Elder Scrolls Online Cyrodiil Champions: Can This Test Help The Zone Become Better?

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• Elder Scrolls Online Lep Seclusa & Exiled Redoubt In Fallen Banners DLC: What Is The Overview Of These Two Dungeons?

  Seeking breakthroughs should be something that any MMORPG that wants to persist in operation must do. Even if the current game development trend is good, it will soon be eliminated by other competitors without maintenance and updates. That is why, in the current prosperous game market, the classic MMORPG Elder Scrolls Online follows the rules and trends and ushered in a new era of its own in 2025.

  As the first year after the game held its 10th anniversary event, 2025 has naturally become the best time node for ESO developers to implement various new plans. In fact, at the end of last year, the game gradually announced a number of new plans, such as the game update mode changed from a major annual update to a new season every few months, and the plan will be implemented through the launch of update 45 and the new DLC Fallen Banners.

  As time goes by, three or four days ago on March 10th, you can finally start to experience update 45 and the new DLC in ESO first through the PC/Mac platform (Xbox and PlayStation login will have to wait until March 26th). It is worth noting that update 45 is free for all subscribed players, but the new DLC has changed the old mechanism and needs to be obtained separately. Therefore, in order to help you consider whether to experience this DLC, we will focus on introducing you to the overview of the two dungeons in it.

  DLC Fallen Banners Overview

  The two new PVE dungeons in Fallen Banners DLC are Lep Seclusa and Exiled Redoubt. Although their exclusive plots are different, they have something in common: they will reward you with ESO Gold or other items necessary for playing the game after you complete the relevant tasks.

  Generally speaking, as long as you are a subscriber to Elder Scrolls Online, you can enjoy all DLC for free before, but perhaps due to the chain reaction caused by changes in the seasonal update mechanism and other aspects, you must currently have an ESO Plus membership to access the dungeons in Fallen Banners. Or you can just wait and see until the developers reveal other ways to get the DLC during ESO Direct on April 10.

  Dungeon 1 Lep Seclusa

  Most PVE dungeons in RPGs have a storyline all their own, and Lep Seclusa is no exception. It’s actually home to a little-known group of Redguard monks called Hel Netu, who have long been dedicated to erasing any knowledge of Hel Netu from the rest of Tamriel, making Lep Seclusa the perfect place to hide Elder Scrolls. It’s a method that worked for a long time, as Tamriel all but forgot about Lep Seclusa, Hel Netu, and the mysterious scrolls they held.

  But as you might guess, there are no secrets that last forever. As the dungeon content unfolds, Orpheon the Tactician and his deserter army have somehow learned about Lep Seclusa, and they believe that the prophecy on the scroll hidden here is the key to their control of Ruby Throne and the empire, so they will use all means to obtain the scroll, and what you have to do is to stop Orpheon and his army when they attack and defend Lep Seclusa with Moth Priests together.

  Dungeon 2 Exiled Redoubt

  Unlike Lep Seclusa’s own mysterious story, the relevant plot of Exiled Redoubt is much simpler and the difficulty level will be more friendly. Exiled Redoubt is the underground fortress of a former noble Cato Albus in ESO. He seems to be planning some ulterior conspiracy here, because the plot will tell you that many Alliance War veterans have disappeared here.

  What you have to do next is to fight in the dungeon with Battlemage Lucilla while investigating, find out the reason for the disappearance of veterans, and crush Cato Albus’s plan. After completing the dungeon, you will receive gold, unique dye, a monster mask, and three armor sets for each class of equipment as rewards.

  Don’t Miss ESO Direct!

  In order to let players know the next plan of the game in 2025, as well as the effects and feedback of the recent update rhythm and content changes, Elder Scrolls Online plans to hold an ESO Direct starting at 3:00 pm on Thursday, April 10.

  The reason why you are recommended not to miss this Direct and related programs is that on the one hand, it should reveal more new information about Fallen Banners DLC, as well as some content related to update 46; on the other hand, after watching the Direct and the program, you will have the opportunity to get Twitch Drops, including 150% XP scrolls for watching the live broadcast for 15 minutes and Skill Respecification scrolls for watching the program for 30 minutes.

