An early look at Craglorn, patch 1.1

Patch 1.1 is coming with the promise that it will improve gameplay and fix many of the bugs that players have had to endure since launch. This is an important patch for Zenimax and Bethesda because many players have vociferously expressed their frustration on the forums. I am hopeful that this patch will be the fix that players are hoping for, but reading through the patch also made me a little concerned.  You can see the patch notes for yourself here. Here is an early look at 1.1:

Craglorn

I think that Craglorn will finally give players strong incentive to break out of their shells, join guilds, and start working together.  Craglorn's 60-death limit will make the trials very difficult to complete in a pickup group.  The patch notes even say, “You can use the group finder tool to locate others for your Trial group, but be warned: you’ll need excellent coordination and skill to take on the Trials.” The leaderboards are also a great incentive to find a good guild and excel. I am excited to see this kind of raid-level challenge.  I was worried that ESO would be a “Mickey Mouse,” MMO but it looks like it will offer some real challenges, and some real rewards!

Dungeon Chest Changes

Weapon animations will be smoother and won't freeze.

Dungeon chests will give loot to the entire party.  This is just a no-brainer that will help parties get along better, and it is great for me since I can’t open those darn chests to save my life!

Population Underdog Bonus

I have yet to PvP but I am familiar with underdog bonuses from other games.  This will mean that if you are in a weaker alliance during a campaign your group will get buffs that will even the odds.  They tried this in WoW for some zones and I felt that it did not truly even the odds. There is no substitute for additional fingers and eyeballs.  I hope ESO will be different.

Death Recap

This is just a cool little feature.  When you die, you will know why and how so you can tweak your game.  Thumbs up!

Fixes

Horse sprinting is not actually a glitch! It is here to stay!

There are bevies of fixes that will make gameplay smoother and more satisfying.  Weapon animations will no longer freeze in mid-swing.  The annoying glitch that plays sounds from former quests will be gone.  Self-reviving now returns you to full health.  They will also fix that irritating issue where you can’t use certain abilities after an attack.  If only I had a gold piece for every time that one killed me!

Missing

I did not see anything about the phasing problems, specifically.  I hope individual quest fixes remove the phasing issues.  I also didn’t see anything about hitting bosses into walls, which is a persistent problem for me.  Perhaps the quest fixes will also address this. 

Takeaways

Resurrection will restore full health and death will provide
valuable information.

This is really make or break for ESO.  I, for one, am confident that the devs know what they are doing and that this patch will end most of the major bugs. It used to be that when you released a game on CD-ROMs back in the day everything had to be perfect.  In the internet age, however, every game is a work in progress. MMOs are especially thorny since they are so large, in terms of both users and content.  Games that fix their bugs, like WoW, succeed.  Games that don’t, like Age of Conan, fail.  We have yet to see where ESO will end up, but I am hopeful!

Opinion:5 things to like about ESO, and something to worry about!

It’s easy to get caught up in the negatives: grouping problems, glitches, time sinks.  If you let yourself succumb to everything wrong with ESO you are likely to miss everything right with it.  The problems will go away (hopefully soon), but the positive aspects of the game are here to stay.  Here are a few things that are undeniably right about ESO that remind us what a promising game it really is:

Graphics

Beautiful graphics and design make for an
immersive experience.

The game’s graphical elements are beautiful.  The skins are crisp and the scenery is detailed.  Fire looks like fire, water sparkles in the sunshine, when the rain falls it really feels like it’s raining. Some games are showing their age, but ESO is brand new and you can’t deny that it looks good.

Design

Yesterday I was questing in Bangkorai, fighting a humanoid mob, when I realized that after 3+ days of game time I had not seen the same mob! The designers took some real pains to make sure that everything you see is fresh and new!  Sure, there are only so many ways you can make a crocodile, but most mobs have a unique look.

The buildings and scenery are also excellent.  I know that there must be standard skins for rocks and trees but the environment is diverse enough that I have yet to notice them.  When you are climbing a mountain it really feels like you are climbing a mountain—unless you are doing it on a horse!

Mechanics

Challenging mechanics make fights interesting and exciting!

I have not done many dungeons but I can discern from the solo gameplay alone that Zenimax has put some serious thought into the fight mechanics.  Quest mechanics in solo boss fights (the really tough ones) are fun and challenging.  There is a lot of red to move out of and some bosses really hit hard.  Some MMOs just gloss over mechanics assuming that players just want to collect gear without any challenge.  ESO is not one of those games.

