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Ryan Getchell

Username
Garbrac
Role
Member
Joined
December 2012
Last Active
December 2016
 
 
The End Game Challenge

Challenge, it’s what we truly crave when it comes to an MMO. Especially those with a subscription fee like The Elder Scrolls Online. No one wants to throw money at a game and have everything handed to them. Okay well there are some people, but they don’t count. Filthy casuals! When I say challenge, I am referring to the bang your head on the desk difficult. What I mean is something that can’t be completed in eleven minutes.


ESO as an eSport?

I believe Zenimax is testing the waters with a feature being shown only at conventions. Since E3, they’ve been demonstrating a 4v4v4 system where four players from each faction battle for ownership of a flag placed in the center of the map. This is exactly the type of small scale PvP players have been asking for, except it is lacking one key point, strategy. Whilst this is a great feature and it loads of fun, it is far from ready, at least in my eyes, and I will explain why.


Is ESO Going F2P?

If you went to any ESO related community forums prior to launch you’d see a common topic being discussed, Will ESO go Free to Play? This topic sparked some of the largest debates I’ve seen in the MMORPG community. However, after discussions comparing the pros and cons of the F2P model, the majority of the Elder Scrolls Online community did not want the F2P model. They wanted ESO to be a subscription based game.


Spotlight on the Latest PvP Changes

ESO offers me something that I can’t figure out, it keeps me entertained, it keeps me busy. I’m always trying to figure out new and better builds, and before WoW changed its talent system to incredibly simplified system, it too offered me this. However, there are aspects in ESO’s PvP that have me questioning their design idea. In this week’s column I want to address some of them and provide my ideas as to what would make ESO an even better experience for players.


Emperor Reset Please?

When The Elder Scrolls Online was in its Pre-Launch phase, one of the aspects that Zenimax used as a major selling point was the ability to be Emperor. Once you’ve earned it you’d be among the few who have accomplished such a feat. When Zenimax designed this system, the concept of Emperor flipping probably never crossed their minds. Even if it did, the idea of all three factions letting it happen was mind boggling.


Is ESO Worth Buying?

In my last column I asked a rather heated question, is ESO Dying? This is a question I get asked a lot during my livestreaming sessions. Another question I get asked is going to be the focus of this column. Is The Elder Scrolls Online worth buying?


Is ESO Dying or Just Carving a Niche?

The Elder Scrolls Online is just shy of being three months old. Three months isn’t very old for an MMO, especially since they are supposed to be played for years, but it’s long enough for players to know if they like the game or not. Which means do they continue to pay the subscription fee or cancel their account and look for the next greatest thing. In this week’s column I’m going to look at the question that has been plaguing the community for the last few weeks. Is ESO dying?


Craglorn - Is It What We Want?

With the release of patch 1.1.0, players have been debating if this is the type of PvE End Game they want to spend their subscription fee on. Trials, daily quests, and an entire zone dedicated to doing group content, is it what we want?


Battlegrounds - Do We Need Them?

Battlegrounds are something that The Elder Scrolls Online community has been asking for since the game was first announced. During a recent interview Brian Wheeler (Lead PvP Designer) commented on Battlegrounds in ESO. Are battlegrounds a required feature for ESO or can it strive without them?


ESO Hate

The Elder Scrolls Online sucks, it does not live up to its hype, it’s not an Elder Scrolls game, PvE is lack luster, someone stole my chest, end game is boring, ESO needs . Yes, ESO has flaws, not a game in the world is flawless. In this week’s column I’m going to take a look at the ESO / MMO community and try and explain why they have so much hate towards such a fantastic game.


Adventure Zones as End Game

End Game, those two little words can spark major debates. What exactly constitute as “End Game” content? Is End Game content in a MMO raiding, clearing high tier level content, receive epic items as a reward? Or is it just added quest and story arcs that progress the overall game timeline? Perhaps it is Tri-Realm PvP content. Whatever you consider to be End Game, the Elder Scrolls Online has it.


A Successful Pre-Launch?

MMORPG launches in the past have never had a good reputations. Players that are waiting for the servers to go live for the first time are usually met with an array of issues, ranging from not being able to connect to the game, stuck in a queue, or even persistent roll backs. If this is such a common problem among MMOs why hasn’t a developer come up with a solution to fix them?


The Longevity of PvP in ESO

We’ve all played them, MMORPGs with leveling caps, WoW, SWTOR, DAoC, GW2, I can go on for a while listing them but you get my drift. How much play time was during the leveling experience? Very little, right? Most of your time playing was at “end game” or level cap. This week I want to take a step back from all the hype of the Elder Scrolls Online launch and talk about something that might be over looked, the longevity of PvP in ESO.


Zenimax - A Good Guy Developer

A lot of people gave Zenimax a hard time when they first announced The Elder Scrolls Online. Even though Zenimax Online Studios is a sister company to Bethesda, it is a grand undertaking to take such a beloved series and convert it into a MMO. In this week’s article we’re going to ask a bold question, could Zenimax be one of the best companies that has developed an MMO?


A Deep Look at ESO's Racial Skills

It can be traced back to the very early editions of pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons (1974) and even Chainmail from (1971), possibly even further. Even back then, Special Racial Abilities were an important part to creating an immersive and unique game. We’re going to discuss character racial abilities and find which role each character will be best suited for in The Elder Scrolls Online.