The Elder Scrolls Online Review: Epic Adventure Or Epic Fail?

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AttilaB

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This review was obviously paid off by a rival company. He is way off on his review of the game.

The game is actually very fun, and engaging. It is not an Elder Scrolls game, it is Elder Scrolls Online. The games PvE is very enjoyable, and fun to go through. You are not required to make numerous characters just to experience all the factions like you do in other games! This game is actually worth the purchase, and the monthly fee.

If you don't like it, turn around and walk away. Nobody is forcing you to play it. The PvP is hella fun, as it is open world, and very challenging, because it is skill based.

Also, it has bugs, and what game, "DOESN'T" have any bugs at launch? Yes, it has more then usual, but you have to consider the magnitude of the game, compared to other ones. It is barely approaching a month since release, and they have fixed a ton of stuff already. Also, they stated that in 1.1 a lot will be fixed, and that patch is literally around the corner, and already with a MAJOR CONTENT UPDATE!

Sorry to disappoint the guy who wrote this review, but maybe he shouldn't take bribes to write shitty reviews. The guy that wrote this is a class A dirt bag. I hope he never writes another review.

One thing to remember as well, it is ONE persons opinion out of millions. Why would anyone in their right mind take a person they don't know, and has a shitty reputation to begin with, seriously? Judge the game for yourself, and I promise you that you will not agree with this review at all.

There are some people that will completely dislike the game just because, and that happens in many games. But this guy also contradicts himself in the review if you read it.

GG dude, you wrote an idiotic review.
 

AttilaB

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@Vertexx, you obviously have no clue what you are talking about. ESO is an amazing game, and it is very fun. There isn't a better MMO out there right now. ArcheAge is another rehash of WOW (Tab Target, and all), SWTOR is a huge flop, TSW is a decent game for story, but nothing else (it's more like a single player game).

Sorry, but until you play the game, you have no right to talk about it. The consensus is that the game is great. Play before you try to knock it kid.
 

AttilaB

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The game is great, and will only get better like any MMO after launch. Look past the bugs, and you will see a great game.
 

AttilaB

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The game is great, and will only get better like any MMO after launch. Look past the bugs, and you will see a great game.
 

vertexx

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Dude, relish in debate, how about you tell me exactly what I said where you think I have no clue - how about you just try to tell me where I'm mistaken and offer some concrete specifics as to why you have a difference of opinion.

I'd have immense respect for someone who has a difference of opinion who can actually back that up with specifics. Relish that....


Real interesting argument you have here.....:

1. "No right to talk about it?" Really, are you serous? Based on that comment, you clearly either work directly for Zenimax or Vladimir Putin.
2. "The consensus is the game is great"..... Ok Tony the Tiger, what consensus are you dreaming about, you, yourself, and the dudes from Zenimax paying you to setup a another Tom's forum ID just so you can try to do damage control? Just show us that consensus. Like I've said, I have WANTED ESO to be good. But the clear "consensus" is...... well, you be the judge.... Here are just a few of the top Google results for "Elder Scrolls Online Review". You look at these links and try to tell me what the "Consensus" is again.....

http://www.gamesradar.com/elder-scrolls-online-review/ .. 3/5 or "Decent". Where $15 Don't Starve receives 4/5 or "Great". Skyrim recieved 5/5 or "Astonishing"
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-online ( that's a "72" from Metascore and "6.2 from users.... pretty sad when $15 Indie game Don't Starve gets a "79" Metascore and 8.3 from users)
http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-elder-scrolls-online-review/1900-6415741/ - That's 6 out of 10 from Gamespot, when "Don't Starve" get's a 7, hmm.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/31/the-elder-scrolls-online-review - 7.8 vs Don't Starve rating of 7.5 or TES Skyrim rating of 9.5.
http://www.pcgamer.com/review/the-elder-scrolls-online-review/ - Score of 58 vs. TES V Skyrim rating of 94.
http://www.videogamer.com/reviews/the_elder_scrolls_online_review.html - 4/10 vs. 9/10 for Skyrim
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/821/Elder-Scrolls-Online.html - 7.9/10 vs 9.3/10 for Guild Wars 2 (BTW, GW2 list was $50 one-time - now 1/2 off at $25 - so how does ESO stack up against that with $60 one-time plus $15/month?)
http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2014/04/22/the-elder-scrolls-online-review/1 - "Playing The Elder Scrolls Online is the most boring experience I've endured since I was seventeen years old..." First line of that review....

