ZoS, perhaps we hit pause

SGT_Wolfe101st

The current environment is different than before. The BW expansion and current state of the game makes me wonder if we are trying to do to much to quickly. CP 2.0 was just released and you’re proposing a monumental adjustment just weeks after release. The new proc meta that is forming in PTS is woefully out of line with the described direction the combat team described. Companions seem rushed and unpolished (why do they needed to be leveled, why is gear so scarce, why is their AI so bad), the oblivion portals aren’t these epic journeys as described in the reveal, they’re face roll easy. Yet another expansion that leaves PVP with little incentive to purchase. Endeavors seem to be way over tuned (30 WBs a week, 30 PD Group Events a week) Those aren’t natural efforts. And lastly but most certainly not least it appears that all of this happening at once has left you unable or unwilling to address bugs and issue plaguing the game. 6 weeks to address the UI issue affecting the console community. Extended maintenance cycles 3 patches in a row. Next to no communication or responses from the teams or community managers. Perhaps we need to slow down. It would appear you are trying to juggle too many things at once and they are all suffering. Perhaps you need to consider delaying BW, perhaps refocus on the stability improvements discussed last year and focus on optimizing the game.

I have faithfully logged almost daily for 5 years and I am at the point I can’t be bothered. CP is meaningless, I can’t be bothered to try and sell anything, group finder is always a 20-30 min queue for DD, furnishings may or may not disappear, COD trades may or may not go through with out issue. Banks deposits are as risky as ever. We all love new content and areas to explore but I think most if not all want a game that is stable, reliable, and functional first. This is the first chapter that I’m passing on, I don’t feel comfortable or confident that anything will different come June 8th, in fact current events have conditioned me to expect the opposite. You need to do better, hit pause, fix the game.

Wise_Will

" We all love new content and areas to explore but I think most if not all want a game that is stable, reliable, and functional first. " Not true in the slightest.

99% of the game works as intended for the casual player, and the casual player will not stick around if there is no new content. The Casual Player is the most numerous and they generate a lot of money for Zos.

Though i agree it must suck to experience bugs, it will not be healthy for the game to cancel/postpone updates that deliver content. Why would you enrage the majority of your community by withholding new content, to please a vocal minority on the forums?

OutLaw_Nynx

group finder is always a 20-30 min queue for DD

Ever consider that there are more DD compared to support players?

XvarleyX

Wise_Will wrote: »

" We all love new content and areas to explore but I think most if not all want a game that is stable, reliable, and functional first. " Not true in the slightest.

99% of the game works as intended for the casual player, and the casual player will not stick around if there is no new content. The Casual Player is the most numerous and they generate a lot of money for Zos.

Though i agree it must suck to experience bugs, it will not be healthy for the game to cancel/postpone updates that deliver content. Why would you enrage the majority of your community by withholding new content, to please a vocal minority on the forums?

I will probably have to deal with a long list of 300-700 + cp players on my friends list, who all want to know if they can buy Blackwood with crowns..

XvarleyX

Just to add, i know one awesome guy who got the base game for free, bought Greymoor on offer, and has bought every DLC with gold via gifting from me.

Money is housing. Big time.

jssriot

Wise_Will wrote: »

[
99% of the game works as intended for the casual player, and the casual player will not stick around if there is no new content. The Casual Player is the most numerous and they generate a lot of money for Zos.

1. They literally had to take down the server 2 days ago to address a massive ongoing problem that was largely affecting PVE areas that had gotten so bad it made playing the game in certain base zones essentially impossible.

2. I don't think even The Casual Player appreciates log-on errors, 5 minute loading screens, rubberbanding, dc'ing and lag spikes anymore than any other player, and as the most numerous, they are the most affected by the widespread performance issues affecting ESO's aging server. And as someone who's played this game since 2015, I promise you most people leave this game for reasons other that "no new content" and performance problems is at the top of that list. Imagine being someone who only can play on the weekend and half the times you try to log on, you can't and when you do you lag out or get stuck in a loading screen. You gonna stick around for that?

3. I presume that by "Casual Player" you mean someone who only plays a few hours a few days a week. In that case, there is already a ton of content in the game for The Casual Player. It would take them several months, maybe over a year, to just complete the Main Quest, the zones' main quests and Coldharbour, let alone all the sidequests, expansions and DLCs, plus other content (antiquities, dungeons, crafting, etc). And that doesn't include any social events that they may be participating in. The rush to get out new content is mostly abotu marketing, which is aimed at attracting new players.


