after trying all other mmos

[Night]

I think i'm finally willing to commit to this one. So much has changed here.
For others who are kind of dabbling in available MMOs here's my take on 'Why ESO' versus them.

As time is limited I don't believe I need to explain why many people prefer to sink theirs into just one MMO at a time.


GW2: A top rated mmo and is fun but the childish character storylines and overall easy-ness of the game really tore me out of the experience. I like my MMO's to be a little more mature (not just the fanbase but also the writing and overall execution of storylines).
World persistence was both a plus and a minus--It's nice that events actually do change the world around and for a time that makes the world pretty immersive (if you're in a siege and you destroy 10 catapolts you won't see 10 more miraculasly respawn right next to you). BUT that also makes it especially jarring when you complete the 'quest chain/event line' only to find that same castle (for example) is being besieged yet AGAIN 5 minutes later.


TSW (the secret world): Fun but the story didn't grab me, and none of the mechanics did either. it brought nothing new to the table for me and due to my background in EQ2 I'm not looking for a modern/sci-fi staple MMO. Nothing much else to say here it's just a pretty generic MMO IMO.

EVE ONLINE: Deep but mostly boring. It also can turn into a real second job. Combat is boring and really only gets it's flavor from PVP, PVE content is sparce and what is there will not hook you. The intrigue and player interaction is absolutely dop notch but wasn't enough to grab me. The game pretty much follows the 'screw people over to get stronger to screw people over moar' end game which IS enticing in the world of EVE but you can see how it lacks any real substance. In addition the game spends multiple years of major factions simply 'turtling' on their assets. So you may have nothing amazingly exciting going on for quite some time until a major year of war happens.
In short, the gameplay itself is super bare but the immersion is tops.


Final fantasy online (realm reborn):
I'd consider this another staple-generic MMO. The combat isn't really action oriented and throws a wrench in the typical formula only by allowing you to max every class on a single toon (which is a bad thing in my opinion). The story/writing CAN be good but the main story is basically just a bunch of fan service and fetch quests. I don't believe it's a good story by many standards and it's not very fun to slog through (I say 'slog' because you'll need to do like one million fetch quests, seriously, there are SO many).
It's decent enough for an MMO but nothing really hooked me.
In short, story is drab and dull and matches the combat.

WoW:
By now I'm sure you've guessed that I wasn't looking for a generic MMO and this is basically the standard by which I determine whether an MMO is generic or not. With that scale WoW is obviously the definition of generic for me. The storylines are pretty bad and that's assuming you can even pay attention to the story at all in group content areas (people will just typically skip right past any story content and may even kick you/leave the group if you don't).
Combat is obviously generic MMO stuff and really didn't capture me in an age of so many MMOs actually having involved combat.
In short, it's generic as it gets and neither the story nor the combat are very engaging for me.


Star wars the old republic:
Fairly generic combat, some classes serve to mix it up a bit by including cover systems and different types of sub-resources to manage in combat but all in all it's pretty staple.
The storylines here are absolutely the selling point. Great story's for the most part (some classes kind of fell short but overall they were pretty good).
Unfortunately the game begins to suffer from the community when you start doing flashpoints.
Most of the time whoever you group with will not let you watch the flashpoint cut scenes and will almost always vote to skip. If you don't then you'll likely be abandoned.
So I only got to actually see a couple of them which is a shame as the storys can be pretty good.
Really though the storylines aren't enough to hold it up completely, the combat is just not exciting and I can't say I ever had a fight with a jedi that truly felt epic (either as playing as a jedi or playing against or both). It's really undermined by it's generic combat wherein most of the characters are just standing still wacking at each other with some special effects.


All in comparison to ESO:
ESO has some good, unique combat derived almost entirely from skyrims. Skyrims combat has been labeled boring for some but it's been uplifted in ESO by including additional combat systems and skills. The games quest lines are actually well writtin and pretty engaging. I never felt totally dis-interested in how a quest turned out.
All in all it's pretty good and definitely different than the norm.


Please ask me any other questions you might have!

