The Elder Scrolls Online

[GOD'SlittleSERVANT]

Ugh, I'm going to have to change my opinion of this game. This was my 3rd beta weekend, I've been generally unimpressed but I finally got to PvP and...it was really fun. It's pretty zergy and wont appeal to everyone, but it really had that old DAOC RvR feeling. Between ganking stragglers and dropping burning oil on zergs I actually had a good time.

Finally a PvP game where literally everyone can stealth. You pretty much have to, to avoid the gigantic zergs. There was a few amusing moments when I was stealthed near an ally who wasn't, a zerg of people would rush at and obliterate him, and keep going right past me. Should have ducked, dude!

What level till PvP starts?

 

[Cmustang87]

Make a spell? Sure! you gotta make the ink components first, then make the ink, then make the paper components, then make the paper, then make the spell...with a mistake on any one of the steps capable of ruining the spell...now that's crafting

No thank you.

 

[Ritorix]

What level till PvP starts?

10. Then you can teleport right to it, it's basically a zone the size of DAOC's three pvp regions in one. Keeps, relics (er, I mean elder scrolls) to capture, etc.

 

[GOD'SlittleSERVANT]

10. Then you can teleport right to it, it's basically a zone the size of DAOC's three pvp regions in one. Keeps, relics (er, I mean elder scrolls) to capture, etc.

Sounds good. I stopped at 5 because I knew I had to do it all over again once release comes out.

 

[Deleted member 232162]

Sounds good. I stopped at 5 because I knew I had to do it all over again once release comes out.

It's like you're in my head. Everything you say is what I would say...

 

[chockomonkey]

I just don't get why they can't do anything new. What the fuck is with MMO's and empty worlds? I don't want 10 pointless quests. I want 4 that I give a damn about. Targeted combat--wtf this shit is old, get rid of it. This is ESO, it should have combat like Darkfall.

When you explore in an MMO, it should feel rewarding and cool. You should find something cool, whether it be a chest or a boss, and when you open it or kill it it should drop something interesting too. I think the main problem with MMO's is that they're too concerned about the race and competition between players. I say let people find cool shit. Let them feel awesome. There needs to be more quests like the hunter and priest epic quest from WoW (without the raid requirement, of course). Cool, difficult, interesting quest lines with real loot at the end.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Ugh, I'm going to have to change my opinion of this game. This was my 3rd beta weekend, I've been generally unimpressed but I finally got to PvP and...it was really fun. It's pretty zergy and wont appeal to everyone, but it really had that old DAOC RvR feeling. Between ganking stragglers and dropping burning oil on zergs I actually had a good time.

Finally a PvP game where literally everyone can stealth. You pretty much have to, to avoid the gigantic zergs. There was a few amusing moments when I was stealthed near an ally who wasn't, a zerg of people would rush at and obliterate him, and keep going right past me. Should have ducked, dude!

Yep, as I said, the RvR (aka AvA here) is amazingly well done. That's one of the major reasons anyone should look at this game . By far and away the best pvp experience I've had of this kind since DAOC's populated days.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Targeted combat--wtf this shit is old, get rid of it. This is ESO, it should have combat like Darkfall.

Cool, difficult, interesting quest lines with real loot at the end.

Uh, you do realize ESO doesn't use targeted combat, but has a crosshair reticule with a soft radius, right? (and a preferred target marker)

A lot of the quests have been nerfed but they're still cool and interesting while providing a nice reward (a skill point) at the end generally. The main quests give gear that's useful while leveling up too.

 

[Pringle]

That's one of the major reasons anyone should look at this game .

Or, the only reason.

 

[chockomonkey]

Uh, you do realize ESO doesn't use targeted combat, but has a crosshair reticule with a soft radius, right? (and a preferred target marker)

I'm not sure what this means lol

Is this some kind of pseudo-targeting mechanic?

Can attacks be dodged?

 

[Deleted member 232162]

I'm not sure what this means lol

Is this some kind of pseudo-targeting mechanic?

Can attacks be dodged?

Yes you can dart/roll out of the way off attacks (for the most part). Like if projectiles are coming at you, you can jump out of the way. It's not as in-depth as you think.

 

[GOD'SlittleSERVANT]

It's like you're in my head. Everything you say is what I would say...

you love me.