  In addition, the one-year ESO 10th anniversary celebration, which started in April last year, has not yet ended, so the event will announce the bonus code set in this live broadcast, which you can use to redeem the 10th anniversary exclusive monkey pet in the game!

  In short, whether you are a new or old player of ESO, 2025 is definitely the year you should pay the most attention and energy to the game. I hope you can have a great gaming experience!

• Elder Scrolls Online Update 45: This Update Is Likely To Be A Very Good Start For The MMO Game In 2025!

  Some time ago, ZeniMax, the developer of Elder Scrolls Online, announced that it would no longer release annual expansions for it, but would instead switch to seasonal expansions. This topic caused a widespread discussion among players. But in fact, this confident developer has changed the game that has been released for more than ten years more than we can imagine.

  On March 10, you will experience the new Cyrodiil Champions PVP campaign, the revamped starting area, and more complete quality of life improvements in Elder Scrolls Online. These are the features and changes that many ESO players dream of.

  

  Of course, the new features and improvements provided in this ESO Update 45 have not only had some impact on itself, some of them can even affect the current MMO game market, such as the addition of a Xbox Series X|S add-on. This is definitely not an exaggeration. If you don’t believe it, then follow this guide to list the improvements and impacts of you.

  General Improvements

  First of all, the most important change in Update 45 is the PVP changes in Cyrodiil. Because players have complained too much about server performance during the long-term exploration process, this update brings a new Cyrodiil Champions PVP campaign to all players.

  Unlike other campaigns, this Cyrodiil Champions will lock players into a special class build, which means that you cannot make corresponding changes to your attributes, abilities, or even items.

  

  From a developer’s perspective, this will allow the development team to monitor the server’s response to the simplified abilities and collect a lot of game data to help them plan the future of Cyrodiil and character abilities. For those high-level players, this challenging gameplay may make them feel more excited and accomplished.

  But that doesn’t mean ZeniMax has given up on the possibility of new players flocking to Elder Scrolls Online, as it has also taken another step in improving the experience for these players in PVE, such as Betnikh, Stros M’kai, Bleakrock, Bal Foyen and Khenarthi’s Roost zones will all undergo a very big improvement.

  Brighter game environments, a better overall atmosphere, new organic clutter and updated signage will make this ESO, which has been released for more than ten years, more vibrant. In addition, ZeniMax will also increase the starting speed of current mounts in the game, which will be more beneficial for players who have a very slow movement speed or farm ESO Gold.

  Advanced Improvements

  In addition to the above regular improvements, you can also expect to see the addition of new item sets and changes to the map: some customizable waypoints may be launched later, and disguises will become your collection in ESO instead of taking up space in your bank. This is great news for players who are not very skilled at picking up Elder Scrolls Online loot that suits them, because they won't often face the situation of running out of inventory space during exploration.

  Although not part of ESO Update 45, the two dungeons in Fallen Banners DLC, Exiled Redoubt and Lep Seclusa, may provide a better platform for players who love challenges. Most importantly, the storylines and themes of these two dungeons are completely different, and the gaming experience you have in them is completely different.

  In addition, ZeniMax has now announced that ESO’s add-on components on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 are in preparation and have been tested by developers, which may be big news for MMO gaming industry. Because in the long-term cognition of players, such games are more convenient to play with a mouse and keyboard, and a series of explorations with a handle to control the character may catch people off guard. 

  So once Elder Scrolls Online, which has been released for more than a decade and is dedicated to updating, successfully makes these add-ons on the game console, it will have a significant reference for other MMOs to improve the player experience on the game console.

  Summary

  ESO has cancelled the previous annual chapter update in Update 45, but it has brought more frequent seasonal game content updates to players. I think this is also a major change made by this long-standing MMO to adapt to the current game environment. We can fully look forward to what kind of surprises we will have in this game content and mechanism that is changed every 3-6 months.

