Is Blackwood a flop?

Wolf_Eye

There are a lot of possibilities. Just because it looks empty doesn't mean it is. Blackwood is a pretty huge zone, and people might just be spread out really far.

People could be busy camping in delves for new companion equipment (they only seem to drop from bosses after all), so you won't likely see them out and about.

Or they could be busy in Shadowfen/lead hunting.

Or it could just be because today is a weekday and people haven't gotten off of work/school yet.

Remember also that Covid is raging in some places while also easing up in others due to vaccination. Compared to last year, where Covid was just raging all over the place. Perhaps in some places people are finally able to do things outside and are taking advantage of their first summer since 2019.

There are a multitude of variabilities here.

phairdon

The new zone is quiet compared to all the other new chapters on release.

Edit* I see a lot of players in other zones doing stuff like the dolmen train, in delves, mages guild dailies, fighters guild dailies and undaunted stuff while leveling their companions. Might explain why Blackwood seems quieter.

dinokstrunz

Too early to call it a flop imo, but after 10 days on PC, blackwood is eerily quiet this past day or 2. Most people are probably finished with the bare bones content already and moved on or gone back to doing what they were doing prior to Blackwood.

Ingenon

Bottom Line Up Front: Only ZOS knows how many copies of Blackwood they have sold.

What I have seen so far:

On PS4/NA, the number of people logged in per guild in the several guilds I belong to has increased since the update dropped on Tuesday.

We had a full group with extra folks wanting to get in on Tuesday night when we did the new Blackwood trial.

I have taken a few alts into Blackwood. One is starting the zone story, and I saw other folks while doing that, and also in the Deadwoods dungeon I saw a crowd that reminded me of dragons while I was waiting for the final boss battle. And then I decided to unlock a companion, and there were multiple people around while I did the quest for that on several alts.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo

Well...I can't say that it is a flop, but from my point of view here are things that don't push me to purchase it:

- Another paywalled mythical item (Kilt) which improves overall DPS -> (Greymoor + Blackwood DLC)
- Bugs (Block bug, distance skills, server performance still)
- The zone seems empty and non immersive (spoken with friends frequently about it)
- Just looks like another rinse and repeat job

So overall, the DLC doesn't really pike my interest. I guess I'll get it at one point when the prices drop perhaps, but I'm in no rush at the moment as there is already much content in the game to address and achieve with returning or newer players.

(PS it's not a economical issue, it's a personal choice)

GenjiraX

Leyawiin has a pretty nice daily crafting writs set up. I normally see hordes of players at the Vivec City bank or the Summerset or Rimmen banks but the Leyawiin bank is quite quiet. There seem to be as many people in delves as there are anywhere else, though.

I think it’s way too early to decide whether it’s a flop and we’ll probably never know for sure anyway. Personally, I reckon the writers and designers need a year off.

lordspyder

Like many people have said, in order to level the companions, you have to go all over Tamriel,. You can't just stay in Blackwood, so now that the main quest is over, I pop in, do the dailies, then head off to do the mages / fighters/ and undaunted dailies. To realize how much of a flop this wasn't, head to any of those places that those quests send you too and see the sheer number of people doing those quests with their companions.

I'm actuall thankful for this as it's made the old world seem much more alive again as there are always a ton of people in those old zones doing things now.

Elsonso

Wolf_Eye wrote: »

There are a lot of possibilities. Just because it looks empty doesn't mean it is. Blackwood is a pretty huge zone, and people might just be spread out really far.

People could be busy camping in delves for new companion equipment (they only seem to drop from bosses after all), so you won't likely see them out and about.

Or they could be busy in Shadowfen/lead hunting.

Or it could just be because today is a weekday and people haven't gotten off of work/school yet.

There are a multitude of variabilities here.

I think that there is some "wishful thinking" in the thread. This happens a lot when people line up and complain about an update. Invariably, there is a "last one out, turn off the lights, everyone is leaving" thread. Sometimes, this is followed in a couple months by ZOS saying "busiest year ever". In any case, we know that the game is really dying when the "is ESO dead" thread does not happen, not when it does.

As for more practical reasons to consider...

