ESO on PC. Newcomer question

Khrogo

I recently ordered a new MacBook and wanted to try out ESO. I’ll be running Windows 10 to play it. I’ve been playing on Xbox on and off since launch, but I’m unclear about the best way to play it on PC. Do I get it on Steam, buy a code, or get it from the Zenimax online store while it is on sale? I’ve not really gamed on a PC before and I heard that ESO had some problems on Steam. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Katahdin

I would avoid steam if I were you

Khrogo

Katahdin wrote: »

I would avoid steam if I were you

OK. I’ll do that. Thanks for the advice!

Reverb

I add a vote for not going through Steam. You can buy directly from the Zeni website, or from any 3rd party retailer. Green Man Gaming often has great deals, and Amazon has had some steep discounts over the years. There is no advantage to buying a physical copy over an e-license. The only thing you will do with a new disc is enter the key code in it, you’ll still have to download the entire game from the launcher.

You can same user name and password you use on console if you want. If you do, the Zeni website will display all of your purchases on both platforms when you log in.

There are some challenges with playing on a Mac book, so check out the pc/Mac support section of the forums if you run into issues.

Welcome to PC, enjoy your addons

Cirantille

Steam tailors prices according to your country, so if you are not paying in euros or pounds I would suggest steam:)

Or your country's exchange rate is good

laksikus

Dont use steam

Lady_Linux

Use steam. it protects your purchase. if you ever loose your account for any reason, you still have it on steam and you can always start over from scratch.

Nestor

The issue with Steam is, about every other major update breaks logins. And, it can take days to get the issue resolved.

Steam itself adds nothing to the game. And, as far as you being protected, as long as you remember your username, password and have access to the email you used to set it all up.

Lady_Linux

Nestor wrote: »

The issue with Steam is, about every other major update breaks logins. And, it can take days to get the issue resolved.

Steam itself adds nothing to the game. And, as far as you being protected, as long as you remember your username, password and have access to the email you used to set it all up.

just not true on the login breakage. hasnt been any for over more than a year now. in the two years i have been playing there's been one time there was an issue and none since.

NerevarineLoL

Nestor wrote: »

The issue with Steam is, about every other major update breaks logins. And, it can take days to get the issue resolved.

Steam itself adds nothing to the game. And, as far as you being protected, as long as you remember your username, password and have access to the email you used to set it all up.

Don't forget the occasional "steam randomly uninstalled ESO for me" that people post every now and then.

By using ESO through steam, players are forced to deal with both ZOS AND steam - either one acting up can prevent you from playing. More issues for absolutely no advantage (yes, steam has discounts, but so does every other 3rd party retailer, so you aren't missing out on any "special deals").

Cirantille

Lady_Linux wrote: »

Nestor wrote: »

The issue with Steam is, about every other major update breaks logins. And, it can take days to get the issue resolved.

Steam itself adds nothing to the game. And, as far as you being protected, as long as you remember your username, password and have access to the email you used to set it all up.

just not true on the login breakage. hasnt been any for over more than a year now. in the two years i have been playing there's been one time there was an issue and none since.

Been playing for 6 months no issue related to steam as well

Royaji

Steam login issues haven't been around for a little while. But as all things in ESO they can return one day when somethig completely unreleated is changed. Unless you are getting an extra good deal through Steam I'd think twice about using it for ESO.

Going through Zenimax directly would be my choice if I haven't had an "old" Steam account which has an actual ZOS account connected but separate from it.

Heatnix90

The only thing Steam adds is a time tracker so you can look back one day and see just how much of your life you've wasted on this dumpster fire of a game.

Sylvermynx

There's just no reason to use another layer of login crap. I started with steam (because a friend said it was the best way - that was before he had to do exactly what I did: buy from ZOS on sale so we didn't have to mess with steam at all).

For the first almost two weeks I tried to log in through steam, I had ZERO luck. I never once was able to log in even after port forwarding EVERY suggested port. I had some truly great help from ZOS support, and eventually I bought the game again (on sale) through ZOS so I could use eso64.exe to launch the game.

I've had zero problems since, unless we're in the middle of a snowstorm. THAT, even ZOS can't fix.

Do NOT use steam. No one needs another layer of login crap.

