2022: ESO's Worst Year, A Retrospective

UnabashedlyHonest

DemonicGoat wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I haven't seen proof of any negative trend.

You cant see it if you keep looking the other way.

It's astonishing to me that so many players find themselves incapable of respecting and appreciating those players that are good enough to write how-to's for completing the hardest content in the game, post builds strong enough to complete the hardest content in the game, and take the time to help other players day in and day out.

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Shadesofkin

If Pvp went the way of the buffalo, I'd never notice. So I can't comment there. I've long advocated for an entirely open Cyodiil with no pvp in it so that I can adventure without having to worry about the Alliance Wars.

Hybridization was a massively bad idea, I said it was a bad idea when it was teased, and I will stand by that statement til the day I die. It ruined the *feel* of my favorite character, and more or less destroyed diversity at endgame.

I've got a nice pc, there are definite performance issues that got introduced in 22 which did not exist prior to this year, and they're definitely not on my end. I can live with that, but it's noticeable.

I actually don't hate the card game, I know full well I can't expect a new class or skill line every chapter...I might feel like we deserve a new weapon line at the least, but I understand they're not going to do it. I think the card game should've been more "magic the gathering" and less "Hero Realms with a splash of FFG's version of L5R" but I don't hate it. I do think it deserved better rewards to make it more engaging and worth playing.

I miss my friends though, I've got people who have not been online in almost 8 months because they felt that 22 didn't do enough as a chapter and they've gotten bored with the year long forumla.

I can't say I blame them, this isn't the only company losing ground because they're relying on sparse seasonal content to carry the game for too long.

I'm still here, but it gets harder and harder to log on for long periods anymore.

Grega

My only real issue with U35 was animation change to Jabs (which apparently I’m not the only one with that seeing as a problem), the way stamplar got gutted for no real reason, and the fact that game breaking bugs still made it through despite the smaller (fewer to interest) new content this year (card game 😔) .

Other than that, from a casual player standpoint, the game is, and has been fine largely since 2014. Maybe the only issue that affected every player or was at least massively noticed by any type of player was that months long bug where we couldn’t scroll in our inventories. But hey, that didn’t even happen in 2022 🤷‍♂️🤣

Negative trends? Years long Guilds I knew are gone. I took a March 2022 - aug 2022 break from eso (I commonly do during summer though regardless of how I feel), but when I came back, 90% of ppl I played with quit (not took a break - at least that’s is the sentiment).

Market saturation is another example of negative trends in terms of population.

Price generally goes down when you have too much of something. And if there aren’t enough players spending, while bots keep filling the stores with mats, prices will tank. Example Rosin down to 2k from 8k a year ago. Xbox NA, where bots palooza still exists.

TaSheen

You'd have to report your post and ask a mod to delete.

Jaraal

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

Stamicka

Styxius wrote: »

ESO has made some of it's worse decisions and miscommunication mistakes in 2022. Hybridization for those who do support it, it only gives more options on paper. In practice it funnels the top performance across the board in one direction.

I completely agree about this aspect of hybridization. In combat intensive environments like veteran PvE or PvP, hybridization has decreased build diversity. There is a lot of homogenization across the board. I had over 12 characters, one for each stamina and magicka variant of each class. Now half of them are useless because hybrid is the best choice in most cases. It took away a lot from my playstyle.

Ghaleb

Stamicka wrote: »

Styxius wrote: »

ESO has made some of it's worse decisions and miscommunication mistakes in 2022. Hybridization for those who do support it, it only gives more options on paper. In practice it funnels the top performance across the board in one direction.

I completely agree about this aspect of hybridization. In combat intensive environments like veteran PvE or PvP, hybridization has decreased build diversity. There is a lot of homogenization across the board. I had over 12 characters, one for each stamina and magicka variant of each class. Now half of them are useless because hybrid is the best choice in most cases. It took away a lot from my playstyle.

