Hey Folks!
Well, Night Market has officially launched, and we have been sharing in everyone’s trials, tribulations, delights, and despises over the past week or so. We felt it would be a good time to give a bit of an update to what we have seen feedback wise, share some of the results we have seen on server, and identify some key areas we will look to improve when Night Market returns.
First of all, we appreciate how much folks have embraced Night Market and the first foray into brand-new content within ESO that is experimental in nature. We took some big swings with Night Market in really pushing the challenge and group aspects of the game and you all have let us know your thoughts. Absolutely keep that feedback coming.
We have also spent some time addressing issues that cropped up that you can really only see at scale. Splinter Fragments from coffers are now guaranteed so you are not at the mercy of RNG to join your group tackling Gilded and Opulent enemies with the Relics. No one likes battling in a Skirmish along with a passing Calamitous just to die and not get credit so we adjusted the range for those to make sure you get credit after returning to an Oases (did you know Oases was the plural of Oasis? I know I didn’t until we had to write a patch note). Thanks to your reports we also saw fewer numbers of Faceted enemies than intended so we took a pass to beef up those numbers. Also, the Web Eater from Opulent Ordeal was very resistant to taxidermic efforts and we made sure the Trophy and Bust should drop from the Ordeal once complete. There is still a lot more feedback out there, some we will try to address soon, while others will have to wait for the next time.
Speaking of next time. We have looked at the feedback to create a backlog of potential areas we want to focus on when Night Market comes back. Here are some of the big feedback points we have written down. These would be issues we would look at first to see how/if we can address them:
• We identified the UI could be a bit cleaner as far as explaining the core loop so we will try and take a pass at that.
• Feedback regarding the faction points influencing faction choice (specifically seeing the scores before making a choice) is also heard and we will look at what we can do to address that.
• We have some new features you did not see in this iteration as well, but I won’t spoil those.
• Population within the Night Market has seen its fair share of feedback as well with folks noting they wished the population was a bit higher. We crafted the experience to fit within the current population limits and adding (or taking away) would potentially cause a detrimental experience in public areas. That said, for future iterations of the Night Market we will re-evaluate these population caps given the newfound data and feedback.
• There is also feedback regarding difficulty and balance. We knew that balance would be a key area for folks stepping in here. It was one of the aspects we wrestled with in development and testing. What we have seen is that players that come with a group or find one via group finder are generally having a much better time than those trying to go it alone. This is something we will dive into the data once Night Market is finished to see what, if any, adjustments we can (or should) make there. (For example, adding a pop-up to the districts zone-in similar to what we currently have for dungeons and trials that warns about the difficulty and suggests finding allies via the group finder.) We want Night Market to encourage grouping and reward players for those choices but there is something to be said about having some solo-oriented activities.
• Rewards are another area we have seen lots of feedback. We understand that folks may not be keen on the rewards for some of the aspects of the Night Market (overland sets?) so we can take a hard look at that for the next iteration too.
So, how is the Night Market? Glad you asked! So many of you have jumped in and tried your hand at what the Night Market has to offer we couldn’t be more pleased. Not only that but you are spending more time and been more engaged when you DO venture into the Night Market! We have seen a spike in played time for folks the past week which means those that have engaged are finding lots to do. The LFG system has also seen its highest usage ever! Finding and forming groups, playing longer, tackling the challenges within are at the heart of what we wanted the experience to be and we are happy it is resonating with players.
In short, the Night Market has seen impressive numbers and the feedback has been great to hear. The challenge of Night Market is something new to the game and how it has been embraced has been refreshing to see. While we know it doesn’t quite fit everyone’s cup of tea, it has scratched an itch and shown to bring players together in new ways. Cheers and see you in the Night Market!
- Finn