I have read many posts about why people don't like the Writhing Wall event, and I get it. But I'd like to know if you could have made the Writhing Wall event, how would you have set it up?. And I ask you to make it concrete, so not "better rewards", but list the actual rewards you would have put in the event. So: what activities, what rewards, how would you have measured progress, how would you have made the accompanying golden pursuit (if you would have done that)?

I think that would give ZOS better insight into what we as the players expected the event to be and what we want from events like this.

Likely an old defunct account who's owner likely reused a weak password and left it vulnerable.

How on earth? I thought you had to own a copy of the game and jump through approval hoops to even post here?

tomofhyrule wrote: »

This 1000% depends on the number of players around.

Exactly this. Everything's dying quickly right now because there are tons of players at the camps. I don't think we want a boss with 30m health spawning in a few months when there's only one poor player there.

Kevin is probably reading this. Or will at some point.

He will then drop a nice comment and compile the issues into a list, which is then passed on to the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.

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Anyway, after doing the dailies for a few days, here is my feedback for the list feeding the black hole:

This is an event like all the other events. A repetitive, grindy list of tasks that get tedious very quickly. I.e. like all the other 3D10+6 events we have. There is really nothing substantially different between this one and grinding out New Life dailies for weeks. For all the hype, this is as shallow as a puddle.

The things to do don't deserve the moniker "quest". They're not quests, they're chores. I don't go on a quest to hoover my living room.

They've also learnt nothing from complaints about earlier events. Kevin once replied to me that feedback doesn't disappear into the netherworld. Obviously, that was not true.
Like players fighting over drops. There is no reason for the abysmal RNG for pelts and other McGuffins, except to artificially prolong players' playing time suffering. But if every applicable mob dropped what it's supposed to, then it would become very clear very quickly how empty and devoid of any meaningful activity these chores are. Instead, players are kept running the treadmill for a while longer, creating an illusion of purpose.
Or that an area can be cleared of monsters dropping the McGuffin by other players, so I have to teleport around - not to do the chore but to find an area where I can do the chore. Fighting over Covenant Pelts is more battlegrounds than Battlegrounds these days.
And the infamous limitation of how many players can loot the boss. That comes up literally every event, and has never been explained why someone thinks this is good game design.
All of these come up every event, and are summarily ignored. Yes, for good reason - getting rid of these frustrating stupid grindfests would mean that the emperor's new clothes become too obvious, and ZOS would've to come up with actual stuff to do instead of constructing a hamster wheel for players and repainting it every event in a different colour. But it does mean that the black hole gobbling up feedback is real.

And so, we got an event like any other event. With all the same issues. As part of the Solstice storyline and region.

But I want to stress that this is not content. This is empty busywork masquerading as content. It doesn't fill Solstice with substance. It doesn't bring anything new and exciting, or meaningful and moving, or challenging.

There may have been serious work involved in doing this in the background. I don't see this as a player, and I judge what I see in the game. The basic idea even has narrative potential. But it is completely squandered by its shabby and bland execution.

I would be more on board with this, with Solstice being a smaller region with less content (again, the Writing Wall event so far is not content), or with the year being some sort of transition, or with ZOS having fewer resources to develop future content - if the price reflected that.
Instead, it doesn't. It got pricier, and if I have ESO+, I get ripped off twice.

Really, it's a shame. This game is kind of decent. The Writhing Wall event is not.

If it was up to me, I'd increase quest item droprates so the fetch quests are easier to finish.

And of course also the reward boxes need to drop more interesting things (event items: style pages, furniture and furnishing plans, etc). Right now there's just no motivation to do more than 3 quests because only the golden boxes drop something of interest - if at all. The purple ones are completely useless and feel like a waste of time and crafting mats.

Also, I'd just forward the whole event to the last phase, so all dailies, the boss from phase 2 and the fortress from phase 3 are active at once, so people can choose what of those tasks they like to do and play them for how long it might take until East Solstice is ready for release.

No one is interested in the "competition" anyway. The timer feels arbitrary. And if it has any effect, at most it antagonizes the people of different servers and regions.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hello! We have a Friday update for you all. We will also add a couple of these to the known issues list with their resolutions/recommendations for added visibility.

I appreciate you being a part of the conversation.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Some of you had reporting not finding any of the Wormwrithe Weapon Outfit pages, and not seeing any in guild traders. We've confirmed that these are Phase 2 item drops and you will not see them until then. We have updated the event article to correct that info.

This event has required too much explaining to understand how to participate, let alone properly get rewards. There's too many areas of confusion, especially when players have to reconcile complex information against which content they've purchased or not. I've had to rely on partner resources like ESO-HUB over official articles.

By the way, I got the Wormwrithe belt this morning. Check your sources again.

I don't feel like I can rely on ZOS for information at this point.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

We've also seen some questions about whether the new Writhing Wall-themed furnishing items are dropping. We've confirmed that they are dropping as expected. We also wanted to let those of you looking know that you will be able to craft those items in the future, too, so this won't be your only opportunity to obtain them.

The issue is about our expectations not the developer expectations. No one's going to put up with poor drop rates because it matches the developer expectations.

If you want people to get excited about the event, drops need to be generous. It seems like you guys really struggle with this as a whole, but this event is a very pronounced example. I'd rather see the game flooded with drops (recipies, motifs, styles), and have people excited to get rewards than people giving up on the event. ZOS should feel the same, but I'm not sure they do.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Lastly, we want to acknowledge that we do see and are discussing your feedback about the event quest item drop rates and reward box contents.

I hope you guys truly appreciate where this event is for the community at large. Across the forums and Reddit, it's pretty disliked, putting it gently. Time is of the essence. I'd rather you guys make changes, err on the side of generosity, then the event flop and go down in history as yet another debacle. I'm sure you guys have had enough of those.

whitecrow wrote: »

I just wish it felt less like busywork.

This is my biggest complaint about it, too.

I find it very tedious to have to go gather some stuff, run back and turn it in... then go defend some siege camps, run back and turn it in... then go gather some different stuff, run back and turn it in... then make some armor, turn it in... x6 each... per character.

I don't finish all of these because it is just not enjoyable.

tldr - 'beat a wall' is a lazy boring idea

Hello! We have a Friday update for you all. We will also add a couple of these to the known issues list with their resolutions/recommendations for added visibility.

• Some of you had reporting not finding any of the Wormwrithe Weapon Outfit pages, and not seeing any in guild traders. We've confirmed that these are Phase 2 item drops and you will not see them until then. We have updated the event article to correct that info.
• Some players on PS4 and Xbox One have reported not seeing many mobs on screen at the Vitrified Souls quest spots, compared to players on PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC. This is something that you may encounter if you are running ESO on older systems including PS4, Xbox One, and lower-end PCs. The system/game are trying to load a high volume of player characters in a concentrated area, and that is resulting in slower load-in time on older systems for both player characters and monsters. Players could try using AoE abilities just to tag mobs and heal in the area to get credit, and turn on auto-loot. We recommend visiting Dark Anchors as an alternative and potentially better option for those on older systems.
• We've also seen some questions about whether the new Writhing Wall-themed furnishing items are dropping. We've confirmed that they are dropping as expected. We also wanted to let those of you looking know that you will be able to craft those items in the future, too, so this won't be your only opportunity to obtain them.

Lastly, we want to acknowledge that we do see and are discussing your feedback about the event quest item drop rates and reward box contents.

Thanks everyone!