Khrogo

It seems fairly unanimous. Thanks for all the advice and suggestions everyone! I’m gonna avoid Steam. Got a nice deal on the Elsweyr Collector’s Edition so I’m good to go. Thanks again

Anotherone773

Lady_Linux wrote: »

Nestor wrote: »

The issue with Steam is, about every other major update breaks logins. And, it can take days to get the issue resolved.

Steam itself adds nothing to the game. And, as far as you being protected, as long as you remember your username, password and have access to the email you used to set it all up.

just not true on the login breakage. hasnt been any for over more than a year now. in the two years i have been playing there's been one time there was an issue and none since.

I also play on steam and cant remember the last time i had a login issue. I use steam for all my games because of the extra protection and all my games are available to me wherever i go even if i dont have my own PC. Steam is great for managing and updating all games and honestly ESO is the only game ive ever had problems with on steam in over 10 years and 60-70 games including a few MMOs. But ESO is also the one that i have to launch the ESO launcher and then update from ZOSes launcher as opposed to directly through Steam.

Really its going to have to be a personal decision based on preference.

huntgod_ESO

There is not good reason to use STEAM, aside from wanting it as part of the library.

I have it through both, bought originally direct during Beta and then repurchased through STEAM to take advantage of one of the bundles they offered...now I can login with STEAM or directly from the executable when STEAM is having issues, which is infrequent, but has cropped up 3-4 times a year.

Neoealth

Nestor wrote: »

The issue with Steam is, about every other major update breaks logins. And, it can take days to get the issue resolved.

Steam itself adds nothing to the game. And, as far as you being protected, as long as you remember your username, password and have access to the email you used to set it all up.

That's not true sorry. Out of all the major updates it's only happened a few times and only for a few hours until it got fixed.

It has also been happening less and less. Last time i recall it happening at all was during the summerset prime time.

I_killed_Vivec

I don't play via Steam myself, but it was dirt cheap there recently (might still be, it was a Black Friday thing).

Bucky_13

Cirantille wrote: »

Steam tailors prices according to your country, so if you are not paying in euros or pounds I would suggest steam:)

Or your country's exchange rate is good

I have the game on steam, but have bought everything on the ESO site after that, since prices are usually better there. This goes for both crowns and expansions.

As for login issues on Steam, haven't had those in 6+ months, so they are basically a non-issue for me. Still run the game through Steam.

Huyen

Katahdin wrote: »

I would avoid steam if I were you

Steam works fine for me tho. If you buy it on steam, you can always run the game without it. Even purchases on the account can be done without steam.

Rowjoh

I have used Steam for a number of games over the years and have had a very positive experience but it doesn't make any sense to use Steam for ESO.

It'll just add an uneccessary layer of potential trauma into the mix. ESO is beset with serious issues from time to time, especially after every update, and Steam isn't immune from issues either!

There is no benefit - 'protection' is irrelevant if you can't actually play the game! (simply save your login/account info on your back-up system which you should always do anyway).

Of course there are those who have had little to no Steam related problems so far but they are a minority.

Watchdog

I would avoid Steam like a plague as far as ESO is concerned.

As for no recent Steam login issues, I will just leave this here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/306130/discussions/0/1626286205687042286/

Mind, that there were several such threads there at once then.

Banana

Id avoid steam and MacBooks

Anotherone773

Rowjoh wrote: »

I have used Steam for a number of games over the years and have had a very positive experience but it doesn't make any sense to use Steam for ESO.

It'll just add an uneccessary layer of potential trauma into the mix. ESO is beset with serious issues from time to time, especially after every update, and Steam isn't immune from issues either!

There is no benefit - 'protection' is irrelevant if you can't actually play the game! (simply save your login/account info on your back-up system which you should always do anyway).

Of course there are those who have had little to no Steam related problems so far but they are a minority.

That wasnt the protection, i was talking about. If i cant use a product on Steam, i can get a refund from Steam. It is much easier to get a refund from steam for a product than to get a refund from the company that makes the product. Same reason i pay with my debit card instead of cash even if its $12 and i have $300 in cash. My bank will refund me if i need them too. Ive got a few refunds on steam over the years because of products that were not satisfactory.

