Would you still play ESO if it was NOT a Elder Scrolls game?

Olauron · December 2022

No

Jarl_Ironheart wrote: »

With all this being said TLDR, would you still play Elder Scrolls Online with all its issues if it was in no way affiliated with The Elder Scrolls franchise and a stand alone new IP.

Just to make it clear: I would not play ESO even without any of the issues if it was not an Elder Scrolls game.

Hamish999 · December 2022

Yes

I actively avoided ESO for a several years because it *was* a TES game.
For background my first TES game was Oblivion when it first came out, I quite enjoyed it but found it very repetitive (copy and paste towers/dungeons). I then played Morrowind and while I did like it I don't think I ever finished it. I then played Skyrim and if I'm honest I found it tedious (unpopular opinion I know lol). So I'm not a TES fanboy by any stretch of the imagination lol

I was then gifted the ESO Guilds and Glory edition on Steam 5 and a bit years ago by a good friend via Steam and I haven't looked back. I've racked up 13.5K hours playing ESO in those 5 years even though I took a break of around a year after about 3 years lol.

Envvy · December 2022

No

I bought it because of Elder Scrolls, I play it because of that. It's the only mmo I play BECAUSE of that. If it wasn't, then I wouldn't be here.

Eiagra · December 2022

"Maybe."

I'm in it more for the orcs than the Elder Scrolls, so if they're out, then I'm not interested. If they're in, then I'd check it out.

AvalonRanger · December 2022

No

If ESO is not one of Elder Scrolls series, then it's just stupid dated boring game.
Don't want to pay for those things. Traveling all the Tamriel landscape is most important
aspect of this game for me. Without TES lore, then ESO is nothing.

Bekkael · December 2022

No

Absolutely not. I never would have given it a chance, as I dislike always online mutiplayer model of gaming. I still very much dislike MMO, but I tolerate it for the Elder Scrolls world and quests. Still hoping for a single-player TES VI....someday.

Syldras · December 2022

No

Jarl_Ironheart wrote: »

With all this being said TLDR, would you still play Elder Scrolls Online with all its issues if it was in no way affiliated with The Elder Scrolls franchise and a stand alone new IP.

I would have never started playing ESO if it wasn't a TES game, and it seems that's a common reason for many players to be here. I can even imagine that the most loyal ESO players are here because of TES, so in my opinion it would make sense to focus on and make use of that - well written quests, dialogues and deep lore. I don't say other aspects aren't important - but being set in the world of TES is the one big advantage ESO has, the thing that keeps people interested, that makes them (to a degree) tolerate all kinds of flaws. Players who don't care for TES' lore might play ESO, but I think many will just move on after a while if they see something else that seems new, more interesting or just less buggy.

Castagere · December 2022

Yes

The game does everything right for me.
Massive world to explore
Questing everywhere with voice-overs
Delves and public dungeons
World bosses.
This is all I play mmo's for. I could care less about PVP or group content unless it's with real-life friends only.

SickleCider · December 2022

Yes

I've played some TES before but I'm not invested in the lore. I also don't like MMOs. I'm not sure what I'm doing here. 🤔✨

ArchMikem · December 2022

No

I never had the slightest urge to play an MMORPG, I only bought ESO because of the ES part.

haelgaan · January 2023

Yes

yes, i would have looked at ESO without the lore link. I was looking for something DnD-like to play with family, and found this.

ElvenOverlord · January 2023

No

BlueRaven wrote: »

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

I only bought ESO because it was related to TES and would give me something to do until TES6 is launched. If it was originally advertised as anything other than ESO I would never have bought it.

Yeah. If this game was not Elder Scrolls related I never would have picked it up.

Yeah after playing Skyrim for the zillionth time I wanted something new and different cause I fell in love with Elder Scrolls and the lore and ES6 wasn't arriving anytime soon. Was put off cause of the rocky launch and early reviews but decided to try it out in 2019 after hearing about how the game had improved from launch and been here ever since. Its funny, I have not played Morrowind or Oblivion yet. Playing those two are part of my New Year's Resolutions actually. Been looking up the best mods to use off and on.