  In addition, we can also look forward to some add-ons that ESO is developing on Xbox Series X|S and PS5. Imagine exploring the vast Cyrodiil and other explorable areas provided by Elder Scrolls Online with a smooth handle. What a pleasure it is!

  The above is what this guide speculates that Elder Scrolls Online wants to convey to players and the current game world in Update 45. But no matter what, the spirit of ESO’s pursuit of change is very suitable for various current MMO games to learn from, because only innovation can attract more new players and inject new vitality into itself. I wish you a happy game!

• Elder Scrolls Online New Seasonal System: This Controversial Change May Make This Game which Has Been Released For Over Ten Years Rejuvenate!

  Some time ago, ZeniMax, the developer of Elder Scrolls Online, announced that this game, which has been released for more than ten years, will introduce a very big change in 2025, that is, abandoning the previous Chapters and turning to a Seasonal System that is updated every 3-6 months, and no longer yearly expansions. As soon as this news came out, ESO immediately became the focus of discussion among players.

  Some loyal players of this game find it difficult to accept such frequent updates to the game content, thinking that this will make the entire game with a very deep foundation become neither fish nor fowl. Other players who strive to try new things strongly support this improvement, because it will add a lot of theme story content, activities, store items and dungeons to ESO, and will also give players more fresh game experience.

  

  But in fact, this controversial change will greatly revitalize this long-standing massively multiplayer online role-playing game, because it will not only give players who originally explored it a high-quality gaming experience, but also make some players who have never tried Elder Scrolls series of games interested in it and even start exploring it.

  For Original Players

  As just introduced, after Elder Scrolls Online is updated with the Seasonal System, you will have more new gaming experiences every 3-6 months, such as the currently confirmed Cyrodiil and some zones in the base game, which will provide you with some new tasks and activities, so that you can farm ESO Gold or items in the fresh game content.

  In addition, each new content added is permanent, and you don’t have to worry about all the tasks, stories and new areas being deleted after the season ends when exploring in games like Diablo 4. So even if you unfortunately miss one season, you will not miss all the new content in that season.

  Some players may worry that all the new content promised by the developers will not be released all at once in the latest update, so that players may need to spend more time waiting for the next seasonal game content.

  This is actually completely unnecessary, because ZeniMax has publicly stated that a large new continent will be added to ESO intermittently, so we can fully expect this very courageous developer to bring a new area with high quality for players to explore in the following year.

  In Seasonal System that ESO will use this year, you will not only see the addition of new game content but also the return of some familiar characters, such as Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, Fighters Guild and other organizations, as well as their more content related to the existing storyline.

  

  What’s more, the game tools and functions that the original ESO players have always criticized have also been solved to a certain extent with the help of Seasonal System, such as the performance issues of the guilds and Cyrodiil that have been requested to be added. At this stage, Elder Scrolls Online Direct has been confirmed to start on April 10, so these detailed changes and the game content in Season 1 may not be revealed until then.

  For New Players

  In fact, in the community of this massively multiplayer online role-playing game, you can often see some players who have never tried this series of games expressing their interest in exploring it, but they were usually discouraged by the huge amount of game content in this game before.

  But with the new Seasonal System, these new players will have an easier time exploring ESO, because the shorter update content will allow players to only focus on the new content added in this season, instead of having to explore the current updated chapter and all the game content added before, which is a huge workload.

  More importantly, after more than ten years of refinement, Elder Scrolls Online has become a very mature game. It will listen to players’ opinions and suggestions in a timely manner and make corrections to ensure that its player base will not be lost.

  For example, the performance of PVP that players have been calling for has been modified recently, as well as the wrong achievements such as Ascending Tide Scout, etc. So you can have a very comfortable game experience of farming ESO Gold or grinding experience points in it, because it is tailor made for players.

  

  Additionally, Elder Scrolls Online in 2025 will have a better onboarding system and some guidance, allowing these new players to dive into this fantastic MMO after their first try, something that many long-standing MMOs have not realized.

