Current XP gains and Leveling in 1.5.5

Tierney369neb18_ESO

The leveling still seems under par to me at the moment I Just finished Reapers March on Cadwell's Silver when I started the zone I was already about 5% into VR5 and managed to get to 26% through my level while it was still 1.5.4 and today I finished the whole area while under the new 1.5.5 patch where major quest XP was supposed to be fixed.

Well the most XP I have got from one quest was about 16000xp and this was on very few occasions and I was getting that before 1.5.5 dropped so I see no real change in the quest XP at all seems pretty much the same as it was and having completed all of Reaper march so that includes delves/dolmens/quests/exploration points the only things I have not done are world bosses and the public dungeon and yet I am still only 80% through the level so 200k short bear in mind I was already 5% into my level when I reached Reapers March.

This still seems woefully short of when it was the Veteran system I could clear this much of a VR zone in the old system and I would easily gain a veteran rank and even be a little into the next rank now I am short by a good 205k XP even after clearing pretty much all the area.

Considering we were told we were supposed to level faster after 1.5 as it is we actually still slower. Don't get me wrong by dropping the XP needer per rank to 1 Million they have got it closer to the old system but they are still short and they are even shorter of making it faster.

In my opinion you should only have to clear about 70% of a VR zone to get a VR level and I also believe it should take the same amount of time to lvl whatever your doing whether that be grinding/questing/pvping you should not be forced to play one way or the other and you certainly shouldn't be punished for it by getting less XP

Now I still like this game a lot and I will bear with it as ZoS tweak things but it seems to get sorted only a week at a time which is incredibly frustrating I just want to get to VR14 so I feel equal in PVP and be able to do trials and DSA etc but the time its taking to get there seems slightly unreasonable.

I know Champion System will be coming and veteran ranks won't exist so this will be completely redundant then but that may be some way off so why make it take so long to gain VR ranks in the first place since they are going to be abolished anyway surely it would make more sene to get us to level quicker so we can actually get doing the end game content.

What are everyone else's thoughts on levelling currently on 1.5.5 ?

phreatophile

I think what we were told was damage control. VR leveling was never going to be, never intended to be faster, even though we were told it would be.

There is always a way to level quickly, it may be mindnumbingly boring but it's there. For whatever reason, ZOS obviously wanted to slow leveling down a great deal. It's up to you if you want to do the same painfull slog that used to get you to VR10-VR11 to only get to approx VR7-VR8 now.

Many will vote with their feet, many will go grind overland mobs, since it is now the fastest way to level.

Grind on, Spellscar here I come!

Alphashado

Just another bad business decision in a series of bad business decisions.

What is killing the population of this game? VR1-VR14 is. Hands down, and it's not even close.

1-50 ESO is a great game. Good enough to bring in new players and retain old ones. But when the average player gets to VR1 and realizes what a terrible, terrible, Grind fest of forced questing awaits them. And they realize that lvl 50 means absolutely nothing... well that's when they decide to go and find a different game. Not to mention the straight up ridiculous idea of forcing everyone to play the other two alliances that they just finished vanquishing.....

Yes, many people are OK with the game post lvl 50. Myself included. But man oh man was it a terrible format. It absolutely boggles the mind why they would take the WORST part of this game and make it even worse. The average player does not consider grinding lvls as part of some kind of end game. They consider end game to be the stuff you do at max level. Well now it takes even longer to get to max lvl, and if all the reports are true, then 1.3 did absolutely nothing to speed it up.

The champion system is the only hope for ESO to somehow become the AAA MMO that it should be. Otherwise it will always just be a good game with a nich crowd. And it will likely go F2P.

