Too many common sense game features missing

Recapitated

I'd like to see ZOS take responsibility for in-demand QOL, combat clarity, inventory management, and navigation features.

It's not inherently a bad idea to let add-on developers show the way before spending money to solve a problem that might not exist. It's understandable that some highly customizable UI elements, like a good buff tracker, are not included in the base game. But when there is demonstrable demand for basic features you need to take the hint.

Add-on developers are doing the lord's work, but you can't rely on them forever. It multiplies the sources of possible performance issues, it's a hassle for players to discover they exist + manage them once installed, and it doesn't always cover existing issues adequately if at all, especially for console and Stadia players.

Here are some things I can think of off the top of my head that would make playing better for me.

• Searchable inventories. I mean not only your actual inventory and bank, but also gear research, deconstruction, and improvement windows. Account-wide inventory search would be nice.
• Minimap. At Alik'r Dolmens, I went from steady 24-30 fps to 15-21 and major stutters with Votan's minimap on. It boggled my mind from day 1 that this is not built in. EDIT: Yes you should be able to turn it and any other new frames off. If you want to keep your UI uncluttered you should be able to.
• Gear, skill, attribute, mundus, & CP profile swapping. Action bar swap addons are notoriously unreliable atm seemingly because they can't touch one of your bars until you swap to it. How players change morphs and mundus stones should be looked at. In an ideal world, it takes a few clicks once I have left Cyrodiil to be ready for a trial, not Dressing Room + Champion Point Respec + port (possibly rezone) to Vivec Temple to swap morphs and potentially attributes + rezone to guild leader's house for mundus.
• Move default combat UI elements, mainly attribute and action bars
• Accurate potency rune level translations. Show me the 1-50/CP level, not a number from 1-10.
• Sound on ulti/potion available, ability proc, etc. Food reminder.
• Icon to display daily quest status in journal (ready to turn in or not so I know if I forgot a crafting writ); dungeon achievement icons in group finder
• Show relevant stats in character screen. Penetration?

A lot of these are just annoyances but together with the mountain of actual glitches in the game they add up. Do you agree? Are there other changes you'd like to see?

goldCoaster

The one thing I love about ESO is it's sheer common sense....compared to other MMORPGs

Everything works fairly well.

Tandor

I don't actually want any of those things, but I would like a decent trading system. That apart, the game works well for me.

Syldras

Recapitated wrote: »

[*] Minimap. At Alik'r Dolmens, I went from steady 24-30 fps to 15-21 and major stutters with Votan's minimap on. It boggled my mind from day 1 that this is not built in.

Only if it's optional. For me it works perfectly fine the way it currently is (I have only two mods, and those are for trading prices and housing). I don't want my sight cluttered with more bars, icons, maps and whatnot.

As for inventory search: Sure.

Recapitated

Tandor wrote: »

but I would like a decent trading system

I agree with that. Certainly I don't think everything I listed should be a priority, but I don't understand why some were designed the way they were. Is there a good reason why I can't see my penetration stats?

(edit) Is selling from craft bag possible in the base game right now? Probably should be.

BigBragg

The game originally had a minimap, and still does. It just needs mods to toggle it on. ESO started development before Skyrim, and during that process some things got changed to be more in line with Skyrim's UI.

On a personal note, I prefer the compass to a minimap. Less clutter on my screen is welcome, as the game provides a lot of visual references for navigation.

Gorreck

goldCoaster wrote: »

The one thing I love about ESO is it's sheer common sense....compared to other MMORPGs

Everything works fairly well.

I notice you don't play on the EU server!

Recapitated

BigBragg wrote: »

The game originally had a minimap, and still does. It just needs mods to toggle it on. ESO started development before Skyrim, and during that process some things got changed to be more in line with Skyrim's UI.

On a personal note, I prefer the compass to a minimap. Less clutter on my screen is welcome, as the game provides a lot of visual references for navigation.

That's interesting, I didn't know that. Is that what those popular minimap addons do or are those built from the ground up?

I might prefer a compass if it covered a wider angle -- I think right now you can see about 100 degrees at once, just a bit more than two cardinal directions.

Recapitated

Gorreck wrote: »

I notice you don't play on the EU server!

I imagine they're talking about design choices, not glitches and lag.

