The Elder Scrolls Online

 PC
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2703 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,210 out of 2703
  2. Mixed: 447 out of 2703
  3. Negative: 1,046 out of 2703
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  1. asdfasdf12456
    Apr 12, 2023
    6
    The combat is too dull. The skill system is too simple, only some handful skills that is usuable. To kill a monster, just keep spamming the same skills over and over again. This makes the combat aged fast. It only lasts for 2 hours long of actual fun, then I have to repeat the same way to kill something because there's not enough skill diversity in the game.

    Feeling bored after playing    The combat is too dull. The skill system is too simple, only some handful skills that is usuable. To kill a monster, just keep spamming the same skills over and over again. This makes the combat aged fast. It only lasts for 2 hours long of actual fun, then I have to repeat the same way to kill something because there's not enough skill diversity in the game.

    Feeling bored after playing it for few hours because what I can do in the game is that doing some fetch quests and get the xp to level up. Killing monster gives me nothing useful, the xp is also neglectable when I am at a higher level. The item drop on the boss is laughable for getting all white and green items in a 15 minutes boss fight. Suprisingly the xp from the boss is also the same as I kill some weaker monsters.

    When I level up, I just don't understand why the attribute point can only increase the base stat instead of increasing the attack power, attack speed and such. There's so much potential content in the game, but everything seems so shallow without any depth to attract me to keep playing.    … Expand
  2. Vitalick
    Sep 2, 2022
    6
    La entrada de la franquicia a los mmorpg no fue la mejor pero empezó a sentar las bases de lo que hoy es uno e los mejores del mercado
  3. SgAkErRu
    Aug 13, 2021
    6
    Ну короче ММОРПГ. Гринд и квесты. Квестов много, большинство из них какой-то шлак. Гринд вроде не ядерный, но это я наверное просто недалеко со стартовых лок ушел. В принципе игра ничетак, но как-то не цепляет. Нудно как-то. Пвп не чекал. Пинг бесит, мобы дохнут с задержкой. Локаций много, но как они там заселены - не знаю. В общем, брать или нет решайте сами, на любителя.Ну короче ММОРПГ. Гринд и квесты. Квестов много, большинство из них какой-то шлак. Гринд вроде не ядерный, но это я наверное просто недалеко со стартовых лок ушел. В принципе игра ничетак, но как-то не цепляет. Нудно как-то. Пвп не чекал. Пинг бесит, мобы дохнут с задержкой. Локаций много, но как они там заселены - не знаю. В общем, брать или нет решайте сами, на любителя.
  4. GreenPufferFish
    Jan 12, 2021
    7
    not as good as skyrim but still a fun game to play its also quite cheap could play for a while withot getting bored
  5. PatMc1896
    Aug 1, 2020
    7
    A lot of content definitely improved since release , crown store crates and that with rng can be annoying and basically having to purchase eso plus to experience things better isn’t great but I still enjoy the dungeons etc can be challenging and fun
  6. Mistforged
    May 26, 2020
    5
    Had the game two weeks.
    Overall impression: good game hidden beneath a coating of bugs glitches time gates and unrealistic requirements for all content types. NOTE: extremely poor server quality. The bugs: being sent into the floor by enemy attacks, dungeon bugs where I cannot enter, enemies bugging into walls/ the floor preventing progress in dungeons, skills failing to cast due to server    Had the game two weeks.
    Overall impression: good game hidden beneath a coating of bugs glitches time gates and unrealistic requirements for all content types. NOTE: extremely poor server quality. The bugs: being sent into the floor by enemy attacks, dungeon bugs where I cannot enter, enemies bugging into walls/ the floor preventing progress in dungeons, skills failing to cast due to server lag.

    Time gates: one of the main parts of the game is PVP or BG(battlegrounds) both require to be fully geared, and PVP requires either 810cp or a maxed out horse speed, which takes 60 days minimum to get. Other time gates on ridiculous things also exist, for example a werewolf bite can be only given once a week, I guess their jaw aches or somthing? Nooo, you’d be wrong, it’s because ESO wants to sell werewolf bites on the store for money, aswell as horse speed scrolls.

    Not only all this. But having had the game two weeks and paying for ESO only monthly subscription I’ve now encountered a day where I cannot log in at all due to an endless ‘requesting character load’ due to poor server quality and size, this has occurred on a day where a new expansion has been released. TERRIBLE for new players like me who immediately regret their purchase and feel ripped off. If you can ignore justa. Few of the issues mentioned above the PVP is fun and the questing is all fully voice acted and fun. Just a shame the dev team seems like they don’t give a shi* about the player base.    … Expand
  7. hypnopaedia
    May 1, 2020
    7
    Though this game had a rough start in 2014, I can safely say in 2020 that the game is playable, stable, and actually quite fun.

    I'm a long-time WoW player unfortunately, and this MMO is one of the only ones that differentiates itself from being a WoW-like experience. It does so through a number of innovative features, either borrowed from Elder Scrolls' past or completely new,    Though this game had a rough start in 2014, I can safely say in 2020 that the game is playable, stable, and actually quite fun.

    I'm a long-time WoW player unfortunately, and this MMO is one of the only ones that differentiates itself from being a WoW-like experience. It does so through a number of innovative features, either borrowed from Elder Scrolls' past or completely new, including:

    + interactive combat (blocking, block bashing, dodging, being required to actually hit enemies with your attacks)
    + semi-deep quest and world lore that, while interesting, is entirely skip-able if you are not interested, and doesn't get in the way of gameplay if you are interested
    + a reduced number of abilities and active ability hotkeys, with swappable weapon / ability sets, making each individual ability more central to your core strategy, and allowance for swapping between combat "roles" (tank, healer, dps, etc.) quickly and fluidly.

    In addition, with a large world that can be explored at your pace (no level-specific requirements), no questing hubs, quick access between continents, and fast travel to and from cities, exploration and adventure are given incentive. The player is not railroaded into the main quest, specific cities, or anything else for that matter.

    Playing with friends is fun and easy, as players' stats scale to the current content, meaning that all players (except max level players) compete on an even playing field. This ensures that players can maintain cooperative play, even if leveling separately, and reduces queue times for PvP and dungeon content. At the same time, however, players of higher level are still rewarded in these situations, as better gear tiers and new active and passive abilities still provide an edge, and make you feel more powerful than those around you.

    Server and performances issues are at an all-time low. I play on a high-performance gaming PC, while one of my friends plays on a crappy Mac, and another plays on a mid-range Windows laptop. None of us have experienced issues with connectivity or performance beyond singular outliers, separated by hours of stable gameplay.

    Now, on to the negatives.

    ESO used to have a subscription model. However, following a subpar launch and declining subscriptions, they switched to a free model with an in-game store and an optional, perk-based subscription. This can be mostly avoided, but the biggest "incentive" to purchase an ESO+ subscription is the inventory management. Dear lord, is your inventory the most difficult part of the game. Inventory fills up basically immediately, then the bank goes too, and upgrades for both are rare and expensive. Due to the sheer number of crafting materials, daily rewards (which can't be stacked), and gear you're holding onto in order to research it when a slot opens up, you'll constantly be destroying less valuable items (to the point that you're destroying things of value) in order to make room. You'll have to break between almost every dungeon in order to do inventory management. You can't explore for more than 15 minutes without running out of room. It's INSANE. ESO+ gives you unlimited room for crafting supplies. They know how bad the inventory management is, and they're keeping it that way to pressure you into a subscription. A crafty but also extremely low blow.

    Crafting is NOT INTUITIVE. You will most certainly require an outside guide or a friend's explanation in order to understand it. However, when you DO get it, it's extremely deep, unique, and fun (when you're not shifting your inventory around).

    Enemy AI sucks, and attempting to challenge yourself more by pulling more enemies in a dungeon or otherwise often results in some enemies just waiting for other enemies to die in order to reduce server load. It sucks to watch your group pull 30 enemies just to see about 5 of them wait in the back for others to die like the bad guys in an action movie that attack the protagonist one at a time.

    Everything is so easy to access that the community mindset has become, like most other MMO's, grind grind grind. One reason people love WoW Classic is that you can't just grind; you need the involvement of the community to play. This is NOT true in ESO; player communication is shallow, and it's not much of an MMO in reality unless you are playing with irl friends. Players often don't wait for tanks to pull in dungeons because they're trying to grind quickly, and since nobody waits for the lore, if you're interested, you'll be holding up others regularly.

    Ignoring Bethesda/Zenimax as money-grubbing companies who have proven themselves to be nothing but slaves to their corporate overlords, and ignoring the absolute departure from the Elder Scrolls as a whole, ESO is a really fun, standout MMO with unique systems and a beautiful, realized world. The biggest shame is how long it took to get here; I can only imagine the reception this game would've received if it was released as it is now.    … Expand
  8. zakoH
    Apr 27, 2020
    5
    Куча невидимых стен и постоянные ошибки на сервере 3 раза за месяц это перебор.А решать эти проблемы не торопятся
  9. Pugatow
    Mar 29, 2020
    5
    To many dlc/expansions. which imo. Doesn't add enough gameplay. I liked the base game, but overall think its lacking in many ways
  10. LounaCassair
    Feb 2, 2020
    7
    I've played this game since 2015 and enjoyed dozends of hours playing it. When i was new, i liked the fact that you could do this as a single player, focus on the stories and avoid other players. Later I came to enjoy the group content, the then "new" pvp battlegrounds and so on.
    So actually I'd say this is a game for almost everyone or at least it used to be.
    But and now comes the big    I've played this game since 2015 and enjoyed dozends of hours playing it. When i was new, i liked the fact that you could do this as a single player, focus on the stories and avoid other players. Later I came to enjoy the group content, the then "new" pvp battlegrounds and so on.
    So actually I'd say this is a game for almost everyone or at least it used to be.

    But and now comes the big but.: the longer you play the more bugs you will notice, bugs that block progress, make group content sometimes impossible to complete. And by now unfortunately in stead of focusing on fixing those issues and helping their current player base, Zenimax and Bethesda flood us with more DLCs bugged from day 1 and ridiculous micro-transactions, aiming for more players but without taking care of the ones actually playing the game. Or they come up with "class balancing" - ideas that do everything to simply move the "problems" of so called "OP classes" to other classes and races. In 2019 they changed abilities, races, passives, so often it was barely worth it to react to the changes, knowing in 3 weeks time they would have come up with more.... (Which gave me the final reason to stop playing and take a prolonged break from ESO)

    And then there is the lack of depth in their storytelling (honestly, every "decision" you can make will have exactly no impact on the world (which I can understand if you run a massive MMORPG but then again... I am still frustrated if i am offered a "choice" for example:
    *******SPOILER********
    In one quest you are given the option to "sacrifice" one of the main characters of a particular story arc: Razum-Dar . However, if you save him, well surprise: he lives, if you leave him in the collapsing cave, after a dramatic "leave me _ go on without me"- scene, he manages to escape on his own.

    This game simply offers you constantly 2 ways to achieve exatcly the same, which is kind of sad in my opinion.

    All in all, it is an ok game, which has suffered from a ton of bad dicisions lately. I can only hope for the best in 2020. However, if you are an easy-going, single player- person, you will most likely not notice any of those issues.    … Expand
  11. strangermoon
    Sep 27, 2019
    6
    its kinda between morrowind and oblivion quality if it can be played like alone. enemies like every poinless mmo just sit there you can carfully and after while always run or going around the corners. ı feel like star wars old repbulic mmo in this game not more than 7 ı think if you play alone.
  12. JinxterMeta
    May 13, 2019
    6
    Seems like Bethesda is incapable of developing a game which has a high technical polish and good designs. As always we need to install a tone of add-ons to give game proper functionality and make it a bearable experience. Sure there are good things about ESO like the story, questing, world exploration or character development but then everything is ruined by utterly difunctional UI, crappySeems like Bethesda is incapable of developing a game which has a high technical polish and good designs. As always we need to install a tone of add-ons to give game proper functionality and make it a bearable experience. Sure there are good things about ESO like the story, questing, world exploration or character development but then everything is ruined by utterly difunctional UI, crappy character gear implementation and failure to properly design materials like metal so gear won't look like plastic rubber. Bethesda is doing halfassed job with expectation that we players will fix their game.… Expand
  13. SongOfSickness
    Nov 28, 2018
    5
    So very, very average when compared to something like Guild Wars 2. What a massive disappointment.
  14. mirg
    Oct 3, 2018
    7
    The game focuses more on story rather then gameplay, the combat system feels abit dated and restrictive, oh and the graphics remind me of 2000's era games.

    Outside of that, the story and voice acting is top-notch plus the amount of content to do is remarkable. Each 'zone' is unique in both story and scenery, also the community is actually rather tame for mmo standards. The developers    The game focuses more on story rather then gameplay, the combat system feels abit dated and restrictive, oh and the graphics remind me of 2000's era games.

    Outside of that, the story and voice acting is top-notch plus the amount of content to do is remarkable. Each 'zone' is unique in both story and scenery, also the community is actually rather tame for mmo standards.

    The developers of the game take player feedback seriously, unlike some companies, and they take great strides in pleasing the player-base for the game. But the company lacks in knowing what's more important to focus on fixing and they tend to lean heavily in releasing more stuff like mounts, costumes, and dlc's in the cash-shop rather then the opposite.

    Overall though:
    If you like a game with rich story and a game that is filled with stuff to do and has pretty vista's, this is for you.    … Expand
  15. LinkToFuture
    Jan 14, 2018
    5
    This game is run by a free to play model when you have to pay for everything, I shouldn't have to pay for mounts, pets, cosmetics and furniture when I paid full price for the game, full price for the DLC, and pay a monthly subscription. There's very little to work toward in terms of rewards other than gear and a few in game goodies, and most of those "goodies" require a lot of grinding,This game is run by a free to play model when you have to pay for everything, I shouldn't have to pay for mounts, pets, cosmetics and furniture when I paid full price for the game, full price for the DLC, and pay a monthly subscription. There's very little to work toward in terms of rewards other than gear and a few in game goodies, and most of those "goodies" require a lot of grinding, for example, the new Clockwork City DLC drop rates for furniture is ridiculous I logged on every day for a week to try to get some clockwork diagrams, and I found one for a tiny bush. 20 hours of stealing, killing, and dailies for nothing. I am not renewing my subscription until Zenimax stops being so greedy.… Expand
  16. inimical
    Dec 30, 2016
    5
    When it was first released, it had some potential for becoming a good mmo. Ultimately, after a couple months I quit due to bugs ruining the experience. I recently tried to reinstall and see how it's come along, but it's still a buggy mess. Not worth the time.
  17. jay6426
    Aug 31, 2016
    6
    Originally many negative reviews came from players who wanted another ES game and not a MMO. I was very excited at the start and played for a couple months, but the game failed to deliver the gameplay in quests, dungeons, pvp and exploring that other games have offered.
  18. Rudal
    May 30, 2016
    7
    Very good game for the first play through.
    Looks amazing, game play is at good level, story is engaging and good sound design.
    But as soon as you finish main story you are pushed to do the same thing again for another faction and you are separated from players of opposite factions.
    PvP is only allowed in designated areas.
  19. Look444
    Mar 13, 2016
    7
    Long story short: if you're looking for an MMO look somewhere else, especially if you're a pvper. If you're looking for an Elder Scrolls with MMO components then it's fun enough. Not the best, but I didn't get bored.
  20. JasonCDaniels
    Nov 16, 2015
    5
    Executive Summary (TL;DR)
    I played the beta. It seems like some key features often found in MMOs or fantasy games are missing or poorly implemented, even still. This includes things such as basic UI stuff, lcking auction houses, a chat interface that's largely a nuisance, and the understandable for an MMO neutering of sniping with a bow, effectively alienating people who favor that style.    Executive Summary (TL;DR)
    I played the beta. It seems like some key features often found in MMOs or fantasy games are missing or poorly implemented, even still. This includes things such as basic UI stuff, lcking auction houses, a chat interface that's largely a nuisance, and the understandable for an MMO neutering of sniping with a bow, effectively alienating people who favor that style. Also, outside of where a new character was created the writing seemed very dull and derivative. It was a mediocre experience for me.

    ------------------------
    Background:
    I was part of the late beta on ESO. I stopped playing the beta about 3 weeks in for a variety of reasons, most related to the game experience presented in a late beta product, but also others that were unrelated to the game.

    So why am I writing this NOW? On reading many of the RECENT reviews, positive and negative, viewing videos, and talking with friends who play the game, it is apparent to me that some of my major concerns persist to this day. (Not all, however)

    So yes, assessing if a problem STILL exists is second hand, so take it with a grain of salt. The information conveyed comes from my recollection of playing late in the beta cycle.
    ---------------------------------
    a) UI: If there is only one thing to tackle correctly, first, in an MMO, it's facilitating players interactions with each other in a meaningful, manageable way. The core of this is chat/mail. ESO Chat was a cluttered mess in beta. It sounds like the addition of multiple guilds has cluttered it even more.

    b) FEATURE: Similarly, no auction house existed. This makes trade VERY difficult. Long lived MMOs tend to have auction houses or other similar features because they are needed to enable lots of people to buy and sell competitively. It would seem there still isn't a suitable equivalent at this time.

    c) FEATURE: Sneaking and sniping, my all time favorite way to play any Elder Scrolls game, was neutered beyond usability. While sort of understandable in the context of an MMO, and the possible limitations on servers, don't play this game expecting to do any meaningful sniping with a bow, or spell. You will be very close to your opponent when engaging in this manner. This seems to obsolesce sneak-and-snipe builds.

    d) UI: There were few, if any, ways to tell, visually, which items could be interacted with, and which ones could not, thus saving time for players. It would seem from recent reviews that this is still the case.

    e) WRITING: The story intro/premise - Everyone was basically a "chosen one" after a fancy. The in game explanation given (at least at that time) was thin and superficial. After returning from the afterlife I had a waining interest in pursuing the main story as a result. That's not to say that all of the intro zone was poorly written/directed. It was actually quite fun to play through once. The rationale for all the "chosen ones" was unappealing to me.

    f) WRITING: Other quests were comprised of largely thin, cliche writing. Apart from the afterlife / start zone, the writing was frequently failing to living up to "Took an arrow to the knee" for quality, in my view.

    g) BUSINESS PRACTICE: The marketing and pricing seemed a bit like a cash-grab (DLC microtransaction). My impression here has not changed, even though the pricing model has, slightly with them effectively eliminating the subscription with ESO Plus.

    h) FEATURE: This MMO seemed a little light on the RPG elements in late beta. This is not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of. If you have strong opinions on which way you like it, factor this in.

    i) SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE: And I know this is highly subjective, but it didn't "feel" like Tamriel to me. It felt like a hollow empty ghost of Tamriel. It felt like a sterile coopting of the Elder Scrolls brand, not an addition to it.