Nestor

Tierney369neb18_ESO wrote: »

Well the most XP I have got from one quest was about 16000xp and this was on very few occasions and I was getting that before 1.5.5 dropped so I see no real change in the quest XP

In my opinion you should only have to clear about 70% of a VR zone to get a VR level and I also believe it should take the same amount of time to lvl whatever your doing whether that be grinding/questing/pvping you should not be forced to play one way or the other and you certainly shouldn't be punished for it by getting less XP

The Exp you got from the major quest is way more than under 1.5.4

I do agree that you should not have to clear an entire zone to gain a VR level, but it seems to me, based on what I have done so far in Malabal Tor anyway, that the it still requires at least the Adventurer Achievement for the Zone, all the Bosses and Dolmens and Delves. With possibly some Public Dungeon grinding thrown in. I won't know more until I do more of the map tonight, I got caught up in some guild events last night that were more fun than doing a zone for the third time.

someuser

a. ESO will never go F2P. Games that are F2P are designed in such way to be F2P friendly. Like SWG, ESO will stay a sub based game until the day they pull the plug.

b. Leveling is not horrible at all. I was half way through VR1 before I even started Cadwell's Silver. Regular mobs give worthwhile xp that, if you keep skipping will hold you back.

Gone are the days where you could just run from quest giver to quest giver skipping nearly every mob on the way and spacebarring though all the dialog... Now you have to play the game from start to finish.

However, before anyone thinks that I completely disagree with the above poster's QQing, I'm not entirely. It is redundant to force players to repeat the epic quest grind for every alt.

As I said before, once you did the dance once you should have an account wide xp boost so in the future leveling is less cumbersome. The first play through though should entail players actually playing the game as intended and not just rushed through by noobs who think once they hit VR14 they will be competitive in PvP and end game content. You still need the skills that the PvE grind will hopefully teach you

spryler

How is 1-50 great, but Caldwell's Gold and Silver terrible? Aren't they exactly the same thing, but under a different faction? I hear people say this a lot, but it's literally the same quest line (minus a few of course) you would do if you chose a different race/faction.

It must be that progress is slower. You skills are not going up every 2 seconds. Well they didn't really have a lot of options. If the game ended at lvl 50, I think lots of people would have left due to lack of end-game. At least the Veteran levels are something to achieve/accomplish.

FYI, when I did VR mode I changed my playstyle totally. I went from a light armor wearing destro staff user to a heavy armor 2-handed sword user. That way I was still making progress on skills and it was a bit of a different experience. Now I have all those other weapon/armor skills leveled up in case I ever decide to change.

Tierney369neb18_ESO

someuser wrote: »

a. ESO will never go F2P. Games that are F2P are designed in such way to be F2P friendly. Like SWG, ESO will stay a sub based game until the day they pull the plug.

b. Leveling is not horrible at all. I was half way through VR1 before I even started Cadwell's Silver. Regular mobs give worthwhile xp that, if you keep skipping will hold you back.

Gone are the days where you could just run from quest giver to quest giver skipping nearly every mob on the way and spacebarring though all the dialog... Now you have to play the game from start to finish.

However, before anyone thinks that I completely disagree with the above poster's QQing, I'm not entirely. It is redundant to force players to repeat the epic quest grind for every alt.

As I said before, once you did the dance once you should have an account wide xp boost so in the future leveling is less cumbersome. The first play through though should entail players actually playing the game as intended and not just rushed through by noobs who think once they hit VR14 they will be competitive in PvP and end game content. You still need the skills that the PvE grind will hopefully teach you

Did I say levelling was horrible ? No I just merely say it was slower than previous and please don't assume I skipped every mob I did not, I killed everything in my path I even went out of my way some as I made a point of collecting all the skyshards and all lorebooks and killed all mobs in between that also.

Also I am not QQing im merely stating what I am seeing whilst leveling I am giving my feedback and trying to get feedback from others to get their point of view.

I am also aware that it requires skill to PVP it is not just dependant on your VR level you really don't need to state the obvious but at the end of the day with VR14 comes VR14 Gear and there is stat difference between VR1 to VR14 which also makes a difference in endgame eg Trials PVP etc so from a min/max point of view it does matter to me to be VR14, and I will continue to grind my levels away I have not threatened to quit or whining I'm just giving my view

In my opinion it is slower to level than it was before 1.5 not by mile but it still slow and ZoS were supposed to make it quicker to level in veteran not the other way around.

My only frustration is that it took them one patch to make levelling a a lot worse eg when a level required 1.45mill yet it has taken them 2-3 patches encompassing a couple of weeks and still haven't even got levelling back to its original state let alone make it any quicker.

