ESO PS4... Feels like I'm playing a single player grind fest.

snuspresten

Fellow bretherin' and sisters from the .... North? Yeah. Probably. Hear thy hear thy! *cough* Yeah, no. Not doing that.

I come from a long line of games. Dating back to NES S-Mario and the likes. MMO is something I have enjoyed since Anarchy Online, and this means I have been through some of its development over the years. Through the ups and downs, and the amazing continual growth of their content and mechanics. World of Warcraft is a prime example of a good MMO as it has kept players with it for a long time at a major league scale. I think this is why everyone always goes back to refer to that game, as it is _the_ game when it comes to MMO. With its amazingly tight combat mechanic, quality visuals to always keep players updated / engaged in the content or action, and just for the sheer amount of content they have put out over the years. Let us not forget strongly defined character classes which makes each feel unique and have very distinct ways of being played. With wiggleroom for your own catered way of playing, though they end up w/ cookie cutter builds. This is expected.

Before I begin let me say you guys have done a lot of things right. Not everything I want to say here is bad and I need to make this clear. This is not a "YOUR GAME SUCKS" post. It is a... what can be done to make things better post. I hope each and everyone who takes their time to read this come with their CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and thoughts. Lets keep this civil people!



PREFACE

Skip if you don't care about why I am writing this post. PS. You might just want to click back as the whole post is about that stuff. *wwwwwink*

I was never originally compelled to buy ESO because of how limited the experience it would be (mainly because of the consoles restrictions), but because of some unfortunate circumstances I ended up with the game (regardless of my intention).

So I ended up downloading it and with time I’ve started to enjoy the game, but its lack in many areas make the experience frustrating and at most times more of chore than actual… fun. I’m pointing towards a few systems here, but while playing many small things came to my mind. These are the major contenders:

1) Grouping
2) Communication Systems (or LACK OF! An understatement)
3) Guild Systems (or lack of)
4) Anti-Friend-Quest-System-2000 (Amazingly old school system, which I might add is very frustrating)
5) Zone phasing (Left and right. I can’t breathe… There is no space for oxygen, with all these phased … zones… every… dimension)

Let me point out one thing before we get too deep into all the less fortunate points; this game has some fantastic sides which with some tweaking could become AMAZING! I’m of course talking about the combat. lush dialogue. sound design and music. Oh my the music. It is great, but it sadly does not make the game, nor does it carry the weight of the less subpar things which pulls everything else down. Lets begin.



GROUPING & Communication

Where to begin. The core of every MMO. The way they work and why it keeps people there. You play with friends, your neighbour, the cat named “Purr” from that Indonesian net café (… you know, the one with orange color, big belly and loves… food. Ok, how do you know cats don’t play MMOs then. Huh!?) etc. Regardless, you get the point. Without that it could just as easily have been an npc filled world. So, what are our possible ways of curating this?

Solution 1)
Shared / open world quests which have team effort. Seen in many other games, and work fairly well. Makes it less fetch and admittedly makes you work with players you otherwise wouldn’t. If only for a short while.

Solution 2)
Text chat

Solution 3)
On-screen dialogue between party members with popup selection

Solution 4)
Make all content scale depending on size of group (except raids, obviously)

I feel neglected from a big part of the game only because I can’t talk with fellow players efficiently. It become this major chore to connect with others, which in return makes it a big time sink just setting up the simplest of things, like getting a group together.

In other MMOs I’ve always grouped from low levels till end game. Chat was always in place until LFG got implemented, and it worked perfectly fine. Warframe even has a chat which is superb. Group play essentially is a big part of my experience in these games. Especially in high-end pop which is where I spend my time. Without a chat it is less than stellar of an experience.

Now, in this game, you either have to wait an hour in group finder, use emotion signs which nobody cares about or voice chat. And again, lets be real here. 90% of people don’t actually use the voice chat. So, you are left in a world without means to communicate. Not off to a great start.

So, what is the option here?

Solution 1)
Let us create custom voice phrases which can be hotkey mapped.

Solution 2)
Include a full fletched text chat.

