One critical improvement the game needs so bad [Devs please pay attention]

ptxrox

I have many friends who quit this wonderful game because of it, and one of the reasons I don't play as much as I would have:
A MMO is a game that creates a new virtual reality for you, you have your character in the game which is you and you adventure with it.
You don't ALWAYS want to do questing, sometimes you want to just walk around, walk between places on the map, killing mosters, having some action when getting to place to place.
Well here's the problem: The game doesn't have nearly enough monsters! Dungeons not included. When I'm in Grahtwood and I walk on foot from one quest to another and it takes like 5 minutes to get there, I'd like to encounter some monsters on the road! Not one bat the entire walk! I'd like to walk on the 'safe' path, look to the left and see wolves, werewolfs, bats, you name it!

To know that if I stray off the path even for a little I'm being hunted. This is what it's like in all successful MMO's. Because it's fun! The game is an Action RPG, there should be an emphasis on the action. The town should feel a safe place because outside there are monsters and enemies. If I walk to a quest from one town to the next I want enemy encounters, not just walk endlessly from one quest to another dungeon just doing sightseeing in the proccess!

I hope you would actually add more of this kind of content because it would make the game so much better, more alive (the biggest forest in Tamriel that barely has any wild life AT ALL? seriously? you can PACK this place with bats, werewolfs and all the local monsters) and feel more like an action MMORPG and not walking around from quest to quest.

Lev

forbarcusb16_ESO

But then you'd complain that you can't get from A to B without dying.

We can't win against the forums.

HandofBane

Being fair, this is one area they were actually pretty close to the older TES games. Nearly all of those had huge barren areas with nothing or a few beasties scattered about, and it took adding in mods like MMM (or its various competitors/successors) to resolve.

How often in vanilla Oblivion or Skyrim did you actually feel threatened or hunted just by walking off the road a bit? Unless you walked into a camp of Forsworn blindly (would need to ignore your compass), or a random encounter spawn point, odds are pretty slim.

ptxrox

Wow, you are so wrong. In both Oblivion and Skyrim I barely even finished the main quest, but I played for so many hours, and did so much!
Simply travelling off the path in either game winds you up against hard enemies\some short story-less dungeon\something to find that doesn't have to do with constant hardcore questing. You feel intense. Suddenly you walk the other direction from your quest mark and you find some strange cave entrance with loads of skeletons guarding it, or a camp of giants, or just some wolves attacking you out of nowhere, or a small camp of bandits, or just some bandits attack you all of a sudden or try to rob you or ****ing what ever!

All of these never happen in ESO!
And plus - it's an MMO! It should have random encounters with enemies!
You should know that there's a place in Grahtwood where there are werewolves (and there should be like 4 times the amount. Not 2 werewolves sitting under some tree and that's freaking it) and sometimes there will randomly spawn an "Alpha-Wolf" that is a lot harder to kill but gives some good loot or some specific item or crafting material for some item. And make a lot of examples like this in every map, it will add so much content and point to the game! And because finding places is not as exciting as in SP TES games because you do so with a million other players who've already been there you need to add something beyond that to compensate and to add some well deserved action. You don't need to put 20 monsters on every little road but you do need something!

Those are elementary things in an MMO! So I could go outside of the town with a friend and expect to do something besides walking endlessly to the quest markers and looking around. I've recorded times where I went around for more than 5 minutes without encountering 1 monster!! Just walking! I mean the scenery is great but you get over it eventually, especially when you travel back and forth for some quest through the same areas for a few days in a row.

Damn it gets so boring sometimes! Why should it? Almost everything this game does, it does great. But it's missing out this crucial part!

daneyulebub17_ESO

Surprising myself, I agree with the OP. I know, to test some new skill or such, I've been frustrated at how hard it is at times to find a quick mob to fight. And it should have that fear factor when you travel--makes it more suspenseful.

