Five Years of Good Memories (ESO anniversary) #AndOfCourseThereWillBeSomeSpoilers

tinythinker

*Note the title - please leave sarcasm and snark at the door as there are tons of other threads for that*

This April marks the fifth anniversary of the ESO launch in 2014, which will feature an extended in-game celebration event as most of you are aware. Please share with the community your best memories of ESO, whether you started in the earliest player testing or only this year.

Yes, it's tempting for some to post about what they don't like about the game, or express cynicism over its history and direction. Those are, broadly speaking, fair things to discuss or opinions to express, but this is a good memories thread. If you want to create your own separate "terrible history of ESO" thread, feel free to do so.

So, what are your best memories of this game?

And thanks for sharing!

tinythinker

Here are a few of my own best memories involving ESO (sans some I probably forgot because I can be absent-minded from time to time).

Can't list them all, so it's a representative sample:

1. Being dead-set against testing or playing the game because it was an MMO, then deciding not to break my TES streak after having major surgery and being stuck at home for a while. Ironically I didn't get into testing until I was mostly recovered and the game was nearly ready to launch, so I practiced with some F2P MMOs and hung out at the Tamriel Foundry forums, where player testers were under NDA, so we all kept speculating about what combat was like or what certain abilities would actually do. We watched videos from the dev team at that time for clues, and I planned on making a dunmer DK because in each fantasy game I look for drow, dark elf, or the closest equivalent and make a character with a name I used in an old MUD. It was a really exciting time full of anticipation.

I was catching up on some older videos such as these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxJTsq2XeKY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDHa-77cy3I

And we were all watching the then-new ones like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJZv9nRfa2Y

As well as long-running series of super-brief videos called "Developer Question of the Week":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2lQ2Vin4Vs

And if you weren't hyped enough there were amazing songs like this from Malukah:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwp8UxIY_iM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lPPNJCPHDY



2. Logging into the beta testing for the first time/first several hours of gameplay. A massive number of people helped test the game prior to launch, and many are still playing. I know that since the start of online games there's been a thing about vets, noobs, and seniority, but it doesn't mean much at all except for a head start in leveling and learning to play or having more memories (good and bad). I chose this as a top memory because (see memory #1). There was a lot of hype and anticipation, and I was finally getting to see and try it all for myself.

Now, I was still planning to only play the end of beta and not purchase the game. And on making a dunmer DK. But then I noticed how cool Argonians looked in character creation. I *never* played Argonian from Arena through Skyrim. Their racials didn't match my playstyle and they looked odd. But I loved their appearance in ESO, and I had an image of being a fire-breathing reptile, like a dragon or Godzilla. So I made Glides-Under-Starlight, my first character. And I logged in to a cinematic that dropped me into the Wailing Prison in Coldharbour. It was awesome, especially with a fellow Saxhleel opening my prison door. Being new, combat was harder (plus the game difficulty and combat system were a bit different then). But it was sooo fun.

My first plop from the sky into the sea was super-cool. Then I was on Bleakrock Isle, running around with other players, trying to figure out the most basic of basic things. And solving puzzles through notes, meeting fully voiced NPCs, etc. The game was super-clean. That is, no cp, no cash shop, no outfit system, most people without mounts (which only included a few horses anyway), etc. Just the starter zones for each Alliance, the five base-game zones for each Alliance, and overland Cyrodiil. It was very easy to get into and explore because it was very simple. The way that the story went, starting with attack on Bleak Rock, had this sense of urgency as you fled to Bal Foyen, with the same sense of urgency driving you forward as you then carried the warning to Stonefalls. That three zone sequence was and is an example of awesome story weaving across zones. I didn't finish all of Stonefalls in the beta, but I liked what I saw.

So I mean, storytelling, art assets, the music and sound effects, ability design, zone design/populating, NPC design, etc. I think I take a lot of it for granted now. Yes, I still stop to listen to songs or admire views from time to time, but my first time experiencing all of it was just so amazing.



3. The (early) early access launch day and the community atmosphere during the game's first months. I made to sure to log on to the now LIVE servers as soon as possible, and using poor quality screenshots I spent about an hour recreating Glides. When I started adventuring I was careful to make the same choices. I wanted it to be like a continuation of how was in the beta, just a continuation but with some of the oldest achievement dates slightly off. Once that was done, I was stoked to continue the journey. The questing, the exploration, meeting other players.

