Is Blackwood a flop?

amapola76

Danikat wrote: »

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.

Similar for me.

I will say, I think a huge misstep for US players was releasing it the week after Memorial Day weekend. I was originally planning to spend most of that three day weekend getting acquainted with the zone, but then I believe they changed the release date? Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention earlier. In any case, I have a fulltime job and a family, so normal weekends are extremely busy for me. I still play the game in my free time, but if I'm going to really immerse myself in a new chapter, I like to have a nice big window of free time to check it out. And then the 4th of July is on a weekend this year, so I probably won't even get around to checking out the new content until at least August, maybe September.

Iccotak

Also where are all the motifs? Morrowind had up to 6 motifs - Blackwood has two, one of which can only be found with Antiquities which requires Greymoor....

alanmatillab16_ESO

Iccotak wrote: »

Also where are all the motifs? Morrowind had up to 6 motifs - Blackwood has two, one of which can only be found with Antiquities which requires Greymoor....

Nope, you can unlock antiquities right now thanks to the ESO+ trial. I took advantage of the base game being £5.99 and the eso+ trial to have a "one character only" account and unlocked antiquities last night simply by taking a wayshrine to Skyrim.

Klad

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.

Yeah I'm sure you're all busted up about it...

To answer your questions, some days are more active than others but on PC it's about as active as any other expansion.

EmEm_Oh

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.

People find other things to do and play, I suppose.

Iccotak

alanmatillab16_ESO wrote: »

Iccotak wrote: »

Also where are all the motifs? Morrowind had up to 6 motifs - Blackwood has two, one of which can only be found with Antiquities which requires Greymoor....

Nope, you can unlock antiquities right now thanks to the ESO+ trial. I took advantage of the base game being £5.99 and the eso+ trial to have a "one character only" account and unlocked antiquities last night simply by taking a wayshrine to Skyrim.

Ok, you still have to go to Skyrim to get the skill line necessary to get the motif in Blackwood, and again - there are only 2

Ivory brigade and Ancestral Akaviri - what about Black Fin style?

I got two other motifs from Blackwood but those were bonuses from pre-order and collector's upgrade

czar

Maybe because it's overpriced and there's a lot of other stuff to do in-game?

BazOfWar

I went in and played through the story which seemed underwhelming with far too much boring dialogues. The world did seem empty of players and the map looked like a murkmire/cyrodiil copy paste.

The delves where a lot more interesting but that's about it, I completed the map and probably won't return.

Castagere

For me no because all I wanted was a new landmass to quest and explore. I could care less about the 3 grinding systems they have added with chapters. I never played MMOs for that.
Antiquity
companions and endeavors I have zero interest in.

I_killed_Vivec

I never rush into a new DLC, let them iron out the wrinkles first...

I saw comments about the widespread surveys, as soon as I tried to harvest one I found out why - the place is empty, nodes were all over the place, but there was nothing else there. I've attempted only 4 surveys so far, completed none of them because I couldn't find the nodes. I even used skyshards to get full visibility on nodes - didn't make a difference.

I saw next to nobody there while I was exploring, and the "numbers" were inflated by companions. Looks twice as "busy" as it actually is. Even now Wrothgar is busier than Blackwood.

And who even wanted companions? I'm mainly a solo player, but I'd rather take my chances in dungeons by myself than have a "companion" with me... and isn't it freaky that they all look the same (though I did see someone whose companion was a clone of themselves - no less freaky to be honest).

However, I know I'll put in the time to complete it, and get companions too,,, but only coz I'm an addict rather than it being any good

Lugaldu

I like Blackwood and especially the companions. But what is somehow not that cool are the portals ... I've spent the whole evening in Blackwood and haven't seen a single portal. It is a good thing that not everything here is set up like a theme park with dragon landing areas etc., but the portals could be a little easier to find or more frequent imho.

Andyhunter21

I feel like its kind a quiet too but then again with covid maybe people are waiting to get the expansion.

Czeri

I have to say that not being able to find anyone to kill a WB less than 3 weeks after a new chapter got released has never happened before. Usually you'd be waiting for a respawn hoping you manage to get a hit in before the boss dies...

Nomadic_Atmoran

Lugaldu wrote: »

I like Blackwood and especially the companions. But what is somehow not that cool are the portals ... I've spent the whole evening in Blackwood and haven't seen a single portal. It is a good thing that not everything here is set up like a theme park with dragon landing areas etc., but the portals could be a little easier to find or more frequent imho.

I have found one of them and it was empty. No one else running around in them. Was disappointing.

Tethilia

I think content-wise Blackwood isn't that impressive. However tinkering with the Companions system (which will be VERY bumpy) and the performance updates are going to be worth it in the long run. Blackwood feels like an investment into the future of the game rather than just slapping on another wing with a few rides onto the Tamriel themepark.

Endeavors have potential, however whether it is realized time will tell. Also like Houseguests, I imagine we might get something cool for Housing down the line.

Tethilia

Fact is, if you are looking for a Zone that everyone will love and you will always find people having fun and enjoying to the fullest well beyond the expansions release, you have to wait for the Telvanni Islands expansion. Until then Glenumbra and Stonefalls are always fun.

