The Elder Scrolls® Online
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Infinite adventures. As any experienced explorer can tell you, there are easily a million reasons to fall in love with The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. It’s why we recently began our #MillionReasonsToPlay initiative, which gave us the opportunity to share our own reasons and – more important – share yours with the global community of ESO players. And because your Tweets, Facebook posts, forum messages and videos were as expansive, interesting and varied as Tamriel itself, we decided to dive a little deeper by asking a few of you for even more details on what you originally shared. But that’s not all – we also asked key members of the ESO development team to share their own insights, giving all of us even more reasons to spend some quality time in Tamriel._
Today’s topic deals with all the wonderful things to collect in ESO.
Style and Substance
When we asked you why you play ESO, many of you pointed to the rare and special items you collected during your time in Tamriel. But it wasn’t just gear or costumes or pets – for a lot of players, achievements are as important as physical goods.
For Lester “decompiler” Murphy, a pair of epic-quality Dwemer hand axes are one of his most prized possessions. Gifted to him by a master blacksmith guildmate, this self-proclaimed “Dwemer enthusiast” dual-wielded them as a Nightblade. “I believe I was still only level 10,” D’Kho says, “and I kept them for at least 10 levels, maybe 12 – until they were getting next to useless. I never would have stopped using them if I didn't have to.”
While some players pursue power, others seek sartorial splendor. Community member Justin Gallo takes immense pride in his smartly attired Argonian. “My most prized possession in Tamriel,” he says, “would have to be the Noble Dress. It is useful for everything, and you always have to be stylish when fighting.”
And Gallo has done plenty of fighting. His proudest achievement is a trio of high-level feats: completing Maelstrom Arena, Hel Ra Citadel and the Aetherian Archive. “These are end-game-content things that I thought I would never be able to complete,” he says. “But with the right people and determination I was able to.”
But it’s not just the pursuit of items and accomplishments that drives ESO players. Murphy’s guild organized some collecting of a very different sort: They participated in the Extra Life gaming charity in support of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. “Between our usual weekly events and the special events we ran during the Extra Life 24-hour marathon,” D’Kho says, “we've raised over $2,300 so far in 2015. ESO gave us a platform to make that happen and have a hell of a great time doing it.”
Item Envy
We also asked the ESO team about their prized possessions, which included some tough-to-acquire high-level gear. Frank Peterson in Quality Assurance salivated over the Engine Guardian armor: A monster mask is paired with a set of shoulder armor to confer a 10 percent chance to summon a dwarven sphere to restore health, stamina or magicka. But it’s not easy to get. “As of right now,” says Peterson, “you can only get the mask by completing the Veteran version of the dungeon Darkshade Caverns, and the shoulders by completing daily Undaunted dungeon pledges.”
Lead Systems Designer Philip Draven is keen on something a little more offensive: the Prismatic Weapon, awarded upon completion of the Fighters Guild quest line. “Once created,” Draven says, “this weapon is particularly deadly against Undead, Daedra and Werewolves. This was such a noteworthy item that it ended up inspiring a new enchantment type.”
But it seems many in the development team are also keen on presenting an imposing appearance. Senior Designer Lee Ridout talked about his affection for the Zombie Horse mount, which was available only around Halloween of this year. (Ridout recommends pairing it with the Mind Shriven Skin costume for maximum effect.) And Draven has similar tastes: “For me it doesn’t really get better than the Nightmare Courser,” he says, “a jet black steed with flaming hooves that breathes fire.”
When it comes to achievements, Jeff Zimmerman from the QA team pointed to one of the toughest: Master Fisher, earned after catching all 200-plus rare trophy fish in Tamriel. It’s a whopper of an achievement, but if you manage to complete it, you earn the title of Master Angler and the Slaughterfish Flesh Pink armor dye. (Looking for a hint? Zimmerman points out that you have better luck catching rare fish when fishing with friends.)
And More to Come
With ESO constantly expanding and evolving, there’s really no limit to the kinds of things you can collect in Tamriel. For those seeking all the latest and greatest, we asked the team to divulge some details about new items coming to ESO.
First up, new costumes: December brought the debut of a new range of cultural clothing lines, each with its own in-game tailor or designer with a unique story. These are of particular note, says Ridout, because “the artists weren’t constrained by the usual rules associated with making armor. So these all look really different from everything else in the game.” You can expect more of these unique looks to appear in the game in the coming months.
Ridout also pointed out a returning pair of mounts that should be of particular interest to console players: the Senche-Leopard and the Black Senche-Panther. These were available to PC players for a limited time before ESO released on consoles, and will be offered again during the holiday season (from Dec. 23 to Jan. 4). “We knew that the console players never got a shot at getting these really cool mounts,” says Ridout, “and always wanted to rectify that.” He stresses that this is a very special case, though, so don’t expect many more revivals of limited-time offerings.
Still, it’s unlikely you’ll run out of things to collect anytime soon – like within, say, the next decade or so. Tamriel is, after all, a very big place.
Want to share your reasons for playing the Elder Scrolls Online? There’s still time! Join in with the hashtags #MillionReasonsToPlay and #ESO on any of our social media channels:
Facebook: facebook.com/ElderScrollsOnline
Twitter: twitter.com/TESOnline
Instagram: Instagram.com/elderscrollsonline
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Google+: plus.google.com/+ElderScrollsOnline
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