Content-lite High Isle cannot become the norm

ArgoCye

The High Isle chapter was light on. No new class, no new weapon skill line, no compelling new game mechanic. The map and quests were fine, but doable over a weekend. The card game … meh. What was long-winded and grindy was obtaining a certain mythic. One that in a few weeks will be next to useless - certainly outperformed by others. I don’t care about the nerfs, I’m all for balance. I do care about the motive. Oakensouls was always going to be insanely overpowered and ZoS knew it. It was all part of the plan. How else to get people to buy an expansion that was anything but expansive? Especially when compared with previous efforts (Morrowing and Summerset). Sure, there was/is the pandemic. But if that is why we got such a middling bit of content, ZoS had better make next year’s DLC epic and, ideally, without the cynical gimmicks.

Xinihp

Honestly at this point I feel the game is more or less in maintenance mode.

They haven't added a new class or skill line in 4+ years. They have shot down suggestions for things like story mode dungeons, spell visual effect cosmetic customization, training dojos, new weapons, new gear slots, and pretty much anything the community has suggested as an alternative to their current strategy of just playing whack-a-mole with uber nerfs every 3-6 months, forcing people to re-grind all their gear over and over as "content."

If you pay attention to these massive nerfs (which they promised 6 months ago to stop, then promptly resumed with a vengeance), they are literally buffing something to OP, then nerfing it to useless (or completely removing it as with PVP procs), then buffing it to OP again, over and over.

I don't understand why they wouldn't want to invest in making gameplay innovations and doing things people enjoy to make ESO the best it can be, instead of acting like people making suggestions are somehow the enemy.

Honestly I am just emotionally worn out from trying to care about the whole mess at this point.

Cadbury

I'm sorry, but I'd expect future chapters to be exactly like High Isle from now on. It still sold so they can call it a win, and that's how it's gonna be. I doubt we'll see anything matching Orsinium or Summerset ever again. That time is long gone.

Enjoy.

Ratzkifal

High Isle has more content than Blackwood.
High Isle has a card game and companions.
Blackwood only has companions.
Yes, you don't need Blackwood to get the High Isle companions, so now getting Blackwood is not worth the price tag of a chapter, if that was ever even the case. It offers arguably less than the Thieves Guild or Markarth DLC.

But yes, I agree that this isn't a good trend. Officially all of this was due to covid and the background work on performance causing them to slow down on adding new systems etc. Then there are older generation consoles which are already operating at their memory limit so adding more stuff isn't that easy if you want to keep parity between versions - ZOS is entirely responsible for this issue though, because they do not have to hold onto outdated hardware, they simply want to.
So, let's hope ZOS won't continue this trend, but I am having my doubts.

NoxiousBlight

Agree. The expansions keep getting thinner and thinner and we keep paying the same.

The last two chapters didn't even have as many quests as a BASE GAME zone. Even at a hyper casual pace you can finish the zone in two weeks except for the dailies. So even from the casual questing front you are not getting your money's worth.

Remember the High Isle reveal? Even the ESO team seemed muted and not excited for the expansion.

I think i've only played 5 or 6 games of the card game since the expansion dropped. What a waste of an expansion feature.

Summerset and Elsweyr were the peak of ESO for me. I remember those two years fondly and I wish things would be like that again. Greymoor started to feel off but I didn't mind because Skyrim was cool and everyone is allowed a "dud." But then we got Blackwood which was such a dud it made Greymoor look like a winner. And now we are on year three of absolutely no fun changes to combat - just combat nerfs and radical meta shifts every 3 months.

This game really needs some new creative juices.

AinSoph

The Elder Scrolls IP is legitimately carrying the lifespan of this game. I don't think any other title can do such terrible changes and still do well monetary-wise. It also doesn't help that Fallout 5 was confirmed to release before ES6.

Syldras

AinSoph wrote: »

It also doesn't help that Fallout 5 was confirmed to release before ES6.

I've got different information:
https://fextralife.com/fallout-5-confirmed-as-next-game-after-elder-scrolls-6/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/todd-howard-confirms-fallout-5-is-coming-after-the-elder-scrolls-6
https://www.ign.com/articles/todd-howard-bethesda-fallout-5-elder-scrolls-6-starfield

Carcamongus

I liked the new zone and many side quests were very interesting, like Stibbons's and Rigurt's (who, by the way, should be crowned emperor). The main story was short, but engaging. I was really shocked by a certain cataclysmic event and the quest to look for some nobles in Amenos was outstanding. Last year's novelty was the companions; this year's is the card game. While I think ToT added an interesting new dimension to ESO (a game inside of a game... [insert Inception meme]), so far I've been unable to get myself to enjoy it.

I did run out of content rather quickly, though. I took my time to explore, do side quests and then the main ones and even then I was done in less than two weeks.

I can't make sense of the fact the zone's size is comparable to those from other chapters, but on the world map the two islands are tiny compared to Summerset.

EozZoe1989

fact is people want more and more and more .. the thing is people completeing things to fast lol

EozZoe1989

if anything make things massive and long time consuming liek 50 quests ,, per quest lol

kargen27

Usually when players say has less content what they mean is not the content I want.

"The last two chapters didn't even have as many quests as a BASE GAME zone. Even at a hyper casual pace you can finish the zone in two weeks except for the dailies. So even from the casual questing front you are not getting your money's worth."

The upgrade is $40. So basically if it has four hours of content it is cheaper than most other forms of entertainment. I'm all for more to do in each chapter but I wasn't disappointed by the latest content and its price.

Psiion

Greetings all,

Seeing as this thread is discussing the content within the High Isle Chapter, as this already open thread is, we have closed this thread as a duplicate discussion. Feel free to continue the discussion on this linked thread above, and be sure to keep things within the Community Rules.