The Elder Scrolls Online

 PC
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2703 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,210 out of 2703
  2. Mixed: 447 out of 2703
  3. Negative: 1,046 out of 2703
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  1. marc5477
    Jul 31, 2018
    4
    Tried it back in beta, and I didnt think much of it at the time. 4 years later, I finally got a copy of game with the Morrowind expansion for $15. The game is just as I remember it, a boring casual experience with no character. A generic grind which is sad, because they clearly put a lot of work into it and it does look decent. But the gameplay is just down right coma inducing.

    1st    Tried it back in beta, and I didnt think much of it at the time. 4 years later, I finally got a copy of game with the Morrowind expansion for $15. The game is just as I remember it, a boring casual experience with no character. A generic grind which is sad, because they clearly put a lot of work into it and it does look decent. But the gameplay is just down right coma inducing.

    1st problem right off the bat. There are only 5 classes to choose from? Yep, thats right, just 5. Okay, but there must be a lot of differences between them right? Nope. Its true they each have a class tree, but all the classes have access to about 20 trees and as it turns out, most builds end up using very few skills from the class trees and most will come from the other ones. Which means that you can literally make a character with any class, use common trees, and they will play exactly the same... think about that for a minute. That said, some classes give advantages to roles they play, like the Dragonknight who has some unique tank skills but even with these distinctions, there is very little to choose from and each class can be boiled down to 2 builds. Either its a magic build, or a stamina build. Rarely, someone will make a Dragonknight tank with just health instead but thats the only exception. To summarize, all the people running around are carbon copies of each other with little to no variation. Mind you, we are in 2018. I expect this back in the late 90s, and maybe early 2000's, but not in a modern game.

    Next, they did nothing to push the front on questing, or combat. Quests are fairly well written and voice acted but they are still the generic quests you see in every RPG since the dawn of time. The real weakness here is that questing is trivially easy. Its so easy in fact, that I would say that this is the most casual MMO I have ever played, much more so than WoW and even more than GW2. One possible reason is that the entire game is level scaled to the player. This means you can go anywhere and enemies will be within your level. And despite looking different, most enemies are the same and are trivially easy to dispatch which makes running around very boring. GW2 handled this much better by only scaling down rather than scaling up which takes away any feeling of progression in the game. This was the big problem with Oblivion and to a lesser extent, Skyrim as well. Level scaling is a big problem and should be used very sparsely in an MMO. As for combat itself, well the skills are what you expect from any MMO. Block, roll, fast attack and heavy attack. Nothing new or exciting in this game. There is a cloaking class and a pet class with, laughably, no pet controls making it somewhat tedious to play. Dont expect to see anything unique, there is nothing of the sort.

    Other features are also lacking. Crafting is a minor step up from the normal select a recipe and click combine, now you can use more resources to increase quality to a defined limit. Still nothing like older games such as EQ2 or SWG. If you are looking to make cool stuff, this is not the game for you. Its entirely too easy with the only limit being the grind to collect materials since there is no easy auction house to buy them. I actually like the fact that there is no auction house in this game, but they players found ways around it by creating trading guilds. The game allows you to join 5 guilds so you can always join several. Unfortunately, the guild shops dont seem to work. At least when I tried them they never seemed to have inventory. Perhaps I had to be in the guild to see their items which is actually very silly. If someone sets up a shop, it should be available to everyone. EQ1 had this feature and it would have been awesome if they didnt also add a search feature to take the immersion out of it.

    Overall, its a very average MMO. It lacks any character and has no defining features. The one big plus is that it went F2P recently so you can pick it up cheap and play without ever subscribing. Unfortunately, without a subscription, you lose some very important features such as bigger bank and more space for trade supplies. As it turns out, this game is insanely loot heavy and you will run out of bank space in the 1st hour and this is how they hook you to subscribe. You can manage it with some alts if you want so its still manageable but it is a chore. There is another review that covers this problem below.

    Give it a shot if you are itching for an MMO but dont invest too much into it. GW2 is superior since it has some unique features and WoW is still viable to this day. Even EQ2 is leagues better in some ways, especially crafting.

    If you are going to buy this, make sure you get the retail box copy! The box copies come with a lot of features included without extra cost and they are cheaper. For example, the digital version of Morrowind costs more than the box copy and does not include the Warden class. You have to buy that separately...    … Expand
  2. snickets
    Jun 3, 2014
    4
    I feel betrayed by Zenimax. 2 Months after launch and Nightblades are still trash, combat is terrible, support is nonexistant. I really wanted to love this game, made a fansite myself, got all my friends to play it with me, but Zenimax decided to push out more content instead of fixing the stuff that was out already. The only decent part of this game is the questing and the music, which isI feel betrayed by Zenimax. 2 Months after launch and Nightblades are still trash, combat is terrible, support is nonexistant. I really wanted to love this game, made a fansite myself, got all my friends to play it with me, but Zenimax decided to push out more content instead of fixing the stuff that was out already. The only decent part of this game is the questing and the music, which is all that kept me leveling until Veteran rank 3, that and the hope that they would fix these issues. So many broken promises. Do yourself a favor and try wildstar, or even WoW. Developers shouldn't be rewarded for putting terrible, unfinished games like this to market.… Expand
  3. Chidawg66
    Jun 4, 2014
    4
    I really tried to love this game. I came in with an open mind and played it slowly through the storyline which everyone said the AD is the best story. The story was okay. The combat system was okay. But after you finish with the story line, it gets really boring. I don't know really what else to do. The endgame is non existent. There really isn't too much to do in this game forI really tried to love this game. I came in with an open mind and played it slowly through the storyline which everyone said the AD is the best story. The story was okay. The combat system was okay. But after you finish with the story line, it gets really boring. I don't know really what else to do. The endgame is non existent. There really isn't too much to do in this game for endgame. After you play through the story, which most of my friends couldn't even finish, there isn't much to do. We all decided that this game is just too boring. Not enough content and it is BUGGY. They fixed a lot of the buggy issues, but it is still buggy.