A lot of what is said about that time tends to be memories of bugs and broken quests or falling through the map into a bizarre nowhere space. And to be fair, reviewers like Angry Joe weren't wrong about a lot of the problems (many of which have since been resolved). That said, I still loved the game as it was then. Like when I accidentally dropped my Standard ult in a room where random people were questing and someone was like "WTF WAS THAT?" because apparently I had nearly given them a heart attack. They had started blocking and were looking around to see which mega-boss has just launched a nuclear assault on them.

And on the forums at that time (see #4 and #5 for more examples), while people did complain about issues (either bugs or the game not being exactly what they had imagined in their minds), there was still a lot of excitement and positive energy. There were some old series ZOS did (now replaced) for website or forum posts that were deemed particularly useful. The series (Adventurer's Handbook, The Tamriel Chronicle and The Tamriel Town Crier) were a fun means of community engagement. After they were discontinued they seemed to vanish from the ESO website for a while, but they are back again with the rest of the older material. Humble brag (like really, I mean, as in nothing to really brag about - not the usual meaning of obliquely referencing your own achievements by way of false humility), I was even featured a couple of times (Adventurer's Handbook Issue #3 and Issue #6). Which shows just how desperate they were for content at that time! They also had a few contests for writing (Tales of the Dead) and Orienteering, and even other regular article series like Battlemaster's Corner and Guild Spotlight).

It *was* a fun time for many of us to be in the game. So if there's ever a Vanilla ESO server, I'm reserving my place at the start of the line now. (Then I'll get be disappointed because you can't go home again but it will still be cool.)



4. Cyrodiil in spring and summer of 2014. This is kind of an extension of #3 but calling out more specific things that made good memories.

It was a really fun time. You can always complain about balance and what not, and not everyone liked the 90 day campaigns, but the energy was very different. And even though I was an anonymous soldier, I miss many of the personalities from that time. I recall the technique, for example, one DC raid leader developed using the old style forward camps in which people would just rez over and over to try to break the defenders. Or some really massive and long battles, like holding Bleakers for nearly two hours. Or more personal moments like this (which I believe happened right after the infamous lighting patch):

I tried logging onto Cyrodiil amidst all of the lag and s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-o-w-w-w... l-l-l-o-o-o-a-a-d-d-i-i-i-n-n-g-g-g graphics... which at times resembled a slide slow presentation:

I saw a slide of allies ahead of me engaging the enemy...

*click*

A slide of my allies dying...

*click*

A slide of being surrounded by hostile forces...

*click*

A slide of me trying to run away while spamming heals....

*click*

A slide of over a dozen goblins fighting for the Pact rushing in to turn the tide...

At that point graphics improved slightly and I followed the merry band of goblins to the next battle where I lost track of them.

5. Puns (2014) and armchair devs (2014-15) on the forums. This is also kind of an extension of #3 but again calling out more specific things that made good memories.

Puns were briefly a thing...

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/1152684/#Comment_1152684 (from this comment and then several more in that thread)
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/126074/wow-a-new-update-comes-out/p1
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/138026/so-a-new-update-comes-out
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/135400/guar-dian-of-tamriel-achievement

There are a few others I can't find, not all started by yours truly

And yes people still do arm-chair development on the forums but it was different then because (see #2) the game was so clean, a blank slate waiting for new content, themes, mechanics, etc. Speculation was wide open, and there was a small group that would tag each other as we used possible game ideas as a form of creative expression. And even now there are so many great old ideas other people had (and one or two maybe of my own) I would love to see in some form. For a sample of the kind of things and sheer volume of things people proposed and argued about at the time, look at this post. And he stopped posting a long time ago. I have something like that but it is not complete/updated and even if it were it's not nearly as impressive. So yeah, that kind of atmosphere to play around in was really fun.




6. Getting Shadowfen Adventurer. Huh? Yeah, some quests had been removed from earlier versions of the game before launch and we were all scouring the swamp to get enough quest completions for this. It was a thing. Achieved (for the first time) on April 11th, 2014, baby! Though it didn't show up then. Hrrska-Set getting it on May 26th was the first time I actually saw the notification pop on-screen after they dropped the required number of quests to 51.




7. Completing the quest "The Final Assault" with a bunch of other players whose characters were also naked and jumping repeatedly to their deaths. Can't find a video but I know one used to exist showing a room full of people all naked and jumping to their deaths in-game. Just these which show people starting to learn the "unequip everything first" method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRkGivTJUWo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb8xzU9wvww

Sure many people were angry about this quest, and there were many bugs or developer choices or other issues that people were legitimately upset over, but some of them like this one or the brief hyper-tuning of veteran mobs incident make me smile.



