Recommended Thing of The Month: The Elder Scrolls Online
It is five years after the devastating event which tore through the veil between worlds, known as the Soulburst, and chaos is tearing through Tamriel. The Empire is no more, and three factions - the Aldmeri Dominion, the Daggerfall Covenant and the Ebonheart Pact - wage brutal war for the Imperial Throne. Using this as a smokescreen, the malevolent minions of Molag Bal, the Worm Cult headed by the traitorous Mannimarco, work on the Planemeld, the disastrous merging of Nirn and Coldharbour, Molag Bal's dangerous plane. In a world of anarchy, the task of rescue rests upon the shoulders of not one hero, but many.
Or so it would be, if all the quests weren't all of the 'only you can save man- (or mer-) kind' variety. While it is very in-keeping with the Elder Scrolls theme, when it's in an MMO it doesn't work as well. I've heard this game described as 'a generic MMO with the Elder Scrolls slapped on top' and it is, but that doesn't stop me from loving it (though that may be because of my TES bias...)
It is understandable how this came to be, however. Zenimax were already working on an MMO, they just needed the RPG part of it, and Bethesda stepped up. If it were the other way around - an Elder Scrolls game with the MMO part 'slapped on top' it could have been so much better.
This set up does work well for me, though. I am a very solitary person, and I enjoy running around the game world, going solo as much as possible - meaning I get a very happy burst of adrenaline when I manage to do something on my own which is meant to take a group of people to manage - though it does mean waiting until I am at least five levels above that of the monster! But then again, this does make doing the group dungeon - which trying to do solo will get you removed from the dungeon by the game - that much more fun. When I can find a group to 'run' it with!
I would recommend one tries it though, to form your own opinion of it - but on someone else's account, so you don't waste your money if you end up disliking it!