    The whole phasing idea was a neat idea but it is stupid. I played the game when everyone else was leveling with me. How annoying is it when you are trying to get into the game and follow the plot and after doing all the story correct, you enter in a zone where people have already started the boss fight by the time you hit the boss once, you've completed the quest. I didn't even get to see the opening scene of the fight.

    Dungeons are SUPER boring. OMG. Every solo dungeon pretty much looks like every other solo dungeon. Group dungeons are pretty easy and basically doesn't require much skill. This game really doesn't require much skill. There is also no really great gear. Everything is crafted, and the loot isn't all that great.

    I really had low standards for this game, and enjoyed it somewhat during the lvling from 1 - VR1, but was it worth the $100 I spent on a 3 month subscription and game? Probably not.    … Expand
  4. TinEater
    Jun 8, 2014
    4
    This is really a fantastic game. That game is called Skyrim. Except Skyrim doesn't charge a subscription, and doesn't have gold spam bots swarming all over the dungeons and resource nodes. The game goes out of it's way to separate players from one another, one upping WoW: Cataclysm's baffling decision to "phase" all it's players into isolated bubble version of the game world. ZenimaxThis is really a fantastic game. That game is called Skyrim. Except Skyrim doesn't charge a subscription, and doesn't have gold spam bots swarming all over the dungeons and resource nodes. The game goes out of it's way to separate players from one another, one upping WoW: Cataclysm's baffling decision to "phase" all it's players into isolated bubble version of the game world. Zenimax was trying to make each player the hero of the story, but all they succeeded in doing is creating a strange feeling of isolation. The question is, why is that worth paying $15 a month? You'll get the same experience playing a single-player game with a Twitter window open.… Expand
  5. forrealzzzz
    Jun 13, 2014
    4
    Elder Scrolls Online online is really hard. I died against Edward Norton multiples times while the queen of elves did nothing to save me. She and her Clan of Pusays wouldn't even walk down a dark flight of stairs to help me. Something about shin splints. Elder Scrolls online is like Crimson Skies. But not fun.
  6. FluffyPaws
    Jun 16, 2014
    4
    I have played this game from launch till now, and I must say my interest in this game is fading. I do try to log in once a day as I have met some of the best people I have ever come across in many MMOs I have played, but sadly, the game has become so boring that I struggle to stay online.

    Pros: Community. Personally I feel the player base is decent and after playing for a few months I    I have played this game from launch till now, and I must say my interest in this game is fading. I do try to log in once a day as I have met some of the best people I have ever come across in many MMOs I have played, but sadly, the game has become so boring that I struggle to stay online.

    Pros:
    Community. Personally I feel the player base is decent and after playing for a few months I have yet to come across a really annoying player. Zone chat can go a bit viral but it is nothing like other MMOs.

    Less elitism. Most players look the same and their gears look pretty much the same. No fancy exclusive mounts or rainbow coloured weapons (yet) mean you can kind of relax. Noone is standing behind you trying to inspect you either.

    No UI overload and more immersive gameplay. They really tried to keep the UI minimalistic. It took me a while to get used to, but I do feel it helped me become immersed in the game environment.

    Cons:
    You can't actually play whatever the way you like, as classes are very unbalanced and some skills have little or no synergy. There are some cookie-cutter skills that are clearly superior to others in most situations, and this has discouraged me from trying out different play style.

    Having only 5 skills on the action bar and having to weapon swap feel so limiting and not fun at all.

    Dungeons lack charms or characteristics, and most boss fights are simply tedious while others will just one shot you. There is nothing in between. Non veteran dungeons are not rewarding at all and players are not seeing enough intensives to actually repeat a run, which resulted in lack of people wanting to do a pick up group run.

    Cyrodill (PVP area) is so sparse and empty, you will really need to be patient to actually get to the action. You will most likely spend a lot of time running around trying to get from A to B.

    The bugs. They are simply never ending. I cannot believe that after all the maintenance they had, there are still some crippling bugs that really affect the game play. For example, when you form a group, the game will randomly select you as a group leader, or worse, it will get rid of the leader right from everyone. The result is having to disband the group and trying to reform, hoping that it will work again. There are also numerous bugs within the dungeons that are so infuriating.

    Trading system. It is simply not working. As the guild shop is close to being useless (it is extremely buggy and slow, and you can't even search a specific item), players are forced to use the zone chat to trade.

