Elder Scrolls the MMO

[Skinypupy]

I've tried four times now to get into the Skyrim xpac, and have just bounced off it. It just isn't really interesting at all to me.

Whatever pull ESO had with me has apparently disappeared, as I haven't been able to get into either of the last two xpacs.

[Max Peck]

I've also seen spoopy used in the sense of something that will scare the poop out of you.

[coopasonic]

I've also seen spoopy used in the sense of something that will scare the poop out of you.

Which appears to be the opposite of what dictionary.com says so that sounds right.

[rittchard]

Decided to give this another go - I think I am in the guild from OO but I'm not sure. Is anyone still playing or have any starter tips?

[Bad Demographic]

I'm still playing but I can't say I have good starter tips. Maybe don't go to Craglorn for a while because it has a lot of group areas. Unless you're heavily into pvp, maybe just start with the quests for your area (character race will determine your starting area).
There are a lot of player guilds and I think most of them make a point of helping new players.

What is your in-game name? I'll make sure you get an invite into the OO guild (such as it is). But just so you know, it's not very active.

[rittchard]

Thx BD, looks like I'm in the right guild already - I saw your name on the list!

[rittchard]

I'm really enjoying my latest venture in. Possibly it's just that I have a little extra free time and this is fitting in well...

The things I like and don't like are all still there, but have evolved. It's still a little slow/grindy in terms of progress, but this has been effectively nullified now that almost all (?) content is level unspecific. It's something that helped Guild Wars 2 but I don't think even they did as sweeping a job as what it seems like it is in ESO. I'm sure there is still level/gear gated content, but the main open world being level-equalized or whatever you call it is fantastic. Even at the very lowest levels I'd be doing a quest and someone else may come along and help who was clearly full level+. It's an interesting dynamic.

The graphics are fantastic, even better than I remember, though I am running all maxxed out at 4K this time around. The combat is more fun than I remember, though I do tend to get smacked around more than I recall. I like that there is a lot of room for positioning, dodging, blocking, etc. on top of traditional MMO combat. I remember the first time I played some of the bosses were just way too difficult. This time around I've only had problems maybe once or twice, but in general it feels like the difficulty has been adjusted to be much more reasonable.

The one thing I don't really like, and is even worse in many ways, is one of the best features on paper. It's that there are just so many side quests. I have to actively avoid getting involved/diverted in a sidequest, which is weird. I'm doing my best to follow the main Skyrim storyline but I still get diverted. This is actually a really good problem to have if you are the kind that is always craving more content. But at some point it's just too much lol. This has happened to me in single player games as well. This is less of a complaint than me just not being disciplined enough.

The Skyrim area also has a new (at least new to me) Harrowstorm overland feature. It's very reminiscent of the rifts from Rift where basically you can run in and help and get some rewards. I can see how it may lose its charm after a while but the first time I encountered one it was really cool. Particularly since I was really low level yet somehow was able to contribute a tiny bit and get rewarded at the end.

[Daehawk]

Never been super impressed with this game. Ive been considering trying again but Ive tried all the character classes and nothing is that great to me. I want to try a Warden and a Necro but as I cant unless I own the DLC and I never see myself buying those then I dont ever go back

[habibi]

I started playing the game in April due to #stayathome COVID-19 related lockdown. I was hooked to the game, I think mainly due to 3 of my friends are also into the game too, so we would do quest together and try the dungeons. It was fun and relaxing, just hanging out virtually with friends.

I try not to bother with the side quests. They are a distraction. I do enjoy the main quest. The story, NPC dialogue and voice over was very well done. I like to see these NPC up close and often admire at the details in their costume and when I start to look at making my toons attractive, I marveled at the level of details modern, tons of budget games provide.

There’s really a lot of things to do in this game and it caters for different play style and interest. One of my friends spent tons of hours just doing fishing. He said it calms him down. I love doing dungeons and exploring delves. Another enjoy leveling up on crafting to make money.

