ESO is getting rekt in reviews - 6/10's all around

Kharnamatic
Kharnamatic
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MMOs have always gotten " free passes" from the gaming media because they are so big/time gated that it takes so long to review them. By the time a fair review can be written, the horse has already bolted - the people have already gotten tired of waiting and have bought the game.

Now, the reviewers have finally been able to get their reviews up after the console release. And what's the verdict?

Gamespot just put up their ESO review. This, along with Eurogamer having published their review, means that the biggest gaming sites in America and Europe have spoken, respectively.

Gamespot - 6/10
http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited-review/1900-6416189/
"sluggish combat and hollow questing ... masochist[ic]"

Eurogamer - Average / 6/10
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-06-22-the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited-review
"dull, muddled and plagued by bugs"

Ouch, ESO got REKT!

[Moderator Note: Edited per our rules on Bashing & Slanderous Comments]
Edited by ZOS_Racheal on July 18, 2015 12:02AM
  • Azurulia
    Azurulia
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    Eurogamer has had a history of giving some pretty bad reviews in the past. I've come to more or less ignore what they say.

    Gamespot however, is a different story. I'll be checking that review out now as I am curious.
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  • Elsir
    Elsir
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    Speaking for just myself, I couldn't care less what review sites say. A review site does not speak for my enjoyment or lack of enjoyment regarding a game, only I can attest to that, just like only you and others can attest to how THEY like or dislike a game. Take reviews with a grain of salt, I say.
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  • Celestrael
    Celestrael
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    The critics can [snip], I'm having a blast.

    smug_obama_hate.jpeg

    [Moderator Note: Edited per our rules on Inappropriate Language]
    Edited by ZOS_Racheal on July 18, 2015 12:08AM
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  • driosketch
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    Professional reviews are never as important as the most important question you ask yourself, "Do you enjoy the game?"

    https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited/cid=UP1003-CUSA00132_00-GAMECLIENT000000
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  • theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO
    Oh well
  • Shunravi
    Shunravi
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    *Again*
    This one has an eloquent and well thought out response to tha... Ooh sweetroll!
  • Korozenn
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    Meanwhile, I'll keep enjoying my time gaming regardless of what review sites say about the games I like to play.

    There is only one person who can decide whether a game is for them or not at the end of the day and that person is you.
    Edited by Korozenn on July 17, 2015 10:55PM
  • PBpsy
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    Reviews for MMORPGS are an idiotic concept to begin with. They are changing beasts that can only be rated for a specific instant or a specific period of time.
    My feelings for ESO have oscillated from 11/10 best game ever to wth is this rotten POS. for the last two years.
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  • Caesar Tantalia
    Caesar Tantalia
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    Professional reviews and MMOs ..... never a good mix. An MMO evolves, an article does not ...

    They need an article and have deadlines which means that they don't have enough time to spend on an MMO. It's like going to the subway in NYC and then stating that every American is an a**
  • DRINKY
    DRINKY
    To be honest games will get poor reviews at this time ever since it came to light that there was a lot more 'back room work' between the reviewers and game developers. If you look at some of the recent reviews, let's say in the past twelve months, you will find that there have been a lot of 'average' games. The only games that have got really good reviews are the same copy and paste games that come out every year.

    Don't get me wrong I'm not saying ESO is perfect, there is always room to improve any game, but I can't trust a lot of online reviews anymore.i mean come on how can you trust reviewers that will come out and say games like Call of Duty and Madden are great and give them a 8/10 or 9/10. When those games are nearly the same as the previous year, apart from a bit of touching up of graphics.
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    On a separate note console needs text chat in the game
    This would make grouping and trading a lot easier than it is at this moment in time
  • DDuke
    DDuke
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    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited
  • Azurulia
    Azurulia
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    What I find funny, is more often than not, reviewers aren't all that good at the games they review. In fact, I wonder if they are very good at games in general.

    In the gamespot review he mentioned having to go to cyrodiil to level. My instant reaction to that was "lol wut?"
    Absolutely. But when you often have to return to that portion of the game just to properly level up, it becomes a hair-pulling time-sink.