    You'll notice I didn't address graphics, dungeons, the fact that it didn't feel like Skyrim among other subjects. Graphics won't completely make or break a game, but they do certainly add to or subtract from a game. For dungeons, I could never get enough casual players together to try them. As for not feeling like Skyrim, well... Yep there's that. But Oblivion doesn't, nor does Morrowind. . . I love those games even still, even Skyrim. Most importantly, comparing single player games to MMOs misses important defining differences between kinds of games.

    You'll also note that I didn't say it was a bad game. ESO was mediocre as a beta product. As time seems to bear out, it's still a mediocre product. (So are other games that I adore. So if you love the game, keep loving it and playing it!)    … Expand
  21. HeavyFalcon
    Jun 29, 2015
    6
    I'm writing this review pretty late in the game, but I am glad I waited. (sort of) Debated on getting this for the PC or PS4. I regret getting it for the PC due to the patches. I will cover more of that later. Besides the lore, the combat of this game is it's main appeal. I have played multiple MMOs and consider myself a casual player. I was tired of the clicking and watching...andI'm writing this review pretty late in the game, but I am glad I waited. (sort of) Debated on getting this for the PC or PS4. I regret getting it for the PC due to the patches. I will cover more of that later. Besides the lore, the combat of this game is it's main appeal. I have played multiple MMOs and consider myself a casual player. I was tired of the clicking and watching...and watching... mechanic so many MMOs choose to have. ESO is great because it requires active attention and skill in order to defeat certain enemies. Fighting sequences do not just involve pressing skills in specific orders to dish out damage or buff yourself. Timing attacks, dodges, and skills make every battle more fulfilling in the end. This is what drew me into ESO. Also, the fact that there is no longer a subscription.

    The quests are varied. Many involve being a large carrier pigeon. Others involve battling a boss at the end of a long dungeon. Although some are not that engaging, I find there are enough to keep me interested. However, if I were someone who plays MMOs on a more regular basis, I would see how the quests lack creativity. ESO takes the easy route and does not try to experiment with quest progression. Whether you are level 3 or 30, expect gathering quests.

    Similar to the quests, the world is a mixed bag. There are times when I am absolutely intrigued by a town or dungeon I have entered. Many locations have stories of their own. However, those stories are rather varied. Some areas are riddled with clues incorporating the story behind the location. Wandering the area provides more detail into what happened or is currently happing. On the other hand, some places have linear quests which outright tell you what is going on. Wandering can be a waste of time if all you find is flour and rice in a basket. It is as if some area designers were just more into their job than others. The one's who created intricate dungeons which skillfully weave a story together know the importance of explorations. Those who laid out a storyline outright with little more than a brief explanation probably just said "Eh. That's good enough".

    Most importantly, the main problem of this game is the need for greed. I have spent an equivalent amount of time patching this game as I have playing it. Every week there is an extensive patch that takes hours to download. My download speeds average to about 35-40 Mbps and I am still forced to skip a day playing to patch. This would not be an issue if the patches involved actual content. I am fine with waiting for new content. However, they only incorporate new in game purchase items. It is absurd to have such extensive patches for a new mount and pet.

    It seems ESO is trying to compensate for its new free to play (with purchase) system. This game would be far better if it was not hindered by the unnecessary updates. ESO is lucky the console version did so well.    … Expand
  22. DegenCutter
    Jun 17, 2015
    7
    I wasn't really sure what to expect with ESO at launch. I enjoyed Skyrim but I wasn't a huge Elder Scrolls fan as I tend to prefer games that focus on storytelling over open world play. I'm also not generally a huge fan of MMOs although I've played and enjoyed some. Still, much of the game looked fun and I went in with an open mind. What I found was a mostly enjoyable if flawed experience.I wasn't really sure what to expect with ESO at launch. I enjoyed Skyrim but I wasn't a huge Elder Scrolls fan as I tend to prefer games that focus on storytelling over open world play. I'm also not generally a huge fan of MMOs although I've played and enjoyed some. Still, much of the game looked fun and I went in with an open mind. What I found was a mostly enjoyable if flawed experience. I loved the character creation and the way that character development worked in the game. I played through the Ebonheart pact plotline with a Nightblade character and enjoyed the experience.I found the story shallow in comparison to an MMO like Star Wars the Old Republic but significantly better than something like Guild Wars 2 which absolutely failed at storytelling in my opinion. What ultimately prevented me from staying with the game was the grind of acquiring Veteran Ranks after level 60, which just proved interminable for me. I have heard that the grind of that has been lessened, and perhaps some day I'll go back to check it out now that the game is free to play.… Expand
  23. NikolayG
    Jun 10, 2015
    7
    ESO has gone 'free to play' which of course doesn't mean it's free. It means that rather than having a monthly payment, you pay to purchase items to make playing more reasonable when you decide to do so. This in turn compromises the competitive nature of the game. Rather than increasing skills and abilities in comparison to other players, by pracitising those skills in the game, someESO has gone 'free to play' which of course doesn't mean it's free. It means that rather than having a monthly payment, you pay to purchase items to make playing more reasonable when you decide to do so. This in turn compromises the competitive nature of the game. Rather than increasing skills and abilities in comparison to other players, by pracitising those skills in the game, some things can simply be bought with real money, stamina, a nice horse, etc. with literal cash you use to buy these things - not in game cash you earn by playing the game. For me this reduces ESO significantly. Though it is still enjoyable and open world, another Skyrim but with a larger world.

    I have never understood why 'free to play' or as it is more accurately called 'free to pay' is so popular. A subscription based game enables a true even playing field whereas allowing people to buy elements that affect gameplay compromises the core of what makes an RPG enjoyable.    … Expand
  24. Rnadmo
    Jun 4, 2015
    5
    It looks pretty but ultimately it just doesn't do anything that another MMO doesn't do better. If you like the idea of solo and occasional group play with cool exploration, pick up GW2, for example.
  25. BrickDaddyKane
    Apr 21, 2015
    5
    I just cannot bring myself to like this game and I'm a huge fan of everything elder scrolls. I love the lore associated with the game and being able to explore lands you can't go to in the regular games. But even after a year this game is just unpolished.

    The combat system is all over the place because the human body only has two hands. The abilities require pressing the number keys.    I just cannot bring myself to like this game and I'm a huge fan of everything elder scrolls. I love the lore associated with the game and being able to explore lands you can't go to in the regular games. But even after a year this game is just unpolished.

    The combat system is all over the place because the human body only has two hands. The abilities require pressing the number keys. Attacking is done by using the mouse. And navigation is done by using letter keys. Why anyone would thing mixing three spots on a keyboard is a good idea is beyond me.

    Then questing is terrible because due to a lack of polish you often do not even know what quest you are doing or what you should be doing. This game still has hopes of being fixed but needs to handed off to another company.    … Expand
  26. Garfoodle
    Apr 1, 2015
    7
    With the launch of Tamriel Unlimited, I can finally say that TESO is at least worth trying out. The lack of a subscription fee, the ability to steal, kill NPCs and some other minor things make it an alright game. Don't get me wrong, TESO is still the worst modern ES game to date. Without full modability, ie making costume armors, weapons and maps, we are in fact stuck with whatever theWith the launch of Tamriel Unlimited, I can finally say that TESO is at least worth trying out. The lack of a subscription fee, the ability to steal, kill NPCs and some other minor things make it an alright game. Don't get me wrong, TESO is still the worst modern ES game to date. Without full modability, ie making costume armors, weapons and maps, we are in fact stuck with whatever the Devs want us to have. This usually results in very drab weapons, armor and mounts. In addition, the combat is still dull at best. There isn't a whole lot to say here exept that a lot of the game is, in fact, governed by the server and your ping. The cash shop isn't too overbearing. So far, you can purchase mounts, pets, and a few potions, if your so inclined. The whole stealing mechanic dosent seem worth it just yet, though. The skill bar for that still progresses incredibly slowly, and the rewards for pilfering someone's pocket normally don't add up to some food and a Barbie that you can sell for 30 gold. Killing is, much like stealing, pointless, because you will be at a loss for gold soon after your first kill. That, and guards are overpowered as hell. But I'm digessing, quite a bit. The point is that at the very least. TESO is worth picking up for $30 on sale. Don't expect too much, but don't set your expectations too low, either,… Expand
  27. Darkhearts
    Mar 27, 2015
    7
    It would be a 5 or 6 if wasn't buy to play now. They have made a lot of changes since beta/launch so I'd give it a try for the $40-60 you can find the game for. If anything wait for a steam sale!
  28. Assassin8813
    Mar 26, 2015
    7
    My old review in September 2014 gave this a 6/10 because making money was very hard and playing with friends was harder. However, the came has come a long way and I feel that I need to update the review. I give it a 7/10 now because the money making and friend playing is still more difficult than it needs to be, but with them dropping the subscription fee as well as fixing many of theMy old review in September 2014 gave this a 6/10 because making money was very hard and playing with friends was harder. However, the came has come a long way and I feel that I need to update the review. I give it a 7/10 now because the money making and friend playing is still more difficult than it needs to be, but with them dropping the subscription fee as well as fixing many of the issues at launch, it is definitely a fun game to play with your friends and worthy of your time.… Expand
  29. zyntor
    Mar 19, 2015
    7
    This was a fun game for me till I hit level cap. But after that, the PVP was hard to find. I would spend days trying to find someone to kill, and it was rare to get into a fun siege group. I quit the game out of boredom for that reason. It was very fun leveling and questing.. but the end game mechanics weren't working for me. I play video games for my personal entertainment... not toThis was a fun game for me till I hit level cap. But after that, the PVP was hard to find. I would spend days trying to find someone to kill, and it was rare to get into a fun siege group. I quit the game out of boredom for that reason. It was very fun leveling and questing.. but the end game mechanics weren't working for me. I play video games for my personal entertainment... not to wait days for something to do. Too bad the PVP didn't work... because it was fun for a bit… Expand
  30. Lexx2015
    Mar 16, 2015
    7
    This game requires a high end graphics card and processor. If you like PvP, it's as good as it gets, but be prepared for groups that exploit game mechanics to create lag. This makes for "lag battles" that are won by the group that spams the greatest amount of lag creating skills. This is a regular event on the most populated pvp "campaign," but can be avoided by staying away from the lagThis game requires a high end graphics card and processor. If you like PvP, it's as good as it gets, but be prepared for groups that exploit game mechanics to create lag. This makes for "lag battles" that are won by the group that spams the greatest amount of lag creating skills. This is a regular event on the most populated pvp "campaign," but can be avoided by staying away from the lag groups. There are smaller campaigns, but the times of day that they are active are limited (few US AM and late night players).

    For PvE, it's the best graphics of any MMORPG, but the progression is extremely linear, and the end game content limited. Overall, I'd say it's a great game, but the lag in PvP and linear questing leave much to be desired. I also hate the world of Tamriel.    … Expand
  31. Barbzilla
    Mar 10, 2015
    6
    Normally I don't feel the need to write a review unless I'm completely blown away by how awesome a game is, and when I do write said review, it is usually on another site or Steam. This game deserves a special award however, and so I am here to let everyone know.

    First off, let me get the negativity out of the way, which is really what I'm here to write about, but I will do my best to    Normally I don't feel the need to write a review unless I'm completely blown away by how awesome a game is, and when I do write said review, it is usually on another site or Steam. This game deserves a special award however, and so I am here to let everyone know.

    First off, let me get the negativity out of the way, which is really what I'm here to write about, but I will do my best to give a fair review of the rest of the game afterwards.

    The game is crashtacular. I have never had a game crash on me this much, and I was around for the Daikatana release. I started out at the beginning of closed beta, and played every event until it went open. After open beta I played 2 weekends (one at the start, and then the final weekend). The game was understandably buggy and the servers couldn't handle the load at all. Many of us begged the devs to delay the release until the issues had settled because they wouldn't be able to push quality content and major bug resolution at the same time without causing more bugs. The devs decided not to take heed of our warnings, and went on to release on schedule.

    The launch was a complete disaster, but it did get better. The problem was, they never did manage to work out a lot of the random crash bugs. To this day, if you go to the official forums under tech support, you will see that about 90% of the reports have to do with crash to desktop. The best part is, every time they release a patch, a new set of crash bugs appear.

    I have been mostly fine since the third patch, however, with the latest patch I now crash every time I attempt to zone. This would be somewhat palatable if I ended up at my destination when I logged back in, rather than where I initiated the zone. I am currently trapped on all of my characters in tiny PvE areas for quests (though i did manage to level my low level character up 4 times just off of killing mobs). So my choices are to either create a new character skipping the tutorial and just stick to the outside areas, or to just quit playing until the issue is resolved.

    I have spoken to their customer support (which is almost non-existent as they are so backlogged with other people experiencing crashes they can't resolve), and followed all of their steps only to be told to uninstall the game and re-download it for the 3rd time (keep in mind this is almost 50gb of download each time, and the launcher installs this in the most illogical and time wasting manner). So, i am currently done with the game. I've canceled my membership since it is going buy to play this month anyway.

    Now, for the rest of the review and about the game itself.

    Elder Scrolls Online is actually a pretty fun MMO on the surface level. It has some rather annoying issues and design choices that will get to you if you are a hardcore MMO player, but if you are more of a solo PvP player, this game may be right up your ally.

    The game rewards you for exploring and uncovering hidden areas and locked chests. It also goes out of its way to make the world feel more like a living world than most MMOs do, as it does away with the typical quest hub style world layout, and opts for a more open system. It is quite normal for a new player to miss a number of quests along the way, and can actually be somewhat beneficial later down the road since you can visit the other factions starting areas and do the quests there at a higher level (though this is also a drawback).

    The combat is fairly intuitive and rewards you for using tactics. You have to watch for on screen queues to alert you to the enemy's impending heavy attacks and special attacks, so that you are about to counter them. There is also a nifty combo system if you do happen to be playing with another player, but you will probably only ever use this in an open world PvE questing area at random intervals when another player just happens to randomly initiate one. The combat also rewards you with multiple types of experience based on what you used in combat, and what you have equipped (for example: you will gain exp for all armor types equipped based on the number of slots each type occupies, you will receive exp for all weapon types equipped as well as bonus exp to which ever types you used and for what percentage of the overall damage, and you will receive exp for every skill type on your hot bar along with bonus exp for the skill types you use in combat).

    The story line varies from completely chaotic randomness to some actually compelling writing from time to time. This is coupled with full voice acting that varies from amazing to complete crap (along with some strange choices on whom an actor will get to voice act, I.E. John Cleese). Still though, compared to most MMOs out there, the story line is gold, and you can expect some fairly deep lore since this is a long running series.

    There is a lot wrong with the game, but it can be good if the developers would just spend some quality time and money on a good QA group.    … Expand
  32. tormentor55
    Nov 29, 2014
    6
    Elder scrolls online can be pretty fun at times but it always has its sights on your wallet. The game forces you to spend $60 AND a monthly subscription, (that's already more money needing to be used than WOW) and you have to grind like crazy to get goods with in-game currency instead of paying. This game could have been SO much more tolerable had it been F2P or a one time payment. In thisElder scrolls online can be pretty fun at times but it always has its sights on your wallet. The game forces you to spend $60 AND a monthly subscription, (that's already more money needing to be used than WOW) and you have to grind like crazy to get goods with in-game currency instead of paying. This game could have been SO much more tolerable had it been F2P or a one time payment. In this day and age monthly subscriptions are an unwelcome form of payment. For elder scrolls fans stick to skyrim or pray that the cost to enter this game goes down.… Expand
  33. TheLooseHunter
    Nov 11, 2014
    5
    I give this game a 5 because of the fact that this is one of the most disgusting example of a MMO, but i enjoyed the game.
    You have to pay on release day a good $60 with also monthly subscriptions. When i started the game, you received a moment for choosing your class. You get the choice of 4 classes, while one of them is already locked if you pay another 15 to 20 dollars for unlockable    I give this game a 5 because of the fact that this is one of the most disgusting example of a MMO, but i enjoyed the game.
    You have to pay on release day a good $60 with also monthly subscriptions. When i started the game, you received a moment for choosing your class. You get the choice of 4 classes, while one of them is already locked if you pay another 15 to 20 dollars for unlockable content. This game is more a walking simulator than an action rpg game. The looting system shows us that you better pay another 20 dollars because the old feeling of hours of work is not that important anymore.
    Is this how you treat a franchise like TESC? There are a lot of other franchises who have been destroyed because of the same thing Bethesda tried to.
    If you love this franchise, go and buy it. But for people who just love MMOs, think twice before you go to a store.    … Expand
  34. Cyanthrax
    Oct 28, 2014
    7
    Thought I would make an update of my review from when the game first released. To this day it's still a pretty decent game.

