Would you support ZoS taking a step back to focus on QoL/Bug fixes in 2020?

Imperial_Voice

To start I want to say that I put 2020 because 2019 theyre rolling out their year of the dragon so they already have a locked in plan for the entirety of the year.

I also want to say that I don't mean to stop making content all together, obviously some things have to be added and some crown store items have to be created in order to keep the game financially stable. After all, ZoS cant take a monetary loss for an entire year.

What Im talking about is a year where no new zones and dlc packs are added, instead turning the focus of the development team on quality of life improvements and bug fixes for all the previous content. ESO is unique in that it has an almost excessive amount of content for players to complete and with Elsweyr coming up and an entire year of content ahead of us it seems reasonable to that we could survive without tons of new additions to content in 2020, however what many of us cannot do without are fixes to many of the glitches, bugs, and exploits that have been around for years as well as some improvements to overall quality of life.

Cryodiil alone has been plagued with horrific performance for many users since launch.

highkingnm

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

Hesitantly yes, but it depends on the QoL changes we get. If it means less laggy Cyro, vMA and busy cities alongside some improvements (maybe an ‘official’ MM or TTC and other tweaks along the lines of the updated guildstore and zone guide) or graphic upgrades to the base game then I’d be up for less content (although I would still want a chapter or zone DLC).

However, if it was just to polish something small or add little bits, not really. I wouldn’t want a year of minor tweaks. It would have to be sizeable enough to both justify the development time and significantly impact a large portion of the player base.

bearbelly

Bug Fix/QoL team operates independently of Content Development team, so no.

generalmyrick

id vote for 3 QOL patches in a row.

Imperial_Voice

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

highkingnm wrote: »

Hesitantly yes, but it depends on the QoL changes we get. If it means less laggy Cyro, vMA and busy cities alongside some improvements (maybe an ‘official’ MM or TTC and other tweaks along the lines of the updated guildstore and zone guide) or graphic upgrades to the base game then I’d be up for less content (although I would still want a chapter or zone DLC).

However, if it was just to polish something small or add little bits, not really. I wouldn’t want a year of minor tweaks. It would have to be sizeable enough to both justify the development time and significantly impact a large portion of the player base.

Thats exactly what I mean. Improvements to the game on the same scope youd expect from your quarterly DLCs and instead of multiple dlcs/zones you may get one larger Orsinium-esque zone.

Mojmir

Id like them to take steps forward...in the right direction.

Imperial_Voice

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

bearbelly wrote: »

Bug Fix/QoL team operates independently of Content Development team, so no.

And yet one team is significantly larger than the other and responsible for essentially the samr tasks. One can aid the other at any given time.

JD2013

bearbelly wrote: »

Bug Fix/QoL team operates independently of Content Development team, so no.

http://i.imgur.com/ODkkDxv.png?1

ccmedaddy

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

From their press event last month:

Slowing Down Content Releases and the Great Fix Patch
I spoke with Rob about the fast release of updates and if ZOS had considered doing a “Great Fix Patch” for one of their updates. He said it’s a question they get a lot and whilst it’s not off the table they as a company do need to produce for everyone and a majority of the bugs and issues faced are not ones everyone encounters or are drastically halting gameplay, as such they need to continue creating content for people who want new content to play and and don’t play at the higher level to notice if a skill or mechanic works a little wonky.

tl:dr: n00bs don't care about bugs so everyone stfu

Elsonso

I think they are prioritizing both, which means slower QoL/BugFix, but also means no content drought.

Imperial_Voice

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

ccmedaddy wrote: »

From their press event last month:

Slowing Down Content Releases and the Great Fix Patch
I spoke with Rob about the fast release of updates and if ZOS had considered doing a “Great Fix Patch” for one of their updates. He said it’s a question they get a lot and whilst it’s not off the table they as a company do need to produce for everyone and a majority of the bugs and issues faced are not ones everyone encounters or are drastically halting gameplay, as such they need to continue creating content for people who want new content to play and and don’t play at the higher level to notice if a skill or mechanic works a little wonky.

tl:dr: n00bs don't care about bugs so everyone stfu

I do love how he underplayed *** by saying its "a little wonky" at high levels.

Jthomas56

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

Not a year but at least one quarter. Some things I would like to see improved are:

General lag improvements. Group finder improvements. Armor art clipping.

Housing - higher item limit, player decides what they want (I don’t need 60 collectible spaces). Better Housing editor mode capabilities(copy/paste groups, arrays...)

UI-updates - dot trackers and improved buff trackers for base game

I know some of these can be done with addons, BUT console players can’t use addons.

idk

I find the OP interestingly funny. They create a poll where we can only choose one thing or the other.

It is either fire all content developers and only work on bug fixes or fire all those that actually do work on bug fixes and only create new content. What makes this unreasonable set of choices humorous is OP themselves waffles on the idea in their comments.

My answer would be a mix of both. While Zos seems challenge fixing some bugs they clear are trying to do something. More so, those of us that have been around for awhile know from experience what kind of exodus will occur if Zos went with the first option as we have seen the masses of players at all levels leave the game out of sheer boredom.

