You mentioned that it at times felt like a "Generic MMO", now this is a loose term. So I have a couple of questions about what that statement meant to you and how the game felt.
1). Is it a good generic MMO feel to it, or a poor one? As in does it feel like a failed reskin of WoW or just like an MMO?
Reason I ask is because an MMO is meant to feel like an MMO in the same manner crab is supposed to taste like crab. Whether it is in a good way or not is not being stated.
2). Is it a good game?
Reason I ask is because MMO's like WoW aren't really good games. They are good MMO's but not good games. So in other words, would you enjoy the game even if it had no other players in it? Or is the game purely reliant on the social part.
3). What are your PERSONAL thoughts about ESO? Be as biased as you wish.
Well, I ask this because it's the one thing you haven't brought up yet. Anyhow, Cheers mate!
Your 2nd question is ridiculous. You judge MMOs by if they'd be good single player games? Just let that sink in..
You mentioned that it at times felt like a "Generic MMO", now this is a loose term. So I have a couple of questions about what that statement meant to you and how the game felt.
1). Is it a good generic MMO feel to it, or a poor one? As in does it feel like a failed reskin of WoW or just like an MMO?
Reason I ask is because an MMO is meant to feel like an MMO in the same manner crab is supposed to taste like crab. Whether it is in a good way or not is not being stated.
2). Is it a good game?
Reason I ask is because MMO's like WoW aren't really good games. They are good MMO's but not good games. So in other words, would you enjoy the game even if it had no other players in it? Or is the game purely reliant on the social part.
3). What are your PERSONAL thoughts about ESO? Be as biased as you wish.
Well, I ask this because it's the one thing you haven't brought up yet. Anyhow, Cheers mate!
Your 2nd question is ridiculous. You judge MMOs by if they'd be good single player games? Just let that sink in..
Generally singleplayer quests are more interesting than MMO quests. That is how MMO games cut corners. And as an avid Elder Scrolls fan I would prefer if that was not the case. And would you really want to play an Elder Scrolls game that doesn't feel immersive? That's one of their main features.
There are 2 specific things that I would like to ask about combat:
1. Can you move while attacking or casting?
2. Can you use ranged attacks/spells/whatever freely when you aren't targeting any monsters? Or do you get a red “No valid target” kinda message?
Awesome question. I hope he rolls a spellcaster next.
Well, didn't roll a spellcaster but did roll a dragon knight that had an interesting ranged skill.
Just got back from the "elder scrolls after party" which was a lot of fun. There were a lot of people and they gave us free beer, drinks and food. They also had the game available for play but I had gotten what I needed from earlier today.
Regarding the earlier Orc question: yes, you can roll a "bad ass" looking orc. I didn't play around with the character creation in that way but after some randomizing got a decent looking "don't mess with me" orc.
Regarding skills. The first thing you get to put points in are health, magicka or stamina. after that, at least in this build, there are three tabs on the left: Class, Weapon, Armor. I say "in this build because they told me that the interface would change a bit.
Picking one of these then allows you to go to the right and choose class skill, weapon skills and armor skils. The class skill for this dragon knight allowed me to choose a ranged magic attack, a self heal, and "something else that I don't remember". The weapon skills are two handed, sword and board, dual weapons, ranged weapons, healing staff and "something else I don't remember". Could be an attack magic but it wasn't clear when I was quickly going over them.
For weapon skills there seemed to be 5 active, 5 passive and 5 additional skills but I wasnt' clear on "when" I could pick them. I don't know if you can learn the ability to get additional skills not shown. A simliar thing seemed to be availble for the "class skills" if I remember correctly. At level 6 I could only pick two class, two weapon, and 1 armor if I remember correctly
I found that hot bar! From the skill menu (K) you can drag skills to any number from "1 to 5". to the left of the "1" was "Q" and to the right of "5" was "R". The "Q" I used for my health potions. You can't put regular skills in "Q" or "R".
I decided to explore north instead of looking for quests and discovered a ruined tower close to town with a hidden trap door. I can't seem to find the video now but it's a video where you see two atackers "limned" with red light in a dungeon. This indicates your target and though I didn't notice this in daylight, it did seem apparent in the dark dungeon. I didn't like this feature.
