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ESO First Impressions - let's hear it!

Saighdiuir de na Faolchu
Riannoc
Saighdiuir de na Faolchu
Posted On: 03/01/2014 at 08:46 AM

I started a new character (Norn Dragonknight) and played a bit yesterday, getting to level 5. Here are a few of my first impressions.

  • Overall the graphics are beautiful but the character models are not so great. They feel very plain, very "round faced". Armor visibly stretches to fit the character model - the chain mail links on this character are normal sized across most of the chest piece but stretch really badly across the breasts. I love how good the characters in GW2 look, but in ESO I'm not so happy with them.
  • Crafting is fun and easy. I like how easy it is to break things down and how you use the same "recipe" for gear covering a span of levels just by increasing the core ingredient (iron, etc) to raise its level requirement and stats. The need for a special racial style ingredient is a little odd but it seems to always be readily available at the crafting vendor nearby if you don't have enough of it. I like the use of tempers to improve the quality level of an item as well, though I'm saving them to use on higher level gear.
  • Loot drops are a bit odd in that there rarely seems to be any armor dropping. I think I've seen 1 or 2 armor items drop in 5 levels, neither of which was heavy (my preferred set), so thankfully crafting made it easy to gear myself or I'd still be in starter rags.
  • Escort quests are gathering-friendly, meaning that whatever you're escorting will stop and wait for you if you stop to harvest a node or need to stop for any other reason.
  • Lockpicking is pretty cool once you get the hang of it, and if you spend a little time in the starter rooms in Coldharbour opening all the jars/urns/chests you can come out with a lot of lockpicks. I had 49 when I reached Nirn. Oh, and you can find some other useful items in them, like gear, food recipes, and the tomes that teach you crafting in other racial styles. I found one of those on this new char; a previous char found 2 in those rooms.
  • Movement and combat is a little odd, doesn't feel as smooth and normal as it does in other games like GW2.
  • As mentioned in another post I'm getting regular freezing for a few seconds while playing, and I asked in zone chat and there seem to be quite a few people experiencing this.

Overall I'm liking the game and can see it's potential. What do you think about it?

Last Edited on: 03/01/2014 at 10:12 AM
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Response:

Curadh de na Capall
Oktogunz
Curadh de na Capall
Replied On: 03/02/2014 at 05:32 PM PST

I finally got a toon to level 10 today and made it to the warzone. WOW!! I told the wife I wouldnt be available for anything after April 4th. 

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Saighdiuir de na Iomproidh
Cyrus
Saighdiuir de na Iomproidh
  • ESO: @Sozoc2k
Replied On: 03/02/2014 at 05:56 PM PST
  • Twitch
  • Extra-Life

Graphics - Beautiful on my machine, everything maxed in eyefinity is great. I do wish the view distance was a bit more, compared to other games I played, but in no way a game killer. Water, grass, scenery, buildings, all very well done. It does give me that old school RPG feel to it, which is lost in newer MMO's. Characters are a smidgen bland... but i love the higher end armor and since i wont see my character much, it is not a big deal.

Voice Acting - Love it, great voices, enjoy the immersion it brings, though I read much faster then they talk so I don't enjoy it as much, but it is very well done.

Crafting - Have not done it hardcore, but I like the design and feel of it, i do feel like its meaningful.

Classes - Versatility? Check... Customization? Double Check... Making sure each class can be a smidgen better in certain roles maintaining uniqueness to each class but allowing cross class viability?? Triple Check..

Races - Elder Scrolls... Plenty of choices.. Boom love it.

Factions - Love the 3 way factions, will be great IMO for true late game AVA

No Auction House - I really like this actually, brings a bit of realism and more interaction with player base. Convenient? No, but I can point to many MMO's i could play if i wanted it to be a solo game only. There are plenty of games where i can interact with no one if i want

 

Overall, I like it so far.

 

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Ban Seaimpin de na Fhiaigh
Aethena
Ban Seaimpin de na Fhiaigh
Replied On: 03/02/2014 at 07:54 PM PST

I really *really* love the Character Creator. I made a Breton Templar and she's developed in ways I'd not expected (granted she is only Level 11...). I found the faces very different depending on whether you went Heroic/Angular/Soft and if you added scars or freckles, etc.. Plus I thoroughly enjoyed being able to make a character who was middle aged! She's lived a life and it shows.

