[SERIOUS TALK] Are you satisfied with ESO added content?

JiubLeRepenti · August 9

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Rkindaleft wrote: »

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

ESO makes it more difficult to not get fatigued with every new Chapter.

One cannot even say "more of the same", because the grinds are getting bigger and the rewards are just meaningless.

Obligatory accidentally selected the wrong option but I agree.

I still enjoyed my time questing there and exploring the zone, but I don’t know how anyone can look at Gold Road and think “yes, this is a much better chapter than what we’ve received in the past.” Objectively speaking, Gold Road is:

1) The smallest zone out of any chapter they've released
2) The grindiest chapter they've released
3) Has the least amount of content out of the chapters they've released

I'm sure some people may not see this as a problem, but we're now paying the same price for significantly less stuff and since Q3 and Q4 are no longer content releases, the average player is now limited to a couple days of questing and the long boring grind of Scribing for the whole year. The dungeon HM were not challenging for the end-gamers, so they've got 1 trial for the whole year instead of 4 challenging dungeon HMs.

Yup and this is why I won't renew my yearly subscription to ESO+ in November.

And you are right for the dungeons, the two new ones are a joke. As previously said in my initial post I passed them in both HM and speedrun (<30m) in a PUG, and in two tries for each one.

Just compare it to Coral Airie or Graven Deep..

Tensar · August 16

No, I'm very disappointed with it

The stats at the release of a new chapter were never catastrophic like it is now. https://steamcharts.com/app/306130

This game is clearly on a dying path. Now the only question remaining is if it's the game or the players that will die first

Drammanoth · August 16

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Tensar wrote: »

The stats at the release of a new chapter were never catastrophic like it is now. https://steamcharts.com/app/306130

This game is clearly on a dying path. Now the only question remaining is if it's the game or the players that will die first

Sooner the elder players will... find their way to Sovngarde / Hunting Grounds / Far Shores / the Hist, where do vampires go?

By now, we have accustomed ZOS to hearing "YER-GAME-BE-DYIN'", which means that our premonitions, portents of doom are meaningless.

The game has become stagnant, and long-term players feel it. Again, long-term players, becasue new ones will enjoy tons of novelties, and this is their target audience. On a different not, player retention exists due to TES franchise and fear of loss of investment (time and money).

If there is 'no-things-from-other-MMORPGs' policy eg. from GW2, WoW, then... you know.

Tensar · August 16

No, I'm very disappointed with it

The game has become stagnant, and long-term players feel it. Again, long-term players, becasue new ones will enjoy tons of novelties, and this is their target audience.

I don't think there are a lot of new players. The new chapter didn't attract new players, this is an old MMO players prefere to go on the last released mmo or the ones with a good reputation. ESO have now the reputation to be stagnant so a lot of players don't want to start to invest time in a game like this.

Drammanoth · August 16

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Tensar wrote: »

(...) this is an old MMO players prefere to go on the last released mmo or the ones with a good reputation. ESO have now the reputation to be stagnant so a lot of players don't want to start to invest time in a game like this.

It's a decade old - bear in mind it is less about the age, and more about 1)how it is being sustained, as well as 2)how the developer is taking care of it.
WoW is ancient - turns 20 this November. GW2 - 12 years old. Blizz has had its ups and downs, ANet - I don't know. But the dynamic events in Tyria are something that is lacking in ESO.

If you look at the world map, you see a recurring pattern, one which they piously follow: 6 delves, 6 strinking locations, 3 crafting stations, 1-2 public dungeons. The number of main quests, books, skyshards, points of interest, incursions (dolmens, harrowstorms, etc.) vary. Overall, same pattern - different graphics.

And yet, people will invest their time just to see what it is - sometimes bad rep brings desired results :P

shadyjane62 · August 16

No, I'm very disappointed with it

No.

xylena_lazarow · August 16

Mixed feeling about it

They've added a lot of great QoL over the years like the Sticker Book and the Armory, Scribing system is awesome, sets for PvP like Rallying Cry and Seducer mythic have been awesome. Really looking forward to Q4 PvP update.

The pace of development feels very slow though, I can understand players losing interest. They always add a lot of things that nobody asked for or wanted, that end up predictably falling flat.

Destai · August 16

No, I'm quite disappointed with it

It depends on the timeframe, but for the last year or so, I would say no.

