MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: ESO Most Underrated MMO

Saint-Ange

https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/09/massivelyops-2022-awards-most-underrated-mmo/

redspecter23

After reading the explanations in the article, I can't really dispute what they're saying. The core game is very, very solid, but it was mentioned a few times that they hype is basically non existent and I agree. The updates are consistent, 4 times a year, but it was also mentioned they are a bit bland. I agree with that as well.

I'm not sure that all adds up to being underrated, but they had some interesting thoughts.

Katheriah

"I think it’s been underrated the last two years; its output and quality are still high even if the glitz and glam are gone."

Have they seen the same game as I have? Why so much praise for the amount of updates? 4 big updates a year seems to do more harm than good to quality, stability and seems like QA department agrees with that.

Sorry, if ESO isn't getting much hype it's because it's currently not worth hyping.

BlueRaven

I have issues with eso, believe me, but compared to other mmos I think the game is really solid and underrated. Good article.

Ratzkifal

redspecter23 wrote: »

After reading the explanations in the article, I can't really dispute what they're saying. The core game is very, very solid, but it was mentioned a few times that they hype is basically non existent and I agree. The updates are consistent, 4 times a year, but it was also mentioned they are a bit bland. I agree with that as well.

I'm not sure that all adds up to being underrated, but they had some interesting thoughts.

Reading through it, it felt like ESO was getting a participation trophy just for still existing. What MMO that is alive still doesn't continuously get updated?
The reason ESO hasn't gotten the attention "it deserves" is that it simply doesn't deserve the attention that some people think it does - not ESO in 2022. Next year ESO needs to step up its game massively to win back the trust that was lost and get people to recommend the game to their friends again. The way people talk about a game is more important than any paid promotion to big influencers could ever be, and who talks more about the game than the players that are already playing it? Listen to your playerbase ZOS.

redspecter23

Ratzkifal wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

After reading the explanations in the article, I can't really dispute what they're saying. The core game is very, very solid, but it was mentioned a few times that they hype is basically non existent and I agree. The updates are consistent, 4 times a year, but it was also mentioned they are a bit bland. I agree with that as well.

I'm not sure that all adds up to being underrated, but they had some interesting thoughts.

Reading through it, it felt like ESO was getting a participation trophy just for still existing. What MMO that is alive still doesn't continuously get updated?
The reason ESO hasn't gotten the attention "it deserves" is that it simply doesn't deserve the attention that some people think it does - not ESO in 2022. Next year ESO needs to step up its game massively to win back the trust that was lost and get people to recommend the game to their friends again. The way people talk about a game is more important than any paid promotion to big influencers could ever be, and who talks more about the game than the players that are already playing it? Listen to your playerbase ZOS.

I agree with that for sure. Now we just need to get ZOS on board. They seem very hesitant to want to get people talking positively about their game. Whatever they have planned for next year better be the best update in 9 years.

Elsonso

its output and quality are still high

Hmm. Output is high, and steady. Quality is not high. Quality is more "meh".

I agree that Systres was not a sexy location, like Vvardenfell or Summerset Isle.

Some of them seem confused as to why there is no hype, one even implying it could be due to the player base. I still think that the one thing they are not taking into consideration is that the dev team takes the players for granted, and in doing so, they do things to alienate blocks of players. A disgruntled player is not going to be generating hype, and I think that is what the reviewers were seeing.

Jaimeh

Elsonso wrote: »

its output and quality are still high

Hmm. Output is high, and steady. Quality is not high. Quality is more "meh".

Agreed, quality has definitely not been high since Elsweyr, andd I don't know how they can even say that when comparing the Greymoor->High isle years with the Morrowind->Summerset years. We have had lackluster environments, stories, writing, character development, and voice acting. Even the poor Vestige has been dumped down. Blackwood in particular was an all-time low.

gariondavey

Eso COULD be the best mmo out there
It has the deepest theorycrafting and build craft, fast paced combat with a high skill cap, a huge beautiful world, a great ip
It is held back by dismal performance, lack of pvp content and support, incomprehensible game direction, horrid balancing, almost complete absence of meaningful communication, and a constant stream of "release new dlc set or mythic, then nerf that in 3-6 months when it is time to release a new set" .
I love this game so much and wish zos would allow it to measure up to its true potential. Truly heartbreaking.

