Would anyone be okay with a content year break?

BahometZ

Hell yeah. There's a lot of things they can do to spice up what we've already got.

Base game is still the most genuine elder scrolls experience, still some of the best zones in the game. Just need more reason to roam them. They're squeezing the edges of the towel now, with Blackwood and High Isle, like Game of Thrones TV show after GRR Martin left. ESO exploration of lore is unfortunately pretty middle of the road.

Overland zones need just something a little more engaging and repeatable, perhaps something like hardmode toggles for world bosses (veteran overland just seems too difficult to code for) with chance of more alluring loot (furnishings, gold mats)

Dragon Star Arena could do with a complete overhaul, with more achievements, a hard mode, a way to skip dialogue if you've already completed.

Base dungeons at least could use a score system, with a weekly leaderboard too.

Fishing needs to provide more reward than it currently does, roe drop rate is terrible, and gunny sacks give nothing worthwhile.

I'll gladly take a break from the same cockney voiced characters, predictable plot twits, and repetitive mechanics of the most recent DLCs for bug fixes and revamps.

xXSilverDragonXx

geekboy09 wrote: »

What i'm saying is a year with no content but with a emphasis on fixing bugs, and improving older content?

If they are okay with people getting bored and moving on, then sure.

The reality is that people have been wanting bugs to get fixed for YEARS. I mean go back to 2016 when I first started and see all the people wanting bugs fixed. It is an ongoing process. Some never get fixed because very likely it's hard to find what causes them or replicate them and see what causes them. In other cases, some might not be able to be fixed as it could cause a cascade of other issues. Then of course there are ones they wouldn't even bother with as the priority is low. Beyond that, you still have some performance issues that might not be able to be addressed beyond updating entire systems.

tomfant

Darkstorne wrote: »

That's... not how game development works.

"Writers! Texture artists! 3D modellers! SFX crew! Environment designers! You're now all programmers and on bug squashing duty!"

There is enough to do for every dev group. Just a few examples:

world builders: there is still resources nodes and treasure chests inside walls or sunken into the ground
texture and 3D artists: revamp low-poly models
writers: find a way around the immersion breaking issues introduced with AWA
combat team: play the game for a couple of months to get an idea how to balance classes and skills
engine coders: revamp physics that my char don't go into flight mode when running down stairs and or get stuck at small branches and pebbles
UI design: add functionalities that are currently provided by commoly used addons, eg. mini map, item sorting, inventory insight, better guild store search, trait research overview, etc

Once that is done the whole team can go back to prepare a new chapter that not as lackluster as the last couple of chapters.

licenturion

I would not mind if they cleaned up the base game for a year.

- Put the testers, network coders, engine coders on performance and shader improvements
- Put the art team on revamping the base zones with new lighting, vegetation, rocks, cosmetics and textures
- Put the story team and quest scripters on some new interesting story quests for each base zone
- Put QA team on testing, balancing and bug fixes

This way everyone would have something to do. We would have some new things and the base zones doesn't look like it is 2010 anymore.

Mushroomancer

Wait, aren't we already in the middle of a content break? Elsweyr was a while ago now.

Edgy jokes aside. No thanks, for two main reasons.

First, the devs that actually put the creative effort in the content and the ones that troubleshoot are not one and the same. I don't see why troubleshooting would require new content to be postponed.
Secondly, I don't know about you, but my initial hyperbole aside, I think a generic european fantasy zone, 4 boring asset-flip dungeons, and a card game no one asked for (and probably no one will be playing in a year's time) barely qualify as content, especially when it's spread out over a year. The amount of content we get each year has already been shrinking in the name of "performance fixes", meanwhile here I am, getting disconnects multiple times in any trial, just like my guildmates, not to mention the horrible mechanical state of some of those trials. And even outside of that, I haven't noticed the slightest performance improvement in years maybe. Cue your average solo player saying that they have no issues with the game whatsoever, while they proceed to never, ever take a step inside any instanced content.

Honestly, not to sound rude or anything, but I'm starting to get a bit bored of how much the devs wave performance gains around as a get-out-of-jail-free card everytime they release something that is underwhelming or uninspired, as they have been doing for the past couple of years. The quality of content, not to mention its quantity has been below-average at best lately, performance shouldn't get in the way of that; again, the devs that create the content aren't the same that fix performance.
I'm sorry to say that, to me, the performance argument just makes ZOS appear untrustworthy, it really does sound like a cheap excuse at this point.

So, no. Do not stop the drip-feed of content we get for the sake of performance. We have been getting promises about that for years now, and nothing has changed, just do better ZOS, that's it.

EdmondDontes

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I would be fine with it, but ZOSs shareholders would not. Unfortunately they dont make money on bug fixes.

ZOS does not have a board of directors or shareholders any longer. Not after the sale to MS ....and look how much better off we are for that already.

EdmondDontes

Performance will always matter more than content. Or at least it should. What good is new content if it's buggy and unplayable or makes the older content buggy and unplayable?

Mushroomancer

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I would be fine with it, but ZOSs shareholders would not. Unfortunately they dont make money on bug fixes.

