Any new news on spellcrafting?

Seraphyel

RainfeatherUK wrote: »

Well, stands to reason they would want to get the core game straight first before they go elsewhere.

Fingers crossed, its early days and games take time unfortunately.

"We just removed the 6 month sub options, because it was rarely used and wasn't a favorite subscription option."

(It was removed because it goes B2P but we won't tell you)


"Spellcrafting was put on hold but it's still on the table!"

(You will never see Spellcrafting in the game but we won't tell you to not shatter your hopes)


Yeah, that's how much I believe their postings. I hope they'll prove me wrong cause I would love to see Spellcrafting, but I tend to be realistic.

When we got IC, when we got Murkmire, when we got Orsinium, then I can hope again. Or when whe at least get some serious information about it. But as long as we only get one sentence about those topics... nah, sorry.

RainfeatherUK

I've taken your points along the way @Seraphyel lol. I just find its better for the condition of my hair if I remain optimistic and dont tear it all out with frantic pessimism!

ZoS are certainly known for their unique brand of 'transparency' cant argue , but I have some faith in the excitability of Wrobel too haha.

Nefrast

Seraphyel wrote: »

(You will never see Spellcrafting in the game but we won't tell you to not shatter your hopes)

I see this the same. In my opinion Spellcrafting is just no longer a cost efficient project for them. Just look at how many resources they spent since the launch on the existing classes and skills. Balancing them is a never ending nightmare*, one that costs money. Introducing Spellcrafting, balancing the new powers and make them work smoothly with the existing classes and skills would bind resources for mid and long term. As their previous dreams died together with their subscription model, they now need to focus on cost efficient things. Another trial, an new zone, horse armor, pets, etc. are surely more cost efficient for them for the foreseeable future.

*) I guess hiring a couple of very good mathematicians, letting them work on a game model for 2 or 3 years would yield a balanced system where all changes' effects could be simulated with high precision. But that would cost millions and still could fail. Nobody will every do this. ;-)

glak

Exstazik wrote: »

my thoughts:
-till june-console release
-till september-vacation
-november-december-new location ^^
-january-holiday
-February-some fixes for november DLC

Agreed. Imperial City in November to draw in players and boost the November DLC sales.

Spellcrafting project is shelved. Everything else is being worked on but held back for the console release.

RainfeatherUK

Nefrast wrote: »

Seraphyel wrote: »

(You will never see Spellcrafting in the game but we won't tell you to not shatter your hopes)

As their previous dreams died together with their subscription model, they now need to focus on cost efficient things. Another trial, an new zone, horse armor, pets, etc. are surely more cost efficient for them for the foreseeable future.

Thats assuming that the plan to transition to the B2P model wasnt already in the pipe as a fallback before Quakecon and the initial reveal of the Spellcraft system by Nick Konkle.

If I had to guess they already had expectation that this would happen with the microsoft/sony console debates. Add that with the rumoured hold back on Imperial city and you might have them purposefully feeding content in line with the new console players and the wait for them to catch up.

Personally I can see it coming along eventually. Whether or not those desiring it now are still around by that point though is another matter entirely.

starkerealm

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

Seraphyel wrote: »

What hindered them was ZOS' decision to change their model for the game, more pointedly the decision to go B2P. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say that Sleeping Giant started talks with ZOS AFTER the QuakeCon video.

The reasonable bet here was Microsoft. Bethesda's managed to leverage them around in the past, and the sticking point with ESO was the XBL Gold requirement, and (apparently) Microsoft demanding a cut of the XBone sub fees on top of that. By last October, they managed to convince Sony to wave the Playstation Plus (?) subscription fee, for ESO users. But, it seems that Microsoft held out.

In part, this might actually be the single reason the console launch was delayed so long.

In that light, it's quite possible the buy to play contingency was in place before the game even launched.

But, moving people around? I can't prove anything, but this smells like executive fiat to me. There really are CEOs out there that think if you hire nine women you can make a baby in a month.

The quote in this post is messed up, since it's got Seraphyel's name tacked on to what I posted.