Tethilia

Yeah can't wait for the Telvanni Abyssal Harrow Dragons who open portals to oblivion with each attack.

Edit: Removed an apostrophe that snuck in there.

shadyjane62

Blackwood is so disappointing, I don't think I'll ever buy another chapter. Have already decided never to sun again, Blackwood just another thing in the negative column.

Tried a portal the first day and there were lots of people and I got through and achieved objective. 2 weeks later I go into one nobody there. Nobody in any of the areas I went to.

Go to any wayshrine and there are all these companions hanging around getting in the way.

So to summarize, since Blackwood I have given up Antiquities, survey maps, portals that are deserted, got a companion that I wish I could kill off and found nothing improved in pvp.

yes IMO Blackwood is a boring flop. However, Greybore is worse.

CSose

I'm still trying to figure out what place companions have in an MMO. I thought the idea was to force some degree of socializing in an MMO. Now one player can be an entire party, and the focus on companions will be a distraction from fixing the many performance issues that keep stacking up higher and higher.

I don't get it.

Lugaldu

CSose wrote: »

I'm still trying to figure out what place companions have in an MMO. I thought the idea was to force some degree of socializing in an MMO. Now one player can be an entire party, and the focus on companions will be a distraction from fixing the many performance issues that keep stacking up higher and higher.

I don't get it.

There are a lot of reasons why someone in an MMO might use companions instead of interacting with other people. For example, I play ESO because it has been the last expansion in the Elder Scrolls series for a long time and I have zero interest in group play or PvP. Other people may have complicated working hours and lack the time to play in the group. Or someone has had bad experiences with toxicity in MMOs and therefore prefers to play with a companion.

Orion_89

CSose wrote: »

I'm still trying to figure out what place companions have in an MMO. I thought the idea was to force some degree of socializing in an MMO. Now one player can be an entire party, and the focus on companions will be a distraction from fixing the many performance issues that keep stacking up higher and higher.

I don't get it.

I expected companions are here to improve our immersion, that they will represent native dwellers' reaction to our actions, but... They have no such depth. They don't even count us as a living legendary heroes, calling us a "partner". I'm not your partner, I have already saved the world several times, and you did nothing remarkable yet.

Davor

Is it a flop? Having a 20% off sale only two weeks after release on console? Dang, usually it was a month or 3 months before a sale. 2 weeks?

Is it a flop? No idea. Consensus from what I read is it's not Zenimax best work from a long shot. If a million copies sold, could be considered a flop since it didn't sell 20 million copies from what Zenimax claims as "new" people then yes it's a flop. How can something sell that is what only 5% of people bought? Again, going by Zenimax boasting claims as "new".

If a million copies sold heck even 100 000 copies sold, seems like a success. Many companies would love those numbers. Sadly companies like Bethesda Softworks, a million copies sold is a flop. It's all in the eye of the beholder. My guess for Bethesda Softworks, it's not a flop since it does seem that they are charging more or the same for less content and don't seem to be changing their ways.

So no, not a flop since Bethesda doesn't seem to want Zenimax to work harder to make a better product, but in the eyes of many players, it's a flop since the story/content doesn't seem to improve.

Haven't played Blackwood yet, so I can't say one way or the other yet.

AusarViled

Would not say it’s a flop, because I see a decent amount of companions- the expansion provided a yukon gold rush for the first few days to week on purple rings, had a chance to get a lot of gold I would not get otherwise.

The story of Blackwood is terrible, the worst one I have ever seen, and is at best as good as some bad side quests. The characters are bad, forgettable no reason for doing anything. Motivations for what your Mc does makes no sense- eg: if you are part of dark brotherhood, you just revel you are a member and hand over crucial documents??? WTF

The zone is just plane ugly. Fairly sure oblivion is the worst received ES game, morrowind and Skyrim are the best ones bar none. The entire area is just copy pasted, to large.

Also the fact they intentionally cut out 15 quests to sell you as dlc area, rubs me wrong. Other areas such as skyrim would at least conclude their story in a way that makes sense. Here it’s just clear they cut it out. Lazy and greedy Zos. This is something that deserves its own thread, we should be punish Zos for it

Gaebriel0410

Orion_89 wrote: »

I expected companions are here to improve our immersion, that they will represent native dwellers' reaction to our actions, but... They have no such depth. They don't even count us as a living legendary heroes, calling us a "partner". I'm not your partner, I have already saved the world several times, and you did nothing remarkable yet.

I'm the exact opposite, I find it more immersive that they -don't- refer to us as legendary superheroes. I always loved that they essentially put a singleplayer TES story into the game, but I'd never consider my character the vestige or whatever his name is, as for me that just doesn't work in multiplayer games. So I much appreciate the more grounded approach, same for questgivers referring to players as 'adventurer' etc. I like my characters to be regular adventurers/knights/wizards/etc. instead of superman.

ArchMikem

thrashtilldeath666cub18_ESO wrote: »

Orion_89 wrote: »

I expected companions are here to improve our immersion, that they will represent native dwellers' reaction to our actions, but... They have no such depth. They don't even count us as a living legendary heroes, calling us a "partner". I'm not your partner, I have already saved the world several times, and you did nothing remarkable yet.

