Overland Content Feedback Thread

spartaxoxo

Franchise408 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Franchise408 wrote: »

I will never, never ever group with anyone in overland content. Never. I am not playing "with" anybody when I am in the overland. I am already separated from the rest of the playerbase because there is zero reason for me to play with anyone in the overland.

You are not. Others are playing with randoms. I have helped plenty of random players I came across while doing overland who needed it. And the vast majority of the playerbase is using overland.

If someone isn't using overland currently, then that's obviously not who is getting separated. It is vet players who DO use overland, that would be separated from new players. This makes it hard for them to find friends and guilds, receive help, or even understand that the game is still alive.

I know for a 100% fact players like this exist because I am literally one of them.

And those people that do that can stay in their preferred instance and play together, while those of us who want a challenge can go to our instance and play the way we want.

I want a challenge and I want to be available to new players. I also want to be able to play alongside friends and family, not all of whom are able to do vet content.

This idea that only people who quit overland would use an option to increase difficulty is totally incorrect. I am currently using overland. I don't mind helping new players. And I would use anything that would allow me to increase the difficulty if given the choice.

Muizer

disky wrote: »

I agree that dynamism would be a huge boon for the overland experience, but a challenge increase (option) has to come first or it doesn't mean much. As it has already been said, if we're trampling over everything then no amount of surprise will matter. It would just be another nuisance to brush aside.

If it is possible to spawn enemies to attack the player specifically, encounters could be added that are comprehensively tailored to a player's chosen difficulty level. Not just in terms of player-side stats, but mob stats, numbers, types and special abilities. That does not depend in any way on changes to existing encounters. Saying those need to be addressed first may be a preference, but it's not a necessity.

disky

Muizer wrote: »

disky wrote: »

I agree that dynamism would be a huge boon for the overland experience, but a challenge increase (option) has to come first or it doesn't mean much. As it has already been said, if we're trampling over everything then no amount of surprise will matter. It would just be another nuisance to brush aside.

If it is possible to spawn enemies to attack the player specifically, encounters could be added that are comprehensively tailored to a player's chosen difficulty level. Not just in terms of player-side stats, but mob stats, numbers, types and special abilities. That does not depend in any way on changes to existing encounters. Saying those need to be addressed first may be a preference, but it's not a necessity.

But if you're already tailoring that type of encounter to the player's challenge preferences, why not just create a system which does it for all of overland? What is the point of creating challenging dynamic encounters while leaving the rest of overland as it is? Wouldn't it be better (and easier) to just build a blanket debuff system for the entire content area, rather than doing it only for those encounters and creating what would amount to an inconsistent experience?

If you want more dynamism or interesting mechanics within the bounds of those encounters, that's still possible with a blanket overland challenge increase. It would just exist on top of the settings for general overland.

Muizer

disky wrote: »

But if you're already tailoring that type of encounter to the player's challenge preferences, why not just create a system which does it for all of overland? What is the point of creating challenging dynamic encounters while leaving the rest of overland as it is? Wouldn't it be better (and easier) to just build a blanket debuff system for the entire content area, rather than doing it only for those encounters and creating what would amount to an inconsistent experience?.

It's a matter of quality over quantity. Dynamic encounters can be purposefully designed to provide a player-customizable challenge including mob numbers, strength and variety. A blanket player debuff is very limited in what it can achieve because it can't do any of that.

As for what is 'easier', I think a more pertinent consideration is 'what can ZOS monetize'. I think brand new added content has a better chance than a modifier on existing content.

disky

Muizer wrote: »

disky wrote: »

But if you're already tailoring that type of encounter to the player's challenge preferences, why not just create a system which does it for all of overland? What is the point of creating challenging dynamic encounters while leaving the rest of overland as it is? Wouldn't it be better (and easier) to just build a blanket debuff system for the entire content area, rather than doing it only for those encounters and creating what would amount to an inconsistent experience?.

It's a matter of quality over quantity. Dynamic encounters can be purposefully designed to provide a player-customizable challenge including mob numbers, strength and variety. A blanket player debuff is very limited in what it can achieve because it can't do any of that.

As for what is 'easier', I think a more pertinent consideration is 'what can ZOS monetize'. I think brand new added content has a better chance than a modifier on existing content.

First, I don't think it's about what is monetizable, I think it's about what is possible or likely to happen. And I'm not saying that dynamic, customizable overland encounters couldn't or shouldn't happen. I'd love to see it and I 100% agree that overland could benefit from a greater level of unpredictability. But I think it's best to do the easier, more cost-efficient, more practical thing, which would provide the greatest experiential benefit, and then build on it.

I really don't agree that it's more monetizable. I think a challenge option is something that a lot of players have been clamoring for over the years and an alternative which doesn't address the problem head-on would be another in a long line of distractions which ultimately fail to satisfy when the rest of overland is still a breeze. Optional overland challenge would be a huge boon to the game and if it were made known that it was coming, I think a lot of players would come back to overland, and even come back to the game.

Muizer

Ok, I should phrase it more carefully. Generally ZOS don't spend much effort on updates of content that has already been released / sold. The 'quality of life' updates fall into the category of 'quick wins'. A difficulty slider is not a quick win.

You're talking about an effort that ZOS have so far only expended on a major ingredient of their yearly content release cycle: A new zone, or a new major system.

ZOS seem to operate on a paradigm that these must offer something players feel they cannot miss out on: progression or rewards.

That then leads to the question: how are ZOS going to introduce a system where players need to to play through content they have already played through to get these new unmissable rewards?

Because people will complain when there are such rewards. And people will also complain if there aren't

So yeah I get your point about the value of investing in longevity, but I suspect for ZOS that can never be the main focus while they're trying to drive revenue and keep players involved from one year to the next.

spartaxoxo

Quarter 3 changes are for quality of life changes that just make the game better.

A slider that just gives you a debuff and some exp to offset the debuff wouldn't be crazy different than Home Tours or Group Finder.