Yeah, sorry about that, I have no idea what went wrong.

glak

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

What hindered them was ZOS' decision to change their model for the game, more pointedly the decision to go B2P. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say that Sleeping Giant started talks with ZOS AFTER the QuakeCon video.

Quote works for me. Must have been in your quote editing, @starkerealm . Nested quotes are not that big of a deal with the new quote display instead of thick, nested rectangles..

starkerealm

glak wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

What hindered them was ZOS' decision to change their model for the game, more pointedly the decision to go B2P. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say that Sleeping Giant started talks with ZOS AFTER the QuakeCon video.

Quote works for me. Must have been in your quote editing, @starkerealm . Nested quotes are not that big of a deal with the new quote display instead of thick, nested rectangles..

Yeah, it was probably somewhere when I was pruning out the excess quotes. I think I was pretty tired when I wrote it.

Seraphyel

Nevermind, if you read the thread carefully you'll realize it.

Woolenthreads

Seraphyel wrote: »

"Spellcrafting was put on hold but it's still on the table!"

(You will never see Spellcrafting in the game but we won't tell you to not shatter your hopes)

Ahhh cynicism, I have such fond memories. Of course, we cynics all know that cynicism exists because of BS backed by good hard evidence. Or is that too cynical? .

Feynn

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Could we please know what are your plans and expected timeline for release? You built a lot of hype on spellcrafting, the video you showed about it was great, it looked you already had it in the final stages of development, and you know everyone is very excited about this. I don't know what your priorities are in terms of development, but there is certain content that most players really seem to strongly want to see. Things like spellcrafting and player housing will make the game feel a lot more like Elder Scrolls. Arenas (for in-faction and cross-faction PvP, single and group) will add a great MMO feature (not to mention that arenas also have a long history in Elder Scrolls lore). Please don't ignore these requests, and let us know when we can expect these new features.

Keepercraft

Why ZOS, whyyyy....

Seraphyel

Housing? ESO is so instanced, we don't need Housing. And hopefully Zenimax doesn't waste resources on something like that.

I am sure some people would be happy about it, but it doesn't fit into ESO.

Exstazik

Keepercraft wrote: »

Why ZOS, whyyyy....

1) Console release
2) bug fixes for 1.6
3) money.
*would not be surprised if Spellcrafting plates will be daily (1 daly per account) and ofc you can purchased +1 daily in Crown_Store ещ educe the time to look for such plates.

Keepercraft

And how about jewelcrafting?

MornaBaine

Feynn wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Could we please know what are your plans and expected timeline for release? You built a lot of hype on spellcrafting, the video you showed about it was great, it looked you already had it in the final stages of development, and you know everyone is very excited about this. I don't know what your priorities are in terms of development, but there is certain content that most players really seem to strongly want to see. Things like spellcrafting and player housing will make the game feel a lot more like Elder Scrolls. Arenas (for in-faction and cross-faction PvP, single and group) will add a great MMO feature (not to mention that arenas also have a long history in Elder Scrolls lore). Please don't ignore these requests, and let us know when we can expect these new features.

The hold up is very likely that they have yet to figure out how to monetize it in the cash shop. All future content will be cash shop based. Gone are the days of "free" game updates and changes to core systems. Anything new must have a price tag attached. My bet is that spellcrafting has been killed but eventually we'll see cool new spells you can buy in the cash shop...carefully balanced so they won't be OP of course. 'cause that would be pay 2 win. The slightly better case scenario is that Spellcrafting will come in conjunction with a new zone as DLC.

RainfeatherUK

MornaBaine wrote: »

The hold up is very likely that they have yet to figure out how to monetize it in the cash shop. All future content will be cash shop based. Gone are the days of "free" game updates and changes to core systems. Anything new must have a price tag attached. My bet is that spellcrafting has been killed but eventually we'll see cool new spells you can buy in the cash shop...carefully balanced so they won't be OP of course. 'cause that would be pay 2 win. The slightly better case scenario is that Spellcrafting will come in conjunction with a new zone as DLC.

