2022: ESO's Worst Year, A Retrospective

tonyblack

BlakMarket wrote: »

Eric_Prince wrote: »

You know, I remember all the similar posts in the previous years.

Greymoor. 'WOO! [snip]! Antiquities is a lazy boring mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

Blackwood. 'WOO! [snip]! Companions are so lame! Stupid worthless NPCs that can't hold aggro like a real player! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

And now...

High Isle. 'WOO! [snip]! Card game is so lame! Stupid worthless mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

[snip]
[edited for baiting & profanity bypass]

How is Greymoor a comparison?

Yes, aspects of the antiquities systems is tedious but mythics overall have been amazing content for ESO, 95% of most builds use mythic items, they encourage theory crafting, I'm excited for new mythics to be released, excited for the discovery of leads - the mythic grind can be frustrating in the moment but so rewarding when complete. Some mythics have been way over tuned, but overall awesome continuing content for an ESO, props to the devs.

Now lets talk about companions and the card game. What is there even to say? Enough said.

When was the last time a new class/skill line/combat feature/pvp things (sets aside) was released? Years? Are you really surprised people are asking for this content?

Mystics are basically have same role monster sets used to have, which now obsolete and outdated in comparison. The only differences, they are hidden behind cheap mobile game, with (arguably) worse rng and take 1 slot instead of 2. I would choose greymoor to be the worst in term of content if not for solo arena in later dlc since other chapters had antiquities + other stuff not just antiquities. Especially, considering most interesting mystics have been nerfed to the ground or become very niche a patch later they were introduced (looking at Thrassian Stranglers, Oakensoul, malacath and ring of pale order).

FeedbackOnly

Cadbury wrote: »

It's interesting to see forum posters who i once thought of as staunch ESO supporters are now voicing their discontent.

I'm reminded of a certain movie quote (paraphrasing here):

"Sooner or later, I might get to someone something ingame you do care about"

We waited and watched for promised land

peacenote wrote: »

CP5 wrote: »

Lauranae wrote: »

Katheriah wrote: »

Lauranae wrote: »

What i know, is that the staff working for us, do it. With the tools and the rights or permissions they l
Personally, i would rather thanks the team for sticking with us, as we are starting to be a quite a negative crowd.
I would not feel motivated to do my job under such pressure.

That's some really nice sentiment and all, but as you said it... It's a job. If you look at the last patch you saw some bugs that should not have gone live. Like sieges that would never go away. It's gamebreaking in PvP and nobody even noticed it. Makes you wonder if they really care. What do their QA testers do all day?!

ESO is a product and not a cheap one. I have been supporting the game with ESO+ and buying all chapters on release. What I'm trying to say is most negative people don't hate the game, we love what the game can and should be.

If you're selling a product, people expect it to work. You can have a bad launch. A chain of bad launches with issues that take a month or longer to fix is getting less acceptable. Add the horrible communication from ZOS and you can expect torches and pitchforks.

I am not saying nothing bad happened and they did nothing all great.

I say that negativity accumulated is enough. You can complain, and explain and even yell and express your anger BUT at the end when there is only that, and the forum is becoming only that, i say its too much.

At some point, if ESO gives you so much anger, you know what to do. I did it on other games. (I dont point YOU sorry if my sentence is not well made - i speak in general)

And baring people to say that they had no problems because you had, is part of the problem. You want to voice your argument but you dont let those who do not have issues express themselves.

So at this point, this is again a unique voice, the negative one, that want to be heard and to silence the others.

---
When ESO had those huge issues with bank and items vanishing at launch, i left the game as i was mad. Shortly but i did it

It's a long-standing trend that ZOS tends to drag their feet on issues unless there is a large community outcry. Without continued pressure issues linger far longer than they should have any right, and if people just stop talking about the issues and either suffer through it or leave those issues won't be fixed and will only be made worse with additional problems added on down the road. Out of a love for the game and a desire to see it succeed, people rightfully speak up about the issues they have in hopes that the problems they have will get addressed. Being silent doesn't work, and even if those who are making noise now do leave, the continued problems will only cause others to keep the discussions going until something changes, either with the issues being fixed or, not.

