How's The Elder Scrolls Online?

JigglesBunny · Oct 20, 2019

I absolutely love the core game and own the most major expansions (Morrowind, Summerset, Elseweyr, etc.) but I cannot keep myself invested because I'm missing a windfall of DLC that you can only access using their weird microtransaction currency or monthly subscription. It's a shame.

uncredited male mk2 · Oct 20, 2019

You don't need crowns to get crown store items. Players can gift you them in exchange for gold. ZOS has stated this is not against the TOS and each server has guilds dedicated to trading crowns for gold. On my server the rate is usually 175-200 gold per crown.

Older chapters are moved to the crown store when a new one releases so you can eventually get all the dlc if you are willing to save up the gold.

AuthenticM · Oct 20, 2019

I've played my fair share of the game. It's good, but it wasn't enough to sustain my interest. I'm a huge Elder Scrolls fan, and I wanted this game to play like those. It kind of does, but not enough to my taste. It's still very much an MMO with rigid mechanics and everything else that comes with it. The main issue is that it's just not much fun. If you are coming at the game with the thought that it will scratch your Skyrim itch until TES VI comes out, my honest answer is you should just play some of the massive Skyrim mods/total-conversions that have come out since.

In the off chance you want to try a good MMO, I recommend you give FFXIV a shot. That's what I am currently playing (at this very moment actually) and it's a blast. It can be soloed, and the story and gameplay is great.

LordDraven · Oct 20, 2019

AuthenticM said:
I've played my fair share of the game. It's good, but it wasn't enough to sustain my interest. I'm a huge Elder Scrolls fan, and I wanted this game to play like those. It kind of does, but not enough to my taste. It's still very much an MMO with rigid mechanics and everything else that comes with it. The main issue is that it's just not much fun. If you are coming at the game with the thought that it will scratch your Skyrim itch until TES VI comes out, my honest answer is you should just play some of the massive Skyrim mods/total-conversions that have come out since.

In the off chance you want to try a good MMO, I recommend you give FFXIV a shot. That's what I am currently playing (at this very moment actually) and it's a blast. It can be soloed, and the story and gameplay is great.

A realm reborn is awful and slow tho

TheGhost · Oct 20, 2019

Great experience, on Gamepass and the voice acting is superb. If destiny wasn't a thing it would be the only game I would play.

abellwillring · Nov 30, 2019

Couldn't seem to find an official thread for this. I just bought it on PS4 yesterday and was prompted to upgrade to a new expansion (Elsweyr or some such) — I know there has been additional content. Would I need to buy those separately or would the latest expansion include access? Couldn't seem to confirm easily in the game.

YourFriendLevi · Nov 30, 2019

abellwillring said:
Couldn't seem to find an official thread for this. I just bought it on PS4 yesterday and was prompted to upgrade to a new expansion (Elsweyr or some such) — I know there has been additional content. Would I need to buy those separately or would the latest expansion include access? Couldn't seem to confirm easily in the game.

I'll try to answer best I can, someone correct me if this info is off, but I believe Elsweyr includes Summerset and Morrowind. ESO Plus sub includes all the smaller content dlcs, but i believe those can be bought with crowns separately if you don't like the subscription model. Some things like Any Race, Any Alliance and Imperial Race have to be purchased.

abellwillring · Nov 30, 2019

ClassicLevi said:
I'll try to answer best I can, someone correct me if this info is off, but I believe Elsweyr includes Summerset and Morrowind. ESO Plus sub includes all the smaller content dlcs, but i believe those can be bought with crowns separately if you don't like the subscription model. Some things like Any Race, Any Alliance and Imperial Race have to be purchased.

Thanks! I've played for a bit — up to level 6 now. This is pretty fun but I am not sure if I'll fully dive in or not. Seems like that's a decent deal at least.

KymTheSpud · Dec 19, 2019

My wife loves ESO...it's her first experience of an MMO but she's found a great couple of guilds ( one for general adventuring and one for decorating houses ), her adventuring guild seem really helpful to newbies and she's been taken through some end game group activities. If you're looking for what seems to be a pretty chilled guild drop me a pm.

