A History Lesson

While cleaning out a closet I found this huge paperback, published in 2003.  It cost $19.99 plus tax and was almost certainly purchased at GameStop.  It is essentially a walkthrough, with all sorts of character and lore information plus maps thrown in.  

How times have changed!  When the Solo MMO Player started playing video games around 2002, the xBox had been out a few months.  Many games had walkthroughs and there were a few blogs about various PC games.  Podcasts and Twitch and Discord were unheard of.  Back then you could buy game discs at Best Buy, Target, GameStop, online, etc.  Over the next 5 years, blogs exploded.  There were plenty of player blogs that had lots and lots of information about the blog writer's favorite game.  Some people collaborated on the larger websites.  Very few people were paid for this--it was a labor of love.  You can still see vestiges of this era in some of the blogs I reference here that haven't vanished or sites like The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page

Gradually I've watched the main game websites be purchased and consolidated.  YouTube videos started to become more common as the verbal generation is replaced by the visual generation, then Twitch arrived with Discord not too far behind.  Games are digital only.  You don't actually buy a game, you buy digital access to it.  Now the people who write for the big websites are paid and often have only a cursory acquaintance with the game instead of being obsessed with it.  There are very few sources of information about a game in many cases.  If you need help, it is hard to find.

So the Solo MMO blog hangs on.  Hopefully some of the links I wrote about years ago aren't dead and you can still find useful information.  

RIP gaming for fun.  Corporate gaming is here to stay.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

How to Use an xBox Controller to Play ESO on PC

Here are the steps to using a controller to play ESO on a PC, courtesy of YourSixGaming:

"To use a controller in The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) on PC, follow these steps: 

Check Controller Compatibility: ESO for PC supports XInput controllers, including Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S controllers. If you’re using a different type of controller, it may not be compatible with ESO. 

Enable Gamepad Mode: Launch the game using your keyboard and mouse. Once you’re in the game with a character, press ESC to bring up the menu. 

Select Settings, then go to Gameplay. 

Scroll down until you find the section for Gamepads and set Gamepad mode to On. 

Reactivate Your Controller (if needed): If you’ve recently updated ESO, the Gamepad Mode might default to Off. Make sure to reactivate your controller by following the steps above/

Additional Troubleshooting: If your controller still doesn’t function in ESO, consider reinstalling the controller’s drivers or software. Remember that you cannot use a controller before logging into a character unless you enable Accessibility Mode at launch."

If you prefer your instructions in video mode, watch this YourSixGaming YouTube video.   It is much more detailed than the above.  (You can read the auto generated transcript if you prefer.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5owD5EGI-y0

The Solo MMO Player thinks keyboards and a gaming mouse like Logitech's  G13 may be more versatile, but I suppose it depends on what you are used to.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Elder Scrolls Online: Tips for Tanks

Feel free to ignore all these tips from the Solo MMO Player, but be warned--if you do, you are going to fail as a tank and you are going to be much mocked to boot.

Slow Down - Instances are not a race.  If a tank outruns everyone else, the ads will be drawn to the tank and the group will fail because all the ads will be concentrated around the Boss, protecting and healing the Boss, and it will be impossible to take the Boss down.  Don't rush and allow many ads to be killed as the group goes through the instance.

Don't Panic - Just concentrate on what your job regardless of all going on around you.

Don't Stop to Look at the Map - The in-game map isn't that helpful.  It pays to view videos of the instance ahead of time so you have a general idea of where to go and what the NPC mechanics are.  Making everyone stand around while you try to figure out where you are and where you should be is going to annoy the other players without buying you anything.  Prepare ahead of time.

Kill the Ads - You don't have to kill each and every ad but you have to get as many as possible so they aren't all bunched up around the Boss at the end, protecting and healing the Boss.  See Slow Down and the link at the end for help in tanking to prioritize the NPCs that must be killed.

Running in Circles Is a Bad Idea - Characters in ESO must target ads and bosses before they can get off a shot.  If the tank is running all over, targeting is impossible and shots will be wasted.  Then the group has to wait for the cool down period to be over while the ads are attacking them.  Everyone dies.  (That's not the point of the instance, in case you didn't know.)  Zigzaging from side to side is also a bad idea for the same reason.  The Solo MMO Player has no idea why so many tanks run in circles these days but it does nothing whatsoever to get through the instance. See Slow Down.

