What caused you to keep playing the game when you first started?

Veinblood1965

I have been getting burned out lately. Have ran most of the content and looking for something else to try which got me to thinking. When I first started, what was it about the game that kept me subscribing instead of trying a different game. I tried WoW for a few months, a few others but stuck with this one.

I started during the Summerset release and that zone especially Alinor was amazingly well done. I then recall seeing Wrothgar and the same can be said. The scenery was incredible, just loads of mobs, NPC,s quests, buildings. In Alinor you could go into almost every building and each one the inside was just as well done as the rest of the zone. I felt like I was really exploring! The interactions were awesome. The very first thing I did when signing in for the first minute was attack a guard by accident and in the process of running saw a random two wheeled cart along the road that had boxes in it. I have played other games and they just do not go into that level of detail.

Sadly for the last few years IMO the zones that have been released are not on par with anything pre Wrothgar. As a comparison go visit the zone, you cannot walk more than 20 feet without seeing an interesting terrain feature, a mammoth or some other mob, huge cliffs, cool WB, etc. Then go to a post Wrothgar zone take blackwood for example. The terrain isn't bad but you can tell the difference in feel. I think we all know the game population is not nearly as large as it once was. IMO this is why. Most of us did NOT stay playing at first due to the combat. We stayed for everything else. Too much emphasis has been given over to combat, skill, and armor set additions/changes.

If you want to keep players and attract new ones stop doing the things that are driving them away and start doing things that attracted them to stay in the first place. Take some of the older zones like Auridon for example, add a few new towns, add some new quests, add a new lake which was excavated by dwemer slaves for example, tie more things that occur in other zones into that zone like you are running Infinite Archive and pick up a loot box that has a candle in it that has to be taken to Auridon to start a quest that allows you to pick up a 5 hour IA buff or something(just thinking off the top of my head), then move on to a few of the other older zones. Or if creating a new zone, look back on the more popular zones like I mentioned earlier and try and recreate the "feel". In all fairness ZoS does do this to some extent, tied into mythics and other things. Ramp it up a bit! My favorite day would be to see patch notes that had no combat changes but LOADS of things like mentioned above. I think many of us would pay for an "enhanced" version of the older ESO zones.

It was NOT the combat that kept me playing. It was the attention to detail. The combat changes are the main reason most people leave this game. A significant change is made to a class, 10 people leave. The change is reversed 2 come back. Over time we are where we are now, population decline. The solution is to retain new players.


What kept you playing when you first started? What made you go wow this is cool?

If suddenly there were no combat changes would you keep playing?

AzuraFan

I quit the first time I tried it, because I didn't like the combat. I still don't - it's too button-mashy and easy (once you grab a build off the internet), and the swapping bars mechanic is just dumb.

I only gave the game another look because it's an Elder Scrolls game, and it didn't look like we were getting TES6 anytime soon. I already knew about the lousy combat, so I guess I accepted it. It's the zones and stories that kept me here, and all the achievements (I like hunting achievements).

Seven years on, big juicy chapters are gone, and I don't have many achievements left that I want to get.

I agree with you that too much emphasis has been placed on combat stuff - scribing, subclassing, trials and dungeons produced at the same level, improvements to the infinite archive (which is just combat), but story and zones cut back. For players who primarily enjoy stories and exploring zones, the sun is setting on ESO unless there's some change in what they're producing.

For me, what was cool initially was being in Tamriel. If ESO wasn't an Elder Scrolls game, I wouldn't have given it a second look.

shadyjane62

I loved Morrowind. I went from there to MMO'S from WoW to Elder Scrolls after trying every MMO out there.


ESO is not perfect and it hasn't gone the way I wanted it to, but it's still entertaining.

Destai

I was so much easier to please back then.

It really was the world and the lore.

I think the first thing that wowed me was finding a lorebook. I liked the Templar, was completely ignorant of how the game's combat actually worked, and just RPed my High Elf templar fantasy. I remember being so excited when Summerset came out. Even with the Elsweyr content, there was still some thrill of exploration.

Sadly, I don't think I could look at it that way again. Both the game and I have changed. I've settled into my rhythm of knocking out a zone ASAP upon release. I'm far more efficient in how I approach content, and I think that's taken some of the fun out of the game for me.

