Is Blackwood a flop?

Warstory

For the past few days of doing the Blackwood dailies and some harvesting and I rarely seen any other players, even in the cities. I've never seen a chapter so dead right after release and it's kinda disheartening.

nukk3r

People are probably still camping at nodes in Shadowfen.

stewhead2ub17_ESO

Stop the silliness. It just released.

Ragged_Claw

I'm enjoying it personally, but yes I have noticed how quiet it is too. Even the first couple of days after release I was having trouble finding people to help with world bosses. Perhaps once everyone's got their kilt it will liven up

VaranisArano

Blackwood might be on the emptier side, but at least Shadowfen is busier than ever!

Personally, I saw a number of players doing the first quest last night, which is pretty good since I'm starting kinda late on PC. There certainly was competition for the chest I spotted in a quest area. By the time I picked it open, the was a small crowd of players around me, vulturing. Someone was firing off flame bolts to distract me while I lockpicked, and then was salty enough to issue a duel challenge when I got it first.

redlink1979

Perhaps you haven't heard yet about Tide-Glass Beads lead that drops in Shadowfen's water nodes.

But each time I go to Blackwood there's a plenty of players there. Don't know about your platform, server and day time in there.

PurpleScroll

I would say it isn't a flop considering how many companions I see out in the wild.

Thannazzar

From the streamers I have watched (didn't buy the chapter myself) it looks pretty empty, definitely less busy than the western skyrim quest hubs last year.

Cant say I'm surprised, no new skill line, limited customisation on companions and lack of response to PTS feedback have all taken their toll.

AcadianPaladin

I'm quite liking it. I like the companion system and also enjoy how the overland areas have a lower density of irritant mobs as you explore. You don't have to kill a wolf every 20m. I like the nostalgia from TES IV of the Leyawiin area. I also like (very much) how the zone reminds me of some of the original alliance zones - in my book that is a great thing.

Michaelkeir

nukk3r wrote: »

People are probably still camping at nodes in Shadowfen.

What he said. That zone is like a war zone right now. People running all over the place fighting over nodes.

danthemann5

I think to answer the question, "is Blackwood a flop?" we must first answer a different question:

Is ESO better today than it was on May 31, 2021?

Lag, desyncs, and performance are the worst they've ever been.
Due to the CP changes, my character got significantly less powerful overnight due to no action or fault of my own.
Blocking costs 2 to 3 times what it should.
My set bonuses randomly stop working.
My ranged weapons, aren't.

Is ESO better today than it was on May 31, 2021?

No, it is not. Therefore I must conclude that Blackwood is a flop, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Elsonso

danthemann5 wrote: »

I think to answer the question, "is Blackwood a flop?" we must first answer a different question:

Is ESO better today than it was on May 31, 2021?

Overall, yes.

That is not to say that problems have not popped up, like a lag where crestures die before you are told and skills simply stop working because the game knows they are dead, even if you don't. An irritant, but not a new one.

Togal

yup its a flop, glad I refunded it.

Dropstitch

I also think this is the second underwhelming expansion in a row, which takes a toll.

RedMuse

Warstory wrote: »

For the past few days of doing the Blackwood dailies and some harvesting and I rarely seen any other players, even in the cities. I've never seen a chapter so dead right after release and it's kinda disheartening.

Because unlike other chapters this one takes you out of the zone rather than force you to stay there. Levelling companions, which a lot of players are currently doing, means spending a lot of time in base game zones. Try going to dark anchor spots, or delves and public dungeons used for MG and Undaunted daily and you'll see how much people are occupied with the content of this chapter. And of course then there's lead farming in other zones too.

Imo this chapter is the opposite of a flop, and the population of the Blackwood zone is not an accurate gauge.

Gythral

It's not Graybore
So it must have something going for it

but I dont recall a zone being as dead as it is 6 days after launch!

Lady_Galadhiel

They all sit in shadowfen farming leads or somewhere else farming leads.The whole mythical item thing made people prioritize this stuff first instead of completing or playing the zone.
Is it bad? Depens how you look at it.

I started playing the year Elsweyr did release,2 months after it was released I got a decent PC to play and the zone did feel so alive once I stepped into the game for the first time.
People everywhere,doing quests,killing dragons,zone chat was full of people asking questions,etc
And even still now,I see more people in each of the older expansions than in Greymoor and Blackwood combined.

Greymoor was full the first week,once people had the Antiquities skill line unlocked they did go to level it up and fishing in Artaeum.The zone got alive again once they did bring the furniture plans and motifs to the daily quests so people started doing those each day and ofc while the W.Skyrim event.Once that hype was over and prices did drop people did leave the zone again and each time I go in there now I may see one player here and there.

