Update 26 Combat Preview

tactx

Maybe add a coded tag to all existing VMA weapons with a feature where you can trade in your current VMA weapon for the new upgraded one after beating it on normal to not be as big of an FU to players?

Wonks

No. No compromises. I did not run vMA for weeks so that somewhere down the line my gear would be downgraded to nMA standards. We are entitled to the Perfected variants because we did the content at the appropriate difficulty.

Galen

Not "automatically" upgraded... does that maybe mean there will be a manual system to do so? (That still would make less sense from a player point of view than just automatically updating them, but would be definitely be better than nothing.)

It just otherwise makes no sense to effectively downgrade current live Vet rewards to new Normal rewards (or perhaps Vet-lite depending on specifics)... unless somewhere in U26's purported ~50 pages of patch notes are surprise major changes to the Arenas themselves or something.

There's just a lot of unknowns right now. Unless there is unreleased info that makes this decision sensible to the players or provides a suitable alternative, choosing not update already earned Vet Arena weapons to the new Vet Arena weapons (and instead seemingly leaving them equal to the new Normal Arena weapons) does not seem like a decent direction to take.

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Aside from the current answer about vMA/vDSA weapons upgradability, the preview has me quite interested and I can't wait to see the patch notes in full.

blkjag

really wish they didn’t leave us hanging all weekend on this

MythrialDrow

Shame about not upgrading the weapons to perfected, which I have. But giving players normal maelstrom weapons for doing normal is I think a great idea. It gives some of the “lower” players(including myself back some time) a chance to compete in dungeons without being kicked because you haven’t got a malestrom weapon. Elitist will be always elitists , but it gives the rest of the player base a nice bonus. Then everyone will progress from there. So thumbs up for MA weapons as rewards from normal MA.

Mizzer

Please reconsider the vma auto upgrade decision. It makes me feel a little sick for reasons so many have already stated. For the first time, didn’t want to even logon.

SirMewser

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Your current VMA and DSA Weapons will not be automatically upgraded to Perfected versions.

That's okay, I vote with my money.
Hope you do well with Greymoor.

As for new people, it's nice to hear they can get our live server veteran Maelstrom weapons on normal in Q2 without experiencing veteran while all else have to redo it to get back the stat bonuses we once had.

SirMewser

Sanguinor2 wrote: »

What makes this even more interesting is that when I got the majority of my vma weapons they had the perfected bonuses. Only that perfected items didnt exist then. I dont know which patch it was that took them away but now reintroducing them but not to the vma weapons I own that had them taken away is downright insulting.

Source:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/371878/pts-patch-notes-v3-2-0-clockwork-city/p1

SirMewser

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Your current VMA and DSA Weapons will not be automatically upgraded to Perfected versions.

So our efforts in veteran content to get weapons that were once "perfected" are now inconsequential?
Stripped of their stat bonuses.
Reimplemented in the form of Blackrose Prison weapons that retained status bonuses.
Then Maelstrom/Dragonstar weapons are given to normal mode runners.
Now veteran players are told to redo their efforts.

If you want standardization, why can't you be congruent with your own continuity?
Why do veteran players get penalized?

JusticeSouldier

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Lastly, in this update we are making some small adjustments to Critical Resistance and Healing affecting PvP specifically. Over the years, we’ve seen healing become quite volatile in PvP with the ability to negate a high amount of damage in just 1 ability cast for many players at once. This isn’t just 1 ability that causes this type of health bar swinging, so we are making adjustments to Battlespirit which now reduces healing taken by 60% instead of 50%.

forgot this...nerf of Impen ok, it gave too big profit in compare with another traits for a many years...but healing cut 60% instead 50%?
is it joke?
Why to cut all healing if this is an issue oif to talk about templar, warden, necromancer, dk. Not equally.
And not nightblade except troll builds, not sorc at any build.
And it's abolutly not enouch to be exact if to talk about templar.
Also, there is too much damage in game. With major vulnerability and general increase of dps cap in Elsweyr - it's almost the same as many years ago when oneshots in pvp were too easy...
Classes need different changes for healing and damage, not the same cut for whole pvp.
it's zero efficiency solution.

JusticeSouldier

SirMewser wrote: »

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Your current VMA and DSA Weapons will not be automatically upgraded to Perfected versions.

