Tag Archives: Elder Scrolls

Elder Scrolls Online: Digging Deeper

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I’m continuing to (slowly) work my way through Elder Scrolls Online. I still mostly stand by my initial thoughts on it — it’s firmly in the “okay, not great” category — but it is at least continuing to hold my attention, and in some ways it’s growing on me.

A pit of corpses in Coldharbour in Elder Scrolls OnlineI credit a good chunk of this to the fact that the combat did become more challenging after a while. It’s still not particularly difficult, but at least it’s no longer a case of enemies falling over after two or three hits. And as I mentioned in a previous post, unlocking weapon swapping and a mount helped a lot, too.

As I’ve progressed, I’ve been able to delve deeper into the game, and there are a few areas that stand out as worth discussing.

Crafting:

I normally don’t pay much attention to crafting in MMOs. I like the idea of it, but in practice it’s always far too much grinding for far too little reward. However, when I saw that ESO’s crafting was a little more in-depth than the average WoW clone, I decided to give crafting a try once again.

It’s been a bit up and down. I’ve nearly quit a couple times, but now I think I’m getting the hang of it.

Even with the crafting hirelings, I find I’m having trouble getting enough materials. It’s really making me dislike this game’s baffling insistence on not having an auction house.

My Bosmer sorcerer hunts through Grahtwood in Elder Scrolls OnlineI’m also not entirely fond of the need to sink skill points into crafting — potentially a lot of them if you want all the perks. My understanding is that by endgame I’ll have more skill points than I know what to do with, but at low levels, I need all the points I can get, and with the glacial leveling pace in this game, spending one on non-combat skills always stings a bit.

I also found that — as with crafting in most other games I’ve played — anything I made was still quite inferior to whatever random drops I got from questing, but I’m starting to think this may be my own error.

I’m used to the WoW model of crafting, where you just make a piece of gear and that’s it. I didn’t give much thought to researching and adding traits, or upgrading crafting pieces beyond white quality, or enchanting. So of course everything I made sucked.

Now that I’m taking those things into account, I’m actually able to make some gear that’s worth equipping.

Now I really regret not taking up enchanting…

I’m also making sure to deconstruct most of the gear I pick up, rather than vendoring it, as that seems to be a pretty good source of crafting XP. That makes me less reliant on crafting gear to level up, which somewhat lessens my material-starvation.

The Grahtwood zone in Elder Scrolls OnlineI’m still making up my mind on crafting in ESO, but I’ve always liked the idea of self-sufficiency, of building my own equipment rather than kneeling at the altar of RNGesus. And it seems especially appropriate for a Bosmer huntress to live off the land. So if I can make it work, I will.

It also gives me some control over the appearance of my gear, though I’m still struggling to find anything I like the look of. The lack of a transmogrification or wardrobe system in this game is a tad baffling. And while we’re at it, what’s with the lack of a barbershop?

Realizing I had the same hairstyle as Lyris Titanborn just sucked the fun out of it somehow…

Dungeons:

Dungeons seem to be a lost cause.

I just can’t find groups. For several days, I joined the queue for the first dungeon each time I played, but even after hours of play, the queue never popped. Only once was I placed in a group, and it went nowhere. The tank left immediately for reasons known only to them, and the healer bailed shortly thereafter. After about twenty minutes, we got another tank, but a replacement healer never showed, and eventually everyone gave up.

I hate forming groups through chat channels, and even if I didn’t, hardly anyone seems to be forming groups for low level content.

An abortive attempt at a Banished Cells run in Elder Scrolls Online

We just sat like this for half an hour.

The game seems pretty busy, so I wouldn’t think it’s a population issue. Do people in ESO just not care about dungeons?

I’ve thought about taking up healing in the hopes of improving my queues, but I’m not sure I want to spend some of my precious skill points on something I may not get any use out of.

I wasn’t exceptionally keen on doing dungeons in this game to begin with, so it’s not the end of the world. Bit of a shame, though.

The world:

ESO is for the most part a solid game, and while it does have some significant moments of frustration (as discussed above), I am enjoying myself a fair bit.

What I’ve been struggling to understand is why. Yes, it doesn’t give a lot of cause for complaint, and most it is at least solid, but as I’ve said from the beginning, there’s little that blows me away, either. The story is decent enough to keep me going, but certainly nothing special. My opinion of the combat has improved significantly, but it’s no TSW or Neverwinter.

I think I’m narrowing it down, though: It’s the world.

My Bosmer sorcerer takes a ride in the moonlight in Elder Scrolls OnlineESO’s world is very detailed, and there are a lot of subtle things that make exploring it a more engaging experience than you’d find in the average MMO. I initially had my doubts about the policy of just leaving quests out in the world with no real clues as to their existence until you stumble across them, but I find it’s actually a lot of fun to try to hunt them down. They’re spaced pretty evenly across the map, so it’s not like you’re combing the countryside endlessly in the hopes of finding a quest or two.