VaranisArano

I think that judging in terms of the new content we get as opposed to the new content we want, quality is still high. The new content is pretty predictable in many ways at this point, but we are getting exactly what ZOS sets out to provide. It's safe and consistent.

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

4 dungeons
2 zones with delves, world bosses, and hours of voice-acted questing all at reasonable parity with the rest of overland content, with an epilogue to tie it together under a nicely marketable title.
1 trial
1 new feature

You aren't going to find much that's groundbreaking in ESO at this point, but for an MMORPG that's giving us a theme park experience of Tamriel, ESO has been really successful at giving players that experience year after year. In terms of "brand," safe and consistent is not a bad choice...but it is frequently underrated.

(Quality Assurance/bugfixing is a whole 'nother matter. IMO, the quality of the base gameplay experience has declined over the years. Some of that's probably due to the badly needed, much delayed hardware upgrades and the spaghetti code that required the rearchitecture they're working on. Some of its just inexplicable. It's most noticeable in PVP and PVE group content, but it's not limited to that.)

spartaxoxo

This game is way better than most MMOs on the market.

It's got stories that are actually worth listening to and engage players, not just have them skip through it.

It's got combat that is extremely flexible and accommodates a wide range of skills.

Gorgeous environments! This game looks fantastic, despite its age.

And a really wide variety of activities. Want to flex your creativity? Make a huge range of outfits or decorate housing in a very free-form builder. Want to smite your fellow players? It has like 4 distinctive ways to pvp. Want to play a little mini tavern game? Tales of Tribute is fun when you get the hang of it! Want to basically play a walking simulator and just relax while listening to a story? Overland is perfect for that. Want to take on a big PvE challenge with a group of friends? Take on a vet mode dungeon, trial, or arena.

There's so much to see and do in this game.

Obviously it has its issues as well. The bugs these past couple of patches have been really unacceptable. PvP is in life support. Etc. Etc. But, those issues don't change it's really an underrated gem imo. I put up with these issues because the game is so good. A lesser game would have lost all of its players a long time ago.

Elsonso

spartaxoxo wrote: »

This game is way better than most MMOs on the market.

It's got stories that are actually worth listening to and engage players, not just have them skip through it.

It's got combat that is extremely flexible and accommodates a wide range of skills.

Gorgeous environments! This game looks fantastic, despite its age.

And a really wide variety of activities.

There's so much to see and do in this game.

I think that this is true, and none of that I disagree with. However, as I have said before, ZOS can't just keep pooh poohing the players. When they do that, it is like throwing a wet blanket on the fire. I think that is why this game does not have the hype. People may buy it, people may play it, but people are not hyped. Heck, they can't even keep their own fans in the stable, so I am not sure who is out there to hype it.

It is worthy of the award they gave it, and maybe that is destined to be the eventual epitaph. "Underrated MMO"

dinokstrunz

I would probably agree with this was talking about ESO maybe 3 or 4 years ago but nowadays ESO is absolute garbage sadly. Its had a nightmare 2022, got nothing right, upset the majority of the player base and now is reeling in the consequences. Really don't see how Zeni will change minds in 2023.

jtm1018

In my opinion eso is over rated.

For me, its not even worth playing after youre done with the dlc and chapter.

Tot? Never touched it, not interested in it.

Pvp, I cant even block when I need to.

colossalvoids

I'd say currently it's where it belongs with both company achieving their goals and communities driven away or some of them not being affected due to their nature. It just exists, nothing to really say about it.

ForumBully

If I were a new player, ESO would be a marvel...assuming I wasn't a new PvP player.

RaddlemanNumber7

After what's happened this year I'm not at all surprised players are no longer hyped about ESO

SPR_of_HA_community

If core combat mechanics do not fix for a long time,skills do not even press in PVP i think, that game is overrated, not underrated.

If say trully some games on list of games there are in much better state than TESO.

Katheriah

ForumBully wrote: »

If I were a new player, ESO would be a marvel...assuming I wasn't a new PvP player.

