The Elder Scrolls Online

[The Brain]

Played some. Major meh with a dash of wtf. And they plan to launch in April? Jesus.

[CountDeMoney]

April 4th.

[garbon]

I don't see anything particularly wrong with it apart from thinking that people will want to pay for it with the scheme they set up.

[DontSayBanana]

I don't see anything particularly wrong with it apart from thinking that people will want to pay for it with the scheme they set up.

That, in and of itself, can break a studio.  I wouldn't be surprised if they have most of their credibility riding on an overly optimistic revenue projection.

[crazy canuck]

I played for a couple hours this morning and got up to finishing the quest cycle in the opening island area.

First impressions:


First the good
- I didnt think I would like how they do skill progression etc but I actually quite like it.  There are some real decisions that need to be made and the limited skill slots make those decisions even more important.
- The graphics are good as one would expect from this developer.
- The gameplay is very smooth, especially compared to other MMOs at this stage in development.

Now the bad

- The world feels really empty except for all the other players running around.
- At least in the starting area you are led around by the nose.  It has the feel of a lot of running from quest location to quest location without much need or purpose to exploring.
- I really wish there was a mini map


General impression - for people that like Skyrim this will a good game to play.  But why would they pay to play this when they can play Skyrim for free?  I wont be getting it.  It has all the makings of a time sink to ensure people keep paying their monthly subscription.  Which is a shame because I liked the skill model. 

[Razgovory]

People have too much time on their hands. Many of those labels obscure more than they inform.

Two-spirit?

A term I cam across when I found out the academic term of "Berdache" was no longer acceptable.

[Beenherebefore]

Didn't like it at all. And lord knows I wanted to.

I love the Elder Scrolls games, but this wasn't for me.

[CountDeMoney]

Didn't like it at all. And lord knows I wanted to.

I love the Elder Scrolls games, but this wasn't for me.

Elaborate, please.

[Beenherebefore]

Didn't like it at all. And lord knows I wanted to.

I love the Elder Scrolls games, but this wasn't for me.

Elaborate, please.

Okay.

One: It didn't really feel like the Elder Scrolls games for me. If Skyrim was simplified compared to Morrowind and Oblivion, ESO felt just generic and off-brand. The lore felt a bit off. Three classes... well, okay. I don't really care that much about classes.

The bottom line is that I personally didn't feel the old Elder Scrolls excitement about exploring, combat and levelling up completely wrong until I realise it's too late to salvage anything from that character.

Or perhaps, in short, it ain't Skyrim, man.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, I seem to be reading a lot of negative reviews regarding the whole "It's not Skyrim" thing, which is pretty disconcerting, what with it not being Skyrim and all.

[Beenherebefore]

Then again, it's a beta. It could improve massively for all I know.

[Alcibiades]

Any of you who bought it have an extra beta key by chance?  Apparently they've been mailing them out.


Edit:  nm, got one.  Maybe someone else here is interested, though.

[Grey Fox]

I have a key I am not interested into using if anyone wants to try it. You'll get it's +1 too.

[sbr]

I would be

[Grey Fox]

I would be

or not, sorry mate. Looks like I deleted that email.