I had planned on playing a more traditional cloth-wearing, staff-wielding healer, but it just seemed wrong for my character. She is... solid. She is built to be out there in the thick of things. She looked awkward in most of the light armor robes so four or five of her items are heavy, which suits me as far too often I end up being where I shouldn't and need to be able to take a hit or two.

The two weapons I've enjoyed most on my Templar are the two-handed sword and bow. I spent most of my time this past weekend in Cyrodill as a "bowplar" (while my friend leveled a new character for the second Beta in a row... /sigh) and really enjoyed providing a bit of DPS and cover with my bow while throwing out some heals from the Templar restoration line and dropping a support bubble or a blood altar where needed.

Cyrodill was *awesome* – I can see myself spending a lot of time there. The fights were epic and it was a huge, beautiful area that I can't wait to explore more fully.

Counting the days until the 31st...

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Saighdiuir de na Capall
Lysylya
Saighdiuir de na Capall
  • ESO: @Lysylya
Replied On: 03/02/2014 at 09:58 PM PST

I've played the last few betas, so on this one, I really wanted to just play around with classes and weapons.  I did play a bit with my lvl 18 DW & 2H NB (siphon/assassin), but wanted to explore other setups as well getting a couple toons to lvl 10 over the weekend.

I ended up spending most of my time on a restoration staff nightblade.  I'm not sure it was truly an optimal build, but I definitely had a lot of fun exploring it.  It was fun being able to put out some decent dps while being able to lay down some aoe heals (with the Healing Springs morph).  On the NB front, I didn't do any shadow on this build, nor did I grab the teleport strike like I normally would with most of my NB builds.  I also focused on the magic passives for light armor to keep the magic centric skill lines up.

Regardless of whether I'll try to hone this somewhat strange skill combo up next time, I really enjoyed playing around with the ESO mechanics.  It is a very nice blend between ES & MMOs.  I'm very much looking forward to the launch.



» Edited on: 2014-03-04 15:19:19

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Lorgaire de na Iomproidh
Joojoobees
Lorgaire de na Iomproidh
  • ESO: @Joojoobees
Replied On: 03/03/2014 at 04:09 AM PST

I just made it to level 11 by the end of the beta.

I guess the most important thing to say is, despite everything I had read or seen, I was blown away by the immensity of Cyrodill. I barely saw any PvP action (and when I did, I died), but I enjoyed running around, doing scouting missions, and playing with the siege machinery in the tutorial area.

I tried every kind of crafting, and enjoyed them all. This is definitely going to be a fun part of the game.

Very much looking forward to April.

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Curadh de na Capall Donn
Botak
Curadh de na Capall Donn
  • ESO: @Yoyoma
Replied On: 03/03/2014 at 07:01 AM PST

this is my 2nd beta week, I manage to finish my nightblade to 10 and sorc to 10 and get the feel of the pvp in cyrodiil.

I enjoyed the crafting, I gamble upgrading the white to green with 40% chance only. I still have no clue where to get the blue and purple ingredients to upgrade the item.

I'm very excited about this game!

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Fine de na Sailetheach
Montour
Fine de na Sailetheach
Replied On: 03/03/2014 at 07:55 AM PST

This was also my 2nd beta weekend. Although I didn't get to play much at all. I cranked up the graphics and I was very impressed with the overall feel of the world. I did have an issue were the sound would skip from time to time, kind of annoying but I'm sure it will all be smoothed out by release. I continued on with my level 8 Sorc, I was stuck on a quest, killing Dorsah (or something to that effect). I was not able to defeat her, half of the reason was because of my build, I need to change it but I had no idea where to respec. So I continued on with searching for another quest, which is something I really like about the game, it's not linear, I just took off in another direction and found something to do. I'm getting the hang of looking for crafting material and was able to spot many more nodes this weekend. What I'm really interested in trying in the PvP, but never hit level 10. Overall, really enjoyed the game and looking forward to release.

