What is the point of the Maelstrom Arena??

ckrobinson83

Seriously... you run this thing and run it and run it.... and you get the exact same set every time?? I know someone who wanted a staff. Took him 16 times through the thing. I'd like the bow, but out of 5 times I've gotten the sword and board THREE times. I don't run a tank, and even if I did, I wouldn't use that. I guess it's good that they made it easy enough the rest of us non-power players could get through, but there's really no point in running the thing in vet if the only things you ever seem to get are things that none of your characters can use. Same thing with City of Ash... my group ran it over a hundred times... never once got the BSW staff. There's grinding, then there's this BS.

idk

We can ask the same question about any content in the game that drops loot. It has the same loot table every time we go into it. What is the point of doing any content or quest in this game as far as loot goes.

Also, some strive to improve at the content. Heck, some of the players I have known that have topped the vMA leaderboard did not get that good at the content because they were farming weapons. Striving to be at the top or top ten was part of what drove them in enjoying this game.

Red_Feather

I heard arenas and dungeons are made for a specific group of people who apparently love doing the exact same thing over and over again. I'm not joking. It was in an interview.

Bradyfjord

Maelstrom Arena is designed to be one of the hardest pieces of solo content in the game. It wasn't meant to be a loot pinata. That said, the loot table is split between several different items. This makes it very unlikely to get any particular piece.

And when it comes to rng, it's best to be patient. Rng gives the good and the bad, but it always gives you something.

kargen27

I wanted a bow and an inferno staff. Ran it twice and got a bow and a lightning staff. I might be done. I will eventually run another character through once just to do it on that character. Going to be a while though because she has a lot of other content to do first.

ckrobinson83

kargen27 wrote: »

I wanted a bow and an inferno staff. Ran it twice and got a bow and a lightning staff. I might be done. I will eventually run another character through once just to do it on that character. Going to be a while though because she has a lot of other content to do first.

Damn... you should buy a lottery ticket! LOL. Yeah, it just seems as if the game sees what your active tuns are, then doesn't give you what you need for the set. Of course, that's silly, since they can barely keep the game running at this point, but it does seem like it.

Taleof2Cities

Been running Maelstrom for almost 5 years and never had a Winterborn Ice Staff drop in 70+ runs.

First time running vMA after Greymoor patch got a Perfected Inferno Staff.

rumple9

I've got all the VMA weapons, but really they are largely crap and you're better off without them

Mettaricana

Red_Feather wrote: »

I heard arenas and dungeons are made for a specific group of people who apparently love doing the exact same thing over and over again. I'm not joking. It was in an interview.

I feel like fishing players are in this group

Tannus15

I'm running vMA a lot at the moment because I'm aiming for a 600k score.

I don't need anything from there, the perfect weapons aren't good enough to care about getting them really, my old drops still work just fine.

I'm also doing a lot of the HM DLC dungeons looking for trifecta achievements. Very few of them have drops I'm interested in anymore.
Doing hard things well is the reward.

DocFrost72

Maelstrom teaches you more about the mechanics of the Elder Scrolls Online than any tutorial ever could. It taught, and humbled, me.

Hanokihs

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem, and just threw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what would stick to endgame players craving something interesting to do. The solo arena was one of the things they tried, and took a heap of effort to make for relatively very little reward; It just wasn't as popular as they probably thought it would be. As of Cloudrest, they've (temporarily?) quit doing that, I guess, because mini-trials also weren't what anyone really wanted out of their endgame experience.

Anyway. It's a relic from a bygone age, with a few weapons and sets that are still somewhat relevant. It's good for a challenge, and it's helpful if you want to learn mechanics and need experience memorizing content, but that's about it. Newer shinies and power creep have basically killed it and all the genuine difficulty it ever stood for.

idk

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Sylvermynx

Well.... there are people who play these games (as in, ESO isn't the only "culprit" here) who are the epitome of the "carrot: stick" sort of content.

Actually, I don't find ESO to be egregious in this instance. WoW was and probably is far worse (though I left permanently in early 2013, and I literally haven't ever been back... outside of logging into the forum when a person I knew well for many years died unexpectedly, so I could post condolences etc). And I honestly did pursue that "endgame" stuff for a while with my family guild - the only reason it wasn't absolute garbage was because it was all family - so (aside from my nephew being a *unmentionable* due to his age at the time) we did what needed doing and managed some fun too.

But there's only so many times I could run content that wasn't fun - especially when the entire game had turned sour for me.

I really think there are people who thrive on "beating the metric". And for them, that's fine, and more power to them. I'm not one of them, and "endgame" crap is not something I will ever mess with again. None of that was fun for me in other games; it's not going to be fun here; and I'm not going to do it.

YMMV of course.

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Actually, I'd be perfectly happy with opt-in open world pvp. I wouldn't ever flag as I seriously have ZERO use for pvp - but hey, if people opt to flag, fine. That's what I CAME from in both WoW and RIFT, after all.

