izigame.me

An opinionated review, sorry, there are no sweetrolls attached!

Q. How does this compare to other Elder Scrolls Games, Morrowind, Skyrim, Oblivion etc.
The answer is rather simple, you can't compare it. So if you're looking to buy this game to further your Elder Scroll's experience. Pause for a moment. This isn't Elder Scrolls, it's a game made inside the Elder Scrolls universe.
Tamriel Is as beautiful as ever, nostalgia is everywhere, from the unforgettable landscape of Morrowind, to the ice cold unforgivable landscape of Skyrim. Cyrodiil however, it is where living legends roam the countryside intending on making you their prey, where castles and keeps and being assaulted by marauding adventurers. Survive if you can or conquer if you wish to be crowned the Emperor. There really is a world for you to explore and lose yourself in.

Q. Gameplay
To put it simply, It's an MMO (Massive multiplayer) meaning, you'll spend most of your time in "Third Person", but there is the option to enter "First Person". Which is better?, from experience Third. There's often so much going on inside a dungeon or when you're delving into the madness of the world that being able to see what's happening around you is the difference between life and a swift but somewhat temporary death.
If you've played Morrowind you'll be accustomed to a very in-depth character creation, that is not quite the case in TESO (TheElderScrollsOnline). Character creation is not as in-depth, nor is it lackluster. Your weapon and armour essentially define you. Meaning the class you pick at the beginning, from which there are six are essentially the cherry on the cake.
Q. Do I need to equip my credit card!
Not quite!. Although you'll need to acquire the game to play!. Much has been said about the
Crown Store The name given for the in-game market. This is a place to buy cosmetic mounts, cloths and in-game dlc!.
Crowns depending on your financial situation can be expensive. Most of us were not born into riches. Some of the better gear in the game is locked behind DLC. This is a fact, but, if you're in the game for the long run, all is not lost!.
Work hard at a profession in the game, or simply burgle you way till your purse can hold no more, then sell items in a trade market or Fence ;-) ( Trade market requires you to join a guild - More details below), then when you've amassed a small fortune, you'll be able to trade gold coins for Crowns with other players.
How trading crowns works
If you're willing to part with Gold for Crowns, then ask in Zone(General Chat) for someone who is a regular and known seller(or buyer) of crown items, trade with the trusted. They need to gift the Crown items to you then you need to give them the gold, hence why trust is necessary. Hopefully one day Zenimax will implement a way to ensure that when these items are traded, it's done without the worry of gifting your crowns without the gold coming your way.
This means, yes, you can acquire the DLC's in the game without hurting your bank account. Thankfully there are fortunate people in the game who like to buy Crowns and trade them for gold.

Q. Is there a universal auction house?.
No. You'll need to join a guild, but there's no need to worry. Trade guilds are, well they are trade guilds!, so if you're somewhat anti-social for personal reasons please don't worry yourself. Some trade guilds do offer the chance to do dungeons together or run around and politely put hideous monsters back to sleep, then run off with their loot. Guilds can have up to 500 members and you can join five guilds in total! meaning if you join five active trade guilds, you can trade with many more people, buying low, selling high.
Often people are so wrapped up in trading, the world of Tamriel weeps at the loss of their footsteps outside the city walls. Although some of us do not! More herbs for us to collect!
(Oh, if you're a Morrowind baby, I'm sorry to tell you, you will not need an PHD in alchemy, sadly it's much more simple in TESO)

Subscription
To sub, or not to sub. hmmm, This really is a pain! I love the subscription due to the fact it helps with quality of life. I've decided to copy and paste from TESO's website the details, it's better you decide for yourself. Underneath I'm going to give some thoughts on a few of these things, to explain in a little more detail.
Non-ESO Plus™ Members Need to Purchase DLC game packs, No crafting storage bonus, No free crowns, No extra bank space, no bonus gold & XP, No bonus to crafting, No costume dyeing, Transmutation Crystals - No bonus to currency cap, No exclusive deals.
ESO Plus™ Members Full access to all DLC game packs, Unlimited storage for crafting materials, 1650 crowns per month, Double Bank space for your account, 10% increase to Gold & Experience acquisition, 10% increase to Crafting Inspiration & Trait Research rates, Double Furnishings & Collectables space in player housing, Costume Dyeing, Exclusive ability to dye costumes, Transmutation Crystals, Double currency cap for Transmutation Crystals, Exclusive access to unique Crown Store deals.
So, bank space . Yes it's lovely, with sub, you go from 100 to 200. But you can buy more space in-game with Gold, so if you're not subbed, you can go from 100 to 150, you buy 10 spaces at a time - each becomes more expensive.
In game, there is an Outfit station non-subbed can still use this! "Outfits are completely different from Costumes.
You can design your characters armour (outfit) appearance with the outfit station in any major city as well as some of the smaller towns (check your map!). At first you'll only be able to make gear relevant to your species. As you make characters from other races or buy "Motif's" from the trade guilds, you'll start to flesh out your collection. It takes time!
Also you can open a window called "Collections" - Choose appearance - Head - Hide Helmet! wuhuuu.
Costumes! These are items that go into your "Collections" - They are full outfits, head to toe. As a sub you can dye them, non-subbed, not so. Unless you get a free set of paints in game, sadly you'll not be able to dye them, but most people use the outfit station as it really is super cool!.

Closing thoughts

I don't want to bore people, nor scare them away. I've tried to cover as much as I feel is relevant without making people feel like they're reading a book.
This is an MMO! Yes, you're going to have to work for what you get, it won't chase you across Tamriel and throw itself into your backpack. All things take time, so not being subscribed just means it'll take longer.
I've had issues with the game, I've contacted Zenimax and I've been blown away with their kindness. I've read negative comments regarding their customer service, but four times I've contacted them, four times they've put my mind at ease. It's hard to fault them, they've made a beautiful game and like all business's they're trying to make money to continue keeping the ElderScrolls alive and well.
To buy or not to buy.
It's Elder Scrolls. It's beautiful. It's all voice dialogue, but just as many lore books to be read, there's decisions to be made, caves to be delved in, pockets to be picked, guars to be admired, daedric princes to be rebuked. There's hair-tingling moments when you meet certain people from certain races that you thought had long perished, there's vampires and werewolves, battlegrounds for the brave. It's Elder Scrolls.
You decide. Till then, thank you Zenimax for making over 1000 hours of my life very enjoyable.
Thank you for putting a certain boat, on a certain river, with a certain Census and Excise Office, in a place I'll always think of as home. <3 Morrowind.