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Elder Scrolls Online - First Impressions of Summerset - MMORPG.com
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Elder Scrolls Online - First Impressions of Summerset - MMORPG.com
Oh boy! I’ve been enjoying the Summerset Beta, I won’t be talking about everything that I have done so far since we don’t have enough time for that. Instead, I really want to talk about things that have caught my eye and what I’ve done most.
Comments
I know Morrowind is mostly anyone due to the scaling so I'm sure summerset will work the same way. Expansions seem to have just added more things for everyone to do, not a fake carrot that only high levels can chase like in FFXIV/WoW/etc.
That is not to say there are not easier mobs, "more difficult" boss mobs - as there ; swarms of mobs that are harder etc. - as there are in all regions except the starter islands which are aimed at helping new players get to know the game mechanics.
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You really can't overstate just how frigging beautiful this new area is. It also has a very different feel from all the other zones, including the other High Elf Island, Auridon. Summerset just looks and feels much more tended and manicured than the rest of Tamriel as if you were traveling in the most civilized part of the world - which in a sense you are. The roads look better built, the seashore in cities is built up and manicured with not a spec of sand anywhere. The mob density is even lower in most parts of the island compared to the rest of the world.
I meant to also save the main quest for live but I changed my mind and did it. Can't give you any details since that is only part of this that is under NDA. But I can say that as chained story quests go, this is probably the best one they've ever done. It really is that good and engaging.
On the negative side I have a strong dislike for the way they've implemented jewelry crafting: it is extremely grindy. The resource veins you need to use for gathering is only the first part of the grind as they are much more rare than any other crafting node. But that rarity would be tolerable if it wasn't for the fact that in the refining part, instead of getting the occasional upgrade stones you need to improve the quality of items you instead get 1/10th of a stone that needs to be combined to produce just one. I expect everything associated with jewelry crafting to be extremely expensive to start and then settle down into being just very expensive. You've been warned
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
You would have access to them the second you buy them at any level, it just might be difficult without a little better gear (even though enemies scale to your level).
One little note, once you have Morrowind on your account, your characters always start there, that doesn't mean you can't take a boat over to the other starting zones, but you always start in Morrowind. I personally really like the zone so I'm glad about that.
I can't wait to try Summerset.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
That's really good because if you want to level up another avatar and want to actually do the quests etc (what I call "playing the MMO") rather than power levelling (which I call "avoiding the MMO") you have a couple of new areas to do that in.
Of course leveling your first on a brand new account to the current CP cap (720) will require many more zones than 2 but you only need to do that once.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
The game doesnt really have levels outside of certain dungeons/pvp. Everything in the "openworld" scales and you can even party with high level players and it will scale appropriately.
Which means there is no point in levelling really... so no sense of progression. Getting a level is pretty pointless. Which sums up what they have done to it. Console borefest..
All content is level-scaled now.
Oh no at all thankfully.
Whilst leveling is important, arguably the most important aspects are outside of that little number next to your character. Such as;
Skill tree unlocking,
Skill tree advancement,
Individual Skill and morph level progression,
Skill point acquisition,
Attribute acquisition,
Champion Point acquisition and allocation.
Unlocking Weapon Swapping.
Even add dye unlocking via achievement completion if you're so inclined (I certainly am!).
And so on... I'm sure there are others I've left out.
Sure, level and equipment play a role, just like all the traditional MMOs (And ESO certainly contains many traditional elements), but there are a lot of other factors that go into your character's development.
Personally One Tamriel (which included the level scaling update to the game) was the best modification to ESO they could have done.
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