Whining Gets You Nowhere - Complaining that you've run an instance four times and not gotten the drop you wanted will get you No Sympathy Whatsoever from experienced players who've run WOW instances forty or fifty times (or even sixty times--The Solo MMO player's record) before a rare item dropped, especially if you failed to trigger the quest at the beginning of the instance that would guarantee the drop once you finish the instance. Don't bother asking if someone has the rare item they'll give you.  It's not your birthday, bro, and the other group members don't care about your little problems.  Spend all your energy learning to tank. This website looks helpful.  Note the links at the end.

https://alcasthq.com/eso-tanking-beginner-guide/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Are There Mud Crabs in Elder Scrolls Online?

Watching the Solo MMO Player farm in Elder Scrolls Online, I started to wonder if mud crabs were still in the game.  They were quite annoying in Oblivion but apparently they've been dialed back.  However, this brings forth another question:  Why don't you get crab meat from mud crabs?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/130614/mud-crab-meat-mystery

One clever boy points out you don't get crab in grocery store crab meat.  

Now the real question becomes, why do you find pickles in wardrobe closets?

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

The Best Builds for Elder Scrolls Online

ESO fans are always looking for advice on the best builds.  The Solo MMO Player prefers Deltais Gaming as he likes the detail and the feel that Deltais understands the details.  If you are an old WOW player looking for expert advice, Deltais harks back to the thorough advice that old WOW players used to share.

https://deltiasgaming.com/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

"Unable to Retrieve Character"--Elder Scrolls Blades

There's a new error message that popped up when I attempted to open Elder Scrolls Blades this morning--"We are currently unable to retrieve your character.  Pease try again later.   0-10001-1"

Shutting down my iPad and then restarting it resolved the issue.  Judging from postings to Reddit, this happens quite often (just never to me before) but the restart fixes whatever has gone wrong.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

New Elder Scrolls Blades Error Messages

The last two weeks have been "interesting" when it comes to Elder Scrolls Blades.  I've gotten two error messages I've not seen before.

The top communication error seems to be due to my wonky Internet connection.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes it isn't.  I waited and tried again later and things were fine again.

The bottom message was a puzzle.  I got it when I tried to click on the store for my daily gift.   I decided once again to ignore the Store Unavailable and didn't touch my Apple account and it also went away.  This appears to be a common problem.  I haven't found any solution besides trying again later to date.

Sometimes doing nothing except trying again later is a good idea.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Minion in Elder Scrolls Online

Minion is a tool to manage add ons in various PC games, especially Elder Scrolls Online.  ESO University has information on how to install it and fix issues.

https://eso-u.com/articles/eso_addon_guide_installing_addons_and_minion_troubleshooting

Be warned.  If you downloaded ESO from Steam, that will add more issues to any add on or add on manager like Minion.  

Here is the Minion website to download.  It doesn't work on anything but PCs, however.

https://minion.mmoui.com

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Elden Ring Wiki and More

See the commands across the top of the page.  The interactive map is under "World."

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/General+Information

Want a bit of guidance to understand the challenges of playing this game?

https://www.polygon.com/elden-ring-guide-walkthrough/22948876/beginners-tips-tricks-class-leveling-stats-open-world-grace-light-wolves

More starter tips.

https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/elden-ring/news/elden-ring-starter-guide-tips-know-playing-the-game

In a hurry?  Eurogamer has a walkthrough to get you to the ending fast.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/elden-ring-walkthrough-8042

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Elder Scrolls Blades "Store Unavailable" Issue UPDATED

I've started getting a new error message when I try to access the Elder Scrolls Blades store from the main menu to pick up the daily free gift.  The message reads:

Store Unavailable

Please verify that you are connected with an Apple account.

This just started right after Christmas 2021.  Sometimes clicking the OK button under the message and then trying to access the store again works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  When it doesn't, try clicking on Town and then access the Store from your character menu.  So far that works every time for me but I've also had it appear when I'm in the game, but trying again usually works.

I suspect this is connected to Apple's Game Center in some way but I don't want to try and access my Apple account just because a game tells me to.  I also don't want Apple's Game Center to bug me to log in constantly either.  Took me eons to get that notice turned off.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com