Our ESO special issues hold a very special meaning for MeinMMO editor Jürgen Horn. Rarely has he experienced so much stress and fun at the same time as in 2014, when a thick GameStar special issue had to be completed for the beta launch of ESO . Here comes Jürgen’s behind-the-scenes reflection!
When I learn that there will also be an ESO special issue in 2020, memories suddenly come flooding back: To our special issue from 2014, for the beta launch of ESO. Because that was also my first big job in the games industry and the start of my journalism career. Before that, I had only written smaller texts – until my phone rings and a certain Martin Deppe asks me: “Can you write a few articles for our big ESO special issue?”
I actually didn’t want to play it.
Funny enough, I’m not that excited about the job offer despite my weak order situation. Because I didn’t think much of ESO at the time. Rather, I would have been excited about a special issue job for the soon-to-be-released big MMORPG WildStar – that one is cool, innovative, and colorful.
The ESO beta, on the other hand, comes as a rather conservative, colorless online RPG without many new highlights. I could not have been more wrong!
But good, I am young, need the money, and I am an Elder Scrolls fan as well. I like online role-playing games anyway. So why not write a few info articles and guides for such a special issue?
A few guides? That will be quick.
That it would be a bit more work and not just a booklet soon becomes clear. Because the game hasn’t been released yet, we only get “special” beta keys, which give us access only at limited times. As a team of authors, we don’t have much time to fill 144 pages of a special issue with numerous detailed guides.
There are also hardly any info sources we can rely on; we must try out, find out, and verify almost everything from scratch. And of course, we have to write. That is a tough obstacle course with narrow gameplay time windows, sudden server downtimes, and beta-typical bugs! But more on that later, first I have to be very brave…
Darn, I want the Dragon Knight!
Because I’m unlucky: The cool classes that I would have liked to play have already been snatched up by my dear author colleagues. Only the Sorcerer remains. And I really don’t like playing mages in role-playing games; they are boring, fragile, and run around in dull flowing robes. I want wild barbarian warriors and other fighters with big weapons! The Dragon Knight would be just my thing! It’s just unfortunate that the other writers felt the same way and grabbed it faster.
So I reluctantly play the Sorcerer and stubbornly skill him in full plate and two-handed weapons – just because I can! However, my chosen combo doesn’t seem very sensible at first glance. Especially since I am not playing a high or dark elf with a magic bonus, but a pitch black Khajiit.
I find elf ears annoying too. The sassy cat beings, however, are much cooler, and my magic cat in full plate anyway. Curiously, the game works much better with stamina instead of magicka than I thought.
Bugs, bugs, everywhere bugs!
Anyone who took part in the ESO beta (and the first time after the launch) will still shudder at the many bugs that plague the game. For an MMO of this size, beta bugs are completely normal, but when you are writing guides at the same time and the printing deadline looms, they drive you even more insane. Above all, numerous quests simply don’t work yet; we spend ages completing long quest chains – only to find out at the last task, “Well, that’s still buggy; it’s being fixed right now!”
That’s doubly bitter because we urgently need the experience points to level up as quickly as possible. Through pure grinding, there aren’t many points; quests provide the best XP haul. Moreover, in the beta, around level 22, there are initially no feasible quests, and we have to grind to become strong enough for the follow-up tasks. What fun!
Bugs? Those are
features!
Even worse are the supposed bugs that are supposed to be features. Especially the phasing drives us crazy. Because ESO doesn’t just want to be World of Warcraft in Tamriel, but wants to attract players from the Skyrim camp – that’s why ESO is extremely geared towards solo role-playing.
Therefore, there is also no mini-map, just a stupid compass that switches every time you take on a new quest. If you aren’t careful, you can walk in the completely wrong direction. That happened to me several times, causing me to waste valuable time again.
But back to phasing. In order for the discerning Skyrim fan to feel comfortable in ESO, annoying fellow players were routinely hidden if you were further along in a multi-part quest than the rest of the team. While this is great for the role-playing atmosphere, proper MMORPG gameplay does not emerge, as the shared questing with different levels ends up as a solo trip.
Ah yes, and then there’s the incredibly clever design decision that you don’t get loot if you are five levels higher than your companions. That’s why no higher-leveled player wants to play with you when you need help against dangerous enemies.
Order the Greymoor Black Edition nowSupport would have really helped me, as I’ll soon land in areas where I can hardly progress with my current skills and armor pieces – keyword quest gap at level 22. Level scaling isn’t available yet; the enemies are simply way too tough.
I’m grateful for every enemy I can somehow take down and celebrate every bug that helps me with that. I actually like MMORPG combat, but now I simply avoid many opponents. Just because every death sets me back and the deadline for my guides is looming, which Elite Boss Martin reminds me of in ever shorter intervals!
I can’t listen to Gypsy Punk anymore.
In addition to my battles in and with the ESO beta, I keep myself up writing numerous guides. I rarely get to bed before 4:00 AM. When writing, like with any larger project, I have my own soundtrack that I listen to on repeat on Spotify.
For ESO, it is for reasons that are no longer understandable today the wacky Gypsy Punk band “Gogol Bordello”. The problem is that I’ve probably enjoyed their music too often: it has since been completely associated in my mind with the stress of the ESO beta, and I can hardly stand to listen to it anymore. Except right now, while I’m writing this retrospective article. This is actually going really well…
Anytime again!
Was everything totally terrible back then? Not at all! Because as resistant as the beta was back in spring 2014, it was also amazing when everything flowed, and I could dive into the game world despite the deadlines of the special issue looming over me. The great strength of ESO, namely the great storytelling, the fascinating Elder Scrolls world, and the great potential for role-players, were all already present back then.
Therefore, I have remained loyal to ESO since the beta, while my former favorite WildStar soon sank into irrelevance. ESO, on the other hand, is better than ever today and my absolute favorite MMORPG. And it all started in 2014 with a call from Martin. Would I say yes to him again today? Of course!