Even if you’re not finding a quest — or a delve, or some other structured activity — exploring is rarely fruitless. The world is chock full of hidden loot, lore books, treasure chests, crafting nodes, and the like. It almost calls to mind the addictive wanderlust Guild Wars 2 once inspired in me.

Exploring is something I rarely enjoy in MMOs, but that’s because it’s so rarely made to be worth your time. When there’s something to the activity other than wandering without aim, it’s quite a joy.

Then there are pleasant little touches like ambient dialogue that reflects your actions, random NPC conversations, and most of all the weather.

I’ve played plenty of video games with weather, but none have come anywhere near the realism of ESO (except maybe FFXIV). It’s pretty special to be able to look up at the sky in a video game; think, “Hmm, looks like rain soon”; and be caught in a downpour ten minutes later.

Watching the sun set over the ocean with one of Elder Scrolls Online's ubiquitous skeletonsI don’t get why there are random skeletons absolutely everywhere, though. Did the Orochi Group try to open a Tamriel branch?

The lore:

Something else that’s been interesting for a story nut such as I is getting to know the lore and history of the Elder Scrolls setting, which I’ve not had any significant exposure to before.

I know there are a lot of rabid fans of the Elder Scrolls lore, but I don’t think I’m going to be one of them any time soon.

The game’s story itself is adequate at best, and the many books of lore and backstory scattered around are mostly too dry even for me, seeming to favour wacky uber-fantasy names and an excessive amount of detail over actual depth or compelling content.

That’s not to say the lore is terrible. It’s just mediocre.

In fairness, my understanding of the lore is still quite incomplete, and I’m struggling to piece things together as I go, so that might not help. I will say ESO does a pretty good job, all things considered, of not making me feel overwhelmed as a newcomer to what is clearly a vast and intricate mythos.

The Aldmeri capitol of Elden Root in Elder Scrolls OnlineAnd there are few things about the Elder Scrolls setting I’m developing a definite fondness for. Namely Bosmer and Khajiit.

No one who knows me should be surprised I’ve taken to Bosmer like a fish to water. Crazy, tribal, cannibal Elves? Sold!

I do think they’re a great middle ground between new and old ideas. They have enough elements of the traditional Elf archetype to feel familiar, but enough changes to feel fresh.

I like their feral, chaotic nature, as well as their irreverent sense of humour. It’s especially amusing when contrasted with the stuffiness of the Altmer.

Khajiit, on the other hand… They’re a cheap thrill, but an effective one. My impression to date is that there isn’t a lot of depth to them, in terms of individual characters or their culture as a whole, but their goofy speech pattern and roguish charm are pretty hard not to appreciate.

Again, they’re a delightful contrast to the holier-than-thou, aristocratic Altmer. On the whole, the Aldmeri Dominion is a very fun odd couple situation (odd trio, I guess), and I think I chose my faction wisely.

Gaming Round-Up: Cho’Gall, Towers of Doom, ESO, and War in the North

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I once again find myself with a number of gaming topics to cover that are not quite big enough to deserve their own posts. Today, we’ll be visiting the Nexus, Tamriel, and Middle-Earth.

Slaying a Troll in Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthChaos! Madness! Like a hug for your brain:

This month saw the release of Heroes of the Storm’s wackiest hero yet, Cho’Gall. Played by two players at once, he brings twice the power of any other hero, at the cost of leaving his team a man short.

His release was also unique, with a handful of players getting him for free, and everyone else able to unlock him by partying with an owner and piloting a head for a few games. Those who already had Cho’Gall could earn gold by spreading the “virus” to more players.

Motivated by the lure of extra gold — or perhaps feeling masochistic — I waded into the depths of the Heroes community to acquire Cho’Gall, share him with enough people to earn my 2K gold, and level both heads to level five.

To be fair, it wasn’t quite the horror show I expected. Gall is pretty much the same as playing a hat-build Abathur — which I do with some frequency — and Cho is mostly just a standard warrior with a guaranteed pocket DPS. And I only encountered one prick while grouping with people.

Definitely don’t plan to play any more Cho’Gall going forward, though.

Not sure how I feel about him on the whole. I’ve heard lots of people say he isn’t that competitive. My knee-jerk reaction was that he was very overpowered, but I’ve softened on that. Truth is probably somewhere in between.

Cho'Gall horsing around in Heroes of the StormIt really depends on the players. A bad Cho’Gall can ruin its team, but a good one is absolutely terrifying. Gall’s damage is absurd, and a good Cho will almost never die.

If nothing else, he’s damned annoying to play against. He’s a nightmare to deal with in the early game, and he has few obvious counters other than Leoric and to a lesser extent Kharazim (who must give up his better ultimate to serve as a counter).

Props to whoever came up with the idea of smashing together the names of his two players, though.

Towers of Doom:

Slightly more recently, Heroes also added its latest map, and this one is a home run. Towers of Doom is very much not like any other map added to date, and although it’s a bit early to say for sure, it might be my new favourite.

