Elder Scrolls Online *gag* beta sign ups.

[Androidpk]

For those that are interested go here.

http://signup.elderscrollsonline.com/

[TheEschaton]

It looks okay, but not stunning. Triple faction is nice, though. Skyrim combat sucked so badly though, it would need to be improved for an MMORPG.

[Androidpk]

Looks okay? Looks like absolute garbage. Shitty graphics and even worse animations. It takes everything awesome about the Elder Scrolls games and dumbs them down for the MMO crowd. Yeah, Skyrim's combat wasn't too good, but at least with the mods that have been released that is no longer really an issue. There will be NO mod support for this game, asides from possibly the user interface. It has fail written all over it.

[Liagala]

Rift swore there would be no mods too, when they came out. How long did that last?

That said, I don't think I'd enjoy this game much. A lot of the fun I have with the Elder Scrolls line is doing stuff that would be utterly game-breaking and horrible in multiplayer.

[Some Rogue]

Rift swore there would be no mods too, when they came out. How long did that last?

That said, I don't think I'd enjoy this game much. A lot of the fun I have with the Elder Scrolls line is doing stuff that would be utterly game-breaking and horrible in multiplayer.

So...cheating?

[Liagala]

So...cheating?
I prefer to call it "clever use of game mechanics"

[Drew]

How did Rift have mods? I don't understand how an MMO can have mods (mechanical mods that is).

[Androidpk]

Rift swore there would be no mods too, when they came out. How long did that last?

That said, I don't think I'd enjoy this game much. A lot of the fun I have with the Elder Scrolls line is doing stuff that would be utterly game-breaking and horrible in multiplayer.

I don't know. I would certainly have a blast if there was some co-op/multiplayer in Skyrim, say 2-4 players.

[Androidpk]

How did Rift have mods? I don't understand how an MMO can have mods (mechanical mods that is).

I'd be interested to know what mods they allow for as well.

[TheEschaton]

Blizzard publishes an API for WoW players which allows them hooks into the game, allowing them to make mods. Bethesda did something similar with Skyrim. To allow modding, you have to put in a lot of extra effort in terms of writing a secure API which can't break the game but allows the access needed, and that's why most games don't launch with mod support.

[Whirlin]

It happened with FFXI too... they created a windower program that allowed FFXI to be run outside of it's native enforced fullscreen method, and then also started to interprate bits of data that was streamed but never interfaced to the user.

Wow allows mods to the Nth degree..

Lich is a gemstone mod.

[Androidpk]

Granted it has been a few years since I last played WoW but back then all that was allowed or supported were various user interface mods. There were certain tricks you could do to replace item textures but nothing that allowed for completely overhauling the graphical system, npc AI, scripts, item/spell stats.. ect ect.. that you currently see in the Elder Scrolls games.

[subzero]

Rift swore there would be no mods too, when they came out. How long did that last?

That said, I don't think I'd enjoy this game much. A lot of the fun I have with the Elder Scrolls line is doing stuff that would be utterly game-breaking and horrible in multiplayer.

I believe with Rift they said they were going to launch without the ability to mod things, but would see how things played out and potentially open it up later, which they did.


Granted it has been a few years since I last played WoW but back then all that was allowed or supported were various user interface mods. There were certain tricks you could do to replace item textures but nothing that allowed for completely overhauling the graphical system, npc AI, scripts, item/spell stats.. ect ect.. that you currently see in the Elder Scrolls games.

They still pretty much only allow UI mods. There were some that allowed you to do things like mark off sections for people in raids and whatnot, but they kicked that out the door pretty quickly. They've never been ok with people modifying game files, so doing something like walking around with your warlock/hunter pet looking like Ragnaros didn't last long for those doing it.

[Fallen]

I have no interest in a Skyrim MMO, but I definitely would enjoy passive online multiplayer in the next Elder Scrolls Game.

[Taernath]

I applied mainly to see what it'll be like, because everything so far has really turned me off to it. Apparently I have an "above average" chance to be accepted.

[iJin]

Where did you see this "above average" chance text thing? I got an email, but didn't read anything of the matter. Maybe my chances are just non-existant. Heh.

[Taernath]

When you're filling out the form, there's a little meter that pops up at the side. It said 'above average' before I got to system specs. Maybe it's because I also said I was a girl.

[SHAFT]

I had above average too. It's been over a week and I haven't heard anything. I really want to check it out. I've always wanted an online elder scrolls game.

[Androidpk]

Take that rating system with a grain of salt. I put in December 1, 2013 as my birth date and it jumped up to average.

[Androidpk]

I had above average too. It's been over a week and I haven't heard anything. I really want to check it out. I've always wanted an online elder scrolls game.

What you want is an elder scrolls game with multiplayer. What you don't want is an MMO elder scrolls game.

[SHAFT]

You tell me what I want again and I'll cut you

[Androidpk]

You tell me what I want again and I'll cut you

You don't want to cut me.

[SHAFT]

You don't want to cut me.

