What do ESO players want?

Blud

I'm starting this thread because I think there sometimes seems to be a disconnect between what people who play this game want and what they are getting. I'm not sure, though, because only a fraction of the player base ever expresses their opinions on game forums.

But ZOS says they are listening and that they are responding to what people want, then patches sometimes seem to contradict that.

Bascially, what I want:

Both group and solo activities

Sometimes I group with my guild for pvp or pve, but I don't want to be forced to group every time I log into ESO. Sometimes I just want to enjoy Tamriel and exploration, stories, etc. I want to have projects to work on in developing my characters that don't require others. In groups, there is time pressure because other people don't care about stories, just smashing stuff as quickly as possible. There can also be group-oriented projects and rewards to work toward, but they should not be forced.

Multiple ways to level

In an mmorpg, there are a lot of people who like to level alts. I went through all the quests and stories on my main. They were great! It was interesting, but I don't want to do that every single time I level an alt. There should be multiple ways to advance, at a reasonable rate, at the very least once you've completed all the questing with one character -- even though I think that should not be forced.

Those are my big two. Basically, ZOS -- don't force people to play your game a certain way. Let us enjoy it the way we want to.

There could be others that people will have different opinions on: level of content difficulty, scaling, world events, etc.

Virck

I want more experience for killing mobs and doing quests! 430xp per kill (up from 414xp) but it says now with my addon (may be bugged) it takes 4 million xp to the next level up from 1.4 million....

Halp

babylon

It's pretty basic really - we want to play a game and enjoy ourselves.

There is a whole bunch of different people here and we all have ideas, I've laid down a bunch of them in my time here.

What it comes down to for most of us though, is that we want a variety of things to do...we'd like to be able to choose different activities depending on our mood and ability to commit (time/attention) for that play session.

So, solo activities, group activities, pvp activities, crafting activities, fluff activities...and we want them all to be rewarding and make us feel like we haven't wasted our time for no reason.

Grim13

I want Dark Cloak to work in PvP 100% of the time.




..That, and fix the god damned alchemy writs already!

AriBoh

I want to be able to play the game and have a fun rewarding experience. By that I mean -
Not having to wait for balances that are promised but never come.
Not having to deal with unannounced changes to gameplay that somehow don't get into patch notes.
Not having to wait on fixes for patches that are pushed out too early.
Not having to 'rethink how I level' after 6 months.
Not having to deal with constant bugs that are reported weeks before on PTS.
Not being told untrue things will happen.

Honestly as much as I raged about pvp and stuff before this crap I was still paying and playing. Now? I'm just here posting as much of my displeasure as I can.

Lord_Kreegan

Fun.

That's all I want. It's a friggin' game... I'm not looking for fulfillment or presumption of greatness or eliteness or coolness or anything else. It's a friggin' game, not a substitute for anything missing in my life.

So, just fun...

But, ZOS; a word to the wise: "fun" and "frustration" are not the same thing. Too much of the game is frustration.

Fix it.

bunnytrix

For them to stop adding new content until they have fixed all of the many many problems; and have a lag free experience, while being able to press an ability that works perfectly every time you press it (you know like in other MMOs) ?

For them to listen to the player base, be upfront and honest with us when they make mistakes, and communicate with us properly on these forums, ie..the devs themselves, not just the community team.

A fully functioning Q&A department that rigorously tests, then tests, then tests again every piece of content before release, with the leader of said Q&A department having full veto on any content until he is happy for it to go live.

Give players options, instead of forcing things (like scaling).

The writers, quest designers, landscape artists all do a fantastic job. The people who make the decisions do a terrible job. (In my opinion, as many people are happy with the way things are).

A levelling experience that does not force us to betray our own faction and play through the opposing factions zones, killing npcs of our own faction, making playing a new alt through the same zones unbelievably tedious.

To "play the way we want."

And
babylon wrote:-
"So, solo activities, group activities, pvp activities, crafting activities, fluff activities...and we want them all to be rewarding and make us feel like we haven't wasted our time for no reason. "

Gidorick

The things I would like from ESO can be summed up with one desire:

1: A living, dynamic Tamriel that I can get lost in.

