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• PC/Mac: No maintenance – August 3
• ESO Store and Account System for maintenance – August 4, 5:00AM EDT (9:00 UTC) - 4:00PM EDT (20:00 UTC)
Good news for ESO!...maybe?
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Lugaldu✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭I’m not sure, but even if it’s just PR talk, it does put my mind at rest personally after the last 10 days, during which I’ve been worried that ESO would be shut down any day now. And ultimately, it doesn’t matter to me anyway, because the only reason I joined ESO eight years ago and stuck with it is because I’m waiting for TES VI... So whatever is being funded and whatever they’re working on, for me it’s a win-win situation, as I don’t play any games other than ESO or TES.0 -
Warhawke_80✭✭✭✭✭
✭ESO isn't mentioned by name...that is worrisome.““Elric knew. The sword told him, without words of any sort. Stormbringer needed to fight, for that was its reason for existence...”― Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné8 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭PR speak. It means nothing. The goal of PR is to counter the concerned sentiment of the customer base with vague hopeful doublespeak.
The proof will be in the pudding, when the games are developed and become BETTER than what they have been. This is key. ESO is already using old assets to make "new" content. Subclassing, Solstace, etc. When I see a new zone, a new class, content that is worthy of a seasonal purchase on top of a monthly sub, then I will spend my money. As it stands, I see no reason to continue to invest into ESO.
Words are hollow, we need action (and yes "derp" I know future development takes time, but I sat the last year out due to mediocre offerings, I can easily sit the next out).
"a fool and his money are soon parted"- Defense of the Government of the Church of England c. 15877 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭
Absolutely, you can bet your bottom dollar this was run through the lawyer team first."a fool and his money are soon parted"- Defense of the Government of the Church of England c. 15873 -
MorallyBipolar✭✭✭✭✭Nemesis7884 wrote: »
We'll see. Until there is an improvement nothing has changed.3 -
Warhawke_80✭✭✭✭✭
✭MorallyBipolar wrote: »Nemesis7884 wrote: »
We'll see. Until there is an improvement nothing has changed.
That's pretty much the bottom line...I think they have had enough time to tell us what's going on....this tiptoeing around the subject is ridiculous.““Elric knew. The sword told him, without words of any sort. Stormbringer needed to fight, for that was its reason for existence...”― Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné5 -
Gagoimaliu✭✭✭Sounds like ZOS will effectively be another BGS branch. Under this light, it might make sense to trim the leadership.
Still. Not really sure how any of this is going to work.
I assume (this is all guesswork but let's hope?) that the positions that were let go on the ZoS side will just be filled in by people from Beth, essentially making both studios one big team that will have people working on both ES6 and ESO, basically making like a cross-studio TES team
It's concerning for things like crunch and just generally working on two projects, but it might actually prove a good thing to have some continuity between the two, we might even start seeing ES6 teases in ESO (the quality of which is the real question)2 -
SkaiFaith✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Gagoimaliu wrote: »Sounds like ZOS will effectively be another BGS branch. Under this light, it might make sense to trim the leadership.
Still. Not really sure how any of this is going to work.
I assume (this is all guesswork but let's hope?) that the positions that were let go on the ZoS side will just be filled in by people from Beth, essentially making both studios one big team that will have people working on both ES6 and ESO, basically making like a cross-studio TES team
It's concerning for things like crunch and just generally working on two projects, but it might actually prove a good thing to have some continuity between the two, we might even start seeing ES6 teases in ESO (the quality of which is the real question)
Which makes me wonder...will this forum continue to exist?
EDIT: I'm not touching Discord for sure. I also recently commented about being happy to see streams uploaded to YouTube 'cause I won't touch Twitch either.Edited by SkaiFaith on 17 July 2026 18:16"..........Anyway, here's how
to tell if your RPG
sign is cheap" - Tony(?)0 -
Warhawke_80✭✭✭✭✭
✭Gagoimaliu wrote: »Sounds like ZOS will effectively be another BGS branch. Under this light, it might make sense to trim the leadership.
