Guess the stresstest has started. My youtube queries for TESO footage yield results now. I'm semi-curious about TESO, because for the most parts I'm certain it's going to be an unmitigated disaster, which in itself is entertaining. However, if it's actually a good Elder Scrolls game, it might actually be a rather sweet treat after all. I guess many are in the same boat as me, so here's my FYI - keep your eyes open for coverage, things are getting real! A few examples follow...

The first person stuff looks surprisingly great. Shame they didn't fully commit to it. A thing that's been pointed out to me is that players can't loot everything from slain foes, which indeed is very much unlike other Elder Scrolls games. Other than that, it looks very much like Elder Scrolls.

Is the NDA lifted now? Anyways, I'd love some direct feedback of beta participants. Enjoy your beta access!

Is it open to everyone now? I have a beta key, but with my slow internet speed there's no way I'll be able to access the beta in time. I could always give one of you guys the key, if you so desired.

I'd be happy to oblige the call to arms, if you'd bestow your code upon me.

Boy it's good they didn't put the account name playing the game all over the screen at all times

Sent it your way. I don't believe it's tied to my account, so it should work. Have at it.

It's basically like they tried to make an Elder Scrolls game in the EQ2 engine. Cute. But hideous.

I hope that people can find some fun in the game because I certainly couldn't find it.

It's so precious that they've made the UI appear as Skyrim-like as possible.

Also, did not know Jennifer Hale was all up in this video game, though I probably should've assumed.

Perhaps I didn't miss much after all when my account wouldn't work.

I'm not going to get all gleeful if the game turns out poorly, though. I was really looking forward to FFXIV 1.0 once upon a time, so I know how bad being let down like that can feel. I don't see the point in dancing around or gloating about stuff like that.

Only played about an hour of it so far, but it just seems to me like a mediocre elder scrolls game. It's like someone took the general attitude of "wouldn't it be great if Skyrim was an MMO" a tad too literally.

Edit: After having spent a few more hours with it my opinion has sorta changed, but not. I started playing it like an Elder Scrolls game and it seemed pretty mediocre at being that, so then I decided to ignore the Elder Scrolls parts and suddenly it felt like an MMO. It has this very jarring feeling if "this is strange for an MMO" and "this is strange for an Elder Scrolls game" going on (like, why are areas filled with containers with insignificant trash, and why are my skills levelling up through XP and not usage), and in this effort of being 50% MMO 50% Elder Scrolls it doesn't do either of them well. I wouldn't say either of them are bad, but they are far from top notch.

Would I play it if it came out during a slow period (like right now)? Sure. But with it's projected release date (which also seems scarily close considering the issues I've run into just during a few hours of playing), I highly doubt it.

I'm experiencing some Skyrim Uncanny Valley here. I think it would have served them better to stray away from the Skyrim UI.

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That's SunBroZak's beta key. All I get to do on their website is to apply for the beta. I can't create an account or download the client. Guess that's all coming together with the code email, but if I'm just too dumb to figure it out, feel free to try it for yourselves.

Oh well, I played the night away with BF4 anyways, before even trying to get it done - guess I wasn't all too keen on it to begin with. I'll have to live with second hand impressions for now.

I don't want to break no NDA or anything but FF14 is not only doing really well but also being really well, and PS4 testing of it begins soon.

(Cleverly disguised opinion of the current position of the ESO beta and its functionality and stability, general state of development.)

The game is under a strict NDA right now, i'd pull down your videos because they are serious about it.

I played 5 or 6 hours. Best part is the chat with half the players saying the game is shit and the other half yelling "well get the fuck back to wow!"

Although, without breaking NDA, I will say I was expecting far worse after what people said in the past months.

I'm not gonna speak to the NDA or divulging any details from my time in beta, but some general things that I think will hurt this game is how mmos are required to function. I am by no means a huge elder scrolls fan, but when I see enthusiasts of the game enjoying it, they seem to most enjoy the level of modding and customization to make the experience unique for them as a player. When an MMO is being created you can't possibly have that same level of freedom. I think this is a game to watch this year, it could be that at the end of this long beta road gamers are simply playing an Elder Scrolls game in name only.

So I don't like MMOs and I don't like Skyrim... so surprisingly enough I don't like this game at all.

Mine was attached to my own Bethesda account, the act of emailing you a code is a bit strange in this particular instance

I played this weekend. All in all I thought it was a solid game, better then I expected. I enjoyed that the quests felt more like a single player game then the run of the mill shit newbie quests your usually sent on. Like kill X amount of this, collect X amount of skins, or w/e. The environments all felt unique. i only got a warrior and a mage to level 6, but I like what I saw so far.