The natives are just restless, once Wildstar is released they will all move over to those's forums and start stomping their feet and shouting over there.
Where it falls flat on its face is its immersion. The game just lacks that immersive feel people expect from an TES game, due to it being an MMo. That feeling of exploration is just gone with dozens of people being around you. The 'boss farming' only destroys the feeling of epicness you SHOULD be feeling in a game that is suppose to be about adventure. Its attempting to be a Singleplayer game in an MMo and that greatly hurts its immersion. Combined with the number of bugs, it makes the experience of the game worst off. It doesnt allow it to hide its flaws at all when your constantly reminded 'oh this is a cheap TES game with swarms of people'. Voice acting telling you how dire the situation is with the city being attacked doesn't create a tense atmosphere when that attack is pathetic at best and doesn't have any atmosphere at all to back it up.
This might be the most astute point made about ESO to date.
Just like some movies shouldn't have sequels or remakes, single player games shouldn't be made into MMOs. I'm sorry but the argument of, "but I want to play with my friends on line" isn't a good excuse to water down and shoehorn an IP into a format it wasn't designed for. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
You do realize that the single player games are still the single player games, right? I mean, my copy of Skyrim is still the same Skyrim that it was prior to the release of ESO. So, the single player games were not all magically turned into MMOs, and if you don't want to play an MMO then the option to play the single player games still exists.
Who are you to say that a commercial entity "shouldn't" make and sell a product? Are you afraid that the existence of an Elder Scrolls MMO is somehow going to... do what? I don't know, I just don't understand hipsters, you guys just don't make any sense.
Well your opinion will be meaningless to me since mine was meaningless to you however I'm curious as to what your definition of a hipster is.
I agree. It's been a long long time since ive felt this involved in a MMO. Solid combat, very enjoyable. The only Elder Scrolls Ive played is Skyrim and not that deep into it. As an MMO i'm really enjoying ESO. Seems people enjoy to hate and piling on instead focusing on the positive. I don't get it.
On metacritic, forum goers here and elsewhere, this game is getting a love it or hate it reception. Very little in between. I love the game and will continue playing it for at least a few months, maybe more depending on the future content releases and bug fixes. I'm having trouble understanding why a game like Final Fantasy which has much smaller zones even splitting cities into pieces, a less active old school combat system, no voiceovers with walls of text, less options with regard to the PVP/PVE experience this game offers, more grindy quests than this game has, much more grinding of Fates compared to Anchors just to get XP, an even more static world, worse crafting, lack of a Mod community like ESO has, etc etc etc got such high scores when in my mind ESO offers so much more. I mean I thought Final Fantasy was a solid game for an MMO, but I stopped playing because I have just done enough of the explanation point hub stuff with very little pure exploration which ESO does much better.
WHY I ASK YOU!!!! lol If ESO re-releases a 2nd time showing an improvement, do they all of a sudden get 10 scores just for showing improvement? lol The world of ratings makes no sense to me and every game seems to be held to a completely different standard. It's exactly why I think all reviews are worthless except my own opinion of the game when I play it.
Easy
1) metacritic is generally a bad marker
2) FFARR is a reboot for FF14 that got released in a state so bad it had to be closed. SE did something unique by a)admitting they were at fault b) dumping MORE money into a failed mmo in attempt to save the game for their fan base. They then delivered on this promise. FFARR is very polished with a traditional mmo experience that does almost everything right from a traditional stand point
ESO on the other hand has terrible marketing(seriously feels like a cash grab) & billing, a lack of customer support, and super buggy untested tech(serious why was there no multi week open beta to actually test the megaservers long term) + other serious bugs. Not to mention a number of poor decisions from the games management(auto bannings, maintenance in prime time for EU. etc)
3) "when in my mind ESO offers so much more"<------this is your problem
most of your complaints are very opinionated and others may not share your views.
a) both games are quest grinders FFARR has traditional hubs and ESO spreads their hub out over a whole zone. This comes down to personal pref of the player to determine if they want a more efficient quest grind or one involving exploration.
b) both games have voice overs....FFARR just uses them for mostly the main story while ESO uses them for everything....again this comes down to personal interest in the story of the game. i think most people playing FF and are enjoying the story dont mind reading text.
c) FFARR maybe more "grindy" as far as the type of quests go but it does offer alternate routes to level with only requiring main story and class quests. in fact you can do your second play through on your new class without doing more then 20 quests if you really wanted. daily dungeons/guildheist offer huge amounts of xp for example. ESO on the other hand is either do quests or grind mobs with a group. Again player preferences(in particular how they view questing) determine what is fun and what is not fun.