Thats a little too cynical

Some content wouldnt even function in the scope of gameplay and balance if some have and some dont. I think core system changes and things that cant be effectively instanced will still come out inbetween DLC and pass freely.

Ok, on a technical sense the funding will probably come from DLC/Cosmetic/ESO+ so you may say we've still all paid for it. In a general sense though we wont be going to the crownstore for 'everything' im sure.

starkerealm

MornaBaine wrote: »

Feynn wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Could we please know what are your plans and expected timeline for release? You built a lot of hype on spellcrafting, the video you showed about it was great, it looked you already had it in the final stages of development, and you know everyone is very excited about this. I don't know what your priorities are in terms of development, but there is certain content that most players really seem to strongly want to see. Things like spellcrafting and player housing will make the game feel a lot more like Elder Scrolls. Arenas (for in-faction and cross-faction PvP, single and group) will add a great MMO feature (not to mention that arenas also have a long history in Elder Scrolls lore). Please don't ignore these requests, and let us know when we can expect these new features.

The hold up is very likely that they have yet to figure out how to monetize it in the cash shop. All future content will be cash shop based. Gone are the days of "free" game updates and changes to core systems. Anything new must have a price tag attached. My bet is that spellcrafting has been killed but eventually we'll see cool new spells you can buy in the cash shop...carefully balanced so they won't be OP of course. 'cause that would be pay 2 win. The slightly better case scenario is that Spellcrafting will come in conjunction with a new zone as DLC.

Morna, you want to see a pay to win game, go fire up Star Trek Online... or, don't since I'm about to explain the problem.

Basically, STO has a limited skill bar for space. When you hit level 10, you'll get access to your first tier 2 ship, which is effectively your second class choice. If you take one of the free ones, you'll have access to 4 bridge officer stations with a total of 5 skills. If you wander into their cash shop and spend real money, you'll get access to a ship that's identical to the ones you can get for free, except... you get 6 skill slots, and additional slots you can equip gear to your ship. And this persists through the ranks until you hit endgame, where your choice is to not level up and keep staggering around in a tier 5 ship, going against enemies that are expecting you to have a t6 one, or cough up 30 bucks to get a better ship that's actually balanced for the content.

This is on top of most systems in the game requiring dilithium which is a currency you can either grind at a terrible rate, or buy from other players, using the real money currency.

Also, with STO, the devs have explicitly stated that if something breaks they won't fix it unless they can find a way to monetize it.

While I understand cynicism, we're nowhere near that point yet. So could you stop yelling "fire" because you're a little apprehensive. Trust me, you're not the only one.

MornaBaine

RainfeatherUK wrote: »

MornaBaine wrote: »

The hold up is very likely that they have yet to figure out how to monetize it in the cash shop. All future content will be cash shop based. Gone are the days of "free" game updates and changes to core systems. Anything new must have a price tag attached. My bet is that spellcrafting has been killed but eventually we'll see cool new spells you can buy in the cash shop...carefully balanced so they won't be OP of course. 'cause that would be pay 2 win. The slightly better case scenario is that Spellcrafting will come in conjunction with a new zone as DLC.

Thats a little too cynical

No such thing. Okay, maybe it is. But I do really believe that all future emphasis will be on crown store and DLC and anything that cannot fit into those two things is just going to keep getting pushed back until they hope we forget about it.

Feynn

I don't see anything wrong with making spellcrafting into a purchasable DLC, as long as the spells availabe through spellcrafting are balanced and not OP. The game is not meant to be free, and this would not turn the game into a Pay2Win. The Pay2Win problem arises when there is practically no limit to how strong you can become by putting more and more money into the game. For example, if they allowed one to buy gold for cash, leading to an inflation of prices in guild stores and only those with most gold (and therefore cash) being able to buy items. That would be Pay2Win, when a game becomes a scam in which the more you pay the more you win, with no real limit, feeding off addicted players who would pay hundreds and thousands of dollars and alienating all serious gamers.

