My ESO Feedback / Critisicm / Review

Bloodfang

Firstly I'd like to say I can't comment on PvP or Craglorn as I really didn't find the time to try them. I'm currently on my 4th month of subscription (played since pre-launch, but had to stop for a few months, due to personal issues). I'm at 650+ hours total play time on my main. Now this post will be long, I'll put spoilers so you can select which part you want to read. Some things might feel a bit harsh, but I'll try to put some constructive criticism / feedback. These are my personal impressions:

Launcher

By the eight, you guys really need to fix it already. Personally I think launcher is the most frustrating thing about ESO. Chance it will work perfectly fine is equal to winning on a lottery. Yeah I know it sounds funny, but 8 months past launch it's anything but funny. The last patch on EU was giving me such a big headache, I actually had to download it 4 times before it somehow began working. That's insane 24gb just for a simple bug fixing patch. Luckily my internet is pretty average so I didn't have to wait that long, however I can't imagine how pissed off others might have been. ZOS fixing launcher and changing your patching to be more bearable, should be your main priority at the moment!

Latency / FPS

It's really not that bad, apart from the occasional stuttering, which I don't recall happening at launch (at least not for me). It's weird how FPS just drops down for a few seconds and then goes back to normal. Also I've noticed latency is jumping quite a bit, and I know it's not from my side. Upgrade your servers already, everyone would greatly benefit from it.

Bugs

Everyone's favourite topic I have to compliment ZOS for squishing many many bugs since launch. I'm seeing so many topics about bugged abilites, npcs, quests etc. It makes me wonder if we are playing the same game. Ever since the launch I can count on one hand how many bugs I've stumbled upon.

Though there is one bug that I reported yesterday, which I could recall from the launch. I cleared whole public dungeon -> Forgotten Crypts. On return to the exit I found a familiar surprise. No doors. I fell through the ground just like 7 months ago, fun times. Hopefully ZOS can patch it up this time.

UI

There is so much controversy going on about ESO minimalist UI. I don't think there is anything wrong with it staying default, as long as they add a bunch of new optional features for others that are sick of outdated addons.

I think ZOS should start supporting the top downloaded Addons on ESOUI. I'm personally a big fan of Wykkyd's addons, I don't see a reason why some of his ideas shouldn't be implemented as optional ESO UI features. And what about the horrible inventory managment and the guild store search, these two things need some major improvement. There is no reason why ZOS shouldn't be fixing UI, and adding optional UI features on top of that.

But then again thank you at least for acknowledging the inventory space problem. So with update 6 and the new Mounts / Pets UI, I'm looking forward to more improvements like this one. This is a big step forward ZOS, keep it up.

Class Balance

My main is a Templar. Anyone that played this class at launch probably knows how broken it was. It was funny, we had so many broken skills, yet they kept nerfing us (even though some changes were reverted back truly fast).
Now I can't speak much for other classes, but templar at launch and templar 8 months past launch is a totally different class. It's ridiculous how much it's improved now. I know update 6 is supposedly another big patch that is gonna address class balance, but I am pretty sure classes were never in such a good state as they are now. It really shows how much the game has improved from launch. I know that some are still frustrated. Many had to go through some seriously stressing situations (example nightblades that got broken after a patch), but I think we've put that behind us now. I know they took a lot of time to fix most of the things, but at least they kept their word. I can appreciate that.

World Design

It's about time to get positive! Elder Scrolls Online has the most stunning graphics when compared to other MMOs. I'm truly amazed by how they made world so richly detailed. Lighting / Reflections are on a whole new level even when you compare them with the most modern MMOs. Zones are beautiful and well designed (though I would prefer if we didn't have all those loading screens, maybe someday when whole Tamriel gets added). They are all distinct from each other, and have a wonderful atmosphere. This is something ZOS really nailed, props to them.

Audio

There are a few tracks that are really breath-taking. It's just that I find the number of them lacking, I think they should be adding more. Sometimes it gets dull of repeatedly the same track over and over again.

On a positive note some audio that they've added regarding "not enough magicka", "ultimate charged" etc were very positive in my book. Now I don't have to look every time when my ultimate is charged, it's really nice. Though I'm glad they got rid of that horrible audio that was driving us all mad!

Exploration

Everyone that played previous TES games knows this is one of the most important things for all of us. Luckily ESO didn't mess it up. There is always something over that cliff that just steals your attention. Be it a mining nod, chest or just a trading merchant that needs help with the bandit attack. I can say it really feels immersive with all those small things. It makes the atmosphere better and the world feels alive. Now yes I agree there could be some improvements, for example chests aren't very well thought out, but overally I am loving exploring things on my own.

