So whatever happened to that Q&A?

ZOS_Kevin

Hi everyone. We know everyone has been asking about the Q&A related to combat. After internal conversations with the team, we have decided to shift from a Q&A. Instead, we've gone through the questions many have been asking and taken those back to the combat team to address the core themes we saw asked across the community. With that, the combat team has drafted an ESO Combat Vision statement, designed to give the community a clearer picture around the goals the combat team has always strived for and will continue to strive for. You can find the statement here for the forum discussion link. While we know the Q&A was initially proposed, we hope the statement helps to clarify some questions around the vision for ESO combat. Thanks for your patience around this topic.

ForumBully

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi everyone. We know everyone has been asking about the Q&A related to combat. After internal conversations with the team, we have decided to shift from a Q&A. Instead, we've gone through the questions many have been asking and taken those back to the combat team to address the core themes we saw asked across the community. With that, the combat team has drafted an ESO Combat Vision statement, designed to give the community a clearer picture around the goals the combat team has always strived for and will continue to strive for. You can find the statement here for the forum discussion link. While we know the Q&A was initially proposed, we hope the statement helps to clarify some questions around the vision for ESO combat. Thanks for your patience around this topic.

Thanks for getting back so quickly.

spartaxoxo

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi everyone. We know everyone has been asking about the Q&A related to combat. After internal conversations with the team, we have decided to shift from a Q&A. Instead, we've gone through the questions many have been asking and taken those back to the combat team to address the core themes we saw asked across the community. With that, the combat team has drafted an ESO Combat Vision statement, designed to give the community a clearer picture around the goals the combat team has always strived for and will continue to strive for. You can find the statement here for the forum discussion link. While we know the Q&A was initially proposed, we hope the statement helps to clarify some questions around the vision for ESO combat. Thanks for your patience around this topic.

I had a feeling we'd get something in December, but when I saw the EOY didn't even mention things, I got worried. Thanks for getting back to us and making sure we were in the loop about this statement. It's too bad it's not a literal Q&A, but I am glad to finally have that information.

Wolfkeks

@ZOS_Kevin Thank you for the update! I know we kinda annoyed you with all the memes (Sorry, but I really like memes) but I'm glad (while it is not a Q&A) that we got some kind of information regarding the ESO combat.

FluffyBird

That post in no way replaces Q&A, it's full of things that everyone knows and principles that ZOS claim to adhere to but as U35 showed, they are unable to derive a fun and consistent experience for players from them. It's a coal in the sock of communication. ZOS again proves to be totally tone deaf.

I have no further words that wouldn't warrant me a permanent ban.

KlauthWarthog

That collection of generic shallow statements on the combat "core values" does nothing to address anything related to U35.

Four_Fingers

Great PR piece, but at least they spoke.

RMW

Well, at least we know where we stand now...
Ahh, does that mean no more doors to open? Sadge

FluffyBird

I gave it a bit of thought. We got our communication and as a kind community we should respond in kind. Pretend it never happened.

So, I hope we get Q&A before U37. It's been a long time now without any communication on combat beside acknowledging some bugs. But looking forward to more of those juicy memes!

ForumBully

FluffyBird wrote: »

I gave it a bit of thought. We got our communication and as a kind community we should respond in kind. Pretend it never happened.

So, I hope we get Q&A before U37. It's been a long time now without any communication on combat beside acknowledging some bugs. But looking forward to more of those juicy memes!

They just gave us a deep dive into the whole combat philosophy, and I for one found it illuminating. Clearly, they want us wearing armor and slotting skills and stuff...any way we want (only some wants will actually be effective, however).
What an exciting time to be alive. It's completely understandable why it took months to carefully craft a message with this much depth, and I look forward to the next opus in 2 years time.

Jaraal

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

....we hope the statement helps to clarify some questions around the vision for ESO combat.

Unfortunately, I don't think a single question was answered. The statement is absolutely generic information that everyone already knows.

But thanks for providing the link.

Destai

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi everyone. We know everyone has been asking about the Q&A related to combat. After internal conversations with the team, we have decided to shift from a Q&A. Instead, we've gone through the questions many have been asking and taken those back to the combat team to address the core themes we saw asked across the community. With that, the combat team has drafted an ESO Combat Vision statement, designed to give the community a clearer picture around the goals the combat team has always strived for and will continue to strive for. You can find the statement here for the forum discussion link. While we know the Q&A was initially proposed, we hope the statement helps to clarify some questions around the vision for ESO combat. Thanks for your patience around this topic.

Good PR piece, but is unfortunately a dissatisfying one for me personally. Where to begin?

Players asked you and whoever cleared you for this statement for updates over months ago. At no point did we get any framing of where your collective thoughts were as an organization. Incremental updates would’ve been a better look than the current fiasco. It’s no secret that tensions were higher between ZOS and many areas of the community, as stated on Nefas’s calls and evidenced by certain tweets, so it’s absolutely baffling why this topic was treated as it was.

