What viewpoint do you prefer while playing? (1st vs 3rd)

Namdnas

So, they have made great improvements in the 3rd person view over Skyrim and I'm really enjoying playing via 3rd person for the most part. Although I do like to switch over to 1st person every now and again...but I just feel the viewpoint is too "low" to the ground when I do. Explore in 3rd, combat in 1st.

What say you guys? Which style do you prefer?

Vegaroth

always 3rd person, in skyrim i was always on 1st but in this game 1st person is almost impossible specially in combat, is hard to see the areas of effects, enemies and cues and in exploration i need always keep an eye on the surroundings for possible hidden resources / enemies.

rbenkepub19_ESO

Skyrim: First-person, always

ESO: Started in first-person and gradually shifted to full-time third-person over the course of the first week of playing. ESO doesn't lend itself to first-person. Not a complaint - I don't care - just an observation.

jrgray93

Always used to be first person in combat in Skyrim, but I always liked third while exploring and such.

This game, third all the way. The situational awareness is key.

Skulclutter

I have always preferred 3rd person views over 1st person views and always play that way if I can. In Skyrim I played in 3rd person and in Oblivion I only switched to 1st person when I needed to use my bow.

Khenarthi

I always play in 1st person. Even though it puts me at a disadvantage during combat... I just enjoy myself more if I'm in my characters' shoes.

SirAndy

1st person for PvE, 3rd person for PvP and group content.

1st person makes me feel like i'm actually in the game world.
3rd person is just that, me watching someone else running around.
;-)

poodlemasterb16_ESO

This combat disadvantage is mostly nonsense. I play the entire game in first person, except for my horse, and I do very well.

I have played some PvP and I really don't think it's a disadvantage for my Red Witch, a sorc. I dominate the PvE game and have no need at all to play 3rd person there.

I've played some nasty shooters. I expect a sniper in every little nook and cranny and I very seldom have anything happen I did not expect. I am careful, check all my corners and move into areas after I do my checks.

I can solo + dungeons 2 - 4 above her level, that's 8 - 10 man groups, and she deals with them as single targets just fine, throw in some AoE and it becomes easy. She is extremely mobile, all over the place as a normal thing, and she has not died in days of facerolling Colharbour.

I like first person and that's how I will continue to play.

sylviermoone

Played my main in 1st person, all the way until the final fight of the main quest. Because of how I had to fight (predominately melee), I had to learn 3rd person real fast.

Rolled a new toon, and found it was nearly impossible to see if Crystal Shards had procced in 1st person, so I play her in 3rd, as well.

DogFaceInBananaPatch

I currently (and most likely, always) have it locked to first person and the camera zoom is unbound. I actually went to excessive lengths to make the game as realistic and difficult as possible from turning the gamma down to the 20% mark, which makes night time actually dark to removing most GUI elements to writing down all quest objectives as if I'm playing an old SSI D&D game! Now if there were only a code-wheel to log into the game... lol

Oh and thank you for being the first MMO in years to bring back collision! It's been missing from the gaming scene [MMO's] for almost a decade!

ers101284b14_ESO

3rd oddly enough. I always play in first person mode on the single player games. There is just so much action and danger in this game that you need to see all around you. In first player games your never gonna get surrounded so bad that you can't fight your way out or move away from an enemy into the sight of a new enemy.

dsalter

i love first person but you are in no way capable in most ways, especially pvp with 1st person so i had to get used to 3rd person

poodlemasterb16_ESO

sylviermoone wrote: »

Played my main in 1st person, all the way until the final fight of the main quest. Because of how I had to fight (predominately melee), I had to learn 3rd person real fast.

Rolled a new toon, and found it was nearly impossible to see if Crystal Shards had procced in 1st person, so I play her in 3rd, as well.

LOL. I don't get this. Shards is obvious, takes a while, then they fall down.

UrQuan

Why is it always 1st person vs 3rd person? What happened to the second person?

Anyway, I always prefer 3rd person in any game - ever since I first got used to it playing Tomb Raider.

