Is this game going end of life?

Vulix

I've been reading a lot about how there is going to be a slow down in content releases, and the content being released is actually stuff from last year that they just delayed...have the devs said anything about new content afterwards in 2016, or no plans yet? Kind of worried the game will just go into cash shop stasis mode after it goes buy-to-play

Iago

Vulix wrote: »

I've been reading a lot about how there is going to be a slow down in content releases, and the content being released is actually stuff from last year that they just delayed...have the devs said anything about new content afterwards in 2016, or no plans yet? Kind of worried the game will just go into cash shop stasis mode after it goes buy-to-play

I know many people have the same concerns I'm going to me and only time will tell is the game will die or if it will live on for a while.

Bloodystab

at this moment, only dark clouds cover sky...

Kragorn

@Vulix, we can only wait and see, but yes, right now all DLC which ZOS have said or hinted at is all stuff that they talked about last summer or thereabouts as being in the 'roadmap' .. and that wasn't being touted as something extended 15 months into the future.

arqe

Did it stopped Rift from being one of the best MMO's ? And Rift went F2P , everyone can download and play and they got cash shop.
Did SWToR died ? Even they locked out huge amount of content after going F2P , playing without sub is just plain stupid because you cannot do anything. You cant even use your skills without buying slot for them. But game still lives.
ESO on the other hand is releasing a patch that is going to change almost everything. For me , game starts now. And people qq about ESO because ZoS asks for Sub without lots of endgame thing to do. ( Just like any other MMO in its 1st year )
So game will be much much more crowded , old players will return. Most people will start and farm for interesting PVP in the game.

LordSkyKnight

Yes they did talk about slowing down content releases and that always worries with the future. This does tend to happen when games go with the cash shop changes. I was playing swtor before I came over here when ESO got released and the same thing happened to them when it went free to play. Their studio got hammered with layoffs and their development cycles got hammered. Now they focus most of their development on their damn gambling boxes and cash shop.

People say give ZOS a chance but I have seen this happen way to many times before with older games I have played. Will it be different here? Nobody can say for sure but the pattern with other games is pretty bad.

BlueIllyrian

arqe wrote: »

Did it stopped Rift from being one of the best MMO's ? And Rift went F2P , everyone can download and play and they got cash shop.
Did SWToR died ? Even they locked out huge amount of content after going F2P , playing without sub is just plain stupid because you cannot do anything. You cant even use your skills without buying slot for them. But game still lives.
ESO on the other hand is releasing a patch that is going to change almost everything. For me , game starts now. And people qq about ESO because ZoS asks for Sub without lots of endgame thing to do. ( Just like any other MMO in its 1st year )
So game will be much much more crowded , old players will return. Most people will start and farm for interesting PVP in the game.

What on Earth are you talking about?

Rift being one of the best MMOs? Accordign to whom?

SWTOR is P2P with horrible F2P tacked on and intended to force you to sub.

Game still lvies, so does Star Trek Online, zombified travesty of Star Trek with oversized cash shop. SWG also "lived" long past beign slavagable.

The_Antiquarian

arqe wrote: »

Did it stopped Rift from being one of the best MMO's ? And Rift went F2P , everyone can download and play and they got cash shop.
Did SWToR died ? Even they locked out huge amount of content after going F2P , playing without sub is just plain stupid because you cannot do anything. You cant even use your skills without buying slot for them. But game still lives.
ESO on the other hand is releasing a patch that is going to change almost everything. For me , game starts now. And people qq about ESO because ZoS asks for Sub without lots of endgame thing to do. ( Just like any other MMO in its 1st year )
So game will be much much more crowded , old players will return. Most people will start and farm for interesting PVP in the game.

I agree. ESO is here to stay with us and as one of the most elegant games in the market, I believe ESO will be here with us for the next decade or so.

kevlarto_ESO

I am taking the wait and see approach, I am going to stay subbed and a long as I feel I am getting value for my sub, and still having FUN I will stick around.

As far as content goes I think after the console dust settles I hope to see content releases pic up again, and I hope they do not just keep making new horse skins and costumes, and not adding to the world, there is still a lot Elder Scrolls out there, and I do wish they would share some thought beyond the console release.

phairdon

We can speculate about the direction this game is going. Not that it will do any good. Like some others here, I hope to see this game get stronger with the re-branding, upcoming patch, cash shop & future dlc. Even if dlc are going to be a while away.

TheShadowScout

In the end, only time will tell. From what I see, the changes to ESO will make the game better, despite what many naysayers will try to convince us with.