You're right, I don't want to cut you

[Taernath]

How will the first and third-person perspectives differ from mainline Elder Scrolls games to better suit an MMO?
"We are still working on this system, but as it stands right now, we have first and third person support, just like in any other Elder Scrolls game. The only difference is that you don't see your hands and weapons in first-person mode.

"The main difference here is that in an online RPG, enemies can spawn in a 360 degree radius around you, especially in PvP - so third-person view mode, if you use it, will give you a far greater ability to see enemies behind you.

"In many situations, this will be the difference between living and not surviving a combat sequence."

Hope you're ready for a groundbreaking experience guys. :lol:

Anyone heard if invites have been sent out yet?

[Taernath]

Heads up, I guess they cancelled that first beta invite deal, and started a new one a month or so ago. You have to resign up again if you're interested.

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en-uk

[Liagala]

Heads up, I guess they cancelled that first beta invite deal, and started a new one a month or so ago. You have to resign up again if you're interested.

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en-uk
Not us.

[Taernath]

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/

That was hard.

[Some Rogue]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/lrenzo2/beta_zpsecf37771.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/lrenzo2/media/beta_zpsecf37771.jpg.html)

[Taernath]

You've violated the NDA. Send me your key so I can forward it to the proper authorities for deletion.

[Some Rogue]

It's FUasshole45blowme

[Back]

Just got a beta key for Nov. 22nd - Nov. 24th.

Anyone played this yet?

[Some Rogue]

I got one too. I played some of the earlier betas and it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. My biggest gripe was the crafting system which was just annoying.

[Jace Solo]

Damn, I wanna try it out!

[Elgrim]

Got mine yesterday. Eager to try it out this weekend and see how it does. My expectations are low, but hopeful.

[JackWhisper]

Got my beta key for this. Going to be all over this for 72 fucking hours haha. Already asked my parents to take my kid for 3 days so I can play play play.

[JackWhisper]

Just noticed your sig Elgrim. Bahahaha.

[Whirlin]

Just got a beta key... completely forgot I signed up...

Tons to do though, don't know if I'll have the chance to actually pick it up.

[Ashliana]

I got a beta key invite, too, for a "weekend only test" this weekend. Trying to keep an open mind, but it just looks bad.

[Back]

Downloading this monster now.

Found this link with some detailed info.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Online

[Ashlander]

Got one too and I'm pretty much of the same opinion as everyone else about it.

[Back]

This gameplay video looks pretty tight.


http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/File:The_Elder_Scrolls_Online_Gameplay_-_QuakeCon_2013

[Glitch]

Got my weekend invite as well. I'll reserve judgement until I get a little time in.

[JackWhisper]

The root of the problem is, and always will be, a very simple one.

Quest-driven leveling is doomed to fail. Nobody wants to do 5000 quests to hit cap level.
However, the only other option is kill-based leveling. The thing is, I prefer this to quest-based because at least it's different. Sure it's killing thousands upon thousands of critters. But you do that ANYWAYS. That's the fun of it. The danger. The power. All this NNGH Collect 4 orc scalps here's 2 free levels...is bullshit. And it completely deflates fun gameplay. It leaves the game with no starter/middle, just an endgame when you're done questing and it's time to raid.

To date, the only game that did kill-based leveling, was Everquest. The original MMO. Every game since has been Quest-based leveling. Fuck all this quest shit. Hand it back to the grandfather of what ACTUALLY worked.

[Taernath]

Grinding on mobs is probably the least fun thing to do in an MMO.

[Rolis]

To date, the only game that did kill-based leveling, was Everquest. The original MMO. Every game since has been Quest-based leveling. Fuck all this quest shit. Hand it back to the grandfather of what ACTUALLY worked.


FFXI

[Neovik1]

The root of the problem is, and always will be, a very simple one.

Quest-driven leveling is doomed to fail. Nobody wants to do 5000 quests to hit cap level.
However, the only other option is kill-based leveling. The thing is, I prefer this to quest-based because at least it's different. Sure it's killing thousands upon thousands of critters. But you do that ANYWAYS. That's the fun of it. The danger. The power. All this NNGH Collect 4 orc scalps here's 2 free levels...is bullshit. And it completely deflates fun gameplay. It leaves the game with no starter/middle, just an endgame when you're done questing and it's time to raid.

To date, the only game that did kill-based leveling, was Everquest. The original MMO. Every game since has been Quest-based leveling. Fuck all this quest shit. Hand it back to the grandfather of what ACTUALLY worked.

I use to love the original Everquest. It was actually fun exploring new areas with groups of people and there was actually a fear of dieing. You could always get a cleric to reduce the penalty. Today's mmos are nothing like Everquest was. Most MMOs today make it where you don't have any dependency or need a group for anything which defeats the whole purpose of it being an MMO.

[SpiffyJr]

I've been beta testing this game for about 9 months and I went from never logging in to being borderline addicted. The game has full mods almost identical, literally, to WoW. If you guys are playing hit me up in game or post your name here so I can find you.

Edit. This game in first person is hard. I rarely die leveling in any MMO and got dropped several times. Once the cool factor wore off I swapped to third person and it got much easier.