Hanokihs

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Hyperbole in full effect, and perhaps "primary" would've been a better word. Still, I do remember everyone demanding to know where the rest of the game was; the PVP side of things was intended to be a much huger deal, expanding on the zone stories and whatnot. They even went as far as to market/reach out to people specifically interested in that content, and hadn't managed to come up with Cadwell's silver/gold as a base feature, not realizing the PvE element would be what players were most interested in, and had to add it later (which sucks, because they could've made it more immersive/lore-friendly/less drastically empty if they'd come up with it sooner); then Craglorn and its 4-man overland notion was an overall flop because it was a bit of a tedious nightmare for everyone who wasn't yet at try-hard levels.

Which probably explains why they still can't figure out how to bridge the ever-growing rift between casuals and endgamers; even from the very start, they underestimated the Elder Scrolls fans and overestimated the Online ones.

Sylvermynx

Hanokihs wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Hyperbole in full effect, and perhaps "primary" would've been a better word. Still, I do remember everyone demanding to know where the rest of the game was; the PVP side of things was intended to be a much huger deal, expanding on the zone stories and whatnot. They even went as far as to market/reach out to people specifically interested in that content, and hadn't managed to come up with Cadwell's silver/gold as a base feature, not realizing the PvE element would be what players were most interested in, and had to add it later (which sucks, because they could've made it more immersive/lore-friendly/less drastically empty if they'd come up with it sooner); then Craglorn and its 4-man overland notion was an overall flop because it was a bit of a tedious nightmare for everyone who wasn't yet at try-hard levels.

Which probably explains why they still can't figure out how to bridge the ever-growing rift between casuals and endgamers; even from the very start, they underestimated the Elder Scrolls fans and overestimated the Online ones.

I think there's a major disconnect between the devs and the players here. There's - several huge rifts in various directions.

Then again, this is all forum wars....

siddique

Hanokihs wrote: »

Anyway. It's a relic from a bygone age, with a few weapons and sets that are still somewhat relevant.

That inferno is used in 99 percent of builds to this day. The bow isn't half bad either. I think Maelstrom is an excellent example of a good game design. We need more of these.

Kadoin

Endless grind to keep you logged in and make you accumulate garbage you don't want but will hoard because you have no idea what changes might happen in the future.

Hanokihs

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Hyperbole in full effect, and perhaps "primary" would've been a better word. Still, I do remember everyone demanding to know where the rest of the game was; the PVP side of things was intended to be a much huger deal, expanding on the zone stories and whatnot. They even went as far as to market/reach out to people specifically interested in that content, and hadn't managed to come up with Cadwell's silver/gold as a base feature, not realizing the PvE element would be what players were most interested in, and had to add it later (which sucks, because they could've made it more immersive/lore-friendly/less drastically empty if they'd come up with it sooner); then Craglorn and its 4-man overland notion was an overall flop because it was a bit of a tedious nightmare for everyone who wasn't yet at try-hard levels.

Which probably explains why they still can't figure out how to bridge the ever-growing rift between casuals and endgamers; even from the very start, they underestimated the Elder Scrolls fans and overestimated the Online ones.

I think there's a major disconnect between the devs and the players here. There's - several huge rifts in various directions.

Then again, this is all forum wars....

Honestly, we're talking about a dev team that thought arbitrarily blocking off huge chunks of the map and player interaction would be a good idea. How it took a year after launch for them to figure out an open map and lack of total faction-lock would be a good idea is beyond me. [snip]

siddique wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Anyway. It's a relic from a bygone age, with a few weapons and sets that are still somewhat relevant.

That inferno is used in 99 percent of builds to this day. The bow isn't half bad either. I think Maelstrom is an excellent example of a good game design. We need more of these.

It's on plenty of build guides, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of players aren't interested in farming potentially hundreds of hours for an item they'll use for one or two skills on the backbar. Actually, the vast majority of players probably aren't bar swapping in the first place; one-bar pet sorcs are insanely popular (for good reason).

But this is the gateway to a discussion on how many players would rather just jump in and play versus taking time to actually learn the game, and this isn't really the thread for it. But it's a thing. And most players don't even remotely give a dump about Maelstrom weapons.

[edited for bashing]

idk

Hanokihs wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Hyperbole in full effect, and perhaps "primary" would've been a better word.

It was never intended to be primary either. Heck, the vet zone and end game trials were not required the day the game launched whereas Cyrodiil was as it was not and still is not true end game since any level can play it.

morrowjen

Truthfully, it's pretty simple: there's always been an arena or an ode to an arena in Elder Scrolls games. It goes back to Elder Scrolls Arena (the first Elder Scrolls game) which they wanted to be an arena game but wound up making an RPG. With every Elder Scrolls Game comes an ode to that failed arena project that happened to become one of the greatest RPG franchises of all time.

dem0n1k

The point is the same as in the rest of the game... or in fact, most games.
1. FInd the enemy.
2. Kill the enemy.
3. Profit.

ccfeeling

Build testing .

