Elder Scrolls Online release date 4-4-14

[Markbnj]

Why does everyone that wants a "grouping" game play an MMO that has solo content at low levels in abundance, and deem the game only a solo playing MMO? Even the much heralded Everquest back in it's day was very soloable at low levels. Actually most people could solo until at least 15 with any class. It got rougher for many classes after that though.

QFT. I don't understand why there is this desire to try and lump the game into a category and then dismiss it. There is a lot I don't like about it, but my issues are based on design and implementation, not finding fault with the fact that the latest fantasy MMO is, gasp, a fantasy MMO. Would you not buy the next big golf game because it was, you know, a golf game?

 

[pandemonium]

Play in a duo and come back to me. Doing anything except explicitly group stuff is not a great experience in a group. They built a solo player game with some group content and a so-so co-op game. That's fine if that's what you want (I have friends that want exactly that) but I'd like a game that at least acknowledges you might be an adventuring party not a single person.

Admittedly it could get a lot better at higher levels but it isn't the difficulty it is the way the game treats a group that is so broken. It is highly unlikely that somewhere between noob island and max level they suddenly change the way they treat a group doing quests together.

This is one thing that kinda annoyed me. I duo'd/trio'd most of the time I played, and none of the quests I and others in the group were doing were shared or cumulatively completed.

This game is quest-driven, themepark mode. If you can't group tasks together for the primary mode of experience in the game, it's pretty safe to say the game is primarily solo.

PvP is a different story. It's pretty fun, and reminds me a lot of DAoC. I could literally PvP on ESO all day, everyday and be satisfied with it. At the end of the day, that's not the only content in the game though. Therefor, I'm not impressed and it's not my game.

 

[pandemonium]

QFT. I don't understand why there is this desire to try and lump the game into a category and then dismiss it. There is a lot I don't like about it, but my issues are based on design and implementation, not finding fault with the fact that the latest fantasy MMO is, gasp, a fantasy MMO. Would you not buy the next big golf game because it was, you know, a golf game?

You can't compare Gran Turismo and NFS: Hot Pursuit. They're both racing games, with very different appealing aspects to them.

In the same sense, you can't say an MMO, is an MMO, is an MMO. There's different flavors out there, and not all of them will be the MMO for everyone.

But when you're primarily playing a Massive Multiplayer Online game solo, it's somewhat degenerate to the genre, no?

 

[Genx87]

I dont give a crap about the PVE play. If the RVR is like DAOC then this game has my interest. Watching video's it seems very close to DAOC. It appears they tweaked the new frontiers approach to seige. This seems a bit better. Im not terribly worried about the campaign situation in rvr. I view that as your RVR server. 2000 total players is about the size of a typical DAOC server. And most of the time the frontiers didnt have more than a few hundred in it. If they can keep the campaigns filled with people there should be some epic RVR play.

But I cant get myself to buy it out of the gate. Ill wait a couple months. Let the populations settle down and game breaking bugs get fixed. But I do plan on trying this at some point.

 

[Markbnj]

You can't compare Gran Turismo and NFS: Hot Pursuit. They're both racing games, with very different appealing aspects to them.

In the same sense, you can't say an MMO, is an MMO, is an MMO. There's different flavors out there, and not all of them will be the MMO for everyone.

But when you're primarily playing a Massive Multiplayer Online game solo, it's somewhat degenerate to the genre, no?

Yeah, but they're representative of a genre, and have the basic features and game play mechanisms associated with that genre. I think it's a pretty workable analog for the situation when people complain that a new MMO is "just more WoW" because it has zones, and quests, and npcs, and loot, etc.

As to your question, I really don't know. I always played solo a significant amount, in Everquest, DAoC, WoW, and every other game. So did all my guildies. People weren't always online at the same time, and you didn't _always_ want to log in and spend 30 or 40 minutes assembling a group to go raid something. Sometimes it's relaxing just to run a few quests, or kill some mobs looking for an item, or check out a new zone. I'm not sure I understand why some people feel the game and environment is absolutely worthless, or even somehow degenerate and lessened, if they aren't in a group.

 

[CountZero]

Uh, again, you are looking at 10 levels of the game only. If you played EQ in beta and were limited to 10 levels, it would look exactly like ESO. Easy single player game with some limited forced group content in that level range. Actually, in Early EQ beta, they didn't have many zones you cold go through, and most of the monsters were just giant human textures since they didn't have various monster textures in the game yet either. Was quite humorous seeing a monster labeled "Bat_0001" over it's head with the default Qeynos human texture, but has it's arms stretched and flapping like a human pretending to be a bat.

Anyhow, the point being, you can't make that judgement just yet. It may very well be that way, which is what it probably will be since the majority of potential players want more solo content than forced group content. But to say it has very little forced group content from what we know of the game is silly.