That's all.

MornaBaine

Blud wrote: »

I'm starting this thread because I think there sometimes seems to be a disconnect between what people who play this game want and what they are getting. I'm not sure, though, because only a fraction of the player base ever expresses their opinions on game forums.

But ZOS says they are listening and that they are responding to what people want, then patches sometimes seem to contradict that.

Bascially, what I want:

Both group and solo activities

Sometimes I group with my guild for pvp or pve, but I don't want to be forced to group every time I log into ESO. Sometimes I just want to enjoy Tamriel and exploration, stories, etc. I want to have projects to work on in developing my characters that don't require others. In groups, there is time pressure because other people don't care about stories, just smashing stuff as quickly as possible. There can also be group-oriented projects and rewards to work toward, but they should be forced.

Multiple ways to level

In an mmorpg, there are a lot of people who like to level alts. I went through all the quests and stories on my main. They were great! It was interesting, but I don't want to do that every single time I level an alt. There should be multiple ways to advance, at a reasonable rate, at the very least once you've completed all the questing with one character -- even though I think that should not be forced.

Those are my big two. Basically, ZOS -- don't force people to play your game a certain way. Let us enjoy it the way we want to.

There could be others that people will have different opinions on: level of content difficulty, scaling, world events, etc.

I am quoting you because I SO agree with both your main points! There should definitely be enough quest content that I don't HAVE to repeat the main storyline quest on every single alt I level. I don't WANT to have ALL of my characters be "the One!" In fact, I'd like at least a couple of them to be low stinking VILLAINS!

And seriously, what is with this Cadwell's Silver and Gold nonsense? Talk about a cheap way to recycle content! If I WANT to experience the Ebonhart Pact or the Aldermeri Dominion I'll... wait for it... ROLL A CHARACTER FOR THAT FACTION! This is NOT end game content ZoS, it really isn't! At end game if I'm going to be traveling to EP or AD lands it's going to be as a spy, an assassin, or, who knows?, maybe as a diplomat! But there is no freaking way I claw my way to 50, defeat Molag Bal, and get my soul back to then BETRAY my faction in some freakish alternate dimension where I NOW work for my enemies! Just....NO. Not only should we be able to travel to the other lands after level 50 but it should be to do quests that were actually designed specifically for just that. This whole concept of, "Here now go experience leveling to 50 again in another faction 'cause Cadwell is obviously insane and thinks you should" is NOT clever. It's lazy. You didn't give me end game content, you gave me recycled quests from a different faction that, had I WANTED to do them, I'd have rolled a character there in the first place!

Give me group AND solo content so that I can either play with my friends when I'm in the mood for that OR if I only have an hour or I just want to be pokey and read every book I come across, and harvest every resource I see and look in every crate and barrel, I can do so without slowing my teammates down.

Zorrashi

What I want? Oh dear....well, I want a lot of things.

A minimal gear grind. Fun ways to get XP (basically a good story in quests). More than a few quality of life additions to enrich the atmosphere of Tamriel. Housing to ease my monster killing spree (though I can wait). Either mount armor or mount appearance customization.
A separate set of options to appease both group-minded and solo-oriented players. Oh and a few more skill lines would be nice. Or better yet, expand on the ones that are already given via branching morphs.

Yes, yes....I want a lot of things. You don't want me to list them here do you?

jeevin

Gidorick wrote: »

The things I would like from ESO can be summed up with one desire:

1: A living, dynamic Tamriel that I can get lost in.

That's all.

I would gladly pay $15 a month for this. We don't need endless carrot dangling to keep us coming back, just Tamriel in a sandbox.

Animus0724

I would also like a bit more solo content, maybe solo versions of some of the group dungeons. Just something I can do when most of my friends and guild are offline seeing as we all play at odd hours.

Ourorboros

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

xMovingTarget

Ourorboros wrote: »

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

I would like that too + cheese!

Also i would like to be able to change Designs of armor. Like, i wear aether and i am stuck with it! Theres no craft set that offers a similar 3/4 piece bonus. I cant run around like i want.

