Is Eso the best mmorpg out?

Vaoh

The only other MMO I have ever played was TERA for like 1hr-2hrs.... absolutely did not draw me in.

So yeah, I’m not really fit to speak on this topic tbh. ESO is the best imo.

The only thing another MMO does better than ESO as far as I know is WoW when it comes to raiding, and I only base that off of Youtube vids. Many of the bosses look like they have interesting mechanics and (although graphics suck) fighting takes place in certain cool environments I’d love to see ESO one day sort of replicate. When players speak of WoW they usually mention how large of a raiding community it has.

With that tiny exception I really don’t know how any MMO could possibly be better than currently ESO is. I’d like to see a 24-man raid in ESO one day!

Malthorne

Sixsixsix161 wrote: »

After playing WoW for over 14 years (at times 80 hours per week while working a 40 hour schedule lol), I finally quit last year, fed up by the constant gating of items/professions/etc., behind raids, which started in WoD, continued into Legion, and getting worse in the next expansion (I don't raid, medical issues). Also, the D3 team came out several years ago, making it clear that solo players were not going to do well in that game, and that has transferred also to the WoW team. A game that was great for solo players slowly but surely is forcing players to play together, whether you like it or not.

I love ESO (and Skyrim, heads up: Skyrim is being re-released after being updated/changed for a VR version).

I also play some Rift, but not much, too much of a WoW clone, and much smaller.

I recently started to play Path of Exile (PoE), and really like it. Very unusual game - the gaming is the same, hunt, kill things, get loot - but the setup of how you get skills (active via gems, passive via points), and there are almost 1200 passive skills for each different character) keeps you going for a long time.

By the comments I see here, I guess I need to try Final Fantasy 14 - as long as it can be played solo.

So, I'm bouncing back and forth between ESO and PoE - which is by design. In recent years I've started to play two different games so as not to lose interest - I really did grind/farming in WoW, and I cannot do that anymore. Way too much of that over the years.

But, I'll always play ESO.

FFXIV is awesome but it is not solo friendly at all as the main story, max level crafting, and various other activities are all gated behind mostly 4 player instanced dungeons and some trials. There ARE tons of single player quests and events to do though.

It is no where near as casual as ESO. There are a few “git gud” moments blocking some players progression on the main story as well. This seems to have created a player base that is overall much better at mechanics than the one we have here.

So, yeah .. probably not very solo friendly haha

Jade1986

With the few flaws it has, eso is by far the bet mom on the market atm.

NewBlacksmurf

If you’re asking honestly, you’d want to poll other websites too is eso better than X

It’s a good game but best....IDK as there are some other good games out there. If it were cleaned up more I’d say Star Citizen would be the best but it’s been mishandled

Black Desert is a good game too

Jura23

Ilithyania wrote: »

but thb, Story wize SWTOR beats ESO.

SWTOR has cinematic cut scenes, which makes your voiced character come to life. and 8 different separate class stories.

I dont feel that "connected" to my ESO characters.

Totally agree. SWTOR stories are the best hands down. But ESO has better graphics (it's newer), better combat (when it's not lagging), better endgame. It's tough choice, I stopped playing SWTOR 3 years ago, but I might give it a try again.

Bellamy

I absolutely love the voicing, the writing for the questlines is so much more interesting and captivating than WoW's ever was (nevermind the fact that the actual tasks you have to do are so much less mind-numbing), I love the aesthetic of ESO quite a bit, and when I realized housing was a thing, I just about sold my soul to this game. Plus, the regular updates and fantastic community are amazing!

Jarryzzt

"Conan - what is best in life?.."

First, not all MMORPGs are in the same category or offer the same experience. I mean, MUDs still exist for heaven's sakes.

To wit, how would you compare ESO/WoW/LOTRO/TOR to EVE? I mean - how? The experience is extremely different, from combat to the in-game economy. And yet, technically, EVE is a MMORPG, and a bloody good one (at least if you don't mind the anyone-can-gank-you-anywhere-anytime-and-you-need-a-complex-spreadsheet-to-trade-stuff gameplay).

Or STO. I mean, that's an MMORPG...except half of it happens in space (ish).

