What is the "Long Term Plan" that was mentioned by the developers on ESO Live yesterday?

BloodMagicLord

The developers who were speaking in yesterday's ESO Live stream made several references to a "long term plan" or something to that effect, saying that the changes outlined for U35 are a part of that vision. However this was not elaborated on, and overall it seemed quite vague, as if it was simply a line being used to explain away people's initial criticisms of the Combat Preview.

Due to the levels of discontent around the patch notes, and in the spirit of the increased communication and transparency that was promised by ZOS, perhaps it would be a good idea to make a statement elaborating on what this "plan" entails, what the vision is, what the approximate endpoint is. Just an idea.

Ratzkifal

I don't think they have a long term plan at all.
From what they are saying and have been saying I think they want to reduce big balance changes which we are all tired of over all. And because they have these spreadsheets that tell them what balance is they keep shifting things until they find something that sticks. That's what they call their long term plan.
The problem, in my opinion, is that ZOS' vision isn't nearly as concrete as they are making it sound like. They could have been much closer to balance if they actually took the learnings from a patch and applied them the next patch rather than completely changing everything and throwing all of that knowledge into the wind.

ZOS' approach to balance has always been the sledgehammer. They have never fine-tuned anything properly because they would rather completely flip the board every three months.

pklemming

The long term goal is very dependant on what they roll on their wheel of randomness, they pick 2o things in game and then roll on a giant wheel to see what happens.

Malthorne

The long term plan is to create a minimum viable product while catering to whales so they can make a ton of money through the crownstore.

Tyrion87

It would be good but personally I don't really care at this point.

Every few updates we have been hearing about 'the long-term plan' (e.g. the standardization of skills) and still the drastic changes, often mutually exclusive or self-contradicting (e.g. greatly buffing dots so they can be nerfed one update later), have been and still are thrown left and right on us with quantity and frequency that an average player is just not able to comprehend and follow.

Tsunahmie

Long-term plan seems to be getting rid of all the veteran players and having a purely casual game.
If these changes go live they're one step closer to achieving this goal.
The backlash is immense and the tweet made by Mr. Lambert did nothing to help

spartaxoxo

I think their long-term goals is to reduce the walls people hit when trying to branch out into vet content. But they haven't done a good job of it because every time they do these things, they always ensure the kinds of builds that the people they want to benefit from the changes aren't buffed enough to be able to complete more content.

They just did it again by nerfing dots, heavy attack builds, and Oakensoul in the manner that they did.

They need to stop trying to nerf elite players into that same level of dps because it's never going to happen, and start letting the builds the upper middle actually uses be effective in more content. If that means some players are able to complete hard modes because they were always good at dungeon mechanics and only lacked damage, so be it. But constantly nerfing the top is never going to work. It just makes things harder for everyone and reinforces ever more stringent requirements on who can be let into groups, which decreases the accessibility of the groups they claim they want to be more included.

shadyjane62

Their long time plan is to reduce lag by driving the player base out to other games.

PrimusTiberius

Ratzkifal wrote: »

ZOS' approach to balance has always been the sledgehammer. They have never fine-tuned anything properly because they would rather completely flip the board every three months.

I couldn't agree more with this statement.

I'm a HVAC engineer and when I see something not going as planned, I make small incremental adjustments, trend the data before making another change, ZOS just comes in with a bulldozer, upending the system, its no wonder they can't get it right.

As far as a plan, They don't have a "plan" they have an idea.

VaranisArano

Based on my observations of the changes since One Tamriel switch ESO to horizontal progression, I'd say the long term plan is:

• introduce powerful items and classes to sell new content, then periodically nerf back power creep so old content doesn't become obsolete
• keep players engaged by making major and minor changes to their builds every update
• keep trying new things to lower the ceiling and raise the floor, since nothing's worked yet
• periodically shake up the PVE meta so certain classes don't dominate trial teams for too long
• periodically shake up the PVP meta while attempting to address major player concerns

This ^ is not the plan ZOS is talking about. That plan has something to do with the skill standardization, hybridization, etc. I fully believe they've got a plan for what they are changing in future patches.

But I'll be honest and say that the specifics of ZOS' plan matter less to me than cumulative effect, which is to say that ZOS is committed to a cycle of adding and nerfing player power, and thereby maintaining player engagement by changing how combat works. We've been living that cycle since One Tamriel.

It's not even a bad plan in terms of keeping players engaged in an MMO. I mean, it's actually working pretty well in the grand scheme of things.

KlauthWarthog

They seem to intend to continue playing whack-a-mole with numbers.