Solution 3)
Make the LFG system BETTER… Give it MORE options so you can actually customise more easily. Maybe even port all players once 4… to the actual dungeon.

I CAN’T STATE THIS ENOUGH. COMMUNICATION MOTHAFU%$#. DO YOU SPEAK IT? (Not meant offensive. Pulp Fiction)

Once in a group, the people are USUALLY clueless because the class systems are so vague. You then end up with a semi functional group which wipes nonstop because the semi-tank-healering-bowing-dancer who seemingly has major amnesia and keeps forgetting he was the tank. Not everybody, but many. It is ok, we are all new, but more so… I blame the ultra-vaue class system which makes the game so loosely typed that it feels like I’m working in a design company, whose logo is designed with Comic-Sans.

Solution?
Once again, have a more defined system for dungeons where you CANNOT que for dungeon as a healer when you ARE NOT a healer. You cannot que as tank UNLESS you have 75%/100% points in tank related stats/buffs/skills.

Even better... make more defined classes. This isn't skyrim or oblivion. It will never be them. This is a game that tries to play like them, but just doesn't. Because it is too thin to become that same game. It is an MMO, and with that specific restrictions come into play. Building around those and making the lackluster areas work is what will make or break the games. So far it doesn't sit too well in the mud. I just hope there is something to be done to make it work and shine. I truly want it to happen, and I'm sure you guys want it even more.

FINAL RANT
Lets be real here. A one last time... letsberealyouguys. This is an MMO and it needs systems to feel like it. An expansive world, with enough content to do, which also should be fun from the get-go till end-game. Else, what is the point? Why waste all this time when the game feels like a chore? When I can't even get a damn group going. And once I hit Veteran rank1... I have 14 more ranks to grind out slowly but surely. Without even knowing if in the end... will it really be worth it? There are many other great games out there which share countless of hours of fun.

Why should we support ESO? I hope you guys can answer that.

From my perspective: Because, it has an amazing foundation to be built on. But that is all it feels like. Foundation. Prove us wrong. Give us some future plans which will make us stick around. Both for PVE and PVP players. We want to know the game is moving in a direction, and is not just a money grab which is being worked on singlehandedly by the staffs monkey, Rick. (Yes monkeys can be named Rick too. Not just crazy scientist professors like Rick, Mortys uncle)

(Make clearer information in regards to ESO+, imperial pack, ring of mara. I had to buy imperial pack, mara... twice. Let us move it).

Cheers,
Confused & semi-unhappy customer

snuspresten

I feel like I also need to add, that the direction of attacks should also matter for mobs. I am tired of getting yellow slammed by a mob facing the other direction than me while being 50 meter away. Resulting in a death because I didn't block... because he was attacking that seagull over there. Or just die because there is no real indication from the mob when he actually attacks at times. Chaining attacks also is a bit wonky with no GCD, but combat animation frames. And why no custom control layout? I don't want to use dpad to swap weapons as it is clunky. Nor do I care for the emotion hotkey or consumables having to hold it down to toggle while I am trying to run. Oh wait, I can't. I'd also prefer to have names over hp bars, and be able to resize ui elements. everything plays into personal preference, but so much is lacking when it comes to UI control in this game. It is a bit frustrating

Mighty_oakk

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

GNRNCSBLSS

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

To you, as well as the OP: are you okay? In what regard is the communication bad? It is quite literally the most efficient chat system i've seen so far.

There is guild chat, with multiple channels for people in your guild.

There is group chat for people within your immediate group.

And there's public chat for everyone else.

If all that really doesn't appeal to you, you can just create an xbox/ps4 party.

Maybe I'm just not understanding correctly, but I truly see no problem. Speaking from experience, I haven't had a single problem with communication in this game ever... If i want to trade with someone, i go public chat and find out who wants to trade, If i want to play with friends, go in group or guild chat, If i want to remind someone that ill be offline tomorrow, send them some mail, if i have no one to do a dungeon with i go public chat (or guild chat) and simply ask who wants to do a dungeon together.