COMBAT! So for the few who wanted to know more about combat I "kind of" have good news. Combat apparently can be harder than yesterday's session showed.
The first thing I did was go for one of these bandits (? or whatever they were). I generally don't use stealth unless I'm playing a character I consider "stealth based". A warrior doesn't run from a fight after all. well WHAT A SURPRISE!
I went for the first character and one stayed back and the other ran right for me and then leapt right over my head to land and attack me from behind. I was suddenly in a bad spot because that left my back open to the ranged adversary in front of me should I turn around. I ran toward the ranged guy and suddenly discovered that "double tap" was dodge. I was eventually able to take them both out but it was a hard fight. Stamina management was tough (more on that later).
I made it through the dungeon and discovered the same tactic though not all of them did it. Some of them would leap backward. One of them looked like it leapt for cover but I can't rightly tell if that was what it was doing or it was clipping. This happened twice so it's possible they take cover.
I died several times. I really did have to use my all available skills, my block, bash, and power attacks. it took a while to get used to because the game is so smooth (or perhaps the computers were so good) that the camera seemed to move rather quickly.
Now I didn't notice the level of these things. But they were a lot tougher than the imps of yesterday. (note: sorry I didn't get to see the fireballs and check whether they felt more substantial per an earlier request).
fightting feels very kinetic and very fast pace but hitting doesn't feel substantial. Mostly when you get hit or when you jump or roll.
For this demo I died and had the choice to appear at a wayshrine or to "revive" which turned me into a ghost; sort of looking like an Oblvion ghost. I hit revive and after a few seconds became corporeal and could continue. Not sure how that figures into the game. Could just be for the demo. Oh, and I don't believe one can spam potions.
If I remember correctly the hotbar appears when fighting and using skills but vanishes when you are done. I also got some sort of exploration or "kill achievement". It appeared and vanished so fast I didn't see what it really said.
I have to say that after today I feel a bit better about the combat. Additionally, I was able to use my ranged class magic attack while moving. I can't recall if my speed was significantly slowed but I could clearly back up and cast it several times, all the while moving.
During the after party one of the people I met got up to try the game. He felt combat was hard and that stamina managment was an issue. He was told they were tweaking it but that one could make some sort of build that helped with that later on in the game. He did say he died a lot. So apparently two mobs will work together. I think I came across a group of 3 bandits "whatevers" and was able to dispatch 2 only to have the last, a mage type, kill me.
Dungeon looked great, didn't like the red outline for the target. One issue I saw was that I moved but one of the bandits, still facing where I was, threw a dagger only to have it swerve 90 degrees and hit me. I hope that was a bug.
I can probalby answer more but that is my latest impression.
EDIT: Oh, and I did eventualy try stealth, It works like Oblvion, Skyrim except that it uses stamina. Sorry for wall of text.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience Though there are topics (like following projectiles) where many people think different about its pretty sad that some people just want to "defend their holy grail". Its a demo designed for the PAX East.
Can you tell us something about perks maybe? I can't really imagine how a class determines your skills while you are able to choose perks for some weapon- and magictypes. Are there just "perktrees" like in Skyrim which are available for every classes and some class-specific perktrees?
No perk trees per se, but your class gets its own skills. I saw 5, two of which I could choose at my level 6. These seem "made up" as they have no elder scrolls equivalent that I ever experienced. You hit a skill and it fires off. You can spam these though I believe they use stamina, magicka, etc.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
You mentioned that it at times felt like a "Generic MMO", now this is a loose term. So I have a couple of questions about what that statement meant to you and how the game felt.
1). Is it a good generic MMO feel to it, or a poor one? As in does it feel like a failed reskin of WoW or just like an MMO?
Reason I ask is because an MMO is meant to feel like an MMO in the same manner crab is supposed to taste like crab. Whether it is in a good way or not is not being stated.
2). Is it a good game?
Reason I ask is because MMO's like WoW aren't really good games. They are good MMO's but not good games. So in other words, would you enjoy the game even if it had no other players in it? Or is the game purely reliant on the social part.