KymTheSpud · Dec 19, 2019

double post..

mordecaii83 · Dec 19, 2019

I've tried to get into it 4-5 times, but the combat just pushed me away every time. I also wasn't a big fan of the weird mix of Elder Scrolls and typical MMO, I'd rather one or the other.

Ænima · Dec 19, 2019

Played it at launch. If your a fan of elder scrolls you might like it, when i played was kinda easy to reach endgame, the problem was the totally broken and unballanced PVP. I made a Warrior character for PVE but somehow was OP in PVP, instead of balacing the other classes they nerfed the warrior skills to the point i could not kill anything in PVE anymore. Unistalled to never touch it again. Still enjoyed it for like 4 months, but was the MMO that i droped faster.

Garchia3.0 · Dec 19, 2019

Been wondering about this one for a while, so thanks all for your input!

-Tetsuo- · Dec 19, 2019

Psychoward said:
Ya know how people shit on Skyrim's combat despite being serviceable for the game in 2011? Yeah ESO's is notably worse

What? No it isn't lol

Bradford · Dec 19, 2019

It's acceptable. Has good writing and I really like the art direction, I don't care much for the gameplay but I don't think it's awful.

Deleted member 31817 · Dec 19, 2019

-Tetsuo- said:
What? No it isn't lol

Yeah it is, the feedback and feel is absolute garbage.

lazygecko · Dec 19, 2019

DaciaJC said:
I wouldn't say that's true. I know you said improvements could be made, but there are genuinely excellent first-person hack 'n slash games out there which Elder Scrolls could look at for inspiration. Chivalry came out not even a year after Skyrim, and Mordhau from this year is marvelously fun and well-done.

Dark Messiah also came out the same year as Oblivion and basically did the TES combat loop way better than Bethesda ever did. Then they bought Arkane and didn't learn a single thing from them.

hwarang · Dec 19, 2019

abellwillring said:
Couldn't seem to find an official thread for this. I just bought it on PS4 yesterday and was prompted to upgrade to a new expansion (Elsweyr or some such) — I know there has been additional content. Would I need to buy those separately or would the latest expansion include access? Couldn't seem to confirm easily in the game.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-elder-scrolls-online-ot-its-tes-vi-vii-viii-and-ix.2123/

Also yeah, the amount of content is this game is insane.

-Tetsuo- · Dec 19, 2019

Psychoward said:
Yeah it is, the feedback and feel is absolute garbage.

And Skyrims is worse with like 10x less agency.

tr1b0re · Dec 19, 2019

Among the top 5 best MMOs out right now, in my top 3

Its really great, especially the newer content

Mahonay · Dec 19, 2019

As someone who only plays MMOs very casually, I think it's excellent. Just a ridiculous girth of content and detailed storylines that you can do all on your own.

WonkyPanda · Jan 13, 2020

Getting the itch to try this again and seems like they're getting ready to announce some big updates:

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57509

During the show, ZeniMax Online Studio's Creative Director Rich Lambert and Bethesda Softwork's SVP of Global Marketing and Communications Pete Hines will take the stage and reveal your next big adventure in the world of Tamriel, including the upcoming Chapter and year-long saga.

Tatsu91 · Jan 13, 2020

LordDraven said:
A realm reborn is awful and slow tho

Slow yes awful i highly disagree you can clear the OG campaign in 30-40 hours if you get lucky with finding people or be a healer/tank

LordDraven · Jan 13, 2020

Tatsu91 said:
Slow yes awful i highly disagree you can clear the OG campaign in 30-40 hours if you get lucky with finding people or be a healer/tank

That's a lot of hours and an awful first impression though

Tatsu91 · Jan 13, 2020

LordDraven said:
That's a lot of hours and an awful first impression though

I would say only the first 5 hours arent fun once you get to doing dungeons and job quests its much better

Ebtesam · Jan 13, 2020

WonkyPanda said:
Getting the itch to try this again and seems like they're getting ready to announce some big updates:

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57509

they do this every year (Morrowind, Summerset and last year was Elsweyr)

this year will be skyrim

Deleted member 35071 · Jan 13, 2020

i tried it twice. Didn't really grab me. I do like that it kinda feels like Skyrim.

one turn off was u feel like ur playing Skyrim, but instead of a big open world. Its these tiny little islands . Like these small contained spaces. I felt trapped. Since theres also like 40 ppl running around doing the same thing ur doing. A bit claustrophobic

-Tetsuo- · Jan 13, 2020

Tatsu91 said:
I would say only the first 5 hours arent fun once you get to doing dungeons and job quests its much better

The level 30-40 stuff is absolutely abysmal.

lazygecko · Jan 13, 2020

-Tetsuo- said:
The level 30-40 stuff is absolutely abysmal.

