We're at the end of the second generation of MMORPGs. We can see that with games such as Star Citizen and Everquest Next. That's why many people are discounting games like Wildstar and The Elder Scrolls Online. In fact, ESO started development almost 5 years ago. That has definitely impacted the direction Zenimax went with the game. I personally think that ESO does a very good job of bringing new ideas to theme park MMORPGs.
1)Character Class
For the first time in a MMORPG you can actually play the way you want. I remember playing Asheron's Call and getting to level 35 only to realize that I wasn't as effective as other players. Or having to respec my character at level 60 while playing World of Warcraft because of the PvP or raiding requirements. Currently there have been over 1000 character builds in ESO(look at the Reddit), and many of them are legit for both PvP and endgame content. The weapons, skills, and class combinations are absolutely insane. In fact, there are some new character archetypes we haven't seen in a MMORPG before. ForceStrategy played a Sorcerer in full light armor that used a destruction staff for fire spells(AoE). But the same avatar would switch to sword & board to tank. If you wanted to he could turn that same Sorcerer into a pure healing class as well. Other MMORPGs come close to implementing such idea, but there are usually only a handful of effective builds. In ESO, that doesn't seem to be the case.
2)First Impression & Beyond
I think Zenimax really shot themselves in the foot when it came to delivering an experience for early level content, especially between level 1 through 10. That's where a lot of the argument comes from and it's totally legit. I was in the beta for almost a year and every time there was a survey my feedback was related to the slow progression I had at early levels. Now, some of that has change for the better. But if you love PvP getting to level 10 just to see Cyrodiil was grueling. And just getting to level 15 for the weapon swap which opens up the character progression took even longer. The scope of the game grows larger once you past that mark and it's truly a sight to see.
3)Combat
If you're a fan of traditional MMORPGs and love micro-managing tons of abilities this not for you. Some players feel as if the combat is unresponsive. But I personally enjoy it. The difficulty of the game is within the dungeons, a few quests, and in some of the world bosses. But from your day-to-day PvE experience the game is pretty easy. It wasn't until I reach Veteran Rank 5 or 6 doing the 50+/++ content that I saw the game becoming almost unplayable without some form of grouping.
4)Questing
There are a lot of organic quests in ESO, but sometimes you'll find yourself doing a fetch quest. But they're short and are disguised to appear as if you're not getting more bear asses. If you like the lore in Tamriel, you will definitely enjoy your adventure. The biggest problem with questing is the server technology which creates instances for players. You'll be in a party of 4 doing a quest only to realize that you can't do it together.....ass backwards for a MMORPG. The voice acting adds a lot of detail to your experience as well; that's a plus.
5)PvP
EVE Online is great at it. But I honestly think amongst any high-fantasy MMORPG....ESO has the best PvP in terms of epic scale. Trust me on this one. And it only gets better at higher levels.
6)CraftingIt's been awhile since I could say that the best items available in a game come from crafting. With that said, the system is easy to learn but can require much of your time to perfect the type of armor you would like to create for your character built. Almost everything you obtain can be used or broken down for crafting. You can literally craft armor geared to your playing style. That's how detail it is. If you're a pure-healer in heavy armor that off-tanks you can built a custom set that fits the archtype allowing you to be effective.
7)Endgame ContentI think a game like Wildstar will definitely appeal to many of the raiders. The Elder Scrolls Online currently does not have any of the Adventure Zones implemented which is the game's raiding segment. One is suppose to be available soon after launch, but we'll see about that. Still, I think ESO has diversity in endgame content for all playing styles. Crafting alone can be a game in itself, and has a lot of depth! If you just wanted to be a tradesman at endgame it's very possible; especially since players with very detail and diverse set of crafting skills will be much sought after. And since Auction Houses are almost non-existent it'll making trading more interesting..............hopefully.
If you're not into raiding but enjoy other forms of PvE there's plenty of that. Once you reach level 50 and complete your factions story the game opens up with veteran ranks and 50+/++. Pretty much the game scales to your level and you'll be able to go through 10 veteran ranks. With each rank the game get's more difficult requiring a group. You will also get to play through each faction's storyline and areas. Each faction's content ranges from 50 to 120 hours depending on the completionist in you. Don't forget the wide range of dungeons per faction which all have an elite version. Plus there are plenty of world bosses! PvP is a monster in itself, and is absolutely epic especially with the wide range of character builds running around and skills trees at end game to mix and match. Still....I think Zenixmax needs to get the raiding in ASAP.
8)Tamriel, music, and graphicsI think the game world is beautiful and so are the visuals. Though the art style is debatable for some. I am overly critical of the music simply because Jeremy Soule's vision of TES is hardly present in the game. In fact, Soule(who composed music for Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim) only has a small contribution to the soundtrack here since he is working on Everquest Next(which is a kick to the face).
Exploration is heavily criticize. For a theme park MMORPG there is plenty of it on the mainland of Tamriel, more so than games like SWTOR, GW2, DCUO, etc. It's not as mysterious in comparison to vanilla Ultima Online, Everquest or Asheron's Call(no map, limited map, running speed, difficult). But Tamriel dwarfs most modern-day MMORPG's during their release. But in terms of a TES game, this is where some of the exploration fails to deliver. You can't start the game and go off in any direction like most Elder Scrolls titles simply because character levels restrict your ability to fight higher level enemies. Too bad the concept of 50+/++ content scaling wasn't implemented early on.
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