ZOS does not have a board of directors or shareholders any longer. Not after the sale to MS ....and look how much better off we are for that already.

How are we better off for it exactly? It doesn't look or feel like any meaningful change has happened since MS acquired the company. Unless you are talking about the absolute joke that are endeavors.

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Performance will always matter more than content. Or at least it should. What good is new content if it's buggy and unplayable or makes the older content buggy and unplayable?

I get what you say, but at this point, most instanced content is in such a sorry state that it's become the new norm. The problem is that we have been getting claims of *** being in the process of being fixed all the time, with nothing to show for it. As a bonus we also get less impressive content because of said performance fixes. It's a lose-lose for the player, somehow. Severe burnout aside, the content to me has gotten so stale and formulaic, that I'd rather have slightly broken, but actually fresh content, rather than a screeching halt to the already lacking stuff we get. And no, a bottom-tier card game isn't fresh, it's just another time-waster side activity. I want actual gameplay, not ESL's dumb cousin.

SedoUmbra

Personally, I would, yes but the reason for this is that I have taken a long break from the game and have a lot of content to catch up on. I have also recently taken an interest in PvP which could really do with some improvements.

But to anyone who is a more dedicated player and doesn't have a huge backlog of content, content drought is just about the worst thing you could order. Content droughts kills games. And a year is a super long time. If you want to drastically aggravate and potentially lower the playerbase, a content drought is just about the best way to go about it.

Live service games live and die by the amount of content they have. In order to stay afloat, the game needs regular content and QoL improvements and bug fixes. You can't pick or choose. You have to do both.

SerafinaWaterstar

Have to comment on this:

like Game of Thrones TV show after GRR Martin left.

He didn’t leave. They just got to the end of his published books & he gave them an outline.

And have you actually read the books? Sad case of an author that has got too big & his editor/publisher just indulge him when his writing desperately needs decent editing. The story could be told far better if he’d been kept to deadlines & word count!

ADarklore

joerginger wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Different teams of devs do those - so you want the content team to get laid off while the bugfixers work double time?

If the current content team gets laid off and is eventually replaced, the game might actually be improved. Of course the replacements might do things even worse.

If they can even FIND replacements... right now they are looking for more people as noted on their posts on Twitter, but seemingly cannot find any... much like most places these days.

But to OP's question... NO... I find the game just fine as is and what I play I don't experience much, if any, bugs or glitches. Without new content, I would just be off playing another game and ZOS would lose millions of dollars as other players would do the same; hard to pay devs and appease investors when you're losing money.

Ezorus

I thought that is what they are doing this year 🤣
A new zone is just another place to thin the population out. And a card game that looks as enjoyable as playing Solitaire while you live in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe

ivelbob

If ZOS announced a year long content break to focus on performance, most sensible players would just say "So no new dungeons, quests, motifs, furnishings for a year? Ok guess I'll take a break and see you in a year when the fresh stuff comes out." And guess how many of those players (well-intentioned they may be) will actually return? Most people will have found another game to scratch their MMO itch.

Look around the MMO landscape and see what games out there still hold onto their players after a prolonged content drought?

TheS1X

I actually would like to see more content like they have done in Amenos, this forest is amazing, but it is kind of small area.
Would like to see something like that to come back as larger area in Bosmer DLC or something. Anyways, I like new content.

Danel_Vadan

ESO doesn't need a content break; what it needs is a game director à la Naoki Yoshida.

fred4

geekboy09 wrote: »

What i'm saying is a year with no content but with a emphasis on fixing bugs, and improving older content?

On behalf of ZOS, let me ask: What's it worth to you?

EdmondDontes

Mushroomancer wrote: »

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I would be fine with it, but ZOSs shareholders would not. Unfortunately they dont make money on bug fixes.

ZOS does not have a board of directors or shareholders any longer. Not after the sale to MS ....and look how much better off we are for that already.

How are we better off for it exactly? It doesn't look or feel like any meaningful change has happened since MS acquired the company. Unless you are talking about the absolute joke that are endeavors.

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Performance will always matter more than content. Or at least it should. What good is new content if it's buggy and unplayable or makes the older content buggy and unplayable?

I get what you say, but at this point, most instanced content is in such a sorry state that it's become the new norm. The problem is that we have been getting claims of *** being in the process of being fixed all the time, with nothing to show for it. As a bonus we also get less impressive content because of said performance fixes. It's a lose-lose for the player, somehow. Severe burnout aside, the content to me has gotten so stale and formulaic, that I'd rather have slightly broken, but actually fresh content, rather than a screeching halt to the already lacking stuff we get. And no, a bottom-tier card game isn't fresh, it's just another time-waster side activity. I want actual gameplay, not ESL's dumb cousin.

We got a server renewal. Not an upgrade, but a replacement at least. That never happened before the sale to MS for some reason, but it's happened now. I'm not seeing any sweeping changes happening, but there have certainly been some steps in the right direction in my opinion. If it's finally true that they are looking at improving the base code, that is also something MS could help a ton with. I'm qualifying this with the word "if" for a reason. Until we see it, it hasn't happened.