I don't think there is any more "30-40" stuff after they made basically all of the world content scale.

MDSVeritas · Jan 13, 2020

I worked on it for a short stint as my first game gig so I'm a bit biased but I've played it basically every year since 2013 and I'm honestly in love with the game. There's so many little stories scattered around the map, and you can basically explore and check things out however you see fit. These days I hardly even play much story content, I just love running around the new zones and checking out their delves: mini dungeons that take maybe 15-20 minutes to runthrough, each with a short little story framework and boss at the end. The bigger dungeons and PVP zones are also a blast.

It's honestly one of the most chill and calming things to be riding around one of the zones on your mount and just taking in the scenery as the atmospheric music plays.

water_wendi · Jan 13, 2020

i thought it was a better TES game than the last couple mainline entries.

Tatsu91 · Jan 13, 2020

-Tetsuo- said:
The level 30-40 stuff is absolutely abysmal.

Depends on your class i mean i got enjoyment out of it ofc its nowhere near as fun as a level 70-80 class 40 is when the story picks up though

Kaelan · Jan 13, 2020

I got to the first two and like 30 quest icons popped up or whatever. Got overwhelmed and uninstalled lol

never · Jan 13, 2020

The performance of this game is awful on my Xbox One X. It's so laggy and the framerate is horrific. It's a shame, I used to really enjoy this games years ago on PS4, but it seems like they just haven't kept the game playable on consoles.

Ryuhza · Jan 13, 2020

It's a pretty laid back game. Had some fun with it, though I'm putting off coming back until PS5 in the hopes that they get it running at 60fps on there. Haven't played in over a year.

I usually don't mind 30fps, but the game basically does nothing to smooth it over, and--been a while--but I think it dips a fair bit.

WonkyPanda · Jan 13, 2020

Ryuhza said:
It's a pretty laid back game. Had some fun with it, though I'm putting off coming back until PS5 in the hopes that they get it running at 60fps on there. Haven't played in over a year.

I usually don't mind 30fps, but the game basically does nothing to smooth it over, and--been a while--but I think it dips a fair bit.

I was trying to find a controller friendly MMO(lite) and even though warframe is fun, ESO just appealed more to me as a chill Netflix watch game.

BizzyBum · Jan 13, 2020

never said:
The performance of this game is awful on my Xbox One X. It's so laggy and the framerate is horrific. It's a shame, I used to really enjoy this games years ago on PS4, but it seems like they just haven't kept the game playable on consoles.

Performance is spotty on PC, too. They are doing an optimization overhaul throughout the year so hopefully it fixes some things.

Taker34 · Jan 13, 2020

MDSVeritas said:
I worked on it for a short stint as my first game gig so I'm a bit biased but I've played it basically every year since 2013 and I'm honestly in love with the game. There's so many little stories scattered around the map, and you can basically explore and check things out however you see fit. These days I hardly even play much story content, I just love running around the new zones and checking out their delves: mini dungeons that take maybe 15-20 minutes to runthrough, each with a short little story framework and boss at the end. The bigger dungeons and PVP zones are also a blast.

It's honestly one of the most chill and calming things to be riding around one of the zones on your mount and just taking in the scenery as the atmospheric music plays.

Thank you for your work on the game. I don't think you're biased when it's one of the top tier MMOs right now. :)

never said:
The performance of this game is awful on my Xbox One X. It's so laggy and the framerate is horrific. It's a shame, I used to really enjoy this games years ago on PS4, but it seems like they just haven't kept the game playable on consoles.

