Thinking about returning to ESO

svartorn · October 2019

Backstory: A beta player, played from launch for about 3.5ish years, quit during Clockwork City. I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game. There was also huge problems with cheaters using cheat engine and stuff. Went back to WoW and played for about 2 years. Just unsubbed due to the Blizzard/China situation... I was pretty unhappy with BfA in general but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've been doing some light reading on the DLC's and the dragons look pretty cool. What is the overall state of the game? Do people still cheat constantly? Is it worth coming back?

rotaugen454 · October 2019

Since you already own the game, why not test it out yourself? All you will get on a forum is a mixed bag of opinions.

Acrolas · October 2019

Everybody is going to have to re-download the entire game client around the time Update 25 releases in Q1 2020.

So I'd recommend holding off a few months and using that new client as your way of reevaluating ESO.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/56681

BigBragg · October 2019

Also was a beta tester, and for a long time the game really seemed to improve a lot. Some things are getting fixed, but... the game is still buggy. The lag is even worse. Classes and builds right now are more homogenized than ever, with an even more extreme swing in quarterly balance changes. They have plans and a roadmap to increase performance, but these won't be super impactful until Q1 at the earliest.

svartorn · October 2019

Acrolas wrote: »

Everybody is going to have to re-download the entire game client around the time Update 25 releases in Q1 2020.

So I'd recommend holding off a few months and using that new client as your way of reevaluating ESO.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/56681

Interesting! I'll keep my eye on it.

I just remember getting booted from the game 3-4 times trying to do a single writ, in fact, it was my very last post back in August 2017 about getting kicked offline constantly while trying to play. I'm very curious if this has improved.

svartorn · October 2019

BigBragg wrote: »

Also was a beta tester, and for a long time the game really seemed to improve a lot. Some things are getting fixed, but... the game is still buggy. The lag is even worse. Classes and builds right now are more homogenized than ever, with an even more extreme swing in quarterly balance changes. They have plans and a roadmap to increase performance, but these won't be super impactful until Q1 at the earliest.

Sounds about like what I remember.

ChunkyCat · October 2019

As with all things in life, it will be what you make of it.

Are there bugs? Is there lag? Is the crown store important? Of course.

Is there still fun to be had?

That’s on you.

rpa · October 2019

Set your expectations very low and try it. ESO does have flaws, annoying ones, but can be fun anyway.

KappaKid83 · October 2019

Dungeons and the content are in a really good place but PVP is as laggy and buggy as ever. Like someone else posted, class builds are really close together and have little to no identity between each other sans Magicka and Stamina builds with Stamina builds outperforming right now. The servers still can not handle Prime Time USA while in Cyrodil and there are still a lot of bugs within the game that have not been addressed or that keep popping up every time a new patch or maintenance hits.

All of that aside I play this game every night, the game plays so much different than any other MMO I have ever played(PVP standpoint) and is just fantastic in that regard. If they could fix the issues with the bugs and maybe even overhaul the engine this game would be the most popular MMO on the market. I would wait for Q1 2020 and come back to see what the performance roadmap actually turned out to be.

Taleof2Cities · October 2019

^^ These last two posts are on point.

It appears your tolerance threshold might be too low to be playing MMO-genre games, @svartorn.

I’d seriously consider whether MMOs are the right type of genre for your individual playstyle and overall enjoyment ... before coming back to ESO.

Maybe you can get by with just PvE content where the some of the issues you described are small to non-existent.

The only way to find out is play ...

starkerealm · October 2019

svartorn wrote: »

Acrolas wrote: »

Everybody is going to have to re-download the entire game client around the time Update 25 releases in Q1 2020.

So I'd recommend holding off a few months and using that new client as your way of reevaluating ESO.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/56681

Interesting! I'll keep my eye on it.

I just remember getting booted from the game 3-4 times trying to do a single writ, in fact, it was my very last post back in August 2017 about getting kicked offline constantly while trying to play. I'm very curious if this has improved.

That's one of those technical issues that's hard to pin down or predict. I used to have a raid leader who had that problem; she later admitted she was on wireless, while still insisting that it wasn't the problem. It was.

Aussie players also have some pretty severe issues. Their traffic gets routed through Hong Kong by the anti-DDOS prevention service, so their latency is out of hand.

Steam's login server is still an issue, if you own the game through them.

Other than that, you should be golden. But, if it was a local issue, it may still be in effect.

FierceSam · October 2019

I enjoy playing it. I especially like the people I have met in game, and generally everyone I've met in game has been cool.

Are there issues? yup, but you work around them.

I don't really do a load of PvP, but that seems to be where all the aggro and badness is, from crap performance of the game to crap performance of the players.

As @rotaugen454 said, if you own the game, have a go and see what you think. Don't let me tell you what to do...