    Questing is repetitive and predictable. While they managed to avoid the typical fetch or kill type quests, they are still extremely boring. Most of the time you will have to run around to talk to NPCs to find out that there was a betrayal or murder of some sort, then you will be sent to kill the bad guy in the crypt or somewhere similar. Or you will be running around activating some ward or shards to enter a portal. It was interesting in the beginning, but it quickly became old.

    Overall, this was a major disappointment for me and I could only hope that they will either add a good amount of new contents or attempt an overhaul (unlikely).    … Expand
  7. JoshLuck1995
    Jun 9, 2015
    4
    Got this through today, the update took about 40 minutes, it all depends on your internet service, thats nothing to do with the dev.

    But for the game it self, it is poor, i really love the elder scrolls series and i think thats what the problem is, i just doesnt feel like a elder scrolls game therefore producing a feeling of dissapointment, so i tried to look past that and see it for    Got this through today, the update took about 40 minutes, it all depends on your internet service, thats nothing to do with the dev.

    But for the game it self, it is poor, i really love the elder scrolls series and i think thats what the problem is, i just doesnt feel like a elder scrolls game therefore producing a feeling of dissapointment, so i tried to look past that and see it for what it is but it still feels like a let down, the story so far is pretty pants, the gameplay is boring, and it comes across as complete chaos when it comes to interaction with real world players, its just complete chaos, people running about like headless chickens, trying to tea bag you, starting fights with guards who then start on you.

    I now have an issue where i am in Daggerfall and a real world player started a fight with a guard and the guard then attacked me and it placed a bounty on my head as it thought i was the criminal, this was early into the game. it just all feels so chaotic. No structure or enjoyment so far what so ever.    … Expand
  8. XYLUM
    Jul 20, 2014
    4
    I will start out by saying that I think the immersion and "feel" of Oblivion is far more engaging then ESO.

    I know ESO is an MMO , but my experience in ESO was like a single player MMO , where you use the group tool to find a few people to run through the dungeons with every so often because you're completely bored of running around for hours doing handfuls of mostly bland and boring    I will start out by saying that I think the immersion and "feel" of Oblivion is far more engaging then ESO.

    I know ESO is an MMO , but my experience in ESO was like a single player MMO , where you use the group tool to find a few people to run through the dungeons with every so often because you're completely bored of running around for hours doing handfuls of mostly bland and boring quests for NPC's that are just as bland and boring.

    Most of the quests are thinly veiled "fetch" quests where you run....and run, for a few seconds until you are out of stamina, then you walk... and walk, and walk and gather x number of goblin toes or whatever.... then you run, and walk, and walk, and walk some more to go back and "turn in" the quest and get your unimpressive rewards...

    At it's core ESO is a RPG... or at least it's supposed to be, but it doesn't do a very good job of it.... my character seemed like just some random sword swinging errand boy, that runs and runs and runs, and walks and walks, and kills whatever is between him and the goblin ears he needs to complete his current yawn inspiring quest.

    I bought ESO a couple weeks ago, before it was available on Steam, had to pay $60+ for it... and while the game looks beautiful, it feels shallow, the characters and quests feel hollow.

    Inside of 2 days I found myself skipping all the conversations, and skipping through the lore... being annoyed at the massive amount of running that seemed suspiciously like I was being compelled to break out some more cash to buy a horse... A horse that even at level 20 I am nowhere near where I would need to be in terms of gold to be able to buy with in game currency.

    The tight storage capacity, and the excessive cost of expanding it was also dubious and felt kind of like a way burn up every last little bit of gold you can scrounge up by adventuring. So that you might come to the conclusion that it would just be easier to break out your wallet, so you can actually get to the fun part.... that is, even then, elusive, I'm sure.

    I was completely turned off by the whole running out of inventory space every 40 minutes or so, then needing to travel across the continent to dismantle the unimpressive spoils of adventure that I had accumulated, into raw materials, so that I could sell some off to pay for more storage space to stockpile the rest of it, in hopes that one day I would be able to craft it into something useful.

    The game has beautiful graphics and environments.... that are full of boring, "been there, done that" quests and endless time sinks and gold traps.

    The objective of the game, from the company's perspective... is to keep you on an endless hamster wheel of chasing gold and materials.... it's meant to keep you broke...in game and out, and to burn up as much time without progress as possible, so you don't make it to "end game" territory (which there is next to none of) without paying for at least a couple months worth of subscription fees first.

    And while it is doing that, it makes life hard in terms of travel and inventory management on anyone that is not willing to break out their wallet and spend.

    It just seemed like the time I spent playing ESO was highlighted more by disappointment and regret for the purchase then it was by a good gaming experience.

    It feels like the loyal fans and followers of The Elder Scroll series are being extorted with ESO... it's a blatant, unapologetic cash grab.

    A full price premium purchase, with a monthly subscription... AND micro transactions... in a game designed to burn up time for the sake of holding you hostage until after your next months subscription is paid... No thanks. I canceled my subscription today, still have another 10 or 12 days left on my "free" month, I doubt very seriously that I will be logging in anymore though.

    I guess the rest of the gaming community is already starting to make their displeasure known as well, since ESO is on sale via steam at 50% off right now. Another insult to those that have paid full price recently.