 

[notarat]

Yes you can dart/roll out of the way off attacks (for the most part). Like if projectiles are coming at you, you can jump out of the way. It's not as in-depth as you think.

When I was setting up the controls I noticed the setting for double-tap timing so I figured out that there would be a possibility of dodging attacks....

When the Atronachs in the beginning area started casting their spells and I saw the red "cone" delineation I double-tapped and rolled outta the way. That works well

 

[Stiler]

Arewe going to have a guild for this? Will it last more then a month or so? lol.

Seems the guild only lasts a month or two in most mmo's that come out here.

We need to recruit/get other people in the guild rather then just being exclusive to people on the forums, if we want it to survive/have a chance of lasting longer.

 

[Deleted member 232162]

Arewe going to have a guild for this? Will it last more then a month or so? lol.

Seems the guild only lasts a month or two in most mmo's that come out here.

We need to recruit/get other people in the guild rather then just being exclusive to people on the forums, if we want it to survive/have a chance of lasting longer.

Yeah the problem with the last few guilds we had (like GW2), is that everyone quit playing after a month or two. I know I admit I lost interest as well really early on...I'd be down to join, but I don't want any responsibilities when it comes to recruiting, when I say I want to do that stuff I lose interest in the game and stop playing.

 

[Climber]

I just don't get why they can't do anything new. What the fuck is with MMO's and empty worlds? I don't want 10 pointless quests. I want 4 that I give a damn about. Targeted combat--wtf this shit is old, get rid of it. This is ESO, it should have combat like Darkfall.

When you explore in an MMO, it should feel rewarding and cool. You should find something cool, whether it be a chest or a boss, and when you open it or kill it it should drop something interesting too. I think the main problem with MMO's is that they're too concerned about the race and competition between players. I say let people find cool shit. Let them feel awesome. There needs to be more quests like the hunter and priest epic quest from WoW (without the raid requirement, of course). Cool, difficult, interesting quest lines with real loot at the end.

You'll be glad to hear that ESO delivers all this then...

I can't speak for him, but I can speak for myself.

The problem with ESO isn't that is reminds us of other Elder Scrolls games, it's that it reminds us of the Elder Scrolls games that do everything this game is trying to do better.

True and not true. They do lose some stuff as they combine the two genres but it isn't really that bad.

I know, you will say "but ESO is online." So? The way phasing is broken.. err.. "working"... you don't exactly "play" with other characters. In fact, on of the biggest complaints coming from the beta is that everyone else just gets in the way. They don't add anything to the experience save for a couple dungeons and bosses.

This game is trying to be two things at once, and failing miserably at both.

Ok look, seriously. Get past level 10 and start getting into the meat of the game. Try taking an anchor down solo. Try doing any of the "world" events solo, ala rift, GW2, etc...solo. If you don't want to do those than feel free to solo but if you have a small group of friends to play with this game is perfect, ala LoTRO, SW:ToR, Rift, and GW2.

I'm not sure what this means lol

Is this some kind of pseudo-targeting mechanic?

Can attacks be dodged?

C'mon Chocko, I enjoy teaming up with you in games but ugh...at least know what you're talking about before complaining man. That's why I hate getting involved in these threads. Feel like I'm white knighting a game that I don't like but the fud is strong on the forums lately.

 

[chockomonkey]

You'll be glad to hear that ESO delivers all this then...



True and not true. They do lose some stuff as they combine the two genres but it isn't really that bad.



Ok look, seriously. Get past level 10 and start getting into the meat of the game. Try taking an anchor down solo. Try doing any of the "world" events solo, ala rift, GW2, etc...solo. If you don't want to do those than feel free to solo but if you have a small group of friends to play with this game is perfect, ala LoTRO, SW:ToR, Rift, and GW2.



C'mon Chocko, I enjoy teaming up with you in games but ugh...at least know what you're talking about before complaining man. That's why I hate getting involved in these threads. Feel like I'm white knighting a game that I don't like but the fud is strong on the forums lately.

Sorry; my rant was more about MMO's in general. I watched some Wildstar videos and one EOS video in this thread and the combat was too similar to WoW, from what i saw. I am not in the beta and there is an NDA, hence my questions.

 

[ob1]

You'll be glad to hear that ESO delivers all this then...

True and not true. They do lose some stuff as they combine the two genres but it isn't really that bad.

