Writhing Wall Event – Consolidated Messaging Thread

Maythor · 3:27AM

Any chance of boosting drop rates of the bone shards, despite the wall falling a lot of us will be left still having to aid to bring the wall down to try and get the event rewards we still need!

Carcamongus · 3:47AM

I'd say the next time we get an event with a progress meter, don't separate us into servers. I can't see the reason for dividing us like that and it wasn't helpful.

Gunner19K · 5:53AM

Phase 3 is not working. Is something broken? Any guidance? We are on PS NA and U48 is complete and Phase 2 reached 100%, which puts us in Phase 3 as of 11:30 pm EST. We can see the hole/tunnel in the wall but no way to get through, no quest options, and no way to do anything but see the map and black wayshrine on other side. After U48, the western Solstice main camp wayshrine shows as undiscovered on all toons.

Syldras · 6:34AM

Gunner19K wrote: »

Phase 3 is not working. Is something broken? Any guidance? We are on PS NA and U48 is complete and Phase 2 reached 100%, which puts us in Phase 3 as of 11:30 pm EST. We can see the hole/tunnel in the wall but no way to get through, no quest options, and no way to do anything but see the map and black wayshrine on other side. After U48, the western Solstice main camp wayshrine shows as undiscovered on all toons.

Maybe it got manually deactivated when people found themselves in areas they should not be after the update and now they forgot to turn it on again?

Silufadumar · 9:15AM

I'm on Xbox Eu....

Do I feel salty?

Damn right I do!

Because I can't see how my server went from a hefty lead all through phase 1 to being 4th (at least) to reach phase 3.

It would have taken a huge influx of players on the other servers to cause such a swing, something would have had to have happened to reinvigorate players interest.... but the opposite is true, as all the comments on this forum can attest.

Many players just gave up on this event, with a 'call me when it's done' attitude that we can't really blame them for.

Yet I still saw plenty of people doing the event every time I logged in, so its not like Xbox Eu suddenly stopped participating.

Something fishy has gone on here and it smells to high Aetherius!

Please Zos, don't do any more events like this if they're not going to be fair.

Signing off...

Captain Salty

Lord_Archaic · 9:51AM

Syldras wrote: »

Gunner19K wrote: »

Phase 3 is not working. Is something broken? Any guidance? We are on PS NA and U48 is complete and Phase 2 reached 100%, which puts us in Phase 3 as of 11:30 pm EST. We can see the hole/tunnel in the wall but no way to get through, no quest options, and no way to do anything but see the map and black wayshrine on other side. After U48, the western Solstice main camp wayshrine shows as undiscovered on all toons.

Maybe it got manually deactivated when people found themselves in areas they should not be after the update and now they forgot to turn it on again?

The visuals with the wall has been all weird during the whole thing.....

Inwas seeing the phase two beam when tjenevent first started. So it's probably an artifact that's misfiring on some people's clients.

twisttop138 · 9:51AM

LarsS wrote: »

twisttop138 wrote: »

msetten wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Writhing Wall update. We are pleased to see so many players jumping in and contributing to the effort to bring down the Writhing Wall. While progress has been steady, we have heard the feedback that the event feels like its taking a bit too long. With that in mind we are going to make an adjustment to speed up contributions across all realms so that players can experience the Writhing Fortress and Eastern Solstice as soon as possible. This has been a tremendous effort for everyone involved and we appreciate those that have dedicated the time to the event. Player contribution still matters but your contributions going forward will matter more. Thanks!

@ZOS_Kevin Then why does the progress for PS-EU suddenly dropped from 85% to 16.6% in game?

"PS-EU had a bug where it's progress has been reset to 16%. We have identified the issue but ohhhh sorry, the fix won't be ready till update 52. We know this isn't ideal but we just know PSEU will rally a redouble their efforts for this once in a lifetime event."

On the webb page it shows 89%.

It, uh, was a joke...

Anyway it's over now. My server got to 100% and it's BROKEN. We got ZOS'd lolol.
I mean isn't that the capstone to this whole mess? We go through this whole thing. The community hates it so much that ZOS can't keep their heads in the sand for once. They decide to end it, regardless of whatever plan they had in place and it's broken. The phrase mickey mouse comes to mind.

