My thoughts on Elder Scrolls Online · 7:37pm Jan 15th, 2014
When I got the invitation to the beta, I made sure everyone in the world and my aunt pretended I was dead during that weekend, and almost everyone who dared disobey that simple rule got this treatment:
So I spent most of the weekend playing the game. I can't say a damn thing about it unless I want to get myself in legal issues I can't afford getting into, so this reaction will have to do:
The game needs some tinkering here and there, which is expected considering it's a beta, but it's overall an amazing game and I'm looking forward to either betatesting it further or getting it and playing it.
As a veteran gamer, I've played several MMOs, and unfortunately most of them tend to look alike each other, at least engine-wise. I've heard countless times the "this game is going to dethrone World of Warcraft!" babble, and almost every time that happened, the "usurper wannabe" was basically a reskinned version of WoW. Same combat system, same gaming style, same everything, but customized to fit the game's universe. It's understandable, though; It's a system that has proven to work, so why not? Most of these MMOs that tried to take down WoW as the leader of the genre committed suicide by releasing their own games AT THE SAME TIME World of Warcraft released an expansion. We all know how that went every time.
Notorious franchises also failed at this, and KOTOR Online is the best example I can think of. It gives me some faith as a gamer and fan that not even the most hardcore fanboys will revere everything that has their heroes' names attached to it. Yeah, I'm a huge Mario fan since I was 5, but I refuse to play hockey games, so no matter if they make a Mario Hockey, I won't buy it. And I'll force feed it to whoever gives it to me. Back to the point, though; those guys had a HUGE fanbase willing to back them up (which also means they had a HUGE army of people they could piss off with a mistake big enough). The game, unfortunately, fell into the "great idea, awful execution" hell. I'm not a super fan of Star Wars (saw the original trilogy and Phantom Menace), but I could still see how awesome it could've been. And the end result was quite disappointing, and for such a universe, it's something that bashes you.
I actually loved playing ESO, but I don't think it'll be the famed "game that will dethrone WoW"; mainly because that's not the mentality I have. It shouldn't see itself as the usurper of the MMO crown, but a competitor; an "option B" that has not only a huge and alluring lore, but also people behind it that actually know how to use it to make the story appealing and the experience welcoming. Do I want ESO to be that competitor? As a fan of the Elder Scrolls saga since Morrowind, I want it to happen. And as a beta player, I have a small hope that it will happen.
On the note of games being released whenever a new WoW expansion comes out? That is all Blizzard. When a new MMO has its release date announced, Blizzard times their next expansion release to come just after it, pulling their players back. KOTOR tried their best at avoiding this by announcing the release date super close to when it actually happened, but Blizzard had the Mists of Pandaria expansion on standby anyway it seemed.
As to ESO. . . really hoping things pan out with it.