First of all I would like to make it very clear that the opinions stated in this argument are just that- opinions. Unless I provide a link to some kind of reliable source, the statements below are simply how I feel.

Well, I consider myself a die-hard Elder Scrolls fan, and have been on-board the Elder Scrolls train since Daggerfall back in 1996. Now, this is usually where “But I am sorely disappointed in The Elder Scrolls Online” Pops up. Well this is not the case for me, and honestly, I cannot keep reading articles and comments about how much this game will svck without stating my rebuttals any longer. I have played in the Beta events, so I do have some hands on experience with the game, just like many of you do I’m sure, so I will try not to pull facts out of my… Out of thin air. There are some things about ESO that I don’t agree with, such as the ability to be any race in any faction, and the locked off imperial race, I absolutely have my gripes with the game, but I believe it will be an amazing installment in The Elder Scrolls series, and I very much look forward to playing it at launch. So without further adeau:

My top 6 Rebuttals against Why the Elder Scrolls Online Will svck.

1. “I never asked for this!”

Some arguments I have seen about ESO revolve around the simple “fact” that there is/was no demand for an MMO Elder Scrolls game. Well, it may come as a shock to some people, but there ARE people who genuinely DID/DO want an ES MMO. Crazy, no? Yes, there is a very… vocal group that will stop at nothing to ensure the entire internet knows that they are after a drop-in, drop-out Borderlands style co-op system, BUT, there are also players that want to see Tamriel in all of its very populated and active glory. Large scale PvP battles in Cyrodiil, cities bustling with traders and craftsmen, a growing and ever changing economy, infinite player made guilds, diverse players, and frequent content updates. All those and more are things that I look forward to in ESO! These are things that, for the most part, you can’t have in games like Borderlands! I’ll admit, for those of you looking to form small raiding parties and roam from province to province, cleaning out dungeons and completing various tasks, perhaps the Borderlands approach would work for you. However that being said, you can do those things in an MMO too! Zenimax Online Studios have 5 games worth of Elder Scrolls lore (More if you count the spinoffs), so why shouldn’t they be able to take advantage of that in the largest scale way possible? Besides, who doesn’t want to spend 10 minutes outside a dungeon working out a working out a plan of attack only to have a member of the group charge in screaming “LEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!”?

2. “This is the end of the Elder Scrolls as we know it.”

This is a silly and groundless argument. While the single player games have been handled, and will continue to be handled, by Bethesda Game Studios, The Elder Scrolls Online is, in fact, being developed by Zenimax Online Studios, a development team specifically put together for this game. If that doesn’t show Bethesda’s love for their series, I don’t know what will. They literally created a new studio, just to make sure that the game will be true to the series, and to make sure that it has the proper amount of time, money, and care put into it that an Elder Scrolls game deserves. This allows Bethesda Game Studios to continue to focus on the single player experiences we all know and love.

3. “$15 a month? Why, I could buy…”

This is definitely a popular one. Listen guys, $15 a month is not a lot. I know there are those of you who have to get by on a tight budget, but if your budget is THAT tight, should you be spending money on any video games? I’m sure there are a lot of you who smoke out there, how much do you spend a cigarettes a month? I’d wager more than $15. How about fast food? Impulse buys online? Apps for your phone? There is an endless list of things that can be cut down upon to free up some extra cash. Budgeting really is key. I get that some of you don’t have the time to put into the game to make $15 a moth worth it. Well, then maybe an MMO isn’t for you, it svcks, but that’s the truth. Now, there are many of you arguing that if you spend $60 on a game, why should you need to spend an extra $15 a month? Well, think of that $60 as paying for the development process up until launch. Although most budget numbers for this game flying around are rumors, I can almost guarantee you a large chunk of cash went into it. So where does that $15 a month fit in? Server upkeep, frequently added additional content, Improvements to the game, you name it. When you think about the fact that lots of DLC is priced at $5-$15, is it really that unreasonable for Zenimax to seek compensation for the ongoing development and expansion of their game? “Well there are other games that are F2P!” you may exclaim. Yes, that is true, there are multiple business models available for MMOs. In my opinion, F2P games are frustrating to play. Why? Because the developers have no steady source of revenue from the game, so they have to cram ways to nickel and dime you around every corner. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that people tend to spend more money on cosmetic cash shop items then subscription fees anyways. And to be honest F2P just feels cheap to me, and that is just my opinion. Now, if ESO is released and Zenimax holds out on releasing the promised frequent content updates, then you have my permission to cry, because then we are not getting the proper bang for our buck. Now, the sub fees on the consoles. I do have sympathy for console gamers when it comes to this. Although I believe MMO’s are part of the PC world, console gamers should be able to enjoy them as well. Without paying an additional $60 a year. However, I believe that it is not Zenimax that should waive their fee, but Sony and Microsoft that need to make this game playable without their premium online packages.

4. “But I don’t like interacting with other people, I want to adventure on my own!”

Then don’t interact with other people, go adventure on your own. Seriously, minimize the chat window and pretend all the other players are just NPC’s. Is this really a valid argument? While I understand that some players prefer the feel of being the hero of their own adventure, there is no need to make a big fuss about sharing the game world with other players. If you want to play the game because it’s an Elder Scrolls game, well, this game is NOT part of the main series, it is a spinoff, wait until the next single player release. WHY are you attacking an MMO for forcing you to share the world with other players, it’s an MMO, that’s the point.

