The Elder Scrolls Online Preview - PAX East 2013

After finishing my fight, I saw that health, magicka, and stamina all recharge, much like other MMOs and Elder Scrolls games. Also similar to its forebears, ESO allows a high amount of interactivity with the world around you. Players can pick up and read books, search any barrels or chests they find, and pick up any food around. The only change being that weapons are not allowed to be picked up, due to needing more control over the in-game currency, and NPCs will not always drop the items they have on them.

While still level one, I died a couple times when pulling two enemies simultaneously, but once I hit level two the tide turned. Each time you level you can upgrade or get new abilities that are added to your hotkeys (you get multiple upgrades for every spirit shard you collect). These abilities revolve around three categories - mine were melee, magic, and healing. Also, you pick one aspect of your health, magicka, or stamina to upgrade, again much like Skyrim. After I levelled up, the combat took a turn and I was hacking apart my enemies with ease.

I found the elf’s imprisoned lover and his sketchy dialogue instantly raised a red flag, this man was not who he pretended to be. Together, we escaped the dungeon and he said that he must reach a nearby goblin camp to collect the valuable gem he had stolen (he stole it from someone else so, in his eyes, it was alright). There were no dialogue options that could change my path at this point, and I was forced to help this suspect character.

Upon reaching the goblin camp I levelled up again and now was able to shoot fireballs at my opponents. Magic is considerably easier in Elder Scrolls Online than other Elder Scrolls games as there is no aiming required to hit your enemies. In fact, the mix of hotkeys and mouse clicks make combat relatively easy in the game. I was promised that things would get more difficult deeper into the experience as enemies would start to swarm you, but from what I played combat was not much of a challenge, though still fun.

The scoundrel and I recovered the gem and were set to rendezvous at the local tavern. That was when a government agent questioned me about the man I had rescued and the jewel he possessed. Apparently, the jewel’s previous owner had been of some status and the scoundrel was in a bit over his head. Here I was presented with a choice to turn him in or cover for him. As much as I didn’t like this guy, I dislike the king of the region even more. I played coy and met the scoundrel back at the inn with his jewel.

This should give you a good idea of the quest structure in Elder Scrolls Online. I got halfway through another quest (the one I was supposed to be on, before I got sidetracked) that offered some other great changes to the game. In this quest I was forced to dress in disguise and sneak about a bandit camp. However, no sooner had I got my disguise than I was forced to, unwillingly, call it quits.

There are far more questions for Bethesda and Zenimax Online to tackle than they’ve answered. A couple hours barely scratches the surface of what is sure to be a game that aims to addict players for years. But I found that Elder Scrolls Online is truly seeking to preserve what makes the series so great, continuing a tradition of exploration, surprise, and the feeling like someone built an entire world just for you, even if there are other people playing it. Here’s hoping they achieve this goal in not just a demo but in the full release, currently set for late 2013 on Windows PC.