Yup. Basically, slap Relequen and Nirn on any of them and you are good to go (with deviation of course - but I am now not going to discuss differences between Bahsei, Oaxiltso, Vrol, et al).
And for one bar, Oaken, Storm Master and Sergeants Mail and if you're fancy as Sorc, put Maw as monster set and you're good to go.

I don't know how many run around with that setup.

Issue is, ZOS will not see the need to provide different alternatives but most likely pivot to nerfing Rele, Pillar, Whorl and Siroria in U37.

Yay.

YandereGirlfriend

Shadesofkin wrote: »

I know full well I can't expect a new class or skill line every chapter...I might feel like we deserve a new weapon line at the least, but I understand they're not going to do it.

I would question this assumption with and say: "And why not?"

It's not like the Chapter expansions are free or cheap. We are paying the full sticker price for a brand-new AAA game and that ought to cover some new systems but, year after year, we are not getting them. I think that it's fair to demand better value for our money and stick up for ourselves a bit more as consumers.

FeedbackOnly

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

Shadesofkin wrote: »

I know full well I can't expect a new class or skill line every chapter...I might feel like we deserve a new weapon line at the least, but I understand they're not going to do it.

I would question this assumption with and say: "And why not?"

It's not like the Chapter expansions are free or cheap. We are paying the full sticker price for a brand-new AAA game and that ought to cover some new systems but, year after year, we are not getting them. I think that it's fair to demand better value for our money and stick up for ourselves a bit more as consumers.

Game did very will with elesywer. People want combat addition. The charts show that. Thinking differently is ingoring the facts presented

Kingsindarkness

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

[edited for bashing]

vsrs_au

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

Shadesofkin wrote: »

I know full well I can't expect a new class or skill line every chapter...I might feel like we deserve a new weapon line at the least, but I understand they're not going to do it.

I would question this assumption with and say: "And why not?"

It's not like the Chapter expansions are free or cheap. We are paying the full sticker price for a brand-new AAA game and that ought to cover some new systems but, year after year, we are not getting them. I think that it's fair to demand better value for our money and stick up for ourselves a bit more as consumers.

Yes, when they're charging 5000 crowns for the High Isle content, it's comparable to the price of a full game, and it's only reasonable for us to expect to get value for our money.

BlakMarket

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

Troll like? His predictions on the direction of the game since beta have been correct nearly every time, why would he decide to start trolling in 2022?

Also any game I'll play I watch a streamer in the background playing the same game, most of my friends are the same way too. I've been playing for 3 years now, almost daily & have noticed the drop of ESO content creators I consume has been exponential over the 1/2 months. Many have moved from full time ESO, to rarely playing at all.

[edited to remove quote]

Kingsindarkness

BlakMarket wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

Troll like? His predictions on the direction of the game since beta have been correct nearly every time, why would he decide to start trolling in 2022?

Also any game I'll play I watch a streamer in the background playing the same game, most of my friends are the same way too. I've been playing for 3 years now, almost daily & have noticed the drop of ESO content creators I consume has been exponential over the 1/2 months. Many have moved from full time ESO, to rarely playing at all.

And their preferred game style is Raiding & PVP as I said ESO is a game you do not watch, if folks want to watch Raids they will watch Preach or Asmon play Raid-centric games

Let's face it... Nefaq "predictions" revolve around Vet End game raiding...you don't have to be psychic to know that isn't the priority any longer.

[edited to remove quote]

CP5

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

BlakMarket wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

Troll like? His predictions on the direction of the game since beta have been correct nearly every time, why would he decide to start trolling in 2022?

Also any game I'll play I watch a streamer in the background playing the same game, most of my friends are the same way too. I've been playing for 3 years now, almost daily & have noticed the drop of ESO content creators I consume has been exponential over the 1/2 months. Many have moved from full time ESO, to rarely playing at all.

And their preferred game style is Raiding & PVP as I said ESO is a game you do not watch, if folks want to watch Raids they will watch Preach or Asmon play Raid-centric games

Let's face it... Nefaq "predictions" revolve around Vet End game raiding...you don't have to be psychic to know that isn't the priority any longer.

