xylena_lazarow wrote: »

LadyGP wrote: »

Bring it back to ball group 2019-2020 time frame.

It was already cooked by then. Heal stacking spiraling out of control. You'd need to go back to at least 2017 before Summerset changed the ball group healing meta from stationary AoE to sticky HoT. If we're gonna do ESO classic let's go all the way to 2014 then. Patch 1.2 was fun, you'd see organized group formations of single file trains, not just balls.

We'd basically need to go back to those early times when the game was more designed around single player combat. While there were also limiting factors preventing groups from getting out of control. With mechanics like no effect stacking, preventing abuse of 12x people running the same meta hot stack skills. Who knows how much the server gets drained just because of that PvE change.

At least with the vengeance skills we see single target heals you know.....actually be single target instead of a hidden massive aoe conal skill that goes through walls, buffs and does smart healing.

Its crazy how they have only continued to make the most taxing playstyles more taxing and rewarded for being taxing.

MincMincMinc wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

MincMincMinc wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin You should let them know we also want to get rid of the MMR reset. There are like 10 threads on this issue already. Its killing the game for a lot of newer players when you have us sweaty players going 50/0 every match because we are stuck being qued against these people every other month.

We have shared the note on MMR reset in the past. Happy to do so again. My understanding is additional tech work needs to be done to make that happen. But I do not have a status on that right now.

@ZOS_Kevin Nice, like Ruskii said Resetting mmr is the main factor in terms of ruining new player experience in bgs. It directly leads to pugstomping, spawncamping, and making players afk in spawn.

As discussed in other threads it may make sense to make mmr not reset and be account wide, especially now that subclassing requires us to change characters/classes for simple build purposes like swapping skills.

Honestly I think account based MMR would over sanitize the lobbies. I've said it before but theres nothing wrong getting your ass kicked by a better player on an alt for a few games before their accelerated MMR gain puts them in a higher bracket. It is a problem when a new player is expected to deal with whole teams of better players for months and months on end because MMR doesn't have enough time to create any meaningful distinctions between player groups.

We are in the last week of August, and I am only just now noticing a real separation of the lower/mid tier mmr brackets this month. I took a character id not played for month into BGs and everyone was unfamiliar names with <1000CP. Those players need to have that lower bracket to learn/get their dailies done.

Please ZOS, stop resetting MMR.

No, knocking people off objects to their death is one of the fun things about PVP, it shouldn't be removed.

The desync issues should be fixed though.

AngryPenguin wrote: »

Any set that moves another players location on the map should be removed from the game. Free pull sets are an abomination in PvP environments and any dev worth anything knows why without having to be told.

Anything that moves another players location on the map should take up a skill slot, have to be aimed and cast, and cost resources. For example, DK chains are acceptable because it takes up a skill slot, has to be aimed, and costs resources. This is acceptable in a PvP environment. Free pull sets are just inexcusably poor design.

No, friend. There's no difference between an ability or a set that uses displacement. If one goes then the other must as well.

There is nothing inherently noble about Javelin spam or Chain spam.

As Rich noted during Gamescom, crossplay is being worked on. There is a lot of work to go through because ESO was built way before crossplay was part of the industry. And there is 11yrs worth of content, systems and data to go through. The last thing we want is for systems to be heavily impacted by crossplay and have it an impact on your overall gameplay experience. So it's something we have to be extra careful about. Nothing else to report right now, but there is a team focused on crossplay.

DenverRalphy wrote: »

dk_dunkirk wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

dk_dunkirk wrote: »

MISTFORMBZZZ wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

DreadKnight wrote: »

As I understand it crossplay for all games is something that is being driven primarily by Microsoft. As the next consoles are basically going to be PC spec (and price).

There are already many games that successfully incorporate crossplay and it's part of Microsoft's long term strategy to merge their entire gaming world into one. If eso doesn't work towards crossway it'll simply get left behind and loose investment. As Microsoft has basically said 'if it's not Elder Scrolls or Fallout - forget about' it to Bethesda, if eso doesn't become crossplay it will have a very limited future.

That's all very well, but it is Microsoft who have just laid off a third of the ESO staff, so who's to blame if ESO gets left behind, ZOS or Microsoft?

