Do you think ZoS listens to its player base?

Ace_SiN

Some communities yes but others no.

Do they listen to the community? I think we should ask Sorc and DK that question. I'd also say ask the NB, but I'm told he vanished in fear he'd lose his cloak next.

N00BxV1

I think ZOS is like every other company and listens to the money more than anything else. But these companies also have their favorites/streamers that they try to please because they offer free(?) advertising and can persuade people to buy their products.

Elsonso

Yes, always.

N00BxV1 wrote: »

I think ZOS is like every other company and listens to the money more than anything else. But these companies also have their favorites/streamers that they try to please because they offer free(?) advertising and can persuade people to buy their products.

Marketing and Sales vs Game Development. An interesting poll would be which one has more influence in the direction of the game.

Mitaka211

Some communities yes but others no.

Some communities yes but others no.
When it comes to class balance frankly i don't think they even consider stamina as a playable option. There are tons of ignored feedback on the templar and sorc threads. I was kinda new to the forum and miss understood how these threads actually work and now that i am more familiar i have to say that the class reps prob formulate a ton of feedback for the devs that mostly gets ignored, if it's stamina related heh. This whole necromancer thing i hear, how they took all the feedback from other classes to make the perfect op character kinda makes it even worse lol.
On the other hand sometimes when they listen regarding nerfs it seem like they go a bit too over the top and end up crippling classes. It feels like there the two extremes with them.

Tavore1138

Infrequently

I always felt that the great Morrowind sustain debacle showed that when they listen it is to the wrong people. Their stated goal to make good rotations more accessible to the keen but not elite players while trimming a bit off the very top was admirable. If they had made that learning curve smoother it could have really been great for the game and players looking for PvE progression. But the second that light attacks got buffed and heavy attacks got nerfed you knew that either they weren't listening or that the players they *were* hearing were pushing their own agendas. The results that top end players got better and medium players paid the price was sadly predictable from that point.

I look at some of the early proposed changes for the next chapter and I see the same positive intentions at work but the same probable errors about to happen - if for no other reason than they appear to want to tweak a class by providing a skill where players press a button and literally no effect happens. I see the same tweaks that will impact on each other to have far more impact than I would hope they are intending to have.

So my feeling is that when ZoS listen they listen to a smallish group who tell them what they want to hear and push their own agendas as top end players - possibly honestly because they simply don't understand the experience of other players, possibly cynically because they don't give a fudge about anyone but themselves. Plus seeing the sometimes rather condescending attitude of some of the people chosen from the player base to represent ZoS to other players makes it hard to trust that that underlying attitude isn't coming from ZoS.

But along with selective listening the biggest and most constant failing of ZoS is in not communicating even after time and time again promising to do so they simply do not follow through leaving the player base trying to guess what is happening and therefore often, as people will, assuming the worst.

Blinkin8r

Other/you forgot one

Yes, to a fault.
No, to a fault.

Shadow_Akula

Never

Nope. Definitely not. Been waiting on a cyrolag fix for 4 years (Console player here so 5 for you PC guys), been waiting for weapon and armor furnishings since housing released, now they “fix” a “bug” with bone colossus ultimate on necromancer which could emote that most people wanted to keep.

Tsar_Gekkou

Infrequently

They only fix things that people blow up the forums about. The transmutation system was one of those things that people begged Zos to make for years until they finally did it. The cast time on shields caused a riot, which led to Zos backing down from it. Meanwhile we still can't put runeboxes, gold style pages from these events, and Transmutation geodes in our bank, yet out inventory only goes so high.

Girl_Number8

Mainly to money....to the community not so much. Ignoring Housing issues, Inventory space issues with certain items, transmute crystals for PvE, not creating new exciting PvP content but just plaguing it with endless nerfs, and don't forget The Servers....Lol, they must of fell asleep looking at it or retired.

Destroying classes for a new class and bigger sales. They did this really well before with the Warden.

PvP is a joke....not rewarding skill but just creating a giant broken zergfest. They shown they are incompetent at dealing with balance between PvP/Bgs/PvE but not with the crown store or loot boxes.

Class reps, some are good but others have their own agenda....The communication hasn't gotten better. Zos should handle their own game and get feed back by playing with their player-base on all platforms.

The content they put out is beautiful but honestly just riddled with too many performance bugs. Maybe they are understaffed to save money. Idk because Zos isn't talking and this is nothing new.

todokete

Yes, always.

Yes. We asked for crown crates and we got them

BretonMage

Some communities yes but others no.

They seem fairly responsive to feedback about combat and classes, but I feel that they're less player-focused for things like housing and cosmetic items.

Zardayne

Some communities yes but others no.

_Ahala_ wrote: »

“Magdens”

I'd say no mainly due to this right here.

Luckylancer

Infrequently

If I would select "yes but they dont do", I would have to insult them here so I hope they dont listen much.
Reason: BGs are places that people go, light a cigar, smoke it then leave for my every que. I never see 4 / 4 / 4 on my warden even at prime times. Literaly unplayable.

But i like gilliam, he reworks old useless sets, thats was big wtf moment for me.

LonePirate

Infrequently

It’s all very conditional from what I have seen.