Nestor

spryler wrote: »

How is 1-50 great, but Caldwell's Gold and Silver terrible? Aren't they exactly the same thing, but under a different faction? I hear people say this a lot, but it's literally the same quest line (minus a few of course) you would do if you chose a different race/faction.

Prior to 1.5, the Silver and Gold were just like doing the other Alliances 1 to 50 zones but with the same character. This in an of itself is neither good or bad.

Now, if your goal was to just gain VR Ranks, it was slow. If your goal was to experience all the content with one character, it was great. If you had already rolled some alts in the other Alliances then you were repeating things just with higher level mobs some people were fine with that, some people were not.

The amount of time to get through the zone in VR was about the same amount of time as it was during the L1 to L50 instance. Most people feel that this time for the VR instances should be less than it was for the L1 to L50 zones. If you just did the quests in Caldwells Almanac, you could get through the zones quicker, but you would be underleveled quite a bit after a few zones. So, there was no way to rush the content and remain viable if people wanted that. Unless they ground mobs or did PvP when they reached VR1 along with the Caldwell's quests.

So, now that you know the issues, you can decide if the Silver and Gold Quests are good, bad or indifferent.

1.5 threw a big ol wrench into the leveling as ZOS said it should happen faster in the VR zones, but it was basically the opposite and things were happening much slower. They have most of this fixed, but we are still left with pretty much what we had before, just with different experience amounts but the same amount of time, roughly.

khele23eb17_ESO

someuser wrote: »

Gone are the days where you could just run from quest giver to quest giver skipping nearly every mob on the way and spacebarring though all the dialog... Now you have to play the game from start to finish.

Its was not skipping nearly all mobs, it was simply not going out of your way to kill mobs you didnt have to. Also... whats stopping anyone from spacebarring through all the dialogue? Its not like you get more XP if you listen to it all.

Nestor

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

Its was not skipping nearly all mobs, it was simply not going out of your way to kill mobs you didnt have to. Also... whats stopping anyone from spacebarring through all the dialogue? Its not like you get more XP if you listen to it all.

I have heard, but not verified that if you use the Persuade or Intimidate options that would reduce the exp received as you were shortcutting some of the quest stages that way. I don't think the exp lost was all that much to worry about, probably a few mobs worth if anything. So, space barring through the dialog could have a small impact on the exp.

Blud

Nestor wrote: »

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

Its was not skipping nearly all mobs, it was simply not going out of your way to kill mobs you didnt have to. Also... whats stopping anyone from spacebarring through all the dialogue? Its not like you get more XP if you listen to it all.

I have heard, but not verified that if you use the Persuade or Intimidate options that would reduce the exp received as you were shortcutting some of the quest stages that way. I don't think the exp lost was all that much to worry about, probably a few mobs worth if anything. So, space barring through the dialog could have a small impact on the exp.

It would be ridiculous if we have to micromanage our dialogs to worry about milking all the xp possible out of quests to level.

And it really would be kind of strange to pay rapt attention to every single dialog after already having gone through the process before. The quests aren't bad at all, but the writing is not that breathtaking that it would be riveting to go through the same thing two or three times.

Once is enough, and even that once should not be forced. That I call BS. I don't space bar through quests the first time I go to through them. I like to read and listen. But let people spacebar if they want to. So what?

ZOS said the leveling would be faster. It really is an objective question. Is it faster or not?

If the answer is NO, then ZOS is in the wrong for misrepresenting patch 1.5, which many people came back for*, and they need to address that ASAP in some way.

*And paid money for based on that false representation.

Nestor

Blud wrote: »

It would be ridiculous if we have to micromanage our dialogs to worry about milking all the xp possible out of quests to level.

As I said I don't think it was very much if it was anything. I would still get a VR Rank per zone even taking the Int or Pers options. I was just pointing out there was a possible effect to just spacebarring through the dialogs.

I still need to finish Malabal Tor with my one character who started that area just after getting a VR Rank. Now I did grind him up an entire rank farming for a certain ring, but that was a choice based on how much I can get for the rings not on game mechanics surrounding a zone's quests and leveling. However since the points are the same for each VR level, this should not matter as I should gain a VR rank at some point in one zone.