So I think that first one needs to isolate the specific subgenre so that we could avoid comparing apples to fish-and-chips.

---

Within the subgenre of elf-gets-magic-sword-kills-wolves-for-XP type of MMORPGs the ones that immediately jump out happen to be the top three revenue generators in the entire industry - WoW, TOR and ESO, probably in that order pending the annual financials from everybody. Of the three, before the Eternal Empire storyline I would have said TOR, because while ESO beats TOR on the actual combat (which in TOR can be outright boring - particularly with the Commando/Bounty Hunter "middle tree" builds), TOR had a big advantage on ESO in terms of story and immersion. The Eternal Empire - and I see why it was necessary, by the way - sort of killed it for me because Empire vs. Republic and Sith vs. Jedi no longer mattered very much at all. The whole thing became just so very bland, and hence ESO now comes out on top.

Of course, there is another WoW clone which I actually think beats ESO and TOR on story and immersion - that being LOTRO. It is literally the only MMORPG where I would occasionally find myself stopping and looking at the moon. Or just hanging out. Or whatever. And the combat wasn't bad either, quite innovative for some classes (Runekeeper). Unfortunately, for a number of years the engine has had a specific graphics-related BSD issue which means that I had to let it go because I do not like having to reboot every 15 minutes. But yes, that's the one elf-gets-magic-sword type MMORPG I would play over ESO.

So of those four - LOTRO > ESO > TOR, plus or minus. And WoW is somewhere near the bottom of the barrel, not the least because graphics-wise it looks like something I used to play on a PS1 emulator back in the day (before Sony sued the hell out of the company - Bleem - shutting it down).

To be sure, there are a number of others in the subgenre that I haven't really touched. Final Fantasy 14 comes to mind, as a for-instance. But of those four...

Bbsample197

this will be kinda biased since your in an eso forum

anyways i really love eso and for me its teh best out there! im one of those who quitted WoW after legion expansion and got too tire of tab targeting combat, my first pick actually after quitting WoW is FFXIV but when i notice its just a WoW clone, i dropped it immediately and the third option is ESO

The one thing that separates this game from any other mmo is the fact that it is still an elder scroll game with a touch of mmo, you can play as a single player and no one is gonna bother you, the immersion in this game is what I felt when i first venture forth in the land of WoW for the first time, its been 11 years since i felt it and thanks to this game i can relive those moment

technohic

Eso is a he best. Not going with the waiting for game crowd. When they actually release; I’ll judge them then.

Im not even a fan of ESO lore and story telling TBH. I just like the character building, RvRvR, and the combat to an extent of not a ton of hot keys or auto-attack

Bbsample197

this will be kinda biased since your in an eso forum

anyways i really love eso and for me its teh best out there! im one of those who quitted WoW after legion expansion and got too tire of tab targeting combat, my first pick actually after quitting WoW is FFXIV but when i notice its just a WoW clone, i dropped it immediately and the third option is ESO

The one thing that separates this game from any other mmo is the fact that it is still an elder scroll game with a touch of mmo, you can play as a single player and no one is gonna bother you, the immersion in this game is what I felt when i first venture forth in the land of WoW for the first time, its been 11 years since i felt it and thanks to this game i can relive those moment

Synthwavius

I've played and tried many and couldn't stay anywhere for long. ESO is the best but for me it's far from being perfect. If it had BDO combat, horse breeding and sailing it would be closer to perfection.
GW2 was meh. I left during first 2 hours of my game because of being forced to do boring quests that were basically a copypasta and lack of housing was ultimate reason to leave for good.

JWKe

Best is subjective. I won't say ESO is the best but for people who like the TES I.P. certainly it's the best since it's the only TES mmo out there. "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

But, if we're to subjectively look at ESO as an MMO there's just no way it can be #1. The game's p2p crashed and burned within a year furthermore the end game even today though substantial isn't impressive compared to the other MMOs out there. However, i'd say ESO is definitely in the Top 10s at least.

