standard or paywall version of the game plus subscribe right?

The point is not everyone will like everything unless we have stats that show the vast majority hate it then this whole discussion is pointless.

[Dilbon]

Don't judge the game on the first hour, if you did that for any Elders game, no one would play it.

I bought Skyrim but played it for about an hour. So I agree that a game should hook you immediately, otherwise you'll just forget it.

[Deleted]

I bought Skyrim but played it for about an hour. So I agree that a game should hook you immediately, otherwise you'll just forget it.

Storywise all ES games get interested from the start...combatwise (talents etc) it slowly adds up. When you play a game you should know what to expect before attempting it.

That said, nothing wrong with your opinion really...the game isn't for everybody, just as with any game.

[Barnabas]

The point is not everyone will like everything unless we have stats that show the vast majority hate it then this whole discussion is pointless.

So you need stats now to prove once and for all a majority like this game and the people that don't can fuck off because deep down you want it to succeed to validate you liking the game? You come off as having a form of fanatacism I don't share with games (in general.) I wish you luck with it and I'm gonna end any further discussion with you on this subject.

[Ghostpanther]

Their LUA supports add-ons. So I'm sure the community will fix such "problems". I just don't believe Zenimax needs to be the ones to do it. Their UI is perfectly fine for achieving what they're looking to achieve. I don't believe they're just looking to appeal to MMO players. And from what I can tell, there are a shitload more TES players than MMO players, as a whole.

Well, time proves all things. Myself however, not going to buy a game, pay a sub in the hopes they will come out with a good UI from the modders later down the road. This one is just blasting a big warning sign at me now. We shall see what state it is down the road a ways...maybe 6 months from now.

[c0da]

So you need stats now to prove once and for all a majority like this game and the people that don't can fuck off because deep down you want it to succeed to validate you liking the game? You come off as having a form of fanatacism I don't share with games (in general.) I wish you luck with it and I'm gonna end any further discussion with you on this subject.

What are you even talking about? You make no sense throwing around words you can't even spell. Please read my conversation in context, the guy said he liked WoW from level 1 but didn't like ESO from level 1. That is his opinion, I am sure there are many players that didn't like WoW at level 1 either. If the developers with actual stats see that players don't like low level content they should change it. You went of an a rant you seemed to be holding in, when it had nothing to do with my conversation with the other guy.

[Wolfman31]

This is all good news for SWTOR fans though because all the internet's hate will now be directed at ESO. SWTOR fans should be able to come out of the closet and go public with their feelings without fear of persecution now that there's a new game for everyone to hate. Heck, they can even start having SWTOR Pride parades now because for all its faults, at least it isnt as bad as ESO.

[c0da]

This is all good news for SWTOR fans though because all the internet's hate will now be directed at ESO. SWTOR fans should be able to come out of the closet and go public with their feelings without fear of persecution now that there's a new game to for everyone to hate. Heck, they can even start having SWTOR Pride parades now because for all its faults, at least it isnt as bad as ESO.

SWTOR hate has died down for a while. It is ESO's turn, when the next MMO launches (probably WildStar) it will be its turn. And the MMO cycle of hate continues.