Open Letter to the Community and Zenimax

crazmadsci

SlayerSyrena wrote: »

Wonderful post, @crazmadsci .

I've also missed the Tamriel Town Crier and community guests on ESO Live. I would love to see more members of the community featured, such as, Addon Developers, Fic Writers, Rpers, Streamers, Top Leaderboard players and etc ...

However, I've recently noticed ZOS tweeting some fan's artwork, so that has given me hope that perhaps they are wanting to really engage the community again.

As for the game itself, I am loving the new DLC's (Imp City, Wrothgar, Thieves Guild) and I'm amazed at the creativity that has gone into each.

I think ESO still has a bright future, I just hope they can iron out some of the bugs soon, such as the hot pink buildings and completely nude NPC's and players, (which is kind of distracting when you're trying to PvP)! XD

I completely agree with you and love your work, thank for posting here. I do think that there has been recent change lately although subtle i do think larger change for this category is coming.

crazmadsci

Johngo0036 wrote: »

@crazmadsci - THANK YOU for this letter,

I have over the last 2 weeks found myself getting more and more negative about the game...
I loved this game during BETA testing but could not figure out all the hype about PVP,

I pre-ordered the game as i have always love the elder scrolls games,
and of course beta just got me hooked on the PVE content...

I rolled my first real character, a sorcerer, after many attempts at others and stuck with her till she got to max level a YEAR later...
I did every quest, found every skyshard, killed every world boss and closed every dolmen....

I remember the 50 Minute long battle i had with Molagbal and how i ran around diving behind rocks just to try and gain some magicka.....

I killed him eventually and how elated i felt,

I then took my sorcerer into Cyrodiil for the first time,
what a feeling,

i was in awe of all that was going on......
I joined a guild and ran with them for a loooooooooooong time while i learned that the build i had was BAD...
I changed my build got gear,
learned crafting,
Rolled my next toon, a NB,
Took me 2 months to get him to max level and i loved the NB sooooo much,
Stamina based hide and hit build.. GANK build..

I now have many VR toons as you can see in my signature and i find myself going back to the PVE content i didnt do,
Like the undaunted dailies and reconnecting with that side of the game...

Yes cyrodiil is very laggy,
But when it gets unbearable i go do pve content just to calm down..

This game is like being in a relationship,
I love the game, with all its faults and i know that i cannot change it. BUT I love it anyway.

Thank you for making me think about why i love this game...

Orsinium, thievesguild are awesome content and i cannot wait for the next installment, HOWEVER i am not pushing for it and would prefer if zenni took the time to rather get their core stable..

Thank you and this type of thought process has taught me too why I love the game.

kadar

Since the Imperial City DLC the community was blessed with Orsinium which in my honest opinion one of the absolute best pieces of content Zenimax has ever released (pat yourself on the back ZOS). The story is incredible, repeat-ability is still more active than anything else in game to date. The end of this DLC honestly had me hooked for the next year of this game alone to see what is going to happen in regards to the future story of Tamriel. Even vet Malestrom Arena took me 3 months to clear, I cried when I couldn’t beat it and I cried when I beat it. To date it is one of my favorite things to do and I am a significantly better player overall in the game.

QFT. ./bump

Thanks for writing this.

Dubhliam

There have been some posts on Facebook lately that are a direct result of this open letter.
Starting with 12th April there have been five Tumblr posts, and yesterday they even posted a link to Sypher's Twitch channel.

It certainly got my hopes up.

I absolutely loved the the amount of dev communication the game had a year ago. It all stopped right around the IC DLC.
I guess they could not cope with the negative criticism.

Am anxiously waiting for the next Tamriel Town Crier issue.

mdylan2013

I agree with pretty much everything that the OP has had to say. However I do find it a shame that when other non streamers have said the same they've not received any acknowledgement at all from ZOS.

qrichou

This is an adult game . Toxic , negative , disliking , its a way to say you are unhappy with things people do or don, t . everybody gets toxic if you tell people not to cross a line and still do it . But the root of all problems can be found by zen zos devs or whatever they call themself whom are not communicating with players on forums the dont care about old bugs new bugs the care for cash only and only talk to smiling happy faces and change nutin , egotripping and grabbing more cash.

crazmadsci

Dubhliam wrote: »

There have been some posts on Facebook lately that are a direct result of this open letter.
Starting with 12th April there have been five Tumblr posts, and yesterday they even posted a link to Sypher's Twitch channel.

It certainly got my hopes up.

I absolutely loved the the amount of dev communication the game had a year ago. It all stopped right around the IC DLC.
I guess they could not cope with the negative criticism.