LadyAstrum

If ESO is the best the MMORPG gaming industry has to offer then the future of the industry is filled with bugs, lag, long load screens, poor quality QoL, tiny expansions (sorry...chapters), rip-off loot crates, test servers where testers are mostly ignored, costumes with glitches, houses with interiors that don't match the exteriors, and content designed with the crown store in mind (outfit slots, housing storage).

No....ESO is good, but it's not that good. It doesn't even have underwater swimming that much older games are capable of.

ESO could be fantastic, but a number of things let it down.

Turelus

It's an amazing MMO with a lot to offer that others don't.

Is it the best MMO? Nope. That only exists in my head as a conglomerate of all the best parts of every game I have played.

ccfeeling

I love both eso and Gw2, but i voted eso, because i could play the game with ps4 controller

Peekachu99

ESO has a long way to go with its social tools, features and performance. It’s currently got the best combat on the market, though, and some of the storytelling is top notch (helps that video games in general have atrocious writing and our standards are so low).

I love it, but I’m not so attached that I won’t play something better that comes along.

BrockofPercival

If you like questing and the look and feel of this world, then ESO is best. This is a 'theme park' type MMO but it has depth and the quests do not feel like canned spam.

The PvP is ok. There is not much going on PvPwise across all MMOs (for many reasons).

What is lacking here from other MMOs (like Black Desert or ArcheAge, in fact I'd recommend ArcheAge if Trion did not manage it in one of the most selfish and greedy cash shops I have ever encountered) is housing and a number of other things that come with such things that make the game more of a complete world. ESO and WoW are both fun, ESO has more immersion but both lack any actual impact on the world. ESO could have gone with more but have chosen not to (like cyrodiil has some impact but overall ESO devs are more like WoW in their direction)

DieAlteHexe

Ilithyania wrote: »

but thb, Story wize SWTOR beats ESO.

SWTOR has cinematic cut scenes, which makes your voiced character come to life. and 8 different separate class stories.

I dont feel that "connected" to my ESO characters.

Agree. BW is brilliant at this aspect. I miss it but since I pretty much played both sides all the way through with all the classes, time for a break and I was finally able to come back here (had a technical problem that, for years, couldn't be solved).

Syncronaut

Its fine but for a mmo:
*To many loading screens (skyrim and oblivion had way less)
*Sometimes unbreareable lag in cyrodil
*Citys in this game use to much pixes and they take a while to load -- super anoying when you just want to handle one quest and get out ---) same happens when you run to fast on max speed mount and hit a terrain that it still loading
*Grafical glitches on some maps (orc player house for example has glitched walls inside the house, and there is also some roof in skyrim city area)
*Stupidly placed daily npcs -- so much running (i wish we could just handle them as soon as we complete the quest -- at least clockwork as a zone could have some valkie-tokies or something)
*TO damn low droprate on some motifs (that dont even look that great) and that makes crafting pain to get right writs.
*Pvp ranks need overhaul--- they just go up to slow (and there are a lot of skillpoints there left)
*Takes a while to get into a game via a login to character, i wish we could skip step 1 and go directly into a game (a lot of other mmos do it faster)
*Fishing sucks ... but i have yet to see one game that makes finishing not fell like a chore
*And yes my pc is great before you ask (1 year old)

What is good abauth this game compared to other mmos:
*Crafting is not pain, it can be done quick and if you do it normal, it lvls with you. (not cooking tho--maxed it on lvl 20)
*Quests do keep you busy for a while (for me 90 days and still not finished with all), unlike other mmos when you can do them in a week. (probaly only exeption to this is wow, but they added those over time)
*Market system is unique and it keep prices high enogh to fell its worth farming (and keeps bot sellers out of guilds)
*Combat system, i like it. Fells must better than just click the target and press 123456789 on your skills to kill it. I personaly cant stand that system anymore --- its so OUTDATED
*I like some adult elements in this game (not ruined by whiners who dont even know what video game is)
*Eso pvp zone is probaly the closest thing we still have to the old Altrac valley in wow (new version is soooo bad).
*You can see people running araund you, other mmos look so dead this days and most of players you meet in lowbie zones are bots.

................and there is more things.....

