Best Of
Re: More on the Microsoft lay offs, it's grim.
Why pay 100 people for ten years to develop a new IP when AI can do it in a year? Or six months? For a fraction of a fraction of the cost? The future of gaming is AI and what we're seeing here is the beginning of that. Heck, the future is AI period. Look at GTA6, ten years in development, 1-2 billion spent, and now that it might be close to release new technology has probably rendered parts of it obsolete before it even hits the market.
What remains to be seen in this context is whether or not the adoption of smart generative technology will be a net positive for us as consumers of ESO content or the death knell of a ten year old game with wonky unreliable servers. It could mean the beginning of a new era of content or it could mean bare bones maintenance mode as we limp towards the finish line. Only time will tell.
Or the future could be small studios like Sandfall Interactive with 33 employees that made a really good game that sold over 3 million copies.
Maybe AI will allow the smaller companies to win back control of the gaming landscape?
Re: Should there be a PvE only instance of Imperial City?
This is coming from someone who hates pvp and treats ESO like another traditional ES game.
And I voted no. From a storytelling perspective. It’s a vital crucible between 4 factions vying for the ultimate power that will determine the future of Tamriel.
From a gameplay perspective, I had to do the entire storyline sneaking around. And I must admit, I love that adrenaline rush. Narrowly dodging enemy players while carrying vital information about Molag Bal’s secret plans was, for me, extremely immersive. It’s a dangerous area and should be treated as such.
And I voted no. From a storytelling perspective. It’s a vital crucible between 4 factions vying for the ultimate power that will determine the future of Tamriel.
From a gameplay perspective, I had to do the entire storyline sneaking around. And I must admit, I love that adrenaline rush. Narrowly dodging enemy players while carrying vital information about Molag Bal’s secret plans was, for me, extremely immersive. It’s a dangerous area and should be treated as such.
Re: Should there be a PvE only instance of Imperial City?
Absolutely not, the point is the risk. It's the dark souls esque area of the game. Leave it as is.
It represents the fact that this game was originally intended to be a PvP focused game. So it make sense that the final resolution of the planemeld takes place in a zone that combines PvE and PvP.
What I think would be cool especially with the Oblivion remake on the horizon, would be a post planemeld PvE IC free of dardric influence that advances the timeline which can be traveled to normally via wayshrines, while PvP IC is still a campaign you queue up for. The PvP rewards will not be present in the PvE IC, but new rewards and dailies can be completed in this new PvE focused zone.
This is what I would like to see. Don't scrap anything. Just have a second, post war version of all of it. It's weird to just lock yourself out of development of the most iconic es location. Also the biggest piece of the map. Don't take away. Just add.
Re: can artist earn rewards in game ?
Contests are organized events with specific criteria that are open to all players to participate in if they choose, with set prizes already established. That is not the same thing as a player receiving gifts from the Devs for creating unsolicited works on their own.
I've decorated over 50 houses, but I should not receive gifts from the Devs for any of them outside of an organized housing contest.
I've decorated over 50 houses, but I should not receive gifts from the Devs for any of them outside of an organized housing contest.
Re: Magsorc solo survivability in bigger fights destroyed
tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »Isn't the heal on Regenerative Ward still there? I don't know if it was reduced or not, and it wasn't too long ago that these skills didn't have any heal at all.
I don't have advice for how sorcs have adapted outside of subclassing. There are some PTS changes but they've already been partly reverted, so it's hard to say what will stick.
Regenrative's ward heal is so weak that it's barely noticeable even in pve without battle spirit and with battle spirit active it might as well not exist. Not to mention that regenerative's ward shield value is too low, it's not able to fulfill even it's primary function, so secondary effects don't rly matter at this point. Hardened ward can at best absorb one skill in pvp and if it's something that hits hard, say grim focus, then one skill takes your whole shield anf half your health in the process. When hardened ward can't keep up it's needless to say that any other shield is nothing but a waste of bar space, gcd and resources.
Re: More on the Microsoft lay offs, it's grim.
spartaxoxo wrote: »This isn't just a Microsoft thing. The gaming business has been in an upheaval for a while now.
Microsoft said they had their most profitable time ever and that the projects were excellent. Poor performance is in no way the reason for the layoffs. Phil Spencer actually had to be pried away from Blackbird and the play testers thought it was going to be a big thing and was one of the most fun and positively viewed multiplayer games in ages. There was really no reason for Zenimax to see this coming. They were completely blindsided because they were doing incredibly well.
My personal theory as a total outsider looking in is that Microsoft is doing this because they think the future is AI and they're trying to get ahead of it so they'll be in a good position a few years from now. Nothing to do with current sales.
If Microsoft felt Blackbird would be successful, they wouldn't have cancelled it, regardless of that anecdote. It wasn't the game he was playing, it was a demo. It wasn't close to ready.
Like I said, it's not about what's here but about what's coming. But regardless, the writing was on the wall for ESO when they decided there wouldn't be chapters anymore, regardless of the outcome with Blackbird.
And yes, machine learning will affect every aspect of the software and entertainment industries. Just like computer graphics disrupted the conventional special effects industry and the phonograph disrupted the player piano industry.
They explicitly stated it wasn't about success of the projects and even noted it was some of the most profitable the gaming part of their company has ever been. So, no. We don't know why they decided to cancel but we do know that it was not because they thought Blackbird would not be profitable.
They explicitly stated that the layoffs were about positioning themselves for the future of gaming. They didn't elaborate on that, as far as I saw. But it comes alongside a push for integrating AI into games. They even showcased a theoretical AI assistant for Overwatch recently.
ETA 2
From Google
Microsoft's recent layoffs, impacting approximately 9,000 employees globally, are part of a broader restructuring strategy aimed at increasing efficiency and focusing on areas with the greatest growth potential. While not explicitly stated to be solely about "existing properties," the company's messaging highlights streamlining operations and concentrating resources on key strategic areas, particularly in cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
From Business Insider
Executives previously told BI that those layoffs were intended to reduce the number of middle managers and increase the ratio of coders to non-coders on projects as Microsoft aimed to grow its "span of control," or the number of employees who report to each manager. But those cuts also ended up including many individual-contributor-level engineers. A spokesperson told BI at the time that those cuts were not performance-driven.
Re: can artist earn rewards in game ?
I have never heard of anything like that happening.
Re: More on the Microsoft lay offs, it's grim.
The BEST thing you can do for the game and its developers - play it as much and engage with it as often as possible and get other players to play it - the more people play it and the more undeniable it is the better for the game and its employees...
Re: More on the Microsoft lay offs, it's grim.
SeaGtGruff wrote: »Hopefully once they figure it out they'll let us know. We shall see.
They already did. They told us at around the beginning of the year how ESO is changing. They ended the chapter model. We can see the result in the game right now.
I keep repeating myself because I'm amazed that people can't see what's right in front of them. They didn't just change the name of the annual update for no reason. ESO has entered a new phase.
It's an 11 year old game, so this kind of thing is to be expected.
.....
It seems to me that ZOS has been bending over backwards for years listening to the playerbase and trying to give the people some workable version of what have they been asking for.
Are you being serious?
Ahem.....U35, jabs animation and such....and where is the limiting of shield and heal stacking in Cyrodiil?
AngryPenguin
14
Re: skill styles icons
Fancy action bar addon allows you to do this (in fact I think its on by default on that addon)
fizl101
6