Population shrinking, PLEASE do something

MISTFORMBZZZ

On the server im playing on (PS EU) the player numbers are noticeable shrinking, aside from events and the hotspot you rarely see players running arround anymore.

I used to be in 3 trading guilds with 500 members with hundreds of people online in the same time, now its like 50-80 in prime time.

Craglorn is empty, group finder is empty, groupfinder takes ages, pvp is 2 bar each at most on grayhost this game is dying rapidly on this server and its just so frustrating.

A lot of people from my social guild and pvp guild were saying they will play new world on console or throne and liberty wich is out soon. People are going away of eso.

When Zos cant bring content wich brings back people or at least keeps them in the game, they should at least finally make crossplay possible BETWEN CONSOLES, so the EU servers dont feel empty and dead anymore. I know for a fact XBOX EU has the same issues.

Please do something, its needed in the same way as the new servers were needed, even when yous (Zos) were denying it would help or change anything first.

spartaxoxo

On Steam, the player count is back down to what it was in 2018. I think it was a bad idea to make Plus lack so much value by scrapping story zones. The story didn't need to be a year long. They could have told more self-contained things like Thieves Guild and Murkmire.

Theist_VII

spartaxoxo wrote: »

On Steam, the player count is back down to what it was in 2018. I think it was a bad idea to make Plus lack so much value by scrapping story zones. The story didn't need to be a year long. They could have told more self-contained things like Thieves Guild and Murkmire.

Of course people are fed up.

We’re being charged a premium fee for services that have become near unplayable. And the only time we can play, we’re forced into arbitrary grinds rather than being able to enjoy our favorite aspects of the game.

When “convenience” is tied to the subscription, having less value of late tends to put how shady that is into perspective.

spartaxoxo

Theist_VII wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

On Steam, the player count is back down to what it was in 2018. I think it was a bad idea to make Plus lack so much value by scrapping story zones. The story didn't need to be a year long. They could have told more self-contained things like Thieves Guild and Murkmire.

Of course people are fed up.

We’re being charged a premium fee for services that have become near unplayable. And the only time we can play, we’re forced into arbitrary grinds rather than being able to enjoy our favorite aspects of the game.

When “convenience” is tied to the subscription, having less value of late tends to put how shady that is into perspective.

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players. And no, bug fixes aren't a replacement for content. The best games with lots of players fix bugs and develop content simultaneously.

valenwood_vegan

spartaxoxo wrote: »

On Steam, the player count is back down to what it was in 2018. I think it was a bad idea to make Plus lack so much value by scrapping story zones. The story didn't need to be a year long. They could have told more self-contained things like Thieves Guild and Murkmire.

Agree, the new schedule frontloads the stuff that interests a lot of players - dungeons Q1 and the chapter Q2, with bugfixes and QoL and more niche stuff (IA, housing tours, battlegrounds) now for Q3 and Q4... I similarly predicted that this would become a problem, as it creates a substantial gap during which a lot of players are getting bored and drifting away to other games.

I, just for a specific example, used to sub for the whole year but I see little value in subbing for Q3 and Q4 now. And then it creates a bit of a vicious cycle where I'm bored so I don't play enough to justify a sub when there's not really any new content for half a year... and the game is inconvenient to play without the sub so I play even less and can't fully engage with some activities, like housing... so I get bored and play even less... etc.

[EDIT: Intended quote didn't work].

ThePlayer

It's been a while since I played regularly, usually when I play I like it but I don't miss it to play it daily.
The players are decreasing, it's true, generally you only see players above 2k CPs, players with few xp are starting to become rare, certainly not long-lasting...
Bethesda should try to understand the reason, probably the multiplayer component is lacking, too many waits, like DDs waiting for the hard mode content you might never play; I've been writing here in the forum for a while that a system like FF14 would be needed to attract players into the real online pve or pvp game, that is through bonuses of various kinds, but nothing.
In addition to this, the game has reached a standstill in its horizontal expansion, which is now becoming unappealing + the new games coming out soon will create a further void.
Solutions: I'm not telling the producers to think less about the crown store, they will never do that, but to really bring some substantial novelty, a renewal, maybe even with a level increase (which nobody wants but it's an RPG or not?) transporting high level players to a new area and giving the possibility to new ones to boost their level and CPs (by paying so everyone is happy).

