How focused are you in getting the "best" gear flavor of the month or year or whatever

Slurg

Mostly not, but I do steer toward optimizing my character(s), eventually, I guess.

But each and every time, as soon as I finally get there, the game gets "rebalanced" and it's all for naught.

Still, I'm not going to put in full-time job level effort for a game.

GreenSoup2HoT

I'm in the middle. While I'm not entirely focused on being overpowered, I do make sure at least half of my gameplay is toward reaching that "best" gear/build goal

My build was actually buffed in Morrowind. Can't really complain. Was already using BiS gear for my pvp nightblade for ganking. Was already built for decent regen. My build still kicks some booty.

BossXV

All of my focus rests on being best of the best, bishes. Who's your DADDY!

Uncle_Sweetshare wrote: »

Wow. I really did not expect these poll results. I figured the casual portion of the playerbase was much smaller... That explains why they couldn't give a skeever's arse about fixing Battlegrounds, or the group finder, or vet trials for console players. Even if the entire 'hardcore' playerbase quit, that would still leave over 80% of the players to keep feeding them money.

It all makes sense now. It's a very scumbag business model, but it makes sense.

(I realize the poll isn't a representation of the entire playerbase, but it still gives insight as to why so many issues are being ignored)

Exactly what I thought! And you know what, if anything the poll is tilted towards more hard core player turn out. WE ARE ON FORUM!! LOLZ

Betsararie

I think the poll is flawed because what if you're already done farming gear for a particular build (or just don't have the group size for trials or don't play at "prime time"), then what? I don't feel that the poll accounts for that.

The activities I enjoy most in the game are farming sets and farming money. I also like to go after achievements.

But I'm also only interested in BiS builds... and will spend the time necessary to get them.

But most of my time doesn't go towards farming, because sometimes I'm just done farming.

And then circumstances might arise where I need to restart the farming process for new gear (say the Morrowind update).

So all in all a decent poll but I think it is flawed. Sometimes you're just done farming. lol

CaptainBeerDude

Not at all. I go where fate takes me (i.e. level alts, quest, role play, etc), and either it took me a LONG time to get reasonably good gear or it will be a while.

I'm not farming or grinding. I'll use relatively easily acquired gear and get to 50 eventually.
My build works. That is all that matters to me.

max_only

Mostly not, but I do steer toward optimizing my character(s), eventually, I guess.

Uncle_Sweetshare wrote: »

Wow. I really did not expect these poll results. I figured the casual portion of the playerbase was much smaller... That explains why they couldn't give a skeever's arse about fixing Battlegrounds, or the group finder, or vet trials for console players. Even if the entire 'hardcore' playerbase quit, that would still leave over 80% of the players to keep feeding them money.

It all makes sense now. It's a very scumbag business model, but it makes sense.

(I realize the poll isn't a representation of the entire playerbase, but it still gives insight as to why so many issues are being ignored)

How is it a scumbag business model to appeal to the majority of paying customers?

I wonder if there was a poll of people who identify as hardcore pvpers how many buy fluff? Fluff makes the cash flow. The point of a business is to make money...

Fixing group finder is important to "casuals" but I bet most can find a guild or a few friends to run with them to tide them over. Something about an easygoing attitude instead of harsh criticism like "scum" seems to attract "friends" but I don't know....

Not everyone thrives in an environment of "git gud scrub". Community sports teams and soccer clubs come to mind as a real life example of that mentality... massive crowds don't line up to get their entertainment from being berated by their peers. Massive crowds line up for amusement parks though. People, in great numbers, pay to chill with some thrills, to have a sense of accomplishment that isn't tied to self esteem, to spend time with others smiling not gritting their teeth and screaming in frustration. I get that frustration is entertaining for some, else we wouldn't have games called "masocore" with permadeath & other consequences, but let's be real, if one is out to make dat cash, one appeals to the majority.

Uncle_Sweetshare

Mostly so, and while I do dedicate most of my time toward farming best gears I also like to mix things up a bit here and there.

max_only wrote: »

Uncle_Sweetshare wrote: »

Wow. I really did not expect these poll results. I figured the casual portion of the playerbase was much smaller... That explains why they couldn't give a skeever's arse about fixing Battlegrounds, or the group finder, or vet trials for console players. Even if the entire 'hardcore' playerbase quit, that would still leave over 80% of the players to keep feeding them money.

It all makes sense now. It's a very scumbag business model, but it makes sense.

(I realize the poll isn't a representation of the entire playerbase, but it still gives insight as to why so many issues are being ignored)

How is it a scumbag business model to appeal to the majority of paying customers?

I wonder if there was a poll of people who identify as hardcore pvpers how many buy fluff? Fluff makes the cash flow. The point of a business is to make money...

Fixing group finder is important to "casuals" but I bet most can find a guild or a few friends to run with them to tide them over. Something about an easygoing attitude instead of harsh criticism like "scum" seems to attract "friends" but I don't know....