8. The early community influencers. There are too many to name, and I won't be able to do them all justice. For reference, I am thinking of when people like Deltia, Eloa Wendy, Sypher PK, etc. were showing off the game, giving advice, etc. on YouTube and Twitch. Please feel free to add the many, many more names I'm leaving out.



9. Fun guild events. Some of the guilds I was/still am in (who are no longer really active) used to explore everything, and another had scavenger hunts and themed screenshot contests. These were a nice change of pace from questing and PvP.



10. The original Natch Potes meme threads for big releases. Which, if anyone cares to continue the tradition (I'm sometimes at work now and miss it), should always start with this meme:



This next one also became traditional, and even though the AOE caps bit is dated, it is still considered an acceptable addition to the above meme:





11. Ten days in Blackwater Blade (February 2015). That's the old name for the Under-50 Cyrodiil campaign. I had made a Breton Sorc as my second character in April of 2014, but by level 7 I was convinced it was a weak, stupid class so it became a storage alt. In December 2014/January 2015 calls went out for people to roll DC because of perpetual low campaign pops. So I dusted off Bentallious Rov, took him to 10, then took him to Cyro where I gathered all non-delve, non-gated skyshards and lorebooks in February. How many skill lines/abilities worked and how stats were balanced was different in BB than current campaigns, and I had several days off after getting the shards and books. So I figured I would practice PvP by leveling totally in Cyrodiil.

My first day of actual PvP someone saw me and invited me to an under-50 PvP guild. I was only trying to have fun, but I happened to be there right as the campaign turned over. I shot to the top of the leader board and then stretched out a huge lead. The guild did try an Emp push but there weren't enough people on to get all the ring keeps. Still, I had tons of fun. It was the only time I have ever been "good" in PvP on a regular basis. Going to a vet campaign was a bad time.

I did, though, have a moment on the same toon in 2016. A couple of people tried to ambush me. My record for 1v1 or 1vX in Cyrodiil or Imperial City is 1-793 (or some other suitably large number). See that one win? That was after the ambush. Not even sure what I did. It was autopilot mixed with supreme frustration. Within a few seconds they were both dust. So, that's my big PvP moment



12. Loremaster (Emeritus) Lawrence Schick sacrifices a mudcrab on ESO Live. Bonus, it features Jason Leavey ("the Hair") when he was still part of the ESO community team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z9QFikr0L4




13. New content release days! Some of the biggest hype/fondest memories leading up to day one of content -- second half of Craglorn, Imperial City, Orsinium, and Morrowind (Vvardenfell). This isn't about which actual content is better or worse or similar comparisons, more of the level of anticipation and enthusiasm I experienced leading up and day one of the release.

This includes getting the package for the physical collector's edition for Morrowind!

https://twitter.com/tinythinker/status/872226617724194816

14. The rise of new community influencers. Again, no way to remotely be fair or cover everyone, with a few names drawn out of hat including Ninja614, Tea the Khajiit, and Fengrush. It's good to see the community continuing to grow and evolve.




15. Bonus track.

Most of us weren't there, but we definitely won't forget this amazing magic trick...

https://twitter.com/thefinninator/status/1096590235037777925

Again, this is just a small sample of a few highlights.

Thanks to ZOS and the ESO community for these memories and those yet to be made!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F24BWfvPXNE

Tasear

1) Dying to murcrab. My bosmer from beta fell off a bridge and encountered a lovely creature that could be someone's meal but he mad me his meal. This is why I have fond memories killing them often later as champion 810+ character. Hell have no fury like a woman's scourn

2) The people I have meet have made me amazed, delighted and even cried. I wouldn't trade our adventures for the world. Special shout-out to daylight. I really hope you are healthy now. Thanks for more then my first true friend in ESO. You were more understanding then I deserved.

3) I remember weekend I made my pug proof Sorc healer build. The sense of pride of making what felt like a legacy.

4) Winning Deadric Dress up - I remember countless hours of fun with my friends to get shots. Also remember 😓 promoting other people in and out game to sumbit shots, then wondering if I had some fault in thousands of submissions that became competition.

5) Only person in game to receive two player titles. Will other was only a week but let the record show.

6) Starting a trial guild with main Nightblade healer and Sorcerer Healer before orbs were a thing. We disbanded but I still see some of original 12 marking on the top of leadboard. I smile knowing where you got your start and happy to see your name shining bright.

7) First time I used ring of Mara. A embarrassing memory of my younger self.

8) Got my only confession by another woman in game. It was unique experience that I respected but rejected.