Graphics are nice but other recent game was The Division 2, so there’s not much to wow at ESO although certain parts of the world is attractive enough for a screenshot or two.

After 7 months, I’m not getting enough of it and just started my monthly subscription


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[Stuie]

I'm still playing. If you need help with anything and I'm online, feel free to hit me up.

[habibi]

Thanks. And in case anyone is interested, Greymoor is 67% off in Steam. A no brainer for me. I’d really want to try Scrying and Antiquities but it does seem like it requires a lot of work!


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[rittchard]

I finished (I think?) the main big chapter of Greymoor. Vampires, witches, werewolves, we've got it all!! It was pretty cool overall and ended (again I'm not 100% sure lol) with a very epic battle after a pretty epic chase and questline. It felt very grand and I felt like I had been through something pretty big. But while it seemed to be "over" for the moment, I wasn't sure where to go next. I thought there were supposed to be four chapters in the Skyrim story and I assumed I would be guided into the next chapter. But that never happened, or I missed it and I couldn't figure out where. So I ended up accepting the Markarth quest and I jumped over to The Reach to start that. While it's clearly related it doesn't seem to be following where I left off per se, so I wonder if I wasn't supposed to do some other stuff in between or if it was purposely made to be kind of independent. It's not a big deal, I was just a little surprised it wasn't a little clearer.

[Max Peck]

I have been under the impression that the continuation of the Western Skyrim story line was via the dungeons they added, rather than with regular quests or zones.

[habibi]

I thought Markath will be the finale for Greymoor, so you are on the right path.

The other chapters such as Elswyer and Summerset came before Greymoor, so they are prequels, if you will.

I did Morrowind by completing Vvanderfell quests, then the Main Quest (where you defeat Molag Bal, another epic battle). Now I’m starting Summerset and I will do Elswyer after that. This will be followed up with Greymoor and Markath.


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[Max Peck]

[rittchard]

ooooooh COMPANIONS!!!!

I don't know what they are doing but I'll be in for that. Yes, my life is sad.

[Max Peck]

Update 29 goes live this week, with a revamp of the Champion System.

Update 29 Preview—Champion System Update

First introduced with Update 6 in 2015, the Champion System gave end-game players a way to improve their characters beyond level 50. Now, six years since its initial release, the team felt that a major overhaul was needed to keep the system fresh and impactful.

“We decided to rebuild the Champion System in Update 29 as this system ties up a lot of changes we've made over the past two years,” explains Brian Wheeler, ESO’s Combat Lead. “When you look at the original Champion System, it had a lifespan associated with it that meant that there was no real progression after a certain point. In addition, the original system also had a lot of power creep because it provided passive gains across the board for your damage, healing, and regen.”

When approaching the redesign of such an important system, the team set specific goals they wanted to meet with their changes.

“When designing the new Champion System, we wanted you to be able to do the same content you were able to do previously. If you were able to beat VMA (Veteran Maelstrom Arena) before U29 goes live, you’ll be able to beat it afterward. We also had to make sure you could do DLC dungeons at CP 300, which aligns with our DLC dungeons and the Activity Finder.”

In addition to ensuring players didn’t feel depowered by the change, the team wanted to add more variance and choice to the system.

“We wanted tradeoffs and choices much like your ability bar and gear. In the original system, you just had pure power, and there wasn’t really a choice except for how to update your Magicka or Stamina build,” says Wheeler. “With the new system, you have to make real choices. For example, in the Warfare constellation group, you’ll have to choose between improving your damage, healing, or survivability, but you can’t have all of it at once like you could previously.”

Finally, the team also wanted to ensure the system still felt familiar and could be easily scaled in future updates where needed.

“When designing the UI, we wanted interacting with the system to remain familiar to our dedicated players who have used it for years, while making sure the expanded number of choices and build variations are apparent,” explains Bobby Weir, ESO’s UI Lead. “We embraced the increase of options and made sure that we built mechanisms that support expanding upon those options in the future.”