For a while, map design was starting to feel a little stale, with pretty much all map mechanics being variations on a few themes. Towers of Doom still has some familiar elements — fighting over altars is much like trying to capture tributes on Cursed Hollow — but there are some key differences.

The new Towers of Doom map in Heroes of the StormThe mechanics of every map to date have been designed to help with pushing in some way. They help you destroy forts, and eventually the enemy core. Towers of Doom’s mechanic targets the core alone, and cores cannot be attacked by any other means.

This is a refreshing change of pace in a lot of ways, but the most important difference is that winning a map objective does not generally give you any significant XP lead, so there’s much less snowballing than on any other map. This makes an already volatile game even more unpredictable, and comebacks can never be ruled out.

It’s also a very well-balanced map in terms of what roles are required. Most maps will tend to focus on team-fighting or on more traditional laning and pushing, but Towers of Doom has room for both. You need to win team fights over the altars, but destroying enemy bases to claim their bell towers is also very helpful.

The fact that towns don’t stay destroyed further combats snowballing and makes the map even more back and forth. If you’ve lost some forts, you can always reclaim them and/or steal some enemy forts.

I also love the idea of bringing back the announcers from previous maps — in this case Cursed Hollow and Haunted Mines — to battle against each other. Especially since those are both two very colourful and amusing characters.

Zoning into a Heroes of the Storm match as JohannaThough I must admit to being a little sad every time I don’t end up on the Raven Lord’s side. You’re cool, too, Grave Keeper, but the Raven Lord is just so suave.

My only little complaint about all this is their decision to retire maps — at least temporarily — to prevent the map pool from becoming too bloated. I don’t understand why they don’t just let us blacklist one or more maps — that seems much better than the developers deciding for us what maps we can and can’t play on.

If I never see Dragon Shire again, it will be too soon.

Elder Scrolls Online: I’m still here

I continue to inch through Elder Scrolls Online at what I will generously call a snail’s pace, due to a combination of being frequently distracted by other things and the fact it’s a very slow game to progress in to begin with.

For the most part my opinion of it remains the same: It’s a solid but not stellar game. I remain somewhat unsure whether it will be something I stick with long term. It’s got a lot going for it, but I’ve yet to be blown away, and it has a lot of competition for my time.

My Bosmer sorcerer hides in the shadows in Elder Scrolls OnlineI have managed to finish the first zone, earn my mount, and unlock weapon swapping. The latter two things have had a very pronounced positive effect on my experience, which leads me to wonder why they take so damn long to unlock. The mount, in particular, took about twice as long to unlock as it would in your average MMO, and frankly I think the average wait time is a bit much.

I’ve yet to see much evidence of the supposedly high quality storytelling this game boasts, but there was one quest that impressed. It was very disturbing, but very well done.

It involved what amounted to a residential school for Bosmer and Khajiit. Uncovering all the abuses suffered by the “students” was a pretty unnerving experience, especially given the history of my own nation. I did quite enjoy the opportunity to bring justice to the perpetrators in the end.

The whole “High Elves are racists” theme was prevalent throughout the Aldmeri starting zone, but it was mostly a very sanitized video game version of racism. This was the only quest to show the terrible results of bigotry, and it did so very effectively.

Also, as half-hearted as the whole racism story was, I also liked the game’s complete and utter disrespect for those who hold such attitudes, particularly Razum-dar’s insistence on simply calling them “idiots.”

I really hope I haven’t see the last of Razum-dar.

Rescuing a traumatized Khajiit woman in Elder Scrolls Online

Generally I find this game’s writing fairly mediocre, but this is one of the more poignant pieces of dialogue I’ve seen in a video game.

I’ll also say I do enjoy this game’s eye for detail. I really like all these little stories that play out in your letters from the crafting hirelings (pro tip: Don’t **** with Pacrooti), and there are other small touches. The other day an NPC guard randomly complimented me on one of my heroic actions — which happened weeks ago in an entirely different zone.

War in the North: It’s okay, I guess?

Finally, I’ve also been working on getting through at least some of the backlog of games I’ve developed on my Steam account, starting with Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

I thought about doing a full review of it, but I don’t think I’ve got enough to say on the matter.

It’s not a terrible game, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it. It is, at best, adequate.

Despite an admiral effort at telling a new story in Middle-Earth while staying true to the books, there just isn’t much in the way of a story, nor are any of the characters developed enough to be interesting. Mostly it’s just an excuse to wander around decapitating Orcs.

On the plus side, you get to wander around decapitating Orcs.

The combat is mostly quite visceral and fun, but it can also get rather frustrating in certain spots. A lot of high level enemies pretty much just chain-stun you endlessly, which gets incredibly aggravating after a while.

Andriel cuts down an Orc in Lord of the Rings: War in the NorthUltimately the main thing I liked was simply the character I chose to play as: an Elven battle-mage. I do love playing a spell caster who can wade into the fray and get their hands dirty. Plus she was voiced by Laura Bailey, which is always plus.

I’ll also give the game some credit for making its female armour actual armour.