3). What are your PERSONAL thoughts about ESO? Be as biased as you wish.
Well, I ask this because it's the one thing you haven't brought up yet. Anyhow, Cheers mate!
Overland the mobs do feel a bit like they are waiting around. In the dungeon it seemed that they had "purpose" but I didn't see any roaming and doing tasks like skyrim. Is it a good game? yes in that it feels very well done, I did enjoy myself very much with today's combat. Some of the world feels a bit barren as I didn't notice a lot of wild life. This could change. Will I play it? most definitely. Can it hold my attention in the long run? I hope so but there are never any guarantees. One of the guys I met said that he wandered and didnt' find anything. So it's not as dense as say, oblvion or Skyrim as far as looking in the distance and seeing a door, a cave, etc. at least in the area we were in AND in this beta. Who knows. I completely missed the hidden door yesterday so perhaps there are more things I missed.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Generally singleplayer quests are more interesting than MMO quests. That is how MMO games cut corners. And as an avid Elder Scrolls fan I would prefer if that was not the case. And would you really want to play an Elder Scrolls game that doesn't feel immersive? That's one of their main features.
Sorry for the post spam but I'm too tired to cut and paste properly.
I didn't do the quests however one good thing I noticed from yesterday is that NO ONE asked me to kill 10 of X.
It was more like "help put out fires, help find an npc who is lost, and help with the imps". Though I don't recall them saying "go kill 10 of them. Perhaps your quest log updates when the game thinks you have helped enough?
I would say that after the time I spent, the game feels elder scrollsy but I would never think I was in morrowind or oblvion or skyrim as things are a bit different. There are similarities such as all the controls feel pulled from skyrim for the most part.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Thanks for the write up. From videos I've seen, the combat looked clunky and unpolished, perhaps earlier phases - sounds like it appeared smoother now.
Originally posted by Eluldor Thanks for the write up. From videos I've seen, the combat looked clunky and unpolished, perhaps earlier phases - sounds like it appeared smoother now.
It depends on what you mean by clunky. I would say if anything it could feel a bit swishy. And I know that sounds weird as I did say it felt kinetic. there was a lot of motion on my part, sometimes I felt like a heavy armored fighter and sometimes I felt like I was moving rather quickly for a heavy armored fighter. Sometimes blocking felt right and sometimes in the thick of it I wasn't sure if I actually blocked. My guess is that there is tweaking to be done.
As far as "swishy", what I mean by that is that sometimes the mobs felt like they slid a little, or as I mentioned above, one would do an attack toward where I was but I was clearly hit. I don't like that but can't tell if that's something they are working on or if it's just "the way it is".
It currently is not like skyrym where I can neatly move aside and not be hit. To be honest, with the two mobs moving and leaping and jumping back and sometimes jumping over my head, it was hard to tell if it was clunky because I was trying to figure out where they heck I should be in relation to them
I eventualy got into a rhythm and sometimes it "felt right". But then agian, sometimes I was hit by things I didn't expect to hit me. And again, these are first impressions. Who knows what a few hours of actual game play will be like. The little things you notice.
All I can say is that imps aren't hard. These bandit guys were much harder solo. Which means that players will get a bad first impression of the monster combat if they dont' find the right opponents.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I went for the first character and one stayed back and the other ran right for me and then leapt right over my head to land and attack me from behind. I was suddenly in a bad spot because that left my back open to the ranged adversary in front of me should I turn around. I ran toward the ranged guy and suddenly discovered that "double tap" was dodge. I was eventually able to take them both out but it was a hard fight. Stamina management was tough (more on that later).
This part sounds pretty sweet.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Originally posted by Eluldor Thanks for the write up. From videos I've seen, the combat looked clunky and unpolished, perhaps earlier phases - sounds like it appeared smoother now.
Yeah i get where you are coming from, i think the mechanics of TESO's combat is fine which is what he describes but the animations and feel of combat look bad early on - which doesn't indicated much at this stage. If they improved and refined combat and animations it will be a very solid MMO to play around in.
Hopefully theres no signs of SWTOR problems - small zones - static NPCs - funnelled quest gameplay.
