How would you rate the Elsweyr chapter overall?

Cadbury

Above average

Liked the main story. It was good to see Cadwell and Abnur again. The Skooma Cat quest alone is almost worth the price of admission. The visuals were also some of the most vibrant I've seen.

Cons? Dragons and the WBs are a bit too easy. Necro is buggy but fun. And the area is on the small side.

All in all, a solid 7/10

Stonegrave

Above average

Some thoughts and nitpicks:

PROS

The zone looks great. I've found myself stopping to appreciate the view more in this zone than the rest of the game combined.

ZOS could have phoned in the cultural representation of the Khajiit, and they didn't. Its not perfect insofar as there's still plenty that was left out or underdeveloped, but we got exposed to several different furstocks and unique aspects of Khajiiti philosophy and history. The lore buffs I'm sure are losing their minds over something, but thumbs up from me for the effort.

Some pretty darn fun side quests. Many side quests in MMOs tend to be throwaways, but here Mizzik, Skooma Cat, and the Ashen Scar quests are all pretty satisfying IMO.

I also liked that characters that you helped in the side quests showed up at the coronation. It's a simple thing that feels like a big reward. It also reminded me of one of my all-time favorite games, Quest for Glory 2 (which incidentally features the Katta people in their desert homeland).

The Sugar Bowl Suite. I know everyone is all into the free temple house with the unlockable wings, but the convenience of the apartment is awesome. One loading screen to a nearby wayshrine and a bank right down the street. It's like ZOS listened to the complaints about the other free apartments and wanted to show they could get it right.

I love necromancers in general, so I'm glad to see them added as a playable class (see also CONS).

Furnishings! Lots of new things that players have been asking for, both large and small.

Sereyne the alfiq is one of the more memorable NPCs in the entire game.


MIXED/INDIFFERENT

At times I liked Khamira. At times I felt like the writers were super lazy, pulling reveals out of her hat to conveniently advance the story.

Except for the ones by Rimmen, Riverhold, and the Stiches, the wayshrines somehow seem not all that convenient for getting me to the places in Elsweyr that I want to go.

CONS

Missing half of Elsweyr. I know people are anticipating we'll see more of it, but we haven't actually been promised it yet, and it's not currently in the game as it stands, so I can't evaluate what's not there. To me it feels smaller in size than Vvardenfell and in content to both Vvardenfell and Summerset. Even moreso when evaluated against comparably priced content additions to other games.

I'm apparently one of the few people who didn't like the use of Cadwell. It very much felt like they were desperate to shoehorn in a popular character. I also think the reveal of the Betrayer's identity would have been way more effective towards the end of the tale. IMO Cadwell will always work better as somebody who just kinda conveniently and unexpectedly shows up to bail you out, rather than as somebody who takes the journey with you.

Something about the way Raz was used really bothered me. The idea that his homeland would be ransacked by dragons and necromancers and Raz would be chilling on vacation rather than aiding you with whatever Dominion allies he could muster is just not believable writing in any way.

Calo. I felt no connection with him at all and resented that he kept inserting himself into my story. I think his voice acting unfortunately came across as somebody reading a script, rather than truly reacting to the events and characters in the world.

The theme aside, ESO's necromancer is not a particularly interesting take on the archetype. A lot of the abilities really amount to reskins of other classes' abilities. Compared to other popular MMOs, class design has been one of ESO's weaker areas, and Necromancer doesn't really improve it.

The dragons, which at first appeared like they were going to be a different take on overworld group content, turned out to be mostly just glorified dolmens/geysers once you figured out where the landing spots are.

The very large number of un-enterable buildings gives the impression ZOS was either lazy or ran out of money.

fastolfv_ESO

Poor

its smaller than a dlc, was incredibly boring, and the class that came with it made no sense to elder scrolls and just plain performed badly in pvp. It shouldnt have been sold as an expansion

Carl-lan

Excellent

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Disappointed with the number of unaccessible doors in the Zone.

Waiting on some skill fixes including Blastbones.

But, it’s a pretty incredible Zone ...

Basically this. Would love more towns unlocked so you can steal things. But visually it’s insane.

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Other: haven't done anything there yet except run a couple new toons through the tut, and pick up some surveys on my main. I'm in no hurry. WAY too many people....

Don’t leave it too late!! You’ll miss the dragon fights!

Deathlord92

Love it including the music great work zos 👍

Noggin_the_Nog

Poor

VERY POOR

Since Elsweyr release ESO has been unplayable. I have multiple crashes per hour, sometimes with a system lock on PC requiring a hard re-boot or more normally a crash to bug-report.

I've raised a Support Ticket, and followed all the advice given, but it is an Elsweyr problem.

Wish they had never released Elsweyr - my game is unplayable.