Ok look, seriously. Get past level 10 and start getting into the meat of the game. Try taking an anchor down solo. Try doing any of the "world" events solo, ala rift, GW2, etc...solo. If you don't want to do those than feel free to solo but if you have a small group of friends to play with this game is perfect, ala LoTRO, SW:ToR, Rift, and GW2.

C'mon Chocko, I enjoy teaming up with you in games but ugh...at least know what you're talking about before complaining man. That's why I hate getting involved in these threads. Feel like I'm white knighting a game that I don't like but the fud is strong on the forums lately.

So is there another version of the game out there they haven't been giving us in the beta events? I'm curious because it feels like the beta event game that I have played a few times now is just broken. My son and I got toons up to 16 on all races and there were so many game breaking bugs that it just couldn't be possible for the game to be released in two months. Quests just broken for the past three/four beta events in each faction. Area's that were just not populated, I mean there was a town there, but the textures were missing from inside the buildings, no NPC's, etc. I was hoping it was a permissions issue where the dev's only wanted you to play to like 15ish and left the rest of the game empty on purpose. My son and I grouped together and I must say, the grouping felt/was bugged for us. Every time we zoned, it would put us in different instances, every single time. One of us would either have to log out and back in or chance rezoning, (some zone load times would get stuck and take over 10 minutes to load). Again, I hope you are right, cause we already bought the game.../sigh

 

[cageymaru]

So can the NPC's dodge my attacks? They seemed to roll but they always got hit regardless. Either I'm a god or the radius on my Spear attack is huge as a Templar. Also the same move doesn't hit multiple enemies without backpedaling and funneling them into a straight line almost. I guess I'm trying to say that the melee is ambiguous in form and action at best. I couldn't tell after several hours if my spear attack was a laser or a 45 degree frontal cone. Maybe the servers were lagged to hell or something. Either way melee wasn't fulfilling or enjoyable on a Templar. First impressions are everything.

 

[tjmonsen5]

Just finished skyrim, time to look into this game!

 

[Kryptorchid]

True and not true. They do lose some stuff as they combine the two genres but it isn't really that bad.

Please don't take what I am about to write as something that is trying to convince you to not play this game. It's not intended to do that. The fact that you like what's going on is great for you! Wish it was how I felt, because I am looking for an MMO to really dive deep into.

So, the ways this game is trying to be two games at once and failing. Before I list them, maybe I should say what they are doing well:

1. Sound, graphics, atmosphere is great.
2. Lore books are great, definitely my favorite part of the game.

Literally, that's all I feel is close to perfect in this game. So here is how it is failing to be the two games it wants to be:

How it fails at being a TES game:

1. Not an open world -- The major draw to TES games for a lot of players is the open environment. Once you leave the tutorial jail, you are free to do whatever you want. Go here, go there, go everywhere! Can you do everything at the start? No, but you can at least try. TESO is a closed off world. Plain and simple, you can not go anywhere whenever you want. When you finish the tutorial jail, you are met with... an island. Want to get off the island? Finish the "Main Story" quest. Want to get off sooner? You can't. This is a linear game with "action zone" after "action zone." They have not created a world at all.

2. Does not have an open skill/spell system -- Sure you have a lot of flexibility, which is a nice change from the norm. But why didn't they go all the way? No matter how much I play this game, I will never be able to build a character that uses Fiery Reach (DK skill) and Lightning Form for tanking. Never. I do not understand why a TES game needs classes from the get go.

3. PERSONAL OPINION ALERT -- Terrible Quest Story Lines -- Everyone is "the chosen one" and that is beaten into your head from the get-go. It just feels so lazy, and I personally have zero interest in the main story. Once more, every "side" quest I have found so far ties nicely into the main story. I want to learn about local shit going on with people who have no idea of the mega epic main story. /sarcasm

How it fails at trying to be an MMO:

1. Grouping is broken by Phasing -- Don't have to say anything else, well maybe that phasing is responsible for all the questing bugs in the game. In some zones, every ten steps you take leads you into a new phased event, but most of the time nothing renders. Not the mobs, nor the NPCs, nor your friends. There are so many other bugs with grouping, it is a tedious chore to even attempt to form one.

