Hireling Passive Upgrade Option - Survey Hireling

Vampryss

The hireling passive on each of the Crafting Skill lines is O.K. however I was thinking about what would make it more useful. While running around trying to complete the multitude of survey's I've racked up now taking up inventory space again, I thought what if there was a secondary passive to the hireling line? A Survey Hireling.

Example:

Blacksmithing Skill Line:
Survey Hireling

• X skill points = Hireling will fetch materials from qty 1 blacksmithing survey and return in 20 hours
• X skill points = Hireling will fetch materials from qty 1 blacksmithing survey and return in 12 hours
• X skill points = Hireling will fetch materials from qty 2 blacksmithing surveys and return in 12 hours

Of course, I would expect something like this to cost more than just 1 skill point. But I also know that many veteran players have skill points to burn. I also believe that the main Hireling passive would have to be maxed out in order to access the secondary Survey Hireling line or, perhaps just add to the existing line. Too much? What are your thoughts?

Sylvermynx

I wouldn't mind if it was added, but I wouldn't use it. I LOVE doing surveys.... no matter how many there are. Right now, I have hundreds (across 2 accounts both PC megaservers) which I desultorily fill when I'm in a zone where I have some - but for the most part I hang onto them for the endeavors when they pop up on the list.

This sort of thing has come up various times, but it doesn't seem as if ZOS has much interest in it.

joerginger

Not sure if this is the best way to do this, but something should be done to the abhorrent hireling mail system. It''s annoying having to log into every single character every twelve hours just to pick up the mails.

Regarding surveys: They also should be improved by eliminating the need to ride to and fro just to make the nodes respawn. If there are ten surveys in a character's inventory, just let them get ten times the amount of resources and be done with all the unnecessary relogging, porting to and from an unowned house or riding away and returning to the survey location.

freespirit

I too have 100's BUT I wouldn't trust them to a hireling plus how would you deal with the associated cp that increases material drop numbers?

Plentiful Harvest in green tree

kargen27

Surveys are basically a mechanic to get us to zones we might otherwise avoid. Letting hirelings grab them for you defeats the purpose of having surveys.

Sylvermynx

kargen27 wrote: »

Surveys are basically a mechanic to get us to zones we might otherwise avoid. Letting hirelings grab them for you defeats the purpose of having surveys.

True, but again, I'm sort of an outlier. I run lowbies out to every zone doing antiquities....

Vampryss

freespirit wrote: »

I too have 100's BUT I wouldn't trust them to a hireling plus how would you deal with the associated cp that increases material drop numbers?

Plentiful Harvest in green tree

I could be wrong, but I didn’t think the CP effected the surveys. At least I haven’t noticed a difference on another account I have in the drop rate with no CP points for Surveys.

Amottica

I think it is more likley we will get an assistant via the crown store to do this than anything in-game.

Snamyap

I think the very point is that they should take time to complete, else it would just be free materials, and a lot of them. They gain value because of the time invested. There should be a solution to the duplicate issue, running back and forth is just plain dumb.

joerginger

By now the number of surveys I have would take way longer to do than I can possibly live.

Blinx

I delete more surveys than I actually do, but it's part of gameplay, as boring as they may be
I feel surveys should be left just the way they are

Snamyap wrote: »

I think the very point is that they should take time to complete, else it would just be free materials, and a lot of them. They gain value because of the time invested. There should be a solution to the duplicate issue, running back and forth is just plain dumb.

agree with this 100%

agelonestar

Vampryss wrote: »

The hireling passive on each of the Crafting Skill lines is O.K. however I was thinking about what would make it more useful. While running around trying to complete the multitude of survey's I've racked up now taking up inventory space again, I thought what if there was a secondary passive to the hireling line? A Survey Hireling.

Example:

Blacksmithing Skill Line:
Survey Hireling

• X skill points = Hireling will fetch materials from qty 1 blacksmithing survey and return in 20 hours
• X skill points = Hireling will fetch materials from qty 1 blacksmithing survey and return in 12 hours
• X skill points = Hireling will fetch materials from qty 2 blacksmithing surveys and return in 12 hours

Of course, I would expect something like this to cost more than just 1 skill point. But I also know that many veteran players have skill points to burn. I also believe that the main Hireling passive would have to be maxed out in order to access the secondary Survey Hireling line or, perhaps just add to the existing line. Too much? What are your thoughts?