Akrasjel

Average

It always can be better

RebornV3x

Above average

I would give this chapter an excellent but the overland bosses, delve bosses, and the Orcrest public dungeon is way to easy the Dragons the culture, those thicc Kajihits and trial put this chapter above average.

MyKillv2.0

Above average

I did not play Summerset. I have only played Orcland and Morrowind and so, I will only compare the three.

Zone Lay Out: Above Average. I love the size of the zone! Massive improvement from Morrowind as far as getting around! However I find the different levels of the zone frustrating at times. A few of the dragon fights, I cannot use the shrine nearest but rather I have to use one farther away. Odd designed and one that I do not enjoy, I would have thought that the dragon points should have been more of a consideration when placing the shrines. Oh well, I will get into those later and explain why this may not be a large issue moving forward. Outside of this, I loved the zone and love Rimmen as the main hub for the next calendar year. Thumbs Up!

Content: Above Average. As crazy as it sounds, I felt Morrowind had too much content as far as side quest are considered. Maybe the correct term I should have used was that the side content took too long to complete. For example in Morrowind, I remember doing the quest with the female lizard that rises through the social ranks and remember wishing at every turn in that the quest would just end. Not exactly an "enjoyable" time that I am sure they were aimming for, ha ha. On the opposite, Kittyland is nicely set up in which most of the side quests do not take an entire play session to complete (except for one). The Main quest is nice, again better than Morrowind but not as good as Orcland in my opinion.

Necro Class: Average. My opinion will be different than most but I was hoping that the Necro could replace my main. I enjoy the DK/Warden because of their playstyle that enables me to Tank/DPS with one character. For my personal tank playstyle, the Necro Tank does not work as effectively as the DK or Warden. Again, this is my playstyle and for others, the playstyle may work better. For me? I wasn't as sold. All the other aspects of the class, I love. The Tank is a fun, in your face tank. The Healers are incredibly fun. DPS is a nice change of pace except I play as a Warden half the time. So the playstyle is not as different as it is to someone who mains one of the four OG classes. However fun to play, I will play the character again from time to time but more than likely, not keep them as a main. In fact, I have already went back to my Warden.

Dragon Fights: Below Average. I thought that this would be a MAJOR enjoyment but in the end, I found them to be slightly more advanced WB conflicts. I wonder what will happen six months from now when KittyLand is barely populated. Killing one of these things will be a pain. Maybe they will lower the difficulty down the road to be more in line with Dolmens so that an above average causal play can solo one and enjoy the experience.

Bonus Content: Excellent. I love the Quest House. I believe that this should be a "thing" moving forward. You already get a mount with the Chapter Purchase, if you Pre Oder then you get two free mounts. Giving away a free house every chapter is another nice touch and the fun fact that it opens up slowly throughout the year is something that is really neat. I hope they keep this up moving forward next year.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Chapter. They did a lot of things that I hope they keep moving forward and I quite enjoyed the experience. I still feel as though that I enjoy Orcland more than Kittyland but I enjoyed Kittyland FAR more than Morrowind. In fact, Kittyland and Orcland are pretty close, seperated by only a few things. I will have to try Summerset now and see how it measures up

Blinkin8r

Below average

Below average because compared to the other DLC's it doesn't bring much to the table compared to previous chapters. Once the zone is completed we're not left with much but a mediocre new class (I'm sure it'll get fixed/buffed down the road). As it is, Elsweyr zone is so laggy and unplayable it's more of a chore to work through in its current state.

BomblePants

Excellent

Love it! It’s like I feel chapter has bought something to eso none of the other chapters have....

SleepyTroll

Average

Zone was cool. I wish ZOS would take the effort though to buff world bosses HP when a zone first launches so that the fights feel more like a world boss fight should feel. Then tune them down as less players are going into the zones to fight them.

The necromancer is meh. Skills are clunkly some are broken. I'm not really liking the way they design the new classes, I understood the warden being a mix of dps, tank, heals but I wasn't expecting the necromancer to be like that. Also the fact that stamina is once again the better option is irritating.

KMarble

Above average

Stonegrave wrote: »

I'm apparently one of the few people who didn't like the use of Cadwell. It very much felt like they were desperate to shoehorn in a popular character. I also think the reveal of the Betrayer's identity would have been way more effective towards the end of the tale. IMO Cadwell will always work better as somebody who just kinda conveniently and unexpectedly shows up to bail you out, rather than as somebody who takes the journey with you.

Something about the way Raz was used really bothered me. The idea that his homeland would be ransacked by dragons and necromancers and Raz would be chilling on vacation rather than aiding you with whatever Dominion allies he could muster is just not believable writing in any way.

Calo. I felt no connection with him at all and resented that he kept inserting himself into my story. I think his voice acting unfortunately came across as somebody reading a script, rather than truly reacting to the events and characters in the world.