5. “Beta svck. Not g0ing 2 buy”

Oh. My. God. Every time I see someone post this, it frustrates the hell out of me. If you took part in a recent Beta event, then it was a STESS TESTING event. No, don’t complain about not being able to finish the story in beta. No, don’t complain about some features not being implemented in beta. No, don’t complain about the long loading screen times or server crashes and lag. These people who complain need to understand is that a STRESS TESTING event is not the same as a CONTENT TESTING event. Zenimax has professional testers who test content, and who are paid to do so. These beta events are not free demos of the game, they are a means for Zenimax to fill the server ABOVE capacity in order to make it crash, so they can record statistics and make improvements. This is why the loading screens are so long, and why there are so many server related problems. Don’t think your beta experience reflects what you will see in the finished product. Please.

6. “I want more Elder Scrolls in my MMO”
Alright, this one is a fair argument. I can understand how many Elder Scrolls fans may feel that this is merely an MMO with the Elder Scrolls title and skin slapped on. I can understand why they feel that way, but I do not agree with them. The Elder Scrolls series has a lot of lore behind it, so much lore that it is practically drowning in a vast ocean of lore. NPC conversations have always yielded interesting information, Exploration has always been a beautiful, rewarding experience, the various styles of architecture in the provinces as well as the cities within have always been diverse, quests have been generally enthralling, and I could go on. From what I have seen, ESO has all of these qualities. Yes, some things need to be tweaked or changed when put into MMO format, but if they weren’t, they would feel out of place, and then that would be complained about. A personally do not feel like a great amount of detail needed to, or has been, sacrificed in order to shift the Elder Scrolls universe into MMO format. If anything, I feel like the larger scale and player population will only make the qualities of the series stand out more. Holding conversations with NPC’s feels very similar to how it did in Skyrim, Scenery in this game feels VERY Elder Scrolls-y, Giant mushrooms, Ayelid architecture, Giant volcanos, sweeping deserts, forgotten swamps, this game has it all. Revisiting Morrowind was such an enjoyable experience, I have no doubt that the rest of the game will feel the same way. So all in all, NPC’s add to the lore, exploration is a rewarding experience, weapons and armor are diverse, crafting is fantastic, quests are not just fetch related, combat is familiar, everything feels very Elder Scrolls-y indeed.

Well that’s all for now folks, please take a few seconds to comment and tell me whether you agree or disagree with the points I have made, and if you guys can bring up enough good arguments, I will make sure to post a second round of rebuttals!

Feel free to reach me at mailto:sgwylde@hotmail.com Or check out my guild, The Ebonguard, on Facebook, Twitter, Tamriel Foundry, or our own official websitehttp://ebonguard.guildlaunch.com/.

#1-- I didn't ask for this

You give me heart attacks

I didn't want to care

But then I saw you there..

Anyways--nice little guide but haters gonna hate.

Big big big letters.... I need more coffee BrB with this.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa my eyes

Didn't realize the font was huge, sorry about that.

Much better now, thanks =)

Agreed on the BETA issue.

If anyone is going to base ESO on BETA then good, don't buy the game. It'll make for a better place without you there.

I think this is a very important point that many seem to be missing.

"If it lags this bad, and there are just four weeks to release, they will NEVER manage to fix it in the short time remaining!!!" - That seems to be a very common concern, from what i've seen in beta chat.

They built a server for 2 million players, then let 4 million players on it, and watched what would break and where and when. That was the whole point of stress testing. To know their limits, to know what/when to upscale and what can be downscaled, where the bottlenecsk are, etc.

But...but..... WoW was the first MMO *cries*

Use a smaller font mate .


What you are saying is that basically your opinion is not necessarily the majority opinion. While this is entirely correct; people with these different opinions typically don't understand that. The demand for a ESO MMO isn't the only demand that is being catered for here. There is also a demand for another AAA action MMO (the last one being GW2); the universe it occurs in is irrelevant. I fall into both groups, an ESO MMO sounds great - as does another polished action MMO.


In some ways it could be. MMOs present a very difficult problem lore-wise. E.g. WoW destroyed the possibility of another Warcraft RTS - at least until WoW reaches end-of-life (which won't be for another few years). Unless the developers come up with something smart, that is (e.g. releasing the single-player lore at the same time as the multiplayer). So it's not guaranteed to kill the single player series, but it could.


I could buy 5 coffees for that amount. 5 coffees would generally equal 50 minutes of enjoyment a month. If I play the game for hours a day I would get 128 hours of enjoyment for the same price. I agree completely.


Nothing to add, just QFT.

Good wall of text, agree with most of it. But seriously, decrease the font size.

Why should they let things such as logic and facts get in the way of a good rant. Saying that I do recall one poster a couple weeks back who was raging on ESO and was utterly convinced Zenimax Online was just a fake front for the Beth devs to develop ESO and be insulated from the backlash 'when it all went wrong'

This was even after info was shown to him that they were two distinct sets of dev teams.

Also the fact that all the EU players were also on the US servers with the US players for the beta contributed to the heavy loads and lag. Proper full on stress test really.

Thanks for sharing your views, i appreciate it! And done, sorry about that! Didn't realize it was so huge.

Well, I do not feel much of this kind votes need to be considered

1. “I never asked for this!”

So?

2. “This is the end of the Elder Scrolls as we know it.”

May be.

3. “$15 a month? Why, I could buy…”

So but whatever you want. Nobody forces you to buy anything.

4. “But I don’t like interacting with other people, I want to adventure on my own!”

Do not interact.

5. “Beta svck. Not g0ing 2 buy”

This is how MMO works. If someone means lags then it can always happen, if someone complains about bugged quests then it can always happen. It happens always - not only in betas. I would say this beta with stress test proven that ESO is fully playable.

6. “I want more Elder Scrolls in my MMO”

Ok.

Hmm, these are not very hard to discuss.

Don't forget that they might have been profiling the servers during the test. Profiling significantly impairs the performance of an application.