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Overland Content Feedback Thread

  • Drammanoth
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    Considering your posts @Warhawke_80 and @SilverBride , what would you say for localised challenges in Overland?

    Again, it would not affect the whole area, just AN area where a miniboss appears. Or, an Oblivion portal to some Delve-size map with a semi-Raid-level boss...

    What I like in GW2 is the replayability. BUT, it is ESO that I find more attractive.
  • Braffin
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    Braffin wrote: »
    It's a disservice to the writing of the quests to have their bosses have so little HP, it's laughable. If you were to just increase their HP a little there would be no problems. Neither would a simple difficulty slider like in Oblivion/Skyrim be too bad, just a health/damage increase or something.

    I can't remember if i ever actually needed to take a potion or eat a better food beforehand. It's such a slap in the face to the RPG gaming scene and turns a lot of new players off.

    That is an existential argument...one might counter that it is a disservice to all of the players that are use to the current difficulty to go back and change ten years of content because a handful of Trial Players thinks it's too easy.


    If ZoS did that the forums would be flooded with players complaining...what would we tell them? To suck it up and git gud?

    My point is...your assertion just dosen't take in account the reality of the situation.





    A handful of trial players? No, not really. A lot of people aren't satisfied with the current situation regarding overland, while most of them aren't "trial players".

    Trying to devalue other peoples arguments by pretending they were only a small minority without any proof and against all probability is just dishonest framing.

    Zos already acknowledged several times, that a lot of people are asking for changes regarding overland difficulty. This very thread, as well as the implementation of IA (instead of overland story) and nymics are proof for this.

    Besides that: Which issue do you have with the implementation of difficulty sliders or other options to make overland more difficult for those interested in it?

    What does that take away from you?

    Exactly, absolutely nothing.

    All I can say is I have seen your response before...when the SWG forums was flooded with SWG should be more like WoW posts...and what we got was NGE. When any major change to combat happens in any MMO the result has been always a good portion of the player base losing their collective minds after the fact


    "Difficulty sliders" will not work ...you have to account for other players in your area, unless you hard lock targets to the player that first engages, that causes a whole new set of problems....

    LOTRO devs found that out the hard way no matter what they tried players that wanted more difficult overland content effected those that wanted normal content. They found that out after... AFTER ...they promised difficulty levels...which killed a lot of good will the player base had with the devs.

    ...what will work for ESO and is a happy compromise is Heroic areas which I am all for...craglorn should have stayed as is more areas like that should have been added while leaving the current world as is





    Why wouldn't difficulty sliders work if only the players using them are affected?

    Explain that please.

    Another options are separate instances for harder difficulty, using the already present scaling mechanics (IA for . But that's already your suggestion with heroic areas as it seems.
    Edited by Braffin on 31 December 2023 22:17
    Never get between a cat and it's candy!
    ---
    Overland difficulty scaling is desperately needed. 9 years. 6 paid expansions. 24 DLCs. 40 game changing updates including One Tamriel, an overhaul of the game including a permanent CP160 gear cap and ridiculous power creep thereafter. I'm sick and tired of hearing about Cadwell Silver & Gold as a "you think you do but you don't" - tier deflection to any criticism regarding the lack of overland difficulty in the game. I'm bored of dungeons, I'm bored of trials; make a personal difficulty slider for overland. It's not that hard.
  • Sakiri
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    If the problem is quest bosses, the solution would be taken from FFXIV.

    Instance them, as many are already, and add a selection for difficulty when zoning in.
  • SilverBride
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    Drammanoth wrote: »
    Considering your posts @Warhawke_80 and @SilverBride , what would you say for localised challenges in Overland?

    Again, it would not affect the whole area, just AN area where a miniboss appears. Or, an Oblivion portal to some Delve-size map with a semi-Raid-level boss...

    They already added Wandering World Bosses and the Herald Seekers and Bastion Nymics and Oblivion Portals and replaced Dolmens with Harrowstorms and Geysers and Vents and increased the difficulty of World Bosses. That is more than enough in my opinion.
    Edited by SilverBride on 31 December 2023 23:14
    PCNA
  • Warhawke_80
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    Drammanoth wrote: »
    Considering your posts @Warhawke_80 and @SilverBride , what would you say for localised challenges in Overland?

