A Big Shake Up Is Coming To Tamriel
It is no secret that I am a fan of Bethesda’s long-running MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online. It has been one game that has never left my hard drive, and despite not playing it nearly as much as I would like to, it always got a good chunk of playtime whenever new content landed. But things are about to change over there in Tamriel. The long-running, annual structure of new content expansions has been done away with and in its place is something that could encourage me to play more often, or it could drive me away.
ESO is moving to Seasons.
My immediate reaction is to recoil in horror. I loved the hefty chunks of content delivered annually, and the way ESO lets people tackle things how they please has always been of massive appeal to me. Seasons don’t traditionally let players choose; they force players to participate or miss out, and honestly, that’s not what I want in my MMO. But after watching a big presentation and attending a QA session, it is clear that this isn’t a road towards becoming Fortnite. In fact, I would say the developers are aiming to make a season system that brings out the best in ESO, not one that simply follows what everyone else is doing.
The first Season, Dawn and Dusk, will land on both PC and Consoles simultaneously (a first for the game) on the 2nd of April and will feature a new area called the Night Market, where players can choose one of three factions and experience some challenging PvE encounters aimed at higher-tier players. Later seasons promise new story content as well as new in-game events, all of which are designed to return at a later date to make sure no one misses out.
Also arriving with this season are a whole bunch of other things that longtime players will also be excited for. The most important of which is that Bethesda have set up a new group of devs whose whole goal is to work on the game’s pain points and make the experience smoother for both new and old players. The first thing that will be implemented will be respec improvements, along with faster training for riding skills and increased furniture limits in about half of the game’s houses. This group will spend all their time in the future going over the game, keeping it current with modern expectations and smoothing out any of the rough edges that always appear when a game hits the 10-year mark.
There is no denying there is a host of other additions and new features coming in the year ahead, and while I am still not sure about the switch to a seasonal style system (time will tell on that one), it is good to know that the devs remain committed to improving ESO every single year. If you want to know more about the updates, make sure to check out the full presentation below or read about it in an extensive blog post here: Otherwise, keep your eye on Player 2 as you can bet your bottom dollar there will be more ESO coverage on the horizon.
