My Vision for the Upcoming Rank-less Veteran Content

Enodoc

We know that with Phase 4 of the Veteran Overhaul, Veteran Ranks are being "removed". This is a compilation of the comments and suggestions I have made about this in various places so that it's all in one thread, presented as will be statements for ease of understanding (note that this is what I would like to see, all is speculatory and nothing is confirmed).

For the sake of argument, I will be assuming that the "removal" of Veteran Ranks is exactly that - a flattening of the current verticality so that everyone who is Veteran Rank 1-14 will become just Level 50.

Gear

• VR 1-5 Gear will become Veteran Season 1 Gear, and will be common from drops and found at vendors. Crafting mats for this Season will be common.
• VR 6-10 Gear will become Veteran Season 2 Gear, and will be from uncommon drops. Crafting mats for this season will be rare.
• VR 11-14 Gear will become Veteran Season 3 Gear, and will only be available from the highest difficulty mobs. Crafting mats for this season will be very rare.

Cadwell
Assume you are a member of the Daggerfall Covenant for this section.

• Cadwell's Silver will begin as it does now. following the end of the Main Quest. But:
  • As soon as you arrive in the starter city of Vulkhel Guard, the following text appears on-screen: New Task: Cadwell's Silver - Experience the Aldmeri Dominion.
  • Cadwell's Silver is then removed/hidden from the Journal. This is so that the quest is not there hanging over you if you don't want to do it. (Progress tracking in Cadwell's Almanac proceeds as normal.)
  • A projection of Cadwell invites you to visit the Aldmeri version of the Harborage to return to your own alliance. There's a projection of him in the Aldmeri Harborage as well, with the same dialogue he would have if you met him in the normal (Daggerfall) Harborage.
  • Activating the Light of Meridia in the Aldmeri Harborage returns you to the Daggerfall Harborage, where Cadwell is waiting... with a new quest for you.
• Cadwell's Gold will begin as soon as you return to the Daggerfall Harborage after your initial trip to the Dominion lands. Cadwell's dialogue here ("Well, you've experienced two of the three alliances. Care to finish the set?[...]") does not need to be changed, as you have still technically experienced two alliances.
  • As before, as soon as you arrive in Davon's Watch, you get a New Task: Cadwell's Gold - Experience the Ebonheart Pact.
  • Cadwell's Gold is removed/hidden from the Journal to avoid clutter.
• You now have access to both Cadwell areas without being required to complete one of them first, aside from visiting the first city and leaving again.
• Returning to any version of the Harborage gives you access to the Light of Meridia. Activate it whenever you like to be given a choice of alliances to visit. eg, press E for Dominion, F for Pact or X for Covenant.
• If either section of Cadwell's Almanac is completed, you see Task Completed: Cadwell's Silver/Gold - You have completed the Dominion/Pact section of Cadwell's Almanac. At this time, the relevant quest reappears in the Journal for you to turn in to Cadwell in the Daggerfall Harborage. Turn in works as it does now.

Zones
With everything being changed to Level 50 and access to both alliance territories being given at once, the previous vertical progression through them will have to be flattened, but some semblance of verticality is still needed so players feel like they are progressing.

• Cadwell Zones will have a minor progression system, so that Tier 5 zones (Bangkorai, Reaper's March, and The Rift) are more difficult than Tier 1 zones (Glenumbra, Auridon, and Stonefalls), but are of comparable difficulty to each other (The Rift is no more difficult than Reaper's March).
• Depending on how gear seasons and Champion Points work, you may find that a few CPs and Season 1 gear is sufficient for Tiers 1 through 3, but Season 2 gear becomes more useful as you hit Tiers 4 and 5, and you will need to spend more CPs in the constellation passives.
• Since Veteran content has been flattened, Craglorn will be viable for groups as soon as they hit Level 50, and you won't have to go through the Cadwell Zones to be viable. Upper Craglorn content will be similar, but more geared towards players who have spent enough time to build up their Champion System passives.
• Cyrodiil will become more viable for everyone at Level 50, as the gap between players caused by the difference in power between VR 1 and VR 14 will no longer exist. There will be a bit of a gap caused by players having spent more CPs in the constellation passives, or wearing Season 2/3 gear, but everyone will be competitive.

Veteran Scaling for your own Alliance
Using the Normal/Veteran Toggle, you can toggle between the standard 1-43 zones of your alliance, or a Veteran-scaled version that is comparable to the Cadwell Zones. This way you can choose which zones to play in without anything being too low level to be worth it. [This can be combined with my suggestions for PvE solo dailies from the Mages and Fighters Guilds so you can continue to quest in those zones as well]

Cross-Faction PvE
With the Cadwell Zones being flattened, there will no longer be a VR 2 and a VR 7 version of a Tier 2 zone, because all Tier 2 zones will be comparable. This means veterans of all alliances will be playing in versions of the zone that are exactly the same as each other (like Coldharbour and Craglorn are now). Therefore, one of the primary reasons why cross-faction PvE could not work in these zones is removed. A toggle in the Settings menu called "Enable Cross-Faction PvE" will determine whether you are put into a cross-faction zone shard or a single-faction zone shard. [This can be extended to include Coldharbour, Craglorn, the Earth Forge, and Eyevea, as I have mentioned elsewhere, using the same toggle setting]

Questions? Thoughts? Comments? Ridicule? Go ahead

BBSooner

I would be ... pretty ok if ZOS implemented the final phase of the champion system in this fashion. It seems to hit most concerns and hits features people have been asking for. Great read.

