My quick 6 month ESO review

parkham · April 2017

This marks six months I've been here playing ESO. I am a less than terrible player now and for the most part, am having fun. I believe that six months is enough time to give a review of what I really, really don't like about this game. The "don't like" list is shorter than the "like".

Don't Like:

Grinding for gear - It's ridiculous and it's getting old, really, really, quick. Although it's good practice for me learning mechanics in dungeons, it's still terrible and probably the one thing that I can see will eventually be the final straw at some point (based on my limited experience and hoards of forum posts I've also seen about it). I don't look forward to grinding for gear.

Guild selling system - This is also a ridiculous system. Everyone should be able to post their WTB and WTS stuff without resorting to a guild. When I am forced to search for something, why can I not do a partial text search as well? Ridiculous as well that I cannot. Not much else to say.

Group PVP - Perhaps I haven't been in PVP long enough. The group I go with is fun, but the activity is quickly becoming.. boring. Take this keep. Defend that keep. Raid. Sorry, but it's becoming boring really, really quick. I know it's unfair to say, but I just don't see the point of it. The danger or Cyrodiil while doing other activities (always be on your toes) is nice though.

Dungeon Group Finder - Will it ever work right?

That's about it for the "really don't like" stuff I've encountered.

OrphanHelgen · April 2017

Took me 4 sec to read your review. Well written hehe

Dragonking06 · April 2017

I can agree with pretty much all of the things you've listed here. Even the stuff about having a search feature in the traders.

But having the guild trader system stops the market from being controlled and EASILY manipulated. Some people still try to, sure. But it would be A LOT worse with one centralized trading system. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and this one is mine.

parkham · April 2017

@Dragonking06 : Regarding buying and selling - my idea was to do things similar to how the post office started - in pubs and taverns. The barkeeper.

You could have taverns scattered throughout Tamriel. Stop by a pub and speak with the barkeep. He'll post your want to buys and want to sells. The more active the tavern is, the more it costs to post. People can stop by the active places or they can stop by the taverns out in the sticks - the prices will tack on a percentage based on how busy the tavern is.

I'm not sure if this would stop the "economy" from being easily controlled or manipulated though.

hal2031 · April 2017

I find the guild trader an inconvenient and a plus makes much harder for those that try to buy low and sell high then an auction house but makes u travel to many places to find decent prices.

Armitas · April 2017

parkham wrote: »

Grinding for gear - It's ridiculous and it's getting old, really, really, quick. Although it's good practice for me learning mechanics in dungeons, it's still terrible and probably the one thing that I can see will eventually be the final straw at some point (based on my limited experience and hoards of forum posts I've also seen about it). I don't look forward to grinding for gear.

One of the things I really liked about this game was theory crafting a build and then putting it together. This grind put an end to that and turned my love for the game into a casual attachment to play with my friends. I had wanted to try amberplasm but I would have to dedicate my life to that and it's not even an endgame set. It's rarely even used. I gave up on VMA weapons a long time ago after I discovered people ran it 2,000 times without getting the weapon they wanted.

MarkusLiberty · April 2017

You forgot the part with the stuff you like

grim_tactics · April 2017

I loved this game until I decided to start vMA

I've broken two controllers and I don't believe flame destros exist in the loot table. Haven't seen the first one in the last month of running this every day multiple times.

After giving up on that grind, the game is not bad.

Smmokkee · April 2017

grim_tactics wrote: »

I loved this game until I decided to start vMA

I've broken two controllers and I don't believe flame destros exist in the loot table. Haven't seen the first one in the last month of running this every day multiple times.

After giving up on that grind, the game is not bad.

I tortured myself farming vMA for awhile as well. Eventually like you said you realize it's not worth it and move on.

Troneon · April 2017

What makes it funny in a desperate laugh sort of way is those are the same things people told zos about since beta/launch....

Hehe...

TheStealthDude · April 2017

I started playing recently as well (September, just before One Tamriel), but have a few slightly different views than you.

Gearing:
I don't mind RNG and don't have a problem with an RNG system. However, what I don't like about this game's itemization system is the way the loot tables are designed. They need to spread items out a but more.

For example, in dungeons: ALL non-named weapons and jewelry only drop off a single boss. That's 12 different weapons, plus shields, rings, and amulets. Multiply that by 3 (# of sets in the dungeon) and by the # of traits available, and we have something like 318 possible items off a single boss, that can't be found anywhere else and that take 30 minutes to an hour to even get to. There are usually 4 to 6 other bosses, all who have only 168 non-named items in their loot tables. That's a ridiculous spread of loot. And this doesn't even include named items, which tend to be weighted more heavily, further decreasing your odds of getting the item you want. Overland isn't much better.

