Communication with ZOS (suggestions & recommendations)

HeroOfNone

Heya folks,

Lets discuss how we expect ZOS to communicate with us. Given the latest rant video by @Fengrush,  the abrasive attitude on the alliance war forums, & the trolling that has taken over ESO Live's chat in recent months; it's time we try to have this discussion.

Currently ZOS reaches out and communicates several ways:
- The main website & articles
- The ESO Main forums
- On reddit /r/elderscrollsonline
- Social media including twitter, facebook, and Google+
- Support email (ESO_Help@helpmail.elderscrollsonline.com)
- Community emails (community@elderscrollsonline.com)
- On twitch with biweekly podcasts (ESO Live)
- Guild meetings/summits
- Major patch updates to PTS
- In game mail
- Launcher

The problem with this many ways to get a message out is they don't have the same level of information, there is varying degrees of interactivity, and there is still data that we, as customers, want to hear.



TO ZOS

Suggestion 1: Add in a PVP section to the website
The current website has a lot of information one lore and base game stuff, but finding anything PVP related is difficult. And muddled in all this other stuff. This section should highlight the current state of the various campaigns, on a 10 to 15 minute delay, to should the keeps, scores, emperor, and other statistics. Then from there link in news, guides, development discussion pertaining to PVP. This is something small that will help engage a lot of players that skip over that front page and give them a place for their stuff. If it goes well, maybe expand out giving highlights on top level players or emperors like we had the first few months after launch. Similar sites have been done for Warhammer Online, Guild Wars 2, and world of Warcraft PVP.

Suggestion 2: Statistics on tickets, are we being listened to?
I've suggested it before but it bears repeating; we could really use weekly or monthly reports on how many tickets were opened and how they were addressed. Bans, bugs, and questions get dealt with every day, but we have no clue how many. This does not need to violate the name & shame policy, just let us know certain ticket metrics like:
- # of complaints on other players
- # of bugs
- # of user errors
- # of password resets

And with those the percent were still open or closed. If you'd like to give more details like the number of bans, consoling, diagnostic, fix, in development, etc. That would be great as well, but baby steps in getting more info out there.

Suggestion 3: A developer bug tracker with priority list.
We need a list of the current ZOS recognized issues, what their priority and status is. We have forum members right now maintaining a similar list of bugs and issues in the current game but with limited info when fixes are coming. We can do better than this and alleviate some frustration of "no ETA" by showing dome of this info. This can also let folks see if their tickets are being addressed or if more data is needed. Exploits can remain vague in description, so long as we keep something generic there. Bonus points if you give players a voting priority system to help shape the community's priorities into the patching. This is done in various in ongoing development games and software.

Suggestion 4: Include more into the developer discussions forums
We get snips and bits of intended changes in ESO live, interviews, guild meetings, forum posts, etc.  But we don't have a central area to research this. The developer discussion is a good place for this, but it needs more regular updates, more of these snippets of information that get tossed around, and it needs more "what if" posts, discussing player and development ideas that are in a planning phase to discuss possible "nor concrete" changes in consideration.

Suggestion 5: Biweekly experimental patch testing on the PTS server, while not in testing for a DLC
I'd like to see more experimental patches on the PTS to involve players more in changes. The PTS sits pretty idle except when there are major updates, which could be used to test out ideas, fixes, and other changes. This doesn't need to involve new content, but test tweaks go mechanics, changes to numbers, etc. We have a huge user base experienced at breaking and exploiting things, it's time to use them. Maybe also toss crowns out for testing and finding "x" amount of bugs.

Suggestion 6: If you're having a guild meeting, make a recording or have someone taking notes
If we're discussing stuff with players, have someone recording it somehow. I've participated and heard about many of these guild meetings, but no one ever seems to have things linked to a post. Now these same meetings meant to help with community outreach is being used against ZOS with a lot of "he said/she said" arguments where certain topics may not have been clear. It also seems sketchy and like there is favoritism when others hear about them months after the meeting. Please make logs on these, maybe post these into the developer's discussions forum.