  In general, Seasonal System introduced by Elder Scrolls Online in 2025 may make some long-time players uncomfortable, but this is also a very correct change made by this old game to adapt to the current game market. We can indeed look forward to whether the addition of this system will make the entire game more vibrant. I wish you a happy game!

• Elder Scrolls Online Expansion Tier: There Are Some Of The Best You Can Try While Waiting For The Latest!

  Since its launch in 2014, Elder Scrolls Online has released a number of large expansion (often referred to as Chapters) and smaller DLC add-ons that complement the story and gameplay of the entire base game.

  Some time ago, the developer publicly announced that the next DLC for ESO is expected to be officially released on March 10, which may bring players more interesting game features, or some new expansion areas and storylines. However, during this relatively long wait, you can try some of the high-quality expansions in this series of games.

  

  Given that the quality of previously released expansion in terms of gameplay additions and overall storylines is uneven, this guide will introduce you to some expansions worth trying in the order of SAB Tiers, which may make your wait for new content more fulfilling.

  S Tier

  First, let’s take a look at some expansions that can be rated S Tier. They can perfectly combine storyline and gameplay, and have won unanimous praise from many players. The most worthwhile one is Morrowind, which brings the island of Vvardenfell in Morrowind province back to the game, and adds gorgeous new music that reimagines Nerevar Rising, which reminds players of many scenes in Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, with a retro atmosphere.

  Not only that, the dramatic scenes of Vvardenfell, the opportunity to meet Lord Vivec, and the fascinating storyline included in Morrowind are the main reasons why players voted it as one of the best expansions. Most importantly, this chapter is still free, so you may have no reason not to try it.

  Besides Morrowind, Thieves Guild is also very good. It can cleverly combine a great storyline with a series of potentially challenging heists, completely subverting the unconscious and repetitive task rules that often occur in MMOs, so that players can always feel a very fresh gaming experience in it.

  Thieves Guild is centered in Hammerfell in Abah’s Landing, which offers a lot of ESO Gold to power up your character, and is full of life, with players happy to interact with each other on small quests or trade cosmetics.

  If you want to choose one of the most beautiful ESO locations, it must be the island of the same name in Summerset expansion, which is the capital of Aldmeri Dominion. This add-on not only adds a lot of crafting materials and group challenges for players, but also provides a lot of new land to explore and places to discover, which will keep players exploring fresh.

  A Tier

  Compared to the expansions in S Tier, the expansions in A Tier are slightly inferior, but they are still relatively good in terms of overall lore, and all have some retro colors similar to the previous series of games.

  Dark Brotherhood has become the most impressive expansion in Elder Scrolls series of games because of its interesting storyline, because the main story is centered around this very popular faction. Its storyline mainly takes place in Gold Coast region of Cyrodiil and the iconic city of Kvatch, which are very important in Oblivion expansion.

  In fact, many players do not think that Necrom is a very good expansion because it has a very long and complicated storyline, but those who are keen on reasoning and exploration think that this is a very interesting expansion. This additional content introduces one of the most popular families among the five major families of Morrowind, Telvanni, in depth, and sets the entire story in Telvanni Peninsula of Morrowind.

  In addition to the overall storyline, Telvanni Peninsula in Necrom is also very legendary, and its connection to Hermaeus Mora’s plane of Oblivion, Apocrypha, makes it a very mysterious location, and continues the storyline of Shadows Over Morrowind and Secrets of Apocrypha.

  Orsinium expansion provides much-needed depth and insight into the location of Orsimer, even if it has very fascinating lore and culture in its own right. So with a well-written storyline, interesting side characters, and fascinating settings, Orsinium has become the most eye-catching existence in ESO’s small DLC.

  B Tier

  For the expansions and add-ons in B Tier, there may not be any specific issues with the locations and exploration areas provided, but the overall plot does not live up to the developers’ promise. For example, Elsweyr, where the exploration area is home to Khajiit, the cat-people of Tamriel, is full of diversity.

  Here, with multiple landscapes such as jungles, savannahs and deserts, players can experience a new exploration experience, and the overall plot also involves invading dragons and the addition of Necromancer class, but the execution of the plot is not ideal in the actual play of players, making players very disappointed.

