They haven't done nothing and that's even more worrying. I am sure they are pulling their hair out right now wondering what in hell they are going to do now the latest attempt has crashed and burned, with no chance to mass test any new fixes.

I am in this game for the long haul but i want it to be the kind of success that keeps it going as a sub for years. If it launches in this state the game will be crucified and no amount of 'shut up, shut up, shut up' white knighting will stop that.

I agree with this. People who think this should make sure to say so in any survey that comes out next week.

I also think that the type of quests available on the starter islands are different than what you get in the cities. The starter islands provide gear and other benefits that I think are more than worth it. I gave them my thoughts using the in-game /feedback command.

I believe that ESO needed to make a strong showing this weekend in the popular opinion arena, and that may not be happening due to bugged quests and strange things happening with the launcher. This beta was as much a PR event as it was a test of how they applied what they learned from the last beta.

Just based on what I am seeing reported, if I were in the shoes of ESO project management, I would be very concerned. If they decide not to sweep this under the rug and fix it all after release, I would not be surprised at some sort of marathon development work this week followed by a surprise ("bonus") beta next weekend.

lol crash and burn? Some bugs during a stress event is crashing and burning? Ok...

You aren't picking up what I'm putting down. I've played every ES game, tons of MMOs, and almost every beta weekend (and I am quite good, if I do say so myself).

Once it gets going, it's fine. But compared to the last beta build, the new start areas give absolutely no heading to the player; it's as if the game was called "Amnesia Online"

Except, they specifically say in the email they sent that this IS the latest version. Let me quote-

Welcome back to the ESO beta! You are invited to participate in our upcoming test of the newest version of the game! This is our final large-scale beta event before Early Access. Join us from Friday, March 14th at 12:00PM EDT until Sunday, March 16th at 11:59PM EDT.

That leaves them only 2 weeks to fix everything. That's pretty concerning.

Again, the Dialog with the Prophet tells you what to do. He clearly says you can seek those that helped you ie go to the Islands, or you can start questing in the city and beyond.

The latest version yes, but not the last version or the final version. There is still the PTS going on and yes two weeks left.

The game runs pretty smoothly for me. I've only encountered 2 broken quests, the one where you find the assasins on the ship and "daughter of giants" you can't advance. I'm very pleased at how smooth it all is. It's a MMO, it's not going to be perfect. Move on to another quest or better yet put down the mouse and go enjoy some sunshine.

Not going to cry about the beta. Been playing over the past 4 beta tests. Yes there are bugs. I also understand that they are stress testing their megaserver.

I'm more taking the time to look at the different areas of the alliances. Trying out the different classes. Trying the different crafting professions.. and so on. PvP is AWSOME by the way if ya hadn't tried it yet.

If your crying.. please.. sit down and relax for a moment and drink a beer or somthin'..

My belief is that they cannot fix these quests and adequately test them on the PTS. The only way they can fix them and test the fix is with either another weekend beta or by using the Early Access people as beta testers. That is assuming that the "Early Access beta testers" are sufficient in quantity to do this sort of load testing.

I think they did it wrong. I think they should have continued to drop the player on the island, but added a way to move on quickly to the main city. That way feels like a short cut.

The way they did it feels like going backwards.

I'm starting to understand the stroke of genius Zenimax and Co are painting..

This stress test is meant to temper expectations a bit in the sense that on launch day, when the real game comes out and is far more polished people will be happy about the vast improvements which will only garner postive hype for ESO.

The scores of all the magazines will be based on retail, not this stress test and when something exceeds expectations it will grab sentiment.

If they know they have GOLD this would be the best strategy to win the masses over hard.

I have found questing to be very smooth, much better than last Beta.

I do agree with you about character animations, especially sprinting. They are awful, and look like they were made 10 years ago. I am also concerned about the amount of available skills... they are very limited. I tried making a mage character using sorcerer. There isn't even a basic fireball or bolt spell. You get an execute spell, and a crystal shard thingy, and thats literally it. No fireballs, no ice bolts, not even a lightning spell from the lightning class tree that you can use as a main attack. Templar and Nightblade have a wider selection and seem very fun to play.

Like I said, I have not seen any bugs and only 2 broken quests so far at level cap for the beta. I'm very impressed with how smooth and bug free it is so far, and happy with my purchase of the CE edition. For me it's only a video game and I'm not going to stress over it.