I went for the first character and one stayed back and the other ran right for me and then leapt right over my head to land and attack me from behind. I was suddenly in a bad spot because that left my back open to the ranged adversary in front of me should I turn around. I ran toward the ranged guy and suddenly discovered that "double tap" was dodge. I was eventually able to take them both out but it was a hard fight. Stamina management was tough (more on that later).
This part sounds pretty sweet.
It was sweet after the fact
When it first happened I was like "wtf"! (I hope I didn't say that out loud in the demo room).
It really did take me by surprise because I never expected it.
but then again "no one ever expects the spanish inquisition".
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Originally posted by Sovrath I have to say that after today I feel a bit better about the combat. Additionally, I was able to use my ranged class magic attack while moving. I can't recall if my speed was significantly slowed but I could clearly back up and cast it several times, all the while moving.
Awesome! Thanks for the info man. Any words on the "ranged spells with no target thing" ? Like when a monster gets out of your reticle before you start casting (or you just simply want to throw around some spells), did you get any "Invalid Target" message? Or you could cast anything anywhere?
I went for the first character and one stayed back and the other ran right for me and then leapt right over my head to land and attack me from behind. I was suddenly in a bad spot because that left my back open to the ranged adversary in front of me should I turn around. I ran toward the ranged guy and suddenly discovered that "double tap" was dodge. I was eventually able to take them both out but it was a hard fight. Stamina management was tough (more on that later).
This part sounds pretty sweet.
It was sweet after the fact
When it first happened I was like "wtf"! (I hope I didn't say that out loud in the demo room).
It really did take me by surprise because I never expected it.
but then again "no one ever expects the spanish inquisition".
HAHA, I don't think I'd ever expect a mod to go flying over my head in an MMO, my reaction would be similar.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Originally posted by Eluldor Thanks for the write up. From videos I've seen, the combat looked clunky and unpolished, perhaps earlier phases - sounds like it appeared smoother now.
Yeah i get where you are coming from, i think the mechanics of TESO's combat is fine which is what he describes but the animations and feel of combat look bad early on - which doesn't indicated much at this stage. If they improved and refined combat and animations it will be a very solid MMO to play around in.
Hopefully theres no signs of SWTOR problems - small zones - static NPCs - funnelled quest gameplay.
The map is pretty huge so I don't think that's an issue. Whether there's enough to do there, well, that's the question.
Static npc's? I think there could be some of that as the npc's I saw were "in one place". However, they do move when you talk to them much like a mixture of skyrim and oblvion.
funnelled quest? I don't necessarily see that. It appears that you have to go up and talk to a quest giver to see if they even have a quest (god I hope it stays like that and there aren't any "!"'s)
It doesn't "seem" to be quest hub like in that I had to find my first quest giver way down the road. Then again, I don't kknow where players will actually spawn when the game goes live. I Think there is a starter tutorial that was not present.
There could be more in town but I actually never entered the town I spawned in front of.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Originally posted by Sovrath I have to say that after today I feel a bit better about the combat. Additionally, I was able to use my ranged class magic attack while moving. I can't recall if my speed was significantly slowed but I could clearly back up and cast it several times, all the while moving.
Awesome! Thanks for the info man. Any words on the "ranged spells with no target thing" ? Like when a monster gets out of your reticle before you start casting (or you just simply want to throw around some spells), did you get any "Invalid Target" message? Or you could cast anything anywhere?
Actually excellent question.
I "mostly" hit my target with my ranged skill; but then again, I was backing up and they were in front of me. However...
I did note that at at one point I aimed with the ranged skill, my target moved and I "missed". So currently "they can't miss me" but I can miss them.
Unfair but it's a start.
So "yes" I did miss a few times which I liked. I think you can just cast your spells into the distance. Though if I remember correctly I tried that and it didn't go very far. Not like skyrim or oblvion or morrowind when you see them flying until they vanish.
edit: if you try to use a skill for a weapon that can't use it you will get a "this is for a two handed weapon only".
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Originally posted by Eluldor Thanks for the write up. From videos I've seen, the combat looked clunky and unpolished, perhaps earlier phases - sounds like it appeared smoother now.
