*Warning, the words I use in the blog post below, are highly cynical in nature. Please forgive me, for I am very cynical (since Blizzard’s actions with WoD). If this offends you, please do not read. Thank you*
I’m suffering from trust issues. No, not romantic trust issues that pretty much anyone with an unhealthy relationship has to endure… I’m talking about trust issues with the video game industry. Namely, video game companies who seem innocent and say “we’re making this video game for YOU, the consumer!”…only later to turn their back on you and see dollar signs in their eyes and then pull away from supporting their playerbase.
That being said, this should’ve been seen of Zenimax(ZoS) since Day 1 that I decided to get ESO (Elder Scrolls Online for people that haven’t been paying attention to the posts in my Games blog). The whole Crown Store screamed “pay 2 win” to me (when I see how you can pay for crowns to get XP boosters). I even mentioned this on my day 1 post of installing ESO for the first time. Yet those feelings melted away when I noticed they were completely optional ‘toys’.
So I managed to defeat the final boss; the Daedric Prince named Molag Bal. I also reached the max level. So this should mean in typical MMO logic, I’ve unlocked endgame content, yes? … Wrong. The game then switches you from ‘Level’, to ‘Veteran’. You start as V1, and you can go up to V16. Now I hear rumors that this system would be removed in a few months from now.
Anyway, then you’re given a quest from a guy named “Cadwell”, called “Cadwell’s Silver”.
This new Silver level allows the player to do the content of one of the other two factions (which is different than any other MMO I’ve played). The trick is, and Cadwell even warns you of this…”no one will see you as a Champion”. Ergo, all the work you did to gather all the NPC allies you could to take the fight to Molag Ball….was for NOTHING. And your char agrees with it (by saying “I’ll do it!” (as if he was paid by ZoS to keep quiet)). What. the. flying fuck.
You go back in time, to where Molag Bal is still alive. And ZoS calls this ‘content’. This…this is worse than going back in time in WoD to fight nothing but orcs. You do this twice…TWICE. With Cadwell’s Gold, you do it again. How…can they call this ‘content’?! Then again, this is better than mindnumbing Apexis Crystal dailies.
I dunno. But when I feel I complete the game, and save the world. I’d like it to STAY saved! Of course, that’s every Superhero’s wish. But Superheros only exists in movies and comic books (and even some badly-made games).
But we’ve dealt with corporate greed for years. Why is it any different now? Because it’s only getting worse and there’s no one putting their foot down (that’s at a high power) to put a stop to it.
So, let’s say we don’t wish to go back in time and do that ‘content’ again. And that’s why there are DLCs. Some say it brought the downfall of ESO, yet most feel it made the game even better. Seeing locked content on the world map, and little blue glowing boxes that were locked to you. And how do you get them unlocked? Money! REAL..LIFE money. Of course, this isn’t a first to have content that were behind paywalls.
Now, most people say that getting an ESO+ account is a good way to “try before you buy”. But this involves forking over $15/mo. My version of ‘try before you buy’ is offering a FREE trial..not a PAID trial. And you can’t even get your $15 back if you don’t like the content.
So let’s go over the DLCs as they stand now, with more coming in the months ahead;
–Imperial City(IC): PvP only. Only caters to 25% of the community. They do have some PvE content like group dungeons and a few delves. But the risk of being ganked by assholes is quite high. I also heard major FPS issues that still remain unfixed to this day. Glad to see where the money is going…in their fucking POCKETS!! D:
–Orsinium(OS): PvE. Beautiful place to solo, and the delves are mind-blowing with awesome artwork. Yet the fact the content is scaled, it takes longer to kill NPCs there than normally. I will be going over this in a much more detailed post.
–Thieves Guild(TG): PvE with stealth systems. The life of a thief has never been more profitable in this DLC. Yet the game forces you to be a master thief and gives you little to no help to do so, only to “hide in a hiding spot”.
…*sigh* I hate being cynical. I really do. I want to break this, but I also wish I could stand in the way of greed filling the industry. Be that one voice that says “ENOUGH of the greed! CARE about your customers, NOT the money they pay you!”
And this is really all I can say about this. ZoS is no different from Blizzard, and it’s the reason why I can’t trust anyone with my money anymore.