Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

ESO Review by Tom's Hardware

1356711

Comments

  • CoffeeBreakCoffeeBreak Member Posts: 236
    Originally posted by JeroKane
     

    At least SWTOR had content that was fun!

    At least SWTOR had Dungeons (instances / operations) that weren't copy/pasted from a single map and were vast, interesting and challenging! Overall fun to do.

    SWTOR at launch was actually much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be. Sadly. :(

     

    Considering I actually like Swtor(parts of it)....what was the "fun" content?  The on-rails space shooter?  The linear, hub questing through completely static zones?  I don't care if a game has phasing or not but nothing even moves in Swtor.  The enemies don't move around, the NPCs are a lively as fire hydrants....

     

    Also Swtor doesn't have delves...There are actual dungeons in ESO that are like flashpoints, but what the review is focusing on are the little delves that you clear through in 5 minutes and leave.

     

    Not sure how SWTOR is "much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be".  Have you played them both?  I guess hanging out in the Fleet and queueing for WZ and FP is MMOish...

  • Asm0deusAsm0deus Member EpicPosts: 4,600

     


    Conclusion

     

    It’s pretty in parts, but there’s not a whole lot there. The Elder Scrolls Online is the empty, dull train ride that everyone feared it would be, and the millions spent on a fancy new MMO-capable engine and scant A-list voice acting peppered through the too-rare prime fiction, leave the player wanting. Trying desperately to find the fun, and failing. This really isn’t a true blue sequel to the Elder Scrolls series in any sense of the thing. These many sins could be easier to swallow if it weren’t for the gargantuan price tag associated with the game, not just vanilla, but the all-but-required Imperial Edition. There are free-to-play games out right now with orders of magnitude better gameplay and more content: Dungeons & Dragons Online, Star Trek Online, and of course World of Warcraft. WildStar is another up-and-comer that looks immensely promising, with player housing and a refreshing sense of humor.

    Shallow, generic, bland, meh, flavorless, vapid, uninspiring, monotonous, ho hum, pedestrian, plodding, mundane, trite, empty, devoid. I’m terribly reminded of the seminal 80s flick “The Neverending Story”, where hero Bastian fights to save Fantasia from “The Nothing”, an elemental force of the absence of content that ate through pages of interesting story and engaging plot. The Elder Scrolls Online is the game you’d get if The Nothing had won and decided to release an MMO based on a best-selling gaming franchise.

    Can The Elder Scrolls Online recover from this? This reviewer can’t say. Final Fantasy XIV had a disastrous launch along similar content-absence problems, went back to the drawing board and returned a year later to re-launch with a more fleshed-out experience, and a mea culpa by Square Enix. The Elder Scrolls Online could foreseeably do something similar and populate its vast world with content worthy of the license, but first impressions tend to be everything in the crowded arena of online gaming, especially where subscriptions are involved.

    We’ll see.


     

    I knew the game had issues but ouch lol. One more reason to wait for it to go f2p I guess.

    Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.





  • Ryoshi1Ryoshi1 Member Posts: 139
    That instance map reference and all copyspaghetti pasta are so true haha :D
  • SvarcanumSvarcanum Member UncommonPosts: 425
    Spot on review. Especially the part about the awful quest system.
  • Dreamo84Dreamo84 Member UncommonPosts: 3,713
    Originally posted by CoffeeBreak
    Originally posted by bcbully

    People complaining about a game launching with 30 unique dungeons and 100 variations... 

     

     

    Lol I am surprised it's 30....I think I guessed 10 when someone brought it up weeks ago.  It's not like they are identical, but they tend to be circles so you can exit through the entrance.  It's also weird to focus on something that you run through in 5 minutes and you maybe spend 5% of your time in a zone in delves (unless you're a bot but they nerfed the drops so that doesn't really happen now).

     

    I'm more curious about how many more accounts the OP is going to make before Wildstar  launches. 

    Well the dungeon design kind of makes sense. If you're going to dig a big tunnel in the ground, looping around to the exit just seems logical. Unless you were tunneling through to somewhere else.

    image
  • sanitysendsanitysend Member Posts: 123
    Actually it was poorly written and really couldn't be called a review. A review weighs the good and the bad, even for a terrible game the reviewer has to come at it with some sort of unbiased opinion to start with. This reviewer tore the game apart in every way shape and form, often using repetitive language and really not saying anything worthwhile except "I ca't say enough how terrible this is" over and over and over. A joke of a review, and no I'm not saying this game is amazing or advocating for it to be reviewed higher, I'm purely saying this guy was a joke and had it in his mind to rip apart something rather than review it. 

