On March 17, Elder Scrolls Online changed from a monthly subscription-based model, to the free-to-play Tamriel Unlimited. So what’s different since the game’s original release? For those players who have played consistently since then, actually not that much. For newer players, Zenimax Studios has improved its game to expand character versatility and customization, while still keeping the game true to the Elder Scrolls world.
ESO has received regular updates since release and the most recent one brought us some exciting additions in the Justice System and Champion System. Update 6 seems to have been lumped together with the transition to Tamriel Unlimited, but this patch was released two weeks prior to the F2P conversion.
Be careful when you click
I was disappointed and surprised by the lack of thievery in the initial ESO release. While it was easier to find ingredients, recipes, and lockpicks with carefree looting of every possible container in buildings, campsites, town squares, and on the docks, it almost felt too easy to fill my inventory with ridiculous stacks of pork or guar eggs. Most of my initial gold was earned by selling the food and drink I crafted from these items. The new Justice System operates much like stealing and pickpocketing did in other Elder Scrolls games. The greatest problem that I’ve had is trying to remember NOT to tap R to TAKE ALL and inadvertently steal something I didn’t want.
I’m a murderer now – yay?
With the addition of the Justice System, I was able to earn the dubious accolade of the Murderer Achievement. Most NPC’s can now be targeted, and I didn’t find it difficult to take down a city guard. When you’re caught by the guard, you will be given the option to pay a fine or flee. Be warned, fleeing is not as easy as I had thought. The guards were able to knock me down and keep me from escaping the city limits.
Caught by the guard.
Sell your stolen goods to a fence, which can be found near many cities without too much trouble.
Most of the customization that has been added to the game has been a gradual supplement over several patches. The latest feature is a system of Champion points that are awarded as you progress. This system lets you choose skills and bonuses with a constellation-type display, much like that found in Skyrim.
In an earlier update, ESO introduced equipment dyes. While this is touted as part of the improved customization that Tamriel Unlimited offers, it isn’t anything new if you’ve been playing all along.
Dye your armor for added customization.
The first week of Tamriel Unlimited was a disappointment, mainly because the game ran so slowly in populated areas that it was unplayable for me. It’s impossible to tell whether the influx of players came from previous subscribers who came back to the game, or those completely new to it.
Towns in Tamriel Unlimited are busy places.
The second week of release, I was able to play outside of populated areas without noticeable lag. With some tweaks to my graphics settings, movement through towns became smoother.
The Tamriel Unlimited Crown Store is one of the major additions to accompany the F2P transition. The initial offerings in the store were sparse and disappointing. However, since the launch of Tamriel Unlimited, I have already seen some new offerings for sale for crowns. Choose a new mount, a pet, armor skins, costumes, or a helpful potion or food item.
Try on a costume before you purchase it.
So far, the costumes and armor skins have underwhelmed me. I much prefer my own dyed armor to anything I’ve seen so far. It looks like Zenimax intends to release more options in the future, including a scholar, barmaid, bard and swashbuckler, so keep checking in to see if there’s anything you’d like.
The largest change to crafting that was introduced since release is the massive overhaul of provisioning. Instead of making beer out of meat, you can craft recipes that make more logical sense. Most of the ingredients have been changed or renamed, and tons of new recipes are available.
See how many recipes you can find.
If you haven’t logged in for some time, you will find that many of your stacks of ingredients are no longer used for crafting food or drink. These won’t go to waste though – sell them to any vendor to rack up some gold. Some of your former recipes will be translated to new ones in the revised system, and many others can be bought off other players at guild vendors.
The addition of crafting quests brings more options to leveling your crafting and also awards you gold. Make a few items as outlined in the quest and bring them to a drop point in town for your reward.
If you hoard your ingredients for crafting, the game’s updates have increased the size of your stacks to 200. Your vanity pets and mounts are organized under a new collections system, freeing up a few inventory slots.
One area in which I did notice a more dramatic change between ESO and Tamriel Unlimited was in the opening quest and story line. I hadn’t started a new character since close to the initial release. I decided to revisit the introduction with an Imperial templar.
After character creation, the entire sequence with Lyris Titanborn is more streamlined. You no longer can choose which type of weapon you pick up, as you simply loot a corpse in the first room and take what you can get, but this tutorial on how to move and fight lets you get to the meat of the game sooner.
Take what you can get when you loot this corpse.
Once you exit the prison tunnels, you will be in a larger area with a lot of fellow prisoners and two enemy sentinels (globe-like eye things at the top of an incline). In the earlier version, you had to defeat both sentinels, while now you only need to destroy one before you meet with Cadwell, an odd recurring character voiced by John Cleese. All of the atronachs are gone and I made it through this without dying even once.
Defeat the sentinel.
The tunnels that you must use for your escape have changed as well. The traps are still present, but you only need to pass through one room before you reach the prophet. You fight a single enemy (Child of Bones) together with Lyris and then free the prophet and escape.
Hey, it’s the prophet. He’ll be important through the entire story.
Once you enter Tamriel proper, you will be in a low-level area in one of the main cities. What a beginning player may not know is that there is a smaller island with low-level quests and a few skyshards that you can also access. In the beta version of ESO, this was where you appeared after freeing the prophet, but in the final game you have to discover it on your own. It’s easy to get distracted by the allure of the city and the large area to explore, but make sure you seek out Khenarthi’s Roost (Aldmeri Dominion), Bleackrock Isle (Ebonheart Pact), or Stros M’Kai (Daggerfall Covenant). The NPC to start the quest that will take you there should be very close to where to appear after you free the prophet.
Make sure you find these beginner zones.
Even the original release of ESO gave you a huge map to explore, which is one of the features that I love the best. With Tamriel Unlimited, we may see new content that expands that map, but until then, there’s still a lot to do.
