Old ESO Player returning after over 1 year - What to Expect?

Clintius_Maximus · September 2016

Hi all,

So, long ago in a galaxy quite close to here, I was an ESO player. To give you peeps an idea of how long ago this was, it was an era before Tamriel Unlimited had yet existed. Due to scholarly commitments, I sadly had to give up a game which by my reckoning was pretty good, and had heaps of potential. My study load has recently reduced substantially, and once again I feel the draw of the Elder Scrolls universe.

So a couple of days ago I decided to reinstall the game from the original discs that I had (probably a huge mistake, given all the problems I've run into). After spending several dozen hours downloading close to 50GB worth of updates, having to repeatedly repair a broken launcher, I finally managed to get into the game and loaded up one of my old characters. Puffing my chest out with this glorious accomplishment, my ego was slightly deflated when I realised that there was no in-game sound! After repairing the launcher yet again, I realised there was over 5GB of data missing from my game installation. How the game even launched with this much data missing, I have absolutely no idea. I was both horrified and impressed at this feat of software engineering.

Anyway, I've since fixed the issues and have the game running perfectly. I think. So before I jump right back into the action, I am curious: what changes can I expect since I last played? What would you guys sum up as being the most major, game-changing updates to the game. What new features are there to play around with, and what game mechanics, if any have been overhauled? Overall do you guys think the game has seen some major improvements, and what has yet to be tweaked?

BruhItsOver9000 · September 2016

Don't want to spoil it, log in and see for yourself, you'll be amazed on how much the game has changed.

vyndral13preub18_ESO · September 2016

Really over all I dont feel much has changed. New content sure, thieves guild, dark brother hood, new trials, wrothgar. So if you felt the game was lacking content then you are in luck. They have added more.

But overall the way the game plays and handles it is pretty much the same. Unless you were into pvp and left before they added the lag, then that has actually gotten worse.

I guess if you run alts the changing of the vetran system will be a big boon for you. Basically they changed the vet system to be account wide and a little more engaging since you can now spec tour toons differently.

P3ZZL3 · September 2016

I've been away since October last year and came back in August.

First reaction: Holy crap - how many of my toons do I need to fully re-spec and re-gear...this will cost a fortune

Fortunately I still have 500k in my bank - I now have 70k

Biggest thing for me so far, is trying to make money back

But I have to say, I still am sooo in love with the IC Sewers and Wrothgar is very purdy!

teladoy · September 2016

The game change a lot for better.

But with the same issues, lag in cyrodill, loading screens without end, crash problems, unbalance and etc.

So if you quit because for you prio is quality against fun then you can already start to free that 50GB again.

In my opinion this is a game that keeps the people coming and going. This happens to me since a long time, I play for 1 or 2 months, then i quit because i can't handle the lack of good maintenance, bugs fix, unbalance and etc, then after maybe again 1, 2 or 6 months i come back to play for almost the same again...

Smasherx74 · September 2016

Don't expect anything from PVP.

It's been unplayable since 1.6 unless you have a beast cpu.

wolfydog · September 2016

Well if your willing to sub or buy DLC you have a decent amount of content to play through. Theives guild, dark brotherhood, 2 new dungeons, and I'm not if you would have played Wrothgar or not.

You can redo your characters appearance/race changes in the crown shop

Again if you subscribe they now have a special crafting bag which puts any crafting materials in their own bag and all your characters have access to it anytime. If you stop subbing you cant add new stuff into the bag but still can take stuff out and craft from it.

The biggest free changes is probably sub is optional now and veteran levels are gone.

Basically the way it works in 10 champion points =1 vet level. If you had 160cp then all your characters will technically be vet 16 and you can equip the highest level gear on them. If didnt have 160 CP yet, you'll prolly get it pretty fast due to catch up mechanics and rest exp, and of course all your CP is shared as always so once you earn that 160, any time you level a character to 50 they are automatically going to be veteran 16 or CP 160 nowadays.

Caldwells SIlver and gold: now you can go to either of the other two factions when you completed the main story and play the content in any order. OF course in another month or so with One Tamriel coming out youll be able to go anywhere any time.

Nysara · September 2016

Lots of maintenance there and there lol. Whaddaya expect?

Wreuntzylla · September 2016

BruhItsOver9000 wrote: »

Don't want to spoil it, log in and see for yourself, you'll be amazed on how much the game has changed.

One thing that hasn't changed is the frequent outages making it so you can't login. Like now... So, bad advice

Shad0wfire99 · September 2016

Expect that little red banner at the top of the page to make frequent appearances.

Riga_Mortis · September 2016

Pain

jhharvest · September 2016

From a year ago?

Magicka is weak, stamina is strong.
Be prepared to farm for the best gear, and good luck with RNGesus at VMA. I don't think any of the DPS gear is the same from a year ago.
There's new content, most of which is pretty cool.

Lag is still the same. Zergs are still the same.

Remag_Div · September 2016

I started playing again too after a long break and they finally removed the VR system but now I feel even further behind. Before I stopped I think I was VR 10, now I'm up to Champion 140. If the PvE cap is 160 why the heck do they allow players to reach 531, for PvP? Just seems like it's overly complicated for no reason, not sure why they couldn't just stick with a straight forward leveling system.

GreenhaloX · September 2016

Today's issues.. but load of fun good times when able to get online. 4 new DLCs, 2 more recent dungeons, tons of monster helms, shoulders, motifs, blade of woeing someone from behind, cool new costumes and mounts, and additional 30 CP added a couple months ago, and waiting for 30 more to be released with upcoming patch, given I haven't gone cold turkey with ESO, much like I did with cigarettes decades ago. Another instance of today's fiasco, then I believe I may be done, call it a day with ESO.