    Wildstar:
    Phantazm, Pago(PvP), Exiles

    Guild: Socks with Sandals


    Playing: Wildstar
    Retired/Tried: DCUO. The Secret World, Darkfall UW, Darkfall, Mortal Online, DDO, Rift, Fallen Earth, Aion, APB, EQ, EQ2, PoTBS, WoW, WAR, SWG, CoX, Vangaurd, CO, GW, EVE, DAoC, LotRO, SW:ToR, GW2, Dragon Nest

  • xpsyncxpsync Member EpicPosts: 1,854

    i was on here for months before launch preaching things like this article reads, SWTOR 2 i'd state.

    i thought i would now be on here posting about how right i was with all my predictions coming true.

    but... No.

    Just no, this mmo by today's standards is the best mmo to come out in many, many years, its got an amazing mix of crafting, harvesting, exploring, questing, dungeons... and over two toons i already have well over 60 hours and they are only 15, and 21.

    If anything i'm more into the game now than when i first started playing.

    My faith is my shield! - Turalyon 2022

    Your legend ends here and now! - (Battles Won Long Ago)

    Currently Playing; Dragonflight and SWG:L
  • fantasyfreak112fantasyfreak112 Member Posts: 499

    TESO is a hollow joke. The more fanboi's to hit endgame and realize it's even more disappointing then the rest of the game, the sooner they'll be on here pretending they never liked TESO to begin with. Just like SWTOR.

     

    I'm kinda surprised the reviewer brought up DDO though as that game is just as much an insult to it's name as TESO.

  • GeezerGamerGeezerGamer Member EpicPosts: 8,857
    Originally posted by kakasaki
    Originally posted by BetaBlocka
    Another review from a mainstream, well respected website rolls in with a poor review...

    Let me guess...Toms Hardware cannot be counted as a credible review source amirite?

    Is it going to change the opinion of those that like the game? --> No

    Is it going to make the people who don't like the game, like it less? --> No

    Is it going to change the mind of your average gamer that doesn't read reviews or know about the web site? --> No

    Is it going to influence the small segment of gamers on the fence that do read game reviews and use them to base their decision to buy a game? --> Yes. But... why all the glee over a negative review when you have already made up your mind about the game?

     

     

     

    It's never really been about ESO, For the ones who are passionate about it, it's about validation.

  • ZebladeZeblade Member UncommonPosts: 931

    Toms review was a tad hard on ESO in spots yet I agree in the end with him. ESO is coming out with patch 1.11 granted they are only on patch 1.06 as of now. So maybe someone can re-review it in 5-6 weeks from now.

    Its still a bot heaven.

    EDIT

    "Is it going to change the opinion of those that like the game? --> No

    Is it going to make the people who don't like the game, like it less? --> No

    Is it going to change the mind of your average gamer that doesn't read reviews or know about the web site? --> No

    Is it going to influence the small segment of gamers on the fence that do read game reviews and use them to base their decision to buy a game? --> Yes. But... why all the glee over a negative review when you have already made up your mind about the game?"

    Please share how you have this ability to know what others will do and not do? Now if the review had come from YOU then everything you said would be true..who are you? Yep..

  • JeroKaneJeroKane Member EpicPosts: 7,096
    Originally posted by CoffeeBreak
    Originally posted by JeroKane
     

    At least SWTOR had content that was fun!

    At least SWTOR had Dungeons (instances / operations) that weren't copy/pasted from a single map and were vast, interesting and challenging! Overall fun to do.

    SWTOR at launch was actually much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be. Sadly. :(

     

    Considering I actually like Swtor(parts of it)....what was the "fun" content?  The on-rails space shooter?  The linear, hub questing through completely static zones?  I don't care if a game has phasing or not but nothing even moves in Swtor.  The enemies don't move around, the NPCs are a lively as fire hydrants....

     

    Also Swtor doesn't have delves...There are actual dungeons in ESO that are like flashpoints, but what the review is focusing on are the little delves that you clear through in 5 minutes and leave.

     

    Not sure how SWTOR is "much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be".  Have you played them both?  I guess hanging out in the Fleet and queueing for WZ and FP is MMOish...

    I have played them both! And in pretty much all MMO's mobs in Dungeons are just static spawns, With the ocasional partrol here and there to make it feel more "dynamic". So that's nothing unique to SW:TOR. It's the same in ESO.

