I've been gaming a long time. I remember playing pong. My dad bought me one of the earliest home video game consoles called Fairchild. I found the game a week before Hanukkah that year and played with it every day after school so by the time he gave it to us, I had already mastered pong. I was also a vanilla World of Warcraft player - that was back in the day when gold wasnt everywhere and you had to make tradeoffs between paying for a new spell or saving gold for a horse.
Anyway, I L-O-V-E Elder Scrolls Online. I just finished playing my second beta and I couldn't get enough of this game. The graphics are great. The sound, music is great. The story lines are fun. The character development is awesome.
The bottom line is: Elder Scrolls Online = Personal Customization. It starts in your original player creation and continues through the skills and fighting style. If you like the sound of that you will LOVE this game.
Here's what I don't like about The Elder Scrolls Online
I dont have a ton of pet peeves about The Elder Scrolls Online. A lot of cheap people object to the cost. The cost itself is an upfront $59 or $79 plus $15 per month. Me? I don't care. For a little more than the cost of a good martini, I get to play this game? No problems there. I really, really believe this is where the negative reviews come from (yes I mean you). These negative reviewers want freeplay and I think that's where their motivation is for the negative review. Here are my pet peeves
1) The starting area is a little weak. Unlike WOW's starting area, where you learn your character and maybe get a little background, the number #1 goal of the starting area is to get you going on the main quest line. My #1 goal for the starting area is to get the heck out of it as quickly as possible. I'd wish the developers would let the Beta testers skip the starting area or maybe make the starting area driven by account so you only have to do it once.
2) It's a little too slow leveling up - I had three characters across the two beta sessions; I wasn't able to get above level 6 with any of them over the weekend. If I spent as much time leveling in World of Warcraft, I would have probably had 3 characters in the 20s.
3) Other players sniping kills - Yes we all share in the experience BUT I don't want help killing the vast majority of the monsters, enemies I encounter early on. I want to learn how to play. It drove me crazy whenever I was about to kill a level 3 animal, some other player pulls it away. I wish the developers would gray out the enemy once someone else starts attacking it - similar to WOW.
4) The frame rate - I found that I was able to play OK with my 2012 MACBook Air on full screen but I lagged a little bit; I did have the video settings on medium. When I switched to windowed mode, the game was very smooth.
5) The game is a beast to download. 20 GIG. That's a big download. I had to clear a lot of space off my computer. That kind of saved me in a round about way for a work request but in the end, it took me some time to clear enough space and download the game.
Here's What I Loved About The Elder Scrolls Online
1) It's beautiful.
2) It sounds great - the music, the characters, etc
3) The quest stories are interesting. Very often in WOW, you were just asked to kill these 10 things but in ESO, everything you do fits in. I did find myself skipping a little bit of the dialogue; not because I found it boring but because I read it faster than the person speaking.
4) Character customization - You can build your character any way you want (more on this in a second).
5) Skills - you want to be a sorcerer, but you want to specialize in blacksmithing? Go for it. There is no limit to how many professions you want to learn. Just time - as in maybe you have a real life....
6) You can wander off and run into a completely new quest line.
I can go on but more importantly...
Why Elder Scrolls Online is Better Than The Current World of Warcraft
Elder Scrolls Online is basically the best parts of World of Warcraft. Back in the old days of WOW, there was a lot of character customization. There were so many skills that you actually had to spend a fair amount of time determining which skill tree line you'd go down and then run some scenarios. Throw in the glyphs and there you had a fairly complicated character build. Unfortunately, WOW dumbed the game down and when you reach a high enough level, there are plenty of other players that will tell you what an idiot you are for building your character the way you did.
World of Warcraft has now become a race to the max level so you can then race to get your best gear for either PVP or PVE play. Arenas vs Raids. Sure maybe Elder Scrolls goes that route too, but for now, you can build your characters any way you want. I love that. Finally, as much as I love World of Warcraft, the game has become way too cartoonlike. Sure the pandas were fun but in the end you are playing a goofy panda.
For me, The Elder Scrolls Online is the best $15 per month you can spend gaming. People probably won't be as rude as some WOW players are now because the game is so new and there are so many different options.
Try something new. Try something fun. Don't hang out playing World of Warcraft. Get on the ground floor and really go for the customization.
Elder Scrolls Online = Personal Customization.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
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