Agree with this post and the OP's post.

Those of us still trying to be heard are trying because we love ESO. Over and over again, this year in particular changes were released to solve a described problem which wreaked havoc with other playstyles, when a more inclusive implementation fixing the problems but respecting and preserving more playstyles could have been done. Trade-offs were made that don't resonate and it's even worse when we are told "well, it's what you asked for." Silence on ZOS's part caused the community to tear each other apart, naming and blaming "casuals" "end game raiders" "role players" "pvp-ers" and more, when in reality most of us were negatively impacted. Not ALL... apparently some folks are perfectly happy with this year and that's great for you... but there's no reason that audience couldn't be bigger. All it would have taken is a little more engagement.

Yes, every year some content is released that some people aren't happy with. That's way different than what happened this year, where new content had to be held up against the much bigger yardstick of "is it worth what we lost?" And even this has happened before (bosmer passive change springs to mind) but not SO MUCH in one year.

This year I lost all my alt historical meaningful dates, like when they hit level 50. I lost accurate map tracking. I lost the ability to try a new role and know if I pass speed mode, hard mode, etc. in dungeon and trial content. I lost my "to-do" list for my characters. I lost the classic feel of my templars, and boy did I love my templars. I lost tons of friends who left the game, and progress in my raiding team (it has now disbanded). I lost the ability to block consistently. I lost the unique feel of my mag and stam toons.

That's... a lot of loss. To not be logging in every day feeling "oh this used to be more fun," replacement content needs to make up for all that. It needs to be more engaging than the stuff I miss. Do I care if a card game is added to ESO even if I don't want to play it? Well, no... but it's a pain point if a lot of what I used to do is gone from the game and that's all I get in return!

I'm totally loving the new dungeon and trial content and for now that's what primarily keeps me here, but it's not going to be enough if a way to re-pursue the challenging achievements in that group content isn't restored. I don't give two figs if it is an "achievement" or not but my desire to replay isn't there if I can't track my progress somewhere. I should not have to start a stopwatch and then track in a separate spreadsheet to see if I can finish a speed mode as a tank instead of a healer. Or make a new account. Both are ridiculous solutions to something I could easily do in game from 2014 - 2021!

Anyway I think that's why this year feels different/worse to some. A lot of changes were trade-offs or take- your-medicine "we promise it's good for you" and rolled out despite vocal outcry not just from the usual naysayers but people who normally say "guys, it's fine." But to see that you have to be looking at the posters and their post history.

I do still love this game. But there are a lot of things that I truly miss that I took for granted in 2021. 😢

Yes we were promised it would make things better, but looking at this year that wasn't what we got.

There's nothing new for everything we lost or tradeoffs for all the bad.

FeedbackOnly

Stinkyremy wrote: »

[snip]

"account wide achievements are bad because I wanted to earn a title doing a dungeon on an alt"

Can you not see how illogical this is.
You can still do the dungeon at any time on any character, yet you automatically have the title so do not have to if you don't want to.
This is a plus for you if you only run dungeons to get titles!

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

https://steamcharts.com/app/306130#All
October 2018 18,229 players
October 2019 21,527 players
October 2020 33,807 players
October 2021 29,949 players
October 2022 22,010 players

Steam is the least played version. Everyone who would have been fully dedicated to the game will have bought the game on release, before steam release and are using the dedicated client. Not including console players.
That is like trying to judge battlefield players or COD players by steam chart. It is the least played platform for those games.
Or xbox 360 CSGO players for the player count...
Also the median there with the pandemic increasing numbers means the game has a net gain of players on steam who stuck around after the (fear of) pandemic died down.

Doesn't change the point that people can't ingore people are leaving.

Where's the data point we are in the positive. It doesn't exist because as much we love eso . We can't deny ESO lost people this year more then other years.