    Again, it would not affect the whole area, just AN area where a miniboss appears. Or, an Oblivion portal to some Delve-size map with a semi-Raid-level boss...

    They already added Wandering World Bosses and the Herald Seekers and Bastion Nymics and Oblivion Portals and replaced Dolmens with Harrowstorms and Geysers and Vents and increased the difficulty of World Bosses. That is more than enough in my opinion.

    It's never going to be enough...until the vast majority of players are leaving because ESO has turned into a Dark Souls game...then maybe that will be enough....but I highly doubt it.

    :|
    ““Elric knew. The sword told him, without words of any sort. Stormbringer needed to fight, for that was its reason for existence...”― Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné
  • SilverBride
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    ESO overland is exactly what it should be.
    PCNA
  • KapiteinBoterham
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    So increasing the HP of only the story/quest bosses, which make up a very small (but important) portion of the overland content, would indeed technically be an "across the board" change yes (which means applied to all players without option or toggle*).

    *A toggle would be great but has been requested back in 2021, we have to stay realistic here. Do you want an actual change to be implemented or do you want another 100 extra pages on this thread and nothing being done?

    If you think spending 5 to 10 second longer at a now slightly higher HP boss is too big of a price to pay to bring this game back to it's former glory you'd better have a really good argument for why this would not be the solution! And no "i dont like it" is not an argument.

    I am so sick of teaching new players/friends (crafting them gear/giving gold) just for them to never come back online again mostly because there just isn't any sense of progression/challenge..

    Hope you guys had a good NYE celebration. Vulkhel Guard wayshrine (PCEU) was crazy around twelve o'clock!
    Edited by KapiteinBoterham on 1 January 2024 03:44
  • disky
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    This thread is two years old but I really hope it's still being monitored. I came to the forum today to ask for a greater challenge in overland. I understand that there are people who want it to stay the way it is, but it's truly mind-numbingly easy even for brand-new players. And that's fine for them, they can have it, but as someone who enjoys solo and doesn't want to simply crush my face against dungeon content, I want to feel challenged in the bulk of the game's content, the overland environments. I'm more than happy to accept leaving the difficulty as-is for those who want it but I'm on my knees here, begging for a way to change it so that I can get some satisfaction out of the main game.

    I feel no desire to play any of the zone stories until I can get some sense of accomplishment from them, and I really want to enjoy this game. Please ZOS, give us a vet mode for overland.
  • disky
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    ESO overland is exactly what it should be.

    This feels like the reverse of "get good" to me. You're making an objective statement about a subjective situation in which people are repeatedly requesting a way to challenge themselves which wouldn't necessarily even affect you. It feels a little selfish. Many of us just want to flip a switch that makes the game harder, like a handicap, which wouldn't have to affect instancing or AI behavior or anything. I don't even want increased rewards, I just want to feel like I'm actually achieving something instead of mowing the lawn.
  • TaSheen
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    You're assuming that "a greater challenge" would be something optional. I don't feel as if that's even on the table. If the devs choose to ramp up overland difficulty, my bet is on "here you go deal with it" - for everyone. The optional things are.... stuff like IA. Severly contained. If all of you get your harder overland, I actually don't think it's going to be anywhere close to "optional".

    It's a huge ask. Even a toggle is a huge ask. These are the devs who are wrestling with 15 year old code (or more) - an in-house rewrite of a commercial engine from 15 or more years ago. I'm betting that the current dev team doesn't actually have any real grasp of what might be necessary to make you "harder overland" people happy.

    The likeliest scenario is that they will give you what you want. And the rest of us will be left out in the cold. That's fine with me, because I have many other things I can do - and I'm not at all shy of never paying a sub for this game (much less three annual ones) again. Or even ever playing it at all when it changes to something I really have no use for or interest in.

    I hope the rest of the player base is happy with it when you all get your harder overland. The "options" offered in the game to date are nothing even close to what an "optional" harder overland would need to be. I really do wish the devs would figure this out so that those of us who are perfectly happy with the game as it is today will not be dropped to "totally unhappy".