    You're doing it wrong Mr.Reviewerguy. At level 23 I've come to drop quests because I've become over leveled for them, and with 3 and a half zones on the map in front of me, I don't think I will be having any issues getting to 50 at the pace I am going. I dunno how the vet levels work, but I imagine they cannot be too different from what I am doing.

    It mentioned some relics of the past within the game that we supposedly have moved past. As a player from that past, I cannot always say that what is newer is 'always' better. The mmo genre has seen some changes for convenience that more or less destroyed what mmo's originally were.

    I see this review as little more than a disgruntled player who doesn't really know what they are doing, so they are only making it harder on themselves. Instead of problem solving or thinking about what they should be doing, ratehr than writing a thread to complain, they wrote a review to complain. lol

    Personally, I give the game an 8/10. It's pretty good. It needs work, yes, but then again have you seen world of warcraft lately? I think I'll stay right here.
    Edited by Azurulia on July 17, 2015 11:13PM
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  • Elsonso
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    The Gamespot review is pretty shallow. The writer brings out issues, but mostly it sounds like someone from the forums wrote a review to highlight things they do not like. I was not impressed and the review left me wondering where the rest of it was.

    The Eurogamer one actually had me laughing and shaking my head in a couple spot. Too many side quests. All you need is the right destruction spell. However, unlike Gamespot, Eurogamer correctly identified the laziness that ZOS had when they did the overall game design. I am also a firm believer in PLAYSTATION 4 over XBOX ONE, which is what Eurogamer used. Friends don't let friends play ESO on XBox. :neutral:
    Edited by Elsonso on July 17, 2015 11:15PM
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  • ADarklore
    ADarklore
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    The problems with most 'professional reviewers' is that they never have enough time to actually play OR enjoy the game because they have to move on to the next review. Also, just like in movie reviews, the reviewer has a favorite genre, and anything outside of that, they have trouble connecting with... which is why I've never understood how they can have critics who clearly don't enjoy certain types of movies, actually review them without bias.
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  • Azurulia
    Azurulia
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    ADarklore wrote: »
    The problems with most 'professional reviewers' is that they never have enough time to actually play OR enjoy the game because they have to move on to the next review. Also, just like in movie reviews, the reviewer has a favorite genre, and anything outside of that, they have trouble connecting with... which is why I've never understood how they can have critics who clearly don't enjoy certain types of movies, actually review them without bias.

    Whenever I review something, I only do so with things within my realm of interest, as I feel I cannot truly review other things outside of that realm; as I am not their target audience. So my reviewing of them really wouldn't mean too much.
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  • Samadhi
    Samadhi
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    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    And here is the other roughly 90% of ratings from before the name was changed and the Tamriel Unlimited re-release was classified as a separate game:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online
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  • Amsel_McKay
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    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    I lol at the games on metacritic with better scores the ESO... In short you will soon realize that its a bad site to follow...
  • Kaitona
    Kaitona
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    Opinions are like perceptions - quite subjective. Critics are only offering their opinion. I stopped reading critic reviews when Street Fighter routinely outscored Mortal Kombat in reviews. In my opinion, Mortal Kombat was always the more enjoyable, better made game. I hate Street Fighter. If I were to score SF4, I'd give it 3/10 - whereas I'd give MK9 8/10. Yet the critics all scored SF4 9/10. In this example, the critics were wrong - in my opinion.

    In the OPs example, the critics are wrong. This is a stellar MMORPG. I've played these games to end game and maxed out the tradeskills in each one: EQ2, DCUO, WoW, Aion, TERA and GW2. They were all great games. I'd still be playing them if they were better than ESO. Also, I could play any of the current online games but I'm here playing ESO because it's my favourite. So I'd score ESO 9/10.
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  • TheBull
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    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    I lol at the games on metacritic with better scores the ESO... In short you will soon realize that its a bad site to follow...