[✚ Mariel ✚]

Thankyou for making this, gives me an idea of what to expect and I agree with a lot of what you said. I do very much love the story of Old Republic and play the new stories once when they come out but it feels more like a Telltale Game than a MMO. I'll give ESO another shot

[ArcLight]

Originally posted by Night:

I think i'm finally willing to commit to this one. So much has changed here.
For others who are kind of dabbling in available MMOs here's my take on 'Why ESO' versus them.

As time is limited I don't believe I need to explain why many people prefer to sink theirs into just one MMO at a time.


GW2: A top rated mmo and is fun but the childish character storylines and overall easy-ness of the game really tore me out of the experience. I like my MMO's to be a little more mature (not just the fanbase but also the writing and overall execution of storylines).
World persistence was both a plus and a minus--It's nice that events actually do change the world around and for a time that makes the world pretty immersive (if you're in a siege and you destroy 10 catapolts you won't see 10 more miraculasly respawn right next to you). BUT that also makes it especially jarring when you complete the 'quest chain/event line' only to find that same castle (for example) is being besieged yet AGAIN 5 minutes later.


TSW (the secret world): Fun but the story didn't grab me, and none of the mechanics did either. it brought nothing new to the table for me and due to my background in EQ2 I'm not looking for a modern/sci-fi staple MMO. Nothing much else to say here it's just a pretty generic MMO IMO.

EVE ONLINE: Deep but mostly boring. It also can turn into a real second job. Combat is boring and really only gets it's flavor from PVP, PVE content is sparce and what is there will not hook you. The intrigue and player interaction is absolutely dop notch but wasn't enough to grab me. The game pretty much follows the 'screw people over to get stronger to screw people over moar' end game which IS enticing in the world of EVE but you can see how it lacks any real substance. In addition the game spends multiple years of major factions simply 'turtling' on their assets. So you may have nothing amazingly exciting going on for quite some time until a major year of war happens.
In short, the gameplay itself is super bare but the immersion is tops.


Final fantasy online (realm reborn):
I'd consider this another staple-generic MMO. The combat isn't really action oriented and throws a wrench in the typical formula only by allowing you to max every class on a single toon (which is a bad thing in my opinion). The story/writing CAN be good but the main story is basically just a bunch of fan service and fetch quests. I don't believe it's a good story by many standards and it's not very fun to slog through (I say 'slog' because you'll need to do like one million fetch quests, seriously, there are SO many).
It's decent enough for an MMO but nothing really hooked me.
In short, story is drab and dull and matches the combat.

WoW:
By now I'm sure you've guessed that I wasn't looking for a generic MMO and this is basically the standard by which I determine whether an MMO is generic or not. With that scale WoW is obviously the definition of generic for me. The storylines are pretty bad and that's assuming you can even pay attention to the story at all in group content areas (people will just typically skip right past any story content and may even kick you/leave the group if you don't).
Combat is obviously generic MMO stuff and really didn't capture me in an age of so many MMOs actually having involved combat.
In short, it's generic as it gets and neither the story nor the combat are very engaging for me.


Star wars the old republic:
Fairly generic combat, some classes serve to mix it up a bit by including cover systems and different types of sub-resources to manage in combat but all in all it's pretty staple.
The storylines here are absolutely the selling point. Great story's for the most part (some classes kind of fell short but overall they were pretty good).
Unfortunately the game begins to suffer from the community when you start doing flashpoints.
Most of the time whoever you group with will not let you watch the flashpoint cut scenes and will almost always vote to skip. If you don't then you'll likely be abandoned.
So I only got to actually see a couple of them which is a shame as the storys can be pretty good.
Really though the storylines aren't enough to hold it up completely, the combat is just not exciting and I can't say I ever had a fight with a jedi that truly felt epic (either as playing as a jedi or playing against or both). It's really undermined by it's generic combat wherein most of the characters are just standing still wacking at each other with some special effects.


