Overland Content Feedback Thread

Dahveed · May 23

I'm currently doing the Golden Pursuit, literally standing next to 5 other players waiting for a corpse to respawn so I get one more out of 10 bosses in Grahtwood.

THIS is exactly the kind of "slop" content that needs to change. Something about the way devs approach the challenges of the game needs to change, because this is unbearable.

...and you know what? In the time that I was alt-tabbed to type my complaint, I heard the fight start. So I alt-tabbed back to the game. And in the 4 seconds it took me to alt-tab and charge in, the 2 other players already killed that boss, so I don't get credit. Perfect timing for this comment.

It's absolutely ridiculous how mundane the entire game has become. Hopefully they can shake things up significantly.

Dahveed · May 23

Literally standing right next to a different boss, and just for fun I counted the seconds.

It was two.

TWO SECONDS for me and 3 other players to nuke this boss into oblivion.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk to the people who think this game is too hard... but if your video game reflexes are so terrible that you can't do these quests on what is essentially ultra easy toddler story mode, how in Oblivion are your reflexes good enough to tag a public group boss who dies before you can even place your fingers on the home keys of your keyboard?

SilverBride · May 23

Some players have physical limitations that make doing almost everything more difficult. For them the game is too hard. That is why they are looking to make any difficulty changes optional, so they don't make it harder for those players.

This is going to take time and I suspect it may not happen very soon.

spartaxoxo · May 23

Dahveed wrote: »

Literally standing right next to a different boss, and just for fun I counted the seconds.

It was two.

TWO SECONDS for me and 3 other players to nuke this boss into oblivion.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk to the people who think this game is too hard... but if your video game reflexes are so terrible that you can't do these quests on what is essentially ultra easy toddler story mode, how in Oblivion are your reflexes good enough to tag a public group boss who dies before you can even place your fingers on the home keys of your keyboard?

I mean, a bunch of people attacking a boss that is mostly killed solo and balanced for solo play isn't the best example of what someone who is struggling experiences.

But yes, I'm glad they are fixing this for those of us who still find it very easy anyway.

Dahveed · May 23

spartaxoxo wrote: »

balanced for solo play

They are literally called Group Dungeons.

EDIT - I'm getting my terms messed up, sorry. It's a "public dungeon", which (for me) assumed that more than one player will be there, just like Dolmens and such (which are also an absolute joke, by the way).

Dahveed · May 23

Anyways I don't want to argue with you guys (again, lol), I know they are working on something.

Hopefully I can just amplify my frustration (and that of others) so that they realize how bad things really are. As a corporation I have a bad feeling they might just go with something very safe and "family friendly", i.e., "Now you can opt in to Hard Mode, where the bosses have, like, 10% more health! TEN PERCENT! *surprised face*

If, as they say, they are "taking their time to do it right" (i.e. it's gonna take a year or something), I shudder to think that whatever finally gets released is some watered-down participation trophy nonsense which barely changes anything.

mdjessup4906 · May 23

Wasn't the 10 bosses for delves? Delves aren't specifically group, they're for either. Public dungeons are the technically supposed to be group balanced but most are easily soloable with a good build.

Dahveed · May 23

mdjessup4906 wrote: »

Wasn't the 10 bosses for delves? Delves aren't specifically group, they're for either. Public dungeons are the technically supposed to be group balanced but most are easily soloable with a good build.

The example I gave was from a public dungeon. Sorry if that wasn't made clear.

spartaxoxo · May 23

Dahveed wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

balanced for solo play

They are literally called Group Dungeons.

"Delves are areas of the map represented with a single torch. They are designed to be done solo or with a small group."

And then Public Dungeons are just described as much harder than delves on the help page.

I think the group event bosses are designed for small groups, although those are pushovers as well. But they're meant to be easier than regular dungeon which is meant to require a full group. We all know that doesn't actually either though.

Anyway, I largely agree with your broader points. I actually have seen someone complain about being unable to tag bosses before. One person I'll never forget even wanted vet players who farm leads banned from the game for not giving a chance for others to get a hit in.

That not a good experience for either group.

Dahveed · May 23

mdjessup4906 wrote: »

Wasn't the 10 bosses for delves? Delves aren't specifically group, they're for either. Public dungeons are the technically supposed to be group balanced but most are easily soloable with a good build.

Also the pursuit is for 5 delve bosses or 10 public dungeon bosses. In both cases it's an absolute slog through boring trash.

The delves are even worse: Not only do the bosses go down faster, but they seem (to me, anyway) to respawn even slower, and there's only one of them. So if I happen to have my hands down my pants for 1.7 seconds the other pursuit farmers yeet it out of existence instantaneously and I have to wait another 10 or 15 minutes, or whatever it is. At least in a public dungeon you can yo-yo between spawn points.

