Confessions of a Disgruntled Newbie

StuppyJoe

I'm not sure how to express this: it's not that I think the game is bad, it's fine, it's just that I've been stuck at lvl 25 for days (despite prolific exploring of the relevant zones, some dungeons, and a LOT of googling). I'm finding levelling professions (especially clothing) hugely frustrating, and I'm not finding any real sense of community (as most people are forced to join guilds to trade, not chat).

I've played through worse obstacles on WoW and not thought twice about it, but I'm very close to just giving up on ESO long before my 30 days are up. It feels like it's dumping lore on me, giving me little to no guidance, and forcing me to join guilds just to trade. Possibly biases from a pampered gaming childhood in WoW, but just the same...

I need some inspiration. I WANT to love this game but I don't really. I could happily send it a Christmas card every year and never see it in between.

Note: I've never played any Elder Scrolls games before this. It's not that I can't see that these initial frustrations won't be worked out in a few months but I just don't feel motivated in the same way.

P.s. Gold Sellers: I know that these are a problem in all these games BUT--I don't need Z to spam me with an email every time I report a gold seller and I don't need email spam to thank me for my suggestion that they not spam me to thank me for reporting spam.

Best Regards,
A Hopeful ESO Nub

Trouvo

ok read this a couple times, and still not sure exactly what you are asking, is your problem trading? lore? being stuck at lvl 25, cant handle quests? having a hard time figuring out how to keep your crafting up?

StuppyJoe

Is a 'gogo Stuppy' pep talk out of the question?

I want to love this game. I feel as if I ought to love this game. But I just don't really.

Trouvo

....but what are you not loving...what is the problem you are having specifically, your post was all over the place

StuppyJoe

I thought that my post was pretty clear. I'm sorry that you didn't find it that way.

Shimond

He doesn't care about lore, appears he's not here for the PVP. Not sure what he's going to get out of it. Looks like he wants more hand holding? Dunno.

StuppyJoe

I don't need hand holding. Nothing that I said suggests that I do. Troll on (on another thread for preferance).

Shimond

My apologies then, I have no idea what you want. The WOW comparisons and the "giving me little to no guidance" made me think you want it more like that game or something.

k9mouse

Khajiit is confused also: May be the OP put his / her points in an outline form mat for easier reading for example

1) stuck 25 -- should I grind, quest, run around?
2) What is the best way to craft for X? How that factor into OP's built plans?
3) What is lore about ____? (name place, race, Gods, sweetrolls, etc)

Bullet Points make it easier for others to follow what you are asking, thus we can answer any questions / concerns OP might have. It is help out there, just have to ask the right questions....

StuppyJoe

Thanks, yes, that probably does make it a lot clearer. As I said, I am feeling generally overwhelmed and I wasn't sure how to express my frustrations.

UnknownXV

This game is difficult relative to most MMOs available now, but to someone like me who is used to real grind (Runescape) and real challenge and danger (Darkfall), it's a breeze. It's all about perspective. I'm used to games that honestly make ESO look easy.

I am thankful they haven't watered the game down by making it easy and holding your hand. Be thankful the majority of players like a balance. If it were up to me, the game would be much, much more challenging and dangerous.

Yshaar

Well man, you made this hard for us. I give it a try:

1. Open your mind and change things radically, some suggestions to get a better feeling for the game:
Did you search for a treasure?
Join 4 big trading guilds or smaller ones. They are fun, community and good trading too.
Get good add ons like Spamfilter, BatmanStoreFilter and LootDrop. Thats it.
Did you try to role-play and group up a bit?
Did you do all the REAL dungeons?
Do you have any interest in community?
Guidance? This game is about freedom of choice, where to go, what to do next and what to put in your skill bar. Experiment. Talk about it in the channel etc.

2. Play on, think about what you miss in WoW and the mini map, turn off the zone chat, as this seems to be bad, and end after 30 days. Maybe do a 2 star review on amazon.


Your choice.

Trouvo

UnknownXV wrote: »

This game is difficult relative to most MMOs available now, but to someone like me who is used to real grind (Runescape) and real challenge and danger (Darkfall), it's a breeze. It's all about perspective. I'm used to games that honestly make ESO look easy.