Nevermind that ZOS has already said they will be focusing a lot on improving performance this year, including a major update in June that will address many of these issues and a possible hardware upgrade for the server by year's end. Given this, I'm actually surprised at how many changes they are trying to implement that have and will drastically change the game.

zharkovian

I'm in agreement that ZOS should slow down a little and address the existing bugs and issues.

VaranisArano

ZOS isn't going to cut off the cash flow from new content and new cosmetics.

What you'll get from a "pause" is something akin to "We're going to focus more on performance, so expect smaller features this year" aka why we have two companions for our Chapter feature.

Goregrinder

Considering that the devs are probably working 60 hour weeks, that OT needs to be paid from something. I don't think pausing things that will generate them revenue is something their board of directors or even investors will want them to do.

virtus753

Goregrinder wrote: »

Considering that the devs are probably working 60 hour weeks, that OT needs to be paid from something. I don't think pausing things that will generate them revenue is something their board of directors or even investors will want them to do.

ZeniMax Media was just bought by Microsoft for USD 7.5 billion. If OT is even in play, since salaried positions are normally exempt, paying it will not be a problem.

Goregrinder

virtus753 wrote: »

Goregrinder wrote: »

Considering that the devs are probably working 60 hour weeks, that OT needs to be paid from something. I don't think pausing things that will generate them revenue is something their board of directors or even investors will want them to do.

ZeniMax Media was just bought by Microsoft for USD 7.5 billion. If OT is even in play, since salaried positions are normally exempt, paying it will not be a problem.

Yep but the money that paid for that OT will need to be replenished by something. Pausing sources of further revenue definitely will not replenish it.

SirLeeMinion

SGT_Wolfe101st wrote: »

The current environment is different than before. The BW expansion and current state of the game makes me wonder if ... You need to do better, hit pause, fix the game.

Agreed. Will they listen? No. At a guess, they are measuring their success via spreadsheet, and due to COVID, they are #KillingIt by that metric.

The weather is lovely outside. Lurk the forums, spend your money other places, and check back every so often to see if they have changed their vision for the game. Log off and tune out. By the time they re-think the vision that is sucking the fun out of this game, you won't care anyway.




P.S. Shortened the quote to save space.

ArchMikem

The group finder wait for DDs is a purely player made problem. Not enough people want to play Tanks and Healers. Whenever I do my queue pops almost immediately for Pledges.

Sju

If they're going to delay this chapter, they will, again, screw over people who take time off for these, which needs to be scheduled months in advance. I'm not dealing with another delay, I will just cancel my preorder.

Abelon

Wise_Will wrote: »

" We all love new content and areas to explore but I think most if not all want a game that is stable, reliable, and functional first. " Not true in the slightest.

99% of the game works as intended for the casual player, and the casual player will not stick around if there is no new content. The Casual Player is the most numerous and they generate a lot of money for Zos.

Though i agree it must suck to experience bugs, it will not be healthy for the game to cancel/postpone updates that deliver content. Why would you enrage the majority of your community by withholding new content, to please a vocal minority on the forums?

I will have to respectfully disagree. Does a part of the casual playerbase stick around despite bugs? Yes, absolutely. Do all casual players stick around despite bugs? Most certainly not!

I am a casual player. Most importantly I am the type of a casual player who has limited time and a lot of games that I could be playing. Why would I want to spend minutes loading a character, ever single time, why would I want to deal with constant extended maintenances, why would I want to deal with a broken craft bag (if I were a console player) etc etc? Especially as a casual player I don't have anything to prove to anyone, I don't have a group I regularly run trials with, I don't have such a high investment in the game that I would force myself to suffer all the current problems.

Instead I would play a different game and occasionally check the forums, patch notes to see if anything is getting better.

Sorry, but there are multiple games that have very successfully pulled off "bug fixing expansions/ resets." Rainbow Six Siege with Operation Health and FFXIV (though that one was extreme) come to mind without having to look anything up. Maybe ESO isn't quite bad enough yet to require something like that. Still the discussion is an interesting one and I think it's worth it to bring this up.

And as OP points out. Blackwood is lacking in the content department. One could argue that content is more important than bug fixing. But arguing that lacking content is more important than bug fixing will be harder.

ZOS_ConnorG

Greetings all,

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