I for one am continiung on the assumption that ESO will carry on, until and unless such time comes when they actually shut down the servers.

arqe

BlueIllyrian wrote: »

arqe wrote: »

Did it stopped Rift from being one of the best MMO's ? And Rift went F2P , everyone can download and play and they got cash shop.
Did SWToR died ? Even they locked out huge amount of content after going F2P , playing without sub is just plain stupid because you cannot do anything. You cant even use your skills without buying slot for them. But game still lives.
ESO on the other hand is releasing a patch that is going to change almost everything. For me , game starts now. And people qq about ESO because ZoS asks for Sub without lots of endgame thing to do. ( Just like any other MMO in its 1st year )
So game will be much much more crowded , old players will return. Most people will start and farm for interesting PVP in the game.

What on Earth are you talking about?

Rift being one of the best MMOs? Accordign to whom?

SWTOR is P2P with horrible F2P tacked on and intended to force you to sub.

Game still lvies, so does Star Trek Online, zombified travesty of Star Trek with oversized cash shop. SWG also "lived" long past beign slavagable.

SWToR still got lots and lots of subscribed players even with that "force sub" thing. Rift is one of the most stable MMO's out there , and they still got a lot of players. You can find raids , dungeons , warzones every single second. Game is alive and active. Even SWToR is the same , not PVE but PVP is alive and active. With lots of players.

Smaxx

You're interpreting a bit too much into this. In a MMORPG it's not like they start developing some content today and it's going to be released next month. That might be true for a simple quest or some items, but it's definitely not the case for a completely new zone. Just take 1.6 testing as a scale for significant changes/additions: it's been on the PTS now for about a month. That's one month alone of pure testing and bug fixing.

Let's imagine what happens while they develop the Imperial City: Public testing takes a month, internal testing before takes another month, editorial/proofreading and localization would probably take yet another month. So we're at about three months of "waiting time" once the content is finished.Projecting this back, I'd say they finished working on most aspects of the 1.6 content back in November or December. Some of these estimates are long - for sure - but at the same time you must not forget that they'll have to include feedback, make changes, test those again, etc.

Sure, they said they'll slow down content development, but I'd say this is mainly due to their goals being set a bit too high. New content once every 4-6 weeks is pretty tight, if you want to deliver more than just a few more quests and story tidbits.

Look at Guild Wars 2's content releases throughout 2013 (can't really say something about last year's): They've had patch days once every two weeks with at least some new "content". Content that was mostly just grind and some story you could finish within one or two hours. To me ZOS' statements sounded a lot like they don't want such small content drops, especially considering they'd like to sell those DLCs rather than any must-have items on the store.

But overall it's still far too early to really judge their goals and aims. Slower pace might mean anything. They could release DLC once every two months or once a year. We don't know yet, but I'm pretty sure they're going to figure something out so it's worthwhile, because in the end they want our money. People always talk about how greedy game developers/publishers are, but then they talk like they wouldn't release anything anymore.

MornaBaine

ZOS is going to have to fight an uphill battle because of the (understandably) negative perception of B2P and seeing what other games have done to their customers. I hope they will surprise us all.

Messy1

A lot will hinge on the console release and its success. If the console release does well, ZOS will pick up the pace with the content releases and such. If it doesn't pan out then they will have to figure out what the new strategy will be.

Messy1

Smaxx wrote: »

You're interpreting a bit too much into this. In a MMORPG it's not like they start developing some content today and it's going to be released next month. That might be true for a simple quest or some items, but it's definitely not the case for a completely new zone. Just take 1.6 testing as a scale for significant changes/additions: it's been on the PTS now for about a month. That's one month alone of pure testing and bug fixing.

Let's imagine what happens while they develop the Imperial City: Public testing takes a month, internal testing before takes another month, editorial/proofreading and localization would probably take yet another month. So we're at about three months of "waiting time" once the content is finished.Projecting this back, I'd say they finished working on most aspects of the 1.6 content back in November or December. Some of these estimates are long - for sure - but at the same time you must not forget that they'll have to include feedback, make changes, test those again, etc.

Sure, they said they'll slow down content development, but I'd say this is mainly due to their goals being set a bit too high. New content once every 4-6 weeks is pretty tight, if you want to deliver more than just a few more quests and story tidbits.

Look at Guild Wars 2's content releases throughout 2013 (can't really say something about last year's): They've had patch days once every two weeks with at least some new "content". Content that was mostly just grind and some story you could finish within one or two hours. To me ZOS' statements sounded a lot like they don't want such small content drops, especially considering they'd like to sell those DLCs rather than any must-have items on the store.