I am thankful they haven't watered the game down by making it easy and holding your hand. Be thankful the majority of players like a balance. If it were up to me, the game would be much, much more challenging and dangerous.

Elder Scrolls: The Dark Soulshriven XP

StuppyJoe

I want to feel the same way, intellectually, but I'm just kind of zoning out. I'm lost and bored.

Trouvo

StuppyJoe wrote: »

I want to feel the same way, intellectually, but I'm just kind of zoning out. I'm lost and bored.

I think paying attention to the npc dialogue and understanding the why of what you are doing really adds to the game a lot and makes it more enjoyable vs just skipping it all

StuppyJoe

Yeah, I agree. I love to play solo, which is why I feel as if this should be the game for me. But, that said, at least to someone who has never played ES before, much of the npc dialogue is an overwhelming list of names and events that I feel I ought to remember and then feel guilty when I don't. I've tried researching them online but then the game begins to feel like a chore.

Thinking about it, what would probably make a difference would be more community but all the guilds that I've found (I play EU) are trade oriented.

Trouvo

StuppyJoe wrote: »

Yeah, I agree. I love to play solo, which is why I feel as if this should be the game for me. But, that said, at least to someone who has never played ES before, much of the npc dialogue is an overwhelming list of names and events that I feel I ought to remember and then feel guilty when I don't. I've tried researching them online but then the game begins to feel like a chore.

Thinking about it, what would probably make a difference would be more community but all the guilds that I've found (I play EU) are trade oriented.

you can also look on the forums there are quite a few that are not traders

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/categories/EN-pve-guild-recruitment
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/categories/EN-rp-guild-recruitment

Zanne

Tamriel Foundry has an extensive list of guilds, as well, and also a "Looking for Guild" section where you can post what you're looking for and guilds can reach out to you.
http://tamrielfoundry.com/forum/private/guild-recruitment/
There is a wide spectrum of choice, from hardcore pvp to social just wanting people to chat with while you play. Good luck!
eta.. spellz

Greydog

I can relate to Op's conundrum. Except for Baldur's gate back in the day and a very little Morrowind/Oblivion I have not played much in this series. So the lore really doesn't mean much to me. My time has been spent on MMO's ..SWG was my first and has been the measure I use for the rest (sandbox-wise) All the rest just get boring after a while because there's few or no extra fun things to do.

ESO has exploration but it's limited by the small-ish maps. It has the skyshards which is kinda fun and crafting which is mildly fun. Fishing really has no purpose. Beyond all that there is the need to stop and manage your inventory far too often. (crafting would be more fun if it were less frequent)

All that is fine, but without the passion and love for the lore it just gets that tedious feel to it.

Elsonso

StuppyJoe wrote: »

It feels like it's dumping lore on me, giving me little to no guidance, and forcing me to join guilds just to trade. Possibly biases from a pampered gaming childhood in WoW

ESO and WoW are different games with a different focus.

If you are a WoW player that is used to just clicking whatever it takes to get the quest and turn it in and never read the text unless forced to, the fact that there are multiple dialog steps, each with a little tidbit of information, can be very different. Ignoring the lore to get to the content is a common situation in WoW, in part because so many people have done it so many times that they don't care anymore, and in part because lore is not a popular pastime in the game and stopping to read reduces the XP/hr measurement. MoP addressed this deficit, but I am not sure how widely it was accepted.

ESO is dumping lore on you, and in huge quantities. You could almost spend more time in game reading all the books, lore or otherwise, than leveling up the character. You can safely ignore the lore, but it will always be there watching you. Calling to you. Lore is a hallmark of the Elder Scrolls line of games.

Trade is another place where WoW and ESO diverge. ESO does not have a global auction house, in favor of trade guilds. Obviously controversial, but I don't play to trade, so I personally don't care about either. I like the idea of the trade guilds over the auction house, but would prefer local faction-specific guild stores in major towns that are open to everyone to purchase but the guild controls what is for sale and gets all the profit. The problem with public guild stores is one of scale, a vast number of guilds vs a tiny amount of space.

My issue with trade guilds, guild banks, and guild stores is that they are too global. The one thing I do not like about ESO is that everyone is a single player when it comes to guilds. Characters and factions do not matter, it is only the '@'Player. Guilds are above the rest of the game, a meta construct, and are not actually part of the game world.