Additionally I saw no coordinated effort from you or team to organize U35 feedback and concerns outside of the PTS cycle. This was done for the year’s events, so it’s a bit surprising that something similar wasn’t done here. There were a lot of specific concerns and it would behoove all of us if we had some assurance that our concerns were accurately understood, let alone received. I don’t feel like we do.

Your statement is missing one crucial piece of information: what specific feedback was seen. There should be a clear list from you containing that. I would like to know what those are, but given the response time, I don’t expect an answer. Hopefully you can turn around that perception.

None of this update clarifies anything for me personally. While I appreciate that the next update will purportedly have more verbiage around whatever vision there is, I have no reason to believe that we’ll get proper scope for that vision, like how far ahead the vision is looking. The update provided by Brian reinforces my skepticism.

I really hope you guys can start looking how we think of things as a community, rather than what’s comfortable for your team. I know that’s complicated but it’s something you should be able to do with a small amount of effort, simply by having discussions.

Elsonso

Jaraal wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

....we hope the statement helps to clarify some questions around the vision for ESO combat.

Unfortunately, I don't think a single question was answered. The statement is absolutely generic information that everyone already knows.

I was looking for something to address "player sentiment", as well... Still looking. I guess that this is the "player discoverable" part.

Them restating things that anyone who has been around for a few seasons already knows is nice, though.

DemonicGoat

If they could only write code and quests like the PR releases we've been getting.

Arunei

@ZOS_Kevin
This isn't aimed at you since you can only do so much and have no power over what others and your bosses do, so please don't take this as an attack against you. It's aimed more at those behind the decision.

That "deep dive" answered absolutely NONE of the questions and addressed NONE of the problems people had regarding u35. We didn't get any of the logic behind the choices that were made. It's got nothing to do with u35 aside from a brief mention. It's vague words that don't give us any insight into why what happened, happened.

It doesn't tell us why the people responsible for the changes thought lowering DPS would make content more accessible for more players, or how lowering healing was supposed to do that. It offers absolutely no explanation as to how lowering the HP of bosses in Vet trials and dungeons was supposed to help the average and below-average player. Wasn't the point of lowering damage supposed to be bringing the top players down some? How does lowering the health of bosses in content MOSTLY TOP TIER PLAYERS DO bring them closer in line with average players?

And what's the logic in nerfing EVERYONE to address the top tier of players, which are the MINORITY, being able to smash through some of the hardest content? Why did everyone get hit with some of the most controversial changes in the life of the game just to address a small handful of players who are really, really, really good at it?

You know what would have answered these questions? An actual QA, not the fluff we got.

Oakenaxe

The most asked questions are still left unanswered. The statement is superficial (not a "deep dive" at all), with things we already heard before; it does not replace the Q&A effectively. I'm disappointed.

Maythor

Really, what's the point anymore? So many carefully considered questions and concerns have been put forward by obviously impassioned and informed players in these forums, just to be ignored yet again. If you ignore these great players how can you claim to have any concern for your ESO fam, or whatever you like to call the community?

If the dev's actions do not seem to conform to their supposed mission statements, looks like we just have to shut up and put up, is that it ZOS?

Darkstorne

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

After internal conversations with the team, we have decided to shift from a Q&A. Instead, we've gone through the questions many have been asking and taken those back to the combat team to address the core themes we saw asked across the community.

How does this article answer any of the questions this community raised about U35's combat design changes..?

Wolfkeks

RMW wrote: »

Well, at least we know where we stand now...
Ahh, does that mean no more doors to open? Sadge

We know... what core values of combat can... influence the combat changes now 😅
Though a roadmap would've been better 😅
Now we have to wait for U37 and I kinda dread that 😅

And don't be sadge, here are the last doors that would've been posted

Q&A advent calendar, door Nr. 21:

Q&A advent calendar, door Nr. 22:

Q&A advent calendar, door Nr. 23:

Q&A advent calendar, door Nr. 24:

gronoxvx

Maybe its just me, but that didnt really tell us anything we didnt already know? Whole thing to me just felt like written version of an advertisement compared to telling us anything of value. We get it that you want us to be able to play how we like etc, but i was expecting something more compared to broad statements.

Honestly, this just makes me even more nervous for the next patch

VaranisArano

Thanks for the update, @ZOS_Kevin. Even if it's not quite the Q&A we originally expected, I appreciate that the focus shifted over time and so this is the equivalent presentation.

I'm delighted to see that the team followed through. As with many areas of communication, it may not be the answers we wanted to hear, but its meaningful to hear from the developers anyway.

And personally, I love the Deep Dives the team have done so far. This one reminded me a lot of the Class Identity one with its emphasis on defining how the Devs think, their goals for balance, and the broad strokes of how they envision ESO gameplay.

Elsonso

Oakenaxe wrote: »

The most asked questions are still left unanswered. The statement is superficial (not a "deep dive" at all), with things we already heard before; it does not replace the Q&A effectively. I'm disappointed.