Zathras

The people that work on DLC's, the Cash Shop offerings, and whatever else, aren't the employees that sit down and squish bugs. People in the art department, quest design, monetization, etc, aren't going to be ordered to drop what they are doing and start tasks that are exceptionally below their paygrade, or jump into areas that they aren't even remotely trained for.

They have people that fix bugs. Bugs get fixed. But, as in every MMO out there, bugs still exist and will continue to arise.

As far as performance and whatever else: they are Working On It (TM). However, Jan from accounting isn't going to be pulled off her spreadsheets to figure out engineering spaghetti.

MentalxHammer

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

ZOS PLEASE HEED THESE WORDS. WoW was one of the flagship games in the MLG Pro Circuit, the only thing stopping ESO from becoming an Esport and securing its longevity is the performance of the game and perhaps a slight bit more organization in pvp matchmaking. Spend a bit of time on game performance and I guarantee there will be a wave of returning players who simply got fed up with the shabby game.

Starlight_Knight

I don't care for another DLC or "chapter" £££ i just want to be able to get on my mount.

Pet skins would be nice to. ijs

idk

MentalxHammer wrote: »

ZOS PLEASE HEED THESE WORDS. WoW was one of the flagship games in the MLG Pro Circuit, the only thing stopping ESO from becoming an Esport and securing its longevity is the performance of the game and perhaps a slight bit more organization in pvp matchmaking. Spend a bit of time on game performance and I guarantee there will be a wave of returning players who simply got fed up with the shabby game.

Please explain how WoW being a MLG PC game has anything to do with it's longevity? Not to mention that Zos may not want to be part of MLG Pro

If being part of that meant success then ESO would have folded long ago. Further, it is extremely doubtful most that play WoW even care about MLG PC or eSports.

Also, where do you get your information as to why ESO is not part of MLG PC or eSports? What organization associated with them has made such a statement?

Interested in hearing what you have to say.

zaria

No, I would prefer more new content instead of fixing what we already have.

Problem is that the people who make content are not the ones fixing bugs and improving performance.
Yes content creators fix bugs in quests and visual bugs and stuff like that but can not do much about performance.

Solution to that is more developers, and you don't get an budget to hire them if you reduce income.

Grandma

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

but a lot of this game is wobbely at best. I don't mind not getting a big flashy chapter every year. it'll let me sink my teeth into the ones we already have. I feel that i've barely even scratched the surface of vvardenfell, let alone summerset, and now we have elsweyr coming in. I wouldn't mind a break to fix some gear, performance, etc.

theyancey

No, I would prefer more new content instead of fixing what we already have.

This thread again? The answer is still NO.

Imperial_Voice

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

theyancey wrote: »

This thread again? The answer is still NO.

From a whopping 18%.

Nova Sky

Sure, go ahead with OP's suggestion, Zeni. While you spend time and money for 6 to 9 months fixing bug this and bug that, I'll drop my $14.99 a month subscription and move on.

I'll return, with my money, after the Great Bug Patch has been applied. But, during the time you're spending getting it ready, no income from me will enter your bank account.

twev

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

Zathras wrote: »

The people that work on DLC's, the Cash Shop offerings, and whatever else, aren't the employees that sit down and squish bugs. People in the art department, quest design, monetization, etc, aren't going to be ordered to drop what they are doing and start tasks that are exceptionally below their paygrade, or jump into areas that they aren't even remotely trained for.

They have people that fix bugs. Bugs get fixed. But, as in every MMO out there, bugs still exist and will continue to arise.

As far as performance and whatever else: they are Working On It (TM). However, Jan from accounting isn't going to be pulled off her spreadsheets to figure out engineering spaghetti.

It's true, they're not the same people.

But everyone always ignores the fact that the money is budgeted to different departments from a limited pool of 'development funds, and when a big chunk goes to R&D, theres a smaller chunk left over for bug stomping.

What we're asking for is not 'either/or', but scaling back on R&D for a quarter, and applying a larger chunk of money to bug stomping for a quarter.

bearbelly

Starlight_Knight wrote: »

I don't care for another DLC or "chapter" £££ i just want to be able to get on my mount.

Pet skins would be nice to. ijs

Gaaah. Must we have text-speak acronyms for everything?
I mean, I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

From,
Grumpy OLD Bear

twev

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

Nova Sky wrote: »

Sure, go ahead with OP's suggestion, Zeni. While you spend time and money for 6 to 9 months fixing bug this and bug that, I'll drop my $14.99 a month subscription and move on.

I'll return, with my money, after the Great Bug Patch has been applied. But, during the time you're spending getting it ready, no income from me will enter your bank account.

Imagine how many newbs come here during a free=play week, and see the lag and bugs and then decide 'Nope, not signing up, maybe in a few years, after they fix the bugs'.

When more people leave in frustration over the lag and bugs than subscribe or stay - the game dries up and blows away.

