So first off, this is my first non-book post. Normally I would not do this, but since it is a preview, I thought some book fans might like to hear about it before it comes out. I felt that the content is strongly fantasy themed and there is a large crossover between fantasy readers and gamers.I received beta access without any expectation from the developer of any review (in fact, at the time I was under an NDA). The exchange was while I got to play the beta, they got the the results and feedback they needed. I write this with an unbiased and honest view.

Exactly one week ago the final scale beta for Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) completed. Luckily I had the opportunity to participate in a few of the test sessions. These beta weekends have been going on for several months, in conjunction with Zenimax’s own internal testing. The sessions I was involved in were primarily meant as stress tests to see what their servers could handleand what needed to be tweaked for public release. Up until the second to last beta there was a strict nondisclosure agreement (NDA) preventing us from writing any reviews or previews. Now that the testing is done and I have a free moment, I would like to share some details of the game. I took some videos and screenshots and while they came out well, I felt they they were not helpful in describing the game-play, so for now I will let my words do their thing. If you really want to see any of it, just ask me. There are many hours of ESO on YouTube already and tons of screenshots floating around. Reddit even has and ESO subreddit.

First, there has been some decent changes between betas, so I am not sure how much of this will hold up between now and release time. The starting area actually changed in the last beta, which I felt was a positive change, but it also shows that anything I talk about here is no guaranteed to be in the final product. The main thing people seem to want to know is whether this is more like Skyrim or like WoW. Well, I don’t play WoW, so I can only guess. It really is somewhat unique though. The PvE does feel like an Elder Scrolls game… ish. It obviously is different from Skyrim in many ways, but the landscapes, exploration and general content make you feel at home in an Elder Scrolls world.  The creatures, both enemy and benign, are call backs to previous games and help you settle into the familiar lore. The biggest differences for me are the magic system and (the elephant in the room) the multitude of other players surrounding you.

Unlike Skyrim and Oblivion, magic is not a weapon slot item. it it a quickslot action. This give it a more MMORPG feel. Most RPGs use a system like this, but it does take something away from the ES spirit a little. The people around surprisingly are not as distracting as i though. Even playing the lone wolf, not playing with friends or finding a group, other players can be helpful. Exploring a dungeon, even above your level, is enhanced when players can watch each others backs. Loot is given to all participant who kill an opponent so there is no scrambling to pick it up, and in PvE you cannot harm other players. The one bad thing is certain objectives are world based and not instanced so you are sometimes scouring for a bit before you find something other players did not take/use/kill.

PvP is a different animal altogether. This is more like Guild Wars 2 with an Elder Scrolls edge. There is still a good deal of exploring and questing to be done, but the real meat of Cyrodil is the Alliance war. Combat is faction based and you can only fight opposing alliances. You fight for control of keeps, for various assigned objectives, and for possession of Elder Scrolls.  The factions are a large central point in this game. There is the Ebonhart Pact with the Argonians, Dunmer (Dark elves) and Nords. The Daggerfall Covenant with Bretons, Orcs and Redgaurds. Finally the Aldmeri Dominion with Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves) and Kajit. The races are bound to the factions, unless you ordered the Imperial edition where you can choose what group to be in. You also get an addition race: Imperial, and some other extras. Each groups have completely different game-play. They exist in different areas of Tamriel, the quests are mostly unrelated, though guild quests are fairly similar, and your home area in Cryodil (PvP) all depend on what faction you choose.

As in all games of this type, the race and class strongly impact your character’s abilities and grow, more so than in some other Elder Scrolls games. The skills are class and race specific, not available elsewhere. In Skyrim it mostly have you boosts and affinities, in ESO, skill trees are unique.  I created a number of alt characters to test this, and it really makes a difference. Dragonknights make good fighters or tanks, Nightblades are generally assassins and rogues, Templars can be tanks and healers and sorcerers are, well, mages. The abilities are very different. Guilds and PvP also give you access to other skills trees that unlock based on your progression in those aspects. I would say to play around, because my usual character choices did not feel right. I went a little out of what I generally liked and really enjoyed my play times as they synergy of skills really spoke to my play style. While I felt my usual go-to Dunmer Assassin to be underpowered and frankly a bit boring, the Altmer Mage, I created when the Ebonheart quests got stale do to bugs my first session, quickly became my favorite and I stuck to it through the remaining sessions.

Now, this was a beta test, so there were a lot of bug. No, really, a LOT of bugs, frustrating at points. Some quests were fatally broken and I had to play areas way above my level, giving rewards I was not powerful enough to equip, just to progress. Walls disappeared, characters did not spawn, I fell through the sky a few times. I am hoping they have a lot of fixes at work on the private test servers, or hidden up a sleeve, because it was a bit rough, and with early release a week away, it would be a lit of work from what I last saw to be ready for launch. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the game and if you are OK with the $15/mo fee, I highly recommend this as a really nice MMO with fresh look and feel. I just hope they have it polished a bit more for paying customers.

I could bore everyone to death listing the details of the game that are out there, but there are many sources of this already. I just want to share my experiences. Typically I am drawn to single player games. To me they tend to have a richer story. Also I rarely have enough time to get anywhere near as good as serious core gamers. I am not quite a casual, but time is becoming more difficult to find for gaming and single player games move at your own pace. I could put hundreds of hours into a game, but it may take me more time to do it than many others, I spent all of my time in the first beta and half in the second beta only playing quests. I liked the quests quite a bit. They were very much like typical Elder Scrolls type quest, with only the slightest generic RPG feel. There really were not man, kill 50 of these, find 20 of those, style quests which have plagued games recently. I thought I could be content with PvE for a while. That being said, the PvP is really fun. I felt like it could not give proper feedback on the  game without trying everything and I was glad I did. When you find a large group rush attacking a keep, it is really quite entertaining. The siege weapons are really a nice touch as well. These experiences are really more immersive than I would have thought. Enemies are also scaled. When you may be level 20, fighting a level 50 enemy, it is still do-able.

Crafting, I did not love. I didn’t hate it, but it was nowhere near as good as in Skyrim. I did fairly well, got up to decent levels, but I can’t see spending as much time smiting or crafting in this as I did in Skyrim. Same with enchanting, really different, and not nearly as enjoyable. Again, not terrible, just not as good.

The group dungeons and Skyhooks are another great addition, but they really require groups. Groups are easy to find or join, but this is a big departure from Elder Scrolls play and really a more typical MMO type of activity.

Overall I was please with the game. the bugs were frustrating, but it was a beta, they are expected. I have high hopes for this game. I would recommend it to ES players looking for a more expansive world, or MMORPG players looking for something fresh. If you have any questions about the game, let me know. I will have a new book write up later this week as well.