    The positives: There's a lot of character customization just like you would find in any other TES game. It's especially nice when it seems choice is slowly dying in the world because those choices were often obsolete while in TES no matter what you choose it's    Thought I would make an update of my review from when the game first released. To this day it's still a pretty decent game.

    The positives:

    There's a lot of character customization just like you would find in any other TES game. It's especially nice when it seems choice is slowly dying in the world because those choices were often obsolete while in TES no matter what you choose it's beneficial in some way. The game also presents quite a bit of difficulty in most situations. You always have to be on your feet in this game in just about all situations. The art and gameplay all look like it's a TES game and I truly believe that ESO lived up to being an Elder Scrolls game, just online. A lot of people complain about it for stupid reason; the graphics. These people often don't understand game design and don't get that you can't have current gen graphics in an MMORPG. The feel of the game itself is as TES as it gets with the exception the animations are a little different; again understandable if you get game development. ZoS also does pretty well at listening to their playerbase and I think have a good future in the coming years for this game.

    The negatives

    The game has released 6 months ago yet bugs are still present. I expect some bugs, but I would've expected ZoS to have it pretty close to being perfect by now. The game is also extremely lacking in content if you're a PvPer and feels very much like it's just a grindfest. Nothing is new and it feels really repetitive when there's only one form of PvP that many game developers seem to think is extremely fun which is AvA battles; EG massive 100 vs 100 player battles where you usually take forts and keeps. The gameplay is always based on who can make the biggest Zerg. There's no structure in it. If this game had gladiatorial PvP (arenas) I would be sold, but as of now it's just repetitive. Obtaining gear can also be a massive chore. Don't get me wrong. I love a challenge and I love something that's going to eat a lot of my time, but at this point getting max level gear is insanely time consuming where you would actually have to live on the game if you wanted to be in top tier gear. The veteran system also seems kinda pointless. I don't get why they don't just add new armor tiers instead of making me level every time a new tier releases. If I wanted to level more I would play my alt.

    Other thoughts

    They're adding a new system that has a massive new line of talents. So massive in fact it would take a player 6 months to complete and that's if you play the game more than the average and if ZoS doesn't add more to it...I love the fact that means more choices and more progression for my character, but I truly disagree that whoever plays the most should have a much high advantage over someone who's more skilled.    … Expand
  35. david271749
    Oct 11, 2014
    5
    After playing out a six month subscription to this game, I think I'm entitled to an honest review. The idea for the game was great. There was a lot of potential there. Unfortunately, there's nothing here that lives up to that potential. Why the developers thought a theme park mmo that stems from a series of single player sandbox rpgs would be a good idea is beyond me. It's a crash grab.After playing out a six month subscription to this game, I think I'm entitled to an honest review. The idea for the game was great. There was a lot of potential there. Unfortunately, there's nothing here that lives up to that potential. Why the developers thought a theme park mmo that stems from a series of single player sandbox rpgs would be a good idea is beyond me. It's a crash grab. We're half a year in, and devs are more focused on working on future content than fixing current content. Endgame is pvp. Pve trials and pve arena are terrible. The game is full of exploiters and macro users who go unpunished. This ruins any purpose in progressing or playing through the game legitimately. This game might have a better chance on consoles, if that project doesn't get abandoned. It's already been postponed for six months, and we haven't heard a word about console release since it was postponed 4 months ago.… Expand
  36. Infaereld
    Sep 30, 2014
    5
    I played this game for a few hours and maintained my subscription for a couple of months.

    My conclusion is that while as far as MMORPGs are concerned, this game is very well done. The major issue I have is that there are really not enough distinguishing features about this game to separate it from other MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft or SWTOR. This game is a major foot in the    I played this game for a few hours and maintained my subscription for a couple of months.

    My conclusion is that while as far as MMORPGs are concerned, this game is very well done. The major issue I have is that there are really not enough distinguishing features about this game to separate it from other MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft or SWTOR.

    This game is a major foot in the wrong direction for the series as it contains none of the atmosphere, charm, complex combat and open-world freedom as its predecessors.

    I hate to say it but I get the feeling this game has been one massive money grab aimed at the lowest common denominator.

    What Bethesda should have done is worked on a game like Skyrim but perhaps with 2-4 player co-op.

    I cannot forgive them for what they did to the series.    … Expand
  37. Greenicey
    Sep 27, 2014
    5
    As a huge MMO fan, and an even bigger Elder Scrolls fan I was super pumped for this game. However after beta I did not choose to continue playing this game. Graphically the game is fairly good. It doesn't look as good as Skyrim, but that is to be expected. It seemed at first they were going to stylize it to look more like Oblivion, but that's not the case. Everything just looks ratherAs a huge MMO fan, and an even bigger Elder Scrolls fan I was super pumped for this game. However after beta I did not choose to continue playing this game. Graphically the game is fairly good. It doesn't look as good as Skyrim, but that is to be expected. It seemed at first they were going to stylize it to look more like Oblivion, but that's not the case. Everything just looks rather generic. The voice-acting is generally inoffensive, nothing worth noting. Gameplay is probably the startlingly different aspect. It is a mix of typical Elder Scrolls combat and exploration, all with MMO restrictions. You choose a class and you can bring different skills with you into battle. Each class has three trees of skills, nothing we haven't seen. Now this would sound like it would work well with the elder scrolls mechanics, but it doesn't. Playing with friends and other people makes this game a chore more than it really should. I honestly think this game should either have been made more like Elder Scrolls, or much more like an MMO. The two just don't mix as well they should. It's honestly like playing a really cheap copy of Skyrim, it's not even a decent MMO.… Expand
  38. PrincessRose
    Sep 20, 2014
    5
    The game is fun at first, love the questing and story, but once you complete your first zone it becomes rather tedious levelling through the veteran levels, but you keep pushing on as you want to see if the endgame is good. Huh endgame? There isn't any endgame worth mentioning.

    After 6 months of playing and reaching max lvl there is not really any pve endgame to keep you entertained,    The game is fun at first, love the questing and story, but once you complete your first zone it becomes rather tedious levelling through the veteran levels, but you keep pushing on as you want to see if the endgame is good. Huh endgame? There isn't any endgame worth mentioning.

    After 6 months of playing and reaching max lvl there is not really any pve endgame to keep you entertained, after the story runs out, the rest of the game feels boring, you don't feel rewarded for your efforts even when completing all the quests in each of the 3 faction areas, all you get is a worthless blue necklace and I became bored. This game is severely lacking in varied gameplay. All there is to do is pvp and maybe trials and arena, which feels pointless. Overall this game is rather disappointing and lacklustre.

    A promising game that does not deliver.    … Expand
  39. archonome
    Sep 14, 2014
    6
    I really wished this game was going to be good and it had the potential...

    Positives: - The LORE is the best - The graphics are stunning, immersive - The PVE's lore makes the questing less boring -Crafting is really well done in this game! - The world is perfectly designed, extremely extremely addicting/enjoyable. Negatives: -Can't PvP without paying another 15$ for    I really wished this game was going to be good and it had the potential...

    Positives: - The LORE is the best
    - The graphics are stunning, immersive
    - The PVE's lore makes the questing less boring

    -Crafting is really well done in this game!
    - The world is perfectly designed, extremely extremely addicting/enjoyable.

    Negatives:

    -Can't PvP without paying another 15$ for horse... but your already paying 15$/month sub fee

    -PvP map is too big, there are no choke points. This makes people afraid of leaving the zerg in fear of "not finding any action" because the map is too damn big!! It ends up being another Zergfest PvP with massive AOE, Stuns, etc

    Sorry running for 15 minutes to find myself following a zerg like GW2 is boring... what's the point of capturing keeps... it's NOT fun. After you've done this 100 times, it's exactly the same as PLANETSIDE.    … Expand
  40. hullhy
    Sep 10, 2014
    6
    If you are going to play this game, put every Elder Scrolls game that you played aside, forget that you knew what an Elder scroll even is and you just might enjoy it. Just might, but if you are like me and cant do that, you are going to be disappointed.
  41. Xon
    Aug 20, 2014
    7
    Not the worst game ever, but nowhere near the standard set by Skyrim or Oblivion. That said, I have never before played a MMO and probably wouldn't have if not for ESO.
  42. UncleTopher
    Aug 17, 2014
    7
    In all fairness I am not sure The Elder Scrolls Online ever stood a chance with all the hype that surrounded this MMO release. So many fans of Morrowind and Oblivion and Skyrim were simply frothing at the mouth in anticipation on this one. I do not think the game has lived up to the hype. BUT...the game is still young. I have been playing it since beta and I will say TESO has made a steadyIn all fairness I am not sure The Elder Scrolls Online ever stood a chance with all the hype that surrounded this MMO release. So many fans of Morrowind and Oblivion and Skyrim were simply frothing at the mouth in anticipation on this one. I do not think the game has lived up to the hype. BUT...the game is still young. I have been playing it since beta and I will say TESO has made a steady upward climb. I enjoyed playing several toons into their mid 30's but with each one I seemed to hit a wall. There is still work left to be done on this one as far as engaging the players. Also the developers need to take more chances rather then taking the safe road and firmly entrenching the game in mediocrity. I think Zenimax started with a few strikes against them in the hype as well as creating a themepark MMO in the first place. The only way this game will climb out of the middle of the pack is to take some chances and explore new ideas.… Expand
  43. datus
    Aug 12, 2014
    5
    This feel like an MMO that just came out about 2 years too early. Not that it's broken or anything, but for an MMO there simply isn't any content. Even for a single player TES game it's very simplistic, and doesn't even come close to it's predecessors, let alone being a good MMO, which by my ideals should be more grand than a single player game.

    In ESO you have no housing, no economy    This feel like an MMO that just came out about 2 years too early. Not that it's broken or anything, but for an MMO there simply isn't any content. Even for a single player TES game it's very simplistic, and doesn't even come close to it's predecessors, let alone being a good MMO, which by my ideals should be more grand than a single player game.

    In ESO you have no housing, no economy (not even an Auction system), no reputation/faction system, extremely simple and linear crafting system where you know all recipes instantly and just craft whatever you need.

    ESO is a lacking MMO and a lacking TES game to boot.    … Expand
  44. Godric
    Aug 2, 2014
    7
    OK so the game isn't Skyrim lets just make that clear, Now that we are past that hurdle lets rate this game objectively without harking back to the over hyped and much beloved skyrim. (Not saying its a bad game just think we could stand to loose some of the Fan boy mentality when playing new games and rate them on its own merits.)

    This is an MMO which carries with it a subscription    OK so the game isn't Skyrim lets just make that clear, Now that we are past that hurdle lets rate this game objectively without harking back to the over hyped and much beloved skyrim. (Not saying its a bad game just think we could stand to loose some of the Fan boy mentality when playing new games and rate them on its own merits.)

    This is an MMO which carries with it a subscription charge and this for many is a fairly major issue.

    The benefits of that subscription charge however are significant and it must be understood that this game requires an immense infrastructure to provide the MMO experience you as consumers expect.
    Not only does your subscription get you the use of the infrastructure though, you also get the support when you have difficulties (Support I rate very highly from personal experience). Now I also realize this cost can be prohibitive, particularly for younger gamers without a stable income, however when you take into account the aspects of the service I just mentioned It really isn't that much, you could easily spend more on magazines or fast food or other luxuries, it's just a matter of what you want to spend your money on. Falling in at just £7 (I calculate that at around $12) a month for the 6 month subscription option I find that pretty reasonable and this is literally the exact same monthly cost when compared to other leading MMO's such as EVE online or the industry leader World Of Warcraft. The only other viable industry standard for a mainstream MMO of course being the free to play profit by micro transaction option and I could see many angry Elder Scrolls "Pay to win" reviews coming from that alternative scenario..

    So with that cost implication covered what do we get for our money other than the use of the game and the support?

    Well, you get a vibrant and visually stunning first person MMO with a rich and varied array of characters and Lore to bring the universe to life. The voice acting is fantastic and really draws you in to the story in a way other MMO games have failed to do for me in the past.

    The game play feels distinctly Elder scrolls and the art style is sympathetic to previous incarnations of the game firmly cementing the idea in your mind that this is Tamriel the continent gamers have loved for years.

    I have found myself Levelling without really thinking about levelling, this is because I am more engrossed in what I am doing than in what is to come. This unique feeling is something I haven't encountered in an MMO to date with the daily "Grind" in other games feeling more like a chore than a fun and engaging experience. Safe to say there is more to this game than going in to the woods and "Killing Boars" for 50 levels.

    The first person combat suffers from the same difficulties it has experienced in previous entries in the franchise however when compared to other MMO games you feel much more involved and in control rather than mindlessly clicking through your abilities to optimize your damage.

    The world itself is sufficiently varied and works to keep the player interested. Enemy mobs are scarce enough not to hamper exploration without leaving the wilderness "safe" for unwary travellers.

    Here come the drawbacks.

    The game feels "staged" in places and your exploration is limited by your level progression. The areas are enjoyable but I feel that there is very much a "plan" for how the designers intended the player to progress and this detracts from the sandbox experience I had hoped for.

    Much of Tamriel cannot yet be explored and I can see various expansions coming in the near future to add these areas.. at a cost.

    The return of the popular races of tamriel offers a great choice during the wonderfully varied character creation stage. However limiting the races to there "home" factions may lead to conflict among friends who wish to play together but find themselves in opposing camps (The pre-order "explorer's" pack negates this however it appears this option for any race in any faction will not become available for general consumption)

    Fast travel is instantaneous and cheap, it may just be me but there is something special about real time travel which show cases the wonderful world you have created soaring on the back of a griffon or other means of travel rather than just “fade to black” then reappear somewhere else.

    There is no “Free” trial period which to me seems counter productive. If a company has faith in its product it should offer a sample in the hopes to entice possible buyers rather than closing its doors to criticism from the wider public.

    But in light of these flaws I intend to continue playing this game and remain hopeful that future additions and expansions will enhance my already enjoyable experience in ESO. Happy gaming.

    Regards,

    GODRIC    … Expand
  45. Nyxious
    Jul 27, 2014
    7
    I still have a subscription... because I had to buy game time in order to get my free time, the game store only had two month cards available. I just logged on after not playing for 2 weeks to see if it had improved, I have not crashed for awhile but the game still seems just boring. I tried to ignore the buy in price of 120 when I got it just so I could see if I like it, I tried to ignoreI still have a subscription... because I had to buy game time in order to get my free time, the game store only had two month cards available. I just logged on after not playing for 2 weeks to see if it had improved, I have not crashed for awhile but the game still seems just boring. I tried to ignore the buy in price of 120 when I got it just so I could see if I like it, I tried to ignore the first two weeks when I was constantly being dropped and having issues that didn't seem to exist in bug forums. But then i kept playing and I just got bored.

    Near the end of my playing I wasn't even reading what the missions were anymore, just check my map run there do whatever, get small reward, repeat. This does not feel like Elder Scrolls, the pvp was amusing for awhile and if it goes free to play might be worth it just for that, but I feel I am wasting time that could be better spent on games I will enjoy. Won't renew, might try again some day if they do a reboot like ffxiv did but otherwise I will just hope they still come out with single player games.

    ps the pvp was pretty good but not worth the near 120 price(game + time + tax) and hours of boredom to get to.    … Expand
  46. BK-201
    Jul 22, 2014
    5
    The idea of combining TES series with MMO genre is fascinating, but it is as fascinating as combining cats and dogs, for instance: interesting, breathtaking and with a humble hope to get something really worth as a result. So here we have just the same situation - TES's unimitatable depth and spirit combined with MMO's primitiveness gives us a very strange and mixed product.

    Is it worth    The idea of combining TES series with MMO genre is fascinating, but it is as fascinating as combining cats and dogs, for instance: interesting, breathtaking and with a humble hope to get something really worth as a result. So here we have just the same situation - TES's unimitatable depth and spirit combined with MMO's primitiveness gives us a very strange and mixed product.

    Is it worth to play? Undoubtedly, yes. Is it the game of high quality? Yes, indeed. It is much more interesting and well-looking than many MMOs, but it seriously lacks the very essence of TES - the thoughtful and deep gameplay. It does not look like the proper Elder Scrolls game we have seen before...

    Maybe, this attempt is not so bad (as it is very difficult to combine almost incompatible things), maybe all of us needed to feel it how to play TES not only in the SP mode, but... I hope that Bethesda and Zenimax will finally come around and make us a truly Elder Scrolls game. TES VI. Please. We are all waiting for it.    … Expand
  47. Arcaroxx
    Jul 18, 2014
    5
    Ohhhhhh boy. ESO. What to say about this game...First of all, the amount of money you have to pay to play this game is simply out of this world. The gameplay the game provides you with doesn't justify the heavy costs. For the rest, well, its all meh...PvP has potential, but you often end up alone, bugged out or on foot. Oh and PvP without a horse is unplayable... The PvE is good oldOhhhhhh boy. ESO. What to say about this game...First of all, the amount of money you have to pay to play this game is simply out of this world. The gameplay the game provides you with doesn't justify the heavy costs. For the rest, well, its all meh...PvP has potential, but you often end up alone, bugged out or on foot. Oh and PvP without a horse is unplayable... The PvE is good old classic Elder Scrolls PvE, which is good. The problem is that you don't get the ONLINE feel in PvE... The game doesn't really favorise the Online PvE neither. Honestly, as a Skyrim player, this game is a huge letdown. If you want to discover the Elder Scrolls franchise, get Skyrim. This game isn't worth it.… Expand
  48. Xanatar
    Jul 7, 2014
    7
    First things first - I would give this game a 9 if there weren't some issues that could have been easily avoided. In short: Don't play ESO if you expect what in our days counts as typical mmo. So if you are the progress player type that grinds up his character as quickly as possible to the "endgame" and then expects to have fun in Raids and instanced pvp battlefields, this is not the gameFirst things first - I would give this game a 9 if there weren't some issues that could have been easily avoided. In short: Don't play ESO if you expect what in our days counts as typical mmo. So if you are the progress player type that grinds up his character as quickly as possible to the "endgame" and then expects to have fun in Raids and instanced pvp battlefields, this is not the game for you. Like "The Secret World" this is a game you actually should play like an RPG. If you expect a Skyrim, don't play it as well - It is NOT Skyrim.

