Official Discussion Thread for "Welcome to 2017"

TERAB1T

@ZOS_GinaBruno
Will Morrowind be available for testing on PTS before an official release?

TerraDewBerry

I like what was said in the road ahead, I'm all kinds of excited about it! Nice Job Matt!

However, I think things would have gone a lot smoother regarding the rage over the Morrowind expansion (read as Chapter), had this road ahead article been published late last week prior to the announcement yesterday. Obviously, details about Morrowind would have been left out, but information regarding the change in content delivery with mention of "Chapters" should have been covered so that people were prepared. Hopefully, everyone would have understood that Chapters were not part of DLC releases, and with any luck, there would not have been the outcry there was about the new Morrowind Chapter not being part of the ESO + sub. Live and learn I guess... live and learn.

makeyurself

@Gandrhulf_Harbard I think they could allow us to at least swap only to Warden and include at least one free swap when Morrowind launches. I'm not opposed to CS class swapping but I know many people are so I'm fine if it never happens. I'm with you on the horse training BIG TIME.


But I also have a maxed character that I try to set up as a Frostmage, completed MG, FG and main story in addition to maxed horse stuff. It would be nice to be able to swap him to a Warden just for the Ice skill line.

Preyfar

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Neither - you can expect to see some changes to Cyrodiil before Morrowind. We'll give everyone more details a little later, and will give certainly everyone a heads up before any changes occur.

Are there any other changes to Cyrodiil planned other than performance? There's a lot of places in Cyrodiil that are just kind of void and lifeless (e.g. crumbling towers in the middle of nowhere completely lacking in decoration). Then there's Cloud Ruler Temple which has been in a perpetual state of enigma since launcher.

Just wondering if there's any thought to adding more content to Cyrodiil away from the main fights to give areas of interest some actual interest, more quest areas... something to give the zone some personality.

ListerJMC

Preyfar wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

"Each ESO Chapter will feature a self-contained story and zone that can be experienced by itself without needing to travel out to the main game."

Does it mean the main story won't continue? Is Darien lost forever?

Say it ain't so!

Yeah, that's kind of confusing what they said about continuing the story. Perhaps there's story related quests there that continue IN ADDITION to regular quests, and the story quests only apply if you've finished the main storyline (such as when the Prophet appears).

That would be nice! I hope there are extra things for completing the main story (or even zone stories too).

Skorol007

@ZOS_GinaBruno are you increasing the character limit now that we will have a new class?

LMar

I am a bit confused Gina et al.

Aren't you worried this will fragment your population base? Currently with ESO+ people can enjoy all of what the game offers. If someone doesn't have ESO+ they can buy the DLC on the crown store which can be found within the game

With "Chapters", even if someone has ESO+ they still won't have everything and people will need to go and buy the "Chapters" elsewhere. So having ESO+ Does not mean you are gonna have everything. Basically it causes people to have to scramble everywhere to have everything. With a new pvp mode available aren't you worried not enough people will buy into that and make it successful? What about new people joining, trying to get to somewhere but not being able to because they have to seperately go out and buy from another website? Aren't all these eventually going to drive people away?

Skorol007

Skorol007 wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno are you increasing the character limit now that we will have a new class?

disregard my previous message, just saw your post "To confirm, we do plan on adding the option to purchase two additional character slots from the Crown Store when we release Morrowind in June. "

Thanks!

czar

Overall, I'm happy with this. We'll see how the game develops, and I suspect they're figuring things out as they go as well. I just really hope there won't be uneccessary paywalls for the 'quality of life' improvements they're mentioning.

I do find it curious that they plan on releasing dungeon DLC's annualy, though. SotH wasn't exactly a success, was it?

Artis

Murkmire will probably become another Chapter. Or one of those "Content DLC" scheduled in the 4th quarters?

Good article, thanks for telling us new plans. They sound good, too. Except for the part with replacing one of the DLC with chapters, which decreases the value of sub. My solution to this would be to give a bit more crowns for sub, so that it's equal to what you'd get by buying big packs (per dollar)..

I'm still concerned about one thing though, and I asked it in another thread but never got the answer.

Expect ESO Chapters to introduce things like new game systems, new classes, and a ton of new content. ......