Part of the problem is also that one weapon traits is so far ahead that the others aren't even competitive. Sharpened needs a nerf and/or change.

Guild Trading:
I love this system. They just need to add a better interface for searching the traders. I would also say they should give guilds 3 bids, instead of 1, each week with the condition of only 1 bid per trading spot.

Rohamad_Ali · April 2017

This is a cleverly disguised auction house thread isn't it .

KingKush · April 2017

The RNG really isn't a problem. It only seems that way because Sharpened is so far ahead of the pack that every other trait is practically useless. Make each trait viable and the amount of people complaining about RNG will decrease significantly .

Gandrhulf_Harbard · April 2017

Dragonking06 wrote: »

But having the guild trader system stops the market from being controlled and EASILY manipulated..

No, it really doesn't.

In fact given that so many high end traders are in way more than one Trade Guild and that the biggest Trade Guilds have multiple iterations of the same guilds bidding on multiple Traders I'm hard pressed to understand how any logical analysis of the current trade system in ESO would lead an intelligent observer to think it was NOT already being manipulated on a massive scale.

An Auction House (and for the record I DON'T want an Auction House, I want the current system reformed) allows EVERYONE to be both a Seller and a Buyer and so makes Market Manipulation far LESS likely than a System were many potential Sellers are denied access to the Marketplace.

All The Best

kargen27 · April 2017

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

This is a cleverly disguised auction house thread isn't it .

Well it was...

IcyDeadPeople · April 2017

Calling this a "review" kinda suggests your overall feedback on the game - including what you enjoyed.

Rouven · April 2017

IcyDeadPeople wrote: »

Calling this a "review" kinda suggests your overall feedback on the game - including what you enjoyed.

I agree in general but the OP does say:

(...) a review of what I really, really don't like about this game. The "don't like" list is shorter than the "like".

Rohaus · April 2017

The current trader system is inconvenient at times but I actually love traveling around the world of Tamriel. It's the loading screens from zone to zone that I despise... but that beats riding a griffin from location to location... haha

parkham · April 2017

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

This is a cleverly disguised auction house thread isn't it .

No, it's not. I did not intend it to be that way. I merely responded with my own suggestion to make buying and selling available to everyone.

parkham · April 2017

Rohaus wrote: »

The current trader system is inconvenient at times but I actually love traveling around the world of Tamriel. It's the loading screens from zone to zone that I despise... but that beats riding a griffin from location to location... haha

See my suggestion regarding this. I think it's win/win.

parkham · April 2017

IcyDeadPeople wrote: »

Calling this a "review" kinda suggests your overall feedback on the game - including what you enjoyed.

After I wrote all the things I didn't like, I didn't feel like writing anymore at the time, frankly.

I will append the original post in the upcoming hours or days.

parkham · April 2017

Gandrhulf_Harbard wrote: »

[

An Auction House (and for the record I DON'T want an Auction House, I want the current system reformed) allows EVERYONE to be both a Seller and a Buyer and so makes Market Manipulation far LESS likely than a System were many potential Sellers are denied access to the Marketplace.

All The Best

THIS is the exactly what I want to see.

My suggestion accomplishes the same thing but would instead use barkeeps in taverns throughout Tamriel. Buy and sell fees would be a gold sink and the percentage would be based on how busy the sales and buying posts in each particular tavern would be. Everyone can sell anywhere they want then. Pay more at busy places, play less out in the sticks.

BRogueNZ · April 2017

@Dragonking06

It is easily manipulated and controlled but only by those who already have all the gold.

parkham · April 2017

I didn't want it to turn into some kind of guild auction house thread. But clearly it is a hot button topic as many have commented along that line in my thread (and elsewhere, obviously).

Regarding the little light attacks about me not posting what I like - again, I will post it later. For me, it requires some thought to itemize it all, as there's a whole lot I do enjoy about ESO.

BRogueNZ · April 2017

apologies

parkham · April 2017

TheStealthDude wrote: »

I started playing recently as well (September, just before One Tamriel), but have a few slightly different views than you.

Gearing:
I don't mind RNG and don't have a problem with an RNG system. However, what I don't like about this game's itemization system is the way the loot tables are designed. They need to spread items out a but more.

