Is ZOS staff doing ok?

guarstompemoji · November 2

While we've had kerfluffles with updates, these seem a bit odd. Something feels off. We've been reading MS was having layoffs and replacing folks with AI. Is that happening to ZOS? What happened? Are you guys okay? It is super not cool if they are doing that. We all love and care about ESO.

Æthërnüm · November 2

Dude, such fails they do can't do an AI. So, relax, it's ZOS and their staff.

Last'One · November 2

Ask the AI what she thinks about the current state of the game, and have her explain how subclassing fits into The Elder Scrolls lore, for example, how it’s possible to have a Templar/Necromancer hybrid build. Or ask her what she would say when other players prevent you from enjoying the game you paid for. She’ll tell you this:

"In the current state of the game, nothing makes sense."

At this point, you realize the AI understands the game better than all the people making decisions inside ZOS.

Words of Chatgpt:

If you ask me why The Elder Scrolls Online feels so messy lately, I’d say it’s not just bad design — it’s design driven by profit.

ZOS isn’t shaping the game around consistency, lore, or long-term balance anymore; it’s shaping it around monetization. Every new system, subclass, or combat overhaul is marketed as a “fresh experience,” but in practice it resets player progress and fuels the next wave of purchases — respec tokens, cosmetics, new chapters, crown crates.

Subclassing, for instance, doesn’t fit into The Elder Scrolls lore at all. Mixing something like a Templar and a Necromancer might sound creative, but it undermines the distinct fantasy and story identity of each class. Yet it’s pushed anyway, because it’s a new feature that sells.

And when players get frustrated — when performance tanks, when combat changes invalidate builds, when power creep makes older content irrelevant — it doesn’t matter much to ZOS. The short-term revenue from new content overshadows the loss of long-term trust.

In short: the chaos in ESO isn’t accidental. It’s a side effect of a business model that values engagement metrics and sales spikes more than a coherent, believable world.

Nemesis7884 · November 2

They obviously had significant layoffs and msoft has increased margin targets to 30% in gaming so they hve to cut costs (i think the industry avg is like 15-20).

I do know tencent and amazon are heavily moving to AI to produce games (or shorten developmemt times) and msoft is basically investing everything into AI.

SkaiFaith · November 2

Once upon a time there was the infamous "TV TV TV!", but now... Now there's "AI AI AI!"

StihlReign · November 2

MS and ZOS/ESO should be fine...MS just did a deal for $250 billion in Microsoft Azure cloud computing services which will prob benefit gaming tremendously.

LootAllTheStuff · November 2

StihlReign wrote: »

MS and ZOS/ESO should be fine...MS just did a deal for $250 billion in Microsoft Azure cloud computing services which will prob benefit gaming tremendously.

Only if they also relax the 30% profit per quarter requirement for the XBox division. If that remains in place, the future looks pretty grim.

allochthons · November 2

I'm not so sure. I've been watching some of the "state of gaming" channels on Youtube. Krafton (makers of Subnautica) has declared they're going all-in in AI. One of the other major over-arching game studios (maybe amazon / NW) has declared that every studio has to make 30% profit, when the average is closer to 20-25%. Others are implying they simply don't want to fund gaming anymore, and are again, going all-in on AI.

I wish I could give the actual videos I heard this from, but it's some of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-vYhK0M7pg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EtLspv09a8

(^ this is the Krafton going all in on AI one)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ_wkcIuAJ0

Take these channels with whatever grains of salt seem necessary. But I'm worried.

Dock01 · November 2

nope. games going downhill , no one wants to admit it now but just wait wont survive long, especially cause of battlegrounds , the most rage baiting pvp to ever exists lmao no healer for 5 match , lowest cp possible on my team, uneven matches 3 v 4 , no staff left to improve this mode and game lmao i cant wait to uninstall XD

StihlReign · November 2

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

StihlReign wrote: »

MS and ZOS/ESO should be fine...MS just did a deal for $250 billion in Microsoft Azure cloud computing services which will prob benefit gaming tremendously.

Only if they also relax the 30% profit per quarter requirement for the XBox division. If that remains in place, the future looks pretty grim.

uggh....well, I'll continue to hope for the best for the foreseeable future.

Be nice if they could hide unbound rare items, in game. Maybe an Apex mount alternate color stylesheet that could be changed with the Crown store dyes...