2. Undeveloped Economy -- Since everyone is forced to be a crafter, there will be almost no trading of crafted goods . Everyone will take the professions that are the most effective, and the rest will be extremely under developed. Additionally, who wants to buy food when you can't even tell what buff you have on you because the UI doesn't display that stuff? Without a strong economy, you cannot have a strong community. Period. They should have allowed players to just be crafters, no story, no fighting, just be a merchant.l

3. It is needlessly harder to tell who is an enemy, NPC, or human ally -- The UI is shit in this respect. Since this is so frustrating, it helps to discourage grouping.

I could go on, but I think these are the major problems I have with the game.

Ok look, seriously. Get past level 10 and start getting into the meat of the game. Try taking an anchor down solo. Try doing any of the "world" events solo, ala rift, GW2, etc...solo. If you don't want to do those than feel free to solo but if you have a small group of friends to play with this game is perfect, ala LoTRO, SW:ToR, Rift, and GW2.

I'd love to get past level 10, but my Redguard cannot get past level 6 because of a bug in his story mode, thus he can't leave the island he is on (and grinding is not a solution when you get 1/250 of a level when you kill a mob. Did I mention that phasing makes it so there are never good spawns because they are all tied to quests?).

My Nord is level 8, but Stonefalls is completely broken due to phasing that I literally cannot work on any quests without /reloadui every 30 seconds. This is not an exaggeration.

My Khajiit is only level 2, but I just I really have no interest in trying to level him before beta closes.


Hope you can understand where I am coming from, and again, don't take this as me trying to persuade you into thinking the game is bad.

 

[piXel]

The problem with trying to fuse MMO's and Skyrim together is that MMO gamers don't even know WTF they want.

Thats why the game will never work.

 

[Kryptorchid]

The problem with trying to fuse MMO's and Skyrim together is that MMO gamers don't even know WTF they want.

Thats why the game will never work.

Um, no.

MMO gamers know what they wanted. Granted it is usually different than what you personally want.

The problem is developers ALL want the same thing -- WoW subs.

 

[piXel]

I have wasted enough of my time on WoW and various MMO's to come to the conclusion they will never change. Same old shit

The simple fact is you guys dont matter, think about the younger generations growing up that will start playing WoW.

 

[Climber]

So is there another version of the game out there they haven't been giving us in the beta events? I'm curious because it feels like the beta event game that I have played a few times now is just broken. My son and I got toons up to 16 on all races and there were so many game breaking bugs that it just couldn't be possible for the game to be released in two months. Quests just broken for the past three/four beta events in each faction. Area's that were just not populated, I mean there was a town there, but the textures were missing from inside the buildings, no NPC's, etc. I was hoping it was a permissions issue where the dev's only wanted you to play to like 15ish and left the rest of the game empty on purpose. My son and I grouped together and I must say, the grouping felt/was bugged for us. Every time we zoned, it would put us in different instances, every single time. One of us would either have to log out and back in or chance rezoning, (some zone load times would get stuck and take over 10 minutes to load). Again, I hope you are right, cause we already bought the game.../sigh

The graphic issues I haven't had. I have my gaming computer which is a 4670 oc to 4.2ghz sli 780ti, 16gb ram, 840 Pro, on 2560X1600 res and it looks gorgeous. I have a media computer for work that I use for reviews and it is a 3570k oc to 3.8ghz 680gtx, 16gb ram, Raptor hdd, on 2560X1440 and it runs almost identical. No texture pop, load in, or missing textures. Perhaps check your drivers?

As far as the zone issues, I've had a few of those but few and far between, mostly crashing on loading or long load times. I'd say probably 20-30% of the time but 100% of the time, that says something else is wrong. Did you post in the bug forums? Oh P.S. Did you try friending your son and "jumping to player" option. That works for keeping our groups together, so may help fix what you and your son are experiencing. P.S.S. Also if you are on the same quests but at different steps it can also do what you describe, but jump to player should fix that.

What game breaking bugs were you guys experiencing? The only game breaking bugs I've had were fixed and addressed back in alpha. There are a couple of unfinished quest lines some zone boundary issues, and some RvR issues but nothing I would remotely consider game breaking.

Here is a comprehensive listing of game reviews and opinions.

The biggest complaint has been the payment model. The pros have been the combat, graphics, RvR, skill system, questing, grouping, and crafting. Those are generally universally panned and I agree with the majority of those reviews pros and cons. Elite Monster.com has some excellent reviews on the game that represent a pretty fair evaluation of the game.