  There is also High Isle, which also introduces a new area to Tamriel with unique landscapes that have never appeared in ESO lore. The visuals here are completely comparable to Summerset in S Tier. But unfortunately, its storyline development does not fully realize the promise of its background, and falls into an unpredictable trap.

  If you’ve tried Oblivion expansion before, Blackwood will be well worth your time, as it pays homage to that already very successful expansion in many ways, such as a very fun boss encounter that leads directly to Oblivion location after you complete it. The story takes place entirely in the area around Leyawiin in southern Cyrodiil, and the visuals here are some of the best in the entire series.

  What’s more, a companion system is also added in this add-on, which means you can summon two companions to help you explore. This sounds interesting, right? But in fact, the exploration difficulty in this expansion is too difficult, and not many players are willing to try the challenge, making this feature basically useless.

  These are some of the better expansions or small add-ons released by Elder Scrolls Online so far. You can explore them while waiting for the new DLC to come out, which may make your wait time fly quickly, and you can learn more about the legends of the continent of Tamriel from them. I wish you a happy game!

• Elder Scrolls Online Pan-Tamriel Celebration Event 2025: How To Participate In This Event?

  To celebrate Elder Scrolls Online’s 10th anniversary, the developers are launching a brand new event, Pan-Tamriel Celebration Event, which is also the first event available after entering 2025.

  The event has started at 10 am EST on January 23, 2025, and will last until February 4, 2025 at 10 am EST. During the event, it will be held in all areas of Tamriel! You don’t need to own any specific Chapters or DLC to participate in the event, but there are some returning collectibles that you can only get from the Impresario’s Assistant in certain DLC areas. Please come with us and enter this new event!

  

  Event Boosts

  In addition to the usual reward boxes, Pan-Tamriel Celebration Event offers players some great boosts, including a higher chance to get Antiquity Leads, Furnishings, and other valuables by digging in Treasure Maps.

  Additionally, fishing drops are carefully curated. As long as you fish the right type of hole in the right area, you’re guaranteed to get a previously uncollected Trophy Fish to complete your unfinished achievement.

  Finally, there’s a 100% XP boost that’s automatically applied throughout the event and can be stacked with other XP boosts.

  Reward Boxes

  Now, let’s get to those reward boxes! You can get reward boxes by killing all of the different boss monsters found throughout Tamriel.

  On land, there’s a chance that event boxes will drop from defeating World Bosses, Delve Bosses, Public Dungeon Bosses, and completing Incursions. Note, however, that Dolmens’ drops are from bosses, so you’ll need to be in the top 12 in terms of damage to get them, so areas like Alik’r Desert are not recommended.

  There’s also a cooldown between box drops from each character, so keep that in mind if you’re farming bosses back-to-back.

  If you’re looking for the fastest way to farm, you’ll most likely want to turn to other characters and switch between them as they take on different public dungeon bosses.

  For more challenging content, the final bosses in Trials, Dungeons, Arenas, and Tho’at Replicanum in the Infinite Archive all drop event boxes. But again, box drops only come from final bosses.

  The first box you get each day will be a gold box, which you’ll get when you open it, giving you the new, very stylish Lion Guard Captain Outfit Style Pages. In addition to your gold box, you’ll also get 3 Event Tickets (39 total during the event).

  You can only claim the gold box and tickets once per account per day, and the next drop of the day will be a purple box. Purple boxes mostly only contain crafting materials, but they also have a slight chance to drop ESO Gold and other items, in addition to new Style Pages. However, these purple boxes also have a chance to drop random Style Pages from the previous expansion celebration.

  

  Event Merchants

  Impresario’s Assistant

  During the event, Impresario’s Assistant will also carry these Style Pages, as well as a few other returning collectibles, but his inventory will depend on the zone you’re in when you talk to him.

