I took a break shortly after VR14 was launched. I was extremely excited when I logged in to what seemed to be a whole new game, there were various skill changes, all attributes were reset, new crafting quests and mechanics were introduced, and so I decided to start anew on an alt to experience the game yet again. "Scratch those bad experiences I had, they must have been patched after so many months," I thought to myself.

Coldharbour tutorial was fun, the pace was obviously faster, less distracting loots that could be exploited, more action. Cadwell is still there, oh that lovely old man. The stronger jellyfish mobs that once loitered along the river were no more, I suppose it's okay so there'll be less to zero death in the tutorial. I didn't want to speed through the tutorial, but there really isn't much to do, unlike beta times. It was nicely overhauled to better befit an introduction, I would say. Not too overwhelming, not too shabby. Mounts share the same stats growth? Cool!

I sort of felt that the dungeons and delves were redesigned, cause it seems kind of fresh yet I knew I've been in there before. It was fun, nonetheless, so kudos to that. Attributes now have more impact on skills, and morphs actually mean more due to the inclusion of stamina and magicka morphs, I was loving it but a thought came into mind, I can't simply swap gears and reallocate stats for a different build like the old days, I had to change my morphs as well. Gold drain I suppose I haven't figure that part out, so I wouldn't comment much on that.

Shortly after I familiarised myself with the basic changes, I logged onto my main to try out builds and see what additional content was available. It was also partly due to a friend logging on, hopping on TS and enlightening me on my enquiries. We talked on the new ways to earn gold, the exhilarating thrill I get from accidentally shooting a chicken, how to make full use of the Champion system, so-on.

As the hype wear out, the dejavu began to sink in. Some NPCs still won't talk to me if I'm on my mount, the same old door that had graphical glitches which I reported in beta still wasn't fixed, and the guild bank that requires you to repeatedly talk to the banker just to get it to load? I would be in the casino if I wanted to gamble. As I asked about new contents, the answer I received was "Nothing much, really. We have the Dragonstar Arena if you wanna try it out." What about the Imperial City then? "Nope, still guarded by slaughter fish." Meanwhile I realised my guild bank was cleared out, common I suppose, I then asked about whether they allowed players to set a limit, which again was a no. Players still had to make a workaround to manage those banks and rely on add-ons to sort their inventories.

Ok, let's go try out my build and not sulk in these issues. Again, the reworked dungeons/delves and those side quests humoured us. We had a great time laughing and catching up. The co-op still needed some tweaking, with some quests working and most still require all players to achieve their individual objectives. It's okay I guess, it takes time to iron it out. In terms of PVE, ESO is still a gem. I then noticed some lag spikes and delays, which was reassured by my friend that the game skipped a maintenance, otherwise it would be smooth. Then she suggested Cyrodiil quests..

Upon entering Cyrodiil, the once glorious battlefield is now a wasteland. Not surprising, since PVP was primarily the reason why I left. From the promising alliance war that seemed like the spiritual successor of DAoC, to this post apocalypse wasteland that's more like Fallout. Perhaps it wasn't peak hour. The map was painted red, all 6 scrolls were held north east, and AD was struggling to dethrone the Pact by taking back their favourite Alessia. I'm glad to see that the Dominion was attempting to lure DC in taking back what's in the west, as all the resources were held by AD whilst EP had the forts. It's these little strategies that made the war interesting. I still held on to my 80 slots of PVP sieges, and though I was told that FC is no longer in game, I still have a dozen or two. Not counting the PVP guild bank. Weird way of removing a feature if you ask me. So we ditched the quests and went taking back some resources and Bleakers. It all feels the same, that's until.. oh wait, it feels the same if not worse.

Some of my ballistas still bugs out on me, no biggie. Upon entering Bleakers with only 4 man and no defenders, we were greeted by the 4 immovable flag guards. It turned into a lag fest. FPS was dropping, inputs were delayed, and the pot of oil I dropped? Nobody could use it. Capturing the flag, I noticed the new UI. By the time the door is fixed, it's still bugged. I have no idea what to blame it on anymore. I then noticed people in zone mentioning hackers and whatnot in certain groups, and my naive self thought the players who were intentionally dropping other's frame rates were handled after so many months. I suppose I wouldn't know how PVP has changed unless I'm in a large group, but the idea isn't really that tempting after a mere short run with 3 other players and no defenders. The way I feel, what the experience tells me is that PVP hasn't really changed since that god damned lighting patch.

For a new player, the PVE aspect would appeal to them due to the delves reworks, the further polished crafting and loot tables, and the newly introduced justice system. Looking from a veteran's perspective, it is utterly disappointing, the content crawl, beta bugs, and the amazing PVP experience the game once offered is now long gone. I have heard of the Imperial City since Quakecon 2014, yet have yet to see it. I have read about PVP changes in patch notes and how it is not overlooked, yet I don't experience any changes. And now, with the Orsinium and PVP overhaul hype, I am really not quite sure if ESO could really deliver what they have promised.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it was my own fault that I don't see those changes, I'll experience the game once again through my new alt to prove myself wrong, and my horse needs feeding. As far as hope goes, I believe I'm not the only one hoping. Looking at my guild list, the 4 dead guilds have people who logged in a month ago, 2 months ago, 3 months ago, so-on, even when we left en masse some 6-7 months back. People logged in to hoping to see changes, left disappointed and posting in guild forums. Guild forums scramble to find a new home, and replies end up being a discussion of "If only ESO didn't.." and "I missed the days in Cyro but.."

It seems that the devs have been talking to some guild leaders or council on a timely basis to gather feedbacks and did make some minor quality of life improvements, I do hope ZOS keeps up the good work and one day, ESO will be back to its former glory. We're waiting.