But overall it's still far too early to really judge their goals and aims. Slower pace might mean anything. They could release DLC once every two months or once a year. We don't know yet, but I'm pretty sure they're going to figure something out so it's worthwhile, because in the end they want our money. People always talk about how greedy game developers/publishers are, but then they talk like they wouldn't release anything anymore.

There original statements about releasing content and updates every 4-6 weeks was something they could not handle and was overly ambitious. Also this game pretty much had to go the B2P road for console release given the nature of console games.

Elsonso

No, this game is not going end of life. Not with a console release coming up. That is, frankly, an over-reaction.

ZOS is not a huge company. They have the resources of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks behind them, but the development arm of ESO is actually pretty small.

B2P or not, they need to take the next 4 or 5 months to get consoles out. This means running the beta testing, doing endless QA, fixing up parts of the game common to console and PC/Mac, doing more QA, adding capacity to their server farm, adjusting artwork, animation, quests, and a bunch of things to make sure that everything works for console. They have to test everything with the console. Every quest, every interaction, every system, every area of the game. They only get one chance to make the console release go smoothly, and this is it.

As much as the PC/Mac people would like to have their undivided attention, the fact is that ZOS needs to bring a large part of their employees to bear on consoles right now.

Once the consoles are out, everything doubles as far as testing effort goes. Clockwork City, Imperial City, Orsinium, Spell System, Dark Brotherhood, Thieves' Guild... all have to be tested on four platforms instead of two. It will be much easier for the developers to make stuff faster than QA can test it than it used to be. In all, this is going to slow down the frequency of releases.

This is all speculation, of course, based on extensive use of my personal Magic 8 Ball.

RainfeatherUK

Despite it not being my favourite game at all (being that it has no real trinity and I find that boring as hell -.-) Gw2 has endured with the b2p system.

Ofcourse it released with the b2p model, so they were better prepared - but it still has similar distinctions between content; open world PvE, WvW/AvA (thats isolated like ESO's) and cosmetic items aplenty in the shop.

Its content release rate isnt stellar at all, but some say that not having to sub counters that a bit and means that you can go away and come back at any time; rather than having to wait around for content; Having lost very little.

Now the door on that for me swings both ways. I prefer to stay in a game that im playing and not switch between different ones. However perhaps that isnt very realistic here. I can see how the system might afford a convenience to those who are, perhaps, waiting for various single player titles on a somewhat regular basis. They might want to take a weeks timeout at times (and dont have to therefore waste time suspending a sub while they are gone / feeling its going to waste.)

Ok so not the best examples. There are others im sure.

So yes the content release rate is going to be slow (It was already lol) - but If console sales are good as hoped - we will still get it, the DLC that is. We just have to survive the window of console players getting up to speed with the rest of us (not to keen on that but meh)

Imo opinion ESO's content is pretty good. Its just more time consuming to design that alot of mmo's with VO and whatever else.

The devs have stated that come B2P/Consoles settling down, development focus is going to be adventures and DLC from then on.

So its a toss up. Assume they are in the ballpark of honest - Or dont and chalk it up to more ZoS 'transparency issues'.

Depending on how much you like the game as is, will depend on which way you swing and/or how much you are willing to wait. We cant escape the console window now, but lets face it the money they bring is money we/ZoS need to keep this game in business. So thats why im grudgingly putting up with them. Up to everyone else if they do the same!

FadedJeans

I've enjoyed playing this past year. I love the guild I'm in. I'm excited about 1.6. I'm looking forward to the additional changes, even if they take a year or so to dribble out. With the consoles coming on board, I'm glad they're slowing down and getting things just so.

I presently imagine they will have my sub indefinitely.

RainfeatherUK

FadedJeans wrote: »

I've enjoyed playing this past year. I love the guild I'm in. I'm excited about 1.6. I'm looking forward to the additional changes, even if they take a year or so to dribble out. With the consoles coming on board, I'm glad they're slowing down and getting things just so.

I presently imagine they will have my sub indefinitely.

Too positive! Quick haters, brush this one under the rug!

Good to see someone is excited

FadedJeans

RainfeatherUK wrote: »

FadedJeans wrote: »

I've enjoyed playing this past year. I love the guild I'm in. I'm excited about 1.6. I'm looking forward to the additional changes, even if they take a year or so to dribble out. With the consoles coming on board, I'm glad they're slowing down and getting things just so.

I presently imagine they will have my sub indefinitely.

Too positive! Quick haters, brush this one under the rug!

Good to see someone is excited

My whole guild feels more or less the same way, and we know we're not the only ones.

EölMPK

What? Are you serious op?
The game will be released for real next month and june for consoles, how is this dying to anyone? lol

RainfeatherUK

FadedJeans wrote: »

My whole guild feels more or less the same way, and we know we're not the only ones.