You might even get back in time to play those last few months before they shut it down.

AcadianPaladin

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

I'd agree that ensuring everything is working as intended is a priority over new content. I don't care very much about new content since the game is so wonderfully large already. I would love to see more focus on refining what we already have. Hide additional outfit slots, make jewelry writs worth doing, fix graphics glitches, improve graphics even beyond how nice they already are, improve server performance/reliability and the list goes on of course.

My only concern/caveat is no nerfs or 'balance' BS! After 5 years the game is not balanced and never will be - just stop shifting the unbalanced pieces around from class/skill to class/skill and leave the 'balance' stuff alone already. I dread any update that includes the word 'balance' because each and every single such update simply makes my game less fun.

Siohwenoeht

I'd be a "no" but the extra commentary on the poll options makes it biased so I won't vote. As others have stated already, two different teams handle bugs and content. Some bugs are easier to fix than others, and we still have over half of 2019 to see if more can be fixed.

More subs, active players would be lost during the "fix it and no content" period and revenue would tank. Simple as that.

TheShadowScout

No, I would prefer more new content instead of fixing what we already have.

Imperial_Voice wrote: »

Would you support ZoS taking a step back to focus on QoL/Bug fixes in 2020?

Me, I want new content, because I know that I'd spend money on... and of course I want to see some of that income spent on efforts fixing things en passant as well.
Which is how they usually do it.

But the way I see it, "new stuff to play" will keep me interested (and paying) despite the occasional buggyness, but on the other hand "same old, same old" would not make me any happier even if they fixed all the buggyness.

Imperial_Voice wrote: »

What Im talking about is a year where no new zones and dlc packs are added, instead turning the focus of the development team on quality of life improvements and bug fixes for all the previous content.

Meaning, a year without the profits from DLC sales?
Yeah, well, I can't really see that happening.
I mean, would -you- pay DLC price for a "just bugfixes" update?
THAT is the question you really need to ask!

(and I can see the answer already, in all the "We should not have to pay for them fixing their mistakes" whines)

Anotherone773

ccmedaddy wrote: »

From their press event last month:

Slowing Down Content Releases and the Great Fix Patch
I spoke with Rob about the fast release of updates and if ZOS had considered doing a “Great Fix Patch” for one of their updates. He said it’s a question they get a lot and whilst it’s not off the table they as a company do need to produce for everyone and a majority of the bugs and issues faced are not ones everyone encounters or are drastically halting gameplay, as such they need to continue creating content for people who want new content to play and and don’t play at the higher level to notice if a skill or mechanic works a little wonky.

tl:dr: n00bs don't care about bugs so everyone stfu

This is what is wrong with gaming and business in general. " Its ok if it is poor quality, they will still give us their money!" It doesnt matter if only 10% of people experience the problem it should be fixed. You cannot keep adding new content to broken content all it does is compound the problem and then small bugs become large game breaking bugs.

I started playing ESO a little over two years ago and i have noticed a significant decline in quality in this game while the number of bugs both minor and major i experience have increased significantly. For example it was six to eight months before i had to ever use /reloadui even though i knew about it a couple of weeks after i started playing. Now i use it once or twice a week. And i only play half as much now as i did then.


Most bugs players are forced to accept as an unintended feature and we just learn work arounds. We shouldnt have too. But more than likely the management at ZOS doesnt care as long as we keep buying. Even if we stopped buying the people who now management game development are so arrogant that they wont even realize its because they are terrible at their job. Instead it will be chalked up as "the end of its lifespan" and they will go on to make another game of equally terrible quality.

There are very few good game developers left. Bethesda use to be one but shortly after TES III they really started to go downhill. TES IV seemed more rushed and had noticeable bugs. TES V was really bad and so watered down it felt like a community college project with decent graphics.

Around the time that TES III came out a major change happened. "In 2002, Weaver stopped being employed by ZeniMax. He later filed a lawsuit against ZeniMax, claiming he was ousted by his new business partners " When Weaver was out of the picture games by Bethesda have significantly declined. One of the people to oust Weaver was the current CEO, a lawyer and someone who i can say with almost certainty has never played a video game in his life, little lone ones his own company makes. The other board members include a film producer, a retired baseball player, and a Trump.

Thats who i want making my video games! Weaver, who was the man behind TES no longer works in the game industry.

fred4

Yes, I would be happy with QoL improvements and bug fixes instead of more content.

I don't really think this is the right question, not until you define what "would you support" means. It was easy to answer "Yes" as a PvPer, since the #1 thing that would improve PvP is server performance. The much more interesting question, since ZOS have resolved to bring out a new chapter every year, is would you pay for a chapter in 2020, but only get QoL and bug fixes instead? Not very palatable, is it? Won't attract new customers either, so I think clearly ZOS would never go for that, even if we answered "Yes". I don't know what to say. I'm on ESO+. You'd think that would pay for another "One Tamriel" / "let's fix the game" patch.

Blacknight841

I would pay 40$ for the next chapter consisting of nothing but QOL and bug fixes.