Welcome to this sixteenth day of March, 2015.   I’m John “Boomjack” Hoskin and this is Here Comes The Boom – EP #33.

Rising like a Phoenix... or a drunken monkey

First things first... J!NX has some cool stuff on sale in their Boss Battle promotion. 

J!NX Boss Battle - Come Join the Fight. Save Big, Earn Loot!

Last year we had great expectations for two MMO titles.   The first, Wildstar, was a cartoony romp that had the major publications buzzing.   Our own Lewis Burnell loved (and is still smitten I believe) by the title.   For all intents and purposes it should have been a rousing success.   it wasn't.   I could never put my finger on just why I found the game outright boring, but I did.   I didn't last two weeks and believe me.... I tried.   Wildstar is still around I wish the good folks at Carbine all the best with it. 

The next heavy hitter was The Elders Scrolls Online.   How could this go wrong many asked?  I answered, "...because people expect a MMO version of Skyrim and that simply isn't possible."   Ta da!  The game cratered almost immediately on PC and the console versions of the game were delayed, now to be released in June of this year.  Fortunately for Elder Scrolls fans and gamers in general, the game has a second wind and perhaps a longer life.   The new name for the title is Tamriel Unlimited and tomorrow is the big launch day!

What is Tamriel Unlimited and why should I care?

So, What Really Changed?

The reason that I didn't stick it out in ESO was simple.  I tend to play what my family plays.   I have a wife and two teenage children who play games all the time.  It's our family time and one of our passions.   The grey, always cloudy, always a bit morose atmosphere of ESO was simply not something that they were interested in, and in the end though I thought I would enjoy the game, the somewhat depressing atmophere drove me away. 

Has any of that changed?   Let's take a look through the bullet points and I'll give you my take.  Wade in via the comments below please if you have something to add. 

• Free-To-Play - If you own the game.  You cannot play by simply downloading and heading on your merry way like SWTOR, Marvel Heroes, etc.  You can still subscribe and receive things like bonus gold, experience and loot.  
• Veteran Dungeons - for most people who didn't last their first 30 days in the game I don't think is much of a draw.   Many players never even bothered to step inside a dungeon.  
• Veteran Adventure Zone - See above.  This all caters to people who stuck it out, God bless them.   They deserve this content, but it's not going to save the game. 
• 4-player Arena Challenge - This seems like fun to me, but would it bring me back?  Not a chance.   I've got plenty of other places I can go for this type of entertainment. 
• 12-player Veteran Challenges - Again, hats off to those that have supported the game all this time.   New players don't care a whit about this. 
• Improved Campaigns and Rulesets - I don't have enough information to even make an educated guess, which means other new players don't either.  
• Dye System - If the suggestion box of people who left was filled with "I'd have stayed if only I could dye my armor purple" then this is a good call.  I tend to believe it won't affect a single person to come back and play.  
• Improved Facial Animations - I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I'd take the bet that not many people left for another game because the facial animations weren't good enough.  "I want my character that looks like a cat to have more cat-like facial movements or I'm taking my subscription and going home. Meow!"
• Improved Spam Filtering and Bot Detection - This might actually be something that people care about, but again, bots and spam are in every game.  I almost tune them out automatically now. 
• New animations - Again, this might mean a lot to some players.   It doesn't interest me.  Give me exciting gameplay and an astmophere that has at least some joy and humour in it. 
• Champion System - "More meaningful advancement"  I don't know that this means, so again, it sounds great, but the proof is in the delivery. 
• Guild Stores - Not enough information.  This could be something that people are clamouring for.   It could also be something that nobody uses.   Anyone in a large ESO guild care to wade in?
• Increased Monster Density and Loot Drops - Four thumbs up from me for this!   I love killing virtual monsters almost as much as I love loot.   More of each please!  Implement the Destiny Loot Cave and we're in business. =)
• Improved Leveling Curve - "More power - faster"   This also sounds good to me.   I like to feel important early in a game.   The whole building myself up thing isn't my cup of tea.   Marvel Heroes and SWTOR do a great job of this. 
• Guild Improvements - I can't comment as I don't know if guilds were upset about what they had.   Anyone care to comment?
• Dungeon Scaling - Shouldn't this be standard in a game in 2015?
• Improved Crafting - I never take to crafting in any game, so again, I don't want to comment on how important this is to the ESO population.   To me it has no significance. 
• Crown Store - The vanity and convenience shop.    It really depends what is here and what it costs.   How can anyone determine if this is a good idea?
• The Justice System - Players may love this.    I don't care either way as I always try to play the good guy.  My wife laughs that I don't like to play Sith in SWTOR.  I'm the Good Guy Greg of Gaming.