Iskiab · October 2019

KappaKid83 wrote: »

Dungeons and the content are in a really good place but PVP is as laggy and buggy as ever. Like someone else posted, class builds are really close together and have little to no identity between each other sans Magicka and Stamina builds with Stamina builds outperforming right now. The servers still can not handle Prime Time USA while in Cyrodil and there are still a lot of bugs within the game that have not been addressed or that keep popping up every time a new patch or maintenance hits.

All of that aside I play this game every night, the game plays so much different than any other MMO I have ever played(PVP standpoint) and is just fantastic in that regard. If they could fix the issues with the bugs and maybe even overhaul the engine this game would be the most popular MMO on the market. I would wait for Q1 2020 and come back to see what the performance roadmap actually turned out to be.

I think this is about right. You can still have fun but server performance sucks.

ArchMikem · October 2019

ZOS has lined out a timeline for a performance overhaul to take place over the next half year starting with Dragonhold, and with the more substantial measures coming in Q1 and Q2 of next year. If you had particularly bad performance or you're easily ticked off then keep waiting, otherwise personally I think the game is playable just fine already. For me, anyway.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/487396/official-discussion-thread-for-esos-performance-improvements-plan/p1

Thogard · October 2019

Unfortunately, the only MMOs worse than ESO are all of the other MMOs on the market right now.

Zyreist · October 2019

As with others, if performance issues have been a problem in the past, waiting until Q1 of next year may be wise.
That said, I've been playing since beta myself(less a brief period I couldn't afford to sub after launch), and the promise of continuing story expansions keeps me coming back, as a big fan of having coop story content to play through with others. The quality of the expansion packs seems to be increasing as they go, now that they've settled on this Dungeon/Chapter/Dungeon/StoryDLC format(or whatever order it was), for their quarterly scheme of pacing new content.
All you'll miss out on by waiting for next year is event rewards anyway, and you can always enjoy the backlog of story at your own pace, if you're into that.

Unfortunately I can't speak to anything regarding Cyrodiil, I haven't been there for months, and have no idea of its current state. Not really my jam, as it were. Also not familiar with this cheating issue, but I assume that's a PvP thing aswell?

svartorn · October 2019

Zyreist wrote: »

Unfortunately I can't speak to anything regarding Cyrodiil, I haven't been there for months, and have no idea of its current state. Not really my jam, as it were. Also not familiar with this cheating issue, but I assume that's a PvP thing aswell?

Yeah. People flying through the air firing hundreds of meteors rapid fire. Other people being completely unkillable. It was nuts.

validifyedneb18_ESO · October 2019

svartorn wrote: »

Backstory: A beta player, played from launch for about 3.5ish years, quit during Clockwork City. I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game. There was also huge problems with cheaters using cheat engine and stuff. Went back to WoW and played for about 2 years. Just unsubbed due to the Blizzard/China situation... I was pretty unhappy with BfA in general but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've been doing some light reading on the DLC's and the dragons look pretty cool. What is the overall state of the game? Do people still cheat constantly? Is it worth coming back?

Crown store is still something on an issue imo, game is still riddled with years-old bugs too. BUT there has been what I think is the first solid stab at trying to fix some of the most poignant bugs this PTS cycle (Fixing the *** queue and potentially improving load screens), I have my doubts as to how well these will be fixed, but its better than ignoring the issue.

Lag atleast on EU in the last day of re-joining seems better than it was. Gameplay wise the community has the general issues as usual, a player-base with a drastically low number of non-casual players, a grindfest that is very anti-alting (something which has been alleviated by new crown store purchases...)

Game is fun, just could be way more fun. I particularly enjoy having literally no bank space or bag space across any of my 8 characters because Im just sampling the water and not buying ESO+ again yet.

Tiff_ar15 · October 2019

I quit playing around Homestead. Then came back for a bit.. quit again and am now back once more. Honestly, the game is good. I like the new necromancer class and I think Elsweyr, Morrorwind and Summerset are decent. The new dlc dungeons are pretty darn good. But yes, there are still bugs and performance issues. I've just been playing despite that.

Unfadingsilence · October 2019

I'll be 100% with you I have never quit the game and even when I take my "breaks" from the game I still log on each day on Xbox NA and EU do get my log in rewards and do crafting on my NA account and been leveling a PC NA account slowly as well but if you left the game what was the reason for leaving to begin with? Because its probably still in the game to be honest nothing much has changed other than new quest , new gear and new L2P issues with class changes nothing more nothing less

DeathPK · October 2019

well if you quit because of clock work city don't come back lol clock work city was the last good patch, next patch looking to be another disaster.

Kelces · October 2019

Content is great and gets more challenging, it's definitely worth looking into. Maybe you might try the necromancer, given you intend to upgrade every single bit on your account.

The performance is not so good, which is due to the previous "cheat engine" stuff, that ZoS engaged with some software that since causes a huge drain on performance. At least we don't see that blatant cheating anymore now.