As near as I can tell, it's about the same as before the 1.5 patch, but I won't know until I complete the zone. Or get the next VR Rank before I complete the zone, which would be in alignment with what they promised us. We shall see.

Ideally we would reach VR14 by completing all 10 zones and VR10 by just doing the Almanac and a few other things along the way but not completing the zones.

hammer_fella

I don't understand this "I should only have to complete 70% of a zone to level up" mentality. It's like saying "I only got a C+ on my report card, but I expect teacher to give me an A+ anyway so I can pass to the next grade along with all my friends."

Sorry, that's not how it works. Just because you have a main that is VR14 doesn't mean all your alts get to hop in the HOV lane and speed by everyone else doing the quests and clearing the zones. From a simple mathematical point of view there is no way to square this circle: you can't simultaneously make quests give enough XP for some to level up having completed 70% of them whilst still allowing other players to complete ALL of the zone without ending up horribly overleveled in short order.

People talk about how Emp trading devalued that title. Well, by the same token Craglorn grinding completely devalued VR14 (I remember when high ranks actually meant something in PvP). What you're now seeing is the inevitable backlash when the playing field is leveled, easy mode is eradicated, and people have to actually put in effort (ZOMG) in order to achieve their VR ranks.

Blud

hammer_fella wrote: »

I don't understand this "I should only have to complete 70% of a zone to level up" mentality. It's like saying "I only got a C+ on my report card, but I expect teacher to give me an A+ anyway so I can pass to the next grade along with all my friends."

Sorry, that's not how it works. Just because you have a main that is VR14 doesn't mean all your alts get to hop in the HOV lane and speed by everyone else doing the quests and clearing the zones. From a simple mathematical point of view there is no way to square this circle: you can't simultaneously make quests give enough XP for some to level up having completed 70% of them whilst still allowing other players to complete ALL of the zone without ending up horribly overleveled in short order.

People talk about how Emp trading devalued that title. Well, by the same token Craglorn grinding completely devalued VR14 (I remember when high ranks actually meant something in PvP). What you're now seeing is the inevitable backlash when the playing field is leveled, easy mode is eradicated, and people have to actually put in effort (ZOMG) in order to achieve their VR ranks.

Whether you are correct or not does not answer the question of whether ZOS performed as they said they would by making leveling faster with patch 1.5.

Tierney369neb18_ESO

hammer_fella wrote: »

I don't understand this "I should only have to complete 70% of a zone to level up" mentality. It's like saying "I only got a C+ on my report card, but I expect teacher to give me an A+ anyway so I can pass to the next grade along with all my friends."

Sorry, that's not how it works. Just because you have a main that is VR14 doesn't mean all your alts get to hop in the HOV lane and speed by everyone else doing the quests and clearing the zones. From a simple mathematical point of view there is no way to square this circle: you can't simultaneously make quests give enough XP for some to level up having completed 70% of them whilst still allowing other players to complete ALL of the zone without ending up horribly overleveled in short order.

People talk about how Emp trading devalued that title. Well, by the same token Craglorn grinding completely devalued VR14 (I remember when high ranks actually meant something in PvP). What you're now seeing is the inevitable backlash when the playing field is leveled, easy mode is eradicated, and people have to actually put in effort (ZOMG) in order to achieve their VR ranks.

Look I said about 70% of a zone per VR rank because then that would make levelling faster than what it was before 1.5 which ZoS themselves indicated with the 1.5 that leveling in VR ranks was supposed to be reduced and quicker to level so since pre 1.5 it was a VR rank per 90%-95% of a zone complete because you didn't have to fully complete a zone to gain a VR rank pre 1.5 (I know as I did it with my main) so surely completeing 70% of a zone per rank is reduced amount of time to level no ?

