Leviathyn has a new article for the recently released MMO Elder Scrolls Online that calls the game a Single Player’s MMO. So read the link, and share your opinions below.
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Elder Scrolls Online - Editorial @ Leviathyn
- Thread starter Couchpotato
- Start date
It does feel like a single player game. I have sold and bought items from others though. I also have run three group dungeons but their is not much interaction in groups atm. This is fine by me for now because I like to solo but we will see how this carries out to the end game.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Well, it feels like a game with an optional multiplayer component to me. Except, of course, for the zillions of other people running around and making the world feel alive.
But it doesn't require you to group with other people - except, of course, if you want to tackle Group dungeons, PvP, Adventure zones, Anchors, and so on.
It's very true that the quest content and voice acting is of a high quality - and that you're not just obviously treading the mill with kill 20 rats over and over again, like you're used to doing in an MMO. This makes the singleplayer experience compelling enough to make it your focus. It's like SWtOR for leveling, except for the actual questing being interesting and the world being open and alive.
Maybe that's a problem for some people?
Certainly isn't a problem for me.
But it doesn't require you to group with other people - except, of course, if you want to tackle Group dungeons, PvP, Adventure zones, Anchors, and so on.
It's very true that the quest content and voice acting is of a high quality - and that you're not just obviously treading the mill with kill 20 rats over and over again, like you're used to doing in an MMO. This makes the singleplayer experience compelling enough to make it your focus. It's like SWtOR for leveling, except for the actual questing being interesting and the world being open and alive.
Maybe that's a problem for some people?
Certainly isn't a problem for me.
I'm having a great time with it right now. The only drawback so far has been the many quest related bugs (stuff that doesn't spawn correctly for example). It's certainly not perfect beyond the bugs, but I honestly feel that it's a breath of fresh air in the MMO genre. The world itself just feels more coherent and alive than.. well, any other MMO I'd say.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Definitely not perfect, no - but then again, I've never played an MMO that felt remotely perfect. The closest remains UO, for me, because of how pure and fresh the concept was back then. But the amount of issues it had was staggering compared to modern games.
I've yet to encounter a single quest bug - but I've paced myself playing it. I'm having a wonderful time just taking it easy and doing the content as I see fit, exploring and crafting.
The only bug I've experienced that I noticed is the random horse dismount bug, which seems to have been all but fixed now.
To me, it's the most compelling MMO I've played alone - so far.
My primary issue is that combat feels a little slow and clunky - and I'm not sure how much of that has to do with the EU servers being physically located in the US for the time being.
The game has a certain lack of "visceral and kinetic" energy that some games manage to pull off really well, and which I consider the best part of Guild Wars 2.
It's like there's this intangible lack of weight and physical impact that's quite noticable. Not sure if that's something I'll get used to or which might start bothering me eventually.
It doesn't help that I'm playing Diablo 3 on the side, which is one of the most immediately satisfying games I've ever played in terms of combat feedback, both in terms of sound and visuals.
I've yet to encounter a single quest bug - but I've paced myself playing it. I'm having a wonderful time just taking it easy and doing the content as I see fit, exploring and crafting.
The only bug I've experienced that I noticed is the random horse dismount bug, which seems to have been all but fixed now.
To me, it's the most compelling MMO I've played alone - so far.
My primary issue is that combat feels a little slow and clunky - and I'm not sure how much of that has to do with the EU servers being physically located in the US for the time being.
The game has a certain lack of "visceral and kinetic" energy that some games manage to pull off really well, and which I consider the best part of Guild Wars 2.
It's like there's this intangible lack of weight and physical impact that's quite noticable. Not sure if that's something I'll get used to or which might start bothering me eventually.
It doesn't help that I'm playing Diablo 3 on the side, which is one of the most immediately satisfying games I've ever played in terms of combat feedback, both in terms of sound and visuals.