Yeah i get where you are coming from, i think the mechanics of TESO's combat is fine which is what he describes but the animations and feel of combat look bad early on - which doesn't indicated much at this stage. If they improved and refined combat and animations it will be a very solid MMO to play around in.
Hopefully theres no signs of SWTOR problems - small zones - static NPCs - funnelled quest gameplay.
The map is pretty huge so I don't think that's an issue. Whether there's enough to do there, well, that's the question.
Static npc's? I think there could be some of that as the npc's I saw were "in one place". However, they do move when you talk to them much like a mixture of skyrim and oblvion.
funnelled quest? I don't necessarily see that. It appears that you have to go up and talk to a quest giver to see if they even have a quest (god I hope it stays like that and there aren't any "!"'s)
It doesn't "seem" to be quest hub like in that I had to find my first quest giver way down the road. Then again, I don't kknow where players will actually spawn when the game goes live. I Think there is a starter tutorial that was not present.
There could be more in town but I actually never entered the town I spawned in front of.
This kinda brings forth a question of my own, since you seem to have been fairly comfortable just taking off on your own, was it due to the game being a little too been there done that? If so would you place that under your negatives, or was it more on the positive side of that?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Wild Star's housing fits the setting in that since it's a sci fi game it's a bit "sci fi". The housing is on floating bits of land over the world. but that's not why I mention it.
Once you buy your housing you actually get land where you can add things that help you like a mine, a farm, a forge/workshop, etc.
What's more, you can decorate the interior any way you want. You can even put things on top of other things. such as a floating upside down table with a chair on top of it.
"so, um, someone's doing housing the way that players want/expect". A little dig there but there it is.
The housing may very well be the number one reason I end up buying Wildstar. Now if they had player merchants we could put at our houses, it'd be damn near perfect for me.
Originally posted by Eluldor Thanks for the write up. From videos I've seen, the combat looked clunky and unpolished, perhaps earlier phases - sounds like it appeared smoother now.
Yeah i get where you are coming from, i think the mechanics of TESO's combat is fine which is what he describes but the animations and feel of combat look bad early on - which doesn't indicated much at this stage. If they improved and refined combat and animations it will be a very solid MMO to play around in.
Hopefully theres no signs of SWTOR problems - small zones - static NPCs - funnelled quest gameplay.
The map is pretty huge so I don't think that's an issue. Whether there's enough to do there, well, that's the question.
Static npc's? I think there could be some of that as the npc's I saw were "in one place". However, they do move when you talk to them much like a mixture of skyrim and oblvion.
funnelled quest? I don't necessarily see that. It appears that you have to go up and talk to a quest giver to see if they even have a quest (god I hope it stays like that and there aren't any "!"'s)
It doesn't "seem" to be quest hub like in that I had to find my first quest giver way down the road. Then again, I don't kknow where players will actually spawn when the game goes live. I Think there is a starter tutorial that was not present.
There could be more in town but I actually never entered the town I spawned in front of.
This kinda brings forth a question of my own, since you seem to have been fairly comfortable just taking off on your own, was it due to the game being a little too been there done that? If so would you place that under your negatives, or was it more on the positive side of that?
I decided I would approach this game like I approached the past elder scrolls games and play exactly in that manner.
My honest opinion? From the little time I played?
I think die hard mmo players who don't explore and who are looking for quest givesr will eventually find one and after a while think it's "same old same old".
It's a shame because the guy I went in with yesterday came out saying "seems like a generic mmo". but he never had the type of combat I felt today as he just found mobs over land that weren't very challenging. He also wasn't really an elder scrolls fan and was really interested in more hardcore mmo's. (I think I convinced him to play dark souls.)
And, when you take a quest an objective appears on your map.
I wanted to play like I played morrowind so I took off. In the elder scrolls games you find more things. More doors, more caves, etc. Then again, yesterday I missed the door to this underground ruin of a tower.
If there are more dungeons like this to be found then I think this can be an excellent game. However, I did hear that there was "one solo dungeon" and several group dungeons.
Was this one of the group dungeons? It could have been. Or does one "have to be in a group" to enter a group dungeon?