    Negative:
    - The day 1 bot invasion, cheating and hacking, a nearly crashed economy, goldsellers and massive abuse of game systems - though to be honest they seem to get some of these problems solved.
    - Whoever designed this inventory - clutter - collection - nightmare which forces me to cycle through an inventory management tour every 10 minutes of gameplay should be forced to play it himself for a week - as it would seem he hasn't really played it for even 10 minutes. YES it is cool to find something in every drawer - NO it is not cool to have garbage like "foul hide" in x levels taking away an inventory slot each! And why for gods sake do glyphs not stack? And every other game has started to put useless trophies and stuff in seperate inventories... but no ... and so on, and so forth, in short, the inventory is a nightmare.
    - The lag - Yessss, I clearly avoided the red circle on the ground. oops, no I still was hit because of... LAG! Combat can become annoying at some point, you really have to "plan" blocking etc., any last second tries will probably end in the lag ignoring your effort. How they expect this system to work with console player wh
    - The game does not provide a MMO experience as you would expect an MMO
    - Not sure I like the endgame - there does not seem to be really so much to do apart from getting to veteran rank 12 and level all the crafting and stuff.
    - UI - you have to get some mods which help you read the battle or you will miss whats going on...
    - Crappy UI for features like guild auction house etc.

    Positive:
    - Although a lot of my predecessor writers have complained about the shallowness of the story and the NOT being Skyrim, I think they actually did a very solid job. Yes it is an MMO and some quests follow too much the classic mmo scheme (bring me 5 rat tails). But even then it never started to feel grindy like in SwTor, Tera or Wildstar. And some quest chains really shine, especially with really changing the world afterwards. Big plus is the complete synchro, with sometimes ironic to funny comments and dialogs.
    - The world is exceptionally well designed for an mmo. You find interesting hidden camps, chests and lore everywhere in the world. Environment feels very "natural" and "organic". Not just 10 pigs and 5 wolves running in always the same random paths around poorly placed trees and rocks. Yes it is not Skyrim or witcher, but I guess you have to make some compromises when designing an MMO.
    - Dungeons - if you actually find a group (tank and healer problem... again...) then all the instances I visitied were actually quite exciting.
    - Main Storyline, Mage guild and fighters guild story lines are solid, though a bit too linear.
    - Characters look ok, though sadly you see it was done with the HERO engine... Considering what other MMOs plan for character generation (have you seen black desert character gen... anyone?) this is just average.
    - Crafting has some interesting new ideas, though it has problems with the poorly designed inventory system
    - Combat is very interesting, though not as well done and as flexible as the real action combat of Tera. Still, with only 5+1 (x2) Skills, the combat certainly is above average.
    - The single player experience is well done, on the negative side group play is not much encouraged, making this somewhat flawed for an massive MULTIPLAYER online experience.
    - Where the quests are focused on single player, the RvsR system is certainly focused on massive multiplayer battles. Meaning if you don't want to do PvP in large groups, you better don't do PvP at all.

    Fazit:
    ESO certainly has potential - I really liked the clean view I can experience in this game, first time I haven't tons of different information bars and windows cluttering my view of the actual game. The world is wonderfully designed and a lot of effort was put into quests and atmossphere of the RPG part of the game. I am not sure this game will work on the long run though, especially as a subscription title. Too many flaws, too many bugs, not enough thoughts put into a clear vision of the endgame and a flawed multiplayer experience are the major points which will have to be addressed before this game can be successful in the long run.    … Expand
  49. W-Moose-W
    Jun 26, 2014
    5
    I did rate 6, but changed to 5. I expect a lot more than just pretty graphics and beautiful characters in 2014. The rest is a standard quest/level or subpar compared to what other games are doing.

    A party member of the same level disappears every time they are not on the same quest as you. They can't help or share. Terrible design. How could they think this would be good? How could    I did rate 6, but changed to 5. I expect a lot more than just pretty graphics and beautiful characters in 2014. The rest is a standard quest/level or subpar compared to what other games are doing.

    A party member of the same level disappears every time they are not on the same quest as you.
    They can't help or share. Terrible design. How could they think this would be good? How could this pass beta?

    The only thing Elder Scrolls is the where this takes place and the char races. nothing else is similar.

    I felt ripped off after I realized in the first starting area that there is no swimming underwater. WOW had this feature 10 years ago. All Elder Scrolls games have it. All you do in this game is tread water.

    The only new feature is you aim your mouse pointer at your target instead of click to select the target, or tab to select a target. However, if the target moves after you shoot, your arrow/spell curve and follow it.

    This becomes more evident when things are fired at you. You cannot dodge the fireball or shots coming at you…they curve and follow you.

    This is not Elder Scrolls combat. In Elder Scrolls combat attacks go in straight lines, and you can dodge them.

    No friendly fire - So everyone is just shooting and casting right through friendly characters in melee etc. This is not Elder Scrolls. This was trumped up as a revolution in gaming - but it isn't. It is a re-keying of similar systems using the mouse aimed reticle to select targets.

    Your shield does ‘block’ but you can’t improve the block like in Elder Scrolls. There is no parrying.

    There are bows, but no arrows. They just shoot an unlimited amount at your target as fast as you can click. This is not Elder Scrolls.

    No Fletcher/Bowyer crafting, no arrow shaft, tip, fletching types, no crossbows or slings. A "woodworker" can make bows. He can also craft magical staves...because they have wood shafts. LOL. seriously.

    The staves shoot magic just like the bows - unlimited, curving at target.

    Your character only has a magic, health, and stamina rating. No str, dex, wil, int, etc etc.
    Elder Scrolls skills, or some new well thought out complex skill system is absent here. Where are the 6 schools of Magic from Elder Scrolls? Not Here.

    4 Character classes, each with 3 skill trees: Each class is basically a magician. Then you pick a weapon with a separate skill tree. The skills end up doing much the same thing no matter what you choose.

    Any player can use any weapon and each weapon has its own skill tree

    You can carry 60 pieces of heavy armor or 60 scrolls...not weight based.

    Anyone can wear heavy armor and wield the biggest weapons because there is no min str rating etc.

    Everyone can use stealth, but it does not level up like in ES. Armor doesn’t effect it.

    OTHER DISAPOINTMENTS FOR AN MMO THAT COMES OUT IN 2014:
    You can’t build a house ( or even a tent) and have property,

    You can't make extra storage chests for your gear.

    You have a bank with 60 slots (upgradeable). That’s it. It can be filled up with junk from the starting area.

    No shipbuilding (even simple canoes) sea sailing, own a ship instead of a house.

    No building guild halls and customizing them for members. No public store for your guild.

    No public auction/store to sell things more QUICKLY!!
    Remember in Ultima online (1998) how you could find treasures and decorate your place? Sail on the sea and fish? Your guild could have a storefront where u could sell stuff u made? You could own a house? There is nothing here. UO had this 15 years ago....where the economy was based on what ppl made. No hunting skill, fishing skill, mountain climbing, pet taming, nothing - you can fish but it is generic), no carpentry, masonry, kennel – no extra stuff that an mmo crowd does outside of combat or combat crafting. Imagine all the cool things someone in a next generation mmo could have for people to do - a socila immersive world - ESO strikes out here. You can’t have NPC companions that you can equip and customize and program with scripts (like in swtor, or eve baldur’s gate). Think Dragon Age scripting with SWTOR companions You still can’t fight like cavalry and trample enemies on your horse (which should be customizeable with armor saddles, shoes, etc.). you can upgrade horse speed, endurance OTHER ANNOYANCES: No minimap. PVP : is fun, it takes place in Cyrodil - on a huge battlefield - but there is.no real world pvp or chance encounters with the enemy :( Guilds have enemies together in them. (seriously?) Summary: Great Beautifully created Tamriel Lands, Beautiful Characters. However, being advertised as an Elder Scrolls game leaves high expectations...which this game fails to deliver. ESO also fails to deliver in areas where many other games do things better.    … Expand
  50. Troublewalking
    Jun 24, 2014
    5
    Rating this game is tough. Honestly I have to give it 3 ratings. I will rate it as general MMO. As an Elder Scrolls game and as an RVR MMO.

    As a general MMO. This game is nothing to write home about. It is extremely average. In a market that is bloated by f2p games. As an Elder Scrolls game this game is a 2. They tried to put some aspects of Elder Scrolls in it, but you will probably    Rating this game is tough. Honestly I have to give it 3 ratings. I will rate it as general MMO. As an Elder Scrolls game and as an RVR MMO.

    As a general MMO. This game is nothing to write home about. It is extremely average. In a market that is bloated by f2p games.

    As an Elder Scrolls game this game is a 2. They tried to put some aspects of Elder Scrolls in it, but you will probably find it very difficult to find any of the magic that makes Elder Scrolls game's great in this game. If your an Elder Scrolls fan you should probably avoid this game like it's the plague. Maybe trying it out once it goes F2P.

    As an RVR MMO this game is actually pretty good. That's because Zenimax basically lied to Bethsaida and told them they would develop a MMO version of the Elder Scrolls. Then turned around and obviously made DAOC II. Maybe they were hoping The Elder Scrolls tag would draw new players. Or maybe they just didn't have the money to fund a DAOC II. Whatever the case, if you haven't played Dark Ages of Camelot, or Warhammer. Basically they are Realm verses Realm games. Essentially having the players factions fight over territory. As a casual PVP fan, I found Warhammer's version of RVR to be great fun. It could be quite random and free flowing. Sometimes having hours of combat going between large groups of players. Warhammer had great rewards to keep the players involved. Though ultimately it's system had a fatal flaw because there were only 2 realms. The Elder Scrolls has tried to address this with 3 realms. Early on it seems to have worked. If you like RVR this game is at least a 7 to you. But remember in RVR type MMO's usually the PVE is just something to keep you busy when your not fighting in RVR.    … Expand
  51. RedFoxDelta
    Jun 22, 2014
    7
    This game is NOT a bad game. That said, this game was... disappointing. Being an "Elder Scrolls" MMO meant a compromise between the beloved elder scrolls game mechanics and the mechanics necessary to make an MMO work. Unfortunately, this compromise ended with almost nobody happy. The MMO crowd- or specifically, the WOW crowd, was actively cheering for this game to die from the inception.This game is NOT a bad game. That said, this game was... disappointing. Being an "Elder Scrolls" MMO meant a compromise between the beloved elder scrolls game mechanics and the mechanics necessary to make an MMO work. Unfortunately, this compromise ended with almost nobody happy. The MMO crowd- or specifically, the WOW crowd, was actively cheering for this game to die from the inception. The Elder Scrolls crowd was disappointed by the lack of player housing, a crime system, the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild. And of course, the game had its share of bugs. It had the stability issues found commonly in Bethesda games, with random crashes to desktop. It has the latency issues inherent in MMOs, with players missing blocks and counter attacks they should have gotten. It has, in true Elder Scrolls fashion, random incredibly imbalanced NPCs in solo missions. Then, of course, we have the glitches with unspawned NPCs or objects you need to interact with, which can only be fixed by relogging. You can and will fall through the floor. Getting stuck is also a common occurrence. Then of course, there is the infamous duping glitch, which ruined the in-game economy. From the standing of somebody who played (and was ambivalent to) Guild Wars 2, the game seems to be actively inconveniencing you. None of those convenient things like Trading Posts or 'deposit all collectables' buttons exist in this game. There is no option to dye your armor, or transmute your gear (unless you bought the Imperial edition, in which case you can transmute some of it). Most damning in my opinion, however, is the weak endgame. After you save the world (shocker), you are sent to another faction's area to do their mind- numbing faction quest-line, without the incentives of the main or guild stories to keep you going.. There is just no motivation to continue playing, and no reason to pay the subscription fee for another month. The "veteran dungeons" are simply the normal dungeons, with higher leveled enemies. The faction war is, depending on the server you chose, either a zergfest filled with AOE-spammers where battles are decided by sheer numbers, or it is a ghost town.
    However, not everything in this game is bad. The combat is more skill- based than many other MMOs, although there is still no substitute for grinding gear in order to win. The game is immersive, fully voiced (which is a must for me), and with a good soundtrack. The quests are well-written, if somewhat... underwhelming at times. The graphics are nice, although not ground- breaking. You can choose between first and third-person, a choice between immersion and combat effectiveness. The crafting is an interesting system, although it can be tedious. The game has a nice soundtrack, and a large diverse world.

    So in the end, the game is... decent. Definitely not bad, but not great. 7/10    … Expand
  52. Zenzukai
    Jun 20, 2014
    7
    Played since launch. Good, but incomplete. Game crashes frequently, and has so many hair pulling bugs.

    Many core mechanics are inspired and fun, but the game built on top of those mechanics isn't complete. Another game rushed to retail unfinished. PROS: Good core combat mechanics, great pvp mechanics, very fun group play in Cyrodiil. Pretty graphics. CONS: -No balancing, two    Played since launch. Good, but incomplete. Game crashes frequently, and has so many hair pulling bugs.

    Many core mechanics are inspired and fun, but the game built on top of those mechanics isn't complete. Another game rushed to retail unfinished.

    PROS:
    Good core combat mechanics, great pvp mechanics, very fun group play in Cyrodiil. Pretty graphics.

    CONS:
    -No balancing, two classes that are good, two classes that are very bad.

    -BUGS, so many quests will go unfinished, even main ones. Expect this a lot.

    -Closed world. Feels less open than every mmo and every Elder Scrolls game I have ever played. Big zones with invisible walls everywhere, don't expect immersion that comes from other Elder scrolls games or other MMOS.

    -Cheaters, with so many bugs running in the game it's no surprise some of those bugs got abused by players to get a head. Many first guilds used exploits to max characters day one, no punishment for any of those. This is because they lost so many subscribers early on if they kicked the cheaters they would probably cut down player base by half.    … Expand
  53. Kenmei
    Jun 11, 2014
    5
    This is my second and final review for this game. The veteran content completely lost me as the amount of XP required to level up is beyond ridiculous that you have to have some serious dedication to make it to the cap and about 95% of people won't have it. The game became to much of the same old thing everywhere you looked. The same enemies, the same quests, etc. And I suppose that is theThis is my second and final review for this game. The veteran content completely lost me as the amount of XP required to level up is beyond ridiculous that you have to have some serious dedication to make it to the cap and about 95% of people won't have it. The game became to much of the same old thing everywhere you looked. The same enemies, the same quests, etc. And I suppose that is the case with every MMO out there but the combination of rehashed content with the exorbitant amount of XP required to gain a level in vet content made me lose interest in this game, to the point where I won't be resubscribing for the near future. This game had alot of potential but it seems like the fact that the devs made such a poor decision with the vet content was a way to circumvent adding end game raids and stuff like that. Even though the first end game "raid" is out now, I don't have the interest to continue with it, and neither do the people I was playing this game with. It was good for awhile there but it suddenly and very quickly lost all of its mojo it had. Not terrible, but severely lacking in the "things to do" department later in the game.… Expand
  54. maniac1982
    Jun 10, 2014
    7
    Its a great MMO unique style of game play and I like the combat system. However like with any MMO at least for me you tend to get bored of it once you hit the high levels. It was fun for about a month or two now its just the same old. Still great company and great games they come out with
  55. Pronounce
    Jun 7, 2014
    5
    The positive user reviews, like the critic reviews, are those who initially play the game. The negative user reviews and the realistic critic reviews are those who dreamed that TESO was fantasy world based on TES that also allowed for good social interaction.

    Who hasn't played an TES game and then wanted to show off one's leet skills, toon, and environs? The dream of many for TESO was a    The positive user reviews, like the critic reviews, are those who initially play the game. The negative user reviews and the realistic critic reviews are those who dreamed that TESO was fantasy world based on TES that also allowed for good social interaction.

    Who hasn't played an TES game and then wanted to show off one's leet skills, toon, and environs? The dream of many for TESO was a way to bring a social experience to the RPG genre themed around a beloved game like TES.

    Bethesda asked for comments before crafting TESO and I said it would bomb, like the hundreds of MMOs before it. There were ways that Bethesda could have proved me wrong, and done something miraculous: Like build a social system that along the lines of Second Life; Where members of the society could have built TES themed estates and uber toons with glorious armor; Where PvE story lines, PvP play, and dungeons augmented one's status in the world.

    You see Facebook added games as an enhancement to give it a fun twist, because for introverts (think the average RPG fan) FB is a waste of time. Blizzard's Battle Net has always allowed for social interaction at the same time many people pay $15 a month to sit in chat epeening day in and day out.

