Just curious do ZOS employees play ESO on live servers

Alurria

I was just curious if the employees play on the live servers? And if Zos mods and other employees wouldn't mind answering? You don't have to divelge any other info except yes I play and I play this class. I'm just curious if they play with us.

JKorr

There was a nice conversation once with a dev, about how he played his character. It was disrupted by less than polite not on topic comments, followed by people taking the fed-up devs reply out of context, and using it to bash the devs and the game. I sincerely doubt we'll ever get more chances to ask about the devs characters or play styles.

SilverBride

I've always wondered that, too. I imagine that they do, or have in the past. It would be fun to find out that someone in your guild, or even a friend, was a developer, etc.. I am not sure if they could, or would, divulge anything about who their characters are, although I know some of the WoW staff are open about that.

Sanguinor2

Rich used to do score runs for vma, dunno if he still does it tho.

newtinmpls

Seems like admitting it would just make them a target.

Nestor

They do play the game, they just do so anonymously. I have seen a couple of the accounts.

TequilaFire

Used to be fun when the Rockstar devs used to get on with us and play during events in RDR.
There was even an achievement for killing a Rockstar dev. lol

Alurria

Perhaps you're right I wouldn't want them to be targets of toxic comments. I was just curious if they ever got to play ESO or enjoy the game. I knew that about the WoW Devs as I read a thread or two when I use to play WoW. It's a shame we can't have a civil conversation with them about something so innocuous as do you play and what class do you play.

SilverBride

I don't necessarily want to know who their characters are (actually I do but that may be asking too much), but would love to hear their stories and what kind of insight they get from playing alongside the rest of us.

Nastassiya

Yes, I've been randomly assigned a dungeon with a developer before, or so I think it was due to the @ account name.

Granted, it could be trolling.

[snip]

[Edited to remove Naming and Shaming]

Ackwalan

Years ago on the bi-weekly ZOS live stream, one of devs talked about fighting for a scroll, when the group that had it went into a building to farm it. He did not sound pleased.

JamieAubrey

TequilaFire wrote: »

Used to be fun when the Rockstar devs used to get on with us and play during events in RDR.
There was even an achievement for killing a Rockstar dev. lol

Is this the same one that acted like a virus ? if someone killed a Dev and someone killed that player they would get it and so on so it would spread

TequilaFire

JamieAubrey wrote: »

TequilaFire wrote: »

Used to be fun when the Rockstar devs used to get on with us and play during events in RDR.
There was even an achievement for killing a Rockstar dev. lol

Is this the same one that acted like a virus ? if someone killed a Dev and someone killed that player they would get it and so on so it would spread

I wouldn't call it a virus. lol

Alurria

SilverBride wrote: »

I don't necessarily want to know who their characters are (actually I do but that may be asking too much), but would love to hear their stories and what kind of insight they get from playing alongside the rest of us.

That would be great, maybe just hear about the good times they had playing. While yes they have more insight etc etc..still just knowing they enjoy the game like the rest of us would give me a sense of awesome it's not all just a job to them.

Starlight_Whisper

Yes they do

Malkiv

If you think you've seen an employee playing in game because of the account tag, you're probably wrong. Their forum names are not their ESO account names. My forum name is not my ESO account name - it's nothing like it. It's not even a name. I do this for anonymity and to separate my forum & community communication/interaction from my in-game communication/interaction. The people officially involved with the game similarly do this - and anyone bragging in-game about being officially involved with the game is probably not officially involved with the game. That attention and exposure comes with a high price.

[Edited for clarity.]

zvavi

Even if they do play, they play on the NA server. You know, that server a big part of the PvP community left to cause PvP on the EU servers lag so hard.

Minyassa

If they do, they are all PvP players and not a single one is a PvE-only player.

red_emu

I'm sure they do but probably less than most casual players. Don't forget, ESO is their job, so when they get home and want to unwind, they probably pick some other games, so they don't feel like they're "working".

