I'll be real, I wasn't much of a fan of eso's music besides the tracks that were inspired by Jeremy Soule and the original titles. Not that he deserves to be fired for that, clearly he had fans here. But coming from games like elden ring/dark souls/bloodborne, Halo with Marty O'Donnell specifically, and so on I am not really up in arms over eso's music. Jeremy Soule was the man that made elder scrolls music so iconic and thats the caliber I want for eso.

Probably an unpopular sentiment here, not meant to ruffle feathers, but still want it to be said. Not enough people were up in arms over Soule and this isnt the first time something like this happened in Bethesda/Zenimax, so to me its a too little too late situation. They've lost a lot of good talent prior because of issues I am sure I cant even get into here, so yea. Im not demanding they rehire anyone when fans should've done this prior before.

BardokRedSnow wrote: »

Jeremy Soule was the man that made elder scrolls music so iconic and thats the caliber I want for eso.

Well, that's not the caliber you're going to get because now, instead of Derrick, it will be AI slop music. It's not like they're going to hire anyone, especially not anyone who would be above Derrick's pay grade. As for the rest, what Froil said.

I'm annoyed we never really got a great big bawdy tavern number for dancing. Sway as we kiss is good inn music but it's also pretty slow

That said, the fact that I'd have loved to get more music from him shows what a great talent he was. They say all great musicians should leave them wanting more and he absolutely did that. I hope he lands on his feet with another game they'd be lucky to have him.

SolidBeast wrote: »

BardokRedSnow wrote: »

Jeremy Soule was the man that made elder scrolls music so iconic and thats the caliber I want for eso.

Well, that's not the caliber you're going to get because now, instead of Derrick, it will be AI slop music. It's not like they're going to hire anyone, especially not anyone who would be above Derrick's pay grade. As for the rest, what Froil said.

Is what it is, still not settling for less just because its not AI

Sad news.




Thanks for "Yearning for Moonshadow" and many others @ZOS_SoundMaster
https://youtu.be/VPlXbLH4hp0?si=UB5eBAw_MkJE87hd

Marto wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I think the truth is…they just don’t have enough work for him anymore. Without new chapters which gave us big, new zones, they can just reuse the music they have and not make any new tracks.

I think the tracks he did that I enjoy the most are those you hear when you enter the Cyrodiil campaigns at the faction gates, they are inspiring and set the tone for some great PvP. The sad violin music in the zone is also like an emotional reflection of the people who are still there struggling amidst the chaos that the war has brought them.

I'm sorry, but that's a ridiculous justification. Firing the music composer because ESO is winding down to one new zone every two years makes no sense.

Most major MMOs release an expansion every 2 years. Do you see them lay off their composer because "they don't have much work for them anymore"?

Even if you take the most pessimistic point of view, laying off Brad Derrick makes no business sense. You think ESO is at a point where they can just reuse existing music? Well, he's still the audio director and the class refreshes means there's a lot of audio work to be done. You think it makes more business sense for ZOS to be small and get help from BGS? Well, BGS doesn't have a composer they can share.

He was really irreplaceable. And even if you for some reason believe he was replaceable... Well, they didn't replace him.

This decision is just going to bite them in the ass and create problems down the line. And I doubt Microsoft will take accountability for it.

I am not justifying what they did, just saying things like that happen in business all the time. We don’t know what they plan to do now, we don’t even have this new roadmap yet.

I understand you're just trying to make sense of the situation. What you're saying is more or less "It sucks, but this is how the world works". And the point I'm trying to make is that this is not how the world works, this is not how business works, and this is not how the MMO industry works.

According to this report by PC Gamer, ESO made $2 billion revenue in 10 years. This is equivalent to $16.7 million every month, on average.

Final Fantasy XIV, a game that is pretty universally considered to be the #2 biggest traditional MMORPG in the west, with World of Warcraft as #1, and ESO somewhere between #3-#5... has about 1 million active subscribers, according to a community-made census. That equates to less than $15 million every month. There's a bit of nuance to this number, as that game only gets an expansion every 2 years, so it's expected their revenue fluctuates.

This year, Final Fantasy XIV will celebrate three conventions in North America, Europe, and Japan. Including a music tour by the composer and a band playing the game's music.

This year, ESO celebrated one mini-convention in Germany, right when we learn they laid off the studio directors, chief producer, chief service manager, lead writer and the entire writing team, lead encounter designer and the entire encounters team, community manager, and music composer. And the entire German community team that organized the event.

Here is the budget provided for the creative director of Final Fantasy XIV


Here is the budget provided for the creative director of The Elder Scrolls Online


The game on the bottom is equally, or perhaps even more financially successful. And this is how they treat their devs? A cheap prop-up on some corner next to a rusty metal curtain?

I'm sorry but this situation is nothing more and nothing less than

BULL

***

ESO, even in the state it's in right now, could've had fan meetups in NA. It could've continued to have zone updates. It could've had musical tours.

ESO is not struggling as much as people think it is. Microsoft is bleeding it dry, and not giving it the budget it needs and deserves.

Other than venting and being angry until I'm exhausted? I guess the only points I'm really making are

• ESO was not doing poorly enough financially to justify the layoffs. Equally successful games have similarly sized or even larger teams.
• ESO deserved a higher budget. They were more profitable than other Microsoft properties, but never received the manpower and resources they needed. Their budget was not proportional to their success.
• We as consumers must demand better. The game is asking for more of our money than ever before, while delivering less content than ever before, and while we see the developers and artists behind the game we love lose their jobs.
• Music is one of the core elements of The Elder Scrolls as a franchise. Microsoft's decision to lay off Brad Derrick and the audio team must be reversed ASAP.