    I'm not sanguine about that. And still.... some of you ARE saying "optional" - but others are not.
    ______________________________________________________

    "But even in books, the heroes make mistakes, and there isn't always a happy ending." Mercedes Lackey, Into the West

    PC NA, PC EU (non steam)- four accounts, many alts....
  • KapiteinBoterham
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    You're assuming that "a greater challenge" would be something optional. I don't feel as if that's even on the table. If the devs choose to ramp up overland difficulty, my bet is on "here you go deal with it" - for everyone. The optional things are.... stuff like IA. Severly contained. If all of you get your harder overland, I actually don't think it's going to be anywhere close to "optional".

    It's a huge ask. Even a toggle is a huge ask. These are the devs who are wrestling with 15 year old code (or more) - an in-house rewrite of a commercial engine from 15 or more years ago. I'm betting that the current dev team doesn't actually have any real grasp of what might be necessary to make you "harder overland" people happy.

    Very good point, that's why we should unanimously ask for just a slight HP increase for story/quest bosses. I cannot personally imagine this being a problem for anyone and imagine the extra enjoyment of thousands of players!

    If this small HP increase (story/quest bosses only!) is truly a problem for you please let this thread know by replying with an argument that supports your opinion. If you are not able to support your opinion i think ZOS should consider not taking it into consideration.
    Edited by KapiteinBoterham on 1 January 2024 05:04
  • Alinhbo_Tyaka
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    Sakiri wrote: »
    If the problem is quest bosses, the solution would be taken from FFXIV.

    Instance them, as many are already, and add a selection for difficulty when zoning in.

    It has been a long time since I played FF XIV. I liked the way FF XIV handles quest bosses but as I recall it has a drawback of most of the time you are forced to run it solo whereas ESO tends to be friendly to doing stuff in a party. If ESO were to instance bosses it would have to accommodate parties.
  • SilverBride
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    If you think spending 5 to 10 second longer at a now slightly higher HP boss is too big of a price to pay to bring this game back to it's former glory you'd better have a really good argument for why this would not be the solution! And no "i dont like it" is not an argument.

    Is spending 5 to 10 seconds longer at a now slightly higher HP boss really going to satisfy those asking for more overland difficulty? I very seriously doubt it.

    And that former glory from when ESO was a lot more difficult with veteran levels almost destroyed this game, which was one reason for One Tamriel.

    Also, I don't like it is as good a reason as any for not wanting any change, and is a valid argument.
    Edited by SilverBride on 1 January 2024 05:58
    PCNA
  • disky
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    TaSheen wrote: »
    You're assuming that "a greater challenge" would be something optional. I don't feel as if that's even on the table. If the devs choose to ramp up overland difficulty, my bet is on "here you go deal with it" - for everyone. The optional things are.... stuff like IA. Severly contained. If all of you get your harder overland, I actually don't think it's going to be anywhere close to "optional".

    It's a huge ask. Even a toggle is a huge ask. These are the devs who are wrestling with 15 year old code (or more) - an in-house rewrite of a commercial engine from 15 or more years ago. I'm betting that the current dev team doesn't actually have any real grasp of what might be necessary to make you "harder overland" people happy.

    The likeliest scenario is that they will give you what you want. And the rest of us will be left out in the cold. That's fine with me, because I have many other things I can do - and I'm not at all shy of never paying a sub for this game (much less three annual ones) again. Or even ever playing it at all when it changes to something I really have no use for or interest in.

    I hope the rest of the player base is happy with it when you all get your harder overland. The "options" offered in the game to date are nothing even close to what an "optional" harder overland would need to be. I really do wish the devs would figure this out so that those of us who are perfectly happy with the game as it is today will not be dropped to "totally unhappy".

    I'm not sanguine about that. And still.... some of you ARE saying "optional" - but others are not.

    I don't know about your experience with Hero Engine or the years of changes ZOS have made to the code, but I feel like you're being very dramatic about this when a toggle may very well be completely within the realm of possibility. It could just be that yeah, it's going to take some effort and the team hasn't thought it would be worthwhile unless enough people spoke up and demanded it. So, why act as if the world is ending when it's completely likely that you will be unaffected?

    I'd assume ZOS will do what is best for ZOS, and I'm going to venture a guess that more people want easy mode than otherwise. So if it's not worthwhile they'll just avoid doing it. And if they do want to do it, they'll come up with a solution which works for the greatest number of people.
    Edited by disky on 1 January 2024 07:22
  • Sakiri
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    So increasing the HP of only the story/quest bosses, which make up a very small (but important) portion of the overland content, would indeed technically be an "across the board" change yes (which means applied to all players without option or toggle*).