Not everyone thrives in an environment of "git gud scrub". Community sports teams and soccer clubs come to mind as a real life example of that mentality... massive crowds don't line up to get their entertainment from being berated by their peers. Massive crowds line up for amusement parks though. People, in great numbers, pay to chill with some thrills, to have a sense of accomplishment that isn't tied to self esteem, to spend time with others smiling not gritting their teeth and screaming in frustration. I get that frustration is entertaining for some, else we wouldn't have games called "masocore" with permadeath & other consequences, but let's be real, if one is out to make dat cash, one appeals to the majority.

Where shall I start...

The group finder is broken for premade groups. It works the majority of the time if you're by yourself, so the "group" finder actually inhibits playing with friends. Sure, you could teleport to the dungeon as a 4 man group, but you're not going to receive the 25% damage bonus from using the group finder, and for those doing the random dungeon of the day, you're likely not going to receive your random reward if you're in a premade group of any size. So, your point is moot there.

As for the percentage of "hardcore" players that buy fluff, I can't speak for anyone but myself, but prior to Morrowind hitting the PTS (I haven't spent any money with ZOS since), I had spent well over $500 in the Crown store in the two months I had been playing (and I'm not wealthy by any means), so there goes that point as well.

The scumbag portion of the business model is refusing to fix the aforementioned issues because of the cost required to fix it compared to the percentage of players they're going to lose for not fixing it. We're not talking about "appealing" to anyone, we're talking about fixing issues that have been prevalent within the game for months, if not years. I'm not telling anyone to "git gud" or saying that "hardcore" players have any more right to play than "casual" players, I'm asking for them to fix the issues with the product that I paid for. So, yet another missed point.

Feel free to retort, but I think I've made my point.

GuyNamedSean

I'm in the middle. While I'm not entirely focused on being overpowered, I do make sure at least half of my gameplay is toward reaching that "best" gear/build goal

I don't really go straight for playing the meta, but I do like to make sure that all my characters are as effective as they can be with the build I have in mind for them. For example, I have a DK tank that is designed entirely to be the health tank meta, but my main is a NB tank that is a full on sapper. I'm also trying to figure out how I want to build a Sorc tank and once my Warden is levelled I'm moving all my health gear to it and making my DK a two-handed heavy hitter for PvP.

max_only

Mostly not, but I do steer toward optimizing my character(s), eventually, I guess.

Uncle_Sweetshare wrote: »

Lord_Kreegan wrote: »

Absolutely, totally, and completely not at all...
Good grief. I play games for fun. It's not competition and any yahoo who thinks it is must be some extremely insecure, unaccomplished, numb-nuts without anything else to hang his/her hat on.
Seriously... is what you accomplish in an on-line game important? Is that all you have in your life?
Are you that pathetic?
Play the damn game for fun and enjoy it...

All I hear is "I suck at pressing keys, therefore I feel the need to bring down anyone that's better than me, even though I'm extrem

max_only wrote: »

Uncle_Sweetshare wrote: »

Wow. I really did not expect these poll results. I figured the casual portion of the playerbase was much smaller... That explains why they couldn't give a skeever's arse about fixing Battlegrounds, or the group finder, or vet trials for console players. Even if the entire 'hardcore' playerbase quit, that would still leave over 80% of the players to keep feeding them money.

It all makes sense now. It's a very scumbag business model, but it makes sense.

(I realize the poll isn't a representation of the entire playerbase, but it still gives insight as to why so many issues are being ignored)

How is it a scumbag business model to appeal to the majority of paying customers?

I wonder if there was a poll of people who identify as hardcore pvpers how many buy fluff? Fluff makes the cash flow. The point of a business is to make money...

Fixing group finder is important to "casuals" but I bet most can find a guild or a few friends to run with them to tide them over. Something about an easygoing attitude instead of harsh criticism like "scum" seems to attract "friends" but I don't know....

Not everyone thrives in an environment of "git gud scrub". Community sports teams and soccer clubs come to mind as a real life example of that mentality... massive crowds don't line up to get their entertainment from being berated by their peers. Massive crowds line up for amusement parks though. People, in great numbers, pay to chill with some thrills, to have a sense of accomplishment that isn't tied to self esteem, to spend time with others smiling not gritting their teeth and screaming in frustration. I get that frustration is entertaining for some, else we wouldn't have games called "masocore" with permadeath & other consequences, but let's be real, if one is out to make dat cash, one appeals to the majority.

Where shall I start...

The group finder is broken for premade groups. It works the majority of the time if you're by yourself, so the "group" finder actually inhibits playing with friends. Sure, you could teleport to the dungeon as a 4 man group, but you're not going to receive the 25% damage bonus from using the group finder, and for those doing the random dungeon of the day, you're likely not going to receive your random reward if you're in a premade group of any size. So, your point is moot there.

As for the percentage of "hardcore" players that buy fluff, I can't speak for anyone but myself, but prior to Morrowind hitting the PTS (I haven't spent any money with ZOS since), I had spent well over $500 in the Crown store in the two months I had been playing (and I'm not wealthy by any means), so there goes that point as well.

The scumbag portion of the business model is refusing to fix the aforementioned issues because of the cost required to fix it compared to the percentage of players they're going to lose for not fixing it. We're not talking about "appealing" to anyone, we're talking about fixing issues that have been prevalent within the game for months, if not years. I'm not telling anyone to "git gud" or saying that "hardcore" players have any more right to play than "casual" players, I'm asking for them to fix the issues with the product that I paid for. So, yet another missed point.