IF ESO WAS RE-RELASED and they fixed alot of the stupid that goes on currently in eso(see 2) )....then id assume it would have much better reviews. ESO does alot of good things but the bad is present to such an extent that its inexcusable. FF14 didnt get a free pass the first time around....why should ESO?
I had a pre-order copies of both (ESO and the FIRST FF14), all I can say is they are both the same.
Both tries to be it's former self, both aren't nowhere near. FF14 is nowhere near FF11 (or other FF titles) and ESO is not skyrim or morrowind.
But after square rip off my account, unable to retrieve my password had to go complicated CS nightmare and still does not gain access. I gave up. The game isnt worth all that trouble.
ESO, isnt perfect (nothing is) with bugged quests, bugged inventory (they fixed it) but after constant hotfixes this few weeks. It turned out to be very nice. But they are issues still unresolved. Customer service is ok, but not overly complicated.
honestly, I'm impressed people still put up with ESO after all the crap.
I mean the support is horrible, they literally don't listen at all, worst in the biz, I've even linked examples in these forums. Literally reply with a predesignated response that doesn't even relate to your problem.
There is rampant item duping, they've had horrible problems with the game since day one.
Compare this to Final Fantasy 14?
yeah Final Fantasy 14 1.0 it also didn't have an Auction house, and a lot of the other 'cutting edge features' that ESO offers, both are train wrecks. Thankfully FF14 rebirthed itself and made a decent game.
These threads are stupid. There isn't "extra" hate for this game, for many, the game is simply that bad. We get it, some like it regardless. That doesn't mean people are going out of their way to NOT like it. Bots camping the dungeon bosses in EVERY DUNGEON is what made me stop playing. What keeps you playing?
When a game is reviewed the review is based on the current state of the game. When FF14 came out it for the first time, it was not well received either but when it was remade it was great so it became well received. I played both games but I liked FF14 more. I think that's mainly because it is much easier and more meaningful to interact and group with other players in FF14 than in ESO. ESO was fun for me as a solo game but at lvl 46 I am done playing.
From what I have seen people are mostly pissed because of:
1. Bugs. Yeah yeah shit happens, but people's patience for things like this varies greatly.
2. Wrong Expectations/ Wanted TESVI or Skyrim 2. Hypes causes this, but how much "Elders Scrollsy" ESO feels is dependent of personal opinion.
3. Grouping for leveling sucks. Unfortunately the way it works it inconveniences people that want to play with friends.
4. Bad customer support. Haven't heard much about it, but I know some people had some bad experiences.
The rest is pretty much personal preference and these forums shows how much people like to put down others. Comparing to FFXIV wasn't the best idea.
Just let the haters be for now, they will eventually leave, you can't please everybody. There will always be conflict here, this is one of the reasons I find forums fun to be.
Originally posted by jonesing22 OP, you've got solid points. Your best point of all is that reviews aren't worth waiting for and the only way to know if you like it is if you try it.
Then can we pls have some sort of trial before we buy it? I think ZEN will not have a problem showing us what we are going to get with our money, right? A trial would be great to judge the game ourselves.
When your scapegoating your game by using another game as your 'defense' to it, I'm sorry but its speaking volumes of having not a sound argument why your game isn't any good. Your comparing apples to orangles to make your spoiled oranges sound as if they were better.
Final Fantasy 14 isn't a perfect game, but what it does it does well and and in an extremely polished format. Its graphics style is much cleaner and polished (putting black and dirt on stuff doesn't make it suddenly 'better', stop trying to pretend it does), its combat system is old school but its well done and functions smoothly. Its story isn't bad by any means (if but cheesy).What makes it really shine (and I feel is what pushes it to be so well regarded)is its mechanics that are designed so well for the game they created.
Elder Scrolls Online... falls flat in many areas. To be fair, it sets itself up for such hurdles being an MMO version of a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. Bugs and issues PLAGUE the game (something FF14 had far fewer of), which to be fair its somewhat acceptable to have some (though its a bit outrageous how many it has). The graphics are rather lackluster, using 'dark and gritty' to disguise over-all 'mediocre' graphics and textures that plenty of other games do better on. Its combat system works to be faithful on the series and I feel it does... though the series really the combat systems were always rather lack luster to me and it carries on this issue. Its 'progression' with levels I feel are relatively well done which all in all I think makes a good (not great but good) combat system when all components are put together.