ESO and WoW do share the chat-based trade transactions where someone blurts out what they want, or what they are selling, and people who see it can respond. I've never done it so I have no idea how well it works. My impression is that it is functional, and for me that is probably good enough.

StuppyJoe wrote: »

I've been stuck at lvl 25 for days (despite prolific exploring of the relevant zones, some dungeons, and a LOT of googling). I'm finding levelling professions (especially clothing) hugely frustrating, and I'm not finding any real sense of community (as most people are forced to join guilds to trade, not chat).

I am not having a frustration problem with 'professions' but I am well behind my character level in all of them at the moment. I really do not like the WoW profession grind where the player collects X materials of specific types and then creates Y items of a specific type in order to optimize the time required to level a profession. The scale of progression in WoW is vast (1-600) and that just breeds formulas and large amounts of materials.

With WoW there is an urge to bring up professions to current before leaving an area and generally I level professions much slower than the main level, so I always end up hanging around zones for a few days farming the gazillion ore, leather, plants, etc that I need for the professions that I can only get in those zones.

I don't (yet) find that urge in ESO, so I am trying to take a more pragmatic approach. I am working on the skills as needed instead of making it a grind or following some formula based on my character level. That is probably why I tend to be behind. When it starts to become apparent that my armor crafting is falling behind what I get from quests and monsters, I take some time to bring that skill up to par so that I am about to craft armor that is in par with the drops, if not better.

As for the community, I do tend to agree. I was hoping for more player-to-player interaction but all that is offered is the chatbox. By now, everyone knows to turn off Zone to avoid gold spammers and other riff-raff. Once you do that, the game gets very quiet. When you use /say, /yell, and /whisper for casual communication you are never sure if people just ignore what you say or have no idea you said it.

I am hoping that future content will improve the player-to-player interaction. We can write our own if they provide a way for Addons to communicate with each other across players.

Amiya

I love both group play and solo play, but for different reasons. Group play in the dungeons, or for anchors are great. But when I'm doing quests I prefere solo, or to be paired with people who take the time to read the text, listen to the voice acting, and hunt down those little journals and letters hidden away.

If I quest by just clicking through everything and running towards the arrow, it's boring, but once you get into the story... sure it slows you down, but it becomes a story you want to pay attention to, you get excited yelling at NPC's for not seeing the conspiracy, and you feel insulted when someone betrays you.

Elder scrolls for me has always been about the stories, I've never found them 'hard' but then I don't game for increased carpel tunnel, I like the Role Playing part of the RPG. Not everyone does.

Coggage

Trouvo wrote: »

StuppyJoe wrote: »

I want to feel the same way, intellectually, but I'm just kind of zoning out. I'm lost and bored.

I think paying attention to the npc dialogue and understanding the why of what you are doing really adds to the game a lot and makes it more enjoyable vs just skipping it all

I just blast straight through quest text. I can get by simply by reading the bullet points of the quest in the Journal and then heading to the map marker. It makes no difference in enjoying the game, at least from me.

I can't understand how the OP is stuck at 25, since there are no shortages of quests. If you have actually finished a zone just move on to the next one. I've completed Stormhaven at lvl 24 and I'm about to head into Ravenspire with a whole new zone of quests to look forward to.

yodased

Honestly just comes across as this game doesn't do it for you. Fortunately there are hundreds of quality mmo a out there that may fit your specific criteria perfectly.

I have played extensively or dabbled in just about every AAA mmo ever created and ESO fits me like a glove, but no other game ever did.

Sometimes it just isn't for you and that's not a bad thing...

That being said I think you just need to find your eureka moment in this game. What are some of your favorite things from other games you played and enjoyed? Anything "missing" from ESO or is it just an intangible "meh"?

Orizuru

Have you tried settings reasonably obtainable goals for your play-time? I think in order to keep from getting overwhelmed, it's important to have simple goals that can be achieved in a single play session. For example, you could set a goal of exploring the area around a specific public dungeon. Visit all the areas of importance that are revealed on the map and look for quests you haven't started yet. This is a task that is relatively easy to complete without much in the way of dependencies that would prevent you from achieving your goal during even the shortest of play sessions.