So this is just the first 2 pages of a google search for "Elder Scrolls Online Review". And I provided some comparisons to Indie Game Don't Starve, which is a rather simplistic, but popular game, and TES Skyrim. If you're losing to Don't Starve at the prices you're charging, you're not doing so well. Can you say again what the "consensus" is on this game? Ehhh?

3. "Play it before you know it, kid".. "Kid"?? I'll just leave that alone. I'd be happy to play it, but ESO is charging $60 to play plus $15/month??? Keep in mind that I buy for 4 (myself and 3 kids). So that means if you win me, you get 4x the license + subscription fee. Of course, I almost forgot about the super-steal deal for $80 to play with the bonus pack! A friggin HORSE AND a "Vanity Pet" for an extra $20. Now THAT has got me excited to play! Well, shame on me for not signing up for that!

The short of it is this.... I don't spend my $$ until I know it's going to be a worthwhile spend. Two of the games these last 2 years I have looked forward most to were Simcity and ESO. What a complete dissappointment both of those were. I will not spend my $$ on that crap, and I am thankful for the honest reviews and "consensus" that clearly says "Steer Clear".
 

stuperstrong

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Botting in "dungeons" and duping have been dealt with. Obviously didn't get very high in levels or try a 4 man dungeon, not the solo skyshard dungeons. Seems like he was just trying really hard to hate everything about the game intentionally. Terrible review.
 

perpl3x

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Does anyone understand that the developers for the main ES series were not responsible for developing this game? That's why Zenimax Online Studios now exists...they collaborated with Bethesda, but that is about it. Stop expecting a multiplayer version of Skyrim and you may be able to appreciate the magnitude of the game. Also, I stopped reading the review of dungeons because it is completely wrong. There are, on average, 6 solo dungeons (what the reviewer was talking about), 1 public dungeon (usually with 5 or more bosses and a group required boss), and a 4 man dungeon with mechanic based bosses. He reviewed the solo dungeons, which are MEANT to be quick. The first Veteran 4 man dungeon I did actually had me sweating. The boss mechanics in these dungeons can destroy you and your entire group if you just go straight for DPS. This is in no way boring, on average it takes me 25 to 35 minutes to clear these dungeons. I completely understand that the reviewer is entitled to his opinion, but from my perspective, he played 1/20th of what the game has to offer and tried to write a review on the games entirety. I've seen plenty of players say they felt the game became addicting once they hit Veteran status. Just my opinion.
 

perpl3x

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Does anyone understand that the developers for the main ES series were not responsible for developing this game? That's why Zenimax Online Studios now exists...they collaborated with Bethesda, but that is about it. Stop expecting a multiplayer version of Skyrim and you may be able to appreciate the magnitude of the game. Also, I stopped reading the review of dungeons because it is completely wrong. There are, on average, 6 solo dungeons (what the reviewer was talking about), 1 public dungeon (usually with 5 or more bosses and a group required boss), and a 4 man dungeon with mechanic based bosses. He reviewed the solo dungeons, which are MEANT to be quick. The first Veteran 4 man dungeon I did actually had me sweating. The boss mechanics in these dungeons can destroy you and your entire group if you just go straight for DPS. This is in no way boring, on average it takes me 25 to 35 minutes to clear these dungeons. I completely understand that the reviewer is entitled to his opinion, but from my perspective, he played 1/20th of what the game has to offer and tried to write a review on the games entirety. I've seen plenty of players say they felt the game became addicting once they hit Veteran status. Just my opinion.
 

kathiki

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I played the game in beta. I was , like all people, so excited about it. I stopped playing Rift: Planes of Telara, for about a whole weekend. Beta stage is supposed to bring people INTO the game. That beta was surely epic fail.

Nice graphics indeed. But this is not skyrim. This is by no means skyrim. Rift, on the other hand, has some really beautiful artwork, especially in the later patches.