I'm the exact opposite, I find it more immersive that they -don't- refer to us as legendary superheroes. I always loved that they essentially put a singleplayer TES story into the game, but I'd never consider my character the vestige or whatever his name is, as for me that just doesn't work in multiplayer games. So I much appreciate the more grounded approach, same for questgivers referring to players as 'adventurer' etc. I like my characters to be regular adventurers/knights/wizards/etc. instead of superman.

The authorities in Blackwood called me Mercenary.

My character is a Queen's Claw of Elsweyr for one. Moon Hallowed, Pact Hero, and even thru twisting of the Lore a bit, member of the Empire. But sure, in Leyawiin I'm just a Merc.

SammyKhajit

ArchMikem wrote: »

thrashtilldeath666cub18_ESO wrote: »

Orion_89 wrote: »

I expected companions are here to improve our immersion, that they will represent native dwellers' reaction to our actions, but... They have no such depth. They don't even count us as a living legendary heroes, calling us a "partner". I'm not your partner, I have already saved the world several times, and you did nothing remarkable yet.

I'm the exact opposite, I find it more immersive that they -don't- refer to us as legendary superheroes. I always loved that they essentially put a singleplayer TES story into the game, but I'd never consider my character the vestige or whatever his name is, as for me that just doesn't work in multiplayer games. So I much appreciate the more grounded approach, same for questgivers referring to players as 'adventurer' etc. I like my characters to be regular adventurers/knights/wizards/etc. instead of superman.

The authorities in Blackwood called me Mercenary.

My character is a Queen's Claw of Elsweyr for one. Moon Hallowed, Pact Hero, and even thru twisting of the Lore a bit, member of the Empire. But sure, in Leyawiin I'm just a Merc.

News travel slowly in Leyawiin. This one was at least praised for destroying the great shackle at Gideon, and that happened many moons ago.

Necrosaro_123

The zone feels super incomplete. Doing Blackwood map doesnt even take you 4hrs to complete.
There is nothing Blackwood to keep you there. The only reason i do it is to farm Leyawiin furniture plans (blue and purple ones) to sell them. Outside of that, there is no reason to return to it.

Western Skyrim have the Harrowstorms, Nchuthnkarst that is actually useful for gold making. And interesting materials to farm that are still worth the coin.
The Reach is also small, but with many treasures to collect. Harrowstorms are still being farmed a lot. Motifs are one of the main reasons.

Old zones like Summerset, Vvardenfel and Elsweyr are awesome too. Is worth the time to return to them, because not only they look awesome, they have interesting stories and activities to do on them

Blackwood portals are confusing, boring and even more repetitive than Harrowstorms. For some reason, they are not as good as Harrowstorms. Dragons in Elsweyr used to be fun, but the Deadland portals are just bad.

Blackwood, really needs a re-work, on its content, specially the Deadlands portals.

Lugaldu

I can imagine that it will be similar to last year. With the release of Greymoor everyone was disappointed with the story, but Q4 with Markath and the Reach brought the whole thing to a more interesting end.
If now Blackwood seems a little scanty, then the Deadlands in Q4 might be a real firework (literally...).

KalyanLazair

I haven't played it yet, but I've been here since 2016. Wrothgar is, by far, the best DLC they've ever created. The area is huge, and there is just so much to do that I keep going back just to enjoy doing WB or dungeons. The two group dungeons are actually beautifully done and a lot of fun to play.

After Wrothgar, Vvardenfell is another marvelous DLC. Again, huge zone with a lot of content and a somewhat interesting story.

Then there is Summerset which has a smaller zone than the two previous ones, but it is beautiful to the eye, and there are plenty of side quests to do.

The downfall came with Elsweyr. That's when they started splitting zones into two areas, so both zones end up feeling kind of empty. I did enjoy the story, and I keep going back to SE to hunt dragons, but overall it doesn't feel as full of life as the other zones. I can recall plenty of sidequests from Wrothgar, Vvardenfell and Summerset, and I've only done each of them on my main upon release, so it's been years. I can hardly remember one or two Elsweyr sidequests.

Greymoor was awful. It's like they just stopped trying. Skyrim never felt as empty as it did, and Skyrim was pretty darn empty because the map is huge. Whole area felt tiny, and there wasn't much going on. The only notable mention is the ice girl quest from Markarth, because the main quest is boring, predictable and not very engaging.

in my opinion, splitting the zones and stories in two areas is a mistake. I've looked up Google Trends and... well, numbers don't speak very highly.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today 5-y&q=elder scrolls online

Look when you compare Blackwood with Summerset. I mean... I don't think the graph can be any clearer.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=The Elder Scrolls Online - Summerset,elder scrolls online blackwood

Game is not getting better, in my opinion, and it shows.

Vaoh

The game as a whole is doing great population-wise. This chapter is the emptiest I've seen though.

Vvardenfell, Summerset, Elsweyr, and Western Skyrim zones were packed with players at launch but Blackwood feels like its been out for half a year... I don't see any huge masses of players in the new zone.