The Elder Scrolls Onlineended its “Legacy of the Bretons” storyline with a very underwhelming and extremely buggy Firesong finale, with many players frustrated by the re-skinned pet they received as compensation.Work onThe Elder Scrolls OnlinebeganwhenOblivionwas still in development, and the engine that the game was built on has been pushed well past its limits. When Firesong launched on November 1 for PC, it caused severe performance issues for a vast majority of its players, and the myriad of bugs it came with made the experience unplayable.
It’s no secret thatplayers have been unhappy withThe Elder Scrolls Online’s storyfor quite a long while, but their dissatisfaction runs even deeper than that. With ZeniMax Online Studios assigned to a new MMO project, many fans feel that the developer team is simply going through the motions. Updates seem to break the game just as much as they fix it, and each subsequent Chapter feels smaller in scope.
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As a means of soothing the audience’s frustrations with the disastrous launch of Firesong, ZeniMax Online Studios offered a Guar pet to players with an apology and a promise to do things better in the future. To say that it was poorly received by fans ofThe Elder Scrolls Onlinewould be an understatement. The community felt that the gesture was insulting when compared to the compensation that other MMOs gave their players, and that the promise was empty because increasingly buggy launches have become a worrisome pattern for the game in recent years.
Numerous threads popped up on the official subreddit forThe Elder Scrolls Online, but the message from its players has been loud and clear: a tone-deaf apology wasn’t going to allay their fears. Many argued that they would rather enjoy a slower content release schedule if it meant the developers had the time to properly implement new content and changes to the game. To these players,The Elder Scrolls Onlinehad no shortage of content, but it was starting to display a lack of stability and direction.
If the rumors are true thatZeniMax Online Studios is working on a new MMO, and has therefore diminished its focus onThe Elder Scrolls Online, then its struggle to meet the same deadlines it once imposed would make a lot of sense. Perhaps the best move for the long-term health of the game would be to take a break from the annual format it established with the Elsweyr Chapter, and gaveThe Elder Scrolls Onlinea much-needed makeover.
The Elder Scrolls Onlineis available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Series X|S.
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