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ESO Review and List of Improvements/Enhancements
wildbear247
✭✭✭
I've been playing this game since it dropped the subscription fee back in March. After having immersed myself in this very enjoyable MMO for a few months I wanted to leave some feedback for Zenimax and the players. This is a rather long review…couldn't find a way to summarize it into a "tl;dr" version. First a little background on me.
1) ESO is the first MMO that I've ever played. It is the first MMO to really draw my interest based on its great graphics, music, and the lore and reputation established by the previous Elder Scrolls games.
2) I haven't played any previous Elder Scrolls games.
3) I'm a bit of a completionist and have progressed rather slowly in the game I think. Recently I've parked my first character (a VR6 Orc Nightblade who is primarily now my crafter), and restarted with a Khajiit Nightblade.
Overall I think Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is a really good game. Some of the things I really like about it are:
1) Enormous and beautiful world. I have a good computer and can run it at max settings and get about 30 FPS (although I usually run it at just under max settings for higher FPS). ESO is an MMO so it doesn't pack the graphical beauty of the latest generation single player experience (i.e. it's not Witcher 3 graphics). However because it's an MMO what it lacks in the latest graphics it makes up for in the multiplayer experience. And that multiplayer experience is something I've really come to enjoy over the years.
2) Deep character customization
3) Soundtrack
4) Graphics. From what I've seen ESO has the best graphics of any MMO out there.
5) Multiplayer experience
ESO is a great game and it's evident the developers were passionate about creating a really good MMO extension of the Elder Scrolls experience. Overall I rate the game 8 out of 10 points. Like with pretty much everything in life there is room for improvement, and ESO is no different. So what follows are ESO enhancement recommendations. Note that pretty much everything I've listed are enhancements I'd like to see, but I've also seen most of this stuff mentioned elsewhere (e.g. on the ESO forums, random comments on other websites, etc.).
--- AREAS TO IMPROVE ---
GENERAL
1) I think the most important aspect of the ESO experience for Zenimax to address is an overhauled way in which Zenimax gathers, assesses, responds to, and incorporates player enhancements and "wish list" feedback. Currently it seems like a lot invaluable player feedback is buried in the forums and therefore lost to Zenimax's eyes. Consider the following alternative approach: Zenimax creates a specific webpage on the official ESO website which they use to gather player feedback on the game. This would be THE webpage for players to visit to provide feedback on enhancements they'd like to see made to the game (a player "wish list"). To kick start the initiative Zenimax could maintain a weekly poll on this webpage that lists the top ~30 enhancements that players are asking for. Forum members would be able to rank their top ~10 items on this list on a weekly basis. This would give Zenimax a better idea about which enhancements are most important to their player base. The weekly poll could be divided into 3 sub-categories of PvP, PvE, and General…this would allow the PvP and PvE players to isolate specifically their top enhancements. I think ESO really has the potential to be the current gold standard for MMO's, but in order to get there Zenimax has to gather, assess, respond to, and incorporate player feedback…and do it in a way in which this process is readily apparent to the player base. As a part of this process Zenimax should when possible rank the viability of incorporating an item from the player "wish list" into the game.
2) Rework the Champion System for PvP, and for PvE content that's tracked via leaderboards. First I think it's great that the Champion System allows for almost infinite micro-improvements to your character. I think the problem for many people becomes how that system affects PvP and PvE content that's tracked via leaderboards. Basically I think folks are looking for a more fair playing field in both of these areas that isn't affected as much by someone spending countless hours grinding out champion points (otherwise a person who picks up the game 2 years from now will be hopelessly outclassed by the people who have farmed CPs during that time in PvP). For PvP in Cyrodiil I think a relatively simple way to fix this is by default to give every player in Cyrodiil 120 Champion Points (CPs) they can spend for The Warrior, The Mage, and The Thief (360 points total). Cryrodiil players should always receive this 360 CP bonus that only applies in Cyrodiil, and any extra CPs that a player has is disregarded in Cryodiil. Perhaps a similar strategy can be used for PvE leaderboard content. Outside of these 2 areas (PvP and for PvE content that's tracked via leaderboards) the Champion System remains unchanged so a player could enjoy all of the CPs they've grinded for and thereby wreck general PvE content.
