The Solo Infinite Archive: An Unfulfilling Journey in Elder Scrolls Online

I continuously grant solo IA opportunities, and each time IA fails to impress. I returned to gather the final lead of the Ayleid King mythic. The same ongoing grievances:

Lack of save points, even though the goal is for the content to consume hours
This is an old complaint, but currently, no save point in IA equates to forcing you to complete the Main Quest or every zone story quest in one session. Basically, if you take a break, you must restart from the initial quest. Every. Single. Time. There is no sound rationale for the absence of save points. You aren’t rewarded with a better score for completion time, unlike arenas, so why?

The game design is horrendous
It essentially resembles a 3D iteration of a side-scroller with no conclusion. I’m fine with the raised level of difficulty, as it should ramp up; otherwise, it would be endlessly easy. I can also accept the randomness of the bosses. But having Sun Eaters as regular enemies? Ugh. Lightbringers and Brewmasters are excessive. It feels like “difficult just for the sake of being difficult.” Seriously, why not add Bitter Knights, Crimson Knights, Tidebreakers, Stormcallers, Keelcutters, Firestorms, etc. while we’re at it.

The game design is ABYSMAL
“Hey, how about we introduce fall damage? Oh, and let’s include a dragon as a boss that can throw you off the platform. Yes, you might theoretically block or roll dodge the wing, but it won’t succeed for numerous reasons. Lag. Bugs. Indifference. FUN!!!” It genuinely feels like I’ve never encountered a dragon before when one shows up. Ugh. Implementing fall damage in anything with restricted lives is nonsensical.

Heightened difficulty of side quests
The ridiculous tasks such as catching books using unresponsive controls. Or catching lights by moving backward, but not too quickly! Because I remember saying during my initial attempts, “This could be fantastic if it were more challenging and less rewarding upon completion.” With the only rewards being some IA currency. Hooray. The sole task worth completing is locating pages of a book.

Ongoing unfixed glitches
Inability to taunt certain bosses. Blocking fails. Interrupts won’t work no matter how frequently you bash the target. Heals and skills not activating. What is this, Cyrodiil?

The Tho’at Replicanum encounter is chaotic
Ooh, more adds and shards and colossi as you progress. Exciting. Oh, and a random Vision, of which I likely won’t get 3 of a kind this run. Thanks. And let’s not overlook that piece of equipment I will never utilize. Speaking of which…

The rewards are worthless
They keep introducing sets to entice players to engage with IA (for example, Pyrebrand) and then promptly nerf them. Why? It’s the sole reason players who do not enjoy IA participate in IA.

Look, I realize there are individuals who adore IA and can’t get enough of it. However, I’m not convinced that this is the majority of ESO players. In the guilds I belong to, you’d be better off trying to organize a vet DSA run than attempting to convince one guild mate to engage in IA with you. Because it’s lengthy, tedious, and unrewarding. More so than DSA. Which says a great deal.