    Back to TES. As a single player game my various toons have been so prosperous they could buy the emperorship. In Skyrim I could buy Whiterun, Soitude, or Markarth my one toon has so much gold. Other of my toons have been so notorious that if they walked into town the men would wet themselves and the women would cry. Earls would hire assassins to trying and take me out before I wiped out their guard houses.

    Beyond the game play the online community expected a system that was secure and polished. What they got was second rate and full of flaws. A good MMO should encourage an economy run by the users not the gold farmers. (I personally don't mind if online currency is tied to RL currency. People should be allowed to either work in RL to earn gold or work online to earn gold.) Since the crafting is touted by many users as the best they've experienced., then crafting should be a way diligent individuals earn gold and respect. Leet crafting skills should be made available to those who go above and beyond the crowd (i.e. boss drops for super rare patterns as in WoW).

    This is what the fans wanted? Not what they got. Anyone else hoping for a total remake of TESO with some of my ideas put into place?    … Expand
  56. blammo
    Jun 3, 2014
    6
    Disclaimer: I hate PVP so I never experienced that part of the game at all.

    There are many good things - the crafting, the voice overs for every single dialogue, a huge world of exploration, and it's all very good looking. The random treasure chests and treasure maps are my favourite. I never once spent any time grinding, everything was fresh and never stale. But nothing made me    Disclaimer: I hate PVP so I never experienced that part of the game at all.

    There are many good things - the crafting, the voice overs for every single dialogue, a huge world of exploration, and it's all very good looking. The random treasure chests and treasure maps are my favourite. I never once spent any time grinding, everything was fresh and never stale.

    But nothing made me want to stop and get involved. Despite the appearance of an open sandbox, you're corralled from one giant open area to the next and it's "the most open on-rails experience you can have". Run along and click-click through the dialogue and the arrow points in the direction where you have to go and kill something. By the end you're tired of twisted hellish-floating-rock-islands.

    In summary, it's failed to grab me after playing it for a month now and giving it a fair shake, I really really wish it did because I've been an Elder Scrolls fan since Daggerfall came out.

    Worth it to try it out for the price of the game, you'll get your moneys worth for sure but I imagine many people will drop subscription after the first month or two not because it's bad, just because there's no big draw to stay.    … Expand
  57. Swordguy
    May 29, 2014
    7
    I originally gave this game a better score, but after playing for 2 months, I can say without a doubt that the game at launch is missing a lot of elder scrolls features, but then new features like fishing, which have no reward beside the activity itself, instead of things like crime, thieves guild, dark brotherhood, etc..

    This game needs another year of development, or at the very least    I originally gave this game a better score, but after playing for 2 months, I can say without a doubt that the game at launch is missing a lot of elder scrolls features, but then new features like fishing, which have no reward beside the activity itself, instead of things like crime, thieves guild, dark brotherhood, etc..

    This game needs another year of development, or at the very least 6 months, but at the rate they are developing the game, I'm leaning toward a year.    … Expand
  58. ItsFrootLoops
    May 27, 2014
    6
    I guess it is just a generic MMO with a little bit of Elder Scrolls in there. My score was low because the developers made it out to be something its not but the game would be fun for someone who had never played elder scrolls games it seems. Even if you know the story of Elder Scrolls games it can be fun be mostly frustrating and boring when it comes down to it, its main feature that isI guess it is just a generic MMO with a little bit of Elder Scrolls in there. My score was low because the developers made it out to be something its not but the game would be fun for someone who had never played elder scrolls games it seems. Even if you know the story of Elder Scrolls games it can be fun be mostly frustrating and boring when it comes down to it, its main feature that is enjoyable is the PvP but other than that it is pretty boring.… Expand
  59. Rowrin
    May 15, 2014
    6
    The game is a diamond in the rough (well, really rough, but a diamond none-the-less). Going past the launch issues (the worst of which appear to have been fixed), which arguably were some of the worst seen in a game launch (players logging into other players accounts by accident, banks and inventories being completely wiped, main quests not working etc), the game still has some very coreThe game is a diamond in the rough (well, really rough, but a diamond none-the-less). Going past the launch issues (the worst of which appear to have been fixed), which arguably were some of the worst seen in a game launch (players logging into other players accounts by accident, banks and inventories being completely wiped, main quests not working etc), the game still has some very core issues.

    At the moment, PvP, the fight for Cyrodiil and the right to sit upon the throne is very lacking. The zone has a lot of potential, but the way campaigns are set up at the moment, and the lack of smaller objectives have most of the zone completely empty. Worse yet, most of the campaigns are completely dead, with no one playing on them. This is largely because everyone moves to the campaign where their faction is dominating, and all other campaigns are ignored. There is a lot of potential to be had in Cyrodiil, but at the moment it is a missed opportunity.

    The game also suffers from a plethora of bugs still. None quite nearly as game breaking as what was seen in the first month, but still annoyances. Class abilities and tool-tips are either broken, incorrect or do not work (such is the case most evident with Nightblades). Several quests are still broken as well.

    Bugs completely aside, the game also lacks some key features and concepts. For instance, grouping with friends becomes a total disaster due to phasing (which Zenimax is working on now). But there are several other design philosophies that are archaic. For instance, having quest objectives non-player instanced. What this means is that in some areas where you have to gather x objects laying around the world, you will be competing with every other player around you, including your friends. This type of mechanic has since been removed in many games since 2007 and it is boggling to see its return.

    What the game does right however is the story, writing and voice acting. Playing through 1-50 and doing the quests were the best parts of my play through. The story and atmosphere experience was enough for me to keep playing, even through the harshest bugs during launch (I personally had my banked wiped twice and was mistakenly banned by the automated system).

    That said: unfortunately, after doing the main quest, I have very little incentive to put up with the additional bugs and lack-luster PvP at the moment. The rest of the game just is either too broken, empty or uninteresting to play after absorbing all the story and voice acting.    … Expand
  60. SenshudoTV
    May 13, 2014
    6
    I tried to give ESO a fair shake. After a disappointing beta experience, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed some aspects of the game. PvP is a lot of fun when you're with a group and will only get better as more people reach max level. Some of the PvE content is enjoyable when you're not doing the same quests you've done in every other MMO with an Elder Scrolls flavor. Those experiencesI tried to give ESO a fair shake. After a disappointing beta experience, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed some aspects of the game. PvP is a lot of fun when you're with a group and will only get better as more people reach max level. Some of the PvE content is enjoyable when you're not doing the same quests you've done in every other MMO with an Elder Scrolls flavor. Those experiences are few and far between and thats a shame. Zenimax had a great opportunity here to buck the trend and create an engaging game. What we're left with is another generic MMO with an Elder Scrolls cover. Its nowhere near as deep or expansive as the single player Elder Scrolls games, nor is it as satisfying as other MMO's on the market. ESO reaches for the moon, and lands among the garbage pit.… Expand
  61. j1mboslice
    May 12, 2014
    5
    Hmmmm...
    The game is fun for about a week, the pvp is an exact clone of guild wars 2. The graphics are good but i can imagine that in a few years maybe 2 it will look crappy. The leveling can be done by questing or farming, both of which are really boring after about a week. Save your money kiddies until this one is free to play or buy wildstar.
  62. M1lkman
    May 12, 2014
    5
    The wonderful graphics, fully voiced characters and interesting plot line cannot overcome the game's fundamental flaw: it feels like a single player game with other players simultaneously "logged in." Many quests can be completed by simply standing around and waiting for some other player to kill the quest creature. The game lacks the grandeur and feeling of importance inherent toThe wonderful graphics, fully voiced characters and interesting plot line cannot overcome the game's fundamental flaw: it feels like a single player game with other players simultaneously "logged in." Many quests can be completed by simply standing around and waiting for some other player to kill the quest creature. The game lacks the grandeur and feeling of importance inherent to single-player Elder Scrolls games, and lacks the inclusiveness of a true MMO. The game can't decide what sort of game it wants to be, and so it fails at satisfying fans of either genre.… Expand
  63. Nataraja
    May 11, 2014
    6
    This is a revised review given time to play this large MMO more fully and therefore give it a more apt review.

    I am a confessed Elder Scrolls junky - well RPG junky really and a sucker for good lore and story - which is present in this game. The score should be 6.5, but half points are not provided on Metacritic. To fairly review this game one must recognize that THIS IS AN MMO and is    This is a revised review given time to play this large MMO more fully and therefore give it a more apt review.

    I am a confessed Elder Scrolls junky - well RPG junky really and a sucker for good lore and story - which is present in this game. The score should be 6.5, but half points are not provided on Metacritic. To fairly review this game one must recognize that THIS IS AN MMO and is only tangentially related to its single player predecessors. However, the standard of the impressive Elder Scrolls games cannot and should not be set aside.
    -
    Be warned - THIS IS NOT A SOLO EXPERIENCE EXCLUSSIVELY. In that way it is not fair to compare it to Skyrim or Oblivion, for example. Its an MMO and with that is a big sacrifice to the Elder Scrolls experience. Gone is opportunity for quiet reflection looking over a vista (ala Skyrim...) or that feeling of being the one true hero, despite the moments it provides in the main quest line. So if you are looking for Elder Scrolls VI - its not here. This is definitely an Online Massive Multiplayer version and needs to be viewed and reviewed as such.
    -
    With that said the game is mediocre and suffers from an identity crisis. It had a very smooth launch with the megaserver technology, acceptable graphics for an MMO, lots of quests and events, tons of things to do with crafting and fighter, mage and undaunted guilds. PVP is well done and deep (better than GW2 in my book) and as s solo experience its decent EXCEPT it is NOT solo and the solo parts are ruined by the introduction of MASSIVE people doing the same things CONSTANTLY. That is its biggest drawback - it wants to give in depth personal experiences of Elder Scrolls but is unable to deliver. The phasing makes it impossible to group and play with friends in any consistent way as they will never appear to you if you are in separate stages of a quest. Sharing of quests is pointless as if you have done step one but your friend has not gotten the quest yet you are forever separated and unable to play together.
    -
    The issues are Zenimax/Bethesda's occasional technical hiccup and the lack of communication and application of standard IT best practices that hampered the early access experience. The boards were afire during the early access and communication with players was not good. Hopefully that will change.
    -
    My initial thoughts were that ESO would be measured in years of play - not minutes, hours, days or weeks - but the phasing and how the game is structured completely destroyed that possibility.

    Crafting: There is not a good balance there for those who like to craft between materials access and storage. Also absent is a general auction house - instead you must join a guild to be able to sell your wares to other guild members. Quite annoying. Crafting is the only way to get the best gear and that makes craftsmen valuable and crafting valuable (but they really need an auction house - although there are already pure commerce guilds forming).
    -
    Combat is decent and the dungeons require skill when they work. First person is horribly hampered by the very narrow and claustrophobic field of view and third person is just awkward.
    -
    If you want some pleasant but not entirely fresh MMO air this could be it. It is different but is no different enough to justify a subscription. The multiplayer aspects are very poorly implemented, quest breaking bugs have been present since launch and some are a horrible mess. The best part of the game is the PvP but its too vast with underpopulated campaigns which leaves huge open areas and nothing new to offer nor any better than Guild Wars 2 that has NO SUBSCRIPTION.

    This is game had a lot of promise but like Star Wars the Old Republic it simply fails as a multiplayer experience. For one of the first times ever I really have to agree with Angry Joe - skip it or wait for it to go to buy to play and if you miss it entirely you won't miss much. Far better to stay in Skyrim and enjoy the free mods from the vast community that has formed around that game. Or better yet, anticipate the next installment of Fallout or perhaps Elder Scrolls 6 as I hope they will return to what they do best - free roaming player driven narrative games and not this poorly designed MMO.    … Expand
  64. Bonebreaker
    May 9, 2014
    5
    I dont know how i should rate it, im Vet10 now and not everything there is bad but to many things feals so unfinishd.

    Good things ------------------------------------------------- + Graphics: the Graphics are real good for an mmo if you turn everything at max, sure it could be always better but for my taste they have done real good. the world is real big for an new mmo and the design    I dont know how i should rate it, im Vet10 now and not everything there is bad but to many things feals so unfinishd.

    Good things
    -------------------------------------------------
    + Graphics: the Graphics are real good for an mmo if you turn everything at max, sure it could be always better but for my taste they have done real good. the world is real big for an new mmo and the design of the lands fits real good into the ES Lore. If you have fun exploring the world you have here a lot to see.
    + Characters: The Design of the Caracters in another good thing, sure the Hairphysics could be better but all in all the npcs and your character Looks real good and you can do a lot with the char creation tool (but not so mutch like in rift) compared to most others mmos.
    + Crafting: Well i thing they have done it pretty well for the most part, you can craft everything like in skyrim (except jewlery somehow) and upgrade your stuff and you dont need to run dungeons or raids to get the materials for the highest upgrade, you can get it from hirelings or refining resources of any lvl but its still a rare drop. The lvling of the Craftingjobs is not to bad, there are only 2 jobs that seems a bit unbalanced. The first is provisoring witch you can cap if you do it rate in under 4 hours (with mats farming and so on all by yourself) and the other is Enhancher witch feels like taking for ever. Like i said im Vet10 and have maxed out every other Job so far but Enhancer is still only 31/50 and it gets slower and slower most other Job i maxed out before getting 50, i disenhance every rune i find, building gives nearly no Points except you waste the rare epic and legendary runes and i need to farm an insane amout of runes and materials to push it further that real sucks.
    + Quest: The Quest for itself are nothing Special but its good that they have voice acting and some Storys are real interesting and funny.
    + Books & Lorebooks: I like it because it reminds my on skyrim and the other ES games, you can find books witch increase your skill and witch you can read just for fun. Unlike in the other ES Games you dont need to collect all anymore, once you have discoverd a new Lorebook its saved in your list and you can read it later all you need to do is just to click the entry in your list.

    Well thats it, if i have nothing forgot this are the good things from ESO. ;D

    Bad Stuff
    -------------------------
    - The Idea how the Skillsystem is done is not bad but it could be mutch better, first i thought you could improve your skills multiple times and develop them more but thats not true you can Morph every skill only once, this means between lvl 20-30 you can get the Morph for each skill u usally use and than thats it, nothing new after that. Of course you can try and develop some other skills to but why i should do that if i have no need for them in my build?
    - Leveling: Ist more worse than in FFXIV, the first time is Fun, until 50, but because u must do with one Char the Quest from all Faction to reach Vet10 in lowers the replay Value and Fun making Twinks a lot to me. U only need 1 Faction Zone to reach 50 but you need to Quest throw the entire Zones of the other 2 Factions as Well to reach Vet 10. Also the XP you get from Quest seems not to be right balanced, after i have done every working Quest and solostuff like in other MMO i have missed 2.4Mio XP to hit V10 and i allready had the Vet10 Area Clr. Grinding NPCs its not an Option because they give nearly nothing (around 100XP or so). The Solution was that i have revisited every Area and have done most of the Group activities but that was not real fun because sometimes you had to wait real Long before there are enough Player for a boss or dolmen.
    Hitting max Level should always be solo possible, group activities should only give something like a boost to save time but not been necesary.
    - Bots: when i have played my main i have seen not a singel bot, i guess i lvld to fast. But than i have made a twink to try another class... They are everywhere its more worse than after Launch of FFXIV (and i thought it could be possible). OK the City spam is not there but in every Solodungeon you have a group of 10 or more Bots Standing around the Boss spawn and killing them in less than 2 seconds. If you dont use a instant its nearly impossible to get a hit with enough dmg to make the Bosskill Count for the achivement. I have read in Forum bots that moves throw the ground and farming mats (like in wow), since a few days i see more and more lvling bots running same path all the time in a group of 5 bots or more (following the main bot) and grinding npc Groups.
    You hear nearly no Response about that problem from Zenimax and see no Action its like they dont care.
    - No Auctionhouse
    - Class Skills that are not Working right
    - and more    … Expand
  65. bigbeefytaco
    May 8, 2014
    5
    ESO is just an average mmo. the leveling system and crafting are amazing, but the gameplay is very dull and boring and the combat is very clunky and unresponsive. the botting and gold sellers are almost unbearable. the dungeons in the game are not bad if you can get past all the bugs. but imo there many free to play mmo out there that do a way better job with out a subscription i can notESO is just an average mmo. the leveling system and crafting are amazing, but the gameplay is very dull and boring and the combat is very clunky and unresponsive. the botting and gold sellers are almost unbearable. the dungeons in the game are not bad if you can get past all the bugs. but imo there many free to play mmo out there that do a way better job with out a subscription i can not justify spending money on such a average mmo. wait till it goes free to play but even then go try out other mmo games you'll probably find something better.… Expand
  66. brandog0
    May 8, 2014
    5
    ESO is a good game no doubt, but is it worth the subscription fee? hell no! there are way to many bugs and the game doesn't feel any different from any other MMO out there, even some free to play MMO's are better than this so why would I pay $60 for the game then have to shell out nearly 180 a month for a game that is average no less? but like I said it's not a bad game but a subscriptionESO is a good game no doubt, but is it worth the subscription fee? hell no! there are way to many bugs and the game doesn't feel any different from any other MMO out there, even some free to play MMO's are better than this so why would I pay $60 for the game then have to shell out nearly 180 a month for a game that is average no less? but like I said it's not a bad game but a subscription fee is way to much money when you can get even better games for free.… Expand
  67. Zargor
    May 8, 2014
    7
    ESO issues that made me unsub after a month:

    - No EU servers, no timeline for the move - Bugs ("Loading" anyone?), Exploits, Unbalance - just too many of them - Unresponsive combat, especially the weapon switch, especially in PVP - Bad PVP map/keep design - No real incentive for PVP - no point in taking or holding scrolls and keeps, everything is so easy there's no meaning to it -    ESO issues that made me unsub after a month:

    - No EU servers, no timeline for the move
    - Bugs ("Loading" anyone?), Exploits, Unbalance - just too many of them
    - Unresponsive combat, especially the weapon switch, especially in PVP
    - Bad PVP map/keep design
    - No real incentive for PVP - no point in taking or holding scrolls and keeps, everything is so easy there's no meaning to it - emperorship is a joke
    - VR content is recycled and unbalanced other faction's content that kills replayability and faction pride
    - VR content is a pure grind without any progression, it is meaningless and extremely boring
    - grouping tool is horrible and discourages group play
    - daedric invasion is a joke, dark anchors are repetitive and pointless, why should anybody care about closing them?
    - poor communication from ZOS, horrible maintenance practices, ridiculous statements about future content without any timeline - they're basically trolling people with vague statements
    - on rails questing which doesn't do much to promote exploration
    - bad inventory design and management
    - lacking UI
    - bots, bots everywhere
    - players, players everywhere - instancing done very poorly and making most quests pointless or impossible to do in the "proper" way - an engaging story is cool but what's the point if 10 people come by and wreck chaos on everything, fart, barf and dance around - this is single player design failing badly in a MMO

    All in all, ESO has very little new (which is badly designed) and much old (badly designed as well). The game has very little of TES and feels a bland, generic fantasy MMO.
    Last but not least, it appears it's going for 18£ with 60 days game time included.
    I have shelled 49£ for it during preorder and feel deeply insulted by this.    … Expand
  68. FrenziedRoach
    May 4, 2014
    6
    Solid combat system and character development save this game from being a disaster. They've been very good about cracking down on bots. However......

