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Very disappointed, a solo mmo.
WellzyC
Member UncommonPosts: 599
Very disappointed, was hoping for a classic feel.
You wont like my review of the game, and you may even think I am being far too critical. But I wanted to get this off of my chest and talk about the reasons why I am disappointed in this game.
I started to form this impression a long time ago, however, I was tied by the NDA. I will try not to make this too long, but I have a lot I want to say.
I am very disappointed:
Reason 1: Solo... again: The game revolves around the solo experience. If you are like me and come from games like EQ, DAOC, these solo centric games are very underwhelming. The game phases everything, almost every quest affects what phase you are in. You will never see the same people twice, and the game does not have any social aspects. Outside of clicking a LFG panel, the game has zero social systems. Why mmo developers dump so much money into solo gameplay I will never understand.
Reason 2: Questing, all questing: The only real way to get EXP is to do what you have been doing in every single mmo since 2005. Grab quests, skip the voice overs, kill x, return. The questing in this game is so tedious and unexciting.
Reason 3: very sloppy and dull combat: Skyrim's combat pretty fun, it was tight, and strategic. ESO's combat is a sloppy version of that, mixed with mmo tab targeting. About 20 minutes into the game I was already extremely bored with my character.
Reason 4: what I loved about Skrim, is not in ESO: Exploration in ESO is very underwhelming. Exploration in ESO is about as exciting as it was in SWTOR.
Reason 5: MMO on rails: This sort of ties in with reason 1. The game is all scripted, besides going to Cyrodil and doing some PVP. Other than that, you jump from quest to quest following a primary story line. This “story driven mmo” trend destroys any excitement mmos have for me. Devs dump all their resources into writing story lines and making cut scenes, which makes the actual game really shallow.
Reason 5: Players are just scenery: there is no reason in this game to communicate or team up with a anyone. Simply use a dungeon finder for a group, and that's it. I thought SWTOR was anti social, Eso is far worse. This game does not promote any player collaboration. Dark anchors and dungeon finders are not it.
Reason 6: My BIGEEST reason.. phasing: The point of phasing is to try and make the world feel like it is changing, but it destroys immersion. The experience isn't shared and that's what makes phasing so pointless in an mmo. It feels so artificial because the phase I am seeing is different for everyone else, so it isn't truly what the world is. It separates players and makes the game feel really lonely. Phasing has no place in an mmo where it is supposed to be a shared world.
ESO is a single player game with a subscription fee.
Conclusion: For me, mmo excitement derives from shared experience with players, exploring a world that is unknown and dangerous. An MMO that tries to force feed a story, or create a game that is phased with scripts will not create lasting gaming memories.
The bottom line is, if you did not like swtor, you will not like this. Besides combat, it has almost the exact same game design; solo questing and scripts, with virtually no community.
The way mmo's were: Community, Exploration, Character Development, Conquest.
The way mmo's are now : Cut-Scenes,Cut-Scenes, solo Questing, Cut-Scenes...
www.CeaselessGuild.com
Comments
I completely disagree, but you are entitled to your own opinion. In my opinion however this game is focusing MAJORLY on the group experience, no AH so you HAVE to interact with others, PvP is tri-faction AvA and on a MASSIVE map where you must work as a team in order to dominate, quests that are completely dependent on finding someone to help you because there is NO WAY you are going to beat this group of mobs without someone to work with, etc. Not to mention the fact that they are promoting more interaction by letting you have more than one guild on each char. The game was made so that you can enjoy it solo as well if you like, but it is far more catered around group play.
Edit - Just had to add as well the community is great in my eyes, there is always a large number of people in zone chat or guild chat willing to group up or help you with anything that you need, or even just to chat it up in general. The chat is extremely lively, and the cities are full of players who are running around trying to get things done just as you are. A community isn't going to just jump out and ask you to be a part of it, you have to open your mouth (or fingers to type into chat) in order to become a part of it.
What did you expect. This is an Elder Scrolls game. An mmo made for Elder Scrolls fans, not mmo fans.
It's good at what it does, gives you an edlerscrollish feels. I agree that there shouldn't be a sub. I'll buy it and play the first month, maybe a 2nd if I didn't do everything yet, but I'll drop this faster then a bag of poop once I see the world and instances. No need to keep paying.
Just remember. This is a solo mmo on purpose. The grouping for the little group content they have will probably be expanded on over time, but then after my sub runs out, i'll just probably wait a year and sub again for a month to see the new stuff....
I'll buy the game, but i'm doing it knowing that I would have preferred an Elder Scrolls 6 and that this is being done instead because of $$$..
cash grab.. nothing more.
Oooh go make your bad flaming review and cry like everyone else, there's a lot of others MMOs out there, I'm sure some will suit you! Sadly this one wasnt your MMO!
We aren't playing the same game it seems.
I agree with most of what's said here.....and triple agree with ESO being a single player game with a subscription fee.
8 responses, 6 different opinions...
The game is different... its a crossmix between MMo and ES RPG... i think they did a good job at many parts ... but there are still some things that require attention before release...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
I feel sorry for you, I am loving this game. I play 1 hour third person then 1 hour first person, I listen to all the voice overs, read all the books and explore the world as much as possible.
I love that races have their own unique armor's, that you can play any class and use any weapon or armor you want to, and the fact the UI is simplistic and unobtrusive. Not to mention when you unlock weapon swapping at level 15 it just gets even better.
Crafting feels deep, I had 5 recipes for provisioning before I was even level 4, giving me increased stamina, health and stamina regen. Making all your own starting armor is awesome.