Where it falls flat on its face is its immersion. The game just lacks that immersive feel people expect from an TES game, due to it being an MMo. That feeling of exploration is just gone with dozens of people being around you. The 'boss farming' only destroys the feeling of epicness you SHOULD be feeling in a game that is suppose to be about adventure. Its attempting to be a Singleplayer game in an MMo and that greatly hurts its immersion. Combined with the number of bugs, it makes the experience of the game worst off. It doesnt allow it to hide its flaws at all when your constantly reminded 'oh this is a cheap TES game with swarms of people'. Voice acting telling you how dire the situation is with the city being attacked doesn't create a tense atmosphere when that attack is pathetic at best and doesn't have any atmosphere at all to back it up.
In Short: Using another game as scape goat is a desperate attempt to point a finger another way to hide the problems with your game. If you are going to defend your game, you need to give valid points AND you need to do so without a bias opinion hiding its flaws by 'using another game' to try and dust them under the rug.
From what I have seen people are mostly pissed because of:
1. Bugs. Yeah yeah shit happens, but people's patience for things like this varies greatly.
2. Wrong Expectations/ Wanted TESVI or Skyrim 2. Hypes causes this, but how much "Elders Scrollsy" ESO feels is dependent of personal opinion.
3. Grouping for leveling sucks. Unfortunately the way it works it inconveniences people that want to play with friends.
4. Bad customer support. Haven't heard much about it, but I know some people had some bad experiences.
The rest is pretty much personal preference and these forums shows how much people like to put down others. Comparing to FFXIV wasn't the best idea.
Just let the haters be for now, they will eventually leave, you can't please everybody. There will always be conflict here, this is one of the reasons I find forums fun to be.
Yea I agree that what you listed are things that are annoying and common themes in just about every MMO. I do think they should have done a better job with their testing cycles. Maybe they spent too much time trying to protect knowing what they were going to release rather than test it. Regardless, most of these things just don't bother me because I guess I'm just used to it in every MMO and the things that are working to me at least work really well. Hopefully they will iron a lot of this out over the next couple of weeks, which I think they will, because despite what some are saying in this thread I don't think the game is going anywhere for quite a long time.
On metacritic, forum goers here and elsewhere, this game is getting a love it or hate it reception. Very little in between. I love the game and will continue playing it for at least a few months, maybe more depending on the future content releases and bug fixes. I'm having trouble understanding why a game like Final Fantasy which has much smaller zones even splitting cities into pieces, a less active old school combat system, no voiceovers with walls of text, less options with regard to the PVP/PVE experience this game offers, more grindy quests than this game has, much more grinding of Fates compared to Anchors just to get XP, an even more static world, worse crafting, lack of a Mod community like ESO has, etc etc etc got such high scores when in my mind ESO offers so much more. I mean I thought Final Fantasy was a solid game for an MMO, but I stopped playing because I have just done enough of the explanation point hub stuff with very little pure exploration which ESO does much better.
WHY I ASK YOU!!!! lol If ESO re-releases a 2nd time showing an improvement, do they all of a sudden get 10 scores just for showing improvement? lol The world of ratings makes no sense to me and every game seems to be held to a completely different standard. It's exactly why I think all reviews are worthless except my own opinion of the game when I play it.
There's the disconnect.
There is a large percentage of mmo players that can only love an mmo which has the potential for years, not months. A few months to those players is the evaluation period - and if they choose to move on after a few months, that game is the opposite of what they are looking for in an mmo.
If you are one who likes to jump around from game to game a few months may seem like a good solid game which has longevity - from the perspective that you will enjoy the game for a long time, i.e. a few months.
From the other perspective, there are those who hate the game because it only held their interest for 'a few months'.
For me personally, a few months doesn't make a great mmo, but it is long enough to get my money's worth.
Well I did say "at least" a few months lol. I just won't commit to anything too long term anymore because no game has kept me for years ever. Skyrim kept me for many months, WOW at release for a while, LOTRO online for maybe 6 months, but in general it takes an awful lot to keep anyone tied to any game. Like I said, if they continue to strengthen the game with regard to the bugs, bots, etc, add the content they promised every 4-6 weeks, continue to add immersion stuff, then its very possible I could be here until Occulus Rift comes out...then bye bye all MMOs lol.
I like how you crap all over Final Fantasy to validate your ESO argument.
Did you not read what I wrote? I said FF was a solid MMO. That is what is called a compliment.
In my opinion ESO offers more (PVP and PVE wise). As an Explorer this is the first MMO where I actually feel as if I am truly exploring every little place because it benefits one to do so. That in itself is a huge compliment and one I didn't feel with FF, Wildstar, Rift, TOR, etc. Maybe explorers aren't as popular as I thought and we are a niche crowd? lol.