    Very group unfriendly at this time, making it impossible to help friends who come in late to "catch up" with you. If you get out of syc with your partner, be prepared to listen to them struggle on a quest that would of been a breeze for    Solid combat system and character development save this game from being a disaster. They've been very good about cracking down on bots. However......

    Very group unfriendly at this time, making it impossible to help friends who come in late to "catch up" with you. If you get out of syc with your partner, be prepared to listen to them struggle on a quest that would of been a breeze for the two of you.

    I'd wait a couple months for a few more bugs to get ironed out. There's potential here, but it's too early to tell if it will ever be worth the 60 bucks plus subs.    … Expand
  69. Stargher
    May 4, 2014
    6
    I really wanted to like this game, but apart from character customization options, the story just couldn't keep me interested. I managed to play through all the starting areas, but the game lack the freedom and the spirit of the other Elder Scrolls games. Choices are meaningless and leveling is a chore. Quests are average and the whole thing feels lifeless. It is however an adequate MMO,I really wanted to like this game, but apart from character customization options, the story just couldn't keep me interested. I managed to play through all the starting areas, but the game lack the freedom and the spirit of the other Elder Scrolls games. Choices are meaningless and leveling is a chore. Quests are average and the whole thing feels lifeless. It is however an adequate MMO, just nothing special.… Expand
  70. xTobyMc
    May 4, 2014
    7
    The game is great, but I just feel the price to play the game and repetition of gameplay isn't worth my time anymore. I've been playing the game since beta and from initial release, but exactly one month later I'm quite frankly bored of the game. The look and feel of Elder Scrolls is definitely there, but it lacks the interesting NPC's and everything feels too non-interactive andThe game is great, but I just feel the price to play the game and repetition of gameplay isn't worth my time anymore. I've been playing the game since beta and from initial release, but exactly one month later I'm quite frankly bored of the game. The look and feel of Elder Scrolls is definitely there, but it lacks the interesting NPC's and everything feels too non-interactive and unrealistic. For example, characters show no facial expression and the quests they give you aren't interesting at all. It quite literally consists of speaking to someone, walking somewhere, collecting some stuff, killing a few people, then going back to the person you talked to. This is all the PvE seems to offer, over and over again. Personally I'm not a WvW or PvP fan either, so that doesn't interest me anyway. I'm also a solo gamer, and this game is definitely tedious if you don't have friends to play it with.

    I'm not going to slate the game and give it 1/10 just because I don't get along with it, because I know that many people will enjoy this game and I'm sure in a few years it'll be a very solid game. However, I would rather not be paying the subscription fee for what it's worth. If it was like Guild Wars 2 without subscription fees, I'd definitely reconsider playing it. I think I'll probably leave the game for a good few months and perhaps see how it progresses over time, perhaps they'll reduce/eliminate fees or make vast changes to the game.    … Expand
  71. intruder313
    May 4, 2014
    5
    Very average in most respects but the myriad broken quests (reported broken in Beta but launched anyway) bring it down further.
    The world may be large but I found it barren and as I'm not a big PvPer there was not much to do beyond the usual, turgid quest line.

    Needs more time in development to add content, but first they need to fix the stuff that they knew was broken at launch.
  72. TheGroobster
    May 2, 2014
    5
    So I have been playing this game off an on including the Beta. There are some elements that the game does very well at and some that it fails spectacularly at. I will talk about the good things first.

    First of all, I love the class system and progression of your character. You can use any weapon with any class and there are tons of abilities to choose from. It really makes you think    So I have been playing this game off an on including the Beta. There are some elements that the game does very well at and some that it fails spectacularly at. I will talk about the good things first.

    First of all, I love the class system and progression of your character. You can use any weapon with any class and there are tons of abilities to choose from. It really makes you think when it comes to choosing new abilities. I also really like the crafting system. I was extremely disappointed with the GW2 crafting system. It ultimately pushed me to get ESO because it was so disappointing. However, I will say that researching traits can get confusing when trying to remember which traits you have already researched but you can easily find an add on for that which is another positive note. The add on system is really easy to use. Just drag and drop into your add ons folder and you are done.

    On a side note, PVP is very highly regarded in this game. I will admit I never really got to try it much. I went there as a low level and I didn't really like the experience. Sometimes there are players hiding and waiting to ambush you as you are on your way to the objective. I had a very hard time adjusting to the combat and understanding how I was supposed to play. I think it just takes some getting used to.

    Now on to the negatives. First of all, I find the questing system to be EXTREMELY bland and boring. I appreciate that all of the quests are voice acted, but I don't feel like I am having any real influence on the world. Much of the quest text seems very played out and bland. I do not get immersed in the story.

    Another thing is the graphics. They are not bad, but they are not amazing either. For some reason the view distance seems to be less effective over 60-70%. The water and shadows look amazing. But I was expecting more. Also I find the character models to be bland as well. I have never met an ugly NPC. They are all supermodels.

    Another thing to note is that there just aren't enough choices in this game. This is supposed to be an Elder Scrolls game but I can't attack guards or steal. It would be neat if they implemented a crime system or some kind of morality system.

    All in all I find this game very bland and uninspiring. I do regret paying for it but something inside me keeps wanting to give it another chance. Maybe if I level up more and get to the next area things will be more exciting. I might still do that but at some point I am going to cut it off. I am very hesitant to say that this game is worth $15 a month.    … Expand
  73. Shellback
    May 2, 2014
    6
    The best thing about ESO is the music and sound effects.On the negative side it takes hundreds of hours to unlock weapon traits (800 hours total for all traits). This is obviously a tool used by the developer to keep people playing for months so they can get subscription fees. If you played Skyrim and thought the melee combat didn't give you the feeling of a hard enough impact on aThe best thing about ESO is the music and sound effects.On the negative side it takes hundreds of hours to unlock weapon traits (800 hours total for all traits). This is obviously a tool used by the developer to keep people playing for months so they can get subscription fees. If you played Skyrim and thought the melee combat didn't give you the feeling of a hard enough impact on a Drauger's skull, then this game is an improvement. The sound effects and impact of weapons are better. However, the quests can be confusing. Sometimes I had to restart the game in order to activate an item or quest. It's buggy.The player does not have that "Hero" feel of Skyrim. Once again I got suckered into the pre-game hype. For those of you contemplating buying this game, Listen to the reviews. If you are not an MMO fan don't waste your money. Go play play Skyrim again. I leveled 3 characters over level 20. I wanted it to sinks its claws into me like Skyrim did and have me wanting more. It never happened. The game is very buggy. If you do decide to waste your money I highly recommend the High Elf Sorcerer. Auridon's music and environment is much better then the other two guilds. The Sorcerer is super powerful with morphed perks. It wouldn't suprise me if Bethesda is just using this game as a test platform for the new single player Elder Scrolls game that they are rumored to be working on. I own every triple AAA game made in the past 10 years. I've been gaming since DOOM came out in 1993. If you are not an MMO fan don't waste your time and money.… Expand
  74. Inudiablo
    May 2, 2014
    5
    Being a long standing ElderScrolls + MMO fan(As I assume 90% of the reviewers claim) I had really high hopes for this game.

    The Good: I generally thing that this game looks good. Cranked up 2 max had me Ohhhing and Awwwing here or there. The humor is present, and with an amazing(sometimes not) voicecast it really brings the humor to home. Especially considering it's all elder    Being a long standing ElderScrolls + MMO fan(As I assume 90% of the reviewers claim) I had really high hopes for this game.

    The Good:
    I generally thing that this game looks good. Cranked up 2 max had me Ohhhing and Awwwing here or there.

    The humor is present, and with an amazing(sometimes not) voicecast it really brings the humor to home. Especially considering it's all elder scrolls based. Hearing jokes about kwarmas, skooma and the like really add charm to this game.

    I love that the npcs talk about you and what you have done. It makes walking around even without a party feel less empty.

    The bad
    Very uninspired quest design. There were a few solid quests here or there, but for the most part it is the same quest every single mmo has had before it. Go kill this many, go collect this many. Even the quests that have you choices that are unchangeable feel like they have no impact. Because they really don't impact all that much

    Goldspamming is a massive problem. And Zenimaxs response has been a bit lackluster. It is understandable though. Considering I don't even know HOW they would get rid of all of them. But regardless it does make general chat unusable. With bots constantly spamming.

    The ugly:
    Glitches.... Never in any mmo I have ever played have glitches been this rampant. And such terrible glitches at that. Market destroying dupes, falling through the floor(Happens a couple times every time I play), Quests just not completing. Monsters not doing what they were scripted to do (Walked through a aggressive area and the AI completely ignored me.) This is actually what made me decide to not resub. I can't justify the $15 a month along with my initial purchase for the dire straights this game is in right now. And the argument that all the forgotten mmos before it made the same mistake is disingenuous to all the people who paid for content they are not getting. For such an expensive game you should demand excellence, but the customer support is terrible.

    Overall: 5/10
    I don't understand how someone can give this game a 0/10 and keep a straight face. It is not by ANY means a 0/10. But it is also not a 10/10 that some people have put up. This is a solid game if you can get past the bugs that I could not. But it is absolutely nothing new. It is extremely... Average.    … Expand
  75. Ipara
    May 2, 2014
    7
    First my background. Played WoW for almost 7 years, was involved in the Rift Beta, SWTOR, Tera, and currently involved in the Beta of Wildstar, I've always enjoyed the Elder Scrolls series, so what's not to like with ESO? Well, for me, it's quite a bit. Having been a part of several of the Beta weekends before launch I, as well as others, had several issues which were never reallyFirst my background. Played WoW for almost 7 years, was involved in the Rift Beta, SWTOR, Tera, and currently involved in the Beta of Wildstar, I've always enjoyed the Elder Scrolls series, so what's not to like with ESO? Well, for me, it's quite a bit. Having been a part of several of the Beta weekends before launch I, as well as others, had several issues which were never really addressed until after the game went live, but as of today, May 1st, there're still correcting issues that should have been corrected before launch. In fact some issues even got worse before release and the worse part is the developers never really listened to us Beta testers since the survey forms never changed and there was no forum to voice our opinion on what was going on. First of all the graphics are amazing, the voice acting is good. The way the quests are handled, etc. is just like playing a Elder Scrolls game, so it's real easy to jump in and start playing, however... Everything seems to be the same color palate. Armor, buildings, other people, all seem to be made up of the same color combinations, boring and lifeless. Combat, to me, is really badly done. As stated by others, you only get 5 combat options, and it seems everyone is a magic user. It doesn't matter if your a staff user or a warrior, everyone it seems has some sort of ranged attack. On the surface it may seem good, but it isn't! Combat is really bad in the game. The combat reminds me of WoW, but worse. Tera on the other hand has a great combat system, but has other issues. Fighting one on one is not a big deal, but when you face several bad guys at once you'd better be very good on your feet and have health potions or you'll die, and die ALL the time, even though they're at your level. Good luck killing that "boss" person to complete that chain quest. You get my point! There's no combo attack moves, even weapons don't seem to be much different from each other. I love challenges, but I find the combat system lacking. Quests are still being fixed, my favorite being a character who appears and talks to you in German... Crafting in the game is really boring. I feel the game has promise, but most people feel they "rushed" the game to market. I think if they spent another 6 months on the game it would be a lot better then it is currently. The flip side is Wildstar! The game doesn't release until June, but the game is rock solid at this point with very very few bugs of ANY sort.… Expand
  76. Delaro
    May 2, 2014
    5
    Shallow, flavorless, generic, bland, uninspiring and, monotonous.

    Cons: Flooded with Bots and gold farmers at launch. Really slow response from GM's. Multi broken and bugged Quests sometimes for days on end. Boring repetitive quest system. Boring Combat system and Weak AI.... Mash 2 buttons FTW. Repetitive Scenery and landscape. Monotone and very uninspiring NPC's. Pros: Very    Shallow, flavorless, generic, bland, uninspiring and, monotonous.

    Cons:
    Flooded with Bots and gold farmers at launch.
    Really slow response from GM's.
    Multi broken and bugged Quests sometimes for days on end.
    Boring repetitive quest system.
    Boring Combat system and Weak AI.... Mash 2 buttons FTW.
    Repetitive Scenery and landscape.
    Monotone and very uninspiring NPC's.

    Pros:
    Very visually appealing.
    Crafting system is decent
    That's about all I can think of... Really not much more got my attention.

    This game missed the Hype by leaps and bounds, what we have is a $15 a month game that offers less than many of the massive amount of free to play Asian MMO's ripoffs. I felt as though I was playing a game based 12 years ago, there is nothing at all new about this title nothing inspiring or memorable that would make me want to keep playing.    … Expand
  77. armoredchimp
    Apr 30, 2014
    6
    I don't know. It's definitely a little disappointing, I really get the sense they couldn't quite decide on how much to go in the traditional MMO direction and how much to try to retain the singelplayer Elder Scrolls feel, and in the end they try to accomplish both fully but satisfy neither.

    First of all, the good: The graphics are very pretty, and don't require new hardware (although    I don't know. It's definitely a little disappointing, I really get the sense they couldn't quite decide on how much to go in the traditional MMO direction and how much to try to retain the singelplayer Elder Scrolls feel, and in the end they try to accomplish both fully but satisfy neither.

    First of all, the good: The graphics are very pretty, and don't require new hardware (although running it on new hardware makes it look much prettier). The fact that the whole game is voiced makes it feel like a complete product, although after awhile you start noticing the same voice actors (not nearly as bad as Oblivion however, which had like 4 people do all the voices). The crafting system is enjoyable and is probably my favorite aspect of the game so far, you need to invest skill points into a trade if you want to actually become proficient at it. Instanced dungeons are also pretty fun, although I think the loot system for instances in Wow was far better (in this everyone gets their own loot, and in instanced dungeons it is always the same stuff so there is no point in running them again). Combat in general is fine, although at earlier levels it is pretty brainless.

    The quests are well written for an MMO, and they definitely try to make you feel like you are doing something important, but after a while you realize you are just running to talk to NPC A, running here to kill NPC B, run back to NPC A to tell him, then run to NPC C for some reason because they felt like that quest wasn't long enough and you needed to travel a litlte more. And a lot of these quests take 20 or so minutes and barely nudge your EXP bar at all, but you don't get as much EXP from grinding mobs like in other MMO's so you basically are always running around talking to NPC's who always act like YOU are the sole savior of Tamriel and are incredibly important, but it's an extremely fragile illusion when you have 10 people clustered in one room waiting for the boss to respawn so they can finish the quest. Another thing that massively breaks the immersion is the constant, 24/7 gold spamming, they even email you in your private box. My ignore list was over 40 after just a few days of playing yet it did nothing to stop the endless flood of gold spam, forget about interesting conversations in zone chat because it just doesn't happen (maybe in higher lvl zones it does)

    I played it feverishly for the first 10 days or so after I bought it and haven't touched it in about 10 days since. I'm going to pick it up again soon (mainly because I paid for 3 months subscription.....if I had just done a free trial I would not have been impressed enough to subscribe). It just doesn't quite draw me in enough at the moment. I think this does have the potential to be much better than it is, but as of right now I am definitely regretting spending $100 on it.    … Expand
  78. Exoaria
    Apr 30, 2014
    7
    The Elder Scrolls Online does not, by any means, break any molds in its vanilla construct. It is one of the most innovating releases in the online gaming industry that I have seen, but is failing in more than one aspect. You need to come to the game without any fresh expectations of the previous games.

    There is no opportunity to be a part of the community. Exploring a new town or city    The Elder Scrolls Online does not, by any means, break any molds in its vanilla construct. It is one of the most innovating releases in the online gaming industry that I have seen, but is failing in more than one aspect. You need to come to the game without any fresh expectations of the previous games.

    There is no opportunity to be a part of the community. Exploring a new town or city does not feel any different to exploring the last one, and quests are seldom entertaining or bringing anything new to the table. The level of progression and gameplay is definitely a step back from the console versions; but to look at it for what it is (an MMORPG) it is far more invigorating than most grind-fests on the market today. There is an extensive amount of lore and dialogue in the game to keep it fresh.

