The Elder Scrolls Online

andicniko

Apr 15, 2014

0

It's in the bin after a week. For those who say this is in the spirit of the series I don't want to live on the same planet as you. If you want to compare it with Morrowind Oblivion or Skyrim then ESO has... Awful graphics, lazy animation, ugly low quality objects and buildings, the combat is just s$%t and has no feeling of connecting blows at all, it just feels like clicking furiouslyIt's in the bin after a week. For those who say this is in the spirit of the series I don't want to live on the same planet as you. If you want to compare it with Morrowind Oblivion or Skyrim then ESO has... Awful graphics, lazy animation, ugly low quality objects and buildings, the combat is just s$%t and has no feeling of connecting blows at all, it just feels like clicking furiously until they're dead - dialogue being a minor inconvenience between clicks as opposed to something interesting.

In its defence the voice acting is good in parts. That's about it for me.

Honestly, it might not even be a bad MMO. But it seems to me it is only called Elder Scrolls to cash in on the goodwill attached to it, and it contributes NOTHING good back to it's name. This is shameful game development in the same vein as a flappy bird clone. This is a scar in the Elder Scroll series that is best forgotten.

(It really doesn't make a difference that was not developed by the same people - then don't call it Elser Scrolls. It still doesn't live up to its name in any way shape or for, and is just bad overall)… Expand

cripplerca

Apr 15, 2014

1

This game has amazing graphics but its not a game for everyone its more suited for an experienced MMO player. This is a good game however I will not be continuing after the 1st 30 days not because its a bad game just not a game for me I get bored with the questing wish they had a dungeon system like most MMO's do. Happy I tried it but not a game for me

F4KT0R

Apr 15, 2014

5

Wir unterstützen weltweit mehrere Methoden. Spieler müssen The Elder Scrolls Online kaufen um es zu spielen. Für die ersten 30 Tagen nach Spielaktivierung werden sie "unbegrenzten Zugriff" haben und danach mit einem Abonnement von €12,99 pro Monat ($14,99 / £8,99) weiterspielen können

unbegrenzten Zugriff Haha ich muss gleich weinen vor lachen...

bluesnacks

Apr 15, 2014

8

I'm saddened by these reviews, as many of the negative reviews are for silly reasons. "Bugs?" Come on guys. Give me an MMO that didn't have these at launch. By the way, they're fixing a ton of those bugs mentioned below me with a patch coming out today.

"PvE is unbalanced." Really? That doesn't make sense. It's been out for a week, I'm surprised you've already made it to veteran levelI'm saddened by these reviews, as many of the negative reviews are for silly reasons. "Bugs?" Come on guys. Give me an MMO that didn't have these at launch. By the way, they're fixing a ton of those bugs mentioned below me with a patch coming out today.

"PvE is unbalanced." Really? That doesn't make sense. It's been out for a week, I'm surprised you've already made it to veteran level and tested. Oh, wait.

In all seriousness, it's a great game. If you enjoyed Elder Scrolls, and are an Elder Scrolls fanatic, maybe it's not for you. If you're looking for an awesome game to play though, this is it. It has engaging stories, fun combat and a myriad of things to do. Crafting is amazing; and this is coming from someone that has historically *hated* crafting. I was apathetic playing the betas, almost disappointed, but the game really has blown me away so far, and it doesn't deserve people down voting it because of bugs.

As of this writing, 8 out of 10, things could be better, but it's still damn good.… Expand

Osutin24

Apr 15, 2014

10

I've played since beta and this game is like none other that I've seen before it. I've played Wow, SWTOR, LOTR online, GuildWars 2 and other MMO's and this one is like no other. A friendly reminder though, this game is not like it's predecessor in that it's an MMO, not a single player game. The game play is fun and I find myself enjoying the casual questing and foraging. The PvE is reallyI've played since beta and this game is like none other that I've seen before it. I've played Wow, SWTOR, LOTR online, GuildWars 2 and other MMO's and this one is like no other. A friendly reminder though, this game is not like it's predecessor in that it's an MMO, not a single player game. The game play is fun and I find myself enjoying the casual questing and foraging. The PvE is really cool and and offers allot more than what I actually thought it would when I had just heard of the game. I'd give this game a higher score, but with the amount of bugs to be fixed are quite staggering and a few balancing issues should be noted. All that aside I don't mind paying 15.00$ a month for this MMO because I know it's going towards fixing those bugs and balancing.… Expand

Timp2700

Apr 15, 2014

7

My initial look into TESO was guarded but anxious to say the least. I've played tons of MMO's ranging from Ultima, WoW, Tera, and SWTOR. I've long been waiting it's release, being a big fan of the Franchise and the developers as well. What I saw was a game that sought to separate itself from other MMO's in very unique ways. The crafting system for instance can be very time consuming and inMy initial look into TESO was guarded but anxious to say the least. I've played tons of MMO's ranging from Ultima, WoW, Tera, and SWTOR. I've long been waiting it's release, being a big fan of the Franchise and the developers as well. What I saw was a game that sought to separate itself from other MMO's in very unique ways. The crafting system for instance can be very time consuming and in depth... and all-together it offers an entirely new facet to play. You could spend (if you wanted) an entire day trying to hunt down resources to create the perfect potion, or the right runes to create a glyph for your chest piece. Another appealing feature is the stability of the player economy. Whereas many games have resorted to the Free to Play method (with pay to win being a large factor in many of the aforementioned equations), TESO sticks to subscription. Unfortunate, but when you realize what they've done in terms of limiting players ability to rapidly acquire resources through paying to win... It seems well worth it. There is no public auction house, and returns from crafting and selling to vendors are minimal at best (so minimal at times that it's truly frustrating and seemingly unfair). The purchasing end is just the opposite, usually resulting in a very empty gold purse. This system encourages players to seek the selling and buying wares from one another as oppose to getting them from vendors.

These systems are how they separate themselves and try to stay true to a dedicated and undiluted play experience, which has my deepest admirations in it's practice. Now, as far as playing the game is concerned... this is where you experience the most setbacks. I really enjoy playing the game, it's awesome and some might refer to the combat system as "Clunky". Instead of the traditional "spam tab" to switch between targets, they resorted to a free aim combat system like TERA's. So in other words, dodging and finding your target is left up to your eye hand coordination. While it isn't as polished, it's still just like Skyrim in the sense that your moves will go where you point them. If you can't handle the prospect of free aiming your fireballs and arrows at targets, don't play this game. The game is still in it's birthing stages, barely above release... so of course it's going to need dedicated user feedback and ideas to make it that much better.

Now, the most important part, and my second biggest gripe.... the bugs. I was willing to let most of the first ones I encountered over my first few days of play slide. After more days of play however, I encountered more bugs... and more bugs. It reminded me of the console release of Skyrim all over again. Once I got above level 15 and to the second area is when they really started becoming frequent. So much so that I grudgingly started submitting user feed back, switching my attitude from constructive to very frustrated, to seething. After encountering bug after bug, and seeing others experience the same in zone chat, I started to wonder if they even really tested the quest lines let alone the areas themselves.

This of course leads to my biggest gripe. Downtime. A game that offers a entirely new MMO experience is one that I will gladly attach myself to for hours a day. Especially on my days off. As any seasoned MMO player is aware, most MMO's have scheduled downtime. TESO doesn't. They drop the servers whenever they feel like and it can be anywhere from two hours to six hours. Unless you regularly check the forums for spontaneously scheduled maintenance, there's no telling when you might be met with the dreadful "The EU and NA Megaservers are currently down" message. My days off vary widely, never being set from week to week. Yet, as long as I've played this game, they've managed to do maintenance on every single one. So when I wake up, looking forward to the progress I'll make on my character, I'm brought to a grinding halt by the announcement that I can't play as intended. This has happened on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday so far. I'm sure that if I have an off day on Wednesday next week, it will be then too.

I really would like to rate this game higher, but the gripes I presented hinder the gameplay so much I can't bring myself to do so. It's long past time developers stop peddling their wares when they haven't been properly tested and even finished. When I go to a car dealership, I don't expect to buy a new car without windows and airbags with the promise of their installation in the following weeks. Why should this be any different.

If you can look past it's faults however, and ignore the bugs and downtime... this MMO is a goldmine of potential. They just need to dig a little deeper, and stop being so reckless with the excavation.… Expand

KillAllHumans

Apr 15, 2014

9

From the start I was one of the haters of the entire concept of ESO. I just didn't think ES was meant for such a standard take on the MMO genre. I was glad to be proven wrong in most ways.

The game is massive. In a few of the more recent MMO launches. I've often found myself greatly disappointed with map sizes in general. Zones often feeling like small bottle-necked canyons that leadFrom the start I was one of the haters of the entire concept of ESO. I just didn't think ES was meant for such a standard take on the MMO genre. I was glad to be proven wrong in most ways.

The game is massive. In a few of the more recent MMO launches. I've often found myself greatly disappointed with map sizes in general. Zones often feeling like small bottle-necked canyons that lead from point A to point B. That feeling is nowhere to be found. I'm still stunned at the size of the zones. Glenumbra for example a Daggerfall zone. Honestly feels like it could engulf almost the entirety of The World of Warcraft zone Northrend within its borders.

The game is beyond gorgeous. Without a doubt the best looking MMO I've played to date. The environments are lush, the lighting is truly amazing. For matter of fact. The lighting is the single best thing about the look of the game. They've done such a good job with it. The contrast from Day to Night is noticeable. A good example of the lighting would be. Take one of the many Skyrim lighting mods with "Fantasy settings" mixed with highly saturated colors. This makes for some amazing sun rise vistas while exploring the world.

The character models is where Zenimax really strays from typical Elderscrolls. Mainly they are appealing looking out of the box and not with having to add an array of body and texture mods to make your elves not ugly. Unless you're one of the many die hards that want their Elves ugly and their women manly. You will not be disappointed with this. With that said. I still want a few more options. Mainly with the face models. I would like to see some more preset options. I'm not really one to take and create the perfect face for my character. I usually like cycling through presets until I find one I like, then tweak that model slightly.

The combat is a mixed bag for me. I feel like the amount of abilities is simply just not enough to really mix and match and come up with crazy builds. You have 1-5 and Q and R. Q being quickslot which can only have potions and other on use items. I would like to see the option to throw a spell in this slot. R is for your ultimate ability. 1-5 To me is really confining. I've been finding it very hard to create a build I truly enjoy. Weapon Swap helps a little bit with this but it's still not enough. Having 1-5 abilities is just not enough. I'm not a fan of having 26+ keybinds and it still not being enough. I feel like 10-12 Keybinds would be more ideal and I really hope they revisit the model they've developed in future expansions. MMO's are dynamic by nature after all. Otherwise the left and right click combat mechanics of swinging a sword, staff, using a bow, etc and blocking with right click. Works pretty well and is more fluid than I could've hoped for.

The questing holds mostly true to the Elderscrolls style. I prefer to do the questing content solo. That way I can move at my own pace and enjoy the stories and getting the quest rewards at my own pace. Some things I don't like. I don't like how when I'm on this epic quest and I see 20 other people in the some dungeon, doing the same quest. I feel like this content should've been tuned towards single player and party content. The feeling of ES would've been much more intact. What I mean by that is. The questing dungeons should not all be public. It's just kinda strange. There are a ton of public dungeons that have a boss at the end that people can farm for loot and sometimes these will have a quest in them as well. Thats fine, but when I'm on a quest. I don't want to see everyone and their brother that is on the same quest in the same dungeon. It's really distracting.

I haven't really got to try out the pvp much at all. So I don't have a lot of input on that. From what I've heard though, people seem to really enjoy it.

ESO seems to have taken concepts from a few key games and mixed them all really well together.
Games like Warhammer, Rift, Age of Conan and SWTOR. They have taken concepts from these games and wove them strongly into the fabric that makes ESO as a whole. This is where ESO really shines. The experience as a whole package. Which is something rare of some of the last MMO's I've experienced. I have that classic WoW feeling. That feeling when I know I'm taking part in a truly special game. The one thing people need to understand is, don't expect ESO to be like Skyrim, Something people often forgot about Elderscrolls games is. They each play a little differently and that's whats important to remember. ESO is simply an MMO take on the universe of ES. If you don't like MMO's already. You probably will not like ESO. If you like MMO's don't miss ESO.… Expand

drwebs

Apr 15, 2014

1

The zones are just one big sameness. The quests are cleverly disguised fetch and kill quests. It is a good game, it wont "fail" like many have said it will. However, it is not the best of the best in the elder scrolls series. Let's not pretend it is something it is not.

Longevity? Why does it feel like a fishbowl? The map surround us with mountains instead of invisible wall. How comeThe zones are just one big sameness. The quests are cleverly disguised fetch and kill quests. It is a good game, it wont "fail" like many have said it will. However, it is not the best of the best in the elder scrolls series. Let's not pretend it is something it is not.

Longevity? Why does it feel like a fishbowl? The map surround us with mountains instead of invisible wall.
How come we are all "the chosen one"?

Boss camping, Bite selling, Content blocking until X level.

Bank/Bag space? I hope that wont be in the cash shop.

And we all know the cash shop is not going to sit idle for long. The cash shop says: I am ready to move to free to play at a moments notice. XP potions, Gold Potions, skins, buy a level 50, mounts etc.… Expand

blackbird1

Apr 15, 2014

0

5 Slots are way to less for one bar.
Bots everywhere
The game gets made easier and easier with every patch
if you are not a complete casual player stay away from this.
It looks nice and the story quests are not bad.... but its not an mmo!

DigitalOz

Apr 15, 2014

10

I played the 4 beta weekends and have played now for a couple of weeks. I have played Elder Scrolls games since Daggerfall and I love the Elder Scrolls world. I am an adult with a job and family, so I can only play for a few hours a week. So far, I think the game is outstanding. By far the best graphics in any MMO to date. I have long been waiting for a graphics refresh in the MMORPGI played the 4 beta weekends and have played now for a couple of weeks. I have played Elder Scrolls games since Daggerfall and I love the Elder Scrolls world. I am an adult with a job and family, so I can only play for a few hours a week. So far, I think the game is outstanding. By far the best graphics in any MMO to date. I have long been waiting for a graphics refresh in the MMORPG world. It has been needing it for a long time. I also like that the graphics are realistic style instead of cartoon oriented. There is voice acting throughout most quests. The game improves on the MMO formula in several ways, but two notable ones for me are: first, combat is no longer just a 'turn on combat mode and mash spell/activity buttons' affair. You can actually dodge, block and stun opponents, so combat requires more thinking and action during the combat and it becomes more interesting as a result. Second, they have done a great job moving away from pure grind for leveling. So far, I have never been without quests to complete and quests reward handsomely so that leveling results more from quest completion than just monster killing. Quests so far have included the usual kill quests and delivery/messenger quests, but also there have been a number of puzzle quests. I have enjoyed the variety of quests. Overall I am having a lot of fun and enjoying the breathtaking graphics.… Expand

auntumleaf

Apr 15, 2014

10

The questing is intriguing and fun. The game developers put a work into it. Very enjoyable playing in the game world. Alliance vs alliance battle is a lot of fun.

Zenimax stick to their vision of the game but still listen to the playing community to make good improvements. Some bugs are to be expected in the first couple months of a new MMO launch. They have been moving very quickThe questing is intriguing and fun. The game developers put a work into it. Very enjoyable playing in the game world. Alliance vs alliance battle is a lot of fun.

Zenimax stick to their vision of the game but still listen to the playing community to make good improvements. Some bugs are to be expected in the first couple months of a new MMO launch. They have been moving very quick to address the issues.