Finedaible

Forgot to mention that console players don't have access to addons either, so they are forced to live without those QoL improvements which ZoS never bothered to make alternatives for. Many other MMOs out there are constantly adding qol features and UI improvements to their game. For example, Warframe is constantly doing neat little improvements and optimizations to all of their ui because they actually play their own game enough to understand the pain points that arise in the player experience.

Elvenheart

I agree with the OP. Most of the things listed I’ve downloaded addons over the years for. I have an addon that lets me search ALL my inventories since I’m horrible at inventory management and hoard everything, esp weapons and jewelry cause you just never know!

Votan’s minimap was probably my very first addon because it just seemed odd not having one, along with the skyshards and lore books addons.

Let’s see... I have an addon that helps me know what traits my crafter has already learned, so that was very helpful when it came to inventory management when my crafter still had traits to learn.

More recently I discovered EasyTravel and BeamMeUp, addons that help automate the process of traveling to wayshrines near friends or guildies. I wish I had found them along time ago!

And during what imho is the worst grinding experience in any MMO, fishing, after I finally got the lead for the Thrassian Stranglers component I had all these fish and was horrified at the fileting process so I found an addon that would filet each stack with one key press (thanks again, Votan!).

CombatMetrics is another recent find that is just interesting for the neat info it gives about your character.

I’ve leveled my antiquities lines, so I have an addon that lets me see more easily any leads I have and what zone they are in.

Also recently I discovered an addon that shows the skills in one bar even when you switch to your other bar so you will know when they are off cool down. I haven’t yet figured out if I can make it show when the ultimate on the inactive bar is ready, which was my main reason for getting it, but it’s been very helpful for knowing when things like elemental blockade need to be recast.

And I know I have some other addons that I’m just not remembering right now. If it wasn’t for some of these add-ons, I think I would’ve stopped playing this game along time ago and moved on to something else. So I’m very glad they exist, but I’ve always wished they were just features of the game instead of things we have to find, install, and maintain with every update. Minion takes the pain out of that process, but I’ve always wondered why we have to do all of that in the first place to have features that are usually built into most games.

Recapitated

Syldras wrote: »

Recapitated wrote: »

[*] Minimap. At Alik'r Dolmens, I went from steady 24-30 fps to 15-21 and major stutters with Votan's minimap on. It boggled my mind from day 1 that this is not built in.

[Minimap] Only if it's optional.

I thought that goes without saying. As a general rule I don't think UI frames should be forced on top of what is available now.

Elvenheart wrote: »

Also recently I discovered an addon that shows the skills in one bar even when you switch to your other bar so you will know when they are off cool down. I haven’t yet figured out if I can make it show when the ultimate on the inactive bar is ready, which was my main reason for getting it, but it’s been very helpful for knowing when things like elemental blockade need to be recast.

FYI LuiExtended lets you see your entire backbar all the time but you'll have to turn off a lot of modules and then turn off features within the modules you keep. I don't know how it interacts with the ActionDurationReminder shift bar (I imagine ADR is the addon you're describing).

Scrollup

BigBragg wrote: »

The game originally had a minimap, and still does. It just needs mods to toggle it on. ESO started development before Skyrim, and during that process some things got changed to be more in line with Skyrim's UI.

On a personal note, I prefer the compass to a minimap. Less clutter on my screen is welcome, as the game provides a lot of visual references for navigation.

Not bashing.

What I don't understand is You people and ZOS who DOESN'T have the common sense or LOGIC that at LEAST give us option to toggle on/off mini map or other QOL that should have been in the game???

I mean how hard is that for ZOS to implement??? I guaranteed you, the same people who (at least majority) doesnt complain about mini-map/QOL WILL use it if it comes with the native game if ZOS adds it.

I am losing faith in mankind /s.

Ratzkifal

As far as I know (and remember) minimap was a feature in the beta that was removed.
I honestly don't miss it since you can still walk while having your map out and only need a quick glance at it to know where you are and where you are heading.
I know some people want it back, but I honestly prefer it this way. Should this feature return, at least allow us to be able to turn it off. I think the more simplistic the HUD the better.

