Just a simple screencap...

Beerbong_Ginn

Haven't been on the forums in a while. Sorry if this is too long, or if it copies anything that anyone else has said. Just wanted to share some of my thoughts with you all.



There are many like it on these forums, most of which are better quality, higher resolution, digitally retouched, etc. So much of the game world is so visually stunning that at times it's hard to peel ourselves away from the inspiring scenery and remember that there's a war to win, a planemeld to stop, a daedric prince to kill, and so on.

I'm not sharing this to show off the graphics of a video game's engine or praise the hard work of the designers and programmers (although they do deserve it). Some of you will recognize this as a view of the landscape on Bleakrock Isle. The other day, I took one of my veterans back to the island and began walking along its paths and hills and rivers. I began thinking about the first time I played this game roughly six months before; the first time I found myself in the village setting out on a new adventure, with a whole new world to explore. A new world that seemed somewhat familiar, that was both thrilling and comforting at the same time. I remember fumbling through the game trying to understand its interface, playing with my control schemes to get things just right, and finally hitting my stride and taking off. I remembered scratching my head at the crafting system until its mechanics became second-nature and it grew to become one of my favorite aspects of the game. I remembered adjusting to the rhythm of the combat system, learning how interrupts worked, how to time my skills, and how to budget my resources.

But mostly, I remembered the first time I saw the sunset. One that looked something like this one.

I took my time strolling through the village near Hozzin's Folly, occasionally picking off attacking bandits who failed to notice the veteran symbol above my character's head and remembering the thrill I once had trying to make it through my first time without dying, which of course I had failed to do. I then saw the shrinking blue bar above another player's character as they flailed away with a one-handed weapon against 4 other bandits. I quickly shot a spray of arrows, rooting and killing the attackers and saving the player from a respawn. They asked to group, so I figured I'd stick with them for a while.

It soon became apparent that the player was new. Very new. I lead them to the next point in their quest and escorted them back to Bleakrock Village, where I crafted some items for them and sent them on their way. It reminded me of myself, wandering around this new world, experiencing it for the very first time. And although it was easy to get frustrated with a group partner who doesn't understand the mechanics of the game (Akatosh knows how many of us have been there, am I right?), part of me envied that player, as I knew that they were experiencing something that I would never feel again: that new and opened feeling of a world unexplored and unknown, an experience that grew and deepened with time.

ESO is more than just a game to me, so much more than pixels and IP packets. It's become a place where I can forget about the problems of my day, the stress of my job, and the troubles of a world that's run by politics and greed. It's something that I look forward to during the day, and something that can always surprise me, no matter how familiar I become with it. It's a world with stories that can break your heart and make you laugh, where people can come together and commune with little more than a few emotes.

And as much as anything else, it's a part of my life. One that I hope to enjoy for a long time to come.