Ingoring the problem doesn't make it go away. Other mmorpgs didn't lose people just because of excuse of pandemic. They held onto these so called pandemic players. Final fantasy is doing better in this regards

I love the game, but we got to do better this upcoming year.

[edited to remove quote]

ZOS_Icy

Greetings,

We have recently removed some unnecessary back and forth from this thread. This is a reminder to keep the discussion civil and constructive. Please keep our Community Rules in mind moving forward.

Thank you for your understanding.

INM

Stinkyremy wrote: »

Steam is the least played version. Everyone who would have been fully dedicated to the game will have bought the game on release, before steam release and are using the dedicated client.

ESO was published on Steam 3 months after release, are you trying to say that those release players consist the majority of the current population? Haven't there been any new players since then? And what about One Tamriel that's supposedly saved the game? Wasn't it brough fresh blood to the game?

Noone is playing through Steam is pure copium, sorry. Every poll I saw for the last few years indicated that around half of PC players are using Steam and according to those polls PC population consists up from 50% to 66% of the total population. Samples were big enough to trust them. Also games with "hundreds of thousands" of online players have bigger social media activity.

Tandor

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

Steams not a great indicator of this game as the game was out quite sometime before it ever hit Steam so most vets do not use it. Still; it would be hard for me to say ESO is not on a downturn. I don't have enough copium to believe its doing well.

A lot of Steam purchasers also play through the ZOS launcher. They may well have the game on Steam but they don't feature in the Steam chart numbers.

Elsonso

Stinkyremy wrote: »

[snip]

"account wide achievements are bad because I wanted to earn a title doing a dungeon on an alt"

Can you not see how illogical this is.
You can still do the dungeon at any time on any character, yet you automatically have the title so do not have to if you don't want to.
This is a plus for you if you only run dungeons to get titles!

The AwA debacle is definitely a low point in the year for a lot of people. Achievements and titles at the character level were a core feature of the game dating back to launch, so it is natural that decisions were made around these things and the very manner in which the game was played was guided by them. Whether the dev team was aware of this and just didn't care, or whether they were unaware of it at all, the manner that this was designed, rolled out, and communicated was bad. It burned player good will and trust.

No year that includes something like this is ever going to be a good year.

If the dev team never ever ever ever does anything like this again, that would be great. I don't have my hopes up.

Stinkyremy wrote: »

Steam is the least played version. Everyone who would have been fully dedicated to the game will have bought the game on release, before steam release and are using the dedicated client. Not including console players.
That is like trying to judge battlefield players or COD players by steam chart. It is the least played platform for those games.
Or xbox 360 CSGO players for the player count...

Steam players are not generally special when compared to non-Steam, XBox, or Playstation players when it comes down to "should I play ESO today" sorts of decisions. People are not likely to be migrating between these groups in any significant numbers. Small scale, different game releases on different platforms can change the answer to that, but large scale, these sorts of thing even out. That means we can use Steam numbers to indicate trends in how players decide whether to play the game, or not. It is not the magnitude of the numbers that matter, but how the numbers change in relationship to each other over time.

What the Steam Charts numbers suggest is that ESO stumbled in 2H2019, and may have saved by the pandemic. We will have to see whether ESO has stumbled post-pandemic when we see the 2023 numbers. Early indications are that it has stumbled, but these things have to play out over time. Note that I am drawing this from Steam Charts, not the numbers posted above.

Personally, I think that if there was a dip in 2019 was due to the popularity of Summerset (2018) which brought in a bubble of players that Elsweyr (2019) could not maintain. I surmise that cats and dragons were not enough.

Post-pandemic, I don't think that ESO is as strong as it could be. High Isle was stronger than Blackwood, but it was not an Elsweyr or Summerset. On top of that, the dev team is making ... aggressive ... game design decisions that distract from the chapter content.

This all seems to qualify 2022 as the "worst year", and possibly the first year where they had extended periods of negative growth.