[Ashliana]

The root of the problem is, and always will be, a very simple one.

Quest-driven leveling is doomed to fail. Nobody wants to do 5000 quests to hit cap level.
However, the only other option is kill-based leveling. The thing is, I prefer this to quest-based because at least it's different. Sure it's killing thousands upon thousands of critters. But you do that ANYWAYS. That's the fun of it. The danger. The power. All this NNGH Collect 4 orc scalps here's 2 free levels...is bullshit. And it completely deflates fun gameplay. It leaves the game with no starter/middle, just an endgame when you're done questing and it's time to raid.

To date, the only game that did kill-based leveling, was Everquest. The original MMO. Every game since has been Quest-based leveling. Fuck all this quest shit. Hand it back to the grandfather of what ACTUALLY worked.

EverQuest was definitely influential--I played and loved it back in the day. But to claim that only EverQuest had non-quest-based leveling is not only absurd, it's the opposite of reality. WoW was pretty much the first game to have almost entirely quest-based leveling.. and it's also the first MMO to ever reach a huge population. EQ never broke even a million concurrent subscribers, while WoW had over 12,000,000 at its highest.

And the quest types you describe aren't great, I've seen decent expansions of the gameplay mechanic both in SWTOR, WoW, etc. Right now, it seems like the "least bad" solution.

I can tell you that virtually no one outside of Asia wants to play an MMO where you're dropped off in the middle of random fields and just slay random mobs. That's why Korean MMOs don't do well in the US--they're mindless, boring grind-fests.

I'd actually say that EverQuest did the entire industry no favors (or that, nobody's bothered to innovate), because very much unlike Gemstone, the entire basis of combat in EverQuest (and pretty much all subsequent MMOs) makes no sense. In Gemstone, much like in real life, combat is about avoiding damage at all costs while simultaneously trying to get hits in--they're about accepting the fact that you will constantly take damage, assigning a person to take that damage intentionally (which makes no sense) and balancing the incoming damage with outgoing healing magic. And any big fights, raids, in MMOs are just scaled up versions of the same bullshit with a few novelties thrown in. That's one of the reasons Gemstone's combat has always been so compelling to me, but the "grind-fest" and lack of quests is made bearable only by the roleplayers in the game and the combat gameplay being fun (unlike every other non-space MMO I've ever played).

[Back]

I dunno. The thing that makes grinding worth it, to me, is not only advancement but an interesting treasure system. Thats why I can grind for hours in GS. The treasure system will spit out gems with are either useful or generate silver, magic items, chances for unique items, enhancive jewelry, and boxes that may have something epic that I need to take back to town to open. GS really has the grind worked out well.

[Tenlaar]

I use to love the original Everquest. It was actually fun exploring new areas with groups of people and there was actually a fear of dieing. You could always get a cleric to reduce the penalty. Today's mmos are nothing like Everquest was. Most MMOs today make it where you don't have any dependency or need a group for anything which defeats the whole purpose of it being an MMO.

http://www.project1999.org/

[JackWhisper]

FFXI was actually a decent balance between questing and mob slaying, I'll give you that. But in EQ, there weren't quests. Despite the name, you could go all the way to cap without hitting a single quest. Quests were.... helpers. To get faction, or you did a quest to get pointed in the direction of a goal for your class/etc. But there were only faction specific things at low-mid level, turnins JUST for faction for those that cared. Not integral, but fun.

And I'm not asking for a mindless grind-fest. I want something in the middle, more heavily leaning towards grouping and killing shit, rather THAN questing, but having a few quests that MATTER rather than orc scalp gathering for a questline that's 30-deep for a nifty sword. I completely agree that entirety of grinding 2 million mobs to get to cap is unappealing. But Everquest had a social system because of it. Reps mattered. Skill mattered. Being able to pull mattered. Everything mattered. In a cooldown based system with less than 10 keys, people found they could TALK while fighting, rather than constantly hammering keys.

When was the last time you played WOW, or SWTOR, or even something stupid like AION, where someone TYPED instead of hammering the old keyboard to min/max damage? With EQ, you were able to maintain class proficiency by clicking buttons, then having 5-15 seconds until it highlighted again. Maybe not ideal these days, but it made for a social community, whereas none of the games these days have ANY social community what-so-fucking-ever.

And guilds don't count. So don't use that =P.

[Neovik1]

When EQ was about we were all on dial up... Not sure you can throw the population comparisons in there between WoW and EQ for which one had greater success. Two different times.

[Taernath]

When EQ was about we were all on dial up... Not sure you can throw the population comparisons in there between WoW and EQ for which one had greater success. Two different times.

Sure you can, because EQ is still around.

[Back]

Played Oblivion for about an hour tonight just to get back into the feel of the game. Jumping and moving around on small ledges is a pain in the ass. Hope they improved that.

There is plenty of information to read on the beta forums. Find the link in the email with the beta key.

[JackWhisper]

Downloading the launcher right now... and it's retarded slow. And I mean JESUS. I mean is it just me? 1-2mb/s. Been going an hour, it's only 6% through. And it's not just me. Best friend in Washington, same speed. My family's house across town in Sacramento, same thing. Both my computers, same thing. What's with the slow launcher download? Bah. Ah well.