Rkindaleft

MISTFORMBZZZ wrote: »

On the server im playing on (PS EU) the player numbers are noticeable shrinking, aside from events and the hotspot you rarely see players running arround anymore.

I used to be in 3 trading guilds with 500 members with hundreds of people online in the same time, now its like 50-80 in prime time.

Craglorn is empty, group finder is empty, groupfinder takes ages, pvp is 2 bar each at most on grayhost this game is dying rapidly on this server and its just so frustrating.

A lot of people from my social guild and pvp guild were saying they will play new world on console or throne and liberty wich is out soon. People are going away of eso.

When Zos cant bring content wich brings back people or at least keeps them in the game, they should at least finally make crossplay possible BETWEN CONSOLES, so the EU servers dont feel empty and dead anymore. I know for a fact XBOX EU has the same issues.

Please do something, its needed in the same way as the new servers were needed, even when yous (Zos) were denying it would help or change anything first.

I'm on PS/NA and it's exactly the same. Anyone who regularly plays content that requires grouping can see that in the last few months there has been a sharp reduction in both participation and player count.

I don't want to turn this into another thread talking about the lag but outside of the performance issues most people finished up Gold Road in like a week and there's no new content until next year. I've mainly just been logging in to get event tickets and to play with my raid groups but half of the runs in the last month alone have either been cancelled or filled with lag to the point of being close to unplayable.

It's obvious that people are getting fed up and both the trials and PvP community are suffering because of it. Even if you don't do PvE/PvP and are primarily a quester you've likely finished up Gold Road a long time ago and are playing other games because there's no more quests until next expansion.

Elsonso

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players. And no, bug fixes aren't a replacement for content. The best games with lots of players fix bugs and develop content simultaneously.

Yup. Years of quarterly content updates followed by a "let's try something new and scale back on content" has sort of a wet blanket effect, I guess.

vsrs_au

I know I've hardly played ESO at all this year. At the start of the year, I was playing ESO daily, and was subscribed to ESO+. Not long into the year, I cancelled the subscription and started playing various other games (all single player ones). I have a long list of games I want to [re]play, so I may not be returning to ESO any time soon (or perhaps never). I won't go into the various reasons why, since we can't really do that freely on this forum.

robwolf666

I like it when it's quiet, I don't feel like I'm having to compete with other players while questing. It's kind of annoying to be doing a quest when loads of other people are doing it at the same time, or you go somewhere and there's nothing to fight because everything is already dead - or worse, someone is sitting on a location farming XP etc. Quiet is good in my book.

manukartofanu

It’s funny how whenever people talk about the significant population decline on PC EU, there's always someone who jumps in to say that Steam numbers are irrelevant and that actually, somewhere out there on consoles and other launchers, everything is just fine.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players. And no, bug fixes aren't a replacement for content. The best games with lots of players fix bugs and develop content simultaneously.

Agreed, bug fixes should always be happening, consistently, regardless of the amount of content. But on the other hand, what exactly was going on with this game's development that, even with entire quarters dedicated solely to fixing bugs, it still ended up in a barely playable state? Maybe it wouldn't even be able to launch at all without the bug fixing that's been replacing new content.

SgtWinnie

Funny how the numbers are dropping but the servers are still as laggy if not more so. I generally only log into to do endeavors and very little else atm. Let most of my subs go and didn't reup my main for a year just a month at a time now. Which is the first time ever. Didn't even buy gold road on 2 of my main 4 accts I play every day.
What everyone has mentioned above plus constant over nerfing and changes has made it a lot less fun to play. And of course the lag, disconnects and stalls.

BahometZ

The entire end game community is filled with sunk cost players who just play through the frustration. I don't see how you revitalise it without upping the reward value by orders of magnitude, which would involve taking crown crate items, which zos will never do.