FFXIV is the worst mmo released but I understand they could not start from scratch they had to try and fix the crap they made in the first place.
as long as you have fan boys with no taste and millions of Asians playing it they think its a good game.
I don't care what people say about ESO I am having fun the only thing wrong with the game is the subscription fee except if we get huge amount of new content and that will not happen.
ESO is better than any thing out there that's why I am playing it not cause I am a fan boy.
FFXIV is the worst mmo released but I understand they could not start from scratch they had to try and fix the crap they made in the first place.
as long as you have fan boys with no taste and millions of Asians playing it they think its a good game.
I don't care what people say about ESO I am having fun the only thing wrong with the game is the subscription fee except if we get huge amount of new content and that will not happen.
ESO is better than any thing out there that's why I am playing it not cause I am a fan boy.
Glad you are enjoying it. Why didn't they listen to me and go with the same price as a Netflix subscription or around 9 or $10 :-). I think they would have won over so many more folks :-). I think there is a mental barrier once you cross the $9.99 line. I do think the sympathy vote played a huge factor in the 2nd round of ratings which just supports my viewpoint that reviews are far from objective when compared across games within the same genre.
On metacritic, forum goers here and elsewhere, this game is getting a love it or hate it reception. Very little in between. I love the game and will continue playing it for at least a few months, maybe more depending on the future content releases and bug fixes. I'm having trouble understanding why a game like Final Fantasy which has much smaller zones even splitting cities into pieces, a less active old school combat system, no voiceovers with walls of text, less options with regard to the PVP/PVE experience this game offers, more grindy quests than this game has, much more grinding of Fates compared to Anchors just to get XP, an even more static world, worse crafting, lack of a Mod community like ESO has, etc etc etc got such high scores when in my mind ESO offers so much more. I mean I thought Final Fantasy was a solid game for an MMO, but I stopped playing because I have just done enough of the explanation point hub stuff with very little pure exploration which ESO does much better.
WHY I ASK YOU!!!! lol If ESO re-releases a 2nd time showing an improvement, do they all of a sudden get 10 scores just for showing improvement? lol The world of ratings makes no sense to me and every game seems to be held to a completely different standard. It's exactly why I think all reviews are worthless except my own opinion of the game when I play it.
Simply put: when you take the Final Fantasy IP and make a Final Fantasy MMO, you're expected to deliver a Final Fantasy experience. Final Fantasy XI did it spot-on (for its time), and Final Fantasy XIV ARR managed to do the same.
When you take the Elder Scrolls IP and make an Elder Scrolls MMO, you're expected to deliver an Elder Scrolls experience. Yes, as unfair as that might sound, you're expected to keep all the things we love about Morrowwind/Oblivion/Skyrim and somehow make it a Massive Multiplayer Online Experience.
Zenimax made an MMO, but did not make an Elder Scrolls game. A good number of people won't buy the game for that reason (like me), and many more are going to hate the game for that reason... doesn't matter what they may have done right. IMHO, they've failed at the most fundamental level and, while it might be an unreasonable, it is the standard we're holding for this game.
In short, lots of us wanted Skyrim 2 w/Multiplayer, not World of Scrollcraft... and we got too close to one and too far from the other.
On metacritic, forum goers here and elsewhere, this game is getting a love it or hate it reception. Very little in between. I love the game and will continue playing it for at least a few months, maybe more depending on the future content releases and bug fixes. I'm having trouble understanding why a game like Final Fantasy which has much smaller zones even splitting cities into pieces, a less active old school combat system, no voiceovers with walls of text, less options with regard to the PVP/PVE experience this game offers, more grindy quests than this game has, much more grinding of Fates compared to Anchors just to get XP, an even more static world, worse crafting, lack of a Mod community like ESO has, etc etc etc got such high scores when in my mind ESO offers so much more. I mean I thought Final Fantasy was a solid game for an MMO, but I stopped playing because I have just done enough of the explanation point hub stuff with very little pure exploration which ESO does much better.
WHY I ASK YOU!!!! lol If ESO re-releases a 2nd time showing an improvement, do they all of a sudden get 10 scores just for showing improvement? lol The world of ratings makes no sense to me and every game seems to be held to a completely different standard. It's exactly why I think all reviews are worthless except my own opinion of the game when I play it.
Simply put: when you take the Final Fantasy IP and make a Final Fantasy MMO, you're expected to deliver a Final Fantasy experience. Final Fantasy XI did it spot-on (for its time), and Final Fantasy XIV ARR managed to do the same.