When you just log in and think, I want to reach level 20 today, it's easy to become discourage and get bored if you aren't able to progress and level as quickly as you thought you might. Small, easily obtainable goals helps to offset the discouragement that leads quickly to boredom and sense of being overwhelmed.

Gaudrath

I can honestly recommend forgetting all about leveling up. Walk around. Don't run. Walk. Talk to every NPC you can. Read books. Then go fishing. Then you might go for a hunting trip out in the wilderness.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, slow things down. Try to get into the world and lore at a human pace. Would you run all day and night, without rest or pause? Of course not. So slow down, try roleplaying your character as if he were really there and you will feel much less pressure.

Might even get to love the world and the stories it has to tell. There are quite a lot of them.

Ravinsild

Try a different class. Perhaps you are bored with your class or the skills you invested in (Bow vs 2h..etc..)

Yankee

StuppyJoe wrote: »

Yeah, I agree. I love to play solo, which is why I feel as if this should be the game for me. But, that said, at least to someone who has never played ES before, much of the npc dialogue is an overwhelming list of names and events that I feel I ought to remember and then feel guilty when I don't. I've tried researching them online but then the game begins to feel like a chore.

I am an old WoW player and have no knowledge of Elder Scrolls lore. I do not try any research, don't care that much.

But I find the ESO NPC dialogue is often funny, sometimes sarcastic, and very entertaining. More than once my wife has asked me why I was laughing.

ZOS put some effort into the dialog in this game.

Korah_Eaglecry

StuppyJoe wrote: »

I'm not sure how to express this: it's not that I think the game is bad, it's fine, it's just that I've been stuck at lvl 25 for days (despite prolific exploring of the relevant zones, some dungeons, and a LOT of googling). I'm finding levelling professions (especially clothing) hugely frustrating, and I'm not finding any real sense of community (as most people are forced to join guilds to trade, not chat).

I've played through worse obstacles on WoW and not thought twice about it, but I'm very close to just giving up on ESO long before my 30 days are up. It feels like it's dumping lore on me, giving me little to no guidance, and forcing me to join guilds just to trade. Possibly biases from a pampered gaming childhood in WoW, but just the same...

I need some inspiration. I WANT to love this game but I don't really. I could happily send it a Christmas card every year and never see it in between.

Note: I've never played any Elder Scrolls games before this. It's not that I can't see that these initial frustrations won't be worked out in a few months but I just don't feel motivated in the same way.

P.s. Gold Sellers: I know that these are a problem in all these games BUT--I don't need Z to spam me with an email every time I report a gold seller and I don't need email spam to thank me for my suggestion that they not spam me to thank me for reporting spam.

Best Regards,
A Hopeful ESO Nub

I cant imagine how youre stuck at level 25 beyond not doing the quests and turning them in. I level up 2 to 3 times a night depending on how productive Im feeling, If Im in a a mood to explore or the nightly RP I do with my guild...If all you want to do is explore though...The XP from that and killing the mobs you interact with. Is not that much. The point is to progress through doing the quests. They want to tell a story. If youre stuck. You only have yourself to blame.

Crafting is not that hard to pick up on. You just have to spare the time to stop and collect the ingredients when you see them. And in turn if you deconstruct particular items marked for deconstruction or deconstruct another players items. The leveling for Crafting becomes much faster.

As for Community. Im not really sure what it is youre looking for here or even trying to complain about. The Guild System in this game allows you to join upwards to 5 Guilds per Account. Linking you to upwards of 2500 other players. If joining a Guild is asking too much. Then I dont really understand what you mean by community and next time you should elaborate.

You complain about a game having a rich story...Really? Thats something youre going to complain about? You admit to never playing Elder Scrolls games but still feel upset over a game that actually wants to tell a story..hmph. As for guidance. Im not sure what else they can do to hold your hand through this. Not only do they mark the map with the location of where it is you can find the quest objectives. They put hints in the the Quest Bar. HINTS! And yet you still feel there isnt enough guidance...As for the Trade Guilds...No ones forcing you to join Trade Guilds. Joining a normal functional Guild will still allow you access to its Guild Store if the Guild is big enough. And even if you refuse to do that. Selling to vendors will still net you plenty of profit. Ive got close to 30k gold sitting in my Bank since I started rolling through Deshaan and I just now finished Shadowfen. All of it net from vendoring items...And that doesnt include the thousands Ive spent on repairs and crafting items.