Suggestion 7: Dedicate a PVP centric  ESO live every other or every 2 episodes
Schedule ESO Live's to specifically address PVP concerns and let folks when they are coming. PVP fans are a major portion of the twitch fan base, so they want to hear more about when their concerns will be addressed. This may calm down some of the rowdy members of the community and shows more involvement on PVP.



RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY

Because communication is a two way street...

Recommendation 1: Submit bug tickets
Seriously, do it. If there is a bug and you keep forgetting to submit it after you're done then submit it during the moment. I hear a lot of you complain but when I ask if you open a ticket only a handful of you seem to do it

Recommendation 2: Stop spamming ESO Live, complain on the forums/reddit
If ESO live has someone on discussing PVE stop spamming PVP issues. I know you want you issues addressed but spamming about AOE caps or arenas isn't going to make Brian Wheeler appear to wave a magic wand and "poof!" There it is. These things need support and visibility to management, which forum posts have. Also consider if you can't get the attention of the community with the post, why the hell would they do it with you spamming it in a twitch channel? Be reasonable folks.

Recommendation 3: Visit some of the other places on the list
There is a lot of information out there, too much for just the forums. Head off the normal sites a d explore a little. You'll be surprised what you can find.

Recommendation 4: Contact the community email with your event
I'm a small time streamer, some of you know, the only reason that I have interviews or get involved in events is because I reach out to ZOS'S community asking for help. Most times there are scheduling conflicts and certain things fall through, but most times they will work with you if you ask.

Recommendation 5: Go talk to a PVPer
If you only hang around in PVE zones or on the general forums, get out if here and look on the alliance forums. This goes both ways, but a lot of them will check out the general forums here or run a dungeon, they need Molag kena shoulders after all. Despite several stand out edgy individuals most are good folk who are willing to help teach folks PVP.

Recommendation 6: Don't be hostile and expect a response
If you want to complain or argue that's fine, but if you take a negative attitude don't expect them to respond. Despite what you may feel they are obligated to do, they have already shown they will not engage with something that is too negative toward them. If you have an issue approach it as "how can we fix this" in a reasonable manner, that's more likely to get a positive response back.



That's going to cover my suggestions & recommendations folks. Thanks for your time

HeroOfNone

As a follow up, some myths regarding communication  up till now

ZOS myths to debunk

Spoiler

ZOS knows about the problem - not always. If someone is issuing an exploit and benefitting from it they aren't likely to be reporting it and the victims are normally too grinding their teeth to bother hitting f1, or to even know the cause. A lot of bugs are like this, and I'm not surprised when I hear "oh, we never heard about that one" when it's demonstrated. Never assume they know, always report it.

ZOS is watching all twitch channels all the time - eh, no. They have work to do and a family life at home. So that one good idea or that glitch that happened for 30 seconds in a 6 hour stream is likely to be over looked.

ZOS does not ban anyone I report - I can see how that may seem to be the case, but they do. There is a lot that goes into banning someone, making sure the action was deliberate. This is the same system that prevents you from getting insta-banned when you get a lucky 1 shot crit one a salty player that thinks we're all hacking.

ZOS asks all these big name streamers to do interviews & events - actually it's the opposite, we ask ZOS for the interview or ro help us with an rcent and they see if they can arrange it. I've never really known ZOS to approach anyone to give an interview.

ZOS never helps any streamer but "x" - half true at one time... but its complicated. In the past ZOS has helped promote certain individuals through events and giveaways, just to have the same streamers leave ESO and bad mouth it when they achieved a partnership. Being burned like that several times means the majority of the outreach is currently done by the streamer to establish a relationship with ZOS.

myths on the players

Spoiler

PVPers are toxic to the community - there are a lot of toxic players, both PVE & PVP side, it's just that the PVE forums are much more populated than than the alliance war forums and the group has gotten a little nitche, few players look at both the general and alliance war boards, which is a shame since both have good discussions at times affecting both groups.