For those who hating on the subscription model, you do know in life you get what you are paying for. This game is worth it.… Expand

viewtiful1337

Apr 15, 2014

0

TEOS is a huge Game,
it takes you to cities and places you've already visited in morrowind/oblivion and Skyrim and beyond.
Tamriel is splitted in 3 different factions that wages a huge war in cyrodil (pvp) and there are lots of dungeons and quest you can discover. and it has the most varied questing I#ve experienced in years- But it is a singleplayer game, you can do everything onTEOS is a huge Game,
it takes you to cities and places you've already visited in morrowind/oblivion and Skyrim and beyond.
Tamriel is splitted in 3 different factions that wages a huge war in cyrodil (pvp) and there are lots of dungeons and quest you can discover. and it has the most varied questing I#ve experienced in years-

But it is a singleplayer game, you can do everything on your own, the grouping and questing together is uncomfortable and pretty much useless since there is absolutely no need for it.

The quest don't match the experience you'll need to advance in higher leveled areas.
Most of the higher level content is buggy.
Sometime the game resets your characters progress

Things you buy disappear
Things you craft disappear
Your helmet will most likely disappear.
These are all things you can patch but since they want you to pay 14bucks a month I#m sure I won't play it next month.… Expand

zyander

Apr 15, 2014

3

Basically a very good game, lots of fun and interesting things to do and a few challenges.
But....
This is 2014. I'm beyond excuses for poor technical implementation of MMO. Everyone gets by on launch issues because "that's how it is for all games". I'm tired of that lame excuse. I played UO for almost 7 years, it had a very shaky start, rebounded and was great. Then WoW for about 7Basically a very good game, lots of fun and interesting things to do and a few challenges.
But....
This is 2014. I'm beyond excuses for poor technical implementation of MMO. Everyone gets by on launch issues because "that's how it is for all games". I'm tired of that lame excuse. I played UO for almost 7 years, it had a very shaky start, rebounded and was great. Then WoW for about 7 years. Same bad start, fixes, then okay.

Why haven't any MMO publishers learned from all of the mistakes that have come before. Most technologies has advanced greatly in the 17 years or so since UO launched, yet MMO launches all seem to be falling into the same old problems.

MegaServer is a good concept, but I question it's viability. They have already removed a lot from the game, nameplates being the most obvious, I believe because their megaserver can't support it.

Dozens (maybe more but this is from my limited play) of bugged quests (many reported during beta yet the game launched with them), terrible server lag, frequent disconnects for Unknown Error (I'm concerned about unknown, but more because they capture no data in the error folder that might allow them to determine what happened).

Lot's of people losing banks, upgrades, skill points, 5-6 times a day kicked out and rolled back 5 or so minutes and lag of up to 20 minutes in chat.

I really want this game to be good and the next game I play for 7 plus years, but unless there are significant fixes soon and better communications to the player base, I sadly feel it will fall by the wayside. I'd hate to see that happen, the Elder Scrolls games have been some of the best for 20 years. I had already setup a 6 month sub, but will be removing that before the "free month" is over unless some real change occurs.… Expand

MrMT

Apr 15, 2014

9

This is the best new MMO to come along for some time. The skill system is excellently flexible, allowing a great range of playstyles with each of the 4 core classes. The world is enjoyable to explore and quest in, the crafting works well, the combat is meaty and satisfying. I would say this is a pip above Guild Wars 2 at this stage; we'll have to see how it feels in a couple of months.

mysterybounty

Apr 14, 2014

9

I see people giving this game a 0-5 score and those people need to realize what reviewing a game actually means. Even 5 years ago it was implausible to think an MMO could achieve some of the things Elder Scrolls Online manages to do. From making a better community by only having 1 MEGA Server, to somehow making the game feel like an action RPG that just happens to be online, Zenimax knocksI see people giving this game a 0-5 score and those people need to realize what reviewing a game actually means. Even 5 years ago it was implausible to think an MMO could achieve some of the things Elder Scrolls Online manages to do. From making a better community by only having 1 MEGA Server, to somehow making the game feel like an action RPG that just happens to be online, Zenimax knocks it out of the park with this game at every turn, Elder Scrolls Online is immersive, gigantic, and a blast to play, the first MMO in YEARS I have felt like I HAD to get back on everyday, anyone giving this game a score lower than a 6 is trolling I guarantee it.… Expand

Demikly

Apr 14, 2014

10

Brilliant MMO with a healthy dose of excellent TES lore, story, PvP sieges and excellent combat.

If you enjoy MMORPGs & TES games, there is no way you will not like this game. If you enjoy SP RPGs and TES games, try it out, and you may be surprised. I really rate the game at a 9 or 9.5, but have used 10 to balance the multitude of SP Skyrim nerdrage earlier in the ratings with theirBrilliant MMO with a healthy dose of excellent TES lore, story, PvP sieges and excellent combat.

If you enjoy MMORPGs & TES games, there is no way you will not like this game.
If you enjoy SP RPGs and TES games, try it out, and you may be surprised.

I really rate the game at a 9 or 9.5, but have used 10 to balance the multitude of SP Skyrim nerdrage earlier in the ratings with their 'O' ratings.… Expand

santiagodraco

Apr 14, 2014

5

A word to the wise... if you see a review that refers to ESO as a "Warcraft reskin" realize two things. One, the author of said review is a complete idiot and two the author is a complete idiot.

ESO has it's faults but a Warcraft clone it ain't. It has the best storytelling and quest narration of any MMO ever, the combat and skill systems are very unique and the game world and audioA word to the wise... if you see a review that refers to ESO as a "Warcraft reskin" realize two things. One, the author of said review is a complete idiot and two the author is a complete idiot.

ESO has it's faults but a Warcraft clone it ain't. It has the best storytelling and quest narration of any MMO ever, the combat and skill systems are very unique and the game world and audio is nothing but spectacular.

Issues exist however and many are game breaking. Zenimax coded many boss fights to instant spawn and drop loot every time. So you just sit and farm bosses and get loot galore. What's funny is how long they let this go on, just long enough to allow the Zenimax developers to get their toons to Vet 10 and then they are patching. Seems to be a common occurance.

Oh and let's not forget all the broken quests that halt progression for many of us past 50 and they have not once tried to fix it for any player.

A great game with major bugs. I can't decide if I should love it or hate it.… Expand

Darkmoon99

Apr 14, 2014

4

I find myself very disappointed in this game. While it uses the world and lore of Elder Scrolls it loses the sandbox aspect of the Elder Scroll series of games. Rather than being able to learn any skills and advance them through use/training you are forced into one of 4 classes of the same old variety - warrior, mage, thief and priest. Each class gives you 3 skills that you can learn forI find myself very disappointed in this game. While it uses the world and lore of Elder Scrolls it loses the sandbox aspect of the Elder Scroll series of games. Rather than being able to learn any skills and advance them through use/training you are forced into one of 4 classes of the same old variety - warrior, mage, thief and priest. Each class gives you 3 skills that you can learn for that class plus your choice of weapons and armor. However the choice in armor is a false choice. The only armor that "sorcerers" gain benefit appropriate for their "class" is light armor. Same with the "thief" class in medium armor and so on. Furthermore skill usage doesn't raise skills, just having items equipped or on skills on your skill bar raises them as you gain experience.

By discarding the open sandbox advancement aspect of the single player Elder Scrolls games and adopting the same old four cookie cutter class aspects just makes ESO another of the same tired old "been there, done that" MMO. I loved Skyrim and enjoyed the previous Elder Scrolls games, but unfortunately ESO doesn't live up to it's history.… Expand

statickinetics

Apr 14, 2014

3

Deceptively beautiful, frustratingly generic and mechanically flawed. In a nutshell.

I wanted to like ESO, because as someone who has only really enjoyed one MMO (EVE), I have been craving for an experience that will provide actual replayability. Unfortunately, ESO is not that game. Before getting into why this game is fatally flawed, let me just get this out of the way: The worldDeceptively beautiful, frustratingly generic and mechanically flawed. In a nutshell.

I wanted to like ESO, because as someone who has only really enjoyed one MMO (EVE), I have been craving for an experience that will provide actual replayability. Unfortunately, ESO is not that game.

Before getting into why this game is fatally flawed, let me just get this out of the way: The world design is excellent. This is probably the only redeemable feature of the game, although you're probably better off admiring screenshots than dropping 60 bucks on the game. Environments are lush and crisp, full of interesting details and creatures. Unfortunately, they are also filled with rote NPCs that drone around and remind you that yes, this is in-fact just another MMO.

The fatal flaw with ESO is the level progression. This is a game that effectively forces you to PvE, and in particularly forces you to complete quests. Going around killing things nets you practically no XP, at least relative to the quest rewards. And let's be clear: these quests are horrendously boring, rote, and uninspired, full of tropes and cliches from a thousand other MMOs. The plotline is so unoriginal and the dialogue (while voice-acted) so tired and bland that you find yourself mashing the skip button just to get through the quest as fast as possible. The game effectively pushes you down a path to quest-grinding, which discourages random exploring (random exploring being the hallmark of games like Skyrim).

Once you have gotten through the arduous grind to level 10 so that you can access PvP, you can enter a partitioned area of the map solely dedicated to PvP. At first, this seems promising. The area is very large and full of nodes that can be attacked. There are even siege weapons that can be deployed and battles with large numbers (in the hundreds potentially) are relatively smooth and lag-free. However, the experience quickly loses its allure once you realize that the only way to gain meaningful XP is by completely "quests" which are either rote (scouting missions), impossible (capture some objective on the other side of the map far far away from friendly territory), or time-restricted (kill 20 players... but only available once per day).

What this means is that you could be running around, killing players, helping cap objectives and generally advancing the fight for your faction and gain zero XP, zero gold and only a random loot item every now and then that gets mailed to you.

Now, all of this would be acceptable if the combat itself was interesting or dynamic. It isn't. A game like EVE is successful because the PvP is deep, complex and rewarding. There are genuine risks involved and the rush of winning a battle or getting a kill is hard to compare to any other game.

ESO is the complete opposite. PvP basically involves mass zerg rushes, spamming random buttons and if you happen to die in the mix or get caught out by some hidden gank squad, you just respawn back at base with literally no penalty. No penalties and no rewards = boring, not-fun. The combat is lazy and skill-less. All that matters is you have the right combinations of buttons to push and almost all of the skills are equally effective so there's no real need to worry about optimization.

Needless to say, my time with ESO didn't last long. Maybe about a week. I won't be subbing past the free month. I uninstalled the game and went back to playing Natural Selection 2, which is game that actually feels rewarding getting kills, capping objectives and winning. ESO fails on all of the fundamentals that make a game rewarding by not offering a challenging experience, or one that provides any incentives in the form of risk/reward. Most importantly, it forces the player down a path to arduous quest-grinding of the worst kind for few rewards or for any real purpose beyond having a bigger number next to your character name.… Expand

Surg3on

Apr 14, 2014

8

Its a good Elder Scrolls game that would be almost perfect if it had of been Single Player! The only big flaws are the MMO style 'public dungeons' and quests where the immersion is ruined by other players. There is a bit of a lack of truly gigantic dungeons as well. The actual quests are excellent, easily as well done as the ones in Skyrim only there are a hundred times more!.
TheIts a good Elder Scrolls game that would be almost perfect if it had of been Single Player! The only big flaws are the MMO style 'public dungeons' and quests where the immersion is ruined by other players. There is a bit of a lack of truly gigantic dungeons as well. The actual quests are excellent, easily as well done as the ones in Skyrim only there are a hundred times more!.
The graphics are excellent if you can run them, moddable single player game probably would have made them look even better! The voice acting is pretty good considering the sheer volume of it.… Expand

Ralathar44

Apr 14, 2014

10

The Elder Scrolls Online manages to be a unique and compelling game that bucks the conventions of traditional MMORPGs and brings a little of that Elder Scrolls flavor into the MMORPG scene. But do not mislead yourself, it is NOT Skyrim 2.

Essentially it is a fairly free form MMORPG that makes questing interesting and matter, gives great freedom of building your character, and on a moreThe Elder Scrolls Online manages to be a unique and compelling game that bucks the conventions of traditional MMORPGs and brings a little of that Elder Scrolls flavor into the MMORPG scene. But do not mislead yourself, it is NOT Skyrim 2.

Essentially it is a fairly free form MMORPG that makes questing interesting and matter, gives great freedom of building your character, and on a more subtle level really makes the world feel satisfying. The quests all make sense, areas don't feel the same, interesting little things are tucked around every corner, and the atmosphere and music cap it off. The world just feels alive.

Lets get down to business.

Story: 10

I'm not talking about huge jaw dropping story moments here. The game manages to be consistently real and interesting throughout. Each quest feels real and you don't get sent out on fetch 10 or kill 20 quests. Instead they want you to do things like save crew members, stop rituals, find books of dark knowledge, stop mutinies, pray at shrines to pay respect to a mothers children, etc.

Killing and item uses happens during these quests, but the focus is on accomplishing something and not just slogging through something to put more exp on your bar. This is the first time in forever that I actually read quest text.

SWTOR did well on story too, but it had great high points and then everything else sucked. TESO is consistently good throughout. TESO beats out every other MMORPG when it comes to consistently good story, hands down.

Graphics: 10

This has some of the best graphics of any MMORPG on the market. Within it's genre it is top notch. But this is not to be compared to skyrim, it's a multiplayer game with the capability of putting 500 people on screen at one time and still running smoothly, that would kill Skyrim.

Also, people tend to think about MODDED skyrim. Vanilla Skyrim and even DLC HD Skyrim is not near as impressive before you start adding all the custom mods to it.

Atmosphere: 10

Each area feels hand crafted. I've been looking for areas that looks the same and have not yet found one. Each area feels appropriate to itself and the quests in that area. The music and the quests given strengthen this. There are scenic views, shipwrecked coastlines, swamps, forests, beautiful cities, etc.

I've been been playing MMORPG's a long time and without a doubt this is the best one I've played in regards to atmosphere.

Gameplay: 8/10

The game starts out a little slowly in the gameplay department and before you hit level 10-15 your combat is much less dynamic and interesting than it will be later. So hang in there. Once you make it past those level though:

The gameplay is solid and fun, but it's not groundbreaking and it won't be the reason you stay in TESO. Granted this is much much better in PVP, but even then it's just good and not heads and tails above other games like some of it's other aspects.

The combat is complex enough to be challenging without overflowing you with buttons. The character building is varied and doesn't seem to have "right" answers atm and dungeons have even been run with all DPS. Speaking of, dungeon encounters are really fun :D.

Dungeons: 10

I'm not much of a raider. I raid and do dungeons in every MMORPG a little bit but have never been drawn in before...till now. I've raided in quite a few MMORPGs too.

TESO dungeons however manage to be consistently entertaining and CHALLENGING. A good clean run through might have 2 wipes in it, but it doesn't feel too punishing to wipe out here and there and in fact each boss gives you a soul gem (to revive with) so it's kind of expected.

Boss mechanics are fun and challenging, the atmosphere in dungeons is amazing, the story of dungeons is solid, and the level design is great.

PVP: 10

PVP is amazing and is likely the closest thing to Dark Age of Camelot that has happened yet. I would say it's very comparable to Guild Wars 2 PVP EXCEPT it's much deeper and more satisfying. Losing battles in TESO MATTERS. Rezzing is limited. The map is HUGE.

Combat is fast and frenetic but not as much so as Guild Wars 2, being slightly more strategic. I wouldn't say it's perfect, there are still some tweaks that likely need to be made, but it's VERY good.

Also, just watching a battle with siege weapons and spells firing back and forth is a spectacle to behold.

