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Postcards from The Elder Scrolls Online: Harry Potter and the Realm of Introduction
Welcome to Postcards from The Elder Scrolls Online, a look at Bethesda's new MMO. Stay tuned for more entries in the coming weeks. Prior to writing about games for a living, I was spending much more time on MMOs than I do now. Once upon a time, I was hell-bent on topping the Everquest 2 server leaderboards for quests completed, and I put more hours into that game than I did my university course (maybe that's not saying much). After that, I got up to Level 65 in World of Warcraft – I even queued up for the Burning Crusade launch, something I've not done for any other game. Since then I've had brief skirmishes with Rift, The Old Republic, and Final Fantasy 14, but no MMO has grabbed me (and my time) like EQ2 and WoW did. Still, the pangs are always there, so when Richard asked if I wanted to check out The Elder Scrolls Online, I was happy to. If anything, Bethesda Game Studios' recent efforts had done great jobs of satiating my hunger for games gone by. Skyrim in particular felt like a single-player MMO, constantly rewarding me for every little thing I did in its timesink of a world. So, don't consider this a review of TESO. Instead, it's offered as my musings on returning to the fold with Bethesda's first foray into it. And in my first week I encountered Harry Potter flashbacks, smart-talking cats, and almost-naked epiphanies. [Images: Bethesda]
Here's a look at ESO's first major content update
Ready for Elder Scrolls Online's first major content update? Me too, but since it's not out yet, we'll have to make do with this video preview. It's a four-minute clip detailing the Craglorn adventure zone, which is aimed at high-level players and features new quests, incentives to explore, main story updates, dungeons, and quite a bit more. Click past the cut to see for yourself!
Elder Scrolls debuts second in UK, FIFA 14 reclaims the throne
It's not a No. 1, but Bethesda may be quietly satisfied with how The Elder Scrolls Online fared in the UK. The MMO's launch on Windows PC and Mac was enough to take it up to second place, and there are still PS4 and Xbox One versions to unravel in June. As it is, we may have to get used to the name currently on top of the UK charts. FIFA 14 is now up to 11 weeks in total (non-consecutive) as the country's No. 1, and - as if it needed the help - the English soccer season is excitingly close this year, and there's a World Cup just two months away. In related news, let's go live to the scene at EA Sports HQ... [Image: Bethesda]
The Daily Grind: What's your definition of a polished MMO launch?
I feel bad for ZeniMax, because it put itself in a bit of a no-win situation when it declared that Elder Scrolls Online's launch would be "polished" and "lag-free." The first of those terms is of course subjective, and there's quite a bit of wiggle room in the entire statement, but even so it was the equivalent of painting a bullseye on your chest and inviting the chorus of anti-ESO snarkanauts to take their best shot. From my 50-hours-of-playtime perspective, though, the launch has in fact been completely lag-free. It's also been one of the more polished overall launches I've experienced in a number of years, though I wouldn't say it's number one (Lord of the Rings Online had fewer quest bugs out of the gate, which was all the more impressive since smooth MMO launches were unheard of in 2007). In any case, what's your criteria for a "polished" MMO launch? Assuming you played ESO last week, does it qualify? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Skyrim-inspired engagement takes a marriage proposal to the knee
Life in the province of Skyrim may be harsh and brief, but that doesn't mean that gamers inspired by the land of dragons, daedra and frost trolls (oh my!) can't have soft, warm hearts. One gamer's sweetheart proved this when he proposed to her using a real-life Amulet of Mara, which unlocks the option to marry certain NPCs in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Speaking to Kotaku, Sarah Briody said that when her boyfriend, whom she introduced to Skyrim, offered her the amulet, she didn't recognize the significance right away. "I put it on and he started to smile from ear to ear. Then he said: 'Is that an Amulet of Mara? I'm surprised someone like you isn't spoken for.'" We hope he said it with a thick Nord accent. You know, for authenticity. Briody's partner also proposed in the more traditional way, by kneeling and offering a ring. Briody posted images of the engagement ring and amulet on Reddit, where people promptly speculated that the couple met 10 minutes before their engagement, presumably after Briody's now-fiance fetched her a mammoth tusk. [Image: Sarah Briody via Reddit]
The Elder Scrolls Online runs into free sub time billing issues
The early access period is over, and The Elder Scrolls Online has launched. Unfortunately, it's running into a bit of a subscription problem. Thirty days of free time are included with the box purchase, something that most subscription-based games include; that's not the problem. The problem is that the game won't let players start in on those 30 days of free time until a subscription has been set up... and paid for, it appears. At the moment, cards used to set up accounts are being charged the subscription cost immediately as a verification measure, which means that players who are not able to pay yet are locked out of the game. This is a strange state of affairs, obviously; most verification charges are for a single dollar, but people are reporting a full month's charge being applied immediately. It's most likely a mistake, although it can cause problems for those looking forward to playing on the free month during the launch weekend. [Thanks to anonymous for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Are you making a vampire or werewolf in ESO?