Content? well, not once did I get the chance to party. Why would I? Ther was nothing to party for since it was all soloable. In Rift at level 10 you do pvp Warfronts, you do dungeons, you farm factions for additional items and recipes to craft, you do rifts, major rifts, invasions that are dynamic events. You get a slew of dungeons to do even when you get lvl 60. That is when the real fun starts. Raids are epic. I mean epic.

Crafting - Nothing special there. Nothing. I just compared the infinite options in all crafts in Rift and then Skyrim. Simply no comparison. Very linear.

So, Rift is like 3 years old. HUGE game with awesome content. ESO is a new game with very limited content. Neither is a game that offeres increased excitement. Farming is there for all mmorpg games becausee avid players will go through the content in a month or so. RIft offers a lot more there. A lot more.

Skills - Now they both have a wide variety of skills. Clearly for me though,the skill tree in RIFT, which is very elaborately designed, with many pssibilities for combinations and synergies, is again a clear win.

Rift - Free to play with minor not game breaking restricition.
ESO - you need to pay for it and the sub every month.

And as the poster wrote, who I inadverdently agree with, the overall consensus of the game is ' you need to judge i for yourself'. That speaks volumes.

If ESO succeeds and does not have the fate of Star Wars, is something that everyone wishes for. But once people start thinking they have been conned, you all know the outcome.
 

nilfisktun

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Epic fail. The game tryes to hard to be everything. If they had focussed more on group aspects of bouth pve and pvp, it would have had a chance. They should have just copied DAoC to be honest, with more focussed support roles, and things like group speed, aoe CC and such, the PVP game could have been great.
 

nilfisktun

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Epic fail. The game tryes to hard to be everything. If they had focussed more on group aspects of bouth pve and pvp, it would have had a chance. They should have just copied DAoC to be honest, with more focussed support roles, and things like group speed, aoe CC and such, the PVP game could have been great.
 
I dont understand why people are surprised (those that are) that this game is not the perfect MMO.
Most AAA titles nowdays are very, very bad. Publishers with big cash to invest hire subpar contractors (many of them) and then put it all togheter to try to save on costs and relese games as fast as possible.

Personally I didnt try ESO. But nor I tried Diablo 3 or any call of duty past MW2.
I am not hyped for Oculus VR and I dont sit at the end of my chair for upcoming titles.

When I was a Kid and I was spending my parents money I didnt care that much if a game was good or not. If it was bad I could just stop playing it and buy another one.
But now that I am spending money that I earn, if a company wants 15 dollars a month, they better deliver something great (I pay less for my internet ffs).

I got burned many times on games I was hyped about (Starcraft 2, skyrim PC version, Mass effect 3), so the same way that I dont trust a Girl when she says she loves me (because I found out that people lie), I dont trust what companies say their games will be like, and then when the games are out I decide If I want them.
 

nirax

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It saddened me how much I felt the same as the reviewer, only in a state of denial about it.

At VR3 1/2 i´m pretty done with it. my mind already went on quest-blabla shutdown long ago. this was my 7th mmo (started back in UO beta times where i lead Team Cow on Catskills, Drachenfels server, AO, Daoc, WoW, Tera,Gw2), and never felt so annoyed. (not even in grinding style Tera which had at least great and extremely responsivness action combat which made you often forget the grindingness of the ´quests´.

canceled my sub yesterday. will watch if it improves tho, but i´m sales manager myself in rl thus wont cash-in further on "powerpoints" or promises until i see it delivered.
As a pvp player i really cant cope anymore going through all these nonsense quests just in order to get competitive with the pack. Mind you, you may get the XP in a longish leveling process through pvp which will get even improved, but you´ll still need the skyshards and quest skill points.. its not a real alternative.
Thus enjoy the level treadmill. All that could be OK if there was any meaningful and attracting content.
I cant .. really cant believe how much time i actually spent already. ~8 days playtime, always hoping ´it´d get eventually better´. No it didnt.
 

barrydeane

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"If you want to beat a dog you will find a stick to beat him with"

O please what a bunch of drivel and tripe you have written. Did I read correctly. You played to level 20...And you base your whole experience on that? Tell me I'm wrong. You have barely scratched the surface of this MMO

Yes there are many things that could have been different but it certainly isnt this massive failure as the Skyrim fan boys, of which you seem to be a part, was hoping for just because you didnt get Skyrim co op.