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · 1:38PM

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Writhing Wall update. We are pleased to see so many players jumping in and contributing to the effort to bring down the Writhing Wall. While progress has been steady, we have heard the feedback that the event feels like its taking a bit too long. With that in mind we are going to make an adjustment to speed up contributions across all realms so that players can experience the Writhing Fortress and Eastern Solstice as soon as possible. This has been a tremendous effort for everyone involved and we appreciate those that have dedicated the time to the event. Player contribution still matters but your contributions going forward will matter more. Thanks!

@ZOS_Kevin can you confirm whether the amount of quests per % was the same on each server skew or was it lowered based on population on servers like PS4 NA & EU?

twisttop138 · 1:49PM

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Writhing Wall update. We are pleased to see so many players jumping in and contributing to the effort to bring down the Writhing Wall. While progress has been steady, we have heard the feedback that the event feels like its taking a bit too long. With that in mind we are going to make an adjustment to speed up contributions across all realms so that players can experience the Writhing Fortress and Eastern Solstice as soon as possible. This has been a tremendous effort for everyone involved and we appreciate those that have dedicated the time to the event. Player contribution still matters but your contributions going forward will matter more. Thanks!

@ZOS_Kevin can you confirm whether the amount of quests per % was the same on each server skew or was it lowered based on population on servers like PS4 NA & EU?

What does it matter now? It's over. Whatever plans they had they threw out the window when the extreme vocal displeasure grew to a fever pitch. They gave up, which is fine.

ElysaDjinn · 2:06PM

Today was the first time I was able to collect enough vitrified souls for Orinde's quest with each siege camp done. Thanks for sorting that one out, anyway

Also, one thing I have really liked is the gradually-increasing detritus around each siege camp - ballistae, backpacks, tree trunks/felled trees, crates etc etc - not to mention the graves. Nice detail.

And it is a massive relief to know it won't be much longer before phase 2 is over with, it really has been too long an event, as has been said a few times or so by now

AzuraFan · 2:30PM

Destai wrote: »

Future content needs to be more considerate of event-burnout from the get-go and way more generous with the rewards. The latter seems like something you guys really, truly do struggle with. I highly recommend you guys start digging into how to improve rewards in general. Maybe some kind of survey to start, because it's going to keep tanking events if it's not addressed. The game's not really at a point where that's sustainable.

This a gajillion times over. I don't understand why ZOS doesn't seem to learn from previous failures. The anniversary event was a bust because of the miserable drop rates, so they double down on that with the signature event for 2025? Who is making these decisions? Why are they still making these decisions?? And yes, the rewards themselves need to be addressed. They fell way short for this event.

Kilthor69 · 2:46PM

Silufadumar wrote: »

I'm on Xbox Eu....

Do I feel salty?

Damn right I do!

Because I can't see how my server went from a hefty lead all through phase 1 to being 4th (at least) to reach phase 3.

It would have taken a huge influx of players on the other servers to cause such a swing, something would have had to have happened to reinvigorate players interest.... but the opposite is true, as all the comments on this forum can attest.

Many players just gave up on this event, with a 'call me when it's done' attitude that we can't really blame them for.

Yet I still saw plenty of people doing the event every time I logged in, so its not like Xbox Eu suddenly stopped participating.

Something fishy has gone on here and it smells to high Aetherius!

Please Zos, don't do any more events like this if they're not going to be fair.

Signing off...

Captain Salty

It has never been fair. There are more PC players than Xbox so there is no way that the numbers are correct in the first place. PCNA has lagged throughout which just make you go hmmmmmmmm.....................

LootAllTheStuff · 3:22PM

It seems that these daily crafting quests have been created in the

Maythor wrote: »

Any chance of boosting drop rates of the bone shards, despite the wall falling a lot of us will be left still having to aid to bring the wall down to try and get the event rewards we still need!

I wonder if the problem is that the loot roll is structured as a % chance on a % chance? A bit like the Pyandonean motifs from fishing - a "rare" chance to get a bottle, and then a "rare" chance that the bottle contains a motif. The result is that getting a motif equates to legendary odds, even though the drop chance in the bottle loot table is something like 5%.

If they did something similar with the fragments - say an x% chance to drop a rare item, then a y% chance it's a fragment, but there are 2 (? or more?) fragments. That would explain the abysmal RNG on it, because the overall chance of getting the one you want has been massively diluted by all the prior rolls.

ETA: This sort of stuff is why I will always advocate for curated drops on special event items like this.

bobsontpm · 6:28PM

That's really nice. One day you are seeing the progress around 70% and thinks to yourself: nice, I have a week more or less to finish the phase, i will plan my daily activities accordingly, so I will have time to do everything. Then next day you log in and see that the progress in 98.5%, because devs decided it is too slow. Wonderful planning and execution.