3) Allow players to explore the entire world from the very start. That way from the very beginning they can teleport to a wayshrine in the starting zone for each faction. Currently the faction you pick determines which area you start in & then you can obtain access to the other areas after you complete the main story. This seems to go against open the world theme that I've heard about so often for previous Elder Scrolls games. ESO is a beautiful game world…allow players to experience all of it from the start (if they so desire) rather than making them wait until level 50 and/or after they complete the main story.
4) Allow friends from different factions to be able to play together (this ties into the previous bullet). ESO is an MMO and should enable people to connect and explore all of Tamriel together, no matter their home faction.
5) Allow the race of your character to have no impact on which faction you start in by default. Currently you have to pay extra for this but it seems like such a basic feature that I don't really think players should have to pay for it.
6) Allow a player to change their appearance after initial creation.
7) Allow a player to change their class. You can charge gold or Crowns for this if you want, but again this seems like a really basic feature to have. If I want to convert my VR6 champ from a Nightblade to a Dragonknight I should be able to, rather than starting over with a brand new character. This would allow me to enjoy ESO and my main character in a fresh way.
8) Allow players to upgrade their mounts as many times as they can afford with in game gold. Remove the superficial time restriction of 20 hours between mount upgrades. What if a level 20 player really likes PvP and wants a really fast mount to get around the massive Cyrodiil? If the level 20 player has the in game gold to spend on 40 speed for his mount then let him. If a player has the gold than why this restriction, especially considering you can spend real money on Crown upgrades and max out all your upgrades in 10 mins (although that would cost some dollars)?
9) UI Update: Add a robust filter system to the default UI to enhance inventory management. There are Addons that can do this, but such a basic feature needs to be a default part of the UI.
10) UI Update: Add a combat statistics function so players can see detailed information on what kind of damage they are dealing, which buff/debuffs they are afflicted by, etc. This feature should be able to be toggled on and off. This is a very basic feature of all RPGs. Some people will argue that it breaks immersion, but it should at least be an option that Zenimax has accounted for in the game, which players could activate as they deem fit.
11) Increase the starting bank size. There are so many items one can gather while exploring Tamriel and it is really painful as a new player to have such limited inventory space to accommodate all those items. Increase the starting inventory size (both for the character and bank) so new players can focus more on exploring Tamriel and less on managing their inventory.
PvE
1) Quest rewards. It is disheartening to complete a quest knowing that whatever item I get I will most likely deconstruct for materials (e.g. receiving a healing staff as a quest reward on my Orc Nightblade that is wearing heavy armor and wielding a 2-handed mace). One way to fix this is to allow users to customize the quest reward gear they receive in 3 aspects: type (weapon/armor piece), enchantment, and trait. In addition, give players the choice of selecting which set it's from OR allowing it to be a blue piece from a randomly chosen set. This would make completing quests and exploring all of Tamriel much more alluring. Good loot is a fun part of the "hack n' slash" genre, and it's currently a VERY weak aspect of questing. While you're at it increase the gold reward for quests too.
2) Questing. The quests can be interesting. Definitely not the boring "kill 100 beasts and then come see me again to collect your reward". However I feel like a little more love could have been invested into them regardless. Considering how huge the world is there is A LOT of questing one can do. I think more voice actors would help here. It breaks immersion when a key character in a quest has the exact same voice as a guy that was sweeping a street in a town I just visited. There are so many quests that I don't want to ask for "shock and awe" effects for each one, but per a well-known angry review in which an AD quest involving burning ships is criticized for its lack of "wow" factor (I did that quest during Caldwell's Silver recently and it doesn’t appear to have changed much since that review of a year ago)…the cooler you can make quests the better.
3) Allow crafting writs to be turned in at any town. This allows people to avoid traveling to various towns to turn-in crafting writs, especially when their crafting abilities are at different levels.
