WoW went through a very steep decline about 5-6 years ago, when they made the raids smaller and made epic loot more accessible to casuals (the default position of ESO, ironically).
Before that, the game was hardcore and contained a level of challenge and reward I've never seen in any other game since, except for Dark Souls.
WoW is boring now, I agree. But ESO is a total joke. No customisation. No real choice. No freedom. No real life to the world. No economy or market (this is part of what makes an MMO life-like). Phased areas and quests (almost completely destroys the co-op questing). It doesn't look or feel like any MMO because it's multiplayer interaction is executed so poorly, that there is little reason to use it at all. There is no end-game content. There are no epic raids requiring actual skill to beat.
You may whine about WoW. But at least in WoW, when you die in a raid boss, you cannot just resurrect and run back into the fight to finish it off. You need skill. This is completely out of the window in ESO. It's a pathetic, no-skill, no-frill, and no-thrill MMO failure. At least WoW had full continents which you could explore freely without loading screens interrupting anything.
Even the F2Ps are better, for chrissake. ESO takes absolutely no lessons at all from any other MMORPGs and it suffers horribly as a result. Fanboys like yourself cannot stifle the truth about this game. We all know what Zenimax is capable of, and bending facts is nothing new.
This game is really horrible compared to Elder Scrolls, and also compared to any other MMO I've ever played. And I've played many, this was by far the worst.
You need to actually play some other PC-based MMORPGs before you play this trash. They all make it look like the limited, horribly gimped console-based rubbish that it is. No key bindings. Limited to 5 abilities. No UI modding. Terrible basic UI. Awful combat. This game is atrocious.
I'm sick of clowns telling me 'the game gets better at 100+ hours'.
50+ hours here and I've had no fun at all. I've played a lot of MMOs and I've played a lot of ES. ESO is horrible compared to either, and is horribly dull in comparison to everything else out there. Frankly, it deserves lower than a 6/10. It's hilarious that you fanboys are crying about the 6/10, considering it is WAY more than this sinking ship deserves.
You said that I don't like MMORPGs, and this is utterly WRONG. I played a lot of WoW around 7-10 years ago, and the game was brilliant back then. The raids required actual strategy and team-work. The end-game boss encounters were tough, and punishing. The very concept of having 40 or 20 people working together (as opposed to just spamming in ESO) made it an amazing experience at the time. Progressing through a new dungeon (BWL was new when I started playing), bidding for loot. Loot was exclusive, valuable and hard to get. You felt like you'd achieved something when you got loot in WoW. It went downhill after the second expansion by introducing 10 man raids and 20 man instead of 40. It encouraged a great community and it allowed the players to customise the game to a large extent.
ESO has none of this. There's no community spirit in ESO, outside of people complaining about the game, and others insulting them for complaining. There's no economy, there is little actual co-op. There are nothing but no-skill boss encounters that require no more effort than respawn-running to beat. When many players come together at the Dark Anchor events, it doesn't look or feel like a battle. It feels more like whack-a-mole. Enemy pops up, boom dead instantly.
If you want a decent MMO which allows you some freedom, get WoW. You focus way too much on graphics. Gameplay is what truly matters, especially in a time-consuming MMORPG. ESO is atrocious. I've played, and enjoyed numerous MMOs. I have also spent countless hours enjoying TES series. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I played ESO, because I'd pretty much ignored it. 50+ hours into the game, and I have absolutely no desire to play it, because it is BORING as hell. It has no competition, no economy, no world pvp. It simply has NONE of what brings other MMORPGs to life.
I was at work and I was bored. I can't play on games at work, but I can sure as hell grief your cash-cow of an 'MMO'.
ESO is literally inferior to most F2P MMORPGs, based purely on the fact that the game is designed for consoles, and feels+looks like utter garbage compared to any other MMORPG out there. Not to mention the fact that there is a cash-shop to get pay-to-win mounts... You can't even set up key-bindings and you are limited to a few ability slots (for the console controllers!). This, and the unwieldy interface, plus total lack of UI mods, makes ESO a pathetic joke in comparison to EVERY other MMORPG.
Everything about this game STINKS. And I say this as a fan of WoW, GW2, Secret World + Rift. Also as a fan of the Elder Scrolls series, this game is horrible in comparison to ACTUAL ES games. I refuse to accept this as an entry.
A game should not take 90 hours, or require 'getting to the end' to unlock ENJOYMENT.
A good game is fun to play from the beginning, and doesn't require 90+ hours, OR the max-level to become 'fun'.
Little do you realise, that you are making the case for exactly why ESO sucks balls.
I've felt more drawn-in by F2P MMOs than ESO. Which is a shame, I had looked forward to ESO, but it turns out it is a failed console-based MMO which is inferior to most MMOs out there, and it is a HORRIBLE embarrassment to the ES Franchise, which contains some truly great games. ESO is one of the worst MMORPGs I've ever played. I played WoW back in Vanilla and TBC, and those were the best days for MMORPGs. ESO cannot possibly come close to 40 man raids without battle-respawns. If a boss kills you in ESO, you just ressurrect and rush back in. This is a stupid, unskilled mechanic, and MMORPGs were more innovative 10 years ago.
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