The point about gear/morphs/CP is a very good one. I even had an idea how this could be a feature integrated into the game. In an ideal world where we'd get an alternate history chapter where Cyrodiil is still a jungle and our characters are trying to find their way back, we could get the option to "dragonbreak" our builds, allowing us to have alternative builds that are potentially mutually exclusive with our regular build (one being stam-specced and one mag-specced) with different morphs at the ready with just a click. Those alternate builds would of course have to be internally consistent (so no having both morphs of a skill in the same build) and would require an extra set of gear to wear that's only accessible when using that build, but could then be freely moved.

Recapitated

Ratzkifal wrote: »

As far as I know (and remember) minimap was a feature in the beta that was removed.
I honestly don't miss it since you can still walk while having your map out and only need a quick glance at it to know where you are and where you are heading.

I have poor working memory apparently, which might explain why I need to see the map at all times and some people can just look a couple of times and know their itinerary.

Rohamad_Ali

ZoS gave most of what you are asking for to the mod community to handle so they could free up time to work on other things .

Recapitated

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

ZoS gave most of what you are asking for to the mod community to handle so they could free up time to work on other things .

There are several parts in the OP that I wrote specifically to address this

redspecter23

An optional minimap should absolutely be a base game feature.

A more detailed character sheet option (including penetration as susggested) would also make perfect sense.

As for the other suggestions, they would all be welcome QOL changes, but the two listed above are confusingly absent after 6 years. Mind boggling.

votan73

Recapitated wrote: »

• Minimap. At Alik'r Dolmens, I went from steady 24-30 fps to 15-21 and major stutters with Votan's minimap on. It boggled my mind from day 1 that this is not built in. EDIT: Yes you should be able to turn it and any other new frames off. If you want to keep your UI uncluttered you should be able to.

The mini map stutters because of your framerate drops. Because it suspends its update due to low framerate. The mini map is not necessarily the cause of your framerate.

Anyway, a mini map causes too much trouble. If ZOS would officially support a mini map, it has to run "perfect". But it can't, if you allow custom map pin addons. Not perfect enough, that there will be noone complaining its performance.

derpy_cat1234

All of those features should be in the game i agree. But the one that stands out the most and the one zos has hinted at thinking about implementing is the one button swap everything. Morphs,mundus,attributes etc. I just hate having to spend 20 minutes,going from loading screen to loading screen to swap my char from pve to pvp. It actually stops me from playing pvp for that reason. Its just way too tedious.

Aznarb

Agree for inventory search, don't need the rest.
And I surely don't want more thing on UI.

Recapitated

votan73 wrote: »

Recapitated wrote: »

• Minimap. At Alik'r Dolmens, I went from steady 24-30 fps to 15-21 and major stutters with Votan's minimap on. It boggled my mind from day 1 that this is not built in. EDIT: Yes you should be able to turn it and any other new frames off. If you want to keep your UI uncluttered you should be able to.

The mini map stutters because of your framerate drops. Because it suspends its update due to low framerate. The mini map is not necessarily the cause of your framerate.

I gradually tested all my addons. I didn't have stutters before I turned on the minimap so it seems weird that the stutters are causing the minimap to freeze (which I don't think I actually noticed). If I understand what you're saying minimap alone might be fine but minimap + map pins causes slowdowns? I'll check, I hope you're right.

votan73 wrote: »

Anyway, a mini map causes too much trouble. If ZOS would officially support a mini map, it has to run "perfect". But it can't, if you allow custom map pin addons. Not perfect enough, that there will be noone complaining its performance.

This seems exactly backwards to me.

Let's say the game runs fine and it's got some level of QOL functionality, navigation tools and so on. Then someone comes in and installs an occasionally practical but not-at-all necessary addon that glitches the game. In that case ZOS can wash its hands of the whole situation and they'd have a pretty strong case. That, to me, is the situation you're describing with the minimap.

OTOH imagine a game just like the one we have, but with more stuff missing. It's not just penetration missing from the stat sheet: no stats are visible in this hypothetical version of the game. People develop addons to work around that but they cause occasional glitches and performance issues. In a case like that it's much harder for ZOS to argue they did their part.

dimitrisp1 wrote: »

zos has hinted at thinking about implementing is the one button swap everything.

Huh, do you remember where/when? Ojalá as they say.

Syldras

Scrollup wrote: »

Not bashing.
What I don't understand is You people and ZOS who DOESN'T have the common sense or LOGIC that at LEAST give us option to toggle on/off mini map or other QOL that should have been in the game???
I am losing faith in mankind /s.