All in comparison to ESO:
ESO has some good, unique combat derived almost entirely from skyrims. Skyrims combat has been labeled boring for some but it's been uplifted in ESO by including additional combat systems and skills. The games quest lines are actually well writtin and pretty engaging. I never felt totally dis-interested in how a quest turned out.
All in all it's pretty good and definitely different than the norm.


Please ask me any other questions you might have!

RuneScape?

[✚ Mariel ✚]

I liked the early Runescape quests. They were simple on the surface but there was a kind of lovecraftian horror beneath it all, demigods that's motives were incomprehensible and who's power put them well above mortals. The player was skillful and relied on careful planning to overcome challenges and win

Eventually they explained it all away and had the player fighting those demigods, initially in groups with other NPCs and eventually even by themselves. That just took away from the atmosphere and turned the protag into some generic dovahkiin chosen one that takes on demigods single handedly, lost interest after all of that, liked the subtlety of the old storylines better

Gameplay wise it's a horrid grind

[Zachism]

Be advised support does not exist it's a damn knowledge base.

[TheStoryteller01]

Originally posted by Night:

Please ask me any other questions you might have!

You never tried out LOTRO? O_o

[American Tragedy]

I agree, but still waiting for FF online sale, hope they will make it before sb release on 20th june, so I can try it out and understand which one fits me best.

[Night]

Originally posted by WerteA:

Originally posted by Night:

I think i'm finally willing to commit to this one. So much has changed here.
For others who are kind of dabbling in available MMOs here's my take on 'Why ESO' versus them.

As time is limited I don't believe I need to explain why many people prefer to sink theirs into just one MMO at a time.


GW2: A top rated mmo and is fun but the childish character storylines and overall easy-ness of the game really tore me out of the experience. I like my MMO's to be a little more mature (not just the fanbase but also the writing and overall execution of storylines).
World persistence was both a plus and a minus--It's nice that events actually do change the world around and for a time that makes the world pretty immersive (if you're in a siege and you destroy 10 catapolts you won't see 10 more miraculasly respawn right next to you). BUT that also makes it especially jarring when you complete the 'quest chain/event line' only to find that same castle (for example) is being besieged yet AGAIN 5 minutes later.


TSW (the secret world): Fun but the story didn't grab me, and none of the mechanics did either. it brought nothing new to the table for me and due to my background in EQ2 I'm not looking for a modern/sci-fi staple MMO. Nothing much else to say here it's just a pretty generic MMO IMO.

EVE ONLINE: Deep but mostly boring. It also can turn into a real second job. Combat is boring and really only gets it's flavor from PVP, PVE content is sparce and what is there will not hook you. The intrigue and player interaction is absolutely dop notch but wasn't enough to grab me. The game pretty much follows the 'screw people over to get stronger to screw people over moar' end game which IS enticing in the world of EVE but you can see how it lacks any real substance. In addition the game spends multiple years of major factions simply 'turtling' on their assets. So you may have nothing amazingly exciting going on for quite some time until a major year of war happens.
In short, the gameplay itself is super bare but the immersion is tops.


Final fantasy online (realm reborn):
I'd consider this another staple-generic MMO. The combat isn't really action oriented and throws a wrench in the typical formula only by allowing you to max every class on a single toon (which is a bad thing in my opinion). The story/writing CAN be good but the main story is basically just a bunch of fan service and fetch quests. I don't believe it's a good story by many standards and it's not very fun to slog through (I say 'slog' because you'll need to do like one million fetch quests, seriously, there are SO many).
It's decent enough for an MMO but nothing really hooked me.
In short, story is drab and dull and matches the combat.

WoW:
By now I'm sure you've guessed that I wasn't looking for a generic MMO and this is basically the standard by which I determine whether an MMO is generic or not. With that scale WoW is obviously the definition of generic for me. The storylines are pretty bad and that's assuming you can even pay attention to the story at all in group content areas (people will just typically skip right past any story content and may even kick you/leave the group if you don't).
Combat is obviously generic MMO stuff and really didn't capture me in an age of so many MMOs actually having involved combat.
In short, it's generic as it gets and neither the story nor the combat are very engaging for me.