Edit: By downloading the launcher, I mean it's installing the game from the launcher. For clarification.

[Thondalar]

swung a key myself, but I really need to crash...I'll experience the joy sometime tomorrow night.

[Back]

Downloading the launcher right now... and it's retarded slow. And I mean JESUS. I mean is it just me? 1-2mb/s. Been going an hour, it's only 6% through. And it's not just me. Best friend in Washington, same speed. My family's house across town in Sacramento, same thing. Both my computers, same thing. What's with the slow launcher download? Bah. Ah well.


Edit: By downloading the launcher, I mean it's installing the game from the launcher. For clarification.

Same here. It's a beast at 20GB. Probably means you need at least 40GB free. Good news is it does not open until 6pm tomorrow night so you have time between then and now to get it all done.

[SHAFT]

Dying to hear peoples thoughts on this. Looks promising.

[Some Rogue]

Downloading the launcher right now... and it's retarded slow. And I mean JESUS. I mean is it just me? 1-2mb/s. Been going an hour, it's only 6% through. And it's not just me. Best friend in Washington, same speed. My family's house across town in Sacramento, same thing. Both my computers, same thing. What's with the slow launcher download? Bah. Ah well.


Edit: By downloading the launcher, I mean it's installing the game from the launcher. For clarification.

Same. I am also trying to figure out how 9GB of 20GB is only 12%...

[Liagala]

Same. I am also trying to figure out how 9GB of 20GB is only 12%...
Lrn2math, noob

[JackWhisper]

So weird thing bout the launcher. Was downloading inch..by inch...by inch....at 25% after 4 hours, then I ignored it, and it was done 30min later. No friggin clue. Frontloaded launcher with copyover files at the tailend? I donno. I'm ready to play this bitch!!

[Taernath]

Dying to hear peoples thoughts on this. Looks promising.

I think the NDA is still in place.

[Thondalar]

I think the NDA is still in place.

Yep, and probably will be until public release.

[Thondalar]

So annoying. I've downloaded this fucking thing twice now, at 3 hours each, only to get a corrupted download error message at the end and start over again. Anyone else had this problem?

[Back]

So annoying. I've downloaded this fucking thing twice now, at 3 hours each, only to get a corrupted download error message at the end and start over again. Anyone else had this problem?

I haven't had any problems with the download. But I have had to control click the launcher to run as administrator. I have it on two machines.

[Back]

I think the NDA is still in place.

The NDA says we cannot discuss details. I think it is safe for me to say that Zenimax has assured they will be able to spot any jpegs, youtube, or twitch.tv vids because the play screen is wallpaper watermarked with your registered email address. lol.

It is safe to say that so far it looks great and plays fairly smooth. Server has been down here and there throughout the night.

[Thondalar]

I gave up after the fourth "corrupted destination file" error. It tells me to click repair on my game, but such an option is not available anywhere that I've seen.

[Some Rogue]

Only repair I have seen is on the launcher itself.

[Seran]

I like it overall, it's slow-going to start. My only complaint that is sorcerers cannot really take on two like level monsters at once, but are not afforded any extra damage over their counterparts.

[Thondalar]

Only repair I have seen is on the launcher itself.

you're seeing something i'm not, then

[Some Rogue]

I like it overall, it's slow-going to start. My only complaint that is sorcerers cannot really take on two like level monsters at once, but are not afforded any extra damage over their counterparts.

It's slow going for everyone really. I've been playing awhile and spent more time running around looking for shit and quests that are my level than actually questing. In the last beta I was in, it seemed to really pick up for me once you can start hitting those open world dungeons and get to about the third zone. Having a mount really helps with that.

[Back]

I like it overall, it's slow-going to start. My only complaint that is sorcerers cannot really take on two like level monsters at once, but are not afforded any extra damage over their counterparts.

I didn't really have a grasp on things until Sunday night. I worked all weekend so when I played it turned into a mad rush to hit level 10 to enter the PVP area. I literally hit 10 around 11:58pm last night. I was able to port to the PVP area, sign up for a battle, saw the PVP area map, then they shut down.

Overall I enjoyed it. It had the feel of their other games. I would not call it groundbreaking but certainly enjoyable for fans of the franchise.

[Glitch]

I only had Sunday to play... couldn't even make it to level 10 to try pvp out. I enjoyed what I did see though.

[Tsk Tsk]

I feel like I'm the only person that signed up for the beta that didn't get an invite :(

[Jarvan]

I feel like I'm the only person that signed up for the beta that didn't get an invite :(

I didn't get one either.

Then again, part of me doesn't care.

[Taernath]

I didn't either. Also, that ^

[Back]

Another beta weekend! Friday, January 10th at 6:00PM EST until Sunday, January 12th at 11:59PM EST.

[Warriorbird]

Still no first person view?

[Glitch]

Still no first person view?

I'm pretty sure they added first person by the time the last beta happened. I could be wrong, not sure I actually checked. Seems like a terribad way to play an MMO.

