Finally.... My Elder Scrolls Moment

Phantax

I'll be the first to admit I've openly complained about this game, or more specifically its faults, but I do truly love it. That said one things has always eluded me and that was that sense I was playing Elder Scrolls, that I was in Tamriel. Until now....

I decided to take a break from the monotonous grind that is VR and just go explore, no goals, no objective, just walk around. So... I see a hill with some structures on top, I go climb it and wow !


On reaching the top of the hill I found this, beautiful ruins.


Taking a step back to enjoy the ruins in all their glory

As I turned around to back down the other side of the hill I saw this, and for me, this is what I had waited so long for...

Its not just the fact that the view is astonishing. Looking down the hill I can see more ruins in the distance just waiting to be explored. A small road winds its way into the distance and I actually found myself wondering what was at the other end !

That one view, those few brief moments for me summed up everything Elder Scrolls Online needed to achieve, it was an Elder Scrolls game. I spent the next few moments just turning around, enjoying that fantastically beautiful view. Then I logged out ( I figured it just doesn't get any better than that and what a great way to end a days gaming)



More memorable moments-


A View to Keep


Cliffs in the Mist


Riften at Dawn


Latest addition -

Riverside Hamlet


Tower in a Sunny Haze


Waters Crossing


Not so much beautiful, but still a nice moment

Auric_ESO

really really love that 3rd picture. I've been in game since 5day early access and I play every day nearly. And still jsut level 30ish. Becuase I love to look around, farm for some gold, craft, explore. Not in any rush to get to max level becuase when doing that playing becomes a job. If you take your time and enjoy then the game becomes fun again, and by the time you get up to higher levels they got alot of the stuff fixed.

Thechemicals

Sometimes i stop speed clicking quest and listen to them....what i got was a homosexual relationship involving a werewolf. I ended up killing a gay werewolf. I still wish i had just speed clicked through that.

Psychotius

I've had a few of those moments. Usually right in the middle of a quest and the scenery catches my eye, I stop what I'm doing and just enjoy the art.

I also enjoy the fact that it's usually the ruins that have the best scenery and the fact that it doesn't matter what age you are in, there are always epic ruins in Tamriel.

ZiRM

You can explore all the pretty ruins you want but only so many goat bits and lockpicks a person needs.

shaiten

Truly great pics ... My moment was in Al'Kir desert I was running along and suddenly I heard the anchor sound and these huge shadows of the chains crossed the sand infront of me. I turned around and the anchor was a ways off but the sun was just behind and it looked sweet. Wish to hell I had taken a screenshot of it.

Epona222

Auric_ESO wrote: »

really really love that 3rd picture. I've been in game since 5day early access and I play every day nearly. And still jsut level 30ish. Becuase I love to look around, farm for some gold, craft, explore. Not in any rush to get to max level becuase when doing that playing becomes a job. If you take your time and enjoy then the game becomes fun again, and by the time you get up to higher levels they got alot of the stuff fixed.

I'm the same, I really enjoy pottering about, gathering and crafting, exploring, and trying out different characters. I've been playing every day since start of early access and my highest level character is level 20

Phantax

Epona222 wrote: »

Auric_ESO wrote: »

really really love that 3rd picture. I've been in game since 5day early access and I play every day nearly. And still jsut level 30ish. Becuase I love to look around, farm for some gold, craft, explore. Not in any rush to get to max level becuase when doing that playing becomes a job. If you take your time and enjoy then the game becomes fun again, and by the time you get up to higher levels they got alot of the stuff fixed.

I'm the same, I really enjoy pottering about, gathering and crafting, exploring, and trying out different characters. I've been playing every day since start of early access and my highest level character is level 20

Good for you guys. I'm VR3 now ( I haven't tried to rush) but I do wish I could go back and maybe further explore my original starter faction zones. Unfortunately I wouldn't get any xp for doing that so I'm kinda stuck....lol

thorntk421

See what all you miss when you rush to end game as soon as possible? Pick a direction and run is how I play every day and, I have those "moments" at least once a day!
I've been playing since 5 day early access and my highest lv character is only 32 and I have a blast nearly every time I log on.
With ESO it's the journey that matters not the destination.

Sakiri

Pick a direction and run is what acrewed so many out of the quest achievement for shadowfen.

ThePonzzz

Sakiri wrote: »

Pick a direction and run is what acrewed so many out of the quest achievement for shadowfen.

Yeah, Shadowfen was a giant mess. I'm still waiting for patch 1.1 to get that fixed, as I killed the NPC givers that blocked me from some of the quests.

Outside everything blending in over there, Shadowfen is very visually appealing. But The Rift is hands down, my favorite zone in EP.

KhajitFurTrader

Great screenshots, @Phantax‌.

So ESO really is a game where one can stop and smell the roses... if one dares to.

Lonestryder

I'd estimate that a full 90% of my time in game is spent opening my map, picking a point on the far side of wherever I log in, and exploring all the way there...slowly, carefully.

I turn the music off and the ambient sounds way up, put on the headset and off I go, a real glass of wine in hand to complete the goodness.

Since my main is a wood elf ranger-type, I have chosen never to use fast-travel and I prefer to walk/run, rather than gallop past everything on a horse.

I'm only level 17, but having been here from the beginning, I can tell you that I have exprerienced quite a bit for someone that low, likely sitting somewhere approaching the 100 quest completion mark.

Like other MMOs before it, I have found a way to play just outside the margins of the core game so I don't level too fast, but rather enjoy every moment.

I have no goal whatsoever to reach the final level of adventure progression, but you can bet that when I do get there, I will have smelled entire oceans full of roses.

Willow

Great Pics!. The game is incredible in many ways once you slow down enough to enjoy them.