[edited to remove quote]

Tandor

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Ghaleb wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

https://steamcharts.com/app/306130#All
October 2018 18,229 players
October 2019 21,527 players
October 2020 33,807 players
October 2021 29,949 players
October 2022 22,010 players

Steam players account for about 10% of the player base. 2020/2021 are high for one simple reason. People were at home more.

May I ask for the source you are referencing? This discussion flares up again and again and whenever scrutinized, the person stating that steam players only make 10% of the player base can't quote a source. So seriously interested.

Or even as much as 10%. The only official guidance we have was the comment that the platform populations were roughly equal, meaning about 33% are PC players. If there is evidence that anything remotely approaching a third of PC players run the game through Steam then I for one would like to see that evidence.

If you wouldn't mind, could you link the source of that information?

It's not the direct reference I remember, but a report of it:

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-elder-scrolls-online-players-break-down-betwee/1100-6444479/

If you read through the article there are also some interesting population figures given, albeit relating to console launch in 2015 when there were 235,000 concurrent players in the game plus another 200,000 in the queues. It's not clear whether that's just the console players. Incidentally, Steam users were both averaging and peaking around a quarter of their present number at that time.

Stamicka

Stinkyremy wrote: »

[snip]

"account wide achievements are bad because I wanted to earn a title doing a dungeon on an alt"

Can you not see how illogical this is.
You can still do the dungeon at any time on any character, yet you automatically have the title so do not have to if you don't want to.
This is a plus for you if you only run dungeons to get titles!

Of course this stuff is a “me” issue, I’m stating my opinion. However, other people may share my sentiments and it can be valuable for ZOS to know how their decisions impact other players.

In regards to the AwA stuff, I put a lot of hard work to get difficult trifecta achievements on more than one character pre AwA. Not only does this work now feel meaningless, but I can’t even see the date when I got those achievements on those characters. I also don’t feel the motivation to do anything more than once now that it just doesn’t feel as rewarding. Why did this feature take away functionality rather than adding to it? That’s the opposite of what a feature should do. There’s nothing “illogical” about this stance, you just fail to see the game through another persons perspective.

[edited to remove quote]

Treselegant

BlakMarket wrote: »

Eric_Prince wrote: »

You know, I remember all the similar posts in the previous years.

Greymoor. 'WOO! [snip]! Antiquities is a lazy boring mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

Blackwood. 'WOO! [snip]! Companions are so lame! Stupid worthless NPCs that can't hold aggro like a real player! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

And now...

High Isle. 'WOO! [snip]! Card game is so lame! Stupid worthless mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

[snip]
[edited for baiting & profanity bypass]

How is Greymoor a comparison?

Yes, aspects of the antiquities systems is tedious but mythics overall have been amazing content for ESO, 95% of most builds use mythic items, they encourage theory crafting, I'm excited for new mythics to be released, excited for the discovery of leads - the mythic grind can be frustrating in the moment but so rewarding when complete. Some mythics have been way over tuned, but overall awesome continuing content for an ESO, props to the devs.

Now lets talk about companions and the card game. What is there even to say? Enough said.

When was the last time a new class/skill line/combat feature/pvp things (sets aside) was released? Years? Are you really surprised people are asking for this content?

Companions have been a popular staple of Bethesda rpg games of the last ten years (or so) so thematically, they fit just fine in an Elder Scrolls MMO (other MMOs also have companion characters). In comparison, it was pretty obvious to me, watching the reveal livestream back in January, that upon the announcement of ToT many players were very confused as to why a card game was being added to ESO.

To me, ToT stands out awkwardly, desperately trying to get my attention with its in game advertising (omg shut up Sorinne!), that's the difference. I won't disparage it's fans but I do think it would have been better served as an app linked to ESO or something similar.

barney2525

It depends on what you focus on. Anyone can pick out negative stuff without bothering to show anything positive. That's not a fair or balanced perspective.