Still. Not really sure how any of this is going to work.
I assume (this is all guesswork but let's hope?) that the positions that were let go on the ZoS side will just be filled in by people from Beth, essentially making both studios one big team that will have people working on both ES6 and ESO, basically making like a cross-studio TES team
It's concerning for things like crunch and just generally working on two projects, but it might actually prove a good thing to have some continuity between the two, we might even start seeing ES6 teases in ESO (the quality of which is the real question)
Which makes me wonder...will this forum continue to exist?
EDIT: I'm not touching Discord for sure. I also recently commented about being happy to see streams uploaded to YouTube 'cause I won't touch Twitch either.
Yeah Neverwinter closed their forums and the discord they used to replace it with never took off so the community is pretty much dead...I know I wouldn't touch Discord with a ten foot pole““Elric knew. The sword told him, without words of any sort. Stormbringer needed to fight, for that was its reason for existence...”― Michael Moorcock, Elric of Melniboné5 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭Gagoimaliu wrote: »Sounds like ZOS will effectively be another BGS branch. Under this light, it might make sense to trim the leadership.
Still. Not really sure how any of this is going to work.
I assume (this is all guesswork but let's hope?) that the positions that were let go on the ZoS side will just be filled in by people from Beth, essentially making both studios one big team that will have people working on both ES6 and ESO, basically making like a cross-studio TES team
It's concerning for things like crunch and just generally working on two projects, but it might actually prove a good thing to have some continuity between the two, we might even start seeing ES6 teases in ESO (the quality of which is the real question)
I am concerned because from a workflow standpoint its not as easy as changing gears to go from developing a single player game to developing an MMO.
MMO's due to a ton of people being rendered on the screen are generally going to take a hit to the graphics/fidelity vs a single player game. This is in part why single player games are always more immersive, by leaps and bounds.
The same artist working on a single player game for months on end, who then has to work on an MMORPG will require a different skillset when it comes to making the art for the mmo.
I imagine the same goes for coding, animations, features, etc. I am not saying it can't be done, but it will never be a smooth transition which will result in performance issues, bugs etc, on top of the normal amount of performance and bug issues already expected.
"a fool and his money are soon parted"- Defense of the Government of the Church of England c. 15875 -
Gagoimaliu✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Gagoimaliu wrote: »Sounds like ZOS will effectively be another BGS branch. Under this light, it might make sense to trim the leadership.
Still. Not really sure how any of this is going to work.
I assume (this is all guesswork but let's hope?) that the positions that were let go on the ZoS side will just be filled in by people from Beth, essentially making both studios one big team that will have people working on both ES6 and ESO, basically making like a cross-studio TES team
It's concerning for things like crunch and just generally working on two projects, but it might actually prove a good thing to have some continuity between the two, we might even start seeing ES6 teases in ESO (the quality of which is the real question)
I am concerned because from a workflow standpoint its not as easy as changing gears to go from developing a single player game to developing an MMO.
MMO's due to a ton of people being rendered on the screen are generally going to take a hit to the graphics/fidelity vs a single player game. This is in part why single player games are always more immersive, by leaps and bounds.
The same artist working on a single player game for months on end, who then has to work on an MMORPG will require a different skillset when it comes to making the art for the mmo.
I imagine the same goes for coding, animations, features, etc. I am not saying it can't be done, but it will never be a smooth transition which will result in performance issues, bugs etc, on top of the normal amount of performance and bug issues already expected.
If I was in charge of this scenario, I would mostly bring over music and art people, I don't know how it works behind the scenes, but I'd assume the workflow would be different, but as not as drastic as bringing over coders or programmers from a singleplayer game to an MMO. For all we know it could be just a collaboration for QA and bug testing, we don't really know.
Like drawing loading screens, composing music and writing the lore books and side-quests (emphasis on side quests) I assume would be fairly similar between both medias, with a bit of adjustment.1 -
AzuraFan✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭All of this reminds me of when gamers see a company register a domain and there's a flurry of speculation about what it means or where a game will be set, or when someone is friends with the girlfriend of a dev on a potential upcoming game, and when she utters a sentence about the game, a 1000-word article is written that analyzes the 10-word sentence and comes up with the exact date the game will be released.