This is a chapter where we cannot just run by an active zone event and see masses of players. We have to go into an instance, without knowing how many other players are in other instances. These oblivion portals are not hard to find, but they are hard to predict. Fortunately, they moved the farming to the interior to save the farmers from having to dash madly to the next event.

Leyawiin is busy from what I have seen, but mainly in the castle (quest related) or crafting areas (daily writ related). These seem just as busy to me as they did in the other chapters. Leyawiin is a poor daily writ location due to annoying NPCs pestering about quests. I don't think that the crafting area in Blackwood is a player-draw. Vivec City is still better, so I am only in Leyawiin when a quest takes me there, even if I spend all day in Blackwood.

Lugaldu

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

I'm enjoying it personally, but yes I have noticed how quiet it is too.

Maybe there is a completely different reason - it's summer and "normal" life is returning. Many people will take the first opportunity to be outside or do other things that were not possible in the last year. Just as a guess.

Elsonso

Lugaldu wrote: »

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

I'm enjoying it personally, but yes I have noticed how quiet it is too.

Maybe there is a completely different reason - it's summer and "normal" life is returning. Many people will take the first opportunity to be outside or do other things that were not possible in the last year. Just as a guess.

I have outside on order from Amazon, but there was a delay in shipping.

Ippokrates

RedMuse wrote: »

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.

Agree on that. Fighters Guild with Anchors, Mage Guild and Public Dungeon or those silly Undaunted Delves are busier that ever. And capitol cities... Sometimes they are so crowded that my ESO is turning into comic book.

Not mentioning Shadowfen...

Mik195

I also wonder if it because of how the landscape is designed. In the last couple of chapters, you could find most everything by just riding along the road. Here it seems you need to wander off the main roads to see everything.

tommion

Absolutely loving new area. Companions are great fun and helpful. Not sure I need more armour/weapon drops after only a week, got to look forward to something. Most players are chasing mythics rather than levelling companions but each to their own I guess. I`ve scryed a lot of leads but can`t excavate for the life of me so I guess I won`t be using the mythics.

Hurbster

Also, there is no overland event such as dolmens or geysers where you will find lots of players gathering. Just the portals that go to the rather disappointing public dungeon (imo).

Durham

I read a ZoS post their greatest fear. They stated losing the pulse of the community. LOL I had to laugh at this BS the pulse has been demanding Performance improvement for the last 5 years.

For me this expansion is a flop. Companions come -on why would they put this in the game? This is a MMORPG it needs to reward grouping! NOT ENCHANCED Soloing.

This is the first expansion that I have not bought. I know of plenty of people that feel the same way. Performance is by far the number 1 issue in this game. New content can only take you so far. I love this game but the only reason this game is still going strong is the fact that MMORPG market is kind of meh at the moment. PERFORMANCE has destroyed games in the past, it also reflect very poorly on developers. This game could be a cult classic in PVP.

Communication in this game is another problem. Its often non existent or misleading. How many performance posts have we heard about in the last 5 years? How many times have there been legitimate questions but there is nothing but crickets. I give this game a D- on communications!

Lugaldu

Durham wrote: »

For me this expansion is a flop. Companions come -on why would they put this in the game? This is a MMORPG it needs to reward grouping! NOT ENCHANCED Soloing.

This is the first expansion that I have not bought.

I really don't understand how people can say the new chapter is bad if they haven't tested it themselves and are only referring to hearsay... Sorry, but this is not a fair judgement.

scorpius2k1

aaisoaho

For me, Blackwood is no Wrothgar or Summerset, but it surely beats Vvardenfell, Elsweyr and Greymoor in my eyes.
- The zone feels big.
- It is the only chapter that has made me laugh (Stibbo).
- I do not feel a need to rush the content.

In Elsweyr and in Greymoor I felt an urge to join the world events, since they were emphasised a lot: a huge red funnel you saw a kilometer away or a map icon that showed the status of the fight. In Blackwood? A strange sound and a small red swirly thing if you happen to be nearby.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo

lordspyder wrote: »

Like many people have said, in order to level the companions, you have to go all over Tamriel,. You can't just stay in Blackwood, so now that the main quest is over, I pop in, do the dailies, then head off to do the mages / fighters/ and undaunted dailies. To realize how much of a flop this wasn't, head to any of those places that those quests send you too and see the sheer number of people doing those quests with their companions.

