Worth coming back?

LADYKiLLER · January 8

Hi all. I quit shortly after U35 but I've been missing ESO. The problem I'm having is that I'm well aware that I'm missing what ESO was, rather than what it might be now.

How is the game these days for someone who loves Cyrodiil, overland content, and housing? Is it worth playing?

Vonnegut2506 · January 8

Cyrodiil is laggy and the population caps have been lowered to the point where it doesn't really feel epic. Overland content is currently unchanged. Housing furnishing caps are unchanged, but they did add the ability to visit other people's houses which I would imagine is nifty for those into housing, I am not.

I would recommend waiting until after the livestream this week to decide if it will be worth playing in the upcoming year.

LADYKiLLER · January 8

Disappointing to hear, but I appreciate the heads up/tip about the livestream. Thanks!

babyhippo740 · January 8

Context: I'm presently in my final College year and don't get to (/feel the need to limit myself due to the fun) play the game very often; I've just finished Cadwell's Gold on my main character (Completed Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr, Dark Brotherhood, and Thieves Guild Main Quests). I haven't really ventured to Cyrodil nor have I saved up enough Gold (no way on earth I'm spending more crowns after Gorinir Estate). I have been playing the same Class on my Xbox (Bosmer Warden) for 6 years, but I have one of every other Class lined up on my account that I plan to commit some time to later on.

Having not played it in over a year, it absolutely is still my favorite MMORPG to play. I think the Chapters idea was a little overwhelming and slightly excessive, but I think the way they're steering it for 2025 AND bringing back the Original Tutorial in Coldharbour is the best route they could take for players to properly sequence everything.

I think you should absolutely get back into it, it's still a lot of fun, and I think taking your time with the new stuff is a good idea irregardless.

Artim_X · January 8

•Cyrodiil balance could use some love and a population increase would be nice, but can still be a fun time.

•If you liked overland content before U35, then you'll probably still like it now.

•IMHO Housing is end game always, but we haven't had a furniture increase, which can be annoying for some extremely big houses. The introduction of housing tours adds a new fun vanilla activity for peeping on other peeps creations without needing an addon like essential housing tools. Also, lots of new furnishings have been added to the game.

The game is definitely worth playing, but can still use some improvements.

Orbital78 · January 8

LADYKiLLER wrote: »

Hi all. I quit shortly after U35 but I've been missing ESO. The problem I'm having is that I'm well aware that I'm missing what ESO was, rather than what it might be now.

How is the game these days for someone who loves Cyrodiil, overland content, and housing? Is it worth playing?

I don't think anyone can answer that for you, if you miss the game check it out. If you're on limited bandwidth, then that might be a bigger issue. There are still active stream team members that do what interests you. You might get spoilers and such.

Cyrodiil is still Cyrodiil and still has its problems. Lag, combat lock, broken sets, exploits and such still exist ( at least 3 months ago or so when I was last in there much at all).

Overland is overland, it has some new DLC obviously. The newer DLC WB tend to be more challenging but for the most part can be soloed, sadly companions AI don't help a ton.

Housing has had a few features added, not my biggest gameplay area but there have been a lot of new houses added. I liked a few of them a lot. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Willowpond_Haven was one of my favorites.

One of the biggest additions for your playstyle might be Infinite Archive, it might be too challenging but I am unsure. You can use your companions in there which helps some.

if you still have the game then, I'd really suggest just logging in and seeing for yourself

colossalvoids · January 8

Had the same thing and yes, it was missing something that it wasn't anymore. Your best bet is either branch out for something new, find new old / people to play with so the game doesn't really matter or hyper focus for example on housing to not really see the negatives that frequently or miss how things were.

The_Lex · January 8

Not really. I took a break for about a year due to illness. Came back for a few weeks, but my experience mirrors what @Vonnegut2506 said above. I found myself getting disappointed and frustrated and then I saw Nefas' exposé video. I uninstalled the game and will wait to see if the ship will (or even can) be righted.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour · January 8

Worth coming back? No. The game used to be lore heavy and have very engaging quests. Now, DLC's just consist of forgettable characters and fetch quests, all with lack-luster rewards. Pretty much the only thing keeping players logging in is the constant barrage of events (also with lack-luster rewards).

freespirit · January 8

It is entirely possible to play ESO just for housing.

There are several new houses that have been added since Update 35 that you can buy for gold after completing certain questing content.

Also completing the content since you stopped playing has added loads more achievement furnishings, some of which are amazing.

You will need a healthy in game gold balance, it's still a very expensive past time but playing through the content new to you could help with that if you aren't adverse to a bit of trading of any nice drops you get.

PVP is currently not something I would say "oh yeah it's great"...... it's not!! BUT if you just want to lose a few hours ESO is imo a very good place to do it!