PVP streamers the most toxic - No, but some streamers have larger impact. these are negative streamers who will rant and *** about things but never lift a finger to even report a bug, assuming that things should just be fixed. This is the opposite side of the coin of a streamer like @FENGRUSH, who is negative BUT is constructive; he posts about issues, gives recommendations about how to fix things, and makes/made an effort to improve the game in his own way. You might not agree with him, but his posts and streams have inspired some discussions that have lead to other improvements.

casuals and care bears want everything nerfed - this might be a matter of opinion, but most I know understand there are some goals they will never reach and want thst to remain there. What I hear the most however is folks want an alternative way to get by something. If the DPS isn't good enough then maybe some mechanics to dodge and block more with well filed hits.

That's all I have for now, hopefully this was informative.

yodased

This was a complete waste of words, but I truly respect you and your dedication to making this game better. Has been for as long as I've known you Herfi.

Seriously folks, look at this guy's post history, he takes this game seriously and has some good ideas.

This will fall on deaf ears, you know this, but I had to at least throw my support (not that that matters at all) and at least give your well thought out and written post a deserved bump.

bedlom

Maybe they are more focused on there work than responding to all the annoying rants I see, if I was Zeni I wouldn't respond either. Don't like it? Then lump it, I am sure they doing well enough after all they have made a ****ing great game.

Panth141

I agree wholeheartedly and entirely with every point made here. All we can do is hope ZoS looks upon this as constructive criticism to incite development, and not a swipe at them and therefore something they will not look at - which it certainly is not!

I particularly agree with this:

HeroOfNone wrote: »

Suggestion 5: Biweekly experimental patch testing on the PTS server, while not in testing for a DLC
I'd like to see more experimental patches on the PTS to involve players more in changes. The PTS sits pretty idle except when there are major updates, which could be used to test out ideas, fixes, and other changes. This doesn't need to involve new content, but test tweaks go mechanics, changes to numbers, etc. We have a huge user base experienced at breaking and exploiting things, it's time to use them. Maybe also toss crowns out for testing and finding "x" amount of bugs.

In fact, I had the exact same thought a while ago (self-quote, I know, but whatever...):

Spoiler

Panth141 wrote: »

I was having a little wonder about this earlier, when I realised the fairly obvious point that the PTS is almost exclusively utilised only in the month before a DLC, with the current DLC system that is about a third of the year.

Instead of questioning whether changes would work, why not trial ('test') fixes/suggestions on the PTS?

For example, the current (ongoing) debate on AOE caps - why not remove them on PTS and ask people to hop on and check it out. You can guarantee that hundreds of people would jump at the opportunity, especially if streamers encourage their followers to do so - just push everyone into a single campaign to simulate the typical populations of live, then run the analytics. That way you can categorically say whether or not it would be a beneficial change, informing your decisions moving forward.

Surely this could be applied to anything - got a suggestion? Okay, that sounds reasonable but we're not sure how problematic it would be and whether it would simply break everything - so instead of discounting the interesting idea, we'll try it on PTS for a bit - feel free to check it out! If it does break everything and introduce a million bugs on PTS, no-one will mind because they'll appreciate your testing, interaction and ongoing development. Just wipe the change and keep tinkering.

There is so much potential for streamlining of communication, whilst simultaneously increasing the effectiveness of information relay and community involvement and general morale. ZoS, we love this game - this is not criticism for the sake of criticism, just some redirection that we think that would be best for the game and community as a whole.

This is the kind of constructive, insightful thread that should have dev attention - and you'd be surprised how good it is to see one of them to just pop in to let us know they're reading it all. Even better is if they could go a step further and look at enacting any suggestions - even if it means they need to get the man at the top to come read this to stimulate change.

WalkingLegacy

Great post HerooftheForums.

+1 for ZoS to recognize.

HeroOfNone

Thanks @yodased . Might be a waste, but it one or two are done it may relieve some of the frustration. At least for some it will keep the community informed.

bedlom wrote: »

Maybe they are more focused on there work than responding to all the annoying rants I see, if I was Zeni I wouldn't respond either. Don't like it? Then lump it, I am sure they doing well enough after all they have made a ****ing great game.

The rant was a trigger to discuss ongoing gaps in our communication. This is also mending fences that have eroded over time since buy to play launched and we've received less and less feedback.

Keep in mind also if all they did was develop then the game may look much different and have a lot more issues than we have today. Healthy communication is important to fixing issues and determining the priority, among other things.