I'm always happy whenever I get to interact with Cadwell, but his story in Elsweyr made no sense and, like you said, felt like they shoehorned him in there because of popularity.

Raz...It feels like he has some personality disorder or something. Mind you, this is something that can be observed in SS too. In the base game he's a little too friendly and prone to TMI moments, yet shows a profound sense of duty and loyalty in the end of the AD quest.
Throughout SS I felt like he was using me so he didn't have to do any work, and IMO, he was completely unnecessary in Elsweyr.
TL;DR: the more my char interacts with Raz, the less I like him.

As for Calo, I didn't trust him. I kept expecting that he would backstab the heros and was disappointed when it didn't happen.


I love the visuals of Elsweyr. The landscape is gorgeous and reminds me of home (the real life place I call home). I really liked fighting dragons, but as someone who enjoys stealing more than anything else, I'm a bit disappointed by the small number of opportunities to do so in this zone. I also thought the stories weren't long enough.

Overall, I like Elsweyr better than I did SS, But Orsinium IMO still has the best story.

TaliColdwater

Excellent

I haven't played through the main questline yet, but I'm having fun so far. And the area is gorgeous!

Kotusha

Above average

I liked it, but the story line felt a bit too short

NocturnalSonata

Above average

I would have gone excellent, but i am led to believe that there is more coming for the zone, one of which i hope is more lootable stuff, which is my only real gripe.

Otherwise - zone is awesome, dragons are cool, and the main quest was interesting.

As for Necromancers... meh, Stamcro is ok mag variant is very very meh.

Shadow_Akula

Above average

Above average for me

Good:
- Dragon’s (though they hurt quite a bit... my first one killed me with a 16k tail whip before I even joined the fight properly oh well that’s part of the challenge though and I like it )
- Nice storyline (though the betrayer’s identity I caught onto at the very start before it was revealed)
- More cat species (though I have to ask the big khajiit what is it’s species name? Khajiit like the normal sized? P.s. no I don’t mean the senche-raht I mean the bipedal really tall khajiit)
- Landscape seems cool (not great but nice change of scenery)
- cool outfit stuff rewarded for some quests
- Free house for quests
- Shiny door achievement furnishing for completing trial
- Nice new furnishing recipes (I like the new wooden wall one)
- Necromancer (mine is called Shadow Tharn, keeping in tradition of how I name characters - always Shadow followed by the name, except my khajiit where the name and shadow prefix are swapped around...)


Bad:
- while the landscape seems cool and a nice change like 70% of it is a canyon or cliff edge even beyond the stitches. Finding ways up and down in the area near the stitches can be tricky and annoying.
- Zalsheem bugged (can ZoS pull off one dlc without a bug? Yea I know I’m hoping for too much but still) (also completed zalsheem after doing the relogging and fighting again advice people are giving out)
- Jakarn quest takes the p**s with how long it is and involving 2 delves for meh rewards.
- Only 1 shiny door furnishing so far

All of this to me adds up to a 7/10 rating from me, above average but not fantastic...

Salganis

Excellent

9/10 out of ten
why?
because

zmarak + i liked the queen too
I use to hate abnur tharn but you end like loving it at the end is almost at same level (in complexity of the character) as divayth fyr for me
razmundar quest is so good "the famili so cool"
the drunk cat hahaah

the world of elsweyr is so great how could they achive a place at samen level as vvardenfell i don't know
the stiches epic!! the sand storms epic!

the main quest is excellent and i did not find lore problems the only thing i did not like was to damage a dragon with a trebuchet

what I did not like was how easy it is to kill the npc and how easy some quest to defeat enemies

Karmanorway

Average

I love the Music, the landscape, the cities and the whole chapter in itself! Too bad it broke the rest of the game tho...

Solariken

Average

The zone is lovely, dragon fights are kinda cool.

Necromancer is alright but a little gimmicky and not great at any particular thing.

I'm super bummed that there are no new skills or systems for my mains to enjoy. The best and only thing we got were new alchemy reagents.

tonemd

Above average

Great Zone.
Main Story was OK. ( I rank it below Murkmire though)
The main characters that you meet are OK but the lesser characters, ambiance and quests really make up for it.
Gameplay changes: still working that out but I'm loving Necromancer

PoseidonEvil

Above average

I like it. I also like some of the things they brought with it too. the flying dragon icons on the map was a great idea imo.

MellowMagic

Above average

KMarble wrote: »

Stonegrave wrote: »

I'm apparently one of the few people who didn't like the use of Cadwell. It very much felt like they were desperate to shoehorn in a popular character. I also think the reveal of the Betrayer's identity would have been way more effective towards the end of the tale. IMO Cadwell will always work better as somebody who just kinda conveniently and unexpectedly shows up to bail you out, rather than as somebody who takes the journey with you.