A months ESO+ might make the return experience a lot better because of all the extra content access it will give you. 🙂

shadyjane62 · January 8

No.

Kahnak · January 8

shadyjane62 wrote: »

No.

Voted most helpful and informative by other users.

spartaxoxo · January 8

If you like overland and housing, the game is better than ever.

Group Finder has been added, so you may find it easier to find groups for stuff like Harrowstorms farming.

Housing has the Home Tours feature now. This means that you can easily look at other people's houses and favorite them. I don't remember when linking a house was added but if you left before that was added, you can link your home in chat. A bunch of Ayleid plans have been added to West Weald. And the material drop rates have been improved for mundane runes, heartwood, and decorative wax.

Cyrodiil is still bad performance wise but they're making a new test to separate PvE and PvP soon with a campaign with separate skills and greater population caps. So, we'll hear more about that in April.

Overall, I think you'll enjoy the game if you come back since it sounds like 2/3rds of your favorite activities have improved.

Warhawke_80 · January 8

Despite some challenges, I still enjoy the game, largely thanks to the fantastic guild I play with. That said, I’m not sure I’d stick around if I were playing solo—Skyrim might be a better fit in that case.

Looking ahead, I hope the developers consider making the game more accessible and engaging for solo/duo players. For example, Cyrodil and many DLC dungeons feel underutilized; Making Cyrodil a PVE Zone and a story mode for DLC dungeons could significantly expand the content available to the vast majority of players, potentially increasing overall player engagement. Since there isn't a strong competitive endgame scene, it seems like an opportunity to breathe new life into areas of the game that are currently underused.

Franchise408 · January 8

Worth coming back is really subjective and personal.

Things like U35 didn't bother me as much as they bothered many people, so people saying it's not worth it to play due to U35 wouldn't be relevant to me.

However, things about the game that do bother me and make the game not worth coming back because of might not be of bother to others.

Ultimately, the game is free to play if you want it to be, so I'd say just log in and check it out for yourself.

JustLovely · January 8

LADYKiLLER wrote: »

Hi all. I quit shortly after U35 but I've been missing ESO. The problem I'm having is that I'm well aware that I'm missing what ESO was, rather than what it might be now.

How is the game these days for someone who loves Cyrodiil, overland content, and housing? Is it worth playing?

Not if Cyrodiil is your thing. The pop cap is even smaller. Performance is horrible. Invincible ball groups that can't be taken down even by other ball groups. Set balance is worse than ever. (you DO NOT want to deal with Rush of Agony and other free pull sets. Almost all damage is from proc sets now, not skills. etc.) As a Cyro PvP player I feel like ZOS is openly hostile to players like me who want to play in Cyrodiil.

Overland content was never worth running except to get sets, skyshards, lorebooks etc. So it's about the same.

Housing never should have been introduced into the game in the first place given server limitations.

If Cyrodiil is your favorite part of the game you will be disappointed and how much it's declined since U35 if you come back.

Thee_Cheshire_Cat · January 8

i'd say no. With AI monitoring what you say everywhere, ppl have been getting in trouble, which has also contributed to lower numbers. RP is basically moving OUT of the game just to stay safe- which is ridiculous

As other have also mentioned the other things too are lowering players.

i used to be a plus member... but with all the stuff going on, i had to drop it as i didnt feel it was worth the money anymore to support.

starting to feel like i made a mistake switching games for this one.

Kyip · January 8

If you really enjoy the Elder Scrolls setting, yes, it is worth coming back, despite all the aggravations.

gariondavey · January 9

Not worth it unless zos turns things around massively

KekwLord3000 · January 9

babyhippo740 wrote: »

Context: I'm presently in my final College year and don't get to (/feel the need to limit myself due to the fun) play the game very often; I've just finished Cadwell's Gold on my main character (Completed Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr, Dark Brotherhood, and Thieves Guild Main Quests). I haven't really ventured to Cyrodil nor have I saved up enough Gold (no way on earth I'm spending more crowns after Gorinir Estate). I have been playing the same Class on my Xbox (Bosmer Warden) for 6 years, but I have one of every other Class lined up on my account that I plan to commit some time to later on.

Having not played it in over a year, it absolutely is still my favorite MMORPG to play. I think the Chapters idea was a little overwhelming and slightly excessive, but I think the way they're steering it for 2025 AND bringing back the Original Tutorial in Coldharbour is the best route they could take for players to properly sequence everything.

I think you should absolutely get back into it, it's still a lot of fun, and I think taking your time with the new stuff is a good idea irregardless.

Chapter gave a lot of content for the year, with it we usually got:

1. Fairly large questing zone, usually in the some format 2 public dungeons, 18 or so Skyshards delves a new type of world event.
2. Trial, we haven't had a trial off chapter since CWC and that way back in 2017, so endgame scene basically waits from chapter to chapter for the newest trial to conquer.
3. Chapter released a new mechanic/class as the main selling point for the year like jewelry crating for summerset, Arc for necrom, Scribing for gold road.