For example, in dungeons: ALL non-named weapons and jewelry only drop off a single boss. That's 12 different weapons, plus shields, rings, and amulets. Multiply that by 3 (# of sets in the dungeon) and by the # of traits available, and we have something like 318 possible items off a single boss, that can't be found anywhere else and that take 30 minutes to an hour to even get to. There are usually 4 to 6 other bosses, all who have only 168 non-named items in their loot tables. That's a ridiculous spread of loot. And this doesn't even include named items, which tend to be weighted more heavily, further decreasing your odds of getting the item you want. Overland isn't much better.

Part of the problem is also that one weapon traits is so far ahead that the others aren't even competitive. Sharpened needs a nerf and/or change.

Guild Trading:
I love this system. They just need to add a better interface for searching the traders. I would also say they should give guilds 3 bids, instead of 1, each week with the condition of only 1 bid per trading spot.

@TheStealthDude Thanks for your feedback. I think when people complain about RNG, it is what you are describing.

TheStealthDude · April 2017

parkham wrote: »

TheStealthDude wrote: »

I started playing recently as well (September, just before One Tamriel), but have a few slightly different views than you.

Gearing:
I don't mind RNG and don't have a problem with an RNG system. However, what I don't like about this game's itemization system is the way the loot tables are designed. They need to spread items out a but more.

For example, in dungeons: ALL non-named weapons and jewelry only drop off a single boss. That's 12 different weapons, plus shields, rings, and amulets. Multiply that by 3 (# of sets in the dungeon) and by the # of traits available, and we have something like 318 possible items off a single boss, that can't be found anywhere else and that take 30 minutes to an hour to even get to. There are usually 4 to 6 other bosses, all who have only 168 non-named items in their loot tables. That's a ridiculous spread of loot. And this doesn't even include named items, which tend to be weighted more heavily, further decreasing your odds of getting the item you want. Overland isn't much better.

Part of the problem is also that one weapon traits is so far ahead that the others aren't even competitive. Sharpened needs a nerf and/or change.

Guild Trading:
I love this system. They just need to add a better interface for searching the traders. I would also say they should give guilds 3 bids, instead of 1, each week with the condition of only 1 bid per trading spot.

@TheStealthDude Thanks for your feedback. I think when people complain about RNG, it is what you are describing.

I think so too, but I think people do their argument a disservice when they blame it solely on RNG. It's a problem with loot tables, really.

Schwa83b14_ESO · April 2017

I rely on crafted sets far more than dropped sets, even if they aren't the best because grinding for the pieces just has no appeal to me at all. Furthermore, out of the MMO's i've played, I find ESO loot to be the most boring. In general, getting a good piece of gear should be exciting. But here in ESO, it's not. I think this is derived from the fact that gear is primarily driven by sets. Who breaks a set to wear one good piece in another set? Realistically, unless you get at least 3 pieces of a set you'd like, you'll just be holding on to it. Which equates to, "Ooo this is nice... but I don't have enough pieces to justify wearing it yet".

I also agree with comments that gear is too spread out. While I like set bonuses with gear, It really makes loot dull. I can't remember the last time I was excited about a gear piece that dropped.

I'm not overly keen on the guild store system. It's a PITA visiting various stores to see if they have what you want, or which one has the lowest price. But the biggest problem is you can't search by item name! It's absolutely unacceptable.

fred4 · April 2017

parkham wrote: »

When I am forced to search for something, why can I not do a partial text search as well?

Are you playing on PC? Get the Awesome Guild Store addon.

Perhaps I haven't been in PVP long enough. The group I go with is fun, but the activity is quickly becoming.. boring. Take this keep. Defend that keep. Raid. Sorry, but it's becoming boring really, really quick.

Perhaps try Imperial City. If you're like me, maybe you'll find small scale encounters more satisying. I get a kick out of tinkering with my build and slowly getting better. Playing in a big group and steamrolling everyone is not satisfying, neither is being zerged down. Small balanced fights, or duels, is where I feel I make the most difference. I am not aiming for Emperor or any particular achievement, just measuring up against other players.

Big fights are fine on Teamspeak, I guess. That's not me though. Often, in those Cyrodiil fights, the lag sets in and you don't even see or hear your abilities anymore. For example, I gave up on Siege Shield long ago, because it either doesn't work, or I can't see it going up. Crit Rush flakes out so often, it's unusable. I feel my individual skill is kind of wasted, in Cyrodiil. It's more about being in the right place, doing some AOE, shooting into a crowd.

parkham · April 2017

Thanks @fred4 I'll check out that addon and IC considerations as well!