Ive been allowed access to the beta test this weekend. After playing for about 4 hours last night I can conclude that ESO will probably flop after release.
It basically feels like a cheapened version of Skyrim. It lacks the immersion in a huge way, the animations (albeit probably in development) are clunky and poor and the general moving around and combat is sluggish and feels pretty crap.
It tries to emulate the playstyle of Skyrim but falls flat and whilst playing the game it feels like something is missing. The voiceovers for npc's are also pretty poor with some of the npc's having voices that just don't seem to fit. Im told they are placeholders but then why the hell would they record voice acting work twice for the sake of a beta?
Crafting looks somewhat interesting but overly uninspired and potentially half baked.
My main gripe however is how they have made an Elder Scrolls game which essentially is a 'do what you want' kind of game and then forced you into factions based on your race and then classes. Sure you can go a dragonknight with a staff but it simply wouldn't work, essentially making you pick the obvious.
Opening mission is a load of crap too. Its uninteresting and doesn't explain anything. I presume the game will launch with an opening trailer to explain this as it doesn't make much sense at the moment.
General NPC interaction is pretty poor also. I like how they have taken the effort to put voices on everyone but again it feels odd. Everytime you talk to an NPC it puts you into a cinematic mode almost during the conversation. This can apply for the NPC's who literally have naff all interesting to say.
There are no markers over NPC's or indeed players. As you play you just see people which is great for immersion reasons but all I see in zone chat currently is people complaining about not knowing where the quest givers are.
All in all this is the first MMO that I have beta tested and not felt any form of excitement for it. In fact this is the first MMO that I have tested that im not even going to log back on after the first day of testing.
And just if you were curious ive beta tested games from World of Warcraft to Lord of the Rings online to Star Wars the old Republic and even games like Age of Conan, APB and many others.
This is the first I can hand on heart say I won't be getting and it definately doesn't deserve a subscription.
The features ESO has to offer is done a lot better in other MMO's out there. Its a real shame but I guess thats just how it is.
Im hoping this helps some of you curios cats out there
) but the main gripe towards the game is because its just poor. Bugs are pretty few and far between tbh and it looks really well polished. But they are polishing a turd tbh. You can polish it all you like but its still not enough to hold itself.