And... someone will always complain about everything. That's no reason not to make changes that make sense to improve the game for the type of player this game is designed for.

zhevon

First problem - I am perpetually over-levelled anyway adding more monsters won't help.

Second problem - I'm a NB ... mo'trash mob groups, mo' problems. I would never get any questing done. If I could saunter through trash mobs like every other class without having to plan and execute every encounter perfectly, I might not have this issue.

ShADoW0s

I totally agrees with this, but then again you are not in Vr zones where people, including myself, always look for ways to skip the mobs.

ptxrox

Vr zones is an entirely different problem which has to be solved. And I'm a NB myself, I have to plan every mob fight as well. So what? if you don't enjoy fighting a lot with your NB then create a different class character...

And over-levelling? It's the easiest thing in the entire universe to solve. They just cut the quest XP gained by 25%~ and that's freaking it.

Stovahkiin

I would support this, but they shouldn't add too many enemies or it would get annoying. Just maybe a few packs of wolves here and there, a couple of bandits and whatnot, just not too much.

Blud

ptxrox wrote: »

I have many friends who quit this wonderful game because of it, and one of the reasons I don't play as much as I would have:
A MMO is a game that creates a new virtual reality for you, you have your character in the game which is you and you adventure with it.
You don't ALWAYS want to do questing, sometimes you want to just walk around, walk between places on the map, killing mosters, having some action when getting to place to place.
Well here's the problem: The game doesn't have nearly enough monsters! Dungeons not included. When I'm in Grahtwood and I walk on foot from one quest to another and it takes like 5 minutes to get there, I'd like to encounter some monsters on the road! Not one bat the entire walk! I'd like to walk on the 'safe' path, look to the left and see wolves, werewolfs, bats, you name it!

To know that if I stray off the path even for a little I'm being hunted. This is what it's like in all successful MMO's. Because it's fun! The game is an Action RPG, there should be an emphasis on the action. The town should feel a safe place because outside there are monsters and enemies. If I walk to a quest from one town to the next I want enemy encounters, not just walk endlessly from one quest to another dungeon just doing sightseeing in the proccess!

I hope you would actually add more of this kind of content because it would make the game so much better, more alive (the biggest forest in Tamriel that barely has any wild life AT ALL? seriously? you can PACK this place with bats, werewolfs and all the local monsters) and feel more like an action MMORPG and not walking around from quest to quest.

Lev

I take it you aren't in the VR zones yet. Just wait till you get to VR7. You will have soooo much fun!

nerevarine1138

Maybe you're not going off the roads enough? I find plenty of enemies, random encounters, etc. off the road, and there are plenty of peaceful random encounters to be found along the side of the road too.

Fairydragon3

technically there are stuff lie this, Small voids open up at certain spawn points as well as some events. the fact that the game still progresses like an MMO, will mostly mean once you past the area, there is not a big reason to go back unless you do it specifically for stuff you missed. Also Not a single MMO i know of ever had random spwan mobs. It was always these mobs spawn here. ESO would be the first becasue you don't know what will pop out of the dark voids. And again this is an MMO, not SKyrim so even if you did run into these random enemies, know how long this will set you back? 1 minute or 2, int hat 5 minute walk, also in the earlier games you could instant travel anywhere you've been to once. Pretty much this MMO is smaller than it looks, it can't really fit more that it already has for this immersion

mar1ano1987nrb18_ESO

wait until you reach veteran zone ...and you will see the landscape full of mobs, tigers, wolfs, rats ,etc.

Its funny because a couple of weeks ago I made a post for the exact opposite reason. Too many mobs in the landscape. Everybody has his own opinion I guess.
Maybe depends on the map.

Huckdabuck

The "one critical improvement that the game needs so bad"......I'd say there's definitely more than one! Not trolling....more or less just stating the obvious!

Pyatra

ShADoW0s wrote: »

I totally agrees with this, but then again you are not in Vr zones where people, including myself, always look for ways to skip the mobs.

Oh look 2 veteran trolls standing together in a tunnel...... wonder if I can dig through this rock wall?