Honestly, as constructive criticism, your communication ideas are just not good, plain and simple, they would only complicate a currently very easy to understand system.

As for grouping... not sure what you mean either... people being clueless? That's not a game design problem bro, that sounds like people just not knowing how to play a game. Again, only speaking from experience, never had major problems with people in my groups, because before we started the dungeon, we would do the obvious and ask what each person's role was. I'm reallyyyy not sure why you would be doing a dungeon with someone you're not sure about to begin with.

Might wanna take a look at what you said again...

BuddyAces

GNRNCSBLSS wrote: »

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

To you, as well as the OP: are you okay? In what regard is the communication bad? It is quite literally the most efficient chat system i've seen so far.

There is guild chat, with multiple channels for people in your guild.

There is group chat for people within your immediate group.

And there's public chat for everyone else.

If all that really doesn't appeal to you, you can just create an xbox/ps4 party.

Maybe I'm just not understanding correctly, but I truly see no problem. Speaking from experience, I haven't had a single problem with communication in this game ever... If i want to trade with someone, i go public chat and find out who wants to trade, If i want to play with friends, go in group or guild chat, If i want to remind someone that ill be offline tomorrow, send them some mail, if i have no one to do a dungeon with i go public chat (or guild chat) and simply ask who wants to do a dungeon together.

Honestly, as constructive criticism, your communication ideas are just not good, plain and simple, they would only complicate a currently very easy to understand system.

As for grouping... not sure what you mean either... people being clueless? That's not a game design problem bro, that sounds like people just not knowing how to play a game. Again, only speaking from experience, never had major problems with people in my groups, because before we started the dungeon, we would do the obvious and ask what each person's role was. I'm reallyyyy not sure why you would be doing a dungeon with someone you're not sure about to begin with.

Might wanna take a look at what you said again...

Apparently in the ps4 version of the game they do not have a text chat feature. Apparently you are suppose to just use a mic and hope someone hears you. I believe that is what he/she is referring to.

JacksonCarter13

Yea man I don't play console but these things would drive me crazy. Luckily a lot of these opinions have been voiced over and over so we can hope most of these will be implemented asap

eventide03b14a_ESO

snuspresten wrote: »

Fellow bretherin' and sisters from the .... North? Yeah. Probably. Hear thy hear thy! *cough* Yeah, no. Not doing that.

I come from a long line of games. Dating back to NES S-Mario and the likes. MMO is something I have enjoyed since Anarchy Online, and this means I have been through some of its development over the years. Through the ups and downs, and the amazing continual growth of their content and mechanics. World of Warcraft is a prime example of a good MMO as it has kept players with it for a long time at a major league scale. I think this is why everyone always goes back to refer to that game, as it is _the_ game when it comes to MMO. With its amazingly tight combat mechanic, quality visuals to always keep players updated / engaged in the content or action, and just for the sheer amount of content they have put out over the years. Let us not forget strongly defined character classes which makes each feel unique and have very distinct ways of being played. With wiggleroom for your own catered way of playing, though they end up w/ cookie cutter builds. This is expected.

Before I begin let me say you guys have done a lot of things right. Not everything I want to say here is bad and I need to make this clear. This is not a "YOUR GAME SUCKS" post. It is a... what can be done to make things better post. I hope each and everyone who takes their time to read this come with their CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and thoughts. Lets keep this civil people!



PREFACE

Skip if you don't care about why I am writing this post. PS. You might just want to click back as the whole post is about that stuff. *wwwwwink*

I was never originally compelled to buy ESO because of how limited the experience it would be (mainly because of the consoles restrictions), but because of some unfortunate circumstances I ended up with the game (regardless of my intention).