    Not many games have a better user score than 9.2.
  • SupertoastGT
    Just got it a week ago and while I have a fair bit of nitpicks (Crashing, looping load screens, lua errors, Chat switching channels on it's own between zones, enemies sometimes respawn way too fast, Wizards seem more like supporters rather than proper glass cannon DPS and the Ebonheart pact starting city needs a dye station) I love the game. It's my crack. I had friends reccomend me to it as well. Everyone I talk to loves it and so do I. :D
  • Vontroxler
    Vontroxler
    Soul Shriven
    I'll say this, because I think it's important. For those of you who do enjoy this game and disagree with the bad reviews, go take the time to review it on a few popular websites. We need the player base to support the game in the long term. More money = (hopefully) more development, more people to run dungeons with, more people to experience the game you enjoy so much! We don't need these harsh reveiews to scare away new players.
    Edited by Vontroxler on July 17, 2015 11:37PM
  • Shadesofkin
    Shadesofkin
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    Who cares what reviewers say?
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  • Samadhi
    Samadhi
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    TheBull wrote: »
    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    I lol at the games on metacritic with better scores the ESO... In short you will soon realize that its a bad site to follow...

    Not many games have a better user score than 9.2.

    9.2 from 298 users.

    Meanwhile, the original page for Elder Scrolls Online lists 5.7 from 2316 users.
    "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -- the 14th Dalai Lama
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  • Amsel_McKay
    Amsel_McKay
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    TheBull wrote: »
    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    I lol at the games on metacritic with better scores the ESO... In short you will soon realize that its a bad site to follow...

    Not many games have a better user score than 9.2.

    Not even ESO it seems...

    http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited (73 meta, 8.1 user)
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online (71 meta, 5.7 user)
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited (77 meta, 8.8 user)



  • DRINKY
    DRINKY
    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    Wow I'm actually surprised that the user score is that high. Only because it's normally the in thing on meta critic for trolls to kick the score lower than a grave diggers heel. They must of cleaned up their site since last time I looked at it.
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    And all levels
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    On a separate note console needs text chat in the game
    This would make grouping and trading a lot easier than it is at this moment in time
  • DDuke
    DDuke
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    Samadhi wrote: »
    TheBull wrote: »
    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    I lol at the games on metacritic with better scores the ESO... In short you will soon realize that its a bad site to follow...

    Not many games have a better user score than 9.2.

    9.2 from 298 users.

    Meanwhile, the original page for Elder Scrolls Online lists 5.7 from 2316 users.

    That is a bit suspect indeed & I was surprised to see it at 9.2, especially with PC as platform.

    Console users seem to rate the game around 8-9, which still seems a bit high (imo).

    Personally I'd give it a 7.5 in its current state, hopefully more after next patch (which seems promising).
    Edited by DDuke on July 17, 2015 11:42PM
  • CrazedDark
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    When it comes to reviews, I like watching the Zero Punctuation series from The Escapist Magazine because just about every game gets crap and its great.


    Unfortunately, ESO got a good kick in the butt as well. Pre-Justice System.
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=r3vYM0hzZ2Y
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  • firstdecan
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    The reviews are pretty accurate, if a bit myopic in their scope.

    ESO is not a bad game, but it's not a great game. I think most posters agree that it has the potential and is *almost* there, but it hasn't quite gotten past the last hurdle to greatness. Most people's introduction to TES is from Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim, and those were PHENOMENAL games. Most people expected ESO to be an acorn off that tree, and maybe it is, but that acorn has not flourished quite yet. I think once Zeni gets past having Sybil as their primary product director, the game will improve.
  • driosketch
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    Samadhi wrote: »
    DDuke wrote: »
    For sake of discussion, here's the user score according to Metacritic:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online-tamriel-unlimited

    And here is the other roughly 90% of ratings from before the name was changed and the Tamriel Unlimited re-release was classified as a separate game:
    http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online
    Click the ratings, 379 positive, 144 mixed, 335 negative. The bulk of the bad reviews are from a year ago.

    The game is in a different place now, believe it or not.
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  • Olivierko
    Olivierko
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    Seriously, judging by the reviews mentioned by the OP I strongly beleive that the so called authors today base their results on a magic eight ball.

    I'm definitely not indicating that this game is flawless, I however enjoy it very much.

    With that said, by all means, cross reference any game you've played with other reviews by the same authors and see what kind of results you'll get...
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