I am only suggesting what ZoS implied or should I say the impression they gave when they said Veran levels will take less time to level. So why you are spouting C+ rubbish is beyond me considering pre 1.5 doing Silver and gold got you to VR10 before I don't see how it would horribly over level you just mean I would go to Craglorn a bit earlier and if I wanted to get Completionist in all areas then people can if they wish but that shouldn't be forced down your throat.

kkravaritieb17_ESO

There's a dungeon called Rkunzelft in Craglorn. When you enter there are like a lot of dwarven spiders to kill. You need a partner to reset the instance every time you kill the spiders. It gives approximately 2.1% of you level/1 min and 30 sec (duration of the run). Most of the time is lost with the loading screens when you reset, exit and reenter the dungeon. In my opinion this is one of the fastest ways to grind atm, if not the fastest.

someuser

Again, some people seem to have a hard time understanding something I like to call reality.

I personally don't care if they keep the xp the way it is now or if they revert it. I have no horse in this particular race because, as a super casual player, I rarely run into xp issues. In other words, I'm not advocating one way or the other, I'm merely accepting the reality that this xp change was intended. There was a dev post linked in a previous thread like this one where one of the devs outright states there were only minor xp tweaking planned (if anyone has that link please for the love of god link it).

Also, I certainly spacebar through dialog myself and would never want to be forced to listen but the point I was making was, in the bigger picture/context, GONE are the days of leveling from 1 - VR14 in a couple days (though I'm sure the community will do there best to find "work arounds" as they should). Now one must play the game as the game was intended to be played.

However, when the champion system finally comes I bet this xp issue will be minor compared to the issues some of you QQ'ers are going to have. Like, how are they going to handle VR14 armor when there will no longer be a VR14 rank? I also know, like certain VR Warlock Rings, there is going to be equipment that will be removed from loot tables never to see the light of day again. I'm sure there will be a butt-ton of bugs and glitches to boot.

So, as other QQ'ers here have even admitted, the xp thing isn't that bad but it is less than what we were ALL lead to believe. That's the real world kiddos, adults and companies lie or, rather, tell a certain version that may be a little misleading.

I'm so sick of QQ'ers proclaiming, "I wont play my VR toon until they fix this". Well, minds as well cancel your sub cause it doesn't seem to be going anywhere (again, I could not care less if they keep things the way they are or revert them, just interjecting a little dose of reality).

Paske

Leveling sucks.

Thats teh bottom line.

For some reaosn ZOS decided to make it as tedious and iritaing as they could.

Lets see just how much horse "stuff" our customers can take before they leave.
Or someone lost a bet and here we are ....

eliisra

Blud wrote: »

Whether you are correct or not does not answer the question of whether ZOS performed as they said they would by making leveling faster with patch 1.5.

Yeah, they specifically stated about the 1.5.2 exp changes:

"We expect this to reduce the amount of time it takes to gain a Veteran Rank"

Instead, we where sent back to april/may 2014, before Grindlorn, when you had to quest out every zone in the game to level. When it took over a month to reach VR cap, for a casual player.

I'm not going to argue whether 6 months of Grindlorn was right or wrong. Probably about as stupid as VR ranks lol. But it was ZoS development and decision. What I cant get my head around is how these changes are is suppose to "reduce" the grind time? It's clearly doing the opposite and I suspect it's intended. So why all the BS patch-notes?

Tierney369neb18_ESO

someuser wrote: »

Again, some people seem to have a hard time understanding something I like to call reality.


Also, I certainly spacebar through dialog myself and would never want to be forced to listen but the point I was making was, in the bigger picture/context, GONE are the days of leveling from 1 - VR14 in a couple days (though I'm sure the community will do there best to find "work arounds" as they should). Now one must play the game as the game was intended to be played.

I didn't say I wanted to be levels from VR1 - VR14 in a couple of days ZoS said they wanted feedback once they made all these patch XP changes and I am giving them my feedback as well as trying to get people to give theirs.

I'm just saying levelling is slower than it was when it was Veteran points system and ZoS said it they intended to reduce the amount of time it took to level Veteran ranks not increasing it.

You believe its just another company lying. I don't believe ZoS is lying I do believe they intend to reduce just what they say they wanted to reduce I just believe they screwed up is all and completely miscalculated things which hey things go wrong sometimes and that's fair enough.