This Golden Pursuit is a nightmare.

Dahveed · May 23

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Dahveed wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

balanced for solo play

They are literally called Group Dungeons.

"Delves are areas of the map represented with a single torch. They are designed to be done solo or with a small group."

And then Public Dungeons are just described as much harder than delves on the help page. I think the group event bosses are designed for small groups, although those are pushovers as well. But they're meant to be easier than regular dungeon which is meant to require a full group. We all know that doesn't actually either though.

Anyway, I largely agree with your broader points. I actually have seen someone complain about being unable to tag bosses before. One person I'll never forget even wanted vet players who farm leads banned from the game for not giving a chance for others to get a hit in.

That not a good experience for either group.

I edited my comment, getting my terms mixed up. I was in a Public Dungeon when I gave my examples.

But yes, we're quibbling at this point, we both agree on the overall point.

mdjessup4906 · May 23

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Dahveed wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

balanced for solo play

They are literally called Group Dungeons.

"Delves are areas of the map represented with a single torch. They are designed to be done solo or with a small group."

And then Public Dungeons are just described as much harder than delves on the help page.

I think the group event bosses are designed for small groups, although those are pushovers as well. But they're meant to be easier than regular dungeon which is meant to require a full group. We all know that doesn't actually either though.

Anyway, I largely agree with your broader points. I actually have seen someone complain about being unable to tag bosses before. One person I'll never forget even wanted vet players who farm leads banned from the game for not giving a chance for others to get a hit in.

That not a good experience for either group.

Be nice if more high powered players would just exercise some restraint. If boss is spawned and I can see others making their way to it, I smack it a few times to get credit and wait.

Have to be careful though, sometimes just leaving blade cloak on and holding block is enough to kill it by accident lol.

spartaxoxo · May 23

mdjessup4906 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Dahveed wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

balanced for solo play

They are literally called Group Dungeons.

"Delves are areas of the map represented with a single torch. They are designed to be done solo or with a small group."

And then Public Dungeons are just described as much harder than delves on the help page.

I think the group event bosses are designed for small groups, although those are pushovers as well. But they're meant to be easier than regular dungeon which is meant to require a full group. We all know that doesn't actually either though.

Anyway, I largely agree with your broader points. I actually have seen someone complain about being unable to tag bosses before. One person I'll never forget even wanted vet players who farm leads banned from the game for not giving a chance for others to get a hit in.

That not a good experience for either group.

Be nice if more high powered players would just exercise some restraint. If boss is spawned and I can see others making their way to it, I smack it a few times to get credit and wait.

Have to be careful though, sometimes just leaving blade cloak on and holding block is enough to kill it by accident lol.

You don't always see the person until the boss is good and dead. I've had dots finish them off even after I stopped attacking. I will try to pause if I notice someone needs it but it's not always something you can always tell or even help.

Dahveed · May 23

spartaxoxo wrote: »

mdjessup4906 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Dahveed wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

balanced for solo play

They are literally called Group Dungeons.

"Delves are areas of the map represented with a single torch. They are designed to be done solo or with a small group."

And then Public Dungeons are just described as much harder than delves on the help page.

I think the group event bosses are designed for small groups, although those are pushovers as well. But they're meant to be easier than regular dungeon which is meant to require a full group. We all know that doesn't actually either though.

Anyway, I largely agree with your broader points. I actually have seen someone complain about being unable to tag bosses before. One person I'll never forget even wanted vet players who farm leads banned from the game for not giving a chance for others to get a hit in.

That not a good experience for either group.

Be nice if more high powered players would just exercise some restraint. If boss is spawned and I can see others making their way to it, I smack it a few times to get credit and wait.

Have to be careful though, sometimes just leaving blade cloak on and holding block is enough to kill it by accident lol.

You don't always see the person until the boss is good and dead. I've had dots finish them off even after I stopped attacking. I will try to pause if I notice someone needs it but it's not always something you can always tell or even help.

I don't think ESO players appreciate the scope of this epic failure in game design. We've been around so long and we're so used to it, it's like a routine for us and we just shrug.

The fact that we're even having this discussion at all (i.e. "I hope I don't accidentally erase the boss from existence by sneezing too loudly, thus ruining the game for everyone else") speaks volumes.

I can't imagine a new player approaching a Dolmen on his first Molag Bal quest playthrough "oh this should be fun" and he literally can't even hit the boss to get credit for it because he had the misfortune of doing it at the same time as a group of 3 or 4 veteran players.

I can't imagine how underwhelming that would be, this big fat (supposedly) epic fight to stave off the Lord of Domination's incursion... over in 1.3 seconds. Visually it's neat, but why am I spending skill points again?

