Poll: The Elder Scrolls Online and the Imperial Edition

[Hagi]

Bit of a rant ahead, feel free to just skip it and vote in the poll as well as discussing what you think about the whole Imperial Edition thing.

So there I was, actually genuinely looking forward to the Elder Scrolls Online.

I'm sure you're thinking already, what a sucker, who's going to buy a subscription MMO in this day and age?

Well I was planning to, I don't mind subscription fees. I generally put in hundreds of hours, if not thousands, into MMOs so I'm getting more than my money's worth for the price of basically a single movie ticket. Especially since Zenimax went on saying that the subscription fee was there to ensure all content would be available without hassles and pay-walls. You'd just transfer the 15 bucks a month and you'd get the whole deal without having running into any content balanced around getting you to spend money in their cash-shop.

And then the Imperial edition hit. A more expensive edition you have to buy before even getting reviews of how the game is at launch in order to unlock an entire new race. Content behind a pay-wall.

So here I am now, actually feeling pretty dang disappointed. Yeah, I knew ESO was created to cash-in on the MMO craze, I knew it wasn't going to some sort of magical savior of the MMO genre. But I thought it'd be fun and I liked things like the first-person view. I was looking forward to spend at least a few months having a good time with this game.

But now I can't. Because it turns out I can't trust Zenimax to just give them money each month and just get my MMO for that, without hassles, without pay-walls. So I guess it's back to waiting until another potentially good MMO comes out, hopefully this time published and made by companies with some principles.

So yeah, besides my rant, what do you guys think about the whole ESO and Imperial Edition thing?

 

[endtherapture]

They're just milking TES fans for this game.

I was in the beta - it sucked btw, and I wasn't going to buy it anyway, P2P is outdated when there's so many good F2P and B2P MMOs but it seems there's just going to microtranscations and limited content on top of that so I see the entire game as a joke right now.

 

[dyre]

I haven't been following ESO much, but from what little I've seen my opinion of the game has changed over the past few months from "wtf, I don't want an Elder Scrolls MMO, let alone a pay to play Elder Scrolls MMO" to "hmm, this game might actually be decent, but I'll wait a few weeks/months after release for the reviews to come out before making a decision."

I just looked this Imperial edition stuff up, however, and I agree that it's bullshit. I has assumed Imperial would be kindof the "default" race, and planned on playing one if I did end up picking up the game, but now I guess I'll have to play a Breton or some shit. Maybe a Redguard, if they keep the cool Arab desert clothing artstyle.

 

[Barbas]

It's hard enough to get me to stick to something like an MMORPG, but the inflexibility of a subscription model puts me off the idea completely. I rarely buy games at launch now and it takes a great deal to convince me to pre-order something or pay extra for some sort of "Special Edition". So far, I see no redeeming qualities about this game. It hasn't even come out yet and my expectations of it are very low.

I'd rather stick to the older Elder Scrolls games I already have.

 

[Jynthor]

You didn't even mention the pre order bonus which allows you to play any race in any faction. Which you will also have to pay for after release.

When this game got announced I was extremely sceptical, then after many months I got interested. However when I got my beta key and actually played the game... let's just say the game fucking sucks.
Take comfort in knowing this game will crash and burn like every MMO before it. It looks like they're trying to get as much money as possible before that happens.

 

[BearShark]

It's frustrating, but not enough to make me not play the game just yet. I've been waiting too long and have gotten too excited to turn back now.

 

[elvor0]

They're just milking TES fans for this game.

I was in the beta - it sucked btw, and I wasn't going to buy it anyway, P2P is outdated when there's so many good F2P and B2P MMOs but it seems there's just going to microtranscations and limited content on top of that so I see the entire game as a joke right now.

You didn't even mention the pre order bonus which allows you to play any race in any faction. Which you will also have to pay for after release.