4) Rework Caldwell's quests. After completing the main story allow players to explore VR versions of each of the 3 factions (to include your home faction). That way if I level up my character past the zone I'm in before completing the main quest (therefore getting no XP from the monsters in that zone) I can always come back to the area after I beat the game and complete all the quests in Caldwell's VR mode so that I get XP.
PvP
1) Allow for some type of PvP outside of Cyrodiil. Definitely recommend implementing the dueling feature as used in Borderlands 2...which basically allows you to challenge another player in combat. I don't think this should be battle leveled dueling either (although you might add this feature later to allow more flexibility). So if a level 3 decides to pick a duel with a VR14 they get to see first-hand how powerful a VR14 is. This 1-on-1 dueling could be further expanded so that other players nearby are given a notification in case they want to join in the fray and pick a side (this option should be controlled by the original duelers, that way they can still have their 1-on-1 if desired).
2) In and out of Cyrodiil, allow bounties to be placed on players that have achieved certain criminal milestones (e.g. those who have killed a bunch of civilians, or stolen a lot of gear, etc.). Then those players can go on a "Wanted" list and can be pursued by other players for a gold reward. If the player/bountry hunter is able to kill the Wanted player (no battle leveling please), the Wanted player doesn't suffer any gear damage, gear loss, or gold loss (perhaps they just have to suffer the indignity of the loss and respawn at a nearby wayshrine).
3) To satisfy hard-core PvP folks, consider creating a completely lawless town in a "no man's land" zone. This would basically be a place where all PvP actions against other players are allowed (e.g. stealing, killing, etc.). In addition, all gear and gold on your person can be looted from your body after you die. I can't say this area would really appeal to me, but I have seen it mentioned by other players so there is an audience for it.
If you made it this far thanks for reading. Of all the enhancements I've listed I must emphasize once more the most important one: an overhauled way in which Zenimax gathers, assesses, responds to, and incorporates player enhancements and "wish list" feedback.
1) ESO is the first MMO that I've ever played. It is the first MMO to really draw my interest based on its great graphics, music, and the lore and reputation established by the previous Elder Scrolls games.
2) I haven't played any previous Elder Scrolls games.
3) I'm a bit of a completionist and have progressed rather slowly in the game I think. Recently I've parked my first character (a VR6 Orc Nightblade who is primarily now my crafter), and restarted with a Khajiit Nightblade.
Overall I think Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is a really good game. Some of the things I really like about it are:
1) Enormous and beautiful world. I have a good computer and can run it at max settings and get about 30 FPS (although I usually run it at just under max settings for higher FPS). ESO is an MMO so it doesn't pack the graphical beauty of the latest generation single player experience (i.e. it's not Witcher 3 graphics). However because it's an MMO what it lacks in the latest graphics it makes up for in the multiplayer experience. And that multiplayer experience is something I've really come to enjoy over the years.
2) Deep character customization
3) Soundtrack
4) Graphics. From what I've seen ESO has the best graphics of any MMO out there.
5) Multiplayer experience
ESO is a great game and it's evident the developers were passionate about creating a really good MMO extension of the Elder Scrolls experience. Overall I rate the game 8 out of 10 points. Like with pretty much everything in life there is room for improvement, and ESO is no different. So what follows are ESO enhancement recommendations. Note that pretty much everything I've listed are enhancements I'd like to see, but I've also seen most of this stuff mentioned elsewhere (e.g. on the ESO forums, random comments on other websites, etc.).
--- AREAS TO IMPROVE ---
GENERAL
1) I think the most important aspect of the ESO experience for Zenimax to address is an overhauled way in which Zenimax gathers, assesses, responds to, and incorporates player enhancements and "wish list" feedback. Currently it seems like a lot invaluable player feedback is buried in the forums and therefore lost to Zenimax's eyes. Consider the following alternative approach: Zenimax creates a specific webpage on the official ESO website which they use to gather player feedback on the game. This would be THE webpage for players to visit to provide feedback on enhancements they'd like to see made to the game (a player "wish list"). To kick start the initiative Zenimax could maintain a weekly poll on this webpage that lists the top ~30 enhancements that players are asking for. Forum members would be able to rank their top ~10 items on this list on a weekly basis. This would give Zenimax a better idea about which enhancements are most important to their player base. The weekly poll could be divided into 3 sub-categories of PvP, PvE, and General…this would allow the PvP and PvE players to isolate specifically their top enhancements. I think ESO really has the potential to be the current gold standard for MMO's, but in order to get there Zenimax has to gather, assess, respond to, and incorporate player feedback…and do it in a way in which this process is readily apparent to the player base. As a part of this process Zenimax should when possible rank the viability of incorporating an item from the player "wish list" into the game.