UI: 8/10 The games minimalistic UI is clean and immersive, staying out of the way to enhance you feeling part of the world. If this does not appeal to you then you can turn on more UI in the options to get the information you crave. If this still isn't enough for you then the game supports add-ons via LUA . But the game loses 2 points on UI for it's Guild Store system, which needs some work currently. Conclusion: Very very solid story based MMORPG that has a unique feel from there others and has well done PVP. I highly recommend trying it out for yourself… Expand

Augustus75

Apr 14, 2014

9

If not for the unfortunate amount of bugs, this game would be getting a much higher score. The PVE is interesting, and while following the same grammar of other mmorpgs they manage to create an engaging world and story line that seems fresh. The graphics are without any argument the best in the business, but again the immersion can sometimes be broken by clunky movement and those peskyIf not for the unfortunate amount of bugs, this game would be getting a much higher score. The PVE is interesting, and while following the same grammar of other mmorpgs they manage to create an engaging world and story line that seems fresh. The graphics are without any argument the best in the business, but again the immersion can sometimes be broken by clunky movement and those pesky launch bugs.
Combat in this game is exciting, and moves the genre forward not only through versatile, dynamic builds, but also by implementing dodge and aim as opposed to basic tab targeting/macro mashing. The use of instances and similar zone hubs is disappointing, but the sheer size of each zone gives creedence to exploring. The guild stores are interesting compared to the standard AH, and being able to join up to 5 guilds ensures finding a speedy way to buy and sell; I would like the functionality to be more streamlined and easier to use, but hopefully as with Rift, these improvements will be implemented easily within the first year.

To sum up, this game has some great mechanics behind it, good pvp, good crafting, good community, and beautiful world. The rocky launch remains unfortunate but the game is enjoyable despite. This might be the most grown up, mature mmorpg to date, and while not groundbreaking, it manages to revive a feeling of freshness to an increasingly stale, over-saturated market.… Expand

alien5

Apr 14, 2014

10

Not perfect by any stretch, but certainly the MMO i can recommend most out of the last 5 years. Reviewing after playing to cap and doing a fair amount of pvp

-No cooldowns means youre actually managing 3 resources instead of mindlessly spamming abilities -Active attacking, blocking, dodging, and interrupts, the ultimate system, two swappable weapon sets with their own bars, all makeNot perfect by any stretch, but certainly the MMO i can recommend most out of the last 5 years. Reviewing after playing to cap and doing a fair amount of pvp

-No cooldowns means youre actually managing 3 resources instead of mindlessly spamming abilities
-Active attacking, blocking, dodging, and interrupts, the ultimate system, two swappable weapon sets with their own bars, all make the combat a lot more visceral than 95% of MMOs out there, and with the above, makes it better than just about everything, combat wise, save TERA imo
-Questing gets rid of the "hub" design and instead brings you to different towns/villages/forts/settlements/etc that have a specific problem going on that needs to be solved
-Many quests you options on how to resolve them, some even having interesting (read: not GOOD OR EVIL?!?!) moral decisions to make
-Character design is pretty detailed. Certainly less ugly than Oblivion or even Skyrim as far as models go
-Character building is second to none as far as MMOs go. While not the same as the classic TES system, you end up with an amazing amount of flexibility and options
-TON of solo content. I've had to play a ton to get to cap within the two or so weeks by launch, and am now given the option to play the OTHER two territories for content.
-PvP isn't quite DAoC, but the adjustments to siege equipment and respawning certainly make it better than WAR or GW2, imo. Massive area to fight over, generally very awesome.

only real complaints
-peak hours have made loading times awful at points (they're "working on it")
-hate not having nameplates above players
-need more guild customization options
-Vampires/werewolves don't have near enough drawbacks to be balanced
-need better chat options for PvP for coordinating the faction
-wish i didnt have to use addons to get proper dmg and buff feedback… Expand

Triageguy

Apr 14, 2014

8

As many people can be nervous about a new MMO, this one was no different. But after I learned the mechanics and got my feet wet, I've had a blast. It is a fresh take on the crowded MMO genre and I'm glad I spent the money. You can play it like a traditional MMO or play it like an Elder Scrolls Game, both are fun and viable. The large scale PvP is my favorite and it is well implemented andAs many people can be nervous about a new MMO, this one was no different. But after I learned the mechanics and got my feet wet, I've had a blast. It is a fresh take on the crowded MMO genre and I'm glad I spent the money. You can play it like a traditional MMO or play it like an Elder Scrolls Game, both are fun and viable. The large scale PvP is my favorite and it is well implemented and executed. It is worth playing and has taken up more of my time than I thought it would. Take a shot at it, there is something in ESO for everyone.… Expand

nymroth

Apr 14, 2014

5

This is a single player game till level 50 with some people in it. And it is not a good single player game. Game design is seriously flawed. Don't make the same mistake i did: Wait for it goes f2p and don't buy it now.

Congo1977

Apr 14, 2014

10

I would not go as far to say a "breakthrough" game, but this game has a LOT of potential. It is both engaging and detailed. I can not compare it to Skyrim, as this is an MMO. But as far as an MMO goes, as close to it as you can get. I find the story enthralling, and can not wait to try the other factions. This is by far the most exciting game in a while.

My Pro's: Great Story Love theI would not go as far to say a "breakthrough" game, but this game has a LOT of potential. It is both engaging and detailed. I can not compare it to Skyrim, as this is an MMO. But as far as an MMO goes, as close to it as you can get. I find the story enthralling, and can not wait to try the other factions. This is by far the most exciting game in a while.

My Pro's:
Great Story
Love the mount customizing!
Realistic world
Gaming mechanics blend into the background!
Realistic NPC's
CUSTOMIZATION of character!!! (Awesome, being a mage fighting with a sword in the thick of battle!)

My Cons:
No player housing. (This is Elder Scrolls after all!)
No dedicated "healer" class. (I know you can make one, but to leave them out of the start?)

All in all, great game! I am sure, so long as they maintain the game, I will continue to play.… Expand

staki69

Apr 14, 2014

10

Best MMO to come out ever! 10/10 for not doing the exact same thing every other one has done. Will be playing this for a long time. As long as they keep the content coming.

Squicker

Apr 14, 2014

8

I've played all the Elder Scrolls games since Arena and I am loving Elder Scrolls Online. There is no doubt in my mind that ZOS have managed the difficult task of keeping the unique TES vibe and putting it into an MMO. The single player quests are excellent and interesting, I've never felt like grinding at all, and the multiplayer dungeons are lots of fun. I can't really fault the gameI've played all the Elder Scrolls games since Arena and I am loving Elder Scrolls Online. There is no doubt in my mind that ZOS have managed the difficult task of keeping the unique TES vibe and putting it into an MMO. The single player quests are excellent and interesting, I've never felt like grinding at all, and the multiplayer dungeons are lots of fun. I can't really fault the game design or the playability, it's really superb.

There are issues at the moment with release bugs and support were initially very poor at responding to these. However, over the last few days they seem to be getting on top of things and I am starting to have a lot more faith in the support of the game. I personally have only experienced a small array of non-critical bugs, but I am still only going to subscribe month by month, until my confidence level in support increases. I get the feeling they are a bit overwhelmed right now.

But as a game, this really is an excellent addition to the franchise.… Expand

Dragos1130

Apr 13, 2014

10

I've stood by long enough and watched too many reviewers judge this game too quickly for, quite frankly, mostly ridiculous reasons. Don't let other people dictate your view of this game (even me) but if you want to know my opinion, the game is wonderful so far. If you take the time to get involved in the stories and dialogue and not try to be the first one to reach max level, trust me, youI've stood by long enough and watched too many reviewers judge this game too quickly for, quite frankly, mostly ridiculous reasons. Don't let other people dictate your view of this game (even me) but if you want to know my opinion, the game is wonderful so far. If you take the time to get involved in the stories and dialogue and not try to be the first one to reach max level, trust me, you will have a lot more fun. Zenimax really did an excellent job and put the work in. It does have flaws including some bugs but for the most part I haven't found anything so damning as to give this game a rating any lower than a 9 or 10. If you are expecting this game to be at all like WoW, it isn't. If you think it is a clone of Guild Wars 2, it's not. That being said, you simply have to judge the game for yourself. On a side note, if you played the game and didn't like it that is fine and your criticisms are worth reading but your pitiful hatred and tantrums over, say, the monthly subscription fee (I shouldn't have to explain this but sub fees help fund company employees who work on the game and continue to make it better) are worthless and a waste of everyone's time.… Expand

Faidin

Apr 13, 2014

10

I think this is an excellent game - the best mmorpg I've played since DAOC / EQ1. The combat is enjoyable, the quests are a lot of fun to complete, and the best part about this game is that it never feels like a grind. It's just one epic experience that keeps getting better.

Lirlore

Apr 13, 2014

10

The game is so amazing the lvling it is enjoying i can't believe i am saying it yes you will enjoy to lvl . Every quest is a nice story :)
The crafting is fun. Don't listen to those haters dont miss one of the best mmo out there :)
Sorry for my bad English

Uberwolfe

Apr 13, 2014

8

I firmly believe that Elder Scrolls Online is that game you hate but grow to love. As per many MMOs the starter zones are mundane (but skippable on secondary characters) and much of the first 10 levels is fairly ordinary too. But as you get beyond level 10 - things really begin to open up. PvP, dungeons, secondary weapon-wielding and more.

There's much to like here. Usual launch bugsI firmly believe that Elder Scrolls Online is that game you hate but grow to love. As per many MMOs the starter zones are mundane (but skippable on secondary characters) and much of the first 10 levels is fairly ordinary too. But as you get beyond level 10 - things really begin to open up. PvP, dungeons, secondary weapon-wielding and more.

There's much to like here. Usual launch bugs aside, Zenimax have have done a stellar job on many aspects of the game. Having said that though, there are a few head-scratching design decisions that offset the game's positives to a significant degree - but nothing game breaking. My main concerns are the heavy-instancing, the lack of a global auction house, impractical communication tools and the claustrophobic feel of the maps. A few extra skill slots would have also been nice...

But what you get for your money though, is a fun and extensive yet slow-paced romp through Tamriel that surely does justice to the Elder Scrolls as an MMO.… Expand

retrobax

Apr 13, 2014

9

I was a bit concerned after reading a lot of the negative comments, but after 2 weeks of playing I am pleasantly surprised by this game. The world is beautifully presented and the leveling process is fun and diverse. Combat is more about using your skills you have well rather than copying someone's uber build and mashing icons. The crafting system is unique and rewarding with crafted gearI was a bit concerned after reading a lot of the negative comments, but after 2 weeks of playing I am pleasantly surprised by this game. The world is beautifully presented and the leveling process is fun and diverse. Combat is more about using your skills you have well rather than copying someone's uber build and mashing icons. The crafting system is unique and rewarding with crafted gear the equal if not better sometimes than looted gear. There certainly are a few bugs that can be quite frustrating like not being able to finish some quests, but these are being fixed reasonably quickly. MMO's are not for everyone but I've played almost every MMO since Ultima online and this one is better than most of them.… Expand

capthavic

Apr 13, 2014

4

As much as I loved Oblivion and Skyrim I could only play the beta for about an hour before getting so bored I quit and uninstalled the game right then and there. It's just so...average. Not bad but not great either, doing nothing mechanically or visually outstanding in a genre littered with the corpses of countless "me too" fantasy games. It's everything you would expect from a genericAs much as I loved Oblivion and Skyrim I could only play the beta for about an hour before getting so bored I quit and uninstalled the game right then and there. It's just so...average. Not bad but not great either, doing nothing mechanically or visually outstanding in a genre littered with the corpses of countless "me too" fantasy games. It's everything you would expect from a generic fantasy mmo and nothing more. There is just no reason for it to exist as it brings nothing to the table that hasn't been done so many times before.… Expand

Savante

Apr 13, 2014

2

as a max-level VR10 Elder Scrolls fan who experienced ALL the content in the game, I can tell you that this game is NOT a good MMO. First of all, there is definitely not enough endgame content in this game. You level up to VR10 and then wonder “What now?“ as there is nothing to do besides boring PvP.

I really hated the PVP in this game since all you do, is riding horse for miles, thenas a max-level VR10 Elder Scrolls fan who experienced ALL the content in the game, I can tell you that this game is NOT a good MMO. First of all, there is definitely not enough endgame content in this game. You level up to VR10 and then wonder “What now?“ as there is nothing to do besides boring PvP.

I really hated the PVP in this game since all you do, is riding horse for miles, then get into a huge battle where your individual abilities don't matter at all. Battles are won by pure numbers and nothing else. After you die, you realise that you really want to leave the area rather than running for 10 minutes to a 10 second battle. As a veteran player, I'm hard to kill and take down 2-3 enemies at the same time outside a huge battle. If my relatively rare deaths discourage me this much, I can't imagine how those 3 lowlevels feel when they die to a single veteran. There needs to be a better system for pvp implemented by the developers.

As for PVE, there is absolutely nothing there besides 4man dungeons which don't give the progress feeling. There won't be any countless raid nights to down a boss which gives your raid hard times. Adventure zones and trials don't seem enough by the looks of it. questing with 4man group or an event which you kill random waves of enemies with 12people sounds weak (though we haven't seen them so these are far from facts as they may very well be really fun in the future)

The game itself has countless bugs which breaks the game so often that I got used to the idea of buggy game. Game should still be in beta. It's far from completed and it seems like it needs rather long time to complete.

You can't imagine how disappointed I am after waiting so long for this game only to get bored in a few weeks.… Expand

TheSnowWolf

Apr 13, 2014

10

I've been playing ESO since the beta and I have to say, I was very impressed with the development of this game, among other things, and I'm going to explain why.

When I first began the beta I was not very impressed. It was very buggy, which was expected, but the beta testers were listened to and huge patches before release fixed many of the gamebreaking bugs. Bugs aside it was notI've been playing ESO since the beta and I have to say, I was very impressed with the development of this game, among other things, and I'm going to explain why.

When I first began the beta I was not very impressed. It was very buggy, which was expected, but the beta testers were listened to and huge patches before release fixed many of the gamebreaking bugs. Bugs aside it was not terribly engaging and difficult to get into. I barely gave the next beta weekend a shot, but I did. And that's when it started getting good.

The world is rich and diverse, with a complex, involved crafting system that inspired me to create a dedicated crafter character for the first time in a game. The quest system began to improve and give me more varied, interesting tasks. The combat, which was a part of the game that really impressed me from the beginning, got even better.

PvP is excellent. It's AvAvA style, with the entire province of Cyrodiil comprising the PvP zone (though don't think that means there's no plain-old-adventuring in Cyrodiil, as the province contains lots of crafting materials, in addition to PvE quests, cities, and ruins.) The three-faction war is always exciting and fast-paced - there were complaints of too much "zerging" during the beta, but small assassin groups (sneak works in PvP!), keep defenders, and scouts have come to really change the battlefield since - I have honestly never had more fun with an MMO PvP system!

Exploring the world just for the sake of exploring it became a favorite pastime, and I know that here, there is a lot of discussion on whether or not this is a "true Elder Scrolls Game." I have to say that for me, honestly, it feels very much like an Elder Scrolls game. I have played Oblivion and Skyrim, and, while ESO possesses its own unique flavor, I am constantly fondly reminded of these games and feel very involved in the world of Tamriel. For those who want a single-player experience, the devs have taken great care to keep the "Elder Scrolls feel" intact in what is, for the series, a completely new genre - I found it quite simple to ignore the chat and play as though in a world that was simply more populated than before.

