Anyone who’s played an Elder Scrolls game will immediately spot both its signature open-world experience and rather deep lore. As such, it’s no surprise that Elder Scrolls Online has strong ties to the overall Elder Scrolls lore and story. However, fans might soon realize that there’s more to their Elder Scrolls Online experience than just an MMO with an Elder Scrolls aesthetic.Typical to other Elder Scrolls games, it seems ESO has a ton to offer not just in gameplay, but also in terms of lore and background story. Thanks to the MMO’s events that take place in Tamriel’s past, players can get a better sense of how the franchise’s current story has come to be. However, aside from ESO having a deeper connection to the series’ lore, what other misconceptions would other players have over the MMO?Updated January 2, 2022 by Erik Petrovich: Elder Scrolls Online is an impressive MMO for a variety of reasons, but it's no secret that it's very different than the mainline Elder Scrolls games. Although a lot of things are different, a surprising number of singleplayer-oriented features have been ported over, like the ability to pickpocket (and even murder) NPCs. For some reason, ESO has a lot of preconceived notions surrounding it, but just step into the expansive world of Tamriel once and you'll find it absolutely stuffed with content, customizations, well-developed narratives, and more lying just under the surface.
10 Because It's An MMO, Killing and Stealing From NPCs Isn't Possible
MMOs tend to be extremely vast with plenty for players to do, but most lack the options available to players when it comes to interacting with NPCs. World of Warcraft, for example, only lets players kill NPCs of the enemy faction or city guards. Thankfully, Elder Scrolls Online is an MMO that isn't solely focused on players interactions with other players.
In fact, the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild exist exclusively to give players an in-game reason to kill wandering townsfolk or steal from everyone in their way. Many think that because Elder Scrolls Online is an MMO it is fundamentally different than the single-player experience, but it successfully translates many of these singleplayer mechanics to a much more populated world.
9 Expansions Are Mostly Fanservice
There are five major expansions and countless smaller DLC available for Elder Scrolls Online that take players across the wide reaches of Tamriel. While the last two expansions (Greymoor and Blackwood) have felt like callbacks to Skyrim and Oblivion respectively, the majority of the game's DLC content covers much more niche subjects and areas.
For example, the Clockwork City DLC allows players to talk with Sotha Sil, who in Morrowind was little more than a crispy husk. The Murkmire and Dragonhold DLCs open up areas of Tamriel quite literally never seen by Elder Scrolls players since the very first games. While much of the content does harken back to the more popular games in the series, the majority of the expansions simply open up new zones that let players enter never-before-seen places.
8 Familiar Setting Will Make The Game Boring Quick
Despite the sheer graphical marvel of Skyrim, Cyrodiil, and Morrowind in the previous games, players who got to explore every inch of their maps can feel bored in the long run due to the lack of new places to check. Players who have extensively played an Elder Scrolls game who will play ESO might feel hesitant to try it due to the familiar setting.
However, the time element easily compensates for this familiarity. Given the game’s setting in the timeline, there’s a lot of room to introduce new locations that wouldn’t have existed in the present setting of the Elder Scrolls. For instance, Coldharbour is the realm of Oblivion that serves as the domain of Molag Bal, but was never properly explored in any game until ESO.
7 Open World Setting Is Limited
Anyone familiar with an Elder Scrolls game will remember each game set in their particular region. Aside from graphical limitations, these settings allow players to experience the unique culture and “theme” of Tamriel’s different regions while following a standalone storyline. In Elder Scrolls Online, players might feel confined in specific zones with no access to fan-favorites such as Morrowind.