I have yet to experience this steam roller in PVP that you talk about. Yes sometimes another faction will be in control of more of the map but maybe half an hour later other factions will take over and gain new ground again. PVP Battle in ESO is a mad rush.

Yes Dungeons, especially the solo run ones are copy and paste with the layout but who cares. Yes there will be other players in those dungeons, ITS AN MMO. Yes sometimes you leave them empty handed and other times you get some nice loot. I manged to get a full set on one run yesterday.

Is this different from any other game? How many times have I not entered a 5 man WoW dungeon looking for that one peace for my tier set only to have it go to someone else.

O and a tip. Maybe if you stopped running around in the level 1 dungeons you will actually feel threatened.

Grouping. I get the feeling you kinda sorta looked over someone elses shoulder and didnt even try to play the game. I had to group with a player last night to achieve the same goals to complete a quest line otherwise we would not have been able to complete the quest on our own.

And what BS is this you write about combat. Yes there are many enemies that you can walk over but there are as many that you have to plan and strategize very carefully and use your spells correctly otherwise you will last less than 30 seconds.

Yes the dialog can get tedious at times and i to have skipped. Only to go back to the quest giver and re do the dialog as I didn't pick up on the hints in the dialog to complete the quest.

Your conclusion should have read something like this

" I am a Skyrim-purist-fan-boy and really do not like that I did not get Elder Scrolls Co-op SOOO i am going to bash TESO and therefore I will refuse to understand that ESO is a fresh approach that gives Both Skyrim and MMO players something. I was going to do an in depth report but only managed to gt to level 20 as i couldn't continue see past my Skyrim tears while shaking my fist at Father Christmas asking him how he could forsake me like this. All i wanted for Chistmas was Skyrim Coop.





 

AstroCat

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I pretty much 100% disagree with this article in every way. I find the game fun, engaging, imaginative, fun to explore, etc... I like the questing, style, character progression, and on and on. I don't really have any of the negative reactions this guy has.

For me and many others ESO is the most fun I've ever had in an MMO, probably since the beginning. I know it's cool to hate on ESO these days and my fun is genuine so I'm gonna go on playing and having a good time.

I'd say try it yourself, it doesn't seem to appeal to everyone but those that it does like it a lot.
 

Adroid

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This game is another nail in the coffin for real MMOs. Everquest 1 still is the long standing champion of "hard core" MMOs. You know, the kind that require certain classes/disciplines, such as tank, healor, crowd control. The kind that require skill, and even a bit of social interaction. The kind where 13 year olds can't hit level cap in a month (nothing against young gamers, point being that MMOs are too easy now).

I know I'm comparing apples to oranges here, but the genre in my opinionated view has taken such a turn for the worst. Developers thinking that this is the type of game is what people want is a sad reality.

There is probably a happy medium somewhere to be had... Easier leveling for the casual, and early game draw to keep the subscriptions to float the ship, and a seriously hard core end game (yes again, Everquest 1 and the thousands of AAs, augs, flags, and gear it takes to be a powerfull character).

No I don't play EQ 1 currently, but every time I try a new MMO in hopes of something meaningful, I want to go back to EQ 1. I was excited about EQ Next but now it looks too casual. Sad days for MMOs. I guess I'll have to settle for less or not at all.
 

ammaross

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Wow, Joe sure didn't give the game due diligence and is obviously slanted in his exhaustive, but poor review.

Let's just do the dungeon page to make the point:
"Those little nooks, corners and crevices and all the spots on the map that don’t look like part of the train ride on the Lazy Loop contain a blistering, searing nothing."

Actually, they contain urns/baskets of (mostly) useless junk (yeah, sucks), sometimes NPCs giving quests or quest items to find to continue on to the next part of the quest, or (more common) they contain bookshelves/lorebooks/etc to read (and get skill xp from). Not nothing, but not entirely tangible somethings either. But what did you want? Mobs every 4 feet?

"dungeon which is exactly the same shape, textures, configuration and style as the last ten dungeons and reach the area where the boss spawns."

They actually cycle between cave, dank prison, old stone building, sewers, and mine themes. So no, not the same, but not much variety either.

"That spot is readily recognized because it is being camped by anywhere between 5-12 people, half of which may be gold farming spammer bots."