    In ESO you move from zone to zone as well. It's just as linear! They just a "tiny" bit better at hiding it!

    In SW:TOR (unless you just raced through the mission hubs and didn't bother to explore) there were plenty of hidden missions to be found in the zones!  So again. Nothing unique to ESO. Every themepark MMO has them. WoW, EQ2, LOTRO, etc.

    I personally found EverQuest 2 to be best in this and greatly enjoyed it for many years, with lots of hidden content you could miss out on, if you didn't bother to explore!

    SW:TOR's grouping actually worked without the phasing fiasco in ESO!

    SW:TOR actually had a Auction House at launch!

    There were lots of things Bioware did wrong With SW:TOR, but the above wasn't one of them.

     

     

  • CeldrynCeldryn Member Posts: 84
    Originally posted by bcbully

    People complaining about a game launching with 30 unique dungeons and 100 variations... 

     

     

     

    Exactly...

  • UtinniUtinni Member EpicPosts: 2,209

    "Picture the lowercase letter “b”. Got it? Well done! You now qualify as a level designer for this game! "

     

    hahaha

  • CoffeeBreakCoffeeBreak Member Posts: 236
    Originally posted by JeroKane
    Originally posted by CoffeeBreak
    Originally posted by JeroKane
     

    At least SWTOR had content that was fun!

    At least SWTOR had Dungeons (instances / operations) that weren't copy/pasted from a single map and were vast, interesting and challenging! Overall fun to do.

    SWTOR at launch was actually much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be. Sadly. :(

     

    Considering I actually like Swtor(parts of it)....what was the "fun" content?  The on-rails space shooter?  The linear, hub questing through completely static zones?  I don't care if a game has phasing or not but nothing even moves in Swtor.  The enemies don't move around, the NPCs are a lively as fire hydrants....

     

    Also Swtor doesn't have delves...There are actual dungeons in ESO that are like flashpoints, but what the review is focusing on are the little delves that you clear through in 5 minutes and leave.

     

    Not sure how SWTOR is "much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be".  Have you played them both?  I guess hanging out in the Fleet and queueing for WZ and FP is MMOish...

    I have played them both! And in pretty much all MMO's mobs in Dungeons are just static spawns, With the ocasional partrol here and there to make it feel more "dynamic". So that's nothing unique to SW:TOR. It's the same in ESO.

    In ESO you move from zone to zone as well. It's just as linear! They just a "tiny" bit better at hiding it!

    In SW:TOR (unless you just raced through the mission hubs and didn't bother to explore) there were plenty of hidden missions to be found in the zones!  So again. Nothing unique to ESO. Every themepark MMO has them. WoW, EQ2, LOTRO, etc.

    I personally found EverQuest 2 to be best in this and greatly enjoyed it for many years, with lots of hidden content you could miss out on, if you didn't bother to explore!

    SW:TOR's grouping actually worked without the phasing fiasco in ESO!

    SW:TOR actually had a Auction House at launch!

    There were lots of things Bioware did wrong With SW:TOR, but the above wasn't one of them.

     

     

    I don't think you understood what I was referring to as far as the static, linear world....maybe it's better that way....I don't want to be the one to ruin the illusion. 

  • ManasongManasong Member Posts: 208
    Originally posted by simsalabim77
    Originally posted by Manasong
    Originally posted by BetaBlocka
    Another review from a mainstream, well respected website rolls in with a poor review...

    Let me guess...Toms Hardware cannot be counted as a credible review source amirite?

    It's just hard to take review seriously when people are obviously angry at the game, they might be letting their emotions cloud their judgement.

     

    How do you know the emotional state the author was in when he was writing the review? 

    "The newbie island experience is so anguish-inducing that, in a rare case of listening to beta tester feedback..."

    "The newbie island and the area that follows varies mildly from alliance to alliance, but each is achingly dull. I found myself strained not to skip the voiceover dialogue, mashing the first option repeatedly just to get to the next leg in the quest line."

    That doesn't look like a happy person, that actually gives the impression he's angry. He's not being neutral, me and other people found quest dialogue very interesting with it's ups and downs, but thats our personal opinion, he's letting his personal opinion stand on top of his neutrality. That's why it's hard to take those reviews seriously, personal opinion changes between people, he later talks about how he isn't having any fun on the game, well, I had a lot of fun during my way to VR, if I had taken it for his word that leveling isn't fun I wouldn't have played the game.