When you take the Elder Scrolls IP and make an Elder Scrolls MMO, you're expected to deliver an Elder Scrolls experience. Yes, as unfair as that might sound, you're expected to keep all the things we love about Morrowwind/Oblivion/Skyrim and somehow make it a Massive Multiplayer Online Experience.
Zenimax made an MMO, but did not make an Elder Scrolls game. A good number of people won't buy the game for that reason (like me), and many more are going to hate the game for that reason... doesn't matter what they may have done right. IMHO, they've failed at the most fundamental level and, while it might be an unreasonable, it is the standard we're holding for this game.
In short, lots of us wanted Skyrim 2 w/Multiplayer, not World of Scrollcraft... and we got too close to one and too far from the other.
Though I think you reference to World of Scrollcraft aka World of Warcraft is completely off base, I agree with what you wrote. It is true, Final Fantasy did do a good job creating that world within the scope of what one would expect.
I do think this game alienated a percentage of the crowd who wanted exactly what you stated. I guess I loved Skyrim for what it was but knew ages ago not to expect that in an MMO because I realized immediately that was just not possible yet. Instead, I was just looking for an MMO that offered more of an exploration focus since every MMO in the last few years has completely failed. Example, I don't consider searching for Datacrons when you are still jumping from Hub to Hub exploration. I think all things considered, this game is the best out there for a themepark exploration based MMO. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Do I think it will improve, sure. Fortunately I believe there will be enough like me where the game will retain a healthy player base regardless of whatever the total sub numbers will be.
It's easy to understand the negativity towards ESO compared to Final Fantasy XIV. A quick break-down:
Overhype and diehard fanboys.
What does ESO have that Final Fantasy XIV didn't? Overhype and diehard fanboys. FFXIV players just went to their game to have fun with it, and didn't bother anyone else. ESO players need to shout out at the rest of the world that their choice mmo is better than every other mmo in the history of humankind and that is what pisses people off, and lures them into outlining all of the thousand mistakes that ESO has made both as game and as mmo.
So here the lesson is: Next time to think you will enjoy a mmo, make sure to never write in your statements catchphrases like "the best mmo" or "the next level of gaming" in a way that it can offend players that simply like other games. Because if the game you've been trying so hard to overhype doesn't deliver (like ESO), you're in for a world of hurt.
ESO wasn't the first, and won't be the last. I remember SWTOR and GW2 as other notable cases of unfounded overhype that caused those games to take a lot of possibly unfair punishment from everyone that didn't like them. Those games, like ESO, were pretty decent games, but just not the Next Messiah as the fanboys were trying to sell it, offending everyone who liked other kind of games in the way, and provoking the myriad of negative comments and reviews.
My opinion is my own. I respect all other opinions and views equally, but keep in mind that my opinion will always be the best for me. That's why it's my opinion.
It's easy to understand the negativity towards ESO compared to Final Fantasy XIV. A quick break-down:
Overhype and diehard fanboys.
What does ESO have that Final Fantasy XIV didn't? Overhype and diehard fanboys. FFXIV players just went to their game to have fun with it, and didn't bother anyone else. ESO players need to shout out at the rest of the world that their choice mmo is better than every other mmo in the history of humankind and that is what pisses people off, and lures them into outlining all of the thousand mistakes that ESO has made both as game and as mmo.
So here the lesson is: Next time to think you will enjoy a mmo, make sure to never write in your statements catchphrases like "the best mmo" or "the next level of gaming" in a way that it can offend players that simply like other games. Because if then, the game you've been trying so hard to overhype doesn't deliver (like ESO), you're in for a world of hurt.
ESO wasn't the first, and won't be the last. I remember SWTOR and GW2 as other notable cases of unfounded overhype that caused those games to take a lot of possibly unfair punishment, because those games were pretty good. Just not as good as the fanboys were trying to sell it, offending everyone who liked other kind of games in the way.
Seems to me people are too sensitive that if someone writes they think there game is the best, that somebody else needs to jump all over it. Nor do I agree with your generalizations about diehard fanboys or how a player base went to have fun with it..as if you polled everyone and have any real statistics or surveys to back anything you just wrote.`
On metacritic, forum goers here and elsewhere, this game is getting a love it or hate it reception. Very little in between. I love the game and will continue playing it for at least a few months, maybe more depending on the future content releases and bug fixes. I'm having trouble understanding why a game like Final Fantasy which has much smaller zones even splitting cities into pieces, a less active old school combat system, no voiceovers with walls of text, less options with regard to the PVP/PVE experience this game offers, more grindy quests than this game has, much more grinding of Fates compared to Anchors just to get XP, an even more static world, worse crafting, lack of a Mod community like ESO has, etc etc etc got such high scores when in my mind ESO offers so much more. I mean I thought Final Fantasy was a solid game for an MMO, but I stopped playing because I have just done enough of the explanation point hub stuff with very little pure exploration which ESO does much better.
