Summary

  • The Elder Scrolls Online has an incredibly unique sandbox PvP mode in Cyrodiil, which pits three armies of players against each other in the Colovian homeland.
  • With such a big mode, it's always been plagued by lag spikes, something that ZeniMax has worked to iron out over the last decade.
  • But lead combat and PvP designer Brian Wheeler wants to take things even further, and really smoothen out the experience.

The Elder Scrolls Online has an incredibly unique PvP mode in Cyrodiil. The vast expanse that we once explored in Oblivion is now the front lines of the Three Banner War, and it plays out almost like one big RTS game as huge armies of players descend on keeps and tear down the gates to expand their factions' dominion on the province.

If you top the leaderboards, you can even become the Emperor.

But such an ambitious, sprawling mode that pits huge groups of players against each other is bound to have problems. Lag has been a major issue with Cyrodiil since ESO launched in 2014, and while it has been significantly reduced in the decade since then, lead combat and PvP designer Brian Wheeler would love to take it even further.

"I Want To Get Cyrodiil Performant And Running And Rolling"

"I would like to go back to Cyrodiil and get the performance better," Wheeler tells TheGamer. "I want to really go back there and see what we can streamline, whether it be guard logic or some underlying things we need to do to abilities. We have been making some passes over the course of the past five or six years, to really address some of those [issues] besides the hardware, but I want to get Cyrodiil performant and running and rolling regardless of what time of day it is.

"It used to be bad when we hit the lag spikes. You feel that with the high [actions per minute] stuff, when you're doing weapon swap, block, cancelling roll, dodging, when you're cranking with your hands on the keyboard. That's when you really feel it. You get that half second to sometimes one second delay, and when it all adds up over the course of a 24 hour period, you're looking at five to ten minutes total of lag. But when that does hit, it's hitting during critical times when you're in the middle of a fight. So we want to try smoothing those things out."

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PvP has just seen its biggest shake-up in years with the new Battlegrounds overhaul in Update 44, which swaps the old 4v4v4 mode introduced in Morrowind with new 4v4 and 8v8 modes. The larger battles are more reminiscent of those Cyrodiil clashes, and Wheeler hopes that people dipping their toes into the more focused combat will jump into Cyrodiil and join the fight on the frontlines, experiencing the full breadth of ESO's unique PvP offerings.

The Elder Scrolls Online Like Follow Followed MMORPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 71/100 Critics Rec: 39% Released April 4, 2014 ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence Developer(s) ZeniMax Online Studios Publisher(s) Bethesda Engine proprietary engine, heroengine Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Franchise The Elder Scrolls
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The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG enjoyed by millions of players, set in the continent of Tamriel. Initially launched in 2014, multiple expansions take you to Skyrim, Morrowind, and other iconic locations from the series. You can choose from one of ten races and five classes before taking on a multitude of quests, dungeons, and trials.

OpenCritic Rating Fair Genre(s) MMORPG Powered by Expand Collapse