    I imagine the announcement that they are dropping the subscription fees isn't too far off either, and when that happens maybe I'll log back in again and take another look, maybe the devs will stop focusing so hard on their customers wallets and focus on fixing the quests that were broken and impossible to complete for the entire month that I played their game, or should I say GOT played BY their game.

    I am not against companies making money, even copious amounts of it, but don't be greedy . Produce a great game and people will spend money for DLC, expansions, in game items, etc, etc...

    But if they keep demanding money from them while simultaneously letting them down and making them feel taken advantage of.... this game will be free to play before you can say dungeons and dragons online.    … Expand
  9. R3DTHR3AT
    Dec 17, 2020
    4
    Очень слабая мморпг с отсутствием мотивации как в пвп и пве. По сути не мморпг вовсе, что в итоге признали и сами разработчики.
  10. dwgr8ergolfer
    Aug 31, 2014
    4
    You can't go from Skyrim to Elder Scrolls Online.... Bethesda and Zenimax dropped the ball on this one. This game had so much potential to be great but Zenimax and Bethesda clearly did not test it nearly enough and just released a game that just doesn't feel good to play.
  11. Big_Bear
    Nov 26, 2014
    4
    A huge disappointment. DO NOT believe any of the positive 10/10 reviews, they are complete bs. You could judge this game as either an ES game, an MMO or even both, but regardless of what you decide this game is, the fact is that it is very poor.

    Like most devoted ES fans, I was very excited about this game, but unfortunately, we haven't been given an ES game, only another poor generic    A huge disappointment. DO NOT believe any of the positive 10/10 reviews, they are complete bs. You could judge this game as either an ES game, an MMO or even both, but regardless of what you decide this game is, the fact is that it is very poor.

    Like most devoted ES fans, I was very excited about this game, but unfortunately, we haven't been given an ES game, only another poor generic WoW clone set in Tamriel.

    Good - Graphics are decent, the increased scale makes cities feel more like actual cities than ES games like Skyrim etc. Character creation is decent and the concept of crafting is good; the idea of crafting multiple sets of the same level gear but differing in appearance depending on faction style really should have been in every scrolls game.

    Bad - as with all MMO's, the role playing element is extremely diluted to the point that it doesn't feel like an RPG at all. The map is unremarkable and generic; ES fans should be loving the fact of seeing mainland Morrowind for the first time but it has nowhere near the impact of the offline scrolls games areas like Skyrim or Oblivion, its just meh. The combat sucks.

    Verdict - Once again an MMO developer has been too afraid to create a unique game and has tried to copy much of WoW in order to steal some of their fan base. What they should have done was appeal to ES fans instead and give us another great scrolls game instead of this mess. 4/10 at best.    … Expand
  12. Jeeves
    Dec 29, 2014
    4
    Elder Scrolls Online(ESO) represents one of the biggest disappointments of 2014 and one of the biggest wasted opportunities in gaming history. Take the expansive world of Tamriel combined with open ended game play that The Elder Scrolls usually affords and add in massively multiplayer so you can share the world with others, sounds like a winning combination yes? Prepare for utterElder Scrolls Online(ESO) represents one of the biggest disappointments of 2014 and one of the biggest wasted opportunities in gaming history. Take the expansive world of Tamriel combined with open ended game play that The Elder Scrolls usually affords and add in massively multiplayer so you can share the world with others, sounds like a winning combination yes? Prepare for utter disappointment.

    The game world is huge and at times beautiful and yet is let down by bog standard theme park mmo design. The game was in very bad shape at release and while many bugs have been squished since then, there are still MAJOR issues with lag, abilities, weapon swapping and general game performance. There are so many changes happening to the game at the moment that endgame is not worth playing and the games developers are so incompetent that any issues they fix several more are implemented. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
    Current endgame players face losing several months worth of character progress as the developers scramble to change the poorly received veteran system and implement a new champion leveling system that looks to change very little of the games current imbalance and seemingly impenetrable wall of leveling.
    Zenimmax Online Studios will go down as being one of the most incompetent development studios with an extremely poor relationship with their playing customers.    … Expand
  13. magnusnet
    Jan 5, 2015
    4
    This game was suposed to be the next big thing: It wasn't.

    I've been playing the game since early beta, Fan of TES franchise since Morrowind, I've sadly seen the decline and the dumbing down of the franchise, at first in Oblivion (which was still extremely enjoyable) and afterwards in Skyrim where the game was dumbed down enough to apeal to the console crowd and thus making millions and    This game was suposed to be the next big thing: It wasn't.

    I've been playing the game since early beta, Fan of TES franchise since Morrowind, I've sadly seen the decline and the dumbing down of the franchise, at first in Oblivion (which was still extremely enjoyable) and afterwards in Skyrim where the game was dumbed down enough to apeal to the console crowd and thus making millions and putting to light a sad fact about nowadays gaming: The easier and dumber it gets, the more people will like it.

    The Elder Scrolls online takes the same path as Skyrim, taking it to a whole new level in the desperate attemmpt to make the franchise popular and as available to the maximum amount of players possible thus diminishing the quality of the game.