We'll find out what's happening with ESO when they release the updated roadmap. Until then, it's all speculation. The only thing that surprised me in that PR tweet was that they'll still be creating content for Starfield. Otherwise, there's really no new information there.
I also find it interesting that the CEO knew Howard would be posting that information and had her PR team retweet it, which seems to indicate that she's keeping close tabs on what Bethesda is planning and doing. No more toiling away for a decade on a project with nobody checking in to see how it's going. And hopefully TES7 will arrive a few years after TES6. Let's get back to the good old days where that's concerned.2 -
Gagoimaliu✭✭✭Warhawke_80 wrote: »Gagoimaliu wrote: »Sounds like ZOS will effectively be another BGS branch. Under this light, it might make sense to trim the leadership.
Still. Not really sure how any of this is going to work.
I assume (this is all guesswork but let's hope?) that the positions that were let go on the ZoS side will just be filled in by people from Beth, essentially making both studios one big team that will have people working on both ES6 and ESO, basically making like a cross-studio TES team
It's concerning for things like crunch and just generally working on two projects, but it might actually prove a good thing to have some continuity between the two, we might even start seeing ES6 teases in ESO (the quality of which is the real question)
Which makes me wonder...will this forum continue to exist?
EDIT: I'm not touching Discord for sure. I also recently commented about being happy to see streams uploaded to YouTube 'cause I won't touch Twitch either.
Yeah Neverwinter closed their forums and the discord they used to replace it with never took off so the community is pretty much dead...I know I wouldn't touch Discord with a ten foot pole
Eeh, Neverwinter has its own share of problems that ESO doesn't have or doesn't have to that effect. Cryptic hasn't really had a good MMO since ***, they have fun mmos, but not quality ones. I can't really comment on management but most MMOs still have their forums up (WoW, LOTRO, GW2 I think as well) so the chances of shutting down the forums are small but never zero.0 -
thedocbwarren✭✭✭✭Maybe I'm getting too much meaning from the statement, but it all makes sense to me. They will merge the teams up and use the resources that have actually been able to produce something (ESO) to help make ES: VI something other than near vaporware. They probably feel they have everything in a state they can maintain ESO, in current state, and need to get the property in order with the single player games (which IMHO was obviously not in BE's interest any more.) I also read that management had felt they need single player games for the XBox brand and that makes sense to me as well. All questions on investment in the gaming industry aside, this all makes sense to me what is happening.3 -
HatchetHaro✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Okay, a lot of this is just corpo PR-speak, and I'm not buying it. I genuinely don't see much coming out of this "close partnership".
I can see them collaborating on high-level creative elements like voice acting, music, lore, quests, maybe concept art. These are TES-related, after all, so it's not far-fetched to propose that they'd be sharing music and writing teams to keep the TES universe cohesive.
But it's unlikely they'd want to collaborate on things like game design, combat design, animations, modeling, texturing, materials, special effects, scripting, engineering, etc. TESO is just such a fundamentally different game from TES:V/VI; the engine, the gameplay, the art direction, the geometry budget, the shaders, the tech backbone, it's all different!
And so if they do decide to share employee resources, the onboarding hurdles would be massive and incredibly inefficient. Engineers would have to learn a completely alien codebase, 3D artists would have to model for a completely different poly-budget, texture artists would have to master a whole new art-bible, technical artists would have to learn completely different shaders and pipelines, and combat designers would have to throw out their existing expertise and study a whole new game-design document.
On a peer-to-peer studio level, sharing these technical pipelines just doesn't make sense. It's all a public-relations spin to make a corporate restructure sound like a creative win.