[Some Rogue]

I'm pretty sure they added first person by the time the last beta happened. I could be wrong, not sure I actually checked. Seems like a terribad way to play an MMO.

I think they did too and you're right. It sucked.

[Taernath]

I always thought it was weird how much they emphasized first person view. 99% of the time you're going to want that spatial awareness 3rd person gives, particularly when it comes to PvE or PvP. I guess they made a bunch of little objects to mess around with like in regular TES games so it might be useful there.

[Warriorbird]

It makes sense to not understand it if you don't really understand TES.

[Kalishar]

I've played most of the TES games and I still hate the first person view. I tend to like to play melee oriented characters though. It's helpful if you're an archer or mage type, and futzing around looking on tables and stuff like that. Every time I get into a battle I hate first person view and curse the crappy third person view that I switch to.

[Warriorbird]

I've played most of the TES games and I still hate the first person view. I tend to like to play melee oriented characters though. It's helpful if you're an archer or mage type, and futzing around looking on tables and stuff like that. Every time I get into a battle I hate first person view and curse the crappy third person view that I switch to.

I almost never play melee and I frequently play stealth. Might be the difference.

[Some Rogue]

First person view has it's place, but for general use, it sucks. I can't even imagine trying to do open world pvp in first person.

[Back]

There is both first and third person views. I signed on after work last night. They didn't keep the character I had from the last beta. I was tired and did not feel like doing char creation/opening thing again. I'm not terribly compelled to play. There are about four other games I'd rather spend time on.

[Warriorbird]

First person view has it's place, but for general use, it sucks. I can't even imagine trying to do open world pvp in first person.

Myself and many other don't tend to enjoy MMOs as MMOs all that much. If I could have a multi player version of the single player I'd be much happier.

[SpiffyJr]

First player view is pretty spectacular in ESO. It's extremely immersive and fun. The downside, of course, is the awareness of the world goes down. It's much more difficult to play in first-person. Sometimes I do it just for the difficulty increase as it can make some things quite hard.

For PvP you'll always want to be in third-person view, though.

[Warriorbird]

First player view is pretty spectacular in ESO. It's extremely immersive and fun. The downside, of course, is the awareness of the world goes down. It's much more difficult to play in first-person. Sometimes I do it just for the difficulty increase as it can make some things quite hard.

For PvP you'll always want to be in third-person view, though.

I imagine so. I may check it out at some point.

[Glitch]

I get the point of first person, it certainly has its places. I can't shoot a bow for shit in 3rd person, and about 50% of the time I prefer spellcasting in 1st as well. Melee is just awful in 1st, animations always look stupid, combat always feels clunk, and you can't see around your character. First person melee hasn't changed much since Hexen... It was bad then, it's meh now.

I often play stealth characters as well, but I prefer a closely zoomed in 3rd person most the time, occasionally switching to 1st when watching for traps and such. In an MMO though, it just doesn't seem wise. Especially since they designed the game without 1st person in mind, but then added it later when the non-MMO community got all pissy.

[Jace Solo]

Got my invite. Anyone else having an issue with the "sign up" page. When I hit that button or the "create account" button it just reloads the page so I'm kinda stuck.

[TheEschaton]

Free beta keys being given away by Curse, if you've ever downloaded an addon for WoW you probably already have a Curse account:

The beta is still under an NDA, unless you're press.

http://www.curse.com/betas/teso-beta-key-giveaway

[Gelston]

Free beta keys being given away by Curse, if you've ever downloaded an addon for WoW you probably already have a Curse account:

The beta is still under an NDA, unless you're press.

http://www.curse.com/betas/teso-beta-key-giveaway

Awesome, got a key. Thanks.

[Taernath]

Thanks for the heads up.

What's everyone setting their posterior size to? I want to leave some room for growth but at the same time don't want to nerf myself. Male Breton sorceror btw.

[Gelston]

I made a bret sort too.

[TheEschaton]

I went with Argonian templar to try out some healing.

[Warriorbird]

I went with Argonian templar to try out some healing.

I used to stay Argonian for underwater combat. Skyrim sort of ruined it when they made that not work.

[Taernath]

After 5 hours last weekend, it really feels like they have a long way to go before release next month.

[Gelston]

Welcome back to the ESO beta! Both you AND a friend of your choosing are invited to participate in the upcoming ESO beta test! Join us from Friday, February 28th at 12:00PM EST until Sunday, March 2nd at 11:59PM EST.

We encourage you to post the best screenshots and videos from your adventure! You're not required to follow a Non-Disclosure Agreement during this test, so share your favorite moments with the world.

You are guaranteed access to a future beta event where you'll be able to continue playing your character.

All you need to do is run your launcher and let it patch! Remember to log in with your UserID, not your email address. This beta is a stress test of our system. You are required to log into the NA server, but you can play the game in the language of your choice.

BRING A FRIEND
Would you like a friend to accompany you on your adventures? Simply forward this email and invite one friend to redeem this additional key:
----

So, the NDA is off now. Anyone want my friend code to get in the BETA this weekend?