  • Morrowind: Doctrine Ordinator Style Pages, Slag Town Diver skin, Memento, and fragments from Fabricant Pet.
  • Summerset: Evergloam Champion Style and Snowhawk Mage Outfit Style Pages, Wooden Grave-Stake Memento fragments, and Gloam Gryphon Fledgeling Pet.
  • Northern Elsweyr: Claw-Dance Acolyte Style and Ja’zennji Siir Outfit Style Pages.
  • Western Skyrim: Saarthal Scholar Style and Sovngarde Stalwart Style.
  • High Isle: Oaken Order Outfit Style.
  • Necrom: Apocrypha Expedition Outfit Style.
  • Blackwood: Y’ffre’s Fallen-Wood Style, and pieces for a pet.

  In all locations, Impresario’s Assistant will also carry fragments of 2 Morphing Pets from years past, as well as 2 really awesome Morphs, Hourglass, which lets you change the time inside a house when placed, and Doomchar Plateau!

  Indrik Vendor

  Indrik Vendor will have 2 returning Indrik Morphs and fragments for 2 pets. But as if her assistants didn’t already have so much to spend money on. Impresario only carries the new Lion Guard Captain Outfit Style Pages, 3 fragments of this year’s new Morphing Pets, and the first Morphing fragments for the new Rune Extraction animation.

  If you were a player during last year’s Anniversary Event, you may remember the replicas she carried. Thankfully, this year, their drop rates can be increased based on other achievements you may have unlocked, but the Impresario will also be selling them for 10 tickets each.

  So if you’re sad about not unlocking these collectibles last year, don’t automatically jump to spending your tickets. Remember that these Style Pages are bound! If you get the corresponding replicas, their chances of dropping will increase again as you explore Tamriel. So if you’re a bit strapped for Event Tickets, give this a try. However, you can also try participating in the occasional giveaways in IGGM Discord, where you may be able to score some of the collectibles you’ve been looking for!

  That’s everything you need to know about ESO Pan-Tamriel Celebration Event 2025! Whether you’re farming for those fishing achievements, treasure map clues, or bosses, hopefully everyone can enjoy such a lucrative event!

• Is Elder Scrolls Online Still Worth Playing In 2025?

  As a MMORPG with more than a decade of game history, there must be a reason why Elder Scrolls Online is still popular with players. Whether it is its stunning scenery or immersive soundtrack, it is an important factor that makes players linger here.

  But after all, more than 10 years have passed since ESO was first released, and many players want to know whether it is still worth playing in 2025, and whether it can still catch up with the old players who have been here and really enjoy it. But to know the answer to this question, you still have to ask yourself what you are pursuing. Let's discuss it from all aspects.

  

  Diverse Gameplay

  First of all, ESO has achieved a good balance between single-player games in Elder Scrolls series of games and more traditional MMO elements, allowing you to play games continuously.

  If you don’t like typical MMO gameplay, you will be happy to know that the world of Elder Scrolls Online is very large and single-player and casual games are very welcome, although there are some parts of the game that you need to bring others to play with you.

  That being said, the main contributor to ESO’s success is the game’s engaging and helpful community, but it also encourages you to find your own rhythm and interact with others when you want to. However, ESO is an MMO, so there is no way to turn off viewing other players, but you can choose to ignore social activities.

  Contradictions Caused By Level Scaling

  Unlike many MMOs, ESO has level scaling, and equipment will always drop with your level. Combat is the same as enemies, and even your own damage numbers scale with your level. And since there are no level restrictions, you can go anywhere and play with friends from the beginning, regardless of level differences.

  Combat in ESO does not have the feel of a single-player Elder Scrolls series game, but instead utilizes traditional MMORPG elements such as combat timers, ideal rotations for using skills, and global cooldowns before using other skills. It also utilizes the typical tank, healer, and damage dealer group dynamic.

  To be honest, ESO does offer a lot of freedom, but because of the freedom the game offers it is easy to accidentally get equipment or skills that don’t match what you want for your character. Therefore, most players have very extreme attitudes towards the combat system, either loving it or hating it.

  Another common complaint from players is that combat throughout the land area content feels too easy. While this provides a better initial game experience for new players, if you only complete the land content, your character may start to feel weak or unable to cope with the team content.