[snip] Also, as someone who rarely if ever watches streams personally, many people do, and if you feel 'ESO is a game you don't watch' how can you comment on what people who do watch would be watching? What we have is one content creator of many pointing out the issues with the game, the ways they can gauge its health, and their projection on how current trends will impact the game.

Would you then say the current direction ESO is taking, in regard to communication, stability of releases, and the overall opinion of the player base to the developers, is good for the long term health of the game? I'll echo my comment about cutting off one leg to get more blood to the other, so "*end game content* isn't the priority any longer," how much longer until what you care for gets impacted?

[edited for baiting & to remove quote]

BlakMarket

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

BlakMarket wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

Troll like? His predictions on the direction of the game since beta have been correct nearly every time, why would he decide to start trolling in 2022?

Also any game I'll play I watch a streamer in the background playing the same game, most of my friends are the same way too. I've been playing for 3 years now, almost daily & have noticed the drop of ESO content creators I consume has been exponential over the 1/2 months. Many have moved from full time ESO, to rarely playing at all.

And their preferred game style is Raiding & PVP as I said ESO is a game you do not watch, if folks want to watch Raids they will watch Preach or Asmon play Raid-centric games

Let's face it... Nefaq "predictions" revolve around Vet End game raiding...you don't have to be psychic to know that isn't the priority any longer.

Would you jump in a discord call with Nefas, if I could organize it?

[edited to remove quote]

Kingsindarkness

CP5 wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

BlakMarket wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

Troll like? His predictions on the direction of the game since beta have been correct nearly every time, why would he decide to start trolling in 2022?

Also any game I'll play I watch a streamer in the background playing the same game, most of my friends are the same way too. I've been playing for 3 years now, almost daily & have noticed the drop of ESO content creators I consume has been exponential over the 1/2 months. Many have moved from full time ESO, to rarely playing at all.

And their preferred game style is Raiding & PVP as I said ESO is a game you do not watch, if folks want to watch Raids they will watch Preach or Asmon play Raid-centric games

Let's face it... Nefaq "predictions" revolve around Vet End game raiding...you don't have to be psychic to know that isn't the priority any longer.

[snip] Also, as someone who rarely if ever watches streams personally, many people do, and if you feel 'ESO is a game you don't watch' how can you comment on what people who do watch would be watching? What we have is one content creator of many pointing out the issues with the game, the ways they can gauge its health, and their projection on how current trends will impact the game.

Would you then say the current direction ESO is taking, in regard to communication, stability of releases, and the overall opinion of the player base to the developers, is good for the long-term health of the game? I'll echo my comment about cutting off one leg to get more blood to the other, so "*end game content* isn't the priority any longer," how much longer until what you care for gets impacted?

I'll ignore the first part...it won't benefit either of us if I replied.

As far as communication, we get regular developer updates Kevin really tries ESO's communication is no better or worse than any other MMO, what ESO does have is a small vocal minority that literally complains about everything all the time.

And sorry my friend that whole "First they came for this dude" scenario is just silly...People keep saying that the game is dying, but it's still in the top 20 games on steam...so far it has made more than all of The elder scrolls and Fallout games ever produced combined it's just that the vast majority of players want the chapter content, and to have things like crafting and housing...they really could give two figs about Raiding or PVP.

Now let's say you have this large content group of people who are begging to give Zenimax money, and on the other hand, you have a small angry group of people who are never satisfied...

I'm not a developer, but if it was me I would pay attention to the large happy group. Especially if the content I was making for the small angry group cost the most money and time to develop.

I could be wrong..but it just seems like common sense to me.

[edited to remove quote]

BlakMarket

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

CP5 wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

BlakMarket wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

UnabashedlyHonest wrote: »

It's no wonder so many high quality content creators are abandoning ESO or dabbling in other games to find a better fit for them in the future. I think this is one of the main reasons the end game player base is shrinking so rapidly. It takes a lot of work to create those how-to's and builds and all the rest. Who's going to do it when all these content creators move on to other games where their efforts are appreciated? How's their departure from ESO going to effect the long term health of the game?