I'm actuall thankful for this as it's made the old world seem much more alive again as there are always a ton of people in those old zones doing things now.

This just happens every patch when a mythical item drops and for a short period of time you will see a large number of clients roaming around until they have farmed their required 'regional lead'.
It's a long process and it's grinding 101.

Most people complete this within the first week.

Elsonso

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Even Blackwood cannot drive me back to Summerset.

scorpius2k1

Lugaldu wrote: »

Durham wrote: »

For me this expansion is a flop. Companions come -on why would they put this in the game? This is a MMORPG it needs to reward grouping! NOT ENCHANCED Soloing.

This is the first expansion that I have not bought.

I really don't understand how people can say the new chapter is bad if they haven't tested it themselves and are only referring to hearsay... Sorry, but this is not a fair judgement.

Maybe they did test it on PTS to make their decision? Idk.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Durham wrote: »

For me this expansion is a flop. Companions come -on why would they put this in the game? This is a MMORPG it needs to reward grouping! NOT ENCHANCED Soloing.

This is the first expansion that I have not bought.

I really don't understand how people can say the new chapter is bad if they haven't tested it themselves and are only referring to hearsay... Sorry, but this is not a fair judgement.

Maybe they did test it on PTS to make their decision? Idk.

We talk a lot about DLC and what it offers amongst ourselves (friends/discord/reddit) and we make decisions based upon recent previous content and comments from our peers and community as said above.
We''ve been around for 7+ years, we know what's up

RevJJ

I’m loving it. It’s made me want to make more Argonian characters.

Plus, one of the side quests seems to draw inspiration from Die Hard.

Ippokrates

RevJJ wrote: »

I’m loving it. It’s made me want to make more Argonian characters.

Plus, one of the side quests seems to draw inspiration from Die Hard.

The whole chapter draws inspiration from Die Hard making people go to skyscraper & jump...

whitecrow

I prefer it empty. Nothing less immersive than having 100 people standing around to talk to the same NPC.

scorpius2k1

Elsonso wrote: »

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Even Blackwood cannot drive me back to Summerset.

Summerset Elsweyr
There, that any better?

Regardless of like/dislike for Summerset itself, it's hard to argue the overall design choice, aesthetics, and story was put together a lot better. Not to mention it was the last chapter before this "year long story" abomination came along splitting a full chapter zone in two pieces for yet another DLC. Everything just feels rushed out of the gate and incomplete over the last few years imho.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

I've only been there to get Mirri and do some scrying around the zone so I can only comment on the visualizations. Well, it looks kind of bland and boring; similar to Cyrodiil.

Bekkael

No idea if it’s a flop or not (I don’t personally like it, but that’s neither here nor there), but it is the emptiest new zone I have ever seen in the 6+ years I have been playing ESO. When doing WB dailies or just completing a world boss for the first time, there were no other players around. I usually started them alone, and 1 or 2 other players would show up before the boss was dead, then vanish again. I ride long distances without seeing another player at all. So eerie, it almost feels like Cyrodiil on an empty campaign. 🤷‍♀️

scorpius2k1

Youyouz06 wrote: »

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Durham wrote: »

For me this expansion is a flop. Companions come -on why would they put this in the game? This is a MMORPG it needs to reward grouping! NOT ENCHANCED Soloing.

This is the first expansion that I have not bought.

I really don't understand how people can say the new chapter is bad if they haven't tested it themselves and are only referring to hearsay... Sorry, but this is not a fair judgement.

Maybe they did test it on PTS to make their decision? Idk.

We talk a lot about DLC and what it offers amongst ourselves (friends/discord/reddit) and we make decisions based upon recent previous content and comments from our peers and community as said above.
We''ve been around for 7+ years, we know what's up

Agreed and my point exactly. Alongside previous content, testing the latest on PTS during the last few weeks can give that last bit of insight and ultimately impact a final decision. Raisins has been though many adventures with us over the years.

aipex8_ESO

My issue is that once you finish the main story, there isn't a lot of reason to hang around. No daily for world event Oblivion portals, and the fact that they aren't easy to find is one thing. Also, most of the things to level companion rapport/level seems to be in other zones so I'm doing that a lot. (in fact, since it's dropped, I've spent more time in vanilla zones than I have since base game release!)