As a PvP player I couldn't give a hoot less about "new content" or the lore. I just care about getting our old cyrodiil back and enjoying a fantastic combat system....when it works.

Sidereum

I would love if they dedicated an entire year to updating base game zones, such as the graphics etc., and also adding QoL updates and other small additions.

Fenris_Arainai

It'd be a hard no from me. I'm here mostly for the story, so if no new story comes for such a long time, I'd find something else to give me story. Chances are, I wouldn't return or would come only once in a while without sub (judging by other games that have content stretched to scarce frequency).

Olen_Mikko

I guess I'd be okay. I've been playing from 2014 and still haven't finished a single DC zone let alone any dlc zones.

Mushroomancer

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Mushroomancer wrote: »

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I would be fine with it, but ZOSs shareholders would not. Unfortunately they dont make money on bug fixes.

ZOS does not have a board of directors or shareholders any longer. Not after the sale to MS ....and look how much better off we are for that already.

How are we better off for it exactly? It doesn't look or feel like any meaningful change has happened since MS acquired the company. Unless you are talking about the absolute joke that are endeavors.

EdmondDontes wrote: »

Performance will always matter more than content. Or at least it should. What good is new content if it's buggy and unplayable or makes the older content buggy and unplayable?

I get what you say, but at this point, most instanced content is in such a sorry state that it's become the new norm. The problem is that we have been getting claims of *** being in the process of being fixed all the time, with nothing to show for it. As a bonus we also get less impressive content because of said performance fixes. It's a lose-lose for the player, somehow. Severe burnout aside, the content to me has gotten so stale and formulaic, that I'd rather have slightly broken, but actually fresh content, rather than a screeching halt to the already lacking stuff we get. And no, a bottom-tier card game isn't fresh, it's just another time-waster side activity. I want actual gameplay, not ESL's dumb cousin.

We got a server renewal. Not an upgrade, but a replacement at least. That never happened before the sale to MS for some reason, but it's happened now. I'm not seeing any sweeping changes happening, but there have certainly been some steps in the right direction in my opinion. If it's finally true that they are looking at improving the base code, that is also something MS could help a ton with. I'm qualifying this with the word "if" for a reason. Until we see it, it hasn't happened.

As a PvP player I couldn't give a hoot less about "new content" or the lore. I just care about getting our old cyrodiil back and enjoying a fantastic combat system....when it works.

Well then we just have different perspectives. I don't care at all about the PvP in ESO. I always found it unbalanced and unfun. So yeah, content drought is a problem for PvE, on all levels of it, from the most casual, stroll through Tamriel and do random quests to the sweatiest endgame raider.

peacenote

I would have been totally fine with this or any strategy that reduced content to fix things if they had waited to do AwA in a way that was more respectful for people who used the achievements for alt tracking.

Since all of that is now gone, my desire to replay anything has dropped significantly. My alt can no longer earn a speed mode or no death or even know if she has killed a world boss yet. So... ZOS is going to have to address this or keep pumping out content to keep me entertained. Dungeons are "one and done" for me now. I actually need more of them than before to have things to work towards!

Naftal

Would you be okay paying for a new "expansion" and eso+ that year without any new content?

DMuehlhausen

There will always be bugs. It's impossible to fix them all

If you don't create more content on a regular basis people will leave.

LalMirchi

geekboy09 wrote: »

What i'm saying is a year with no content but with a emphasis on fixing bugs, and improving older content?

No thank you, I respectfully disagree. I'm quite sure that there are different teams working on these two objectives.

Heydan_Seegil

Totally different teams and departments for stuff like that and even within bug fixing there are different teams for different stuff. An old co-worker of mine got hired into the Networking department so his team did the server updating stuff, but then there was also a team in his department that did normal Networking stuff while they were implementing all of that. I am betting it was just a break out group from the main Networking team who did the project to upgrade everything but still it was essentially two separate teams in the same department.

Bouldercleave

MovesLikeJaguar wrote: »

Vet overland and revamped old content would be great. New quests added, things that have been added over the years folded into the main game and older expansions, that would be fantastic! But ZoS won't make money on that so it won't happen, at least not with their current mindset when it comes to this game.

That is because their current mindset is as a business (which it is), and not a gamer living in a world where they think everything should be free public domain...

peacenote

Naftal wrote: »

Would you be okay paying for a new "expansion" and eso+ that year without any new content?

Not sure who this was directed to, but if we pretend that there was a pause on new content for a year, I would think most people would be OK with continuing their subscriptions if they weren't the type of player that would quit because of the lack of content, but no one would expect to pay for an expansion that does nothing.

If this was before AwA, I would have kept up my subscription in a scenario like that without a second thought. I think I'd run out of stuff to do, now, though. But I subscribe for the craft bag, the crowns, the increased storage, etc. in a game I'm actively playing. I don't subscribe "for new content" but I buy expansions "for new content."

SimonThesis

A community bug list event where they post the known bugs and we can all see them get crossed off would be fun!