There are things tha need to be fixed, which impact the actual interaction, and my view is they really need to be addreessed ASAP. The Blocking issue is huge. If your block doesn't work your character gets hammered and your character might end up wiped through no fault of your own. The Lag is an issue. That causes huge problems .

But they don't mean the game as a whole is terrible. If you don't like it, fine. You have your opinion. But don't hand me this nonsense about you being the arbitor and declaring any specific year to be " the worst " just because you are a veteran player. Veteran players are the ones who nitpick more and appreciate less. They get aggravated more and more when their pet peeves are not addressed. And there's a whole lot of veteran players out here.

You do not speak for all of us.

Tandor

Stamicka wrote: »

Stinkyremy wrote: »

[snip]

"account wide achievements are bad because I wanted to earn a title doing a dungeon on an alt"

Can you not see how illogical this is.
You can still do the dungeon at any time on any character, yet you automatically have the title so do not have to if you don't want to.
This is a plus for you if you only run dungeons to get titles!

Of course this stuff is a “me” issue, I’m stating my opinion. However, other people may share my sentiments and it can be valuable for ZOS to know how their decisions impact other players.

In regards to the AwA stuff, I put a lot of hard work to get difficult trifecta achievements on more than one character pre AwA. Not only does this work now feel meaningless, but I can’t even see the date when I got those achievements on those characters. I also don’t feel the motivation to do anything more than once now that it just doesn’t feel as rewarding. Why did this feature take away functionality rather than adding to it? That’s the opposite of what a feature should do. There’s nothing “illogical” about this stance, you just fail to see the game through another persons perspective.

I agree. One of the key reasons I abandoned my two original accounts due to AwA was because I had multiple characters working on the Master Angler title and didn't want to have one rewarded for achieving it and the rest given it without catching another fish. I have no interest in them sharing the task if the only one actually credited with it is the one who catches the final rare fish to complete the achievement. So I opened a replacement account (meaning a 50% reduction in revenue for ZOS) and on one server I have a single character only and on the other I have a roster of characters but only one of them goes anywhere near a fishing hole.

[edited to remove quote]

BlakMarket

Treselegant wrote: »

BlakMarket wrote: »

Eric_Prince wrote: »

You know, I remember all the similar posts in the previous years.

Greymoor. 'WOO! [snip]! Antiquities is a lazy boring mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

Blackwood. 'WOO! [snip]! Companions are so lame! Stupid worthless NPCs that can't hold aggro like a real player! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

And now...

High Isle. 'WOO! [snip]! Card game is so lame! Stupid worthless mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

[snip]
[edited for baiting & profanity bypass]

How is Greymoor a comparison?

Yes, aspects of the antiquities systems is tedious but mythics overall have been amazing content for ESO, 95% of most builds use mythic items, they encourage theory crafting, I'm excited for new mythics to be released, excited for the discovery of leads - the mythic grind can be frustrating in the moment but so rewarding when complete. Some mythics have been way over tuned, but overall awesome continuing content for an ESO, props to the devs.

Now lets talk about companions and the card game. What is there even to say? Enough said.

When was the last time a new class/skill line/combat feature/pvp things (sets aside) was released? Years? Are you really surprised people are asking for this content?

Companions have been a popular staple of Bethesda rpg games of the last ten years (or so) so thematically, they fit just fine in an Elder Scrolls MMO (other MMOs also have companion characters). In comparison, it was pretty obvious to me, watching the reveal livestream back in January, that upon the announcement of ToT many players were very confused as to why a card game was being added to ESO.

To me, ToT stands out awkwardly, desperately trying to get my attention with its in game advertising (omg shut up Sorinne!), that's the difference. I won't disparage it's fans but I do think it would have been better served as an app linked to ESO or something similar.

I agree companions fit the mold of ESO/RPG 100%, but moving forward do they add value to game? Do you look forward for new gear/builds/content for your companion each patch? That's where they fall extremely short & are cannot be compared to Grermoor/Antiquities. I can ask the same questions about ToT.