Yes.

Elvenheart wrote: »

I have an addon that lets me search ALL my inventories

That would make sense. There is a search function in the housing menu and in guild stores (included with an update somewhen last year, I think?) already, so it should also work for the char's inventory and bank.

What I'm missing in the housing menu is an optional way to show only items you currently have in your inventory, bank excluded.

Finedaible

dimitrisp1 wrote: »

All of those features should be in the game i agree. But the one that stands out the most and the one zos has hinted at thinking about implementing is the one button swap everything. Morphs,mundus,attributes etc. I just hate having to spend 20 minutes,going from loading screen to loading screen to swap my char from pve to pvp. It actually stops me from playing pvp for that reason. Its just way too tedious.

The only reason Zo$ is even considering it is because they want to heavily monetize it. I'm calling it now, if they implement a build swap feature themselves you can expect to be forced to purchase extra "equipment slots" for each character individually for 2k+ crowns a pop or some absurd price.

zaria

This one asked for an reply to mail button during the beta.

Still no reply

Integral1900

Build swapping would be good, anything to reduce all that faff 🤬

Rungar

cant blame zos for this one. Back when the game was being made i distinctly remember that minimalistic was the idea because skyrim players asked for it to be that way. They also implemented first person mode for the same reason. It was supposed to be part of the design to my knowledge and let addons fill in the gaps for pc at least.

Tommy_The_Gun

I would also add group finder to the list.

I mean it supports normal dungeons and veteran dungeons (base game and DLC), and arguably it can be kinda difficult & challenging content... but it makes zero sense for the lack of support for arenas (4 man content too). Lack of support for trials would also be understandable... but not after 6 years lol. This should have been in this game long time ago. When ZOS added battlegrounds, somehow they added group support for that... I mean they proven they can...

The only explanation is either laziness, or they think that it would not bring them more $. But I think if they added group support for arenas & trials, (even only normal mode), this kind of content would all of the sudden look more appealing for defiantly larger amount of players. So it would actually gave them more potential $ if they did...

Rungar

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

I would also add group finder to the list.

I mean it supports normal dungeons and veteran dungeons (base game and DLC), and arguably it can be kinda difficult & challenging content... but it makes zero sense for the lack of support for arenas (4 man content too). Lack of support for trials would also be understandable... but not after 6 years lol. This should have been in this game long time ago. When ZOS added battlegrounds, somehow they added group support for that... I mean they proven they can...

The only explanation is either laziness, or they think that it would not bring them more $. But I think if they added group support for arenas & trials, (even only normal mode), this kind of content would all of the sudden look more appealing for defiantly larger amount of players. So it would actually gave them more potential $ if they did...

i do believe the groupfinder is a massive resource hog. The game would be better off without it imo. Its not designed for it anyhow.

Recapitated

zaria wrote: »

This one asked for an reply to mail button during the beta.
Still no reply

That might be the common sensest of them all.

Finedaible wrote: »

dimitrisp1 wrote: »

All of those features should be in the game i agree. But the one that stands out the most and the one zos has hinted at thinking about implementing is the one button swap everything. Morphs,mundus,attributes etc. I just hate having to spend 20 minutes,going from loading screen to loading screen to swap my char from pve to pvp. It actually stops me from playing pvp for that reason. Its just way too tedious.

The only reason Zo$ is even considering it is because they want to heavily monetize it. I'm calling it now, if they implement a build swap feature themselves you can expect to be forced to purchase extra "equipment slots" for each character individually for 2k+ crowns a pop or some absurd price.

Screw it: monetize it, at least it'll be available.

Rungar wrote: »

cant blame zos for this one. Back when the game was being made i distinctly remember that minimalistic was the idea because skyrim players asked for it to be that way.

Everyone in this thread reads like they've been through so much that they can't imagine ZOS doing something for part of the playerbase without forcing it on every single player.

Just turn it off by default. Hell, I would be happy if you had to enable it in the UserSettings file, like the third person directional damage indicator.

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

But I think if they added group support for arenas & trials, (even only normal mode), this kind of content would all of the sudden look more appealing for defiantly larger amount of players.

Honestly I don't even queue for vet DLC dungeons, don't trust pugs.

Elvenheart

What’s the third person directional damage indicator? 😲