So I ended up downloading it and with time I’ve started to enjoy the game, but its lack in many areas make the experience frustrating and at most times more of chore than actual… fun. I’m pointing towards a few systems here, but while playing many small things came to my mind. These are the major contenders:

1) Grouping
2) Communication Systems (or LACK OF! An understatement)
3) Guild Systems (or lack of)
4) Anti-Friend-Quest-System-2000 (Amazingly old school system, which I might add is very frustrating)
5) Zone phasing (Left and right. I can’t breathe… There is no space for oxygen, with all these phased … zones… every… dimension)

Let me point out one thing before we get too deep into all the less fortunate points; this game has some fantastic sides which with some tweaking could become AMAZING! I’m of course talking about the combat. lush dialogue. sound design and music. Oh my the music. It is great, but it sadly does not make the game, nor does it carry the weight of the less subpar things which pulls everything else down. Lets begin.



GROUPING & Communication

Where to begin. The core of every MMO. The way they work and why it keeps people there. You play with friends, your neighbour, the cat named “Purr” from that Indonesian net café (… you know, the one with orange color, big belly and loves… food. Ok, how do you know cats don’t play MMOs then. Huh!?) etc. Regardless, you get the point. Without that it could just as easily have been an npc filled world. So, what are our possible ways of curating this?

Solution 1)
Shared / open world quests which have team effort. Seen in many other games, and work fairly well. Makes it less fetch and admittedly makes you work with players you otherwise wouldn’t. If only for a short while.

Solution 2)
Text chat

Solution 3)
On-screen dialogue between party members with popup selection

Solution 4)
Make all content scale depending on size of group (except raids, obviously)

I feel neglected from a big part of the game only because I can’t talk with fellow players efficiently. It become this major chore to connect with others, which in return makes it a big time sink just setting up the simplest of things, like getting a group together.

In other MMOs I’ve always grouped from low levels till end game. Chat was always in place until LFG got implemented, and it worked perfectly fine. Warframe even has a chat which is superb. Group play essentially is a big part of my experience in these games. Especially in high-end pop which is where I spend my time. Without a chat it is less than stellar of an experience.

Now, in this game, you either have to wait an hour in group finder, use emotion signs which nobody cares about or voice chat. And again, lets be real here. 90% of people don’t actually use the voice chat. So, you are left in a world without means to communicate. Not off to a great start.

So, what is the option here?

Solution 1)
Let us create custom voice phrases which can be hotkey mapped.

Solution 2)
Include a full fletched text chat.

Solution 3)
Make the LFG system BETTER… Give it MORE options so you can actually customise more easily. Maybe even port all players once 4… to the actual dungeon.

I CAN’T STATE THIS ENOUGH. COMMUNICATION MOTHAFU%$#. DO YOU SPEAK IT? (Not meant offensive. Pulp Fiction)

Once in a group, the people are USUALLY clueless because the class systems are so vague. You then end up with a semi functional group which wipes nonstop because the semi-tank-healering-bowing-dancer who seemingly has major amnesia and keeps forgetting he was the tank. Not everybody, but many. It is ok, we are all new, but more so… I blame the ultra-vaue class system which makes the game so loosely typed that it feels like I’m working in a design company, whose logo is designed with Comic-Sans.

Solution?
Once again, have a more defined system for dungeons where you CANNOT que for dungeon as a healer when you ARE NOT a healer. You cannot que as tank UNLESS you have 75%/100% points in tank related stats/buffs/skills.

Even better... make more defined classes. This isn't skyrim or oblivion. It will never be them. This is a game that tries to play like them, but just doesn't. Because it is too thin to become that same game. It is an MMO, and with that specific restrictions come into play. Building around those and making the lackluster areas work is what will make or break the games. So far it doesn't sit too well in the mud. I just hope there is something to be done to make it work and shine. I truly want it to happen, and I'm sure you guys want it even more.

FINAL RANT
Lets be real here. A one last time... letsberealyouguys. This is an MMO and it needs systems to feel like it. An expansive world, with enough content to do, which also should be fun from the get-go till end-game. Else, what is the point? Why waste all this time when the game feels like a chore? When I can't even get a damn group going. And once I hit Veteran rank1... I have 14 more ranks to grind out slowly but surely. Without even knowing if in the end... will it really be worth it? There are many other great games out there which share countless of hours of fun.

Why should we support ESO? I hope you guys can answer that.

