Board Thread:Online Discussion/@comment-1600847-20140303184652

So after spending the weekend playing the ESO Beta, I decided to write down my impressions for the game. Overall, I enjoyed the Beta greatly, but also have some concerns.

Graphics/Textures
First thing you notice in a game: the graphics and textures. Well, it looks great for an MMO... but it's not as good as Skyrim. Understandable, though. The textures seem to have a bit of a struggle loading, especially when you initiate dialogue. And of course, the big red "MISSING OBJECT" boxes you find where objects fail to load are amusing at first but get annoying after a while.

Voice acting/dialogue
Skyrim players will recognize several of the voice actors from ESO. I can't say if it's the same for all races, but the Pact NPCs are all recognizable and have enthusiasm for their lines.

While there's not as many dialogue options as the single-player titles, it's still interesting to go up to each NPC and see what they have to say. The mouth movement for dialogue is a bit stiff, however, as only the lower jaw seems to move, and even then only straight up and straight down. I hope it's only a Beta thing.

Weapons and armor
In ESO, you can't scavenge an fallen foe's weapons and armor like you can in the single-player titles, so emphasis is put on making your own, especially since merchant sold equipment is quite expensive.

ESO tip: if you dislike MMO grind, do NOT go Medium Armor. Why, you ask? Simple: Light is made from Jute, which is a plant that can be found all over the place. Heavy is made from Iron, which can also be found all over the place. Medium is made from Rawhide, which can only be found by looting creatures. But here's the catch: Jute plants and Iron ore veins guarantee at least 3 samples when you search them, whereas searching a fallen creature might wield nothing at all, or a single piece of Rawhide. So it's much, much simpler to go Light or Heavy than to go Medium.

Combat
Simply put, combat in ESO is fun and requires more than simple button mashing, especially against Bosses. You have your light attack, your heavy attack, blocks and interrupts. Combat is fast-paced and engaging. And of course, there are abilites. BUT, and this is a big fat hairy but, you can only have 5 abilities hotkeyed. Which means most abilities gather dust, including abilities to temporarily boost speed or armor rating. I hope Zenimax adds more, at least as many as 1 through the + sign on the keyboard.

PvP
ESO isn't my first MMO. I've played PvP before and never found it that engaging. But holy crap, ESOs PvP is amazing. I tried it out for a lark and ended up playing 8 hours straight. It really does feel like an epic war. I remember seeing 60 or so of my fellow Pact members besieging a Covenant keep; trebuchets, catapults and ballistae raining fire and stone down on the walls while a battering ram hammered at the gates while enemy siege engines returned the favor from the walls. The rush as the walls crumbling and pouring through the breach as Covenant players and NPC guards desperately try to hold... it was fantastic and will greatly increase the length of the game.

There are around 20 or so servers, each with a different Cyrodiil map. For example, the Pact could be controlling most of Server A, but on Server B the Dominion could be dominating while the Covenant reigns supreme on Server C.

Another tip: be aware that the Covenant is the least joined faction on the game. Most servers where full to capacity with Dominion and Pact players, but I only saw one that was full to capacity for the Covenant. HOWEVER, it seems to me they have more skilled players than the other factions. Might just have been that the chaff was all offline.

BUGS!
Obviously, it's a Beta. It's to be expected there's bugs. But Zenimax, we're less than a month from launch (for early access, anyways) and the game is still FULL of bugs. And I'm not just talking about little bugs, like Bob's hair isn't loading or Steve is walking through a rock. Oh, no no no. I'm talking about nearly a dozen un-completable quest bugs. They all seem to be in Stonefalls, too. While most of them ended up working after several hours of waiting, it really stands out for me. I really hope they patch them, and I dutifully sent a bug report for each one. But, this close to launch, it leaves me worried.

Final verdict?
As I've always said, if you're going into this game expecting "Skyrim Online", you will be greatly disappointed. If you go into the game expecting an Elder Scrolls MMO, you will enjoy yourself greatly as I did. If you enjoy MMOs, you'll like ESO. If you're an ESO fan waiting for something to tide you over until TES VI, you'll enjoy yourself.

Also, there's going to be at least 1 more Beta before early access on March 30th. I cannot wait. 