    Combat is severely stunted by your internet connection. The lack of Oceanic servers have made it very hard for Australians like myself to fully enjoy the game as there's at least a 300ms delay in all actions— whether that be attacking, rolling, sprinting, or just generally activating items or NPC's... it begins to feel very disconnected. Obviously I can't base the review on my own internet inadequacy, and so I definitely have to say that all fighting in the game is backed up by a solid amount of mechanics. Fighting enemies, especially in groups requires tactics and is far from something where you're simply menacely clicking and mashing numbers.

    The 5-slot skill limit gives a solid backup to the extensively customization available when building your character. Of the 4 classes to choose from, there is a lack of meta which is made up in the fact that by morphing your abilities you can effectively play any role with any class.

    The visuals are ground-breaking for any MMO that I have seen so far. However, the world still feels oddly disconnected and there's an inherent lack of any life. Bird's don't fly away when you walk near them, and everything does tend to feel very static. This does a disservice to the amazing quality of graphics, but does not take too much away from the level of beauty Zenimax has created.

    Endgame does not appear to have much content outside of PvP, but Zenimax appears to be very well committed to constant updates and content being added to the game. I am enjoying it thoroughly so far and intend to look at my subscription as a level of support to that dedication.
    The Elder Scrolls Online is not particularly innovative in light of the series, but for an MMORPG definitely takes some steps into new grounds which I'm most pleased to see. I will continue playing for some time.    … Expand
  79. JudgementisMine
    Apr 29, 2014
    7
    I found Elder Scrolls Online to be flawed but nowhere near as flawed as some of the ignorant criticism it has attracted. It is a good, solid Elder Scrolls story that has been bent badly in places to fit MMO requirements and conventions.. It has more bugs than it should, but these are slowly being mastered. Its chief faults are quests that are sometimes rigid and over-scripted, problemsI found Elder Scrolls Online to be flawed but nowhere near as flawed as some of the ignorant criticism it has attracted. It is a good, solid Elder Scrolls story that has been bent badly in places to fit MMO requirements and conventions.. It has more bugs than it should, but these are slowly being mastered. Its chief faults are quests that are sometimes rigid and over-scripted, problems with balance (too hard/too easy), and problems hitting the right level of complexity in such things as crafting, neither too convoluted nor too simple. The hostile reaction it has received from some parts of the gaming community is frankly childish. One noted "critic" attacked its "boring" quests by putting up a graphic of a Khajiit that was saying "Boring, boring, boring." There was literally no other argument than that. That's the level that some people are conducting the discussion on. In a way, the incoherent spite is revenge on Bethesda for not making every one of its games exactly the same as Morrowind, which enjoys a fervent-a-little-over-the-edge-of-sanity fanbase that I have dubbed "Morrowwindbags." Another sore point is the subscription fee. Even though this works out to about 50 cents a day for the first year and less thereafter, and even though new content is already being added to the game, less than a month after it was released, the very idea that they pay for anything additional seems to throw certain people into hysterics. But no free lunch, children, no free lunch. Complain if you don't get enough for your money. Don't mewl and whine because you have to pay. The only thing that ought to be free is bug fixes.… Expand
  80. HotGeekCity
    Apr 29, 2014
    7
    Wow. Harsh reviews are harsh. The game isn't amazing, but it's an MMO in it's FIRST THREE WEEKS. Lol. Calm down there, haters. ;) It's far from perfect, yes. Many bugs still, and the game seems to almost want you to play solo except for dungeons and raid instances, and I can't even comment on the PVP yet as I've only rolled 2 low end characters, but the game is fun! Big, prettyWow. Harsh reviews are harsh. The game isn't amazing, but it's an MMO in it's FIRST THREE WEEKS. Lol. Calm down there, haters. ;) It's far from perfect, yes. Many bugs still, and the game seems to almost want you to play solo except for dungeons and raid instances, and I can't even comment on the PVP yet as I've only rolled 2 low end characters, but the game is fun! Big, pretty vistas. Good, solid combat. Quests are semi interesting and not just your usual MMO fetch or kill quests all the time. There's definitetly some things that could be fixed or tweaked, like the sense of realism they try to bring to the game sometimes makes playing it difficult (why can't we find vendors on the map?!? Why is there no auction house?!?) but for the most part the game works well. Feels a lot more like an Elder Scrolls game if you play in 1st person, but I almost never seem to find myself doing that as it's a bloody MMO and I can see more in 3rd person. Lol

    Overall, it's worth checking out if you're an Elder Scrolls or RPG fan. Good, but room to improve. Even if you just get it on sale and only pay for a month of game time, I'm sure you'll have fun. :)    … Expand
  81. pr1v1t
    Apr 28, 2014
    7
    This is my first review on Metacritic, so bear with me. I'm old school (from the days when CJayC still ran GameFAQs), so I'll be giving separate scores for each category.

    My score ranges are: 9-10: The best on the market, or pretty close to it (because nothing's perfect) 7-8: Good / Very good. With a few tweaks here and there, could have been a 9-10. 5-6: Decent. Not bad. Not great. A    This is my first review on Metacritic, so bear with me. I'm old school (from the days when CJayC still ran GameFAQs), so I'll be giving separate scores for each category.

    My score ranges are: 9-10: The best on the market, or pretty close to it (because nothing's perfect)
    7-8: Good / Very good. With a few tweaks here and there, could have been a 9-10.
    5-6: Decent. Not bad. Not great. A lot of generic stuff that is both unoffensive (read: not terrible) and uninspired falls here
    1-4: Varying levels of suck. Something is inherently broken, blatantly bad, or just plain not fun.
    0: A game so terrible that it rivals the awfulness of both E.T. and Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing games

    Overall score: Not an average, but usually pretty close. The overall score is just my overall opinion of the game. It may or may not be an average, as sometimes games are more (or less) than the sum of their parts.

    Graphics: 8. The graphics aren't exactly the best on the market, but they ARE the best I've ever seen in an MMO. Given the size of the zones and scaling issues inherent in MMOs, the ESO team did a great job. From a technical standpoint, the graphics are great. From an artistic standpoint, they're pretty good, but could have had a bit more flavor.

    Story: 7. This one was a tough call between a 7 and 8. The story is relatively derivative, as many ES titles are. The voice work is hit or miss. However, the fact that the entire game is voice-acted and (to an extent) interactive pushed it over the edge for me. It's by no means a GREAT story, but it is better than you'll find in most MMOs.

    Gameplay: 8. The combat system is in the vein of TERA, albeit a bit more sluggish. The crafting system is a nice change of pace from the "create all" and wait game of a certain other MMO I used to play, and the questing is a nice change of pace from "kill/fetch X of Y". That being said, the quests could have been more varied, as so many of the quests involve the same basic premise (if you play it, you'll understand; otherwise, I'd rather keep this spoiler-free). Also, while the game is a themepark MMO, it actively promotes exploration through level-appropriate zones by way of offering extra skill points for those that do. The character creation is great, and the game supports add-ons much the same way WoW did. The bad news? The skill bar is ridiculously short (five slots, one reserved for "ultimate" abilities). Grouping, while fun for endgame, PvP, and dungeons, is broken for open-world leveling/questing due to the manner in which the phasing system was implemented.

    Bugs: 4. It's an MMO launch. There are tons of bugs. Nothing breaks immersion and fun like having to re-log because the item you need for your quest either won't work or won't show up on the screen. That being said, these bugs are being fixed quickly. I'll update this in about a month in order to reflect any progress made. While the dev team is fixing bugs quickly, that doesn't change the fact that many are still there and annoying as hell.

    Overall: The game doesn't feel like an Elder Scrolls title, but it IS a solid game in its own right. It's not the best MMO ever, but it's definitely not bad. It also has quite a bit of potential, which is not reflected in the review score (potential != current state). If you're looking for a fresh MMO to add to your collection, definitely give ESO a shot.... just wait a month or so for them to work the kinks out first.    … Expand
  82. BlindingBright
    Apr 28, 2014
    6
    It's like Skyrim and Guild Wars 2 had a baby.... but Skyrim found out that Guild Wars 2 was cheating on it with Dark Age of Camelot, and now Skyrim is left to raise their illegitimate child. You wanna love it, but every time you look down at it's cute little face you're reminded of how that B*&#h Skyrim cheated on you.

    This is the first MMO that has gotten me to turn off the background    It's like Skyrim and Guild Wars 2 had a baby.... but Skyrim found out that Guild Wars 2 was cheating on it with Dark Age of Camelot, and now Skyrim is left to raise their illegitimate child. You wanna love it, but every time you look down at it's cute little face you're reminded of how that B*&#h Skyrim cheated on you.

    This is the first MMO that has gotten me to turn off the background noise and to focus on... *gasp* playing it versus tuning it out or making me stare at a spreadsheet in motion. Other people cover the gripes pretty well; I'm still a loyal player, just frustrated. Currently dealing with CTD's, broken grouping, bugged quests, non-connecting combat, and weird disconnects. I'll re-re-review when this little runt gets older and learns how to walk without falling on it's face.    … Expand
  83. udmatador
    Apr 28, 2014
    5
    I really wanted to like this game, but I felt it did not translate well to the MMO genre. I felt that they tried too hard to focus on the leveling up and grind of the game rather than the mischief and freedom that the ES series has. It's not a bad game per say but it's not the Elder Scrolls either. I've spent about 30 hours with it and I'm just tired of it already. I'd much rather putI really wanted to like this game, but I felt it did not translate well to the MMO genre. I felt that they tried too hard to focus on the leveling up and grind of the game rather than the mischief and freedom that the ES series has. It's not a bad game per say but it's not the Elder Scrolls either. I've spent about 30 hours with it and I'm just tired of it already. I'd much rather put another 300 hours into skyrim than play this game. If your looking for a MMO with a decent grind, nice graphics, and ES type gameplay than check this out, but if you're thinking you're going to be playing a new Elder Scrolls installment with the same level of detail, than you're going to be disappointed.… Expand
  84. Netchy
    Apr 26, 2014
    6
    Can't even log into the game because it takes 30 minutes to log in. Quests bugs everywhere.

    There are some issues and bugs with the game that have been around since the beta or since the early days of the games release which still haven't been fixed.

    Do not buy or wait for the game to go F2P.
  85. Sevvy88
    Apr 26, 2014
    5
    What can I say? The game isn't bad. It's certainly not the worst MMO I've played, but does that mean it's great? Sadly, no.

    It does what it does passably. It's a theme-park MMO set in the Elder Scrolls universe. That in itself might be enough to put people off from it. My real issue with the game stems from the fact that everything it does, it does only passably well. Combat? Guild    What can I say? The game isn't bad. It's certainly not the worst MMO I've played, but does that mean it's great? Sadly, no.

    It does what it does passably. It's a theme-park MMO set in the Elder Scrolls universe. That in itself might be enough to put people off from it. My real issue with the game stems from the fact that everything it does, it does only passably well.

    Combat? Guild Wars 2 has better. Exploration? Same. Story? SW:TOR presents and delivers a better RPG element and main story than ESO does. Graphics? Final Fantasy: ARR is much sharper and with the times. The visuals are nice, but ultimately remind me of a Warhammer Online in HD. Dynamic events? See Rift and, again, Guild Wars 2.

    Like many people have pointed out, the game is just so painfully average. It's not the most on rails of the theme parks, so that at least is a plus, and the voice over questing -is- better than the "Read this huge text box" type mechanic, but simply having these traits isn't enough. WoW long stopped being the game that I judge MMO's by, because since WoW, we've had some great additions to the genre. Anyone who has played MMO's in any mentionable capacity in the last 10 years will constantly be feeling like they've done all of this before. I find myself bored after an hour or so.

    So, the game doesn't really bring anything new to the table. For people just picking up their first MMO's or who are truly in love with the Elder Scrolls world (the lore -is- very good) then this game might knock it out of the park. For your average MMO player looking for the next star in an already overcrowded sky of games though? I fear this is not it.

    Not bad, but not great. It just "is what it is." Another theme park. I fear the game often has more considering re-installing Skyrim or Oblivion, even Morrowind, rather than continue playing it. It is hard to tell who they exactly were making this game for.    … Expand
  86. Rarisk
    Apr 26, 2014
    5
    I had high hopes for this game, after reaching VR1 I feel like i had to grind my way up due to broken quests.
    The last 2 levels of the game had no content because of the 2-4% of quests along the way that didn't work. There are limited ways to gain experience effectively and I feel like the developers are forcing us to play the game a certain way.
    The game looks good, not great. On the    I had high hopes for this game, after reaching VR1 I feel like i had to grind my way up due to broken quests.
    The last 2 levels of the game had no content because of the 2-4% of quests along the way that didn't work. There are limited ways to gain experience effectively and I feel like the developers are forcing us to play the game a certain way.
    The game looks good, not great.
    On the plus side combat is smooth-ish, NPC's are dumb at times but the combat system is refreshing.
    This gamer hopes that in 2-6 months the game will be polished and worth a second look.    … Expand
  87. JoeCool
    Apr 26, 2014
    6
    Forget all the 10/10 reviews from launch day, they're not just worthless, they're misleading. The game isn't a good Elder Scrolls game, and it's not a good MMO. It's more of an average MMO with an Elder Scrolls skin slapped onto it.
    There are still many, many bugs. Partying up is simply not recommended as it'll harm your own advancement in PvE. Questing grouped is horrible. Many things    Forget all the 10/10 reviews from launch day, they're not just worthless, they're misleading. The game isn't a good Elder Scrolls game, and it's not a good MMO. It's more of an average MMO with an Elder Scrolls skin slapped onto it.
    There are still many, many bugs. Partying up is simply not recommended as it'll harm your own advancement in PvE. Questing grouped is horrible. Many things that have become standard for an MMO are just not there. PvP is reasonably good, it's just a bit pointless.
    It's just not worth the money, let alone a sub.    … Expand
  88. EndiHaxhi
    Apr 26, 2014
    5
    i must say, my first elder scrolls game was skyrim. i played it, liked it and then teso came out. when i heared it had a monthly fee, i thought: this guys had a success with sp only games, every one of them. heck, skyrim is the only game that is sp only that is played more then 50000 players everyday, which is bizzare. but bethesa is becoming money hungry. they want money and they want toi must say, my first elder scrolls game was skyrim. i played it, liked it and then teso came out. when i heared it had a monthly fee, i thought: this guys had a success with sp only games, every one of them. heck, skyrim is the only game that is sp only that is played more then 50000 players everyday, which is bizzare. but bethesa is becoming money hungry. they want money and they want to get it just like ea and activi$ion does. if the fee keeps running, i wont even bother with the new elder scrolls game. they let me down this time.… Expand
  89. DRMtookMYlife
    Apr 26, 2014
    6
    The big question here is: Is it worth the price? In short, no. $60 up front and $15 a month thereafter is not a fair price for the quality of this game. The game isn't bad certainly but the bugs can be seriously aggravating. There are few things I can think of that are as extremely frustrating as dying because my attack inputs weren't responding. Because the series is known for havingThe big question here is: Is it worth the price? In short, no. $60 up front and $15 a month thereafter is not a fair price for the quality of this game. The game isn't bad certainly but the bugs can be seriously aggravating. There are few things I can think of that are as extremely frustrating as dying because my attack inputs weren't responding. Because the series is known for having bugs is no excuse when this much money and effort was put into producing the game. Combat is a bit too drawn out and not quite fun enough for me. The most enjoyment I get out of this game is exploring the vast world. The cities are large and interesting and I'm excited to see more of it. I just wish combat breaking bugs and slow leveling were addressed better.… Expand
  90. JoshW
    Apr 25, 2014
    6
    Pros

    * Lore - Story is amazing * Voice Acting - The best of any MMO, by far * Crafting (Very detailed, lots of options to customize) * Addons - Whatever gaps there are in the UI, users are fixing it and making game more manageable. Graphics (with SweetFX enabled) * Incredibly Immersive * Support - ZOS has responded to 90% of my tickets, very polite and very responsive. * Questing    Pros

    * Lore - Story is amazing
    * Voice Acting - The best of any MMO, by far
    * Crafting (Very detailed, lots of options to customize)
    * Addons - Whatever gaps there are in the UI, users are fixing it and making game more manageable.
    Graphics (with SweetFX enabled)
    * Incredibly Immersive
    * Support - ZOS has responded to 90% of my tickets, very polite and very responsive.
    * Questing - Quests are plentiful and fun

    Cons

    * Micromanagement - From inventory to repairs, it consumes a lot of time (When I'd prefer spending that time playing rather than managing it). If you love micromanagement, this is for you.
    * Chat interface - I find it clumsy and outdated. Hard to notice when someone's talking to you.
    * Questing in group - This is the biggest let down... if you've already completed the quest you won't be able to see where your buddy is going. If you're the one completing the quest, your friend will feel like a hireling; if your buddy is completing the quest you'll find yourself thinking "There are better and more effective ways to grind".
    * Key Mapping - Yes, you'll have to manually setup each and every char... Unless you're sticking to Zenimax' default setting.
    * Replayability - Once you reach 50 you'll have to go PVP or you'll feel like you've got little else to do (Unless you really love the lore and you want to complete all quests and play with different factions, which’s not my case)
    * Customization - Crafting is really fun and very complex. That's where you'll be able to customize your existing char, because as of today, you can't change skins nor dye your armors and weapons.
    Monthly Fee - I prefer F2P with a game store... I usually spend more than 15 a month, if the items offered make a difference (customization, commodities, benefits)
    * Upgrades - Did you click on the wrong Horse upgrade? Suck it up and either discard the horse or just cope with it. I personally made 2 mistakes and that was it, I'm stuck with those mistakes.
    * Daily stuff - This is my personal opinion but I don't like how the game forces into connecting to it (or fall behind) with your chores. This is not an issue with ESO alone... most MMOs I've played have the same problem.