During 2020, I started noticing things that bothered me more. I see NPCs that follow me, nag me into doing their content. I see a crown store pop up every time I log in. I see flashy mounts and animations everywhere. Feels like there's been less earnable rewards High Isle onwards. I enjoy the game still, but in far smaller doses than I did years ago. I would say the mix of habit, familiarity, and investment is what keeps me playing. And the combat, which I like.

Buffy121

I think I was attracted to the same things as you. I also really like the stories and characters. I did get a bit bored after completing all the zones but by coincidence they released housing at the same time and I became interested again.

The game for me has never been about combat either but I have a feeling that combat will be the aspect that is most focused on since subclassing was introduced. There seems to be an awful lot to sort out there. I just hope that stories and characters don't end up taking a backseat to it.

Ragnarok0130

I’ve played since the closed Beta and I’ve taken several breaks. If you lose interest in a game it’s okay to take a break until you want to play again. What keeps me playing after completing the new zone is dungeon running and raiding because I enjoy the people and the content. I also enjoy housing but that isn’t a main draw for me like group content. The combat is a huge plus for me since I also use to raid in SWTOR which had a much different combat system.

Veinblood1965

Buffy121 wrote: »

I think I was attracted to the same things as you. I also really like the stories and characters. I did get a bit bored after completing all the zones but by coincidence they released housing at the same time and I became interested again.

The game for me has never been about combat either but I have a feeling that combat will be the aspect that is most focused on since subclassing was introduced. There seems to be an awful lot to sort out there. I just hope that stories and characters don't end up taking a backseat to it.

That's how I feel. Combat, combat, combat. I can see how higher DPS helps in Trials and IA and PVP it IS relevant but is that what KEEPS us playing? If no changes were made how would that affect us? I think players would be happy to hear that no combat changes are going to be made for a few months unless its really needed for something game breaking.

Yudo

I kept playing because I could roleplay a character exactly how I wanted. I could use the weapons of choice, armor of choice and make a build accordingly. I even could play all roles (DD, H, Tank) on the same character following the same theme.
With housing, styles and everything else I feel part of the world.

Playing all roles there is also plenty to learn for dungeons and trials. Back then I thought I was not too bad either.
The TES universe also carries a lot of weight.
Started with Summerset and the high elf story line which is my preferred area.

Eventually though you hit end game and meta. Hybridization changed my way of playing a lot and now subclassing changed this further. So the theme I have built over the years with pure class feel less and less impactful. Have been taking more breaks recently. Watching the patch changes, login to group up and see where things go from there.

whitecrow

Exploration and stories were always the top draws for me.

colossalvoids

Despite huge portion of playerbase hating on it, combat is what holding hostage a lot of payers here, other MMOs just aren't feeling as good in that department and it's filling a niche others, usually, don't. It's probably going a bit in contrast with the setting being the most casual RPG possible that literally everyone has played - Skyrim. Not talking about TES overall as it's a trend the last game has set, other's were pretty different games even to each other. If it was a Warhammer the Old World or something in the vein no one would bat an eye essentially.

But one thing I surely agree on is that zones lost their appeal long ago. Since Summerset cities became more closed and the trend went into absolute absurdity current zones are, this alone breaks into immersion massively and only supports lackluster writing which fills the places which are available to entry. I was hopeful they could turn this around but the ship has sailed long ago already and people seem fine with it.

YstradClud

Played the beta and found it very immersive. Helped that I was already an Elder Scrolls fan. I play WoW if I want gameplay, combat and mechanics is very strong and I get 20ms ping compared to 200ms.

LunaFlora

most stuff.

story quests, fashion, housing helped.
And Companions were a pretty awesome addition in 2021.

tomofhyrule

I came to ESO because of the Elder Scrolls series. Most of that was pretty casual - questing, just building how I felt like it and not really trying to do anything major. And of course the character creation.

But as 2020 kept us all locked up at home for some reason, I started to group up with guilds. I found some friends and ran a lot of content and found out I really liked that.