9) simply joy of jumping off places I shouldn't. I always wondered if bosmers got that passive because of me.

10) Memories in dungeons are too countless but very special to me in the fun and interesting times that brought. Let me tell you this one time was walking into wall in dungeon while on comns. 😂 Our no death, speed run and hard mode run just went great. Trust me 😅

11) finished creating nercomancer lair formerly called haunted house. It took a year of planning, luck and creativity to create.

ArchangelIsraphel

1. Trying the game out on a whim, and having it take me by surprise.
I only recently began playing last fall. Having never played an Elder Scrolls game before (in spite of the fact that watching some friends play Oblivion on a massive wall projector was one of my first introductions to open world gaming) I didn't know anything about it, nor did I have much of an interest in the series. All that changed when my usual MMO made some catastrophic changes that really turned me off of playing. There was a free steam weekend for ESO that week...and I decided what the heck, I'll try it out.

I wasn't expecting to stay. I thought I'd play an hour and uninstall. Then I was confronted with a system where I could actually pick locks and play a thief... it was such an amazing feeling to run into something that was so different in an MMO. I felt as though I was rediscovering the genre. Then I discovered the housing and crafting system...and I never looked back.

2. The Community
Back around Christmas, someone began a gifting thread right here on the forums. When I saw it, my jaded experience with MMOS made me think "yeah right, like anyone is going to gift anyone anything, this will just attract trolls" much to my surprise...the the thread was an overwhelming success that was heartwarming to see. People gifting eachother, thanking eachother, and embracing the spirit of the holiday! It was truly inspiring, as it's something I've never, in all my years playing multiple MMOS, actually seen a community come together to do.

3. Introducing my mom to ESO
We've always loved gaming together. Its a thing we bond over, even though I'm an adult now. She introduced me to gaming back when she bought me my first sega master system as a kid. I was still new to ESO at the time, and we decided to try out FG1 as a duo, as I had never done it before. We got through the dungeon even though we were both still learning the mechanics and our class skills. Then we got to the last boss where my nightblade promptly died.

I sat and watched my mom on her severely under geared warden solo the last boss, absolutely REFUSING to give up, with no prior knowledge of the mechanics, barely having learned how to use her class yet. That might not seem like an accomplishment to some, but to me, it was great watching her use all of her accumulated skill from other games come into play (and hearing her cuss the boss out was also entertaining XD)

She saw. She conquered XD

SantieClaws

Undead fishing, truffle hunting, Fishmas parties, temple gatherings, being rezzed a hundred times in dungeons (thank you Mage), getting the keys to Castle Claws, every time of finding a piece of regulus, every time someone who knows this one from here says hello, pie in the face of the elf queen lady, mudballing the elf queen lady, finally getting the house full of apprentices all trained up, …

Soon we will be home though. Once more to be walking on warm sands.

So travellers the best memories are yet to be made!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

tinythinker

Tasear wrote: »

1) Dying to murcrab. My bosmer from beta fell off a bridge and encountered a lovely creature that could be someone's meal but he mad me his meal. This is why I have fond memories killing them often later as champion 810+ character. Hell have no fury like a woman's scourn

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!

*snap* *snap*




I like healing in MMOs as well, but for ESO I am usually too busy or lazy to farm gear for builds. Maybe when I'm not I will check out your ideas.

tinythinker

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

1. Trying the game out on a whim, and having it take me by surprise.

2. The Community

3. Introducing my mom to ESO

The community still has a significant portion that is always salty and bitter, but lots of really kind people as well. And even many of the former are pretty cool if you catch them with their guard down. Your post reminded me that another MMO had a whole TV show created based on a child and parent playing the same game, and now it's being made into a movie.

Better start thinking of who you want to play you in the adaptation.

tinythinker

SantieClaws wrote: »

Undead fishing, truffle hunting, Fishmas parties, temple gatherings, being rezzed a hundred times in dungeons (thank you Mage), getting the keys to Castle Claws, every time of finding a piece of regulus, every time someone who knows this one from here says hello, pie in the face of the elf queen lady, mudballing the elf queen lady, finally getting the house full of apprentices all trained up, …

Soon we will be home though. Once more to be walking on warm sands.

So travellers the best memories are yet to be made!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Billdor

tinythinker wrote: »

*Note the title - please leave sarcasm and snark at the door as there are tons of other threads for that*

This April marks the fifth anniversary of the ESO launch in 2014, which will feature an extended in-game celebration event as most of you are aware. Please share with the community your best memories of ESO, whether you started in the earliest player testing or only this year.