Well yeah, until they try to block.

rpa

VaranisArano wrote: »

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

Combat moulting to something more or less different every 3 months.

Cadbury

It certainly is an MMO that's rated.

ghost_bg_ESO

Old zones topology felt like they were made from different people - even now in zones that i know have to open the map from time to time. (some examples: that first clockwork quest for "go get oil - still can't return at the gait on first try; Vaardenfel and even Summerset needs planning from where to go...)

Now - better textures, but in every new zone is: run to the marker. (only "positive" - happily speedruning 2 zones main quests per day for skill points on new account)

Old quests - there was big bad plan, but it wasn't the only thing happening - also there was some random human, "small town" interactions.

Now quests - see couple of washed known personalities and kill the big bad at the end of the year (grind until second part whatever new feature is released)

(no need to repeat sweeping changes, amount of bug new content been released with and all hot problems on the forum)

Troodon80

honestly I am still happy each time I log in and can group with friends to run through content together.

Last few updates have caused most of my friends to move on (the majority of which have been offline for 1-6 months, with no prospect of returning) or become so disillusioned by ESO/ZOS, for the most part all they do is complain (understandably so). Those remaining (and complaining) have one foot out the door. The bugs over the last year, especially with U36, and the changes they tried to do with U35, coupled with the lack of new classes, weapon lines, etc... for a lot of people, there isn't anything to hype.

I've spoken to a couple people who returned after the last chapter release, having taken a couple years break, and then encounter the block bug. The first question is "I can't block? Is this intended?" no, it's a known bug, they're working on it. "How long has it been bugged?" A few weeks now. Then they ask "You're kidding me. Why did I come back? Why did I think things would be better?" I can only defend the game and the company for so long.

The hype machine is driven by communities, people, the players. It's why we get spikes in population for chapter releases/announcements. If the game, throughout the year, isn't getting hyped then there's a very good reason for it. It's not underrated or overrated, it's rated exactly where the players put it.

Sure, if you simply ignore all the bad bits it's a great game. There's a lot to do in the game, and if you get a bugged quest here or there, it doesn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things. That doesn't mean it's not broken, it means you're not impacted by it.

But the small things compound the big things and if you explore every aspect of the game rather than sticking to a tiny niche then you realise just how many issues there is. From the smallest issues which are purely visual, or pieces of the world missing where you can drop through and get stuck. Bugged quests forcing you to drop a quest (especially frustrating when the quest is a long one), NPCs in quests not spawning, forcing you to log out for ~5 minutes to do a soft refresh. Year on year the list of bugged books with no post-quest location gets longer, the last developer comment was back in 2017. The issue some time ago with lead collection/codex getting wiped still hasn't been fixed for some of us, nor is there any intent to fix it. Getting stuck in combat (not in Cyrodiil). Dungeon finder taking an hour to get a group (even as a tank or healer). Various issues in dungeons, issues in trials. Issues like gear not swapping, taking multiple attempts and then getting kicked for "spamming." Eight years later, I'm still running on my weapons and horse. And Cyrodiil? Need I even mention it? Then the brand new block bug that seems to have no urgency on being fixed. No, this isn't just "end game."

With all these, we get things like "A little trust would be nice." Leading to a public "We dropped the ball. We'll do better" letter. Then we look at the controversies, like the boo-hoo thing (yes, the community blew it wildly out of proportion; you get worse commentary in Cyrodiil zone chat from PvPers themselves, you get what you give, but it still shouldn't have happened).

Every patch day is a gamble (and I don't mean the usual screaming and crying of the Patch Notes). Will I be able to log in? Will there be a login queue? Will it be laggy? Will there be a maintenance to fix the patch for the next three days? Will there be extended maintenance? Should we just cancel raids and play something else on patch day and wait for the servers to balance out?

Promises are all well and good but actions speak louder than words. Trust is earned and so far the inaction on the most recent and blatant of issues, the block bug, and even those which are likely considered low-priority and low-hanging fruit, bugged books, isn't garnering trust or faith.

All of that without talking about the more personalised things. Or the random crashes and disconnects.