So can the NPC's dodge my attacks? They seemed to roll but they always got hit regardless. Either I'm a god or the radius on my Spear attack is huge as a Templar. Also the same move doesn't hit multiple enemies without backpedaling and funneling them into a straight line almost. I guess I'm trying to say that the melee is ambiguous in form and action at best. I couldn't tell after several hours if my spear attack was a laser or a 45 degree frontal cone. Maybe the servers were lagged to hell or something. Either way melee wasn't fulfilling or enjoyable on a Templar. First impressions are everything.

My Templar was quite fun in melee combat. Yes mobs can dodge, avoid, block, and parry attacks and do so quite regularly. My main character and the one who I always return to is the Dragon Knight and I love melee combat on him. Defensive wise I can take an ungodly amount of punishment while still controlling multiple opponents, and still have enough stamina to lay some smack down if I need to. The various weapons have greater arcs and distances so it is possible to have a large attack radius and yes grouping and controlling mobs is key, just like in DaoC for PBAoE attacks. Very few people,especially after the lower levels have been left behind and group tactics come into play, complain about the combat.

Much of the combat complaints come at the lower levels and how slow it is and progresses. Many of the newer beta testers don't get the synergy of attacks and how multiple skills can work together to achieve various stuns, knock downs, huge crits, or other bonuses to combat. Get an experienced team together to take down anchors or world content and you may be in for one enjoyable experience.

The payment model and RvR issues are the areas of biggest concern for me, everything else seems pretty polished. I kinda feel like the game is getting a bad rep from players who want instant gratification and don't understand or want to take the time to get to delve into another MMO. I think the genre has just gotten stale and players want something new and they aren't getting it with ESO.

 

[Climber]

1. Sound, graphics, atmosphere is great.
2. Lore books are great, definitely my favorite part of the game.

Oh I agree, I love these parts of the game. It is polished and sound in these areas and others.

3. It is needlessly harder to tell who is an enemy, NPC, or human ally -- The UI is shit in this respect. Since this is so frustrating, it helps to discourage grouping.

I agree with your 1 and 2 wholeheartedly and if you've read my previous posts you would see that I have major problems with the direction they took in these areas. I understand and realize that part of the decision involved in that is that the majority of MMO players are idiots who wouldn't understand an open concept world in an MMO and would try repeatedly to take their lvl 10 into a cave that has dwarven artifacts that continually kicks their ass, ala crystal caves in skyrim or whatever it is called. Can't begin to tell you how many people who started were frustrated they couldn't finish that cave early on. I'm not a fan of their system but I do understand the need for them to cater to the lowest common denominator but I hate that experienced players get punished for it.

Hope you can understand where I am coming from, and again, don't take this as me trying to persuade you into thinking the game is bad.

Oh I think the game is going to fail because of the compromises. I've already cancelled my pre-order but think my buddies are going to drag me back into the game anyways. I'm just hoping in "white knighting" the thread because there have been multiple posts that are just flat out wrong information and people keep parroting this fud.

 

[Trimlock]

The problem with trying to fuse MMO's and Skyrim together is that MMO gamers don't even know WTF they want.

Thats why the game will never work.

It is hard to figure out what you want, me personally I decided to take my approach to games like I used to back in the day, I see a game I think looks interesting and play it, if it's good I'll enjoy it, if it's bad I don't. That way I don't go in with some false sense if the game will be good or not.

Let the developer tell the game and stop trying to predict the game, it's worked out well for me.

 

[Pringle]

The combat looks interesting, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna get fooled into preordering this thing

 

[ob1]

The graphic issues I haven't had. I have my gaming computer which is a 4670 oc to 4.2ghz sli 780ti, 16gb ram, 840 Pro, on 2560X1600 res and it looks gorgeous. I have a media computer for work that I use for reviews and it is a 3570k oc to 3.8ghz 680gtx, 16gb ram, Raptor hdd, on 2560X1440 and it runs almost identical. No texture pop, load in, or missing textures. Perhaps check your drivers?