The fact you take your horse to the stable and feed it to give it permanent speed boosts
, so cool.
Anyway man, GL finding a game you enjoy.
I agree with the OP, to me its a solo game with other players running around. So far there is no need to group up. as i havent got higher to do dungeons etc, maybe then you might be forced to get into a group. but more than likely you can skip that content.
i cant put my finger on it, maybe it is the fact of playing oblivion and skyrim that i expected more, i am not sure, but the is game for beta just disappointed me. it felt a lot like TOR, as you can only run around in the areas specified. you cant just run off into the horizon.
For the record, don't compare ESO to SP ES, they are two different games.
I think want the OP really wants, is the game should be more like a sandbox
Games like EQ with force grouping no longer has a market, sadly. There's a reason why majority of the MMO in past 4 years are getting more solo friendly and not very different from what TESO is. I agree with most of your opinion, but IMO this game is still less linear/single player like than many other recently titles.
I must say that I actually enjoy the fact that I am not forced in any way to grouping. And when it happens it happens naturally by meeting players on my way not by spamming the chat. There are plenty of things to do. And I have a choice. Choice is good. And this is why more mature players actually like ESO very much.
I'm not sure I understand the point the OP is trying to make. The whole solo story questing thing is actually one of the game's stronger qualities. If you chose to skip the dialogue, of course you won't enjoy it. How can you enjoy the story if you just skip right over it? The main story works like it does in virtually any MMO, but if you go out and explore, you come across new quests, events, and other things of value. If you're grouped with someone and they're on your friends list, you can join them in their phase and vice versa.
Comparing it to SWTOR is both an injustice and a recycled argument frequently used by forum trolls. There is literally no exploring in SWTOR. Everything is instanced. Every instance is small. There is literally nothing to discover by going off the beaten path save for datacrons and most don't discover those naturally; they fish up some guide on how to do it. Hardly sandbox material.
Questing is the primary means of leveling in the game, but if you let go of this notion that you have to rush through everything, you might discover this thing called "immersion" where you get drawn into the world that you're playing in. I'm not sure what kind of game the OP is looking for. On one hand, he complains that everything is on rails, and the next minute he's complaining about quests and how he skips through everything. That sort of behavior is what's making it seem like it's on rails.
Half of the OP's complaints are all the same complaint which just so happens to contradict the rest of his complaints. He wants a sandbox with no quests, no story, forces you to group up, and it has WoW combat? What would you even call that? World of Minecraft? lol
Obviously he wants a game like EQ, but that type of MMO is already dead, get over it.
l2p
In this Forum: Players wanting to play MMORPGs. Burn him at the stake!
Hi Wellyzc (OP)
I created this thread for people with similar issues and thoughts as you. Please read it to understand more about Elder Scrolls. Thanks!
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/406584/SOLOSingle-Player-MMO-FTW.html
I agree with all the points mentioned above but i believe TESO's problem is not just the solo aspect of it, for some people that is ok and i believe the game was made like that for Elder Scrolls fans.
The real problem here is that combat sux royally, its the most unresponsive combat ive seen in an mmo and the graphics are so 2010 that its not even funny. AOC had better graphics and its a 6-7 year old game. Now if this was some f2p fan service itteration i wouldnt really mind that much. Apparently Bethesda wants to milk everyone that liked Skyrim for a few months then convert it to another F2P shithole that will get dumped after a few years.
I am so sick and tired of these overhyped shitty AAA+ MMO's, so pissed i spent bandwidth downloading that shitty 20gig client and even more that i wasted a day of my life on this game.
Cheers.
Hey smart guy, read the thread and not just the title. Its nowhere near identical, but just addresses the general complaints he has. Learn to read.
Well... the OP has some points...
1) Yeah, its again a solo game with the possibility to coop. Phasing makes it difficult though and thats a pity. But then... Remember having to sit for hours trying to get a group for a quest? People are like that nowadays. Even if there incentives to group, they solo. SWTOR is an example of that. If you group, you get good bonuses (more exp, more loot, more cash), and for quests, it adds social bonuses if you give back the quest in group. And yet, most of the time, people solo, or group just to do the part where you need companions, then they leave the group, losing social points and all...
So, its not bad that the game can be soloed. If you want group play, find friends and/or a guild, and explore together. Nowadays, it's the only way.
2) Questing. Well, I totally disagree with you on that one. Questing is one of TESO's strong points, imo, and mainly because, so far at least, I have not yet seen any quest thats "go there, kill 10 bugs, come back" with 0 purpose. There are a couple quests asking you to kill montsers, but considerably fewer and usually with a purpose given.
3) Combat in Skyrim/Oblivion tactical? Button mash, health pot, button mash, enemy dead. Yeah, very tactical... If there's one thing at which TES is not particularly good, its combat... TESO suffers from the same problem... But its still OK...
4) Heh... wrong... Yes, OK, the maps may not be as vast as Skyrim's. But if you explore a bit, you'll find side quests, spots, caverns, dolmens (with the public quest feel of WAR or GW2), etc.. And if you craft a bit, you must explore, otherwise you simply wont ever find the materials...
I agree on phasing and on the fact that social tools in TESO are not the best around...
I would also love to see some improvements and some TES features put into TESO (like the possibility to gather books and read them later on, which I dearly miss :'( ).
There's certainly a lot to improve but TESO is actually quite nice. I had doubts but I think I'll preorder in the end...
The only person flaming in this thread is you, if you can't handle a non flaming well thought out opinion on why the OP doesn't like the game then don't read these threads.