The reference to "power creep" makes me feel like this is going to feel like a nerf. Anyway, there will also be a 2-week period with free respecs so that players can scramble to make their characters not suck more than they did before.

Get a Free Pet & Respecs During the Heroes Reforged Event

To celebrate the arrival of Update 29’s Champion System overhaul, we’re happy to announce the Heroes Reforged mini event. Beginning with the launch of Update 29 for each platform (PC/Mac: Monday, March 8 at 10AM EST; Xbox One and PlayStation®4: Tuesday, March 16 at 10AM), this event will run for two weeks and allow you unlimited free respecs from Rededication Shrines for the following:

• Attributes (Health/Stamina/Magicka)
• Skills (and Morphs)
• Champion Points (from the Champion Point system menu)

Note that the above start times may shift depending on when Update 29 goes live and servers open, and when you first log in, all Skills and Champion Points will be automatically reset.

While the changes coming with Update 29 impact only the Champion System, we know that you’ll likely want to test many builds, so for two weeks you can reset, respec, and rebuild any and all of your characters as many times as you want for free when using a Rededication Shrine or the Champion Point redistribution function—easy!

Finally, this is not a full in-game event (such as the Midyear Mayhem or the recent Tribunal Celebration), and as a result it will not have Event Tickets or unique rewards—just free re-specializations. That’s two weeks to experiment and test your builds at no cost.

Because Update 29 requires a mandatory skill respec (including both Champion Points and Skill Points), we’re also offering the Ambersheen Vale Fawn pet from the in-game Crown Store, completely free!

Naturally, I didn't notice any of this until I couldn't log in this morning due to the servers being down for the update, so I didn't get a chance to jot down any notes on the current builds for any of my characters (one main, five semi-active alts), so I'm stuck with muscle memory for the current builds but not being quite certain which skills and morphs I had set up for any of them. I'm sure there's a good technical reason for a forced skill reset, but I still kind of resent that they're doing it. The next couple of weeks should be fun, and by fun I mean annoying.

[habibi]

Yeah, the reason for CP 2.0 is for longevity of the game and to improve server performance.
This is a great article on the why:

https://eso-hub.com/en/guides/champion- ... -explained


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[Max Peck]

Yeah, it's just that I fear and resent change.

I just spent some time rebuilding my main. I was able to remember all but one of my slotted skills for my main character. For the final one, which I could not for the life of me remember, I had to pull up a Twitch video and find a spot where I was in combat so that I could see the icons in the skill bar.

The new champion stuff looks interesting, but I didn't put a whole bunch of thought into allocating points and slotting abilities for now. Which, to be honest, pretty much describes how I allocated points under the old champion system. I never did get around to checking out any guides in order to get a handle on how to construct an effective build. Generally, as long as I can survive as a solo adventurer, I'm happy enough.

I'll be logging a little later to run a last set of Tribunal event dailies, so that should give me an idea if there is much change to the character's survivability.

[habibi]

I have the same issues on all four of my characters. Somehow, I can’t remember the fifth slot of both bars. Oh well, if I didn’t remember it, it wasn’t as useful anyway and so, I now start to experiment with other skills on the fifth bar. I end up preferring AOE type of skills to help me clear the mobs. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, lol.

I also find that somehow my sorcerer and Dragonknight tank, both of who used Magicka, used up their Magicka fairly quickly. The recovery is not as good as before. I don’t know where in the CP tree to fix this and it is really annoying to find myself unable to cast and have to keep on doing Heavy Attack to recover Magicka. If anyone know where I should look for, that will be greatly appreciated.


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[Max Peck]

I also find that somehow my sorcerer and Dragonknight tank, both of who used Magicka, used up their Magicka fairly quickly. The recovery is not as good as before. I don’t know where in the CP tree to fix this and it is really annoying to find myself unable to cast and have to keep on doing Heavy Attack to recover Magicka. If anyone know where I should look for, that will be greatly appreciated.

