Returning player concerns

Kronos

So i played beta for a few months before release, then played ~2 months of live before i stopped. One of the main reasons i stopped was because of the crazy grind of the VR. i got to like VR5 and just got bored.

With the monthly sub gone i was going to give it another go, but when i came to the forums to look up changes and patch notes i see several discussions on "Broke VR XP". Going off what some of them say, the grind is far worse now than before. I was at least gaining a rank every zone or so, but now i read about people doing entire VR zones and gaining a quarter of a rank.

Are these claims accurate or just over exaggerations? I would really like to hear someone compare current VR leveling to how it was at release. I am not looking forward to massive grind to max my level out.

Zaggeron

Your mileage may vary, but I've been getting about 1 veteran level per veteran zone. This is doing enough to get the quest achievement and the Master Explorer achievement for that zone.

Obscure

Level for level, point for point, it's quicker progression. However, if one is comparing "Maxed out" in the Veteran System to getting there in the Champion system, the answer to the question "Is the champion system a bigger grind than the veteran system?" is "Yes. Exponentially."

The difference between players who grind 8+ hours a day for Champion points and those who just play the game for whatever for 8+ hours is noticeable. The difference between them and people who just play for kicks in 4 hours or less, and not even every day, is astronomical. The cap is so high for champion points that it's simply unreasonable to expect anyone other than those who dedicate their lives to this game to "Max out"...the vertical progression gap this will create between players will make the Veteran system seem like the good old days. It's an absolutely monstrous volume of progression, with the only hope of completion reserved for those who dedicate more than 40 hours a week specifically to progress in towards that goal. Causal ESO players are better off ignoring the progression entirely, and simply accepting that the champ point grinders will always be better than them, with no option to ever be on an even level of play with them.

Soulshine

VR levels no longer require Veteran Points to level, they require experience points only. If you are at VR5, then I would assume you still have Caldwell's Gold to complete, if not the remainder of Silver as well? You will get decent XP for the quests you do, earn some gold, some skill points, and get some Champion Points while you are at it. By the time you get to Craglorn it is likely that there will be more people playing to group up with for quests, so that zone will also give you XP. Mobs in veteran zones were also signficantly nerfed and no longer do the damage we once saw them do back when VR first started.

Is it fast? Nope. It is very slow unfortunately, and grinding or PvP are not really good options for XP since there is little to gain from it right now in comparison.

Regarding the Champion System climb, it is not necessary to earn all points in all constellations - just focus on investing in the ones most useful for your build. The game is nowhere near balanced for maxed out numbers in everything, so that is still a long way off. Once you are done with the content in the zones there are trials, vet dungeons repeatables and Undaunted dailies, but not much else since there has not been any new zone content since last fall and there will not be anything added to the game until after console release (at the earliest), so hurrying through the VR content you still have would not really be a good idea anyway unless you want to find yourself out of things to do like the rest of us sitting on cap.

doggie

I also played a Vr 6 character last year, but there is no way I'm going to play any more VR content. I didn't have stamina to get from 6-10 last year, and I really don't have it to do 6-14 now, I've also heard 10-14 is worse too.

What I've done is to start a new character, lots of players in the beginner areas, and I'm checking out the justice system, and planning to try out the dungeons at 12. So far I've discovered many changes in the main storyline and some dvelves.

Zeni has basicly managed to split the End game players over many levels, I have no idea why. They seem to have no idea how to create real end game content and that's just sad.

Kronos

Thanks for the responses

Obscure wrote: »

Level for level, point for point, it's quicker progression. However, if one is comparing "Maxed out" in the Veteran System to getting there in the Champion system, the answer to the question "Is the champion system a bigger grind than the veteran system?" is "Yes. Exponentially."

The difference between players who grind 8+ hours a day for Champion points and those who just play the game for whatever for 8+ hours is noticeable. The difference between them and people who just play for kicks in 4 hours or less, and not even every day, is astronomical. The cap is so high for champion points that it's simply unreasonable to expect anyone other than those who dedicate their lives to this game to "Max out"...the vertical progression gap this will create between players will make the Veteran system seem like the good old days. It's an absolutely monstrous volume of progression, with the only hope of completion reserved for those who dedicate more than 40 hours a week specifically to progress in towards that goal. Causal ESO players are better off ignoring the progression entirely, and simply accepting that the champ point grinders will always be better than them, with no option to ever be on an even level of play with them.

Not sure how i feel about that. On one hand, the players who play way more then me should be much better. on the other hand... I want to be the best, screw those guys.

i actually was not even thinking of the champion points when i asked the question, i was kind of treating them like paragon levels in D3. In that they are important and make you better, but you can still do whatever you want with out them.

I have no intention of grinding CP, but i do plan on having my main and at least 1 alt at VR 14.

again, thanks for the answers.

Vil

I am also returning to ESO but in no way am I touching the VR content. I figured since I have so many "builds" I want to make, I will just play casually and bring each to lvl 50. Only thing bad about this is I wont get any champion points.

I hope ZOS are listening and make sure to remove VR ranks as fast can be.

Kronos

@Soulshine yes i am still on the first VR zone after i cleared my starting area, and have another whole faction to clear after that. im sure it wont be to fast, but what killed me last time was going from 1-50 then basically starting all over again and doing all new zones... it made my head hurt thinking about it.

@doggie i considered that this morning, but decided i already had the character i wanted to play and don't have to redo all the beginning stuff again. between all the betas and playing at release i have done the starting zones and quest several times over all 3 factions. all the people i played with never left the game and i want to catch up the them.

@Vil I could see that being an option, but i want at least one max character. i doubt i will ever take another character through all the VR content after my main, but you never know i am a glutton for punishment at times.

Obscure

@Kronos

Also something to keep in mind, Veteran Rank is going to eventually be replaced entirely by the Champion system, and VR14 is equivalent to Champ Rank 70. Just to reach the top passive ability of a singular tree in the champion system requires 120 champion points and there are 9 such trees, meaning to obtain this passive in every tree would make one Champ Rank 1080.

Quick math:

70/14 = 5

So VR1 = CR5

1080/5 = 216

So someone with every top tier passive in the Champion System would be the XP equivalent to Veteran Rank 216 in the soon to be mothballed Veteran System...and that's not even the cap, which is 3600 champion points, the XP equivalent of being Veteran Rank 720.

The thing that I worry about is itemisation and gear progression...I sincerely hope they do not do what I think they'll do with all that extra vertical progression they've tossed into the game, but suffice it to say I expect to see gear with a "Rank 120 in the Thief sign required" for use. Entirely speculative on my part, but it's a cocern I have none the less. Perhaps there's been dev feedback on the issue stating they're not going to further increase gear progression to allay this concern, but if there is I'm ignorant to it.