Top 5 Reasons to Play the Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls Online was our winner for Most Anticipated MMO of 2013,
and for good reason. Over the past decade or so, the Elder Scrolls series
of single-player games has set the gold standard for what RPGs can be and
what they can do. And while complexity has given ground to accessibility
over the past few titles, outstanding quality has always been paramount.
It stands to reason, then, that the MMO iteration of this acclaimed series
should be just as outstanding.

Here, then, are the five things we are most looking forward to
experiencing when The Elder Scrolls Online launches later this year.

1. The Epic Personal Story

Top 5 Reasons to Play The Elder Scrolls Online - Epic Personal Story

style="float: left; margin-right: 5pt;" />It should be safe to assume
that all characters, regardless of race, class or faction, will start out
as prisoners and gradually rise to soaring heights of power, fame and
glory over the course of a long epic tale. That has been the case of every
Elder Scrolls game since the beginning - start with a prison break (or
release), scavenge like a rat in the city streets and the wilderness,
fumble your way into deep conspiracies, scrabble your way to the top of
your profession, ladder-climb through the ranks of the guilds, rub elbows
with royalty, battle a Daedric god or three and eventually come to be
recognized as a great champion of Tamriel. Thus far, that journey has
never disappointed.

Zenimax Online hasn't released any real details about the personal story
quests yet, but the whole "former convict makes good" story is central to
the franchise. What we do know is that the player starts out as a victim
of Daedric Prince Molag Bal, who stole the character's soul (which we can
only assume is somehow illegal and lands the character in prison). And it
has been revealed that players will be able to conquer the White Gold
Tower in Cyrodiil through PvP, and become Emperor. So we know both ends of
the story already. All that remains now is the awesome journey.

Top 5 Reasons to Play the Elder Scrolls Online

2. The Lore and Setting

Top 5 Reasons to Play the Elder Scrolls Online - Lore and Setting

style="float: left; margin-right: 5pt;" />Tamriel is like a second home
for some of us, and with all the books and such lying around everywhere,
it's possible that some of us know more about Tamriel than we know about
our actual home towns.

The Elder Scrolls Online will be set mid-way through the Second Era,
known as the Age of Heroes, during a time of conflict. The Imperials have
fallen under the sway of the evil Daedric Prince Molag Bal, who is trying
to drag all of planet Nirn into his private realm, called Coldharbour. The
three competing alliances of the Aldmeri Dominion, the Ebonheart Pact and
the Daggerfall Covenant all seek to claim control of the Empire for the
sake of preservation, independence and peace (respectively). There's also
a pandemic lizard-flu, mad wizards everywhere, demonic Daedra popping up
more often than usual, and evil omens in the stars.

Much of this has been documented in in-game books. TESO gives players a
chance to take part in the historic events they have read about in the
other games, before the rise of Tiber Septim who united all the provinces
of Tamriel, ruled for 81 years and ascended to godhood for being so
awesome.

The explorable world should prove to be as gigantic as the lore behind
it. The developers have promised us an enormous game world to explore,
consisting of all the lands we saw in the previous three games (Morrowind,
Cyrodiil and Skyrim) plus High Rock, Hammerfell, Summerset Isles,
Valenwood, Elsweyr and the Black Marsh. Most of these regions haven't been
featured as explorable areas in a game since Arena, the very first game in
the series.

Top 5 Reasons to Play the Elder Scrolls Online

3. The PvP

Top 5 Reasons to Play The Elder Scrolls Online - PvP

style="margin-right: 5pt; float: left;" />Normally, this is not a
selling point for me. I'm not terribly competitive by nature and don't
play MMORPGs to "win." In most games I do play, the PvP aspect is a whole
separate experience that can be avoided in favor of more collaborative,
cooperative endeavors. I might jump into a match or two here and there for
the sheer hell of it, but it's a rare occasion when I do. Most PvP feels
kind of pointless and not-fun. But the PvP in Elder Scrolls Online sounds
kind of awesome, and something that I may pay more than a passing thought
to.

