Game:

The Elder Scrolls Online (2014)

Duration: 1:10:30

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More audio woes, but not nearly as bad. I didn't realize the gain on my mic was around 90% when it's normally supposed to be around 40-50%, so I was spiking all over the place.

Get The Elder Scrolls Online here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/306130/

Intro & Outro Music: Malukah - Beauty of Dawn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwp8UxIY_iM

TL;DR: It’s worth checking out if you’re an Elder Scrolls fan. So far it’s been more like an Elder Scrolls than an MMO, specifically Oblivion. And mods make everything better.

What have I done?! I was out of the MMO grind, thought I was done for good, but then this guy comes along promising “an Elder Scrolls game with your friends” which, to be fair, I’ve wanted for a long time. But I didn’t want an MMO, I just wanted co-op, me and 1 or 2 other friends just exploring the world and adventuring. The Borderlands model would be just about exactly what I wanted.

But I was willing to give this a shot, benefit of the doubt and all that, even participated in the open betas. I was actually getting excited for this game because it seemed like they really were going to pull off something that was more Elder Scrolls than MMO. Excited… until they announced it was going to have a $15 monthly subscription on top of the $60 buy-in price. That just about crushed all enthusiasm I had for this game up until that point. Seriously guys, I’ll pay a monthly subscription if you give me the game for free. Or I’ll buy the $60 game but I’m not paying a monthly subscription. And then the dreaded in-game real-money store. $60 up-front, plus $15 per month… AND a real-money store? I noped right out.

A year has passed. I half-jokingly said ESO would go free to play within 6 months. Turns out I was half right, even if it took a year to get there. It’s now following the Guild Wars/GW2 model of “buy once, play as long as you like”. This is how it should have been from the start. The real-money store is cosmetic items and a few slight buffs/convenience items but nothing I or anyone could call “pay to win,” and something that can be completely ignored if you want.

So is it worth it? I’d say yes. While I’ve only got about 20 hours into it so far (as of March 27, 2015), it really does feel more like an Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion specifically, than an MMO. I’ve even noticed several Skyrim mod-like additions that are now built in:

* Player Headtracking
* Footprints
* Helmless Warrior and/or Auto-Unequip Helmet
* AH Hotkeys or More Hotkeys Please or Hotkeys++
* TK Dodge or Dodge Mod (plus an animation replacer to change to a dodge-roll instead of a side-step in 3rd person)
* Lock Overhaul (lock bashing)
* Some ENB-like effects
[New] * Jump While Sprinting
[New] * Dual Wield Parrying
* I’ll add more as I find/recognize them

I’ve even installed a few mods that have really helped bring it to a true Elder Scrolls experience, and I will go over them in the next recording session.

PC specs:
Intel Haswell i7 4770 3.4GHz w/ 16GB DDR3
Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3
EVGA GTX 670 2GB
256GB SSD + lots of spinning platters for storage

Mic:
Audio Technica ATR2500

Video/Audio recording:
Open Broadcaster Software
Nvidia ShadowPlay
Elgato GameCapture HD
Audacity
Mumble
TeamSpeak

Video editing:
Lightworks
Blender

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