Yes, it's tempting for some to post about what they don't like about the game, or express cynicism over its history and direction. Those are, broadly speaking, fair things to discuss or opinions to express, but this is a good memories thread. If you want to create your own separate "terrible history of ESO" thread, feel free to do so.

So, what are your best memories of this game?

And thanks for sharing!

Completing Morrowind/Clockwork City for the first time. As someone who is relatively new (Late 2017 I started), I am blown away by the lore surrounding Vivec and Sotha Sil (Seht ftw).

ArchangelIsraphel

tinythinker wrote: »

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

1. Trying the game out on a whim, and having it take me by surprise.

2. The Community

3. Introducing my mom to ESO

The community still has a significant portion that is always salty and bitter, but lots of really kind people as well. And even many of the former are pretty cool if you catch them with their guard down. Your post reminded me that another MMO had a whole TV show created based on a child and parent playing the same game, and now it's being made into a movie.

Better start thinking of who you want to play you in the adaptation.

@tinythinker It's so funny that you mention that show! We got my father into ESO as well, and my dad and all of us ended up watching that show together because I'm very into the series of games it's about (and Japanese TV in general). I didn't know it was gonna be a movie, I'll have to see it with my parents haha

tinythinker

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

1. Trying the game out on a whim, and having it take me by surprise.

2. The Community

3. Introducing my mom to ESO

The community still has a significant portion that is always salty and bitter, but lots of really kind people as well. And even many of the former are pretty cool if you catch them with their guard down. Your post reminded me that another MMO had a whole TV show created based on a child and parent playing the same game, and now it's being made into a movie.

Better start thinking of who you want to play you in the adaptation.

@tinythinker It's so funny that you mention that show! We got my father into ESO as well, and my dad and all of us ended up watching that show together because I'm very into the series of games it's about (and Japanese TV in general). I didn't know it was gonna be a movie, I'll have to see it with my parents haha

It was announced Saturday at the FFXIV Tokyo Fanfest. They brought in lots of Japanese media and introduced the actors playing father and son (the actor playing the father on the show passed away so his good friend is taking over for the movie).

Anyway, who is gonna play you in the ESO equivalent?

VaranisArano

Questing with my SO through the Ebonheart Pact and beyond.

Learning to run dungeons with my friends.

Learning to PVP for the Pact on Haderus, Trueflame, and Vivec with my PVP guild, crowning guildies and winning campaigns.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad.

tinythinker

Billdor wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

*Note the title - please leave sarcasm and snark at the door as there are tons of other threads for that*

This April marks the fifth anniversary of the ESO launch in 2014, which will feature an extended in-game celebration event as most of you are aware. Please share with the community your best memories of ESO, whether you started in the earliest player testing or only this year.

Yes, it's tempting for some to post about what they don't like about the game, or express cynicism over its history and direction. Those are, broadly speaking, fair things to discuss or opinions to express, but this is a good memories thread. If you want to create your own separate "terrible history of ESO" thread, feel free to do so.

So, what are your best memories of this game?

And thanks for sharing!

Completing Morrowind/Clockwork City for the first time. As someone who is relatively new (Late 2017 I started), I am blown away by the lore surrounding Vivec and Sotha Sil (Seht ftw).

Yeah that zone/story is great, especially if you were a fan of TES III: Morrowind where you see how all of that ends up. If you haven't played it, it's free today on Bethesda.net to celebrate 25 years since the first TES game (Arena) was released: https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/tes25

As for ESO, never too late to start. Lots of memories left to be made

rotaugen454

Tons of great memories over the past 5 years and several thousand hours played.
1) Running around in beta with my wife. I was level 17, she was 4. She loved the different outfits but wasn’t a fan of combat. I would lead the way, kill a bunch of enemies, then turn around to notice she wasn’t fighting at all, just looting all the bodies looking for “prettier” armor or disguises.
2) Finishing my first group dungeon (Banished Cells) and the feeling of accomplishment.
3) My first run through all the questlines. I’ve done them all multiple times since, but that first time through was really something.
4) Getting more serious about Cyrodiil and collecting sets just for use there.
5) My first finished trial. It made me want to do them all.
6) Getting Master Angler
7j Finally finishing VMsA and wanting to keep running it.