Convenience

A few weeks ago, when I had just started playing the game, I asked in chat, ‘where is the mailbox?’  Someone replied, ‘the ‘ key.’  I love that when I have to travel I don’t have to sit on a gryphon for 10 minutes.  The inventory system is robust enough that I don’t have to sell every half an hour. Aside from some quests that are painfully ‘talky’ you don’t have to spend too much time on busywork. 

Phasing

Convenient features like a mail system that you can
access anywhere make the game more playable.

Yes, I know that this is a pain right now, but you have to acknowledge the long-term benefits of phasing.  Never again will you have to create a toon on your buddy’s server so that you can play together.  Phasing cuts down on lag and load times since it makes it so that each area is contained and at the same time part of a larger whole.  We hate it now since it is creating problems but once they
work the kinks out it will be awesome.

More good than bad

Sure, there are some things to worry about with this game.  If they don’t fix the phasing glitch fast, it will be game breaking.  If Zenimax is smart—and I think they are—they have devs working around the clock to work out the kinks.  Some of us have been waiting for this game ever since we played Morrowind and wished that we could play it with a friend.  Let’s not bail on ESO too soon.  There is a little to be upset about, but there is a lot to like!

Guide: Raise your game with Recount!

Recount's user interface

Recount is a handy addon that records your DPS (Damage Per Second) and HPS (Healing Per Second).  If used correctly it can help you work out the kinks in your build.  If abused it can make you look like an elitist jerk.

The basic premise is simple.  Recount records your damage output, shows your overall DPS and HPS, and itemizes a list of abilities.  Based on  this data you can change and tweak your build and rotation (the order of abilities that produces the most output) so that you are killing mobs and healing
allies as efficiently as possible.

While recount is a useful tool, it can be abused.  Don't become a hopeless number cruncher who constantly posts results in chat and chides other players for their poor DPS.  Ignoring game mechanics to produce optimal DPS is also a no no.  Good raid leaders will tell you that staying out of the red is more important than DPS. 

You can download recount here.  Check out the video below!

See you in Tamriel,

Phazzle

ESO Dragon Knight Build: Glass Hammer

Hello beautiful people.  Here is a video guide to my Dragon Knight build: Glass Hammer.  The glass hammer relies on high single target and AOE DPS to overcome the squishiness of medium armor.  It is a very involved play style, i.e. stance dancing, running, dodging, and crowd control. 

Check out the video below.  Enjoy!

UPDATE:  Jay Doc...recommended...I try Dragon Knight Standard, so I did and it does, indeed, rock!  I incorporated it into the build and made an addendum video.  Check it out!

See you in Tamriel,

Phazzle

Opinion: Glitches, gameplay, and ragequits, oh my!

Yo! I see a lot of unrest on the ESOforums, but don’t worry your pretty little skullcaps!  It’s gonna be ok!  Here are a few things that you can rest easy about:

Glitches

“I’m payin’ $15 a month and they can’t even release a game that doesn’t glitch up every fifteen minutes.”

Dude, I get it. Yesterday I was in the middle of the Ravenscroft quest line fighting a gargoyle, and just when I was about to kill him I got that glitch that makes everything on the screen untargetable.  Arrgh!  It sucks, and boy is it frustrating, but it is not something to quit the game over.

As a veteran MMOer I can tell you that glitches are just the nature of the beast, especially after release.  They will get better.  Early on, WoW was full of glitches.  One glitch cropped up when a raid boss gave players a disease that persisted outside of the raid and everyone was dropping dead in town.  They fixed it, and WoW is still around.  Give them a bit to work the kinks out, and accept the fact that the game will never be perfect.

Antisocial players and grouping problems

“Grouping sucks.  This is a single player game that is tryin’ to be an MMO!”

Grouping is fine.  I have had no technical problem grouping with people.  The problem is that most people don’t seem to want to group.  The game is very satisfying single-player so that is what most players do.  That said, if you can’t find groups, then you need to go out and make them.  The megaserver gives you access to players everywhere so even if only 1% of players want to do something it is still a significant portion of the community.

This means being a leader and putting together a serious guild.  The game needs more leaders and less followers.  To paraphrase Gandhi, “Be the change that you want to see in Tamriel.”

Pay to play

“Monthly fees are lame.  They’re just trying to get money out of you.”