Oh, and you get an ingame monkey pet if you participate.

[Wyrmx]

Got the invite as well, I haven't been able to make any of the other beta events so I'm looking forward to checking it out.

[SHAFT]

To anyone who's played, how is it?

[Gelston]

I only played for about an hour, but I haven't seen anything really groundbreaking to differentiate it from other MMOs out there.

[Taernath]

It reminded me of a slightly updated Morrowind, and I mean that in the most lackluster way possible. The first person view is used mostly for searching the hundreds of useless containers that litter each area serving as exploration filler. The screenshots you see posted all over don't really reflect the game itself - it's huge expanses of nothingness with the occasional Kill Rats or Fetch Item quest thrown in. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. I played a Breton Sorceror and started in Stros M'Kai, which is a really boring desert. Maybe it's different for other factions.

I've heard that PvP is limited to Cyrodiil, and you don't even see other faction players while you quest. That kinda limits the sense of conflict or danger.

Really the only thing I was interested in was the skill system and how it pans out, but I didn't get really in depth with it last time and I'm not really feeling ESO enough to follow up on it. This game is definitely going F2P soon after launch.

[Malisai]

To anyone who's played, how is it?


Its not very good. Its a theme park MMO with a ES skin on it. As a MMO it introduces nothing fun, new, or interesting. On the other side it misses the things that made the ES games so much fun to play.

Thats what I think at least. Ill say this, i wont be playing it.

However try it yourself for free this weekend. PM me your email and ill send you an official buddy key for this weekend's beta test.

[Tsk Tsk]

It has no 'it' factor. It's the same ole same ole.

[Back]

First PM request gets my buddy key.

[Jarvan]

I played for a few hours, and thought it was Meh.

Me nephew played and was in love with it.

So to each their own.

I honestly think the only thing it has going for it is the huge fan base of the series.

Otherwise it's the same old same old to me. Crafting is a huge pain in the ass. But there is no depth to the crafting. It's just.. I have the materials, I automatically succeed. Period. Your crafted item is exactly the same as mine if we both used x and y.

[Warriorbird]

It's nice looking. That's about it.

[Loyrl]

I think its about 20gigs worth of download so start now

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[Jarvan]

I think it's alot more then 20. I could have sworn 20 gigs only took me to like 25-30%

[Taernath]

It was 20 for me.

[Loyrl]

It downloads around 20 gigs and then unpacks it, I think that is what you might have seen.

[Back]

I can't even give my buddy key away. Not a good sign for ESO.

[TheEschaton]

I have a key too if someone wants it. A guildie is getting back to me whether he wants it, otherwise it's up for grabs.

[Taernath]

I think everyone has a key now. I got one too but won't be using it.

[Gizmo]

Yeah, there are a few websites out there that are giving away thousands and thousands of keys for the weekend beta starting tomorrow.

From what I hear, the game is pretty poop but the PvP/War aspect is somewhat interesting...I'm still waiting on my new MB and Case to come by Monday before I get to play anything and stream

[Taernath]

Also, the preorder bonus letting you play as any race on any faction is balls, as is the Imperial edition letting you play as an Imperial on any faction.

[Neovik1]

I was kinda disappointed with it after playing this weekend. Leveling was extremely slow which I was ok with... But the main storyline quest was broken along with any other quest involving a spawn outdoors which made it extremely difficult to get to level 10 for testing out pvp.

Eventually I hit level 10 with a few hours to go with the beta and got to experience the pvp campaign for an hour or so. It was exciting for 10 minutes then I got bored from the lag and not being able to hit anyone as melee. It seemed like planetside 1 but with lots of lag and no vehicles...

I had high hopes for it and it doesn't seem too bad. I just can't see myself doing another mindless grind outside of GS and WoW.

[Jarvan]

I stopped being interested in the game after about an hour.

I always prefer melee... and melee never can do jack in PVP really. It's always about ranged. I am waiting for a game to actually have collision detection in. I remember DAoC. And how epic those fights were... but how crap they were in a sense as well.

You see a line of Paladins.. behind them in a wizard.. what do you do? You run THRU the paladins and kill the wizard. Then run from the paladins. Totally stupid.

[leifastagsweed]

Sadly same play experience as both previous posters, including lots of lag. The forced quests that had me running alongside others like rabbits just felt stupid. If I am to be forced through levels this way, I want to do something more interesting than 'Talk to Joe Blow' and 'Take Message to Jack Sprat.' I'd rather hack-and-slash through a one-player than bumble through this artfully boring world. The factions system seemed great until I realized that I won't be able to play with friends outside it. From a realistic perspective, that's great, but it sucks from a game play perspective. How many numbers are they anticipating, anyway? Not planning to buy into this graphical MMO either and it's a real disappointment.

[Some Rogue]

I was kinda disappointed with it after playing this weekend. Leveling was extremely slow which I was ok with... But the main storyline quest was broken along with any other quest involving a spawn outdoors which made it extremely difficult to get to level 10 for testing out pvp.