So the major concern for players from all parts of the spectrum (pvp,pve and casuals) is if those features we grown used to get yearly since morrowind back in 2018, will get them this year as well just spread out throughout the year or we just gonna get much less content? That's the main concern veterans have, I do hope Zos adresses this in todays stream like I don't expect them to go like oh yes this is the new trial this is the new zone etc, but I do hope they will explain about the content that we are about to lose, and if we aren't gonna lose the content and they will just release it in batches then let us know. Zos had terrible track record with communication, I hope it gets better going forward.

Soraka · January 9

JustLovely wrote: »

LADYKiLLER wrote: »

Hi all. I quit shortly after U35 but I've been missing ESO. The problem I'm having is that I'm well aware that I'm missing what ESO was, rather than what it might be now.

How is the game these days for someone who loves Cyrodiil, overland content, and housing? Is it worth playing?

Not if Cyrodiil is your thing. The pop cap is even smaller. Performance is horrible. Invincible ball groups that can't be taken down even by other ball groups. Set balance is worse than ever. (you DO NOT want to deal with Rush of Agony and other free pull sets. Almost all damage is from proc sets now, not skills. etc.) As a Cyro PvP player I feel like ZOS is openly hostile to players like me who want to play in Cyrodiil.

If Cyrodiil is your favorite part of the game you will be disappointed and how much it's declined since U35 if you come back.

Basically what I would say as well. I'm pretty casual most of the time because of my schedule so I stick around, but Cyro is rough now. I really wish I could say otherwise because it would be nice to have more people in, but I would feel dishonest.

Ruj · January 9

Cyrodiil and most group content has hit a rough patch of player scarcity unless you play during NA prime hours. Usually, around 5-9 PM Eastern. Even then, it's hit or miss.

Overland content hasn't changed at all. Yet. We're waiting on today's livestream to hear news. They announced that we won't be getting chapters anymore, and that they have plans to increase the difficulty of overland content. But they didn't announce anything positive to counteract these two mega-bad potential game killers.
(Vastly increasing rewards that all player types are interested in when overland content becomes more difficult, for example. I'd be ok with more struggle to kill enemies if it means there's a decent chance drop of furnishings, but again... we have no news yet.)

Housing: We didn't get anything that the community has been asking for, but if you are a console player... you can visit other people's houses like PC players have been able to do for years now with an addon. No updates on increasing housing item limits, option to remove buildings from homes, finishing the set of modular structural pieces for each style/getting the roofs for each style, upgrading any outdoor home to 700 slots, etc.

TLDR: Nothing new has been put in the game for PC players, but we get news of what it is we are getting for suffering through an increase of difficulty in overland content today. No more chapters.

coop500 · January 9

I play a little bit of everything, content wise, and I recently came back after being gone for a handful of years. IMO worth it.

Lyraen_Skyforge · January 9

Not worth it.

The game costs the same, but the value has significantly diminished.

The servers continue to fail, and it feels like they’ve quietly entered maintenance mode, where the shrinking player base is being milked for increasing amounts of money.

Now is the best time to walk away unless there’s a massive shift—and nothing suggests that will happen.

Aurielle · January 9

LADYKiLLER wrote: »

How is the game these days for someone who loves Cyrodiil, overland content, and housing? Is it worth playing?

I uninstalled in October 2024 after returning to the game ~October 2023 after a long break. It was great between Oct 2023 - May 2024, but then a particular patch back in May pretty much broke performance for me (and others) in ESO only -- no other games affected, ruling out user-end issues. I was seeing frequent 300-999+ ping spikes everywhere in game, especially in Cyrodiil but even when doing basic things like crafting. In addition to ping spikes, I was also getting disconnected quite frequently.

Some examples of what I was dealing with:

https://youtu.be/0aecmwg1qU8?si=ePorAAtWcvqJK2gv

https://youtu.be/6slZDL4VI0g?si=WWzQyG614s4nHctP

(Note the red 999+ ping, preventing me from interacting with writ turn ins).

Some examples of what other players are dealing with recently as well:

https://youtu.be/GgYHQ9kVnA8?si=mE5MH4NZj95SMwOL

https://youtu.be/Md7ZrI7o_nU?si=eKxgIo13-zp_z27Q

A lot of the people I used to play with who were also having these problems have long since moved on to other games. They don't post in the forums, though. So, is ESO worth playing in 2025? Maybe, but only if you're lucky enough to not have to deal with atrocious performance in this game, and this game alone.

Edit: here's the 103 page thread on poor performance in ESO since May 2024: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/658253/zos-massive-spike-in-ping-lag-in-recent-days-what-gives#latest

And Rich Lambert's response: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8237075#Comment_8237075