Don't know. nuts, I actually met Maria Aliprando, the monster combat creator, and spoke with her briefly. I should have asked abotu the dungeons. She was too busy getting me info about the after party. really nice person though.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Comments
Hi Sovrath,
Just one simple question.
Was it forbidden to record any gameplay footage especially with smartphones?
Thanks.
Thanks for the sneak peek there Sovrath. Look forward to the next bit.
Thanks for info OP.
Could you please share your impressions on 2 things plz:
Your 2nd question is ridiculous. You judge MMOs by if they'd be good single player games? Just let that sink in..
Generally singleplayer quests are more interesting than MMO quests. That is how MMO games cut corners. And as an avid Elder Scrolls fan I would prefer if that was not the case. And would you really want to play an Elder Scrolls game that doesn't feel immersive? That's one of their main features.
Thanks for answering our questions!
There are 2 specific things that I would like to ask about combat:
1. Can you move while attacking or casting?
2. Can you use ranged attacks/spells/whatever freely when you aren't targeting any monsters? Or do you get a red “No valid target” kinda message?
Awesome question. I hope he rolls a spellcaster next.
Well, didn't roll a spellcaster but did roll a dragon knight that had an interesting ranged skill.
Just got back from the "elder scrolls after party" which was a lot of fun. There were a lot of people and they gave us free beer, drinks and food. They also had the game available for play but I had gotten what I needed from earlier today.
Regarding the earlier Orc question: yes, you can roll a "bad ass" looking orc. I didn't play around with the character creation in that way but after some randomizing got a decent looking "don't mess with me" orc.
Regarding skills. The first thing you get to put points in are health, magicka or stamina. after that, at least in this build, there are three tabs on the left: Class, Weapon, Armor. I say "in this build because they told me that the interface would change a bit.
Picking one of these then allows you to go to the right and choose class skill, weapon skills and armor skils. The class skill for this dragon knight allowed me to choose a ranged magic attack, a self heal, and "something else that I don't remember". The weapon skills are two handed, sword and board, dual weapons, ranged weapons, healing staff and "something else I don't remember". Could be an attack magic but it wasn't clear when I was quickly going over them.
For weapon skills there seemed to be 5 active, 5 passive and 5 additional skills but I wasnt' clear on "when" I could pick them. I don't know if you can learn the ability to get additional skills not shown. A simliar thing seemed to be availble for the "class skills" if I remember correctly. At level 6 I could only pick two class, two weapon, and 1 armor if I remember correctly
I found that hot bar! From the skill menu (K) you can drag skills to any number from "1 to 5". to the left of the "1" was "Q" and to the right of "5" was "R". The "Q" I used for my health potions. You can't put regular skills in "Q" or "R".
I decided to explore north instead of looking for quests and discovered a ruined tower close to town with a hidden trap door. I can't seem to find the video now but it's a video where you see two atackers "limned" with red light in a dungeon. This indicates your target and though I didn't notice this in daylight, it did seem apparent in the dark dungeon. I didn't like this feature.
COMBAT! So for the few who wanted to know more about combat I "kind of" have good news. Combat apparently can be harder than yesterday's session showed.
The first thing I did was go for one of these bandits (? or whatever they were). I generally don't use stealth unless I'm playing a character I consider "stealth based". A warrior doesn't run from a fight after all. well WHAT A SURPRISE!
I went for the first character and one stayed back and the other ran right for me and then leapt right over my head to land and attack me from behind. I was suddenly in a bad spot because that left my back open to the ranged adversary in front of me should I turn around. I ran toward the ranged guy and suddenly discovered that "double tap" was dodge. I was eventually able to take them both out but it was a hard fight. Stamina management was tough (more on that later).
I made it through the dungeon and discovered the same tactic though not all of them did it. Some of them would leap backward. One of them looked like it leapt for cover but I can't rightly tell if that was what it was doing or it was clipping. This happened twice so it's possible they take cover.
I died several times. I really did have to use my all available skills, my block, bash, and power attacks. it took a while to get used to because the game is so smooth (or perhaps the computers were so good) that the camera seemed to move rather quickly.