From my perspective: Because, it has an amazing foundation to be built on. But that is all it feels like. Foundation. Prove us wrong. Give us some future plans which will make us stick around. Both for PVE and PVP players. We want to know the game is moving in a direction, and is not just a money grab which is being worked on singlehandedly by the staffs monkey, Rick. (Yes monkeys can be named Rick too. Not just crazy scientist professors like Rick, Mortys uncle)

(Make clearer information in regards to ESO+, imperial pack, ring of mara. I had to buy imperial pack, mara... twice. Let us move it).

Cheers,
Confused & semi-unhappy customer

I stopped reading after you started praising WoW. You lost all credibility in my book at that point. WoW was a commerical success. That does't mean it was a good game or had quality anything. It was uninspired, visually poor compared to it's contemporaries and had very basic mechanics. Look to games that actually contributed something to MMOs other than just making them popular. Games like EverQuest, FFIX, UO, DAoC. The only thing original about WoW was it's aggressive marketing campaign.

KilledByRob

Being a PS4 gamer my self I must say we could do with a text chat... would be extremely helpful as using a mic in an area flooded with people doing the same thing is hectic, and inviting people to groups just to try get a point across is too much, a simple text chat feature wouldnt go a miss...

snuspresten

eventide03b14a_ESO wrote: »

snuspresten wrote: »

I stopped reading after you started praising WoW. You lost all credibility in my book at that point. WoW was a commerical success. That does't mean it was a good game or had quality anything. It was uninspired, visually poor compared to it's contemporaries and had very basic mechanics. Look to games that actually contributed something to MMOs other than just making them popular. Games like EverQuest, FFIX, UO, DAoC. The only thing original about WoW was it's aggressive marketing campaign.

Good for you! I played Anarchy Online religiously before WoW came out, and that game had substance but poor visual appearance. WOW had a lack of substance in some areas I am not denying that... like stats and item customisation (and the likes), but there is no denying that the PvP which was brought to life in that game was magnificent. And those who argue against have never been that heavily into PVP in MMOs, nor have had epic matches vs other equal or more skilled players open world. Speaking from a technical PVE standpoint it was alright, but nothing special when compared to previous games before it. PvP was my go to thing back then and it kept me playing through 3-4 expansions, even though it all went down hill every expansion. What an amazing and fluid combat system... It doesn't need to be overly complicated to be fun. Don't forget that.

snuspresten

KilledByRob wrote: »

Being a PS4 gamer my self I must say we could do with a text chat... would be extremely helpful as using a mic in an area flooded with people doing the same thing is hectic, and inviting people to groups just to try get a point across is too much, a simple text chat feature wouldnt go a miss...

Exactly. It is a PAIN in the ass having to go to dashboard, send a message... wait for reply... which come 1/10 times. Only to go back in game to look more. And even if you find a decent player in-game it doesn't mean you like talking with them in the party chat, but oh since there is no real text chat which is connected in-game you HAVE to. It makes me dislike console gaming more and more.

snuspresten

JacksonCarter13 wrote: »

Yea man I don't play console but these things would drive me crazy. Luckily a lot of these opinions have been voiced over and over so we can hope most of these will be implemented asap

Trust me. Coming from a PC background... it's painful.

Lord Xanhorn

TLDR.

First thing people think of when they hear ESO is Skyrim with friends. If you have no friends then its just Skyrim. ESO is very similar to that. If you dont have a guild or friends then its gonna be a solo experience. After all this time I think I am starting to realize that its by design.

snuspresten

GNRNCSBLSS wrote: »

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

To you, as well as the OP: are you okay? In what regard is the communication bad? It is quite literally the most efficient chat system i've seen so far.

Hahahha! Trust me if I played on a mac/pc it wouldn't have been this post which went up that is for sure. No I'm refering to the PS4 version, if you check the title again. ESO PS4

Gandrhulf_Harbard

ESO PS4... Feels like I'm playing a single player grind fest.

Well, at least you didn't have to wait long to get to the same point as PC players.

All The Best

snuspresten

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

TLDR.