Asardes

Once you install the game get some addons. It makes the experience much better and I consider it a large advantage of playing on PC:

For trading:
Master Merchant (MM): https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info928-MasterMerchant.html or
Arkadius Trade Tools (ATT): https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1752-ArkadiusTradeTools.html
They do pretty much the same thing - get sales prices for various items in your guilds and average them out so you have some sort of comparison data for prices at which you buy/list items. The latter is a bit simpler and less resource intensive.
Tamriel Trade Center (TTC): https://tamrieltradecentre.com/ website, also has an addon https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1245-TamrielTradeCentre.html this helps you see listings for various items, and also once you list stuff it will be added to the website database, so it will be visible for others and increase your chances of selling stuff.

For buffs & debuffs:
Srendarr: https://esoui.com/downloads/info655-Srendarr-AuraBuffDebuffTracker.html it's pretty complicated but gives you a great way to track your buffs, debuffs and DoT uptime

For parsing:
Combat Metrix (CMX): https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1360-CombatMetrics.html shows how much damage you do with various skills, how many light attacks you do and other information that helps improve your DPS.

For gear and skill setup change:
Alpha Gear 2: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1812-AlphaGear2.html you can save your setups here, and change them with a press of a button, provided you're out of combat

For crafing:
Lazy Writ Crafter: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1346-DolgubonsLazyWritCrafter.html crafts the daily writs for you and picks pre-crafted food/drink and potions for those from the bank
https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1605-WritWorthy.html same, but for master writs, they work together
Trait Buddy: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1058-TraitBuddy.html helps you track trait research, very useful if you have multiple characters.
ESO Master Recipe List: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1043-ESOMasterRecipeList.html tracks your recipe and blueprint knowledge. https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1621-ESOMasterRecipeListAltFormat.html also shows it for alts in order.

For maps:
Map Pins: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1881-MapPins.html shows various locations: dungeon bosses, books, shards, treasure maps, surveys etc.
Destinations: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info667-Destinations.html similar, but shows other things too.
Quest Map: https://www.esoui.com/downloads/info1022-QuestMap.html shows the quests in the base game zones, possibly some older DLCs too.

scorpius2k1

Khrogo wrote: »

I recently ordered a new MacBook and wanted to try out ESO. I’ll be running Windows 10 to play it. I’ve been playing on Xbox on and off since launch, but I’m unclear about the best way to play it on PC. Do I get it on Steam, buy a code, or get it from the Zenimax online store while it is on sale? I’ve not really gamed on a PC before and I heard that ESO had some problems on Steam. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

+1 for avoiding Steam OP. Buy directly from the website and use their launcher.
https://elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/joinus

.

Khrogo

I bought directly from the Zenimax website. In the end, I just installed it in MacOS. Saves me rebooting (and installing Windows). That may change though. Lol.

SeaGtGruff

I was going to ask you why you were planning to run it in Windows 10 on a MacBook if it's available for macOS.

I play ESO on a MacBook Air and it runs great. (I also play ESO on a Windows 10 computer, and to be honest I do prefer that, mainly because I don't like playing on a laptop except when it's necessary for playing away from my main computer.)

There are some quirks you'll probably run into, but as far as I know there are ways to get around them. If you need help with an issue, check in the Mac forum.

Khrogo

Asardes wrote: »

Once you install the game get some addons. It makes the experience much better and I consider it a large advantage of playing on PC

Thanks for the wealth of Incredibly useful information. I will be checking them out later. Much appreciated!

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

I was going to ask you why you were planning to run it in Windows 10 on a MacBook if it's available for macOS.

I’d read so many horror stories about the Mac client, I didn’t expect much. In fact, I didn’t think it would on the latest MacOS. To be honest, it’s not as bad as I imagined. Still need some time with it to come to a conclusion. Playing on Medium settings, my fans don’t even come on, which is peaceful. Lol.

Nestor

The recent change to the MAC OS only allowing 64 bit borked the launcher. I think that was fixed just as Catalina came out of Beta. So the early adopters were affected. I think the MAC side of things has been smoother in the last couple of years other than the Apple inflicted Catalina issues.

Anyway, glad you got the game and got it installed.