But I still maintain that if you want an MMO which is fairly easy to get into, ESO is exactly that. Overland isn't difficult (that's both a good thing and a bad thing). If offers so much variety which is not locked behind other stuff. If you want to be a sneaky assassin and join the Dark Brotherhood, you can do that immediately after you get out of the tutorial. If you want to do quests in specific areas, then you can do that right out of the tutorial. If you want to just sit down and spend your time fishing on 18 characters, then, again, you can do it immediately out of the tutorial. If you want to start crafting then advise starting as early as possible. Cyrodiil only requires that you get to level 10, which you can do in about 30 minutes without grinding dolmens/Skyreach/Blackrose Prison. Versus, for example, FFXIV where if you want to do end game content you must do all the main story quests up to that point.

No, ESO is not underrated. The good does not outweigh the bad, nor does the bad specifically outweigh the good. It's like being a jack of all trades, but master of none.

mocap

2200+ fully voiced quests
Recognizable backstory (lore)
A lot of endgame combat content
A lot of non combat content
A variety of PvP modes
Non targeting + targeting (if needed) combat
Ok graphics (not stylized, not specific, suitable for everyone)
Mods support
All platforms/OS

Yes, ESO is underrated. Unfortunately, there are a lot of players in the world who are afraid of something new, something open, something that is made for everyone, not just for you.

ProudMary

Ratzkifal wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

After reading the explanations in the article, I can't really dispute what they're saying. The core game is very, very solid, but it was mentioned a few times that they hype is basically non existent and I agree. The updates are consistent, 4 times a year, but it was also mentioned they are a bit bland. I agree with that as well.

I'm not sure that all adds up to being underrated, but they had some interesting thoughts.

Reading through it, it felt like ESO was getting a participation trophy just for still existing. What MMO that is alive still doesn't continuously get updated?
The reason ESO hasn't gotten the attention "it deserves" is that it simply doesn't deserve the attention that some people think it does - not ESO in 2022. Next year ESO needs to step up its game massively to win back the trust that was lost and get people to recommend the game to their friends again. The way people talk about a game is more important than any paid promotion to big influencers could ever be, and who talks more about the game than the players that are already playing it? Listen to your playerbase ZOS.

This does read like a compensated "influencer" to me. I can't help but notice that ESO appears first in their poll rather than listing them alphabetically....just for starters.

Dayhjawk

lets not forget the broken Que system, that:

1. ports you to a random dungeon then the one your selected
2. ports half the group into the vet verison and the other half into the normal verison
3. ports each person into the correct verison but everyone is in their own instance verison of said dungeon
4. ports 1-3 ppl but doesn't port the other(s)
5. bugs out the party so when you port/zone/etc it kicks you from the group

just to name a few

most of these started last year during blackwood when companions were added and has gotten worst and worst. I'm sorry, but if the devs did actually play this game, then they would see how broken the que system is.

this game needs more time to polish it's updates and time to fix it's broken system before dog piling more on top of it.

VaranisArano

VaranisArano wrote: »

I think that judging in terms of the new content we get as opposed to the new content we want, quality is still high. The new content is pretty predictable in many ways at this point, but we are getting exactly what ZOS sets out to provide. It's safe and consistent.

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

4 dungeons
2 zones with delves, world bosses, and hours of voice-acted questing all at reasonable parity with the rest of overland content, with an epilogue to tie it together under a nicely marketable title.
1 trial
1 new feature

You aren't going to find much that's groundbreaking in ESO at this point, but for an MMORPG that's giving us a theme park experience of Tamriel, ESO has been really successful at giving players that experience year after year. In terms of "brand," safe and consistent is not a bad choice...but it is frequently underrated.

(Quality Assurance/bugfixing is a whole 'nother matter. IMO, the quality of the base gameplay experience has declined over the years. Some of that's probably due to the badly needed, much delayed hardware upgrades and the spaghetti code that required the rearchitecture they're working on. Some of its just inexplicable. It's most noticeable in PVP and PVE group content, but it's not limited to that.)

Did Matt Firor read this before writing his letter?

Because I think I have to eat my words about ESO's predictability, and I'm delighted to do so.