First thing people think of when they hear ESO is Skyrim with friends. If you have no friends then its just Skyrim. ESO is very similar to that. If you dont have a guild or friends then its gonna be a solo experience. After all this time I think I am starting to realize that its by design.

It is by design made out to be solo because many players play solo, but that doesn't make up for having a terrible in-game system for communication which is 50% of the game. That said, it is up to players to find other means, but when that fails ... and you've tried every forum, message board, reddit and related channel you can find... something is clearly wrong! All I want is ONE dps to grind with me and my bud, so we can 3 man aoe to 50 and through vet. Then again this game was never designed to be aoe grind friendly so I dunno why I bother...

Lord Xanhorn

You gotta realize that from a design perspective, its very very difficult to make questing in an MMO fun for both the solo quester and the group questers. Solo questers need deep elaborate chain type quests and group quests need easy go kill 10 boars and collect 20 flowers cause you can manage that with multiple people on the same quest. From a logistics perspective, its hard to manage phasing different points of a chain quest, and multiple decision outcomes based on several people on the same quest at the same time. Theres too many variables to manage when you introduce multiple people on the same quest.

Mighty_oakk

GNRNCSBLSS wrote: »

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

To you, as well as the OP: are you okay? In what regard is the communication bad? It is quite literally the most efficient chat system i've seen so far.

There is guild chat, with multiple channels for people in your guild.

There is group chat for people within your immediate group.

And there's public chat for everyone else.

If all that really doesn't appeal to you, you can just create an xbox/ps4 party.

Maybe I'm just not understanding correctly, but I truly see no problem. Speaking from experience, I haven't had a single problem with communication in this game ever... If i want to trade with someone, i go public chat and find out who wants to trade, If i want to play with friends, go in group or guild chat, If i want to remind someone that ill be offline tomorrow, send them some mail, if i have no one to do a dungeon with i go public chat (or guild chat) and simply ask who wants to do a dungeon together.

Honestly, as constructive criticism, your communication ideas are just not good, plain and simple, they would only complicate a currently very easy to understand system.

As for grouping... not sure what you mean either... people being clueless? That's not a game design problem bro, that sounds like people just not knowing how to play a game. Again, only speaking from experience, never had major problems with people in my groups, because before we started the dungeon, we would do the obvious and ask what each person's role was. I'm reallyyyy not sure why you would be doing a dungeon with someone you're not sure about to begin with.

Might wanna take a look at what you said again...

Dude you made a post crying about getting ripped off 5xs

GNRNCSBLSS wrote: »

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

To you, as well as the OP: are you okay? In what regard is the communication bad? It is quite literally the most efficient chat system i've seen so far.

There is guild chat, with multiple channels for people in your guild.

There is group chat for people within your immediate group.

And there's public chat for everyone else.

If all that really doesn't appeal to you, you can just create an xbox/ps4 party.

Maybe I'm just not understanding correctly, but I truly see no problem. Speaking from experience, I haven't had a single problem with communication in this game ever... If i want to trade with someone, i go public chat and find out who wants to trade, If i want to play with friends, go in group or guild chat, If i want to remind someone that ill be offline tomorrow, send them some mail, if i have no one to do a dungeon with i go public chat (or guild chat) and simply ask who wants to do a dungeon together.

Honestly, as constructive criticism, your communication ideas are just not good, plain and simple, they would only complicate a currently very easy to understand system.

As for grouping... not sure what you mean either... people being clueless? That's not a game design problem bro, that sounds like people just not knowing how to play a game. Again, only speaking from experience, never had major problems with people in my groups, because before we started the dungeon, we would do the obvious and ask what each person's role was. I'm reallyyyy not sure why you would be doing a dungeon with someone you're not sure about to begin with.

Might wanna take a look at what you said again...

Dude i remember you made a thread crying about getting burned on vamp bites. I was gonna pity bite you but you were xbox1. Doesnt sound like your commnication was to efficient. Besides if you cant get bit by a vamp you be noobin and your opinion moot.

snuspresten

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

Dude i remember you made a thread crying about getting burned on vamp bites. I was gonna pity bite you but you were xbox1. Doesnt sound like your commnication was to efficient. Besides if you cant get bit by a vamp you be noobin and your opinion moot.

