January news

madman65 · January 2

For those who didn`t know: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69165?utm_campaign=ESO_LC_2026_01_CrownStoreandRoadmap - SP - NO&utm_medium=email&utm_source=BethesdaEmailMarketing

madman65 · January 2

Mid-Year Mayhem January 21 - February 4 so enjoy PVP gamers.

majulook · January 3

Funny they did not mention in this news Article, What they mentioned in this one https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69155

Specifically

Writhing Wall Phase 3 Return (January 21–28)

The Writhing Fortress is once again open to the defenders of Solstice who may have missed out on their chance to tackle this massive dungeon during the recent Writhing Wall in-game event.

madman65 · January 3

Outstanding, thanks for posting!

React · January 3

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

@ZOS_Kevin

Erickson9610 · January 3

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

imPDA · January 3

Erickson9610 wrote: »

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

AzuraFan · January 3

imPDA wrote: »

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

Yeah, one of the guilds I'm in always runs tons of events when Mayhem is running, and a lot of PvEers participate (including me).

I don't need to do the writhing wall again. If I wanted to do it, it would mean I couldn't participate in either event as much as I'd like to. I'd have to split my time.

DenverRalphy · January 3

imPDA wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

The last Mayhem event... not so much. The lack of participation was nearly the topic of the month IIRC.

inchdixprb19_ESO · January 3

It doesn't matter how much ZOS tries to force feed me PVP events, I never have, nor will I ever participate in them. BG weekend, Whitestrakes and even the return of the "once in a lifetime" writhing wall make January a dead month for me. Even the golden pursuit capstone reward is a bear mount, something I will never ride because of the awful gait.

Erickson9610 · January 3

imPDA wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

My opinion is that I want to fight PvP players, not a bunch of "free AP" players. It's fine that PvE players want to participate in PvP, but it's clear they're only in it for the rewards. Why not keep them out of the Gray Host queue (if they actually don't want to PvP) by giving them something else to do?

I look forward to seeing just how split the population gets. If this goes well, hopefully ZOS considers running Whitestrake's Mayhem and the Undaunted Celebration in parallel, just to see if the game's population is healthy enough to promote separate PvE and PvP activities. Maybe it awards Event Tickets for either PvE or PvP activities, not both, so people feel less pressure to participate in both.

Vonnegut2506 · January 3

Erickson9610 wrote: »

imPDA wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

My opinion is that I want to fight PvP players, not a bunch of "free AP" players. It's fine that PvE players want to participate in PvP, but it's clear they're only in it for the rewards. Why not keep them out of the Gray Host queue (if they actually don't want to PvP) by giving them something else to do?

I look forward to seeing just how split the population gets. If this goes well, hopefully ZOS considers running Whitestrake's Mayhem and the Undaunted Celebration in parallel, just to see if the game's population is healthy enough to promote separate PvE and PvP activities. Maybe it awards Event Tickets for either PvE or PvP activities, not both, so people feel less pressure to participate in both.

I don't think most PvE players actually choose Gray Host since there is usually a queue pretty early. I know I look for the newer campaigns and choose whichever one is the least populated to get my quests done quickly so I can move on to doing something else.

madman65 · January 4

Gray Host will lock you in for 30 days the way I remember. I will never run PVP (if I even choose to PVP) in Gray Host.

ESO_player123 · January 4

Erickson9610 wrote: »

imPDA wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

My opinion is that I want to fight PvP players, not a bunch of "free AP" players. It's fine that PvE players want to participate in PvP, but it's clear they're only in it for the rewards. Why not keep them out of the Gray Host queue (if they actually don't want to PvP) by giving them something else to do?

I look forward to seeing just how split the population gets. If this goes well, hopefully ZOS considers running Whitestrake's Mayhem and the Undaunted Celebration in parallel, just to see if the game's population is healthy enough to promote separate PvE and PvP activities. Maybe it awards Event Tickets for either PvE or PvP activities, not both, so people feel less pressure to participate in both.

