Elder Scrolls Online - Happy 1st Anniversary

The Bethesda Blog announces that ESO has celebrated its first anniversary.

Hard to believe how fast times goes by, but today marks the first birthday for The Elder Scrolls Online!

The game has seen many improvements through regular updates and the introduction of Tamriel Unlimited, but one thing hasn’t changed: the amazing support from the game’s community. A shining example comes on the game’s first birthday — a touching community tribute put together by community member Elloa.

To the entire ZOS team and ESO fanbase, congrats on an amazing first year!

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More information.

I subscribed to this game for about 8 months after which I cancelled. In the 8 months I probably only played maybe 20 hours - I kept forgetting to cancel my account. While realizing that 'fun' is super subjective and it's perfectly ok that many people like and love this game, I personally found it to be too similar to WoW but with better lore and marginally more interesting quests. There just didn't seem to be enough different from WoW to keep me playing for years. I can't play another WoW-like MMO after having played WoW for about 6 years. Right about the time I cancelled my account, it went free-to-play. Go figure.

In the modern MMO space, I think it's actually one of the least WoW-like alternatives out there - if you don't include all the failed sandbox games. Ok, so something like Eve Online is more unique, but compared to games like EverQuest 2, The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, etc. - ESO stands apart in several ways, including superior quest design, deep lore, freeform character development, superb exploration, a proper action combat system, solid 3-way open world PvP, and more.

But, to each his own.

TheMadGamer said:

I subscribed to this game for about 8 months after which I cancelled.

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You're not alone. The reason Bethesda still didn't shut those servers down is people were still paying and not playing expecting, dunno, a miracle?

DArtagnan said:

In the modern MMO space, I think it's actually one of the least WoW-like alternatives out there - if you don't include all the failed sandbox games. Ok, so something like Eve Online is more unique, but compared to games like EverQuest 2, The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, etc. - ESO stands apart in several ways, including superior quest design, deep lore, freeform character development, superb exploration, a proper action combat system, solid 3-way open world PvP, and more. But, to each his own.

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I do admit the lore and quests were at least marginally better than WoW. I part ways with you on the exploration... which is something I really look for in a RPG. I'd be interested to hear how you experienced far superior exploration in ESO vs. WoW.

ESO had a few things I liked. But by the end of my playtime, it just felt like I was getting quests and banging them out. I did take the time to read quests and anything lore related. I don't know, maybe I just didn't give the game a proper chance. But I became bored quickly.

TheMadGamer said:

I do admit the lore and quests were at least marginally better than WoW.

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We probably have very different preferences here, as I think WoW lore is pop-culture dreck in most cases. Almost all ESO quests are engaging and many are full of impressive C&C, considering it's an MMO.

That said, it's still an MMO, so there are limitations because of the sacrifices you have to make to allow for thousands of players occupying the same world.

I part ways with you on the exploration… which is something I really look for in a RPG. I'd be interested to hear how you experienced far superior exploration in ESO vs. WoW.

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It's relatively simple, I think. If I go off the beaten path in ESO, I'll find a bunch of delves with unique bits of story and enemies - where WoW has almost nothing to find beyond the quest hubs related to each area. If you've seen one cave in WoW, you've seen them all, essentially.

Beyond that, you'll find stuff like Skyshards, which are extremely useful - as they add directly to your skill arsenal. There's zero power to be found by exploring in WoW - all you'll find are inferior items, even in the latest expansion - where the blues found on rare mobs are useful for the briefest of moments, before it's replaced by something else. That's just how WoW rolls, and you quickly learn that items are a dime a dozen - and gear will be replaced before you can take your next breath.

It helps that crafting is much more useful, as in the very best items are crafted in ESO - where in WoW, it's almost always weaker than dungeon drops. That means you'll be happier when you find a crafting note.

There are also a ton of quest NPCs standing around in the open world, which is rare in WoW.

Just a lot of things that, when combined, makes exploration interesting and pleasant.

ESO had a few things I liked. But by the end of my playtime, it just felt like I was getting quests and banging them out. I did take the time to read quests and anything lore related. I don't know, maybe I just didn't give the game a proper chance. But I became bored quickly.