TwiceBornStar

November 2014: 510.4 players.

Last 30 Days: 13,208.5 players.

I'd say ESO is doing fine if you compare those numbers from the same chart.

Like a few others have mentioned throughout this thread already, the influx of new players during the pandemic and the exodus shortly after isn't exactly a phenomenon that has happened to ESO exclusively, and you can see the same fluctuations in other games. Also, a lot of people don't use Steam at all, myself included, so these figures don't really tell us an awful lot about what's going on besides what's happening on Steam.

I love the hybridization, because it allows people to come up with all sorts of builds. You can freely mix and match sets until you're satisfied with the result and I can honestly tell you that I've discovered quite a few combo's that work really well in PvE, aside from what's considered META.

I haven't dabbled much in Tales of Tribute or High Isle yet, apart from a few Dungeons and crafting stations visited, because I'm still catching up, so my plan is to finish the chapters I haven't played yet first, but the few matches of Tales of Tribute that I've played were interesting and fun.

Performance? Sure, there's always room for improvement. I've noticed block disappearing a few times, I've noticed an increase in crashes, and of course it's annoying when that happens, but it doesn't happen all the time and it doesn't really bother me either. I just get back in and try again! Anyway, as I have understood it, PC/EU will have a new server like PC/NA in the not-so-distant future?

Jeez, that was kinda long, wasn't it?

Treselegant

BlakMarket wrote: »

Treselegant wrote: »

BlakMarket wrote: »

Eric_Prince wrote: »

You know, I remember all the similar posts in the previous years.

Greymoor. 'WOO! [snip]! Antiquities is a lazy boring mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

Blackwood. 'WOO! [snip]! Companions are so lame! Stupid worthless NPCs that can't hold aggro like a real player! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

And now...

High Isle. 'WOO! [snip]! Card game is so lame! Stupid worthless mobile game! We need a new class/skill line/combat feature/PvP thing'.

[snip]
[edited for baiting & profanity bypass]

How is Greymoor a comparison?

Yes, aspects of the antiquities systems is tedious but mythics overall have been amazing content for ESO, 95% of most builds use mythic items, they encourage theory crafting, I'm excited for new mythics to be released, excited for the discovery of leads - the mythic grind can be frustrating in the moment but so rewarding when complete. Some mythics have been way over tuned, but overall awesome continuing content for an ESO, props to the devs.

Now lets talk about companions and the card game. What is there even to say? Enough said.

When was the last time a new class/skill line/combat feature/pvp things (sets aside) was released? Years? Are you really surprised people are asking for this content?

Companions have been a popular staple of Bethesda rpg games of the last ten years (or so) so thematically, they fit just fine in an Elder Scrolls MMO (other MMOs also have companion characters). In comparison, it was pretty obvious to me, watching the reveal livestream back in January, that upon the announcement of ToT many players were very confused as to why a card game was being added to ESO.

To me, ToT stands out awkwardly, desperately trying to get my attention with its in game advertising (omg shut up Sorinne!), that's the difference. I won't disparage it's fans but I do think it would have been better served as an app linked to ESO or something similar.

I agree companions fit the mold of ESO/RPG 100%, but moving forward do they add value to game? Do you look forward for new gear/builds/content for your companion each patch? That's where they fall extremely short & are cannot be compared to Grermoor/Antiquities. I can ask the same questions about ToT.

I do actually make builds for them and would very much like if they were given more content. They add a lot of value to the game for me and looking around in game I can see that I'm very much not alone. This is a case where your particular play-style means you have no use for them but that's obviously not the case for a lot of ESO players. Like I said, I appeciate that ToT players may feel the same but I don't think the card game has been embraced in the same way by the player base.

tmbrinks

Stamicka wrote: »

Stinkyremy wrote: »

[snip]

"account wide achievements are bad because I wanted to earn a title doing a dungeon on an alt"

Can you not see how illogical this is.
You can still do the dungeon at any time on any character, yet you automatically have the title so do not have to if you don't want to.
This is a plus for you if you only run dungeons to get titles!