Robocles

Sounds very reasonable.

The problem is we have no idea what they intend with their progression treadmill. While it doesn't appeal to all players, there is some merit to the idea of standard progression to a certain point... with advanced progression beyond that point, at any tier. Then, as you advance the game, you make that advanced progression portion more available, and introduce more content as an advanced progression. Making the game just "keep grinding and you'll just get better... trust us" sounds boring as hell, frankly.

Knootewoot

I also want PvP server. Where the big cities are protected by very very strong guards so enemy players cannot take them. Also no loading screens between sections, but it has to be seamless. If there are no "vet" area's this can be done. You can travel all through Tamriel like a big open world and see your enemies as they quest. Yes, no PvP for PvE people. But a seperate server who want world wide PvP can be added. I will be one to join the server at least.

Tonnopesce

Knootewoot wrote: »

I also want PvP server. Where the big cities are protected by very very strong guards so enemy players cannot take them. Also no loading screens between sections, but it has to be seamless. If there are no "vet" area's this can be done. You can travel all through Tamriel like a big open world and see your enemies as they quest. Yes, no PvP for PvE people. But a seperate server who want world wide PvP can be added. I will be one to join the server at least.

Just NO

The road that ZOS is taking with toggable pvp open word is a good choice
and why a loading screen give you so much trouble?

Knootewoot

Tonnopesceb16_ESO wrote: »

Knootewoot wrote: »

I also want PvP server. Where the big cities are protected by very very strong guards so enemy players cannot take them. Also no loading screens between sections, but it has to be seamless. If there are no "vet" area's this can be done. You can travel all through Tamriel like a big open world and see your enemies as they quest. Yes, no PvP for PvE people. But a seperate server who want world wide PvP can be added. I will be one to join the server at least.

Just NO

The road that ZOS is taking with toggable pvp open word is a good choice
and why a loading screen give you so much trouble?

If there is a PvP server, whats your problem. Don't create a character on it.
And on PvP games a loading screen gives trouble if you load a new area. People will be waiting.

I know it won't happen. But i never understood why PvE people deny PvP players a PvP server. You don't get hurt by it.

ers101284b14_ESO

Knootewoot wrote: »

Tonnopesceb16_ESO wrote: »

Knootewoot wrote: »

I also want PvP server. Where the big cities are protected by very very strong guards so enemy players cannot take them. Also no loading screens between sections, but it has to be seamless. If there are no "vet" area's this can be done. You can travel all through Tamriel like a big open world and see your enemies as they quest. Yes, no PvP for PvE people. But a seperate server who want world wide PvP can be added. I will be one to join the server at least.

Just NO

The road that ZOS is taking with toggable pvp open word is a good choice
and why a loading screen give you so much trouble?

If there is a PvP server, whats your problem. Don't create a character on it.
And on PvP games a loading screen gives trouble if you load a new area. People will be waiting.

I know it won't happen. But i never understood why PvE people deny PvP players a PvP server. You don't get hurt by it.

I also have to go with no. I do a lot of PVE but sometimes I want to PVP. I would not however want to have to have 2 characters on 2 servers just for the times I want to PVP. I don't understand why PVE and PVP players think they have to be so divided all the time or why people can't enjoy both.

Enodoc

ers101284b14_ESO wrote: »

Knootewoot wrote: »

Tonnopesceb16_ESO wrote: »

Knootewoot wrote: »

I also want PvP server. Where the big cities are protected by very very strong guards so enemy players cannot take them. Also no loading screens between sections, but it has to be seamless. If there are no "vet" area's this can be done. You can travel all through Tamriel like a big open world and see your enemies as they quest. Yes, no PvP for PvE people. But a seperate server who want world wide PvP can be added. I will be one to join the server at least.

Just NO

The road that ZOS is taking with toggable pvp open word is a good choice
and why a loading screen give you so much trouble?

If there is a PvP server, whats your problem. Don't create a character on it.
And on PvP games a loading screen gives trouble if you load a new area. People will be waiting.

I know it won't happen. But i never understood why PvE people deny PvP players a PvP server. You don't get hurt by it.

I also have to go with no. I do a lot of PVE but sometimes I want to PVP. I would not however want to have to have 2 characters on 2 servers just for the times I want to PVP. I don't understand why PVE and PVP players think they have to be so divided all the time or why people can't enjoy both.