    *A toggle would be great but has been requested back in 2021, we have to stay realistic here. Do you want an actual change to be implemented or do you want another 100 extra pages on this thread and nothing being done?

    If you think spending 5 to 10 second longer at a now slightly higher HP boss is too big of a price to pay to bring this game back to it's former glory you'd better have a really good argument for why this would not be the solution! And no "i dont like it" is not an argument.

    I am so sick of teaching new players/friends (crafting them gear/giving gold) just for them to never come back online again mostly because there just isn't any sense of progression/challenge..

    Hope you guys had a good NYE celebration. Vulkhel Guard wayshrine (PCEU) was crazy around twelve o'clock!

    If you want to talk about "former glory" then let me show you something.

    https://youtu.be/iAUK3svp3ms

    Now skill levels in this game vary greatly. My husband had a HECK of a time with most of the story quest fights and never killed Molag Bal.

    This video shows me on my templar 9 years ago, at level 31, finishing the fighter's guild quest. I also finished the mages' guild quests at 31. It's how I made my challenge, see how low I could do them.

    The reason there is no sense of progression, and why overland content isn't challenging, and why you cannot do the things I did back in the day to challenge myself, was the One Tamriel update. Making everything scale was the downfall of challenging overworld content, and challenging quest content.
  • Sakiri
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    Sakiri wrote: »
    If the problem is quest bosses, the solution would be taken from FFXIV.

    Instance them, as many are already, and add a selection for difficulty when zoning in.

    It has been a long time since I played FF XIV. I liked the way FF XIV handles quest bosses but as I recall it has a drawback of most of the time you are forced to run it solo whereas ESO tends to be friendly to doing stuff in a party. If ESO were to instance bosses it would have to accommodate parties.

    Guild Wars 2 lets you zone into quest instances while in a party. Could do that, too.
  • Elsonso
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    This thread is two years old but I really hope it's still being monitored. I came to the forum today to ask for a greater challenge in overland. I understand that there are people who want it to stay the way it is, but it's truly mind-numbingly easy even for brand-new players.

    I don't envy ZOS if their numbers support that new players are finding overland too easy.

    I see new players is the main reason to keep overland difficulty relatively low, but if ZOS needs to address this, there is no path forward that is free of significant criticism. Even if they do nothing, which is probably the safest path and the one they have declared, they are not without criticism.

    If they are seeing new players having too easy of a time, they can always turn down the level scaling that new characters to bring down their power. That would seem like a first thing to try before investing a lot of time and effort on a means to make overland harder.


    ESO Plus: No
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    XBox EU/NA: @ElsonsoJannus
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • TaSheen
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    <snipped>

    If this small HP increase (story/quest bosses only!) is truly a problem for you please let this thread know by replying with an argument that supports your opinion. If you are not able to support your opinion i think ZOS should consider not taking it into consideration.

    Just one of my previous posts about my issues from 2 pages back:

    https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8017223/#Comment_8017223
    ______________________________________________________

    "But even in books, the heroes make mistakes, and there isn't always a happy ending." Mercedes Lackey, Into the West

    PC NA, PC EU (non steam)- four accounts, many alts....
  • KapiteinBoterham
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    [snip] Increasing the HP (a little) would be a step in the good direction and would merely create the sense of difficulty/challenge.

    @Sakiri Yeah for a lot of hardcore players One-Tamriel was a mistake, it's just such a generic [snip] way to "fix" the game. The root cause of the problems talked about in this thread is clearly the over-nerfing of story and quest bosses' HP!

    [snip]

    I'm trying to dictate the thread in a way that a change might actually be implemented by the devs (for asking for a easily implemented HP increase we can all agree on). A toggle/banner is not gonna happen, if it was it would have been implemented by now. No, Necrom (seekers/nymics) were their answer.

    If the next 10 pages of this thread would only be filled with "please just add a little HP to story/quest bosses" or "i wouldn't mind a little extra HP on the bosses" it might actually get implemented by the devs. All we have to do is show them is that we can actually agree on something as a community.