All in all, I recommend this game very highly, both to those who typically play in the MMO genre, and to fans of the Elder Scrolls series. Anyone who dismissed it during the beta (as I almost did) should give it another look.… Expand

Noquarter1973

Apr 13, 2014

10

I am a long time Elder Scrolls fan and I have dabbled in the past with MMO's ending in WAR and GW2 a few years ago. Unlike some other "reviewers" on here I purchased the game in full knowledge that this is an MMO and not the Elder Scrolls 5. Therefore this review is not tainted by the idiotic outcry that this is not the follow up to Skyrim, or by the fact that I cannot afford the monthlyI am a long time Elder Scrolls fan and I have dabbled in the past with MMO's ending in WAR and GW2 a few years ago. Unlike some other "reviewers" on here I purchased the game in full knowledge that this is an MMO and not the Elder Scrolls 5. Therefore this review is not tainted by the idiotic outcry that this is not the follow up to Skyrim, or by the fact that I cannot afford the monthly sub.
This game breathes a certain degree of fresh air into the MMO genre and also is a welcome addition to the Elder Scrolls canon. Firstly the graphics for an MMO are first rate - certainly on par with vanilla Skyrim. I noticed quite a few negative comments about this area and suspect that these people either have a very poor rig or have not actually played the game. The actual graphical style is also very mature compared to some other MMO's and certainly matches the visual flavour of both Skyrim and Oblivion.
Another feather in the games cap is combat which is very fluid and satisfying. Instead of just mindlessly going through certain rotations you can attack, defend and dodge just like in Skyrim with basic attacks which are backed up by various other special abilities on the hotbar which makes it a very engaging system in both PvE and PvP.
Character development is also very well thought out with a huge variety of options available. This makes levelling very satisfying and enjoyable especially as most skills and powers have great visual flair and effectiveness.
The quests themselves are varied and attempt to depart from the "kill 10 of this and collect 10 of that" which you see in the majority of other offerings in the genre. All are voice acted and quite interesting helping to develop the Elder Scrolls lore. I have actually listened through every quest so far which is probably the first time I have done so in any game.
The only issue I have currently with the game is the odd bout of lag where controls can become unresponsive. However, it is very early days for an MMO and the developers appear to have good form so far in fixing any issues that crop up.
All in all I am very impressed. I have rated a 10 to offset the normal small minded agenda "reviewers" and would probably rate this game an 8 normally. It has great potential, and once it hits consoles one wonders whether it will gain enough momentum to finally put the creaking WOW down for good.… Expand

CasualClark

Apr 13, 2014

10

ESO is an excellent MMO and frankly a much better game than I thought it would be. I've grown weary of all the negative complaints that the game should be Free to Play or that it isn't innovative enough. What hasn't occurred to people is that they continue to compare the game to Skyrim and the earlier Elder Scroll games in terms of innovation and being more wide open, sandboxESO is an excellent MMO and frankly a much better game than I thought it would be. I've grown weary of all the negative complaints that the game should be Free to Play or that it isn't innovative enough. What hasn't occurred to people is that they continue to compare the game to Skyrim and the earlier Elder Scroll games in terms of innovation and being more wide open, sandbox experiences, but somehow forget that MMOs and Single Player games are very different implementations, the MMO having a much higher level of complexity.

There is NO other MMO like this, and I'm having a blast with it. You can compare the AvA to Guild Wars 2, and in general, the concepts are similar. But ESO's AvA has a context in the overall ESO universe, reinforces the Elder Scrolls lore, and is absolutely massive in scope. The environments are far more detailed and immersive than any MMO I've played. Crafting has a lot of depth and doesn't force you to spend hours leveling your craft just to make gear for your players level. The soundtrack is epic, and for the most part, voice over work is quite good.

Point is, people set the bar so high for ESO in expectations, yet even they didn't know how Elder Scroll would be turned into an MMO. In this case, the developers have made a lot of great decisions, and like most MMOs, they will continue to refine and improve it in the future. So I am very excited about ESO, much more so than after my hours in beta. Don't let the negative reviews keep you from trying this game - there are things that can be improved, but seriously, this is a fantastic game.… Expand

Jerkamie

Apr 13, 2014

10

I was a bit flustered at the start with this game, but once I took the time to learn how to play, wow. I've never had so much fun. It needs work, but you know what? they are working on it? This game gets a 10 from me.

Tanikaze

Apr 13, 2014

10

I give this game a 10 to counter the unnecessary negative pple giving it 0 with no reason!
The Elder Scrolls Online is really a great game, being both a huge MMO with PvP and social features, and an RPG with deep lore and customisation. It still has bugs, but it's less bugged than Skyrim at release and servers are fine.
Don't miss it if you were waiting for an MMO that isn't a WoW-cloneI give this game a 10 to counter the unnecessary negative pple giving it 0 with no reason!
The Elder Scrolls Online is really a great game, being both a huge MMO with PvP and social features, and an RPG with deep lore and customisation. It still has bugs, but it's less bugged than Skyrim at release and servers are fine.
Don't miss it if you were waiting for an MMO that isn't a WoW-clone (and that finally uses some cool graphics)!!!… Expand

Ixoziel

Apr 13, 2014

5

When I first heard of The Elder Scrolls Online (mentioned as TESO from now on), I thought it would be fantastic. A few months prior I had mentioned to my friends that an online Elder Scrolls game would be awesome. I got invited to closed beta... and it was just disappointment after disappointment.

The graphics are worse than Skyrim, and Skyrim came out in 2011. Why? I'm not big onWhen I first heard of The Elder Scrolls Online (mentioned as TESO from now on), I thought it would be fantastic. A few months prior I had mentioned to my friends that an online Elder Scrolls game would be awesome. I got invited to closed beta... and it was just disappointment after disappointment.

The graphics are worse than Skyrim, and Skyrim came out in 2011. Why? I'm not big on graphics... it's just very annoying to me, when you have a game in a series that comes out three years later and the graphics are worse. I loved morrowind, but trying to play it after Skyrim / Oblivion is tough for me because of the unimpressive graphics. I just don't understand the huge step BACK... if you're worried about everyone being able to play, just make it downscale well at lower settings.

The combat tries to make you think it's action, but it's really just typical MMO fare. It has the "appearance" of having to aim your abilities, but WoW has aimable abilities too (AoE)... and that doesn't make it more exciting. Shooting with a bow is auto aim, spells are auto aim, it's just horribly boring. At least WoW has 25-30 spells usable at once, while in TESO you're locked to 5 because of the stupid limited spellbars.

Now the business practices... Day 1 pay for power (horses): check. Have to pay extra money to play all races in all alliances, which ruins the lore: check. monthly fee, massive up front cost, AND a cash shop: check.

I have spent HUNDREDS of hours each on morrowind, oblivion, and skyrim... and this game just bores me to tears. Literally every part of it is a step down from skyrim. The combat, the graphics, the immersion, the sound... the only upside is multiplayer.

They tried too hard to please everyone, and they're caught in the middle now. Every part of the game is "OK" and nothing is fantastic. With oblivion / skyrim, the strong parts of the series were exemplified, now they're nonexistent, so you're just stuck with a bunch of "meh". And "Meh" isn't good enough for a game that wants you to pay money for horses, 80$ upfront, and 15$ a month.… Expand

epoc

Apr 13, 2014

8

I have been looking forward to this game for ages! Sure as an Elder Scrolls Fan I should have been concerned that it was an MMO, but I still had hope. And oh boy has it paid off! While the graphics are a step backwards from Skyrim, Online makes up for that in sheer size! For the first time in 20 years we can finally explore all of Tamriel, a world so rich and detailed that it needed this.I have been looking forward to this game for ages! Sure as an Elder Scrolls Fan I should have been concerned that it was an MMO, but I still had hope. And oh boy has it paid off! While the graphics are a step backwards from Skyrim, Online makes up for that in sheer size! For the first time in 20 years we can finally explore all of Tamriel, a world so rich and detailed that it needed this. And for all those saying its just a World of Warcraft clone well you're wrong! Online has a fleshed out combat system, excellent progression system, and the dynamic quests that made Skyrim a joy to play. One minute you'll be heading to your next PvP event, when suddenly you're approached by an Argonian warrior, promising a reward if you can find his lost family relic. And yes you read that correctly - PvP! ITS AWESOME! Thousands of players going up against each other in an epic siege battle nether gets old. But the games greatest strength is how ( like Skyrim) is that everything is interesting. The armour, the quests, the locations and many more. In addition to this, comparing city's and locations in this game from others is an absolute blast! However the game is held back by bugs, and some ridiculous pay walls from Bethesda. Like paying to be an Imperial? WTF? Despite this, this game is top quality, and one I recommend to everyone.… Expand

Bakfyre

Apr 12, 2014

9

In "Open Beta", there were still bugs, and people complained. They weren't allowed to play Skyrim, and people complained. It took more than an hour and a half to reach level 10, and people complained. Sooooo...all in all, well done. Though Skyrim is an awesome game, it can't be 'the same' and be a MMO. The quests (though, yes there is some grinding), are interesting and actually fit inIn "Open Beta", there were still bugs, and people complained. They weren't allowed to play Skyrim, and people complained. It took more than an hour and a half to reach level 10, and people complained. Sooooo...all in all, well done. Though Skyrim is an awesome game, it can't be 'the same' and be a MMO. The quests (though, yes there is some grinding), are interesting and actually fit in the lore completely.… Expand

Jonhuggs

Apr 12, 2014

8

So after much debate I decided to take the plunge and purchase TESO. I've played MMO's in the past (Dark age of camelot, GW, GW2 Warhammer and WOW to name a few) and also The last 3 Elder scrolls games. With that being said this game is pretty solid. The combat will be the 1st difference you'll notice from Skyrim, it's more in line with other MMo's. The world an the other hand is all ElderSo after much debate I decided to take the plunge and purchase TESO. I've played MMO's in the past (Dark age of camelot, GW, GW2 Warhammer and WOW to name a few) and also The last 3 Elder scrolls games. With that being said this game is pretty solid. The combat will be the 1st difference you'll notice from Skyrim, it's more in line with other MMo's. The world an the other hand is all Elder Scrolls and if you spent any time in Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim, which I'm sure we all have 1000's of hours tied up into those, you'll be familiar with the looks and sounds of the game. One of the strong points of the game is that the game will feel natural weather your going solo or in a group. So if you like world of warcraft and skyrim then you'll probably love this game, If you're looking for skyrim 2 or never really liked mmo's, you may be dissapointed in this game and with a steep initial cost plus the monthly fee may want to wait till they have a trial before you throw your hard earned money at this game.… Expand

Onimor

Apr 12, 2014

10

It doesn't take long for a player to understand that they are in the mists of playing something very special. The art work in the game is the magnus opus of mmo-rpgs. Having played many of them in the past, ranging from vanilla wow, age of conan, TSW, Terra, Rift, TOR etc etc. This game manages to ignite a feeling in playing an MMO that had long since been jaded in my mind. The explorationIt doesn't take long for a player to understand that they are in the mists of playing something very special. The art work in the game is the magnus opus of mmo-rpgs. Having played many of them in the past, ranging from vanilla wow, age of conan, TSW, Terra, Rift, TOR etc etc. This game manages to ignite a feeling in playing an MMO that had long since been jaded in my mind. The exploration in this game is its biggest strength. I love playing this game. People who hate it, are rating it for the wrong reasons (connections issues, bugs, I suspect they are trying to play it on a rust bucket tin can machine). This is a solid game, very well made. I would recommend it to any Next Gen User also, as I suspect like Diablo 3 it was transition very well.… Expand

wuhsin88

Apr 12, 2014

0

This game is not a good MMO, and not a TES game. First of all, archery is terrible. You can only shoot things that are a few steps away. If you target an enemy, turn to face the opposite direction, and then fire, your arrow will turn 180 degrees in mid air to hit the enemy. There are no physics in the game. You can't dive underwater, so that gets rid of the Argonian's best racial power.This game is not a good MMO, and not a TES game. First of all, archery is terrible. You can only shoot things that are a few steps away. If you target an enemy, turn to face the opposite direction, and then fire, your arrow will turn 180 degrees in mid air to hit the enemy. There are no physics in the game. You can't dive underwater, so that gets rid of the Argonian's best racial power. Along with the water breathing spell. There are a lot of stupid "Kill 10 of these quests." even though the advertising says otherwise. Not only that, quests are the ONLY way to level. You can't even level just by fighting or using your skills. Well, you CAN, but the exp you get from doing those things is so marginal it would take days to gain one level that way. There's no freedom to explore, you are railroaded along a linear path by enemies that will one-shot you if they're a few levels higher than you. The dungeons are linear, it's impossible to get a group for them, and when someone leaves you have to exit the dungeon, and recruit a replacement because they can't be completed with less than a full party, THEN you have to start the dungeon over from the beginning. Your choices don't matter, the phasing does not do anything but make it impossible to play with friends. The PVP is fun at first, but then you realize the keeps change hands every 30 minutes, so there's no sense of accomplishment really. The world was built for 3rd person play, then they added in 1st person mode, but it doesn't feel the same as the games because buildings are scaled for 3rd person so their ceilings are like a hundred feet above you, even for the one-room dirt floor shacks that peasants live in. There are also lots of bugged quests, and a cash shop already built into the game. So you can count on this abomination going f2p within a year.… Expand

SchroederRock

Apr 12, 2014

6

First, Bethesda Softworks DID NOT DEVELOP Elder Scrolls Online. ZeniMax Online Studios is credited but Metacritic has somehow missed this point (as of the writing of my review). ESO is merely a shadow of its truly brilliant predecessors. Instead of coming off as a cohesive MMORPG that features a vast and quality-driven universe set in Tamriel, Elder Scrolls Online ends up beingFirst, Bethesda Softworks DID NOT DEVELOP Elder Scrolls Online. ZeniMax Online Studios is credited but Metacritic has somehow missed this point (as of the writing of my review). ESO is merely a shadow of its truly brilliant predecessors. Instead of coming off as a cohesive MMORPG that features a vast and quality-driven universe set in Tamriel, Elder Scrolls Online ends up being disjointed and a bit dull. It's sad because I was obsessed with Skyrim and had hoped a better translation to MMO territory would have taken place. The combat system doesn't ever feel right due to the heavy reliance on precision for a game that makes it hard to be precise. The online experience also felt a bit unpolished, as if cooperative play was touted so much yet was treated as an afterthought to this game. Nothing feels organic and expertly crafted. Still, the sheer size and breadth of Tamriel and its history can help diehard fans of previous games swallow the numerous imperfections and perhaps eventually enjoy the experience. If only the final product had more in common with other high profile MMORPGs this might have been the biggest deal since World of Warcraft.… Expand

Deadifyed

Apr 12, 2014

0

This game is so buggy it is almost unplayable. The voice acting is so bad, none of the characters have any emotion. ESO feels like a f2p game so there is no way I would pay 15 dollars a month for it. Players who want to play an MMO and are considering this, should just play LOTRO. It is free and it feels like a higher quality game than this one. I don't even like LOTRO but at least it isThis game is so buggy it is almost unplayable. The voice acting is so bad, none of the characters have any emotion. ESO feels like a f2p game so there is no way I would pay 15 dollars a month for it. Players who want to play an MMO and are considering this, should just play LOTRO. It is free and it feels like a higher quality game than this one. I don't even like LOTRO but at least it is better than this.… Expand

PsychZombie06

Apr 12, 2014

10

I love this game, It's the most fun I've had in an mmo in years. don't listen to the haters, Play it for yourself before you **** on the game. I do not think this game will go free to play if people continue to support this amazing game.

Mach1av3ll1

Apr 12, 2014

9

tl;dr Give it time. It will grow on you like a cancer. But a lovely cancer. Not one of those bad ones.

I made this review specifically to address a lot of the negative reviews on this game, as well as to balance out some of the overly positive one. I think there is enough coverage on the nitty gritty details of this game, so I want to look at it from a more meta perspective. This reviewtl;dr Give it time. It will grow on you like a cancer. But a lovely cancer. Not one of those bad ones.

I made this review specifically to address a lot of the negative reviews on this game, as well as to balance out some of the overly positive one. I think there is enough coverage on the nitty gritty details of this game, so I want to look at it from a more meta perspective. This review will be in three parts, to address those who are looking for a new elder scrolls game, those looking for a WoW successor, and the pace of the game. Be forewarned, if you are looking for a new, traditionally rooted, elder scrolls game, or a successor to WoW, and will not be satisfied if this game meets these criteria perfectly, this game is not for you.

1) Those looking for a new elder scrolls game.

A lot of the individuals who post negative reviews claim how traditionally MMO it is, and how it fails to live up to the elder scrolls standard. My initial reaction to this game was somewhat similar. At first glance, it is so incredibly not an elder scrolls game.Early on, you will often feel yourself clamped into certain paths, limited in a degree you are not comfortable with. The key to overcoming this is to let yourself feel comfortable with the fact that you could never pull off an elder scrolls game in an MMO environment. Elder Scrolls' experience is, at it's core, rooted in the way the player interacts with and changes the world. It is the space, and opportunities that lay waiting just for you. When you introduce other players into that environment, it's not feasible to expect it to flow in the way that elder scrolls does. It would leave you waiting for things to spawn, unhappy with the pace, frustrated with the concentration of players in different regions, and the server side requirements of instancing that much **** would be crippling in expense.

