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Yet even if you never get within spitting distance of that accolade, it's still a thrill. Progress in this mode has its own rewards, with skill trees that carry over into the main quest line and perks that take the classic leaderboard idea and give it a regal twist, crowning the best player as the Emperor. There are four types of mission available to you, including the obvious huge pitched battles but also catering for those who prefer to go lone wolf with reconnaissance sorties and sabotage operations that simply ask you to kill a certain number of enemies, whenever and however you please. That's not to say you have no say in what happens. Siege weapons must be used to breach forts, and tactical teamwork is a must. It's a far more tactical undertaking, involving the capture and defence of forts and supply lines, which in turn allow fast travel across more of the map. It's not just a case of everyone running around, battering each other with swords and spells. You're taken to the centre of the world map, in the heart of Cyrodiil, where large scale PvP battles take place. That would be the Alliance War, a persistent online military campaign in which you fight for whichever faction you chose at the character creation stage. With the right upgrades, it can defeat most enemies before they can even get close. A good ranged destruction spell is your best friend. More importantly, if you've been diligently doing all the quests rather than hurrying to the next location like a giddy goose, it's also around this point that you'll hit Level 10, which is when the game decides that you've earned the right to try something different. Regions are still fairly self-contained - and depend on which alliance you've chosen - but you finally get a taste of the freedom that has defined the series. For one thing, once you've ploughed through the first two or three areas, you start getting much larger maps to explore. The good news is that the game improves drastically once you get past the lengthy opening sections. So why is it that the first dozen hours of The Elder Scrolls Online felt like such a joyless slog? Totalled up, that's several months of my life immersed in the world of Tamriel in one way or another. The Elder Scrolls was the first game to truly make that happen and I've spent hundreds of hours in each entry as a result. Not just to engage in that battle, but to breathe in the world that was at stake, to visit the blacksmiths, the taverns and towns. I've loved each game in the series, always grateful for the chance to rekindle my still-potent childhood fantasies of stepping into a medieval world where magic and steel were in a constant battle against the forces of darkness. I dread to think how much time I've devoted to The Elder Scrolls over the years.