    The game itself is extremely easy to play. You can only use a maximum of 5 skills at the same time, cookie cutter builds are easy to obtain and easy to use (some people still manage to suck big time at the game though, don't worry). End game content was unexistant at launch and there are now 3 12 people raids as well as 1 4 people raid for end gamers to be "entertained". Any seasoned MMO player will have an extremely easy time playing this game and will also likely leave it quickly when he realizes that the game rewards never match the difficulty nor the effort put into the encounter.

    Zenimax Online Sutdios itself as a company is a joke. Don't get me wrong, the people working there are awesome and really feel pationnate about the game which is why I'm still playing it, but the people making the decisions must be complete **** with no sense of Public Relations and/or Custommer Relations, they keep making game changing/game breaking patches and have NEVER EVER made any gesture towards their player base in order to compensate them for all the changes they make and all the time that is lost by the players who worked towards goals that end up disapearing.

    After 8 months of running, the game is virtually rebooting, Zenimax is calling it Elder Scrolls 2.0. Imagine Final Fantasy XIV had kept milking their player base during 9 months instead of closing the game and relaunching and you'd have a better understanding of what is going on in the game. The players who where at end game where cheated by Zenimax to continue playing since the company claimed their advancement would be tracked and that the new system would reward the players accordingly so that they woudln't loose advancement, but it was a lie. The advancement was tracked but during the reboot, the company is simply planing to put all the players at the same level regardless of their advancement (and this is not the first time they do this). The worst part of it is that the implemented system actually helps players who haven't cleared late game content to advance faster than players who are at end game thus giving them an advantage over dedicated players.

    Despite all this, the new system actually looks good, it's just a shame that the company behind the game and the people making the decisions care so little about their PC players who are just beta testing the console release where they plan to make millions like they did with Skyrim. When you look at games with much bigger infrastructure issues like League Of Legends, there allways is a lot of rage towards the company when the game isn't working but Riot Games at least tries to make it up to it's players most of the time, ZOS isn't about that, they are about money.

    This game was suposed to be the next big thing, it might still be with the new update, I'm hoping it will since I'm still here, still paying, still believing in it, but the company behind it is probably one of the worst if not the worst in the MMOG industry...    … Expand
  14. Termin8ter
    May 27, 2015
    4
    This is a huge disappointment for the elder scrolls franchise. Skyrim and Oblivion were so good, but stupid Zenimax online decided to take a dump on the franchise. Elder Scrolls Online is over hyped, laggy , glitchy and just plain awful. the only good thing about this horrible game is the soundtrack. So disappointing. *sobs*
  15. drusmanbashir
    Nov 15, 2020
    4
    This game is the video game versioh of a clickbait.. the trailers will show you amazing visuals and paint a picture of an immersive adventure with danger lurking in every corner, super-powers etc.. whereas in reality this is a vast traipse through a landscape filled with monotonous battles - nothing new here from Bethesda which has never disappointed to disappoint. If you're into visualsThis game is the video game versioh of a clickbait.. the trailers will show you amazing visuals and paint a picture of an immersive adventure with danger lurking in every corner, super-powers etc.. whereas in reality this is a vast traipse through a landscape filled with monotonous battles - nothing new here from Bethesda which has never disappointed to disappoint. If you're into visuals and vistas exploring an open world, better pack your bag and go out in real-life. If you're looking for an immersive RPG with intelligent combat, play the Witcher3 or (the outdated) world of warcraft. I have been fooled by this games trailers several times and ended up buying several DLCs only to uninstall it an hour later.… Expand
  16. TobiasKen
    Oct 25, 2015
    4
    If you are looking for an MMO, sure - get this game. If you're looking for an Elder Scrolls game - you can forget about it. I'm not even going to bother giving this a normal review like I usually do. Let me just tell you that this is the worst in the Elder Scrolls Series. I know what you might be thinking - this is an MMO FIRST, then Elder Scrolls. But you can't call it Elder Scrolls whenIf you are looking for an MMO, sure - get this game. If you're looking for an Elder Scrolls game - you can forget about it. I'm not even going to bother giving this a normal review like I usually do. Let me just tell you that this is the worst in the Elder Scrolls Series. I know what you might be thinking - this is an MMO FIRST, then Elder Scrolls. But you can't call it Elder Scrolls when it simply isn't. It is lacking oh so much stuff, and wants you to buy DLC and crowns even after paying for the full game. You're even locked out of an ENTIRE RACE UNLESS YOU GIVE THEM MORE MONEY. Seriously, the combat is worse, you barely get anything out of looting people.