Chapters
They just don't feel exciting to me anymore. They all follow roughly the same format, so for me, there's no surprises. The writing is very predictable and has been for quite some time now. The one saving grace for me was always the joy of exploring the zones themselves. But that's changed now too. Gold Road in particular felt very thin, having so many locked doors and off-limits areas really dampened the joy of exploration. Gold Road and Apocrypha both had some visual qualities - the bright orange and green - that made the zones uncomfortable to explore at times.

Infinite Archive
It's honestly one of the better features they've released. The rewards are good, but the lack of variety and progress-saving prevent me from doing it regularly. It's not bad content, but I just don't feel inspired to sit there for hours in one environment. I don't do typically do arenas often, just because they become monotonous. I'm grateful for this content, but I also recognize it's not for me very often.

Scribing
It sounded so attractive on paper, but the ink grind and casting times really ensure that I never use these skills. The quest itself overstayed its welcome, and I wish the mats dropped as readily as other mats in the world. I realize they made some adjustments, but still not as generous as one would hope. It's a new system, I'd want to experiment, and that's not really feasible due to the ink grind. It's dead on arrival for me.

QoL
The whole narrative behind sunsetting the Q4 DLC doesn't stand up to scrutiny. In years past, we got big QoL adjustments during chapter and DLC releases. I'm thinking stuff like antiquities and stickerbook. Now, we not only got a chapter with less quests, but also QoL adjustments no one really asked for. There's been some wins, for sure, but it's 1 step forward and 2 steps back. The whole environmental changes made the game far less visually appealing and the trader changes ruined that market for me.

Rewards
The game's rewards are still too focused on the Crown Store rotation and time limited activities. To ZOS's credit, they did add some nice cosmetic rewards to the zone's achievements, but again, it's far outweighed by the amount in Crown Store and the Seals. Take the Order of the Lamp styles. Hallmark style of the chapter, and rather than being a permanent earnable reward, it's a timed deal stuffed into crates and Seals. Just sucks any joy out of the expansion. Even the year's motifs, they're being drip fed into the content, rather than just being able to run the dungeon and get a motif. I want to get excited about the content, but the pressure and nudges to that store take the focus.

Tensar · August 19

No, I'm very disappointed with it

https://steamcharts.com/app/306130

Worst July since 2017-2018

Deadgame

Kelenan7368 · August 19

Other (please explain)

The content in 42 was a bit lack luster, very short and not enough combat added. I love the scribing system but the quest line to earn it was pointless. Go here click this, dispel this. Screw that I want a hard fight! Make me earn it with a decent story. More combat content is a must!

Stafford197 · August 19

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Tensar wrote: »

https://steamcharts.com/app/306130

Worst July since 2017-2018

Deadgame

It’s on an alarmingly downward trend but I wouldn’t call this a dead game yet by any stretch. They can probably take another consecutive 1-2 more “Gold Roads” before it drops to levels that are no longer profitable or recoverable. It’s an Elder Scrolls title. No matter how bad things get this is still many of our favorite series and so many will stick around regardless.

But with that said, this is the type of game where talking about alarming downward trends is really sad, because it easily had the potential to stand up there with WoW and Final Fantasy.

Tensar · August 19

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Stafford197 wrote: »

Tensar wrote: »

https://steamcharts.com/app/306130

Worst July since 2017-2018

Deadgame

It’s on an alarmingly downward trend but I wouldn’t call this a dead game yet by any stretch. They can probably take another consecutive 1-2 more “Gold Roads” before it drops to levels that are no longer profitable or recoverable. It’s an Elder Scrolls title. No matter how bad things get this is still many of our favorite series and so many will stick around regardless.

But with that said, this is the type of game where talking about alarming downward trends is really sad, because it easily had the potential to stand up there with WoW and Final Fantasy.

Yes I know it's not totally dead, but it's clearly falling more each years.
Maybe TES6 can bring back some players but I doubt it will last long.

My last hope is to have an offline version of the game when the servers will be closed.

Stafford197 · August 19

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Tensar wrote: »

Stafford197 wrote: »

Tensar wrote: »

https://steamcharts.com/app/306130

Worst July since 2017-2018

Deadgame

It’s on an alarmingly downward trend but I wouldn’t call this a dead game yet by any stretch. They can probably take another consecutive 1-2 more “Gold Roads” before it drops to levels that are no longer profitable or recoverable. It’s an Elder Scrolls title. No matter how bad things get this is still many of our favorite series and so many will stick around regardless.