Wrong person.

Slonekb05

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/193633/instance-delvs-dungeons-and-pves-trivial-difficulty#latest

snuspresten

Lord Xanhorn wrote: »

You gotta realize that from a design perspective, its very very difficult to make questing in an MMO fun for both the solo quester and the group questers. Solo questers need deep elaborate chain type quests and group quests need easy go kill 10 boars and collect 20 flowers cause you can manage that with multiple people on the same quest. From a logistics perspective, its hard to manage phasing different points of a chain quest, and multiple decision outcomes based on several people on the same quest at the same time. Theres too many variables to manage when you introduce multiple people on the same quest.

I know it is not easy, but it is possible. Look at Guild Wars. If that formulae is taken a step forward it has great potential for deeper stories with shared stuff. I know that it comes across as whining, but I at least expect to be able to quest with friends without having major issues with these quests. We usually had to grind out levels and just explore to get to the same spot and in the end we quest no more as it just isn't beneficial. Lots of gold, but bad loot and slow xp.

snuspresten

Gandrhulf_Harbard wrote: »

ESO PS4... Feels like I'm playing a single player grind fest.

Well, at least you didn't have to wait long to get to the same point as PC players.

All The Best

What do you mean? And thank you

Tholian1

I like the game, and the solo questing is both satisfying and feels natural for me. The reason why I rather not group for much in the game, is because most are treating questing like they are doing PvP. Just running through as fast as they can hacking and slashing everything in their path. I happen to enjoy the stories and taking my time with them. I don't understand what the rush is to reach some final level. I hope there is never an end to the leveling and stories.

Perhaps ESO is not the game for you?

Averya_Teira

BuddyAces wrote: »

GNRNCSBLSS wrote: »

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

The communication is terrible. I could handle the vet grind if i could atleast do some freakin dungeons.

If you google 'eso so lonely' there is a good video discussing the communication issues.

To you, as well as the OP: are you okay? In what regard is the communication bad? It is quite literally the most efficient chat system i've seen so far.

There is guild chat, with multiple channels for people in your guild.

There is group chat for people within your immediate group.

And there's public chat for everyone else.

If all that really doesn't appeal to you, you can just create an xbox/ps4 party.

Maybe I'm just not understanding correctly, but I truly see no problem. Speaking from experience, I haven't had a single problem with communication in this game ever... If i want to trade with someone, i go public chat and find out who wants to trade, If i want to play with friends, go in group or guild chat, If i want to remind someone that ill be offline tomorrow, send them some mail, if i have no one to do a dungeon with i go public chat (or guild chat) and simply ask who wants to do a dungeon together.

Honestly, as constructive criticism, your communication ideas are just not good, plain and simple, they would only complicate a currently very easy to understand system.

As for grouping... not sure what you mean either... people being clueless? That's not a game design problem bro, that sounds like people just not knowing how to play a game. Again, only speaking from experience, never had major problems with people in my groups, because before we started the dungeon, we would do the obvious and ask what each person's role was. I'm reallyyyy not sure why you would be doing a dungeon with someone you're not sure about to begin with.

Might wanna take a look at what you said again...

Apparently in the ps4 version of the game they do not have a text chat feature. Apparently you are suppose to just use a mic and hope someone hears you. I believe that is what he/she is referring to.

Wait... Xbox One version has text chat O.o ??

reften

ESO is a single player grind fest until you hit VR14 (soon to be VR16), then it gets fun (at least pvp does)

Sithisvoid

A lot of people are tossing around a lot of statements that are pretty opinionated, and that's good but I just wish there were room for everyone to be able to play to what suits their opinion. I really think text chat on consoles is a big step in that direction. Voice chat users lose nothing and those of us who want text chat gain that option. It's win/win and should have been implemented at the start.

Corrupted_Soul

TL:DR

Join a guild, buy a headset, be social.

ch.ris317b14_ESO

I have not had ONE person with a good mic set up... even the ones that try to be helpful are either staticy or choppy.