    If you're looking for an Elder Scrolls game, I repeat: DO. NOT. BUY. THIS. GAME.    … Expand
  17. muzmuz
    Apr 11, 2019
    4
    A 2014 game that looks and feels like a 2011 game. Feels even worse to play in 2019. Five years later and the game still looks like a visual bugs galore noticeable at the very first hour of gameplay. Did I forget to mention that this game doesn't have a single Asian server? I'm not a big fan of MMORPGs and Elder Scrolls Online definitely didn't help change that.
  18. Gaming_Bear
    Dec 27, 2022
    4
    I'll start of by admitting that I am not huge into MMOs, but this is game just feels so bland and empty. I came to this game because my friends and I all loved Skyrim, but literally all the elements of what made Skyrim great (the story, the detail of the setting, the beautiful music) are all not here. I am struggling to play this game. At lvl 8 and it all just feels meh.
  19. T-Babyboi
    Apr 7, 2020
    4
    I give it a 4 because I'm below indifference, I call it negative. Let me point out I enjoy the feel of combat, the world looks cool, it's awesome running around with the realization real people, maybe even a group of friends are there with you, but the kicker for me is this.
    The game I think could be played for what it is, spending hundreds of hours getting mostly everything you want out    I give it a 4 because I'm below indifference, I call it negative. Let me point out I enjoy the feel of combat, the world looks cool, it's awesome running around with the realization real people, maybe even a group of friends are there with you, but the kicker for me is this.
    The game I think could be played for what it is, spending hundreds of hours getting mostly everything you want out of the game with very little real money besides base game and maybe major DLC, what phucks my brain is being in a game with options for the indulgencies such as housing, furniture, dyes and more.......only to find out that **** is blocked up behind a formitable grind wall, one so high it is designed, obviously to make you pay for it all.
    Housing things like an in house banker, crafting stations, must be purchased from grind gold or crowns, one phucking the other because both are designed to prevent one or the other.... Making it a loop of mediocrity and tedious trash.
    Idk about anyone else, but when I sit down to play a game in the back of my mind I need to know everything will be accessible to me within a reasonable accomplishment accommodation., otherwise the whole story is mucked with the background noise.... CROWNS.
    It is truly pathetic, the world as we know it cannot function without micro transactions and little schemes, so much time wasted for so little gained.
    I know it's as pathetic I sit here and rant over time lost, expectations let down with general mediocrity, I should move on and not even give this the time of day... And you're right, but I'm so at loss with how ****ty the silver lining of this world really is, I'm better off just **** until I'm dead.    … Expand
  20. Mizuiro
    Jul 22, 2023
    4
    Mediocre MMORPG not because of graphics ( that are bad and boring style by the way) but because of so POOR and boring gameplay mechanics.

    Not even worth it as a free game. An example of how to ruin a great game ( Skyrim , Oblivion, ..) because of not following their main mechanics.

