Name changes (if they weren't offensive) happened regularly on the RP servers, which was great given how popular roleplaying was on those servers. I enjoyed stealth groups in the battlegrounds(played a ranger and a nightblade) but it was pretty tricky to fight Albion's overpowered stealth groups when they had Minstrels!

Edit: and just to bring it back to ESO, I'm hoping to see the two weaker realms unite vs the 3rd more powerful realm as it used to be in DAOC. Still, I won't know until I play :)

Downloaded (massive!), installed, account created, patched, all 3 Alliances tested briefly(mainly for aesthetic reasons) and I can run the game smoothly on Ultra high settings. I haven't run into any problems yet, but the game is massive with tons of content so there's plenty of time for those to arrive.

I was mildly flattered to see that one of my preferred names (Tarnicus - yes I made that one up in the year 2000) has been used already but one can add a surname to differentiate. Time to research the game a little and then create a few personas and delve right into it :)

My first impression is that it doesn't feel like an MMORPG, at least not like any I've played(and that's quite a few, some intensely) and that the combat is definitely different from what I am used to. Given my unfamiliarity with Oblivion and Skyrim(loved Morrowind), I can tell that my girlfriend is going to trump me in this game until I get a little practise in! The game feels more like a single player game with a chat function. That is actually what I'm after right now, so this is a good mesh for me so far :)

Oh and I'll also add that I found the new player introduction quite a bland experience to the game and was glad to see both the end of it and that it can be skipped with alternative characters. The story introduction however was interesting and well done and I couldn't help but chuckle hearing John Cleese narrating a character :)

Skyrim with noisy hyperactive non-NPC

Did you start out a prisoner? ... like always in ES games...

Yes mixed with an almost identical experience from Rift's Storm Legion expansion introduction but far less fun.

After all the negativity I read about the game(which was understandable given the usual unfinished MMO at launch experience) I have been quite surprised by how well the game looks, feels and plays.

Well I've heard NOTHING but bad things including from a friend in beta that actually was so irritated he quit. Now here you come saying it's not as bad as all that and next thing you know I'll want to get it! Fortunately, the fine trentonlf gifted me a nice new copy of Oblivion... so after I fuc..err MOD that all up I'll probably be far too busy :)

I'm really struggling with this tonight. Just seeing it drop to $30 made me start seriously reconsidering. I actually had fun in the beta, despite the bugs and such. I just sucked. :)

I think that part of the negativity around TESO comes from people who had never played a MMO before expected it to be Skyrim Online, which it isn't. But yeah, you're right, MMOs at launch always suck. I still remember the disaster that was Final Fantasy XIV, for example, but now it's a really good game. In fact, FF XIV is the best MMO i've played since Ultima Online.

By the way, i purchased it as well during the sale. I just finished downloading this huge thing. Let's see how it goes.

Okay, absurdly stupid question before I possibly break down and jump on this... (and sorry if it's been addressed, and I'm sure it's also common sense, but it's late, and my brain won't work)
If I buy a non-Steam copy, it won't limit who I can play with, will it? I'm guessing not, but want to be sure. Coffee not working well enough to google adequately, it seems. ;)

No, it will not. The game doesn't use Steam's servers. You can play with anyone else who purchased the game.

It will probably even be possible to play with people who purchase TESO on consoles (it will be released on consoles later this year), but i can't confirm it.

Thanks! That's what I was figuring (and hoping.)

*Edited to remove a question...

I went ahead and picked it up (dammit, I am too weak willed) and am about to download. Eager to give this a go. :)

I remember when WoW was released, the game itself was very playable and solid at launch, quests worked well, instances worked, surprisingly few bugs etc... there were of course tons of lag and instabilities but that was because simply because of too many people trying to rush in

These issues continued within the first Year and for the first 1-6 months the game was almost unplayable (I still have memories of waiting in a queue for 2 hours just to log into my character)

but once again, this is because of too many people trying to play, the game itself was great for a launch MMO, it's a shame that Blizz wasn't so good like this at releasing Diablo 3 as we all know how that went

As for TESO....I'll eventually give it a shot someday, being the ES fan that I am and post my judgement here about it, I've heard a lot of great things about it but at the same time I also heard a lot of bad things at launch.

It seems that the hype for this game has died down completely after the first month and to be honest, bethesda and zenimax deserves every bit of Flak and Shitflinging that it gets for this game because some of the business practices they pulled are truly unacceptable

Doesn't TESO involve other human beings doing stupid human shit? Pass.

I'll get a more detailed review done once I am able to give it a fair critique rather than based on my surprisingly good initial start to the game. MunkiSiren was on my account almost all day today and absolutely loves the game. I need to alter my desk again before I can resume lengthy gaming sessions as I'm not going to do my back, neck and wrists in again on an MMO like I did with Rift! lol

I had access to WoW beta in November 2004 and ended up with well over a year /played time on my main character alone over the 6 years I played it on and off and found the beta and launch to be one of the best there was. Given I started playing Ultima Online in 2000 on dial-up, a little lag on WoW or server issues(where one basically had no death penalty or consequences for dying) was a minor irk for me. I'd say that the lengthy times I had to play made any issues much easier for me to handle, and would imagine those with limited playtime being quite upset with server queues.

I can understand that perspective well and truly and I thoroughly enjoy social interaction in MMORPGs but rarely enjoy 'teaming up' with others. ESO allows me (thus far) to get the best of what I enjoy in games:

1/ I quest/play/explore alone and occasionally jump in to help another directly if need be. In other MMOs this often meant helping people with situations they couldn't handle alone(such as dungeons, elite mobs etc) as I am always self-sufficient and get used to tackling content that supposedly can't be soloed. I'll happily (when in the right mood) team up with people I know or have gotten to know to tackle group content that can't be soloed, and have had some great moments doing so, but overall I prefer to go my own way.

2/ The social interaction I enjoy most is chatting - getting to know others, providing gear and advice, roleplaying, and writing tutorials(usually on how to get rich). The social interaction I enjoy the least (but can get caught up in :P) is arguing and reading incessant immature spam and bullshit in general(or guild) chat. ESO has a very minimal interace(that can be modified extensively with add-ons) and chat channels can not only be exited(common feature today) but also with one click of a button isn't there at all. Given my girlfriend MunkiSiren struggles with chat(she'd always miss messages when playing with Rift), this is perfect for both of us. Her comment so far of playing ESO is that it is "very similar to Skyrim and I love it! It is a solo player game for me".

3/ The next form of interacting with others that I enjoy is competitive meaningful PvP. Ultima Online was brilliant - you had "bad guys" (other players who murdered, stole and scammed) and "good guys" who did their best to kill them. I had a blast and there were no quests or the stuff of modern MMORPGs - we made our own stories and they were the most memorable! My favourite large scale(and possibly overall) PvP was Dark Age of Camelot(DAOC). You couldn't talk to your enemies(removes trash talking when people get upset for losing or are being dicks when winning) but I made many friends from all realms through battle. With a 3 realm war, the two weaker sides(in any given battle) often teamed up against the stronger "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and that combined with siege warfare provided non-stop enjoyable PvP interaction without the crap that I often associated with PvP.

ESO's "Alliance vs Alliance or AvA" PvP has been designed by many of the same people who worked on DAOC, and encompasses some very similar features. This is the sole reason I decided to play ESO and I've since realised that I can get the best of much of what I enjoy in the one game :)