2) It's not WoW

If you treat this game like WoW, you will be sorely disappointed. So much of the game is left to you. The skills, crafting, and leveling systems are so much more open than the traditional mmo you will repeatedly be left feeling overwhelmed and confused, which is a frustrating experience for an MMO player. A big appeal, and a big part of the expense, is their attempts to create interesting story lines and quests that specifically aren't tedious. Failing to read these quests, which is easy to do, will make the experience feel incredibly hollow.

From a meta perspective, this game is really awful in the first 10-15 hours of gameplay. I dont mean that it's actually awful, but the fact of the matter is that you will come into this game with expectations of MMOs, expectations of the Elder Scrolls, and you will dislike how it differs. You will feel simultaneously overwhelmed and uninterested in the world around you. You will view your gaming experience like a giant pile of bureaucratic paperwork, hoping that a raise lies at the end of it. This game does not hook you in right away.

The first moment I suddenly felt any sense besides tedium was as I began to PvP. Entering cyrodiil, warping to a combat zone, and suddenly being involved in a gigantic siege was phenomenal. I died a lot. But I also saw trebuchets, walls falling, battering rams, and hundreds of players on each side. You feel part of something, and the size of this something is staggering.

The value of the game comes as you invest in it. The more time you invest, the more chance you give to the story, and what becomes something you skip through instead becomes something you read. Suddenly you'll be faced with making decisions of moral ambiguity, and you'll have invested in the lives of this village, and their fate is in your hands. You begin to feel purpose.

A similar experience happens with the crafting and leveling systems. The flexibility in these systems is incredibly overwhelming, and it's poorly explained. But as you carry on, you'll begin to find synergies, and where before you had an idea you were treating with casual disinterest, you'll suddenly be going on a 5 minute tirade of the strength of synergies in 2h tree with templar's Aedric Wrath tree.

Most games these days don't ask anything of you. They do their best to suck you in, and try to put out long enough for you to not get bored. From the get go, it's a sense of "This is how you do it, now look, explosions!" ESO Does not do that. ESO asks things from you. It asks you to learn, and it asks for your patience. And if you give it these two things, you'll begin to uncover the incredibly rewarding game that lies underneath. So, I implore you, give it time. Get to the 20th hour. The feeling of surprise when you realize you care, you want to see more, you want to know more, and you want some more money to afford a goddamn respec, is incredibly rewarding.

Thank you for taking the time to read the musing of a rambling old man.

Love,
Mach1av3ll1.… Expand

Fursnake

Apr 12, 2014

7

Having played MMO's for almost 20 years since the days of Asheron's Call, Everquest and Ultima Online, I have played and tested so many MMO's I have lost count of them all. I'm a big MMO fan, but I am pretty picky these days about MMO's. After going through a bunch of MMO's that felt like lackluster WoW clones, TESO is the first one in awhile that doesn't feel like WoW. It has actionHaving played MMO's for almost 20 years since the days of Asheron's Call, Everquest and Ultima Online, I have played and tested so many MMO's I have lost count of them all. I'm a big MMO fan, but I am pretty picky these days about MMO's. After going through a bunch of MMO's that felt like lackluster WoW clones, TESO is the first one in awhile that doesn't feel like WoW. It has action combat akin to GW2, TERA and Neverwinter. Some feel the combat is clunky, but it feels better to me than GW2 or Neverwinter. Having a stamina bar and no cooldowns on skills changes things up nicely and avoids the pitfall of boring skill rotations. You have dodging, blocking and interrupts all stamina based to add to the combat tactics.

The gameworld makes me want to explore more than any MMO since SWG, aside from the MMO standards of locations to discover there are little flavor encounters you can participate in as well as treasure chests, lorebooks, skill ups and other goodies scattered around the world to find. The questing doesn't feel like there is much in the way of boring kill/fetch quests and overall the questing immerses me more than other MMO's. The overall questing and gameworld has some decent phasing.

The game has a race/class system but once you pick a race and class it opens up more and you are not constrained to one single thing based on your class. I have a paladin/cleric type character that can main tank or main heal equally well, not even level 20 yet. Character level really only matters as far as what you can equip and getting that all too important extra skill point. Classes are not restricted to armor types and one can have a heavy armor wearing mage if they want.

PvP is pretty enjoyable and this coming from someone who does not really care for MMO PvP. I enjoyed RvRvR in Dark Age of Camelot, I enjoyed the more open world PvP of SWG, I enjoyed the WvW in GW2 and I like the triple faction, large map based PvP of TESO. Plenty of MMo PvP boils down to small map, epsorts-esque grind fests with little to no impact on the overall game and just results in a PvP gear grind. TESO's PvP is more about the three factions vying for control of a big ole territory with plenty of keeps, temples and other objectives to battle over.

I also find crafting fairly engaging and I don't much care for crafting in MMO's in general; most of the time crafting in other MMO's crafting has felt like a real grind where I didn't really use it until end level, In TESO I find myself crafting much more and using more of what I craft. Crafting can be somewhat complicated to figure out, but once you do there is a good deal to it and plenty of appearance varieties and things to do to improve crafted gear.

Personally I enjoy the game enough that it is a solid 9 subjectively. But from a slightly more objective sense there are some issues with it that will and do frustrate/turn off people. The game is buggier than Zenimax Online wishes it was. I have not run into any game breaking bugs or serious bug issues like other players, but they are there. Inventory and bank management is a pain even for someone who has been through all kinds of MMO inventory systems. It would a real PITA if I wasn't accustomed to MMO inventory systems already. The lack of a public auction house does not bother me, but it is a turn off to some. One can screw up character development if they don't pay attention to how they build their character and where they put skill points; respecs can be costly. There is not much in the way of a user interface, but add-ons are allowed and there are some great add-ons being made by players/modders already and plenty of add-ons provide good interface additions.

It is rough around the edges and it was released a bit too early, but has enough depth and individuality as an MMO for me. Only time will tell if it will retain enough subscribers to remain a sub fee based game, but I will be subscribing to it for some time to come.… Expand

polyandras

Apr 12, 2014

10

One of the best and unique mmos i have played so far. Their idea of mixing a single player game with the mmo genre made questing look like never before and leveling up the most entertaining point. Not to mention the pvp. All these added with the amazing scenery makes it really incredible. Also if you are a lotr fan you gonna love it.

CarM21

Apr 12, 2014

7

It by some standards is dissapointing with the amount of hype this game had,if you like everyone else wanted skyrim with other people this is it.Great for what it was meant to be,lacking for what is was thought to be

johnangel

Apr 12, 2014

5

Not a very good game not a very a bad game average in every way.
The Good : Voiced quests,Interesting combat,Crafting
The Bad : Not true to the lore, Unresponsive combat ; press a button wait a second then see it happen.

Not worth my time.

Vi-Pe

Apr 12, 2014

9

The elder scrolls online is really good game. No it's not the best elder scrolls game, but easily one of the best MMO games.
Graphically TESO is really beautiful game. The world is really colorfull and the graphic style is really pleasing. The sounds and music are also really good, the sound effects are pretty realistic and fit into the world. The soundtrack is also good old TES styledThe elder scrolls online is really good game. No it's not the best elder scrolls game, but easily one of the best MMO games.
Graphically TESO is really beautiful game. The world is really colorfull and the graphic style is really pleasing. The sounds and music are also really good, the sound effects are pretty realistic and fit into the world. The soundtrack is also good old TES styled music which is awesome.
The combat system in the game isn't that good. The idea is good, but they have messed it up. There is small delays when you are trying to hit enemies and some times they can hit you even tho you are far away. Also homing spells and arrows which do go through walls are rally annoying.
The most of the quests are fun and aren't just quickly made. Lore is also pretty good and its interesting.
No, the elder scrolls online is far from perfect but its still really good game. It's still missing lots of stuff which is incoming (criminality and karma and dark brother hood adm thieves guild) and I'm really waiting for them. Yes TESO is bit too expensive but I'd say its worth it if you have some spare money.… Expand

The88thknight

Apr 12, 2014

9

This game deserves all the praise it gets and more. You can really see the effort and care that Zenimax put into making this game. It's such a good blend of traditional MMO play and Elder Scrolls play. If you completely expect one or the other then you are going to be disappointed. For once in an mmorpg I am just playing to adventure and learn about as much lore as I can. I hardly evenThis game deserves all the praise it gets and more. You can really see the effort and care that Zenimax put into making this game. It's such a good blend of traditional MMO play and Elder Scrolls play. If you completely expect one or the other then you are going to be disappointed. For once in an mmorpg I am just playing to adventure and learn about as much lore as I can. I hardly even look at what level I am. Feels less like a job or a chore to quest and more like an adventure.… Expand

tgirgis

Apr 12, 2014

3

If your into open world games like Skyrim, Stay away from this catastrophe. It's an awful SW:TOR clone if I ever did see one, and anyone who tells you otherwise is just trying to convince themselves that it's good.

I'm amazed at the amount of lies on this page, I mean you can say you like it all you want, but when the word "immersion" gets thrown in, I know it's someone with so muchIf your into open world games like Skyrim, Stay away from this catastrophe. It's an awful SW:TOR clone if I ever did see one, and anyone who tells you otherwise is just trying to convince themselves that it's good.

I'm amazed at the amount of lies on this page, I mean you can say you like it all you want, but when the word "immersion" gets thrown in, I know it's someone with so much emotionally invested in this trash game that they will say anything to see it succeed. As stated by another poster, if you support this game you will be supporting the continued degradation of MMOs and games in general.… Expand

TrouzzzerSnake

Apr 12, 2014

0

A shameless cash grab - tons of bugs, and none of the fun of the single player games.

The thing that REEEally urks me, is that the PvP is AN EXACT CLONE of Guild Wars 2. A total, shameless clone. Like... literally nothing different. Just totally disgusting that Bethesda can get away with this. The only real difference between Guild Wars' WvWvW and Bethesda's PvP, is that GUILDA shameless cash grab - tons of bugs, and none of the fun of the single player games.

The thing that REEEally urks me, is that the PvP is AN EXACT CLONE of Guild Wars 2. A total, shameless clone. Like... literally nothing different. Just totally disgusting that Bethesda can get away with this.

The only real difference between Guild Wars' WvWvW and Bethesda's PvP, is that GUILD WARS 2 HAS THE DECENCY NOT TO CHARGE YOU A SUBSCRIPTION FEE EVERY MONTH

There is literally no reason whatsoever that someone should purchase this game, and therein support this practice. Total rip-off, and they actually charge you more for it!… Expand

Tinz

Apr 12, 2014

1

I am a huge Skyrim and Oblivion fan and was expecting something so much better. I played the beta for a while and found that it didn't measure up in any shape or form to my expectations. The graphics are poor and I just can't stand playing in a world littered with people doing things that make no sense whatsoever. It would have been so much better if they had released another Skyrim andI am a huge Skyrim and Oblivion fan and was expecting something so much better. I played the beta for a while and found that it didn't measure up in any shape or form to my expectations. The graphics are poor and I just can't stand playing in a world littered with people doing things that make no sense whatsoever. It would have been so much better if they had released another Skyrim and given it co-op capability so you could adventure with your friends against a computer. Epic fail for me and so surprising for such a talented company. Did they sack all their cool people and outsource or something?… Expand

csesium

Apr 11, 2014

6

When I first heard ESO was going to be made, my first thought was it was going to be impossible to properly turn an Elder Scrolls game into an MMO. When I finally got into the beta I felt I was wrong, and that they had actually done a fairly decent job of the translation. I preordered it and was in the 5 day early access, and I can safely say my first thought was the correct one.

IWhen I first heard ESO was going to be made, my first thought was it was going to be impossible to properly turn an Elder Scrolls game into an MMO. When I finally got into the beta I felt I was wrong, and that they had actually done a fairly decent job of the translation. I preordered it and was in the 5 day early access, and I can safely say my first thought was the correct one.

I really, really wanted to like this game. And for the first several days I enjoyed playing it. But then the problems started flowing in, and by problems I mean design flaws.

Pros:
-Pretty good looking for an MMO. Graphics are good and the environment is well done.
-It feels very good playing in first person, unlike many of the other MMOs I've tried, though there's no way to change the FOV.
-Music is excellent and fits the environment well
-Voice acting is excellent, except where they made last minute changes to the dialogue and used different voice actors to make up the difference, creating a jarring effect when one paragraph is voiced by one person and the next by a different person
-Stories for the quests are above average

Cons
-Dungeons are completely linear and go the same way every single time. You find a dungeon, any dungeon, and open the map: it's just a square. You reach a fork and you turn right every single time, because the left side is where you exit the dungeon to head back to the entrance. Because of phasing half way through the dungeon you will find the "boss" area, where a named NPC resides dead on the floor in a pile of copies of itself, with 12 people standing around it all trying to get one hit in before it's killed so they can get the completion acknowledgement and move on to the next quest or dungeon. The boss lasts no longer than 4 seconds.

-There is no central auction house to trade goods. Instead. each guild has a store where its members and only its members may post up to 30 items at a time to sell to other guild members. There is a 25% cut when you list an item which becomes a hefty fee very quickly. Now, because there is no central auction house you can only reach a maximum of 300 players for any given item you are attempting to sell using the store. You can be a part of 5 different guilds, but you must choose which guild you list your item and that is it. This has led people to spamming every single general zone chat with trade requests because there is no trade chat, and it has overwhelmed any other discussions attempting to go on. The fact is, if you want to sell your item you want to reach the most amount of people, and that means selling it in general chat, not one of the guild stores where you will only get 75% of what you're asking.

-Inventory management is a complete nightmare. You are able to level any or all professions at will; you aren't locked into picking just one or two. However, crafts like provisioning and enchanting have A LOT of different items used to craft, and you only start with 60 bank slots. If you try and level provisioning alone you will use up almost 100 slots with just different types of crafting materials, leaving room for absolutely nothing else! There are trinkets and pets and other things you might want to keep, but now you have to use bank alts and THEIR specific inventory just so you can have room to level other professions, or keep those special trinkets you get in game, or hell, another set of armor.

-Enchanting is a joke. Almost all of the enchantments that you can use only go on jewelry, which you can't craft, and most of the rings and amulets you find have enchantments on them already that can't be overwritten. You need 3 different kinds of runes, but aspect runes appear in the game about 10% of the time compared to the other 2, meaning leveling it is godawful slow. However, leveling any profession in the game goes faster by deconstructing any item you find, NOT crafting. There is essentially no point in actually crafting a single item in any profession until you hit max level because you will outlevel it too quickly and it doesn't provide enough experience to level your profession to make it worth it.

-PvP is mostly just running around for 10 minutes in empty fields to hopefully the next battle, because as far as I can tell there is no way to know if a capture point is in conflict or not. Seriously, PvP is mostly running from point A to point B with nothing inbetween, then it doesn't matter if you win or lose because what comes next is another 10 minute run. The map is too big. Seriously.

These are just a few of the criticisms. If you really, really want to give the game a try, WAIT a few months for things to get settled, because it's just not worth the $15 a month they are asking for you to be waiting for things to get sorted out.… Expand

orctown-troll

Apr 11, 2014

5

Reading through the reviews here there is no doubt that most of the 10/10 scores have been written from development team members God-bless-them! The game is pretty good. It would be ok as free to play. Truth is that it is not easy to make a MMO that is going to be truly interesting for everyone. The need to drag the play out with deliberate grinding is going to deter most people in theReading through the reviews here there is no doubt that most of the 10/10 scores have been written from development team members God-bless-them! The game is pretty good. It would be ok as free to play. Truth is that it is not easy to make a MMO that is going to be truly interesting for everyone. The need to drag the play out with deliberate grinding is going to deter most people in the end. For this game $60 up front and then subscription represents pretty poor value for money. Most of us would be better of playing RIFT. Just as Bioware wasted millions making a mediocre game in SWTOR, Zenimax has wasted big bucks on a game that is simply not a good investment for most players. I suggest avoiding this game till it is free to play. Let's hope that rather than mediocre MMOs Zenimax actually puts some effort into greatly improving their single player games and evolving that model with co-op and multiplayer elements.

