The fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online faces quite a wave of mockery on the internet, especially in gaming communities. Why is that? Why do so many people hate TESO? Why do so many loudly wish for the game to quickly go Free2Play or even be discontinued?
Last week, a relatively small US site reported the rumor that “The Elder Scrolls Online” will not be released on consoles. The reason is the poor quality of the game. Bethesda pulled the emergency brake here to avoid tarnishing the good reputation of the Elder Scrolls series.
In the USA, this hardly interested anyone. However, in Germany, numerous gaming sites, including the largest ones, picked up the rumor and reported on it. The source situation was thin – and that’s still flattering.
What stood out, however, was not the articles on the German gaming sites (which reflected the source with more or less distance), but the reaction of the respective community to it. Readers commented enthusiastically and passionately. And especially with mockery. That there was nothing to the rumor hardly interested anyone. Even when it was denied, it was often said: “Well, they have to say that. It’s still dying. I can feel it.”
The comments under these articles had approximately this tenor: “I knew it. Nothing good was going to come of it. The thing is dead, hopefully Bethesda learns from this and makes a proper Elder Scrolls 6 now.” What is wrong with people that they wish death upon The Elder Scrolls Online? Is it the drinking water, a star constellation, is it simply the internet, just pure coincidence or what is going on?
We have compiled six reasons why so many people hate TESO and take pleasure in its supposed failures.
Reason 1: People really don’t like pay-to-play MMOs
This is a trend that doesn’t necessarily relate to The Elder Scrolls Online, but: Many players cannot relate to the payment model “Pay2Play”, the subscription model. The idea of paying 13 euros a month for a game, whether one plays it or not, is completely incomprehensible to gamers who did not grow up with this. Especially console players have no understanding for it. For example, one often reads a kind of “perceived injustice” that one might only have two hours a day to play and then should pay the same as a student or an unemployed person who can game all day? Many do not understand that.
Just the decision by Bethesda to release a pay-to-play MMO seems like an outrage and a personal insult to some fans of the series. As if the final season of a series that was successful on Pro7 was simply broadcast on Sky and encrypted just to annoy the fans.
Zenimax has often commented on the pay model and announced that a regular cash flow is necessary to create high-quality content at a reasonable pace.
Nonetheless, and this afflicts the “Pay2Play” model perhaps more than any other: Non-players often wish for the failure of these models, predict it, and basically will it into existence, partly because they want to play the game themselves when it becomes “Free2Play” and supposedly for free. Almost every biting comment against a “Pay2Play” MMO contains the message: They will take a look once it has become “Free2Play”.
Due to the fact that some pay-for games have had to transition to Free2Play, for some, waiting for Free2Play has become an exercise in patience: One just has to wait long enough until one can obtain an MMO for free. The fact that players often incur higher “hidden” costs through a Free2Play MMO is often not taken into account here. And if one were to buy it a few months after the release, one would be in the wrong. That can’t be right.
Reason 2: Console players really don’t like PC games
It has been reported many times that Skyrim sold mainly on consoles. While the first parts of “The Elder Scrolls series” were PC games, the last and most successful child of the franchise, “Skyrim”, was a console phenomenon, especially on the Xbox 360. That the “next” game now only appears on PC and then the port takes so long to arrive annoys many.
If someone has a gaming console at home, they want to use it. Some console players don’t understand that at all.
Reason 3: “MMORPGs are finished and dead”
The genre switch from a solo RPG to an MMORPG has not been forgiven by many TESO players. They see MMORPGs as nothing but monotonous gameplay and item grinding, an endless grind in delirium without highlights – they can’t relate to that. MMORPGs have a similar reputation outside the genre as shooters do outside the shooter scene. The fun doesn’t appeal to everyone. Well, it’s like that for golfers too.
Especially pay-to-play MMOs are not a genre where one just casually tries it out. There’s a hurdle to overcome.
Reason 4: “Because of TESO, there’s no Elder Scrolls 6”
The core problem of many angry readers of negative TESO news who then take to their keyboards: Bethesda has only delayed an “Elder Scrolls 6” to develop The Elder Scrolls Online as an MMORPG, going against the wishes of the community.
Players have high expectations for an “Elder Scrolls” game and clear ideas about it. TESO is said to be too linear, lacks an open world, there is no justice system, and the story has no lasting impact – these are criticisms frequently voiced by players who expect, if it’s an MMO, then it should be a Skyrim Online. Already in the first tests, players and testers were annoyed that they were not the only heroes in the world like in the single-player RPGs, but there were other poorly implemented players.
Reason 5: Gameplay reasons
This is probably a minority view; one rarely reads truly “factual” reasons in the comments. But of course, as with any game, there are also “good” or at least “better” reasons not to like an MMO. Ultimately, every reason is legitimate. Many miss the sandbox component in The Elder Scrolls. The fact that the world is too linear annoys many. But that’s just one of many criticisms.
The game was and is certainly not perfect, as you can see from the major renovations that Zenimax has begun on TESO.
Reason 6: TESO had a bad launch and then went silent
The sixth reason lies partly in how the media report on an MMO: Very front-loaded. The initial period was accompanied by many gaming magazines. Exactly in those first six weeks, bad news about exploits, problems with the payment system, and a delay of the console port by several months fell. Since then, it has become – as is usual with MMOs – significantly quieter around the game. Some have the feeling of “I don’t hear anything anymore, the game is dying.” That the general vibe among players has changed, that Zenimax now communicates much more openly, regularly adds new content, and that many things (but not everything) have improved, is hardly known “out there”.
Many simply do not belong to the target group
Conclusion: The heavy criticism and mockery directed at TESO is not a unique phenomenon. MMOs have to bear a lot of negativity, especially games that rely on a pay model.
However, the phenomenon is particularly pronounced and severe in the case of TESO. This is certainly exacerbated in this case by the fact that it is a large franchise, a well-known and renowned name. Many associate memories with Elder Scrolls, everyone has an opinion and expectations about the series.
With TESO, it is nonetheless surprising how severe the criticism of the game is, especially from people who don’t play it and probably never have because they don’t belong to the “MMO” target group. And even if they did belong to it, TESO makes it difficult for them with some design decisions. The Elder Scrolls Online is peculiar and especially in PvP and in the endgame anything but “mainstream”.
Clearly, a game not made for one receives even more flak than one belongs to the target audience but then disappoints.