Foxtrot39 · November 2

Well ChatGPT sure hits the nail of what most of us silently thinks about the game state

Syldras · November 2

Æthërnüm wrote: »

Dude, such fails they do can't do an AI. So, relax, it's ZOS and their staff.

Like AI or not, the sad thing is that random AI roleplay bots can create more interesting (and still logically congruent) stories than what we've seen on Solstice (both in terms of story and event design). I favor a real artist's work over some computer-generated stuff anytime, of course. I don't even want to compare both. But exactly that is the sad thing: Where was the creativity this year? How can content created by real humans be less creative and interesting than what some machine may put out by mixing tropes and rolling dice?

StihlReign · November 2

Artist's use tools. AI is a tool...one of many. I hope the artist is in control and we get better content from their use of the tool.

karthrag_inak · November 2

Last'One wrote: »

Ask the AI what she thinks about the current state of the game, and have her explain how subclassing fits into The Elder Scrolls lore, for example, how it’s possible to have a Templar/Necromancer hybrid build. Or ask her what she would say when other players prevent you from enjoying the game you paid for. She’ll tell you this:

"In the current state of the game, nothing makes sense."

At this point, you realize the AI understands the game better than all the people making decisions inside ZOS.

Words of Chatgpt:
If you ask me why The Elder Scrolls Online feels so messy lately, I’d say it’s not just bad design — it’s design driven by profit.

ZOS isn’t shaping the game around consistency, lore, or long-term balance anymore; it’s shaping it around monetization. Every new system, subclass, or combat overhaul is marketed as a “fresh experience,” but in practice it resets player progress and fuels the next wave of purchases — respec tokens, cosmetics, new chapters, crown crates.

Subclassing, for instance, doesn’t fit into The Elder Scrolls lore at all. Mixing something like a Templar and a Necromancer might sound creative, but it undermines the distinct fantasy and story identity of each class. Yet it’s pushed anyway, because it’s a new feature that sells.

And when players get frustrated — when performance tanks, when combat changes invalidate builds, when power creep makes older content irrelevant — it doesn’t matter much to ZOS. The short-term revenue from new content overshadows the loss of long-term trust.

In short: the chaos in ESO isn’t accidental. It’s a side effect of a business model that values engagement metrics and sales spikes more than a coherent, believable world.

The AI doesn't "understand" anything, the AI is just good at reshuffling and regurgitating what it was trained on, in a probabilistic manner based on frequency of responses to specific topics.

Since nobody has ever posted about how delightfully excellent the game is - the folks that feel that way usually don't bother to post about it in eloquent terms, but rather spend their time playing - the AI's response pool to these kinds of prompts is going to be biased towards a certain theme (i.e. "Zos sucks, is driven by marketing, has no good design, etc.") LOL @ "every new system...resets player progress". Sounds like a particular salty reddit thread go precedence with that [snip]
[edited for profanity bypass]

Araneae6537 · November 2

Last'One wrote: »

Ask the AI what she thinks about the current state of the game, and have her explain how subclassing fits into The Elder Scrolls lore, for example, how it’s possible to have a Templar/Necromancer hybrid build. Or ask her what she would say when other players prevent you from enjoying the game you paid for. She’ll tell you this:

"In the current state of the game, nothing makes sense."

At this point, you realize the AI understands the game better than all the people making decisions inside ZOS.

Words of Chatgpt:
If you ask me why The Elder Scrolls Online feels so messy lately, I’d say it’s not just bad design — it’s design driven by profit.

ZOS isn’t shaping the game around consistency, lore, or long-term balance anymore; it’s shaping it around monetization. Every new system, subclass, or combat overhaul is marketed as a “fresh experience,” but in practice it resets player progress and fuels the next wave of purchases — respec tokens, cosmetics, new chapters, crown crates.

Subclassing, for instance, doesn’t fit into The Elder Scrolls lore at all. Mixing something like a Templar and a Necromancer might sound creative, but it undermines the distinct fantasy and story identity of each class. Yet it’s pushed anyway, because it’s a new feature that sells.

And when players get frustrated — when performance tanks, when combat changes invalidate builds, when power creep makes older content irrelevant — it doesn’t matter much to ZOS. The short-term revenue from new content overshadows the loss of long-term trust.