    Not saying he has no credit for his review, but it really gets harder to trust his words when he keeps spouting his personal opinion over and over, it gets harder to distinguish what is actually wrong with the game and whats just something he doesn't like because it isn't his "style" of gameplay.

  • JeroKaneJeroKane Member EpicPosts: 7,096
    Originally posted by CoffeeBreak
    Originally posted by JeroKane
    Originally posted by CoffeeBreak
    Originally posted by JeroKane
     

    At least SWTOR had content that was fun!

    At least SWTOR had Dungeons (instances / operations) that weren't copy/pasted from a single map and were vast, interesting and challenging! Overall fun to do.

    SWTOR at launch was actually much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be. Sadly. :(

     

    Considering I actually like Swtor(parts of it)....what was the "fun" content?  The on-rails space shooter?  The linear, hub questing through completely static zones?  I don't care if a game has phasing or not but nothing even moves in Swtor.  The enemies don't move around, the NPCs are a lively as fire hydrants....

     

    Also Swtor doesn't have delves...There are actual dungeons in ESO that are like flashpoints, but what the review is focusing on are the little delves that you clear through in 5 minutes and leave.

     

    Not sure how SWTOR is "much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be".  Have you played them both?  I guess hanging out in the Fleet and queueing for WZ and FP is MMOish...

    I have played them both! And in pretty much all MMO's mobs in Dungeons are just static spawns, With the ocasional partrol here and there to make it feel more "dynamic". So that's nothing unique to SW:TOR. It's the same in ESO.

    In ESO you move from zone to zone as well. It's just as linear! They just a "tiny" bit better at hiding it!

    In SW:TOR (unless you just raced through the mission hubs and didn't bother to explore) there were plenty of hidden missions to be found in the zones!  So again. Nothing unique to ESO. Every themepark MMO has them. WoW, EQ2, LOTRO, etc.

    I personally found EverQuest 2 to be best in this and greatly enjoyed it for many years, with lots of hidden content you could miss out on, if you didn't bother to explore!

    SW:TOR's grouping actually worked without the phasing fiasco in ESO!

    SW:TOR actually had a Auction House at launch!

    There were lots of things Bioware did wrong With SW:TOR, but the above wasn't one of them.

     

     

    I don't think you understood what I was referring to as far as the static, linear world....maybe it's better that way....I don't want to be the one to ruin the illusion. 

    Everything in gaming is an illusion. It's all pixels.

    ESO's world is no less static than any other MMO. There are better and there are worse.

    I found, for example, LOTRO's game world (especially in SOA days) far more dynamic and lively than ESO.

     

  • xpsyncxpsync Member EpicPosts: 1,854
    Originally posted by Husvik

    i was on here for months before launch preaching things like this article reads, SWTOR 2 i'd state.

    i thought i would now be on here posting about how right i was with all my predictions coming true.

    but... No.

    Just no, this mmo by today's standards is the best mmo to come out in many, many years, its got an amazing mix of crafting, harvesting, exploring, questing, dungeons... and over two toons i already have well over 60 hours and they are only 15, and 21.

    If anything i'm more into the game now than when i first started playing.

    opps, played way more than i thought, level 21 played 62 hours, and level 15 played 50 hours. for a grand total of 112 hours and more engrossed in the game than when i first started.

    What more can one say at the quality of this mmo.

    My faith is my shield! - Turalyon 2022

    Your legend ends here and now! - (Battles Won Long Ago)

    Currently Playing; Dragonflight and SWG:L
  • Originally posted by JeroKane
    Originally posted by Four0Six
    Originally posted by Soki123
    Well, can t argue here. Worst MMO (if you want to call it that) in years. It feels so amateur, I can t really call it anything other then that.

     

    Just like SWTOR?

    Which after the switch to F2P, like so many others, now makes profits?

    In the end many will look back and believe it was all planned out by ZOS.

     

    (Don't play either. Do study economics.)

    At least SWTOR had content that was fun!

    At least SWTOR had Dungeons (instances / operations) that weren't copy/pasted from a single map and were vast, interesting and challenging! Overall fun to do.

    SWTOR at launch was actually much more an MMO than ESO is and ever will be. Sadly. :(

     

    Lets go ahead and clear some things up for some of the people who haven't played ESO, and just don't understand what dungeons are in this game.