But with that said, this is the type of game where talking about alarming downward trends is really sad, because it easily had the potential to stand up there with WoW and Final Fantasy.

Yes I know it's not totally dead, but it's clearly falling more each years.
Maybe TES6 can bring back some players but I doubt it will last long.

My last hope is to have an offline version of the game well the servers will be closed.

Oh 100% I would love to see an offline ESO one day once they finish up all of their DLCs! Rebalance the group content and loot etc to fit a single player game. That would be amazing for this series to have.

Illmatic · August 20

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Cyrodiil PvP new things since 2015 console release i'm playing :
- 1 hammer, 3 outposts

For PvE it's already the same loop :
- Little DLC : 2 new pledges
- Big DLC : New zone with story against a 99th daedric prince + Trial + a feature (which isn't fundamental the most of the time)
THIS, needs to be "broke"

And FOR ME, the rest became a bit like "everyone should be good easily without training, even if you're not don't worry you will easily hit 90k" so we add a one-bar ring, the Maelstrom/Vateshran weapons in normal mode (they're supposed to be special weapons, rare and a reward for learning the mechs, for having suffered 1 week inside the first time.
Playing without a bit of trying harding and suffering on a MMO ? Weird concept.
I can understand for trials because some ppl definetly can't access to vTrials because a guild is needed, but not for solo arenas.

The game has great potential, but you can't get the most out of a Ferrari if we give it to you with Toyota Prius tires, and the loop needs to be broken. People leave the game because they want real new content, something that will really revolutionize the game (which is, let's remember, 10 years old).
And PvP players (something that is supposed to be the second pole of the game so normally, 50%) feel abandoned. Because nothing new on this side, it generally represents 3 lines of "correction" in the patchnotes, not more.

JiubLeRepenti · August 20

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Illmatic wrote: »

Cyrodiil PvP new things since 2015 console release i'm playing :
- 1 hammer, 3 outposts

For PvE it's already the same loop :
- Little DLC : 2 new pledges
- Big DLC : New zone with story against a 99th daedric prince + Trial + a feature (which isn't fundamental the most of the time)
THIS, needs to be "broke"

And FOR ME, the rest became a bit like "everyone should be good easily without training, even if you're not don't worry you will easily hit 90k" so we add a one-bar ring, the Maelstrom/Vateshran weapons in normal mode (they're supposed to be special weapons, rare and a reward for learning the mechs, for having suffered 1 week inside the first time.
Playing without a bit of trying harding and suffering on a MMO ? Weird concept.
I can understand for trials because some ppl definetly can't access to vTrials because a guild is needed, but not for solo arenas.

The game has great potential, but you can't get the most out of a Ferrari if we give it to you with Toyota Prius tires, and the loop needs to be broken. People leave the game because they want real new content, something that will really revolutionize the game (which is, let's remember, 10 years old).
And PvP players (something that is supposed to be the second pole of the game so normally, 50%) feel abandoned. Because nothing new on this side, it generally represents 3 lines of "correction" in the patchnotes, not more.

Yea the most frustrating part is when you see the potential this game has.

Just for instance, the new Home Tours update. You have the possibility to visit other players' houses... Ok... Then what?

I mean... What the purpose of it? What do you get in exchange?

A cool idea would have been to unlock rewards depending on how many upvotes you get. For instance:

5 upvotes: get 50k gold
10 upvotes: get 150k gold
25 upvotes: get a pet
50 upvotes: get a crown crate
100 upvotes: get a mount
etc.

Sorry, but if it's just about displaying a window to allow visits, then an addon was already existing for it on PC...

And I preshot what many ppl will say: "Yea but if we give rewards, it will create competition and/or fraud where ppl will just upvote each other's houses in order to get all the rewards..."

And I'll reply to that: "Yes it's a possibility that it would come with competition and/or fraud. Then what? Do you prefer a stillborn system that won't generate any hype or motivation? Or a system that will push ppl to invest themselves in housing and the sharing of their creations, even if it means some may take advantage of it?"

ZOS, dear devs. Please. Improve this game, its mechanics, and its content.

kind_hero · August 21

Mixed feeling about it

I am playing since beta, so 10 years and counting. I got the fractured skin. After so many years, I stepped down to housing and doing the new story quests, or content that I can solo or do with a friend.