    If you think the solution i have offered is not a good solution please reply with a good reason or argument and maybe we can find an even better middleground! :)

    [edited for bashing]
    Edited by ZOS_Icy on 1 January 2024 16:32
  • Elsonso
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    [snip] Increasing the HP (a little) would be a step in the good direction and would merely create the sense of difficulty/challenge.

    I do not think they are. Overland is a common space for everyone, and should be for everyone. The devs have stated that they want the hard content in the dungeon areas, and they have added select overland content to that list. This is what makes overland and the quests found there, neutral territory that can be shared by all players at any level.

    I don't think there is a need for options, or separate veteran spaces, or middle ground until the numbers (which only ZOS can see) supports a change. At that point, my preference is just to nerf all skills and abilities across the board to bring upper-tier players downward towards a more common middle ground.

    There is a ton of harder content in this game. Plenty of harder content for anyone who wants to do harder content.

    The swimming pool references work very well here. Overland is the kiddie pool, so to speak. The pools with the deep end and diving boards are elsewhere.

    [edited to remove quote]
    Edited by ZOS_Icy on 1 January 2024 16:33
    ESO Plus: No
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    XBox EU/NA: @ElsonsoJannus
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • valenwood_vegan
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    I don't think adding hp to quest bosses is going to come even close to satisfying those who want a more challenging experience. If it's just a small amount, it won't have any effect at all on a high end player.

    If enough hp is added to slow down a high end player, it may become insurmountable for newer or less-skilled players. And as I mentioned before, making things into hp sponges is a terrible way to add "difficulty". It just makes the exact same fight take longer. Mechanics and abilities that must be learned, dealt with, and reacted-to are what makes fights more interesting, imo.

    This was one of the biggest complaints about Bastion Nymic for example - the trash mobs are not particularly challenging but are just repetitive high hp mobs that take an inordinate amount of time to kill. It's not fun.

    TL;DR: A simple solution like a blanket increase to quest boss hp might be easier and thus more likely to be implemented than a more complex solution, but I doubt it will satisfy anyone looking for a challenge while it risks upsetting the gameplay experience for players looking for a story.

    And sorry, but I'm not on the forums to agree with something I don't agree with just for the sake of agreeing. Even though I find overland boring and trivial, I would actually rather have them change nothing than increase overland difficulty in a non-optional way.

    My opinion remains that the gap between players is so enormous that it requires a solution more along the lines of normal / vet versions of instanced quest bosses (and perhaps other instanced overland areas)... and although going back and giving old bosses this treatment would be a ton of work and probably not worth the effort, I absolutely think it's something that can be done going forward.
    Edited by valenwood_vegan on 1 January 2024 16:58
  • SilverBride
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    If the next 10 pages of this thread would only be filled with "please just add a little HP to story/quest bosses" or "i wouldn't mind a little extra HP on the bosses" it might actually get implemented by the devs.

    That is something I do not want to see happen and will continue to fight against.

    My view is protecting many other players from having overland... the ONLY part of the game that is not tailored to be a challenge... from becoming so difficult that many will no longer be able to succeed.

    If you think the solution i have offered is not a good solution please reply with a good reason or argument and maybe we can find an even better middleground! :)

    Forcing difficulty on all players, many of whom do not want more difficulty, would be harmful to the general playerbase.


    This topic has already been given an answer in the quote below and by the introduction of Bastion Nymics which were stated to be one answer to overland difficulty. This is our answer.

    ZOS_Kevin wrote: »
    Hi All, as many of you have noted already from Rich's interview, there are no current plans for changing the structure of overland content. It is something we will continue to look at, so constructive feedback is always appreciated.

    The purpose of this thread is to collect constructive feedback so if there is an opportunity to make changes, we have feedback from players to possibly incorporate. However, if the conversation continues to be users arguing with each other, we will lock this thread. We understand not everyone will agree with the statement. However, you can disagree and voice it without pushing the buttons of other forum users.

    As always, please follow the community guidelines.