FeedbackOnly · January 2023

No

World building based on elder scrolls keeps me here

DP99 · January 2023

No

Nope. Let me put it this way, I also play DCUO, and I pay for the Sub, and with that Sub, I also get Everquest I & II for free, but I have never touched either one in 10 years of playing DCUO and paying for the Sub, because I'm just not interested in those fantasy games. Nor, have I ever played WOW, or Guild Wars, or Black Desert or even Final Fantasy Online, and I like Final Fantasy. If this wasn't an Elder Scrolls game, I would've never touched it.

AltanasAExcalibur · January 2023

Yes

I went with yes.

The "template" this game uses is more sustainable for the casual player.

I don't want the stress of requiring to party up to level or the stress of raid guilds.
FF11 and WoW were crazy stressful and it took ages to get from town to your party's xp grinding locations.
FF14 while top MMO is also very stressful, and a lot of quests are so forgettable.
SWTOR had bad world design with awfully long trips from A to B, and was only good to play when they had xp events so you only had to do your class storylines and ignored the rest of the game.

It's enjoyable to play ESO as a chill game with pve questing, and it's nice to see the overworld and towns somewhat fleshed out. I do also like delves and public dungeons. Other MMOs would just have generic fetch quests from overland mobs. At least this game disguises that and focuses more on exploration.

If this template was used for their next MMO i would be all in. I can imagine the template applied to say a Star Wars or Starfield game for example where each pact's region would be a planet(s), and Cyrodil a feet on the ground warzone and Imperial City a space-orientated zone.

Elsonso · January 2023

AltanasAExcalibur wrote: »

I went with yes.

The "template" this game uses is more sustainable for the casual player.

I don't want the stress of requiring to party up to level or the stress of raid guilds.
FF11 and WoW were crazy stressful and it took ages to get from town to your party's xp grinding locations.
FF14 while top MMO is also very stressful, and a lot of quests are so forgettable.
SWTOR had bad world design with awfully long trips from A to B, and was only good to play when they had xp events so you only had to do your class storylines and ignored the rest of the game.

You might want to take a glance at Guild Wars 2, too. Not sponsored.

AvalonRanger wrote: »

If ESO is not one of Elder Scrolls series, then it's just stupid dated boring game.
Don't want to pay for those things. Traveling all the Tamriel landscape is most important
aspect of this game for me. Without TES lore, then ESO is nothing.

Unfortunately, I am beginning to realize that the Lore being generated here is for driving the cash shop and is less about filling out meaningful Elder Scrolls Lore. I just finished Firesong and I can see the future of loot boxes.

Finedaible · January 2023

No

This poll shows exactly why ESO has persisted for so long. During the many issues in 2020-2022 I've really started to feel that ESO is less and less of an Elder Scrolls game, which is about the only thing that matters to any ES fan. This year, 2023, will likely define the future of ESO for many. It will persist for a while regardless of the outcome but if ZoS cannot wake up and revive itself in 2023, it will forever blight the Elder Scrolls name and franchise.

With the current state of management within Bethesda, I do not hold much hope for ES6 sparking an Elder Scrolls revival either.

Anhedonie · January 2023

No

No, ESO always meant to be a stop gap between TES5 and TES6 for me.

Aztrias · January 2023

Yes

If it's a setting i really enjoy.

LunaFlora · January 2023

No

i first started playing the game in 2018 because i had finished most of Skyrim and wanted something else Elder Scrolls. i still love it because it's Elder Scrolls and if it weren't i wouldn't have ever wanted to play it. it's why i don't play ffxiv or wow, those franchises don't interest me

kargen27 · January 2023

I doubt I would have tried the game if it were not part of the Elder Scrolls universe. Other MMOs I tried I burned out on really fast.
That said I do like the game and even if not part of Elder Scrolls I would still play.