As far as the zone issues, I've had a few of those but few and far between, mostly crashing on loading or long load times. I'd say probably 20-30% of the time but 100% of the time, that says something else is wrong. Did you post in the bug forums? Oh P.S. Did you try friending your son and "jumping to player" option. That works for keeping our groups together, so may help fix what you and your son are experiencing. P.S.S. Also if you are on the same quests but at different steps it can also do what you describe, but jump to player should fix that.

What game breaking bugs were you guys experiencing? The only game breaking bugs I've had were fixed and addressed back in alpha. There are a couple of unfinished quest lines some zone boundary issues, and some RvR issues but nothing I would remotely consider game breaking.

Here is a comprehensive listing of game reviews and opinions.

OK, the game breaking bugs we experienced again in this beta event were the main quest line quests that get bugged/broken where you cannot advance the character and once you start you cannot get out. Specifically the one I remember the most is when you are leading the refugees out of that cave and have to wait for them. When it bugs out you cannot move forward, you cannot advance and you cannot use fast travel to get out. The toon is broken and you must reroll. I have experienced this same problem every beta event with that race so far.

We had a similar issue with another race where there were several quests broken and since this game is so linear with its questing path, you would get some error message about incorrect permissions to be in the next area. Those were the area's with buildings and such, but when you walked into the buildings the interior textures were not there so it was like you could see through the walls because they were invisible from the inside of the building but not from the outside.

Also, were the beta's limited to level 15ish? Because we could not get any toons passed the level 15ish area's into the next area's. We could go to these area's just fine, but they were empty as stated.

My son and I have played just about every MMO since the original EQ1 so we are familiar with MMO issue's. I mean when he was 7 he would tank/OT 25 mans in WoW and 24 mans in EQ2, so we are kinda familiar on how MMO's go, and we generally pre-order so we know how new MMO's are generally speaking. But the grouping issue, while not game breaking was seriously time consuming and when the beta is four days, and you spend so much time re-starting the client, rezoning, using the travel to your friend button (even though it only takes you to the nearest shrine by your friend), and bug reporting these issues, it takes away from the immersion, lol which I bug reported also.

And one more nitpick: You go along and group together for the game and the quests right, then all of a sudden you get into a quest that is solo only with combat, like that snake that heals with the little globe thingies. Its like all of a sudden, when you were dedicated healer, it throws you into a solo combat challenge with a healing mob. I guess I should always take a destro staff and a healing staff everywhere.

 

[chockomonkey]

review

So is it or is it not open world? I've heard both.

And one more nitpick: You go along and group together for the game and the quests right, then all of a sudden you get into a quest that is solo only with combat, like that snake that heals with the little globe thingies. Its like all of a sudden, when you were dedicated healer, it throws you into a solo combat challenge with a healing mob. I guess I should always take a destro staff and a healing staff everywhere.

What do you mean it throws you into a quest? Do you not choose to pick up quests?

 

[ob1]

So is it or is it not open world? I've heard both.


What do you mean it throws you into a quest? Do you not choose to pick up quests?

Like you are going along a quest chain duo'ing the quest line. You zone into an instance, which you do frequently, and when you get into the instance, you realize your partner is not in the instance. So you do the normal things like one of us zones back out if possible, then restarts client, etc until we establish it is a solo only zone. Thats what I mean by throws you into a solo quest or zone.

 

[xNegative]

OK, the game breaking bugs we experienced again in this beta event were the main quest line quests that get bugged/broken where you cannot advance the character and once you start you cannot get out. Specifically the one I remember the most is when you are leading the refugees out of that cave and have to wait for them. When it bugs out you cannot move forward, you cannot advance and you cannot use fast travel to get out. The toon is broken and you must reroll. I have experienced this same problem every beta event with that race so far.

We had a similar issue with another race where there were several quests broken and since this game is so linear with its questing path, you would get some error message about incorrect permissions to be in the next area. Those were the area's with buildings and such, but when you walked into the buildings the interior textures were not there so it was like you could see through the walls because they were invisible from the inside of the building but not from the outside.

Also, were the beta's limited to level 15ish? Because we could not get any toons passed the level 15ish area's into the next area's. We could go to these area's just fine, but they were empty as stated.