    Bottom line, this is an innovative game that has an awesome lore and it feels like a fresh start compared to other MMOs. However, it's not awesome enough to keep me playing it on a subscription model. I have already cancelled it and the game has been uninstalled.    … Expand
  91. Alsvha
    Apr 25, 2014
    6
    Decent attempt at a MMO but ultimately falls short leaving a mediocre experience.

    The good; Crafting is good, but whether it's useful outside food buffs and potions I'm not so sure about. But crafting from the bank so you don't have to haul materials around - nice. Shared bank. But this should really be a mainstay 'quality of life' feature by now anyways, so I'd say if it wasn't there    Decent attempt at a MMO but ultimately falls short leaving a mediocre experience.

    The good;
    Crafting is good, but whether it's useful outside food buffs and potions I'm not so sure about. But crafting from the bank so you don't have to haul materials around - nice.
    Shared bank. But this should really be a mainstay 'quality of life' feature by now anyways, so I'd say if it wasn't there it'd be a detractor.

    The potentially good;
    PvP has potential but whether it becomes more than ranged zerg vs ranged zerg with quick death is the crux. The PvP is also hurting due to the lack of combat feedback in the game. (Reliance on mods from the community to make the game playable).
    The class system seems interesting but while the game boasts of 'play as you want', cookie cutter setup is still going to be a focal point for 'end game' giving the feeling that there's not enough skills in the game per class.

    The bad:
    Questing is dull and feels grindy. I found myself speed clicking through the dialogue because it was just a few lines of chatter before I had to start running after quest markers.
    The UI is awful. Yes, I know they wanted it "minimalistic" and wanted the users to make the quality UI, but its a bad idea for a MMO. The lack of feed back makes combat dull and disconnected for example. And while you can use mods to make it better it shouldn't be up to the community to actually make the UI. They should just add flavour to it. Relying on the community to make the game playable seems more lazy than minimalistic.
    The lore is like questing rather dull and the fact that pre-orders can be any race in any alliance just further waters out any distinctiveness of choosing a side which is not so good.
    There's also the distinct problems for the developers to keep on top of gold sellers and bots which ruin much of the starter zones for everybody.
    The economy is hard on new comers due to very low reward for killing mobs (which adds to the grindy feeling of the game).

    All in all a mediocre MMO which greatest achievement is making me want to play previous MMOs again for the various parts. I - like many other - do suspect a F2P future for this game within a relative short time span (from a MMO point of view), and especially when the next Elder Scrolls single player game comes out.

    So - in my opinion it's a 6/10 game.
    Stay away unless you're REALLY into MMOs and need a new one to try out or you're really into Elder Scrolls game and just has to play them all.    … Expand
  92. TheMeph
    Apr 24, 2014
    6
    The game breaker for me is the phasing system. You can't play with your friends or family unless you are all in the exact same step of the exact same quest, otherwise you all get separated into your own little realities and it becomes a solo quest. My son was disappointed that even tho we were grouped i could do nothing to help him kill the elite mob I had already killed before, and heThe game breaker for me is the phasing system. You can't play with your friends or family unless you are all in the exact same step of the exact same quest, otherwise you all get separated into your own little realities and it becomes a solo quest. My son was disappointed that even tho we were grouped i could do nothing to help him kill the elite mob I had already killed before, and he had to wait till a random person came by to try to duo it together. Completely ruined it for me, not being able to play with family. Not re subbing.… Expand
  93. Rumblefish
    Apr 24, 2014
    6
    Well, what to say about this game? Firstly, I am a massive Elder Scrolls fan and used to be a big fan of MMOs for many years but have been shaken off by the pervasive free-to-play model and by watching developers dilute the integrity of their own IPs by pandering to self-entitled players.

    So, the biggest plus I can say for ESO is that it has got me playing an MMO again. Other    Well, what to say about this game? Firstly, I am a massive Elder Scrolls fan and used to be a big fan of MMOs for many years but have been shaken off by the pervasive free-to-play model and by watching developers dilute the integrity of their own IPs by pandering to self-entitled players.

    So, the biggest plus I can say for ESO is that it has got me playing an MMO again. Other positives are that the graphics (on maximum settings) are beautiful; lighting, particle effects and the day/night cycle are all the best I have seen in any MMO. Zenimax have successfully created the atmosphere of an ES game, the player is immersed in Tamriel and it's a joy to explore the world and meet its inhabitants.

    There's much to admire. The implementation of class skills and also weapon and armour skill lines means that any class of character is free to fill any role. Are you a heavy armour wearing Dragonknight tank? Well simply respec, pick up a staff and start a new career as a spellslinger or healer. The combat is engaging, with dodging, blocking and interrupting adding elements to the encounters. However, fighting in ESO does suffer a bit from lag and a feeling of imprecision and weightlessness. A player can often move out of the way of a spell or ability only to be struck when they thought they were safe.

    Crafting is very interesting in ESO, it's quite intricate and requires dedication to slowly level up. Armour and weapons can be created, improved and enchanted in a myriad of ways and styles and crafting is actually a viable source of income. Damaged armour is expensive to repair and I absolutely love the fact that this introduces an actual negative repercussion to death.

    All quests are very professionally voice acted and are a cut above the usual "collect ten bear pelts". However, I did find that all the different groups, characters and comrades one meets along the way become indistinguishable from each other and are by and large forgettable. PvP can be engrossing and addictive but the lack of any world pvp takes away a lot of immersion. PvP action in Cyrodill is all manufactured fare and is only slightly better than the "usual jerg, dead, rez, repeat" that no other MMO seems to have been able to innovate on.

    However, there are negatives to this game also and boy are they large and numerous. The thing about an ES game is that you are the focus of a living breathing world. Can you break into an NPCs house, pick their pocket whilst they sleep, steal their dinner and then murder them and permanently remove them from the game? Yes, yes you can. This is not the case with ESO. Here, you are in a facade of a world. Everything is laid out in front of you and if you squint hard enough, you could believe that you're in Nirn. But peek behind the curtain and realise it's a sham. This is the proverbial theme park. Go here, speak to him, go over there. It's linear in the extreme and there is no real opportunity to fashion your own adventures or stories.

    Many useful features, staples of the genre are missing from ESO. You cannot inspect another player, or duel them. There is no worldwide auction house - and whilst I understand the reasoning behind this, the current guild store simply doesn't work. It's inaccessible and unappealing. Inventory space is a premium and most of your time during the first 20 levels will be spend managing bag and bank space. Although, ironically, there is no way to collect the books you find during your journeys.

    And then there are the disasters. The gold spam in this game is like nothing you will have ever experienced before. It is pervasive and intrusive all day long. The world is plagued with bots, either teleporting from node to node or standing in open world dungeons (surely the worst idea ever to grace an MMO) endlessly battering and looting the same poor mini-boss all day long. It's just not good enough. The game crashes regularly and the economy has already been destroyed by those who have exploited bank glitches. Clearly, a lot of work has gone into ESO but, ultimately, not enough.

    And the same can be said with the amount of thought that went into the social aspect of the game. As I've said, public dungeons are the most disastrous, immersion-breaking events in any MMO, but simply grouping up to quest with others is similarly flawed. Quests are phased, so if your partner is not on exactly the same stage of a quest that you are, then they will not even be able to see the NPCs you are tasked with killing (and therefore can offer no help). The game seems to make actions within it as inconvenient as possible. I've already mentioned trading in this regard but any social interaction can become confusing because people chat in zone/group chat etc under their character name, but appear in guild chat and in the dungeon finder etc as their account name.

    The game could have been a lot better, I hope it improves but it's probably already too late.    … Expand
  94. jimredtalon
    Apr 24, 2014
    5
    It's an okay single player RPG one moment, then an okay MMO the next. Which all in all makes for a mediocre game. For a title boasting the name of elder scrolls, a franchise known for setting the pace in the RPG genre, this one falls short of its predecessors, both in elder scrolls, and in MMO's.
  95. Eruptox
    Apr 23, 2014
    7
    Reviews here are too long, I'll just summarize it. (Intermediate MMO player here)

    Pros - Great Voiceovers (Not as good as SWTOR imo) - Soundtrack. - If you want to play an MMO. - Amazing Landscapes Cons - Combat - Not the best, a little dumb down version of GW2 - Skyrim - Nothing like Skyrim V, not even close. - Terrible Quest Achievement - Short Quests that doesn't feel    Reviews here are too long, I'll just summarize it. (Intermediate MMO player here)

    Pros
    - Great Voiceovers (Not as good as SWTOR imo)
    - Soundtrack.
    - If you want to play an MMO.
    - Amazing Landscapes

    Cons
    - Combat - Not the best, a little dumb down version of GW2
    - Skyrim - Nothing like Skyrim V, not even close.
    - Terrible Quest Achievement - Short Quests that doesn't feel rewarding.
    - No Auction House (Yet)

    If you're a person who rates it by its launch week, you're honestly not a gamer. No MMO has ever been released with no problems at all. All games go through the same phase.

    TL: DR

    - MMO player: you may like it, it's simplistic, and has an ESO theme.
    - RPG player: Not really a good RPG, especially if you hope it's like Skyrim V.    … Expand
  96. Kucha
    Apr 23, 2014
    7
    his is a good MMO that I am playing and plan to continue to play because I'm enjoying it. Having said that, I admit that it's not revolutionary, but one that does most things right. Overall, I'd say that ESO is an Elder Scrolls single player and MMO hybrid. You got some, but not all parts of both. If you are OK with sacrificing some of your beloved Elder Scrolls single playerhis is a good MMO that I am playing and plan to continue to play because I'm enjoying it. Having said that, I admit that it's not revolutionary, but one that does most things right. Overall, I'd say that ESO is an Elder Scrolls single player and MMO hybrid. You got some, but not all parts of both. If you are OK with sacrificing some of your beloved Elder Scrolls single player experiences for the opportunity to play with others, then this game is just for you. If you are inflexible and demand a full Elder Scrolls and MMO game, then you will probably be disappointed.

    PROS

    The developers do a great job of giving you an immersive amount of quests as you level up. The process does not feel like a grind, and one can take the time to enjoy the adventure process en route to max level. Good stories, good (although repetitive) voice overs, lots of lore, and pretty nice graphics. Oh, and the world is HUGE. I have to give kudos to the Devs for that. Second, the classes are incredibly flexible, enabling a player to play any role with any class. It can be rather fun to create non-traditional classes, such as a healing tank. Also, the PvP battles are enjoyable and pretty intense.

    CONS

    On the other hand, the game is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. There are a few too many bugs, some of which are unacceptable as they should never have made it into the game. Also, making auction houses (guild stores) available only through guilds is unwelcome. You won't be able to buy or sell from all players in your faction this way. Furthermore, the game economy is in shambles as a near endless number of gold spammers, and game exploiters threaten the very economic stability of the game. ESO devs should have been more aggressive about removing these guys from day 1.

    The game is missing some of the single-player Elder Scrolls game elements that I enjoy. For example, you'll have to level before going to all of the zones. This kills exploration for me. Also, many of the other tasks that I enjoy doing (killing random villagers and stealing from merchants) are not available. Furthermore, some of the caves and dungeons are static and look the same. The variety of crypt and/or cavern exploring is just not as exciting as in the single player counterparts.

    My personal opinion is that these issues have not kept me from playing this game. I've enjoyed most of my experiences in this version of Tamriel and I look forward to ZeniMax fixing the bugs and stabilizing the game experience (i.e., hunting down the spammers/exploiters). If you like both Elder Scrolls and MMO's, then you will be doing yourself a disservice if you don't give this game a shot.    … Expand
  97. Vorch
    Apr 23, 2014
    5
    It's a good game.

    However, it is definitely not worth the subscription for more than 3 months, imo.

    AvA is probably the most unbalanced I've seen...and you will be stuck there for 3 months...

    PvE is pretty good, I personally enjoyed the story.

    All in all, try it yourself.
  98. GhoXen
    Apr 23, 2014
    5
    Playtime: around 170 hours

    Level: Veteran Rank 6 (10 ranks in total after level cap of 50) Experience: All previous TES games, numerous MMOs including WoW, LOTRO, SWTOR, GW2, FF14 (old & new), WildStar beta, etc. Playstyle: Story, group PvE, PvP, completionist. Compared to many recent entries in the MMO market, ESO certainly stands out with some brave novel designs. They've    Playtime: around 170 hours

    Level: Veteran Rank 6 (10 ranks in total after level cap of 50)

    Experience: All previous TES games, numerous MMOs including WoW, LOTRO, SWTOR, GW2, FF14 (old & new), WildStar beta, etc.

    Playstyle: Story, group PvE, PvP, completionist.

    Compared to many recent entries in the MMO market, ESO certainly stands out with some brave novel designs. They've done a better job than SWTOR in terms of story, world and immersion, and the MMO certainly feels more like a TES game than any other MMO on the market with the introduction of first-person view. There is a crazy amount of details put into the making of the game, ranging from random NPCs, exploration to consequences of decisions during questing (some of which you will be reminded of even many zones and levels later). However, it's also suffering from a bland endgame, similar to many recent releases, but that's less of an issue than its problem with management.

    ZOS has been managing ESO extremely poorly. In a short span of two weeks, they have made more bad management decisions than Blizzard has made in years.

    The game is extremely buggy, and feels like an unfinished and untested product. The progression of many essential quests are still broken even weeks after launch, and the devs have been extremely slow at fixing the problems. For MMOs like this, you'd expect massive patches that quickly solve player issues at launch, but that is not the case with ESO. The patches are small, and tend to solve only a small number of issues.

    There are also many very poor designs that are now biting the devs in back. Whether it's unbalanced mechanics or poorly designed reward system that led to people camping bosses. Understandably, these issues appear to be of a lesser priority than game-breaking bugs, so don't expect them fixed anytime soon.

    Then there is ZOS's handling of exploits that are potentially fatal to the game. ZOS has failed to take care of exploits reported during the beta, and as a result an exploit nearly wiped the game world. Then the messy banwave banned lots of innocent players (whose accounts were eventually restored), and lots of exploiters are still unbanned. As I write this review, there are still at least 3 exploits of similar nature in the public domain, and ZOS's reaction is anything but swift.

    Some may say: surely these issues will be eventually fixed? While that may be true, what the recent events have shown is that ZOS has very poor management. As a result, they may not be equipped to deal with on-going problems a MMO may encounter, and I dread to think of the countless issues they'd run into when they release their first content patch, and when they eventually release some expansion pack. It's not about what's currently broken, instead it's about how poorly ZOS has been addressing them thus far, which indicates how poorly ZOS will address similar issues in the future with dreadful efficiency and messy effectiveness.

    The game has a lot of potential, but the current management of the game is very disappointing. As a player, I do not find ZOS trustworthy or capable. Rather than sinking investments of time and effort into this poorly managed game, I implore potential players to look elsewhere, at least for the time-being. Until ZOS manages to prove to the playerbase that they can improve their game management, ESO does not deserve your patience or tolerance.

    PS: Before anyone wonders why I've spent so much time with a this game like this, the reasons are simple - despite all its flaws I still enjoyed the story (once). Aside from that, I'm really just killing time until Dark Souls 2 releases on PC.    … Expand
  99. WarMaster115
    Apr 22, 2014
    5
    Let's face it, at the current state the game has an identity crisis - it's not really a full heavy-hitter single player game like Oblivion or Skyrim, and it's not a brilliant MMO either. Having tried to merge two worlds together Zenimax made an impressive job, no doubts about that. But it's just not enough.

    After playing for a while you begin to notice that nothing really stands out in    Let's face it, at the current state the game has an identity crisis - it's not really a full heavy-hitter single player game like Oblivion or Skyrim, and it's not a brilliant MMO either. Having tried to merge two worlds together Zenimax made an impressive job, no doubts about that. But it's just not enough.

    After playing for a while you begin to notice that nothing really stands out in the game.
    Everything just seems average, apart from stellar sound production though (voice acting, music, fx).
    Graphics - mediocre, story - mediocre, gameplay - mediocre, tons of bugs (broken quests, lag, ctd, infinite loading, etc.) - all this really hammers down your experience. But the biggest problem are the actual players, as they are the ones who will ruin your experience most often.

    I really wanted to like this game and saw a huge potential in the way it was developing.
    But, sadly, the end product is just another MMO only with the Elder Scrolls label on it.    … Expand
  100. thehaxx646
    Apr 22, 2014
    5
    About as meh as an elder scrolls game can be.
    It's just no fun at all, all the life is sucked out of the game. Wait till this goes F2P, then play it.
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 36 out of 64
  3. Negative: 1 out of 64
  1. CD-Action
    Jul 23, 2014
    60
    Eight years of development, a team consisting of even 250 people at some points, budget reaching hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s a pity that this ‘Skyrim Online’ disappoints both fans of previous Bethesda games and MMORPG veterans who expected some fresh air in the stale genre. [06/2014, p.44]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 8, 2014
    60
    A well done MMO that can lure players not familiar with the genre. But if you've played MMOs before, this one doesn't offer anything new, nor anything exciting.
  3. DarkStation
    Jun 16, 2014
    50
    60 days was more then enough time for me to determine that I would rather spend my time elsewhere.
    Read full review
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