Wow. Definitely a great week to be a gamer.

I went over to a friend's house and played this game over the weekend. For myself, Kevin nailed this and he isn't the only person in the industry who was disappointed. I honestly felt like I've been there and done that.

As far as "waiting" for additional content to release before making a verdict, what does that change? Many people will say a game like Wildstar could be lackluster during the leveling experience(which I disagree), but it's the endgame content that is the true challenge. Alright. But what about all this other content that fails to make anything memorable? Should we just forget the trip from the beginning to max level?

Now I do agree with revisiting a game after a number of years to see how much it's changed[for better or worse], especially world that evolves over time. I remember EVE Online coming out and being the redheaded step child amongst the group of MMORPGs. Years later, it's developed into something that's worth playing or at least giving it shot.

@BabeNewelll This made me laugh so hard.

I had some friends who bought ESO expecting more of a traditional Elder Scrolls game verses an actual MMORPG. After having sometime beta testing Destiny, I can actually see a future iteration of TES or even Fallout provide some drop-in/drop-out multiplayer experience. Skyrim was such a big deal, and it's that game that really effected the player's decision in leaving The Elder Scrolls Online.

I still think there's a lot to like here in ESO, but there are some problems that need to be addressed. The biggest one in my opinion isn't the combat(which many would have you believe), but it's actually the questing experience. Zenimax Online Studios doesn't use phasing or "instancing" to create events for a party or group; but rather a single player. The result is being separated from your party entirely sometimes. It's hard to be a complete MMORPG if you don't live up to the "multiplayer" aspect of the game.

In my opinion, many MMORPGs lack any type of commitment to cooperation. Mainly because the time-sink and downtime which made interaction a necessity doesn't exist anymore unless you're playing EVE Online or maybe Archeage. But much like any recent MMORPG it is still better to play The Elder Scrolls Online with people or friends.

Shaun hit it right on the nail. The world of Tamriel is very immersive and looks beautiful. I have to give it up to the world builders because there is a level of detail in the design that I do not see in MMORPGs too often. I am also one of those people who enjoyed the questing experience in this game in comparison to some other titles in the genre. Plus the game being fully voice acted does help. Much like The Secret World having it's investigation quests that stand out, you'll run into some stories in ESO that have alternative outcomes based on what you select.

My only other major complaint is the veteran rank grinding. Unlike Wildstar and the upcoming Archeage; you'll still be grinding 12 additionals "VR levels" once you reached level 50. To do that you'll go through the other two factions' zones. By the time you complete 1 zone you should have gained 1 veteran rank level. While changes have been made to make this faster and the system will be phased out completely; it still feels unnecessary.

While there are some exceptions to recommending this game; you still might enjoy it especially if you love the lore of The Elder Scrolls, Tamriel, and MMORPGs.

I like this review! Love the game but there's a lot that gets in the way of it's own greatness.

@csvichf If you can recall infected or zombies being in the Tom Clancy universe then perhaps...

@billcakes I'll agree with you on nostalgia. But I also agree with them when it comes to being an older gamer that feels left behind.

@SloganYams Bias? I think a lot of us have been saying the same thing. Nintendo should always keep us in familiar territory with classic franchises such as Mario and Zelda. They are apart of videogame culture and should not be forgotten. But with the industry changing so much will they be able to keep up with their competitors. Is it fair to criticize them on not addressing issues from their previous cycle. YES!

Question. Why do we still have a lackluster online service, what's up with the third party development, and why don't we have a new 1st party game with characters we've never seen before? As far as Nintendo's "apology" and announcements. Okay. There are some interesting titles coming our way.

But do you honestly think Sony and Microsoft will be in the same boat? Do you think PC gaming's growth is going to slow down? I think not. :/

@rudyv30 Well. I personally think that the PC market has a great evolution of distributing titles. There have been plenty of big budget games that have been successful on the platform. But I also love the idea of small developers with smart ideas creating amazing experience. And with the consumerism on the PC market in most recent years indie companies have been able to maximize on their earnings especially with services like Steam. Experimentation and innovation has been something at the forefront with PC gaming; especially with indie development. I'm proud to be apart of all this and it even makes me question myself about purchasing another console.

@Nibroc420 @Nexozable @koospetoors

Massive multiplayer online games are persistent worlds with "thousands" of players existing on one server. EVE Online has one single server that is a home to 100,000+ players and at any given time consistently have 5,000-21,000+ online playing on that "single" server. World of Warcraft servers peaks around 1500 players on at a single time per day.

War Z has one large scale map(not world) on multiple servers allowing under 100 players to play. There's nothing massive at all about it. The Secret World is the only real MMORPG in the horror genre.