My son and I have played just about every MMO since the original EQ1 so we are familiar with MMO issue's. I mean when he was 7 he would tank/OT 25 mans in WoW and 24 mans in EQ2, so we are kinda familiar on how MMO's go, and we generally pre-order so we know how new MMO's are generally speaking. But the grouping issue, while not game breaking was seriously time consuming and when the beta is four days, and you spend so much time re-starting the client, rezoning, using the travel to your friend button (even though it only takes you to the nearest shrine by your friend), and bug reporting these issues, it takes away from the immersion, lol which I bug reported also.

And one more nitpick: You go along and group together for the game and the quests right, then all of a sudden you get into a quest that is solo only with combat, like that snake that heals with the little globe thingies. Its like all of a sudden, when you were dedicated healer, it throws you into a solo combat challenge with a healing mob. I guess I should always take a destro staff and a healing staff everywhere.

I was available to advance further (from the refugee part) by just re-logging in. Just fyi.

 

[Kryptorchid]

Just saw this video from the press beta, which shows a guy trying to get across the map, and it points out something developers do in MMOs that I hate and is just lazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szyV_raXB24

Why are there level 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. alligators?

I know why the developers have different level alligators; it's so as you level up and get into new zones, you have higher level things to fight

But, how can you explain the existence of different level alligators within the game world? Did some alligators rescue enough villagers to eventually level up? Did some alligators grind on chickens, then deer, then villagers, then bandits, then alliance warriors, and that's how they got to such high levels?

This is just plain lazy, illogical design from developers. An alligator should be the same throughout the game, no matter where they are found. Just like in UO, a Lich that is found in the Yew Cemetery is exactly the same as the Lich found in Deceit Level 3, which are exactly the same as the Lich found at the Undead Ruins near Trinsic.

Why developers can't think logically about their games is beyond me. This is the sort of thing that really makes it difficult to become immersed in a lot of MMOs.

 

[GOD'SlittleSERVANT]

Just saw this video from the press beta, which shows a guy trying to get across the map, and it points out something developers do in MMOs that I hate and is just lazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szyV_raXB24

Why are there level 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. alligators?

I know why the developers have different level alligators; it's so as you level up and get into new zones, you have higher level things to fight

But, how can you explain the existence of different level alligators within the game world? Did some alligators rescue enough villagers to eventually level up? Did some alligators grind on chickens, then deer, then villagers, then bandits, then alliance warriors, and that's how they got to such high levels?

This is just plain lazy, illogical design from developers. An alligator should be the same throughout the game, no matter where they are found. Just like in UO, a Lich that is found in the Yew Cemetery is exactly the same as the Lich found in Deceit Level 3, which are exactly the same as the Lich found at the Undead Ruins near Trinsic.

Why developers can't think logically about their games is beyond me. This is the sort of thing that really makes it difficult to become immersed in a lot of MMOs.

lol

 

[Climber]

Really? That is a complaint? What's next, why do they get to kill Ragnaros after I already killed him? or Omg, I already killed all the rats in the sewer why do they respawn? Lazy developers...how dare they create static zones instead of dynamic zones that populate random content with new and various size mobs argh!

I know what your saying Kryptorchild but really, think about the amount of work that goes into a game world of this size and see how difficult it is from the artists, coder, and audio guys views to make what you want. It's almost like watching Dragonball Z, how Goku keeps having to face stronger and stronger enemies to the point where it becomes so far fetched it borders on the absurd.

Programmers already face an enormous challenge as it is when it comes to an MMO and budgets aren't unlimited. Just making a mob smaller or larger requires numerous assets to make it work. So yes it is lazy of developers to reuse textures, mobs, audio, animations, etc...etc...but it also unrealistic to expect a game of this scope and size to have unique mobs and dynamic content in each zone for every day. It is just so far fetched to be asinine to expect it at this point and time.

 

[chockomonkey]

That video actually makes the game look pretty fun. Are there any videos of melee combat floating around?

 

[piXel]

Really? That is a complaint? What's next, why do they get to kill Ragnaros after I already killed him? or Omg, I already killed all the rats in the sewer why do they respawn? Lazy developers...how dare they create static zones instead of dynamic zones that populate random content with new and various size mobs argh!

I know what your saying Kryptorchild but really, think about the amount of work that goes into a game world of this size and see how difficult it is from the artists, coder, and audio guys views to make what you want. It's almost like watching Dragonball Z, how Goku keeps having to face stronger and stronger enemies to the point where it becomes so far fetched it borders on the absurd.

