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Why I quit this game after hitting Veteran Rank

AtomicSpatula
To be perfectly honest, I thought ESO was a fantastic and well made game. It had actually made the grind fun for once compared to any other MMORPG. It had a very unique aspect in terms of skill selection being more free form. You could do just about anything with your build and, as long as you were decently geared and knew what you were doing, it worked, maybe even fantastically well. I was going to place this game among those I believe to be some of the greatest of all time, my own personal video game hall of fame.

But then I hit Veteran Rank.

I felt that both leveling and the PvE group dungeons were incredibly well balanced and thought out for levels 1-49. But then I was forced to watch as those two very things I loved turned on me. It felt like betrayal, but so indirect it was frustrating at the time. Sure, perhaps if I had gone with a meta-build, stuck with the game, and gotten to max Veteran Rank, I may have come again to enjoy it. But that misses the entire point.

I thought that the best thing about this game was how free form it was. Generally, when you enter into a MMORPG, your class determines exactly which skills you get. But, in this case, sure, you have a certain selection to choose from. But you are not limited in what skills you can pick. I liked leveling all three of the class skill trees and trying out skills from all three of them. It was incredibly fun to have variety. You could make almost any build you could possibly want, and it would work as long as you actually had a good combination going. But then Veteran Rank comes along and punishes you for being creative and rewards those who would go with the monotonous meta-builds I see posted on forums all the time.

Also, I have seen the argument that with certain unique, craft-able pieces of gear that almost any build will work. I have also seen ample evidence of this being proven false. Also, why should a meta-build be able to get away with not having to subscribe to this rule, why all other builds be punished by it? Like most of my friends, I focused on certain aspects of crafting, but not the ones I would need to make these sets. When it came to other games, you generally did not need to bother with craft-able sets; the set items that would drop would generally be better. This game is exactly the opposite.

Honestly, if I am to be convinced to come back, 3 major changes to the game would have to happen...

1. Veteran Rank would have to act similar to levels 1-49

Honestly, if something is not broken, and is loads of fun, why fix it? I don't mind upward mobility, but if you are going to punish creativity in the process, I will not find any fun in it.

2. The crafting system would need to be overhauled

While certain aspects of the crafting system were neat, like how you could change how the gear looked with certain in-game items and crafting materials, many of the other aspects were dull, annoying, or even easily ignored. Turns out by late game, those dull, annoying, easily ignored aspects are incredibly important. But why? I could never get my head around why the crafting system was created in such a convoluted way.

3. Encourage diversity in builds and set-ups

This one by far may be the most important. If a game becomes monotone when it comes to play styles, it becomes incredibly boring. What mainly attracted me to this game in particular was how that didn't seem to be a norm. There was a wide, free form skill selection, and it seemed to work for building towards diversity. However, you guys only took it so far. It's pretty sad, really. You had the formula down.

If leveling ended at level 49, I would have continued to play the game, even today probably. But, of course, just like many things in life, you guys found a way to screw it up.

I hope that you either find my post or another on the forums and learn from your mistakes. When you do, let me know. I'm totally willing to come back. As long as you fixed what you screwed up in the first place.
PSN Username: AtomicSpatula

Veteran Rank 1 Argonian Nightblade Healer: Sight-of-Amber
"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world"
-Siddhartha Gautama
  • SirJesto
    SirJesto
    ✭✭✭
    In B4 thread closed + give me your stuff, Thanks.
  • ZOS_Racheal
    ZOS_Racheal
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    Greetings AtomicSpatula,

    We understand and respect that sometimes people will leave The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited community. We thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we wish you the very best. We're closing this thread now per our Code of Conduct policy on quitting/goodbye threads.
    The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited Moderation Team - ZeniMax Online Studios
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This discussion has been closed.