Honestly they could add real money to my ESO+ and I’d pay it for a survey hireling. Or Crowns. Heck, anything !!!

BloodyStigmata

kargen27 wrote: »

Surveys are basically a mechanic to get us to zones we might otherwise avoid. Letting hirelings grab them for you defeats the purpose of having surveys.

Surveys are a mechanic to give us materials as a reward for doing crafting writs and nothing more--any other perceived purpose is extrapolation on our part. To defeat the purpose, one would have to not get materials from it.

But I can agree with the sentiment that we should still have to go out and collect them ourselves. The time spent doing that however can absolutely, and should absolutely be cut down, because crafting surveys do not respect player time in their current state.

I've proposed the idea that survey nodes should just be one large interactable that consolidates all the maps you have for that particular spot and calculates what you would have gotten harvesting the nodes individually and gives them to you. That way you can just collect it and move on without having to play the "did I run far away enough to get it to respawn" game.

HerrKeinTipp_MrNoTip

Blinx wrote: »

I delete more surveys than I actually do, but it's part of gameplay, as boring as they may be
I feel surveys should be left just the way they are

Snamyap wrote: »

I think the very point is that they should take time to complete, else it would just be free materials, and a lot of them. They gain value because of the time invested. There should be a solution to the duplicate issue, running back and forth is just plain dumb.

agree with this 100%

I don't. The effort is in getting your toons to the point that this stuff drops.

I don't hate it that much....I do every 5-15 days (except alch and ench which I might do every month or more)....but like...it's a pretty cruddy grind. I guess it's similar to the gripes about why we have to regrind skyshards or pay $$....it's not ideal..it's an unentertaining time sink....but I think most of us would agree that it is what it is and it ain't changing. Best case would be some 5000 crown "survey assistant" as posted above....which I'd almost certainly buy.

Gundug

I would prefer if the current system of six scattered nodes was instead replaced with a single mega node that has the six draws built into it. I would also prefer if harvesting the mega node was a timed action of 15 - 30 seconds of animated harvesting per survey, and the action continues until either interrupted, or surveys run out. Harvest actions interrupted before completion would not consume their survey, nor produce any resources. Therefore, if a player holds, for example, five surveys for a location, the harvest action animates for 1.25 to 2.5 minutes to exhaust all surveys.

SilverBride

I'd love to see a CP passive added to the Craft tree so you could click one node and have it harvest the entire survey rather than having to click each node separately.

@Gundug I just saw your idea after I had already posted. That would work well, too.

theendoftheriver

Not sure this is necessary. I finished all my surveys in the past month from over a year of gathering. It's a little tedious, but I do it when I am multitasking at my desk. Login, collect, logout. I had surveys for all the possible nodes, some of them dozens. Now I have tens of thousands of raw materials for all the professions. Don't make it too easy, unless it pays out less for the convenience.

tmbrinks

Vampryss wrote: »

freespirit wrote: »

I too have 100's BUT I wouldn't trust them to a hireling plus how would you deal with the associated cp that increases material drop numbers?

Plentiful Harvest in green tree

I could be wrong, but I didn’t think the CP effected the surveys. At least I haven’t noticed a difference on another account I have in the drop rate with no CP points for Surveys.

Plentiful harvest absolutely affects surveys.

To answer the OPs proposal.

No, I don't think there should be a hireling option. I think there should be an NPC that you can trade the survey to for 15 max level mats and 10 random low level mats (for BS/WW/Cloth). Which is what you would have gotten had you not gotten the survey as a drop. The others can do the same for their respective crafts

kargen27

BloodyStigmata wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

Surveys are basically a mechanic to get us to zones we might otherwise avoid. Letting hirelings grab them for you defeats the purpose of having surveys.

Surveys are a mechanic to give us materials as a reward for doing crafting writs and nothing more--any other perceived purpose is extrapolation on our part. To defeat the purpose, one would have to not get materials from it.

But I can agree with the sentiment that we should still have to go out and collect them ourselves. The time spent doing that however can absolutely, and should absolutely be cut down, because crafting surveys do not respect player time in their current state.

I've proposed the idea that survey nodes should just be one large interactable that consolidates all the maps you have for that particular spot and calculates what you would have gotten harvesting the nodes individually and gives them to you. That way you can just collect it and move on without having to play the "did I run far away enough to get it to respawn" game.