Welcome to The Elder Scrolls.

I hope you have many more moments like this.

wrlifeboil

I keep looking for the Imperial City and White tower in the background.

Taleof2Cities

My Altmer Sorc had a few seconds of downtime to take this snapshot ...

aufischb16_ESO

I definitively take much more time with my second char and always make sure I have done every quest and found all the books and skyshards. I think I was so stressed out with my first char (all the people running around, the preceived pressure to do the quests as fast as possible) that I missed out on the TES-moments.
However, I am now able to enjoy the scenery much more and I love to compare the Eastmarch and the Rift from Skyrim with the ESO-versions. Some things I recognise, others I just tell myself that this has fallen to ruins till Syrim.

Phazzle

Couldn't agree more. I had a moment of my own a few days ago when I was questing. I was on the quest where I found someone who had their eyes cut out by a mad cultist and begged me to get revenge just before he died. It gave me chills. This is what we play for!

Blackwidow

FINALLY.... MY ELDER SCROLLS MOMENT

So, your moment was seeing a building? ROFLMAO!

I was expecting this big story that would bring me back to TES and all the fond moments of those games. Not some screen shots of ruins that I have see 100s of times in ESO.

Moonraker

Blackwidow wrote: »

FINALLY.... MY ELDER SCROLLS MOMENT

So, your moment was seeing a building? ROFLMAO!

I was expecting this big story that would bring me back to TES and all the fond moments of those games. Not some screen shots of ruins that I have see 100s of times in ESO.

Someone didn't get there Sweetroll ration today...

Funny that you say Graphics in ESO are good. I like the way the world looks., yet you find the need to post some sarcy comment about a thread expressing the same viewpoint.

Thanks for posting @Phantax, it's always cool to share experiences.

rysc

I agree with you completely. There are quite a few places I had to just stop an stare, although i think what truly makes it a ES experience is that, as I look at the lovely downhill picture you took, I think; OK, gotta look around that tree to the left because you just know there is a chest hidden between it and the rock ledge beside it. Oh and I need to look at the big rock on the right cause there is probably some enchanting stuff over there. And you just now there is a lore book tucked away in those ruins.... Wait do I hear M'aiq over there complaining about mudcrabs as well..............

Diaboli

In Cyrodiil, between the two EP cities in the top right, there is a massive group of waterfalls that I had to admire in detail with my graphics turned up. When in PVP, I always set my graphics to low, so I miss some of the finer points of the environment.

But that waterfall was so beautiful that I sat there for a long time just watching and listening. I had a moment of perfect immersion where I was able to imagine myself standing in that spot. That is rare for me.

Despite all the nags people have with this game, it really is par for the course for any of the Bethesda franchises. It's buggy on release because it's redefining paradigms, a lot of this is unexplored territory. Fallout new vegas was buggy as hell my first playthrough, but there is nothing like it, there is nothing to compare it to.

I digress, this game is beautiful. I can't wait to stain the landscape red with all of your brains (in-game)!

Reignskream

Auric_ESO wrote: »

really really love that 3rd picture. I've been in game since 5day early access and I play every day nearly. And still jsut level 30ish. Becuase I love to look around, farm for some gold, craft, explore. Not in any rush to get to max level becuase when doing that playing becomes a job. If you take your time and enjoy then the game becomes fun again, and by the time you get up to higher levels they got alot of the stuff fixed.

Same here, currently level 35, started 5 day early access, did a few betas before hand, and I'm so slow at leveling, but it doesn't matter because I'm so caught up in exploring and scenery that i forget about it. -- If a game can do that to me then they have me.

Safe to say i won't be going back to WoW anytime soon.

michaelpatrickjonesnub18_ESO

Ahhhh... screenshots.

If only screenshots could save this game, I'd paint them all and hang them in The Louvre.

Blackwidow

Moonraker wrote: »

Funny that you say Graphics in ESO are good. I like the way the world looks., yet you find the need to post some sarcy comment about a thread expressing the same viewpoint.

I don't know what sarcy is.....

My point is, it is sad that the "great TES experience" is seeing a building. Not some great quest or some fantastic story.

I'm glad this moment made him happy, but it fell short of what I was hoping or expecting from ESO.

Korozenn

Agreed. I think exploration and taking your time to listen to voice dialogue and more in the game is all essential to what makes this game feel like an Elder Scrolls title more so than anything else.

Still remember stepping foot on Bleakrock Isle for the first time, hearing that chilling opening music, and having that same chill run down my spine as I looked towards the snow in the distance to see it all glistening crystal-blue in the moonlight. So beautiful! :')

felixgamingx1

OP this is my Elder Scrolls moment for you

babylon

I'm a real tourist, always stop and take screenies of random places I think look cool.

someuser

@Blackwidow
There has been a few quests I've done that were memorable as far as video game stories go... I find the stories themselves can actually be pretty good at times (with various supporting books and letters that add depth and context)... However, the NPC cut-scene dialog leaves a LOT to be desired.

I think the cut-scenes need to be more immersive and leave the player with a unique experience. I doubt it will be changed, but its my biggest complaint.

@Phantax
Glad you had that moment. There are many of them to be had. Like many other posters here, I've been here since 4-day early release and my highest character is lvl 24. Been having a lot of fun with the game with many SS to prove it

Skirmish840

Yup I stopped speed clicking one day when I was listening to an Argonian, I was amazed at the way they used the english language to describe things, now everytime I come across a new race, I stop to listen to their dialect.

My Son loves the different views like the ones you showed, sunsets and so on

Great Pics

pronkg

There is this place in cyrodill where you can get on top of a huge, huge mountain through a cave. Somewhere near Bruma I think.

Don't go if you're scared of heights