After seeing the pattern you describe so well, I don't expect ESO will "come back", because it was always like this, even though I love the game, I believe it doesn't have anything groundbreaking, like WoW had in its golden years. Even more, I believe the dev team is smaller because the studio is focusing on a new title, most likely a new mmo. This game can go on for a few more years, but it's already dated. Most likely it will continue with the same pattern.

The direction they are going is to create gimmicks that make people stay online more, even though they are not doing anything worthwhile. Such as collecting, achievement hunting, grinding for cosmetics unlocks, fragments, playing cards, and now touring houses. This is paired with a crown store that is more and more filled with cosmetics and bundles to buy, which shows the priority is to make as much money as possible until the interest for this game dies off.

I would love if the devs would really try to improve or overhaul some of the systems. Like, they introduced the housing tours, and this would be awesome if more furnishings and housing mechanics would be introduced. An increase of the housing item cap would be amazing. Unfortunately, nothing of these developments can be expected, aside from the predictable updates.

Lastly I would like to say that for me, scribing was a failure. I have played the chapter since day 1, including the scribing opening quests, and am still yet to customize an ability. It just felt so elusive because of the very rare ink at the time. Now I have enough ink, but I lost interest on the way. The devs missed the opportunity to have the player change some abilities through the quest line, thus many people had no idea what to do with the new items. That would have been much interesting and fun, than all the fetch quests in the scribing story quest.

I am more interested in changing the colors/feel of my default abilities, than bothering with grinding or collecting all the flavors whatever. It feels like I have to wait too much to get the means to change my class abilities, so I don't even care much about scribing, same as ToT, which I haven't bothered with.

JiubLeRepenti · September 17

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Just a little bump here regarding the new U44 and the content it will bring.

kind_hero wrote: »

I would love if the devs would really try to improve or overhaul some of the systems. Like, they introduced the housing tours, and this would be awesome if more furnishings and housing mechanics would be introduced. An increase of the housing item cap would be amazing. Unfortunately, nothing of these developments can be expected, aside from the predictable updates.

Yup same here. But as I said on another discussion, I'm afraid ZOS is systematically hiding behind the "technical limit" excuse, without even trying to actually change things.

The best option would be to change the game engine and the game servs but I'm afraid this day will never come.

licenturion · September 17

No, I'm quite disappointed with it

I was satisfied in the past but no longer because we lost the nice Q4 DLC and 2 dungeons less.

Now we get stuff like 'reworked tutorial', HDR, 2 rooms in endless archives, withheld expansion companions and other totally non exciting stuff sold as 'amazing free updates'.

After this extremely lackluster year I have decided I will probably not buy the expansion next year until it has gone in major sale. If I get a lot less value for my playstyle, I am also on willing to pay a lot less money for it.

I am here for the nice world, lore, dungeons, questing and I feel we got only half now for the same price. New content = exciting. Reworks and reworks of reworks = boring

It feels like the art team has mostly been offloaded to the new game and the system team is testing out engine and launcher stuff for the next game (and I am probably not far off here)

SeaGtGruff · September 17

Yes, I'm very satisfied with it

I haven't read the whole thread yet, so I'm not sure what others have already said.

However, my own thoughts are that (a) ZOS has been following a pattern-- or formula, if you prefer-- that was first used in the Orsinium DLC, and which has been well-received by players when used in the chapters since then; and (b) whenever ZOS has strayed a bit from that pattern-- especially when they included a bit less-- the players have complained about the decrease in quantity. So, in short, it seems like ZOS is pretty much forced to keep following that pattern if they want to minimize criticism.

JiubLeRepenti · September 17

No, I'm very disappointed with it

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

I haven't read the whole thread yet, so I'm not sure what others have already said.

However, my own thoughts are that (a) ZOS has been following a pattern-- or formula, if you prefer-- that was first used in the Orsinium DLC, and which has been well-received by players when used in the chapters since then; and (b) whenever ZOS has strayed a bit from that pattern-- especially when they included a bit less-- the players have complained about the decrease in quantity. So, in short, it seems like ZOS is pretty much forced to keep following that pattern if they want to minimize criticism.

Actually I think the pattern is not the biggest problem here. It is mostly how ZOS has reduced the content that is brought aside of it year after year.