Orctowngrot.… Expand

newmeta

Apr 11, 2014

5

SPOILER FREE.

It dries up pretty quickly. It would have been better if it was single player with a co-op experience (rather than thousands, cut it down to maybe 5 friends). It doesn't change the MMORPG world or add anything unique to the culture. Rather it's a weird bridge between single and multiplayer. It's not a bad game...but it's not a good one either. The TES feel is there butSPOILER FREE.

It dries up pretty quickly. It would have been better if it was single player with a co-op experience (rather than thousands, cut it down to maybe 5 friends). It doesn't change the MMORPG world or add anything unique to the culture. Rather it's a weird bridge between single and multiplayer.

It's not a bad game...but it's not a good one either. The TES feel is there but its not an improvement. More often than not you will take a break and want to get a Skyrim fix. But TESO does have a wide variety of quests and leaves good taste for those with a good imagination...but there are plenty of times that feeling is just washed away when you see others in a world you hoped to call your own.

As roleplayer: You will be pleased to a point, but really be pushing it later on.
As a TES fan: You will be pleased to a point, but not impressed for the long run.
As a MMORPG'r: You will be pleased to a point, but stop looking forward to things extremely quickly.… Expand

1am4critic

Apr 11, 2014

9

Probably the best mmo out there since world of warcraft and guild wars. As an mmo, I feel the game is really engaging albeit slightly on the easy side. PVP is really fun, at first I thought the idea of the constant Cyrodil power struggle would limit what you could do as a pvper, but the battles can get really awesome. The loot is pretty cool, and I like how there are so many skillProbably the best mmo out there since world of warcraft and guild wars. As an mmo, I feel the game is really engaging albeit slightly on the easy side. PVP is really fun, at first I thought the idea of the constant Cyrodil power struggle would limit what you could do as a pvper, but the battles can get really awesome. The loot is pretty cool, and I like how there are so many skill abilities, sometimes I find it difficult which to chose. Compared to combat in other mmorpgs, I actually like this. If you seriously want to see numbers and damages dealt, there actually is a mod for that, and yes, ESO actually has mods! (which I feel is another plus), although mods are more limited than the singleplayer games like oblivion and skyrim.

This game does have a few things keeping it from a ten though. Firstly, if you wish to play this as elder scrolls VI, you may find it a little bit of a disappointment. It was difficult merging the immersion level of the single player games and the fun, action and sociability of mmorpgs, and although I felt they did a good job, there are some obvious things that stick out. MMORPG people may find the game a little bit too not straightforward, the lack of ui and hud may frustrate a mmorpg veteran, while an Elder Scrolls fan may not appreciate the fancy abilities and hack and slash feel. Another thing that I should mention is the bugs, you would think a quality franchise like bethesda would have solved this by now, but expect to run into a few when you play. Fortunately nothing has been game breaking for me yet.

The game is extremely good, and for an mmorpg, it is quite revolutionary. However, the joining of the two video game genres, although fairly seamless, had its flaws. But despite these flaws, I would say this is one of the best games I've played to date… Expand

ajruls78

Apr 11, 2014

9

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What ESO is, is not an MMO, yet it is not a traditional RPG. It is its own unique, innovative game which this industry just simply has not seen yet. Therefore it is unfair to compare this game to anything else out there in the industry. ESO is best defined as a single player game in a multiplayer world which I have found to be one of my greatest gaming experiences so far. People are saying that this game has flaws. I say they are not flaws, they are what makes this game unique. It does not follow the traditional formula for an MMO, instead it writes its own set of rules. The developers built this game they way they wanted to, and it shows greatly.

Graphics:
ESO's graphics are unparalleled by any other game in the MMO industry. These are the greatest graphics I have ever seen in a MMO ever. Period. You will not be disappointed by the rocky slopes or the individual models for each and every tree. The water texture is spectacular, and even the sunlight has its own way of standing out. Character models are awesome. It feels "real." 10/10
Music:
The music of Elder Scrolls games has never ceased to disappoint, and it remains so in ESO. The music creates a unique feeling for every zone, and the sounds fit accordingly to each attack and movement parallel to each unique surface. 10/10
Controls:
The lack of buttons is understandable based on the fact this game will be available for console, however it would be nice to be able to have access to all of your abilities. However in turn the combat system is very good once one can get used to it. It involved dodging, LoS, and overall skill to generally win a fight. It takes some time to get used to, however the lack of keybinds will in the end lead to a more balanced game while at the same time giving up some degree of immersion. 8/10
Gameplay:
What stands out in ESO is the ability to play how you want to play. For example I can play a sorcerer, a traditional healing class, and instead become a plate wearing tank with offheals. You play this game how you want to play it, classes are barely a mold for how you should go about this.
PvP has brought it to the table as well, the sheer amount of chaos which takes place in each warzone is astounding! Catapults, war machines, hand to hand combat, and the intense strategy going on in general chat. It is spectacular and brings something to the table which no other game before has managed to do, made World PvP fun for an entire game audience. The megaserver technology not only allows Cyrodil to become extensively populated at any given time of day, but each individual zone always feels active as well. Gone are the days of having to pay for server transfers to play with a friend!
The world immersion is another quality which really struck me with the Elder Scrolls Online. Like its predecessor Skyrim, ESO strikes me as one of the most immersive games I have ever played. I'm not usually a lore junkie, but this game changed that. After hearing the individual voice acted quests, and the intense stories which took place inside them, I found myself compelled to not rush to max level, but to slow down, read the books on the book shelves, and smell the roses. It is noticeable that through all these things combined, the developing team has held themselves to a higher standard then ever before.
One critique I have of the gameplay is the lack of direction. I would often times find myself questing in zones which would be 5 levels higher than me because I wouldn't have a direction on where to go next. There are quests everywhere, however directional quests are important and ESO does sometimes lack this. It is an easy fix, but well have to see what the team does about this.
ESO does not come without its fair share of bugs. Although most low level quests are fine, as you progress upwards some quests are bugged and unable to complete. Issues like these often come about during game launches and can be the result of an overloaded server or an internal bug within the quest itself. Skyrim notably came with its fair share of bugs, something the Elder Scrolls Franchise has become famous for. Nevertheless it sold nearly 30 million copys.

Conclusions:
Overall ESO is a stand out game. The graphics, music, and storylines are unparalleled in any other game. The controls do take some getting used to but are useful after you understand how the games combat system works. PvP is an intrinsic experience alone, and PvE content is nonlinear. Overall Elder Scrolls Online has impressed a die hard WoW player like myself enough to cancel my subscription to World of Warcraft, and spend my $15 a month on this game instead. Elder Scrolls Online has redefined the MMO industry, and with new content coming just a month after release, it is evident that the developers care strongly about this game. Therefore it is my pleasure to reward The Elder Scrolls Online with a 9.25/10 and give it the title as one of the greatest games I have ever played.… Expand

corbindamasca

Apr 11, 2014

8

A solid effort right out of the gate, ESO promises to deliver a unique experience in the MMO space that isn't just a cut and paste of previous offerings by other companies. It's not flawless and it's got some curious design choices at launch, but it's to be commended for trying to blaze a new trail in several areas. The biggest challenge it faces is trying to be enough of an MMO for theA solid effort right out of the gate, ESO promises to deliver a unique experience in the MMO space that isn't just a cut and paste of previous offerings by other companies. It's not flawless and it's got some curious design choices at launch, but it's to be commended for trying to blaze a new trail in several areas. The biggest challenge it faces is trying to be enough of an MMO for the MMO crowd (many of whom claim to want no more 'WoW clones', yet decry any game that launches without everything WoW has), and enough of an Elder Scrolls game for those coming from that fan base. Only time will tell if it creates a satisfying fusion of the two experiences, which is a challenge given that the Elder Scrolls games have always had a laser focus on the single player experience. There's plenty of content to justify an initial purchase and a few months of subscription time, but it remains to be seen if the content updates can keep up with the frantic pace that players tend to devour it. I've barely touched upon the PvP side of things, but so far it reminds me of how Guild Wars 2 handled it. You can throw yourself into it or it can be safely ignored, there's plenty to do otherwise.… Expand

Stardog2537

Apr 11, 2014

2

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am writing this review based upon my impressions of the game shortly before launch as I was a Beta participant. Having said that, some of the content I've rated/discussed here may have been changed. My disappointment was such that I created an account here just for the purpose of writing this review. Sorry for the wall of text in advance.

The writing is horrible. The AI is awful. If I were to make a Twitch stream it would be a comedy, and not only because of my dumb mistakes. I can tell that they responded to feedback I gave on previous beta weekend events, but I can also say that the game is actually less impressive now than it was when I first tested it. I’m not sure how that’s even possible. The player choices are all inconsequential. The NPC motives are foggy at best. HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD (all from the first 6 levels of play).

Reasons I Hated This Game:

Reason 1: Here, you stranger, I am a commander in this army and I can’t make a decision to save my life about some undead peeps wandering about of late. You look as good as any other passing stranger, why not come and tell me how to do my job. Thank you very much. Which commander am I? Take your pick, because apparently there is no shortage of officers here who cannot make a decision without asking for help and advice from any wanderer who happens by.

Reason 2: Hey, you’re new here. Before you set one foot inside this city of mine, I need to know if you’ll follow me and begin your next quest. Now choose. What? Oh those objective markers we’re passing on the way to my oh-so-important goal? Just ignore them until it’s too late to do anything about them, or you can stop following me to check them out and get lost on the way. Oh, and when we get there, I’ll tell you to wait outside while in reality I want you to follow me inside. And once inside, some silly noble is going to ask you to kill some of his ancestors and rob their tomb. And then you’ll be asked again if you want to follow the next guy in the quest as he leads the way past other things you might like to investigate on your way to your next quest marker. But don’t worry, we’re not trying to force you into a linear play style or anything.

Reason 3: Look, you’re dead and I’m not. But don’t worry, I’m eventually going to sacrifice my own freedom so you can get out of this awful place, even though we’ve just met. Oh, and don’t worry about me when we get to those spear traps. I’ll be sure to go and stand right on top of them even though we will both watch them pop up and down repeatedly beforehand. They won’t kill me anyway because apparently nothing can here. Just watch.

Reason 4: Look, you’ve been unconscious for a bit because you apparently had some accident before turning up on our island, but you obviously can handle jobs that my entire company couldn’t take care of, so why don’t you run around like an errand boy and personal goon for a few days because nobody else around here is clearly as capable as you, Mr. Washed-Up-On-The-Shore-and-Laid-Up-In-Bed-Until-5-Minutes-Ago…

Reason 5: Yay! You’re our hero! You saved the fort, Mr. Stranger! Apparently killing 5 or 6 weak and uninspiring mobs was a job that nobody else in the entire fort could handle, so thank you for saving us all! Yay!

Reason 6: Hey, you! Yeah, you! Get this… even though you’re this awesome amazing nobody who can save everybody, if you want to do some dirty work for money, go steal me a bottle of liquor from some guy because clearly anyone interested in the art of acquisitions must also have nothing better to do than take unimportant nothings from unimportant nobodies for shiftless losers who are too lazy to go and steal it themselves.

Reason 7: Hello Mr. Mysterious-Sounding-Nickname, I know that flashbacks are horrible methods of sharing boring exposition in all sorts of fiction, so I’m not going to give you a flashback to clue you… I’m going to force you to wander through one of MY flashbacks instead. Why? Because boring exposition is so much more fun when you’re beat about the head and shoulders with it and forced to endure it to completion. Because even though you have no clue who these people are and why they are here, I want you to care about them. NOW CARE, DARN YOU, CARE!!!!… Expand

aking23

Apr 11, 2014

10

Elder scrolls online is a great game. While not being as good (not even nearly) as the previous elder scrolls games ESO is still a great game, just not as much when compared to the other games in the series. The game-play is fluid fast and keeps you involved (unlike other mmos, COUGH COUGH WOW) the item and crafting system requires you to actually get involved and pay attention (againElder scrolls online is a great game. While not being as good (not even nearly) as the previous elder scrolls games ESO is still a great game, just not as much when compared to the other games in the series. The game-play is fluid fast and keeps you involved (unlike other mmos, COUGH COUGH WOW) the item and crafting system requires you to actually get involved and pay attention (again unlike other mmos). The pvp is great and it takes time to get from point to point making deaths actually matter. The game is broken up into zones witch while that isnt that great the zones are still pretty nice looking and filled with content. Overall this game is probably one of the best mmos currently available if not THE best.… Expand

RobertC

Apr 11, 2014

3

Broken quests and dungeons might be overlooked. But, the vanishing banks is over the edge. Add to that the horrid customer service and, this is one to avoid until/if they get their act together. Really sad as, I was a huge fan up until release.

Dirk_B_Daring

Apr 11, 2014

5

meh. Not worth the sub fee. Interesting game but fairly standard mmo mechanics/gameplay. PvP is the only piece of content that pushes the score to 5. Yawn.

Wyrmdale

Apr 11, 2014

10

This game provides what true MMO-players were waiting for years. Where Age of Conan or Star Wars the Old Republic came close - Zenimax learned the lesson of their failures. Playing since headstart this is the best experience I've had in any MMO for years. Well done, Zenimax - keep rollin'.

toxic20

Apr 11, 2014

10

I had been pretty bored of the MMO genre. Been waiting for this game and didn't read much of it so it would be a surprise. I am really happy with my purchase. It's exactly what you would expect an Elder Scrolls MMO to be. The character creation is really detailed, the voiceovers are great, the quests are really well written and have a lot of diversity. Been playing since launch and I haveI had been pretty bored of the MMO genre. Been waiting for this game and didn't read much of it so it would be a surprise. I am really happy with my purchase. It's exactly what you would expect an Elder Scrolls MMO to be. The character creation is really detailed, the voiceovers are great, the quests are really well written and have a lot of diversity. Been playing since launch and I have no complaints.… Expand

heartsss

Apr 11, 2014

10

Such a fun and unique MMO! The questing is really, really interesting. They're diverse, with good stories, and it isn't the typical kill X quests. The graphics are really nice to and the game runs really well. They did a great job it's fun to explore, quest, and the combat is a big improvement from Skyrim.

nomad2185

Apr 11, 2014

10

I love it!Best MMO out there(personal opinion).I'm regular player of WoW the last 4 years but ESO is so different with great meaning of say ! The Graphics and Music are Great!Customer service is very good until now and The exploring is great! It's worth 13 euros per month.

DDraiman1990

Apr 11, 2014

9

The Elder Scrolls Online is one of those rare, special MMOs you dont see very often. so why a lot of people are saying this is not a good MMO or a good Elder Scrolls game? because people got used to this lame gaming society. i LOVE that this game isnt obvious to play. i love that the combat system is simple yet adaptive. i HATE that people want the experience to be like WoW or Guild WarsThe Elder Scrolls Online is one of those rare, special MMOs you dont see very often. so why a lot of people are saying this is not a good MMO or a good Elder Scrolls game? because people got used to this lame gaming society. i LOVE that this game isnt obvious to play. i love that the combat system is simple yet adaptive. i HATE that people want the experience to be like WoW or Guild Wars because its "Bad Gaming" in my account. WoW started out as a wonderful game because it came out at a time we didnt have the internet to tell us what Builds we should get or what equipment we should pursue. nowadays we have Walkthroughs and Builds and Guides to help all the lazy players. ESO is one of those games that if you come with the above attitude, waiting for everything to be obvious and fast paced and easy - you wont enjoy it! i think ESO is a special experience that everyone should try and do it with no comparison in mind. the combat system is good, the exploring is fun and if you really make an effort to get invested in the story - it actually feels like an Elder Scrolls game. so stop complaining and start playing.… Expand

CptFlippy

Apr 11, 2014

2

Re-reviewing this game after a week of normal play and it is still disappointing.