Yes, it was pretty shocking to see in Nefas' video how far ESO twitch viewership and content creation has fallen when compared to other MMOs.

Even if you think Steam Charts data isn't representative of the greater ESO player base, you can't deny the the plummeting interest in things ESO related on YouTube and Twitch. Content creators who depend on viewership revenue are clearly diversifying away from dying content to stay relevant. Nefas has been rather good at predicting ESO trends, and his latest statements are quite eye opening, and should be noted by the people who matter.

[snip] and a lot of games are dropping viewerships...regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither, this is more of a game that you do, not one that you watch.

Troll like? His predictions on the direction of the game since beta have been correct nearly every time, why would he decide to start trolling in 2022?

Also any game I'll play I watch a streamer in the background playing the same game, most of my friends are the same way too. I've been playing for 3 years now, almost daily & have noticed the drop of ESO content creators I consume has been exponential over the 1/2 months. Many have moved from full time ESO, to rarely playing at all.

And their preferred game style is Raiding & PVP as I said ESO is a game you do not watch, if folks want to watch Raids they will watch Preach or Asmon play Raid-centric games

Let's face it... Nefaq "predictions" revolve around Vet End game raiding...you don't have to be psychic to know that isn't the priority any longer.

[snip] Also, as someone who rarely if ever watches streams personally, many people do, and if you feel 'ESO is a game you don't watch' how can you comment on what people who do watch would be watching? What we have is one content creator of many pointing out the issues with the game, the ways they can gauge its health, and their projection on how current trends will impact the game.

Would you then say the current direction ESO is taking, in regard to communication, stability of releases, and the overall opinion of the player base to the developers, is good for the long-term health of the game? I'll echo my comment about cutting off one leg to get more blood to the other, so "*end game content* isn't the priority any longer," how much longer until what you care for gets impacted?

I'll ignore the first part...it won't benefit either of us if I replied.

As far as communication, we get regular developer updates Kevin really tries ESO's communication is no better or worse than any other MMO, what ESO does have is a small vocal minority that literally complains about everything all the time.

And sorry my friend that whole "First they came for this dude" scenario is just silly...People keep saying that the game is dying, but it's still in the top 20 games on steam...so far it has made more than all of The elder scrolls and Fallout games ever produced combined it's just that the vast majority of players want the chapter content, and to have things like crafting and housing...they really could give two figs about Raiding or PVP.

Now let's say you have this large content group of people who are begging to give Zenimax money, and on the other hand, you have a small angry group of people who are never satisfied...

I'm not a developer, but if it was me I would pay attention to the large happy group. Especially if the content I was making for the small angry group cost the most money and time to develop.

I could be wrong..but it just seems like common sense to me.

Never satisfied? Even when I didn't agree with certain decisions I got over it because they communicated why & their reasoning.
Now they make sweeping changes and we have to literally beg for information on why, they teased us with a road map of the games direction and improving communications with new systems & Q & A's, but hasn't happened.

50-80% of the negative chatter would disappear if ZOS communicated, because the player base would know where they stand - not wandering hopelessly in the dark, regretting the money & time they've spent, seemingly all for nothing.

[edited to remove quote]

CP5

My point with the first part of my comment is both that people with bias against some users claim that those users base their opinions off of the opinions of others whom they have a bias towards, which is amusing, and that people claim that their own views extend to 'most everyone who isn't on the forums' which is also amusing, see the comments about 'if users wanted to watch X they'd watch person Y or Z, not person A or B' and the like.
People here pointing out the game's flaws generally can reference guilds worth of people who have left the game, and perhaps like I had, had many instances in the months leading up to their departures to see and hear the reasons why. So yes, those dissatisfied with the current quality of the game and the developer's communication don't speak for everyone, but they do speak well for the parts of the game heavily impacted by the issues ZOS has as a studio at the moment and I doubt the activity of a handful of forum moderators can compensate for years of silence that some parts of the community have had to face.