Chuggernaut

3rd

mar1ano1987nrb18_ESO

Always played 1st person if I can ..in all the games (that also includes Jedi Knight saga ) .
But in this one? level 1-50 I used 1st person , but switched to 3rd..because pvp and vet dungeons are very very hard to do in 1st person .

You want a true undaunted challenge? Force 1st person camera in a vet boss fight!

mar1ano1987nrb18_ESO

and thanks for the insightful, that got me a brand new badge

SkillzMFG

Most of the time I play in first person (leveling, exploring, questing etc) but sometimes when something really important is at hand (like an elder scroll or some other huge pvp battle) I switch to 3rd person to have more awareness of my surroundings.

DogFaceInBananaPatch

mar1ano1987nrb18_ESO wrote: »

and thanks for the insightful, that got me a brand new badge

I took it away and gave you an Agree instead. =P

Alysta

UrQuan wrote: »

Why is it always 1st person vs 3rd person? What happened to the second person?

Anyway, I always prefer 3rd person in any game - ever since I first got used to it playing Tomb Raider.

The 1st and 3rd person labels are from narrative perspectives. In short, 1st person is "I am," 2nd person is "You are," and 3rd person is "He/She is."

In a video game, 1st person gives you the impression that you are seeing things from your character's point of view, where as 3rd person you are watching your character perform actions from an outside perspective. Maybe 2nd person is when you're watching your friend play

I play ESO in 1st person. I experience far greater immersion from that perspective, especially when directly interacting with the environment. I actually find combat easier, as I pay far more attention to my opponents actions and visual queues than when I am in 3rd person. I have played all the ES games in 1st person, and I also enjoy my fair share of 1st person shooters. I like being my character rather than watching her.

Elsonso

1st person for PVE and adventuring.

They could make some things easier. I have not found any reliable on-screen indication that I am stunned. They could just rotate the camera to look at the ground and hold it there, but "STUNNED!" would be fine, too. Also, they should have 3D indicators about what monsters will be doing next, not just red glowing areas on the ground. Make it a red 3D box, cylinder, sphere, etc.

3rd when in Cyrodiil. Always.

Adernath

Usually I prefer the first person view.

But with surge+nova spam (I play a sorc and this was for example necessary in sanguine dungeon and in the Windhelm dungeon before the veteran nerf) the 3rd person view turned out to be superior for these purposes. Since then I am adapting to the 3rd person view.

Nox_Aeterna

ESO i only play in third person view , i dont even consider changing this really , in a MMO im not willing to gimp myself by limiting my FoV.

Now in single player TES games i would do the exact opposite , i only play in first person view because honestly that is where those games shine and make one really feel like their char.

GnatB

Despite what the console players would like, the elder scrolls has always been a first person centric game ever since Arena.

That said, the designers *obviously* designed this game strongly around 3rd person play. I highly doubt they spent any significant time play testing the game in first person. If they had, they would have noticed that a lot of the mechanics only really work in 3rd person.

Glowing marks on the floor indicating danger areas? If you're in first person, good luck seeing them.
Glowing healing balls approaching that harvester? If you're in first person (and melee) good luck seeing them before it's too late.
Guys that rapidly jump over you? Trivial to handle in 3rd person, but if they do it multiple times, quite possible to lose track in 1st. Same with enemies dodge rolling.
Buffs/Debuffs are frequently only indicated by FX/model changes to the player that aren't always visible in first person. (thank you FTC mod showing buffs)
Getting dismounted from my horse in first person completely locked up first person. As long as I remained in first person I couldn't do *anything* other than move even after the stun was over. I had to exit to 3rd person to attack/defend/cast spells/mount/etc. switch back? Still unable to do anything except move. Had to log out/in to fix it.
Couldn't swim first person (now fixed)
Can't ride first person.

So, while I admit it feels like I'm playing with a hand tied behind my back, I'm sticking with first person. A combination of always trying to move around opponents (a.k.a. circle strafe) and turning the combat hints to always on helps alleviate much of the problems. That said, had the developers had a clue, they would have either implemented different combat mechanics, or simply implemented some sort of top down radar view that would give 1st person players the same information that 3rd person players enjoy.

UrQuan wrote: »

Why is it always 1st person vs 3rd person? What happened to the second person?