DivinityDay · September 2016

Vet ranks are gone, so just level any toon to 50 and you are good to go being that you have over 160CP which is endgame so to speak.

Creezy · September 2016

permanent server issues - that's what you should excpect.

Devlin69 · September 2016

Yea ESO+ is pay for 2 weeks of game time and 2 weeks of maintenance per month...

PureEnvelope35 · September 2016

Clintius_Maximus wrote: »

Hi all,

So, long ago in a galaxy quite close to here, I was an ESO player. To give you peeps an idea of how long ago this was, it was an era before Tamriel Unlimited had yet existed. Due to scholarly commitments, I sadly had to give up a game which by my reckoning was pretty good, and had heaps of potential. My study load has recently reduced substantially, and once again I feel the draw of the Elder Scrolls universe.

So a couple of days ago I decided to reinstall the game from the original discs that I had (probably a huge mistake, given all the problems I've run into). After spending several dozen hours downloading close to 50GB worth of updates, having to repeatedly repair a broken launcher, I finally managed to get into the game and loaded up one of my old characters. Puffing my chest out with this glorious accomplishment, my ego was slightly deflated when I realised that there was no in-game sound! After repairing the launcher yet again, I realised there was over 5GB of data missing from my game installation. How the game even launched with this much data missing, I have absolutely no idea. I was both horrified and impressed at this feat of software engineering.

Anyway, I've since fixed the issues and have the game running perfectly. I think. So before I jump right back into the action, I am curious: what changes can I expect since I last played? What would you guys sum up as being the most major, game-changing updates to the game. What new features are there to play around with, and what game mechanics, if any have been overhauled? Overall do you guys think the game has seen some major improvements, and what has yet to be tweaked?

Well server downtime right now shows you that things are in top notch conditions.

Tarrin · September 2016

I have only one advice: just wait 5th october

Ihatenightblades · September 2016

I would tell u to drop whatever Gear u have lol because most likely its outdated.

I would first look around see whats new. But after that i would go with meta build so u can be competitive with others in PvP ( if u PvP )

Reason why i say is because there is so many meta builds running around . Mainly stamDK blackrose tank/dps build. I think u would enjoy the game more if u were able to be competitive.

Last tip would be have patience. Patience is the key in this game

Rohamad_Ali · September 2016

Today you can expect a long server wait for maintenance . Once you finally get inside a wonderful dreamland away from horrible reality . The stability of the game has improved .

wildbear247 · September 2016

Welcome back OP! Overall I think the game has improved a lot since the Tamriel Unlimited update back in March 2015. Some improvements I've noticed & appreciated:

PvE
1) Questing. Starting with Wrothgar I think the solo questing has improved, especially compared to the quests found in the original game.
2) Better chance at monster sets from the dungeons and Undaunted chests.
3) Improved group finder and they've added rewards for using it, thereby motivating players to use it more often. DPS should still expect longer wait times though...I can find a group almost immediately on my healer, but for my stamblade it takes a lot longer (sometimes more than an hour).
4) Trials and DSA have been scaled to cp160, to include the loot drops.

PvP
1) Lag has gotten better. I stepped away from ESO in March of this year, partially because I was so annoyed with the Cyrodiil lag and the resulting "slide show battles" that would ensue when there were like more than 20 people fighting. Since returning to ESO in June the Cyrodiil lag has much improved for me. It's not completely eliminated, but 95% of the time I'm in awesome battles and get no lag (I run the game on Medium video settings in Cyrodiil, and High everywhere else).
2) Imperial City has been a nice addition and often allows for more small scale PvP compared to Cyrodiil. Don't have to deal with riding long distances to find some good PvP action either. The addition of the district control points provides even more focus points for conflict to occur and has been nice.

GENERAL
1) Craft Bags (available to subscribers) really helps free up inventory space. Craft Bag puts all your crafting materials into a special area so it doesn't occupy normal bank or character inventory space. I wish they had a way for non-subscribers to get in on the joys of a larger inventory, but that's another topic.
2) Assistants. You can get a Thief assistant by completing the Thieves DLC main quest, and you can purchase (with Crowns) a Bank and/or Merchant assistant. I really like the Bank assistant myself and use it all the time (can't use it in Cyrodiil though)...saves me from making constant trips to the bank (you can even use it during dungeons).

Pretty sure I'm forgetting to mention something, so I might come back and edit this post if I think of it. Also keep in mind One Tamriel which drops next month. I'm really excited about that update, which brings dueling in PvE zones (with an auto-opt out feature), being able to explore all of Tamriel right from the start, removing alliance restrictions from all PvE content, cool new item sets that drop from regular zones in a more organized way, more dungeons, etc.

So overall I think you're coming to a much better game as compared to over a year ago, especially when One Tamriel drops. If there were one area I would like to see improved it's how the developers respond to player feedback. For example a hot topic on these and PTS forums right now is Bind of Pickup (BoP) gear, but I have yet to see ZOS engage the community on this topic yet.

Pallio · September 2016

Hopefully you got your vMSA weapons a year ago before they ruined RNG in this game. Otherwise mainly just Stam>Mag now and shields suck for Mag Sorcs.

PvP is about the same, tolerable until you get the skills you need, AP and levels come a lot faster now so it is not as painful as it used to be.

Dragonnord · September 2016

Nothing has changed. People still whisper you when you kille them in PvP.

outsideworld76 · September 2016

Lag in Cyrodiil hasn't improved. Even VMA is lagging, unplayable.

raglau · September 2016

I just came back after a year off also, rejoined my old guild and got back into it. So much excellent new content, very much enjoying that. But by god, the support seems to have got a lot worse, and it was bloody awful when I left.

ZOS must be going for a new award of 'company most competent at alienating their customer base'.