Gina said many times in live streams, she enjoys the game a lot in spare time but anyone with little kids will know, you don't get much free time 😉

LurgidBean

I've seen Rich jump into random normal dungeons on @Matygon's stream in Twitch. And he will hang out in chat sometimes and is interactive.

colossalvoids

In short - yes, obviously. You could track some without much problem if you care enough.

Alurria

colossalvoids wrote: »

In short - yes, obviously. You could track some without much problem if you care enough.

I'm not trying to stalk them, why would I track them? I was curious to see if they played on live servers with the rest of us. I just wanted to know the things they find enjoyable in the game. They are people just like us who create this game and I just think I would find a level of comfort knowing they enjoy what they created like we enjoy it. It was a very simple question I hope taken for face value. But yeah I didn't think I really would get a direct answer which is fine.

jircris11

JKorr wrote: »

There was a nice conversation once with a dev, about how he played his character. It was disrupted by less than polite not on topic comments, followed by people taking the fed-up devs reply out of context, and using it to bash the devs and the game. I sincerely doubt we'll ever get more chances to ask about the devs characters or play styles.

Sadly that seems to be a trend with gamers now days. Some just want to be jerks. Heck that's Ppl in general. I remember this LS it was sad to see the unjustified hate, yes some is deserved but a lot of it was just hate.

Supreme_Atromancer

They've said a bunch of times they do. Matt said he likes to hang out in the overland zone - he doesn't really hardcore it. Rich *does* hardcore it - he's spent a good amount of time in the arenas, I think. Whatever you think of them, you gotta recognise the dude loves the game - he even got an ESO tattoo, that's some serious "all-in" stuff. IIRC, both he and Fin have said they like to discretely jump into random dungeons and pretend they don't know the mechanics because its fun to see what the community have learned, and how they've overcome the challenges. I also think they've said they like being around all the buzz on the new patch launch days.

I agree that its not likely they have the time to pump the hours in that most hardcore folk do, but its clear they care, and they engage. Always remember to put something positive out there - you never know when one of them might be lurking. And they deserve some positive feedback. For all the passionate hopes and sometimes disappointments, the game is amazing and it shows they pump a lot of effort into it.

Lugaldu

I am more wondering whether the developers really enjoy using their own creation. When I usually finish something like a book, I never want to see it again and put it in the last corner of the closet. So, I don't know if, as a game developer, I would be interested in playing my game, even if each contributes just a part to it.

Elsonso

Lugaldu wrote: »

I am more wondering whether the developers really enjoy using their own creation. When I usually finish something like a book, I never want to see it again and put it in the last corner of the closet. So, I don't know if, as a game developer, I would be interested in playing my game, even if each contributes just a part to it.

Like with any group of people, it depends on the individual. Sometimes, people build something and they want to use it. Sometimes, they build something for someone else and move on.

SilverBride

It's interesting to hear what other posters think the developers, mods and other ZoS staff may do or think about the game, but I'd really love to hear from one of them directly and get their perspective on what it's like to participate in their own creation.

Elsonso

SilverBride wrote: »

It's interesting to hear what other posters think the developers, mods and other ZoS staff may do or think about the game, but I'd really love to hear from one of them directly and get their perspective on what it's like to participate in their own creation.

Are you summoning a developer to tell you what you want to know?

I doubt any developers are going to trot out here just to tell you why they don't play ESO in their spare time.

There are cases where the opposite has happened, usually as part of interviews, something that is said on a stream, a social media post, or just general comment. Lambert was quite chatty about it, and given his character, his play is not casual. I would start your search there. There are a few cases where devs talk about how they play with different people, including others from ZOS. I think there was one dev that talked about playing ESO with his kids.

Girl_Number8

Yes there are devs that play on pc and console Xbox. Mods no clue....

StamPlar_1976

They say they do. I have no proof whether or not that is the case. But with some of the balance changes the past two years, it really makes me wonder if they do. But that is just my opinion.

PrimusTiberius

I'm sure some do but they don't say anything about it due to any fallout they undoubtedly would receive.