    IKYMI: Rich's Quote on Overland Content
    "That's a difficult one because difficulty is definitely subjective. We have millions of players that play The Elder Scrolls Online, and a large portion of them find the game hard and the Overland content challenging, especially as a new player when you don't have gold, all the gear, and Champion Points. Ultimately it comes down to, if we make the game harder, what are the incentives for players to play it at the harder level? That opens up a whole huge can of worms. I also look back and remember we had harder Overland content. We had Cadwell Silver, we had Cadwell Gold, and players really didn't like it. It was too hard for them, and when we did One Tamriel, we ripped all that out based on player feedback. Like, nobody did it. So it's a challenging subject and a difficult question to answer. All I can really say is we're definitely looking at it, but we don't have any major changes planned for the Overland difficulty."
    Edited by SilverBride on 1 January 2024 17:33
    PCNA
  • valenwood_vegan
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    And just a couple more thoughts to add - remember that we all have opinions and things *we* want, but only ZoS has the data.

    And (I can only presume, based on this data), they've adjusted the last bits of challenging new content added (Bastion Nymic and IA) *downward*. And these were intended from the ground up to be more challenging areas.

    It's also worth noting that they *have* been putting out more difficult world bosses and quest bosses in newer DLC (compared to base game and early DLC). This has drawn complaints, particularly with wb and seeker difficulty in Necrom.

    All of this suggests to me (but obviously does not "prove") that the audience for forced challenge being added everywhere in the game remains somewhat limited. I have no idea how limited, and I'm not at all saying that ZoS shouldn't strive to satisfy players looking for more challenge, but they have to be careful because every increase in challenge risks turning off one player while satisfying another.

    A big part of the issue is that their business model seems to rely heavily on new players being able to jump right into overland in any zone, especially the latest DLC. They heavily market each chapter to new players. Challenges are typically added elsewhere, as world bosses, world events, dungeons, trials, arenas, pvp...

    As long as this is the model, I think it limits their options... I would love for them to come out with a new "vet DLC area" that's more challenging, but would it be a good business decision? Would it sell? Even a player like me who enjoys the challenge would probably only complete such a zone once or a most a couple of times... and then return to the more typical repeatable challenging content.

    TL;DR - I think it's more complicated than just blanket-making-bosses-more-difficult, and requires a more complex solution that adds optional increased difficulty for those who want it, while keeping overland enjoyable for those who are not playing for a challenge.
    Edited by valenwood_vegan on 1 January 2024 17:41
  • Drammanoth
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    What I am curious about, and what ALL of the people posting here should be, is how influential this is.

    Meaning, whether ZOS will actually do something about it, or is it just a playground for us to exchange ideas and keep them in one place.

    That said, make no mistake, curated items, the sticker book - I am deeply grateful for that.
  • Warhawke_80
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    One thing I am very confident of after reading nearly all of this thread.....


    speaking practically...

    I just don't see ZoS changing overland difficulty...it's too big of a can of worms and in the end large amounts of customers will be enraged, because whatever they will do will effect everyone somehow, anyone with any real developer experience knows this ...and we have all seen what happens when a large group of people become enraged on a MMO.


    I mean we can spin what if's all day long, but does anyone really believe that someday ZoS would do that big of a change against the wishes of so many players?
    ““Elric knew. The sword told him, without words of any sort. Stormbringer needed to fight, for that was its reason for existence...”― Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné
  • KapiteinBoterham
    KapiteinBoterham
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    TL;DR - I think it's more complicated than just blanket-making-bosses-more-difficult, and requires a more complex solution that adds optional increased difficulty for those who want it, while keeping overland enjoyable for those who are not playing for a challenge.

    The problem is: the more complex the solution we demand, the smaller the chance that it will get actually implemented (ahem, 190 pages in). So if we all unanimously ask for a simpler solution (again: a little extra HP for story/quest bosses) there is a much bigger chance of something actually being done!

    Of course extra HP i suggested is not gonna scratch the itch we skilled players want scratched. But it will give all players the illusion and it would respect the writing of the quests a lot more. If you really want to be challenged i totally agree you should go for the veteran content and not expect that from overland.

    I cannot wrap my head around the fact that this very minor increase would cause a problem for anyone (how casual they might be) and i still haven't seen any solid arguments supporting this.

    You can make it seem like i want extreme difficulty however much you want, that is simply not the case.. I really care about this game and i think the average player deserves a better experience when it comes to story/quest related bossfights.