However, the game surprises fans as each DLC or Chapter not only features a unique story but also a full region:
- 2017: Morrowind, Vvardenfell
- 2018: Summerset, Summerset Isles
- 2019: Elsweyr, Elsweyr
- 2020: Greymoor, Western Skyrim
- 2021: Blackwood, Cyrodiil and Black Marsh
6 Story Is Separate From The Series
While some MMOs can carry a franchise name, they’re almost always self-contained within their own universes. This is true for games such as Final Fantasy 14 and Phantasy Star Online 2, being games contained in their own continuity. After all, MMOs that try to continue an original franchise can find it difficult to create a cohesive narrative while maintaining a large audience. These are problems that the defunct Matrix Online faced, and is currently plaguing the likes of World of Warcraft lore.
However, given the popularity of the franchise, ESO tries to tackle the story problem in a different way. Essentially, the game now takes place centuries before Skyrim, during the Second Era. In turn, the game has a lot more room to introduce new events. And due to the mysteries surrounding the Second Era in the core games, there’s not a lot of story inconsistencies to worry about.
5 Lore Lacks Substance And Is Inaccurate
Given that ESO already sold 15-million copies by January 2020, the game has quite a large player base. Taking the example of World of Warcraft, newcomers might speculate that ESO will likely find gimmicks to make conflict persistent in ESO’s Tamriel, perhaps to the point of sacrificing lore in the process.
However, the game takes a substantial amount of effort to keep lore cohesive. For instance, the game still has lore books that try to explain the eponymous Elder Scrolls and various intricacies of the era and how they may affect the status of Tamriel in the future. Moreover, the game posts frequent blogs that try to elaborate on certain lore decisions and to correct any potential mistakes.
4 Newcomers Will Be Lost Without Knowing Elder Scrolls Lore
Anyone new to ESO and the overall Elder Scrolls franchise will know the sheer amount of lore dedicated to expanding the series. In turn, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the idea of playing the game without knowing anything about the Daedric Princes, Vampirism, and the Nine Divines.
Thankfully, ESO doesn’t reprimand newcomers from getting into the game without any knowledge of prior lore in the series. Given the game’s setting of the Second Era, almost all players get in the game having no idea what to expect.
3 Typical Series Combat Happens In The MMO
Anyone who’s played landmark Elder Scrolls titles such as Skyrim and Morrowind will remember the game for its straightforward FPS mechanics - just slash with the left trigger and block or cast spells with the other. Given this iconic formula, wouldn’t it make sense for The Elder Scrolls Online to follow suit?
Yes and no. First, the combat does take its roots from the core franchise. Players indeed use the left trigger for physical attacks, but this time the right trigger is usually reserved for blocking. Given the resource-intensive combat system, players now use a toolbar to access skills unique to their particular Classes. Players now have to juggle Stamina and Magicka meters to secure their victory against foes.
2 Mixed Builds Work Like Other MMOs
Players familiar with Elder Scrolls gameplay will remember that they can build any character they want - including potentially maxing out stats they want, provided they allocate enough effort to them. As old fans might remember, games like Oblivion and Skyrim tried putting a damper into the leveling system of the games, but they didn’t always become appealing to the eyes of players.
In turn, seeing the same “freeform” concept in ESO might make players feel they have the opportunity to fully hybridize their characters. However, this isn’t necessarily advised. Given the resource-heavy focus of combat, a character with middling Stamina and/or Magicka stats can get poor performance across gameplay. Players need to stick to either a physical-based Stamina build or a magic-intensive Magicka build to maximize their character’s skill sets.
1 Wrong Builds Mean Restarting Characters
Players have likely reset an entire Elder Scrolls playthrough midway once they realized they’ve created the wrong build. Despite the freeform nature of most games in the series, players who want to enjoy the game without shortcuts can easily get annoyed with the leveling system due to monster scaling and other punishments for “wrong builds.”
As a result, newcomers might hesitate to get into ESO out of fear of having to reset a character if they end up not getting a decent build for powerhouse classes like Templars. Thankfully, ESO does have a nifty respec option for players who want to reorganize their character’s skill set. Players can do so by going to any Skills Rededication Shrine and paying 50 Gold per Skill Point they want to reset.
The Elder Scrolls Online was released in 2014 and is available for the PC, OS X, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.