They are? We were discussing this last night actually, as we were doing Spindleclutch (first instance for the Covenant) with a 1 sec lag on everything. We did not experience anything like that while exploring, but inside the instance it was almost unplayable. One of the theories were instance servers or the entire server being located in the US. I do hope they manage to get it all up and running in Europe.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Yes, they're physically located in the US for launch - because they're saying it's easier to fix initial problems that way.
They've said they'll relocate it to Europe some time after the launch window is over.
With the way the UI and combat works, it's especially hard to detect lag and delays for this game, and there's no in-game latency meter - which is annoying.
But I suspect it'll make a difference that's quite noticable, despite their bullshit claims of it having no discernable impact. They can't change the physical reality that 150-250 ms ping is worse than sub-70 pings.
Yes indeed. I have not tried PvP yet, but I find it very hard to believe that delay is going to be hard to notice. Any kind of lag is hopeless in PvP.
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DArtagnan
Guest
Very true. I'm very "lag sensitive" and in the dozens of MMO I've tried, it has made a difference in every single one of them. Some are worse than others, but it always matters. For instance, I stopped playing Age of Conan after they migrated to US - as I couldn't stand the lag.
But ESO has very little feedback in terms of what skills you're using and it's kinda touchy about when you're able to dodge and what not. So, it's very, very hard to know if the issues are lag-related or not - but given the action-y nature of combat, it's hard to imagine it won't be significantly improved by a low ping.
- Joined
- March 10, 2009
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- 255
The linked column is a good high-level take on the game, and matches my impressions from my 3-4 beta weekends. What was particularly interesting was that I found my enjoyment of it increased the more I played.
Alas, I'm sitting out the release for now, as I just don't have the play time to justify a subscription (which makes me feel compelled to play more than I really should). No nerd-rage from me; they gotta do what they gotta do, but I am secretly hoping that this goes f2p at some point so I can jump in and play it casually when I have time. I had great fun with SWTOR for about 9 months after it went f2p...actually got a character up to max-level in that timeframe, too.
Alas, I'm sitting out the release for now, as I just don't have the play time to justify a subscription (which makes me feel compelled to play more than I really should). No nerd-rage from me; they gotta do what they gotta do, but I am secretly hoping that this goes f2p at some point so I can jump in and play it casually when I have time. I had great fun with SWTOR for about 9 months after it went f2p...actually got a character up to max-level in that timeframe, too.
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
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Have been reading up alot on ESO trying to find something to compel me to try it.
But it's too much neither here nor there for me i think.
I'm not interested in another MMO, i stick to WoW for this atm.
I'm also not very interested in renting/paying a sub for a single player game to play through which in the end will force me to group to enjoy everything.
Now if they would go full out making everything solo accessible with options to group play i might get interested, if they'd make a persistent single player world i might forgive the lack of mods and all.
But it's too much neither here nor there for me i think.
I'm not interested in another MMO, i stick to WoW for this atm.
I'm also not very interested in renting/paying a sub for a single player game to play through which in the end will force me to group to enjoy everything.
Now if they would go full out making everything solo accessible with options to group play i might get interested, if they'd make a persistent single player world i might forgive the lack of mods and all.
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2013
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- 226
I have one remark on MMO aspects. Yes, indeed, based on my 60 hours ingame time I can say that ESO feels like single player game. Yet, the game is not easy. Very often I was not able to finish on-level quest because end-bosses killed me. In single player RPG you could always get a couple of levels elsewhere and then get back empowered to finish the quest. In ESO you can do the same or you can wait a couple of minutes for other players and kill the boss altogether. You don't have to be a member of a group for this. You don't have to communicate with anyone about it. Just wait for a group of people and follow it (there are some key-quests dungeons where you are always alone though, so not every dungeon can be completed in this way). I'm still not sure if I like this kind of MMO element or not. I think it's rather good because I still have a choice to do everything alone or to wait for some people for help.
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- Apr 26, 2008
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