Rjizzle09

bedlom wrote: »

Maybe they are more focused on there work than responding to all the annoying rants I see, if I was Zeni I wouldn't respond either. Don't like it? Then lump it, I am sure they doing well enough after all they have made a ****ing great game.

You can't be serious? Have you been playing this game at all? Lol yes it's great but the bugs and exploits and broken skills and terrible loot drop percentage useless sets etc etc the GREAT GAME you speak of will never exist until they fix all these issues and stop ignoring them

Rjizzle09

HeroOfNone wrote: »

Thanks @yodased . Might be a waste, but it one or two are done it may relieve some of the frustration. At least for some it will keep the community informed.

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bedlom wrote: »

Maybe they are more focused on there work than responding to all the annoying rants I see, if I was Zeni I wouldn't respond either. Don't like it? Then lump it, I am sure they doing well enough after all they have made a ****ing great game.

The rant was a trigger to discuss ongoing gaps in our communication. This is also mending fences that have eroded over time since buy to play launched and we've received less and less feedback.

Keep in mind also if all they did was develop then the game may look much different and have a lot more issues than we have today. Healthy communication is important to fixing issues and determining the priority, among other things.

This guy has it figured outXD

tinythinker

Sorry HON, but people have already brought the same argumentative mindset here. That's why I gave up on the "This..." thread. I appreciate your effort, though, and I don't feel it's totally wasted. I wrote something similar once, and I guess it seems like something worth trying from time to time.

Sugaroverdose

ZOS_AnyOneOfThem wrote:

@HeroOfNone you've done a great job. Thank you for your patients and contribution.
We'll make sure that your top 1 suggestion will be implemented and make separate page on our site how good pvp is. ©ZOS

Honestly - they'll not listen even if you make completely detailed business plan wich will promise much more money in couple of years perspective.

HeroOfNone

tinythinker wrote: »

Sorry HON, but people have already brought the same argumentative mindset here. That's why I gave up on the "This..." thread. I appreciate your effort, though, and I don't feel it's totally wasted. I wrote something similar once, and I guess it seems like something worth trying from time to time.

I appreciate that guide, though sometimes it's like training a dog, do it over and over again and they just might get it. Other times they just pee on the rug. You still love em all the same (the wife may not though...)

Sugaroverdose wrote: »

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ZOS_AnyOneOfThem wrote:

@HeroOfNone you've done a great job. Thank you for your patients and contribution.
We'll make sure that your top 1 suggestion will be implemented and make separate page on our site how good pvp is. ©ZOS

Honestly - they'll not listen even if you make completely detailed business plan wich will promise much more money in couple of years perspective.

What, you mean like this idea?

I've accepted a while ago most game devs don't listen to a lot of ideas thrown out on a forum, the best you can do is shotgun blast a couple and hope one hits to promote others. I have noted though that ideas I had in previous posts show up in wierd ways in patches in some of the later DLCs. No clue if I had an influence, maybe on the subconscious if anything.

Still, can't let something sit there without some suggestion on improving it, the developer in me can't have that.

GreenSoup2HoT

Suggestion 1: Add in a PVP section to the website

I would want to go beyond this and add in new category's where specific balance change's can be discussed. Pretty much a forum category for each class and skill line.

Hey i want to discuss the Vampire skill line? Their is now somewhere for me to go which should only have vampire related topic's inside.

I want to talk about Heavy Armour and only heavy Armour? Their's a sub-category for it too.

Suggestion 3: A developer bug tracker with priority list.

This^

I also would like to see this same type of tracker when following balance. Give me number's and data i can see.

Where are the template developer character's showcasing the damage difference between all ability's. This way you can see if anything is out of line.

This is still not far enough. I would look into potential combo's common player's use and make sure they are also in line. For instance wrecking blow in dragon leap. Great combo but one that is defiantly stronger then it need's to be. Just to name 1 of the very many deadly combo's that could also use tweak's imo.

Enraged_Tiki_Torch

These forums are for the players to discuss the game, it's not a pseudo-developer roundtable. I have played with and known employees of a game in the past. Not this one but I will say this as I would find it unlikely to not be true.

