Elder Scrolls Online release date 4-4-14

[DaTT]

The beta definitely does not start until 6 PM Friday. You can download the client and/or patch up before then, but you can't log in until they open the gates.

See you there .

True. I just tried to login. Guess I'll be waiting.

 

[Maverickbcp]

You're not missing much. To each their own of course but a few of my coworkers and myself all joined in on the last beta weekend. We were all playing separately but coincidentally all stopped playing a couple hours into it. Just wasn't enough to really hold any of our attentions. However if you can get a beta key it's free so by all means try it. Just because the people I know weren't impressed doesn't mean you won't be.

 

[taq8ojh]

NDA or not, could someone who "played" it before tell me how much of a pain in the ass the controls and UI are? I am unsure whether to bother with downloading it.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Downloaded last night after I got my invite, it says the test is from Friday to Sunday for me.

Warning - The installer downloads about 20Gb, the install for me failed despite having slightly more free space than advised, I freed up some space and it starts the entire download again from scratch...if I wasn't on 120Mbit fibre I'd probably be pretty pissed off at that kind of retarded behaviour *rolleyes*

Anyway I don't know anything about this game, if its your basic run of the mill WoW clone with grinding and basic combo rotations then count me out, I love the elder scrolls universe but not enough to bother with that nonsense.

 

[Demo24]

NDA or not, could someone who "played" it before tell me how much of a pain in the ass the controls and UI are? I am unsure whether to bother with downloading it.

There's more info in the previous thread about the beta. The controls and ui from what I've 'seen' are pretty basic fair. Looks kinda like skyrim in parts, and the ui itself wasn't too bad. I've 'heard' the controls can be a tad laggy, like when fighting its just hack and slash until whatever is in front of you is dead. Otherwise basic movement commands for third, and I think first, person.

Downloaded last night after I got my invite, it says the test is from Friday to Sunday for me.

Warning - The installer downloads about 20Gb, the install for me failed despite having slightly more free space than advised, I freed up some space and it starts the entire download again from scratch...if I wasn't on 120Mbit fibre I'd probably be pretty pissed off at that kind of retarded behaviour *rolleyes*

Anyway I don't know anything about this game, if its your basic run of the mill WoW clone with grinding and basic combo rotations then count me out, I love the elder scrolls universe but not enough to bother with that nonsense.

From what I've 'seen', its a basic task style leveling up. Run here, get this, come back. Go there, kill that, come back. Kill those things in the wild for points and loot to craft something's later. It might be elder scroll based, but it seemed to lack any sort of real depth.

 

[taq8ojh]

From what I've 'seen', its a basic task style leveling up. Run here, get this, come back. Go there, kill that, come back. Kill those things in the wild for points and loot to craft something's later. It might be elder scroll based, but it seemed to lack any sort of real depth.

Ewgh.
I better remove any traces of LOTRO from my head before I try this, it seems.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Oh...that's right I DID try this and.....Yes. It's exactly like 99% of other MMO's. There was nothing that stood out. It was so unmemorable I actually forgot I tried the last beta. Honestly didn't really feel like Elder Scrolls either.

That being said, it didn't seem bad for what it was if you are into them.

 

[frozentundra123456]

The final game will be subscription based, right?

Might try it if they made it FTP or if they give a free trial. I loved skyrim, but really dont want to get into an MMO, as much as I would like to have another Elder Scrolls game.

 

[taq8ojh]

Last ES thing I played was Daggerfall, lol.

 

[cbrunny]

I got one last night too. I'm still heavily into ffxiv, so not sure I want to start ESO... the trailer made it look like it would be primarily pvp based, or at least heavily focused on pvp. I'm simply not interested in pvp.

 

[imaheadcase]

From all reading it seems its going to go the way of star wars galaxy. Investors are already trying to write it off. Real confidence in this $200million game right there.

The beta was terrible when i played it.

 

[darkewaffle]

I played a previous beta weekend. I think the world they've constructed is pretty good and the dialogue/characters/NPCs are above average, however the combat was pretty lame imo (reminded me of The Witcher) and the UI disorganized last I played. Also I hate their compass "mini map". But as far as I know mediocre gameplay and UI are pretty much Elder Scrolls standards lol.