I think XBX in particular has worse performance than even the base versions since they've cranked up some graphical settings which made overland traversing itself dip under 30 fps constantly. Some parts of a raid or PvP can turn into a 10 fps slide show even on Pro which was the best performing console platform...

wollywinka · Jan 13, 2020

Ænima said:
Played it at launch. If your a fan of elder scrolls you might like it, when i played was kinda easy to reach endgame, the problem was the totally broken and unballanced PVP. I made a Warrior character for PVE but somehow was OP in PVP, instead of balacing the other classes they nerfed the warrior skills to the point i could not kill anything in PVE anymore. Unistalled to never touch it again. Still enjoyed it for like 4 months, but was the MMO that i droped faster.

The difference between now and launch is like night and day. Playing a stamina class in PvE was rough initially, but not any more. In fact, you can DPS, heal or tank on almost any class. It's that versatility that I love.

Won · Jan 13, 2020

I currently giving it another try and genuine struggle with the class design and combat. Everything feels and looks super dull and looking at some videos that kinda stays that way through the game.

As such I, as so often, can't settle on a class to stick to, but this time because nothing clicks.

Which is too bad. From what I played some quests are indeed pretty decent, especially for an MMO.

Deleted member 41651 · Jan 14, 2020

ESO served me well after becoming burnt out by XIV and Warframe's endgames. It has some cool ideas, gear looks cool and the quests are fucking great. I definitely don't regret dropping like 80 bucks on all the collector's stuff and expansions. Tanking sucked though.

Got about 4 (great) months out of it though as opposed to thousands from other games. It was great while it lasted tho.

Speely · Jan 14, 2020

Currently having fun jumping back in. I play it super-casually, and mostly solo, though.

The new content is really good. Looking forward to seeing what the next chapter is.

Jolkien · Jan 14, 2020

This is all from the perspective of a new player. Currently level 23:

It's pretty decent I've started two weeks ago. The quest are horribly tracked I have a hard time seeing where to go for quest, I wish they were a different color. The game does a bad job at guiding you but you can start the current expansion right away, I found a way to go back and start with the base game first and it's overhwhelming, so many quest everywhere.

The skill system is pretty nice but overall so far combat is on the basic side compared to WoW or FFXIV wether it's a pro or con depend on the player, for me it's a con.

The dungeon so far seems to just be massive AoE pulls and you blow everything up. The daily dungeon is very lucrative XP wise. There's also daily log-in reward which irks me but the reward are nice.

The way you upgrade your mount speed is by spending money (a small amount, 250 gold) to boost your movement speed by 1% (stacks up to 60%) and you can train every 20 hours (real life time) so you're looking at 2 whole mount to get max speed mount. There's also stamina you can train in and something else, carry capacity I think ?

There's addons you can install (like WoW if you played) and I recommend to install at least lorebooks and skyshards so they show on your map. Skyshard gives you a skill point for every 3 you find and lorebooks makes your mage guild skill line level up.

Not sure if I'll stick with it but for right now it's cool.

Kapryov · Jan 14, 2020

I found a disc copy of this (+ Morrowind expansion) for peanuts. Xbox One version.

I... I don't know if I like it.
Despite the disc it took a day and a half to download the rest (Australian internet), then it's been just a boring slog so far.
The combat feels really unresponsive and janky, somehow a lot worse than the original Morrowind I was playing not that long ago.

Maybe I need to give it more time. I completed the tutorial area, which took ages, and finally got out into the world and learned about disguises. Bailed out there.
I mostly paid the price just to see a new take on Morrowind, but I'm not even in Morrowind yet! I'm stuck in ... Hammerfell I think?

I guess what I'm trying to say is: when do I get to Morrowind?

Pitchfork · Jan 14, 2020

Been playing since launch on console (Xbox) and I've honestly had some of my favourite gaming moments this gen. Been with a great guild who, despite being pretty hardcore players, have a casual friendly approach and met some great people. Really looking forward to this years Skyrim chapter!

lazygecko · Jan 14, 2020

wollywinka said:
The difference between now and launch is like night and day. Playing a stamina class in PvE was rough initially, but not any more. In fact, you can DPS, heal or tank on almost any class. It's that versatility that I love.