AuroranGoldenEagle

I'm 100% beginning a wind down of playing, eventually leading to an uninstall for now.
I don't even collect seals or run IA or dungeons anymore.
My major housing project is done, and I don't have the motivation to complete another.
Once the last few crates I've missed come back, I'm probably going to stop all together. I've got 11k seals, so just waiting for the last adornments and furnishings I need.

I'll keep an eye out on things to see if there's anything to draw me back, as I've had a lot of fun in ESO, but I think I'll be done before the end of 2024.

VDoom1

Unfortunately I have to say I'm one of them who plays ESO less nowadays. Not something I thought I'd say at ESO's 10th year. If anything I would have thought at ESO's 10th year the game could possibly be better than ever.

ESO+ just does not feel worth the price. Without ESO+ for me personally, the game feels almost unplayable.

As a crafter and someone who loots like everything, inventory management is a nightmare. Bank cut in half, housing cut in half. I feel like I can't game "properly" without ESO+ because my inventory has reduced to the size of a shoe box.

I usually just go on and get daily reward, free stuff, and that's about it. Since content now feels quite repetitive, I'm sad to say that I just don't feel like gaming ESO.

Nowadays I enjoy other games like WoW where you get a lot more for your subscription.

patdedub

ESO has run its course tbh gone stale with nothing to gain for your grinding

endorphinsplox

Doesn't help they just had this big banning spree that revealed their new implementation of 24/7 private message surveillance in-game. Who the hell wants to play an MMO where they can't DM their friends without risk of losing their entire account and everything they worked for?

Jaimeh

Population has always waxed and waned around the release schedule, but since there are less releases, the people who usually returned to check out the new stuff, have no reason to. Plus, a lot of dedicated players (myself included) are not happy with ZOS for various other things, like performance and class changes, so they are not playing as often either. It's really disappointing, and it could have been a completely different picture if only ZOS invested back in the game, instead of milking it while it lasts.

JiubLeRepenti

I currently have over 7,000 hours on ESO. I also know a lot of people, through guilds, Discord channels, forums, who used to be endgame/PvP players with over 5,000 hours or even 10,000 hours. Many of them have simply stopped playing. Because ZOS has been stuck in the same content loop for years now.

I think a lot of players got tired of asking for the same things over and over again, without ever really being listened to. I could easily list over fifty suggestions that have been made by the community over the years and never implemented by ZOS.

ZOS keeps hiding behind the “technical limitations” of its servers and game engine to justify its lack of innovation/meeting expectations. This is all very well. But gamers (in general, not just the ZOS community) simply don't care. Just do it. Fix the servers and the game engine. Or let the game slowly but surely die.

And don't feel sorry for the game. We're literally paying for it. I've personally spent over 5,000 euros on this game over the years. But I'm not investing another cent. The game and its new content simply don't deserve it.

licenturion

I play ESO daily (only for quick endeavors and free login stuff lately) but once New World is out I am going to play that too for the time being until there is actual new zone/story/dungeon content. I never finished New World on release because the controller support was wonky and that made combat too hard near max level. But played the beta and they revamped everything . I get the update for free anyway.

I am doing this because ZOS dropped the Q4 zone and the two dungeons and instead chose to focus on minor and niche stuff and do the bare minimum for the standard player. So ESO is losing my attention after all these years.

Furthermore I can play New World and Diablo 4 with partner and friends who only have a console, which is another thing ZOS refuses to do or even address. Splitting players by region AND every platform into separate servers is a reason a lot of people don't even bother trying the game. It is not 2015 anymore.

JiubLeRepenti

licenturion wrote: »

I play ESO daily but once New World is out I am going to play that too for the time being until there is actual new zone/story/dungeon content. I never finished New World on release because the controller support was wonky and that made combat too hard near max level. But played the beta and they revamped everything . I get the update for free anyway.

I am doing this because ZOS dropped the Q4 zone and the two dungeons and instead chose to focus on minor and niche stuff and do the bare minimum for the standard player. So ESO is losing my attention after all these years.

