The Gold Road Chapter – which includes the Scribing system – and Update 42 is now available to test on the PTS! You can read the latest patch notes here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/656454/
Can ESO ever recover?
MurkyWetWolf198
✭✭✭
ESO has a lot of problems. From lag to laughable damage, the game constantly feels like it's half-finished and never stable. It's a sorry thing too, because the game has a lot of potential. There's a reason that we're still here after 7ish years, and it's because the game, when it works properly, is fun. But that's the real problem; it's only fun when everything works. Who enjoys having to fight in Cyrodilic lag? Who enjoys their favorite class getting nerfed down to Wet Noodle status? Who here enjoys that entire races, classes and sets become obsolete at the whims of ZOS? Not me.
So what do we do? Do we stop playing? Well, that's why a lot of people chose this last patch. ESO plus membership is down like crazy, and it's almost impossible to keep small guilds together. My own core team, a group which had just begun to learn VDSR, fell apart before even conquering the first boss. My PvP guild is quieter than the empty abyss of space. I mean, population numbers are so low that even the mat-farming bots are nowhere to be seen in Bal Foyen and Khenarthi's Roost. It's tragic that the game has hit such a low point, not even the cheaters are willing to get on.
But I don't want this game to be tragic. I don't want my guildmates to feel so frustrated with their mains that they quit. I don't want my friends to struggle in vain just to put together a simple plunder run. I don't want all these people to be upset. The game's just not as fun without everyone playing. That's why it's not just an RPG, it's a Massive-Multiplayer Online RPG.
And that's why I want the game to be better, and I hope we can work together for that goal. Here's what I ask of you:
First, we're gonna need support. We are a community, not individuals struggling alone. We need our friends and guildmates on these forums, fighting for progress alongside us. We need our Youtubers and Streamers to raise the call, to guide their viewers here, so that they can share their thoughts and experiences. We need our guildmasters to advertise the forums, our zone-chat-lurkers to post instructions. WE NEED EVERYONE HERE, or we won't be able to have a game we want to play anymore.
Second, we need to know what we're working with. If all of us keep saying different things, it'll only make an already hard-of-hearing ZOS even more ineffective. Consequently, we need to spread our endgame knowledge from both PvE and PvP. We need the best of our communities to understand each other and respect each other's wishes. I can't count how many times PvP has been hit hard by PvE balances and vice versa. It seems as though both sides can't ever win together. And unfortunately, ZOS has been clear on separating the two. No amount of complaining is going to make them budge on this, that much is clear. So, if we're gonna be forced to use the same systems, we had best understand each other. To my PvPers, you don't have to like PvE. To my PvEers, you don't have to like PvP. But you all need to respect each other and come to agreements, or neither group will ever get what they want. If ZOS won't listen to a united community against Update 35, then they certainly aren't going to listen to a divided one. So, read each other's posts and experiences, and make informed decisions about the game for both PvE and PvP.
Finally, we have the actual hard part; getting the changes we want. I know all of us are well aware at how frustratingly-deaf ZOS can seem sometimes, but we've got no recourse but to work with them. But how? How do you reason with a business? How do you work with such a complicated opposition?
Revolution won't work. We revolted against Update 35 and look at where we are; players leaving in swaths and ZOS so scared of losing money that Update 36 is barely more than a few bug patches. Nothing is being fixed and everyone is unhappy.
Compliance isn't a solution either. Even assuming we could have the restraint to not fight against ZOS's controversial changes, it would just leave us in a situation where ZOS is making money while we're playing a game we no longer enjoy. I refuse to be a part of something like that, and you should be too.
So, there is only one recourse; We must use Diplomacy.
ZOS wants our money. We want a fun game. We must make it explicitly clear to ZOS what our demands are, whatever we may come together on. We must make it clear that if our demands are met, we will support the game. We must be willing to open relations with them, or no progress towards a better game can ever be made.
I know it feels icky. I know most of us want nothing to do with the company, and would prefer it just to leave the game alone. But without them, the game cannot improve. Our old players won't return unless these issues are fixed. Our community members won't be satisfied until they enjoy playing their own characters. No, if things stay as broken as they are, the game will not heal, but slowly rot away as the population drops into nothingness.
And I don't want that. I won't stop playing. I'll say it now and I'll say it again; I love playing this game. So I refuse to accept its death. I refuse to sit back and watch it collapse.
