Elder Scrolls Online - Welcomes Back Beta Players

ZeniMax Online has an update on the website for Elder Scrolls Online about offering Beta testers the chance to play the game for free on April 16th through April 20th.

A lot has changed since The Elder Scrolls Online beta, and we want you to discover all the new adventures waiting for you in Tamriel. From Thursday, April 16th at 10:00 AM EDT through Monday, April 20th at 10:00 AM EDT, we're inviting all beta players who never purchased the game to join us for a free weekend! You'll be able to download the game and experience all of our six major game updates, tons of improvements and fixes, and all of Tamriel Unlimited. We hope you'll join us!

If you're a beta player who is planning to participate in the Welcome Back Weekend, please check your email for more information and start downloading or updating your ESO client today!

More information.

Poor Bethesda.

Flush the goddamned crap noone cares for down the toilet and return to developing actual singleplayer games and not MMO betatests for solo player already.

I think that's a good opportunity for players on the fence. It really has changed for the better, so I highly recommend checking it out, if you have the time.

You might end up liking it

I started downloading it yesterday finally (their email server to give me my access code for my account responded much better lol).

I'm going to give it a try. I was in the closed beta for quite a while but didn't by the game because too much was missing and I found it too buggy. So I kind of want to see how it changed now.

Same here, Azarhal. I'll probably give it a look over that weekend.

Unfortunately it's like a 30GB download. Comcast has me on a monthly cap so it's too much to 'try for 3 days', especially considering I beta tested it for a couple of days and didn't like it back then.

Originally Posted by joxer
Poor Bethesda.

Flush the goddamned crap noone cares for down the toilet and return to developing actual singleplayer games and not MMO betatests for solo player already.

Now, now joxer, everyone knows Bethesda Softworks, the actual developers of TES/Fallout3, have been working on a new SP game ever since Skyrim. As much as I dislike MMOs, TESO was done by Zenimax Online, a newish studio they threw together for the express purpose of pumping out a semi-lame TES MMO for quick cash. So TESO's existence doesn't really hurt our prospects of a new quality SP title.

I dun told TESO it would come back to me, begging, like they all do. I'll probably give the game another chance…someday.

By the way joxer, I recently played through Risen 1 and Risen 2 since I know you've said so much good about them. And actually, I loved both. Once I got into the "yeah it's clunky but I can look past that" mentality, the games were really, really fun.

I played Beta and it was ok, but I recently bought the game on sale and they had made it better. I'm enjoying the game and think people should give it another try over the free weekend.

Originally Posted by Brumbek
By the way joxer, I recently played through Risen 1 and Risen 2 since I know you've said so much good about them. And actually, I loved both. Once I got into the "yeah it's clunky but I can look past that" mentality, the games were really, really fun.

I never understood Angry Joe's hate towards Risen games till I saw him struggling in Risen 3 which is the easiest of them. Either he's too dumb to understand any of it or he deliberately wanted to present the game in a way it's not how it should be played.
Okay, he said also that Risen 1 he played on a console so that probably killed the franchise for him, but that's his problem.
I mean… Having a PC at home equipped with most expensive parts and then playing a game on a console instead? WTF did he expect? That a console can outshine PC?

I jumped back into ESO when it first went B2P. I was really enjoying it. There is a good player base that is helpful and an environment that supports role play. Great for my MMO fix.

…I just didn't foresee the overwhelming positive reviews for POE. I didn't follow the game much because I don't care for RTwP combat. The reviews forced me to just play and get over it. Starting Act 2 this weekend!

Originally Posted by Brumbek

By the way joxer, I recently played through Risen 1 and Risen 2 since I know you've said so much good about them. And actually, I loved both. Once I got into the "yeah it's clunky but I can look past that" mentality, the games were really, really fun.

Nice to hear you enjoyed them! Risen 1 and 2 are awesome, awesome games.

Originally Posted by joxer
I mean… Having a PC at home equipped with most expensive parts and then playing a game on a console instead? WTF did he expect? That a console can outshine PC?