Additionally, we'll have a DLC in the first quarter of each year, a Chapter in the second quarter,

So will it keep happening and you'll be adding classes and we, players, can't just finally play and "live" in Tamriel knowing which class we prefer and working on content instead of comparing them? Guys, you got it wrong. The whole point of TES is not having class restrictions. This is the opposite of what a lot of us expected from you. Now the game will have 12 skill lines we can't try once we create a character.

And whoever wanted to remind me that morrowind and oblivion also had classes - I know it without you, I played those games myself. However, classes there were nothing like classes here. They weren't restrictive and basically were only a name and the initial distribution of attributes/skill line levels.

But it's not even about that.

The question is:

What did you do to address the fact that some of us played since pre-release (or just for a long time) and either have all character slots taken or progressed so deep on one character already that rerolling Warden is not an option. I can't work on my 22.4k or so achievement points again in case I like this new class more than others I already have. I was able to choose my main, but I only had 4 classes to choose from.

Are you thinking on implementing some account-wide counter of unique achievements (so that playing this new class doesn't feel like a waste of time) or are we going to have a class change token or something of a sort?

Mickey_Ox

WOW, what a slap in the face to loyal ESO+ subscribers.

Q2 2016- content update
Q3 2016- 2 dungeons (patethic really)
Q4 2016- no paid content
Q1 2017- no paid content
Q2 2017- chapter ( pay ontop of your ESO+)
Q3 2017- 2 more dungeons??? (Again pathetic)
Q4 2017- content update
So a loyal ESO+ subscriber will have paid roughly €180 for a years membership from Q3 to Q3 and recieved no DLC. .
So from the last decent content of Q2 2016 till the next decent content inQ4 2017 ESO+ members will have paid roughly €270 for 4 dungeons.

Talk about destroying the value of membership

dposdb14_ESO

@ZOS_GinaBruno
Is there any time frame as to when console players will be getting some sort of buff timers/icons? It is incredibly frustrating trying to track skills that fade or proc as a sorc when I have 4+ other sorcs doing the same thing. I'd honestly trade everything right now for this 1 option.

Vaoh

I actually love the way this new schedule is setup and am very glad to hear about it! The Chapter idea is something I 100% support and know will be fantastic for the game

Vanthras79 wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom How long must the diehard fans wait for Spellcrafting? Some of us have been rather patient.

From the article:

Expect ESO Chapters to introduce things like new game systems, new classes, and a ton of new content. For example, our new Chapter, ESO: Morrowind, contains a new class (the Warden), small-scale PvP Battlegrounds, and of course, a completely new zone to explore.

I'd expect Spellcrafting to come 2018 based on the new Chapter system going on. With the Warden being (re)introduced June 6th, and easily the need to rebalance it numerous times to fit in nicely, this would make sense imo.

Llevndryn

@ZOS_GinaBruno One thing is not very clear. Will we still have new smaller zones added with first et fourth quarter DLC, or will new zones only be added with Chapters ?

Sigtric

Vaoh wrote: »

I actually love the way this new schedule is setup and am very glad to hear about it! The Chapter idea is something I 100% support and know will be fantastic for the game

Vanthras79 wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom How long must the diehard fans wait for Spellcrafting? Some of us have been rather patient.

From the article:

Expect ESO Chapters to introduce things like new game systems, new classes, and a ton of new content. For example, our new Chapter, ESO: Morrowind, contains a new class (the Warden), small-scale PvP Battlegrounds, and of course, a completely new zone to explore.

I'd expect Spellcrafting to come 2018 based on the new Chapter system going on. With the Warden being introduced Jun 6th (and easily the need to rebalance it numerous times to fit in nicely) this would make sense as well.

Agree, and I hope you are right about spellcrafting

Niaver

Preyfar wrote: »

Goodbye, Murkmire... =/

Q4? I want it badly

Tandor

I can't believe that after we've been clamoring for ages for an additional character class there are people who just want to switch their fully-developed character to the new class instantly rather than play through it with a new character and actually learn about the different skill-lines as they unfold. It's not like you've got to repeat old content for it all, there's the whole of Morrowind to tackle from character creation onwards.

As for the change in the release method, I'd hope that with the explanation that's been given a lot of the critics will be more supportive, but perhaps that's being unduly optimistic! I do think the explanation would have been better given last week rather than today.