For starters, PvP takes place in the Imperial province of Cyrodiil, the
setting of TES IV: Oblivion. The whole province - every nook and cranny of
it, including caves and ruins featured in Oblivion - is being used as the
PvP arena. The system is being designed to accommodate hundreds of players
onscreen at once for epic open-world battles. The three factions will be
vying for territory by taking fortresses and capturing resources like
farms and lumber mills. It's not just wailing on the other guy in a timed
match for points; there's a purpose to it.

When enough territory is controlled by one faction, that faction can
attempt to seize control of the Ruby Throne in Imperial City. Whichever
character contributed the most to this conquest will be made Emperor, and
will receive combat and leadership bonuses, presumably which last until a
new Emperor rises to take his place.

For me, this is the most interesting aspect of TESO's PvP - there is a
tangible and awesome reward for participating. If you do a fantastic job,
your name doesn't just flash up at the top of a leaderboard for a few
seconds until the next match starts. You become the Emperor. I'm not a big
fan of PvP, but the promise of being crowned Emperor might motivate me to
take it seriously here.

Top 5 Reasons to Play the Elder Scrolls Online

4. Off-The-Rails Character Classes

Top 5 Reasons to Play The Elder Scrolls Online - Character System

style="float: left; margin-right: 5pt;" />One of the aspects that has
appealed the most to me throughout the Elder Scrolls franchise has been
the wide-open character class system. Or, rather, the persistent lack of
one. The skill-based character allows for much more freedom and
customization - you can totally tailor your character to how you want to
play the game, rather than be forced along a progression track by a
rigidly-defined class.

Most MMOs use very narrow classes with a tree of trainable skills that
make that character really good at one job. With the Elder Scrolls games,
your character was defined by his actions; if he chose to wear full plate
armor while sneaking around stealing things and killing enemies with
magic, he got better at all of those things. Picking a "class" at the
start of the game was optional. You could invent your own class with the
collection of skills and powers you wanted to use.

TESO will be somewhat more restrictive than previous Elder Scrolls games.
It will use set classes that come with unique skill sets, like special
attacks, magic and other powers, and will level up by gaining experience
rather than by skill-usage. But these classes will not be gear-restricted.
There's no reason your character can't swing a tiny dagger while wearing
full plate armor, or pair a mighty two-hander battleaxe with fire spells.
Whether you'd actually want to do these things is debatable, but that
decision is yours to make. Your class is a jumping-off point rather than a
career commitment.

Top 5 Reasons to Play the Elder Scrolls Online

5. Dynamic Combat

Top 5 Reasons to Play The Elder Scrolls Online - Dynamic combat

style="float: left; margin-right: 5pt;" />Dynamic combat is featured in
a number of newer games - Guild Wars 2, for example. It relies on
positioning and facing. You need to keep your enemy in front of you,
within the arc of your attacks, and you must react to your enemy's attacks
to block or dodge. Combat is fluid and natural-feeling, far more realistic
than tab-selecting your target and hammering on the number keys to deal
damage. There's nothing inherently wrong with that system - it's still
being used in many major titles right now - but it can't compare to the
visceral thrill of lining up that perfect headshot with your bow, or
finding just the right angle to take out three enemies with one swing of
your greatsword, or of getting that shield up just in time to catch the
crossbow bolt streaking towards your throat.

This kind of fluid, reactive combat has its downside, of course. With
this style of combat, twitch reflexes play a fairly significant role. You
have tiny fractions of a second to get that shield up to block an incoming
blow, or to leap out of the way of a fireball. If you lag, you take the
full force of the blow. This gives players with very low latency an edge,
and players (like me) with very high latency a distinct disadvantage. 200
milliseconds is an eternity in 1-on-1 PvP battles.

There are, of course, a lot more reasons to check out the Elder Scrolls
Online when it goes live later this year - social networking integration,
awesome voice-acted NPCs, and cool new phasing technology, just to name a
few things - but these are our Big Five. What are you most looking forward
to? Let us know in our comments!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our The Elder Scrolls Online Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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