As to be expected with the release of games these days there are a ton of bugs, some that are seriously crippling, like everything in your bank disappearing or that really cool epic armor on your head just disappearing. Quests are broken and it seems that the higher level you get the less testing seems toRe-reviewing this game after a week of normal play and it is still disappointing.

As to be expected with the release of games these days there are a ton of bugs, some that are seriously crippling, like everything in your bank disappearing or that really cool epic armor on your head just disappearing. Quests are broken and it seems that the higher level you get the less testing seems to have been done, which makes sense as they had a limited beta.

It doesn't even have the feel of a normal MMO because they gave it the base Elder Scrolls GUI but then cut back on its functionality. You have 7 slots attached to keyboard keys, 1-5, Q, R, 1 special R which is really lame as the power builds up while you fight and drops when you are not which means you rarely use it in PvE. The 7 slot Q is attached to a quick slot which means you can have several items on that, but can only use them one at a time and there is a cool-down timer on them. So that epic battle in Skyrim where you clicked through 30 potions, not going to happen in ESO.

The limited key functionality and simplicity that they have is clearly been done to make the titles transition to consoles easier. The greatness of the Elder Scrolls series is the graphics and how fantastic the game looks. ESO misses this mark completely, the graphics just are not there and seem like they maybe that way for console release.

The interesting thing about player and bank inventory space is that you can see where they could put a F2P or P2W system in place immediately without having to adjust game mechanics. It is almost like the expect this game to go F2P at some point.

With that in mind, there is no ground breaking systems here that are just the best thing ever, there are gold farmers, bots and spammers in the chat. With nothing really holding people other than the PvP which again is not ground breaking, and the hope of future releases of new lands I do not see a financial sustainability in the 15 dollars a month plan. I suspect before the one year mark either an announcement or the actually change to a F2P model. I hope that Bethesda sees this not as a title to build off of, but as a third part release for the MMO market.… Expand

Paxter82

Apr 11, 2014

8

My experience so far in ESO has been extremely enjoyable. I don't feel it is fair to compare eso to skyrim which is an offline game, MMO has a number of constraints which makes it close to impossible to match from game mechanics to graphic. So my comparison is more towards other mmos. The few things I like is the mega server, classes, pvp, the difficulty of the dungeons and the craftingMy experience so far in ESO has been extremely enjoyable. I don't feel it is fair to compare eso to skyrim which is an offline game, MMO has a number of constraints which makes it close to impossible to match from game mechanics to graphic. So my comparison is more towards other mmos. The few things I like is the mega server, classes, pvp, the difficulty of the dungeons and the crafting system. I will cover two of the things I like the most, the server n the class system.

The server - the server phasing of the zone is remarkably seamless, which is great cause those around you are doing the same thing which allows progression at the same phase, you also will notice that the developers took the time to really craft each quest, and once you have complete it the world actually permanently change, for example I was asked to defend a town under daedra attack, when I started the town was burning, when we repealed the attack you saw corpses all over the town and fires being put out, once you kill the boss in a nearby cave and return the town was almost back to normal n the towns folk conversations actually change to reflect your actions, in my case I killed the traitor instead of arresting him, my action triggered a different outcome. That little details do give you the impression that you are changing your environment around you. In some zones ghosts for example turn neutral because of an outcome of a quest.

Classes - the holy trinity is still there, non eso players have been complaining about how un imaginative the game is when it comes to the classes, in my opinion this is completely BS the 4 classes are a basic template from there you can practically build any class you can imagine n most probably very playable.

A dragon knight is your typical tanker, yet you can build a dragon Mage which uses cloth armour and a flame staff n suddenly you are hurling fireballs and massive dot and AOE attacks, they can also be a berserker dealing massive damage, n stun locking your opponent, n pulling them to you ensuring the poor dude can't run away

The night blade is your typical rogue, yet it has a whole tree which basically turns him into a warlock dealing with death magic, or a ranger, firing arrows that will make Legolas look like a newb

The Templar is your healer, yet in actuality all the classes can actually be healers the night blade has a build that makes them viable healers in their own right, the Templar can also be a solar Mage using the power of the sun to become a Caster centered on AOE spells n debuffs, they also have a Dps build that rivals the damage of a dragon knight.

The Mage can be a summoner which masters the art of minions or a tank Mage, fighting with a sword n shield

Overall the class possibilities are actually endless n making you carefully decide on which abilities to use on your limited hot bar requires you to do some serious planning on what works n what doesn't.

My only concerns is the supposed new content at a dlc quality content almost on a monthly basis I feel that it is quite ambitious of them, if it does follow through then they seriously have done very well for themselves, making the 15$ worth it. But if they don't I can't see my self playing it past the next six months. As it stands it's a very good mmo, especially the story n the immersion which puts it pretty high, on my list. It doesn't exactly bring something new to the mmo genre but it is very much refined with space to be better.… Expand

WhiteTalpa

Apr 11, 2014

4

awful controls i mean like sometimes it doesnt even work, the lagg is awful considering it doesnt even look that great and i mean my pc can handle better looking games, the quests are boring... the npc look like actual players so thats really confusing and it meant ive died a couple of times...because i have to put it in low graphic setting some of the quest npc wont even load into theawful controls i mean like sometimes it doesnt even work, the lagg is awful considering it doesnt even look that great and i mean my pc can handle better looking games, the quests are boring... the npc look like actual players so thats really confusing and it meant ive died a couple of times...because i have to put it in low graphic setting some of the quest npc wont even load into the game right away i have to stand there and wait for it to load there are so many more reasons why this is an awful MMORPG if you're a fan on elder scrolls you're gonna be disappointed and if you're a fan on MMORPGS you're gonna be disappointed.… Expand

blur

Apr 11, 2014

2

A truly awful game that takes the "big name" and fanbase of the Elder Scrolls, then proceeds to take a massive dump on it from the start by allowing pre-order customers to create any race of character in any faction, thus making the factions meaningless and not adhering to Elder Scrolls lore. Oh, and then there's the whole, pre-order to become an Imperial character thing. You might beA truly awful game that takes the "big name" and fanbase of the Elder Scrolls, then proceeds to take a massive dump on it from the start by allowing pre-order customers to create any race of character in any faction, thus making the factions meaningless and not adhering to Elder Scrolls lore. Oh, and then there's the whole, pre-order to become an Imperial character thing. You might be thinking these are microtransactions as part of a free to play game... yet you'd be wrong! Although the game is trying to wring money out of its players, left and right, it also wants a $15/mo fee, even though monthly MMO fees went the way of the dodo about five years ago. Boring, brown and dull, ESO is a total bore. Ironically, it might be made a little more palatable by being a free to play hybrid sort of game -- similar to what SWTOR became after it tanked -- but we'll have to just wait and see. One thing's for certain, however, if a massive IP like Star Wars could fail so spectacularly with SWTOR, there's every chance you will see ESO as one of 2014s statistics as well. Avoid, avoid, avoid, unless it's being offered for free.… Expand

geormigk

Apr 11, 2014

10

Fantastic game fresh start to mmo genre and something different than click and play. Thegraphics are stunning and the quests deep...The pvp is also a great experience

littlebuddy

Apr 11, 2014

9

as far as this game being the WOW killer. the only thing that is going to kill WOW is blizzard and they are doing a good job at it. but if your looking for a good game to leave it for then this is a game you should try. its a very good game. the quests are interesting and dont feel like a grind. so far im enjoying it and would recommend playing it.

JoshuaRowan

Apr 11, 2014

9

I've been playing MMO's since the beginning (Ultima Online in 1997) and have to say that ESO is on of the most refreshing to come along in quite awhile, primarily because of how open-ended the class & skill system have been set up. I like that I can essentially create ANY character that I want, based on the 4 basic styles (Warrior-type, Healer-type, Mage-type, Rogue-type), but turn themI've been playing MMO's since the beginning (Ultima Online in 1997) and have to say that ESO is on of the most refreshing to come along in quite awhile, primarily because of how open-ended the class & skill system have been set up. I like that I can essentially create ANY character that I want, based on the 4 basic styles (Warrior-type, Healer-type, Mage-type, Rogue-type), but turn them into literally anything. As an example, I created a Sorcerer that focuses only on Summoning, wears Heavy Armor, and uses only a Bow in combat, i.e. essentially a hybrid Hunter. Using the Healer (Templar) base, I was also able to create both a Paladin (Heavy Armor, Sword & Shield, only some healing abilities) and an entirely unique Cleric (Cloth Armor, Healing Staff, almost entirely healing abilities).
However, the really difference here is that the game is significantly better quality storytelling in the great Questing system they've set up that puts it at a level that makes you feel like you have to make some real choices that will have a lasting impact on the world around you (from what I can tell, the environment literally changes around you based on what you decide.
It's all the little things too - the fact that it feels so much like an extension of previous Elder Scrolls games, has absolutely gorgeous graphics & animations, beautiful music, more voice acting than I've ever seen in an MMO, a complex crafting system that allows you to create weapons and armor that actually look unique and are BETTER than what you find out in the world (at least so far), a Banking system that makes it SO much easier to share resources between all your characters (I'm the kind of player that can't stand playing any fewer than 6 characters at once), and a PvP system that feels very meaningful.
The only thing missing that so far the game doesn't seem to have Housing! How do you NOT have housing in a game based on Elder Scrolls? Not to mention that so many other games either have it or will soon enough (even WOW is coming out with some kind of Garrison-type system I think).
The bottom line is that I highly recommend this game to any fan of MMO's or of Elder Scrolls. All in all, yes the game has some minor flaws, but the positives far outweigh any of the annoyances (like the multi-hour updates that have already happened 3 times in the last week!).… Expand

Dragonborne_777

Apr 11, 2014

9

First off all I am an Elder Scrolls lore junkie and huge fan. I have played The Elder Scrolls Arena when is was first released and all subsequent titles thereafter, (Daggerfall, Morrowind, Redguard, Battlespire, Oblivion, Skyrim as well as the mobile games). Eso is not a perfect game but it is a good game. Most other positive reviews have covered the good points about the game so I won'tFirst off all I am an Elder Scrolls lore junkie and huge fan. I have played The Elder Scrolls Arena when is was first released and all subsequent titles thereafter, (Daggerfall, Morrowind, Redguard, Battlespire, Oblivion, Skyrim as well as the mobile games). Eso is not a perfect game but it is a good game. Most other positive reviews have covered the good points about the game so I won't go into detail about what I like.The only bad think I can think of is the quest phasing. If you and your said friend are not at the same phase in the main story and you are having trouble completing a storyline step, A.K.A boss mob, your friend cannot join your instance to help you with said boss. The only way said friend can help you is if he is on the same phase as you. This is my only complaint about the game and in my opinion needs to be fixed. All in all I understood this was an MMO and not a single player Elder Scrolls game. I understood some sacrifices had to be made regarding the game. Eso, is one of the better MMO's I have played since Vanilla WoW and I have had a lot of fun playing it so far. It is worth the buy. And yes I have played onter mmos such as Ultima Online, Everquest, Rift, Vanguard, Everquest 2 , World Of Warcraft, DOC, etc.… Expand

imaguy23

Apr 11, 2014

4

What a waste of money, from an MMO perspective its a complete clusterfark. Where do i start... let's see the sub model that you would think would be worth it but turns out it's not. The look and feel is completely devoid of anything resembling Skyrim. It's like they took Skyrim and pulled out all the worst parts then tried to hammer it into the shape of an MMO. Nothing feels right, thereWhat a waste of money, from an MMO perspective its a complete clusterfark. Where do i start... let's see the sub model that you would think would be worth it but turns out it's not. The look and feel is completely devoid of anything resembling Skyrim. It's like they took Skyrim and pulled out all the worst parts then tried to hammer it into the shape of an MMO. Nothing feels right, there are no "Oh wow look at that" moments, the whole world feels contrived. Nothing is explained so be prepared to be wasting hours trying to figure it out or jumping from browser to game googling every 10 minutes. The quests are boring and unoriginal nothing like Skyrim and it looks gaudy. The server response times are a joke unless you live somewhere near their servers. I can't believe they put this thing out there... with all the money and talent they have what nutter thought this was a good idea... you know who the pin head who listened to those couple of whining MMO air bags who jump from one MMO to the next every month well you made you're bed now lay in it because this thing is going to be F2P within a year tops the writing is on the wall all you need to do is open you're eyes to see it.… Expand

Spryngsnowstorm

Apr 11, 2014

8

Preface

In general, I don’t like MMORPGs. The auto-combat is boring. Grinding is boring. The quests are boring. Everyone looks the same. I’ve never gotten to end-game (because of the boring), but I have seen friends having epic 30 person fights with giant beasties and it seems more like doing math and less like playing a game. I’m just not into it. Therefore, this review is onlyPreface

In general, I don’t like MMORPGs. The auto-combat is boring. Grinding is boring. The quests are boring. Everyone looks the same. I’ve never gotten to end-game (because of the boring), but I have seen friends having epic 30 person fights with giant beasties and it seems more like doing math and less like playing a game. I’m just not into it. Therefore, this review is only applicable to the low levels of the game and my impressions thus far. I don’t have a lot of experience, but I want to explain why I like this MMORPG.

I love the Elder Scrolls series, which I picked up at Morrowind and never looked back, so I was a sucker for the game world. That’s what convinced me to try it in the first place. I was hopeful but also skeptical. With nothing to lose (my roommate who loves MMORPGs let me make a character on his account to see how it felt), I dove in.

Actual Review

Character creation was a blast. It’s one of my favorite parts of a game. I had been disappointed with the limitations MMOs had concerning look. This time I was glad to see an aspect of ES games carried over (my strong hope being that much of the feel of the games translated [and it did]) in the character creation station. Oh, the glorious sliders! I’ve made 3 characters and they each took 30+ minutes to make and they don’t look like everyone else. I was off to a good start.

The tutorial was a little ambiguous. Some things only brought up an explanation if you happened to click on it. Most of the tutorial was meant to teach you how to equip a weapon and fight with a rudimentary understanding of the battle system. The narrative broke down a little bit as I was being rushed through with this sense of urgency, but then there are 20+ urns with stuff to loot all over the place.

So I got free and was in one of the faction’s starting isles. This was something that bothered me. I want to play a Kajit, but I wanted to be on the same team as my friend. It was not clear to me that the races can only be in their assigned faction (unless I had spent more money on an upgraded account), so I played this character for 5 levels before my friend tells me he never saw that island and I’m not on his team. Damn it! So I can either play the race I want OR play with my friend. I made another character.

Time to talk about combat. This is one of the major selling points for me. It’s point and click per hit, rather than auto-fighting. It livens up the experience and requires more of my attention. Also, the first person option is another carryover I was happy to see. For a lot of the time it feels like playing single player as far as combat. The controls were already familiar to me, so I got the hang of it quickly. I’m not a fan of hotkeys, but it’s a symptom of not being able to pause which is my #1 hang up about MMOs, but there’s nothing for it.

That leads me to my next smiley face, XP distribution, aka Freedom From Grinding. Killing things is fun and sometimes necessary, but that’s not going to get me levels or gold. Missions and little story lines are what this is all about. Yes, the missions start out somewhat trite, but they’re clever and cute and not “go get me 10 of these” level of banal. You know where you’re going, what you’re doing, and there’s an at least moderately compelling reason you’re doing it.

Also in the realm of XP, I am so grateful for the shared kills. We get the same XP and the same loot if we take something down together, making this a co-op venture. There’s not petty squabbling about who gets the stuff or the kill. I feel a camaraderie when I see someone else is on the same path, killing the same things. We have each other’s backs because there’s no reason not to. There’s no more trepidation when I’m playing peak hours because, “Cool, other people to enjoy this experience with!”