WHY I ASK YOU!!!! lol If ESO re-releases a 2nd time showing an improvement, do they all of a sudden get 10 scores just for showing improvement? lol The world of ratings makes no sense to me and every game seems to be held to a completely different standard. It's exactly why I think all reviews are worthless except my own opinion of the game when I play it.
Well, the most obvious explanation is, of course, personal preferences. I don't think the launch issues helped ESO either. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that gamers expected a TES MMO and not a MMO with TES features. We can argue for days on end whether or not that is the case, however...
Moving on to some of your points. I haven't played FF so I'm not in a position to compare much. A few things I will say, however. Voiceovers can be good a good thing, aye, but, and this is my own opinion, ESO does not succeed. I can only imagine the amount of money they tossed after those famous names, money I believe could be spend better elsewhere. Even more so when you actually experience the voiceovers. Lip and jaw animations are terrible - the same motion no matter the word uttered. Khajiits even had a bug, at least I hope it was a bug, where their jaws would simply dislocate for a few seconds. I experienced very few facial reactions to what was said by the NPCs. Whenever someone was angry they showed little or no sign of it.
Furthermore, I found the voiceovers and the writing to be bad. Just bad. It really killed the immersion for me when the Green Lady sought revenge upon those who killed the Silvernar and entered an almost poetic anger. Perhaps it could have been done, but this time around I found myself skipping through as the writing was just overkill. The actress did a nice job trying to capture the feelings, but the writing denied her at every turn..
I had hoped for a much better experience. At least considering the amount of money and time they invested in both the actors and the advertising of having secured these names. I would rather read a wall of text and subscribe my own feelings to it than having the experienced ruined my mediocre writting and badly executed voiceovers. After all, voice overs are supposed to deliver an immersive experience, something ESO utterly failed to do to me.
On the other hand, I quite liked the combat system. It's not perfect but nothing is, and I'd very much like some changes to specific areas.
I think ESO is a good game with many flaws. And it's only natural that every game is rated differently. ESO has to capture the feeling of the single player titles whilst a game such as WildStar doesn't.
Comments
Well your opinion will be meaningless to me since mine was meaningless to you however I'm curious as to what your definition of a hipster is.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
Don't know about his but mine is
Hipster = Wanker
Easy
1) metacritic is generally a bad marker
2) FFARR is a reboot for FF14 that got released in a state so bad it had to be closed. SE did something unique by a)admitting they were at fault b) dumping MORE money into a failed mmo in attempt to save the game for their fan base. They then delivered on this promise. FFARR is very polished with a traditional mmo experience that does almost everything right from a traditional stand point
ESO on the other hand has terrible marketing(seriously feels like a cash grab) & billing, a lack of customer support, and super buggy untested tech(serious why was there no multi week open beta to actually test the megaservers long term) + other serious bugs. Not to mention a number of poor decisions from the games management(auto bannings, maintenance in prime time for EU. etc)
3) "when in my mind ESO offers so much more"<------this is your problem
most of your complaints are very opinionated and others may not share your views.
a) both games are quest grinders FFARR has traditional hubs and ESO spreads their hub out over a whole zone. This comes down to personal pref of the player to determine if they want a more efficient quest grind or one involving exploration.
b) both games have voice overs....FFARR just uses them for mostly the main story while ESO uses them for everything....again this comes down to personal interest in the story of the game. i think most people playing FF and are enjoying the story dont mind reading text.
c) FFARR maybe more "grindy" as far as the type of quests go but it does offer alternate routes to level with only requiring main story and class quests. in fact you can do your second play through on your new class without doing more then 20 quests if you really wanted. daily dungeons/guildheist offer huge amounts of xp for example. ESO on the other hand is either do quests or grind mobs with a group. Again player preferences(in particular how they view questing) determine what is fun and what is not fun.
IF ESO WAS RE-RELASED and they fixed alot of the stupid that goes on currently in eso(see 2) )....then id assume it would have much better reviews. ESO does alot of good things but the bad is present to such an extent that its inexcusable. FF14 didnt get a free pass the first time around....why should ESO?
I had a pre-order copies of both (ESO and the FIRST FF14), all I can say is they are both the same.
Both tries to be it's former self, both aren't nowhere near. FF14 is nowhere near FF11 (or other FF titles) and ESO is not skyrim or morrowind.
But after square rip off my account, unable to retrieve my password had to go complicated CS nightmare and still does not gain access. I gave up. The game isnt worth all that trouble.
