Elder Scrolls Online Beta

Same.

Finally managed to get some legitimate playing time in this weekend (6-8 hours instead of 2 or 3 before).

I wanted to focus on basic exploration and crafting this time around. It took a while but I finally figured out the crafting system for clothes and alchemy. The alchemy was pretty similar to previous games but for clothing and weapons I'm still kind of lost. It's a whole lot more complex than in previous games but seems to have the potential to be a whole lot more entertaining. From what I've seen, I like it.

I also like the banking system. It beats the hell out of having to remember what chest in which house you stashed a particular item.

The enchanting system is also an improvement. I didn't figure out how it worked until late on Sunday but the ability to create custom enchantments seems like another improvement.

I also got to do a good bit more exploration and was pretty impressed. The 'Wayshrine' system is convenient without losing the normal RPG feel of things. There is also plenty of stuff to do in each area even without the hundreds of caves, crypts, etc. that I'm used to seeing. The maps are standard Elder Scrolls which means that they aren't particularly good for plotting a decent route to an objective but they do give you a decent idea of where to head. One improvement I really like is that when you hover on a location it gives you some decent information regarding what's available at each location.

So far I'm not a big fan of the lock picking function but that's probably because I'm still not sure how it's supposed to work and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of locks to pick. It does seem that if you run across a chest and multiple users are trying to pick it the only one who gets any benefit is the one who finishes the job. That's fair but I'd like to see more chests if that's the way it's going to be.

Overall I really don't have much to gripe about. I was getting stuck after talking to many of the vendors (activity seemed to continue but I couldn't move). This was resolved by logging out and logging back in and I figure it's something that will be fixed in the Alpha. I'm also guessing that they figured out their server limits because Saturday night it was hard as hell to get logged in for a few hours.

On the whole I'm very happy with the game and looking forward to the open release.

I like the game for a variety of reasons, but not enough to pay for the game and then, pay a monthly subscription.

When ESO is released, I'll go back to fooling around with Aion and other F2P games until ESO is F2P.

Mycroft said:

I like the game for a variety of reasons, but not enough to pay for the game and then, pay a monthly subscription.

When ESO is released, I'll go back to fooling around with Aion and other F2P games until ESO is F2P.

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My only problem with the F2P games is that they seem to cluttered with tons of 'microtransactions' and I'd rather just pay a monthly fee than get nickel and dimed to death.

Lutherf said:

My only problem with the F2P games is that they seem to cluttered with tons of 'microtransactions' and I'd rather just pay a monthly fee than get nickel and dimed to death.

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Some are...some aren't.

Aion and Rift can be played without spending a dime. Other games...you can't get far without spending money.