After a nearly 3 year hiatus, I returned to The Elder Scrolls Online in February (2024). The promise of PvP content towards the end of 2024 was enough to hook me back in, giving me plenty of time to become reacquainted with the game and to catch up on all the content I missed. Now almost 7 months in and I am still enjoying my time in Nirn and beyond.
During my hiatus, I kept up with what was happening with the game and would occasionally watch livestreams from the developers and content creators. But I kept to my word that I would not come back to the game until new PvP content was on the horizon.
My Returning Player Experience
Feeling lost is part of the beginning or returning experience of any game. Rather than make a new character, I stayed on my main character then gradually branched out to alts. Here is what I did to get back into the swing of things.
- I started by finding my old daily routine (crafting dailies)
- Did some stealing and and killing (Blade of ‘Woe’ing) civilians
- Went through my Bank and Storage Chests (found some VERY valuable items!)
- Went through my Houses
- Did some overland content to refamiliarise myself with combat
- Looked up builds for my characters
I’ve been taking my time to enjoy everything I missed. I’ve primarily focused on Overland or solo content, PvP and of course a fair amount of Housing. I’ve also caught up on all the DLC including the newly released Gold Road Chapter which I just finished.
Housing
Of all the things I missed about the game, I missed Housing the most. No other MMO I have played can compete with ESO’s Housing system. I’ve been gradually trying to discover and collect various furnishings and furnishing plans I missed while I was away.
An important part of my weekly ritual is visiting the Luxury Furniture Vendor. The party waiting for Zanil Theran to spawn is always so much fun! Then I get to see the furnishings I missed and the new one they release each week.
I’ve had to spend a considerable amount of time reorganising my furniture storage to accommodate my rapidly expanding collection. I’ve also done a couple of new builds. Naturally, I’m always low on Mundane Runes and Decorative Wax from crafting furnishings.
I have bought a fair few houses (with gold, I have never bought a crown house) since my return both for decorating and storage. I was disappointed to discover that High Isle doesn’t have an achievement house. But otherwise, I have bought every achievement house except the Blackwood one (which I’m not a fan of but will probably buy eventually for furniture storage).
PvP
I’m not sure how I feel about the state of PvP. I’ve always loved the combat in ESO, but Cyrodiil can be so boring sometimes. Nothing has changed in the time I was gone. It’s the same old zone generals doing the same old strats with the same old dramas. Luckily, I play more often in off peak times (Aussie primetime) so I don’t have to deal with it as much. Sometimes off-peak can be a bit uneventful, but it depends how many people are on and who is on.
Battlegrounds can be hit and miss. The matchmaking doesn’t seem to be very good so it’s rare to get even match ups. Basically you take turns being on the dominant team or being on the annihilated team. Regardless, some games can be fun even if at times there is some crazy class or FOTM stacking or OP teams. I always get a couple of good games each session at least.
It was disappointing to discover that the new PvP content coming is not related to Cyrodiil. I feel the zone could really use a revamp. But I’m still curious to see what the developers do with PvP. I would like to see Battlegrounds get some love whether it be a new game mode or a new map or two.
Trading
In the first few months of returning to the game, I was able to make gold fairly easily using guild traders. But for the past couple of months, the market seems to have dried up and it’s a lot harder to make sales (at least on the types of items I tend to sell). Even crafting materials don’t sell fast these days. My theory is that it’s a combination of the 10-year anniversary event and perhaps a larger than normal number of retuning players, that has had this impact on the market. Perhaps the market is finally correcting itself from over inflation? Only time will tell.
The most frustrating aspect for me is the price of most luxury furnishings have fallen below their purchase cost. So making a profit off of luxury furnishings is a lot more hit and miss than it used to be.
Story
I have to say the story I’ve played through has been pretty good (for the most part) since my return. I particularly enjoyed the Necrom and Gold Road chapters. These chapters had fantastic characters and an intriguing linked storyline. Since I only just finished Gold Road, I’m still compiling my overall thoughts on the story. But they’ve definitely been the most enjoyable stories for me since Elsweyr.
The worst storyline for me was the Blackwood (and Deadlands) story. The highlight characters for me were Elam Drals and Arox the Mutilator but beyond them, I struggled to engage with this story. One of the major drawbacks for me was how the Dark Brotherhood integration was handled. Not being given the option to side with Elam with various dialogue options was very disappointing. I also found Mehrunes Dagon and his cult to be boring, I don’t really know how else to explain it. Arox the Mutilator really was the saving grace that made the final parts of the story more tolerable.
Similarly High Isle (and Galen), while having a very interesting premise ie. the Alliance war, sadly fell short on delivery. It was a missed opportunity to continue a major plotline from the games’ launch that’s been relegated to the background for years now. But alas, we barely got any continuation on that. The story ends with the peace talks finally starting.
In terms of future story, I would really like to see some sort of resolution or continuation of the Alliance War that ties into Cyrodiil and Imperial City. I would also love to see more Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild storylines. Maybe even other Guilds as well like the Fighters Guild or Mages Guilds.
Features
While I was away, some new major features were added to the game. Some with limited use like Companions, others more intriguing like the Arcanist Class with Tales of Tribute offering some occasional fun.
Companions for me have limited functionality. They’re handy when fighting world bosses for that extra bit of DPS but beyond that, the Rapport system makes having (most of) them out all the time while adventuring difficult. I generally found levelling Rapport to be pretty easy, but it takes forever to level Companion Combat Level, which is pretty annoying.
The Companion that suits my playstyle the most is Azander, I can pick pocket and murder as much as I like with him. He only complains about mushroom picking and if I want to play Tales of Tribute I can quickly dismiss him. Otherwise, I can keep him summoned pretty much all the time without worrying about losing Rapport.
Tales of Tribute can be fun little mini game, sometimes. At first I found it quite overwhelming but after I played a few games I began to figure what was happening. I still don’t really know the ins and outs but some card decks I do okay with. I have yet to play against another player.
The Arcanist class is certainly fun to play. Now that I’m over level 40, I’m starting to get the hang of it and I do quite well in Battlegrounds. At times I feel borderline OP. I crafted Wretched Vitality for her which seems like a solid set and just fill in the gaps with whatever other gear I get as I level.
Looking Forward
Overall my time back in ESO has been quite enjoyable. I’ve fully reacquainted myself with all parts of the game I have previously enjoyed. The one type of content I have yet to explore fully is group PvE. I have only ever done two Trials in all the years I’ve played this game and begrudgingly some Dungeons. It’s really not my thing but perhaps if I can find some people to play with, I may give Trials a go.
ESO is an all round MMO experience even if it does fall short on delivering in certain areas eg. PvP. It’s an MMO that proves that you don’t need fancy cinematics to tell a compelling story. It is a game that keeps most of its content and systems regularly updated and adds new content at a regular cadence. I really hope that PvP will finally get this treatment soon with the content update it deserves.