IIRC one of the space sims I played had an option to make one of your ship monitors show the enemy camera view, which I guess would be 2nd person.

Alysta

GnatB wrote: »

That said, had the developers had a clue, they would have either implemented different combat mechanics, or simply implemented some sort of top down radar view that would give 1st person players the same information that 3rd person players enjoy.

I think a screen edge indicator would work alright. If you're standing in a red AOE marker, color the edges red. If you're about to be struck with a heavy attack behind you, give a directional indicator. FPS games have been providing warning indicators for everything from grenades and exploding vehicles to long range sniper fire for quite some time.

Gilvoth

absolutely 3rd person allways allways allways
but i do love using 1st person to view the awesome graphics and beautiful items and gold and awesome things created in eso, so beautiful as allways.
but i Love and cannot live without seeing the armor and weapons and, well, me on the screen at all times and seeing all the stuff im wearing that worked very very hard to get
so in the end i have to say 3rd person with a side of both 1st and 3rd

GnatB

Alysta wrote: »

GnatB wrote: »

That said, had the developers had a clue, they would have either implemented different combat mechanics, or simply implemented some sort of top down radar view that would give 1st person players the same information that 3rd person players enjoy.

I think a screen edge indicator would work alright. If you're standing in a red AOE marker, color the edges red.

That only tells you you're in danger, (which is already accomplished by setting the combat tips to always. The roll tip will popup when you're in an AoE marker.). It doesn't tell you how far/which direction to move to get out of the AoE quickest.

Alysta wrote: »

If you're about to be struck with a heavy attack behind you, give a directional indicator. FPS games have been providing warning indicators for everything from grenades and exploding vehicles to long range sniper fire for quite some time.

hmm, most FPS games I've played only gives you the "quadrant flash" when you actually take damage, which this game also has as well. That flash may get confused with the "heavy attack" pending flash.

Still think a "top down" radar view in the corner or something would be informative enough, yet still unobtrusive.

sylviermoone

poodlemasterb16_ESO wrote: »

sylviermoone wrote: »

Played my main in 1st person, all the way until the final fight of the main quest. Because of how I had to fight (predominately melee), I had to learn 3rd person real fast.

Rolled a new toon, and found it was nearly impossible to see if Crystal Shards had procced in 1st person, so I play her in 3rd, as well.

LOL. I don't get this. Shards is obvious, takes a while, then they fall down.

When it procs, it's an instant cast, and you can't tell except for glowing hands. Which I can't see in the first person view. It's a morph of shards, but I can't remember the exact name...

Zhoyzu

Both and when i ever i feel like.

pvp always third and sometimes way zoomed out

poodlemasterb16_ESO

You can only shoot at whatever your aiming cursor turns red. The only reason you would need 3rd person is lack of situational awareness. That is up to you. I have not been surprised in a long time.

sylviermoone wrote: »

poodlemasterb16_ESO wrote: »

sylviermoone wrote: »

Played my main in 1st person, all the way until the final fight of the main quest. Because of how I had to fight (predominately melee), I had to learn 3rd person real fast.

Rolled a new toon, and found it was nearly impossible to see if Crystal Shards had procced in 1st person, so I play her in 3rd, as well.

LOL. I don't get this. Shards is obvious, takes a while, then they fall down.

When it procs, it's an instant cast, and you can't tell except for glowing hands. Which I can't see in the first person view. It's a morph of shards, but I can't remember the exact name...

The instant second cast is one handed and glows really well for me. It's Crystal Fragments that one.

UrQuan

Alysta wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Why is it always 1st person vs 3rd person? What happened to the second person?

Anyway, I always prefer 3rd person in any game - ever since I first got used to it playing Tomb Raider.

The 1st and 3rd person labels are from narrative perspectives. In short, 1st person is "I am," 2nd person is "You are," and 3rd person is "He/She is."

In a video game, 1st person gives you the impression that you are seeing things from your character's point of view, where as 3rd person you are watching your character perform actions from an outside perspective. Maybe 2nd person is when you're watching your friend play

But, but... only when watching your friend play in 1st person right? I feel like if you're watching your friend play in 3rd person then it should be 4th person...