Yeah, Bethesda is in it for the money.  They didn’t just make this game for you out of the kindness of their hearts!  Pay to play is the best financial model for an MMO.  A consistent flow of cash means that they can hire enough talented people to continue to release content and fix bugs. 

Free to play games are not really free anyway.  They have hidden costs.  Take Dungeons and Dragons Online, for instance.  It is free to play, as long as you only want to experience 10% of the content and don’t mind using real cash to buy hirelings and potions!

50 cents a day is a small price to pay for a good game. Think of it this way.  If you could pay 50 cents to go to an arcade and play all day, would you do it?

 Still feel like ragequitting? Do it in style.

Maybe this game isn’t for you.  There’s no shame in walking away if you are not satisfied.  If you do ragequit, make a statement.  Take the time to sit down and write a real, handwritten, letter to Bethesda.  Let them know, unequivocally that you are not satisfied with the game. That will really get their attention.  If you are gonna QQ, you might as well QQ an ocean and not a pond. 

See you in Tamriel…maybe.

ESO Guide: Efficient Leveling

Hey, hey, hey. It’s been a wild ride in Tamriel so far. Just hit level 20 over the weekend and wanted to share some of the strategies that I use to make questing in ESO more efifcient. These tips can help you get the most out of every hour of gameplay and level faster.

Effective Use of Consumables

Consumables give you an edge and help you stay alive!

Don’t stockpile your consumables. If you have a stack of 20 potions, you are doing something wrong—unless, of course you just bought them! When you see the specter of death, quaff a potion so you have a chance to avoid using a Soulstone—you should also have a stack of those handy so you can avoid that walk back to the questing zone.

Food and beverages are also a great way to keep yourself alive. Keep an eye out for traveling vendors who sell potions and hit up the inn keeps for food and drinks; or, craft them yourself! A food buff can provide around 10% to 20% more health, which can be the difference between a life and death on tough pulls. It may be expensive up front, but it pays for itself in savings on repair costs.

Get the Skyshards mod, so you never miss a Skyshard!

Putting every available point in your abilities helps ensure you are killing mobs quickly. Next to leveling, the best way to get skillpoints—the only other way, in fact—is to get Skyshards. Skyshards is an awesome mod that can help you find Skyshards on your map so you don’t miss anything while leveling. It is an absolute must-have.  

The Skyshards addon helps you max out your skills

Grind

Sometimes it is tempting to try to skirt mobs in an effort to complete quests faster. But, doing this will only slow your advancement as you miss out on valuable experience from grinding mobs. In ESO, you slay your way to your next quest objective. It is also tempting to run group dungeons repeatedly as you level. While this can be fun and exciting, you don’t get much experience from running them. They are good for gearing, however, so you should run each one once as you level to gear out your character, but avoid getting too caught up in them.

 

Speed reading

The joy of grinding!

There are some wonderful stories in ESO, but quest text and books tend to bog you down and consume valuable grinding time. One of the few complaints I have about ESO is that it can sometimes feel like you are studying for a final exam instead of playing an MMO. But, that does not change the fact that quest text and books are a critical part of the game. Ignore them at your own peril.

Skimming the quest text can save time. I have found that they usually put the quest objectives in the last line of each paragraph. Additionally, they also hide tantalizing secrets in books.  For instance, I read one book where they discussed performing a ritual at a specific site on the full moon to summon a wolf god! Who knows where that information can lead?

"Discretion is the better part of valor"

We all get that feeling when we die.  “What did I do wrong? I’m a better gamer than this.” It’s good when it pushes you forward, but if you let your pride get in the way of your questing then shame on you! If you die more than two times within a five-minute span (especially if you die in the same way) then you should probably go do lower level quests for awhile.  Try to avoid mobs that are more than one level higher than you and you’ll probably be ok.  On the other hand, certain mobs, especially platies can be tough on you even if they are the same level.  Use your discretion, and know when to run!



Take screenshots of books for later reading.

ESO is not about the destination, it’s about the journey

ESO is a game, not a full time job. Make sure that whatever you’re doing you’re enjoying it. Want to run a dungeon 10 times with your buddies? Do it! Feel like spending 10 hours at the guild store picking items? Enjoy. Sick of grinding? Run and sneak past mobs. It’s not all about getting it done fast, it’s about having a good time! Ignore all the rules. Just make sure you are getting the most out of your ESO experience!

See you in Tamriel!