Combat

My first MMO was World of Warcraft, so the first combat system for me was the "outdated" tab targetting, it always felt very unrealistic and just plain dumb. So when ZOS annouced Active Combat system I was very excited, but a bit afraid how it's gonna work in an MMO. If you can get past some dumb animations (which I'm sure they are fixing, they are much better than at release), you will notice what a difference action combat makes compared to tab targetting. The monsters / humanoids you fight actually have different mechanics. We are talking about simple creatures in the world. It's really refreshing that you actually have to move, compared to some MMOs where you stand in place and mash your buttons..It definitely needs some improvements, some attacks don't feel right or aren't very realistical, but we are getting there. From what I am seeing now , I can be very positive about the future.

Story and Quests

+ I love the voice acting, without it the game just wouldn't feel like TES (also actors did a phenomenal job).
+ No more quests to go kill 10 bears, go collect 10 bear ears ( where apparently only every 5th bear has 1 ear)
+ 1-50 progression is very well thought out
+ The story was refreshing and one of the best in the last decade. For me personally ESO has even better story than Morrowind.

- Veteran Ranks are sadly not well thought out. I love doing all quests with just one character, though I can see how alts can suffer. I'd much prefer if every faction would have sabotage quests in other faction areas, sadly they didn't have the time to do all that / or it just wouldn't be worth the cost. At least Champion System is coming so for everyone that feels like it's a "Grind", now you'll at least have a nice reward for your "Grinding".

Character Creation

It's for sure one of the best I've ever seen. Won't complain much about it! Though for the love of Mara add barber already, or some kind of a feature to customize our characters for a "fixed" price. Also there is still plenty of room for improvement on the actual Character Creation (More tattoos, beards, hair styles etc.) Don't forget about that!

Dungeons

I haven't had that much fun dungeoning ever since the famous BC days. Perhaps some won't agree but I feel like even just the normal versions of ESO dungeons are as hard as the hardest WoW Raids. I think there is a simple answer to that, ESO is using an active combat system, which in a practice needs hell of a lot more skill to master. There is just so many mistakes you can do, so little time to react. I'm a tank and tanking in ESO is so so so much harder. Heck in WoW I always felt so immortal, I remember back in Cata when I was pulling whole dungeon in Heroic difficulty and pulled it off without anyone in party dying. There is a reason why so many guilds require TeamSpeak in ESO. Apart from the difficulty it's welcoming that even dungeons have awesome story quests, and the areas have some breath-taking unique look about them. Props to everyone in the development team that designed them.

Crafting

I've been able to test 4 professions: BS, WW, Clothing and Enchanting.
Everything except enchanting was maxed well before I even hit level 50. That just doesn't feel right. Perhaps traits are the "endgame" at crafting, but it still feels like something is missing.

For example why isn't there a profession - smithing? Why isn't there skinning? Why isn't there herbalism etc.? Taking away things from the crafting system doesn't mean it's more enjoyable. Imagine how much more play time that would add, also it would feel at least realistical. Right now you just put some points in passive trees, and you skin the animals with a sword or what? With a staff? It looks really dumb to me. Every time I kill a wolf, the poor thing just drops its skin.

Don't get me wrong I love crafting in ESO, I love exploring for those mining nodes and crafting myself armor / weapons. But I feel it has so much more potential, so many areas where it could expand and improve.

World Events

I'd like to add here my post from another topic. Of course it's just subjective opinion on how I think they could potentially improve:

World bosses:

Honestly I don't really think there is much tweaking needed. Though I would change some things.

- Make world bosses scale to the number of players around (to max 8)

- Create Bounty / Wanted quests (directs you to world bosses and awards better loot while leveling. Also NPCs recognize your deed.)

- Create Bounty / Wanted daily quests (random world boss in every zone, that is scaled to your level - just some extra gold as reward)

- Perhaps create some UI ingame, which you can open anytime. Within it shall be description of each world boss. Their special attacks, their weaknesses etc..

Dark Anchors:

Dark I feel require some big rework, they have so much potential in them. I'm a big fan of Rift's world design, I think they pretty much nailed it. I've never played a more dynamic game. Anyone that played Rift probably knows what I'm talking about.

- Firstly Dark Anchor bosses need to be scaled to the number of players around them, I believe the waves are already

- Right now when Anchor opens nothing happens. We badly need invasions. If you don't close the Anchor there should be a consequence. Daedra should spawn periodically and march to villages and cities.

- I'd also like to see a Zone Event with all Dark Anchors opening at the same time, Daedra pouring out of them, and it's up to the players to close them. When that is done, a devastating boss spawns that players must cooperate to kill. I'd say 8 + players, anything more than that and the boss should scale his HP accordingly.

Delves:

I don't think there is anything wrong with the delves atm, could be larger I suppose but overall they are fine. However I'd add a few things:

- Difficulty system: Normal (as now), Hard and Elite.