2) Rework the Champion System for PvP, and for PvE content that's tracked via leaderboards. First I think it's great that the Champion System allows for almost infinite micro-improvements to your character. I think the problem for many people becomes how that system affects PvP and PvE content that's tracked via leaderboards. Basically I think folks are looking for a more fair playing field in both of these areas that isn't affected as much by someone spending countless hours grinding out champion points (otherwise a person who picks up the game 2 years from now will be hopelessly outclassed by the people who have farmed CPs during that time in PvP). For PvP in Cyrodiil I think a relatively simple way to fix this is by default to give every player in Cyrodiil 120 Champion Points (CPs) they can spend for The Warrior, The Mage, and The Thief (360 points total). Cryrodiil players should always receive this 360 CP bonus that only applies in Cyrodiil, and any extra CPs that a player has is disregarded in Cryodiil. Perhaps a similar strategy can be used for PvE leaderboard content. Outside of these 2 areas (PvP and for PvE content that's tracked via leaderboards) the Champion System remains unchanged so a player could enjoy all of the CPs they've grinded for and thereby wreck general PvE content.
3) Allow players to explore the entire world from the very start. That way from the very beginning they can teleport to a wayshrine in the starting zone for each faction. Currently the faction you pick determines which area you start in & then you can obtain access to the other areas after you complete the main story. This seems to go against open the world theme that I've heard about so often for previous Elder Scrolls games. ESO is a beautiful game world…allow players to experience all of it from the start (if they so desire) rather than making them wait until level 50 and/or after they complete the main story.
4) Allow friends from different factions to be able to play together (this ties into the previous bullet). ESO is an MMO and should enable people to connect and explore all of Tamriel together, no matter their home faction.
5) Allow the race of your character to have no impact on which faction you start in by default. Currently you have to pay extra for this but it seems like such a basic feature that I don't really think players should have to pay for it.
6) Allow a player to change their appearance after initial creation.
7) Allow a player to change their class. You can charge gold or Crowns for this if you want, but again this seems like a really basic feature to have. If I want to convert my VR6 champ from a Nightblade to a Dragonknight I should be able to, rather than starting over with a brand new character. This would allow me to enjoy ESO and my main character in a fresh way.
8) Allow players to upgrade their mounts as many times as they can afford with in game gold. Remove the superficial time restriction of 20 hours between mount upgrades. What if a level 20 player really likes PvP and wants a really fast mount to get around the massive Cyrodiil? If the level 20 player has the in game gold to spend on 40 speed for his mount then let him. If a player has the gold than why this restriction, especially considering you can spend real money on Crown upgrades and max out all your upgrades in 10 mins (although that would cost some dollars)?
9) UI Update: Add a robust filter system to the default UI to enhance inventory management. There are Addons that can do this, but such a basic feature needs to be a default part of the UI.
10) UI Update: Add a combat statistics function so players can see detailed information on what kind of damage they are dealing, which buff/debuffs they are afflicted by, etc. This feature should be able to be toggled on and off. This is a very basic feature of all RPGs. Some people will argue that it breaks immersion, but it should at least be an option that Zenimax has accounted for in the game, which players could activate as they deem fit.
11) Increase the starting bank size. There are so many items one can gather while exploring Tamriel and it is really painful as a new player to have such limited inventory space to accommodate all those items. Increase the starting inventory size (both for the character and bank) so new players can focus more on exploring Tamriel and less on managing their inventory.