Edited by HatchetHaro on 17 July 2026 18:36Best Argonian NA and I will fight anyone for it
20 Argonians
7x IR, 7x GH, 8x TTT, 5x GS, 6x DB, 1x PB, 4x SBS, 1x MM, 1x US, 2x CB, 1x Unchained7 -
Gagoimaliu✭✭✭thedocbwarren wrote: »Maybe I'm getting too much meaning from the statement, but it all makes sense to me. They will merge the teams up and use the resources that have actually been able to produce something (ESO) to help make ES: VI something other than near vaporware. They probably feel they have everything in a state they can maintain ESO, in current state, and need to get the property in order with the single player games (which IMHO was obviously not in BE's interest any more.) I also read that management had felt they need single player games for the XBox brand and that makes sense to me as well. All questions on investment in the gaming industry aside, this all makes sense to me what is happening.
The news that Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game also gives me hope after TES VI releases, we might get more TES games from Obsidian or even other studios to sort of bridge the gaps between the main series, kind of like how we had Redguard and Battlespire between II and III1 -
Gagoimaliu✭✭✭HatchetHaro wrote: »Okay, a lot of this is just corpo PR-speak, and I'm not buying it. I genuinely don't see much coming out of this "close partnership".
I can see them collaborating on high-level creative elements like voice acting, music, lore, quests, maybe concept art. These are TES-related, after all, so it's not far-fetched to propose that they'd be sharing music and writing teams to keep the TES universe cohesive.
But it's unlikely they'd want to collaborate on things like game design, combat design, animations, modeling, texturing, materials, special effects, scripting, engineering, etc. TESO is just such a fundamentally different game from TES:V/VI; the engine, the gameplay, the art direction, the geometry budget, the shaders, the tech backbone, it's all different!
And so if they do decide to share employee resources, the onboarding hurdles would be massive and incredibly inefficient. Engineers would have to learn a completely alien codebase, 3D artists would have to model for a completely different poly-budget, texture artists would have to master a whole new art-bible, technical artists would have to learn completely different shaders and pipelines, and combat designers would have to throw out their existing expertise and study a whole new game-design document.
On a peer-to-peer studio level, sharing these technical pipelines just doesn't make sense. It's all a public-relations spin to make a corporate restructure sound like a creative win.
Most likely nothing technical, we can't really know for sure, especially because the news just broke. But I imagine (remember, all we can do is guess and predict and think) they might want visual consistency between the two games, so if we ever end up getting a new zone set in Hammerfell, which everyone thinks is where TES VI is. I can see them sharing some textures or art just so players can go "Oh hey, I remember this place" or "Wow, nothing's changed"0 -
Erickson9610✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭And hopefully TES7 will arrive a few years after TES6. Let's get back to the good old days where that's concerned.
I can't imagine that happening. If we're really getting TES VI and Fallout 5 like they claim, we can expect they'll be just like TES V and Fallout 4 in terms of their monetization model (which they did talk about, interestingly!)
In short, TES VI and Fallout 5 will make continual revenue by selling community-made mods ("Creations"). TES V and Fallout 4 are already doing this. Instead of Bethesda spending money to create DLC for the game, they instead have us, the community, make the DLC for them, and so effectively they get revenue for free.
It would be unwise to jump ship onto TES VII and Fallout 6 after only a few years of TES VI and Fallout 5 establishing their modding communities.Edited by Erickson9610 on 17 July 2026 18:48PC/NA — Lone Werewolf
Werewolf Should be Allowed to Sneak Prowling added in Update 50!
Please give us Werewolf Skill Styles (for customizing our fur color) Added in Update 50!, Grimoires/Scribing skills (to fill in the holes in our builds), and Companions (to transform with).0 -
Joe_90✭✭I do enjoy a bit of superstition and conjecture mixed with falsehoods and wishful thinking. A concoction to be savoured.4 -
shadyjane62✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭What is the point in continuing to play ESO they just announced everything is for the single player games and even ZOS is mentioned as support for Bethesda in those games.
They got rid of half the people in ESO development and the remaining people will now be working on the single player games like Elder Scroll 6 and Fallout 5.
What is left for us?Edited by shadyjane62 on 17 July 2026 19:407 -
AzuraFan✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭Erickson9610 wrote: »It would be unwise to jump ship onto TES VII and Fallout 6 after only a few years of TES VI and Fallout 5 establishing their modding communities.