The open endedness of the class/skill system is a great thing in theory very nicely carried over from the single player TES into a MMO setting. The problem is however that as soon as you want to start playing seriously in group content or doing challenges like Maelstrom Arena, you're going to get shoehorned into a narrow set of build archetypes.
This is probably one of the main things that burn me out from the game because following guides to try out a new build requires a lot of time investment both in reading up on what skills and champion points to pick, as well as farm the specific gear sets that define said builds. And most of the time I end up not really enjoying the playstyle of a build, so repeating the whole process to try something new just gets exhausting. I think the only type of build I thoroughly enjoyed was dual wielding stamina sorcerer.
This whole design also puts a damper on any new classes they introduce into the game like the necromancer, because ultimately they end up homogenized into these same types of archetypes.

ThreepQuest64 · Jan 14, 2020

It has tons of content and many very good quests and it's the first MMO ever where I read every word an NPC/questgiver had to say. Unfortunately I think it's way too easy. You don't really need think about your equip or skill setup and just hack through everything. Even some dungeons are totally possible playing alone and it gets even easier when you play with buddies. And you can't increase the difficulty by going into regions that are a few levels above you because a) they removed that option a long time ago by adjusting character values so everyone can play together and start and go where they want which is too casual for me and b) level gates are strong in MMO and a monster/enemy a few levels above you often means instadeath.

Also, coop questing is sometimes really annoying because there are steps within a quest everyone has to do it. They could really learn a thing or two from Diablo 3 or SWTOR.

So, if you want to grind solo or occasionally with friends, it's a good game. The crafting system is intricate but managable and real fun, so are the quests. But why playing an MMO and grind solo in the first place? I highly recommend playing it with buddies, although it's not a perfect coop experience, or withhold your leisure time for singleplayer RPGs.

It's actually quite a shame because I totally love the aesthetics and style of armors, the world, etc. It's not too colorful all the time but still has colorful moments. Armors have this gritty look and use rather dark tones, character proportions aren't stylized like in WoW and visuals aren't stylized like in SWOTOR, yet they don't go for this ultra smooth look like Black Desert.

If the coop experience were better and the game more difficult (in regards to combat AND quest) I'd would recommend it and play it myself. I bought it at released and jumped back in every year or so for some hours but it didn't really turned into something I'd hoped for. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the typical MMO tropes, though. It's just depends on what you expect from an MMO or TESO in that regard.

Also: it needs cross platform gaming! (As does any multiplayer game these days, IMO) Some friends have it on PS4, some, me included, on PC.

wollywinka · Jan 14, 2020

lazygecko said:
The open endedness of the class/skill system is a great thing in theory very nicely carried over from the single player TES into a MMO setting. The problem is however that as soon as you want to start playing seriously in group content or doing challenges like Maelstrom Arena, you're going to get shoehorned into a narrow set of build archetypes.
This is probably one of the main things that burn me out from the game because following guides to try out a new build requires a lot of time investment both in reading up on what skills and champion points to pick, as well as farm the specific gear sets that define said builds. And most of the time I end up not really enjoying the playstyle of a build, so repeating the whole process to try something new just gets exhausting. I think the only type of build I thoroughly enjoyed was dual wielding stamina sorcerer.
This whole design also puts a damper on any new classes they introduce into the game like the necromancer, because ultimately they end up homogenized into these same types of archetypes.

That's an interesting take on things. I take your point about homogeneity. The backbar of most builds, especially stamina DD classes can seem very similar. Personally, I love healing, and to some degree, tanking, two roles which are not as strict as damage dealing.

Outside of trials, if you are healing, buffing, providing resources, surviving, you are doing your job. How you choose to do so is more flexible. I have healed hard mode trials on a DK, a sorc, and a nightblade. While deviating from the warden/templar norm presented some challenges, they all brought something to the table. I greatly enjoyed the experience.

I share your love of stam sorcs. It is my go-to for stress-free damage dealing. I'm not a natural DD, but I have done vMA on most classes, magicka and stam, but I always seem to come back to the stam sorc :)

Rainer516 · Jan 14, 2020

If you can afford it, buy the annual subscription and play at a snail's pace. Explore the world and do the quests. The game is a lot of fun, there is a ton to discover and has a lot of emergent events pop up due to its multiplayer nature.

djplaeskool · Jan 14, 2020

It's quite good.
Absolute truckloads of content.
The DLC Story chapters are solid and entertaining.
If you like Elder Scrolls in any capacity, it's a worthwhile venture.

How's The Elder Scrolls Online?

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