I liked the Oblivion Remaster a lot actually. It was very true to the OG from my recollection.

I still play the single player games on occasion (Oblivion and Skyrim - I'd play the others if they remade them). Oblivion Remastered was fantastic! I'll try Skyblivion too, when it's available.

As for improving ESO, the SP games and ESO are in the same setting, but apples and oranges. Stuff that works well in an SP game might not go over so well in an MMO. I don't think about ESO much when I'm playing the SP games, except I have to say that playing ESO has improved my knowledge of Tamriel geography. I get a kick now when I'm in an SP game and arrive somewhere I know from ESO. For example, it was interesting to see how ESO Leyawiin differs from Oblivion Leyawiin.

I don't play singleplayer TES much now, but that's mostly because I don't play much at all. Too much to do, too little time.
ESO is game I play most often, because it is good for both "play 10 minutes" and "play whole day".

However, I still love Morrowind, Oblivion (including remaster) and Skyrim. Have Morrowind in plans, as I'm preparing D&D campain about it.
I grew up in Morrowind, so its atmosphere it forever in my heart. Oblivion had best Dark Brotherhood line. And in Skyrim I loved to play mainquest-war-DB in a certain order, there are some points when they connect perfectly.

I'd love to have in ESO some cosmetic items from previous games, like morrowind daedric weapon (I love that daggers, heck, I even have fullsize model of it in real life). But in general MMO and singleplayer games are too different.

Oblivion Remastered is the only ES game I play atm. Thing is, the ES player/hero is typically an all-round adventurer and that's what I like about it. I think ESO trinity based endgame PvE is a generic MMO trope thrust into a world where it doesn't really belong. Game would have been better without it.

I don't compare single player games with multiplayer games. They have different purposes in my life. ESO is obviously a different kind of game than the Creation Engine titles.

Bethesda hasn't released a single player game I was interested in since Skyrim. The period between Oblivion and Skyrim was peak Bethesda. They haven't really innovated since then. Which is normal and to be expected.

I have been playing Oblivion Remastered for a while but I have been too busy with trials and the PvP event for the last month or so to get back into it. It’s nice to be in a game without other players running around and just enjoy the solitude.

One thing I like about it is that you can truly be surprised by a random drop there. You open a chest and boom, Mundane Ring! Now I do admit that I like knowing where to go in this game to farm stuff, but you don’t just get that quality of random drops in ESO. It’s probably good that we don’t, though.

Actually tried ESO first. Been trying single TES games - never beat anything. Skyrim and morrowind are a miss to me, might give them another run though. Never tried original oblivion but liked the remastered version - definitely giving it another run. Arena and daggerfall are cool but I might be biased towards old stuff.

Honestly though? The only 2 things I'd like to see in ESO are difficult overland experience (finally being addressed) and visuals from oblivion remastered. ESO combat is so much superior IMO.

Well we know the Imperials are the same because TES including ESO will never put effort into them and just throw nonsense in books which only works if you don't constantly interact with them but we do in every game since their fabrication in Redguard.

I play ESO because of the brand. If ESO was not an Elder Scrolls game I would not play it, so yes I play the single player games too.

I started ESO because of the TES series, which has been one of my favorite game series since Morrowind (and yes, Nesmith has no clue if his idea is “yeah Morrowind was cringe and Skyrim dumbing everything down was amazing,” though I will concede that a Morrowind remake would not be able to be done like OBR since it would require a ground-up rebuild from scratch. But it had by far the best writing in the series, so it would do well.)

As much as I liked Morrowind, I will say that I’m super basic and Skyrim was my favorite because I am a huge sucker for the Nord aesthetic, and Skyrim’s Orcs looked amazing. Oblivion was great fun, but I honestly could take or leave it since it didn’t have the mystery of Morrowind or the visuals of Skyrim. The remaster looked amazing (and almost made Orcs not Shrek-y), but there was one major thing standing in its way: moddability.

User mods is quite literally what made TES a household name. Sure, the games are great in general, but the ability to customize it was what made it shine. Take that away, and you do remove a lot of what people enjoy. And as much as people complain about the engine (it’s fine), the fact that it’s possible to make entire fan-made games using Skyrim itself as a game engine is incredible.

So yes, I’m really into the mainline games and lore, and that’s what got me into ESO. I still make sure to have pages upon pages of fully-researched backstory for each character. But as I played more, I started to realize one thing: even if I was playing ESO as a single player, it was a different genre, and therefore needed to have different playstyles and mechanics to the mainline games.

ESO is an MMO. It needs to play like an MMO. That doesn’t make it any less of an Elder Scrolls game, it just means it’s not the same genre as the others. That means there are some things that you can do in ESO and not mainlines (like group content) and vice versa. It’s not a failing.

I do not like this idea that permeates where “if you are fine with ESO having group content and Classes, then you obviously aren’t an Elder Scrolls fan because this needs to play exactly like the mainline games!!!1!1!” It’s different. And the TES series has dipped into other genres before (Legends, Redguard, Castles, etc), all of which are dropping things like character creation or other hallmarks of the series. It is possible to enjoy two different games from the same series in different ways… and I even put way more thought into the backstories of my ESO characters than I do for my Skyrim character.

Why have only one type of game when you can have both? Then you can have something for whatever you want to do that day.
(But damn I want to go back to Skyrim again and it’s been less than a year, but still. I’m in the mood again for a full playthrough from the beginning. Because nothing makes me feel like a Big Damn Hero™️ like taking on a Dragon as an overmuscled Orc)

I installed ESO in 2015 after the drive that had my Skyrim mods installed was corrupted. I played morrowind, oblivion, and Skyrim a ton. Mods were my thing.