Agree. And as I previously said in another discussion, just compare the content we get now with what we got, for instance, in 2017:

Beginning of the year:

• New housing mechanic

Morrowind chapter:

• New great zone
• New PvP mechanic (BGs)
• New class
• Very solid trial

Clockwork extension:

• Amazing zone
• Transmutation system
• New trial (!!!)

End of the year:

• Two new dungeons

Just compare this with what we get now...

Grizzbeorn

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players.

Ironic, since they made that change because people were constantly complaining about the way it was starting with the Elsweyr year, before the current content-release paradigm.
The Loud People got what they asked for, which included no more Story DLCs.

JustLovely

manukartofanu wrote: »

It’s funny how whenever people talk about the significant population decline on PC EU, there's always someone who jumps in to say that Steam numbers are irrelevant and that actually, somewhere out there on consoles and other launchers, everything is just fine.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players. And no, bug fixes aren't a replacement for content. The best games with lots of players fix bugs and develop content simultaneously.

Agreed, bug fixes should always be happening, consistently, regardless of the amount of content. But on the other hand, what exactly was going on with this game's development that, even with entire quarters dedicated solely to fixing bugs, it still ended up in a barely playable state? Maybe it wouldn't even be able to launch at all without the bug fixing that's been replacing new content.

I've always wondered why ZOS needs to allocate an entire quarter of "content" releases to bug fixes when every other game manufacturer manages to perform bug fixes and produce new content at the same time.

gronoxvx

JustLovely wrote: »

manukartofanu wrote: »

It’s funny how whenever people talk about the significant population decline on PC EU, there's always someone who jumps in to say that Steam numbers are irrelevant and that actually, somewhere out there on consoles and other launchers, everything is just fine.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players. And no, bug fixes aren't a replacement for content. The best games with lots of players fix bugs and develop content simultaneously.

Agreed, bug fixes should always be happening, consistently, regardless of the amount of content. But on the other hand, what exactly was going on with this game's development that, even with entire quarters dedicated solely to fixing bugs, it still ended up in a barely playable state? Maybe it wouldn't even be able to launch at all without the bug fixing that's been replacing new content.

I've always wondered why ZOS needs to allocate an entire quarter of "content" releases to bug fixes when every other game manufacturer manages to perform bug fixes and produce new content at the same time.

Theyre maximising profit to go into their new mmo as eso is their biggest money maker. As long as people buy crown crates the ones in positions of power dont give the slightest f about the game. Its why a lot of people have realised the only way zos will listen is to leave the game.

VDoom1

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

ZOS keeps hiding behind the “technical limitations” of its servers and game engine to justify its lack of innovation/meeting expectations. This is all very well. But gamers (in general, not just the ZOS community) simply don't care. Just do it. Fix the servers and the game engine. Or let the game slowly but surely die.

Totally agreed.

How long are they going to say they can't do things because of performance, server limitations and so forth. ESO has grown a lot. ZoS, you telling me the servers haven't had an update in 10 years? Well that isn't true. I recall this big server hardware update which took place 2023.

I'm just tired of any excuse about hardware stuff, frankly I don't buy it. As an example, performance impact is a reason housing will remain at the 700 limit. But that limit has been the same since 2017. So we're supposed to accept that performance hasn't improved or can't improve now 7 years later? When that limit of 700 was set in 2017.

method__01

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

The Loud People got what they asked for, which included no more Story DLCs.

i cant believe what im reading here...players asked for less content? and if so,zos choose to listen to those ppl?
un believable

i said my opinion here in this forum ,that decisions like cutting DLC content and replace with nothing ,will cost but zos ignores me and i believe many players like me -from my 35 friends list,20 have gone -not temporally-gone ,uninstalled game
rest 10 that remain, log in once per 5-10 day aprx for 10 min and log out ,they do nothing in game or participating

so if i understand correct,ZOS have no plans for new content till next year?correct ?
so im forced in Gold Road till next summer? do what exactly ?

i really hope Zos find answers quick ,really do

JustLovely

gronoxvx wrote: »

JustLovely wrote: »

manukartofanu wrote: »

It’s funny how whenever people talk about the significant population decline on PC EU, there's always someone who jumps in to say that Steam numbers are irrelevant and that actually, somewhere out there on consoles and other launchers, everything is just fine.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I predicted this the moment they were announced they were scrapping the story zones. Cutting content is never good for keeping players. And no, bug fixes aren't a replacement for content. The best games with lots of players fix bugs and develop content simultaneously.