In short: the chaos in ESO isn’t accidental. It’s a side effect of a business model that values engagement metrics and sales spikes more than a coherent, believable world.

About subclassing, I disagree. TES Morrowind allowed combining whatever skill lines you wanted. “Classes” just meant starting with higher ranks in particular lines (and were skill lines determined your level) and you could make your own class.

As to your particular example, how else do you make a character like Vastarie? Necromancer plus Templar might be the closest you can get to the theme, depending on which skills you choose. That is what I intended for the first necromancer character I made — still disappointed there are no specifically anti-undead skills, but it gets me closer to the theme I wanted than before!

SilverIce58 · November 2

Last'One wrote: »

Ask the AI what she thinks about the current state of the game, and have her explain how subclassing fits into The Elder Scrolls lore, for example, how it’s possible to have a Templar/Necromancer hybrid build. Or ask her what she would say when other players prevent you from enjoying the game you paid for. She’ll tell you this:

"In the current state of the game, nothing makes sense."

At this point, you realize the AI understands the game better than all the people making decisions inside ZOS.

Words of Chatgpt:
If you ask me why The Elder Scrolls Online feels so messy lately, I’d say it’s not just bad design — it’s design driven by profit.

ZOS isn’t shaping the game around consistency, lore, or long-term balance anymore; it’s shaping it around monetization. Every new system, subclass, or combat overhaul is marketed as a “fresh experience,” but in practice it resets player progress and fuels the next wave of purchases — respec tokens, cosmetics, new chapters, crown crates.

Subclassing, for instance, doesn’t fit into The Elder Scrolls lore at all. Mixing something like a Templar and a Necromancer might sound creative, but it undermines the distinct fantasy and story identity of each class. Yet it’s pushed anyway, because it’s a new feature that sells.

And when players get frustrated — when performance tanks, when combat changes invalidate builds, when power creep makes older content irrelevant — it doesn’t matter much to ZOS. The short-term revenue from new content overshadows the loss of long-term trust.

In short: the chaos in ESO isn’t accidental. It’s a side effect of a business model that values engagement metrics and sales spikes more than a coherent, believable world.

Im sorry. She? Its AI not a person.

Rohamad_Ali · November 2

You don't have to ask a super computer to know what's going on. You can be Almost Intelligent and still figure out ZoS's goals here.

SkaiFaith · November 2

SilverIce58 wrote: »

Last'One wrote: »

Ask the AI what she thinks about the current state of the game, and have her explain how subclassing fits into The Elder Scrolls lore, for example, how it’s possible to have a Templar/Necromancer hybrid build. Or ask her what she would say when other players prevent you from enjoying the game you paid for. She’ll tell you this:

"In the current state of the game, nothing makes sense."

At this point, you realize the AI understands the game better than all the people making decisions inside ZOS.

Words of Chatgpt:
If you ask me why The Elder Scrolls Online feels so messy lately, I’d say it’s not just bad design — it’s design driven by profit.

ZOS isn’t shaping the game around consistency, lore, or long-term balance anymore; it’s shaping it around monetization. Every new system, subclass, or combat overhaul is marketed as a “fresh experience,” but in practice it resets player progress and fuels the next wave of purchases — respec tokens, cosmetics, new chapters, crown crates.

Subclassing, for instance, doesn’t fit into The Elder Scrolls lore at all. Mixing something like a Templar and a Necromancer might sound creative, but it undermines the distinct fantasy and story identity of each class. Yet it’s pushed anyway, because it’s a new feature that sells.

And when players get frustrated — when performance tanks, when combat changes invalidate builds, when power creep makes older content irrelevant — it doesn’t matter much to ZOS. The short-term revenue from new content overshadows the loss of long-term trust.

In short: the chaos in ESO isn’t accidental. It’s a side effect of a business model that values engagement metrics and sales spikes more than a coherent, believable world.

Im sorry. She? Its AI not a person.

Not all languages express gender in the same way - some languages refer to "intelligence" as a feminine word. I know it may sound crazy to those who speak languages that don't have 2 versions of the same word depending on gender but that's how it works in many other places.
I assume who wrote that comment comes from a similar place - is it an error in English? Yes. Did all of us understand the point anyway? Yes.