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Seaimpin de na Iomproidh Corcra
DeaconGrim
Seaimpin de na Iomproidh Corcra
  • ESO: @Rudyard
Replied On: 03/03/2014 at 05:57 PM PST

My thoughts so far:

-I like the crafting system. Developing into a good, sought-out crafter is going to take some time and dedication.  It should be that way.

-I'm concerned about the lack of an auction system. I know there will be guild stores, but still, I spent hours in the auction hall in some of my previous games. I"m gonna miss that feature in ESO.

-Of the three factions, I like the Ebonheart Pact the best and like the culture, for lack of a better term, of the Ebonheart story: three races who've all suffered (under the Akaviri) coming together, but also trying to overcome their own issues and past issues that include slavery and much bloodshed.

-I LOVE playing in Cyrodiil (the PVP zone)! It's almost a completely different game than the PVE stuff. 

-I enjoyed using the seige engines, but next I'd like to experiment with the Mercenaries you can buy. I'm thinking that bridge between the Aldmeri section and Sej. Outpost would be a great place to put some Mercenaries. Maybe put some mages up on the top of the bridge towers and some guards in the middle. Perhaps it could make a low maintenance bottle neck or at least a delay tactic while we concentrated elsewhere.

-I agree with some folks above, the whole mass PVE quest achievement is annoying. It'd be nice to see a little more instancing. 

-For those who haven't played in Cyrodiil yet, the gear you get there is the green level, not white level. That is, when you go to improve standard gear in PVE, the next level is green (followed by blue and perhaps purple, I think).  PVP gear starts at green. I'll be putting gear that I can't use in the guild bank for others to use.

-The "kill 20 enemies" is a good repeatable quest in Cyrodiil, and you get credit for kills made by party members, not just your own kills.  This quest gives good experience, money, and alliance points.

-I think there is truly a fleshed-out diversity of game play possible.  You like to solo quest with folks to talk to in chat? It's there. You want to skip quests and grind on mobs like a Korean-grind-style MMO? Get past the first 5 levels and that is possible. You like to do instanced dungeons with small groups? It's there.  You want to spend time developing crafting skills and be sought out for what you can make? It looks like it might work.  You want to zerg in PVP? Lord, have mercy, it's all-over-the-place there. You want to stealth behind enemy lines and make strategic attacks to cut off supply lines? It's there, if you can take out the lvl 50 NPCs guarding the mines, farms, and lumbermills. About the only thing I see lacking is 1 vs 1 PVP, though it may be there and I just haven't seen it.

-I started out as an archer Nighblade, but have since changed to archer Templar.  I was frustrated that teh Nightblade stealth skill, Shadow Cloak gave only a short invisibility (2.5 seconds) and did not make you automatically stealthed. Even though I went invisible, the stealth "eye" would not go all the way to closed.  Mobs would generally stop for a second when I cloaked, though. Also, I found that the combination of the Templar skill Sun Fire (4.5 second snare + magic DOT) followed by the bow skill Poison Arrow (10 second poison DOT) made a great combo.  Sun Fire has two good morphs also - increased DOT damage or multiple targets. I choose multiple targets.

-After this weekend, my first in Cyrodiil, I feel like an addict itching for my next fix. I can't wait to play around with the PVP large-scale battles again.

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Saighdiuir de na Faolchu
Riannoc
Saighdiuir de na Faolchu
Replied On: 03/03/2014 at 06:16 PM PST

Great to hear this feedback. I didn't make it to Cyrodil and after reading this I regret it. Can't wait to get there and fight for the Ebonheart Pact now.

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Saighdiuir de na Capall
Ciridae
Saighdiuir de na Capall
  • GW2: Ciridae.3540
Replied On: 03/03/2014 at 08:07 PM PST
  • Twitch
  • Twitch
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 I only made it to 8 with this beta, I imagine because since it was my first I spent a ton of time just wandering around and picking flowers and cutting wood. But I have to say, it absolutely exceeded my expectations. I was hoping I would really like it, because I've been without a game for awhile, and I absolutely loved it. The graphics were great, even on my not-great system, and the combat seemed to really flow. I can not wait for the launch, I am super excited!