This hasn't been the case for the past two weeks as Zenimax has made boss-camping bad for bots (they've moved to greener pastures now, likely).

"Players lucky enough to get off a few hits receive credit for the kill and count the dungeon as complete. They loot the two gold pieces off him and travel onwards..."

Actually, EVERY public dungeon boss drops a bit of gear (usually 2-4 pieces). Why do you think they were farmed? Once in a while, the boss will drop ~150g only, but you kill him again and you get the expected assortment of gear (yep, buggy). Decrying this as only 2g means he only did one newbie dungeon and called it quits, else he should have reported that other dungeon bosses gave gear and it was not the expected norm to get just gold (let alone only 2g of it). Cherry-picking.

Of course, this is just Public Dungeons, which the disneyland ride is a necessity, since more than just you are running it (It's an MMO Joe, get over it). They could have done a private instance (like they do for the Harborage quest instances [note Joe didn't mention those either...]), but likely had public dungeons just to cut teeth in something simple in training for a real dungeon.
 

TyrOd

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Really? Reaally? The command in game is literally "/played". Did you even play this game because it seems you have a lack of basic understanding about most of it.

You seem to have no clue what the difference is between delves(single player and public areas) which are equivalent to caves in other MMO's and dungeons(group instances) which have challenging bosses and last 30 min- 1 hour not the ridiculous 8 min you stated.

There are 16 dungeons with 6 of them having veteran modes(hardmodes with expanded areas beyond the original dungeon).

There are also the guild quest lines which add about 30 unique areas(daedric, ayelied, dweer, etc...) that are not copied anywhere else.

That ~70% number is just nonsense as it would be better compared to the caves in other games not the instanced dungeons.

I mean even comparing it to skyrim, do you really believe there are more than 32 different layouts for the draugr barrows, mines, etc...
Let me give you a clue: there isn't.

There is a whole lot that is just pure misinformation about what you wrote and a whole lot you just missed due to only being level 20(which is only about %10 of the game).
 
It's not just this review that's down on this game. Usually, when a highly-anticipated game debuts, it's always around the high 80s or in the 90s on metacritic and then creeps its way down to where the score settles after around 3-6 months. This game, around a month after release is already at 72 combined from published reviews and 6.1 out of 10 average from over 1400 user reviewers. It's all a matter of opinion. I'm sure it will sell since it's banking on the franchise name, but this review and many others say it doesn't offer anything more than those MMORPGs we've seen for the last 10 years. It's a rehash of some of the things we've seen in MMORPGs, but with better graphics.
 


I agree and disagree on the dificulty aspect.

In city of heros you had to group to do any of the serious/real content, and yes... a propperly built team could take on that content. But almost every class could be built (with some planning) to be a monster that could damned near solo those group quests. It served two functions...

1) poorly balanced or built characters could group and acomplish great things.
2) players could feel like a superhero (it was a superhero game) by being able to damned near solo those quests if needed.

You don't HAVE to have a game so hard that characters HAVE to group... but it still helps. I mean in the aforementioned COH, i had several controllers (frankly, controllers could be pretty overpowered in this game), scrappers, a blaster, a corrupter, a brute and a tanker who could pretty much solo 99% of content. yet i still grouped ALL the time... it was a social game, and it didn't matter you could solo content. It was more fun in groups. Sure being able to solo it was useful~ but completely unnecessary. I had just as much fun with my weak assed defenders supporting teams as i did with my brutal controllers which could solo the quest themselves.

But your main point is a good one. MOST MMOs today have no use for partying, and the classes feel identical. It doesn't really matter what class you play, it just affects how you look. Its not fun at all.
 

TyrOd

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Ubercake, what the heck is wrong with you as well voting down every negative comment about the quality of the review, even those with direct facts as to it's inaccuracy. Is that what a moderator does?
 

scritty

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For those worrying about other games being delayed as Bethesda made this one. Not the case., Zenimax made this game and virtually no people or assets from the Fallout or single player ESO games were employed...

And it shows :(
 

agentbb007

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I'm up to level 42 and unfortunately the review is pretty accurate. I am going to play until I cap my character out and see how the main story ends. But after that sadly I don't see any reason to keep the subscription.
 
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