Faulgor

Artis wrote: »

Murkmire will probably become another Chapter. Or one of those "Content DLC" scheduled in the 4th quarters?

Good article, thanks for telling us new plans. They sound good, too. Except for the part with replacing one of the DLC with chapters, which decreases the value of sub. My solution to this would be to give a bit more crowns for sub, so that it's equal to what you'd get by buying big packs (per dollar)..

I'm still concerned about one thing though, and I asked it in another thread but never got the answer.

Expect ESO Chapters to introduce things like new game systems, new classes, and a ton of new content. ......

Additionally, we'll have a DLC in the first quarter of each year, a Chapter in the second quarter,

So will it keep happening and you'll be adding classes and we, players, can't just finally play and "live" in Tamriel knowing which class we prefer and working on content instead of comparing them? Guys, you got it wrong. The whole point of TES is not having class restrictions. This is the opposite of what a lot of us expected from you. Now the game will have 12 skill lines we can't try once we create a character.

And whoever wanted to remind me that morrowind and oblivion also had classes - I know it without you, I played those games myself. However, classes there were nothing like classes here. They weren't restrictive and basically were only a name and the initial distribution of attributes/skill line levels.

But it's not even about that.

The question is:

What did you do to address the fact that some of us played since pre-release (or just for a long time) and either have all character slots taken or progressed so deep on one character already that rerolling Warden is not an option. I can't work on my 22.4k or so achievement points again in case I like this new class more than others I already have. I was able to choose my main, but I only had 4 classes to choose from.

Are you thinking on implementing some account-wide counter of unique achievements (so that playing this new class doesn't feel like a waste of time) or are we going to have a class change token or something of a sort?

I love you so much I had to quote you again.

I just want to change one of my characters to a Warden. If ZOS actually plans to add even more classes, they need to establish a framework that makes me not dread the thought of these content additions because I will have to reroll an entire character.
That's not in the spirit established with One Tamriel.

Tandor wrote: »

I can't believe that after we've been clamoring for ages for an additional character class ...

So it's your fault?
I never wanted more classes, I wanted spellcrafting. To Oblivion with this limiting class system.

Tandor

LMar wrote: »

I am a bit confused Gina et al.

Aren't you worried this will fragment your population base? Currently with ESO+ people can enjoy all of what the game offers. If someone doesn't have ESO+ they can buy the DLC on the crown store which can be found within the game

With "Chapters", even if someone has ESO+ they still won't have everything and people will need to go and buy the "Chapters" elsewhere. So having ESO+ Does not mean you are gonna have everything. Basically it causes people to have to scramble everywhere to have everything. With a new pvp mode available aren't you worried not enough people will buy into that and make it successful? What about new people joining, trying to get to somewhere but not being able to because they have to seperately go out and buy from another website? Aren't all these eventually going to drive people away?

I don't see any of that becoming an issue to be honest.

Anyone buying the base game in the usual way can do a digital upgrade to the new chapters as they want them. Anyone buying a chapter "off the shelf" will get the base game included with the chapter they're buying. I don't see a problem for PvPers in choosing to buy Morrowind either just to do the battlegrounds or for the whole chapter experience. In any event, regardless of the present dissent I've no doubt that the committed players whether PvE and/or PvP will end up getting Morrowind, not least in the light of the further explanation provided in the Year Ahead announcement.

Lord_Eomer

@ZOS_GinaBruno any info, if we will be able to change existing character class to Warden or more character slots will be available in crown store?

I have my all 12 characters max stats with Horse speed and stamina, i am not going to delete any.

argouru

Will this mean only adding one new zone per year? In the last year we got 3 zones (Wrothgar, Hew's Bane and The Gold Coast - technically 4 if you count Imperial City)?

tinythinker

Preyfar wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

"Each ESO Chapter will feature a self-contained story and zone that can be experienced by itself without needing to travel out to the main game."

Does it mean the main story won't continue? Is Darien lost forever?

Say it ain't so!

Yeah, that's kind of confusing what they said about continuing the story. Perhaps there's story related quests there that continue IN ADDITION to regular quests, and the story quests only apply if you've finished the main storyline (such as when the Prophet appears).

This would be great!