Crafting is another thing I love. At first I was daunted by all the huge amounts of instruction, but then I read through a bunch of forums and wikis. Turns out explaining the system is more complicated than the system itself. I was hoping for a little more visual customization, but there are enough mechanics (many, but simple) involved. (I saw someone in a Kajit helmet and I Want It!! I’ll be learning that racial armor style since I can’t be a Kajit because I’m broke [whine].)

To sum up, EOS is a MMORPG I don’t hate, and that’s a glowing recommendation in my book. I’ve always wanted to be able to quest with my friends, but been too annoyed with game play to get there. Now if I can get my friend to stop leveling until I can catch up, I’ll be set.

Thank you, Bethesda.… Expand

Uxz

Apr 11, 2014

6

The game starts out nicely, but once you start reaching higher Levels bugs upon bugs will ruin you game experience, at this moment in this you cannot Reach max Level (You will get about half ways there). Veteran Ranks are being blocked by a main story quest that is not possible to do, this has been bugged for 7 days now and there is no fix in sight. Several thousands of players are campingThe game starts out nicely, but once you start reaching higher Levels bugs upon bugs will ruin you game experience, at this moment in this you cannot Reach max Level (You will get about half ways there). Veteran Ranks are being blocked by a main story quest that is not possible to do, this has been bugged for 7 days now and there is no fix in sight. Several thousands of players are camping the zone without any content to do as they are blocked. The customer service offers little to no information and no solutions. This is not just a bug affecting one player, but all -early rushers and levelers managed to get past before the quest bugged out.… Expand

Jekkoo

Apr 11, 2014

9

If you want an online game with great graphics and engaging story, this is the game you are looking for. I wanted to play an MMO for so long, but they were so outdated in graphics and the gameplay was soo casual, I thought I wasted my time and money.

The game doesn't tell you to kill 10 monsters, bring 5 vials, and every other boring no brainer "tasks" you need to do. Every quest youIf you want an online game with great graphics and engaging story, this is the game you are looking for. I wanted to play an MMO for so long, but they were so outdated in graphics and the gameplay was soo casual, I thought I wasted my time and money.

The game doesn't tell you to kill 10 monsters, bring 5 vials, and every other boring no brainer "tasks" you need to do. Every quest you are on will affect you emotionally, which will make the gameplay more fluid, which has been the reason we get satisfied for every great game we played.

In addition, whatever you like to do more, you get more specialized in that area. If you like to play dual wield, you will have much better hit rate with dual wield. If you like bows, it will give you more bonus. Everything you enjoy to do defines your character, which is the main reason you become more attached to your character.

There is no auction house, which makes everybody focus on production instead of money. You will not see farming like in the other MMO's, the more you make for yourself, the better stuff you will have, and a greater advantage will you have in both PVE and PVP.

Combat is unique, where you can dodge, block, stun whenever you need to, feeling more control over your character than in the other MMO's.

The monthly fee is definetely worth it, you will not feel robbed. I also insist you to update your PC so you can taste the environment to its full, and play in a beautiful atmosphere. This is the next-gen MMO game you were always looking for.… Expand

outlived

Apr 10, 2014

8

Though it isn't as graphically impressive as skyrim or as immersive I would still argue that this title is more then worthy as any of the previous elder scrolls, I be leave its one of the best mmorpgs I've played in awhil.

airvents

Apr 10, 2014

0

Just another copy paste WOW/GW clone. Elder Scrolls needs to stick to single player only. Clunky game play, bad graphics even on the highest setting. Very disappointed with this "game".

Kaskako

Apr 10, 2014

10

Ignore the haters and try it out, ask a friend for example to give it a try on his characters. It really is an awesome game.

Amazing world, nice combat, awesome character building, nice story, epic pvp and fun pve. Crafting can be interesting. All this set in The Elder Scrolls universe.

It has it's flaws, and bugs but they are being fixed constantly and improvements are sure to come.

terrible_lizard

Apr 10, 2014

4

I was in on the Mac beta and was able to play this for a couple weekends before the official release. So, full disclosure, I have not played the official release. The reason why I have not played the official release is that based on my time with the beta, this is a bad game. No way I would pay for this game after playing the late-stage beta. I am big fan of Skyrim and Oblivion, and I haveI was in on the Mac beta and was able to play this for a couple weekends before the official release. So, full disclosure, I have not played the official release. The reason why I have not played the official release is that based on my time with the beta, this is a bad game. No way I would pay for this game after playing the late-stage beta. I am big fan of Skyrim and Oblivion, and I have played many of the MMOs that are out there (if only the free versions, in some cases). This game is a laughably average and dull MMO with a coat of Elder Scrolls paint. If you must play an MMO, grab a copy of GW2 which is a better game in every respect and has no subscription fee. ESO feels like a cynical ploy to milk fanboy cash. Having said all this, I will be keeping an eye on ESO because I know the devs can make it better if they keep working at it. If FF13 A Realm Reborn can be salvaged, then perhaps so can ESO.… Expand

Acidosis

Apr 10, 2014

4

I followed this game way from early January 2013 till now...and I am heavily disappointed. The things they promise such as impact-full quest, smooth active combat/game-play, elder scroll's feel, adventuring, player significance in the world and other player feedback during early alpha was not taken into full consideration. The quest in this game is lackluster and doesn't impact theI followed this game way from early January 2013 till now...and I am heavily disappointed. The things they promise such as impact-full quest, smooth active combat/game-play, elder scroll's feel, adventuring, player significance in the world and other player feedback during early alpha was not taken into full consideration. The quest in this game is lackluster and doesn't impact the game/npc in anyway, the combat still feels floating and animations are terrible for a 2014 game, elder scroll's feel aspect of it only comes from environment and music and adventuring is heavily controlled not to mention the dungeons mechanics are one of the worst I had seen. Players would rush to loot chest in dungeons and get all the loots instead of helping the group to make it through the dungeon. Even if you were to kick the player, the player will still exist in the same instance of dungeon and will continue to troll you and your group. It is a very terrible experience and it has been happening more frequently now.

I will justify why I only give this game a 4/10

One point is for their soundtrack/in game music.
Second point is for their immense voice acting, which always make an mmorpg more lively.
Third point is for recreating previous ESO game locations and make it look awesome
Fourth point for me fan-boying till now. I really wish the game is more polish, solid and better but it isn't

I can't give it another 6 points because I didn't enjoy any of the beta testing, broken promises which i stated above and the game isn't polished enough. The persistent in-game bugs are one of the worst I had encountered in all the mmorpgs i had played. They even beat GW2 in bugs award. SWTOR, Neverwinter and FFXIVARR were almost bug free even during the beta testing.

I had a group of friends who were hyped up for the game as me but everything just fall flat. It may not be much but 11 of us including me will not be playing this game anymore. Five of us bought it and all of them regretted it.… Expand

drschuster555

Apr 10, 2014

7

Yes it is a good MMO, but not The Elder Scrolls. The people who only Skyrim, Oblivion and TESO have played, DO NOT know what I mean. The Elder Scrolls was a game that has set on exploring THE gaming world. This was in Oblivion but replaced by quest markers. That was the biggest process of casualization of the Elder Scrolls. Now Bethesda and Zenimax want to make even more money by nowYes it is a good MMO, but not The Elder Scrolls. The people who only Skyrim, Oblivion and TESO have played, DO NOT know what I mean. The Elder Scrolls was a game that has set on exploring THE gaming world. This was in Oblivion but replaced by quest markers. That was the biggest process of casualization of the Elder Scrolls. Now Bethesda and Zenimax want to make even more money by now targeting with the same system as in Skyrim and Oblivion also MMO players. The charm of the Elder Scrolls has always been to find your own way through the world. But in order to achieve a higher value on the market, Bethesda and Zenimax have to ignore the fans and the wishes of the fans and promote its game ultimately. That works with unfair Imperial Editions and Imperial benefits. Bethesda going to be EA.

Sorry for translation errors, ive don this with Google Translate.… Expand

Radikal

Apr 10, 2014

8

So far it seems all the haters and bad reviewers were looking for something like WoW? My question to them is; why? This is Elder Scrolls and it is the first ever MMO version. Is it perfect? No; there are a handful of bugged quests still, occasional server issues and moderate imbalances here and there but hey...the game's been out for a whole week at the time of this review. What youSo far it seems all the haters and bad reviewers were looking for something like WoW? My question to them is; why? This is Elder Scrolls and it is the first ever MMO version. Is it perfect? No; there are a handful of bugged quests still, occasional server issues and moderate imbalances here and there but hey...the game's been out for a whole week at the time of this review. What you get is everything Elder Scrolls has always been: spectacular visuals, detailed character creation, beautiful soundtrack and the classic quest lore...all in an MMO environment. This franchise will only get better as time goes on and software/game is improved and the world is further developed via forthcoming game updates and patches. This one is going to get better folks so Elder Scrolls fans buckle up and strap in. The rest; if you came here looking for WoW...you should probably go back to it. You won't find any WoW business here.… Expand

Untouchable763

Apr 10, 2014

6

This is the most average MMORPG you will ever play in your life. The game is riddled with bugs and while you instantly think I'm being too hard on the game, I'm not. This game has so many bugs that just pull you completely out of the experience to the point of just logging off when they occur.

Pros: -Quests which avoid the normal pick up 10 items for the most part. -Voice overs areThis is the most average MMORPG you will ever play in your life. The game is riddled with bugs and while you instantly think I'm being too hard on the game, I'm not. This game has so many bugs that just pull you completely out of the experience to the point of just logging off when they occur.

Pros:
-Quests which avoid the normal pick up 10 items for the most part.
-Voice overs are beautifully done.
-Crafting is what makes this game playable IMO.

Cons:
-The UI which is an embarrassment to all MMO's
-The sheer amount of bugs which places this game around early beta in reality.
-$15 Subscription to beta test their game
-Graphics which were a huge disappointment. This game looks like it was made around consoles because the graphics are very dated. Feels like you're playing oblivion when you're questing sometimes.
-The trading/guild store/guild bank. To begin the trading in this game is a complete pain especially selling items through the guild store. Using the guild store is really your only way of selling items but the problem is that it doesn't have a SEARCH BAR. You will spend over 50% of you time in the guild store just trying to price check items or buy a specific item that you cannot find. Finally lets go over the guild bank where you will deposit your items and 10% of them will magically vanish.

To conclude the only reason I'm playing this game right now is the fact that I have 30 days free. Other then that from what I see right now it was the biggest waste of $80 I've ever spent on a video game.… Expand

BoomKillDog45

Apr 10, 2014

10

I can't really express how much I enjoy this game. I've always loved the Elder Scrolls games and was concerned about it translating into an mmo. I can safely say that The Elder Scrolls magic is still there it's just a little different than before. I enjoy just exploring this BEAUTIFUL game! I can't recommend this highly enough to those who enjoy fantasy MMORPGs.
P.S. EXTREMELY improvedI can't really express how much I enjoy this game. I've always loved the Elder Scrolls games and was concerned about it translating into an mmo. I can safely say that The Elder Scrolls magic is still there it's just a little different than before. I enjoy just exploring this BEAUTIFUL game! I can't recommend this highly enough to those who enjoy fantasy MMORPGs.
P.S. EXTREMELY improved from the Beta.......… Expand

TheSpiralAim

Apr 10, 2014

8

The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG following the Theme Park model started by Everquest back in the day. I wouldn't really call it a WoW clone since it's really just one way of presenting an MMORPG, and if you get down to it WoW is an EQ clone. That being said let's take a real look at TESO.
TESO presents itself with some of the paradigms the game has had since TES III: Morrowind. ItThe Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG following the Theme Park model started by Everquest back in the day. I wouldn't really call it a WoW clone since it's really just one way of presenting an MMORPG, and if you get down to it WoW is an EQ clone. That being said let's take a real look at TESO.
TESO presents itself with some of the paradigms the game has had since TES III: Morrowind. It has the TES theme arranged in a new way but still familiar, and that is always a bonus. After the character is made and one's faction is selected you start... as a prisoner, go figure. The Player even has to find their way out of a starting dungeon, a thing that was a trend in four of The Elder Scrolls games. So I can give them bonuses for sticking to their tried and true model of throwing the player into the world.
The villain of the game is one many TES fans should be familiar with and this will make most players smile a little hearing and seeing a familiar name. The story presents itself like a single player game and like any TES game might. Every few levels the player is summoned to speak with the Prophet and deal with the problems caused by the villain. The overland questing is fun, and doesn't really feel like the standard progress questing found commonly in Theme Park style MMORPGs.
There are some beautiful charms to the game, as well as fantastic choices in voice actors. The best example of this is a gentleman named Cadwell that is met in the starter dungeon. He is voiced by John Cleese! The graphics are very impressive and fluid feeling for an MMORPG, with some exceptions on how the arrows look when fired from the bow.
The game play is dynamic and fluid, which is a departure from most Theme Park MMORPGs. The fact one has to aim(Mostly) and move around a whole lot, has made the group dungeon content very interesting. There is also the ability to switch weapon, and with it your abilities chosen for your hot bar. This can become frustrating at times, since one only has five hot bar slots, and a lot more fun abilities to use than one can slot, even with the ability to switch weapons.
The crafting is nice but, doesn't really feel that necessary until higher levels, and some of them are actually rather difficult to level up. One bonus to this crafting system is the ability to make armors and weapons that look like whichever race's style--providing you have the racial motif. There is a great deal of frustration involved with upgraded pieces as well, it seems that I destroy more than I upgrade, even when I have a 90% chance of success.
While I haven't noticed too many things I don't like, other than way too many people being on around me, nothing stands out too sharply either, it's just a fun fluid feeling MMORPG. This is a great break from the older more standard models like WoW, EQ2, Rift, EQ ect... I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a Theme Park style MMORPG but more modern than previous examples.

While fun I'm giving this an 8/10. When I find the perfect MMO I'll give it a 10 but, I have a feeling that'll never happen... EVER. Also nothing deserve's a 0... even SWG had merit to give it a score higher than not.… Expand

Podlif

Apr 10, 2014

10

Absolutely Hated this game when I played the Beta. Things have changed. Is it as quality as a single player elder scrolls game? No. But God damn for an MMO it comes close. Leveling your character isn't a chore when you are lost in the fantastic world the developers created. It's buggy, and some wrong choices were made. But when things come together it feels like an amazing rpg experience.

realtonit

Apr 10, 2014

10

I`ll give it a 10 because it made me quit WoW, finally.

It`s better than WoW in almost every aspect, they just need to improve the game phisics, other than that its perfect, specially the PvP system. Castle wars are just too fun to describe. I`d play them everyday.

10 out of 10 for ESO

thedirtyrussian

Apr 10, 2014

1

Had to make an account to say.... this game is bad. It has surprisingly boring combat for an elder scrolls game, not to mention repetitive quests. There are many quests throughout the game, and the voice acting for them is very good, but you're so bored with the game you don't even care about the quests. The graphics are good too, but $60 for the box then $15 a month after? You won't beHad to make an account to say.... this game is bad. It has surprisingly boring combat for an elder scrolls game, not to mention repetitive quests. There are many quests throughout the game, and the voice acting for them is very good, but you're so bored with the game you don't even care about the quests. The graphics are good too, but $60 for the box then $15 a month after? You won't be getting $15 from me.… Expand

utternerd

Apr 10, 2014

9

While there are certainly issues to be worked out (the guild store lacks search functionality) and bugged quests, these are all typical launch issues in MMOs. They're also typical issues with any complex commercial software as well, gaming is not immune to these complexities. Overall, quite addictive and satisfying. I haven't wanted to play an MMORPG in a few years now, and this has filledWhile there are certainly issues to be worked out (the guild store lacks search functionality) and bugged quests, these are all typical launch issues in MMOs. They're also typical issues with any complex commercial software as well, gaming is not immune to these complexities. Overall, quite addictive and satisfying. I haven't wanted to play an MMORPG in a few years now, and this has filled the void for me. It was also a rather smooth launch to boot.… Expand

Featured

The Elder Scrolls Online

Review this game

Awards & Rankings

Essential Links

Critic Reviews

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