PvE
1) Quest rewards. It is disheartening to complete a quest knowing that whatever item I get I will most likely deconstruct for materials (e.g. receiving a healing staff as a quest reward on my Orc Nightblade that is wearing heavy armor and wielding a 2-handed mace). One way to fix this is to allow users to customize the quest reward gear they receive in 3 aspects: type (weapon/armor piece), enchantment, and trait. In addition, give players the choice of selecting which set it's from OR allowing it to be a blue piece from a randomly chosen set. This would make completing quests and exploring all of Tamriel much more alluring. Good loot is a fun part of the "hack n' slash" genre, and it's currently a VERY weak aspect of questing. While you're at it increase the gold reward for quests too.
2) Questing. The quests can be interesting. Definitely not the boring "kill 100 beasts and then come see me again to collect your reward". However I feel like a little more love could have been invested into them regardless. Considering how huge the world is there is A LOT of questing one can do. I think more voice actors would help here. It breaks immersion when a key character in a quest has the exact same voice as a guy that was sweeping a street in a town I just visited. There are so many quests that I don't want to ask for "shock and awe" effects for each one, but per a well-known angry review in which an AD quest involving burning ships is criticized for its lack of "wow" factor (I did that quest during Caldwell's Silver recently and it doesn’t appear to have changed much since that review of a year ago)…the cooler you can make quests the better.
3) Allow crafting writs to be turned in at any town. This allows people to avoid traveling to various towns to turn-in crafting writs, especially when their crafting abilities are at different levels.
4) Rework Caldwell's quests. After completing the main story allow players to explore VR versions of each of the 3 factions (to include your home faction). That way if I level up my character past the zone I'm in before completing the main quest (therefore getting no XP from the monsters in that zone) I can always come back to the area after I beat the game and complete all the quests in Caldwell's VR mode so that I get XP.
PvP
1) Allow for some type of PvP outside of Cyrodiil. Definitely recommend implementing the dueling feature as used in Borderlands 2...which basically allows you to challenge another player in combat. I don't think this should be battle leveled dueling either (although you might add this feature later to allow more flexibility). So if a level 3 decides to pick a duel with a VR14 they get to see first-hand how powerful a VR14 is. This 1-on-1 dueling could be further expanded so that other players nearby are given a notification in case they want to join in the fray and pick a side (this option should be controlled by the original duelers, that way they can still have their 1-on-1 if desired).
2) In and out of Cyrodiil, allow bounties to be placed on players that have achieved certain criminal milestones (e.g. those who have killed a bunch of civilians, or stolen a lot of gear, etc.). Then those players can go on a "Wanted" list and can be pursued by other players for a gold reward. If the player/bountry hunter is able to kill the Wanted player (no battle leveling please), the Wanted player doesn't suffer any gear damage, gear loss, or gold loss (perhaps they just have to suffer the indignity of the loss and respawn at a nearby wayshrine).
3) To satisfy hard-core PvP folks, consider creating a completely lawless town in a "no man's land" zone. This would basically be a place where all PvP actions against other players are allowed (e.g. stealing, killing, etc.). In addition, all gear and gold on your person can be looted from your body after you die. I can't say this area would really appeal to me, but I have seen it mentioned by other players so there is an audience for it.
If you made it this far thanks for reading. Of all the enhancements I've listed I must emphasize once more the most important one: an overhauled way in which Zenimax gathers, assesses, responds to, and incorporates player enhancements and "wish list" feedback.
PC NA
The Ironwood Clan (all DC): Karbal Ironwood (Stamblade, PvP); Galtan Ironwood (Magblade, crafter, PvE, some PvP)
MY #1 ESO REQUEST: An overhauled way in which ZOS gathers, assesses, responds to, and incorporates player feedback on the current and future state of the game.
The Ironwood Clan (all DC): Karbal Ironwood (Stamblade, PvP); Galtan Ironwood (Magblade, crafter, PvE, some PvP)
MY #1 ESO REQUEST: An overhauled way in which ZOS gathers, assesses, responds to, and incorporates player feedback on the current and future state of the game.
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daroule1982✭✭Bump this thread. Aye.>_< Hail hail the gang's all here! We slay skeevers...we slay skeevers! >_<0