Elder Scrolls Online beta weekend

[Drakel]

Same

[Jorick]

I was pretty disappointed by ESO when I tried it out during the last beta weekend I was invited to. Bland combat for melee, mind-numbingly boring combat for ranged. Quests are repetitive as fuck (basically tons of courier quests instead of having the standard "kill a bunch of monsters" MMO quests) and the rewards for them don't feel worthwhile. The story and lore stuff is pretty cool, but that doesn't make up for the negative bits in my opinion.

[Beatrix]

I might try it. I already got a code from an old friend.

[mdk]

Note to self: the beta doesn't like it if you install the survey addon, but then also close the survey addon.

[Dervish]

The thing that gets ne is why combat was designed the way it is. I mean, Planetside 2 demonstrated you can have a solid skill based action MMO, so having more responsive combat and systems similar to Skyrim should have been plausible, you know?

[Gwazi Magnum]

I've played it for a few hours so far after getting a spare Beta Key off a friend.

There's a few issues I have with it, some of which were already highlighted.

1. Classes
Why the hell are there classes? Elder Scrolls has always been a level up where you want and be what you want sort of deal. Why in the world is that whole thing shot in the foot now? The best I can think of is balance reasons, but it loses a ton of Elder Scrolls feel when you remove that option.

2. Horrible Loot
The loot for basically every enemy is one single god damn coin... -.-
The loot for most box's and chest's is slightly more coin, and then minor materials for making soup's and potions.
Barely interesting gear. It's the only MMO I have actually had to go to a weapons Merchant and buy a weapon because none of the monster drops gave my anything better.

-Exception: Old Republic and Comendations, but that's a rare/limited currency that is essentially "Pick your rare item" so it works.

3. Way too many other's running around.

I get it in a field/open map, it's an MMO.
But when I go into a dungeon and a cave to do a quest, it barely feels like an Elder Scrolls seeing 50+ others running around doing the same shit and killing all the monsters.

4. Limited Combat
As mentioned before, it has 1st person like TES series (which is nice), but it's basically just a click until the enemy dies. With a very limited amount of abilities or powers to use in the hotkey... even if you're a mage. -.-

5. Lack of exploration.
You have this map area/locations you can explore within, But you can cover the whole thing within a hour (2 at most) with almost no secret's to uncover.
And you can't move on until you do the main story.

Can't even back track to an earlier area if you want to do a missed quest or simply get a change of scenery.

---

Overall, I rate it as a pretty low MMO. It's better than runescape and any of those other MMO's you only hear of from the kind of ad's you use adblock to get rid of.
But any decently famous MMO (Planetside 2, Guild Wars 2, Old Republic, World of Warcraft, Phantasy Star Online) I would rank as far better MMO's.

[mdk]

See I've liked it pretty well so far, with the understanding that it's beta. The currency needs to change, and some of the spawns need tweaking, but it's fun. The core mechanics are fun. It's more like Defiance than WoW, in that you have an action-element (the quality of which is probably related to your weapon/magic setup).... The classes are very loose, like, if I wanted I could be a bow-and-arrow-wielding paladin and that would actually work.

[Drakel]

Yeah... First time playing I was majorly disappointed... They need to fix the 100+ player problem in quest maps and have it to where if you're doing a quest you're either doing it alone or with those you invited in a team... (CoH kinda did this and it worked relatively well for an MMO too... It'd also work well in Elder Scrolls since they're using a lot of doors too.)

I also get the class thing, other than Skyrim TES did have classes you could choose from and grow into something more with... though when you're selection is only 4 classes overall it kinda kills some of the fun... I feel as though I don't have much of a selection in them... (I will give credit where it is due though... their classes are the most loose in comparison to other MMOs)

Loot is something that I wasn't too worried about, it is still Beta after all and that should be something that SHOULD be easily fixed...

Another thing that was slightly annoying was mostly the fact that stealth is almost absolutely fucking useless (especially when everyone is running around as a dragonknight fucking shit up with dual wielding and heavy armor)... "I see a monster, I'm going to assassinate it" *Gets up close and prepares to do melee/Ranged assassination strike* *some mother fucker uses their fiery chain to pull my monster away before I could hit it*



NPC Dialogue is... Bland to say the least... my first three NPCs had NO emotion... just... none... AND WE'RE IF FUCKING HELL!!!! IN THE MIDDLE OF A FUCKING BATTLE?!?!