Vampires and werewolves may be somewhat cliche nowadays, but they have a long and, in my opinion, fun history in the Elder Scrolls series. So I was happy to see ZeniMax include the option to become one or the other in The Elder Scrolls Online, and I was even happier to see that to do so requires a rare spawn or a bite delivered by an infected player. At some point, I'll be turning my Nightblade into a werewolf, just as I did with my Skyrim character. What about you, ESO players? Are you going all supernatural with one of your avatars, or is that not really your thing? [Thanks for the links, Dengar!] Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Elder Scrolls Online launch trailer has trebuchets, lacks mud crabs
The Elder Scrolls Online is now available on PC and Mac, and Bethesda offered up a new trailer today to prove it. The game will arrive on PS4 and Xbox One in June, but those looking to pick up the MMO today should keep our starter guide on hand.
Massively's Elder Scrolls Online's launch-day roundup
Though The Elder Scrolls Online launched its early access period Sunday, the game's official launch day is today, and those of you who didn't preorder can finally log in and kick some Molag Bal butt. To celebrate the launch and help out anyone who's wandering around Tamriel lost and confused, we've rounded up the best of our Elder Scrolls Online content -- our guides, key news, livestreams, previews, and opinions. Enjoy!
Massively's Elder Scrolls Online launch diary: Day five - The (early) verdict
Is it Friday already? Huh. This launch week has gone by fast, which I guess is a good sign for ZeniMax since time flies when you're having fun. My fifth day in Elder Scrolls Online was a bit more subdued than the previous four. I'm currently floating around Glenumbra between levels 12 and 13, waiting on my healer and tanker friends to catch up so that we can run Spindleclutch, also known as ESO's first proper Daggerfall Covenant PvE dungeon. There are numerous public crypts available for exploration and pillage prior, but Spindleclutch is the first big-boy boss-based four-man. But I didn't feel like pugging it last night, so instead I started crafting.
The Elder Scrolls Online is here, and so is its launch trailer
ZeniMax has put to rest the debate over whether or not The Elder Scrolls Online's early access counted as a launch with an actual launch -- at least for PC gamers. Consolers, you still have a few months more to wait. Sorry dudes. We've got the official launch-day trailer after the break; stay tuned for our launch roundup and the final installment of Jef's five-part launch-week diary later today.
See Skyrim reimagined as the Game of Thrones intro
Using the same clockwork aesthetic seen in the Game of Thrones introduction, the above footage takes us on a tour of Skyrim's locations, from Solitude's craggy cliffs to Markarth's dank mines - all without killing a single beloved character. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
Elder Scrolls Online downtime prepares for launch day [Updated: The game is back, and we are go for launch]
Early access to Elder Scrolls Online is ending, and as such the team has taken both of the megaservers offline in preparation for launch day tomorrow. The downtime for the game, store, and account services is estimated at a few hours. Once ZeniMax plugs everything back in, players will see a few big changes in the game's store. The updated store will offer subscription billing, upgrades to the Digital Imperial Edition, and the Palomino horse mount. In-game mail will also be restored. [Thanks to Space Cobra for the tip!] [Update: The game is back up and ZeniMax has officially declared it a launch!]