I dont think thats correct. I read multiple times, the ESO staff has not been effected by this and there were actions beeing taken to keep them. But the ZOS studio overall was and the other MMO they were working on, was canceled (wich should be good for ESO).

If im wrong, feel free to correct me as i dont find the posts anymore (reddit, forum & online)

Anyway since Microsoft’s official line suggested ESO will remain supported as a "key live service title'' , cross service should be worked on, imo.

EDIT: Found something after letting chat gtp search : https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/a-future-has-been-stolen-zenimax-union-says-lives-were-upended-by-xbox-layoffs-and-mmo-cancelation-but-we-have-not-yet-been-laid-off/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Also chatgtp answere, so im open to be corrected :

Based on all the reporting and union statements so far, here’s the clearest picture:

✅ What’s confirmed

ESO itself is safe: Microsoft explicitly said The Elder Scrolls Online remains a key live-service game.

No formal layoffs of the ESO team have been confirmed. The union (ZOSU-CWA) stated that ESO devs are still employed, with pay and benefits intact.

The layoffs targeted Project Blackbird (the canceled new MMO). Almost the entire team working on that project is expected to lose their jobs once severance negotiations finish.

Meanwhile, this article from 9 days later says, "According to current employee Page Branson, some of those who were laid off were “absolutely crucial” to the success of ESO and “integral” to the everyday function of the studio in general. Some of that brain drain can likely be attributed to the dev knowledge lost thanks to the ending of development on MMORPG Project Blackbird as well as the departure of former studio president Matt Firor, but according to QA worker Autumn Mitchell, a third of the studio’s institutional knowledge keeping ZOS’s projects running smoothly has been eliminated."

https://massivelyop.com/2025/07/23/zenimax-online-devs-say-microsoft-layoffs-eliminated-critical-mmorpg-staff-and-institutional-knowledge/

The reported numbers of people laid off from the studio were more than the number of people that were working on Blackbird. So regardless of official statements, some ESO people have definitely been cut. This article suggests a third. Tandor says a third. I've seen other articles also referencing a third. Pretending that ESO wasn't impacted by the Microsoft cuts is, frankly, and I'm sorry to say, cope.

As always, YMMV, TACMA, OVWP, etc., et. al.

I think that article may have mis represented a quote. Because I recall an earlier article that it was likely sourced from (can't remember exactly where though) where the statement about some let go being crucial to the success of ESO was speaking about some of those let go were part of the original team responsible for building, launching, and getting ESO on its feet. And thus crucial in that aspect. Not that they were currently working on ESO. Because from most original accounts, despite the clickbait "ESO Devs Laid Off!" headline articles, it was former ESO but now Blackbird employees laid off.

It was a very short article, but I didn't want to paste the whole thing out of old school norms of internet respect. The last graph is:

“A lot of practical knowledge just disappeared overnight,” said Branson. “I feel like they were numbers on a sheet that got cut, but the real application of what they were doing was integral to making everything run correctly.”

That sounds very current and ongoing; not "getting ESO on its feet." And that's a direct quote. I know journalism as a profession is slipping, but I still have to believe that words in quote marks are direct, not-paraphrased remarks. Again, YMMV.

And that portion of the quoted source material is not referring to ESO specifically, but the studio (ZOS as a studio, not the ESO project itself).

Look, I keep saying "YMMV", trying to be open to interpretation, but, dang, I don't know how much harder you could work at denying the reality of what's the person was clearly trying to convey. After the cancellation of Blackbird, the only project ZOS has is ESO. So what else do you think he was talking about at "the studio" that doesn't directly involve ESO? Creating budget spreadsheets? Moderating the forums? To me, it's clearly referring to keeping the infrastructure running. What other thing(s) could provoke such a comment about making "everything run correctly?" What am I missing here?

The whole reason I brought this up was because, as a 30-year full-stack dev, I see nothing BUT infrastructure work required to make cross-play a thing. In addition to changes in the game code and the databases, there will be changes to the servers, the proxies, the CDN's, the networking, etc. It would be a massive infrastructure change to put all 3 platforms in one server. This is why I thought the article and the quote was relevant to the discussion. Crossplay was a pipe dream before the cuts. The only way they're ever touching this now is if TES VI causes an absolute explosion of interest in ESO, and they staff back up.