Just take a look in for free, then you'll have a clearer view of how it is now. You still can decide later...

chris211 · October 2019

svartorn wrote: »

Backstory: A beta player, played from launch for about 3.5ish years, quit during Clockwork City. I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game. There was also huge problems with cheaters using cheat engine and stuff. Went back to WoW and played for about 2 years. Just unsubbed due to the Blizzard/China situation... I was pretty unhappy with BfA in general but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've been doing some light reading on the DLC's and the dragons look pretty cool. What is the overall state of the game? Do people still cheat constantly? Is it worth coming back?

i strongly recommend you wait till next year when the last batch of performance fixes come out the game is awful right now

Zacuel · October 2019

The game is good. I think a lot of peoples frustration comes from a feeling of knowing the game has the potential to be a lot better.

It's like somebody keeps dropping the ball

Not naming any names.

teladoy · October 2019

Nobody can tell you what you have to do. But we can tell you some facts: if you played till clockwork city then you have to know there is not too much difference since then. The game is more or less the same with some fixes and improvements, but nothing remarkable.

I like to do for example only Bgs, i'm not doing pve anymore and i also don't go to Cirodill. I have also to clarify that i like a lot the pve in this game and the dungeons. From the other side Cirodill never liked me, i went a few times and never catched me.

But as always every patch comes with things you may like and things that don't. That's why it has to remain always the simply answer if you like overall the game or not. If the answer is yes then you would play, if not, then you will quit by yourself.

Yuffie91 · October 2019

People here will give you different opinions and it won't help you any. If you want to come back then do so. If not then don't

Grianasteri · October 2019

svartorn wrote: »

Backstory: A beta player, played from launch for about 3.5ish years, quit during Clockwork City. I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game. There was also huge problems with cheaters using cheat engine and stuff. Went back to WoW and played for about 2 years. Just unsubbed due to the Blizzard/China situation... I was pretty unhappy with BfA in general but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've been doing some light reading on the DLC's and the dragons look pretty cool. What is the overall state of the game? Do people still cheat constantly? Is it worth coming back?

If you like MMOs, I would strongly encourage you to return, especially if you are taking a break from Wow, or leaving it entirely.

I am not really aware cheating taking place on any scale. Some farming bots exist, if you find them report them. Some performance issues persist, but these are not game breaking for me.

There are issues with the current nerf/buff/update cycle, but with the latest there has been a huge swell of feedback and one hopes Zos will cease such regular updates.

ESO continues to be, in my opinion, by far the best MMO on the market bar none. Yes there are bugs, yes there are issues. What game doesnt have these? The game is incredible, size, scale, variety, customisation, housing, fashion, armour set variety, skill variety, story content, dungeons, trials etc etc etc. Jump back in

redlink1979 · October 2019

svartorn wrote: »

I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game.

Guess what? Things haven't changed...

svartorn · October 2019

Grianasteri wrote: »

svartorn wrote: »

Backstory: A beta player, played from launch for about 3.5ish years, quit during Clockwork City. I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game. There was also huge problems with cheaters using cheat engine and stuff. Went back to WoW and played for about 2 years. Just unsubbed due to the Blizzard/China situation... I was pretty unhappy with BfA in general but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've been doing some light reading on the DLC's and the dragons look pretty cool. What is the overall state of the game? Do people still cheat constantly? Is it worth coming back?

If you like MMOs, I would strongly encourage you to return, especially if you are taking a break from Wow, or leaving it entirely.

I am not really aware cheating taking place on any scale. Some farming bots exist, if you find them report them. Some performance issues persist, but these are not game breaking for me.

There are issues with the current nerf/buff/update cycle, but with the latest there has been a huge swell of feedback and one hopes Zos will cease such regular updates.

ESO continues to be, in my opinion, by far the best MMO on the market bar none. Yes there are bugs, yes there are issues. What game doesnt have these? The game is incredible, size, scale, variety, customisation, housing, fashion, armour set variety, skill variety, story content, dungeons, trials etc etc etc. Jump back in

Yep, re-installed last night. Got kicked out of all my guilds (not surprising) and I had 0/80 friends online. Looks like I might be hunting for some new friends.

p_tsakirisb16_ESO · October 2019

svartorn wrote: »

Backstory: A beta player, played from launch for about 3.5ish years, quit during Clockwork City. I thought the game was excessively buggy (constant visibility checks in Cyrodiil raids, etc) and too much attention was paid to the crown store and not to fixing the game. There was also huge problems with cheaters using cheat engine and stuff. Went back to WoW and played for about 2 years. Just unsubbed due to the Blizzard/China situation... I was pretty unhappy with BfA in general but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've been doing some light reading on the DLC's and the dragons look pretty cool. What is the overall state of the game? Do people still cheat constantly? Is it worth coming back?

Just download and client and play.