Now I didn't notice the level of these things. But they were a lot tougher than the imps of yesterday. (note: sorry I didn't get to see the fireballs and check whether they felt more substantial per an earlier request).
fightting feels very kinetic and very fast pace but hitting doesn't feel substantial. Mostly when you get hit or when you jump or roll.
For this demo I died and had the choice to appear at a wayshrine or to "revive" which turned me into a ghost; sort of looking like an Oblvion ghost. I hit revive and after a few seconds became corporeal and could continue. Not sure how that figures into the game. Could just be for the demo. Oh, and I don't believe one can spam potions.
If I remember correctly the hotbar appears when fighting and using skills but vanishes when you are done. I also got some sort of exploration or "kill achievement". It appeared and vanished so fast I didn't see what it really said.
I have to say that after today I feel a bit better about the combat. Additionally, I was able to use my ranged class magic attack while moving. I can't recall if my speed was significantly slowed but I could clearly back up and cast it several times, all the while moving.
During the after party one of the people I met got up to try the game. He felt combat was hard and that stamina managment was an issue. He was told they were tweaking it but that one could make some sort of build that helped with that later on in the game. He did say he died a lot. So apparently two mobs will work together. I think I came across a group of 3 bandits "whatevers" and was able to dispatch 2 only to have the last, a mage type, kill me.
Dungeon looked great, didn't like the red outline for the target. One issue I saw was that I moved but one of the bandits, still facing where I was, threw a dagger only to have it swerve 90 degrees and hit me. I hope that was a bug.
I can probalby answer more but that is my latest impression.
EDIT: Oh, and I did eventualy try stealth, It works like Oblvion, Skyrim except that it uses stamina. Sorry for wall of text.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
No perk trees per se, but your class gets its own skills. I saw 5, two of which I could choose at my level 6. These seem "made up" as they have no elder scrolls equivalent that I ever experienced. You hit a skill and it fires off. You can spam these though I believe they use stamina, magicka, etc.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Overland the mobs do feel a bit like they are waiting around. In the dungeon it seemed that they had "purpose" but I didn't see any roaming and doing tasks like skyrim. Is it a good game? yes in that it feels very well done, I did enjoy myself very much with today's combat. Some of the world feels a bit barren as I didn't notice a lot of wild life. This could change. Will I play it? most definitely. Can it hold my attention in the long run? I hope so but there are never any guarantees. One of the guys I met said that he wandered and didnt' find anything. So it's not as dense as say, oblvion or Skyrim as far as looking in the distance and seeing a door, a cave, etc. at least in the area we were in AND in this beta. Who knows. I completely missed the hidden door yesterday so perhaps there are more things I missed.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Sorry for the post spam but I'm too tired to cut and paste properly.
I didn't do the quests however one good thing I noticed from yesterday is that NO ONE asked me to kill 10 of X.
It was more like "help put out fires, help find an npc who is lost, and help with the imps". Though I don't recall them saying "go kill 10 of them. Perhaps your quest log updates when the game thinks you have helped enough?
I would say that after the time I spent, the game feels elder scrollsy but I would never think I was in morrowind or oblvion or skyrim as things are a bit different. There are similarities such as all the controls feel pulled from skyrim for the most part.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
It depends on what you mean by clunky. I would say if anything it could feel a bit swishy. And I know that sounds weird as I did say it felt kinetic. there was a lot of motion on my part, sometimes I felt like a heavy armored fighter and sometimes I felt like I was moving rather quickly for a heavy armored fighter. Sometimes blocking felt right and sometimes in the thick of it I wasn't sure if I actually blocked. My guess is that there is tweaking to be done.
As far as "swishy", what I mean by that is that sometimes the mobs felt like they slid a little, or as I mentioned above, one would do an attack toward where I was but I was clearly hit. I don't like that but can't tell if that's something they are working on or if it's just "the way it is".
It currently is not like skyrym where I can neatly move aside and not be hit. To be honest, with the two mobs moving and leaping and jumping back and sometimes jumping over my head, it was hard to tell if it was clunky because I was trying to figure out where they heck I should be in relation to them
I eventualy got into a rhythm and sometimes it "felt right". But then agian, sometimes I was hit by things I didn't expect to hit me. And again, these are first impressions. Who knows what a few hours of actual game play will be like. The little things you notice.