Haha thats great Theres tonnes of fun to be had in 1.6 from the right viewpoint. If you arent part of the 'past drama' crew then you'll love it, as its really good. Especially in fluidity and responsiveness.

Hope you love it!

Vulix

Grunge wrote: »

What? Are you serious op?
The game will be released for real next month and june for consoles, how is this dying to anyone? lol

That doesn't really matter IMO, they are just re-releasing the current game for consoles. As far as actual new content goes that is being developed for the game, there hasn't been anything announced. In fact, things announced during Quakecon last year have already been shelved for the time being, like spellcrafting.

Maybe I am being overly-pessimistic, but given it's ZOS, there's no reason to be optimistic at all

Samadhi

Vulix wrote: »

I've been reading a lot about how there is going to be a slow down in content releases, and the content being released is actually stuff from last year that they just delayed...have the devs said anything about new content afterwards in 2016, or no plans yet? Kind of worried the game will just go into cash shop stasis mode after it goes buy-to-play

Quakecon is where they announced pretty much all of their plans for this past year, so wait and see what happens there this year.

If no new content is announced at Quakecon, then maybe start giving rise to your worries.

EölMPK

Vulix wrote: »

Grunge wrote: »

What? Are you serious op?
The game will be released for real next month and june for consoles, how is this dying to anyone? lol

That doesn't really matter IMO, they are just re-releasing the current game for consoles. As far as actual new content goes that is being developed for the game, there hasn't been anything announced. In fact, things announced during Quakecon last year have already been shelved for the time being, like spellcrafting.

Maybe I am being overly-pessimistic, but given it's ZOS, there's no reason to be optimistic at all

I guess you're being extremely super hyper pessimistic :P

When you think about ZOS, remember those names and you will be better:

Perfect World Entertainement
Trion Worlds (refering to Archeage)
EA Games
Activision Blizzard (not talking about old Blizzard)
Aeria Games
Webzen

Anvos

To be fair it makes sense that things would slow down a little bit once they have to support consoles along with the pc.

Though under their current B2P model there still is incentive for them to make major new content regularly so people who unsub will have a reason to keep buying crown to unlock expansion content. Especially since if they start betraying their promise of keeping crown shop non-buy-to-win it would drive off a lot of players just to milk some a little more.

Armitas

"Stuff from last year that gets delayed" simply means that it got delayed and now it is no longer delayed so it's being released. If you put out other stuff first you just delay it even more.

They have been pumping out content faster than I am used to so slowing down, to me, would just put them in line with everyone else.

Seraphyel

Vulix wrote: »

I've been reading a lot about how there is going to be a slow down in content releases, and the content being released is actually stuff from last year that they just delayed...have the devs said anything about new content afterwards in 2016, or no plans yet? Kind of worried the game will just go into cash shop stasis mode after it goes buy-to-play

No, they haven't.

But look at it as it is: they announce content and never bring it up. Some content was announced last May or June and we didn't saw anything from it yet. To announce doesn't mean that it will be delivered.

Zenimax has one last change, the console version - when it succeeds, the game will be in a "fine" spot, but when it fails... ESO will be done.

arqe wrote: »

Did SWToR died ? Even they locked out huge amount of content after going F2P , playing without sub is just plain stupid because you cannot do anything. You cant even use your skills without buying slot for them. But game still lives.
ESO on the other hand is releasing a patch that is going to change almost everything. For me , game starts now. And people qq about ESO because ZoS asks for Sub without lots of endgame thing to do. ( Just like any other MMO in its 1st year )
So game will be much much more crowded , old players will return. Most people will start and farm for interesting PVP in the game.

You have to realize that ESO doesn't change that much. And on top of that, there is NOTHING NEW in the game with 1.6 when it comes to content. If you left last September, you have 1:1 the same content like March '15 when 1.6 is live.

And the thing with SW:TOR... SW:TOR sold over 2 million copies within its first year, ESO had issues to sell half of that.

Anvos

Umm.. I wouldn't call the Champion System, Justice Stage 1, and Provisioning Revision no new content.

Seraphyel

Anvos wrote: »

Umm.. I wouldn't call the Champion System, Justice Stage 1, and Provisioning Revision no new content.

We have another issue here, the term "content".

For me, the Champion System or the Justice System are no content. They just add another kind of gameplay, but that's no playable content at all.

It's like they would add a new weapon time - that wouldn't be content, too.

Craglorn is content, the only we got within 10 months. Maybe you can say DSA and those VR dungeons are content too, but it's still not much.