  Character Customization

  There are many options for customization in ESO, such as housing and designing character clothing. For many people, fashion is the real end goal!

  Of course, you can customize your character at the beginning of the game, but after the character creation is over, you need to spend ESO Gold to change their physical characteristics, such as eye color, height or face shape. However, you can add items to your collection, such as hairstyles and skins that can be applied directly from Collection menu.

  You can add items to your collection through Crown Store, or by completing achievements, participating in monthly or seasonal events, and simply logging in. These features all provide a foundation for players who like to customize their characters and show their own style and charm.

  

  Huge Content

  For pure lore lovers, ESO has a lot to offer. There are peaks and valleys in the storytelling, and some areas really stand out in that regard.

  However, the game is massive, and if you like to play games in the order they were written or intended, ESO might be hard to navigate, as there are 10 years of content to explore, and there’s still a lot to do!

  And while Elder Scrolls Online lets you join 5 player guilds at once, and there’s a player trading system, it doesn’t offer a traditional auction house, instead requiring guilds to bid for control of physical trader locations around the world. As a result, shopping in the game often requires traveling to different towns to find what you want.

  While PC players currently have the option of using add-ons to improve the user experience in various aspects, console players don’t have add-on options. So you need to consider whether your device is suitable for this.

  Pay-To-Win?

  Finally, let’s look at the paid elements in ESO. First, its base game is a good deal, usually given away for free, but only includes hundreds of hours of base content. But you can also choose to get a collection version of expansions, which includes the base game, the current expansion, and all previous expansions.

  If you hold off on using these expansions, you’ll essentially get a ton of content as a reward when you finally make up your mind to get them, a payment model that’s very new to the game. However, expansions and DLC are different, and these smaller DLCs aren’t included in the collection version, but they’re included in the optional subscription, which can cause confusion when players are deciding what to order.

  And, as mentioned before, ESO also has an in-game store with a special currency available for use called Crowns. You can use them to unlock more content for permanent access after your subscription ends, or redeem them for cosmetics, horses, houses, furniture to decorate your house, and other timesaving extras. But the game doesn’t force a real-world economy on you, and it’s completely optional.

  Some players aren’t happy with the amount of cosmetics that end up being sold for Crowns versus the amount of rewards you get, but the game is definitely not pay-to-win, it’s just pay-to-win for convenience and to look particularly fancy. While the timesaving crowns option does include things like upgrading skill trees, it’s important to point out that you do need to organically upgrade those skill trees once before the option is unlocked for your account.

  Some players will notice that there are also Experience Scrolls for sale in the store, which may fall into the “pay to win” category, but ESO also offers free XP boosts, usually in items you can earn when you log in each day, as well as craftable drinks. So do your research before you use crowns, should you do it? If you don’t need them, don’t waste crowns!

  Will ESO Continue To Be Updated?

  As for how long the game will be updated, only the developers know the proper answer. However, with a new class added last year, the game is still making money, and this live service game is still rolling out updates. Therefore, I think this game will still be around for a few years to come.

  Also, the game currently has no cross-platform play or cross-platform progression, and any in-game items are locked to the server you choose. Although the number of console players is considerable, the number of PC players is even greater. So think carefully when choosing a device to start the game.

  Final Thoughts

  In summary, ESO is very friendly to new players, the play style is very flexible, and there is still a lot of content to come. If you are interested, it is definitely worth continuing to try it in 2025, no matter which platform you choose.

  However, ESO’s biggest problem right now is player retention. While there are tons of new players, the end-game community struggles to maintain player numbers, because of severe nerfs, skill gaps, large meta changes, or an inability to find and form a group of like-minded players.

  If you do give the game a try, don’t burn yourself out by rushing to level up just to catch up with the old players. If you want to speed up your game progress, you can keep an eye on the giveaway channel in IGGM Discord, where there are often some sweepstakes. As long as you are lucky enough, you can get some coveted game resources for free. Regardless, focus on the adventure, lore, and world building in the game, and relax, because in the end it’s all about your journey and exploration!