What does "Communication from ZOS" primarily mean to you?

Suddwrath

Are you satisfied with the amount/quality of the communication at the present moment?
If not, what would you want to change?
If yes, what are they doing well?

VaranisArano

All of it, in a timely fashion.

The one most lacking IMO is transparency/timely responses to major issues, bugs, glitches, and exploits.

SgtSilock

All of the above

All of the above, naturally. Is that too much to ask for a live game?

Bouldercleave

Other

I don't feel that I'm entitled to know everything that they have going on behind the scenes, but a little better communication would be welcome - especially on addressing some of the more glaring issues.

I think they do a great job with patch notes and future goals and direction.

I would love to see more in game events. I always enjoyed stuff like that in other games.

I have always had good communication with them on bug reports and such and have always had my tickets addressed in a timely and professional manner, but then again I submit them in a timely and professional manner. You get what you give.

Based on many of the posts I see here on a daily basis, I wouldn't communicate on the forums at all. The toxic nature around here is palpable. I'm sure they have direction from upper management not to engage in the crapfest that gets spewed on the forums.

Royaji

Other

I would rather see actions than any amount of words. How many of those "we've seen the issue and are working on it" replies from Gina do you need to keep you satisfied? One on every thread? Those replies are useless. Of course they will tell you they are working on bugs.

I will be perfectly happy to never again see a reply from ZOS on the forums if actual fixes start making their way into the game.

edit: typos

Sandman929

All of the above

Except hosting community events...couldn't care less. Bug reports repeatedly bumped for over a year that still haven't gotten a single comment are pretty much the opposite of good communication. Watching as other reports around that ignored report get attention from ZOS is infuriating.

Odnoc

Posting regular updates on the game (patch notes, future combat goals, etc)

Pretty much updates on the game. Forums? That's an area for players to chat, not a development resource. And no, people aren't entitled to know every single thing going on. Just my opinion.

Bouldercleave

Other

SgtSilock wrote: »

All of the above, naturally. Is that too much to ask for a live game?

Yes, Yes it is

Agenericname

All of the above

All of it of course, but it does seem like they've been trying to improve. Overall I'm happy with it. I was comfortable with the way that they introduced the news for the upcoming racial passives. Of course I'd like to know what they're doing, but the general direction is fine.

I thought that they could have been more decisive about the FG1/RDF issues. The response to the RDF glitch was handled well in my opinion, provided that they follow through.

As long as there is some transparency and a general direction I'm okay.

Kuramas9tails

Active back-and-forth dialogue with the community (responding to bug reports, commenting in the forums, etc)

All I got from this poll was this...

Communicate ZOS

FinneganFroth

Active back-and-forth dialogue with the community (responding to bug reports, commenting in the forums, etc)

I'm one of those players that acknowledges there are issues with the game, but I don't get too worked up over it and still really love to play. However, it is pretty obvious that ZOS could do a better job communicating with it's base. A good PR person could go a long way.

LonePirate

I would like to see ZOS adopt a sense of urgency toward significant player issues. The recent problems of the group finder not working during the dungeon event and the worsened performance in Cyrodiil are just two examples of significant problems which ZOS has treated with the ostrich approach of seeing nothing and doing nothing. ZOS needs to find a way to make major, widespread player concerns their top priority, regardless of what other items are in their sprint backlogs. But I guess it is worse for them to upset the suits in the accounting and executive offices than it is to upset the paying customer base.

So ZOS sends out a piece of plastic (ceramic?) and a letter from an in-game character along with a message about a story being told over 2019’s four content updates. It’s easier to distract the masses with something new (like a wall) than it is to address the core problems impacting future sustainability (like economic inequality).

Everstorm

Other

I think it would be an excellent idea.

jediodyn_ESO

Active back-and-forth dialogue with the community (responding to bug reports, commenting in the forums, etc)

It would be nice to hear back from them once in awhile between patches, especially once they’ve recognized something as an actual problem

Seraphayel

Apparently it means deafening silence.

kojou

Posting regular updates on the game (patch notes, future combat goals, etc)

B and C

MasterSpatula

All of the above

Engagement.

Seeing a Z pop up on a thread shouldn't be remarkable. Get involved in the conversations. Take part in the joke threads. (They have gotten better at this, to be fair.) Show an active interest in how we're experiencing the game. Make a case for unpopular decisions. Show up on the servers from time to time to host planned or impromptu events. Act like we're all on the same team, all part of the same community. Engage, engage, engage!

usmcjdking

A more appropriate vision statement.

For the most part, a lot of their comments/blogs/articles are vague and full of fluff. Maybe 10% of their written content has information worth extrapolating. They fail to tell me what the game should look like and should feel like with each patch, meaning I get to set my own bar for what it should feel like, therefore resulting in non-stop flame because it will never be what I personally want.

ZOS can't pitch "play as you want" anymore, so for the most part they do it by omission of telling you how to effectively play. Really slimy tactic in my opinion.

With that said I find Brian Wheelers posts to generally be very strong and what I'd expect of a professional that takes his job seriously. Wrobel as well to a degree when/if he posts.

Drummerx04

Active back-and-forth dialogue with the community (responding to bug reports, commenting in the forums, etc)

This option is honestly pretty inclusive.

If they are responding to bug reports, then there is some indication that they care even a little.
If they are regularly posting in the forums, then that naturally involves patch notes.
If they put out some polls asking basic balancing questions, "Is the cfrag stun OP?" Then we know what they are considering for combat and we can provide feedback more directly. Maybe they still ignore it occasionally, but it would be better than "Here are some sweeping nerfs to class skills to make room for set and CP power creep, have fun"

I honestly care very little about community events, mostly it's just the devs being unable to complete their own content.

Shawn_PT

All of the above

Would be nice to have at the very least a list of acknowledged bugs, separating the ones which are being worked on (priority), and the ones on the backburner. It would let players know that our reports don't fall into the trash can, and that the devs are actually interested in bringing a better experience for their clients.

When players post a bug thread, is it that hard to ask for clarifications? To say 'we'll check this, thanks for posting'? Or 'have you tried this and that, if so, what are the results?' Last time I posted a bug with the mail system consistently delivering the messages/items to the wrong player when the recipient was offline, and only when they were offline. Who replied, saying 'that's some serious problem, better get looked at?' The community. Not the devs. Pretty sure the same bug will still be there if I attempt to send more items to the player in question. Would it kill them to let us know they actually read our comments? The constructive ones at least.

Would it hurt to let some teasers out every DLC instead of just allowing stuff to be datamined? Tbh I place more trust in dataminers right now to start guessing what is coming than in the 'road ahead/what's to come' announcements. The deal with the tablet and the letter sent out to a player is great but it's something that happens once every year. IF that often.

Are the devs really human? Or just a bunch of AIs keeping us hooked on their game so we grow tame and complacent? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Bouldercleave

Other

Drummerx04 wrote: »

This option is honestly pretty inclusive.

If they are responding to bug reports, then there is some indication that they care even a little. They Do This

If they are regularly posting in the forums, then that naturally involves patch notes. They Do This

If they put out some polls asking basic balancing questions, "Is the cfrag stun OP?" Then we know what they are considering for combat and we can provide feedback more directly. Maybe they still ignore it occasionally, but it would be better than "Here are some sweeping nerfs to class skills to make room for set and CP power creep, have fun" If they polled a bunch of unhappy crybabies about what would make this game balanced - It would be dead in a week

I honestly care very little about community events, mostly it's just the devs being unable to complete their own content. It's this attitude that makes them not want to do things for or with us

Rake

Other

Informing us about new lizards in ESO and where to get them

Veuth

It means Communication.

Rain_Greyraven

Useless poll.

I get the information I need from Zos in the regular twitch cast and in the News section of the web page.....the forums are useless and are working as intended, as a playpen for the outrage mobs.

Sylvermynx

Other

I don't expect communication at all. It's a game. It's what I do for fun. I enjoy the game, I have fun.

It's not.... life and death, people....

Banana

Usually a forum warning

Lake

Active back-and-forth dialogue with the community (responding to bug reports, commenting in the forums, etc)

Doing more than making passive-aggressive tweets and likes, and cozying up to streamers on Twitter like Rich & Gina do.

Finviuswe

an email response within a few days

Ohtimbar

Other

I simply don't care, possibly because I'm older and predate the strange (to me) desire to be up in everyone else's business 24/7.

essi2

All of the above

All of them in a reasonable and timely fashion.

Twitch related communication, maybe not so important.

Turelus

Posting regular updates on the game (patch notes, future combat goals, etc)

Giving information about the game is the kind of communication I expect.

I would love the back and forth from ZOS but I don't think you'll get that kind of free form communication from a company with ZOS' structure.

The one thing I would like is for more people to understand that communication and listening doesn't mean doing everything asked. Often the "ZOS doesn't communicate/listen" is thrown around because they're not doing changes people wanted.