[read to the end for some tips on bugged quests]
The first day went mostly as one would expect. The downside of playing the beta is that the launch becomes a little bit less of a surprise. I created a Daggerfall Covenant Nightblade (as I had leveled most in beta). Of course, a large point of why I played in the beta was to identify what I’d like my “main” to be for the actual game, but it takes a little out of the new abilities. However, I was able to make a few different decisions regarding my talents and quest choices. Even as a Nightblade, which essentially the “rogue” character, I immediately went into archery in lieu of starting off with dual wielding and wasting skill points as I did in the beta. Once I hit level 14 or so, I’ll probably pick up another weapon and start using it a little to prepare for the weapon swap ability that comes at level 15. The swap skill also swaps all slotted skills so you can have two totally different builds for the different weapons.
The Good
There are several things I didn’t notice in the beta that are pretty amazing. First… crafting from the bank. In that, I mean you can shove all your crafting materials in you bank but still use those mats while you’re somewhere else using a crafting station. No having to run and grab materials out of the bank before creating that piece of gear as you level up. Second… PVP is pretty fun. The massive scale of the war going on is pretty exciting – but I’ll get to more of that in the next post. As was in the beta, the quests are interesting and diverse. The game still looks gorgeous, of course. The server loads seemed fine, at least for me. I had very little lag, only a few long loading screens and no trouble getting into the game.
The Bad
Bugs. I mean, sure… it’s launch day. Hell… it’s technically 5 days before launch. But a few mobs and quests are bugged to the point that it’s entirely difficult to complete. The fix for most things seems to be: Log out and back in repeatedly. Since every time you log in the game you may be on a different server (yes, it’s a mega server but there’s still a ton of individual servers working here) you’re in a different instance of the game. This helps bugged mobs, NPC’s that don’t continue with their work, etc. This fix also applies to quests that aren’t necessarily bugged, but aren’t meant for more than say… 3 people to do at a time. Most notably, the Bloodthorn Assassins quest. You have to find some assassins in containers on a boat. With 10 players per container, it can take a very long time to find one unexplored. It also seems they get stuck. However, switching servers using the logging method can help you find unexplored containers. One of the very most frustrating, however, is the Unearthing the Past section of the Bloodthorn Plot in Betnikh. The necromancers responsible for giving these motes don’t always drop them, because most of them are bugged out spawn points. Change servers to find a server without bugged spawn points (there should be a stick in the ground but NO glowing circle until the new necromancer spawns). Finally, the horse. For getting the Imperial Edition we got a white horse to run around on. While, it is a speed increase to normal movement… currently it dismounts at random. Sometimes you may get to run a minute or two… sometimes it’ll dismount after 1 second 6 times in a row. I don’t have an easy fix for that one. Hopefully they get to it soon…