Imagine you could change the aether helmet/robe/shoulders design to something different. How cool would that be.

Gidorick

Ourorboros wrote: »

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

Congrats! You got your desire! ESO's UI doesn't NEED any more functionality than it currently has!

Ourorboros

Gidorick wrote: »

Ourorboros wrote: »

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

Congrats! You got your desire! ESO's UI doesn't NEED any more functionality than it currently has!

Snarky response. I guess you don't ever use any addons. Otherwise the word hypocrite comes to mind.

bedlom

Housing is at the top of my list.

xMovingTarget

Gidorick wrote: »

Ourorboros wrote: »

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

Congrats! You got your desire! ESO's UI doesn't NEED any more functionality than it currently has!

I have to back ourorboros up here. If you only wanna play casually and enjoy the grass in rift or something you are right. But, if you want to play properly and be good at it you cant go without addons. Nothing more needs to added.

Divad Zarn

We want blood and glory! we want seed war in your alliance capitals! we want world PvP! aaarrrrgg

Deheart

I wanted the Skyrim mmo with ragdoll physics, full justice system, various craftable armor and weapons, and a character you level how you want, and an open world go where you want to leveling system.

I got an Elderscrolls MMO with classes but a whole bunch of choices with spells and weapon skills, a typical MMO leveling system, and with a justice system and spell crafting system in progress.

Just to make sure you know I am not downing the game, to me overall this game really is not like Skyrim that much, but this game is a good MMO that I prefer over any other non-space based MMO out there .

Wicked_Wolf

I want to play the way I've always played in TES and MMO's, and be effective as an actual warrior class (in my case a Nord, two hander, heavy armor, no magic, dps)

I want some new zones to fill up the map more. Wrothgar sounds great but I am a bit nervous that zones like this will be released slowly over long periods of time. Hope I am wrong.

I want Cadwell's silver and gold to disappear and be forgotten like the nightmare that it is, and have real quests that aren't just rehashed and completely redundant if you like to play alts.

Paralyse

What I want from ESO:

- Auction house (global) for those of us who do not have or do not want to join a guild. Nothing stinks more than having to vendor a bunch of profession mats you don't use when you know someone out there probably needs them and would pay more than vendor to get them.
-More secrets. More caves, delves, etc. that are not marked anywhere on the map at all. More random world encounters, not just the traveller, the bandits, and the mini-anchors.
- More titles. LOTRO-style titles would fit in perfectly in ESO especially if the comedic ones were in. (Katrana, Slayer of Mudcrabs!)
- More action bar slots -- two extra would be nice. What is the point of having 15+ slottable abilities when I can only use five at once? Seven would be more useful IMO.
- Sorcerer pets not taking up an action bar slot. Clanny/Matriarch/Familiar/etc should be summonable without needing to be slotted.
- Many more dungeon and delve maps. Most of the Ayleid and Dwemer ruins use the same few maps. Perhaps you could add random caves populated with random things, Skyrim-style (bandits, trolls, orcs, whatever.)
- The Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves' Guild. Give players something to do at VR+ without requiring groups.
- Weapon poisons.
- Enchanting not taking years to level. It shouldn't require me to create/decon 50000 glyphs to get to where I can make level 15 glyphs on my VR3 sorc.

That's just off the top of my head.

phermitgb

wow...big question, with what's likely to be 50k different responses

but, I think I have to agree with one of the earlier responses - the biggest thing, the single most vital thing I really, REALLY wanted from ESO...

was Tamriel

I wanted to visit blackmarsh - I wanted to see highrock (which I sort of can) I've been wanting to set eyes on mysterious akavir since I first read about it in morrowind...

I wanted to see the whole world of Tamriel - many MMO's do at least one thing well - create GARGANTUAN worlds, and I have to admit, I was looking forward to a relatively seamless Tamriel in the vein of Lord of the Rings Online or World of Warcraft...