I'm a PvE player, and I go to Cyrodill only for the tickets. I would never go to Gray Host, because it's alliance locked. I do my dailies in Bruma on a toon whose alliance holds it. I'm pretty sure most of PvE players that do PvP events for tickets only like to stay as far away from action as possible , and Gray Host is the opposite of that.

Erickson9610 · January 4

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I don't think most PvE players actually choose Gray Host since there is usually a queue pretty early. I know I look for the newer campaigns and choose whichever one is the least populated to get my quests done quickly so I can move on to doing something else.

ESO_player123 wrote: »

I'm a PvE player, and I go to Cyrodill only for the tickets. I would never go to Gray Host, because it's alliance locked. I do my dailies in Bruma on a toon whose alliance holds it. I'm pretty sure most of PvE players that do PvP events for tickets only like to stay as far away from action as possible , and Gray Host is the opposite of that.

This means that the supposed boost in population during the PvP event comes from people who don't want to PvP. Guilds get excited that they'll have an AP boost and PvE players to earn AP off of, but a considerable portion of the population during Whitestrake's Mayhem isn't trying to do PvP at all. And what's the point of having multiple campaigns year round if the empty ones are only being used by PvE players?

I just don't get the design of this event. It's functionally a PvE event that takes place in PvP zones — you can get all of your Event Tickets from PvE quests in Cyrodiil and the Imperial City. Sure, you can also get Event Tickets from completing PvP quests for Battlegrounds and Cyrodiil, but this event is designed in a way to allow either PvE or PvP to be done, while still pretending to be a PvP-only event.

Running the risk of engaging in PvP doesn't mean the event requires PvP to be done. All you have to do to avoid PvP is look at the new campaigns that appear during Whitestrake's Mayhem and find the one which your alliance owns most of the keeps in, or log on with a character of a favorable alliance in a campaign without faction lock. The town quests in Cyrodiil and the district quests in the Imperial City don't specifically require any combat with other players, so they're functionally PvE quests when there's little to no PvP involved. You can even complete one of the district quests in Imperial City from your spawn platform!

Now, there's another PvE event running alongside Whitestrake's Mayhem that will take away from its PvE population. Ideally, this has no effect in Gray Host, since PvE players avoid it, so there shouldn't be an issue for people who PvP there. Is there another reason why these events running concurrently is a bad idea? Do people really just want to gain extra AP from PvE players who can't fight back?

The tl;dr is that Whitestrake's is designed as a PvE/PvP event and having another PvE event run at the same time shouldn't affect the people who want to PvP in Gray Host.

React · January 4

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Now, there's another PvE event running alongside Whitestrake's Mayhem that will take away from its PvE population. Ideally, this has no effect in Gray Host, since PvE players avoid it, so there shouldn't be an issue for people who PvP there. Is there another reason why these events running concurrently is a bad idea? Do people really just want to gain extra AP from PvE players who can't fight back?

The tl;dr is that Whitestrake's is designed as a PvE/PvP event and having another PvE event run at the same time shouldn't affect the people who want to PvP in Gray Host.

It's no secret that the most pvpers enjoy these events because of the fresh faces in PVP. Whether it's questers, PVE players, or returning PVP players, it's just nice to engage in PVP with different people other than the same 50 or so you see daily in GH. It is also nice to have action in places that typically don't, such as in/around the towns, in imperial city which is frequently dead these days, and even sometimes in the sewers. Fighting the same people in the same exact locations has gone well beyond being stale, and the pvp events have historically been a refreshing mix up from the monotony of everyday cyrodiil.

The last whitestrake's event was the lowest population PVP event I have ever seen, full stop. The PVP population has only continued to drop since the last event as well. With this writhing wall event now being held alongside the pvp event, I expect we'll see only marginally more people in cyrodiil at best. It's just disappointing to see, and unfortunately feels par for the course with much of the neglect the PVP side of the game has seen over the years.

I sincerely hope at the very least, they're planning to drastically reduce the number of campaigns available during this PVP event. During the previous one, essentially every campaign other than GH and BR was completely empty, including 3 of the 4 imperial city instances. Consolidating the remaining population a bit would really help with the event feeling "dead".

katanagirl1 · January 5

Having a PvP event going on at the same time as a PvE one is enough to kill the population in Gray Host typically, I don’t know if the Wall event will since I assume it will not have tickets. I ran the wall twice and don’t feel the need to do it again, thankfully.

