How did you discovered and started with ESO?

Megabear

From gaming news/reviews

I compared user reviews between FF14 and ESO. FF14 actually had better reviews but it had buy to play thing going, plus I liked the art style better. Unfortunately my friends went the other way and bought FF14 recently instead

tinythinker

Elders scroll fan

Been playing TES since Arena. Heard a new game in the series was coming out and looking for testers. Then I found out it was an MMORPG and said "No way" because of my "no MMORPG" policy. Later I had to have major surgery and was unable to do much while recovering so I signed up for the beta sometime around Christmas 2013 so I could at least say I played it but without having to buy it or sub.

Got admitted to the stress test weekends that started in late February or early March of 2014. Pre-ordered and was there first day of early access before the official PC launch. And for some reason they keep letting me into the game and onto the forums.

MLGProPlayer

I had just finished Witcher 3 Blood & Wine and I was itching to jump into a new RPG, especially one I could play long term. I was specifically looking for an MMO that had:

- Proper quests (not a sandbox and no fetch quests)
- No tab targetting (I wanted action combat)

Fortunately there was only one MMO on the market that fit this criteria which made my choice easy. But I was still a bit apprehensive because I knew what a flop the game had been on launch. Suffice it to say, when I fired up the game, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how good it was. It obviously doesn't quite compare to AAA singe player RPGs, but it does blow every other MMO on the market away.

Nyghthowler

Other

I've been playing MMO's since original EQ launch. I've been playing ES since Morrowind. When I heard they were making an ES MMO I was excited as hell and applied for Beta. Got invited to the very first closed Beta and HATED it!

I thought I was done with it, and wrote a scathing review on the questionnaire.
I was surprised to get invited to the second closed Beta. I almost passed on it, but decided to give it a try.
Wow, what a turn around! Been playing ever since.

Loralai_907

From friends

A friend told me about it way back in closed Beta, so I immediately signed up for it. Once I played, I was hooked, even back then when falling through the world was a regular occurrence, or getting stuck inside/under stairs. Those were fun times. But I didn't care. I was just so amazed with everything that was good.

KingofAnnwn

From advertising/marketing

Seen an advert, the same video you see when you first join one of the servers. Always wanted to play Elder Scrolls games just never got around to it

Myyth

From gaming news/reviews

I read the game news websites so I knew about ESO but the action part of the combat worried me, only having four classes and not really much different from other fantasy games. So I wasn't willing to pay $60 full price for the game. Then I found out the game was on sale for $10 and gave it a try. Played it ever since.

theher0not

Other

I firstly heard of it in a swedish wow magasine. But that was long before the beta (and the article had loads of errors in it. For example they claimed that the imperials where the antagonists of the game).

Later (after I got bored of WoW in WoD) I saw that ESO was on steam and that it had sloped the manditory sub. So I decided to buy it.


And literary the day after I bought ESO it had a 50% sale... (I am still kinda salty about that )



But I was also a casual TES fan which is the reason I went with ESO over a f2p MMO.

Danikat

From advertising/marketing

I voted for advertising but I suppose it was both that and being a TES fan already.

It was the most random thing, I was on Facebook one day and one of the adverts caught my eye with something about "sign ups now open for Elder Scrolls Online beta". Since I loved TES games and enjoyed MMOs I was very interested.

I vaguely remembered hearing a rumour a few years before that Bethesda may have been working on a TES MMO, but I'd totally forgotten about it in the meantime (this is the 2nd time something like that has happened to me). I didn't click on the link but I did google it, found info about the game and signed up. I never thought anything would come of it but not long after that I got an invite to be a beta tester.

I'd love to say I've been playing ever since but the truth is the betas always left me vaguely unsatisfied. I was never able to identify exactly why (although I did leave a lot of feedback) but whenever I played ESO I'd find myself thinking I'd really rather be playing a single-player TES game or another MMO when really it should have been the perfect mix of both. Between that and the mandatory subscription fee I didn't buy the game at launch, but it didn't fall off my radar either - I kept following the updates (often by lurking on this forum) hoping I'd read something that would convince me to get the game.