As long as they get the right result in the end but just would prefer it if they could get to that point a little quicker is all as atm its a little grindy and frustrating it's certainly nothing to quit over but I would like levelling to be at least where it was before 1.5 or better like they said it would

Maverick827

someuser wrote: »

I'm so sick of QQ'ers proclaiming, "I wont play my VR toon until they fix this". Well, minds as well cancel your sub cause it doesn't seem to be going anywhere

I agree, which is why I have indeed cancelled my subscription.

The game was changed in a way that makes it no longer fun for me. I would like the game to be fun again, so I'm posting about it in hope that enough people doing the same will cause a change of some sort.

There is nothing wrong with this. I don't have to keep paying for a service I no longer enjoy, and there is nothing wrong with letting the service provider know what the problem is. Your use of the term "QQ" belies your lack of an actual argument.

BergisMacBride

@ZOS_GinaBruno‌
@ZOS_JessicaFolsom‌

You asked for us to play with the changes after 1.55 went live Monday and then give us your feedback. Here's mine:

I had shelved one of my VR chars when 1.5 went live due to all the changes, waiting on the fixes. He was on the cusp of finishing Rivenspire and getting a new VR level. I wanted him to start a zone fresh once the 1.55 changes went in to see for myself. I am pretty much a zone completionist: doing all quests, dungeons, dolmens and world bosses. I want everything filled in once I leave a zone. I am not so much concerned about time to level but levelling vs content. I frequently harvest and routinely go out of my way to seek out chests and nodes. I do not avoid mobs at all and will swat that group of 3 standing over my Columbine or Mountain Flower. I do not grind to level but take it as it goes along with the content and my enjoyment of it.

Prior to 1.5, I NEVER had a problem getting 1 VR level per zone and frequently went well into the next VR level by being a compulsive completionist. The average stated here and in the Developer Discussions threads was from 1-1.5 VR levels per Caldwell's zone, which was what my toons could reasonably expect.

Anyway, after Monday's 1.55 patch, I dusted off my char who had been idle since before 1.5 and finished Rvenspire at VR 5 with ~13000 XP to spare. I completed the entire content of the next zone (Alik'r Desert) as usual with the exception of the group dungeon (Volenfell) and ended up with ~ 775,000 XP towards VR 6. Not good.

Pre 1.5, this char would've been well past VR 6 with extra XP to spare. It seems clear to me that levelling past 50 is certainly STILL much slower than before relative to the content, which is not what was advertised when 1.5 dropped.

If ZOS is really sincere in their statements that they would like VR levelling to be abit faster than it was before 1.5, then further adjustments need to be made, IMO. Suggestions would include dropping the level requirement by another 1/3-1/4 or dramatically increasing the XP from quests and content-related achievements such as first time dolmens and world bosses are killed.

As it stands, I am disinclined to continue doing Caldwell's content as a means to level. The return is not worth the time spent, IMO. I might have to go over to the dark side and grind the rest of the way, as much that goes against my preferred playstyle.

Edit: spelling and clarity

Alphashado

someuser wrote: »

Again, some people seem to have a hard time understanding something I like to call reality.

I personally don't care if they keep the xp the way it is now or if they revert it. I have no horse in this particular race because, as a super casual player, I rarely run into xp issues. In other words, I'm not advocating one way or the other, I'm merely accepting the reality that this xp change was intended. There was a dev post linked in a previous thread like this one where one of the devs outright states there were only minor xp tweaking planned (if anyone has that link please for the love of god link it).

Also, I certainly spacebar through dialog myself and would never want to be forced to listen but the point I was making was, in the bigger picture/context, GONE are the days of leveling from 1 - VR14 in a couple days (though I'm sure the community will do there best to find "work arounds" as they should). Now one must play the game as the game was intended to be played.

However, when the champion system finally comes I bet this xp issue will be minor compared to the issues some of you QQ'ers are going to have. Like, how are they going to handle VR14 armor when there will no longer be a VR14 rank? I also know, like certain VR Warlock Rings, there is going to be equipment that will be removed from loot tables never to see the light of day again. I'm sure there will be a butt-ton of bugs and glitches to boot.

