WiggyWimWamWazzle

1. ElderScrollsOnline:Research
Gameplay
Whenthe playergetsintoa positiontocontrol the character the movementisextremelysmooth
and scaleswell withthe worldthatyouare throwninto.The lightingiswell done foreverydifferent
theme of area since everythingisvisibleandnothingisleftintotal darkness.The environmentis
veryrealistic,foliage wavesverygentlyonsmall islandswhere oceanwindcanpassthrougheasily,
and the watercomesin wavesandripples;in-landcitiesare veryactive since there are peopleand
NPCsjostlingforroomand goingfromstall to stall tobuy waresandrepairequipment. Cavesand
dungeonshave asense of eerinesstothemthatsomeone wouldfeelwhenwalkingintoruinsora
tombin real life.In-game ruinsdon’tcapture the feelingthatitisruined andabandonedsince most
ruinsare usedas SoloDungeonsthenpackedwithenemiestokill. Craftingisincredibleboringand
the interfacesare hugelydifferentcomparedtothe lastElderScrollsgame,Skyrim, leavingnew
playersconfusedandaskingaroundforinstruction,whichleadsinto2more problems.Mostpeople
will ignore playersrequestinghelp,usuallyoutof laziness;the game doesn’texplainthatthere isa
helpmenufull of informationfornewplayers,makingitevenmore difficultfornew playerstoget
the hang of the game.A notable bugthat has beenfixednow wasinthe earlyreleasesandbetaof
the game where some stairswouldn’thave anycollisionsoyouwouldfall throughthemwithnoway
to escape withoutteleportingtosomeone orspendinghardearnedmoney.The craftingisoverly
simple,makingitboringtocraftdespite itsusefulness.Lookingpastthe weaknessesof the crafting,
it can be quite enjoyablemakingyourarmourlookwhateverstyle youwanttoby choosingaracial
style andthendyinginany colouryouwant. There isverylittle replaycontenttoESO since despite it
beinggenerallyanopen-world,the questsdon’tchange andthere isgenerallyone waytodo
everything,makingthe game veryinflexible.Bymeansof immersion the bestyoucandois go into
firstperson whichdoesn’toffermuchimmersionsince yourfirstpersoniswaytoofar forwardfor
realisticvision,youfeelas if you’re infrontof your character. The game can be veryrandomat times
and itis mainlydown tochance if you do well ornot.Levellingwithinthe game isa touchysubject
since some questscanbe hard to complete orevenfind;Craglornisalsoa game-breakersince there
are waysto manipulate enemiesthatgive alotof experiencewhentheydie whichleadstogroups
doingexperience grindsandlevellingmuchfasterthanotherpeople whowouldtake adifferentpath
by meansof gainingexperience.
Sound
The music inESO isenjoyable tolistentobutdoesn’tholdthe same powerasthe soundtrackfrom
Skyrim.The combatmusicis simple anddull,makingfightsirritatinginlongperiodsorwave based
fighting.Soundeffectsare variedandmake tryingoutdifferentabilitiesenjoyable;the noises
enemiesandNPCsmake are realisticforthe thingsthatexist,andfantasycreaturesare well done
too,the criesandhowlstheymake puthair on end. The soundsof the environmentmake youfeel as
if you areaactuallyinthat environment, e.g.:Incities, vendorsshoutoutabouttheirwaresand
animalsare audible overthe noise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOTIsNELvis ESOOfficial Soundtrack

2. Graphics
The graphics aren’tas highdefinitionasagame like Crysis3, butthisis a goodthingsince there are
so manytexturesthatneedloadinginareas.Whenthe renderingslowsdowntexturesbecome ugly
smudgesof stretchedoutcolour.The designof NPCsandarmour by race (clothing, racial style,etc.)
was verywell done since youcansee someone runpastyouandstill recognise it.Some of the
craftingstylesare verysimilar,especiallywithlightarmourandcan be boringto create since it all
lookssimilar. Onahighcost computerESO isa beautiful game anditbecomesobviousthata lotof
effortwasput intomakingthe game as realisticaspossible withoutlosingthe fantasyfeel aboutit.
AI
The AI inESO is well designedwhenitworksrealistically,butitcanreallymessupfromtime to time,
ruiningthe immersionandfeel of the game.Anexample of thisiswhenyoutryto jumpoff of
somethinghighorontosomethinghightoescape froma toughenemy:the enemycanstill hityou
whenyou’re agood 7 feetawayfromthem.
Control
The controlsare verysimple tounderstandandgetthe hang of,and theycan all be re-mappedto
any keyyouwant. Movementisstandard“WASD” with“Space”as jump,“CTRL” iscrouch and
“Shift”issprint.Nothingisboundtotoggle walk/runbutit’susedforRP mostly,makingitan
optional key-binding.Some functionsthatare brandnew to the ElderScrollsgamesare mappedto
keysyouneedtoreach far to press,beingforcedoutof the way forconvenient menuhotkeys,
makingitseemas the functionsaren’tasimportanteventhoughone of the far-outkeysisboundfor
weaponswitching,avital componentof fights.
Combat
The combat is usuallysmoothandenjoyable,butthe mostrecentpatcheshave made combat
clunky:abilitiessometimeswon’tgooff or will gooff foreverytime youpressthe button,andother
timesitwon’t.Basicattacks haven’tbeenbuggyfora longtime andare generallythe mostreliable

3. wayto damage something;unfortunately,mostfightscan’tbe wonbyjustspammingleftclickand
require youtouse abilitiestosurvive incombat.Thisdoesn’talwayshold true since youcanenchant
equipment,andsome classescanbuff theirattacksand survive off of that.
UI
The menu UI’s are simple andpleasanttolookat(pleasantasinit doesn’thurtto understandorlook
at).It has a simple layoutthatiseasilyunderstandableandistraversedeasily.The craftingUI’s
howeverare confusingtounderstandandmake little sense. The outof menu/combatUIis very
simple,makingthe screenun-clutteredandeasytosee the worldaroundit.
Economy
The world’seconomyispoorlybalanced,makingthe middle of the game the mostmoney-filled.
Early game moneyisn’toverlyimportantsince gooditemsare easilyacquired,butlate game when
youneedmoneythe mostitis verydifficulttogetenoughfundstorepairarmour,leavinglittle

4. leftoverforprofit. Moneyisoverlyeasytocome by,however,if youchoose tonotdo craftingat all
since itemssell forridiculousamountstootherplayersandstill sellforafairprice withNPCs. The
sense of earningmoneyislostwhenyoureach“Craglorn”,a highlevel area:thismeansthere are
highlevel dropsthere whichcanbe soldfora lotof money.A lot of enemiescanbe manipulatedto
spawnveryquickly,whichleadstogroupsgrindingitforendlessmoneysince all levelsare
guaranteedahigh-tierdrop.