Seriously. All this is. Is 'Wahhhh its not WoW enough for me.'

ConquerorDromtar

While I already love the TES games and am greatly enjoying ESO, I've found myself feeling lost a couple times already. Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed with the openness of questing and feeling of "choose your own adventure". When that happens I've found it's helped me to take a couple hours to gather crafting materials or grind mobs to clear my head and find focus again.

If you're lacking inspiration, perhaps trying a different class or role/weapon set and/or skills will help. It's amazing how simply swapping out weapons and/or skills can change the flavor of play.

I hope you find what you're looking for here in ESO. If you don't, I hope you find it in a different game.

Cheers,
CD

Lalai

I'll try to address each of your points in turn.

Stuck at level 25: I'm not really sure what to think on this one. As long as I've been exploring, opening chests, participating in events, and doing quests.. I've leveled with relative ease. I do level slowly, but that has more to do with me running around looking for achievement completion items and fishing. Even with all the non-experience gaining stuff I do (like crafting, fishing, gathering, and achievement hunting).. I still get at least a level a day, often times more than that. Are you sure you're doing everything a zone has to offer? As others have mentioned, you get experience for opening chests. If you see a person calling out for help that's sitting with their hands behind their back, and you go over to them, you'll get a nice chunk of exp for what happens next. Same with when you see some guys getting robbed/horse-jacked. Or one of those random summoning portals.

Lore: I'll be the first to admit when it comes to general lore of the TES world, I forget a lot of it. I read the odd note or book, but for the most part I don't. I will however, listen to my quests. Quests are shorter, you don't need to remember them long term, and a lot of my fun factor has come from funny bits NPC's say, or picking up on something they're doing. If that style game play is not for you, you have have trouble getting into the game. My boyfriend is actually not even playing it because he prefers the WoW style.. accept the quest without reading, run from point A to point B without really understanding what you're doing.. type quest. Which is fine for him, and I don't try to convince him ESO is the game to try, he doesn't try and convince ESO to change. We both understand that not all games are going to cater to all people.

Crafting: Crafting can feel like it's leveling slow when compared to other games. I try not to compare it though, and just focus on what I can craft for myself or others. My main goal it to keep crafting at a level where I can make things for myself that are relevant to my level and useful for me. If I focus on that the levels go by less slowly. Most of my experience crafting wise seems to come from items that I deconstruct that I found while adventuring. All my professions (except enchanting) are nearing level 20, or are above 20 (in the case of alchemy and provisioning). If all you do is focus on how far you have to go to get to max, it's going to make it seem a lot slower. So my recommendation there would be.. don't do that.

Community: Community is going to be what you make of it. I know that I'm going to want a smaller, social guild. Therefore I have reserved one of my guild slots for that. I'm in three trading, and one fishing. The fishing is a social one, but a bit big for what I really want in a social guild.. so while I am staying in it cause the people are amazing, I'm also going to be looking for something more focused on Dungeons and group content like the adventure zones later. I would suggest trying to find a guild that fits what you're looking for. May take some guild hopping but you'll be better off for it at the end.

TL;DR A lot of the game is going to be your view on it. If you're only focusing on what you find bad, or unfun, and not seeking out things that you do find fun, you're going to have a bad time. Also keep in mind that not all games are for everyone. This one may not fit your play style and that's okay.

ManiacMcLaughton

It sounds to me like you need a break from MMO's entirely. That's not a "gtfo" or "go play wow noob".. its a... ever once in a while, a player needs a break. A change of pace.

Now, having said that, try doing something different next time you play. Pick a direction (preferably aiming in the general direction of things you have never seen) and do what you want to do. If you have some random NPC run up and scream for help and you don't want to help him, ignore him. If you want to find out whats happening at burned down building 'a', then go poke your nose in, even if it doesn't belong.

This is a game for explorers and adventurers. You want to get the most out of this game? Go poke at stuff. Go do what you want, where you want. Quit riding the game like a mono-rail and have some fun.

I really do believe you seem burned out, and confused. please message me in game if you get to the point where you wanna just hang out with someone. I don't bite unless asked (and wife approved)