Just want to remind everyone that there are a lot of players that do both PvE and PvP. It’s not mutually exclusive.

DenverRalphy · January 5

I don't know that I'd call the Writhing Fortress an actual event. But even so.. If the Writhing Fortress were a dart, and you threw it at the ESO calendar, it's pretty much a given that it will land on an event.

katanagirl1 · January 5

True, you might expect some overlap but isn’t the overlap in this case 100%?

DoofusMax · January 5

All the characters who needed to completed the Fortress during the event. I'll probably run it one or two times for funsies now that the bugs have been ironed out, but I'm certainly not going to spend a week running through something where I've already collected the major bits. See y'all in Cyrodiil.

Ingenon · January 5

React wrote: »

It's no secret that the most pvpers enjoy these events because of the fresh faces in PVP. Whether it's questers, PVE players, or returning PVP players, it's just nice to engage in PVP with different people other than the same 50 or so you see daily in GH. It is also nice to have action in places that typically don't, such as in/around the towns, in imperial city which is frequently dead these days, and even sometimes in the sewers. Fighting the same people in the same exact locations has gone well beyond being stale, and the pvp events have historically been a refreshing mix up from the monotony of everyday cyrodiil.

The last whitestrake's event was the lowest population PVP event I have ever seen, full stop. The PVP population has only continued to drop since the last event as well. With this writhing wall event now being held alongside the pvp event, I expect we'll see only marginally more people in cyrodiil at best. It's just disappointing to see, and unfortunately feels par for the course with much of the neglect the PVP side of the game has seen over the years.

I sincerely hope at the very least, they're planning to drastically reduce the number of campaigns available during this PVP event. During the previous one, essentially every campaign other than GH and BR was completely empty, including 3 of the 4 imperial city instances. Consolidating the remaining population a bit would really help with the event feeling "dead".

I hope ZOS has the same number of campaigns as they did for the last Whitestrake Mayhem. For the past several Whitestrake's Mayhem event, I have earned my three event tickets per day by doing one Cyrodiil PvE quest and one Imperial City PvE quest. And then got out of Cyrodiil and Imperial City for the rest of that day. I love, love, love empty Cyrodiil and empty Imperial City campaigns that are "owned" by one faction, where I can go in with an alt that is a member of that faction, do my one PvE quest for my tickets, and get out.

xR3ACTORx · 10:28AM

DenverRalphy wrote: »

imPDA wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

React wrote: »

So midyear and the writhing wall comeback are hard-overlapping with the same start date?

Is this an oversight?

I don't see the issue. It's a PvE event running at the same time as a PvP event, and PvE/PvP are generally mutually exclusive crowds.

The population for either event shouldn't suffer, and there's plenty of time for a player to experience both events during their runtime. Just don't expect too many PvE players participating in Whitestrake's Mayhem or PvP players participating in the Writhing Fortress.

It would be more of an issue if there were two PvE events running concurrently, as was the case last year with the Witches Festival and the Writhing Wall event. That would cause the population to split unfavorably.

It is well-known that PvE players participate Mayhem a lot, because of huge bonuses. With 24 people per group (long long ago) Mayhem used to brought together 2-3-4 full groups of one faction at one keep, and up to 3-5 keeps lit at once in total in Cyrodiil. Nowadays it is a little less popular, but still, it collects a lot of PvE players, not only PvPers participate. Additionally, IC lure groups of PvE players to farm bosses because of faster boss respawn and Tel Var bonus as well, so for many players in PvE it is the only opportunity to farm big amount of Tel Vars. So yes, it is an overlap. I would say, it is ZOs social experiment - to see what will be more popular, but I can't prove it :P

The last Mayhem event... not so much. The lack of participation was nearly the topic of the month IIRC.

On Consoles even loads of avid pvpers didn't participated in mayhem after the vengeance test.