Feel free to retort, but you've already lost.

Well I don't post on the forums to "win" so I guess I have already lost.

Even if the entire 'hardcore' playerbase quit, that would still leave over 80% of the players to keep feeding them money.

It all makes sense now. It's a very scumbag business model, but it makes sense.

I wonder what about your post could have lead me to believe that you think appealing to the 80% instead of the "hardcore" players is the "scumbag business model" you speak of. Unless, you didn't mean "business model" and instead meant "development philosophy"?

busi·ness mod·el
noun
noun: business model; plural noun: business models
a design for the successful operation of a business, identifying revenue sources, customer base, products, and details of financing.

quadraxis666

need another option. on my Sdk I'm still tanking in the very ancient hist bark/footman combo and it's still boss as hell. somehow it remains viable update after update.

As for my nightblade in pvp i will never ever share what i have on him since it's survived several nerf waves now.

IcyDeadPeople

For me a lot of the fun in this game is researching sets and coming up with different build ideas. They don't always work well, but sometimes they do. It would be kind of boring to just copy the most popular cookie cutter meta builds.

Don't know much about PVE builds, but in PVP there is certainly a lot of room for non-meta builds, even some ideas no one has ever tried yet.

S1ipperyJim

I'm in the middle. While I'm not entirely focused on being overpowered, I do make sure at least half of my gameplay is toward reaching that "best" gear/build goal

I tend to work towards best in slot items but by the time I get close to completing a set the next patch drops and my BIS stuff is no longer BIS

Uncle_Sweetshare

Mostly so, and while I do dedicate most of my time toward farming best gears I also like to mix things up a bit here and there.

max_only wrote: »

I wonder what about your post could have lead me to believe that you think appealing to the 80% instead of the "hardcore" players is the "scumbag business model" you speak of. Unless, you didn't mean "business model" and instead meant "development philosophy"?

Maybe that's because you're taking my post out of context by ignoring what I had previously stated:

Uncle_Sweetshare wrote: »

That explains why they couldn't give a skeever's arse about fixing Battlegrounds, or the group finder, or vet trials for console players. Even if the entire 'hardcore' playerbase quit, that would still leave over 80% of the players to keep feeding them money.

Hardcore was in quotations because the percentage of players that voted for "Mostly so, and while I do dedicate most of my time toward farming best gears I also like to mix things up a bit here and there." and "All of my focus rests on being best of the best, bishes. Who's your DADDY!" made up for less than 20% of the responses, and those are the players most likely to be affected by Battlegrounds being bugged and lacking features, and vet trials not working.

So no, I meant scumbag business model. They've marked the players they're going to lose by not fixing these core features as acceptable losses, which would apply to their business model, not their development philosophy, as I highly doubt they intended to push broken content.

max_only

Mostly not, but I do steer toward optimizing my character(s), eventually, I guess.

If you doubt they intended to push broken content,
Why do you believe they refuse to fix battlegrounds?

They are notoriously uncommunicative, they very well could be fixing it right now. Zos has rarely if ever operated on the assumption that players and forum posters are entitled to responses to their bug reports/feedback threads. In fact the in game message is something like "thank you for the feedback, you may never get a response from us".

Uncle_Sweetshare

Mostly so, and while I do dedicate most of my time toward farming best gears I also like to mix things up a bit here and there.

max_only wrote: »

If you doubt they intended to push broken content,
Why do you believe they refuse to fix battlegrounds?

They are notoriously uncommunicative, they very well could be fixing it right now. Zos has rarely if ever operated on the assumption that players and forum posters are entitled to responses to their bug reports/feedback threads. In fact the in game message is something like "thank you for the feedback, you may never get a response from us".

Because they're extremely incompetent at doing their jobs, and considering that the majority of those features should have been implemented from day 1 (which shows MASSIVE oversight from the design team), the group finder has been broken almost since launch (there were a few months of it working here and there), and console players have dealt with bugged vet trials for almost 6 months, I'm not going to hold my breath.

Just look at the vet trials thread under bugs; over 50k views and 1.2k comments, and the last response from ZOS was "We're still investigating" 2 months ago.

Even if we were to give them the benefit of the doubt, the lack of transparency is absolutely appalling, as it would take less than 10 minutes to compile a list of potential questions for the devs based on popular issues/ threads, email them to the lead designs, and then copy and paste responses into said threads, seeing as that's the entire purpose of having community managers.

Also, while the threads regarding what I would consider to be more serious bugs go ignored, threads such as "There was a rock moved in Earthtear Cavern" and "Oooh, shiny datamined mount" get near instant responses. Obviously they're going to answer the threads that they can answer, but come on now, at least put some effort into acknowledging these other issues so people like me can stop spending 2+ hours a day trying to get them addressed because we've been ignored thus far.

JWKe

Mostly not, but I do steer toward optimizing my character(s), eventually, I guess.

Too much of a grind. Also, i'm an 8 trait crafter so i typically forego optimization for aesthetics. I like my motif styles.