ESO's future - The community needs clear answers

JiubLeRepenti

Dear devs,
Dear mods,

I am creating this thread to address the difficulties, tensions, and frustrations that, in my opinion, have been increasingly appearing on the forum lately.

I am not very active on this forum, though some regulars will recognize me, as I tend to have quite a strong, often negative opinion about the game (at least its current state). I’ve said it several times and I will repeat it: ESO is my favorite game. I’ve spent nearly 10,000 hours playing it, invested between 5,000 and 6,000 euros on two different accounts, and I even dedicated a YouTube channel to it. Please understand that my words, if they disturb or hurt, are not the result of hatred towards ESO, nor towards ZOS. If I am like this, it’s because I am sad about what the game has become. I am sad to see one of the MMOs with the most potential slowly but surely fading away.

I am one of the many players who believe ESO is currently going through a difficult period, and that the golden years are behind us. I think that ESO, for various reasons, is being neglected, and the content offered is no longer up to expectations. I also believe that ZOS’ current goal is to gradually reduce new content in anticipation of a constant and growing decline in player numbers. Perhaps I am wrong, but I see no sign that contradicts this theory.

If we compare the content we had in 2024 to what we had in 2017, I believe it’s impossible to deny that we’ve lost at least 30-40% of the new content in 2024. As a result, I think the concerns of players and the community are difficult to argue against.

The letter published by Matt Firor is, in my opinion, completely insufficient. It doesn’t reassure me at all. While the community is worried about ESO, while players are leaving, while doubt is taking over many fans, many of us feel like we are watching a ship sailing blindfolded towards a rock.

As has been said many times: many of us are frustrated by the moderation that removes some posts, which are sometimes perfectly legitimate. We saw it after the “Brawl PvP” livestream: you seemed more concerned with explaining that we should stay polite and avoid “targeting” one person rather than actually considering the feedback and reflecting on why those remarks were made. I feel like legitimate questions are sometimes “sacrificed” in the name of the devs' and mods' sanity.

Another good example is the US event that has been cancelled... No answer, no explanation, nothing. Any PR person will tell you this is the worst communication you could bring, for a very obvious reason: people will imagine the worst.

What do we need?

I will speak for myself and let others add or correct my thoughts, but I think many of us want:

• A clear medium- and long-term roadmap (in other words, for several years);
• A clear and detailed list of changes and performance improvements promised by ZOS over the years;
• An assessment of the current state of the game (decreased player numbers, reduced new content, possible reduction of staff in favor of Zenimax’s future MMO, etc.);
• To know what concrete plans ZOS has to address the game’s technical limitations (graphic engine and servers);
• To know how player feedback is taken into account;
• To know the strategies being considered to reduce player departures and better satisfy endgame players.

I can already hear some people telling me, “These things aren’t your concern.” Well, I think they are. I think they concern all those who have invested time and money into ESO. They concern all those who believed in or wanted to believe in ESO and who today are saddened by what the game has become over the years.

Right now, there is a real breach of trust forming between a part of the community and ZOS. And a breach of trust against the developers can quickly become problematic, even fatal, for a video game. We are seeing this today with other studios and publishers like Ubisoft or Blizzard.

If you love ESO, and if you are determined to keep it alive for many more years, then please, tell us. And if you are heading towards reduced content or even maintenance mode, let us know as well. We want to know.

I believe it is urgent, given the state of the game, to restore trust between ZOS and the community. Because if people are leaving, if people are angry, if people are frustrated, it’s mostly because they are not getting any response from you. And when I say “response,” I’m not talking about the prewritten responses we get 85% of the time that tell us, “We have removed certain comments that did not follow forum rules. Thank you for your feedback, we will discuss it soon.” I’m talking about a real response that provides concrete, factual details.

Having clear answers, I think, will resolve a large part of the tensions that are increasingly appearing on the forum.

Please, talk to us and be honest. The survival of the game depends on it.

@ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_MattFiror @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

JiubLeRepenti

Small bump before I go to bed

sarahthes

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Small bump before I go to bed

It is December 23. While I appreciate your enthusiasm, the likelihood of a response before Jan 6 is unlikely due to how many people at ZOS are likely away for the holidays.

Rkindaleft

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Dear devs,

I believe it is urgent, given the state of the game, to restore trust between ZOS and the community. Because if people are leaving, if people are angry, if people are frustrated, it’s mostly because they are not getting any response from you. And when I say “response,” I’m not talking about the prewritten responses we get 85% of the time that tell us, “We have removed certain comments that did not follow forum rules. Thank you for your feedback, we will discuss it soon.” I’m talking about a real response that provides concrete, factual details.

Bingo. The reason people flame the developers so much is because it feels like the only way to get any meaningful dialogue out of them. I'm really trying to watch what I say here so I don't get banned, but they've ignored feedback for so long most people have just accepted they will never listen to us. They say "we hear you" but then proceed to go forth with changes nobody wants. There's a huge difference between being heard and actually being listened to.

Literally every time one of these new developer retrospective threads come out people are like "ooh aah, new exciting changes!" or "they're finally listening to the community!" like they haven't failed to deliver on promises so many times previously, like why are people so convinced that they're going to "fix Cyrodiil performance" this time when nothing changed the last 20 times they said it? I'd really love to be proven wrong, but there isn't much reason for me to think otherwise.

Vonnegut2506

Because this time they really mean it, really really.

ZOS_Lunar

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Small bump before I go to bed

As others have pointed out, it is the holiday break so communication will be limited.

Also, we do have a Community Rule on bumping, so please refrain from doing so going forward.

Thanks!

Rkindaleft

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Dear devs,

I believe it is urgent, given the state of the game, to restore trust between ZOS and the community. Because if people are leaving, if people are angry, if people are frustrated, it’s mostly because they are not getting any response from you. And when I say “response,” I’m not talking about the prewritten responses we get 85% of the time that tell us, “We have removed certain comments that did not follow forum rules. Thank you for your feedback, we will discuss it soon.” I’m talking about a real response that provides concrete, factual details.

ZOS_Lunar wrote: »

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Small bump before I go to bed

As others have pointed out, it is the holiday break so communication will be limited.

Also, we do have a Community Rule on bumping, so please refrain from doing so going forward.

Thanks!

Case in point.

Elvenheart

Rkindaleft wrote: »

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Dear devs,

I believe it is urgent, given the state of the game, to restore trust between ZOS and the community. Because if people are leaving, if people are angry, if people are frustrated, it’s mostly because they are not getting any response from you. And when I say “response,” I’m not talking about the prewritten responses we get 85% of the time that tell us, “We have removed certain comments that did not follow forum rules. Thank you for your feedback, we will discuss it soon.” I’m talking about a real response that provides concrete, factual details.

ZOS_Lunar wrote: »

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Small bump before I go to bed

As others have pointed out, it is the holiday break so communication will be limited.

Also, we do have a Community Rule on bumping, so please refrain from doing so going forward.

Thanks!

Case in point.

Not really, the rule for bumping has been in place ever since I’ve been on the forums and I’ve been in the game from the very beginning. The initial post was definitely enough to get the point across while also adhering to forum rules.