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2014

2014 is another one of those years where I would consider some of my favorite games being released this year, one of them being Elder Scrolls Online. Over the years, I have spent many many hours growing my character more and more and getting myself happy with the build or builds that I want my character to have, and finally, after many years of this game being out, I have gotten my character to a point where I feel good about jumping in from time to time to just continue that progression.

MMO's for me tend to be a little difficult to get into since they all seem to follow the same formula. Starting area is filled with easy quests and monsters and as you go, you level up and make your character stronger. Some games like World of Warcraft and even Runescape to a degree give you an enormous world to play in, and you play it the way you so choose. Elder Scrolls Online also does this, but in a way that I appreciate a lot more than other MMO's. And as I continue to play it, I appreciate what it does more and more.

It should go without saying that regardless of what MMO you decide to play, there will more than likely be an endless supply of things to do, whether you're going out on a quest, or just making your character look as badass as possible. Elder Scrolls Online does this, but the reason why I enjoy progressing in this game more than other MMO's is simply due to the way the zones work. You have a list of zones ranging from areas found in Elder Scrolls lore, and you can basically choose where you want to start. You can start in Glenumbra, or any of the other surrounding islands on the map. After that point, you can complete quests and do some side missions to clear out the map, then once you're done, you set your sights on a different zone and continue your path. As much as I'd like to say it feels unique, it's not really too unique. You're got the typical run from one quest to the next and finish it or continue with it to completion. You've got fetch quests, combat quests, quests that bring you to other cities and towns, and just tons and tons of things to do. If you'd much rather just stay in town and work on your other levels like smithing etc, you can do that too. There have been many times when I went online and teleported to one of the main cities, and there's just tons of people sitting around either looking for groups for quests, or just wanting to chat and have a good time. I even at one point was running through the city and someone had Last Resort by Papa Roach playing, and while it was only for a few seconds, I stopped and chuckled then continue on my way. It's online, so you never know what you're going to find.

As far as longevity goes, throughout the years they have added more content to the game, and a lot of it is worth doing. It's one of those games where you will feel like you want to do everything all at once and gather all the quests you can, but the best way to play I've seen is to just take things slow and enjoy your journey. The content is not going anywhere, and it's going to take you a long time to do everything anyway, so no reason to rush. It's one of those games you'll want to have ready to go when you don't feel like playing much else. I've had sessions where I'll play and just do a few things, but it's still a lot of fun. Sometimes I don't even really do anything.

Elder Scrolls Online. A great game if you have time for an MMO, but you're not missing too much other than the Elder Scrolls specific lore, which is good. I think even this many years later, it's still worth playing. Especially with how accessible it is. I play solely on console but I've heard the experience with console and PC are not different enough to make people stray from one to the other. It's good on both, imo.