And if anyone wants a good example of another MMO that does communication better, look at Final Fantasy. Long streams outlining the changes they intend to make as well as their reasoning for it, live streams where they're able to directly interact with their community. What do we have here? Most of the threads with an official tag on it is for moderation alone, and the PTS that clearly outlines bugs or how stated intended changes will either fail to meet their goals or be counter to them go ignored for weeks until the patch hits live. Many other games do communication better, because the bar is so low here it isn't hard to pass.

And we wouldn't have people so quick to anger if they didn't feel like they were always being ignored. Years of poor communication (because again, one moderator and his team trying their best to keep things civil isn't what people are talking about) followed by patches where bugs the community found on pts as well as intentional changes the developers insist are for our best interest have left many people without confidence. So yes, ZOS can cater to the 'casual' player base, by casual I am referring to the kind of players who may play the game for a bit, maybe hoping in for a week or two after an update lands but leaving without any second thought, but the long term players who keep the game world alive between updates?

We've been shown that major issues can be allowed to persist, that players can be left out in the dark to fend for themselves with no clue what's going on or confidence that ZOS even has a plan, that any sort of feedback no matter how well-prepared or delivered will be ignored, and that this status quo will be allowed to continue unless things change. And they'll only change one of two ways, ZOS actually starts interacting more regularly with its player base, which will be hard at first until they build up trust again, or the only people left are those that don't quite care what happens and just put money into the system no matter what comes out.

And as far as the 'they came for this dude' scenario being silly, how's the story writing been for the last few chapters, or of the things for fashion or housing being increasingly more grindy to get if not available only through microtransactions? Providing a polished product becomes less relevant if you ignore those consumers who are most likely to call out a lack of quality and cater to the silent ones who come and go on a whim.

Anifaas

I am still enjoying the game. However, I must admit that I was surprised by this year's events/content, QoS and communications. [snip]

With that written, I still prefer ESO over everything else and like a lichen will cling to this ship for as long as she sails. Yarr!

[edited for conspiracy theory/misinformation]

starlizard70ub17_ESO

cmetzger93 wrote: »

I enjoyed it. Your opinion is subjective

I think the OP may have missed the period from update 1.5 to update 1.6, that was ESO worst year(s).

Elsonso

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

As far as communication, we get regular developer updates Kevin really tries ESO's communication is no better or worse than any other MMO, what ESO does have is a small vocal minority that literally complains about everything all the time.

The publication of the Q&A, now recast as a document to address player sentiment, should have been done months ago. Months. The last update I saw on the subject, which was when they announced they changed it from a Q&A, was 63 days ago, and that was just an update to let us know they were still working on it. If there was something more recent, I did not see it.

So, no, we do not get regular updates, and no, I do not think that they are really trying. Maybe they are no better or worse than any other MMO. If that is the case, it isn't a good thing. It is more of an indictment against the industry. Something that needs to change.

starlizard70ub17_ESO wrote: »

I think the OP may have missed the period from update 1.5 to update 1.6, that was ESO worst year(s).

The difference now is that ZOS added compelling new features in the past. Justice System launched around that time, and that was a major plus to the game, even if it did not include the PVP portion. This year, all we got was a card game, a few dungeons, and a couple zones. Oh. Ships in the harbors that move. I forgot that. (They move too fast, by the way...)

The point is that, in the past, when ZOS rolled through and tore things up, they also added things. This year, they did not (edit: to the same degree). That is why this year is standing out. It is out of balance.

Troodon80

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

regardless these content creators show Raids and PVP NOTHING ELSE the vast majority of people who play ESO do neither

FFXIV streams are largely the same sort of content. Primarily raids/trials and dungeons vs. casual questing/chill gameplay. Approximately 50% of streams are actively doing group content. It's about the same percentage right now as ESO has in terms of PvP/PvE raid/dungeon content vs. the "just chilling" content; bearing in mind that the number of streams fluctuates depending on the time of day, the ratio of viewship doesn't really change that much.