I...really don't know how I feel about the current zones...they're not...ENTIRELY...dissatisfying. I've really enjoyed Alikr (can't get enough of my fantasy deserts) , I *have* gotten to visit of few of the key locales of Elder Scrolls, but yeah, in the end, the whole of the world still...feels...a lot tinier than I was hoping for from an A-class MMO.

after that, I wanted a very visceral combat system, which I'm mostly happy with. I wanted decent looking arms and armor, which I got - I wanted a good strong story, which I get a lot of (the stories have highs and lows, but overall, a very robust story, at least as far as MMO's go)

what I DIDN'T get, was a strong incentive for grouping. I find it baffling that a sub-par single player game whose only recommendation over a single-player format is the ability to interact with other people, makes it so utterly pointless to coordinate with other people. That just seems...counter-intuitive to me. Still, I'm sufficiently satisfied with the single player experience that I can get over it - but it still seems like Bethesda/Zenimax could do an entire game add-on that would make grouping a more vital, central aspect of the game.



so, all in all, I'm fairly happy with ESO - I suppose I could get more angry about bugs and patches, but truth be told, I've been so disappointed by game development for so long now that it's almost impossible for me to be surprised by data errors and balance issues, and besides, the game's been generally playable for me regardless.

Gidorick

xMovingTarget wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Ourorboros wrote: »

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

Congrats! You got your desire! ESO's UI doesn't NEED any more functionality than it currently has!

I have to back ourorboros up here. If you only wanna play casually and enjoy the grass in rift or something you are right. But, if you want to play properly and be good at it you cant go without addons. Nothing more needs to added.

"Properly"?... So in a game that people complain because it's not "play how you want to play" there is a "proper" way to play it. I personally want a game that can be played in a myriad of ways, not a game that has a "proper" way to play it.

After all, that's one of the staples of TES... the freedom to play the game how YOU see fit.

But that's just how I see it.

Nebthet78

Here is what I would like to see:

- Scaling to be Optional, so that casual and solo players can do them and earn the achievements at the dungeon's original levels if a group cannot be found. They will not earn gold nor loot, but will earn the item and skill point given for completing the quest.

- The Main, Fighter's and Mage's Guild quests should all have the option to allow a friend to do them with you.

- Add 1-2 more skill slots to the bar, plus a secondary Ultimate slot. You can only choose to fire one Ultimate at a time, and then both bars go down to Zero, but both gain Ultimate at the same time.

- ALL zones should have solo and group content. No area should should lock one player base out over another. This includes not forcing solo/casual players to group up to non-dungeon quests in any zone.

- There should be at least 3 very, very large solo dungeons in each zone. Kinda like how large the dungeons were in Skyrim, in addition to the current dungeons. These ones however should be hard to find and not marked on any map.

- Differences between fine, superior, epic and legendary armour and enchantments should be much more significant. Not just 4-10pts difference.

- More non-Pact related Titles: ie, Treasure Hunter, Zombie Slayer, Vampire Hunter, Werewolf Eradicator.

- Enchanting leveling needs to be easier. It is better than it was, but it still took 3 toons to get enchanting maxed on one of them.

- Implementation of a Necromancer's class, have them be corrupted by and work with other Deadra in upcoming zones. It would be the job of these players to go around Tamriel to open secondary Dolmen's/Portals to that Deadra's space of Oblivion. Other players on the side of good would have to battle to close this portals. This would allow small PVP pockets for players to enjoy, especially those who do not want to go to Cyrodiil,but would still like a small taste of PVP action. These zones will have a radius where if players go outside that area, they are reset.

- Based on the last point, I would love to see ALL the different Planes of Oblivion and how the Deadra live in them. With the demise of Molag Bal, we could see an all out battle happening between the polar opposites and players could choose whether to help or hinder whichever side they choose.

- Open up available Class skills at higher levels.

Attorneyatlawl

Ourorboros wrote: »

I'd like a UI that doesn't need a lot of addons to improve functionality OR to stop being told to remove all addons in order to fix a problem.

