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Leaderboard: Does Elder Scrolls' lack of an auction house bother you?
Yesterday's Massively Speaking took Elder Scrolls Online to task for not having an auction house. Normally I would agree, given my long-standing passion for MMO economies and crafting. So far, though, the lack of an AH hasn't affected my playstyle at all through the first 30 levels. I'm a member of two trading megaguilds as well as my normal guild, and from the inside looking out, there's no difference between selling to thousands of faceless people in your "guilds" or selling to thousands of faceless people via an AH. I can't say whether ZeniMax purposefully designed ESO's economy this way or simply ran out of the time and money necessary to make an AH. But it doesn't really matter, personally, because my pre-launch expectations amounted to "yet another themepark crapfest," so I continue to be pleasantly surprised by how wrong those expectations were -- even without an AH! What about you, ESO players? Does the game's lack of an AH bother you? 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!
The Elder Scrolls Online patches for quest bugs
The Elder Scrolls Online didn't have a bad launch by any means, but it was certainly not free of lag or of bugs. Not much can be done about lag, but bugs exist to be squashed, and the latest patch from the game aims to do that. The patch notes clearly outline several known quest issues that should be eliminated after this latest update, giving players a much more stable story experience than has been on the table before. Other minor fixes and improvements include slight UI tweaks and minor bugs regarding movement and abilities. Players will also no longer accidentally deconstruct their equipped helmets, which is good news for players but bad news for the haberdashers of Tamriel. Check out the full list of fixes and changes in the official patch notes, and enjoy a smoother questing flow the next time you log into the game.
Choose My Adventure: Approaching level 10 in The Elder Scrolls Online
As I make the approach to level 10, I realize that The Elder Scrolls Online is not "just another fantasy MMO" as it's sometimes billed by skeptical players. I'm continuously finding myself pleasantly surprised by the storyline, the crafting, and world, and the execution of it all. And even though I'm playing it as a single-player game still at this point, it's not a single-player Elder Scrolls game. I'm dying way too much for that.
Elder Scrolls Online answers Craglorn questions
If you were intrigued by the reveal of Elder Scrolls Online's upcoming Craglorn zone expansion but felt as though there were gaps in your formal education, prepare to get schooled. ZeniMax posted a new community Q&A today about Craglorn. The studio said that there will be rewards for everyone, not just those who make the leaderboards. Players can expect to spend between a half-hour to 1.5 hours per trial with 60 resurrections allowed for the group as a whole, and they will need to be at least veteran rank 11 to participate. Some players had asked what these Celestials are, to which ZeniMax responded, "The Celestials are a new concept based on the existing lore of the constellations in The Elder Scrolls games. There's quite a bit of lore in Craglorn that will be interesting for fans to discover."
The Daily Grind: Do you feel pressured to level faster?
I've been playing Elder Scrolls Online pretty much daily since early release, but I just now dinged level 25 on my main character. I'd probably be a bit further along if I hadn't been consumed with altitis and some early-game decisional paralysis, not to mention I've spent a significant chunk of time crafting. I'm seeing a bunch of level 50s, though, and even though ESO is one of those rare themeparks that offers incentives for exploration and things to do off of the beaten paths, I'm feeling somewhat envious of all these higher-level folk. What about you, Massively readers? Do you feel any pressure -- either from yourself or from others -- to speed up your leveling process? 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!
One Shots: Bobble heads
Did we all have a good April Fools' Day this year? Oh hush you; this is why nobody invites you to parties. I certainly had fun, especially while running around with my giant bobble-headed characters in Guild Wars 2. Giant bobble heads are scientifically proven to make any video game 75% more enjoyable. Reader HawkEye sent me in a disturbing number of screenshots with his large noggins, but I chose this one because it also tickled me that the animals had their heads enlarged. "'Sup Mister Ram?" HawkEye said. "Don't headbutt me, okay? Please?" I think that creature more wanted to end its misery than contribute to yours, HawkEye, so hopefully you survived the experience. What other strange views await you in the rest of this column? Probably nothing this strange, that's for sure.
Elder Scrolls Online lowers the banhammer
Elder Scrolls Online cheaters beware! ZeniMax is taking aim at your head with its mighty banhammer. Community Manager Jessica Fulsom posted an announcement today of the studio's opening shots against evil-doers: "Today, we made our first major strike against those who choose to cheat in ESO, permanently banning thousands. This is only the beginning of our ongoing efforts to keep the game free from botters, speed hackers, and gold spammers. We want to thank everyone who has sent in-game reports about these individuals in ESO -- your reports helped us identify many of the accounts we banned today."
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite MMO-related song?
We talk MMO soundtracks in depth here at Massively, but by and large our focus is on instrumental, orchestral, or electronic scores. Recently I've been setting my MP3 player on auto-repeat for a vocal track, though. It's called Beauty of Dawn and it comes to you courtesy of The Elder Scrolls Online and fan favorite Malukah, who rose to fame a couple of years ago on the strength of her Dragonborn cover. What about you, Massively readers? What's your favorite MMO-related song (or artist)? 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 Think Tank: Putting The Elder Scrolls Online's launch in context
If you've been around the MMO industry long enough, you know that MMO launches rarely go smoothly for everyone. Some of them even crash and burn in such spectacular ways that veterans are still invoking their names a decade later. This week, I polled a few of the Massively staffers about the launch of the Elder Scrolls Online. How did it fare compared to some of the trainwrecks in MMO history?