    A. Every Map has multiple solo dungeons, These would be akin to the Chronicles in Rift, aka short little mini dungeons you run through, kill a little boss mob get some loot and a skyshard usually. These are not the equivalent to instances or operations.

    B. Every map has 1 Public Dungeon, these are larger and akin to the older dungeons in previous games like Spindahalla in DAOC....These have multiple group bosses you can kill (2 or 3 players usually required) and usually a group event that'll grant a skill point, along with a Skyshard in there. This would be like SWTOR Heroic 4 instances on the open world map, (the larger ones)

    C. every 10 levels has 3 actual instanced dungeons, Similar to the ones you see in WoW/SWTOR/GW2... These are the ones you're referring to when you talk about SWTOR, and aren't included on that actual infographic, because it doesn't fit its trolling nature.

     

    In otherwords, That infographic is bad...It also shows how bad that Review was...

     

    That asshat by the way decided to come onto the Reddit forums and proceeded to let basically everyone know that he was an MMO gamer, and he use to play a lot of AO and Shadowbane..

     

     

  • simsalabim77simsalabim77 Member RarePosts: 1,607
    Originally posted by Manasong
    Originally posted by simsalabim77
    Originally posted by Manasong
    Originally posted by BetaBlocka
    Another review from a mainstream, well respected website rolls in with a poor review...

    Let me guess...Toms Hardware cannot be counted as a credible review source amirite?

    It's just hard to take review seriously when people are obviously angry at the game, they might be letting their emotions cloud their judgement.

     

    How do you know the emotional state the author was in when he was writing the review? 

    Not saying he has no credit for his review, but it really gets harder to trust his words when he keeps spouting his personal opinion over and over, it gets harder to distinguish what is actually wrong with the game and whats just something he doesn't like because it isn't his "style" of gameplay.

     

    All reviews are nothing more than spouted opinions. 

  • ReklawReklaw Member UncommonPosts: 6,495
    Originally posted by Soki123
    Well, can t argue here. Worst MMO (if you want to call it that) in years. It feels so amateur, I can t really call it anything other then that.

    Oh man according to people on these forums I must have very bad taste in games to consider this pretty much the best themepark-ish since years. 

     

  • GravargGravarg Member UncommonPosts: 3,424
    To put it in perspective, you complain about a game that launches with ~30 unique dungeon lay outs...You do realize that is actually alot.  WoW only had 14 dungeons at launch...if you want to compare things, and not be mindless bash-addicts.  People make me laugh.  The game isn't going F2P.  If it's not your cup of tea, you better look elsewhere.  Just wondering why all you bashers aren't in your game of choice right now?  Perhaps it's because you are not an MMO player, but a transplant from the RTS or FPS world.  MMOs play and have different goals than RTS and FPS games.  If all you're going to do is hate on every game that is ever launched, then you sir are a troll.
  • Soki123Soki123 Member RarePosts: 2,558
    Originally posted by Reklaw
    Originally posted by Soki123
    Well, can t argue here. Worst MMO (if you want to call it that) in years. It feels so amateur, I can t really call it anything other then that.

    Oh man according to people on these forums I must have very bad taste in games to consider this pretty much the best themepark-ish since years. 

     

    Nope, to you it may be great. To me it was the epitome of crap. Same goes for women, if every man liked the same type, there would be a lot of lonely people in this world.

  • simsalabim77simsalabim77 Member RarePosts: 1,607
    Originally posted by Gravarg
    Just wondering why all you bashers aren't in your game of choice right now?

    For the same reason that people who enjoy the game constantly feel the need to defend it. 

  • Moar61Moar61 Member UncommonPosts: 260
    Regardless if his points and critiques are true his emotions get in the way making it a pretty useless review. 
  • CoffeeBreakCoffeeBreak Member Posts: 236
    Originally posted by JeroKane
     

    Everything in gaming is an illusion. It's all pixels.

    ESO's world is no less static than any other MMO. There are better and there are worse.

    I found, for example, LOTRO's game world (especially in SOA days) far more dynamic and lively than ESO.

     

    Okay.

     

    I was talking about Swtor...still.  That's okay.  I'll just agree with you to keep things simple.  Yes, nothing in ESO moves or changes in any way.  There is no day/night cycle, there are no weather effects, the NPC look like they are just pasted into the backgrounds, the zones are entirely flat and have only one single way to go through their linear quest lines.  ESO is officially an Swtor clone and a bad Swtor clone at that.  It will now and forever be known as the ESOtanic.

     

     

Sign In or Register to comment.