The people at Zenimax are here on the forums and they are responding. However, because of the rules of being employed they can't speak for the company on topics involved here without permission. Any employee that says something under their ZoS handle could be taken as a public statement by the company. So when you request or sometimes demand a certain developer respond to your post. It's not that they don't want to, it is they can't. At least with their ZOS handle but like I was saying, I would be surprised if they weren't getting involved in some topics under another forum name. Just like when they play the game which I am sure most do, they aren't going to tell you "Hey, it's Rich here playing on my whatever toon".

I am sure they all have opinions about topics and the ones who take interest in the forums are here communicating. It is important to distinguish their opinion and that of the company. Anytime you want to communicate with the company, your gonna get company jargon. A.k.a "No ETA on that one there". Likewise a response from a employee under their ZoS handler is going to be a company response.

So in a sense, we are communicating with the people at ZoS but we're the players. Our opinion is valued but we're not even in car let alone the person behind the wheel...

If you think it's difficult being a player and not having your idea get through. Imagine it being your job and not having your idea get through. Also don't expect when you bring up a good idea to get a first-class ticket to the next board meeting to discuss it. Your ideas are filtered just like the ideas of the people at the company.

Mojmir

As easy as it to post there,the only thing i see on Facebook is generalized and they don't respond there either.

tinythinker

HeroOfNone wrote: »

I've accepted a while ago most game devs don't listen to a lot of ideas thrown out on a forum, the best you can do is shotgun blast a couple and hope one hits to promote others. I have noted though that ideas I had in previous posts show up in wierd ways in patches in some of the later DLCs. No clue if I had an influence, maybe on the subconscious if anything.

I wondered the same thing with the TG patch.

From an October 2015 post I wrote:

Artful Dodger (medium armor)

2 pc Max Stamina
3 pc Weapon Damage
4 pc Weapon Damage
5 pc All AoE damage taken and dealt by the wearer is reduced by 40%.

Concept: Again, the 2pc to 4pc bonus is filler and can be altered, and the exact number for the 5 pc piece is open for debate. The idea here is that to give a counter to zergs spamming AoEs. And because your own AoE is reduced, it can't be co-opted and used by those same spammers against others.

From the Thieve's Guild Update in March 2016:

HeroOfNone

Enraged_Tiki_Torch wrote: »

These forums are for the players to discuss the game, it's not a pseudo-developer roundtable. I have played with and known employees of a game in the past. Not this one but I will say this as I would find it unlikely to not be true.

The people at Zenimax are here on the forums and they are responding. However, because of the rules of being employed they can't speak for the company on topics involved here without permission. Any employee that says something under their ZoS handle could be taken as a public statement by the company. So when you request or sometimes demand a certain developer respond to your post. It's not that they don't want to, it is they can't. At least with their ZOS handle but like I was saying, I would be surprised if they weren't getting involved in some topics under another forum name. Just like when they play the game which I am sure most do, they aren't going to tell you "Hey, it's Rich here playing on my whatever toon".

I am sure they all have opinions about topics and the ones who take interest in the forums are here communicating. It is important to distinguish their opinion and that of the company. Anytime you want to communicate with the company, your gonna get company jargon. A.k.a "No ETA on that one there". Likewise a response from a employee under their ZoS handler is going to be a company response.

So in a sense, we are communicating with the people at ZoS but we're the players. Our opinion is valued but we're not even in car let alone the person behind the wheel...

If you think it's difficult being a player and not having your idea get through. Imagine it being your job and not having your idea get through. Also don't expect when you bring up a good idea to get a first-class ticket to the next board meeting to discuss it. Your ideas are filtered just like the ideas of the people at the company.

In most other games that would be true, however we as players have influenced the development of the game and continue to do so. you can see evidence with the changing stance on housing, modifications to classes, and changes to the champion system. ZOS is still in charge, but they are taking in our feedback.