FantasticFreddie

So far in the 3 years I've played they have:
Nerfed dots
Buffed dots
Buffed the buffs
Nerfed the dots
Nerfed the buffs
Nerfed the buffs again
Buffed the dots again
Made light and heavy attacks scale from your highest stats
Now they are buffing the buffs and nerfing the dots and removing all scaling from light and heavy attacks.
Oh, and this is the.... 3rd? 4th? Time they've said they are making big, sweeping changes so that future changes are just "minor adjustments"

Holycannoli

Malthorne wrote: »

The long term plan is to create a minimum viable product while catering to whales so they can make a ton of money through the crownstore.

and they're misguided because you don't entice whales by angering them with across-the-board nerfs lol.

There is no long-term goal unless it's to make future content too difficult for the average player again. People already don't want to do vet DLC dungeons and that's before this disastrous PTS patch.

JustAGoodPlayer

Long term plan how to destroy the game may be ? Because last 3 years each update is worse than before.

2-3 years ago game was good and balanced. I am not always dissapointed. It really was good, 5-3 years ago each update was good add in balance. Now it is bad each time !

iaminc

Elsonso

The developers who were speaking in yesterday's ESO Live stream made several references to a "long term plan" or something to that effect, saying that the changes outlined for U35 are a part of that vision. However this was not elaborated on, and overall it seemed quite vague, as if it was simply a line being used to explain away people's initial criticisms of the Combat Preview.

It started as a combat review, then moved on to Standardization and Homogenization of combat and combat related skills and items.

They use the term "hybridization". That word means something different to me. What I see is "homogenization" so I am sticking with that.

I don't think they ever really published it as a plan, but the last few updates have followed this common theme.

redlink1979

"Long therm" - I think it means a couple of months...

Destai

@ZOS_GinaBruno this has been asked several times. Can you or someone on the developer team answer this?

renne

I figure the "long-term plan" for ZoS is the same as the cylons plan in Battlestar Galactica.

They never had a plan.

SeaGtGruff

Based on what they've mentioned here and there over the last year or two, I think their long-term plan is to improve the game's performance, both in Cyrodiil and the PvE zones. They're working toward this by moving inactive accounts to old storage, reducing the amount of data per account which the server needs to load, and so on. It's a long-range goal, and the real payoff will be at the end, so each individual step along the way might not result in dramatic gains.

francesinhalover

BloodMagicLord wrote: »

The developers who were speaking in yesterday's ESO Live stream made several references to a "long term plan" or something to that effect, saying that the changes outlined for U35 are a part of that vision. However this was not elaborated on, and overall it seemed quite vague, as if it was simply a line being used to explain away people's initial criticisms of the Combat Preview.

Due to the levels of discontent around the patch notes, and in the spirit of the increased communication and transparency that was promised by ZOS, perhaps it would be a good idea to make a statement elaborating on what this "plan" entails, what the vision is, what the approximate endpoint is. Just an idea.

I think they plan on removing light attack weaving from eso.
that's all,
ppl complain on reddit mmorpg twitter etc, that they like eso, but hate the combat, so there ya go.

It's possible they will also remove stamina from the game, outside of running, bash, defending, break free etc.

Hawkeye

Malthorne wrote: »

The long term plan is to create a minimum viable product while catering to whales so they can make a ton of money through the crownstore.

I can disagree with this statement. I was one of these whales. I can tell you after all this garbage going on right now and an incident I am not allowed to speak about happened? This here whale has beached himself. I am only one person who is now speaking with his wallet, but the more of us who do this the less money they have to pay for the people who want to destroy the game.
As for the OP's question? It's like everyone is saying. It is just another song and dance to try and quell the masses. Just walk through the smoke and you will see the emptiness on the other side.

Jpk0012

BloodMagicLord wrote: »

The developers who were speaking in yesterday's ESO Live stream made several references to a "long term plan" or something to that effect, saying that the changes outlined for U35 are a part of that vision. However this was not elaborated on, and overall it seemed quite vague, as if it was simply a line being used to explain away people's initial criticisms of the Combat Preview.

Due to the levels of discontent around the patch notes, and in the spirit of the increased communication and transparency that was promised by ZOS, perhaps it would be a good idea to make a statement elaborating on what this "plan" entails, what the vision is, what the approximate endpoint is. Just an idea.

Chasing away players and then hoping we are all dumb enough to buy their next product? Can't imagine they thought this change would keep established paying customers.

Supreme_Atromancer

I think they were talking about "long term plans" and "systems" only in terms of saying they can't promise that big changes wont ever happen again. I also get the sense from Gilliam's post they hope that things will stabilise (relatively) for a good amount of time.

Of course there will be long term plans and new systems, though. Its not a reveal that they said that. And no, I don't expect them to reveal what those might be, or think they're required to do so for the sake of "more communication."

