Why This Skyrim Fangirl Likes The Elder Scrolls Online

Let’s just get this out in the open, shall we? You may not agree with me, and that’s all right, but for the record let me state this:

I’m a passionate Skyrim fangirl and I’m not afraid to admit that I like The Elder Scrolls Online.

Whew! I said it.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours clearing Dwemer ruins, enchanting exotic armor, and exploring Tamriel’s northern province on my own. As much as I love Skyrim, like a lot of you I had mixed emotions when I first heard that the Elder Scrolls was going to be made into a MMO game. On one hand, I was thrilled to hear that a new Elder Scrolls game was being made. On the other hand, I wasn’t so keen on the MMO part. I really don’t have anything against MMOs mind you, but the genre really hasn’t been my cup of Honningbrew Mead. Exploring Tamriel with friends sounded exciting, but I wasn’t so sure about sharing my adventure with hundreds of people…

Why I Like The Elder Scrolls Online

Being the Skyrim fan that I am, I pre-ordered the Imperial version of the game (I really wanted that white horse!). I’ve been playing in the Early Access, working at leveling my character and exploring the world around me. I have to say that despite my initial reservations about an Elder Scrolls MMO, I’m having a lot of fun, and I can say with certainty that I like The Elder Scrolls Online. Here’s why:

1. Character Creation. When I first saw The Elder Scrolls Online character creation video last fall I was intrigued. Personally, I like to spend a lot of time making my character (hairstyles, eye color, etc.), and the process of creating a character looked very familiar to this Skyrim junkie. As it turns out, The Elder Scrolls Online gave me even more options to tweak my character than Skyrim. I spent close to an hour playing with all the controls to customize my character just the way I wanted.
2. Graphics. I heard rumors early on that The Elder Scrolls Online graphics weren’t very good, and that the game lacked the visual appeal of Skyrim. Thankfully, I found this to be untrue. For me, things look great! Just as nice as Skyrim on my computer. Yes, I have a newer gaming PC with a good graphics card, and I’m able to play the game on ultra settings. Just like Skyrim, the excellent graphics in The Elder Scrolls Online helps my level of immersion.
3. Combat. Sometimes you just need to bash heads, and there’s nothing like a good old fashioned fight in Skyrim! Brawling with bandits and duking it out with Draugr is a great stress reliever. When I first began my Elder Scrolls Online adventure, I wasn’t really sure if I liked the combat system as much. In many ways combat is more complex than Skyrim. You can disrupt an enemy’s attack for instance (short of bashing ’em with a shield), and dodge and roll away from danger. Now that I have a few day’s worth of fights under my belt, I have to say that I truly enjoy The Elder Scrolls Online combat system. Enemies have different strengths and weaknesses, and it’s been fun to fine tune my fighting style. It’s not about button mashing, but about being in the here-and-now. While I’m by no means an expert fighter, the combat system really gets me involved in the moment, and promises better things to come as I gain further experience in the game.
4. Interesting NPCs and Quests. Just like Skyrim, The Elder Scrolls Online has a bunch of interesting NPCs and quests. In fact, during my Early Access game play, I’ve found ESO to be very similar to Skyrim. Sure, there are a lot of other players around (fighting, leaping, milling about, etc.), but it’s actually fairly easy to tune out the chaos and focus on the task at hand. The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMO first and foremost, but it plays surprisingly well as a first person game.

The Future Looks Exciting

So far I’m enjoying my Elder Scrolls Online adventure, and the future looks exciting. Right now I’m in the early stages of the game, but I hope to get more involved with crafting, enchanting,  and the MMO aspects of ESO as I gain more experience and confidence in my playing ability. I’m looking forward to eventually joining up with other players and working as part of a group. There’s so much to learn and so much to do!

So does this mean that I like The Elder Scrolls Online better than Skyrim? Of course not! Both games are similar in some ways, but uniquely different as well. I like strawberry ice cream, and I like chocolate ice cream. One flavor doesn’t have to be better than the other. I like different ice cream in its own special way, and the same goes with ESO and Skyrim. For this Skyrim fangirl, they both taste great!