ESO, isnt perfect (nothing is) with bugged quests, bugged inventory (they fixed it) but after constant hotfixes this few weeks. It turned out to be very nice. But they are issues still unresolved. Customer service is ok, but not overly complicated.
honestly, I'm impressed people still put up with ESO after all the crap.
I mean the support is horrible, they literally don't listen at all, worst in the biz, I've even linked examples in these forums. Literally reply with a predesignated response that doesn't even relate to your problem.
There is rampant item duping, they've had horrible problems with the game since day one.
Compare this to Final Fantasy 14?
yeah Final Fantasy 14 1.0 it also didn't have an Auction house, and a lot of the other 'cutting edge features' that ESO offers, both are train wrecks. Thankfully FF14 rebirthed itself and made a decent game.
Time for ESO to do the same.
From what I have seen people are mostly pissed because of:
1. Bugs. Yeah yeah shit happens, but people's patience for things like this varies greatly.
2. Wrong Expectations/ Wanted TESVI or Skyrim 2. Hypes causes this, but how much "Elders Scrollsy" ESO feels is dependent of personal opinion.
3. Grouping for leveling sucks. Unfortunately the way it works it inconveniences people that want to play with friends.
4. Bad customer support. Haven't heard much about it, but I know some people had some bad experiences.
The rest is pretty much personal preference and these forums shows how much people like to put down others. Comparing to FFXIV wasn't the best idea.
Just let the haters be for now, they will eventually leave, you can't please everybody. There will always be conflict here, this is one of the reasons I find forums fun to be.
Then can we pls have some sort of trial before we buy it? I think ZEN will not have a problem showing us what we are going to get with our money, right? A trial would be great to judge the game ourselves.
Yea I agree that what you listed are things that are annoying and common themes in just about every MMO. I do think they should have done a better job with their testing cycles. Maybe they spent too much time trying to protect knowing what they were going to release rather than test it. Regardless, most of these things just don't bother me because I guess I'm just used to it in every MMO and the things that are working to me at least work really well. Hopefully they will iron a lot of this out over the next couple of weeks, which I think they will, because despite what some are saying in this thread I don't think the game is going anywhere for quite a long time.
There Is Always Hope!
Well I did say "at least" a few months lol. I just won't commit to anything too long term anymore because no game has kept me for years ever. Skyrim kept me for many months, WOW at release for a while, LOTRO online for maybe 6 months, but in general it takes an awful lot to keep anyone tied to any game. Like I said, if they continue to strengthen the game with regard to the bugs, bots, etc, add the content they promised every 4-6 weeks, continue to add immersion stuff, then its very possible I could be here until Occulus Rift comes out...then bye bye all MMOs lol.
There Is Always Hope!
Did you not read what I wrote? I said FF was a solid MMO. That is what is called a compliment.
In my opinion ESO offers more (PVP and PVE wise). As an Explorer this is the first MMO where I actually feel as if I am truly exploring every little place because it benefits one to do so. That in itself is a huge compliment and one I didn't feel with FF, Wildstar, Rift, TOR, etc. Maybe explorers aren't as popular as I thought and we are a niche crowd? lol.
There Is Always Hope!
FFXIV is the worst mmo released but I understand they could not start from scratch they had to try and fix the crap they made in the first place.
as long as you have fan boys with no taste and millions of Asians playing it they think its a good game.
I don't care what people say about ESO I am having fun the only thing wrong with the game is the subscription fee except if we get huge amount of new content and that will not happen.
ESO is better than any thing out there that's why I am playing it not cause I am a fan boy.
Glad you are enjoying it. Why didn't they listen to me and go with the same price as a Netflix subscription or around 9 or $10 :-). I think they would have won over so many more folks :-). I think there is a mental barrier once you cross the $9.99 line. I do think the sympathy vote played a huge factor in the 2nd round of ratings which just supports my viewpoint that reviews are far from objective when compared across games within the same genre.
There Is Always Hope!
Simply put: when you take the Final Fantasy IP and make a Final Fantasy MMO, you're expected to deliver a Final Fantasy experience. Final Fantasy XI did it spot-on (for its time), and Final Fantasy XIV ARR managed to do the same.
When you take the Elder Scrolls IP and make an Elder Scrolls MMO, you're expected to deliver an Elder Scrolls experience. Yes, as unfair as that might sound, you're expected to keep all the things we love about Morrowwind/Oblivion/Skyrim and somehow make it a Massive Multiplayer Online Experience.