All one can gather from the betas so far is the general game mechanics and basic look at feel of the game. Which is all that has been put in. What you have seen in beta has been limited severely and even stated as such for a point. ESO will NOT have an open beta where all the game secrets will be able to be seen by the public before the game is released. This is the last beta weekend this weekend and the next time anyone can play will be the headstart. The general public will have zero access or knowledge about anything past level 10 in the game.

Speculating is one thing, trying to state the game is something when you can't even begin to make that point is another.

No, you misunderstand what I am saying.

The way it deals with quests/missions is distinctly anti-group. You could be right and the higher levels they could fundamentally change the way it deals with them but that seems unlikely. If there were a better way to deal with groups on a quest I can think of no reason lower level quests wouldn't utilize such a system.

It isn't about forced grouping (aka it is impossible to play solo). It is fundamental to the way it handles two people on the same quest in the same group.

If you don't typically play these games in a duo then I don't expect you grasp what I am saying. But compared to the numerous other games my wife and I have played ESO is the most jarring.

For example the way quests are handed out/turned in via a cutscene like segue. It is very similar to KotRO but that game treated it like there were a group of people there with the exception of story missions and even those it would at times acknowledge the group aspect. This isn't the only aspect of duoing that is half-baked but it is part of it.

Honestly the whole grouping feels wrong aspect isn't even the worst part of the game but for us it is likely the last nail in the coffin.

 

[gus6464]

I quite enjoyed the ESO beta this weekend. I loved the amount of options you have when building your character. It definitely gives you a ton more options than GW2. Also a Sorcerer with a greatsword and heavy armor is a beast.

 

[code65536]

I was with a group in Cyrodiil that ventured into Cheydinhal to explore and do some of the quests. This was my first group quest (previous groups were all PvP), and it was a mess, because it was ultimately just a bunch of people who happened to be doing (maybe) the same quest at (maybe) the same time and who could see on-screen markers of where everyone was. In some ways, I had more fun soloing Cheydinhal (which I had done a bit of the day before) because there wasn't this problem of trying to keep everyone on the same page. Meh.

There weren't nearly as many server issues (got dropped only once) this weekend, but the number of bugs seemed as almost high as that previous weekend beta.

 

[pathos]

The more I play the beta's (which I've actually forgotten about the beta weekends several times, so I haven't actually played much), the more I like the game.

I had mostly decided to skip the game completely, but after the last couple of beta weekends, I'm back into the buy at launch side again.

I'm not sure it's a game that I'll be able to play long term, but if it gives me a couple of months of enjoyment before I get ready to quit, I'll call it a success

 

[Clemenza]

The more I play the beta's (which I've actually forgotten about the beta weekends several times, so I haven't actually played much), the more I like the game.

I had mostly decided to skip the game completely, but after the last couple of beta weekends, I'm back into the buy at launch side again.

I'm not sure it's a game that I'll be able to play long term, but if it gives me a couple of months of enjoyment before I get ready to quit, I'll call it a success

This is the same way I feel. The more I've played it, the more I look forward to it coming out. I'm not saying it isn't without problems, but I've had a good time the past couple of Beta weekends.

I got to PVP some this weekend and had a good time. I had some lag issues at times doing it but overall it was a lot of fun and felt pretty epic.

 

[KMFJD]

This will definitely not be a purchase for me....not sure why they are expecting a monthly fee for this.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Their site is AWFUL, which sure isn't inspiring any confidence. For those of you in beta -- do you think it is worth a $60 purchase? Do you think it is a game you'd play for several months?

 

[gus6464]

Their site is AWFUL, which sure isn't inspiring any confidence. For those of you in beta -- do you think it is worth a $60 purchase? Do you think it is a game you'd play for several months?

I can only speak for myself but after playing this weekend I preordered the imperial edition. I really liked the character customization options with all the different class, weapons, armor, guild skills you have. FYI I got the imperial edition for same price as standard ($60) at gamefly.

Here is an example of character customization:

Sorcerer
Heavy Armor
Sword and Shield / Greatsword
Dark Magic / Storm Calling / Fighters Guild skills

= very fun tank that can hold AOE aggro like no other with CC

 

[StinkyPinky]

Why is the client so damn expensive when people are going to pay a monthly fee??

I also quite liked the beta, but I must suck because I died a lot (around daggerfall, level 7-8). I was trying to solo so maybe I'm doing it wrong. Is solo not really a viable way to play this game?

 

[scaredontfear]

im ready to get destroyed

 

[pathos]

Their site is AWFUL, which sure isn't inspiring any confidence. For those of you in beta -- do you think it is worth a $60 purchase? Do you think it is a game you'd play for several months?