At this point, it’s 100% the character creation that keeps me here. Questing has gotten more and more boring as the writing quality has gone steadily downhill, and the existence of games like BG3 and Skyrim-for-the-fifteenth-time have really scratched my “solo RPG” itch in a way ESO just can’t. And… I don’t mind - I don’t need ESO to be a hardcore solo RPG because others exist; ESO’s strength is Finn’s encounters team, and I really like running dungeons with friends.

Another thing that’s pushing me away from ESO is this desire to homogenize everything. I love the character creation process, and I will spend months planning characters, designing their sliders and fashions, and writing their backstories as interconnected to the lore as I can. And then… we get an update that basically makes having more than one character completely irrelevant, and actually punishes you for keeping their base class lines. I never wanted fewer classes; I want more classes so I can tell more stories, and it’s really disheartening to see people come here and celebrate that my characters who I’ve had for years are losing their individuality and they actively say they hope the game stops adding content.

I hope that balance can be a thing where you are no longer punished for choosing not to subclass, and hopefully we’ll get another class to play with (and then people who don’t want to make a new character can just take those lines on alts if they choose). But I’ll admit - I’m totally in the “log in, do endeavors, log off and play BG3” phase right now. At least we get new dungeons next week so there is that to look forward to, and I’m assuming we’ll see the U48 PTS in late September so we can see if balance will finally be a consideration.

Daoin

i came off the back of the real elder scroll games on beta, did not like beta stopped shortly after and misplaced the account somehow for a while continued to enjoy real ES game until buying on steam and eso had matured a little and in the back of my mind is still the reason i continue to play, its called elder scrolls but there are real people in there too. once ES6 is released once again it will likely be more time there less hours in eso, but basically for me the real ES games are still carrying eso, would also like to add oblivion remake is a poor substitute to just keep on trying to get ES6 out asap after what skyrim did for the games

CatoUnchained

PvP

Renato90085

Khajiit

Sluggy

When I tried it I was severely disappointed at how dead the world was. It does not feel like and Elder Scrolls game at all. The combat was excellent though so once I got into doing dungeons that gave me lots of reasons to look forward to logging in. After a while they got stale too though so I moved on to PvP where the combat really shined. Unfortunately, combat has been very poorly managed, dungeons are absolutely trivial, and especially PvP has been long neglected and so I don't have much reason to log on these days.

SeaGtGruff

I decided to try ESO because I had started replaying Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim after taking a break from gaming, and I found myself becoming interested in the whole of Tamriel and the rest of Nirn. I gave Arena another try, found out about ESO, and decided to buy it a few months after TESO:Morrowind's release while it was on sale.

As soon as I started running around the various zones, I was hooked. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I didn't care because I was having so much fun. And I still have a lot of fun running around, even if my main focuses in the game have changed over the years.

I kept playing because it was fun. and I keep playing because it's still fun.

freespirit

I started because my adult son said "Hey Mum they are making an Elder Scrolls MMO and you can sign up for the Beta here!"

I fell in love immediately on that early January weekend back in 2014!!

I have taken very few breaks and even those tend to just be I still log in do my jobs and then go play whatever single player game has currently taken my fancy.

I stayed because I love the stories, love my houses and back at the end of 2014 I lucked in to a fabulous group of people, we all still play, the guilds are always full and we laugh a LOT!

What more could you ask for?

Edit:- Just to add there is a beautiful ESO baby in our ranks too now!

Lumenn

For me it was the freedom to play solo and group/social was an OPTION, not a requirement.(too many years in a high end guild EQ). Being able to play a (mostly) melee character and still solo? In a world I was (somewhat) familiar with? I had been burned out for a few years on EQ and ESO was a game with plenty to do, getting updates, dungeon crawls when I felt like it, much better looting system (yes, even before one tam it was better) so yeah, got hooked

katanagirl1

Combat is okay, a little more button mashing than I like, but I can’t do that all the time.

There is just not enough new content and all I do now are chores like daily crafting writs and endeavors. If I’m lucky there are enough players on my side in Cyrodiil to PvP, but that’s not as often as it used to be.

Yes, I have gotten bored. I have Oblivion Remastered to fall back on.