And then I heard they were dropping the subscription fee, which dramatically reduced the "risk" (in the sense of a risk vs. reward model) and I managed to pick up a copy for £12 a month before the switch over (which was perfect since you got 30 days free). I was very happy to find that even if there weren't many big changes all the little changes added up to a much better game and I've been enjoying it, with occasional breaks, ever since.

Donari

From friends

I've been playing MMOs since DAoC. Moved from that to Horizons, and a few years later got coaxed into this new thing called World of Warcraft. During my seven years in WoW (GW2 was my personal WoW killer) I made some very good friends, meeting quite a few of them RL more than once. (I also dipped my toes in many other MMOs during that time, generally in company with said friends).

One of these friends was a phenomenal roleplayer and writer (still is). In fact, his creative writing on the WoW forums formed the bulk of his resume that got him his first MMO writing job. I made a point of subbing to the games that employed him. (Hey, I was an attorney without kids, I had the funds). When he got hired at ZeniMax I eagerly awaited learning what the MMO was and as soon as I could I pre-ordered since, after all, I wanted my friend's employment to be more secure if only by my micro-contribution.

I probably would have done so for ESO even without his presence on their staff, since I'd enjoyed Skyrim for the month or so I played it before encountering a game-killing bug that soured me on further play and I could afford to pay to try out new games. I don't know that I'd have maintained the sub all these years if my friend hadn't stayed with ZoS, but he's still there and thus so is my sub.

It's tickled me to see forum posts over the years singing the praises of NPCs and quest lines I know my friend wrote.

PS No, I have not got any inside line into what ZoS is planning. One reason I respect my friend so much is that he is both honest and honorable and he strictly follows NDA. He never spills any secrets and wouldn't even if I were so rude as to ask him to.

jcaceresw

From advertising/marketing

I am a Elder Scrolls fan and got word about the MMO through marketing for the beta test.

Casdha

From advertising/marketing

I was an Elder Scrolls fan but I wasn't interested in a 3rd person MMO and didnt hear much about ESO until I saw an Xbox add that showed 1st person footage at E3 on my Xbox home page and looked it up and applied for the PC beta. On my app I told them I wasnt interested in playing an MMO and if they wanted me to buy it they would have to convince me. I got an invite about a week later for my first weekend test about 4 years ago now. Then, much to my surprise I got an invite to the full time beta test.group. What can I say, they convinced me.
Edit: funny thing is, now I only play in 3rd person

Sneaky-Snurr

Elders scroll fan

I try to keep track of what comes next for the ES series as it is my favourite!

akl77

Searched for most playability game

Looks like the deep lore grabbed the player base.
I wish they would introduce all the previous chapters into ESO, as I missed playing them.

Lylith

Elders scroll fan

heard eso was coming out as a subscription mmo and immediately thought to myself, 'this is going to be ***, no way i'll play it.'

then i picked up a beta key and did a few of the beta weekends, early on, and i was instantly hooked.

Hallothiel

Elders scroll fan

Played Skyrim on Xbox & loved it, as did my teenagers. Heard about ESO on pc but the reviewd put them off. Then they got a PS4 & heavily into Destiny (pah). Some dlc for that game was not working so whilst waiting for things to be sorted bought them cheap copy of ESO.

They never really played it. Oh but I did. I did. Had SUCH fun been here over year vsnd a half and barely touched another game.

TerraDewBerry

Elders scroll fan

I've been playing Elder Scrolls games since 1994 when Elder Scrolls: Arena launched. ESO seemed like a no-brainer for me. I read on one of the MMOs sites (forget which one now), that ESO was coming out and immediately signed up for the beta. Someone messed up and let me into the beta.. and I've been playing off and on... but mostly on since the Thieves Guild launch.

ArchMikem

From advertising/marketing

I was captivated by ZOS' completely misleading Cinematic trailers, thinking this was going to be very similar to a Skyrim experience, but with other people.