Lucasl402 · November 2

guarstompemoji wrote: »

While we've had kerfluffles with updates, these seem a bit odd. Something feels off. We've been reading MS was having layoffs and replacing folks with AI. Is that happening to ZOS? What happened? Are you guys okay? It is super not cool if they are doing that. We all love and care about ESO.

Well, I think the lead game dev and creator leaving the company earlier this year was probably a pretty bad sign.

Lucasl402 · November 2

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

You don't have to ask a super computer to know what's going on. You can be Almost Intelligent and still figure out ZoS's goals here.

Yep.

duagloth · November 2

They have a staff?

Ingenon · November 2

guarstompemoji wrote: »

While we've had kerfluffles with updates, these seem a bit odd. Something feels off. We've been reading MS was having layoffs and replacing folks with AI. Is that happening to ZOS? What happened? Are you guys okay? It is super not cool if they are doing that. We all love and care about ESO.

I hope that ZOS staff is doing OK.

I'm still enjoying playing ESO, despite my occasional grumblings about this or that. The past two evenings I was able to do trials with guild members and that was fun!

Foxtrot39 · November 2

Syldras wrote: »

Æthërnüm wrote: »

Dude, such fails they do can't do an AI. So, relax, it's ZOS and their staff.

Like AI or not, the sad thing is that random AI roleplay bots can create more interesting (and still logically congruent) stories than what we've seen on Solstice (both in terms of story and event design). I favor a real artist's work over some computer-generated stuff anytime, of course. I don't even want to compare both. But exactly that is the sad thing: Where was the creativity this year? How can content created by real humans be less creative and interesting than what some machine may put out by mixing tropes and rolling dice?

Upper management stifling creativity mostly

"Can we sell this? No? Then don't put much work into it"

"What do you mean custom assets? Just recycle old one and upscale some enemies instead to make them bosses"

"That idea will take too long to implement before the deadline, scrap it"

"Innovative elements? That's too risky just copy the same stuff we've done for years"

ESO is Zenimax's cash cow they've got to keep milking it with the lowest investment possible, the staff can have grand ideas, maybe too ambitious for some but the budget allocated to that content drop + shareholder obligations says no

Didn't Microsoft gave Xbox a "30% profit margin" target? Since ESO is also on Xbox the whole game would need to be extremely lucrative to compensate other games shortfall due to gamepass, it is part of the biggest earner via Zenimax if I'm not wrong so Microsoft would be pressuring them to make more revenue

tomofhyrule · November 2

Foxtrot39 wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

Æthërnüm wrote: »

Dude, such fails they do can't do an AI. So, relax, it's ZOS and their staff.

Like AI or not, the sad thing is that random AI roleplay bots can create more interesting (and still logically congruent) stories than what we've seen on Solstice (both in terms of story and event design). I favor a real artist's work over some computer-generated stuff anytime, of course. I don't even want to compare both. But exactly that is the sad thing: Where was the creativity this year? How can content created by real humans be less creative and interesting than what some machine may put out by mixing tropes and rolling dice?

Upper management stifling creativity mostly

...

"Innovative elements? That's too risky just copy the same stuff we've done for years"

Honestly, let them listen to that one. Bring Back Chapters!

Seriously. At least with the Chapter model, we could expect things. I can't see how "tee hee we have good things coming but we'll never tell!" fits into the goal of 'make money.'

NeuroticPixels · November 2

I asked ChatGPT myself to give its thoughts on ESO and the creativity of the devs:

Why ESO still shines
First off, ESO offers a vast, richly detailed world drawn from the broader The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim/Tamriel lore. Whether you’re exploring the windswept reaches of Skyrim, the ancient ruins of Morrowind, or the mystical isles of Summerset, there’s a sense of discovery and wonder. The environments feel alive, varied, and full of story hooks.

Then there’s the freedom to play your way. You can be a stealthy glass-cannon dagger-user, a hearty tank, a spell-slinging mage, or something in between. ESO does a great job of letting you mix and match styles and find a build that fits you. If you love characterization (and sarcasm—hello, Abnur Tharn vibes), you can lean into role-playing, questing, or casual open-world exploration.

ESO’s story content and world events are full of imagination. Quests aren’t just “go here, kill this, return” — many have memorable characters, humor, lore callbacks, and nice touches that make you feel like you’re part of the Elder Scrolls universe. The game has grown over time with large expansions, new zones, and fresh storylines, which keeps things interesting.