There are 5.0952187*10^58 possible character variations in Elder Scrolls Online
On the eve of The Elder Scrolls Online's "official" launch, Bethesda has released an infographic with all kinds of big numbers relating to its new fantasy MMO opus. For example, did you know that you would need to kill 119,050 mud crabs to reach level 50? Or how about the fact that there are 2,235 books filled with 480,000 words in the game? There are over 40 million weapon variations too, as well as some huge number of possible character variations that my math-averse mind can't even read, let alone comprehend. Click past the cut for the full infographic.
Massively's Elder Scrolls Online launch diary: Day four - PvP
My fourth day In The Elder Scrolls Online didn't start until well after 3:00 p.m. thanks to the North American megaserver going down in the wee watches of Wednesday morning and remaining down for several hours. When it came back up, the first thing I did was load into Doshia's Lair outside Daggerfall with a pickup group that intended to finish a Fighter's Guild quest called Anchors From the Harbour. Unfortunately none of us could see the others' avatars inside the instance, so after several attempts at reloading and relogging, we abandoned ship [Ed. note: Yes it's a solo quest, which wasn't in any way made clear to the group trying to enter it!]. While additional data like this has caused me to reassess my earlier observations about ESO's smooth (pre-)launch, it hasn't affected my overall enjoyment of the game. In fact, ESO would need quite a few more bugs and several more days of downtime to qualify as a "bad" launch. If you disagree, well, I question how many MMO launches you've actually experienced.
Leaderboard: What's your favorite aspect of Elder Scrolls Online so far?
Judging by the masses of players I see running around in The Elder Scrolls Online, it's a safe bet that many of you are joining me in the game's early access launch. So far I'm having a good time with it, but I'm more interested in what you think. Assuming you're playing and enjoying ESO, what's your favorite aspect of the game thus far? Questing? PvP? Lore? Something else? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Elder Scrolls Online struggles with downtime and disables guild functionality
Smooth, polished, and... offline? Elder Scrolls Online's NA megaserver was down for the better part of today for "inventory-related issues," although these have been addressed and the game is back up and running after over 12 hours of work. The devs pushed out a small patch when the server came back up that fixed various issues, including broken quests that blocked player progression. It also appears that guilds have been neutered for the time being: "All guild functionality has been temporarily disabled. We will notify you when it has been turned back on. When guild functionality is returned, all guild-related tools and functions will be as they were before we turned them off." One bright spot for the day is that the Elder Scrolls Online soundtrack is now available on iTunes. [Update: ZeniMax just announced downtime for the EU megaserver.]
Choose My Adventure: The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online has launched into its early access period, and I couldn't be more excited for the timing on this new edition of Choose My Adventure. I've always been a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series, but I didn't have access to this MMO beta for various reasons. As I stated in my last column, I even avoided reading impressions articles here at Massively because I wanted this to be a fresh experience for me. I'm kinda weird like that. But I've purchased the game now and have been enjoying myself this week during early access. Of course, I'm still saving the good stuff for this column, and I don't plan to release my impressions until a future article, but I'll reiterate that I'm very excited about this next month.
Massively's Elder Scrolls launch diary: Day three - Questing, story, and more
I'm just about to level 10 as the sun sets on day three of my Elder Scrolls Online pre-launch experience. After plenty of decisional paralysis on Sunday, I settled on a Redguard Nightblade and spent Monday and Tuesday leveling him through Stros M'kai, Betnikh, and the city of Daggerfall. Now I'm working my way northeast through the wilds of Glenumbra, stopping occasionally to assist the citizens of Deleyn's Mill and clean up the Vale of the Guardians.
ESO's sub model was a 'mutual decision' between Bethesda and ZeniMax
Elder Scrolls Online's subscription model wasn't handed down from on high by parent company ZeniMax. It was instead a "mutual decision" between ZeniMax and Bethesda, according to company PR guru Pete Hines. "It wasn't like they decided it, and we didn't mandate it. There was a lot of conversation around it," he told Games.On.Net. Hines also explained that the future of ESO's business model will depend entirely on whether customers see the game as a fair value, and not on prevailing industry trends. "What's going to determine whether or not it succeeds or fails is not really tied to what anyone else has done, it's tied to 'do we make a strong enough argument for the value that you get for your fifteen dollars,'" Hines said. "If we're providing the kind of content people want to see where they're like 'this is awesome, I'm having a blast, this new stuff is totally worth it and I'm having fun,' then the subscription totally works."