Well, although I do like what I've seen in the beta, and have purchased....I don't know about the longevity of the game. I'm probably not the best person to speak out about it though, since no games have any longevity for me anymore. Playing games many hours a day, for years on end, are a thing of the past for me.

Why is the client so damn expensive when people are going to pay a monthly fee??

I also quite liked the beta, but I must suck because I died a lot (around daggerfall, level 7-8). I was trying to solo so maybe I'm doing it wrong. Is solo not really a viable way to play this game?

I didn't have any problems solo'ing, but I never got a character very high (level 10ish).

the only time I died, was when I was in the wrong area. I was trying to do level 8 quests, when I was level 4 (instead of taking the boat to the island, to do the level 4-5 quests).

And my build probably wasn't a particularly strong one. Dragon knight - medium armor, duel wield.

 

[Markbnj]

I think they're going to have a hard time with a full-price client and a $15 month sub. Expect the client to go on sale very soon.

 

[xantub]

Their site is AWFUL, which sure isn't inspiring any confidence. For those of you in beta -- do you think it is worth a $60 purchase? Do you think it is a game you'd play for several months?

Maybe. No.
$60 is too high, you can probably get it for less in sites like Green Man Gaming and what not.
No, it's not worth paying $15/month.

 

[HumblePie]

Maybe. No.
$60 is too high, you can probably get it for less in sites like Green Man Gaming and what not.
No, it's not worth paying $15/month.

Green Man Gaming has pre-orders for 20% off. Which makes the standard edition $48, and the delux edition $64. Which at that price is the same price after tax for the standard edition anywhere else ($59.99 + tax for standard at other sites or $64 for delux at GMG).

If the game is too expensive for you, then do what many do. Wait. Eventually the box will be on the shelves for $5, and it may go down to F2P. Then start the game if you want.

 

[shadow9d9]

Why is the client so damn expensive when people are going to pay a monthly fee??

I also quite liked the beta, but I must suck because I died a lot (around daggerfall, level 7-8). I was trying to solo so maybe I'm doing it wrong. Is solo not really a viable way to play this game?

It isn't any more expensive than any other game. Besides, you can find discounts very easily(slickdeals.net) and it'll be on sale within a month or two.

 

[Genx87]

The 15\month isnt a big deal for me. I easily plop down more than 15\month on F2P games.

 

[asteldian]

I bought 2 x Imperial edition and will be paying for 2 subs for the wife and I.
Is it worth it? For me, yes - I have no MMO on the go at the moment because none of them are any good and bored me. Will I play this for ages? No idea, I would predict at least 6 months (thanks to the fact you lvl to 50, then get to do the whole other factions questlines for 50+ content and PvP - that's a whole lot of content without requiring me to find a group and grind out end game dungeons or go raiding).

The fact it is slower to level works for me, as rushing to the end game has never had appeal to me and as most MMOs focus solely on that, that is the reason I lose interest so fast. ESOs approach means I have a lot more to do for a lot longer before 'the grind'.

Course I never consider the sub fee as an issue in games, as long as I play and enjoy it then I happily pay, it is pretty insignificant a cost so why not? Cheaper than the Cinema and a whole lot more hours of entertainment. I also hate F2P, so in many ways I am actually paying a sub which has nothing to do with supporting a game and extra content, but simply to keep in game stores out of my face and to keep the F2P bandwagon hoppers out of my game - that in itself is worth the sub, if in addition to that they are able to produce more content? That's a nice bonus

 

[Markbnj]

I'll probably sub for at least long enough to run one character to 50. We'll see how it goes. I'm unlikely to pay the retail price for the box, though. I don't think the wait for a significant discount will be very long. But anyway, I was such a DAoC freak and long-term ES fan that I have to give Firor a shot on this. He deserves my support for awhile just for trying. I'm concerned about his attraction to overly complex mechanics, and I am really wondering how, if they couldn't achieve a stable RvR balance in DAoC with a much more constrained skill system, they are going to balance this highly flexible mix and match arrangement. It won't matter as much if the player base goes for the big battles, but if, as in DAoC, the pvp types gravitate to group v group then watch the whining explode on the forums.

 

[Genx87]

Oh I would expect rabid whining. Even if they manage to get some kind of balance.

One question. Will they be implementing a pvp leveling system like DAOCs realm rank? I always felt that was a great system for post 50 leveling.

 

[Clemenza]

I went ahead and pre-purchased the regular digital edition. I may upgrade it to the Imperial, when it is available for upgrade. I had a lot of fun in the past couple of Beta weekends.

Will it last forever? I don't know but if I can get a few months play out of it, I'm OK. The only thig that is going to lesson my enjoyment is that my normal crew of friends are going to be playing Wildstar, which I'm not interested in.

I don't understand the whining about a 15.00 per month fee.