Am anxiously waiting for the next Tamriel Town Crier issue.

The fact that things like the TESO twitter have been featuring new things even art done by fans is a really great sign that things are turning around. They weren't doing that for awhile.

mdylan2013 wrote: »

I agree with pretty much everything that the OP has had to say. However I do find it a shame that when other non streamers have said the same they've not received any acknowledgement at all from ZOS.

You may doubt it but many players to receive acknowledgement who are not Streamers, youtubers etc. However with millions of players they can't acknowledge everyone. I know several Guilds that still meet with ZOS and have discussions and do receive answers.

qrichou wrote: »

This is an adult game . Toxic , negative , disliking , its a way to say you are unhappy with things people do or don, t . everybody gets toxic if you tell people not to cross a line and still do it . But the root of all problems can be found by zen zos devs or whatever they call themself whom are not communicating with players on forums the dont care about old bugs new bugs the care for cash only and only talk to smiling happy faces and change nutin , egotripping and grabbing more cash.

I believe ZOS is working on not short term fixes but if it is something under the banner of a bigger issue they are actually taking the time to tackle it now. Sure everything in life will eventually boil down to the money. We all have to work and pay our bills. However these people the developers do love what they do and it isn't about the pay check. If you can't tell that on ESO live then you are obviously not watching their love explaining what they do. Don't blame the developers they are clocking in and working. IF you really wish to complain about the cash cow of sorts then blame the corporate Zenimax/Bethesda head making the financial decisions.

mdylan2013

crazmadsci wrote: »

Dubhliam wrote: »

There have been some posts on Facebook lately that are a direct result of this open letter.
Starting with 12th April there have been five Tumblr posts, and yesterday they even posted a link to Sypher's Twitch channel.

It certainly got my hopes up.

I absolutely loved the the amount of dev communication the game had a year ago. It all stopped right around the IC DLC.
I guess they could not cope with the negative criticism.

Am anxiously waiting for the next Tamriel Town Crier issue.

The fact that things like the TESO twitter have been featuring new things even art done by fans is a really great sign that things are turning around. They weren't doing that for awhile.

mdylan2013 wrote: »

I agree with pretty much everything that the OP has had to say. However I do find it a shame that when other non streamers have said the same they've not received any acknowledgement at all from ZOS.

You may doubt it but many players to receive acknowledgement who are not Streamers, youtubers etc. However with millions of players they can't acknowledge everyone. I know several Guilds that still meet with ZOS and have discussions and do receive answers.

qrichou wrote: »

This is an adult game . Toxic , negative , disliking , its a way to say you are unhappy with things people do or don, t . everybody gets toxic if you tell people not to cross a line and still do it . But the root of all problems can be found by zen zos devs or whatever they call themself whom are not communicating with players on forums the dont care about old bugs new bugs the care for cash only and only talk to smiling happy faces and change nutin , egotripping and grabbing more cash.

I believe ZOS is working on not short term fixes but if it is something under the banner of a bigger issue they are actually taking the time to tackle it now. Sure everything in life will eventually boil down to the money. We all have to work and pay our bills. However these people the developers do love what they do and it isn't about the pay check. If you can't tell that on ESO live then you are obviously not watching their love explaining what they do. Don't blame the developers they are clocking in and working. IF you really wish to complain about the cash cow of sorts then blame the corporate Zenimax/Bethesda head making the financial decisions.

I do doubt it because I've seen it for myself. I am part of one of the most active PVP guilds on the PS4 EU server. We have contacted ZOS countless times over certain issues (some which you mention). We've emailed, sent support tickets and tried to get a response on the forum yet nothing is really acknowledged.

I doubt that there are millions of players playing the game, but there is certainly not a million players making threads on the forum with informed suggestions. Hardly any of them get a response from ZOS unless it's from a streamer or if there has been a breach in the TOS.

I just feel ZOS could do more to engage with the whole community, particularly those that want to engage with them on the forums.

anitajoneb17_ESO

It's always nicer to see a constructed well written post than a rude rant.
However, the content of this one, although extremely long, can be summarized in just a few sentences : "Stop war, make peace, all it takes is that you all agree with me helping poor ZOS understand and improve their own game. And by the way, I AM... I AM... I AM...I AM... "...

vyndral13preub18_ESO

crazmadsci wrote: »

Dubhliam wrote: »

There have been some posts on Facebook lately that are a direct result of this open letter.
Starting with 12th April there have been five Tumblr posts, and yesterday they even posted a link to Sypher's Twitch channel.

It certainly got my hopes up.

