Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG that got released in 2014 and is a part of the Elder Scrolls Series. It quickly got its reputation as a very unique and interesting game that enticed Skyrim lovers from all over the world. We are inside 2023 and if you are a newcomer you might be wondering if should you still give it a try.
Well, in this article we will be going over the most important things that make ESO and give you a summary of whether should you try it out or not. Let’s get started.
Elder Scrolls Online – Should You Play It In 2023?
Story & Setting
While kingdoms want to capture the throne all for themselves, you are going to be stuck in a big war between factions with 3 different alliances. All of these alliances have their lore and background that goes very in-depth and are very important for player factions and PVP.
You are going to create your character and be thrown inside this world of factions with a massive Daedric Invasion that affected the entire universe. And yes, like all the other Elder Scrolls games you are starting inside a prison which is a very good starting point.
Classes
All classes can fulfill any role and that is a very good thing about them. You are not locked into one or two roles just and you can simply swap skills morph your champion points and gear and you’ll take on a different role. It is very versatile and you won’t get that stuck feeling you might get in an MMO where you need to create a new character.
You have the classic roles here of a tank, healer, and DPS that are spread out in different roles as a magic caster, necromancer, physical damage dealer, stealthy fast attack type of character, and so on. There are 4 basic classes with an additional 2 locked behind DLC. One of the locked classes which is the Warden is considered the best class overall.
The important thing to say is that ESO always has a metaclass. It can shift and every class can become meta every once in a while.
Combat
The combat in ESO is different than the traditional WoW style. Here you will have a 1-second global cooldown on abilities rather than 0.5 in traditional games. You’ll have 2 bars that you can swap around back and forward quickly.
You’ll have 5 abilities and an ultimate or something like a super ability that has a big AoE effect whether offensive or defensive with buffs. You’ll be rotating in the front and back bars as you fight.
The best thing about it is the movement and fast action like blocking, dodging, sprinting, sprinting… you won’t get stuck in one place and just mash all the skill buttons. You’ll have stamina and magic as resources for doing your combat scenarios and it becomes much more about managing your resources than just taping your skills.
Leveling
There is a leveling system from 1 to 50 with a clunky progression system called Champion Points. It is very fun because every second you are getting some sort of progression. It really does follow a traditional Elder Scrolls leveling system game. There are a lot of things that you can level up more than just your character.
PvP & PvE
The PvE is what you’d expect. You are taking quests and usually, around the quest giver, there are around 20 people that will ruin your immersion. Then most likely you are going to see some other player doing the same quest as you. This is also the case when doing dungeons and instances. If you don’t mind the immersion breaking, the PvE is pretty good.
The PvP is very fun on the other hand. You will get moments where you’re fighting both with enemy players and random mobs sent to kill everything in their sight. It is hands down the most exciting PvP in any MMO out there at the very moment.
The big downside is the bad performance from the servers of 2012 that you’ll feel a lot throughout the big battles. At times you won’t be able to use your skills for 1 or 2 seconds just because of the server’s performance. Devs are working on fixing this problem and hopefully, in 2023 it will get fixed.
Monetization
ESO is a Buy To Play Game with a cheap base cost of around $20 and then you’ll have a monthly sub of around $15. Then on top of all that you’ll have to spend around $30 to $60 for getting the latest expansions or called Chapters. So yes, it isn’t very cheap to start playing ESO in 2023.
There are crates that you can buy in-game for getting some cosmetics and mounts. The crates work in the traditional RNG system with gambling your money in return for getting cool items. There are daily and weekly of how you can earn those coins but it will take you all year of playing the game to get 1 cool mount.
Housing
You can also do some housing if you are willing to pay in some extra cash. It costs a lot of gold and most of the time a lot of real money. It might cost you around $300 if you want to have a fully-fledged house. This is the most treasured part of the game, but also the most predatory and most players don’t like to take any part of it.
Summary
With all those information on the table, you can come to a conclusion yourself and decide whether ESO is a game for you or not. If you ask us, Elder Scrolls Online is a game that you should definitely give a try in 2023. It is very fun, and energetic and has a lot of positives that work over the negatives of it, and hopefully, the negatives might get worked on in the new year.
ALSO READ: Elder Scrolls Online: One Bar PvP Dragonknight Build | High Isle Update