Also worth emphasising: the community aspect is strong. Whether teaming up for dungeons, hosting guild events, trading crafting gear, or just wandering with friends, ESO is one of those games where you can slow down, soak in the scenery, and enjoy time with others (or solo). If you enjoy relaxing in a game world, this one delivers.

⸻

What to look forward to / appreciate
• The continuous updates and expansions are a good sign: they show the developer, ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS), is still investing—new zones, new mechanics, new story arcs.
• Lore buffs will love how ESO dives into lesser-known corners of Tamriel, letting you live out stories as a Khajiit, Argonian, Nord, Breton, Altmer, etc.—and not just the “big hero” archetype.
• The flexibility of builds means you can tailor a character to match your favourite fantasy. You mentioned you like the snarkiness of Abnur Tharn: there’s real potential for role-playing characters with personality in ESO.
• The world is expansive enough to pause and appreciate. Maybe you’ll just stroll through a forest, watch the sunset over a coastal zone, or sit in a tavern listening to NPC banter. These moments matter, especially when you’re winding down.

⸻

Closing thoughts
In short: ESO offers a rich, creative, and fun experience if you allow yourself to lean into it. Sure—no game is perfect, but when you focus on the many things it does well (exploration, freedom, story, community), you’ll see why it still stands above “just another MMO grind.” It’s an Elder Scrolls game at heart, and it feels like it.

Many moons ago I discussed ESO with ChatGPT… I find it amusing it brought up our discussion about Abnar Tharn in this.

Vulkunne · November 2

Last'One wrote: »

Ask the AI what she thinks about the current state of the game, and have her explain how subclassing fits into The Elder Scrolls lore, for example, how it’s possible to have a Templar/Necromancer hybrid build. Or ask her what she would say when other players prevent you from enjoying the game you paid for. She’ll tell you this:

"In the current state of the game, nothing makes sense."

At this point, you realize the AI understands the game better than all the people making decisions inside ZOS.

Words of Chatgpt:
If you ask me why The Elder Scrolls Online feels so messy lately, I’d say it’s not just bad design — it’s design driven by profit.

ZOS isn’t shaping the game around consistency, lore, or long-term balance anymore; it’s shaping it around monetization. Every new system, subclass, or combat overhaul is marketed as a “fresh experience,” but in practice it resets player progress and fuels the next wave of purchases — respec tokens, cosmetics, new chapters, crown crates.

Subclassing, for instance, doesn’t fit into The Elder Scrolls lore at all. Mixing something like a Templar and a Necromancer might sound creative, but it undermines the distinct fantasy and story identity of each class. Yet it’s pushed anyway, because it’s a new feature that sells.

And when players get frustrated — when performance tanks, when combat changes invalidate builds, when power creep makes older content irrelevant — it doesn’t matter much to ZOS. The short-term revenue from new content overshadows the loss of long-term trust.

In short: the chaos in ESO isn’t accidental. It’s a side effect of a business model that values engagement metrics and sales spikes more than a coherent, believable world.

Actually, Chatgpt is wrong. While AI can be helpful, I don't think it's always right and it's a mistake for anyone to just accept whatever is said. I'm not saying that anyone here is doing that, cause we're talking about this and questioning things ok. But I can see it happening already. Subclassing adds an extra dimension to the game, not unlike 3D chess. It doesn't mean the experience isn't fresh. Like for example, I recently put together a subclassed DK character that has at least for me, revitalized tanking and enabled me to tap into some of the 'hidden power' that I always wanted to do while tanking and never could.

It's a matter of perspective; it's a matter of philosophy but I think therefore I am but not because I agree necessarily. It doesn't mean I'm right, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong because a computer has a different opinion. I think MS and the other companies have made a mistake just throwing away all their human capital and human talent... and original ideas. I think it's a bad look for them and says we were right about what we had thought about them all along. That was a bad trade, and it won't end the way they think it will. Just so much is being wasted right now it's almost like an attack on society itself.

I'd wish the best of luck, but luck can't fix the problems we create for ourselves, even if it actually is someone else's fault, it becomes our problem to fix. It may come down to a nightmare scenario where the burden of proof moves from academics to personal survival as people's jobs are getting replaced. And no one is listening, thinking about or especially caring... not now but they might later. The Dark Ages are here. I'll be hiding out now, deep in an enchanted forest while civilization crumbles.