    ~Keep overland super easy (a "kiddie pool" for new players to get their bearings) just add a little HP to the important story/quest bosses to give players the illusion of a challenge and respect the writing~
    Edited by KapiteinBoterham on 1 January 2024 19:51
  • SilverBride
    SilverBride
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    ...So if we all unanimously ask for a simpler solution (again: a little extra HP for story/quest bosses) there is a much bigger chance of something actually being done!...

    That is only a solution for the players that want more difficulty. Many of us do not.

    I cannot wrap my head around the fact that this very minor increase would cause a problem for anyone (how casual they might be) and i still haven't seen any solid arguments supporting this.

    The problem is that many of us do not want any difficulty in the story, and that is reason enough to oppose it.

    Also, no one asking for increased difficulty is going to be happy with a very minor increase.
    PCNA
  • valenwood_vegan
    valenwood_vegan
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    So if we all unanimously ask for a simpler solution (again: a little extra HP for story/quest bosses) there is a much bigger chance of something actually being done!

    Well it's not going to be unanimous because, as I have explained, I am not going to ask for them to spend dev time on a token gesture that I don't believe will satisfy anyone asking for harder overland. But may risk upsetting players who do not want more difficulty in the stories.

    It certainly won't put this topic to rest.

    So you might have to live with posting your opinion for ZoS to see, making your arguments, and hoping they agree.

    [EDIT to add]:

    Just to explain what I'm saying in a more concrete way with some numbers... say the goal is to add enough hp to make the fight last 15 seconds longer for a player like me. This wouldn't make it any more exciting or fun... it's the same fight, just very slightly longer.

    I put out a rather modest (for an end-gamer) 80k dps. So that would require adding 1.2m hp to a boss, to extend the fight approximately 15 seconds for me (and really do nothing for me at all). A really good player doing 100k or more wouldn't even get 15 seconds... they might not even notice the change at all.

    That same 1.2m hp for a player who does 15k dps would extend THEIR fight by 80 seconds.

    Many players can't even put out that much... for a player doing 5k dps, their fight would be extended for 240 seconds.

    So I gain no tangible challenge or enjoyment, but someone else who is probably already struggling now has to spend a substantial extra amount of time struggling.
    Edited by valenwood_vegan on 2 January 2024 03:21
  • Alinhbo_Tyaka
    Alinhbo_Tyaka
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    TL;DR - I think it's more complicated than just blanket-making-bosses-more-difficult, and requires a more complex solution that adds optional increased difficulty for those who want it, while keeping overland enjoyable for those who are not playing for a challenge.

    The problem is: the more complex the solution we demand, the smaller the chance that it will get actually implemented (ahem, 190 pages in). So if we all unanimously ask for a simpler solution (again: a little extra HP for story/quest bosses) there is a much bigger chance of something actually being done!

    -snip -
    Accidentally hit post too early.

    Edit:
    I don't want any changes and am happy with the hardness level of the open world. I am also happy with how instanced content is setup allowing regular players to participate at their skill level while accommodating high level players at theirs. If ZOS does decide to make an attempt to accommodate higher level players, which I'm fine with, then it needs to be done in a manner that does not force the change on the whole player base. It has to be a well designed change and not some hack. To do otherwise will do nothing more than alienate the majority of players. Since you are so adamant about getting something, anything no matter whether it is good or bad all I can say is I don't support your suggestion. The game is better off the way it is than making a quick and dirty change that will not satisfy anyone on either side of the argument.
    Edited by Alinhbo_Tyaka on 1 January 2024 21:10
  • KapiteinBoterham
    KapiteinBoterham
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    @valenwood_vegan I sincerely wish you luck with requesting a more complex solution to this problem.

    After seeing the length and complexity of this thread (and after experiencing the problem with quest/story bosses multiple times myself) I had lowered my demands to come up with a realisticly-implemented middleground. Which i haven't seen any solid criticisism against, except for personal taste.

    I have now made multiple points supporting this minor change and hope to have made at least someone out there see how this would only increase the player-experience of the overland gameplay.

    From my previous comment: I cannot wrap my head around the fact that this very minor increase would cause a problem for anyone (how casual they might be) and i still haven't seen any solid arguments supporting this claim.

    So you might have to live with posting your opinion for ZoS to see, making your arguments, and hoping they agree.

    This is all we forum users can hope for...
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