So many memories...

tinythinker

rotaugen454 wrote: »

Tons of great memories over the past 5 years and several thousand hours played.
1) Running around in beta with my wife. I was level 17, she was 4. She loved the different outfits but wasn’t a fan of combat. I would lead the way, kill a bunch of enemies, then turn around to notice she wasn’t fighting at all, just looting all the bodies looking for “prettier” armor or disguises.
2) Finishing my first group dungeon (Banished Cells) and the feeling of accomplishment.
3) My first run through all the questlines. I’ve done them all multiple times since, but that first time through was really something.
4) Getting more serious about Cyrodiil and collecting sets just for use there.
5) My first finished trial. It made me want to do them all.
6) Getting Master Angler
7j Finally finishing VMsA and wanting to keep running it.

So many memories...

Nice. I still haven't bothered to finish Master Angler. Still have Malabal Tor and Reaper's March to do.

Billdor

tinythinker wrote: »

Billdor wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

*Note the title - please leave sarcasm and snark at the door as there are tons of other threads for that*

This April marks the fifth anniversary of the ESO launch in 2014, which will feature an extended in-game celebration event as most of you are aware. Please share with the community your best memories of ESO, whether you started in the earliest player testing or only this year.

Yes, it's tempting for some to post about what they don't like about the game, or express cynicism over its history and direction. Those are, broadly speaking, fair things to discuss or opinions to express, but this is a good memories thread. If you want to create your own separate "terrible history of ESO" thread, feel free to do so.

So, what are your best memories of this game?

And thanks for sharing!

Completing Morrowind/Clockwork City for the first time. As someone who is relatively new (Late 2017 I started), I am blown away by the lore surrounding Vivec and Sotha Sil (Seht ftw).

Yeah that zone/story is great, especially if you were a fan of TES III: Morrowind where you see how all of that ends up. If you haven't played it, it's free today on Bethesda.net to celebrate 25 years since the first TES game (Arena) was released: https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/tes25

As for ESO, never too late to start. Lots of memories left to be made

Thank you very much my good sir!

rotaugen454

tinythinker wrote: »

rotaugen454 wrote: »

Tons of great memories over the past 5 years and several thousand hours played.
1) Running around in beta with my wife. I was level 17, she was 4. She loved the different outfits but wasn’t a fan of combat. I would lead the way, kill a bunch of enemies, then turn around to notice she wasn’t fighting at all, just looting all the bodies looking for “prettier” armor or disguises.
2) Finishing my first group dungeon (Banished Cells) and the feeling of accomplishment.
3) My first run through all the questlines. I’ve done them all multiple times since, but that first time through was really something.
4) Getting more serious about Cyrodiil and collecting sets just for use there.
5) My first finished trial. It made me want to do them all.
6) Getting Master Angler
7j Finally finishing VMsA and wanting to keep running it.

So many memories...

Nice. I still haven't bothered to finish Master Angler. Still have Malabal Tor and Reaper's March to do.

I kept the last needed fish I caught, even though it takes up an inventory slot. It was alway fun fishing in areas with fights going on around me. Cyrodiil was scary, but only got jumped once.

tinythinker

rotaugen454 wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

rotaugen454 wrote: »

Tons of great memories over the past 5 years and several thousand hours played.
1) Running around in beta with my wife. I was level 17, she was 4. She loved the different outfits but wasn’t a fan of combat. I would lead the way, kill a bunch of enemies, then turn around to notice she wasn’t fighting at all, just looting all the bodies looking for “prettier” armor or disguises.
2) Finishing my first group dungeon (Banished Cells) and the feeling of accomplishment.
3) My first run through all the questlines. I’ve done them all multiple times since, but that first time through was really something.
4) Getting more serious about Cyrodiil and collecting sets just for use there.
5) My first finished trial. It made me want to do them all.
6) Getting Master Angler
7j Finally finishing VMsA and wanting to keep running it.

So many memories...

Nice. I still haven't bothered to finish Master Angler. Still have Malabal Tor and Reaper's March to do.

I kept the last needed fish I caught, even though it takes up an inventory slot. It was alway fun fishing in areas with fights going on around me. Cyrodiil was scary, but only got jumped once.

I kept the last one in Cyro even though it wasn't the last overall. But honestly I've done Cyro in a few characters and practically never got attacked.

tinythinker

VaranisArano wrote: »

Questing with my SO through the Ebonheart Pact and beyond.

Learning to run dungeons with my friends.

Learning to PVP for the Pact on Haderus, Trueflame, and Vivec with my PVP guild, crowning guildies and winning campaigns.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad.

