The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG with a storied history, going from a poorly received game on launch to becoming one the most popular MMORPGs to date. Its tale is one of unexpected, but welcome success. But with that said, every story has to come to an end sooner or later.
Though The Elder Scrolls Online is widely regarded as a good game, that doesn't mean it can never face the reaper. All MMORPGs have to come to an end, sooner or later. The question that remains then is what exactly will be the thing that spells its end.
The Elder Scrolls Online May Not Be Future-Proof
Part of The Elder Scrolls Online's success stems from the fact that it is part of one the most well-known RPG franchises of all time. Players flocked to the game to relive the same experiences they had in the franchise's single player counterparts. In the beginning, this was not enough to keep players around, hence the MMO's poor launch reception. With time, it slowly grew into one of the most successful games in its genre. However, this doesn't mean it has managed to iron out all of its kinks. Much of The Elder Scrolls Online's best content is fraught with issues that limit the player experience to this day.
Arguably the most dire example of this is the game's software limitations. In an interview with producer Matt Firor in 2021, he attributed The Elder Scrolls Online's lack of new animations at the time to the game's space limitations. This, along with the fact that The Elder Scrolls Online tends to suffer from long-lasting bugs, showcases that the game might not be future-proof as it continues to get bigger. This continued issue may make it difficult for the developer to add more core content, such as new classes for The Elder Scrolls Online.
The software limitations don't stop there, as they also extend to the game's server performance. Unlike MMOs like Final Fantasy 14, which have multiple servers for player to join, The Elder Scrolls Online employs the use of "mega servers." These mega servers are meant to act as enormous servers to support entire continents, with there being only a single server for North America. While this makes it easier for players to group up with friends, it does come with a variety of issues for the game's performance. This could become a big problem as The Elder Scrolls Online heads into the Necrom expansion.
One notable example of this is the Cyrodiil zone, which is known as The Elder Scrolls Online's open-world PvP zone. Whenever there are too many players in the zone, input lag becomes a serious issue for those in the zone. At some points, it can even be considered unplayable, as players won't have enough time to react to incoming damage. ZeniMax Online Studios managed to help mitigate this issue in 2022 by replacing server hardware, but the issue still persists to this day. With players eager to hop in for The Elder Scrolls Online's Necrom expansion and the Arcanist, players could see this issue plaguing the mega server for a while once again.
At the end of the day, many of The Elder Scrolls Online's issues stem from its core limitations with its engines and performance. Hopefully as time goes on, the team behind it will be able to mitigate these issues to create a more smooth experience. After all, improving with time is one of the things The Elder Scrolls Online does best.
The Elder Scrolls Online is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.