Hanokihs

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Hyperbole in full effect, and perhaps "primary" would've been a better word.

It was never intended to be primary either. Heck, the vet zone and end game trials were not required the day the game launched whereas Cyrodiil was as it was not and still is not true end game since any level can play it.

"True" endgame or not, players were intended to make their own content and entertain themselves with the war. You know, the thing that's the whole point and backdrop of the faction plot, and reason we had factions for a year (two years if you count the brief subscription-only, beta 2.0 era) in the first place? The thing we're explicitly meant to go back to after we deal with Molag Bal? If you think it wasn't built up as a major piece of the endgame, I dunno what game you've been playing. They even tried to sneak that thread back into the mesh with Imperial City, but players were like, enough is enough with the PVP, it sucks how you do it and we don't want it - and besides battlegrounds, which has no major story connection at all, we haven't been back down that road.

Olupajmibanan

BSW inferno or Maelstrom Bow/Inferno is nothing compared to Inferno Staff of Succession and Winterborn Ice Staff. Seriously, that is the worst grind in the whole game.
Firstly, unlike BSW inferno, you can't bring three friends to increase your drop chances.
Secondly, pool of maelstrom weapons totals at 12 different pieces what is significantly smaller than pool of weapons of maelstrom 5pc sets (Succession, Winterborn, Para Bellum and Hunt Leader) which totals at 48 different weapons total. You have 8,33% chance to get the Maelstrom Weapon you want but you have 2,08% to get Inferno Staff of Succession. Also smart loot drop doesn't apply to Maelstrom Arena, I can't count how many Bows of Succession I got.
Thirdly, weapons of 5pc vMA sets can't appear in weekly leaderboard rewards which makes even harder to get them than Maelstrom weapons.

r34lian

Never liked rng maelstrom for the time and effort required to complete is not proportional to the reward
Good thing they made drops from normal

Not to mention it isn't a good design content either

Thechuckage

Cryo was touted to be the endgame zone pre launch. There were supposed to be exclusive mats in the zone and everyone was supposed to get funneled there. During beta there must have been enough of us telling them "No" and they actually listened.

Then we finally got some of the standard things like a dungeon group finder.

Heck, I remember when Balreth (the stonefalls story boss) was supposed to be done as a group. Everyone just outleveled his butt and soloed him.

Moose_Scout

I think there should be MORE end-game stuff like Maelstrom. Hard stuff keeps good players around. Also, it is nice to have better gear than someone who is wearing all hundings or julianos, etc. if you have been playing for a while.


That said, maybe a solution is that vet runs get you a "Maelstrom Ticket" and you can purchase any of the weapons with like 10 tickets. That way there is hope that the grind will eventually pay off.

volkeswagon

The point of maelstrom is to test the durability of your controller to see how many times it can withstand being tossed out of frustration before breaking

siddique

volkeswagon wrote: »

The point of maelstrom is to test the durability of your controller to see how many times it can withstand being tossed out of frustration before breaking

Lol, I remember the early days when it was first released. I broke many things. But this is what makes maelstrom so good. The sense of achievement when I first completed it still lingers on.

idk

Hanokihs wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

idk wrote: »

Hanokihs wrote: »

Back when Maelstrom came out, they still weren't quite sure how to fix the "we intended PVP to be the only endgame, oopsie doozle, plz don't leave" problem.

Zos never intended for PvP to be the only end game. Not even close Even before the game was launched we knew they were finishing up the first vet zone and trials that were added in May closely following launch. Heck, if Zos actually intended PvP to be that big of a part of ESO we would have true open-world PvP or at least the option for it.

Hyperbole in full effect, and perhaps "primary" would've been a better word.

It was never intended to be primary either. Heck, the vet zone and end game trials were not required the day the game launched whereas Cyrodiil was as it was not and still is not true end game since any level can play it.

"True" endgame or not, players were intended to make their own content and entertain themselves with the war. You know, the thing that's the whole point and backdrop of the faction plot, and reason we had factions for a year (two years if you count the brief subscription-only, beta 2.0 era) in the first place? The thing we're explicitly meant to go back to after we deal with Molag Bal? If you think it wasn't built up as a major piece of the endgame, I dunno what game you've been playing. They even tried to sneak that thread back into the mesh with Imperial City, but players were like, enough is enough with the PVP, it sucks how you do it and we don't want it - and besides battlegrounds, which has no major story connection at all, we haven't been back down that road.

I have been playing ESO. I also never suggested Zos did not intend for Cyrodiil to be a major focus. I clearly indicated that it was clearly never intended to be the only or even biggest part of end game. Heck, that would be bad business as theme park MMORPGs that focus on PvE but also have good PvP areas perform to bring in the bucks. Heck, going back to the comment that started this discussion, even New World is trying to figure out how to attract the PvE segment as they have backed off being pure PvP.

Also, what game have you been playing that somehow we are no longer in beta? Zos is still trying to figure out how combat will look in this game and stress testing the server.