All I can say is that imps aren't hard. These bandit guys were much harder solo. Which means that players will get a bad first impression of the monster combat if they dont' find the right opponents.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
This part sounds pretty sweet.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Yeah i get where you are coming from, i think the mechanics of TESO's combat is fine which is what he describes but the animations and feel of combat look bad early on - which doesn't indicated much at this stage. If they improved and refined combat and animations it will be a very solid MMO to play around in.
Hopefully theres no signs of SWTOR problems - small zones - static NPCs - funnelled quest gameplay.
It was sweet after the fact
When it first happened I was like "wtf"! (I hope I didn't say that out loud in the demo room).
It really did take me by surprise because I never expected it.
but then again "no one ever expects the spanish inquisition".
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Awesome! Thanks for the info man. Any words on the "ranged spells with no target thing" ? Like when a monster gets out of your reticle before you start casting (or you just simply want to throw around some spells), did you get any "Invalid Target" message? Or you could cast anything anywhere?
HAHA, I don't think I'd ever expect a mod to go flying over my head in an MMO, my reaction would be similar.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
The map is pretty huge so I don't think that's an issue. Whether there's enough to do there, well, that's the question.
Static npc's? I think there could be some of that as the npc's I saw were "in one place". However, they do move when you talk to them much like a mixture of skyrim and oblvion.
funnelled quest? I don't necessarily see that. It appears that you have to go up and talk to a quest giver to see if they even have a quest (god I hope it stays like that and there aren't any "!"'s)
It doesn't "seem" to be quest hub like in that I had to find my first quest giver way down the road. Then again, I don't kknow where players will actually spawn when the game goes live. I Think there is a starter tutorial that was not present.
There could be more in town but I actually never entered the town I spawned in front of.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Actually excellent question.
I "mostly" hit my target with my ranged skill; but then again, I was backing up and they were in front of me. However...
I did note that at at one point I aimed with the ranged skill, my target moved and I "missed". So currently "they can't miss me" but I can miss them.
Unfair but it's a start.
So "yes" I did miss a few times which I liked. I think you can just cast your spells into the distance. Though if I remember correctly I tried that and it didn't go very far. Not like skyrim or oblvion or morrowind when you see them flying until they vanish.
edit: if you try to use a skill for a weapon that can't use it you will get a "this is for a two handed weapon only".
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
This kinda brings forth a question of my own, since you seem to have been fairly comfortable just taking off on your own, was it due to the game being a little too been there done that? If so would you place that under your negatives, or was it more on the positive side of that?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
The housing may very well be the number one reason I end up buying Wildstar. Now if they had player merchants we could put at our houses, it'd be damn near perfect for me.
What happens when you log off your characters????.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQhfhnjYMk
Dark Age of Camelot
I decided I would approach this game like I approached the past elder scrolls games and play exactly in that manner.
My honest opinion? From the little time I played?
I think die hard mmo players who don't explore and who are looking for quest givesr will eventually find one and after a while think it's "same old same old".
It's a shame because the guy I went in with yesterday came out saying "seems like a generic mmo". but he never had the type of combat I felt today as he just found mobs over land that weren't very challenging. He also wasn't really an elder scrolls fan and was really interested in more hardcore mmo's. (I think I convinced him to play dark souls.)
And, when you take a quest an objective appears on your map.
I wanted to play like I played morrowind so I took off. In the elder scrolls games you find more things. More doors, more caves, etc. Then again, yesterday I missed the door to this underground ruin of a tower.
If there are more dungeons like this to be found then I think this can be an excellent game. However, I did hear that there was "one solo dungeon" and several group dungeons.
Was this one of the group dungeons? It could have been. Or does one "have to be in a group" to enter a group dungeon?
Don't know. nuts, I actually met Maria Aliprando, the monster combat creator, and spoke with her briefly. I should have asked abotu the dungeons. She was too busy getting me info about the after party. really nice person though.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo