Manners, Elected Representatives, Prophets

NeroBad

In the past years, I enjoyed the game and the forums most of the times. There were some really good topics toward problmens which got resolved in the end (my favorite is the Pyandonean motif debate). But there are some who always make me cringe, these are the self proclaimed prophets and representatives. They can be so confident that they represent a big chunk of the community or even majority, and they proclaim they foresee the game's future like no other (or atleast better then ZOS).

Expression and communication between developers and gamers are keyfactors for a succesfull longterm game. Telling you are dissatisfied is your right and your oportunity to change the game the way you can enjoy it better. I'm a simple member of this community but in my opinion there some better way to express problems then ranting and saying you have a big chunk of players behnid your back.

We are mostly adults (PEGI 18) as in real life good experssions achive better results. These are my recommendations

Manners: when I read a problem which is expressed in a calm and informative way, I'm very likely to feel empathy towards it, and I'm more likely to comment on it(more comments more attention). In my job if someone writes me a rude e-mail I ignore it for a week atleast. Swearing and ranting makes someone looks childish and difficult to take seriously.

Scope: I can represent only those whom I'm talked to and agree with me (or those who voted for me in an election). If I read a discussion where many proclaim "most os us" or "everybody I have meet" I have a big DOUBT in my mind, and after this doubt the problem is also sounds more exaggerated (even if it is not). There are guild masters with mutliple guilds but it is hard to imagine that even they spoke to more then 100 players about an actual problem. The game has an active player base atleast 10 000 in each server (it can be much-much bigger but I have limited data (steamchart and some statemant from ZOS)) so it makes a big Guild Master max a 1% representation of a server. When somebody having a problem with his friends and they don't exaggerate the mass behind them I take them more seriously.

Vision: All of us experienced many things in our life, we make assumptions according to our experiences, but telling that our foresight is absolute, or nearly absolute is egoistic. When someone sounds egoistic In my eyes they lose their respect. The "in my opinion" "I think" expressions are much more relatable, I can join them by saying me too, also I can say I don't think so but I can't debate that they think that way.

Best Regards

Violynne

NeroBad wrote: »

Expression and communication between developers and gamers are keyfactors for a succesfull longterm game. Telling you are dissatisfied is your right and your oportunity to change the game the way you can enjoy it better. I'm a simple member of this community but in my opinion there some better way to express problems then ranting and saying you have a big chunk of players behnid your back.

I'd like to put stock into this statement, but I cannot agree it works with ZoS developers.

This game has been out for 4 years, and the basic problems still exist in the game. Either the developers can't fix them (the code source wasn't developed by them) or they're being told not to (by those who don't play the game but would rather milk whales dry).

Either way, this game has not seen any significant improvements in 4 years, and if I'm to bet my Crowns, the next 4 won't show any improvements either.

Let's start off with one fact: they're reaching out to the 1% for help in "balancing" the game. That's a significant problem for two reasons: 1) the majority of players will never hit the 1% and 2) Meta always incites boredom.

I'm more concerned about the second point because games require constant change to remain both relevant and engaging.

Summerset was a fantastic example of this. Groan about the grind, but adding JC made the game relevant. Changing up the abysmal geysers made the game engaging. Imagine my shock when I saw an enemy rise out of the geyser with 1M+ HP! I'm glad it scales based on the number of players (it's typical if you do it solo), but it was refreshing to see it.

Side note: the delves were also nicely done, and not the typical "round about kill the boss" design. Although, I'll admit having to scale them every time for a quest would get tedious, this can be improved.

This leads me to believe the developers are trying, but the game is just so large, that the little things add up to make it a horrendous experience at times.

I absolutely hate deconstructing weapons and armor in the game, because despite having a level 50 skill and all relevant passives unlocked, breaking down a purple item often yields me nothing, and that really, really pisses me off. I'm also upset we can only get one drop per weapon, regardless of its level.

Then there's the RNG factor, which is both heinous in its own right, but with the hidden countdown timers against players, is one of the worst punishment systems I've ever had the dissatisfaction of playing. I [censored] hate that RNG makes it impossible for people to get what they want without spending weeks (or months!) trying to put together sets.

Greed, both company and player, also ruins the experience. Don't want to grind? Step up to the local trader and see how price fixing destroys any common sense. PIECES of sets running at 50k is atrocious, but I understand why they're expensive, which leads right back to the punishment system of RNG.

This is only my short list (and I'm sure others would agree), of a long list of issues the developers either can't fix, or put a priority on the 1%.

I'm reaching my maximum frustration point with the game again. If things don't change soon, and I hit the apex, I'll be leaving and I will never come back.

Just like 80% of the players since the game was launched.

Matt Frior can brag about the 11mil registered players all he wants, but the fact that only 3m are playing screams "THIS GAME IS BROKEN AND IT NEEDS TO BE FIXED."

Start off with separating PvP from PvE. ASAP. Trying to do both with one game is foolish.