    Also the people everywhere doing the same "unic" quests ruins the atmosphere of "you are the chosen one"..
  21. Capellini
    Feb 23, 2022
    4
    the story is **** didnt understand wtf was happening, i was planing a heist and for some reason i was on a ship traveling the world? dialog is garbage and I could not even find the main story after 10h of pure gameplay. there is just a bunch of things trown at you at the same time and a **** ton of menus, nothing like the single player games and also nothing like other mmos, i dont no ifthe story is **** didnt understand wtf was happening, i was planing a heist and for some reason i was on a ship traveling the world? dialog is garbage and I could not even find the main story after 10h of pure gameplay. there is just a bunch of things trown at you at the same time and a **** ton of menus, nothing like the single player games and also nothing like other mmos, i dont no if there are guilds cause i also could not find apparently race or politics dosnt mean anything and no clear instruction. wanted my money back but just the firsts quest already took more than 2h. Also couldn't find any battles that took affort or at least a friend. I dont know how but gtao is better than this ****… Expand
  22. JackPlack
    Feb 11, 2022
    4
    Too much worse than Skyrim, to boring. Too much reading/skipping dialogues. When skipping whole game is too pointless. Level up system unsatisfying. Ai of mobs to much MMO like. Not much graphics/details, Skyrim is still better, a specially with mods.
  23. sealkv
    Nov 29, 2021
    4
    When I bought ESO , nobody no warned me that in this reality I would be attacked by cretins and trolls, who cause healthy irritation in any normal living person, with their defiant behavior. I'm talking about ostentatious idiocy and trolling. Bethesda not doing anything to put an end to this all these 7 years this ESO has existed. More worse. ZOS( ZeniMax Support) help the scoundrels andWhen I bought ESO , nobody no warned me that in this reality I would be attacked by cretins and trolls, who cause healthy irritation in any normal living person, with their defiant behavior. I'm talking about ostentatious idiocy and trolling. Bethesda not doing anything to put an end to this all these 7 years this ESO has existed. More worse. ZOS( ZeniMax Support) help the scoundrels and trolls when they provoke players to respond and write denunciations about them. And ZOS employees receive their money for blocking game accounts due to the fact that some player said something personally in a private chat to some other player. It is enough to tell the troll in the game that he is a troll, and ZOS immediately block the game account of the one who was not afraid to say out loud what is obvious. This is stealing. If ZOS block game account, they DO NOT RETURN your money. What is the connection between the money paid for the game and a private conversation between two adults in a private chat? I pay $ 500 when buying this product 18+ and lose it due to provocation and trolling. This is how they steal money from people. ZOS wrote a letter to me(automatic mailing robot in response to my complaint about trolling by another player) the following: "If another player said something bad to you (in your opinion), you can add it to the ignore list. If you see harsh words, turn on the automatic blocking of swear words in the game." ZOS made it clear to me that this is how they solve these problems. When I write to ZOS a complaint about the actual trolling in ESO, they send me a spit in my face. ZOS send me a robot letter, where they give advice on how to behave with moral monsters and scum.
    ZOS help the trolls in ESO, that's why they hide their names and positions in ZeniMax because they are afraid to meet me on the street one on one, where they will have to return the money that ZeniMax stole from me when blocked my paid account, just for the fact that I expressed my dissatisfaction with the fact that ESO is propagating abomination. I am sure that ZOS are trolling this game themselves in order to provide themselves with a "job". ZeniMax security service is committed to eliminating threats to "business". And the threat to business is public voice over what you do. And when I say out loud that Bethesda are creating problems in this MMO, ZOS began to fight me. Roughly and effectively, they set provocateurs trolls on me. This happens in ZeniMax "Official Forum". This happens in ESO.
    ZeniMax has created an MMO(product and services on the Internet) that promotes perversions and pathology. Necrophilia,satanism,sexual perversions,drugs. Their bosses receive orders from politicians to reduce the population on Earth. They kill people, kill the health of their soul and mind. What I mean? Here's a simple example. You have made it possible in this game when a player puts on the outer shell of a corpse, and in this form is in the reality of the game among other players. This is a product from in-game Store, the name of this product is Skeleton Polymorph outer shell. There are many such examples. "Scary Clown" shell, or Mount "Rainbow Unicorn", and many others, this is a monstrous abomination created by and for devils anti-humans.
    I am a healthy adult, raised in a traditional strict family, in the correct religious and moral traditions. And I openly say that Bethesda are creating a product that can only please psychopaths and freaks who are actively trying to change this world, making it as ugly and scary as they are. In fact, they create the conflict situations yourself in this game. This is an MMO game. Players kill each other here. All know that. This means ESO is bought by those who want to kill people. That's why they came here.
    Here's what's going on. I meet in the game location another player who has put on a suit of a rotten corpse. Yes. These are the kind of players that walk in your game. And ZeniMax call it "Halloween Party". What kind of holiday is this? It is an abomination that causes anger and nausea, it is a walking corpse, it is a spit in the face of Nature and God. And my normal reaction to that is to destroy this abomination. But they have calculated it all in advance. This is provocation. They have deliberately created this situation. They know perfectly well that walking corpses are an abomination that causes hatred among normal people. And they deliberately create this to incite hatred and conflict in ESO. And when this happens, ZeniMax takes the side of the devils, and block the normal person's game account. I already wrote a letter to Bethesda about this. They are waging a war against normal people. They have created a "troll factory", ESO is a garbage dump, a ghetto for drug addicts, maniacs and freaks and other evil spirits, this is a stinking grave.
    The Bible says, "Judge the tree by its fruit." Judge a person by his actions. So who are Bethesda if these are their actions?    … Expand
  24. Giero
    Jan 3, 2023
    4
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  25. Nyurena
    Jun 3, 2014
    3
    The Good:
    Crafting is fairly easy to pick up and you are not limited in number of professions.
    A world that is quite nice to look at, but fairly hollow if you try to look too deep. Well, at least it was fun to see some Kahjit culture. The leveling system has some good freeform ideas that would be a fun Mod in Skyrim/Oblivion/Morrowind, but the game feels like a cheap cash-in to    The Good:
    Crafting is fairly easy to pick up and you are not limited in number of professions.
    A world that is quite nice to look at, but fairly hollow if you try to look too deep.
    Well, at least it was fun to see some Kahjit culture.
    The leveling system has some good freeform ideas that would be a fun Mod in Skyrim/Oblivion/Morrowind, but the game feels like a cheap cash-in to exploit long time fans of the series.

    The Bad:
    The dungeons are terrible! About 90% of the bosses had 10-20 people swinging at the air over the piles of dead boss and you had better join them if you want to land a hit on the respawn.
    You must compete with other players for chests and many other items, so if you fail your lockpick, then the next person spam clicking “E” on it will jump in your place.
    SPAMBOTSPAMBOTSSPAMBOTSMORESPAMBOTS. (You can’t read anything in chat unless you install a MOD to stop it or only use guild/party chat.)

    IMO:
    They could have taken a great many hints from Guild Wars 2 and made the PVE a fun and cooperative experience, but the other players in this game will only function to steal your thunder as a hero or just steal the loot chest you’ve been working on.

    I absolutely can’t recommend this game to an Elder Scrolls fan OR a basic MMO fan.
    What a waste…    … Expand
  26. Phoenixxl
    Jul 28, 2014
    3
    I played Until Veteran 4.

    Combat system is MEH. Archaic class mix and match system where 75% of people end up being useless in a group . Healers are forced to rely on the AI to know who to heal and ward. You can't select the main tank and heal him for example. There are no true power siphon classes, hybridization is forced on you. Loot / reward system is mediocre and generic. Randomly    I played Until Veteran 4.

    Combat system is MEH. Archaic class mix and match system where 75% of people end up being useless in a group . Healers are forced to rely on the AI to know who to heal and ward. You can't select the main tank and heal him for example. There are no true power siphon classes, hybridization is forced on you.
    Loot / reward system is mediocre and generic. Randomly generated loot was past it's prime even in diablo 2.
    The game engine is simply bad and passé. 50% of what made the last 3 TES games was the engine. This is not one of those games. Period.
    Definite lack of raiding.