Programmers already face an enormous challenge as it is when it comes to an MMO and budgets aren't unlimited. Just making a mob smaller or larger requires numerous assets to make it work. So yes it is lazy of developers to reuse textures, mobs, audio, animations, etc...etc...but it also unrealistic to expect a game of this scope and size to have unique mobs and dynamic content in each zone for every day. It is just so far fetched to be asinine to expect it at this point and time.

There is no excuse for Blizzard though other then being cheap skates

 

[Kryptorchid]

Really? That is a complaint? What's next, why do they get to kill Ragnaros after I already killed him? or Omg, I already killed all the rats in the sewer why do they respawn? Lazy developers...how dare they create static zones instead of dynamic zones that populate random content with new and various size mobs argh!

My complaint is nothing like these.

I know what your saying Kryptorchild but really, think about the amount of work that goes into a game world of this size and see how difficult it is from the artists, coder, and audio guys views to make what you want. It's almost like watching Dragonball Z, how Goku keeps having to face stronger and stronger enemies to the point where it becomes so far fetched it borders on the absurd.

Programmers already face an enormous challenge as it is when it comes to an MMO and budgets aren't unlimited. Just making a mob smaller or larger requires numerous assets to make it work. So yes it is lazy of developers to reuse textures, mobs, audio, animations, etc...etc...but it also unrealistic to expect a game of this scope and size to have unique mobs and dynamic content in each zone for every day. It is just so far fetched to be asinine to expect it at this point and time.

I realize it is more work, but it stems from the idea that most MMO developers really have no clue what they are doing in terms of making a "world." All they really care about is churning out areas where they can slap together some kind of "content."

If you start designing your game by saying "I want all monsters within this would make logical sense in terms of the laws governed by the lore and the world," then it really isn't that much extra work.

Each zone that has a river, might have alligators in those rivers, it's just they will always be level 5 alligators. Rats will always be level 1. Harpies will always be level 10. And so on.

Now you can just focus on making the other parts of the zones have content that makes sense. So, let's say you are making a village of farmers who are trying to defend their land from you. Those will be level 15, but the battle-hardened Raiders who are trying to take the town, are level 30!

It really is simple, but like I said, you have to have the design goal to make it logical.

 

[Climber]

So is it or is it not open world? I've heard both.

It isn't open world in the same vein as the other Elder Scroll series. You can't just choose to run across the world to visit a rampart you saw on a mountainside like you can in Skyrim, Oblivion, or Morrowind. However, you can choose to go into areas which are too high for you and explore but prepare for stereotypical mob agro and other MMO mechanics.

Like you are going along a quest chain duo'ing the quest line. You zone into an instance, which you do frequently, and when you get into the instance, you realize your partner is not in the instance. So you do the normal things like one of us zones back out if possible, then restarts client, etc until we establish it is a solo only zone. Thats what I mean by throws you into a solo quest or zone.

Ob1, one of the reasons for the solo dungeons was to keep the "hero mythos" alive in the game. You should be able to solo the entire game if you want to and there are certain quests which may require you to come back after you've gained a level or have better skills. This is the biggest PvE complaint I have but one that I also feel has great potential. I really enjoy how LoTRO handles this in their epic quest lines, i.e. if you choose to do it solo then it scales that quest to your level and I'm not sure why Zenimax went with static levels for quests. I'm a huge fan of scalable content and if you want to do a quest solo or with 10 of your buddies you should be able to and to keep it at an appropriate difficulty scale it to the level and amount of people in the group. Like it or not that is their reasoning for solo quest dungeons and bosses at least according to Matt Firor.

To a certain extent I can see their reasoning behind this logic and that is as a "hero" your particular build should allow you to advance the combat through various strategies, but as well all know certain builds are just more powerful and allow you to breeze through content where other builds may struggle or just outright fail until they get a few levels over the content. Epic solo fights and strategies or just frustrating, guess it depends on your viewpoint.

Again as far as not being able to advance in quests I've not experienced that, well at least on a permanent basis. Generally either a relog or wait until a reset happens and that will take care of it. I've never had to restart a character to get past a stuck quest line. I'm not sure what the open beta level content is but the media servers allow access to a whole lot of content and levels that I doubt is available to open beta.

 

[Ritorix]

I saw someone getting chased by a level 50 mudcrab in the pvp zone. That was pretty hilarious.