I bought the PC collectors edition on release - never played it. Couple of questions:
Why doesn’t Tom stream this game more, and less of Guild Wars 2. Does he not like visually stunning games?
And lets say if I was to pick this up. (Damn @stusser and his lovely screenshots) What version should I be getting today? FYI, the last MMO that I tried was the Guild Wars 2 Beta. Was just ok.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Digital Collector’s Edition , seems to have the base game + morrowind + summerset. That’s covers the basics right? The rest of the DLC is in the in game store, if I want to get it later it seems.
Watching this hasn’t helped…
There are a ton of changes, but here are the three that have made the biggest difference for me:
Also, Summerset is a full-blown expansion, like Morrowind. There’s quite a lot of good content. No new class, but a skill line done in a manner similar to Dark Brotherhood/ Thieves’ Guild.
The subscription aka ESO Plus gets you 10% exp bonus, access to all non expansion DLC and the crafting bag. If you are going to play long term you might want to continue it as the crafting bag is a huge quality of life improvement.
Since the relaunch in fall 2016 you are auto leveled to all content. So you can go anywhere and do any quest lines that you want and have access to. I would just try out the main quest to level 50 and see if you like it. Although if you have the morrowind/summerset expansions they might just start you there. Not sure how they do that now. There is a huge amount of content.
I basically just pvp. Which still has its moments but has changed (just like the game) a lot since launch.
I envy anybody picking this up fresh. It’s a great game. I just wish some of the combat mechanic choices had gone differently over the years but I’m going to start to sound like I’m whining if I keep saying that here. For what it’s worth I picked up the buy the sommerset get the morrowind bargain that was being offered and I’m about as jaded on this game as you can get. I’d be embarrassed to display my hours played number. :)
I don’t think that initial month means anything now. If you do jump in, though, I very much recommend you spring for their subscription option (ESO Plus). It has quite a few benefits, not the least of which is the crafting bag. A new account without that will have crippling inventory problems if you want to craft anything (and this is a great crafting system).
The best way to jump in would just be to hop into the base game and start questing. They spent a fortune on this content. It’s fully voiced, with some celebrities doing extensive voice-work (E.g., Bill Nighy, Kate Beckinsale, John Cleese). There are hundreds of hours of good gameplay just in that base game, before you can decide which DLC or expansions you want.
If you hop in and want help with anything (including crafted gear), I’m sure a bunch of us would be willing to get you off to a good start. My in-game @handle is the same as it is here.
Yeah, ESO doesn’t really play like a traditional MMO. You can explore anywhere you want, go straight to the new Summerset zones. In fact if you own Summerset new characters start there now.
You really don’t need to subscribe to ESO. I haven’t for years, but I don’t really actively play, I just explore the new content then wander away, which is one of the great advantages of a buy to play title. As others said, the free month subscription just gives you an XP boost and a crafting bag, no biggie. It also gives access to all DLC.
Buying Summerset will only include Morrowind until June 12th. At that point you’ll have to buy it separately for something like twenty bucks. It also doesn’t include the other DLC packs, some of which are excellent and truly worth the money like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves’ Guild packs. But all that stuff is pretty cheap and once you buy it, you get it forever. Or you can just subscribe and get access to DLC included with your subscription.
Also the console port is supposed to be really good. You do lose addons, though.
I’ve never used add-ons in MMOs, so prob wouldn’t miss them. Even though I have the PC collectors edition, I think I might play it more if I had it on the xbox one x, so maybe I’ll pick up the Summerset edition for it? It does seem significantly graphically enhanced on that machine, so maybe I wouldn’t miss feel it was as much of a compromise from the PC version?
Bah, I should prob just jump in the PC version and at least check it out first. Maybe this weekend.
You madman.
Addons allow you to substantially customize the experience; for example the game doesn’t come with a minimap, as the developers said it didn’t feel like Elder Scrolls, but I’m lost without one and constantly checking the big map so I got an addon for that. There’s also a collection aspect to the game, reading mage guild books and picking up skyshards for skill points, and those addons put them on the map for you which is incredibly helpful. You don’t need addons to play, though, certainly.
I keep thinking of either restarting the game (base game only), or getting it on the PS4. But, WoW pretty much owns my MMO time and I prefer true single-player games on PS4. Ones with clear starts and finishes (trophy gathering aside).
Loaded question, so which starting area is best? :)
None of the above, start in Summerset. Or Morrowind, if they still allow that.
I won’t miss any cool stories in the other 3 starting areas? Or does the game wrap back around and let you do content in those zones?
You can go back and do them if you want, but all the original tutorial zones are pretty weak. Each one has a couple skyshards so you’ll head to them all eventually.
87 GB download. D:
Welp I’ll be playing in an hour or two.
@stusser do you have a preferred class, or can provide suggestion for a very casual player. :)
There’s a lot of overlap between the classes because they all share a bunch of skill lines, and none of them have a really strong identity, that’s one of the main problems with ESO IMO.
Warden is the newest class, you can attack by throwing a bird at your enemies and you get a pet. I mostly play a Dragon Knight as it has great self-healing for soloing.
Most important thing is to understand that Magicka and Stamina are not only your power pools but also determine how hard abilities hit. All abilities scale with either Magicka or Stamina, and you should base your build and gameplay around one or the other. Don’t put points into both.
To start out, I would suggest Sorcerer or Warden, so you have a pet to assist.
Templar is almost unkillable with the self heals. Very easy to solo.
Is there a recommended server, or is everyone on the same one (by platform)?
It’s organized by platform and then North America or Europe.