Vanguard1

ESO is a great MMO and will be remembered as one of the best IMO. SWTOR offered a lot of cool storylines and brought somethings into the game that only star wars could; however, they lacked enough up to date end game raids that allowed teams to stay interested in the game. ESO is only lacking in a few areas like while I would like to see one more move per bar, the games trading guild system is broken in my opinion. The traders cost are outrages and it forces the GM and officers to work daily to keep earning money from its members in order to keep a trader. WIth no end in site of change on the traders, it seems like people will end up burnt out and start finding other games to play or giving up on their guilds, just so they can play. Rather than working for ESO members for free.

Banana

Only one ive ever played.

Zinaroth

World of Warcraft outshines Elder Scrolls Online in terms of:

Raiding content
Structured PvP
Class balance
Server stability
Bug free high quality content
Innovative game mechanics
In-game collectibles (mounts/pets)
Dynamic world content
General amount of content in updates/expansions
Incentivized exploration
Overarching plot and story telling

Elder Scrolls Online outhsines World of Warcraft in terms of:

PvE incentivized PvP experiences
Open world PvP
Freedom of build customization
World design
Dungeon content
Immersive exploration
Questing

Personal for me it means that while Elder Scrolls Online has the ability to be more interesting and immersive I find that World of Warcraft in general has bigger incentives to play through more stuff being rewarded ingame and not tied to a cash shop. Furthermore the quality of production is just miles ahead of where ESO currently is and the developers has also shown in Legion that they can be way more innovative when needed (namely mythic+ dungeons and class halls / artifacts), and island expiditions in Battle for Azeroth, than ESO developers seem to be able to. WoW also seems to be more mindful of their customers with less server downtime and not having server maintenance in the middle of EU play times. In general I feel like WoW is catching up to ESO in terms of the experience of exploration; while ESO has more beautiful and detailed world design, the WoW team is better at putting rewards for exploration in the game (again tied to mounts and pets being in the game). On top of this WoW has structured PvP which is nonexistant in ESO and raiding content that is far superior and more incentivizing than ESO will ever have (I think). I feel like ESO is growing stagnant when I can play the same game I did three years ago with the same gear - this is not a good MMO experience where you get a character to max level, deck it out in gear, and you're good to go for the end of days. MMORPGs are all about constantly developing your character, and ESO failed in that regard with the Champion system. I know ZOS is trying to create "alternative" advancement paths for our characters, but personally I feel it falls short to the WoW model with having power tied to gear which is rewarded from doing hard content (the harder the content the better the gear which again incentivizes raiding a lot more than in ESO). On the raiding experience I feel it's more rewarding to finally kill a boss after working hard on it, than it is to shave 5 seconds and 1 death off a trial run where the reward is gear of the same power level as you can get in open world, just of a different set that might have a special 5-set bonus which is only applicable in raiding anyway. Where ESO shines for me is the casual PvP; I feel a lot more powerful when I through good gameplay and indepth knowledge of mechanics can 1v3 - because the game is unintentionally more advanced than WoW through animation cancelling and imbalanced skills/classes. Also despite Cyrodiil being such a cluster f*ck right now I still think it holds a lot of promise for world PvP that WoW never had. On top of this the freedom of build customization in ESO is just astounding compared to WoW where everything is pretty much set in stone except for a few talents. But WoW in general delivers batter on class design though, and I enjoy my Feral/Guardian druid in WoW more than my Templar in ESO - but that is equally due to how underwhelming I feel Stamplars in general have been throughout the game I think. ESO also delivers better in terms of dungeon content and story - the dungeons are a lot more atmospheric (which again ties into the great world design), however I feel like the overarching story of ESO is lacking and you never really get the sense of developement as you get with the WoW universe where people really invest themselves in the antagonists and protagonists and speculate on what current events will mean in the future. ESO is kind of just like one big blur of events, where there might be a red string, but with every content/expension the antagonist changes. I know this is very in the spirit of Elder Scrolls in general but from a story telling point of view I think WoW delivers way better with the overarching story, however ESO is better at telling the smaller ones like in dungeons or quest content.