The main quest wasn't broken. It was disabled to keep you from going too far into it. Supposedly the bugs with certain spawns have been fixed on a build the real beta testers get to play. They just keep reusing the crappy broken one that caps at level 17 for the weekend betas. I got around those problems by just relogging. It usually worked to get a spawn.



Sadly same play experience as both previous posters, including lots of lag. The forced quests that had me running alongside others like rabbits just felt stupid. If I am to be forced through levels this way, I want to do something more interesting than 'Talk to Joe Blow' and 'Take Message to Jack Sprat.' I'd rather hack-and-slash through a one-player than bumble through this artfully boring world. The factions system seemed great until I realized that I won't be able to play with friends outside it. From a realistic perspective, that's great, but it sucks from a game play perspective. How many numbers are they anticipating, anyway? Not planning to buy into this graphical MMO either and it's a real disappointment.

Only place I ever saw lag was in pvp and that was because they were forcing everyone into just a few campaigns. I don't see how anyone can say there weren't enough quests or there wasn't enough to do. There were tons of hidden quests just like any elder scrolls game if you go explore a bit. Did you try out the public dungeons? Plenty of hack and slash there.

[Gelston]

Yeah, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary for a regular MMO. All of them have quests that plenty of other people are doing too. I remember in WoW sitting around in a line with people waiting for a mob to spawn so we could each kill it.

You haven't played many graphical MMOs have you, Leifa? Pretty much all of them with faction systems are like that.

[Loyrl]

Depending on reviews after it comes out I may pick it up. But right now after doing the stress tests on a crappy build, it doesn't hold my attention. I'm tired of getting games right off the bat and dealing with things that were reported in beta tests that were never fixed. I know people have said that a lot of things are fixed in the regular beta testers version, but I'm still skeptical.

[Neovik1]

The main quest wasn't broken. It was disabled to keep you from going too far into it. Supposedly the bugs with certain spawns have been fixed on a build the real beta testers get to play. They just keep reusing the crappy broken one that caps at level 17 for the weekend betas. I got around those problems by just relogging. It usually worked to get a spawn.




Only place I ever saw lag was in pvp and that was because they were forcing everyone into just a few campaigns. I don't see how anyone can say there weren't enough quests or there wasn't enough to do. There were tons of hidden quests just like any elder scrolls game if you go explore a bit. Did you try out the public dungeons? Plenty of hack and slash there.


The one outdoor spawn I couldn't get to spawn was a level 8 quest for the main storyline. There was about 30 people waiting for them. I logged multiple times and also back tracked to check mutiple times and had no luck. :(

I did explore and found random quest and dungeons to help level up. But made things a lot longer...

The server had lag spikes here and there especially around the time the server crashed. It was good the majority of the time.. But in pvp it was painful for a melee class.

[Warriorbird]

It's not fun. I'd rather play Skyrim.

[Gelston]

Yeah, I'm probably not going to get it when released either.

[Wyrmx]

Unfortunately i have to agree, not worth the purchase.

[Jarvan]

The crafting is also kinda crappy to me.

And crafting is always a huge draw for me in games.

[leifastagsweed]

Yeah, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary for a regular MMO. All of them have quests that plenty of other people are doing too. I remember in WoW sitting around in a line with people waiting for a mob to spawn so we could each kill it.

You haven't played many graphical MMOs have you, Leifa? Pretty much all of them with faction systems are like that.

I didn't feel like there was a lack of quests. I felt like the quests sucked. No, I haven't played a graphical MMORPG in several years.

[Alfster]

Yah - I agree. Even had the quests not been broken, the game just isn't that fun. I'll play it when it drops the monthly subscription - nothing exciting about the game.

[Taernath]

Elder Scrolls Online Beta Leaves Us Skeptical (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/the-elder-scrolls-online-beta-leaves-us-skeptical/)

Game reviewers usually eat up AAA MMOs.

[Jarvan]

Elder Scrolls Online Beta Leaves Us Skeptical (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/the-elder-scrolls-online-beta-leaves-us-skeptical/)

Game reviewers usually eat up AAA MMOs.

As is, the game blows chunks. Even my nephew, who was a die hard fan of it before I let him play during my first Beta was like.... screw that shit.. when I mentioned the other beta weekends.

[Nilandia]

I may be the one dissenting voice here, but I played this past weekend and I actually enjoyed myself with it. I've pre-ordered it, along with a couple other friends, and I plan on playing it when I have some time to kill and feel like grouping up to have some fun. I'll admit I really have never played an MMO before so my perspective might be skewed, but it was fun and that was all I was caring about.

Gretchen

[Dendum]

I may be the one dissenting voice here, but I played this past weekend and I actually enjoyed myself with it. I've pre-ordered it, along with a couple other friends, and I plan on playing it when I have some time to kill and feel like grouping up to have some fun. I'll admit I really have never played an MMO before so my perspective might be skewed, but it was fun and that was all I was caring about.

Gretchen

I think this is what ESO is banking on, the franchise pulling in some new blood that maybe isn't jaded to the entire experience.