Elsonso

VaranisArano wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

I think that judging in terms of the new content we get as opposed to the new content we want, quality is still high. The new content is pretty predictable in many ways at this point, but we are getting exactly what ZOS sets out to provide. It's safe and consistent.

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

4 dungeons
2 zones with delves, world bosses, and hours of voice-acted questing all at reasonable parity with the rest of overland content, with an epilogue to tie it together under a nicely marketable title.
1 trial
1 new feature

You aren't going to find much that's groundbreaking in ESO at this point, but for an MMORPG that's giving us a theme park experience of Tamriel, ESO has been really successful at giving players that experience year after year. In terms of "brand," safe and consistent is not a bad choice...but it is frequently underrated.

(Quality Assurance/bugfixing is a whole 'nother matter. IMO, the quality of the base gameplay experience has declined over the years. Some of that's probably due to the badly needed, much delayed hardware upgrades and the spaghetti code that required the rearchitecture they're working on. Some of its just inexplicable. It's most noticeable in PVP and PVE group content, but it's not limited to that.)

Did Matt Firor read this before writing his letter?

Because I think I have to eat my words about ESO's predictability, and I'm delighted to do so.

He knew you were going to say this before you did.

colossalvoids

VaranisArano wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

I think that judging in terms of the new content we get as opposed to the new content we want, quality is still high. The new content is pretty predictable in many ways at this point, but we are getting exactly what ZOS sets out to provide. It's safe and consistent.

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

4 dungeons
2 zones with delves, world bosses, and hours of voice-acted questing all at reasonable parity with the rest of overland content, with an epilogue to tie it together under a nicely marketable title.
1 trial
1 new feature

You aren't going to find much that's groundbreaking in ESO at this point, but for an MMORPG that's giving us a theme park experience of Tamriel, ESO has been really successful at giving players that experience year after year. In terms of "brand," safe and consistent is not a bad choice...but it is frequently underrated.

(Quality Assurance/bugfixing is a whole 'nother matter. IMO, the quality of the base gameplay experience has declined over the years. Some of that's probably due to the badly needed, much delayed hardware upgrades and the spaghetti code that required the rearchitecture they're working on. Some of its just inexplicable. It's most noticeable in PVP and PVE group content, but it's not limited to that.)

Did Matt Firor read this before writing his letter?

Because I think I have to eat my words about ESO's predictability, and I'm delighted to do so.

It feels like they've payed at least some attention to our feedback this year(s), have no high hopes but that's a good sign anyway.

VaranisArano

Elsonso wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

I think that judging in terms of the new content we get as opposed to the new content we want, quality is still high. The new content is pretty predictable in many ways at this point, but we are getting exactly what ZOS sets out to provide. It's safe and consistent.

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

4 dungeons
2 zones with delves, world bosses, and hours of voice-acted questing all at reasonable parity with the rest of overland content, with an epilogue to tie it together under a nicely marketable title.
1 trial
1 new feature

You aren't going to find much that's groundbreaking in ESO at this point, but for an MMORPG that's giving us a theme park experience of Tamriel, ESO has been really successful at giving players that experience year after year. In terms of "brand," safe and consistent is not a bad choice...but it is frequently underrated.

(Quality Assurance/bugfixing is a whole 'nother matter. IMO, the quality of the base gameplay experience has declined over the years. Some of that's probably due to the badly needed, much delayed hardware upgrades and the spaghetti code that required the rearchitecture they're working on. Some of its just inexplicable. It's most noticeable in PVP and PVE group content, but it's not limited to that.)

Did Matt Firor read this before writing his letter?

Because I think I have to eat my words about ESO's predictability, and I'm delighted to do so.

He knew you were going to say this before you did.

Heh, I'm also rather predictable. 😀

Lumsdenml

VaranisArano wrote: »

I mean, we already know what 2023 is going to bring:

4 dungeons
2 zones with delves, world bosses, and hours of voice-acted questing all at reasonable parity with the rest of overland content, with an epilogue to tie it together under a nicely marketable title.
1 trial
1 new feature

Actually.....


Edit: you beat me to it! 😀