So, as other QQ'ers here have even admitted, the xp thing isn't that bad but it is less than what we were ALL lead to believe. That's the real world kiddos, adults and companies lie or, rather, tell a certain version that may be a little misleading.

I'm so sick of QQ'ers proclaiming, "I wont play my VR toon until they fix this". Well, minds as well cancel your sub cause it doesn't seem to be going anywhere (again, I could not care less if they keep things the way they are or revert them, just interjecting a little dose of reality).

Spamming insults like "QQers" at everyone that disagrees with your view will only gain you disrespect and nobody will take you seriously.

The issue here isn't about instant gratification. It's about a very unpopular and unsuccessful format. It's about the way the game is structured.

Every other successful MMO has this format:
Level 1 - level cap. Usually completing an epic quest making it feel like you beat the game.
Followed by end game content where everyone is the same level and has various options to earn better gear or just enjoy being level capped.

Here is the ESO format:
Level 1-50 completing a quest line that makes you feel like you beat the game and you are at the end. Then you find out that you aren't even close to the end. You find out that in order to be competative at all the end game content, you must basically level from 1-50 two more times while completing all of the content for the other two factions.

ZOS is very aware how unpopular this is. Hense the champion system. So when an announcement was made giving people the impression that they would be able to enjoy end game and level cap a little sooner.... Well naturally people got excited.

Now that it's pretty clear that not much has changed... They are naturally dissapointed.

The VR system was a flop. It is directly effecting the success of this game. If it wasn't, they wouldn't be changing it.

olemanwinter

spryler wrote: »

How is 1-50 great, but Caldwell's Gold and Silver terrible? Aren't they exactly the same thing, but under a different faction? I hear people say this a lot, but it's literally the same quest line (minus a few of course) you would do if you chose a different race/faction.

Maybe it's great because 1-50 is the FIRST TIME you are playing it through.

Think of your feeling when you watch a movie you like for the first time. Great right?

So good, you might like watching it again a month later or a year later. But not twice again that same night!

As you said, "it's literally the same quest line". And that's the problem. Nobody I know enjoys replaying the same quests again a 2nd and 3rd time with the only change being the ridiculous change in sides.

Consider the following analogy:

At 5pm you watch The Hunt for Red October for the first time.

"Great movie" you say.

"I know", I say, "You should really watch Crimson Tide too".

"Put it in" you say, excitedly.

"Sure", I say "Just watch The Hunt for Red October twice more right now and then I'll let you watch Crimson Tide."

- And Oh by the way, you have to keep paying to rewatch the first movie while you wait too.

olemanwinter

Tierney369neb18_ESO wrote: »

I know Champion System will be coming and veteran ranks won't exist so this will be completely redundant then but that may be some way off so why make it take so long to gain VR ranks in the first place since they are going to be abolished anyway surely it would make more sene to get us to level quicker so we can actually get doing the end game content.

Unless they know their Champion system is going to be severely upsetting to max VR players. If the new system nerfs max gear we spend time obtaining and money improving, and if the gap between lvl 50 and max is more narrow, and if the time it takes to get to VR14 equivalent is reduced so everyone catches up immediately,etc.etc.

Then, in that case, they may be trying to discourage as much leveling above lvl50 as possible so the player base feels the benefits of being buffed by the Champion system on the low end instead of Nerfed on the top end.

Second reply said it best:
"Just another bad business decision in a series of bad business decisions."

I am enjoying some of the game and trying to ignore the parts I don't....but I have a bad feeling about the direction things are going and the future of the game.

khele23eb17_ESO

hammer_fella wrote: »

I don't understand this "I should only have to complete 70% of a zone to level up" mentality. It's like saying "I only got a C+ on my report card, but I expect teacher to give me an A+ anyway so I can pass to the next grade along with all my friends."

This is such a good comparison... just not for the same reason you think it is. If youre equating leveling through VR (especially on your 2nd+ character) to how school feels for the C-students, youre spot on. Its a tedious, annoying thing they CBA doing but have to anyway. A game should not be like this.

jzak374ub17_ESO

phreatophile wrote: »

I think what we were told was damage control. VR leveling was never going to be, never intended to be faster, even though we were told it would be.