[Jarvan]

I think this is what ESO is banking on, the franchise pulling in some new blood that maybe isn't jaded to the entire experience.

I concur.

I think if they figure they even get 10% of the people that bought Skyrim, they are in business.

[leifastagsweed]

They banked on the fact that their game would suck? I know money makes the world go round, but still sounds like an unlikely theory. I think it just does and they have marketed the shit out of it so...play ball.

[Kalishar]

They banked on the fact that their game would suck? I know money makes the world go round, but still sounds like an unlikely theory. I think it just does and they have marketed the shit out of it so...play ball.

Maybe, or maybe they banked on the fact that it would bring fans of ES without jaded expectations from previous MMO experience, and that they'd bring their friends. I think most MMO's are fun when playing with a group of people you know in spite of a lot of technical or gameplay shortcomings.

I've played a few: Ultima Online, Everquest, Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call, City of Heroes, WoW, Star Trek Online, DC Universe Online... to me every single one of these are really fun games to play with in a group of known friends. When I start playing alone, and even with random people met in game I start to get nitpicky and seeing all the flaws.

[leifastagsweed]

Maybe, or maybe they banked on the fact that it would bring fans of ES without jaded expectations from previous MMO experience, and that they'd bring their friends. I think most MMO's are fun when playing with a group of people you know in spite of a lot of technical or gameplay shortcomings.

I've played a few: Ultima Online, Everquest, Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call, City of Heroes, WoW, Star Trek Online, DC Universe Online... to me every single one of these are really fun games to play with in a group of known friends. When I start playing alone, and even with random people met in game I start to get nitpicky and seeing all the flaws.

Agreed mostly. I played the same list minus CoH and DC Universe and never did I feel so lost without friends as I did in WoW. EQ was actually a pretty easy place to make friends because of the guild system, which definitely beat picking up some random partner who kites shit and acts like a moron. All that being said, I played the ESO beta with someone else in the same room that I know to be a pleasant game partner and still we were both Meh (me, more so because I had played more MMOs than he).

Did anyone run the new Imperial race and find anything magically better about that experience?

[Jarvan]

Agreed mostly. I played the same list minus CoH and DC Universe and never did I feel so lost without friends as I did in WoW. EQ was actually a pretty easy place to make friends because of the guild system, which definitely beat picking up some random partner who kites shit and acts like a moron. All that being said, I played the ESO beta with someone else in the same room that I know to be a pleasant game partner and still we were both Meh (me, more so because I had played more MMOs than he).

Did anyone run the new Imperial race and find anything magically better about that experience?

Yeah. I did.

The magical experience is they expect you to pay more money for it.

[Nilandia]

Game pre-release is this Sunday for people who purchased 5 days of early access. I'll admit to being rather excited to get in and play. If anyone else is playing, my user ID is @Nilandia, so feel free to send a friend request!

Gretchen

[Anebriated]

I know theres a couple of us gearing up for it. Ill be in early as Anebriated

[Nilandia]

Decided on a faction?

Gretchen

[Anebriated]

Im just along for the ride. Ill ask around and see what the people who care decided on.

[Anebriated]

looks like we will be going with the ebonheart pact.

[Nilandia]

Feh! And I'm playing Dominion. I'll see you on the battlefield!

In the meantime, I need me a guild. The one I applied to is dragging their feet on whether they'll take me.

Gretchen

[Jarvan]

I really wish I could have gotten into this game... but I just couldn't. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Crafting seemed lame, mining was sad, and combat was meh.

Good luck to those that bought it.

[SpiffyJr]

I'm on Ebonheart as well along with the rest of the Esohead & EsoUI team. Msg me if you need a tank!

[Taernath]

Anyone who's playing, please give us an update after a few months to let us know how it turned out.

[Nilandia]

I'm having a ridiculous amount of fun right now. Found a great guild and I'm running around gathering mats to hand out to the crafters. Quests are just what I happen to trip over while I'm out picking flowers. Made level 10 earlier today and we'll be doing a Cyrodiil shard run tomorrow and Thursday. Apparently we control 98% of Cyrodiil right now, so it should be fun.

Gretchen

[Dendum]

Max level is what keeps me out of theme park games now, you get it...your done...you wait for the next expansion/dungeon/pvp zone.
There are a lot of great theme park games out though, the secret world rocks...until you beat it. Even SWTOR is pretty good until you beat it. I hope Sony rolls out something or on of the indy guys do that helps this problem.

[RagingThrak]

So how much has this game changed/improved since the last beta? Haven't had a chance to play yet even though I have early access.

[Nilandia]

I only played the last beta, but it seems a lot of the changes have been bug fixes and rebalancing. Not much actual gameplay changes.

And I'm taking my time on leveling because I don't want to cap too quickly and then lose interest in the game.

Gretchen

[Anebriated]

Yeah Im having a blast. had a little rough stretch as I tried to solo the 8-10 quests and dungeons but now that our guild has finally come together its a lot easier. Couple of us are in the 13-15 range. The crafting system is taking some time to get used to but I kind of like it. Havent ventured out to pvp yet but Im sure that will come soon.