Of course this stuff is a “me” issue, I’m stating my opinion. However, other people may share my sentiments and it can be valuable for ZOS to know how their decisions impact other players.

In regards to the AwA stuff, I put a lot of hard work to get difficult trifecta achievements on more than one character pre AwA. Not only does this work now feel meaningless, but I can’t even see the date when I got those achievements on those characters. I also don’t feel the motivation to do anything more than once now that it just doesn’t feel as rewarding. Why did this feature take away functionality rather than adding to it? That’s the opposite of what a feature should do. There’s nothing “illogical” about this stance, you just fail to see the game through another persons perspective.

Agreed.

Sadly some will defend the practice to their last breath, despite players just stating their opinion on the matter. Love being "told" my opinion is wrong with such strong insulting language. But, unlikely to be moderated, because it's pro-AwA, and... (I'll refrain from saying more... )

I for sure am playing ESO much, much less than I had previously. Alts go untouched because even that small carrot of getting a trifecta or difficult achievement on that alt is gone.

And that's just my opinion.

[edited to remove quote]

kratier

ESO is my favorite mmo and im hanging onto the hope that next year will be better. I am about ready to drop the game though and move on. The direction the game has been going hasn't been what i would like to see in the future.

ForumBully

kratier wrote: »

ESO is my favorite mmo and im hanging onto the hope that next year will be better. I am about ready to drop the game though and move on. The direction the game has been going hasn't been what i would like to see in the future.

It wouldn't take much. A new class or skill line would bring a lot of players back immediately. Zos needs to rethink some combat changes from U35 as well.
As always, it would be nice if they...just once...approached PvP with anything other than obvious disdain, but I don't have high hopes there.

Katheriah

Why do people fail to see the significance in the Steamcharts?

I think everyone realizes not all players use Steam. However, the percentate of people that actually use Steam is big enough to act as a representable number to show a decline in players, especially since you can compare it to other games like FF14.

Nobody is trying to explain how many people exactly play ESO. People are trying to show that the number of players that can be bothered to login is dropping.

I can see the effect myself. Trading Guilds that are not selling as much anymore and are now waiting with kicking inactive members for a longer period of time because there's not enough people to replace them. People on my friendslist that were basically online almost every day and now haven't logged on in months.

This is not just because people are going back to school and the office. This is also about people that loved this game, but are giving up on believing in it.

SilverBride

Katheriah wrote: »

Why do people fail to see the significance in the Steamcharts?

I've seen a few posts this past year of players saying they no longer play through Stream. Steam would classify these as having stopped playing, but they didn't. They just aren't playing through Steam any more.

dcam86b14_ESO

If you aren't happy with your current game, don't play it. I will never understand humans staying in a situation that makes them unhappy.

CrashTest

Soraka wrote: »

Edit to add a separate thought: I'm also disappointed in the lack of attempts to repair goodwill with pvp players after various instances of disrespect. Also big pvp bugs being introduced into the updates that massively disrupted play and scores. I can't help but wonder if something was bugged in an equivalent manner for PvE or trials if they would have disabled it or dealt with it. Instead we were left to just watch and not do anything and then got an apology pet (that can't be used in pvp). Tired of pvpers being treated like unwanted step children and hostilities between pvpers and pvers being perpetuated to keep the blame off of balance problems. "Such and such skill is nerfed because pvpers blah blah..."
Pvp is a large and valid part of the game. Stop treating us like you want us to leave and don't want our feedback.

Hello fellow stepchild. As a PvE endgamer, I can tell you we feel like the devs aren't listening to us, and we get a lot of hate from this community too if we speak up about bugs or give feedback that most can't understand bc they don't play that content, so they leap to ZOS' defense and dismiss us as toxic complainers that should just leave or be ignored.

