Burnout vs. Monetization: Why the endless grind is killing Housing

Rishikesa108 · July 28

If you keep forcing the playerbase into an endless grind of dailies and dynamic encounters with massive downtime, players simply won’t have time for anything else—including housing.
I’m not sure it’s in ZOS's best interest to starve players of time for housing.
As a huge housing enthusiast, I haven't been able to dedicate time to it for ages.
Wasn't housing supposed to be one of the most profitable systems for ZOS? I just don’t get the strategy here..

Gagoimaliu · July 28

Dailies are completely optional, you don't have to do them. But I agree, it gets to a point where I log in just to do dailies and don't even have the will to play the game, between Writs, Undaunted, Favours, Thieves Guild, daily BGs and Dungeons.

It's just a way to get you to login every day, same with the login rewards we had before, how many people log in just to do dailies and log off? I'd understand it if the rewards were good, but apart from motifs, the dailies just don't really offer good rewards?

I do a Heist, Reacquisition and the Frerunner's Board, what do I get? in the past 3 days it's a motif I already have, some random items I can sell, and a piece of gear I already have.

I suppose at least it's free stuff I can break down for mats

Gabriel_H · July 28

Some people don't like housing, some don't like Thieves Guild related stuff, some don't like overland of any kind, some don't like dungeons, some don't like trials, some don't like PvP. And of course, the opposite is true.

Now build a game that caters to the most players possible. That does leave some feeling burnout, typically players who want to do it all (looks in the mirror), which is why I don't do it all, all at the same time. There's new overland content - i'll do that and it is now finished. There are new dailies - I'll fit those into my cycle (that as of today is down to 4 daily quests plus crafting as I don't need anything from any of the others). I have a dungeon group that runs on a Monday. A prog group that runs on a Sunday. A trial group that runs on a Wednesday.

Any other day of the week, after all of 15 minutes doing dailies I might run a couple of IA arcs, or a dungeon or two, or help out in a trial, or do some PvP, or just log off.

If I tried to do it all in the same day I'd burnout. There has to be a sensible approach and an understanding that some things will take time to complete.

thedocbwarren · July 29

This is all too grindy and time consuming and it's seriously burning me out. I haven't even tried the new thieves guild stuff as I'm just exhausted from all the tome stuff. I kind of appreciate the things to do but I also don't. I can't be doing with it.

Luneca · July 29

Rishikesa108 wrote: »

If you keep forcing the playerbase into an endless grind of dailies and dynamic encounters with massive downtime, players simply won’t have time for anything else—including housing.
I’m not sure it’s in ZOS's best interest to starve players of time for housing.
As a huge housing enthusiast, I haven't been able to dedicate time to it for ages.
Wasn't housing supposed to be one of the most profitable systems for ZOS? I just don’t get the strategy here..

Are people really forced to do it? I am skipping dynamic encounters.

CalamityCat · July 29

How are you being forced?

All I've done on the tomes chore list is kill 3 world bosses because I had rolled over 3 copies of it. I did one of the allegedly dynamic encounters to get the Vestige achievement thing. I'll do more if we get a reliable way to know when they're going to start. I prefer the infestations system in Fallout 76.

Otherwise, I do whatever I want when I login. PvP one night, PvE the next, update a few builds or do some questing/exploration. Some days I even play other games. I'm working through the new Thieves Guild stuff and enjoying it.

The way to avoid grind burnout is to stop chasing ESO chore lists/dailies and just ask yourself, "what do I want to do in ESO today?" Play for fun, not like it's your second job.

SerafinaWaterstar · July 29

The way to avoid grind burnout is to stop chasing ESO chore lists/dailies and just ask yourself, "what do I want to do in ESO today?" Play for fun, not like it's your second job.

Absolutely the best advice.

(My issues with housing are that I have too many & that once I start decorating the hours slip away & suddenly its 4am & I have work in the morning….)

LunaFlora · July 29

agree yes

rockDokRock · July 29

Rishikesa108 wrote: »

If you keep forcing the playerbase into an endless grind of dailies and dynamic encounters with massive downtime, players simply won’t have time for anything else—including housing.
I’m not sure it’s in ZOS's best interest to starve players of time for housing.
As a huge housing enthusiast, I haven't been able to dedicate time to it for ages.
Wasn't housing supposed to be one of the most profitable systems for ZOS? I just don’t get the strategy here..

You are suffering from the classic FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Just don't. Don't sell of your personal time that cheaply for junk rewards. The tome thing? I've never checked the objectives once, I dont' care.

Occasionally there will be an item or two I'm interested in and I'll *beat it in mind* while I am playing doing the content I want to do. I'll make the tangent if it's convenient (I got the theives guild house thing that way for example).

Pick and choose what matters and don't get distracted. That's what they want; constantly chasing objectives for various low value prizes. What is your time worth?

Just be more selective. You can't miss what you never had ergo there "is no missing out".

DoofusMax · July 29

Speaking strictly for myself, and I've been a regular player for five years or a bit more, I'm only starting to get into housing. I own a lot of houses but mostly use them as furnishing dumps and recall points. Housing is not something which I ever see becoming a full-time project, but anyone else who wants to is absolutely free to do that. If you think that dailies and events are taking time away from housing, then ignore them and go decorate. Endgame is whatever you decide it is and dailies/events can either be a break from the usual routines or they can become routines in and of themselves. Which is which is entirely up to you.

haleysarahw · July 29

If you're not gaining enjoyment from the dynamic encounters, dailies, etc., just don't do them. Video games should be a fun use of your free time. If you feel that housing is the most fun thing you can do on ESO, do that instead of the stuff you don't like or the stuff you find burnout-inducing.

gamergirldk · July 29

If you're not gaining enjoyment from the dynamic encounters, dailies, etc., just don't do them. Video games should be a fun use of your free time. If you feel that housing is the most fun thing you can do on ESO, do that instead of the stuff you don't like or the stuff you find burnout-inducing.

I can only agree, gaming is supposed to be a fun not a chore you hate.

agelonestar · July 29

And the best furnishings plans are locked behind dailies, shrouded in the kind of RNG (often broken) that only ZoS could dream up.

Yeah, I don’t get the strategy either.

freespirit · July 29

I love housing and like @SerafinaWaterstar I often lose many hours whilst decorating.

The issue that is problematic is that it's very expensive and you have to have a good steady income to enable full enjoyment of decorating.

This is where you can end up doing stuff you'd rather not just to afford to decorate that house that's calling to you "Hey I'm still empty, why are you ignoring me!"

Not only are plans buried under what seems to be never ending layers of RNG, way too many of the nicest furnishings are also buried in the Crown Store and not cheaply either!

I choose to earn gold through trading and buy those elusive plans, I also buy most if not all of my furnishing mats. To do this I have to keep all my stores constantly full and that takes more time than I would like.

I occasionally farm plans but I don't really enjoy it because the drop rates are so awful. Once a year on the Anniversary, for the whole event, I do every crafting daily I can across three accounts and stock up on anything and everything that will earn me money as the year goes on. Currently I have three alts stocked to the rafters with motifs, I already see prices recovering but I will sit on them for at least another couple of months.

There are other items that I save and sell later because over the years I've learned what works, for people with only a couple hours a day to play this strategy is nigh on impossible.