Yet FFXIV does drastically better in terms of viewership. Right now, middle of the day (not prime time) in EU time, 2.8k viewers for FFXIV, 457 for ESO. Even if you were to double the stats for ESO, because FFXIV has (possibly (doubtful)) double the player count, that would still put ESO at less than 1k viewers and FFXIV would still have more than double the viewership. This same general ratio continues to be seen even into prime time for EU, NA, and Asia timezones. A couple things to also consider: ESO is available on more platforms; it also has Xbox while FFXIV is only on PC and PS. FFXIV is centred around the story, yet we have about a 50/50 split in story to raid content being streamed. ZOS also incentivises people to watch ESO streams with Twitch Drops and free pet giveaways from select streamers. There's more "reason" or incentive to watch ESO streams than there is FFXIV streams.

In comparison, ESO viewership is abysmal. In fact, some of the people advertised as playing ESO on Twitch are not even playing ESO. So ESO numbers are artificially high (only in the 10s, mind you).

That's some interesting ESO gameplay.

If we had more questing content being streamed, do you really think viewership would skyrocket? It almost assuredly wouldn't. It's not because content creators are "only" showing raids and PvP. That's just pure speculation and guesswork on your part.

Elsonso

Troodon80 wrote: »

If we had more questing content being streamed, do you really think viewership would skyrocket? It almost assuredly wouldn't. It's not because content creators are "only" showing raids and PvP. That's just pure speculation and guesswork on your part.

Be careful when comparing games. ESO and FFXIV may be MMO games, but that does not mean they appeal to the same audience demographics.

ESO may appeal to a demographic that does not value video content as much as the people who play FFXIV.

ProudMary

starlizard70ub17_ESO wrote: »

cmetzger93 wrote: »

I enjoyed it. Your opinion is subjective

I think the OP may have missed the period from update 1.5 to update 1.6, that was ESO worst year(s).

I was here during that time. 2015-2016 was not remotely as rocky as the last year has been.

sarahthes

Elsonso wrote: »

Troodon80 wrote: »

If we had more questing content being streamed, do you really think viewership would skyrocket? It almost assuredly wouldn't. It's not because content creators are "only" showing raids and PvP. That's just pure speculation and guesswork on your part.

Be careful when comparing games. ESO and FFXIV may be MMO games, but that does not mean they appeal to the same audience demographics.

ESO may appeal to a demographic that does not value video content as much as the people who play FFXIV.

But it used to.

So what happened?

corrosivechains

Shadesofkin wrote: »

If Pvp went the way of the buffalo, I'd never notice.

We ARE noticing though, this is why the market value on many items, particular crafting materials, are tanking and Trade Guilds are dropping like flies.

SilverBride

The trade guild I'm in is doing great and the crafting mats I sell have stayed basically the same prices for quite awhile now. If a trade guild isn't doing well it could be due to their location or other reasons because I continue to see the same guilds in the same locations and these aren't dropping like flies.

DemonicGoat

SilverBride wrote: »

The trade guild I'm in is doing great and the crafting mats I sell have stayed basically the same prices for quite awhile now. If a trade guild isn't doing well it could be due to their location or other reasons because I continue to see the same guilds in the same locations and these aren't dropping like flies.

Oh what guild?

edit: also, are you having any issues with block today?

Katheriah

DemonicGoat wrote: »

edit: also, are you having any issues with block today?

They fixed block. Block is great! Nothing to see here.

What colour would you like your next sorry-guar to be btw?

sarahthes

I have to say, finding open trials and even cores that are recruiting is significantly harder now than it was 6 months ago. Filling raids also seems to be a lot more difficult.

It's sad. I came back (after a 6 month break) specifically to get Planesbreaker and Swash. But finding cores has been very very hard so far.