And I beg you to join me. To spread this message. Spread it as far as you can, to the eyes of all who can read it. Do not let the game die. We are not screwed yet, and there is a hope. We just have to seize it. We have to give ZOS one clear message. We must tell them that we'll pay for the game we want. And if they want our money they must listen and respect our wishes. We will "Play the Way WE Want" or we will not play at all.
ESO has a lot of problems. And I want to be there when they're fixed.
-Murky
Edited by MurkyWetWolf198 on September 27, 2022 7:39AM So what do we do? Do we stop playing? Well, that's why a lot of people chose this last patch. ESO plus membership is down like crazy, and it's almost impossible to keep small guilds together. My own core team, a group which had just begun to learn VDSR, fell apart before even conquering the first boss. My PvP guild is quieter than the empty abyss of space. I mean, population numbers are so low that even the mat-farming bots are nowhere to be seen in Bal Foyen and Khenarthi's Roost. It's tragic that the game has hit such a low point, not even the cheaters are willing to get on.
But I don't want this game to be tragic. I don't want my guildmates to feel so frustrated with their mains that they quit. I don't want my friends to struggle in vain just to put together a simple plunder run. I don't want all these people to be upset. The game's just not as fun without everyone playing. That's why it's not just an RPG, it's a Massive-Multiplayer Online RPG.
And that's why I want the game to be better, and I hope we can work together for that goal. Here's what I ask of you:
First, we're gonna need support. We are a community, not individuals struggling alone. We need our friends and guildmates on these forums, fighting for progress alongside us. We need our Youtubers and Streamers to raise the call, to guide their viewers here, so that they can share their thoughts and experiences. We need our guildmasters to advertise the forums, our zone-chat-lurkers to post instructions. WE NEED EVERYONE HERE, or we won't be able to have a game we want to play anymore.
Second, we need to know what we're working with. If all of us keep saying different things, it'll only make an already hard-of-hearing ZOS even more ineffective. Consequently, we need to spread our endgame knowledge from both PvE and PvP. We need the best of our communities to understand each other and respect each other's wishes. I can't count how many times PvP has been hit hard by PvE balances and vice versa. It seems as though both sides can't ever win together. And unfortunately, ZOS has been clear on separating the two. No amount of complaining is going to make them budge on this, that much is clear. So, if we're gonna be forced to use the same systems, we had best understand each other. To my PvPers, you don't have to like PvE. To my PvEers, you don't have to like PvP. But you all need to respect each other and come to agreements, or neither group will ever get what they want. If ZOS won't listen to a united community against Update 35, then they certainly aren't going to listen to a divided one. So, read each other's posts and experiences, and make informed decisions about the game for both PvE and PvP.
Finally, we have the actual hard part; getting the changes we want. I know all of us are well aware at how frustratingly-deaf ZOS can seem sometimes, but we've got no recourse but to work with them. But how? How do you reason with a business? How do you work with such a complicated opposition?
Revolution won't work. We revolted against Update 35 and look at where we are; players leaving in swaths and ZOS so scared of losing money that Update 36 is barely more than a few bug patches. Nothing is being fixed and everyone is unhappy.
Compliance isn't a solution either. Even assuming we could have the restraint to not fight against ZOS's controversial changes, it would just leave us in a situation where ZOS is making money while we're playing a game we no longer enjoy. I refuse to be a part of something like that, and you should be too.
So, there is only one recourse; We must use Diplomacy.
ZOS wants our money. We want a fun game. We must make it explicitly clear to ZOS what our demands are, whatever we may come together on. We must make it clear that if our demands are met, we will support the game. We must be willing to open relations with them, or no progress towards a better game can ever be made.
I know it feels icky. I know most of us want nothing to do with the company, and would prefer it just to leave the game alone. But without them, the game cannot improve. Our old players won't return unless these issues are fixed. Our community members won't be satisfied until they enjoy playing their own characters. No, if things stay as broken as they are, the game will not heal, but slowly rot away as the population drops into nothingness.
And I don't want that. I won't stop playing. I'll say it now and I'll say it again; I love playing this game. So I refuse to accept its death. I refuse to sit back and watch it collapse.
And I beg you to join me. To spread this message. Spread it as far as you can, to the eyes of all who can read it. Do not let the game die. We are not screwed yet, and there is a hope. We just have to seize it. We have to give ZOS one clear message. We must tell them that we'll pay for the game we want. And if they want our money they must listen and respect our wishes. We will "Play the Way WE Want" or we will not play at all.
ESO has a lot of problems. And I want to be there when they're fixed.
-Murky
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