<Captain Kirk Double Face Palm here>

And I agree with Writhing Bone Fragments. I'm getting way too many Writhing Haj Motas (3-4x the number of Bones). Something is off with the RNG. The price tag on bones is still at 50k gold, while haj motas are worth nothing nowadays. Shame.

DenverRalphy · 6:31PM

bobsontpm wrote: »

That's really nice. One day you are seeing the progress around 70% and thinks to yourself: nice, I have a week more or less to finish the phase, i will plan my daily activities accordingly, so I will have time to do everything. Then next day you log in and see that the progress in 98.5%, because devs decided it is too slow. Wonderful planning and execution.

<Captain Kirk Double Face Palm here>

Because devs decided it was too slow? Have you not seen the villagers assembling with pitchforks the past 4 weeks?

Tommy_The_Gun · 6:35PM

So umm... is there a content or achievements or collectibles that will become inaccessible after the event ends ?

SilverBride · 6:40PM

bobsontpm wrote: »

That's really nice. One day you are seeing the progress around 70% and thinks to yourself: nice, I have a week more or less to finish the phase, i will plan my daily activities accordingly, so I will have time to do everything. Then next day you log in and see that the progress in 98.5%, because devs decided it is too slow. Wonderful planning and execution.

They didn't increase progress because the devs decided it was too slow. They did it because of feedback from the players that the event was taking too long, as Kevin stated in his post.

metheglyn · 7:39PM

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

So umm... is there a content or achievements or collectibles that will become inaccessible after the event ends ?

The Writhing Fortress will be around for only a week, and the title associated with clearing it can only be obtained then.

laniakea_0 · 7:46PM

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

So umm... is there a content or achievements or collectibles that will become inaccessible after the event ends ?

this is just speculation but I'd imagine the Wormwrithe style pages will also go away but they should come back the next time we have an event about Solstice.

code65536 · 8:06PM

SilverBride wrote: »

did it because of feedback from the players that the event was taking too long, as Kevin stated in his post.

Well, here's some player feedback: they should've left the rate alone. For people who took a healthy, non-grindy approach to the event and only got 3 gold boxes a day--treating it as a background thing that you devote 10 minutes to per day--the long duration meant that we could collect all the collectibles within the duration.

And now that the duration has been cut short, in response to feedback from people who mostly took an unhealthy blue-box-grind approach to the event, we are now getting screwed. So, there you go. That's my player feedback.

code65536 · 8:22PM

@ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_GinaBruno In hindsight, I think the biggest problem with the event was a disconnect between rewards and what expectations were conveyed to the players.

Please allow me to elaborate.

By rewarding players with extra boxes and "wall progress" for extra quests, you signaled to the players that you want them to grind this event. But then the rewards from these blue boxes are essentially worthless, which has led to a lot of backlash that you've seen.

But what if you did this instead: First quest of the day rewards gold box and progress. And additional quests reward... nothing. No blue boxes. No wall progress. Just nothing. (Well, aside from the standard quest gold and XP.) That way, the expectation that you set is that people should be participating by doing one quest per day, but not burning themselves out with a grind. You'll get people to participate in the spectacle of the wall coming down, but people won't feel like you're asking them to treat this like an in-game job.

The fact that this event overlaps with Witches and Daedric War (come on, again? what about a Necrom celebration? ok, ok, I digress) suggests to me that you intended this to be something that happens in the background and that you didn't really intend for people to grind their butts off and burn out. And if that's the case, you've done a very poor job of telegraphing that intent.

I know that your internal APIs refers to this sort of event as a "spectacle", and spectacles are things that players spectate and enjoy, rather than labor at. So, daily gold box, to get players to participate and grab a seat at the spectacle. But no blue boxes or additional progress for additional quests, so that players aren't nudged into turning this spectacle into something laborious.

Oh, and then throw in some double drops (like you've had with all previous chapter events), to get people to enjoy all of Solstice.

(Alternatively, you could make the blue boxes worthwhile, but I'm sure you've gotten plenty of feedback along those lines already, and honestly, I think that's the wrong solution.)

shadoza · 8:38PM

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

It seems that these daily crafting quests have been created in the

Maythor wrote: »

Any chance of boosting drop rates of the bone shards, despite the wall falling a lot of us will be left still having to aid to bring the wall down to try and get the event rewards we still need!