With Blackwood did happen pretty much the same,the first few days everyone was doing the companion quests to get them and to level them up you have to go to base game zones and do mages/fighters guild quests.More people do dolmens than playing the main story of Blackwood.
I like how quiet Blackwood is but at the same time if feels a little strange when I compare it to Elsweyr,even 2 months after release the zone was still very full and visited without anything special going on there.

My guess is people will be spending more time in Blackwood once they bring more motifs and furniture plans so people can farm them and make gold.

Imo it would have been nice if the companions would have got some sort of more exp from doing stuff in Blackwood,from killing mobs and getting also exp from completing quests in that zone.Maybe it would have encourages more people to stay and play there for a while.

Elsonso

Gythral wrote: »

It's not Graybore
So it must have something going for it

but I dont recall a zone being as dead as it is 6 days after launch!

It is hard to get away from other players in Blackwood, particularly around the companion quest areas and Leyawiin crafting area.

Snowstrider

Yea I feel like it is the emptiest DLC zone at launch i have ever seen.

Dropstitch

The problem is that the last two expansions have been sold on gimmicks (antiquities and now companions) rather than solid gameplay, zone design and immersive stories. I would much rather travel Summerset or N Elsweyr (in fact any other expansion) again than either of the two most recent expansions, and I would forgo companions and antiquities to do so.

Elsonso

Dropstitch wrote: »

The problem is that the last two expansions have been sold on gimmicks (antiquities and now companions) rather than solid gameplay, zone design and immersive stories. I would much rather travel Summerset or N Elsweyr (in fact any other expansion) again than either of the two most recent expansions, and I would forgo companions and antiquities to do so.

That is part of the overall trend. Deliver less of something, but charge the same for it. Oh, and blame C0VID while you still can.

Fhritz

This chapter isn't a flop nor a great success, Greymoor was relatively famous because it was linked to "skyrim" and eventually bring players from this huge fan base to ESO, but the oblivion fan base is much smaller, so there's just less "new player who came from Skyrim" than last year, but there's still a lot of new players, every veteran are just camping in Shadowfen around water

Mythreindeer

It’s fine and will have a long life.

Companions are more capable than most thought they would be and they will only get stronger as time goes by sending people to Blackwood in a steady stream over time. I’m spending much of my game time doing guild dailies to level companions but enjoy the chapter.

I’m not having the performance issues some are, PC NA.

priestnall.andrewrwb17_ESO

Yeah most folks will clear most zone quests within 24 hours; maybe pop back to do PDs or grind dailies for achievements or do the companion starter quests on alts; other than that - due to the spare mob density, and a few mythical excavations there is not much allure.

Hurbster

Went in, grabbed the companions, left. My new main is finishing off Cadwells Gold so I'm a good 6 months away from Blackwood.
I'm a predominantly solo player who uses monster sets for flavour and utility, so I'm not too happy with the recent changes to be honest. Seems to be the usual 'making a few people happy by screwing over the majority' sort of thing which is getting more and more prevalent in this game, whether it be PvP or the top 5% of raiders.

Gee, that sounds a lot like how WoW is set up nowadays... And Shadowlands was even worse than Greymoor, imo.

ESO is not there yet, but the signs are worrying, especially the constant balancing/nerfs and ignoring people on the PTS.

Nestor

I wonder if the zone has limits on the number of players per instance due to companions.

However, last night there were about 30 players, and their companions waiting for a world boss to spawn.

cyclonus11

Based on the number of players and companions I see at dolmens (outside of Alik'r and Auridon), I would say no.

Sylvermynx

It's not a flop for me (though I'm avoiding the argonian part). On PC EU, which I play in their peak hours (my daytime) it's stuffed to the gills for the most part - WAY too many people around. PC NA is emptier because I play from 7 am to ~ 3 pm MDT. So I'm concentrating on PC NA for now, and in a month or so when EU will probably be calmer, I'll work on it there.

Elsonso

Nestor wrote: »

I wonder if the zone has limits on the number of players per instance due to companions.

However, last night there were about 30 players, and their companions waiting for a world boss to spawn.

I suspect that they have probably dropped the zone limits for all zones due to companions. We have never known what the zone limits are, and they may vary by zone, but they are estimated to be in the hundreds. 30 players is a pittance.

Danikat

I bought Blackwood because I wanted the welwa mount and found the pre-purchase discounted on a reliable site, but I've not been playing it yet as I'm not ready for new content on any of my characters, so I'm still finishing off stuff I was doing before. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a few people in similar situations.

I assume ZOS does look at data for both sales and activity in zones, but I'm not sure how they would choose to interpret that discrepancy. I know in my case it purely comes down to wanting to buy a pre-purchase item, if it wasn't for that I'd have waited to get Blackwood, but I have no idea if it's the same for other people.

Sailor_Palutena

It is just missing dragons.