There is always a way to level quickly, it may be mindnumbingly boring but it's there. For whatever reason, ZOS obviously wanted to slow leveling down a great deal. It's up to you if you want to do the same painfull slog that used to get you to VR10-VR11 to only get to approx VR7-VR8 now.

Many will vote with their feet, many will go grind overland mobs, since it is now the fastest way to level.

Grind on, Spellscar here I come!

Damage control: "We lied on purpose to get you to resub your 6mo."

It's almost like a scam. I mean, maybe they got a few 6mo. subs doing this, but the sheer volume of 1mo. subs they must have lost. What were they thinking?

They took the worst part about the game (Who's idea was VR and Cadwells Silver/Gold...? fire them)

and made it worse.

kewl

Alphashado wrote: »

Just another bad business decision in a series of bad business decisions.

What is killing the population of this game? VR1-VR14 is. Hands down, and it's not even close.

1-50 ESO is a great game. Good enough to bring in new players and retain old ones. But when the average player gets to VR1 and realizes what a terrible, terrible, Grind fest of forced questing awaits them. And they realize that lvl 50 means absolutely nothing... well that's when they decide to go and find a different game. Not to mention the straight up ridiculous idea of forcing everyone to play the other two alliances that they just finished vanquishing.....

Yes, many people are OK with the game post lvl 50. Myself included. But man oh man was it a terrible format. It absolutely boggles the mind why they would take the WORST part of this game and make it even worse. The average player does not consider grinding lvls as part of some kind of end game. They consider end game to be the stuff you do at max level. Well now it takes even longer to get to max lvl, and if all the reports are true, then 1.3 did absolutely nothing to speed it up.

The champion system is the only hope for ESO to somehow become the AAA MMO that it should be. Otherwise it will always just be a good game with a nich crowd. And it will likely go F2P.

Nailed it.

Audigy

I see this all a bit different.

When we asked for a better level system in regards of our main characters we were provided with it and this was the VR system. Many of the Beta testers didn't want to roll a new char to experience the whole game and that wish was granted.

It may be a different system and new for many but its not bad.

My biggest problem from 1-50 is the fact that I constantly out-level the content so I am always in a hurry to stay in range, not do any dungeons, pvp or anything else that gives me xp.

Once at VR´s that problem is solved and I can experience everything that the game has to offer without the danger of getting to high in level and quests turning grey. I wish the 1-50 part would work the same because its incredible annoying if you can not experience things because you level too fast.


In the end I believe that people like me who played the Beta and wanted a proper "Endgame" away from only raiding are almost all gone or very silent in the forums, while a different type of player who is very vocal has taken over and doesn't want what we once wanted but raids and instant gratification.

This is the situation ZO has to deal with, not that easy if you ask me and after my opinion they should had sticked to the original system as I know that many left when the nerf came and nothing but raid content was supplied since then.

Lancillotto

Agreed, VR leveling feels painfully slow.

Cherryblossom

someuser wrote: »

Again, some people seem to have a hard time understanding something I like to call reality.

So, as other QQ'ers here have even admitted, the xp thing isn't that bad but it is less than what we were ALL lead to believe. That's the real world kiddos, adults and companies lie or, rather, tell a certain version that may be a little misleading.

I'm so sick of QQ'ers proclaiming, "I wont play my VR toon until they fix this". Well, minds as well cancel your sub cause it doesn't seem to be going anywhere (again, I could not care less if they keep things the way they are or revert them, just interjecting a little dose of reality).

So in your reality, anyone who actually wants to level to VR14 and now find it hard to believe they will, should quit the game!
So in your reality ESO should be a dying game, bleeding subscribers as many of the community do not forsee reaching End Level!

The reality for many players is that they don't do the craglorn grinds, they do the Silver and Gold as intended but are not confident that they are getting enough XP. Before the changes playing as intended would get you to VR10, people are doubt full they will reach this now. The Grinds in Craglorn have been Nerfed, which are what people used to level from VR10 to VR14. So the question most want to know is what do they need to do to level to VR14, as the current content playing as intended does not seem capable of getting you there!