I've never chased meta, don't rely on proc sets that help me get kills and have almost always been a hybrid dk on my main. I had a blast the first couple of Vengeance campaigns. Got the closest I'll probably ever be to being Empress, especially the one before they reintroduced Emp, I was #1 several days (ngl, still a bit salty about that because by the time the next one came around and Emp was active again, there just weren't enough people participating for AD and we would get stomped every day. And before anyone says switch alliances, I am and will always be AD for life, FTQ!!). Yesterday and today the whole map has been dominated by DC on PSNA. It's completely unbalanced population wise and it's just not fun at all anymore.

4v4v4s are definitely more balanced, there's no doubt about it. There's next to no spawn camping, and the team RNG is better because good and bad players are split between 3 teams rather than 2. 8v8s encourage too much spawn camping and zerging resulting in very unbalanced games the majority of the time, though they can be fun when you get the rare balanced match. Really the only thing the 2 sided BGs have going for it are the maps. They're designed well and don't have any environmental hazards outside of the 4v4 maps. I will say the 3 sided BGs have too many maps with fall damage hazards or falling off the side of the map from cheap javelin spammers. I would like to see new 4v4v4 maps be made that are similar to the 8v8 maps.

Syldras wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Well, for me, cosmetics actually are a big part of how I enjoy the roleplaying aspects. Like I wore my Stirk Fellowship motif during the Writhing Wall event and as I quested in Solstice. During "her down time," where the quests didn't have anything to do with the Fellowship, I wore tropical cosmetics.
So those currencies and the like do play a part in how I conceive of my characters roleplay as well. I also have houses that have various narrative purposes. Like it's actually my Bastian that owns the castle in Blackwood not my character. In my roleplay he got it after reconnecting with his sister.

It's nice that that makes partaking in the chores worthwhile for you, but I personally have collected so many cosmetics over the past 10 years that I have the feeling that I basically have everything I need. I have no clue how many mounts, pets and costumes I have (plus the huge outfit system where I know most styles because I do master crafting writs), but I really don't have the feeling that my characters need another 100 mounts, or costumes, or pets, or whatever (there are some very specific things that would fit some of my characters perfectly, and if those ever appear in the store or as a chore reward, I'll be going for those. But mostly, it's just not it. I have no druid character, so I don't need a druid costume; I have no pirate, so I don't need what clearly looks like a pirate costume, etc. And that's fine - other people might have exactly that character and will be happy with exactly that costume). Sometimes an endeavour might have something interesting, then I participate, but most often I don't have the feeling I need that reward. So there's not exactly a motivation to do that stuff. Which means no FOMO or stress - but nothing meaningful to do, either.

I definitely feel that. I got around it by themeing my character after the latest content or hunting for things for my companion. But, they didn't even release a companion this year and the content is pretty light this year. I'm currently happy with tomes and excited to try the vault and night market. But, after that, idk what I'm even going to do. I've already soloed the dungeon they're releasing as the content next.

After Update 50 is done, I may end up just buying the following tome with my plus tokens and then instead of doing it take a break. That is one reason that I like the tomes are permanent in this game.

It's been mentioned by others before, but ZOS is incorrect to refer to the current system as "subclassing" while it behaves more like multiclassing.
Subclassing, in the scope of this game, is more akin to a pet sorc vs a non-pet sorc. Or an ice mage within the warden class. They are subsets of a class and retain a unique identity nestled within it.

With the refreshes being underway, do you feel like ZOS is still allowing identity-based subsets within refreshed pure/monoclasses? The DKs had their poison motif taken away, and not all classes may have an equal degree of subsets available.

Is it possible the refreshes will erase some of these options and blend an entire class to all match just one identity or theme, in the aim to solidify a grander "class identity"?

If so, what does that mean for the players, for gameplay, and for ESO?

Edit: I wanted to add too that other classes seem to only have one or two abilities which are not enough to create a subset identity.

For Templars they are mostly light focused, with just a few skills being "lightless". If lightlessness was a theme in more of the abilities, I would say a "dark Templar" is a potential subset. But there just isn't enough for that to be currently true, and so I can't think of a current subset within Templar other than stamina vs magicka.

With that being the case, should the refreshes try to add some subsets?

If it comes down to the Nightmarket effectively not being playable solo, I will not be participating. I have plenty of houses I never use already. There is plenty of content in other games I can play instead. I am sure that is what ZOS wants me to do, go play other games instead of theirs. Their choice, I will be entertained either way.