So our efforts in veteran content to get weapons that were once "perfected" are now inconsequential?
Stripped of their stat bonuses.
Reimplemented in the form of Blackrose Prison weapons that retained status bonuses.
Then Maelstrom/Dragonstar weapons are given to normal mode runners.
Now veteran players are told to redo their efforts.

If you want standardization, why can't you be congruent with your own continuity?
Why do veteran players get penalized?

lol, they deleted our comments without any even notification, they just dissapeared.

killwall

Nice work thank u for this put in future of eso
As i see so many guys dont understand for what this changes are
so just know some of us want to see u finish ur way in gameplay balance and bugfix

JusticeSouldier

Now i see, to say "go to hell Zos if u make a crime against us" is forbidden, but to do above described things to playerbase, and to delete in ninja mode our comments is ok.
Nice job, Zenimax team, nice job! Nothing to add.

JusticeSouldier

@ZOS_GinaBruno respect us to get respect from us.

KingMagaw

The style of dropping a big change like this and then not replying should show all how much paying players means.

56,000 views and no reply. Not even amateur. At least engage with customers.

MLGProPlayer

KingMagaw wrote: »

The style of dropping a big change like this and then not replying should show all how much paying players means.

56,000 views and no reply. Not even amateur. At least engage with customers.

Expect a cookie cutter "thank you for the feedback" response on Monday, then no more communication on this ever again.

Kalante

What a scam.... If they could remove the original 189 weapon damage and change them before for everybody, then they can certainly give us the perfected versions.

Frankieluv14

@code65536
Thank you for your commentary above. I always feel much calmer after reading your posts. 😊
I’d just like to comment on your notion that the player base feels disrespected.
Even for a mid level player, like myself, completing vMA again isn’t going to be the end all, but it will be a substantial time investment. With the new zone coming out I was hoping spend my spare time exploring and learning the cool new features the ZOS teams have created for us to enjoy.
But trial teams go on.
The pressure to be up to date on sets, skills and rotation, so you stand a chance to be included on a trials team goes on.
For an endgame player this means storylines and explorations can wait until you have what you need to compete. So yes, like many others, I would rather my weapons be automatically updated so I could enjoy the new content sooner than later.

Time is as valuable in this game as it is in real life. People, in game and out, do not appreciate anyone wasting it. This seems to be the crux of what hurts most in this update. In 2019 with every update we endured these time drains- farming new sets, farming old sets, leveling new skills, practicing new rotations over and over again, practicing old rotations over and over again. It upset the player base to the point that many of us saw guilds fall apart and friends leave the game permanently because the time investment vs enjoyment line was crossed. Those that held out are now feeling the need to evaluate this line once again. This decision, without a doubt, is compounded with a years worth of perceived disregard.
Your arguments on the logistics are so beautifully articulated it is easy to understand where the developers may be coming from. However, I do believe they need to do an internal EQ check here and acknowledge the feelings of the player base. Some empathy and a humbled approach in addressing the issue would go a long way in soothing the irritation felt across the community.

Lord_Umbranox

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Greetings Gang!

Completing Maelstrom or Dragonstar Arena will now grant Blue versions of the non-perfected weapons from these arenas.

Greetings, Gilliam!
We all know it's you just as we all know you've gone through same hell with vMA farm as the rest of us. Some of us have done hundreds of runs just to get their first and only MA Flame Staff. We can all understand your logic and logic of those who keep asking about this change ever since MA was created, but do you really believe there is logic in it? Should little to no effort be rewarded with end-game quality gear while players who went through lagging hell to get their weapons can throw them out and start over? Just to check how little effort you need to go through nMA me and my girlfriend decided to run nMA on newly-created characters without CP and Mundus stones on NA server with 200+ ping. We used only gear, food and potions we were getting from leveling and drops:





Are you SURE this is a good idea to reward players with end-game weapons for no effort? Do you believe nMA is anywhere close to being worth those weapons other players had to spend months to get?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu451BH_3qo

xaraan

I see a few people trying to justify this, but it aint working. And most of the straw man arguments I'm seeing are lame. There is a reason you are creating a different example to argue about - b/c you can't justify the existing one.

If a vMA weapon was the BiS option for my build right now and I ran and earned one in vMA. And after the patch a vMA weapon is the BiS option for my build, then I shouldn't need to re-earn another. I ran vMA, I don't deserve to be rewarded less than someone running vMA next month.

