Why does the world feel sparse in so many places?

Netheniel

Couple things to share:

1. Delves are very basic content and quite boring compared to other activities. There are little to no monsters in a relatively small location, and what bosses or monsters in there are easily dispatched with end game players. In rare cases, some delves may be farmed for gear (ex: Mother's Sorrow), but even then you're not going to see large parties in there. IMO ZoS really needs to revitalize delves. They're just endpoints for completing dailies in DLC zones right now.

2. Summerset is pretty old content. Most have cleared it out already and have collected everything the expansion has to offer. ESO hasn't been really good with providing gameplay activities and loops that give players a reason to return, so that's why you'll find the zone a little drier compared to other areas.

3. On top of Summerset being old, the Karnwasten public dungeon is usually a bit more popular because it has rare big eared kitten drops, which sell for 15K+ in the guild stores and you get a decent amount of XP and gold drops from easier to dispatch mobs. It's still not bustling with people, but based on my experience you're more likely to run into someone there then you would at Sunhold.

4. Vvardenfell is popular for a few reasons, even outside of events. Firstly, Vivec brings nostalgia to all us players that have been around since at least TES III. It's just a great place to walk around and take in the atmosphere. Secondly, it has all crafting stations and bank access quickly available outdoors with no load screens. On top of that, you have quick and easy access to the outlaw's refuge and guild traders. No other city provides that convince. Thirdly, Forgotten Wastes is one of the more popular public dungeons for farming XP. Huge groups of mobs stacked in close proximity creating a non-stop farm loop if you organize your run properly. Not to mention, it's one of the better looking public dungeons with its darker, volcanic atmosphere. Good atmosphere when exploring it, even for returning players.

Finally, I will add that having a solo session in a public dungeon can be a blessing in disguise. As you level up your player, become self-sufficient, and can solo all the hard content this game throws at you, you'll start to appreciate the solitude. Running through empty dungeons that have already been cleared is not exactly exciting gameplay. Competing with other players for mobs or waiting 5 to 10'ish minutes for bosses to respawn serves more hindrance to your experience than benefit.

If you want to get a taste of a crowded place, pre-purchase Blackwood and wait for its release. You'll see first hand what a fully loaded public dungeon or overworld zone looks like. It ain't all sunshine and rainbows

Cryptor

The last thing I would want is to encounter players everywhere I go. That would be an absolute nightmare.

Mythreindeer

Many zones lack a Starbucks.

Rukia541

Mythreindeer wrote: »

Many zones lack a Starbucks.

My famous eso starbucks drank would be punkin spice honeymead with cream topped with cinnamon gorapple flakes

Kiralyn2000

marshill88 wrote: »

When I bought this game late Feb, the marketing said "Join over 18 million players".

A thought on this - one of the advantages of "buy to play" and "free to play" games is that, since you don't have to activate a subscription to be able to play, everyone who ever made an account could (technically) log in tomorrow. So the marketing department can claim them all as (possible) 'active' players.

So, yeah - 18 milllion players may have created accounts & played at one point. But good luck getting them to admit how many actually log on, day-to-day. /cynical

SidraWillowsky

As @VaranisArano said, zones inside of public dungeons are instanced- so only people in the PD with you would have seen the request. You could try asking for help outside of the dung in the zone, but I know that it's hard to find people willing to help with bosses that may be buried deep within some of those larger DLC PDs (which have more difficult bosses to boot).

It feels almost overcrowded in many places to me, so I personally enjoy finding some of those empty spaces. I can see how it would be frustrating for a newer player, though, since a lot of those bosses in PDs are pretty difficult at lower levels.

WiseSky wrote: »

PTS?

Fennwitty

As said, Sunhold in Summerset isn't a popular place most of the time.

There was not too long ago a Summerset celebration event, where players got double resource nodes and special loot boxes for adventuring in Summerset, just like the Vvardenfell/Clockwork City event that just ended. During the events it's crowded.

Ask in a guild for one person to come with you to public dungeon clear. You can pick up a skyshard and a full skill point when completing the group boss. Just one other person should be good.