Zenimax made an MMO, but did not make an Elder Scrolls game. A good number of people won't buy the game for that reason (like me), and many more are going to hate the game for that reason... doesn't matter what they may have done right. IMHO, they've failed at the most fundamental level and, while it might be an unreasonable, it is the standard we're holding for this game.
In short, lots of us wanted Skyrim 2 w/Multiplayer, not World of Scrollcraft... and we got too close to one and too far from the other.
Though I think you reference to World of Scrollcraft aka World of Warcraft is completely off base, I agree with what you wrote. It is true, Final Fantasy did do a good job creating that world within the scope of what one would expect.
I do think this game alienated a percentage of the crowd who wanted exactly what you stated. I guess I loved Skyrim for what it was but knew ages ago not to expect that in an MMO because I realized immediately that was just not possible yet. Instead, I was just looking for an MMO that offered more of an exploration focus since every MMO in the last few years has completely failed. Example, I don't consider searching for Datacrons when you are still jumping from Hub to Hub exploration. I think all things considered, this game is the best out there for a themepark exploration based MMO. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Do I think it will improve, sure. Fortunately I believe there will be enough like me where the game will retain a healthy player base regardless of whatever the total sub numbers will be.
There Is Always Hope!
It's easy to understand the negativity towards ESO compared to Final Fantasy XIV. A quick break-down:
Overhype and diehard fanboys.
What does ESO have that Final Fantasy XIV didn't? Overhype and diehard fanboys. FFXIV players just went to their game to have fun with it, and didn't bother anyone else. ESO players need to shout out at the rest of the world that their choice mmo is better than every other mmo in the history of humankind and that is what pisses people off, and lures them into outlining all of the thousand mistakes that ESO has made both as game and as mmo.
So here the lesson is: Next time to think you will enjoy a mmo, make sure to never write in your statements catchphrases like "the best mmo" or "the next level of gaming" in a way that it can offend players that simply like other games. Because if the game you've been trying so hard to overhype doesn't deliver (like ESO), you're in for a world of hurt.
ESO wasn't the first, and won't be the last. I remember SWTOR and GW2 as other notable cases of unfounded overhype that caused those games to take a lot of possibly unfair punishment from everyone that didn't like them. Those games, like ESO, were pretty decent games, but just not the Next Messiah as the fanboys were trying to sell it, offending everyone who liked other kind of games in the way, and provoking the myriad of negative comments and reviews.
My opinion is my own. I respect all other opinions and views equally, but keep in mind that my opinion will always be the best for me. That's why it's my opinion.
Seems to me people are too sensitive that if someone writes they think there game is the best, that somebody else needs to jump all over it. Nor do I agree with your generalizations about diehard fanboys or how a player base went to have fun with it..as if you polled everyone and have any real statistics or surveys to back anything you just wrote.`
There Is Always Hope!
Well, the most obvious explanation is, of course, personal preferences. I don't think the launch issues helped ESO either. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that gamers expected a TES MMO and not a MMO with TES features. We can argue for days on end whether or not that is the case, however...
Moving on to some of your points. I haven't played FF so I'm not in a position to compare much. A few things I will say, however. Voiceovers can be good a good thing, aye, but, and this is my own opinion, ESO does not succeed. I can only imagine the amount of money they tossed after those famous names, money I believe could be spend better elsewhere. Even more so when you actually experience the voiceovers. Lip and jaw animations are terrible - the same motion no matter the word uttered. Khajiits even had a bug, at least I hope it was a bug, where their jaws would simply dislocate for a few seconds. I experienced very few facial reactions to what was said by the NPCs. Whenever someone was angry they showed little or no sign of it.
Furthermore, I found the voiceovers and the writing to be bad. Just bad. It really killed the immersion for me when the Green Lady sought revenge upon those who killed the Silvernar and entered an almost poetic anger. Perhaps it could have been done, but this time around I found myself skipping through as the writing was just overkill. The actress did a nice job trying to capture the feelings, but the writing denied her at every turn..
I had hoped for a much better experience. At least considering the amount of money and time they invested in both the actors and the advertising of having secured these names. I would rather read a wall of text and subscribe my own feelings to it than having the experienced ruined my mediocre writting and badly executed voiceovers. After all, voice overs are supposed to deliver an immersive experience, something ESO utterly failed to do to me.
On the other hand, I quite liked the combat system. It's not perfect but nothing is, and I'd very much like some changes to specific areas.
I think ESO is a good game with many flaws. And it's only natural that every game is rated differently. ESO has to capture the feeling of the single player titles whilst a game such as WildStar doesn't.
What he/she said, everything else doesn't matter - be your own man/woman and don't worry what other think!