Were you in Wabbajack as well? Nevermind I checked your forum account date

Yeah I used to like Cyro a lot because I enjoy siege warfare, both attacking and defending. It can still be fun, just haven't been there much the last couple of years. And it makes me wonder how they might change IC if it's going to be a separate queue...

kind_hero

These are some of my memories (I have many many screenshots)

This is my 1st screenshot, 1st of March 2014 (I had a slow computer back then)


This is before the change in some of the Redguard fashion (the place is Valley of the Blades, during the main quest)
I think these looked better, and I remember a shirt without flaps, similar to the Bosmer one.


And finally when my main char got her soul back!

VaranisArano

tinythinker wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Questing with my SO through the Ebonheart Pact and beyond.

Learning to run dungeons with my friends.

Learning to PVP for the Pact on Haderus, Trueflame, and Vivec with my PVP guild, crowning guildies and winning campaigns.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad.

Were you in Wabbajack as well? Nevermind I checked your forum account date

Yeah I used to like Cyro a lot because I enjoy siege warfare, both attacking and defending. It can still be fun, just haven't been there much the last couple of years. And it makes me wonder how they might change IC if it's going to be a separate queue...

Heh, no, I wasn't in Wabbajack (though I was playing long before I got my forum account - originally to report a still-existing bug, LOL). I used to be a PVE-only player, though, before I really wanted those Master Angler fish, grit my teeth, and ventured into Cyrodiil. I kept trying PVP and was fortunate enough to find an organized group who was willing to pick me up while I was struggling to survive as a PUG healer. That guild became a great group of friends and I've had a lot of good times with those folks.

I'm also really interested to see what happens with IC. I really liked the quest there and I had fun the few times my PVP guild went down there, but I've never really been wowed by solo Tel Var farming or ganking.

tinythinker

VaranisArano wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Questing with my SO through the Ebonheart Pact and beyond.

Learning to run dungeons with my friends.

Learning to PVP for the Pact on Haderus, Trueflame, and Vivec with my PVP guild, crowning guildies and winning campaigns.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad.

Were you in Wabbajack as well? Nevermind I checked your forum account date

Yeah I used to like Cyro a lot because I enjoy siege warfare, both attacking and defending. It can still be fun, just haven't been there much the last couple of years. And it makes me wonder how they might change IC if it's going to be a separate queue...

Heh, no, I wasn't in Wabbajack (though I was playing long before I got my forum account - originally to report a still-existing bug, LOL). I used to be a PVE-only player, though, before I really wanted those Master Angler fish, grit my teeth, and ventured into Cyrodiil. I kept trying PVP and was fortunate enough to find an organized group who was willing to pick me up while I was struggling to survive as a PUG healer. That guild became a great group of friends and I've had a lot of good times with those folks.

I'm also really interested to see what happens with IC. I really liked the quest there and I had fun the few times my PVP guild went down there, but I've never really been wowed by solo Tel Var farming or ganking.

I stayed an itinerant pug healer on my Templar (though I used to have fun as a dps a little on my DK) but my favorite thing is running a Nami-wagon (meatbag catapult).

tinythinker

Oh I forgot about this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy_xaxpECvw

r34lian

1.Tries swimming from bleak rock to Eastmarch
2.Joins a guild just to get a port to Eastmarch after coming from skyrim.
3.Tries swimming in niben river just to get hammed by slaughter fish.
5.Getting disappointed by daedric motif.:/
4.Joins veteran dungeons with cp below 160 and Light attack with sai sahan sword Cuz sword looked Kool

Loves_guars

1) Beta: Being blown away by the graphics and world. Davon's watch seeing all the mushrooms and netches like in TES III and Ash Mountain.

2) Launch day, waking up, hurrying with the coffee, preparing everything, logging and talking to Cadwell.

3) Cyrodiil vampires at launch. IDK if you remember but it was so epic. They were able to kill hundreds with his ultimate so we had to attack them from range with silver bolts and fire. Every time one appeared there were screams in chat. This got me excited about a Vampire Hunter build.

4) Morrowind launch and arriving to Seyda Neen and then Vivec and Balmora. Gnisis quest. No words, definitely my favorite days.

5) Meeting Sotha Sil.

6) Dungeons and leveling with friends.

VDoom1

Oh man so many memories. One of my best memories was discovering ESO. I heard about something like Skyrim Online, I was like "what?? o.O" so looked it up. What I found was waaaaaay better, Elder Scrolls Online! In July 2014 I entered ESO for the first time, so the adventure and fun times began. (I'm really glad I save screenshots of fun + unique times just for posterity and memories.)

1. A lot of fun in Cyrodiil. Sometimes it's just been epic, especially when we go in, charge and win. I love scroll runs, riding from one side of Cyrodiil to the other while being chased and attacked. xD Adds some thrill and excitement.