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Devotion Rank 20Valor Rank 1Fellowship Rank 9Scholar Rank 1
Muintir de na Faolchu
Laughingman
Muintir de na Faolchu
Replied On: 03/04/2014 at 09:06 AM PST

I have been involved in 3 beta weekends sessions.

My first comment is a remark on those commenting about character modes/faces in the game. They look like slices of heaven compared to prior iteration of the Elder Scroll Universe. I mean Oblivion and Skyrim had some of the worst/ugliest face's of almost any game I have ever played. Skyrim was better then Oblivion... but, that isn't saying so much. My point is that ESO looks fantastic when put in the context of it predecessors.

(+) Crafting very fun, will actually take time and thought which is nice. Having rare crafting stations in the world to discover is awesome. Etc... etc... (a lot can be said for the crafting system)

(-) Sheer amount of people was annoying in the world dungeons, which means you are pretty much just running to the objective and back out. This should be fixed couple months after launch when things slow down in the starter areas (unless they change how the world dungeons function. (Private instance lets say.)

(+) PvP is fun Cyrdil is large. I would personally get a mount before I got serious about it though. They do have ways to get to somewhere fast but, unless someone is using a tent you will be doing a lot of running around. 

I never did try any of the group dungeons cause I never got past lvl 10 and Fungal Grove which is the first one is listed as a level 12 instance. 

If I think of anything else to add I will be sure to edit my post.

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Saighdiuir de na Faolchu
Tohr
Saighdiuir de na Faolchu
Replied On: 03/04/2014 at 09:43 AM PST

I agree with most of the observations noted.

  • The character development is kinda limited - too generic across the board. Same hairstyles across humanoid races. Somewhat disappointing.
  • The game looks a little 'cartoonish' but it has enough GW2 quality to not make it a problem (like WoW). The different areas are unique and I love the variety of beasties.
  • Crafting was fairly easy - but I got confused later on with armor and weapons. But, that's probably more my issue than the game's.
  • At some points, there were too many people 'swarming' areas. In dungeons, I often arrived after the boss had already been killed - disappointing.
  • It took me quite a while to find the right vendors. It was hard to distinguish who sold light armor, etc. It got easier as the game went on... but still a bit of a chore. Also, when talking to some vendors, my system would lock up and I had to log out in order to unfreeze it.
  • After creating 5 characters, the whole Cold Harbor area is boring and I wish I could skip it. I know... it's part of the story. But...
  • READ EVERYTHING! I gained a bunch of experience as a result of searching book shelves.
  • It was confusing to me that I could join the Mage's Guild AND the Fighter's Guild - I thought it was either or...
  • To me, it's almost impossible to play a Dragonknight as a caster. It seems to be a melee-specific class. At higher levels, it might be possible... but there was no way to do it comfortably at the lower levels.
  • The voice work was exceptional! The story was fun. Most of the quests were pretty fun. Dungeons are short... but acceptable. Bad guys were varied and pretty cool.
  • I like to play 3rd person (like in GW2) - it took a little time to get used to the interface... but it worked well later on for me.
  • LOVE gathering anything! Fantastic!
  • So much more to say - overall, this was very polished and will be great fun to play imo. Looking forward to launch even more!

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Lorgaire de na Sailetheach Donn
Syphon
Lorgaire de na Sailetheach Donn
Replied On: 03/04/2014 at 12:08 PM PST

I too love the game.  