There are some abilities in Fitness that improve recovery. You can put up to 50 points in Rejuvenation, which gives +3 health/magicka/stamina recovery for each point invested. Additionally, you can unlock Siphoning Spells, which restores up to a maximum of 1500 magicka when you kill an enemy. Both Rejuvenation and Siphoning Spells need to be slotted in order to be active.

[rittchard]

FYI, the Blackwood expansion is out and there's a small-ish group of players playing.

Companion system is pretty cool, it feels similar to what you probably expect. Reminiscent of other games like Dragon Age, you run a few quests before they join you. Once they join you can summon them at will like a pet (unless you piss them off I think), and they have a range of customization options. I haven't looked much at the details. There are only two available currently, one guy and one girl. My guy is pretty decent so far, I didn't really set anything up but he seems to do a good amount of damage. Eventually I'll try to make him into a tank, I think.

The main Blackwood questline is pretty much familiar territory, not too different from the others I've done so far. I have to say that even though the core plotline may not be that memorable, moving through the story chapters in ESO is really a nice treat, as long as I adhere to avoiding the temptation to take on sidequests.

[rittchard]

Really enjoying the game (again). I finished the main Blackwood storyline rather quickly, the ending portion was pretty cool and left you wanting more. Probably a little too short all in all but in some ways that's a good thing since it does make me want to see how the story continues.

I'm really impressed with all the sub-systems that have been put into the game. I'm sure if you are familiar with the game you were already aware, but it really seems seamless to me now how players at different levels can play together and integrate without the common problems that almost all other MMOs have. Somehow everything seems scaled to you (except for loot drops) so when you hit a random dungeon you can mix with much higher level players and everything plays roughly the same. Obviously they have access to more skills and better equipment but that doesn't really affect your personal gameplay. It's a really slick system. Same holds for PvP content.

In other words, the game provides a great mix of both solo and mixed group play. It may be an older game but nonetheless very impressive.

[rittchard]

ESO Plus is free this week if anyone is tempted to give it a try:

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-u ... post/60249

I hate pimping a game that there doesn't seem to be much interest in, but I thought I'd give it one more shot lol. I'm presently addicted to doing group dungeons. They go super quick (maybe too quick depending on the group) but you get a great dose of action and lots of loot. I seem to keep unlocking more new ones to do so it feels like endless content to me.

Another side note, the graphic in this game look fantastic for a 7(?) year old game. I'm running everything maxxed out in 4K so that may have something to do with the newfound appreciation. I've always liked the look but now I'm really seeing a lot of details particularly backgrounds that are just outstanding.

[Daehawk]

I play it in short bursts off and on. But I dont own any of the DLCs at all so its not much fun.

[Skinypupy]

There's lots to like about ESO, but every time I go back, I find I end up burning out very quickly.

The main draw (for me) with the game was the excellent narrative and stories. I finished both the main game (which is actually my favorite Elder Scrolls campaign of all the games), Morrowind, and Summerset, but the quality of the campaigns felt like they dropped off sharply in the last two main expansions I tried (the Elsweyr and Skyrim ones). I only made it about halfway through those last two before getting bored.

[rittchard]

I play it in short bursts off and on. But I dont own any of the DLCs at all so its not much fun.

Then this week is a good time to go back with the free ESO Plus trial lol!

Skiny - I'm surprised you didn't like Elsweyr and Skyrim, I thought at least Elsweyr was pretty well received? I didn't finish it but I do intend to. I really enjoyed the Skyrim one I played (I'm not sure which exactly it was but it had a lot of vampires and werewolves). Blackwood was pretty cool but I felt like it ended just when I was getting into it. I'm not sure how you play but I've found the only way for me to enjoy the story chapters is to focus 100% on it, actively fighting the urge to do sidequests, etc. It's so easy to get distracted within the game and lose track of where you are. I'm struggling right now with Summerset not so much because it's not engaging but because I keep wanting to do dungeons.

If I had any criticism for them it's that the xp and leveling/gear rewards for questing are not even close to comparable to what you get with other content like dungeons or simple mob grinding. Which is really a shame because it's definitely the standout feature of the game IMHO.