Star wars the old republic:
Fairly generic combat, some classes serve to mix it up a bit by including cover systems and different types of sub-resources to manage in combat but all in all it's pretty staple.
The storylines here are absolutely the selling point. Great story's for the most part (some classes kind of fell short but overall they were pretty good).
Unfortunately the game begins to suffer from the community when you start doing flashpoints.
Most of the time whoever you group with will not let you watch the flashpoint cut scenes and will almost always vote to skip. If you don't then you'll likely be abandoned.
So I only got to actually see a couple of them which is a shame as the storys can be pretty good.
Really though the storylines aren't enough to hold it up completely, the combat is just not exciting and I can't say I ever had a fight with a jedi that truly felt epic (either as playing as a jedi or playing against or both). It's really undermined by it's generic combat wherein most of the characters are just standing still wacking at each other with some special effects.


All in comparison to ESO:
ESO has some good, unique combat derived almost entirely from skyrims. Skyrims combat has been labeled boring for some but it's been uplifted in ESO by including additional combat systems and skills. The games quest lines are actually well writtin and pretty engaging. I never felt totally dis-interested in how a quest turned out.
All in all it's pretty good and definitely different than the norm.


Please ask me any other questions you might have!

RuneScape?

RuneScape was fun and has some unique flavor but a lot of the combat also boils down to standing still whacking at something until dead. (A trope that is not TOTALLY rectified in ESO I might add but it does the best job of it I've seen so far).
It does remind me a bit more of the diablo series but the diablo series focuses on numbers a lot more than RuneScape does, so the combat feels more fluid (it never takes THAT long to kill things on normal in diablo). The quest lines are probably middle of the road. Runescapes quests are old and it shows in their storylines.
In short, it was ahead of it's time but now-a-days it's age is showing. However it is at least fairly unique.

[Night]

Originally posted by TheStoryteller01:

Originally posted by Night:

Please ask me any other questions you might have!

You never tried out LOTRO? O_o

I have! LOTRO is pretty generic though. I mean it essentially just takes the WoW formula, adds some maturity and grit, then re-skins it into lord of the rings.
Not a bad thing necessarily mind you but the content and PvE is all pretty standard.
The quests are fairly generic MMO fair, nothing you do really has much impact (to be fare this may have been improved upon since I last played years ago).
If I had to choose a generic MMO to play it'd likely be star wars over LOTRO.
LOTRO has the better group content though, it's art style is also great IMO.

[Night]

Keep in mind you may find that I'm outlining the negatives of these other MMO's.
There are positives to them that may be undermined here simply because they did not appeal to me in my quest for an mmo with engaging combat and great questing.

There's nothing 'wrong' with these other MMO's in that they fulfill a demand in the market and everybody has different tastes.

However I had noticed among my friends and acquaintances that it seemed like many people felt the same way I did (looking for a more mature setting, good combat, engaging quests, etc etc).

So with that in mind I decided to write this little synopsis to possibly save other like-minded individuals the time and money I had to go through in trying all of these out to find something that fit me.
Additionally ESO gets a bad wrap due to it's launch status. However, from what I've seen, I'm here to say that this is the best MMO on the market for people like me. So if you find yourself nodding 'yes' to most of the things I was looking for then I highly recommend you give this game a go (or possibly ANOTHER go if you tried it a while ago).

There's simply nothing else like it on the market.

[Cutlass Jack]

Originally posted by Night:

Star wars the old republic:
Fairly generic combat, some classes serve to mix it up a bit by including cover systems and different types of sub-resources to manage in combat but all in all it's pretty staple.
The storylines here are absolutely the selling point. Great story's for the most part (some classes kind of fell short but overall they were pretty good).
Unfortunately the game begins to suffer from the community when you start doing flashpoints.
Most of the time whoever you group with will not let you watch the flashpoint cut scenes and will almost always vote to skip. If you don't then you'll likely be abandoned.
So I only got to actually see a couple of them which is a shame as the storys can be pretty good.
Really though the storylines aren't enough to hold it up completely, the combat is just not exciting and I can't say I ever had a fight with a jedi that truly felt epic (either as playing as a jedi or playing against or both). It's really undermined by it's generic combat wherein most of the characters are just standing still wacking at each other with some special effects.