When this game got announced I was extremely sceptical, then after many months I got interested. However when I got my beta key and actually played the game... let's just say the game fucking sucks.
Take comfort in knowing this game will crash and burn like every MMO before it. It looks like they're trying to get as much money as possible before that happens.

What didn't you like about it? Because I thought it was pretty good for the point it was at, not fantastic, but remember, it was quite clearly in BETA, so there were quite a few elements missing or not functioning properly.

 

[Nikita Pronin]

un imp race isnt the bees knees, this game is great and i hope none of yall get it so i can hog the greatness all to myself

 

[00slash00]

My feelings about this game have jumped around so much but now I've settled on, hell no. I wasn't expecting much but enjoyed the beta a few months back and started to consider actually paying the monthly fee. Then I played the beta again a few weeks ago and I'm just so overwhelmed with this feeling that I was playing Skyrim that had been forced in to an mmo. It didn't really feel like an mmo (except for having to compete with other players for kills) and it felt like I was playing Skyrim but with even shittier combat. I found myself wishing that the game had been single player because unlike other mmos where other players are what makes the game fun to play, in this other players just kind of felt like a nuisance. I like to play stealthy characters and sneak around everywhere but that really isn't an option in this game. When I tried sneaking around, warriors and mages would kill all the enemies before I was even in range. And the whole first person thing felt very much like a gimmick. I honestly forgot it was even an option most of the time. The game starts in 3rd person so I got the impression it was a 3rd person game that you could play in first person if you wanted (to your disadvantage), as opposed to a game like Skyrim which was a first person game that could be played in 3rd person (to your disadvantage). Anyone playing ESO in 3rd person has an advantage over someone playing in first person, because they can see more of the area, giving them greater tactical advantage.

 

[suitepee7]

i don't have the time to invest in an MMO at the moment, and the next one i do get into will be - as usual - WoW when the next expansion hits. i could consider TESO if the reviews are overwhelmingly positive with good endgame, but i wouldn't count on it

 

[XenoScifi]

I played in a few of the closed beta tests. I did not care for ANY of the story or voice acting. I did however enjoy how the combat was. Nothing special about it, but it worked for me. The game (when I was able to log in and test) was very solid and I experienced no lag or slowdown on my aging PC. I was very much going to subscribe to this as it's general art direction and controls were something I wanted over, say, Wildstar.

Then the news about the preorders. I do not mind them, HOWEVER, to get us to preorder by holding an entire race choice hostage...NO NO NO! Also allowing a full unlock of all the races to any faction?! Whoever is in charge or marketing decisions should be fired...NOW and this needs to be changed before launch. Look around the internet. Most think this is a horrible idea and I agree.

No, I think I'll skip this one now.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I find this whole thing that they have made with the Collector's Edition rather disgusting.

They have the gall to ask for a sub fee along with buying the game and a in game shop. And now they add an exclusive race to a version where you can't get anywhere else if you don't buy that version. What the fuck are you thinking Zenimax? This will bury you deeper than that joke of a game called SWTOR that failed miserably.

The gameplay they showed of it in that dungeon from PAX made me cringe, especially since they showed it in first person (almost made me rip my hair out from anger).

So all in all I couldn't give two shits about this game and will probably try it out when it goes free to play. I bet it will go faster than ToR did. Those were my thoughts about this whole thing.

 

[Abe Mac]

I was really looking forward to this game, as I am, a huge Elder Scrolls nerd and I was looking forward to a game that would expand the lore. However, my interest has waned based on the race-specific factions, especially since this means my friend and I will not be able to play together, as I normally play a redguard and he normally plays a dark elf.
Of course, one or both of us could just change races, but why would I want to that?

This artificial (and frank;y racist) limitation on races playing together is what put me off initially, and I was further appalled when I looked at the price: $60 plus a $15 monthly subscription? The first year alone will cost me over $200! This may be common fare for some EVE/WoW people, but I am accustomed to playing Dungeons and Dragons online, which I've never spent a dime on.