For instance, if you go back to 2017 and see what we got, aside of all the well known content like delves, skyshards, etc.:

Chapter:

Great zone
New class
Battlegrounds introduction
Very solid trial

Extension (Clockwork):

Great zone
Transmutation system
New trial (!!!)

When did we get such solid content within a year?

peacenote · September 17

No, I'm quite disappointed with it

Soarora wrote: »

ZOS destroyed the game with the combination of AWA, U35 (and other “raise floor, lower ceiling” moves), and continued silence. There is no returning to how things were and that disappoints me.

This. This is what moved me from mixed feelings to very disappointed. These items, and the loss of the two dungeons a year, which is my favorite content. I do like IA, and I've enjoyed getting the scribing scripts on all of my characters, but neither of those make up for what I lost with AwA. I have still been hoping that they'd come out with a progress tracking journal or something but it's been quite a while now.

I still say the changes have been short-sighted as much as anything else. The problem is lack of strategy. Release AwA before you release a new class, and now instead of players being happy, you've chased away a bunch of the players that liked making new characters and you're left with ones who are upset that it wasn't a skill line. Because the ones who stayed are the ones who don't like to repeat stuff! They released less content to produce QoL things, which many people supported, but then they didn't tackle the biggest pain points (like being stuck in combat), so overall it just feels like a loss.

Yes, I'm generalizing of course, but I think there was a lack of awareness of the implications of what would happen when some of these things were implemented.

moderatelyfatman · September 17

No, I'm very disappointed with it

As a slightly long time player (5 years), I feel that the new chapters are not made for me.
Everything these days seems aimed at getting in new players and catering to their needs.

The 10th Anniversary is a classic example: what thought was given to the older players, some of whom have been playing since beta? ZOS could have revamped the old trials and brought them into line with the new ones by adding perfected gear and hard modes on all bosses. Players would have gone nuts returning back to their old adventures with a new twist.

Even the Gold Road story was disappointing: they could have had us running through alternate histories and timelines where things had gone badly. Imagine a world where Nirn was part of Molag Bal's realm because the soul shriven has permanently dies on Manimarco's table. How about Morrowind where Vivec was dead and a shattered Clockwork City where Sotha Sil is kept prisoner. Imagine a Summerset in the middle of a civil war because Ayrenn had failed to unify the dominion.

Both cases above would have meant a lot to long term players who were invested in the history and lore of the game but very little to new players.

Aggrovious · September 17

Mixed feeling about it

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/665856/major-concerns-that-effect-pve-and-the-game-pvp-and-pve-are-two-different-games#latest

Mixed and I made a thread as to why.

JiubLeRepenti · September 17

No, I'm very disappointed with it

Justosay wrote: »

Aggrovious wrote: »

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/665856/major-concerns-that-effect-pve-and-the-game-pvp-and-pve-are-two-different-games#latest

Mixed and I made a thread as to why.

Will check this out! But I already agree with the fact that some requested changes about PvP can have a bad impact on PvE. For instance there is this very active thread which suggests to nerf Azureblight set because it may be OP in new BGs:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/665492/azureblight-is-way-too-op-bg-update-will-make-it-worse#latest

Thing is, the set isn't OP at all on PvE in most of cases. So I hope ZOS won't listen to it.

OtarTheMad · September 17

Yes, I'm quite satisfied with it

I am pretty happy about it because I can always count on ESO for some new content and I know around when it’ll hit. I am playing other games who leave you in the dark about when a new update is coming or even if a big DLC is coming or it is just fixes and adjustments.

JiubLeRepenti · September 17

No, I'm very disappointed with it

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

As a slightly long time player (5 years), I feel that the new chapters are not made for me.
Everything these days seems aimed at getting in new players and catering to their needs.

The 10th Anniversary is a classic example: what thought was given to the older players, some of whom have been playing since beta? ZOS could have revamped the old trials and brought them into line with the new ones by adding perfected gear and hard modes on all bosses. Players would have gone nuts returning back to their old adventures with a new twist.

Yea I was also a bit disappointed about that.

Regarding the 10 years anniversary event, I was also very disappointed by the event itself and what it was sharing with the community. Plus, the rewards/gifts were not amazing at all. I even made a discussion about it at that time:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/655846/10-years-of-eso-no-special-in-game-gift#latest