Something about the way Raz was used really bothered me. The idea that his homeland would be ransacked by dragons and necromancers and Raz would be chilling on vacation rather than aiding you with whatever Dominion allies he could muster is just not believable writing in any way.

Calo. I felt no connection with him at all and resented that he kept inserting himself into my story. I think his voice acting unfortunately came across as somebody reading a script, rather than truly reacting to the events and characters in the world.

I'm always happy whenever I get to interact with Cadwell, but his story in Elsweyr made no sense and, like you said, felt like they shoehorned him in there because of popularity.

Raz...It feels like he has some personality disorder or something. Mind you, this is something that can be observed in SS too. In the base game he's a little too friendly and prone to TMI moments, yet shows a profound sense of duty and loyalty in the end of the AD quest.
Throughout SS I felt like he was using me so he didn't have to do any work, and IMO, he was completely unnecessary in Elsweyr.
TL;DR: the more my char interacts with Raz, the less I like him.

As for Calo, I didn't trust him. I kept expecting that he would backstab the heros and was disappointed when it didn't happen.


I love the visuals of Elsweyr. The landscape is gorgeous and reminds me of home (the real life place I call home). I really liked fighting dragons, but as someone who enjoys stealing more than anything else, I'm a bit disappointed by the small number of opportunities to do so in this zone. I also thought the stories weren't long enough.

Overall, I like Elsweyr better than I did SS, But Orsinium IMO still has the best story.

I liked Calo, i pretty much only play as an imperial and it's nice to see good imperials. Especially since we get to be the villian 90 percent of the time in this game .

Myrm

Excellent

TaliColdwater wrote: »

I haven't played through the main questline yet, but I'm having fun so far. And the area is gorgeous!

Yes, I am pretty much the same. I spent the first day just slowly looking about and admiring the scenery and environment. I have now started the main storyline, but I am doing it ever so slowly. I like seeing the other players and admiring their characters. For me this is an awesome game that I can lose myself in whilst I have some spare time. I have experienced none of the “issues” that many others lay claim to. Perhaps I am lucky. Or perhaps I am too dumb to notice that I can’t play this “broken” game.

dcam86b14_ESO

Above average

Rimmen is practically desolate compared to other major cities it's just as baron as balmora was. Does not feel lived in, it's just sort of there and every door is locked.

The ruins on the map feel old but are still too polished, I would've liked to see more fires throughout the lands since you know dragons and all that.

The palace does not feel like a palace, just an oversized mansion again very desolate and is locked after completing the story quests, which I think should be opened after you complete it since it's quite nice.

The main story is BORING and does not work for me. They should have kept it to one focused story instead of this 3-way thing. It's worse than the summerset one, which I am still upset about (looking at you nocturnal)

Voice acting is superb and the familiar faces make me look past the flaws a bit.

The new furniture is amazingly beautiful but the textures still need work.
Necro is broken....next

Dragon fights are pretty sweet but the loot needs more tweaking.

After completing 99% of this zone and achievements outside of SS I give it a 8/10

sedi

Above average

Would have been Excellent but all the locked doors really started to annoy me. I hate locked doors because either you can lock pick or you can’t! I understand locking off small compounds or zones with a door but every small home/building should be explorable.

Solid_Metal

Average

eh, its ok for me, zone and story wise, i think Summserset much better, with it political and racism tone, Elsweyr just your generic game of throne kind of story

Kram8ion

Average

It’s just ok but during off peak it’s dead
All of the other new zones introduced over the years were very busy off peak but Elsweyr was Empty

Tavore1138

Below average

It feels like we have two distinct teams working on Chapters...

First you have the team that did Summerset - loads of quests (like truly loads) including main quests that felt 'main' , great scenery with very little in the way of artificial blocks to make it feel bigger, some great new mechanics. At the end of playing you just felt like you'd had your money's worth and more.


And then team two who I would guess did Morrowind and this.... not awful, some great scenery but too few quests many of which felt like just running back and forth round the same artificial obstacles that are only there to make the zone seem bigger than it is. A main quest which should have felt epic but somehow did not. A lack lustre character class - by which I don't mean it doesn't have some good skills but they don't feel like fun to play and you tend to be stuck using the same ones for everything, the Warden was very like this at launch too. Perhaps I expected too much after Summerset but I am left feeling a little disappointed and like they didn't really put the full effort into this before releasing it.

So overall I don't hate it but I hope my 2 teams theory is correct so that next year's chapter is more like Summerset

Coatmagic

Above average

Nice story; fun characters (especially seeing all the old crowd again) but yeah wth is up with all the chained doors??
We have lock picks and passives to break locks so that we can go into locked houses -_-