- Normal should be default, with Hard and Elite being optional and could be toggled on or off anytime.

- Make delves instanced to the player, unless they are already in a party and would like to do it with a friend, family etc..(It should scale accordingly)

- I'd also love Delve dailies. However they should open only when you've completed all delves in the zone. It would be nice if the daily delve could be randomized so you are not seeing the same enemies in there over and over again. Also similarily like the world bosses, I'd like to see a random delve in each zone.

- Add plenty of achievements.

Summary

I know it may seem like I'm trying to change the game "too much", at the end of the day it's all just my personal criticism / feedback. I'm sure there will be many that won't agree, though I hope there will be also some that will agree with certain things!

Don't get me wrong I'm already impressed with ESO, honestly if I felt there is a better MMO out there, I wouldn't be here! We've come through a long journey already, I know that we are looking at a bright future from now on.

On an interesting side note, I've kept track of everything regarding ESO. I understand it might not be perfectly correct, but it should be pretty close! So this is how far we've come in less than 8 months:

CONTENT

-> New Zones:

- Lower Craglorn
- Upper Craglorn

-> Trials:

- Hel Ra Citadel
- The Aetherian Archive
- Sanctum Ophidia

-> Arenas:

- Dragonstar Arena

-> Dungeons:

- Veteran Crypt of Hearts
- Veteran City of Ash


NEW FEATURES (23)

- Dye System
- Trials Difficult Mode
- Trial Leaderboards
- Death Recap
- FOV Slider
- Pick up Armor and Weapons
- Improved Interior Lighting
- Light Jerkins
- Solo vs Group Content Callouts
- Improved Guild Management
- Guild Heraldry
- Guild Traders
- Guild Bank Gold
- Nirnhoned Crafting Trait
- Improved Facial Animations
- Veteran Rank Improvements
- Dungeon Scaling
- Solo Scaling
- Undaunted Enclaves and Pledges
- Crafting Certification, Writs and Survey Reports
- New Crafting Style: Dwemer
- New Crafted Item Set: Twice-Born Star
- Chat Bubbles

FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS (3079)

- Alliance War PvP (95)
- Art & Animation (221)
- Audio (65)
- Combat & Gameplay (798)
- Crafting & Economy (100)
- Dungeons & Group Content (355)
- Inventory & Bank (5)
- Exploration & Itemization (309)
- MAC Client (11)
- Miscellaneous (53)
- Quests (865)
- UI (202)

Evergnar

Great review @Despair9. Very well thought out and concise.

deepseamk20b14_ESO

I agree with most of this. I have also been a huge proponent of anchors being more of a "rift" like events where they happen randomly and in different places. It would be great to see a city under siege or even better, have anchors open above or outside of a keep in cyrodiil so all the factions have to deal with the deadric threat which technically, is the point of the game anyways. Imagine deadra taking over a keep? That would REALLY make things interesting in Cyrodiil! I was actually quite surprised when I started playing that anchors were only in certain spots. I liked them throughout my journeys but they did feel pointless. I like the chests they eventually added but it didn't feel like an "invasion" like it should.

Northern_Wolfling

@Despair9 I think this is a really good and construtive review. The developers should really read your post. @ZOS_GinaBruno

Bloodfang

@Evergnar
@lifthrasir85

Thank you for taking the time to read!

@deepseamk20b14_ESO

Yeah I find it very awkard. The reasoning behind the Anchors is supposedly some invasion on Nirn. Molag Bal forces attacking and trying to claim this world for him etc.

Which is why it feels so uninspired when you see all those Anchors around Tamriel. Sure they have badass animations, and also pretty nice design. However that's it. There is no sense of danger if you leave the Anchor open, you just know nothing will happen. You don't see any invasion, just standing there slaughtering Molag Bal followers while they just sit there and protect the Anchor.

jeevin

Despair9 wrote: »

@Evergnar
@lifthrasir85

Thank you for taking the time to read!

@deepseamk20b14_ESO

Yeah I find it very awkard. The reasoning behind the Anchors is supposedly some invasion on Nirn. Molag Bal forces attacking and trying to claim this world for him etc.

Which is why it feels so uninspired when you see all those Anchors around Tamriel. Sure they have badass animations, and also pretty nice design. However that's it. There is no sense of danger if you leave the Anchor open, you just know nothing will happen. You don't see any invasion, just standing there slaughtering Molag Bal followers while they just sit there and protect the Anchor.

Yeah I agree here. All the dark anchors in the vet zones go mostly ignored. They don't actually pose a threat to the world, they don't change anything and even if you do knock it over it's back there five minutes later, once again posing no true threat. They're a bit silly really.

Jitterbug

Great post my man - good work!