And this game does not occur in a vacuum. So the fact that it's 'the same weapon' doesn't mean diddly. If I'm running with 7 other DPS in a trial that all ran vMA for the first time two months from now, then yes, the fact that my vMA drop has been turned into a nMA drop despite stats being same DOES matter.

Morgul667

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Your current VMA and DSA Weapons will not be automatically upgraded to Perfected versions.

Yet another example of how bad ZoS is, at taking care of its customer and implementing changes

Ravex007

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Your current VMA and DSA Weapons will not be automatically upgraded to Perfected versions.

I have been a longtime veteran of this game and a huge fan of eso. Please don't do this to us veteran players. We have put in so much hours, weeks and tears to earn our Maelstrom weapons and to go back to redoing everything is just unthinkable.

I think it's also counterproductive. No matter which way we look at it.

Please reconsider!

xXMeowMeowXx

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Your current VMA and DSA Weapons will not be automatically upgraded to Perfected versions.

@ZOS_BrianWheeler

You should honestly upgrade the weapons for players that have completed this Vet content over the years. It is the right thing to do because of the principle of the matter.

You want players to be excited but this is not a new arena, it is an old one.

Give us something new to enjoy plz. {LIKE A NEW ARENA/NEW CONTENT} Not a lazy reason to redo one small part of Orsinium.

Despite the fact that you guys didn’t even deliver on the performance changes you promised. This disregard of your playerbase is a really low thing to do to the ESO community.

Sorry but this is just wrong

dkDolphino

Saw this comment on a YouTube video: " Make vMA drop Maelstrom Keys, when you get 5 keys you can pick the weapon you want. all accounts with a stormproof title get 5 keys in the mail for free. Same for vDSA." I'd honestly be fine with this if it were the case but I'd prefer for everyone's weapons to be upgraded.

Tanis-Stormbinder

dkDolphino wrote: »

Saw this comment on a YouTube video: " Make vMA drop Maelstrom Keys, when you get 5 keys you can pick the weapon you want. all accounts with a stormproof title get 5 keys in the mail for free. Same for vDSA." I'd honestly be fine with this if it were the case but I'd prefer for everyone's weapons to be upgraded.

No it cheapens all the work I already put into getting my vMA and DSA weapons

JusticeSouldier

dkDolphino wrote: »

Saw this comment on a YouTube video: " Make vMA drop Maelstrom Keys, when you get 5 keys you can pick the weapon you want. all accounts with a stormproof title get 5 keys in the mail for free. Same for vDSA." I'd honestly be fine with this if it were the case but I'd prefer for everyone's weapons to be upgraded.

upgrade of currently obtained weapons is the only way.

Artorias24

Guys, its part of the Performance plan. Drive as many players away as possible to fix lag.

Letho2469

Code precisely lined out the problem: First ZoS patches the game to unplayability and instead of an apology or fixes we get some infuriating changes to the reward system ontop. I really hope that those, claiming ZoS intends to drive away the established playerebase to replace them with short-term-playing store-visitors, are right.

Dominionix

I've played the game for years, never felt the need to post on the forums until I heard about the intended changes to the arena weapons. I just want to say that I seriously hope you reconsider your stance on upgrading existing weapons, for a number of reasons:

• This is very, very old content which you have made no changes or improvements to in any way. Essentially, there is no investment from a ZOS development standpoint.
• The same cannot be said, however, for the players many of whom will have invested many hundreds of hours in repeatedly running the content - not through choice but because ZOS implemented it with an RNG-drop mechanic which meant (if you were unlucky) it could take weeks to see the item drop you needed. An effect which multiplied with the number of characters needing the items.
• In addition to the direct time investment from the players running the arena content itself, there's the inevitable secondary investment spent on farming transmutes, materials for upgrades, enchants etc. Again, very little of this content will have been unique or engaging, but more likely repetitive and boring (especially for the veteran players).

Players are well aware that better items are added to MMOs, resulting in new builds, metas, and priorities for the players - but this is almost always following overall balance changes (which add value to the players elsewhere in terms of improved gameplay) or new content (which adds value to the players in terms of the gaming experience). In this case, ZOS have failed to provide either whilst simultaneously showing complete disregard for the investments of the players.

Please can I ask that you seriously reconsider your deployment plan for these changes.

zyk

I was upset at first, but then I realized why I barely play ESO now. Nothing is sacred to these devs. They'll happily change/devalue what you already have and make you replay the same content hundreds of times, even 5+ years after it was introduced.