Finally... combat... I think everyone can agree... there is absolutely nothing special about the combat system since all you do is click your mouse buttons till they die or spam hotkeys until the mana runs out by your 1-5 abilities (that do around the same amount of damage, if not... less)... Also, as I said... don't bother on sneaking cause that 5 seconds of you being slow to kill a target is 5 more seconds for someone else to kill it before you. :/

EDIT: Even with all these problems I'll be lying if I said I didn't at least find the game slightly enjoyable... It's fun and all and just needs some small fixes here and there... maybe as time passes it'll improve further... My main annoyance was actually just the other players killing everything in my missions and stealing all the loot while I'm trying to quest more than the game itself...

[Drakel]

mdk said
See I've liked it pretty well so far, with the understanding that it's beta. The currency needs to change, and some of the spawns need tweaking, but it's fun. The core mechanics are fun. It's more like Defiance than WoW, in that you have an action-element (the quality of which is probably related to your weapon/magic setup).... The classes are very loose, like, if I wanted I could be a bow-and-arrow-wielding paladin and that would actually work.

I prefer to be a claymore wielding assassin-Pyromancer... xD

...

...

I I could actually get the chance to assassinate shit... ;_;

[Gwazi Magnum]

The game is semi-enjoyable for me.
I didn't mean to give any impression that I hated it or anything.

I definitely had more fun with it in my first couple hours though than I did once I hit the second area.
It is in Beta granted, I give them that.

But if they don't end up fixing these issues until after all the Beta's (save it for full release) then I won't be buying it cause I wouldn't want to risk spending so much cash on a game to see if it's fixed when previous experience tells me it's not so great.

So hopefully there is another beta test where the fix the problems.

[Drakel]

Good question...

What IS everyone playing anyways? O_o

Argonian-Dragonknight-Claymore & Medium armor for me...

He looks as similar to my Kobold set as physically possible lol xD

(I have over 60+ Screenshots so I might do a LP for as long as the Beta is up lol xD)

[Gwazi Magnum]

My main is a Orc Dragonknight with a Great Axe and Heavy Armor.
(Based him off a D&D character).

I have a secondary High Elf Mage, but didn't get far.
Too squishy and the attacks take too long, causes you to run around too much which only attracts even more enemies.

I contemplated trying the other two classes.
But I'm no good at buffing/healing (nor do I think I'd get any use from it. Considering how I have no to really play it with who actually wants to play it).
And stealth... in combination of other's stealing kills and from what I heard with it eating stamina... It just seems really bad. :/

I am tempted to try a Nord Great Sword Light or Medium Armor though before the Beta ends.
The extra speed and agility over the Orc would be fun to play with.

[Drakel]

snip...

[mdk]

Mine is a fat argonian healer, except there isn't *much* to heal yet. Two-handed mace + some sun magic, it's, eh, I mean the combat isn't Skyrim but it's not bad. Raiding in this game is gonna be a blast.

[Shmewyy]

I got the game, but for some reason its taking forever to install/update v.v

[Gwazi Magnum]

What is the Templar/Paladin class actually like?

Do you get much use out of it when playing solo?
That's normally my main issues with healers, if you're on your own then you're main use is non-existent.
And you'll often be on your own, especially in this Beta where things are so easy there's no need for others.

[xAsunaWolfx]

Im on it

[mdk]

Magic Magnum said
What is the Templar/Paladin class actually like?Do you get much use out of it when playing solo?That's normally my main issues with healers, if you're on your own then you're main use is non-existent.And you'll often be on your own, especially in this Beta where things are so easy there's no need for others.

No problems so far. The attack spells are pretty boss and you can do whatever you want for armor/weapon trees, so there's nothing stopping you from being a powerhouse as well as a healer.

[Gwazi Magnum]

mdk said
No problems so far. The attack spells are pretty boss and you can do whatever you want for armor/weapon trees, so there's nothing stopping you from being a powerhouse as well as a healer.

Good point.

[Beatrix]

It wouldn't play for me. Oh well.