PureeEvil wrote: »

Casual players' topics about PvP are so funny. Let's remove CC. Let's remove progress sets. Let's remove too powerful players. Let's not kill me in PvP. Let's give rewards for PvP just like that.

Maybe it will be easier to learn how to play?

Very intelligent take from you, thank you for bumping the thread! Can you please explain the learn to play issue with being desynced and not able to control your character? Thank you!

MISTFORMBZZZ wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

DreadKnight wrote: »

As I understand it crossplay for all games is something that is being driven primarily by Microsoft. As the next consoles are basically going to be PC spec (and price).

There are already many games that successfully incorporate crossplay and it's part of Microsoft's long term strategy to merge their entire gaming world into one. If eso doesn't work towards crossway it'll simply get left behind and loose investment. As Microsoft has basically said 'if it's not Elder Scrolls or Fallout - forget about' it to Bethesda, if eso doesn't become crossplay it will have a very limited future.

That's all very well, but it is Microsoft who have just laid off a third of the ESO staff, so who's to blame if ESO gets left behind, ZOS or Microsoft?

I dont think thats correct. I read multiple times, the ESO staff has not been effected by this and there were actions beeing taken to keep them. But the ZOS studio overall was and the other MMO they were working on, was canceled (wich should be good for ESO).

If im wrong, feel free to correct me as i dont find the posts anymore (reddit, forum & online)

Anyway since Microsoft’s official line suggested ESO will remain supported as a "key live service title'' , cross service should be worked on, imo.

EDIT: Found something after letting chat gtp search : https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/a-future-has-been-stolen-zenimax-union-says-lives-were-upended-by-xbox-layoffs-and-mmo-cancelation-but-we-have-not-yet-been-laid-off/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Also chatgtp answere, so im open to be corrected :

Based on all the reporting and union statements so far, here’s the clearest picture:

✅ What’s confirmed

ESO itself is safe: Microsoft explicitly said The Elder Scrolls Online remains a key live-service game.

No formal layoffs of the ESO team have been confirmed. The union (ZOSU-CWA) stated that ESO devs are still employed, with pay and benefits intact.

The layoffs targeted Project Blackbird (the canceled new MMO). Almost the entire team working on that project is expected to lose their jobs once severance negotiations finish.

Meanwhile, this article from 9 days later says, "According to current employee Page Branson, some of those who were laid off were “absolutely crucial” to the success of ESO and “integral” to the everyday function of the studio in general. Some of that brain drain can likely be attributed to the dev knowledge lost thanks to the ending of development on MMORPG Project Blackbird as well as the departure of former studio president Matt Firor, but according to QA worker Autumn Mitchell, a third of the studio’s institutional knowledge keeping ZOS’s projects running smoothly has been eliminated."

https://massivelyop.com/2025/07/23/zenimax-online-devs-say-microsoft-layoffs-eliminated-critical-mmorpg-staff-and-institutional-knowledge/

The reported numbers of people laid off from the studio were more than the number of people that were working on Blackbird. So regardless of official statements, some ESO people have definitely been cut. This article suggests a third. Tandor says a third. I've seen other articles also referencing a third. Pretending that ESO wasn't impacted by the Microsoft cuts is, frankly, and I'm sorry to say, cope.

As always, YMMV, TACMA, OVWP, etc., et. al.

Happened to me and another guy in my small group tonight in PVP.

Got knocked off the D-Ring in a keep from someone below, fall down, break free, put away my weapon and am unable to use the door. Since it was a big zerg I died in under 20 seconds.

My buddy though, got knocked off the D Ring from someone below as we were pushing out and he was just straight broken for about 3 minutes. Couldn't use skills but COULD block. A ball group had also pushed out and pushed the zerg off the porch so he stood there while we timed it. Just shy of 3 minutes before his toon stopped being desynced and could do crap again.

I never used to get poor frames in Cyro. Now, even with the ever decreasing population caps, I was getting 10 or UNDER in some big fights in GH. Absolutely ridiculous have have ZoS emailing me my frames while we're trying to play as a coordinated small man.