I wonder if the problem is that the loot roll is structured as a % chance on a % chance? A bit like the Pyandonean motifs from fishing - a "rare" chance to get a bottle, and then a "rare" chance that the bottle contains a motif. The result is that getting a motif equates to legendary odds, even though the drop chance in the bottle loot table is something like 5%.

If they did something similar with the fragments - say an x% chance to drop a rare item, then a y% chance it's a fragment, but there are 2 (? or more?) fragments. That would explain the abysmal RNG on it, because the overall chance of getting the one you want has been massively diluted by all the prior rolls.

ETA: This sort of stuff is why I will always advocate for curated drops on special event items like this.

I don't have Solstice so I do benefit from completing this event. I was completing the dailies for that chance drop of a Coldharbor lot. Since that drop is a replacement drop for something that was already a rare drop, it is a very rare action. Playing the same set of quests every day to gain that 1:1,000,000 item was making the game feel punishing. I wanted to stop playing the game. I took the mature route and stopped completing the event instead. An empty coldharbor lot isn't worth this kind of effort, especially if it is not going to fall unless you purchased the pass. I pay $180 every year for this game, why am I asked to pay more to play? The RNG is so bad in so many places that I have lost interest in many of the collectable items and some resources, like the Nirns in Craglorn only.

TravisVincent · 8:41PM

The whole thing now feels very rigged so all servers finish around Nov 20th. It also feels rigged that PS NA was first to finish phase 2 but we were given a 19 hour delay before we can even do the fortress. Clearly that delay didn't apply to PS EU which already has breached the fortress per the website.

If they needed to speed up the event they should have sped it up more during the "first" adjustment in October. While they say it was at the behest of players, it now feels they let the event drag until Xbox and PS got update 48 yesterday and was more of a dev decision. Then on the same day sped up the event so all servers breach phase 2 within 24 hours of each other. It feels like they held everything back so PS/Xbox got to fight the WB introduced during phase 2 that was broken for a few hours just before phase 2 ended. Except for PC NA and XBox NA the other servers were all ready to move to phase 3 around Friday of this week.

I actually generally enjoyed the event until this last speed up. I think my bigger gripe is the 19 hour delay which now feels arbitrary. Yes there were problems with the rewards in the blue boxes and some oddities with the fragment drop rates, but those go to lessons learned for future events.

Personally when this was announced I expected roughly 8-10 days per phase 1/2 putting this on a 3-4 week timeline ensuring one weekend of play on each phase no matter anyone's schedule.

LootAllTheStuff · 9:01PM

shadoza wrote: »

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

It seems that these daily crafting quests have been created in the

Maythor wrote: »

Any chance of boosting drop rates of the bone shards, despite the wall falling a lot of us will be left still having to aid to bring the wall down to try and get the event rewards we still need!

I wonder if the problem is that the loot roll is structured as a % chance on a % chance? A bit like the Pyandonean motifs from fishing - a "rare" chance to get a bottle, and then a "rare" chance that the bottle contains a motif. The result is that getting a motif equates to legendary odds, even though the drop chance in the bottle loot table is something like 5%.

If they did something similar with the fragments - say an x% chance to drop a rare item, then a y% chance it's a fragment, but there are 2 (? or more?) fragments. That would explain the abysmal RNG on it, because the overall chance of getting the one you want has been massively diluted by all the prior rolls.

ETA: This sort of stuff is why I will always advocate for curated drops on special event items like this.

I don't have Solstice so I do benefit from completing this event. I was completing the dailies for that chance drop of a Coldharbor lot. Since that drop is a replacement drop for something that was already a rare drop, it is a very rare action. Playing the same set of quests every day to gain that 1:1,000,000 item was making the game feel punishing. I wanted to stop playing the game. I took the mature route and stopped completing the event instead. An empty coldharbor lot isn't worth this kind of effort, especially if it is not going to fall unless you purchased the pass. I pay $180 every year for this game, why am I asked to pay more to play? The RNG is so bad in so many places that I have lost interest in many of the collectable items and some resources, like the Nirns in Craglorn only.

I hate to break it to you, but you could get that drop without having the pass - the rarity had nothing to do with access to Solstice, and the drop could be obtained from blue as well as gold boxes. I did in fact get the plot of land, although I have no idea what to do with it, and I don't have Solstice either. But as far as I am concerned the drop chance really is too low for a special event without curated loot.