Studio Director’s Letter: 2025 & Beyond

BloodWolfe

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I have no concept of what seasonal content even is.

Its basically a battle pass. WoW does it now, New World does it now, SWTOR does it now. Its basically a way to get players to engage with limited time items (usually 3 months).

In New Worlds case, they charge 20 dollars for each battle pass. You get one line of "free content" and then a second that gives better rewards (but you pay for them, and then have to meet the goals to obtain them).

I do not personally like battle passes. They are fun at first, but like anything else it becomes mundane/same thing different day.

For sure ZOS will put there own twist on it, but it will be a battle pass and most likely involve the crown store, on top of some other monetization, on top of a monthly sub.

EDIT: Essentially season passes are a way to deliver less content (reused content) while generating more revenue.

Where and in what sense does WoW do battle passes? because this is new to me and I was playing WoW as recently as November into early December for the 20th Anniversary content and I see NO such battle passes going on there. If you refer to the Trading Post, sure it has some resemblance of a Battle Pass but WoW does not charge a fee for this and it is included with the subscription fee which everyone pays for anyway.

Problem in ESO it's replacing annual chapters, a source of monetization so now it means the Season/Battle Pass will be a separate fee every 3 or 6 months like other games, and they bring too much FOMO once the season is done the items are gone. In Chapters we have access to items as long as we play the content at our own rate, I hate feeling pressured into turning my game time into a chore. So less content, more costs to us and added FOMO is a no go for me at least. I will cancel my sub and take my business elsewhere.

I already refuse to spend on a single Crown Crate, and don't buy a lot in the Crown Store but I do buy a couple big packs a year of Crowns plus my sub and buy what I like from the Crown Store with those allotments of Crowns. I'll take my business and go elsewhere if the Season/Battle Pass model turns into the typical scummy style of COD, Overwatch, etc.

Vonnegut2506

WoW doesn't do a battle pass; Diablo 4 does. Maybe they were confused about which Blizzard product they were talking about.

Ardaghion

I read the quote from @ZOS_JessicaFolsom as stating that there will be no season passes like Destiny 2 used or a battlepass system like some games use.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8239046#Comment_8239046

People, of course, are within their rights to interpret the statement in any way they feel like. We won't know exactly until the first season comes out even if they clarify beforehand. I tend to think they won't mimic D2, there's already enough FOMO with the event tickets and golden pursuits.

Triipzzz

Where is the cross play though. Not even consoles? I’ve seen so many excuses from zos over the years yet they pump money in everywhere else. I’m not sure if it’s sheer ignorance or on purpose but it sure is disappointing year after year.

All this talk about returning players and new features means nothing if there are no options to get back into the game on another machine with your friends. Whether they like it or not people don’t play on the same one for life. The refusal to start again is real and they need to wake up to it if they want to see the game succeed into the future.

Whizzinglane

What changes things as far as difficulty is "Level-Scaling." Prior to that change, the zones were levels-gated. Level 1 could not go to zones were enemies were higher in levels, i.e., level 30, 40, or 50 even.

It was fun attempting to go higher level-zones and get one-shotted by higher level baddies, lol at 1. When I read higher zones difficulties, my memories revisited those good old times.

How will you implement higher difficulty? In my opinion, a difficulty GRADIENT would be ideal because some ESO players do have disabilities, while others simply play to relax, not to be frustrated. You will lose players, especially ESO plus subscribers. Please do think on this implementation with care.

The prison tutorial takes me back to Morrowind, but more fondly to OBLIVION (currently replaying it and hoping for a remaster). I loved the tutorial at the onset of ESO; it was enjoyable. I understand that the game should cater to players all of skill levels. However, if something works, do not discard it.

Creativity is life, and we need to constantly strive for the better. Nonetheless, do not discard entirely; simply add on to what is there or improve upon it. The zones do need extra love; again, Oblivion is a great example on how the environment should look: lushly, vibrant, flowers and grass are taller. The world is beautiful!

I think the word "season" should be changed to "Trimester add-ons" with the message of improving your enjoyment of ESO because ESO does medieval better then any current games out there. ESO is fun and has kept Morrowind and Oblivion alive for me.

P.S. The idea of PVP having its on skills and even its on gear-specific items sound truly thrilling. That will encourage players to participate en masse.

Tandor

Triipzzz wrote: »

Where is the cross play though. Not even consoles? I’ve seen so many excuses from zos over the years yet they pump money in everywhere else. I’m not sure if it’s sheer ignorance or on purpose but it sure is disappointing year after year.

All this talk about returning players and new features means nothing if there are no options to get back into the game on another machine with your friends. Whether they like it or not people don’t play on the same one for life. The refusal to start again is real and they need to wake up to it if they want to see the game succeed into the future.

It's not really excuses, it's clearly something that was not designed into the game originally so requires major investment to implement it and they can't even consider it without the agreement of the console providers.

SaffronCitrusflower

JustLovely wrote: »

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

Welcome to everyone in the Elder Scrolls Online community! As the year is drawing to a close, I’m going to take some time to walk you through my thoughts on 2024 – and look ahead to 2025 and how ESO will be evolving to meet the changing needs of the community. 

...

I feel like most of these changes, as with most changes made in recent years have been more geared toward meeting the changing needs of ZOS, not the player base. As a PvP main, I feel like this has been the trend since pre 2020 and this sounds like a roadmap for more of the same.

I very much hope to be wrong on this point. But it's not as if we don't have years of data to form our expectations going forward either.

So much this ^

Surgee

DaveMoeDee wrote: »

While I don't care much about "overland", the bosses for DLC just melt atm. This may be partly due to my build. When the game first released, I remember players that couldn't really do much of anything without being carried, even overland stuff. I don't want the game like that because I want it to be accessible to crappy gamers. But I am a single-player focused gamer with little interest in MMO grinding and repetition.

Personally, if the game isn't releasing substantial narrative content, I don't really care what they do as the game isn't really intended for me, which is fine.

You're build isn't anything out of ordinary. I'm just a casual dude and I can clear everything with one hand while making a sandwich, and laundry at the same time. It's so easy it makes me not care about quests story anymore. Zero effort needed equals zero interest from me. If the quests would make me sweat a bit, I'd definitely enjoy it and more and pay attention. Right now it's quite comical, when I go through this epic build up of multiple quest steps with characters talking about the enemy as powerful as the God himself, just for me to destroy him within 5 seconds. It really kills the experience.

WolfieVZ

Please add the ability to turn off the sustainability features on console, it's really disgusting to treat xbox and ps users like second class citizens.

Over 6 months now the game has been unplayable for many of us with migraines and other disorders.