I absolutely loved the the amount of dev communication the game had a year ago. It all stopped right around the IC DLC.
I guess they could not cope with the negative criticism.

Am anxiously waiting for the next Tamriel Town Crier issue.

The fact that things like the TESO twitter have been featuring new things even art done by fans is a really great sign that things are turning around. They weren't doing that for awhile.

mdylan2013 wrote: »

I agree with pretty much everything that the OP has had to say. However I do find it a shame that when other non streamers have said the same they've not received any acknowledgement at all from ZOS.

You may doubt it but many players to receive acknowledgement who are not Streamers, youtubers etc. However with millions of players they can't acknowledge everyone. I know several Guilds that still meet with ZOS and have discussions and do receive answers.

qrichou wrote: »

This is an adult game . Toxic , negative , disliking , its a way to say you are unhappy with things people do or don, t . everybody gets toxic if you tell people not to cross a line and still do it . But the root of all problems can be found by zen zos devs or whatever they call themself whom are not communicating with players on forums the dont care about old bugs new bugs the care for cash only and only talk to smiling happy faces and change nutin , egotripping and grabbing more cash.

I believe ZOS is working on not short term fixes but if it is something under the banner of a bigger issue they are actually taking the time to tackle it now. Sure everything in life will eventually boil down to the money. We all have to work and pay our bills. However these people the developers do love what they do and it isn't about the pay check. If you can't tell that on ESO live then you are obviously not watching their love explaining what they do. Don't blame the developers they are clocking in and working. IF you really wish to complain about the cash cow of sorts then blame the corporate Zenimax/Bethesda head making the financial decisions.

I guess my question is, if as you say there are guilds meeting and talking with Zos and getting answers, why are the minutes of these meetings never posted? Do i have to be one of the choosen few to know whats going on?

Seems to be a pretty simple step to open communication.

GreySix

Acrolas wrote: »

Business reality: nobody actually read this.

If you can't make a point in two or three paragraphs or fewer, you will not get an active reader. Pointing out too many issues may feel helpful, but it usually has the opposite effect if the company is larger than one or two people. If you're lucky, somebody will paste this into Word, get the auto-summary, and base a generalized response on that. If you're like everyone else, you'll just get the basic "We're aware of issues and currently working on them" response.


I don't know where the illusion that video game developers owe a community anything came around. Sure, people have opinions - some better than others - but at day's end they'll make the game they've been asked to make and if it isn't completely broken they won't fix it. Not because they don't want to, but because nothing is perfect and nobody wants to cultivate a community that demands perfection. They're hell to deal with.

This. Zenimax is a business, and its likely that their business numbers are driven by new folks purchasing their game. Its all about the money.

GreySix

Ok, by the way - what the heck is a "streamer" in relation to this thread? I'm an old ***, so I tend to think of streamers as something on the end of a flag. If I get the gist, I'd guess a "streamer" is some cat who streams their playing of a video game over the interwebz. Do they charge for other folks to watch them play or something?

Gidorick

GreySix wrote: »

Ok, by the way - what the heck is a "streamer" in relation to this thread? I'm an old ***, so I tend to think of streamers as something on the end of a flag. If I get the gist, I'd guess a "streamer" is some cat who streams their playing of a video game over the interwebz. Do they charge for other folks to watch them play or something?

They accept donations @GreySix

Like this lady got a pretty good tip one day:

GreySix

Gidorick wrote: »

GreySix wrote: »

Ok, by the way - what the heck is a "streamer" in relation to this thread? I'm an old ***, so I tend to think of streamers as something on the end of a flag. If I get the gist, I'd guess a "streamer" is some cat who streams their playing of a video game over the interwebz. Do they charge for other folks to watch them play or something?

They accept donations @GreySix

Like this lady got a pretty good tip one day:

Dang, I'm in the wrong business it would seem.

DaveMoeDee

crazmadsci wrote: »

@Inarre I am honestly scared of how this community is directing the future development of the game. The largest voices on the forums, youtube, streams are mostly all negative.

Dissatisfied people are always louder in everything. A savvy company understands that and doesn't panic just some people are complaining.

qrichou

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

It's always nicer to see a constructed well written post than a rude rant.
However, the content of this one, although extremely long, can be summarized in just a few sentences : "Stop war, make peace, all it takes is that you all agree with me helping poor ZOS understand and improve their own game. And by the way, I AM... I AM... I AM...I AM... "...

when you put on your happy hat ,
i will not seriuosly listen . happy is no argument constructive not my task ,its zos job to constructivly fix there own made bugs , i do not have to understand the people and who they are . I paid for this game . they work for cash not understanding.