Update 44 is now available for testing on the PTS! You can read the latest patch notes here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/categories/pts
Maintenance for the week of September 23:
• PC/Mac: No maintenance – September 23
• PC/Mac: No maintenance – September 23
First Impressions FWIW
gurugeorgey
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So far, for me at level 21 Sorc, Daggerfall Covenant, this has been an extremely positive experience. I find the game quite immersive, with the best things about it so far being the questing and the combat system.
The questing system in this game is the best set-out of any MMO I've every played (except perhaps TSW, which offers a fantastic single-player questing experience too). There's something about the flow and pacing of it all that's incredibly congenial to me, and gives me a sense of deep immersion in the game world - as opposed to a feeling that I'm just running around pulling quest dispenser levers and racking up some measurement.
It UI minimalism actually helps very much in this regard - the game conspires to focus you down to the task ahead of you in the virtual world, instead of drawing your attention to numbers, to all the meta stuff. I can see how this might be frustrating for some, but that's what addons are for. I think the devs were right to offer the player a sort of "base" level from which to experience the game, and for that to be an immersive single-player questing game.
It did take a bit of getting used to, because the trend in recent years has been to have lots of flash, lots of bling and ding, lots of hand-holding, and this game doesn't do that sort of thing. This game seems to want to give you a more "realistic" experience, with a slower sort of pace.
The MMO experience can tend to get frantic, and it's easier to take on a sort of lab rat mentality, where you're focussed on some achievement or other. This game seems to want you to be more immersed in the virtual world itself, and to really have the feeling of being an adventurer wandering through a magic-filled, often grim realm. And I think it succeeds very well in that.
At the end of the day, as with the single-player TES games, the real star of the show is the lore, and how it forms a semi-solid imaginative backdrop to one's play.
To put it another way, fantasy-themed game worlds are often perfunctory and "thin"; TES is rare in having a very old-skool, rich, worked-out fantasy-themed world to play in.
Question is though, is that enough? Is it enough for a game these days to offer immersion in spades? I fear the game isn't going to last in its present form for very long - I fear that it's going to have systems altered and systems put in to make it more of a vanilla, e-sporty, Bartle "Achiever"'s type of experience as time goes on. I fear that it will eventually go f2p, and be slathered in stuff that psychologically takes you out of the game world.
But hell, I'm having fun right now, and can see myself continuing to have fun for a few more weeks at the very least.
The questing system in this game is the best set-out of any MMO I've every played (except perhaps TSW, which offers a fantastic single-player questing experience too). There's something about the flow and pacing of it all that's incredibly congenial to me, and gives me a sense of deep immersion in the game world - as opposed to a feeling that I'm just running around pulling quest dispenser levers and racking up some measurement.
It UI minimalism actually helps very much in this regard - the game conspires to focus you down to the task ahead of you in the virtual world, instead of drawing your attention to numbers, to all the meta stuff. I can see how this might be frustrating for some, but that's what addons are for. I think the devs were right to offer the player a sort of "base" level from which to experience the game, and for that to be an immersive single-player questing game.
It did take a bit of getting used to, because the trend in recent years has been to have lots of flash, lots of bling and ding, lots of hand-holding, and this game doesn't do that sort of thing. This game seems to want to give you a more "realistic" experience, with a slower sort of pace.
The MMO experience can tend to get frantic, and it's easier to take on a sort of lab rat mentality, where you're focussed on some achievement or other. This game seems to want you to be more immersed in the virtual world itself, and to really have the feeling of being an adventurer wandering through a magic-filled, often grim realm. And I think it succeeds very well in that.
At the end of the day, as with the single-player TES games, the real star of the show is the lore, and how it forms a semi-solid imaginative backdrop to one's play.
To put it another way, fantasy-themed game worlds are often perfunctory and "thin"; TES is rare in having a very old-skool, rich, worked-out fantasy-themed world to play in.
Question is though, is that enough? Is it enough for a game these days to offer immersion in spades? I fear the game isn't going to last in its present form for very long - I fear that it's going to have systems altered and systems put in to make it more of a vanilla, e-sporty, Bartle "Achiever"'s type of experience as time goes on. I fear that it will eventually go f2p, and be slathered in stuff that psychologically takes you out of the game world.
But hell, I'm having fun right now, and can see myself continuing to have fun for a few more weeks at the very least.
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reggielee✭✭✭✭I agree with most of your points but disagree on your future portends..... they seem to be stubborn about sticking to their ideals and so long as they dont cozy up to some huge corp for dire money needs (ahem... warner brothers) then they may stick to their chosen game plan and cater to a niche market of gamers who enjoy all the above. a few games have made it this way
I really dont see the pvp working out in the long run with all the exploiting, bugs, cheats and lack of long term playability. I expect alot of negative pvp reveiws from discontented pvpers driving customers away, but if enough word gets out on the other aspects of gameplay then it might make it.
anywho, glad you are having funMama always said the fastest way to a man's heart is through his chest.1 -
dietlime✭✭✭✭I don't think you have to worry about the future of Bethesda Softwork's lovechild MMO and first in-house multi-player oriented game.
In an interview before release they were saying 200,000 players would be a success. Bethesda has a reputation to uphold and they're not going to just dumpski this game because some critics don't like it.
Lots of average gamers (who enjoy gaming, not just end-gaming) are loving it.Edited by dietlime on 26 May 2014 14:392 -
dennissomb16_ESO✭✭✭✭✭Long term my guess is they will find their niche player base. It is after all an MMO designed around their Elder Scrolls game. The min/maxers. max levelers in 3 days etc. will leave soon enough. The question is, once they whittle down to the base that plays the game for what it is, will the population be enough to sustain and grow the game long term. I think it likely willEdited by dennissomb16_ESO on 26 May 2014 14:460
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ZOS_MichelleA✭✭✭✭✭Hi there, folks! We've had to remove a good number of posts from this thread, due to an off topic derailment. Please be sure that your replies within a thread are related to the conversation being discussed. Thank you!
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