Agreed, bug fixes should always be happening, consistently, regardless of the amount of content. But on the other hand, what exactly was going on with this game's development that, even with entire quarters dedicated solely to fixing bugs, it still ended up in a barely playable state? Maybe it wouldn't even be able to launch at all without the bug fixing that's been replacing new content.

I've always wondered why ZOS needs to allocate an entire quarter of "content" releases to bug fixes when every other game manufacturer manages to perform bug fixes and produce new content at the same time.

Theyre maximising profit to go into their new mmo as eso is their biggest money maker. As long as people buy crown crates the ones in positions of power dont give the slightest f about the game. Its why a lot of people have realised the only way zos will listen is to leave the game.

I'm in the camp as the other players who have made it clear that if ZOS doesn't fix performance issues in ESO that they will never again invest in another ZOS product. If they can't or won't fix what they are already selling, no reason to give the company another chance. It's time to give a different company a chance.

JiubLeRepenti

It’s funny how whenever people talk about the significant population decline on PC EU, there's always someone who jumps in to say that Steam numbers are irrelevant and that actually, somewhere out there on consoles and other launchers, everything is just fine.

Absolutely agree. It's quite amusing because I encountered a very similar situation just a few days ago on a popular French-speaking forum dedicated to ESO. A guy was claiming that the Steam numbers were irrelevant and that the game was gaining 2 million new players each year. When we pointed out (he was the only one backing this claim) that this number was largely due to players farming accounts during the free play period, he just couldn't accept it and he kept coping for pages lmao.

Anifaas

I'd happily keep paying and playing even with the enormous amount of bugs and stability issues. But there's nothing to work on or look forward to. My ESO+ is about to expire and I've resubbed to WoW. Even though the story is even worse than Gold Road's, the game-play is really solid and varied.

Also, I'm worried ZOS is going to pull another Gold Road next year. If that happens I suspect I'll just leave my ESO account to rot until enough content builds up in this game to provide at least several weeks worth of activity.

Rkindaleft

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

It’s funny how whenever people talk about the significant population decline on PC EU, there's always someone who jumps in to say that Steam numbers are irrelevant and that actually, somewhere out there on consoles and other launchers, everything is just fine.

Absolutely agree. It's quite amusing because I encountered a very similar situation just a few days ago on a popular French-speaking forum dedicated to ESO. A guy was claiming that the Steam numbers were irrelevant and that the game was gaining 2 million new players each year. When we pointed out (he was the only one backing this claim) that this number was largely due to players farming accounts during the free play period, he just couldn't accept it and he kept coping for pages lmao.

I still love this game, but the truth is people don’t want to admit that their favourite game is in a rut.

I’m sure if you’re primarily a housing player or an overland quester you might not see it or care, but anyone who does any content that involves grouping knows that the population isn’t healthy and there are more players leaving those communities than joining them.

There’s been lag and performance issues since March, people got banned for like 2 weeks for no reason during anniversary event because of PTS fiasco and that event was marred with horrible drop rates and grind, there’s no new content until next year, they keep releasing bad updates like the mail adjustments and seesaw balance changes, they put things into the crown store as a separate purchase that were always part of chapters (the companions), making updates that almost nobody asked for (home tours), while ignoring QoL that people have been asking for years about. It might just be me, but when you combine all of that with the fact that it’s currently meant to be the 10th year anniversary celebration, it has frankly left a sour taste in my mouth.

Aylish

method__01 wrote: »

so if i understand correct,ZOS have no plans for new content till next year?correct ?
so im forced in Gold Road till next summer? do what exactly ?

Well, the story is told. They shut every door to tell it further, which was a bad decision if you ask me.
I‘d like more story content and zones either.
Also, I am tired of “engine limitations“.
Well, if it‘s not possible now, make it possible.
The game will slowly die if they won‘t manage to increase engine performance.