As for character design, well I can't help but critique it, being an artist and illustrator in training with previous focused drawing experience in drawing comic book characters and specifically anatomy studies, I find the lack of customization in character design inadequate in some areas.   Why is it that I can enlarge the breast and posterier of say a female character but not change the width of her mouth.  Why can I have the ears stick out like dumbo, but not have other features accessible.  Why are the male accessories mostly facial growth, and the females have mostly headbands, but I have no individual options to add nose piercings, chains, or other features that might be desired.   I know it takes more time to create a more complex customization system, however being that eldar scrolls is primarily a role playing game, and this is their first online endeavor into a larger world, it would have made more sense to give the players deeper customization options to truly create unique looking characters, especially when you consider that their crafting system and class/skill system is based on customization.   I also wont touch the hairstyles, cause well, they frankly are terrible.  My wife being a stylist, I would expect to see some better and more diversed styles, but it seems all games lack this customization.  

my other complaint would have been the lack of instancing in some parts of the quests.   When I had to zone into a dungeon under some cemetary, why do i always have to be in their with so many others.  This takes away from the immersion when you go dungeon crawling and leave the wider open surface.  It was at times annoying to have no mobs to kill in between the entrance and end area, even the mini-bosses guarding something I have to loot at the end.   I was also tired of attacking a mob to have the same guy following me attacking the same mob as me instead of going off and getting his own mob.   I felt like I was charging forward, yanking a target, iniating combat to have someone else come in and esentially steal the mob.   It would have been different if I was grouped up, but I wasn't.   I will say, compared to skryim or morrowind or any other Eldar scrolls game, its nice to have people to interact with, but I feel they could have spent more time figuring out when to have other people appear on quests, and when to make it feel like your the only one making a different.   At times the amount of overcrowdedness takes away from the Eldar scrolls enjoyment of exploring the world and doing some heroic stuff, because now I feel that its too overcrowded with people which takes away from my feeling of being important or making a difference in the world.  

Crafting was good however, I just personally hate the idea of needing a crystal to make stuff.   I understand perhaps you need a material to make something to look like another races gear, perhaps instead of a gem, it could have simply been a recipe, but I feel you shouldn't have to invest this extra gold sink to craft your own races look.   That should be innate for your race, as you have seen it more often, encountered it and were probably initially trained in crafting it that its almost second nature.  I also wish that they had some basic enchantments knowable to start, perhaps the re-enforced armor or something ingrained that you already know for say armor and something for weapons.   Crafting is rather slow to start because you are literally making starting gear and then junk thereafter.   You have to find items with traits from drops or quests, then break them down for each item to learn to craft that trait.  Its a slow time consuming investment which ultimately will pay off in the end, but getting their is slow, really slow when every urn, barrel, or chest is already empty when you get their, or only has food products in it.   It would be nice if perhaps you could just fince a recipe to learn or research as drops that might make it easier.  Also some of the crafting mats don't seem to drop when you say mine for ore, you get just ore.  I only seemed to get the enhancement items from breaking down another item.   This in turn means I am having to break down good stuff to get the items I need, or tearing apart junk to get mats that I can't harvest.  It might get easier higher up, but to start it is again slow.   I spent the entire weekend, on three different characters, and all in all, I think by the end of the weekend from breaking apart stuff, I might have gained 7 honing items at most for armor smith, 1 pitch for woodworking, and 2 of the items for cloth.   That is alot of time invested in crafting to make anything, which I guess can be ok, but it is still a little frustrating that it takes so much effor to make anything half descent to start.   Then their is that whole gold ratio from buying and selling.   I get stuff that I can maybe get 7 gold from at best on a vendor for an item, but they then sell only fine quality junk, and I say junk because its green but it has no traits on them, and they want like 600+.   I have issues with eldar scrolls economy in general, it has always been like that, and I can understand that they buy for less than they sell, but thats a huge difference in price, why bother putting vendors in with glorified and expensive junk that you probably wont invest in.   Seems like a waste of perfectly good NPCs.  

Eitherway, I still enjoyed the game, and can only hope that some of the issues I might have seen at the front bother me less after launch.   

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Seaimpin de na Aracos
Phaewolf
Seaimpin de na Aracos
Replied On: 03/05/2014 at 07:39 AM PST
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Lorgaire de na Iomproidh
Joojoobees
Lorgaire de na Iomproidh
  • ESO: @Joojoobees
Replied On: 03/05/2014 at 05:38 PM PST

Syphon, I had no problem at all with the crafting requirement for a racial element. When I found something, if I didn't need it for Research, I deconstructed it, and that results in the racial elements you mention. As a result I never had to buy one.

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