I just want fun stuff to do.

darkriketz

The Elder Scrolls are my favorite videogame series since Oblivion, I love the lore and the setting of Tamriel, I loved to discover new places that weren't in Oblivion and Skyrim (most of TESO then, especially Summerset, High Rock, Elsweyr and Vvardenfell) and I love the storyline and the characters.

Also, I enjoy the fact that you can play alone if you want and that coop isn't mandatory (which also let me help people when I choose to), I love the housing system and some houses (the ones I've bought obviously, I don't get what I'm not interested in, sorry Redguard and Argonian houses ^^), TESO is really easy to handle and not difficult in my opinion, which leaves room to exploration and contemplation, and I like to craft items, whether it's for housing or gear and other players.

And finally, I'm really fan of the artistic direction, the graphics, musics, the various cultures of Tamriel and theirs inspirations (medieval european bretons, precolumbian argonian, several elves styles...).

Sometimes the stories aren't very interesting, but at least I get to find new furnishings, houses and lands to explore, and there's still much of Tamriel and beyond that I hope to see in TESO in the future.

Erickson9610

I started ESO in 2016 for the werewolf gameplay. Coming from Skyrim, it was better in some ways (such as the werewolf's maw getting all bloody when feeding) but worse in other ways (such as the werewolf itself feeling less impactful, looking visually worse, and being harder to sustain). I eventually went back to Skyrim for a while, until the Wolfhunter DLC was announced.

When the Wolfhunter DLC released, I saw some of the rewards in it (such as the Beast personality and the Sable Man-Beast skin) and knew I had to learn the game's combat in order to acquire those rewards. I haven't left the game for long since.

Being given a goal really helps me stay motivated to play this game. Sometimes it's to acquire new item sets for a PvP build that would benefit Werewolf in a unique way. Other times, I try to see how high I can parse with Werewolf for PvE content. But above all, the major feature every year usually offers something significant for this playstyle, so I'm always looking forward to the next major content release.

ESO_player123

I kept playing because it's TES universe, the game is very solo-friendly, and has the semi-realistic graphics that I like.

rothan117

A good story, it was Elder Scrolls and the fast paced combat system with a limited number of keys to work with unlike some other MMOs that have a whole bunch of abilities to keybind that are often situational.

Vonnegut2506

I actually quit shortly after the game launched, and I only returned for the One Tamriel update.

Munkfist

I started playing back in 2014, and it has been the combat that keeps me going. I love the more dynamic combat system, higher APM, and fewer cooldowns to wait for.

It has it's ups and downs, but never enough to push me away from the game. Any questionable patches tend to just lead me to appreciate more aspects of the game that I hadn't given time to before, like the attention to detail, the beautiful scenes as you ride around, the great stories as you play through the game.

AzuraFan

ESO_player123 wrote: »

I kept playing because it's TES universe, the game is very solo-friendly, and has the semi-realistic graphics that I like.

The solo friendly part was really important for me, too. If the game had required me to group to get most things done, I would have left and never looked back.

SpiritofESO

Six years playing ESO now. Still a great game, but one must have other interests even if ESO is your "main game."

I also play Destiny 2, but not as seriously as Elder Scrolls Online. It's more like a hobby.

Still liking Battlefield 5 -- a "classic" Battlefield game that's fun to play when you just need to kill your fellow players.

Just finished the first Beta Weekend of Battlefield 6. Already purchased the game, and the second Beta Weekend coming soon. Really fun, and seems like another classic Battlefield game (unlike Battlefield 2042).

But, ESO is the "big" game. Fully realized, very large, lots to do, and still slowly growing.

The thing is that you WILL probably get "bored" with ESO -- and any other game you play too much -- so diversify your gaming and it'll feeling more balanced.

Mik195

I nearly quit because my first character was a Nightblade and I just couldn't figure out how to kill anything. I gave it another chance with a warden and the bear helped get me through the learning the game issues. Being able to hide behind the bear while I figured out my next move was helpful.

MGRza

In short, the Lore and Visuals keep me playing...

I have finished every quest multiple times since I have 16 active toons that all have play time at some point in the week.

There simply isn't another MMO out there that matches the lore or the visuals that ESO has to offer for me, that is. Is it enough? Some days, yeah, but some days it isn't either.