This... it's basically unusable except for completely non-caringly beyond-casual "see the sights" type play and is very unintuitive to boot, without a fleet of addons installed. ZOS really can't rely on third-party authors to make their UI approach a basically functional MMO & RPG interface forever, both for practical reasons (authors won't do it forever... proof: see all of the abandoned addons on esoui cropping up) and to make their game have proper features (most new players don't know, want to, or care to log into the game and then go find 20 addons as their first quest before even leaving the prison cell because they can't figure out how to enable X Y or Z bog-standard feature they want and are used to on their client). Add in that addons generally break with most patches and aren't as well-integrated into the UI as the devs themselves can do, and it's obvious that the solution is to bring their user interface up to snuff.

This has been and remains one of the top issues with the game in my opinion, another being lack of camera options for third-person mode (hearing they may be adding functions for that in 1.6 such as x/y offset, zoom distance, and centering, though? good if so!).

Loneshard

I want more Skyrim!

astro74

I made a short summary in my post:

Ideas to improve the game. Devs please read.

Dunno how to link so I guess if you are interested you have to search for it.

Anyway to put it short:
Fix lag in PvP and make weaponswapping as reliable as the other skills
Solo option to Craiglorn
Fun loot

(aaaand some other stuff.. Must warn You though, the post mentioned above is a long read so I take no responsibility if your eyes start to bleed)

Audigy

bedlom wrote: »

Housing is at the top of my list.

Same here.

Its what's missing right now from an almost perfect game. If they then manage to also add some hard solo game, better crafting that doesnt has to hide anymore from raid drops, a dynamic open world with events that everyone can be part of then I guess ESO would please a lot more people than it currently does.

I just don't like being put into dungeons or raids with instance portals. I want to run around and see new stuff all the time and not grind the same boring instance again and again.

Even WOW managed to offer an alternative with the MOP expansion, not perfect, not great but at least a tiny alternative from the dungeon grinding and I want to see similar stuff at ESO.

Raiding in dungeons is a niche product, what we want is to get back to the traditional MMO stuff, a huge living world with stories to tell and encounters that matter for all players and not just those in guilds or premades.

PSLAnimal

I'd like to see a few quality-of-life things, such as:

• The ability to order my characters in the login screen. This seems like a minor thing, but it would be nice to have my main at the top, other characters in order of level below, and my mule at the bottom. Maybe it's my trifle of OCD showing up, but I'd like it.
• Character bios readable to other players. I'm not a hardcore RP guy but my characters aren't just tools I take out of a box for play sessions. In my mind they have back stories, and if they aren't likable as characters I won't play them, no matter how viable their build.
• Guild bases. I'd like player housing too, but it seems like guilds over a certain size, at least, should be able to build a guild hall to keep guild trophies, organize group events, have meetings and maybe even have individual rooms for members - killing two birds with one stone.
• Better teaming dynamics - not just for instanced quests and dungeons but anywhere, have the team set to the team leader's level, so if I want to take my main VR5 Templar out wandering around Stonefalls just randomly killing and gathering materials with Mrs. Animal's level 12 Sorceror, I can do so without being massively overpowered for the area.
• More character slots! I love making new characters, trying new things, messing with concept characters, gag characters, anything that pops into my fertile little imagination. Give me fifty slots, I'll use 'em all. I wouldn't be averse to paying for some more slots.

Bear in mind that Standard Code Rant applies; I'm not a software guy and have no frickin' idea how hard any of this would be to implement. But it's all stuff that I think would improve the game, for me at least.

Tandor

I want to be able to carry on playing the game the way I'm currently levelling from 1-50, that is to say through solo questing and exploration coupled with co-operative play in public dungeons. I have no interest in group dungeons, trials, raids, or PvP.

I want to be able to carry on this way through what are currently the VR levels without having to switch alliances as that is (a) lore-breaking and (b) self-defeating for an altaholic.

I would ideally like to be able to do all this without experiencing too much in the way of unreliability of patching, or forum negativity. I realise, however, that those may both be unrealistic ambitions !

In short, I want to be able to continue having a lot of fun from the game, as I have done to date (and thus far with very few technical or other issues, and none of any real significance).