The worst are those who acknowledge there's an issue, but downplay it and tell you to just be patient and wait for a fix, or they'll tell you how to play around bugs. We shouldn't have to find ways around bugs. ESO isn't free and it certainly ain't cheap in the long run.

Also, how long are we expected to wait? Years? Because that's how old some bugs are, and I won't even get into how Cyro has been stuttering since launch.

FeedbackOnly

SilverBride wrote: »

Katheriah wrote: »

Why do people fail to see the significance in the Steamcharts?

I've seen a few posts this past year of players saying they no longer play through Stream. Steam would classify these as having stopped playing, but they didn't. They just aren't playing through Steam any more.

Doesn't change fact that people do. The focus is we are truly losing people.

Someone show us a chart we aren't losing people.

We all still love the game but we want next year to be better.

Heartrage

It has been a disappointing year. And I actually enjoyed the card game and AwA. When it comes to the steam numbers, it’s hard to tell how much of the drop was caused by the end of covid and people going back to work but they certainly don’t show that the game is dying.

Elsonso

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SilverBride wrote: »

Katheriah wrote: »

Why do people fail to see the significance in the Steamcharts?

I've seen a few posts this past year of players saying they no longer play through Stream. Steam would classify these as having stopped playing, but they didn't. They just aren't playing through Steam any more.

Definitely something to keep in mind. The size of that population is a complete unknown. I think most Steam players just use the Steam launch. Habit. The migration from Steam launch to native launch is likely small enough to ignore in the larger picture. I do wonder if ZOS can/does track that.

jaws343

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Katheriah wrote: »

Why do people fail to see the significance in the Steamcharts?

I've seen a few posts this past year of players saying they no longer play through Stream. Steam would classify these as having stopped playing, but they didn't. They just aren't playing through Steam any more.

Doesn't change fact that people do. The focus is we are truly losing people.

Someone show us a chart we aren't losing people.

We all still love the game but we want next year to be better.

Show me a chart that isn't skewed by an influx of 10K people due to a pandemic and I will maybe concede your point that the game is losing people at an alarming rate. All I see is that there are more people playing now than there were in 2019 before the pandemic. Which to me, shows that the game gained a little weight during the pandemic (like a lot of us) and has now shed those pounds on the other side. Come back in a year to see the real growth/decline of the game numbers.

Shihp00

not gon lie, I'm glad U35 happened(game was to easy before). I know hardcore players now who refuse to get in any trial or arena after the damage nerfs, [snip]

[Edit for Bait.]

YandereGirlfriend

jaws343 wrote: »

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Katheriah wrote: »

Why do people fail to see the significance in the Steamcharts?

I've seen a few posts this past year of players saying they no longer play through Stream. Steam would classify these as having stopped playing, but they didn't. They just aren't playing through Steam any more.

Doesn't change fact that people do. The focus is we are truly losing people.

Someone show us a chart we aren't losing people.

We all still love the game but we want next year to be better.

Show me a chart that isn't skewed by an influx of 10K people due to a pandemic and I will maybe concede your point that the game is losing people at an alarming rate. All I see is that there are more people playing now than there were in 2019 before the pandemic. Which to me, shows that the game gained a little weight during the pandemic (like a lot of us) and has now shed those pounds on the other side. Come back in a year to see the real growth/decline of the game numbers.

Stating again that Final Fantasy, at one time a close peer of ESO, managed to retain a significant share of their pandemic influx of players. They are currently sitting at about twice their early 2020 total.

So you might say that it's fine that we're only back to where we were but others would say that the game had a golden opportunity to grow its player base but has managed to completely squander it.

One might also wonder what Final Fantasy is doing that is leading to their improved player retention.

Jaraal

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

If you aren't happy with your current game, don't play it. I will never understand humans staying in a situation that makes them unhappy.

Probably because even in it's current dysfunctional state, it's still the best MMORPG available.

People simply want to see it live up to it's potential, and are disappointed when things only continue to get worse.

SilverBride

Things changing in a way that some players don't like doesn't mean that the game is bad or is getting worse.