But they did that with TES4 and TES5. There was only 5 years between Oblivion and Skyrim. There are still people with Morrowind as their main TES game. So for sure, the gaps between games will be no longer than 5 years, and potentially shorter.2 -
Rungar✭✭✭✭✭
✭sounds like the eso team, or whatsleft will be working on es6 and updating eso when they have downtime. I cant see it being any other way. I guess they want to milk this old withered cow to the last drop.
of course i dont have much hope for es6 either lol. It could be good.. if someone other than bethesda was making it. Bethesda jumped the shark with skyrim.only a few years left to go now....
Current ideas for ESO improvement
Rungar's Mystical Emporium of Ideas junkyard4 -
Nemesis7884✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭sounds like the eso team, or whatsleft will be working on es6 and updating eso when they have downtime. I cant see it being any other way. I guess they want to milk this old withered cow to the last drop.
of course i dont have much hope for es6 either lol. It could be good.. if someone other than bethesda was making it. Bethesda jumped the shark with skyrim.
Imagine instaed of gta rocksrar made a open world fantasy rpg...0 -
colossalvoids✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭tomofhyrule wrote: »Honestly still sounds like PR speak for “we don’t have answers yet, but please don’t abandon ship just yet!”
Same here0 -
Erickson9610✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭Erickson9610 wrote: »It would be unwise to jump ship onto TES VII and Fallout 6 after only a few years of TES VI and Fallout 5 establishing their modding communities.
But they did that with TES4 and TES5. There was only 5 years between Oblivion and Skyrim. There are still people with Morrowind as their main TES game. So for sure, the gaps between games will be no longer than 5 years, and potentially shorter.
The difference is in how games are monetized nowadays.
Back then, you made your money by creating games and moving on to making more games. Then somewhere along the way, it became possible to charge extra for DLC, which didn't require an entirely new game.
But nowadays, games like TES V: Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4 primarily get their revenue from in-game microtransactions. You can think of the price of the game itself as just an entry fee; you can only buy the game once, but you can buy Creation Credits an unlimited number of times.
The best part about this new monetization model is, you don't even need to pay developers directly to make DLC for your games. Mod creators get a cut of the revenue from their Creation when someone spends Creation Credits on it, but Bethesda didn't pay the mod creators while they were making their mod. This is a way to create DLC for your game without needing to invest time or money — just have your modding community make it for you instead.
This is why we shouldn't expect another mainline TES or Fallout game after TES VI and Fallout 5, at least within the next 10 or so years after those games release. We already know both of these sequels are going to reuse the same monetization model that TES V and Fallout 4 used. It was talked about in that article, where Bethesda highlighted how awesome it was that the modding community gets to create their own experience.
The only reason we got TES V so quickly after TES IV was because TES IV wasn't equipped with this new monetization model. Remember, video games are businesses, and it's far more cost effective to outsource your development to freelance modders who want a cut of the revenue than it is to employ a team of people in the studio to make new games and DLCs themselves. People have been waiting for TES VI for so long that it's all but guaranteed to draw in a large number of people, several of which will buy Creation Credits.PC/NA — Lone Werewolf
Werewolf Should be Allowed to Sneak Prowling added in Update 50!
Please give us Werewolf Skill Styles (for customizing our fur color) Added in Update 50!, Grimoires/Scribing skills (to fill in the holes in our builds), and Companions (to transform with).0 -
Zodiarkslayer✭✭✭✭✭
✭I am in a close partnership with my wife. If I struggle she's there for me. If she needs help, I'll support her, no matter what.
This is the nature of a partnership. I don't know where y'all get your one sided ideas of partnerships, but it doesn't sound like being partners to me. What y'all describing is more like subordination.
How the partnership between ZOS and BGS is going to look like, will mainly be determined by the respective studio heads and how the Zenimax/XBox board will prioritize.
I think, most ESO players just don't trust management any more. That's why everything is just doom and gloom.No Effort, No Reward?
No Reward, No Effort!2