But That's not the focus of this post really. Most of the suggestions I've put together here are made to facilitate the "official ZOS response", rather than personal opinions, by summarizing different bits of information and giving us a little more transparency. Hell if they don't do it we will, look at @Xantaria posting maintaining an active list of bugs and exploits we need fixed, no reason that shouldn't be maintained by ZOS at this point.

ultimately anything out here will have to get management's approval, that's true, but that's what forum views, replies, and likes do, it brings it to their attention =3.

tinythinker wrote: »

show previous quotes

HeroOfNone wrote: »

I've accepted a while ago most game devs don't listen to a lot of ideas thrown out on a forum, the best you can do is shotgun blast a couple and hope one hits to promote others. I have noted though that ideas I had in previous posts show up in wierd ways in patches in some of the later DLCs. No clue if I had an influence, maybe on the subconscious if anything.

I wondered the same thing with the TG patch.

From an October 2015 post I wrote:

show previous quotes

Artful Dodger (medium armor)

2 pc Max Stamina
3 pc Weapon Damage
4 pc Weapon Damage
5 pc All AoE damage taken and dealt by the wearer is reduced by 40%.

Concept: Again, the 2pc to 4pc bonus is filler and can be altered, and the exact number for the 5 pc piece is open for debate. The idea here is that to give a counter to zergs spamming AoEs. And because your own AoE is reduced, it can't be co-opted and used by those same spammers against others.

From the Thieve's Guild Update in March 2016:

Yeah, funny thing on that, the redistributor set in IC reminded me of the health spreading skill idea I had in my Arena post.

Enraged_Tiki_Torch

A little more transparency and better explanations would be a nice first step.

HeroOfNone

As a follow up, here are some examples of the above requested in other games.

Suggestion 1: Add in a PVP section to the website
- World of Warcraft
- Guild Wars 2
- Star Wars The Old Republic

Suggestion 3: A developer bug tracker with priority list.
- Second life
- World of Warcraft (a forum dedicated to bugs)
- Hell, just get a Github account

Again, just examples, showing it's regularly done and ways yo go about it. These methods could easily be adapted for ESO.

Marto

I have always praised ZOS to be a studio that acknowledges they are young and unexperienced, and is humble enough to listen to the community.

As OP and the best comments in this thread say: The issue is not that ZOS doesn't listen, but that they don't know -how- to listen, or -who- to listen to.

Do we agree with the majority, even if they are asking for something that goes against our design views?
Do we do whatever we want and just tell the community about it?
Do we cater to the casuals? To the hardcores? Half and half? 75 and 25?

I trust ZOS will do a great job in time, because I think they are the best MMO dev I've ever seen in terms of listening to the community.

This game is not the best MMO in the market, but hey! At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if it became the best MMO in just a few years.

hrothbern

Marto wrote: »

I have always praised ZOS to be a studio that acknowledges they are young and unexperienced, and is humble enough to listen to the community.

As OP and the best comments in this thread say: The issue is not that ZOS doesn't listen, but that they don't know -how- to listen, or -who- to listen to.

Do we agree with the majority, even if they are asking for something that goes against our design views?
Do we do whatever we want and just tell the community about it?
Do we cater to the casuals? To the hardcores? Half and half? 75 and 25?

I trust ZOS will do a great job in time, because I think they are the best MMO dev I've ever seen in terms of listening to the community.

This game is not the best MMO in the market, but hey! At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if it became the best MMO in just a few years.

yeah... that's my guess as well

tinythinker

I was just thinking about the issue of communication and how some terms used may mean different things to different people. I have suggested that ZOS would benefit from more communication and transparency, for instance, but what does that mean? How would it be different? What might it look like? So here are some examples.

Forum Issue: "What are you going about the lag?"

ZOS forum reply:

"We haven't forgotten the issue."

ZOS forum reply with more communication:

"We've been working on lots of solutions and some should be coming out soon."

ZOS forum reply with more communication and increased transparency:

"We've had 6-12 people working on lag, with a particular focus on AvA, for over a year. In just the past three months, they've come up with and internally tested over forty types of improved optimization. We are still committed to a robust form of AvA as a part of ESO."

It's a simplistic example, but hopefully it helps get at the differences. None of those replies takes long to type, but some give a better impression than others. Wheeler has actually been pretty good about this when he makes it onto the forums, though we wouldn't mind seeing a little more of him. Finn and a couple others are also pretty good about this for things like trials. So, basically, more comments from ZOS staff like the last one is the idea. Of course, some answers would be much longer, but even short replies can be improved

Thevampirenight

I do think they need to add a Pve, discussion forum, and a off topic forum as well.
Sometimes people want to talk about stuff not related to the game, but I understand they want to keep it focused on eso only.

