The Elder Scrolls Online is one of the largest MMORPGs, but it’s already almost twelve years old. Is it worth returning to Tamriel now or starting for the first time in ZeniMax’s online role-playing game? MeinMMO reveals it to you!
What do I basically need to know about the game? The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO for short) is an MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios that was released on April 4, 2014, for PC. A year later, the console versions followed. Back then as now, the online role-playing game relies on a buy-to-play model with an optional subscription and in-game shop.
The Elder Scrolls Online is built on a theme park structure, aiming to guide you from the start and present exciting attractions in the form of quests, storylines, activities, and special challenges.
The MMORPG places great emphasis on quests, stories, and characters from the fantasy world of Tamriel with its fully voiced dialogues. There are also dungeons and raids, PvP content, crafting, side activities like a card game, housing, and much more.
In recent years, Karsten has repeatedly returned to his Khajiit Nightblade to play through new story content or to immerse himself in recently released features like the Tales of Glory card game or the challenges in the Endless Archive.
The world of Tamriel in an MMORPG
The Elder Scrolls Online differs from other theme park MMORPGs like World of Warcraft because it gives you unusually many freedoms. Your character level is almost irrelevant in the open world. Thanks to flexible level scaling, you can play with anyone anywhere – even if your friends have been playing ESO for ages and have a fully leveled character.
Also very flexible is the class system. You initially choose whether you want to play as an Arcanist, Necromancer, Warden, Dragonknight, Sorcerer, Nightblade, or Templar (some of the classes require the respective chapter), but later you can almost completely freely combine the countless skill lines of the game.
In addition, there are costs for the optional subscription ESO Plus. The standard price for 30 days is 12.99 Euros per month. If you sign up for 3, 6, or 12 months, you can get corresponding discounts on the monthly price (10.41 Euros per month is the cheapest option). You can find all the benefits of the subscription here.
Moreover, ESO has a Crown Store where you can buy consumables, cosmetic items such as skins, mounts, and pets, paid DLCs and chapters, or upgrades for your account. You can view the entire offer in-game or at elderscrollsonline.com.
This flexibility allows you – completely independent of your class choice – to take on the roles of damage dealer, healer, or tank.
Fans of the Elder Scrolls universe will find a variety of familiar playable races with Bretons, Redguards, Orcs, Dark Elves, Nords, Argonians, High Elves, Wood Elves, Imperials, and Khajiit. Additionally, Elder Scrolls Online shines with a great implementation of the universe, letting you explore well-known locations like Skyrim or the island of Morrowind.
The Elder Scrolls Online in 2026
A lot is currently changing in The Elder Scrolls Online. After a transition year, the developers will introduce a seasonal model in 2026, expected to take off in March or April with Season Zero. A nice side effect of the seasons: All upcoming gameplay-related innovations should be available to all ESO owners at no additional cost.
In the future, you won’t need to purchase a content pass, chapters, or any DLC to play the next quests, regions, dungeons, raids, classes, and so on. It’s enough to buy the base game of ESO. Unlike before, the updates are expected to be released simultaneously on all platforms. Console players will no longer have to wait for new features.
Also cool: Some of the previously paid content will gradually be integrated into the base game over the coming months. This includes the DLCs Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Orsinium, as well as the Greymoor chapter. Those starting in ESO in 2026 will get more content than ever for comparatively little money.
In addition to the purchase price for The Elder Scrolls Online, there will still be the optional ESO Plus subscription as well as the Crown Store in the game. Additionally, a battle pass system called “Tamrielic Documents” is planned for each of the upcoming seasons. This system will have one free and two paid variants.
More about this can be found here: The payment model of Elder Scrolls Online in 2026: What does the new Battle Pass bring and what happens to ESO Plus?
More love for returners, bold experiments for veterans
2026 is also an exciting year for ESO for other reasons. On the one hand, the developers want to experiment with each season and try things out for which there has so far been no room in Tamriel. Here are some examples that are on the current roadmap for 2026:
- There will be 3 new difficulty levels for the open world of ESO.
- The first season will bring with the Night Market for the first time a so-called event zone that is supposed to provide an unusually challenging experience for ESO due to its difficulty.
- The introduction of world oceans, large ships, and naval battles is planned.
- There will be dungeon challenges for solo players.
On the other hand, they want to focus more on bringing actionable wishes from the community into the game and significantly improving the player experience for newcomers and returners. The list of innovations that the next Update 49 is supposed to bring is already long and promising. But see for yourself:
What are the current strengths of ESO?
Fans of the Elder Scrolls universe find in ESO the opportunity to explore the vast, atmospheric world of Tamriel alone or with friends. You will have the most fun if you are looking for well-written stories, interesting characters, and highly voiced dialogues. And if flexibility is important to you.
As soon as you leave character creation, thanks to the flexible level scaling, all of Tamriel is open to you. Equally free is character development, where you can freely combine a variety of skill lines. Or the fact that you can play with mouse and keyboard or with a controller, on PC or console, from either first-person or third-person perspective.
After almost twelve years, ESO offers so much content that you can spend many months, if not even years, with story content, group challenges, expanding your own home, excavating antiquities, leveling your companions, and other tasks.
What are the current weaknesses of ESO?
Some of the current weaknesses have plagued ESO since its release. For example, the action-packed combat system has always been lacking in weight and hit feedback. Weaving automatic attacks into skills to maximize output feels poor. While the developers are working on revamping the classes, it will take time before everyone benefits.
A common criticism in recent years has also been that ESO is too easy in many areas. Especially the story and quest content in the open world often provide no challenges. This is still true now, but with the upcoming update, players will have the optional chance to make the gameplay experience harder in the world.
What is not so easily resolved are the weaknesses in the MMO sector. Other MMORPGs offer more varied dungeon and raid content, and they feel better in cooperative or competitive group play. An important pillar of the MMO experience – the battle in Cyrodiil – has been struggling with technical and conceptual issues for years.
Last but not least, ESO’s payment model is frequently criticized. Players have always complained that the essential crafting bag for crafters is a benefit of the ESO Plus subscription. In the meantime, players found it annoying to have to pay for new classes or features like the lore. Last year, it was the expensive content pass that caused annoyance. And now the new battle pass is facing some criticism.
Is it worth starting in ESO now or returning to Tamriel?
How good the upcoming seasons will be is something we cannot say yet. Perhaps the developers will lose themselves in their experiments. Certainly, not every implemented improvement or new feature will strike the mark. But the plan for the year 2026 sounds more exciting than it has in a long time.
It is crystal clear that you can now get more ESO content for your money than ever before. If you prefer to play quests and story content alone or with friends in an MMORPG, you are likely to find your paradise in Tamriel. At least, if you can get along with the combat system.
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If you are looking for the best possible action combat experience in the genre, you should probably try Black Desert instead. Group content like dungeons or raids is more fun for us in WoW or Final Fantasy XIV. The largest PvP battles were recently in Throne and Liberty. You see: ESO is not a no-brainer recommendation for everyone, but still a solid option even in 2026. Or do you see it differently? Regarding the new competition, check here: MMORPGs 2026: The 8 most promising online role-playing games set to release this year