They have not agreed to this, but if there is not a "Part 2" coming in the next month when they do the combat preview, then I think they wasted their time. I'm all for more communication, but this is only communication if it serves as the basis for further communication. If this is The End and the combat preview is going to just be "as usual" then...

BahometZ

Honestly, that statement felt more like a tutorial for how a new player should approach combat...

LukosCreyden

They write-up felt more like an advertisement of how combat works aimed at newcomers, rather than any sort of explanation or details.

Hurbster

VaranisArano wrote: »

Thanks for the update, @ZOS_Kevin. Even if it's not quite the Q&A we originally expected, I appreciate that the focus shifted over time and so this is the equivalent presentation.

I'm delighted to see that the team followed through. As with many areas of communication, it may not be the answers we wanted to hear, but its meaningful to hear from the developers anyway.

And personally, I love the Deep Dives the team have done so far. This one reminded me a lot of the Class Identity one with its emphasis on defining how the Devs think, their goals for balance, and the broad strokes of how they envision ESO gameplay.

It was nowhere near what was needed.

fizzylu

LukosCreyden wrote: »

The write-up felt more like an advertisement of how combat works aimed at newcomers, rather than any sort of explanation or details.

Seriously haha some people are saying it doesn't answer a lot of the questions, but when I read through it.... I don't think it answered ANY of the questions. People did not want or need the basics of the combat explained.... they wanted to hear why anyone at ZOS thought it was a good idea to implement changes, changes that were supposedly going to do a very specific thing (make combat more accessible), despite players openly stating that they were bad changes and would not do what the devs said they would do. Like maybe I'm wrong, but I know that's what I (and my friends) wanted explained; why Zenimax refused to listen to it's playerbase and somehow came to the conclusion that their changes were good to begin with despite them obviously being bad (honestly do not know one person that read the U35 patch notes and thought they sounded good)..... NOT basic info about how I can wear any armor and slot any abilities from skill lines. Once again ZOS treats it's players like children, dumb children.

spartaxoxo

fizzylu wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

The write-up felt more like an advertisement of how combat works aimed at newcomers, rather than any sort of explanation or details.

Seriously haha some people are saying it doesn't answer a lot of the questions, but when I read through it.... I don't think it answered ANY of the questions.

I wouldn't go this far, but I did feel like it didn't give much in the way of new insight. I also felt like my biggest question "Did this actually meet your goal of increasing accessibility?" was not satisfied by the combat changes. About the only thing I learned is that consider light attack weaving as a core part of their design now, and that they make changes specifically to protect it. I have long assumed that, but it's nice to see it confirmed. I hope this puts the final nail in the coffin in the always been bad argument that weaving is a "bug.". It also fits into their explanation they have already provided us about the jabs change.

Reverb

fizzylu wrote: »

LukosCreyden wrote: »

The write-up felt more like an advertisement of how combat works aimed at newcomers, rather than any sort of explanation or details.

Seriously haha some people are saying it doesn't answer a lot of the questions, but when I read through it.... I don't think it answered ANY of the questions.

To be fair, they did answer one question. The only question they were interested in answering. The answer we’ve all been pushing for in this thread.

Q: Where’s the U35 Q&A?
A: It’s not going to happen

Now we know, we have the answer we sought.

VaranisArano

Hurbster wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Thanks for the update, @ZOS_Kevin. Even if it's not quite the Q&A we originally expected, I appreciate that the focus shifted over time and so this is the equivalent presentation.

I'm delighted to see that the team followed through. As with many areas of communication, it may not be the answers we wanted to hear, but its meaningful to hear from the developers anyway.

And personally, I love the Deep Dives the team have done so far. This one reminded me a lot of the Class Identity one with its emphasis on defining how the Devs think, their goals for balance, and the broad strokes of how they envision ESO gameplay.

It was nowhere near what was needed.

To each their own. I have unanswered questions about U35 (like whether or not it achieved what it meant to), but I can accept and appreciate the Deep Dive for what it is.

That's not to say there's not reason for criticism. But in light of the recent conversation here, I'm reminded that ZOS gets a lot of criticism when they don't communicate at all AND when they communicate what players didn't want to hear.

Its okay to be disappointed when what we got. It's clear that the scope of the Q&A drifted substantially over the months since U35. We got what the Devs wanted to give us, not necessarily what we expected or wanted (for a given value of "we" - even our small numbers here were fairly divided on what we wanted.)

But overall, I'd rather we got more of these Deep Dives, and hopefully more substantial and regular ones as time goes on.

And in light of the recent conversation about why ZOS doesn't do regular updates as often as I'd like, I should point out that this dynamic is totally repeating itself. Perhaps not undeservedly in this case, but constant negative feedback is not exactly conducive to creating more communication. Imagine some people yelling "Do it!" And other people yelling "Not like that!

blktauna

The dissatisfaction stems from the blatant disregard of the questions asked and the delivery of a promo piece.

It might be more in their interest to be somewhat more straightforward in their answers and less leaving psychological tidbits for people to puzzle over.

This was nothing like a deep dive and more like a toe dip.