Elder Scrolls Online recommends third-party auction forum for trading
One of the more interesting omissions from Elder Scrolls Online's feature set is a lack of an in-game auction house, as the team preferred guild stores instead. But that hasn't stopped the fans from filling in the gap and even the developers from pointing players to the workaround. ZeniMax tweeted a recommendation today that fans check out TESO Elite's Marketplace forum as a facilitator of in-game trading: "Looking to buy, sell, and trade in-game goods and services in #ESO? Then @TesoElite's new marketplace is for you." The studio previously explained why it decided to omit an auction house from the MMO: "You don't necessarily want to do a global auction house for a game with one giant server because that generally leads to all the best gear being available at very, very cheap prices. A lot of times that can trivialize the game. You cannot have a healthy economy when there are no restrictions on getting the best stuff in the game."
Chaos Theory: Funcom flubbed it with The Secret World's mankinigate
I'd rather be focused on the four new investigation missions that just launched in The Secret World, even though I need much more time to complete them all, or yammering on about Tokyo coming next month (did you catch that in the director's letter?). But as the fates would have it, Funcom did something else this past week that has nabbed attention and necessitates a little scrutiny. Mankinigate. Last week during the notable first of April shenanigans, The Secret World poked fun at the fact that female outfits in games (including TSW) are stereotypically skimpy while males get adventuring gear. The item store offered the "Gender Equality" clothing pack: full scuba gear for females and a mankini for males. As hideous as I think the mankini is, I appreciated this obvious jab at stereotypes, not to mention the fact that Funcom listened to players who've requested revealing attire for their male avatars. But then with no real explanation given at the time, the makinis were yanked not only from the store but from players' inventories as well.
Choose My Adventure: Elder Scrolls Online welcomes another Khajiit
I'd like you all to welcome your new character in The Elder Scrolls Online: Fa'saad! Get it? Fa'saad...like façade because he's a sneaky Nightblade ... oh nevermind. The character you created for me is a male Khajiit Nightblade from the Ebonheart Pact. I will be playing him for the rest of the month from the perspective of a veteran MMO gamer who is excited to see what this year's triple-A MMO can bring to the table not only for MMO fans but for fans of the Elder Scrolls series. This week's article will be an introduction to the character and more polls for you to vote on to help this character progress in the early game.
The Secret World's Joel Bylos takes on mankinigate
The Secret World's Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos has just posted an explanation for last week's mankinigate episode. As we reported on April 4th, a mankini outfit for male characters was added to the game's cash shop as part of the April Fools' Day patch but was later removed from that shop and from those who had purchased it, with no reason given. Today, Bylos told forumgoers that the mankini wearables were always intended to be a limited-availability April Fools joke and that players were meant to keep them. But... Funcom management feels strongly that the Mankini outfit goes against what The Secret World intellectual property (IP) is all about and they did not want this item to stay in the game permanently. We all agree on the fact that The Secret World should be the best urban contemporary horror MMO out there, and they want to make sure that everything we bring into the game stays true to the setting and the atmosphere we have created – however it is safe to say that there is sometimes disagreement on nuance. For that reason, Management made the decision to pull it from the game entirely. While he disagrees with purging the gear from those who bought it, he stresses that it was "pulled due to concerns over the integrity of the IP, not because of the gender or skimpiness of the outfit." The female wetsuit has also been removed from the store but will remain wearable by those who purchased it. [With thanks to tipster Snurx! We've included Bylos' entire post after the cut.]
The Secret World's Sidestories: Further Analysis is now live
Funcom's latest Secret World DLC is now available for purchase. Sidestories: Further Analysis marks a departure from the regular issue-based release structure and features four new investigation missions designed to test your puzzle-solving skills and deliver "four fresh stories spread throughout the game world." The DLC is available in the game's item store. It costs 960 Funcom points if you have a F2P account, with discounted rates applying to subscribers and lifetime members.
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!
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!
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!
Funcom yanks mankini costume from The Secret World
Players who logged in this week to The Secret World might have noticed that there was a new male costume option in the game store: a neon green mankini that covered very, very little. However, those who purchased said mankini discovered the costume gone today, as Funcom pulled the April Fools' Day outfits from characters' dressing rooms, refunded the points spent on them, and gave each previous owner a free mystery box. While there was no explanation as to why the outfit was removed, Funcom apologized for the handling of the joke on the forums: "You may or may not be aware, but the mankini was removed. Anyone that purchased the item has been refunded points and has received a mystery box for the inconvenience. However, if you had purchased points in order to buy the mankini, you can contact customer service for a refund of those points. We're terribly sorry for the trouble, folks. Our CS staff will be happy to help."
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!