Dayv

Cliffracers

Stovahkiin

Dayv wrote: »

Cliffracers

NOOOO! They were so annoying in Morrowind.

WilliamTee

I don't think this would even be on my list of what the game needs... at all... let alone under 'critical'.

ESO has quite clear 'quest zones' most of the time (this fort, that bunch of ruins) and this are nicely stocked with bad guys.

However, I like to be able to travel places without being accosted every 10 feet.

I mean... seriously... What kinda 'Empires' are we fighting for that can't keep your safe beyond your front door step?

Pyatra

Dayv wrote: »

Cliffracers

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Dayv

Ok, maybe not the normal cliffracers, just the diseased and blighted ones that damage your endurance. It'd help sort out the OP inventory management.

Whisper292

Interesting, I haven't had this problem. At least when I'm playing in DC, and I can't walk 50 feet outside of town or away from a wayshrine without being attacked by wolves, cultists, zombies, bloodfiends, or some other enemy. It's great.

That being said, I have noticed less of it in AD, but it still feels like there are plenty of baddies to kill.

Covyn

@ZOS forum moderators and Dev's only respond to threads about Emotes, and other fluff as that is all they are competent enough to discuss. I suggest cursing heavily to get their attention.

Erock25

It is funny how people all see the same thing so differently. Cheers for your opinion on the one critical thing that needs improvement but I'd say for a vast majority of people that this doesn't even crack the top 100. Hell, I'd say just as many people would say there are too many mobs as people saying there aren't enough.

ptxrox

But there aren't any mobs in a lot of areas. I don't care how veteran areas look like, it's only the second half of the game, and that's how it's supposed to look until you reach 50! The game should be challenging all the way up, not just when you reach the top.

Also on a different note I have to add: The sorcerer sucks. None of the skills the sorc in this game is worth saying "Wow! I have to reach level 36 to see how this looks like\try it out!". Nope. It's all very tamed and boring. Why do all sorcs use lightning builds? Oh yeah, because that's pretty much all you have. No fire\ice sorcerers, no fire summoners, nothing. Just lightnings and identical familiars to all. Ridiculous....

Ralph_Damiani

I don't think it's just monsters that this game needs. It's extra stuff for all levels. It's not sandbox enough. If we could build houses, have invasions and events going on all over the world, if we weren't blocked out of other alliances, the world would feel more alive. It's the theme park design that makes the world feel like it's on rails, instead of a place where you can just log in to chill and adventure, instead of level/quest grind.

Requiemslove

I actually think the enemy density is about right. From what I have seen its enough so that if you choose to you can be in a fight from outside town in less than a minute but not such density given a bit of careful route planning [and sometimes just legging it] that you can avoid enemies.

ptxrox

Requiemslove wrote: »

I actually think the enemy density is about right. From what I have seen its enough so that if you choose to you can be in a fight from outside town in less than a minute but not such density given a bit of careful route planning [and sometimes just legging it] that you can avoid enemies.

Many (way too many) areas especially up until level 20 don't even remotely have enough enemies, to a point when you can practically walk for like 5 whole minutes without encountering a single enemy, or maybe just the one.

Besides, I agree with Ralph's comment. The game pulls you by the nose, it's an open world game, but it's actually very very linear. If you don't wanna do the quests they gave you mostly in their intended order you are basically screwed. You have nothing else to do here.

I have a good friend with whom I played countless MMO's over the years, and he brought the game and stopped playing after two days. Why? Because he loves grinding mobs. Checking out his character's abilities and gathering gear from enemies. He doesn't like to quest ALL THE TIME. Well the game doesn't even give you the option NOT TO QUEST for a couple of days, and just log in and grind a little. Because what's the point? You have to walk to very specific places\dungeons just to be able to do that and it doesn't reward you at all for doing that.

And cut the "It's all different in the Vr zones" cuz I don't care. The game should be good when you start your character, not only when you reach the end-game.