GloatingSwine · May 24

Your new complaint about the MMO appears to be "other people are playing it". And specifically "other people are playing the same bit of it as you, during an event intended to concentrate them on that bit".

Plus y'know, it's the easiest group content in the game because despite the One Tamriel design there is in fact a difficulty curve for group content and base game zones are at the bottom end of it. If you want harder overland group content Harrowstorms are a thing you can do.

Dahveed · May 24

GloatingSwine wrote: »

Your new complaint about the MMO appears to be "other people are playing it". And specifically "other people are playing the same bit of it as you, during an event intended to concentrate them on that bit".

Plus y'know, it's the easiest group content in the game because despite the One Tamriel design there is in fact a difficulty curve for group content and base game zones are at the bottom end of it. If you want harder overland group content Harrowstorms are a thing you can do.

What even is this comment?

"Other people are playing it" is not my complaint. My complaint is that enemy NPCs explode into confetti when I look at them. "Group" bosses disintegrate in less than 2 seconds if more than one player attacks it. If you show up to a Dolmen that is being farmed, you are lucky if you can tag the boss to get credit for it before it gets wiped out in the snap of my fingers.

After a decade of power creep, 90% of the game has become almost literally unplayable. It's obvious at this point.

Strawmanning what I'm saying isn't contributing to the discussion.

Vonnegut2506 · May 24

I play 100% of this game, and I have not found any of it to be "literally unplayable" in any form. Do I wish some things were a little more difficult, sure, but I'm not going to make ridiculous claims about things being "unplayable" just to try and prove a point.

Dahveed · May 24

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I play 100% of this game, and I have not found any of it to be "literally unplayable" in any form. Do I wish some things were a little more difficult, sure, but I'm not going to make ridiculous claims about things being "unplayable" just to try and prove a point.

Ok I'm exaggerating, you got me. But that does not take away from the utter absurdity of how quickly bosses die and how little of a threat they are. There is no "game" being played, it's just a point-and-click adventure where the only "challenge" is whether or not your reflexes are quick enough to get credit for the tag.

When I show up to a Dolmen and the boss dies before I can even attack him, it's unplayable. I was prevented from participating in that part of the game because of how stupid it was. So if I have that activity for a quest, I miss that quest and I have to wait for the next one to spawn, and hope it doesn't also get zerged.

This "world ending threat" from one of the most powerful Daedric Princes has the danger equivalent of a spitball for the player. It's ridiculous.

I'll take another break from this thread, we're going around in circles again (partially my fault, I'll admit). But I just want to leave everyone with a video that I had posted WAAAAAY earlier in a similar thread, FIVE YEARS ago. It demonstrates the literal impossibility of failure in many fights because of how weak enemies are in ESO.

(This is a brand new level 3 character with no gear, no skills, no CP, no buffs and my character literally just stands there for three full minutes doing nothing. My health bar stays full the entire time.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTDMjZJXoqE

Goodbye for now, I'll probably see y'all again in a month or two when I need to vent more frustration at I game I WISH I'd want to play more often.

spartaxoxo · May 24

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I play 100% of this game, and I have not found any of it to be "literally unplayable" in any form. Do I wish some things were a little more difficult, sure, but I'm not going to make ridiculous claims about things being "unplayable" just to try and prove a point.

It really does depend on the timing though. I remember the anniversary event there were people complaining that they couldn't loot the geyser bosses because they didn't get the opportunity to even kill him before he was dead, which greatly hurt their ability to farm the anniversary drop. I mentioned in a thread that I got loot every time and was called a liar and (ETA: I decided) to show video proof that I did. It's because my Internet is fast, my damage was high, and I know what to do to ensure I get a hit in. But for players with a bit of lag, the game became genuinely unplayable because the boss was already dead before it loaded in despite it only taking a couple of seconds to do so. When I got there a little late or didn't pay enough attention, I also lost the loot because I had to anticipate the spawn because of how quickly it dies.

Damico · May 31

Any update on updates?

colossalvoids · May 31

Damico wrote: »

Any update on updates?

No updates

spartaxoxo · May 31

Damico wrote: »

Any update on updates?

Earliest we'd get one would be the Q3 update that they'll tease only after Q2 has been out a while. More likely, since it's still supposed to be done this year, we'd know Q4 since Q3 is the QOL+Bug fixing update. But since it is something that they said they still need to cook because they're trying to do right, it's not guaranteed that it will come out this year. That's just the current plan.

Damico · June 1

Thank you both, I'm optimistic these changes will make questing more interesting. I love the stories being told, but I just can't get into them with how quickly things die.

Quick disclaimer in that purposely gimping my characters to increase time to kill prevents some fun or themed build ideas and is in general not fun.

matrog · June 6

I’ve been officially a member since April 18, 2015.
That’s 10 years of loyalty — and I’ve seen ESO at its best.