StamPlar_1976 · January 2023

No

Nope. Only reason I got into this game is because of Skyrim. But I don't play it now anyways due to the constant combat changes every three months for the past three years.

WiseSky · January 2023

No

I only picked up this game because of the Voice acting and Art style and Lore and Music and Cause I played Skyrim.

it was this or ff14

So glad I picked ESO

Kappachi · January 2023

Yes

Yes, as long as it had the same scope, same level of lore, and all of that built-in. I love self-contained worlds that reward you for exploring/trying new things out and I have tried many MMORPGs and stuck with ESO, not because it's ES, but because it's a good game now.

Jarl_Ironheart · January 2023

No

WiseSky wrote: »

I only picked up this game because of the Voice acting and Art style and Lore and Music and Cause I played Skyrim.

it was this or ff14

So glad I picked ESO

You should try 14 too, it's pretty good

eKsDee · January 2023

I agree with others in that the poll is somewhat flawed since there's so many nuances to this question, even just beyond the distinction between getting into and sticking with ESO. I feel like those two are the core elements of this question, though, so I'll answer each separately.

Would I have gotten into ESO if it weren't an Elder Scrolls game? Probably not. I was introduced to ESO by a friend who suggested that we try it out together since we both enjoyed Elder Scrolls (particularly Skyrim), but truthfully I was apprehensive since I had heard of the disastrous launch a few years prior. Still, he really wanted to try it so I caved and we both gave it ago, and funnily enough I was the one who decided to stick with it since he didn't find the MMO aspect of it appealing, plus the Australian latency was a dealbreaker for him.

Would I have stuck with ESO if it weren't an Elder Scrolls game? Given that I'm on an extended break from it going on 2 years now even when it is an Elder Scrolls game, definitely not. Even though it being an Elder Scrolls game was the thing that caused me to get into it, it wasn't the thing that made me stick with it until my departure, and it certainly wasn't the reason for my departure. It being an Elder Scrolls game does wonders for the world building, story telling and general atmosphere, but the main thing that caused me to stick with it was the combat system, theorycrafting and my guild mates.

Unfortunately it was those first two things that also caused my departure. The game that I fell in love with years ago was morphed into something that I grew increasingly unfamiliar and uncomfortable with at a fundamental level, between all of the questionable balance decisions, performance issues, general gameplay stability and reliability issues, morphing of an at-the-time engaging overland into what is effectively just a visual novel, etc, to the point where not even my guild mates were enough to get me to stay.

So, no, I wouldn't have been playing ESO if it weren't an Elder Scrolls game, but at the same time I wouldn't have been playing ESO regardless of that fact, if it were to follow the same trajectory it's following now and followed during my playtime.

Thee_Cheshire_Cat · January 2023

Yes

i watched an ex play skyrim on his X box and thought it was pretty. That was as much as i knew about ESO.

i chose to come to ESO and play, because i was looking for a WoW alternative. A world that was as close to the other game as i could get, without chibis running around and crap like that.

The fact that it was rated M, was a huge pulling point, as well as the free to play aspect and the guild housing.

Starlight_Knight · January 2023

No

ESO would have never made it as an MMO without piggy packing on the elder scrolls name.

Not even sure the developers knew it was even an MMO when it came out.

whitecrow · January 2023

Yes

Sure. While the connection to a game I loved was the initial reason I picked it up, I would still be enjoying it even if it wasn't related.

Roukoru · January 2023

No

imho, for me ESO is the visual (light (or even kinetic)) novel in the world of TES with elements of MMORPG. However, since TES2 & TES3 (esp. 3), I have a (very) soft spot for TES universe, so here I am.

So, if it will move to some other universe / setting, than TES, I will return to my pet project of l2j hammered into shape of roguelike.