Surveys are a bonus you sometimes get for completing the writ. You get gold and materials as a reward. The surveys are there as a way to get players to return to zones they may otherwise not enter. Same as antiquities, treasure maps, mythic items and a few other things. An MMO needs players returning to existing content to survive long term. RNG does that to a point and all these added bonuses provide even more incentive.

oldbobdude

Vampryss wrote: »

freespirit wrote: »

I too have 100's BUT I wouldn't trust them to a hireling plus how would you deal with the associated cp that increases material drop numbers?

Plentiful Harvest in green tree

I could be wrong, but I didn’t think the CP effected the surveys. At least I haven’t noticed a difference on another account I have in the drop rate with no CP points for Surveys.

CP plentiful harvest absolutely applies to surveys.

DinoZavr

The most annoying point in doing multiple surveys is running here <-> there to make nodes respawn.
I can not apply the term "gaming" to this mind-numbing experience. Dumb grind that is.
of course, nooone obliges me to run here-there, but surveys do drop and i am always short of crafting materials.
Eliminating the need to force nodes respawn could help quite a lot. Six clicks and you get materials for the whole bunch.
I always trash Northern Elsweyr surveys (and Wrothgar 3 JC survey) as it takes insane time to make 'em respawn.

fizl101

Tbh my wish for treasure maps and surveys - I would likw it that if I have been to that survey location before then they show up on my map (console player) rather than having to look them up

FeedbackOnly

Amottica wrote: »

I think it is more likley we will get an assistant via the crown store to do this than anything in-game.

I am okay with this...

theendoftheriver

DinoZavr wrote: »

The most annoying point in doing multiple surveys is running here <-> there to make nodes respawn.
I can not apply the term "gaming" to this mind-numbing experience. Dumb grind that is.
of course, nooone obliges me to run here-there, but surveys do drop and i am always short of crafting materials.
Eliminating the need to force nodes respawn could help quite a lot. Six clicks and you get materials for the whole bunch.
I always trash Northern Elsweyr surveys (and Wrothgar 3 JC survey) as it takes insane time to make 'em respawn.

That's why I prefer the login/logout method. I have a one key bind for logout, so at least I know on every load the reset has occurred. I turn off all my add-on list except for a couple for quicker loads. Boring, but reliable. It is a more efficient method by the number of keystrokes and amount of attention required. I certainly do this while watching a stream or reading forums.

wolfie1.0.

Won't happen like this. IF it happens it will be:

An added function of eso+

Part of an upcoming dlc

An added assistant rate you can purchase for 5000 crown.

SammyKhajit

Sammy does the survey on a regular basis (i.e., every two weeks). It’s pretty boring and this one always wonder why we don’t get a provision survey. Plundering containers and sacks for purple and gold cooking ingredients will be a bit more exciting than mining ores (or at least for this one).

FlopsyPrince

Sylvermynx wrote: »

I wouldn't mind if it was added, but I wouldn't use it. I LOVE doing surveys.... no matter how many there are. Right now, I have hundreds (across 2 accounts both PC megaservers) which I desultorily fill when I'm in a zone where I have some - but for the most part I hang onto them for the endeavors when they pop up on the list.

This sort of thing has come up various times, but it doesn't seem as if ZOS has much interest in it.

I do not LOVE interrupting my other efforts (leveling, questing, gaining skillpoints, etc.) to gather surveys. I appreciate them, but usually pile them up until I get a bunch at once (and that seriously needs help!) and it takes a lot of play time, especially with the foolish node reset methods.

HerrKeinTipp_MrNoTip

DinoZavr wrote: »

The most annoying point in doing multiple surveys is running here <-> there to make nodes respawn.
I can not apply the term "gaming" to this mind-numbing experience. Dumb grind that is.
of course, nooone obliges me to run here-there, but surveys do drop and i am always short of crafting materials.
Eliminating the need to force nodes respawn could help quite a lot. Six clicks and you get materials for the whole bunch.
I always trash Northern Elsweyr surveys (and Wrothgar 3 JC survey) as it takes insane time to make 'em respawn.

Did you know that if you run out of sight of the survey point and harvest at least one random nearby mat node (maybe a few to be sure), the survey node will have respawned when you run back? (at least on PC-NA).

I like your suggestion sooo much better than this reality, but wanted to share the tip based on your frustration.