[Kurth]

I keep meaning to try ESO but never have. I'm at a bit of a lull between games, so maybe now's the time.

[Stuie]

I just loaded up the guild bank with all my extra Companion gear. Please feel free to grab what you need!

[Reemul]

I have started playing this again. I have the version up to Elsweyr. I skipped the Tutorial and started a Stamina Warden, seems at the end of the tutorial you can choose your zone (I think). Anyways I am lvl 12 in Elsweyr but should I be doing the Big main quest or just keep ticking along here.

Also is it 1 big server or EU and US? Wouldn't mind an invite to the guild if available.

Any beginner advice?

[Kurth]

I decided tp give this a try. I’m currently a lvl 14 Breton sorcerer working through quests on Glenumbra. The game seems to play well, and it’s not bad looking, but so far, the most challenging aspect has been inventory management. My struggles with what I can fit in my backpack are like 100 times tougher than any mobs I’ve encountered, including what I think are bosses.

Any thoughts? I don’t love super hard games, necessarily, buy this is like ZERO challenge. I haven’t been really threatened by any mob I’ve seen so far. Hoping it gets better!

[Alefroth]

ESO+ is a necessity for me because of the craft bag and doubled bank space.

[Kurth]

Setting aside inventory issues, why is the game so damn easy. There’s no challenge at all. Makes it boring.

[Alefroth]

Isn't that just the way MMOs are these days? I can't think of any that have any kind of challenging landscape mobs.

[Blackhawk]

That's pretty typical for MMOs, especially at the beginning. The current MMO model is that the endgame is the core game, and everything up to that point is just a prolonged tutorial.

Usually the first few levels are incredibly easy (as people learn the game mechanics and decide whether to stay or leave), but things usually pick up a little once you pass a certain level and they start throwing more complex mechanics at you.

[Kurth]

I think the problem I’m having is that it’s really hard to get much of a feel for any game mechanics because it’s so easy. I’m encountering tons of bad guys, but I just mash one or two spell buttons every time and blast them to dust. My health seems to regenerate automatically and very quickly, so I’m never in danger of dying, and there’s no mechanic that requires resting or healing. There’s no real incentive to experiment with different spells (although I’ve tried anyway) because the difficulty is so low.

Just seems like a very bad way to try to get new players interested in giving the game a shot.

[Blackhawk]

I have had the same complaint about WoW for years. How are you supposed to understand how your skills work together if everything dies in two or three blows? Try leveling a WoW rogue, a class who builds combo points by hitting with regular attacks, then spends them on powerful finishers. Everything dies by the time you get two or three points, and you won't even have the opportunity to use a finisher until you're probably level 40 - or maybe in a dungeon if the rest of the group isn't twinked to the point that the bosses drop as fast as a trash mob.

It's part of why I haven't started a new character in years (although I did hear they revamped the process - I may need to try again one of these days.)

[rittchard]

Yeah there are definitely some balance issues overall - having a companion makes combat even easier. It's a big reversal from what the game was like at release, the combat was much more difficult and the leveling was glacial paced, which turned off a lot of people I think. If you do want a challenge, I think you can try soloing the dungeons? I haven't tried that myself but I think it's doable, or maybe with a companion. The group dungeons have also been extremely easy up to the last one I was in where I finally died a couple times. I am nearing level 50 though, so I'm guessing once you hit Veteran dungeons it will get more difficult?

It would be nice if you could select a difficulty for the solo/quest lines, and have xp/rewards that scale up with it. As it stands leveling is far far slower doing storylines.

Oh, and of course if you want a real challenge, you can jump into PvP where you will get pwned until you really learn the game.

[dbt1949]

I haven't played in years. After reading how easy it was I wondered if I was playing the same game.Had to relook at the topic. I also did 99% of it by myself and I just wasn't having fun.

[Kurth]

I think I’m going to move on from ESO. I’m really only in it for the PvE stuff and the story and Elder Scrolls setting. But it’s no fun without even a hint of a challenge. Bummer.