It doesn't even really need a separate server. I didn't add it in this post because it's not really related to the Veteran content in the same way, but consider this:

• When the Justice System is fully out, there will be two different types of PvP: Alliance PvP and Justice PvP, most logically controlled by two separate global PvP flags. Alliance PvP currently is "on" in Cyrodiil only.
• Take the toggle "Enable Cross-Faction PvE" that I mentioned above. Underneath, add a toggle for "Enable World PvP". This flips the global Alliance PvP flag in the Cross-Faction zones (which would be default off).
• PvP players can then kill each other whenever they like, but cannot attack the PvE players (who have the toggle turned off).
• No separate server is needed, and PvP does not conflict with PvE*.

* Except from the lag. Which they will have fixed by the time they implement this.

Note that for lore and roleplay reasons though I would be hesitant to introduce this in the Alliance Zones, and it would therefore have to be Neutral Zones only (Coldharbour and Craglorn), until the time when the Alliance Story expands into the other regions for hostile/espionage purposes (not the current Alternate Timeline setup of Cadwell).

Armes

Enodoc wrote: »

Gear

• VR 1-5 Gear will become Veteran Season 1 Gear, and will be common from drops and found at vendors. Crafting mats for this Season will be common.
• VR 6-10 Gear will become Veteran Season 2 Gear, and will be from uncommon drops. Crafting mats for this season will be rare.
• VR 11-14 Gear will become Veteran Season 3 Gear, and will only be available from the highest difficulty mobs. Crafting mats for this season will be very rare.

This is very bad idea. I don´t understand why people want some very rare gear from very hard mobs (of course from mobs killing only by big group ). At this moment you can have almost all gear what you want (made self or droping bonuses sets) and I think that´s the right way. Why creating new group of game elitist with very rare expensive gear: "Look at me I´m the god, you nothing".
It will be only again new content forced people playing in group, no another choice gain this gear.

At this moment I´m satisfied with the existing situation and after VR rank left I thing, that ZOS only adjust this system with any negative impact for today´s players.

Yes and one thing - daily crafting writ´s - very rare crafting mats mean´s, no material for this, and I think, that´s no way from ZOS dev. planing (no reason creating knew quest for a few months).

Enodoc

Armes wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

Gear

• VR 1-5 Gear will become Veteran Season 1 Gear, and will be common from drops and found at vendors. Crafting mats for this Season will be common.
• VR 6-10 Gear will become Veteran Season 2 Gear, and will be from uncommon drops. Crafting mats for this season will be rare.
• VR 11-14 Gear will become Veteran Season 3 Gear, and will only be available from the highest difficulty mobs. Crafting mats for this season will be very rare.

This is very bad idea. I don´t understand why people want some very rare gear from very hard mobs (of course from mobs killing only by big group ). At this moment you can have almost all gear what you want (made self or droping bonuses sets) and I think that´s the right way. Why creating new group of game elitist with very rare expensive gear: "Look at me I´m the god, you nothing".
It will be only again new content forced people playing in group, no another choice gain this gear.

At this moment I´m satisfied with the existing situation and after VR rank left I thing, that ZOS only adjust this system with any negative impact for today´s players.

Yes and one thing - daily crafting writ´s - very rare crafting mats mean´s, no material for this, and I think, that´s no way from ZOS dev. planing (no reason creating knew quest for a few months).

I was trying to come up with something comparable, not something elitist. I assumed that VR14 gear and mats were rare and only available from hard mobs, so I converted what I thought existed to what could replace it.
Is VR14 gear not any rarer than VR1 gear? If not, then how would you address the different Veteran gear materials situation when ranks are removed?

Armes

[/quote]
I was trying to come up with something comparable, not something elitist. I assumed that VR14 gear and mats were rare and only available from hard mobs, so I converted what I thought existed to what could replace it.
Is VR14 gear not any rarer than VR1 gear? If not, then how would you address the different Veteran gear materials situation when ranks are removed?[/quote]

I don´t have idea what they are planing, I only glossed, that very rare materials for armor is going against all we have today. Very rare can by some armour or weapon sets, but no basic crafting materials.

May be they are planing somethink compare with the champion system, sth like:

1-200 invested cham. points - you can craft and wear from materials corresponding today VR 1-3
201-500 invested cham. points - you can wear today VR 4-5

etc.

Rex-Umbra

I completely agree with the op, please add this ZOS. I want to have a house in Glenumbra and be able to do dailies etc there.

Dubhliam

I very much like the idea of merging non natives' silver and gold versions into one cross faction PvE zones.

Currently there are 3 versions:

e.g.       AD    EP    DC
Native     AD    EP    DC
Silver     EP    DC    AD
Gold       DC    AD    EP

With the merging there would be only:

e.g.       AD    EP    DC
Native     AD    EP    DC
Non Native DC+EP AD+DC EP+AD

They should be smart enough to implement this at the time of VR removal.

There is a plan for the Housing system somewhere on their "to do" list. If they decide to have zone purchasable houses (which they should) AND leave 3 versions of zones, when that DLC comes... they will have one big nightmare on their hands.

Enodoc

Yeah that's true. My personal preference for housing would be to have no "housing zone" and every player's house would be in its own instance. There could be certain locations where you can get to "the entrance" of the house, and they would be located within the existing zones; otherwise, you'd enter via wayshrine.