Abeille

Tandor wrote: »

I can't believe that after we've been clamoring for ages for an additional character class there are people who just want to switch their fully-developed character to the new class instantly rather than play through it with a new character and actually learn about the different skill-lines as they unfold.

The whole world is leveled. We can learn about the new class with our existing characters. All they have to do is making the class skill lines have no progress once you change classes.

Some of us have characters that would have been Wardens since the beginning if that was an option. I'll reroll and lose all my progress towards Master Angler on one of the characters, which is pretty bad but won't stop me from doing so, but imagine someone who has one character. One character who is high ranked on PvP, who is a Master Crafter with all motifs including the ones that were time-limited Crown Store exclusives, who has several achievements. Rerolling that character would suck, and the option would be to never main a Warden, even if you wanted Warden from the start.

Ilmarthethief

Niaver wrote: »

Preyfar wrote: »

Goodbye, Murkmire... =/

Q4? I want it badly

Clockwork city I guess

MissBizz

lordrichter wrote: »

Vanthras79 wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom How long must the diehard fans wait for Spellcrafting? Some of us have been rather patient.

My guess is that Spellcrafting is now a Chapter thing, so next possible release time is 2Q 2018.

Preyfar wrote: »

Goodbye, Murkmire... =/

Murkmire could be the 4Q 2017 or 1Q 2018 DLC.

Other thoughts:
It sounds like Orsinium would have been a Chapter, if they had that concept back then.

I am not exactly happy with having to upgrade for $40 every year, like clockwork. This is a lot more frequent than I was expecting. I figured they would have a team working on a 2 year cadence and we would get a Chapter every 2 years. This is putting a rush on this Chapter content, in my opinion. ZOS tends to leave things on the cutting room floor when they rush stuff.

@lordrichter I've been disagreeing with you over the last few days (mostly I kept it to myself though ) but this - I really couldn't have said it better myself. It's disheartening to realize our DLC future is Thieves Guild/Dark Brotherhood and Shadows of the Hist - per year. Outside of full expansions, which I'm not quite sure I agree on - as I'm thinking the same as you... maybe Orsinium would have been slated a chapter if they had thrown a new class in with it.

maboleth

Abeille wrote: »

"Each ESO Chapter will feature a self-contained story and zone that can be experienced by itself without needing to travel out to the main game."

Does it mean the main story won't continue? Is Darien lost forever?

Say it ain't so!

I'd like to know that as well. I really hope your lore master will continue the main story, even if just giving hints here and there in the new zone(s) or cliffhangers of the main side quests.

tinythinker

My issue: I don't want to reroll each summer when a new class is released with a Chapter.

Akrasjel

we'll have our dungeon-based DLC in Q3 and a content-based DLC in Q4.

Jeremiah87

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_RichLambert

I'm sorry but the DLC delivery cadence as you guys call it is a sad attempt at covering up a new money making scheme.

This year will feature four major events:

Homestead, our player housing DLC, in February
ESO: Morrowind, our first Chapter release, in June
A dungeon-based DLC in the third quarter
A content-based DLC in the fourth quarter

What this means for ESO+ subscribers is that we will receive our first actual new (ESO+) paid content (that covers the main gameplay and mechanics of the game which are adventuring and fighting) in quarter 3 2017 in the form of a dungeon based DLC. This is unless we decide to shell out 40$ for Morrowind. So the regular ESO+ subscriber is being starved for new content and baited with a paid DLC that you guys re-branded as a "chapter". Yes, yes I understand it's bigger than any other DLC so far but that doesn't change the matter of things. ESO+ is becoming less appealing, you hook us with things like the craft bag and starve as for new DLC content for which you then charge a premium additional to ESO+. I'm getting this right am I not?

Also:

• Q2 2016- content update (Dark Brotherhood)
• Q3 2016- 2 dungeons (Shadows Of The Hist)
• Q4 2016- no paid content

What happened the ESO+ financed Q4 DLC for Q4 2016?

Zenimax you're alienating the fans of your game. I've been here since beta and I'm not liking what I see developing. You guys did a stellar job of improving and adding to the game since it's release. Has management decided to kick into a new gear to milk the cash cow? No matter what the community thinks about?

Docmandu

"Cyrodiil performance" -- I want to believe!

Though a bit skeptical, since we've been hearing that for 2+ years now.