But making spellcrafting into a purchasable DLC does not need to fall within that category. And after all, they must give subscribers a reason to remain subscribed, no?

A very easy way to implement it would be to make spellcrafting available only to characters who complete a certain quest in a DLC area. Or moving the spellcrafting altar from Eyevea to a different DLC location? (not a fan of this latter option, it makes sense from a lore point of view to have spellcrafting in Eyevea) Very easy, as you can see. So if the issue is having a financial return from the introduction of spellcrafting, there are ways to do so. It's not a reason to delay the project.

starkerealm

MornaBaine wrote: »

RainfeatherUK wrote: »

MornaBaine wrote: »

The hold up is very likely that they have yet to figure out how to monetize it in the cash shop. All future content will be cash shop based. Gone are the days of "free" game updates and changes to core systems. Anything new must have a price tag attached. My bet is that spellcrafting has been killed but eventually we'll see cool new spells you can buy in the cash shop...carefully balanced so they won't be OP of course. 'cause that would be pay 2 win. The slightly better case scenario is that Spellcrafting will come in conjunction with a new zone as DLC.

Thats a little too cynical

No such thing. Okay, maybe it is. But I do really believe that all future emphasis will be on crown store and DLC and anything that cannot fit into those two things is just going to keep getting pushed back until they hope we forget about it.

To be honest, if that was the case, I'd expect the "standard" 500 crowns a month stipend... or the crap like TSW where there was 1200 ($10) but it was set up to expire if you didn't use it, and required that you spent it on the 1200 point DLC if you wanted access to that.

k9mouse

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

AshySamurai wrote: »

Yep. They not totally abandoned it, but I wouldn't expect it in any time soon.

Yep, this is basically correct. Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Any idea when it will be work on again? After the console launch? 4 months? 6 months? etc

starkerealm

k9mouse wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

AshySamurai wrote: »

Yep. They not totally abandoned it, but I wouldn't expect it in any time soon.

Yep, this is basically correct. Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Any idea when it will be work on again? After the console launch? 4 months? 6 months? etc

Probably after June 9th.

Moving everyone over to the console launch sounds like executive fiat to me... so, if that's the case, then... assuming no more micromanagement, it'd be back on track once that's dealt with... but, no we don't know. Taking what I know and throwing out a wild guess, I'd say September or October, but that's if Spellcrafting is still part of 1.7.

WraithAzraiel

a

MornaBaine wrote: »

Feynn wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Could we please know what are your plans and expected timeline for release? You built a lot of hype on spellcrafting, the video you showed about it was great, it looked you already had it in the final stages of development, and you know everyone is very excited about this. I don't know what your priorities are in terms of development, but there is certain content that most players really seem to strongly want to see. Things like spellcrafting and player housing will make the game feel a lot more like Elder Scrolls. Arenas (for in-faction and cross-faction PvP, single and group) will add a great MMO feature (not to mention that arenas also have a long history in Elder Scrolls lore). Please don't ignore these requests, and let us know when we can expect these new features.

The hold up is very likely that they have yet to figure out how to monetize it in the cash shop. All future content will be cash shop based. Gone are the days of "free" game updates and changes to core systems. Anything new must have a price tag attached. My bet is that spellcrafting has been killed but eventually we'll see cool new spells you can buy in the cash shop...carefully balanced so they won't be OP of course. 'cause that would be pay 2 win. The slightly better case scenario is that Spellcrafting will come in conjunction with a new zone as DLC.

Either that or they're trying to figuring out a way to release it without introducing a new set of FotM brokenly OP skills into the game.

starkerealm

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

Either that or they're trying to figuring out a way to release it without introducing a new set of FotM brokenly OP skills into the game.

Given that spellcrafting has traditionally been one of the pillars of completely breaking an Elder Scrolls game over your knee, there's some merit to this.

Woolenthreads

starkerealm wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

Either that or they're trying to figuring out a way to release it without introducing a new set of FotM brokenly OP skills into the game.

Given that spellcrafting has traditionally been one of the pillars of completely breaking an Elder Scrolls game over your knee, there's some merit to this.

