Not long ago The Elder Scrolls Online launched the #MillionReasonsToPlay promotional campaign to shore up excitement around the game. And while fans and newcomers gave some great reasons to play the game, they pale in comparison to Zenimax Online Studios latest pitch: one million dollars. It seems Bethesda is doubling down on Zenimax and their project, despite lingering speculations about the game’s future. But should they be? The developers boasted about their beta statistics back in 2014 but its safe to say that there aren’t five million active players today, on the PC servers that is. Have the issues and shortcomings that drove away that eager player base been resolved? Or is ESO just buying friends and hoping a few will stick around when the check’s been cashed?

Here’s the deal: Bethesda Softworks is a very successful company with an impressive bibliography crowded with seminal video games that millions of gamers cherish dearly. It would be reasonable to think they’ve also got a handle on economics and smart business, so when they throw a million dollars behind Zenimax and their debut project, one hopes it is because they see the game’s appeal rising with continued development and growth and not because they are blinded by the prospect of having their own World of Warcraft-esque cash printer. What is certain, however, is that the move comes off as a little desperate and gimmicky. A giveaway of this magnitude is unprecedented in the world of gaming. Sure, Everquest 2 gave out in-game cash and WoW recently gave away copies of its new art book, but this grand sum of actual cash is usually reserved for pro teams to duel fiercely over at a world championship. At the end of the day, the move feels desperate and misguided. Why give away a million dollars when you can spend that money on expanding the development team and actually growing the game? There is no reason to coerce players to click that dormant ouroboros on their screen if the game hasn’t gotten better since they last played. So has it?

November saw the releases of Orsinium, the game’s second paid DLC, following the Imperial City drop in late August. Imperial City offered a close quarters battlegrounds for the three alliances to duke it out in the streets and alleys of the famous city, along with two new dungeons, new sets, veteran ranks and a new currency, Tel Var Stones. These stones can be accumulated by slaying foes throughout the new zone and spent on special items, like the new armor sets, at designated merchants. The lack of exciting items to buy said currency did not help to establish it as an integral part of the game as a whole, rather it serves a very limited role in a very limited space. Getting those stones, however, is a thrill like no other. The sewers and streets of the Imperial city offer something akin to a medieval Call of Duty PvP feel. The constant action offered here helped those who enjoy the challenge of PvP combat a quick and easy way to get in and make meaningful progress on their characters without having to roam the endless fields of Cyrodiil looking for a fight and preparing to take strategic objectives. For a while, it looked promising. The Imperial Sewers were flooded with players waging war. But these days (on the PC North American server, at least) the zone is all but deserted, with a modest daily presence of dedicated players and gankers, players waiting to slay unsuspecting foes to steal the Tel Var stones they had just collected. It was a good expansion, but at this point ESO needed something exceptional to boost its public perception.

Enter Orsinium. It may not be the holy grail the developers needed but there is little doubt that this expansion pack is well worth the money for any who enjoy the base game. The new zone is engrossing, offering travelers a myriad of quests, locales and sights to see. Roaming the green hills and scaling the snow-capped peaks of this new region evokes nostalgic trances of exploring Skyrim and Oblivion. The new daily world boss quests offer a super condensed version of their daily Undaunted Pledges counterpart, always nice when you’re short on game time. The Malestrom arena taunts players to take on the ultimate solo challenge, facing off against waves of monsters and competing for top scores on the leaderboards. There’s a lot to do here, and it was all built with a much appreciated and fruitful attention to detail. Wrothgar can at times feel more rewarding, alive and intimate than the rest of the game combined. All in all, this expansion pack marks a huge step in the right direction for the fledgling MMORPG. But is it enough?