I still really like the game though.

klowdy1

Elders scroll fan

Morrowind GotY edition in 2005. I loved it, and oblivion, and to a lesser extent, Skyrim after that. I liked that they took the MMO version in a different direction, but I was hoping for a no class game like the rest of the ES series. Something like a pool of all of the skill lines from all of the classes, and you are able to choose three of the "class" skill lines, and all of the rest of the skill lines like our current version.

akl77

Searched for most playability game

klowdy1 wrote: »

Morrowind GotY edition in 2005. I loved it, and oblivion, and to a lesser extent, Skyrim after that. I liked that they took the MMO version in a different direction, but I was hoping for a no class game like the rest of the ES series. Something like a pool of all of the skill lines from all of the classes, and you are able to choose three of the "class" skill lines, and all of the rest of the skill lines like our current version.

Choose any three class lines, that'll be interesting.

Cyn_v84

Elders scroll fan

I'm here on the ground with my nose in it since the whole thing began!

TES fangirl

GDOFWR420

Elders scroll fan

Saw it on the shelf at gamestop, and honestly if i would have known what it was i probably wouldnt have bought it. I loved oblivion and skyrim is the most memorable, but even between those 2 games i havent invested nearly as much time as i have in eso.

To keep it short I got addicted and haven't put it down since one week after it released on xbox one. Didn't know it was an mmo at purchase just thought it was another elder scrolls but boy was my mind blown at the scope of the game. The art, the animations, and the shear size of the world was enough to keep me hooked. all of the other player's, the quest's, writs, etc.

It consumed a lot of my life but I chose to keep playing and will see it through to the end.

Thank you for an epic but time consuming game.

Kikazaru

Elders scroll fan

The lore behind the elder scrolls universe is what drew me in, and I have been a fan of the series ever since I got my hands on Morrowind back in 2002 (this is what got me into PC gaming).

There was news circulating around the web about a new Elders Scrolls game that would take big daring steps into the MMORPG market. I tend to hate MMOs, in general, so I was conflicted if I should give this game a try or not. I mean... ES as a MMO? This can't be true! It's absurd! But it IS an Elder Scrolls game! This would be my first MMO, too! Regardless, the other half of myself convinced me to sign up for the closed beta in the early spring of 2013. I was pleasantly surprised how well the game turned out, and decided to order the Collector's Edition of ESO.

It has been over 3 years since that day, and I'm looking foward to continuing my adventures for many more years to come!

freespirit

Other

My son told me that you could apply to take part in an upcoming Elder Scrolls Online beta.........

Being a massive fan of the series I applied, never expecting to get an invite!!

So I was beyond excited to join the Beta on Jan 8th 2014........

Been here ever since, with no regrets, except I miss how hard standard gameplay used to be........

Doshia and Gutsripper caused me much grief on my first character!!

TazESO

Elders scroll fan

Nephew picked up Skyrim in bargain basket, was playing on our Xbox. I watched him for a bit and was enthralled. Started playing and was hooked. When ESO was announced, I was hyped. When the console release was delayed, I bought a new PC and jumped in. Never looked back.

Publius_Scipio

From advertising/marketing

TazESO wrote: »

Nephew picked up Skyrim in bargain basket, was playing on our Xbox. I watched him for a bit and was enthralled. Started playing and was hooked. When ESO was announced, I was hyped. When the console release was delayed, I bought a new PC and jumped in. Never looked back.

That's good. Better your nephew play Skyrim than skip school and do dope.

MaxwellC

From friends

I'm an Elder Scrolls fan ever since Oblivion but my mate showed me this dragon knight. It had flames surrounding him as he encroached on his enemies, creating a field that was his territory and anyone foolish to be within it would taste the deadly flames that Akatosh once swept away the darkness with.
Unfortunately shortly after playing with the Dragon Knight I randomly lost the ability and have ever since loss the reason why I even played the class or continue to play it as it's like a basic character nowadays.

Sausage

Elders scroll fan

Been gamer since the 90s, so it has always been there but I really think Skyrim was massive turning point for the series and pulled me in, I think its the first person combat, every other devs just tried to do all kind of stuff but Bethesda kept the first person, so it was their time.

max_only

MMORPG fan

I've played a lot of mmos. I've seen thing bruh. O-O