I remember Wrothgar, Vvardenfell... proper zones, real expansions. You could lose yourself for days in those stories. Exploration mattered. Lore was rich. Quests had weight.

Now? I log in, play the new “Chapter,” and I’m done in one evening. The content feels shorter, smaller, thinner every year — but the price stays the same… or goes up behind “collector editions.”

No meaningful new systems. Shorter quests. Shallow zones.
It’s starting to feel more like a seasonal theme park than a living world.

I’m a loyal player — and yes, a bit of a grumpy bear. But that’s only because I care about this game.

ESO still has massive potential. Don’t let it go hollow.
Please bring back the depth, ambition and soul that made ESO special.

matrog · June 6

I’ve been officially a member since April 18, 2015.
That’s 10 years of loyalty — and I’ve seen ESO at its best.

I remember Wrothgar, Vvardenfell... proper zones, real expansions. You could lose yourself for days in those stories. Exploration mattered. Lore was rich. Quests had weight.

Now? I log in, play the new “Chapter,” and I’m done in one evening. The content feels shorter, smaller, thinner every year — but the price stays the same… or goes up behind “collector editions.”

No meaningful new systems. Shorter quests. Shallow zones.
It’s starting to feel more like a seasonal theme park than a living world.

I’m a loyal player — and yes, a bit of a grumpy bear. But that’s only because I care about this game.

ESO still has massive potential. Don’t let it go hollow.
Please bring back the depth, ambition and soul that made ESO special.

beth6230_ESO · June 13

I've recently switched back over from wow, after 6 or 7 years away. Do world boss mobs scale by the number of people hitting them like in wow (thinking specifically of domen and public dungeon bosses)? If not, that would help (?). I created a set for bow on my nightblade, just so I would have a chance at tagging a boss before it fell over.

BananaBender · June 18

Solstice questline was such a disappointment when it comes to difficulty. I was hoping that with subclassing, they would compensate by making the enemies slightly more difficult, that turns out not to be the case.

I managed to kill every single boss in the questline without pressing any buttons. I didn't move at all, I didn't cast any active spells (apart from resummoning my pets on the last boss), no companions or team mates, no light or heavy attacks, no moving out of AoEs, dodge rolling or blocking. I literally just stood there and let my pets play the game.

This was the setup I originally used, but I changed it for the last boss, because it was way too easy with this one.

This is the much setup I changed to in the hopes of making the fight even slightly closer.

I know that the overland questlines aren't the place to look for a challenge and that's not what I'm asking for, but being able to complete all bosses without any player input is just unacceptable. I'm so incredibly disappointed that I spent the equivalent of a full game on an expansion pass which doesn't even require the player to be completed. It's a joke and I genuinely feel scammed. All the enemies were once again just re-used assets, no new cool looking enemies to even give the illusion of actually playing some new content when the playing wasn't required and the visuals were pretty much the same as in older content.

The quest experience was already bad enough because of the complete lack of danger and now with subclassing the issue is so much worse.

Logs ↓
https://www.esologs.com/reports/a:KByh8Azkb7N4nvt2

Breakdown of the logs for those who are interested in the spoiler

First boss
Damage

Healing

Casts

My health through out the fight

Second boss
Damage

Healing

Casts

My health through out the fight

Third boss
Damage

Healing

Casts

Here I had to resummon my pets for the first time

My health through the fight

Ryori729 · June 18

I have been playing an alt account lately and didn’t grant it with gear from the main. With mismatched gear and no CP things don’t instantly die and trying to pull a big group can kill me. World bosses are tough. But I agree that taking off gear and removing CP isn’t a good solution.

When I started, i think good DPS was 35k. Now with class soup, we are seeing 150K+.

So I don’t see the overland content being easy as the problem. It is the symptom of the ever increasing damage we are able to put out. When you can solo four person dungeons or even a few trial bosses, then what can you do with overland?

Jlopguk · June 18

i would like to have more trials with different complex mechanics. As well as Arenas, there are very few of them in the game.

disky · June 18

Ryori729 wrote: »

So I don’t see the overland content being easy as the problem. It is the symptom of the ever increasing damage we are able to put out. When you can solo four person dungeons or even a few trial bosses, then what can you do with overland?

It is the problem, though, because every other form of content in the game which involves combat has a way to increase the challenge, or is simply more challenging at its base level. So yes, overland is the problem, and (this part is for ZOS in particular) it's why I didn't buy the season pass. I knew it would be pathetically easy and the report above from @BananaBender seems to confirm that. I was tempted, but I feel like not purchasing it at this time made sense.

ZOS, please prioritize this feature.