The fairly seamless integration of gathering and light treasure hunting into world exploration was a nice touch. I found myself going out of the way to explore in case there was a container to unlock or a 'skill crystal' to find. Quests are mostly as expected (though I never had a straight up "Kill 10 X" quest) but at least in the first area some of them had some kind of tie-in to the main questline or at least a semi-developed story/scenario around the quest itself.

Personally I'm not particularly interested because I've found that I never really enjoy Bethesda games and the combat is enough to turn me off to the game. But I can also see the appeal it might have to the Elder Scrolls audience in the different ways the world is designed to feel/be interacted with compared to other MMOs.

 

[showb1z]

Since ES games are only decent (still don't like them personally) because the community can fix all of Bethesda's crap it's to be expected that this one won't amount to much.

 

[KeithTalent]

Threads merged.

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[sourceninja]

I played a beta weekend for 3 or 4 hours and found the game so boring and horrible I can't imagine it being ready by 4/4

 

[BrightCandle]

I was kind of disappointed I didn't get invited but it is sounding like its not really ready and is racing towards a botched release.

 

[zinfamous]

I hope this game fails totally and immediately so they can pour more resources into developing Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 4.

I'm thinking the same thing, but I believe they are different teams with their own resources.

 

[zinfamous]

Free to play games can be horrible. GW2 for example turned out to be a complete disaster due to lack of support. Bugs and exploit killed a huge part of playerbase. In the other end you end up with games that are more like pay to win.

So personally I prefer subscription.

lol, what are you smoking? Sure, there were some bugs and exploits on release, but it was one of the smoothest MMO releases ever. The bot farms were eradicated within a month of release.

Also, GW2 is not F2P, it has shit tons of support (customer service is generally terrible, though), and actually has a very large population to this day. I'm actually somewhat surprised that it continues to grow.

 

[Markbnj]

I didn't have much time to participate in the beta this past weekend, but Friday night the game was almost empty compared to previous weekends. They had to post a message to Facebook at one point asking people who had run into errors logging in to try again, so maybe that had something to do with it. I played for an hour or so Friday, and I just basically felt so meh about it that I didn't even mind that I had family functions for the rest of the weekend.

 

[nickbits]

I played earlier sessions but I wasn't interested this time. That isn't a good sign for their success.

 

[Clemenza]

I played earlier sessions but I wasn't interested this time. That isn't a good sign for their success.

I felt the same. I logged in, made a character and quit before I got out of the prison. I want to try the PvP but the game bores me to tears. I foresee another MMO flop coming down the line.

 

[Daverino]

Played all weekend. Game is gorgeous and entertaining. Combat is more interactive than any other MMO I've played and there are some unique quest types. Crafting is very deep from what I was able to work with. PvP was unfortunately down.

It's a beta and there are plenty of bugs. I reported at least two dozen.

Anyone who's giving an opinion and "quit before I got out of prison" has played less than ten minutes of the game. It kinda annoys me that someone would sign up for a closed beta, which is to help the developers test and improve the game, and invest so little energy in doing what they were supposed to do. It's similar to complaining that your gym didn't help you lose weight because you never went to the gym.

 

[darkewaffle]

Newsflash: Betas are free trials for ~95/100 people.

 

[Markbnj]

Anyone who's giving an opinion and "quit before I got out of prison" has played less than ten minutes of the game. It kinda annoys me that someone would sign up for a closed beta, which is to help the developers test and improve the game, and invest so little energy in doing what they were supposed to do. It's similar to complaining that your gym didn't help you lose weight because you never went to the gym.

Just to be clear this was my third or fourth beta invite, and I probably have about 20 hours in so far. I'm not giving any specific impressions because I respect the NDA (they have already said its "ok" to acknowledge you're in the beta), but I just had the impression this last time that there was less interest.

 

[KidNiki1]

i played a lot this weekend and had a good time with it. i played some different races than last time, different classes and got to some new parts of the world. it looks amazing, and i had a really good time with my group. i kind of like that questing isnt as linear as some other mmos have become. i'm not writing it off at all yet. it has the potential to be a lot of fun i think.