    Positive:
    A new and fresh approach to multiplayer pvp in the form of tower/castle capturing.    … Expand
  27. HEISTT
    Apr 5, 2014
    3
    While being a decent MMO to spent some time on, they are using a shady payment model. You do NOT get 30 days of free gametime if you do not have access to a credit card. People without credit cards need to pay another 15 bucks for the second month of subscription to actually active their game product! As I am not able to fund the second month, I cannot claim the game and gametime I paidWhile being a decent MMO to spent some time on, they are using a shady payment model. You do NOT get 30 days of free gametime if you do not have access to a credit card. People without credit cards need to pay another 15 bucks for the second month of subscription to actually active their game product! As I am not able to fund the second month, I cannot claim the game and gametime I paid for. Support department is not helpful either, their messages do not really answer the question at hand and they are just relaying standardized messages. For anyone without a credit card: avoid this company.… Expand
  28. Kitruck
    Apr 8, 2014
    3
    Prácticamente falla en todo. Debería haber sido un Skyrim pero masivo, mismo tipo de misiones, cazas de dragones y otros monstruos en raid, aventuras cooperativas en grupo, etc.
    Pero en lugar de eso, es un MMO que prácticamente falla en todo. Resulta repetitivo, y lo que más debería divertir en un MMO, explorar, te aburre increiblemente cuando llevas un par de horas jugando. Tiene una    Prácticamente falla en todo. Debería haber sido un Skyrim pero masivo, mismo tipo de misiones, cazas de dragones y otros monstruos en raid, aventuras cooperativas en grupo, etc.
    Pero en lugar de eso, es un MMO que prácticamente falla en todo. Resulta repetitivo, y lo que más debería divertir en un MMO, explorar, te aburre increiblemente cuando llevas un par de horas jugando. Tiene una interfaz muy poco intuitiva, unos gráficos peor que su antecesor, y desde luego se aleja mucho de ser un Elder Scrolls.
    Sin duda el juego merece un pago inicial de 40/50 €, pero NUNCA una suscripción. Dentro de unos meses cuando la gente se haya ido, porque se irá, y lo pongan gratis, quizá juegue, mientras no me aburra...    … Expand
  29. krammerlock
    Apr 6, 2014
    3
    It is a huge disappointment. They changed what worked in Skyrim and did not change what did not work. The game is unbalanced, graphics are average at best, combat is boring, stealth is meaningless, and skills are limited. I am playing as a high elf sorcerer and it is a weak character. No good AOE and no meaningful control spells at all. Early in the game any 2 enemies can take you down.It is a huge disappointment. They changed what worked in Skyrim and did not change what did not work. The game is unbalanced, graphics are average at best, combat is boring, stealth is meaningless, and skills are limited. I am playing as a high elf sorcerer and it is a weak character. No good AOE and no meaningful control spells at all. Early in the game any 2 enemies can take you down. Don't bother joining the fighters guild as the first quest line is not possible with a sorcerer. In Skyrim stealth was a real advantage and one can argue the most powerful combat tactic in the game. In ESO it is meaningless. In Skyrim I could learn any spell but in ESO I am constrained to the ones they assign my character. This makes Sorcerer both boring and needlessly hard to play. In Skyrim you could sell almost anything for some gold, but in ESO many things are set to 0 value, even though they may be valuable. In Skyrim you have a much larger inventory than ESO, which is very small especially considering the wide range and number of things you need to collect. The skill tree in Skyrim was the best feature of the game, but in ESO it is gone. Groups do not work like those in any other MMORPG and not for the better. Some quests are so crowded with participants that you can complete them just by standing around. ESO go play a good game like Neverwitner on-line and make some major changes please.… Expand
  30. Ananisapta
    May 9, 2014
    3
    I started WoW in 2005 and since then have played LotRO and GW2. I played Skyrim with all the DLC for about 600 hours. Before that I ran through Oblivion a couple of times. I've also played several of the Fallout series. I'm sorry to say that The Elder Scrolls Online is the low point of this series.

    This game is EXTREMELY BUGGY and the quest difficulty is absurdly unpredictable. This    I started WoW in 2005 and since then have played LotRO and GW2. I played Skyrim with all the DLC for about 600 hours. Before that I ran through Oblivion a couple of times. I've also played several of the Fallout series. I'm sorry to say that The Elder Scrolls Online is the low point of this series.

    This game is EXTREMELY BUGGY and the quest difficulty is absurdly unpredictable. This especially applies to the 'main story' quests. The player economy is broken, making crafting a waste of time. Voice acting ranges bizarrely from very good to very poor. Animations range from good to fair. Scenery has repetitive elements and lacks real artistic flair. Especially bizarre is instance play. Most instances are public, including most of those labeled as 'solo dungeons'. That robs them of all difficulty when other players are nearby. It's very strange to see other players in instances where the story line suggests you are uniquely able to overcome a certain challenge. Often these other players will have carbon copies of the same 'unique' npc who is trailing you around. Occasionally you'll meet an unbeatable boss in a true solo instance that will hold you back as much as ten levels. Often you'll be defeated by buggy combat mechanics -- like, you knock-back a boss who passes through the scenery and then resets the entire fight, or even refuses to engage you after that so you have to abandon the quest or reboot the game to progress.

    It's a crying shame that such a promising series leads experienced players into positions of extreme frustration with such frequency.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

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