Final decision: I'll probably wait a couple months after release, see what the reviews are and if any of my friends get it before making a decision.

 

[Voulan]

As Elder Scrolls is among my favourite game series, I was so terribly excited and ecstatic when they announced TESO. When they announced the subscription fees I was bitterly disappointed because I knew I wouldn't be able to afford renting a game I don't actually own, and couldn't justify it.

And then they announced this Imperial Edition. So, if I'm right, you have to pay full price to get the game, a monthly fee to play the game, along with in-game bonuses from shops in the game, and potential paid-for DLC further down the line, and finally they have a preorder edition that paywalls one of the more desired races and gameplay options that come with it. I'm beginning to get angry. How much more obvious do they want the game to look like a fat, glistening cash cow?

Now I want the game to fail and go free to play. At least then I'll actually get to play a new instalment in my favourite franchise. At least, one where I can play and adventure with friends.

 

[Branovices]

I think it's a nice way to keep there from being too many Imperials around, which would screw with the lore in the game.

 

[endtherapture]

They're just milking TES fans for this game.

I was in the beta - it sucked btw, and I wasn't going to buy it anyway, P2P is outdated when there's so many good F2P and B2P MMOs but it seems there's just going to microtranscations and limited content on top of that so I see the entire game as a joke right now.

You didn't even mention the pre order bonus which allows you to play any race in any faction. Which you will also have to pay for after release.

When this game got announced I was extremely sceptical, then after many months I got interested. However when I got my beta key and actually played the game... let's just say the game fucking sucks.
Take comfort in knowing this game will crash and burn like every MMO before it. It looks like they're trying to get as much money as possible before that happens.

What didn't you like about it? Because I thought it was pretty good for the point it was at, not fantastic, but remember, it was quite clearly in BETA, so there were quite a few elements missing or not functioning properly.

The beta was just dull and boring. The artstyle was okay, the world felt boring and flat, the quests were boring, the combat was unresponsive, the loot was boring and after my first hour I had literallly no desire to come back at all.

 

[VanQ]

As someone that had the chance to play the beta, please do NOT buy and support this game. It's like the ugly love child of SWTOR and WoW that was adopted out but not even the adoption place wanted it so they sold it off to whoever would give them money. And they decided that TESO fans hadn't been milked dry just yet, so they're selling it to you.

This game is an obvious cash grab full of NDAs and expectations that it will make enough money in the first 1-2 months to cover the costs and then it will go the way of SWTOR and GW2 where sparse and poor quality updates will be released every so often.

Do NOT support this new MMO business model that developers have discovered. The "milk franchise fans for 2 months to cover the costs of a poorly conceived MMO before letting it fade into obscurity" business model.

 

[Lil_Rimmy]

You really do have to love the butchering of the lore:

"So, we have this really cool 3 factions thing going down, with a few races making up each faction, right? How cool!"

"Oh, also we have no Imperials, because they are all universally evil now."

"But don't worry! If you wish to pay $140 dollars at the beginning, AND then $20 a month, you can play an Imperial! Isn't that cool? It's ok, Imperials make sense."

"Hey, you remember that 3 faction thing with the 3 races each? Yeah fuck that pay us more money and you can play any race in any faction do it do it now pay us."

"In other news - you can now PURCHASE your factions access to the Imperial City! Yes, that's right, for only $3,425 at the beginning, you can instantly and forever lock the Imperial city! All that siege stuff? GONE! You own it! And you get admin access for another 10 grand! And you get a pimping hat if you just pay us a few grand more! Pay us! Feed us! Become us! One of us! One of us!

One of us!

One of us!Oneofus!Oneofus!oneofus!oneofus!oneofusoneofusoneofus

One of us!"

... I may have taken that last one too far. I have always wanted a Eldar Scrolls multiplayer/co-op, because exploring a massive amazing world with friends is awesome. Then an MMO came along and I cried. This is not what I wanted in the slightest. A cash-grab in the extreme.