There is no such thing as communication on ESO console...

Corrupted_Soul

^ Incorrect statement.

I never stop communicating on ESO console. Whether it be the group i'm dungeon/quest/grinding/pvping with or my guild. i'm always talking to people.

Snowgoons

can't read that long ass wall of text, but did see "text chat" somewhere in that mess, and i agree, this game without text chat = a mistake.

Attorneyatlawl

JacksonCarter13 wrote: »

Yea man I don't play console but these things would drive me crazy. Luckily a lot of these opinions have been voiced over and over so we can hope most of these will be implemented asap

A lot of these same opinions have been voiced over and over for other basics like nameplate options and a combat log, too, since the pc launch. I truly do hope all of these things are implemented asap, myself, but time will tell. Regardless of PC or console, there is a definite lack of ingame tools for grouping community and game info, as well as non instanced raid group things to want to talk to and group with anyone incidentally in the open world. Some of the feeling of it being single player comes from not being able to see people nearby recognize guilds with people you see running around all the time, or ask how skills work and get an answer for most other than crickets or "you probably need an addon for that" if you aren't a theory crafter yourself (a problem I see woefully often in zone chats and guilds, even).

Who was in that group you just died to? Don't know. Is our keep under attack? Don't know, unless you're already in there, since there isn't any in game message telling you the keep you claimed is being sieged. Did someone just get a world first achievement? No announcement is made by the game... Anyone else remember how cool it was to see a system message in some games about another player doing something extraordinary and being in awe of it? Not here.


In short... It feels like a "single player" experience much of the time for a lot of reasons other than just not having a console chat box .

AlnilamE

Come to PC. We have cookies! I mean, text chat!

Seriously, I feel bad about console players having voice-only. I hope ZOS figures something out for that.

I do have to take exception with the following, though:

snuspresten wrote: »

Once in a group, the people are USUALLY clueless because the class systems are so vague. You then end up with a semi functional group which wipes nonstop because the semi-tank-healering-bowing-dancer who seemingly has major amnesia and keeps forgetting he was the tank. Not everybody, but many. It is ok, we are all new, but more so… I blame the ultra-vaue class system which makes the game so loosely typed that it feels like I’m working in a design company, whose logo is designed with Comic-Sans.

(...)

Even better... make more defined classes. This isn't skyrim or oblivion. It will never be them. This is a game that tries to play like them, but just doesn't. Because it is too thin to become that same game. It is an MMO, and with that specific restrictions come into play. Building around those and making the lackluster areas work is what will make or break the games. So far it doesn't sit too well in the mud. I just hope there is something to be done to make it work and shine. I truly want it to happen, and I'm sure you guys want it even more.

People tend to be clueless when they are starting, but the loose role system in ESO is awesome, IMO. I like having the ability to switch from DPS to Healer on one character and from Tank to Healer on another. I like that my NB, my sorc and my Templar can all heal if necessary and do well at it. It gives me flexibility and makes it easier to find a group. I mean, it's much easier to say "LF2M gold pledge any role" than it is "LF Tank and DPS".

Of course, the players need to know what they are doing, and they usually figure it out fairly quickly if they run dungeons regularly.

snuspresten wrote: »

Solution?
Once again, have a more defined system for dungeons where you CANNOT que for dungeon as a healer when you ARE NOT a healer. You cannot que as tank UNLESS you have 75%/100% points in tank related stats/buffs/skills.

What is a healer? A Templar? Someone who has skill points in Restoration Staff? Someone who has a resto staff equipped when they queue for a dungeon? All of the above? Any of the above?

A "tank" would probably be easier to pinpoint as they would have to have a skill point in either of the two taunts, but other than that, heavy armor doesn't make a tank.

The fun of ESO is that, as long as you have players who know what they are doing, any class can fill any role (I have not tried DK healer yet, but I've heard they exist). And if your friend who is a LA sorc says, "Let's do vet Fungal Grotto! Oh, we don't have a tank? I'll be a pseudo-tank." you know you'll get through the dungeon and have fun doing it.