Elsonso wrote: »

The developers who were speaking in yesterday's ESO Live stream made several references to a "long term plan" or something to that effect, saying that the changes outlined for U35 are a part of that vision. However this was not elaborated on, and overall it seemed quite vague, as if it was simply a line being used to explain away people's initial criticisms of the Combat Preview.

It started as a combat review, then moved on to Standardization and Homogenization of combat and combat related skills and items.

They use the term "hybridization". That word means something different to me. What I see is "homogenization" so I am sticking with that.

I don't think they ever really published it as a plan, but the last few updates have followed this common theme.

Yeah, they've been working to this plan for several years. In terms of hybridisation, I think that was a core design principle since day one, and something they've been trying to make a reality since launch showed no one was playing like that. I'm also very unsatisfied with how they've achieved "hybridisation", btw. Its forced, and far too divorced from the mythology.

AlexanderDeLarge

If they have a long term plan, we're certainly not privy to it and a community should never say that about a live game. ZOS wants us to trust them but what have they done to actually earn that trust over the last couple years? Involve us. We're not that damn scary yet the vast majority of "developer interaction" is moderation notices where our comments are being deleted because heated exchanges which I personally attribute to dozens of pages of back-and-forth with zero feedback from the developers. It's just endless ***-flinging. Take the veteran overland thread for example, almost 130 pages and the only response we've gotten is "we're listening" and an interview with Rich Lambert that clearly indicated that they were in fact not listening.

In my observations, I've noticed the backlash ZOS primarily gets is due to a lack of communication and disconnect between the developers and the players. I genuinely don't feel there's anyone advocating for my interests in the studio and it's a major part of why I only login to the game two or three times a year anymore since Elsweyr when the power creep became really apparent to me.

Jaraal

The long term plan is to remain as profitable as possible, for as long as possible.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. This is a business first and foremost. It’s not a charity or altruistic gaming adventure. Whenever you question a certain direction they take (yes, I know it’s hard to keep up with so many changes), ask yourself: how will this affect the bottom line? Then things start to become much clearer.

Sahidom

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

So far in the 3 years I've played they have:
Nerfed dots
Buffed dots
Buffed the buffs
Nerfed the dots
Nerfed the buffs
Nerfed the buffs again
Buffed the dots again
Made light and heavy attacks scale from your highest stats
Now they are buffing the buffs and nerfing the dots and removing all scaling from light and heavy attacks.
Oh, and this is the.... 3rd? 4th? Time they've said they are making big, sweeping changes so that future changes are just "minor adjustments"

You forgot the standardization sweeping changes to DOT damage, direct damage, CP changes (aka effecting how players can or cannot buff skill performances), and the swath of changed skills, in the previous year; and all those changes are further nerfed under their new long-term vision. Well, their long-term vision is very cloudy. When a game becomes a second job then the game developers have made bad decisions; and this is what the new changes will feel like to many players. It forces people to become "parse warriors" to participate in end/late game content play.

UntilValhalla13

It just feels like they want to remove all combat entirely, and turn it into a highly profitable, grindy, loot box mobile game. We've wanted new classes, new skill lines, a "fix the bugs" game health update. Instead we get: antiquities (a literal grindy mobile game designed to make us revisit dead zones to make them appear active for their spreadsheet numbers), companions (designed to be grindy and force us to do mage/fighters/etc dailies because their activity has died off), and...the card game.

Year after year, drastic change after baffling change; changing things just to change them. "Fixing" things that have been in the game for most of its life, only to cause further problems. There's no sense or plan that is shared with its paying customer player base. Vague corporate-speak statements that say a lot without saying anything.

I've got about 11k hours in this game; primarily endgame trials. I just feel like people like me are kinda banished to my room when rich relatives visit. I don't feel valued. All of the time they I've spent and "invested in the product" just doesn't matter. Every patch is just another hamstring. I still hang on because I want to finish the last few trifectas left and I enjoy the people I play with. We're all struggling in the trenches together; fighting not only difficult bosses, but whatever new misery a new patch brings

Lannharr

Aww... I really hoped for an ESO 2.0 overhaul like graphics update, NPCs AI a bit smarter, new inventory and bank management system, engaging overland long quests, new servers, PVP balance, etc. etc.

SeaGtGruff

AlexanderDeLarge wrote: »

If they have a long term plan, we're certainly not privy to it and a community should never say that about a live game.

I don't think any private company, be it a game developer or anything else, owes its customers access to any privileged information about that comoany's long-term plans. We the playerbase/customers are not stock shareholders, or sitting on the board of directors, or anything like that. Just my opinion, and you might disagree, but can you tell me any game company that makes their current and potential playerbase privy to their long-term plans, outside of announcements about upcoming new releases or updates to existing games which have already been decided upon and is close enough to its release for solid details to be available?

Leogon

I can't believe I'm gonna say this but I miss Wrobel.