Free Respec After Balance Patches

Maverick827 · May 2014

Zenimax, you really need to offer free, full respecs whenever you put out a patch that includes skill balances. Nerfs to even one skill could cause an entire build to no longer be valid. You already refund points put into a skill that is nerfed, so you understand that compensation is necessary, but simply compensating one skill is a meaningless gesture when a player has to pay for a full respec anyway.

This is pretty much an industry standard. I'm sure you've seen it in other game's patch notes: there's always something like "due to the following changes, Warriors have had all of their skill points reset" or something similar.

It could be as simple as "the next visit to a Shrine of Stendarr within X days of a patch is free," or you could mail each player a Token of Stendarr that can be redeemed at a shrine but have it expire in X days.

Armitas · May 2014

Yeah either that or do something about the respec mechanic. I have had the same 3 skills that I wanted respeced since lvl 30 but couldn't afford. Now that I am V9 I still have the same 3 skills I want to respec but it is going to cost a ton more now even though I get no more actual return on that purchase than I would if I was level 30. In fact I pay more and get the inconvenience of having to meticulously go through all my other skills and morphs and hopefully put them back where they belong without any mistakes.

Now these guys are pretty observant so my guess is they have already started talking about fixing the respec mechanic. But until then it might be good, as suggested, to give some kind of respec on any skill changes. Some people might have picked morph A because they knew morph B was broken. With patches and updates those who chose morph A may now find that their choice was the wrong one through no fault of their own.

Wifeaggro13 · May 2014

they should offer free respecs just on the basis their is more broken skills and passives in game then there are working. many many skills or either not doing half of what the too tip says or just dont function at all. on top of that they are nerfing the ones that do work before fixing the broken one. not a smooth way to balance. perhaps they should hire the rift team to help them out.

huntgod_ESO · May 2014

I would not turn down a free respec...did one when I was at 70 pts, wish I hadn't now as it really didn't change anything. Now I know exactly how I want things set, but I don't have 19k to throw away on it.

steven.flemingub17_ESO · May 2014

Just my opinion, but I don't mind gold sinks for cosmetic stuff or for convenience items (teleports, armor repairs, merchant items, etc).

But I do think the resetting of skill points and attribute points should always be free. Skills you haven't leveled yet still have to be used out in the world to level them up, so it's not like you automatically unlock anything by getting those points back. You simply redistribute them to places you've already earned. Being able to try different things also fits more with the stated concept of "play your way", since you can try out different combinations and see what you enjoy.

At the moment the cost is pretty ridiculous (particularly if you are crafting and deconstructing\researching instead of selling to vendors). The high cost is a serious put-off to diversity. People end up sticking with the known "safe" or "best" builds because it costs too much to take a risk on something fun or different. I don't think anyone should feel trapped or limited in the most important aspect of the game and the core part of the game play experience.