The new client for The Elder Scrolls: Legends that Bethesda announced in May finally went live earlier this week, and the response has surely not been what either the publisher or new developer Sparkypants Studio were hoping for. Numerous threads and comments on the TESL subreddit and Bethesda own forums are heavily critical of the new design, color scheme, animations and effects, updated voice acting, and more.
"I don't care about countless bugs and freakin Ancano voice—those things will be fixed for sure," redditor BaubleDawdle wrote. "But absolutely unique, ancient-rusty-scroll visual style is forever gone, and that was another reason to choose this game among hundreds of card games."
Another redditor, A-N-H, posted seven detailed complaints in the same thread, including the "bland and generic" interface, lack of art direction, absent transitions, sound problems, smaller cards and screen clutter, and more. Loading times are better, they acknowledged, "but I don't feel it being a huge improvement because they weren't long to begin with." There's even a thread dedicated purely to fury over the font, entitled: "Arial, are you fucking serious?"
Redditor amethystlocke opted for a more visual, and poignant, approach.
(Dire Wolf Digital was the original Elder Scrolls: Legends developer.)
The backlash has been enough that Bethesda issued a statement acknowledging the "frustration and dissatisfaction over Legends' recent client refresh," and promised that the developers are tracking bugs, listening to feedback, and working on an update.
"Development on Patch 1 is well under way and includes more than 100 fixes. While we can’t provide an exact timeframe when the patch will roll out, our plan is to get through the submission process as early as this Friday," community manager Christian Van Hoose wrote. "Beyond that, we’re dual-tracking work on Patch 2, which will address even more issues than Patch 1. We will share more details about specific fixes contained in both Patch 1 and Patch 2 soon."
Van Hoose said the release of the new client is the first step in toward a better "player experience," including a faster pace of content releases and bug fixes than players have seen previously. Bethesda will also "continue to address issues like the overall feel of the game, card mechanics, and UI flow," he added.
"In terms of the look and feel of the game, this refresh is by no means complete. It was never our intention to roll out Sparkypants’ new client and call it a day. We’re committed to making Legends a game you—and we—are proud of."