1. ZOS will listen and react quickly if there is a server crash or significant decrease in server performance.
2. If you are a streamer with a large following or a member of the gaming media, ZOS will take note of what you say and may even make a change.
3. If you have an issue with a dungeon or trial, then Finn will usually listen and improve what he can as he actually cares about the content under his supervision.
4. If you are a rank and file player with an issue and you submit feedback or a bug report via the proper and approved channels, your words fall into a rabbit hole never to be seen from again. Mobsters wanting to hide a body will study the ZOS bug reporting system in order to learn how to make things disappear for eternity.

Ashtaris

Infrequently

I think they do listen to their player base sometimes as there have been improvements made to the game based on our feedback. But sometimes they will do things that don't make a lot of sense, people will scream about the changes, and they will just ignore it. Usually that happens around the time of a new update when something has been nerfed on the PTS. I've found that once it's on the PTS, very rarely will they revert the change completely. They might adjust the numbers a bit, but at that point they have already made up their mind. If they make a balance change, it will remain with us at least until the next update. Unfortunately now that the class reps are under a NDA, we rarely see what's on the table for balance changes anymore.

Nestor

More often than not.

Do they read the forums? Yes.
Do they listen to the players? Yes.
Can they do everything the players want? No.

Some things are impossible, some things make a crap game, some things are good ideas, but dont have enough resources to implement.

I have met these devs and they all want to make a good game. None of them sit around thinking, how can I mess up Player 89's day with some changes to mechanics. Now, just like in any company, they dont have all the resources they need to do all they want to do.

But what they do, they do very well.

Chicharron

Some communities yes but others no.

Yes, but I think they have their favorites and it's understandable.

Why pay attention to the one who criticizes you if you can pay attention to the one who always kisses your ass.

DenMoria

Considering the convolute nerf/buff schedule we've been doing over the last few years, honestly, they may be listening WAYYYYY too much.

xenowarrior92eb17_ESO

Other/you forgot one

yes to the casual side who keeps saying the current game its 2 hard and not casual friendly enough...I think they should had kept it as basic TES games where the only attack u had was light and heavy attacks+394395893853 passives for 0 skill...perhaps even then when it would had been Heavy Attack Online...they would feel its too hard and ask for nerfs.

Bouldercleave

Other/you forgot one

I think that they listen and hear us. Just because they don't act on every suggestion or dumb ass idea from people that love telling the designers how they SHOULD design their game, doesn't mean they don't hear it.

Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's no, and sometimes it's just a silent facepalm...

theyancey

Other/you forgot one

I certainly hope that the do not!

Karius_Imalthar

Other/you forgot one

I don't feel that they listen directly to the players but if there are enough voices for long enough then sometimes something changes. If there is money that can be made or money is being lost then they make a change.

DenMoria

xenowarrior92eb17_ESO wrote: »

yes to the casual side who keeps saying the current game its 2 hard and not casual friendly enough...I think they should had kept it as basic TES games where the only attack u had was light and heavy attacks+394395893853 passives for 0 skill...perhaps even then when it would had been Heavy Attack Online...they would feel its too hard and ask for nerfs.

Take it from a mega-casual.

The game is not too hard and is extremely friendly.

Can't say the same for all the players, but the game itself couldn't get much easier to deal with.

I said the other night that ESO is basically every other game if you put it on the "normal" setting.

Thank goodness it isn't Dark Souls hard! There wouldn't be anyone playing.

Fleshreaper

More often than not.

They listen, like a parent listens to a kid yelling for candy. Just because you think you know what is best, doesn't mean you actually do. You have not idea the mechanics that are in the works.

sionIV

The way I look at it, there are two options.

1. They don't listen.
2. They listen, but they don't care.

I honestly don't know which is worse.

Even with simple things like the "Complete all deaths challenges" still requires a survivor achievement. We've had over three threads on it, with the first one from from the 24th January, 2017. It's such a simple thing that they could correct, but they haven't done it, and it's been over two years now.

Imperial_Voice

Some communities yes but others no.

sionIV wrote: »

The way I look at it, there are two options.

1. They don't listen.
2. They listen, but they don't care.

I honestly don't know which is worse.

Even with simple things like the "Complete all deaths challenges" still requires a survivor achievement. We've had over three threads on it, with the first one from from the 24th January, 2017. It's such a simple thing that they could correct, but they haven't done it, and it's been over two years now.

ZoS isnt big on fixing content

Conduit0

Other/you forgot one

Just because you listen to someone doesn't mean you're going to do what they ask. You can listen to someone, consider their ideas and still decide to go a different way. So just because the devs listen to us and consider our feedback, doesn't mean they're going to give us what we want.

warabi

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

They listen, but the communication is being interrupted by game monetisation.

You hit the nail right on the head. The dev team seems pretty with it for the most part, but it's just a fact that money will be the deciding factor over all things. They have to prioritize new content and crown store stuff because that's what they're made to do by their corporate masters. I'm sure they'd love to polish the game and implement neat ideas, but as long as it basically works it will be ignored so more funds can be generated. That's just where the state of gaming is at now, sadly.

twing1_

ZOS does not communicate very effectively. They may listen to the player base or they may not, it's very hard to tell because they hardly ever (if at all) actually respond to the player base.

Communication is a two way street, and the lack of responsiveness on ZOS's end contributes to the perception that they do not value player feedback, regardless of whether or not they actually do.

aaylas

Some communities yes but others no.

Given that magplar is outperforming magblade on the live patch, and magblade is getting nerfed again next patch, I'd say they are listening to the ... PVP community... maybe. They must be nerfing for some reason...