2. Guild events also a ton of fun, I was hyped doing my first trial (Hel Ra Citadel) so much fun! That trophy always gets a special spot in any house because it was my first trial.

3. Veteran dungeons. I dreaded doing them for ages, felt like such a difficult task. My first one I went in and we came out victorious. It's a lot more fun if you got a good + nice group.

4. Seeing ESO evolve over the years has to be the best, and most nostalgic memory. I remember when Bangkorai was a lvl 30-40 area, and someone told me "you might wanna level elsewhere before questing here." That is also how I got into my guild.

5. Doing the latest dungeons like a bit of a race "I wanna be among the first to finish this dungeon!". Experience it before any nerfs or reviews. Just do the dungeon knowing no one else has a clue how to beat it. That's always fun and adds some more adventure into the experience.

Bonus: Just a lot of great characters! Getting to interact with them all. Cadwells odd humor, Sotha Sils more strange but still interesting nature. Naryus general badass attitude. Lyris punching Tharn, I laughed. xD I will until the end of time no matter how many times I play through the MQ. All the locations and the world itself, from Morrowind to Summerset it's just so beautiful! ^^

All in all it's been 5 good years. I haven't been here 100% all the time since July 2014, but mostly. I always come back to ESO, it's irresistible and unavoidable. Let's make it another 5 years!







(Pets can be funny. xD Puppy wants to play with Meridias light.)

Aznarb

I played since around 5 month, mostly solo, so I don't have that many memories like you ^^

I was happy to trying to solo some World Boss (and getting rekt) and then even more happy later when I kick his a** !
I'd lot of fun discovering dungeon with PUG even if sometime it was quit a mess.
I encounter in PUG some nice people who'r now in my friendlist and some who take time to teach to the noob I'm (Yeah I'm still inb some dg) many dg mechanic.

I recently as lot of fun sneaking in all enemy position in Cyrodiil doing quest + book/shard, got all, get killed only one time ! And by.. My self.. You know.. Yolo horse.. jump.. oh [snip] that high.. kind of thing..


I've test lot of char to finaly fall in love for my templar healer, I'm still with him, clearing all quest, shard, dg, etc.. on world map. I start to see the end !

And here you can find some Screen I take (I should have take more to be honest) from my adventure :
https://imgur.com/a/ln83Iy8

[edited to remove quote]

Alowishus

Early Access here and still playing!
1. "Is Balreth bugged? Is there a workaround?"

2. How are all these toons teleporting to the nodes???
Wow a GM!
*POOF* (teleporting bot toon gone)

3. WTS Daedric Motif 60k

4. Daen Seeth Dolmen is up!
Need help at Daen Seeth Dolmen

Plus so many more memories!

shadyjane62

Experiencing the utter joy of the Infinite Craft Bag and the release of crafting daily bondage and inventory control.

RavenSworn

Here since beta, had a few months off here and there due to burnout. I have to say one of the best moments I've had was to play a Stam nb when the game first launched.

There was so much... Trouble when you had to fight more than 3 mobs. Hell, come to delves, the bosses were hard, and these were delves! But the fact that I could manage to solo, during a time when there weren't self heals except for Killers blade or reapers mark was an awesome achievement for myself. I remember needing to cloak to stop casting casters, had to buff up while dodge rolling and all the while wielding the two hander. Dual wield wasn't quite as good as it is right now.

I remember perching on top of a cliff, overlooking the rest of the land, be it in bleak rock, auridon or Al akir and be at awe of how the game looked. The screenshots I took were to me, one fo the best in terms of gaming shots.

Of course, I ambushed and surprised attacked my way in dungeons, getting weird tells noting how... Inefficient my gameplay is. But I was always the last one standing, ressing everyone else. (it is inefficient, I just didn't know it yet haha). But I got friends, got a guild up, got some more new players to help out.

That's the best memories I've had. I love going on runs with new peeps and showing them the ropes. Sometimes, people forget basic stuff and just go for advanced courses without even knowing why they do it.

tinythinker

Soul19reaper wrote: »

1.Tries swimming from bleak rock to Eastmarch
2.Joins a guild just to get a port to Eastmarch after coming from skyrim.
3.Tries swimming in niben river just to get hammed by slaughter fish.
5.Getting disappointed by daedric motif.:/
4.Joins veteran dungeons with cp below 160 and Light attack with sai sahan sword Cuz sword looked Kool

You are defeated.
Your equipped items have lost durability.