Lysette

Thevampirenight wrote: »

I do think they need to add a Pve, discussion forum, and a off topic forum as well.
Sometimes people want to talk about stuff not related to the game, but I understand they want to keep it focused on eso only.

It is just a bit short-sighted to not allow social interaction between players on a meta level - i.e. out of character, where the real life persons behind the avatars can talk to each other in the forum - MMO is a lot about social relations as well, not just about combat in groups. To me group activity is far too much combat-centric in ESO, with not much ingame or out of game support for the social aspects of groups.

HeroOfNone

tinythinker wrote: »

I was just thinking about the issue of communication and how some terms used may mean different things to different people. I have suggested that ZOS would benefit from more communication and transparency, for instance, but what does that mean? How would it be different? What might it look like? So here are some examples.

Forum Issue: "What are you going about the lag?"

ZOS forum reply:

"We haven't forgotten the issue."

ZOS forum reply with more communication:

"We've been working on lots of solutions and some should be coming out soon."

ZOS forum reply with more communication and increased transparency:

"We've had 6-12 people working on lag, with a particular focus on AvA, for over a year. In just the past three months, they've come up with and internally tested over forty types of improved optimization. We are still committed to a robust form of AvA as a part of ESO."

It's a simplistic example, but hopefully it helps get at the differences. None of those replies takes long to type, but some give a better impression than others. Wheeler has actually been pretty good about this when he makes it onto the forums, though we wouldn't mind seeing a little more of him. Finn and a couple others are also pretty good about this for things like trials. So, basically, more comments from ZOS staff like the last one is the idea. Of course, some answers would be much longer, but even short replies can be improved

It would be nice to get a summary of the changes made to help decrease lag along a time line to see how things work. we, as players, can't necessarily see the sum of all changes and the reduction to lag. So when we hear interviews and discussion on "we've made changes since release to fix lag and are committed to continue to improve it" unless you follow every single patch note you're not going to believe it.

Thevampirenight wrote: »

I do think they need to add a Pve, discussion forum, and a off topic forum as well.
Sometimes people want to talk about stuff not related to the game, but I understand they want to keep it focused on eso only.

I'd say we have enough forums as it is, just that the development discussions need to have more info on them. There is just a lot of information floating around there but none of it is in the place you expect to see it.

elijafire

This is an interesting retrospect article. Looking back how much of this has changed for the better?

I truly wonder since, at the beginning, Trade Guilds all got together and gave a ton of suggestions, some of the simplest ones were not implemented till 3 years later. There are still tons of rudimentary things (like guild permissions and the guild bank lag) that have yet to be touched.

Overall I REALLY love the way the game has gone and is going, but are our combined funds really being appropriated appropriately? This last 20% sale instead of 50% has me wondering.

We as an MMORPG are years behind in things that come to be expected in MMORPG's such as not being dismounted when you go into water, being able to SWIM UNDER water and flying. Even WoW had flying from the beginning and I used to LOVE hopping on a griffon and watching the scenery below as I relaxed.

Where are we going? Is it going to just be a cash grab then sudden death? I personally have invested thousands of USD into the game and I really do appreciate some of the departments work, you can REALLY tell some of the departments are trying to make a really awesome game. There is just some decision making that is lacking.

Also, please keep an open mind as far as communicating and suggesting. Not all ideas are good. Even (and sometimes especially when) it's the majority. Imagine if everyone IRL demanded to win the lottery. After the government complied, you would spend 1 dollar and get back .50 after taxes and fees. For example every single set and ability that ZoS has nerfed at the demand of players has been inappropriate based upon lack of knowledge of the game or the ease of which it can be countered. While sets and skills that should have probably been toned down long ago are still alive and well.

This is just the decision making mind you, this does not include the 2H Sword ani-cancel/macroing epidemic that they just can not fix without spending tons of programming hours.


What are yall's thoughts looking back on this request for change? What is still lacking?

Eli