If they treat it the same way as they have one of the other pillars, Alchemy, I don't think it'll be an enormous issue. It could really turn the game into a "play the way you want" or "Everybody has the same stuff" format.

starkerealm

Woolenthreads wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

Either that or they're trying to figuring out a way to release it without introducing a new set of FotM brokenly OP skills into the game.

Given that spellcrafting has traditionally been one of the pillars of completely breaking an Elder Scrolls game over your knee, there's some merit to this.

If they treat it the same way as they have one of the other pillars, Alchemy, I don't think it'll be an enormous issue. It could really turn the game into a "play the way you want" or "Everybody has the same stuff" format.

Also glyph crafting.

But, yeah, I agree. I have a feeling, in the long run, spellcrafting will make ZoS' job easier, because it will mean keeping the classes roughly balanced in PvP will have less pressure on individual class abilities. But, we can only hope they realize that.

Seraphyel

starkerealm wrote: »

k9mouse wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

AshySamurai wrote: »

Yep. They not totally abandoned it, but I wouldn't expect it in any time soon.

Yep, this is basically correct. Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Any idea when it will be work on again? After the console launch? 4 months? 6 months? etc

Probably after June 9th.

Moving everyone over to the console launch sounds like executive fiat to me... so, if that's the case, then... assuming no more micromanagement, it'd be back on track once that's dealt with... but, no we don't know. Taking what I know and throwing out a wild guess, I'd say September or October, but that's if Spellcrafting is still part of 1.7.

June 9th is everything but the final date they have time for concentrating on announced stuff.

Everybody who thinks the console launch will run smooth and without issues is a bit delusional. I am sure Zenimax is the first month of console release involved in making the console release a bug-free experience with desirable gameplay and fun.

sarttsarttsarttub17_ESO

Seraphyel wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

k9mouse wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

AshySamurai wrote: »

Yep. They not totally abandoned it, but I wouldn't expect it in any time soon.

Yep, this is basically correct. Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Any idea when it will be work on again? After the console launch? 4 months? 6 months? etc

Probably after June 9th.

Moving everyone over to the console launch sounds like executive fiat to me... so, if that's the case, then... assuming no more micromanagement, it'd be back on track once that's dealt with... but, no we don't know. Taking what I know and throwing out a wild guess, I'd say September or October, but that's if Spellcrafting is still part of 1.7.

June 9th is everything but the final date they have time for concentrating on announced stuff.

Everybody who thinks the console launch will run smooth and without issues is a bit delusional. I am sure Zenimax is the first month of console release involved in making the console release a bug-free experience with desirable gameplay and fun.

im pretty sure ZoS knows better than to release a buggy unplayable console release, if they do they are basically putting chains around their necks, sacrificing themselves and putting themselves in coldharbour.

Seraphyel

sarttsarttsarttub17_ESO wrote: »

Seraphyel wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

k9mouse wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

AshySamurai wrote: »

Yep. They not totally abandoned it, but I wouldn't expect it in any time soon.

Yep, this is basically correct. Spellcrafting isn't actively being worked on, it's just on the back burner for now.

Any idea when it will be work on again? After the console launch? 4 months? 6 months? etc

Probably after June 9th.

Moving everyone over to the console launch sounds like executive fiat to me... so, if that's the case, then... assuming no more micromanagement, it'd be back on track once that's dealt with... but, no we don't know. Taking what I know and throwing out a wild guess, I'd say September or October, but that's if Spellcrafting is still part of 1.7.

June 9th is everything but the final date they have time for concentrating on announced stuff.

Everybody who thinks the console launch will run smooth and without issues is a bit delusional. I am sure Zenimax is the first month of console release involved in making the console release a bug-free experience with desirable gameplay and fun.

im pretty sure ZoS knows better than to release a buggy unplayable console release, if they do they are basically putting chains around their necks, sacrificing themselves and putting themselves in coldharbour.

I think they hardly can take control over that. I hope console launch will run smoothly, but I doubt it.