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Well, it's a very quest heavy game, for sure. I'd say the game is incredibly boring if you don't engage yourself in the writing and take the time to listen to the voice actors.

I'd agree there should be more PvE alternatives than pure quest "grinding", but I'd rather have engaging and wholesome quests than the insane click exclamation hunt in WoW - where quest objectives are ludicrously out of place in a fantasy world.

It all comes down to what you need for immersion, I suppose.

The irony of WoW is that it's got a positively beautiful world - so rich and varied when it comes to scenery and setting, but the lore and the writing is written for kids. I consider that a huge waste, but some people really love that kind of off-beat quirky stuff played for laughs instead of immersion.

DArtagnan said:

In the modern MMO space, I think it's actually one of the least WoW-like alternatives out there - if you don't include all the failed sandbox games. Ok, so something like Eve Online is more unique, but compared to games like EverQuest 2, The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, etc. - ESO stands apart in several ways, including superior quest design, deep lore, freeform character development, superb exploration, a proper action combat system, solid 3-way open world PvP, and more.

But, to each his own.

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I agree, too bad the art direction killed it. PvP formats are worth mentioning. It just looks and feels nothing like the ES universe. My first impression was, is this Kingdom of Amalur online? Anyway, happy birthday!

The more DArt talks about ESO, the more I want to load it up someday. I've never played a real MMO and hated my beta-time with ESO. There were hundreds of people running willy-nilly from the spawn point and picking up everything that wasn't nailed down. I never found a single item in the 30 or so chests I tried to loot. That was my only session with the game....I take my time in crpgs and running around as fast as I can is never going to be on my agenda.

I remain interested as well reading those comments, having only briefly played in beta. If the quest content is really worth it, I might go for it now that it's pay-once. Is there any sort of interesting overarching main plot?

@Dartagnan after reading your comments on exploration, you may have persuaded me to perhaps give the game another try. Maybe I really didn't give it a chance. Thanks for the comments.

I usually don't like MMO's because of the boring grinding, boring fetch quest and the monthly fee, but ESO has some interesting quests. You still have to get something or kill some stuff, but there is a story reason for doing that. Many quests continue with more quests. The voice acting is not bad and adds to the immersion. I have not played PVP but PVE has been very fun and they have done a lot of changes since the Beta

I'm glad to have inspired some of you, as the game is quite good. But I don't want to give the impression that it's flawless or super-duper-great. It has issues - and it's not the perfect 10/10 game.

It's just one of the best MMOs out there, right now. But you need to appreciate the weaknesses of the genre.

ESO does resemble a singleplayer game in good ways more than most MMOs, but it still feels like a world full of other people. You can ignore them - but they'll still be there.

Anyway, I hope you have fun

There's a Welcome Back free weekend coming up next week for those who participated in the beta. I only got the e-mail about this after I re-activated my account.

Thaurin said:

There's a Welcome Back free weekend coming up next week for those who participated in the beta. I only got the e-mail about this after I re-activated my account.

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Come with a 80gb download and when I tried to login into my account on the website last night I received the access code 5 hours later. I don't think I'm going to bother with this "free weekend" thingy.

DArtagnan said:

In the modern MMO space, I think it's actually one of the least WoW-like alternatives out there - if you don't include all the failed sandbox games. Ok, so something like Eve Online is more unique, but compared to games like EverQuest 2, The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, etc. - ESO stands apart in several ways, including superior quest design, deep lore, freeform character development, superb exploration, a proper action combat system, solid 3-way open world PvP, and more.

But, to each his own.

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We must have played very different ESO games since ...

"superior quest design" - Marginally better than WoW or EQ2.
"deep lore" - EQ2 lore is way better any day of the week and then some more on Sunday!
" freeform character development" - Its interesting and have some scope experiment but its not all the ground breaking.
" superb exploration" = better than WoW and EQ2 but not so much so compared to GW2. Plus after couple of zones you would have discovered all their exploration tricks it becomes the same old in the same wasy GW2 works.
" proper action combat system" - action system is btter than GW2 but piss poor compared to games like TERA and other.

ESO is a decent single player MMO.... If you think about it thats really really sad but all MMOs after WoW has been like that....

Yes, it sounds like we played different games.

No big deal, though

I'm sure the others can decide for themselves which one they're playing when they're playing it.