Hahaha, entertainment as usual!! I don't even need to go to YouTube to meet the PC m4zt3h r4c3!! You are so cool because you like PC gaming!!

Originally Posted by joxer
I never understood Angry Joe's hate towards Risen games till I saw him struggling in Risen 3

AngryJoe is an entertainer, not a reviewer, despite the claims. That's fine. Same with guys like Yahtzee. They aren't there to provide fair, logical reviews. There's no doubt Risen makes itself a bit obtuse and clunky, meaning the flavor-of-the-week console players will struggle with the series.

Anyway, yeah, I very much enjoyed my 30-40 hours in each game. I hear Risen 3 is much worse than the first two…I'll play it when it goes on sale. Should I adjust my expectations for Risen 3?

Originally Posted by Fluent
Nice to hear you enjoyed them! Risen 1 and 2 are awesome, awesome games.

Thanks, yeah. Totally agree. Very unique and fun stuff. I'm glad they exist!

Yep. Got that invite mail from them. Not sure though. I feel like I might be too lazy to even download or install ESO .

Originally Posted by Brumbek
I hear Risen 3 is much worse than the first two…I'll play it when it goes on sale. Should I adjust my expectations for Risen 3?

Risen 3 is not the worst of them, it's just the one you won't die much, wining in fights is perhaps made too easy or I was too skilled for that kind of combat mechanics (which I seriously doubt).

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Yep. Got that invite mail from them. Not sure though. I feel like I might be too lazy to even download or install ESO .

I think you should support developers you love. So download and install it.

Originally Posted by Brumbek

Thanks, yeah. Totally agree. Very unique and fun stuff. I'm glad they exist!

Definitely, me too!

I have a story about Risen. There was a time, not long ago, when I was a console RPG gamer. Well, I hadn't even heard of Risen, or Divinity 2, or any of the smaller RPGs. So finally, one day I decided to research every RPG available on my Xbox 360, and discovered this game called Risen (along with other smaller titles). Well, I purchased the game from Ebay for a few bucks and played it on my 360. It was a bit clunky, sure, but I instantly fell in love with it, and had an epiphany that sort of went like this - "Oh. My. God! These smaller budget/lesser known RPGs can be good, too! Where have these games been all my life?!". And since then, I've dug deeper to find the RPGs that I wanted to play, and eventually was drawn to the PC and PC RPG gaming. Well, the rest is history, as they say.

So I can actually thank Microsoft and the Xbox 360 for getting me into PC gaming.

Originally Posted by Fluent
I have a story about Risen. There was a time, not long ago, when I was a console RPG gamer. Well, I hadn't even heard of Risen, or Divinity 2, or any of the smaller RPGs. So finally, one day I decided to research every RPG available on my Xbox 360, and discovered this game called Risen (along with other smaller titles). Well, I purchased the game from Ebay for a few bucks and played it on my 360. It was a bit clunky, sure, but I instantly fell in love with it, and had an epiphany that sort of went like this - "Oh. My. God! These smaller budget/lesser known RPGs can be good, too! Where have these games been all my life?!". And since then, I've dug deeper to find the RPGs that I wanted to play, and eventually was drawn to the PC and PC RPG gaming. Well, the rest is history, as they say.

So I can actually thank Microsoft and the Xbox 360 for getting me into PC gaming.

Well said, great story! Many of us started on consoles, despite our big talk. My story is similar … but happens just a tad before your story. My first big gaming experience was the SNES (love it so much). One day my brother got a game called 7th Saga, one of this turn-based talkie RPG things. I preferred Super Contra and other action games.

I hated the first hour of 7th Saga, but kept playing and fell in love with big, complex (by the standards of the day) RPGs. By the way, 7th Saga is still one of the most unique and amazing RPGs out there. I highly recommend trying it any way you can if you want to check out a truly unique and interesting game. It is very hard at first though, but it has some character and story twists that are oh so delicious.