All in comparison to ESO:
ESO has some good, unique combat derived almost entirely from skyrims. Skyrims combat has been labeled boring for some but it's been uplifted in ESO by including additional combat systems and skills. The games quest lines are actually well writtin and pretty engaging. I never felt totally dis-interested in how a quest turned out.
All in all it's pretty good and definitely different than the norm.

SWTOR is amazing if you duo it with a friend. Lets you have the fun of contested RP conversations while still making use of your companion characters. Makes the game feel fresh on most playthroughs because we're always finding new dialogue.

But for that to work best you really need someone who plays exactly the same time you do. Its what I have a wife for. (okay not the only reason.) Its considerably less fun when grouped with full groups, especially when you don't know them. For reasons you mentioned. People want to skip past the best stuff.

ESO fares better with other people around. Solid stories for the most part. Took us forever to finally give ESO a try but we're enjoying it quite a bit. Highly reccomended for solo and group play.

If I were to make any change to ESO it would be to have the option of instances for your group. So many times we hit a dungeon only to find it cleared by the other 20 people who rushed in ahead. Kind of takes the fun out of things and often makes the narritive harder to follow.

[AMD Ryzen 7 5200HX 2.9GHz]

Imao none of these are correct about SWTOR, that game is made by BioWare, which
a developer focuses on story-based games. If you think swtor have a "generic combat"
then you should stop playing games.

Nothing to see here, just an another eso fanboy. Move along people.

[Kman]

Well I like ESO for the PvE content and nice looking huge world they made, don't care much for the PvP so far though as much.

I like the fact GW2 WvW isn't so heavy gear based as all the rest and is decent to the casual pvper, but the class imbalance is pretty bad I will admit that.

Player bases in both GW2 and ESO so far I seen has been friendly overall.

[Night]

Originally posted by DeltaForce:

Imao none of these are correct about SWTOR, that game is made by BioWare, which
a developer focuses on story-based games. If you think swtor have a "generic combat"
then you should stop playing games.

Nothing to see here, just an another eso fanboy. Move along people.

To each their own. I definitely felt it is very reminiscent of WoW like combat.
If you'd like to elaborate feel free.
But I don't see how it strays from the typical stand still, go through skill rotation, spec for tank/healer/dps, etc format. It's basically just a reskin of typical MMO combat.

Of course if this angers you feel free to voice why.

Well sure I'm a fanboy in the since that I'm a 'fan' of ESO.

I tried SWTOR and found the combat here much MUCH more engaging. Take from that what you will mate.

I should also say that as someone who has tried all of these MMO's it should say something as to the fact that I AM a fanboy of ESO rather than, say, a SWTOR fanboy.

If it was better, in my opinion, i'd be playing that and be on their forums.

[Night]

Originally posted by Kman:

Well I like ESO for the PvE content and nice looking huge world they made, don't care much for the PvP so far though as much.

I like the fact GW2 WvW isn't so heavy gear based as all the rest and is decent to the casual pvper, but the class imbalance is pretty bad I will admit that.

Player bases in both GW2 and ESO so far I seen has been friendly overall.

Agreed, although I actually do like the fact that ESO includes gear progression.
GW2 began to feel super same-y in the World v World since everyones gear was dampened. For whatever reason I felt there might be less 'cookie-cutter' builds in GW2 but whenever I actually stop to think on that sentiment I am not sure I agree with myself.

There were definitely cookie cutter builds in GW2 and, in the end, the options for viability were pretty narrow.

That may have changed since I played though.

All that being said I really did have a ton of fun in GW2 but, for the aforementioned reasons, I ended up liking this title more.

[Dont-ask-me-what-Im-shooting-at]

ESO is another page in the book of MMOs. If you're looking for the holy grail OP, you won't find it
There is always something shinier around the corner