To conclude I definately feel that WoW is still the better MMORPG experience by miles but that being said ESO does reign superior in some aspect - but this is again based on what I enjoy in an MMORPG. People with different tastes than me might think otherwise.

Bam_Bam

For all of its performance issues, I still love the game. But I think it will be have some serious competition from other upcoming MMO games (Camelot Unchained, Crowfall, Ashes of Creation) and also single/co-op player games (Cyberpunk 2077, Escape From Tarkov).
Then there are the more recent games like PUBG and Fortnite. All of these are already gaining huge followings. More importantly, they place a big emphasis on community and streaming with lucrative sponsorships available and active input from the playing communities (not forum whingers) used to help shape their games.
Of course, the proof is in the pudding, but these are serious threats that Zeni and ESO need to be aware of and take measures to solidify the future of the game, rather than just doing a half-a55ed job (the new player involvement scheme is a start, I guess, but that should have been in place from the start and it needs much more involvement and investment.
Because at the moment it feels like "Ugh, lets set something up and hopefully this will keep the moaners happy." - Hopefully I'm wrong!

Anastian

The poll is biased in how the answers are written so I didn't vote :P

I am saying this because albeit I believe ESO is the greatest MMO at the moment, it still has a few kinks that should be ironed out.
ESO: the high skill involved in the combat system, with blocks, dodges, three stat bars and a huge mix and match between skills from your class and skills from various other sources; great lore, fun quests (some of them gave me feelings, and that's important in an RPG); mature (enough) community if compared to other games; a rather distinctive art style which favours immersion; housing system; absence of a heavy grind mentality (vMA is fun to play to get great weapons and now with trait changes it's not that impossible to get what you need; compare that to going full epic gear on WoW every three months).. I could go on.

WoW though: even if the graphics are worse, performance is absurd. I have never noticed so many glitched in a released game as in ESO, but I can be lenient there as the team is smaller and it's a huge world fraught with possible hidden bugs. Another big plus that in my opinion makes WoW THE greatest MMO is the care for details that they put in the game: in GW2, a wolf is a wolf. A centaur is a centaur. That's it. In WoW, every single monster tribe has its name and at least small bits of lore attached to them, and while you are questing you can get very immersed thanks to this. A good portion of ESO features the same feeling, which makes questing much more fun (let's hope this isn't lost in the coming updates). WoW also has a way, way more expanded soundtrack. Every zone has its own music and theme, different inns have different themes, etc. This is extremely important for anyone who wants to play the game as an RPG because you can turn off your Spotify music and just enjoy the vibes from the various zones. Again, ESO did this to a lesser extent, but it's still good enough (GW2 had some dreadfully boring, all too similar zones where you heart the same theme in 5 different areas..).

In the end I really believe that the care for details is something players notice a great deal, and it makes people more lenient on mistakes a development team can make with the game: think about Skyrim's bugs and how you really didn't care too much. There was no point in turning down the game just because of that because you were curious to explore that cave, read that book, and basically follow through the story instead of focusing on getting annoyed by nuisances.

If I could give my two cents to ZoS it would be about this: make the whole experience memorable and "deeper", and yes, people will forgive you. For example some more combat / boss / PvP themes would be appreciated.

aubrey.baconb16_ESO

Some of us are here for our regular dose of TES and wouldn't be playing a mmorpg at all if there was an alternative. Yes, I am aware of the enhanced version of Skyrim and its MODS but I played it to death, maxed everything and hate the bursting the max method. Once TES VI arrives then bye, bye ESO. I suspect that I am not alone with this thought.

Sardath

Zinaroth wrote: »

World of Warcraft outshines Elder Scrolls Online in terms of:

Raiding content
Structured PvP
Class balance
Server stability
Bug free high quality content
Innovative game mechanics
In-game collectibles (mounts/pets)
Dynamic world content
General amount of content in updates/expansions
Incentivized exploration
Overarching plot and story telling
Better class design/fantasy/rotations
Much more alt friendly
Landscape/art diversity
No mandatory race for a class/role

Elder Scrolls Online outhsines World of Warcraft in terms of:

PvE incentivized PvP experiences
Open world PvP
Freedom of build customization
World design
Dungeon content
Immersive exploration
Questing
Way better transmog system
Housing
Relevant and interesting crafting
Any content can be rewarding

Pretty much spot on and I have added some of other things as well. Overall I still like ESO more, but damn there are some things I miss about WoW. I absolutely love the class design in WoW, but not so much in ESO - I feel like the more open approach really waters down the class fantasy and identity. In WoW each class is so well designed and has a completely different play style. I also enjoy how easy is to make another alt - use the free boost and you can start doing dungeons. Even the grind takes very little time with heirlooms. In ESO I'm years behind with Riding and have to grind skill trees and have to mindlessly run and collect skyshards.

But, some things are really hindering me from returning to WoW. For once, I can't stand the sub model - I play a lot of games, FPS', Mobas, CCGs, TBS'. Whenever I sub to WoW I feel forced to play it, otherwise I feel like I'm wasting my sub. It's not even about the money, 15$ is not much and WoW dishes out the most content out of all MMOs, but I can't enjoy other games when I feel like I must play for the sub. With ESO I can play for 2 weeks straight, and then quit cold turkey for a month, only to return whenever I want.

Itemization in WoW also started to bother me - everything you get will be invalidated in the next dungeon/raid. After that, it will be trash in the next expansion. They also throw out all their systems - I can't really justify grinding the Class Hall when it's going to be completely useless in the next expansion, same went for Garrisons. I much prefer the simple, yet relevant progression we have in ESO through new skill lines and new sets that allow for new builds.

Malmai

Making poll about best MMO on ESO forums, you already know how its gonna end...

VDoom1

I have tried out and played several MMO games, have to say ESO is the one I like the best.

WoW has a great huge open world, but it quickly becomes a grind. I know it's supposed to look the way it does, cartoon style sort of. But I just like the look of ESO a lot more. PvP in WoW is the definition of tedious. At least ESO has a lot more diversity. Yes all PvP takes place in Cyrodiil and in Cyrodiil alone. But you are not always in the same place. Sometimes your in a keep, sometimes in forest or in a swamp. On a farm or by a lake etc etc. WoW has a couple of maps yes, but if you do PvP a lot there they can become tedious.

SWTOR, very good story. First time I played I was hooked. Though a lot changed with the Eternal Empire expansion and I was not to fond of all the new changes, seemed a bit messy.

LOTRO, have to say not great. I mainly dislike that you come in as a new or returning player and it's "buy buy buy" in order to do like anything. Buy zone after zone after zone to be able to do any quest. That is just greedy in my opinion. I got LOTRO hoping to see the movies version of all the amazing sites. But unfortunately it seems that LOTRO followed the books when it came to design and such. That can be good and bad, I guess some people love it. I don't.

My opinion, ESO wins. Had ESO for 4 years, since 2 months after launch. I may take a "break" now and then but I always return.

Yes ESO has flaws, Cyrodiil is the lag realm. But all games have some issues. Overall I love that after Skyrim we were able to explore way more of Tamriel with ESO.

One thing ESO does better than any of the above, housing. Housing in ESO is awesome, period. It can not be matched by any other MMO. To this day WoW still doesn't even have housing, which is just weird if you ask me.

Jura23

DieAlteHexe wrote: »

Ilithyania wrote: »

but thb, Story wize SWTOR beats ESO.

SWTOR has cinematic cut scenes, which makes your voiced character come to life. and 8 different separate class stories.

I dont feel that "connected" to my ESO characters.

Agree. BW is brilliant at this aspect. I miss it but since I pretty much played both sides all the way through with all the classes, time for a break and I was finally able to come back here (had a technical problem that, for years, couldn't be solved).

What I loved about SWTOR as well are riddles. I don't remember the name exactly, but it was something similar to skyshards in ESO. And it was no joke, you had real sense of accomplishment after collecting them. Skyshards in ESO are boring and laughable IMO.

Schemering

I have only played Elder Scrolls games since 2002 Morrowind so i cannot really judge whether ESO is the best MMO but if ES VI is released i will not play it immediately as I enjoy ESO too much to be distracted so for me they did a good job making an MMO with the ES looks and feels...