I have gone back occasionally to the single player games but the time it takes to set up the mods I like... its almost too much work. Un modded Skyrim... well I would just play eso instead.

KingArthasMenethil wrote: »

Well we know the Imperials are the same because TES including ESO will never put effort into them and just throw nonsense in books which only works if you don't constantly interact with them but we do in every game since their fabrication in Redguard.

Everyone knows previous lore and books are meant to be ignored and retconned. Difference between Colovians and Nibenese? Nah, just make it all generic medieval with maybe a tint of Greco-Roman. Make Leyawiin and the Niben River next to it logical for being the largest and most travelled river? Nah, make it a swamp or barely a river no Ship can ever sail etc.
ESO also love making them enemies and bad guys.

Horace-Wimp wrote: »

I'm curious - how many of you still play The Elder Scrolls games like Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, etc. in addition to ESO? Even if you don't play them do you WANT to?

I still play them occasionally (all of them) and currently have Skyrim and Morrowind installed. Morrowind is probably the game I've put most hours in (not only of all TES games, but of video games altogether), having it basically permanently installed since release. Which is almost 24 years now. It's actually one of the first things I install when ever I get a new computer I'm also looking forward to Skywind a lot.

Horace-Wimp wrote: »

I don't play any of The Elder Scrolls games anymore nor any of the Fallout games either. After ESO they feel so empty.

I actually enjoy exactly that. In the wilderness, it really feels like you're alone and no one else anywhere. There are no weird flashy mounts that look like they don't belong into that world and no randomly jumping and spellcasting individuals with weird names and weird outfits. No randomly respawning npcs either - a character's death is final and feels more meaningful because of that. Generally, it's easier to immerse.

I know of course that there are certain aspects to a multiplayer game that can't be avoided, and I accept that. It's a downside I'm okay with, and I choose to play ESO regardless because I want to experience Tamriel in the Second Era.

Horace-Wimp wrote: »

Are there aspects of those games that you would like to see introduced or expanded on in ESO? For me I would LOVE to see the spells Featherfall and Levitation added just so I can walk up to the rock over Vivec City like I can in Morrowind. And they can be of short duration just like in Morrowind. Just NEVER remove fall damage.

I miss Mark/Recall sometimes.

But really, the thing I'd care for most would be a return to more "serious" writing and deeper lore like we've seen it in those older games. Of course I know not everyone playing ESO cares for that, but branching dialogues with a bit of extra lore or more lore books in the world would be optional anyway, so people who aren't interested wouldn't need to read them.

Muizer wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

ESO is an MMO. It needs to play like an MMO.

I'm sorry but that's a non-argument that says absolutely nothing about what that is or should play like except an online game with many players.

So do you think all TES series games must play the same then? Like would you consider Legends insufficient because it doesn’t allow you to cast any spell like you could in Skyrim? Is Redguard not a real TES game since the character is dictated to you and you can’t change him unlike Oblivion’s character creator? Is Castles unworthy because there are no dungeons to explore when Morrowind was full of various ruins?

The point is that the unrestricted freedom granted in a solo RPG must necessarily have restrictions in an MMORPG setting because if others are around, balance must be a factor. This means things like: “No, you can’t learn every spell in the game all at the same time.” “No, you can’t just get all the buffs and none of the weaknesses.” “No, you can’t mod the game to add or remove whatever you want.” These are all concessions that must be made to have an MMO. As an MMO, it is not only one person’s world. It is for all of us, and therefore we all have to compromise on it.

We have already seen the consequences of ignoring balance to add more freedom and - as much as some people want to pretend otherwise - the game and its community are not at all in a healthier state after 2025.

Oh, and as an MMO, there’s one other major factor that will set ESO apart from solo RPGs like Skyrim: they run on a Live-service concept. Which means that if the population runs too low for any reason (i.e. choices in the game drive people away, or another too-similar game competes with the playerbase), then Microsoft will shut it down. Permanently. And ESO, and all the money we spent on it, will be gone forever.
I can still play Skyrim 15 years later. I can find a way to boot Morrowind back up after 24 years. But once ESO dies, it’s gone.

i find the elder scrolls series overrated and they cant cut in in todays modern atmosphere with some games having destructible environments and deep combat systems. They were good in their time but that time is over for them.

they cant offer a destructible environment, they cant(wont) offer deep combat and customization with all the bells and whistles. I dont see how they will be able to compete with modern games. Im sure itll sell, but wont be great. They are stuck. Thats why they are afraid to make it. It will be the end of the franchiase

likewise ESO is stuck. They neglected this game for far too long, and now even if they wanted to turn it around i dont think they have the budget, means nor ability to do so.

at the end of the day neither really has what it takes anymore and thats too bad.

the next single/coop great game will have a voxel destructible envorinment, insane procedural generation for replayability, deep building and combat systems and extreme customizability with all the bells and whistles. The next great game will likely come from Keen games. Not Bethesda.

there wont be a next great mmo but if there was it would feature next generation group content with global objectives instead of dps based linear and mechanics, advanced housing systems featuring player guildtowns( where you have to build the town up), deep but simple combat system, npc guild system( and npc guildtowns for those that dont like guilds), style system instead of class system where each style plays completely differently with even different ui buttons, an AI enhanced endless content stream adventure generator and a modern clan ( pc or npc based) pvp system where you wage war on other clans on special battlefields with a semi destructible environment.