Studio Director’s Letter: ESO’s 2022 Retrospective & the Future

Goldie

Guild interface and management has NEVER received an update EVER.

Just wanted to add that...

SerasWhip

From the letter,

ESO is a massive game with a huge number of zones, quests, and systems.

Quests are pretty repetitive, and most zones feel ''empty'', except for a handful such as Summerset, Morrowind, and Orsinium, none of these are free to play.

We have created 40 or so hours of hand-built content EVERY YEAR since 2015, as well as a myriad of dungeons

Yes, only available if we buy the said content or dungeon, again, they aren't free updates or features of the core game.

and new systems like One Tamriel,

This should have already been included from the start.

thieving, assassinations, companions,

Yep, this is an Elder Scrolls game.

Tales of Tribute,

No one really asked for this.

antiquities,

Most people only do these to get some unique items, I have never done them but judging by the feedback, it seems like players see this feature more as a hassle.

crafting writs,

This is popular, thus we can proclaim it to be a good feature.

housing,

This is popular too, so again I'd say a good feature.

graphical character customization,

Talking about char customization I wish we could change our hair color without having to buy it with real-life money lol. An interesting piece of trivia, for me getting an actual haircut is cheaper than the tokens you buy to change your hair in game.

solo/group arenas,

I guess people are neutral about this.

PVP battlegrounds,

I don't like them but a good bunch does, so I'd regard this as a successful feature too.

and much more.

What does ''much more'' entail? I don't think there is anything else really. The game has been running for nearly 10 years. And this list is nothing to be proud of, in my opinion.

robwolf666

Anyone have any idea when the January reveal event is likely to be?

TaSheen

Maybe 3rd week? It "might" have been the 16th last year.

RaddlemanNumber7

Last year we had a teaser on 5th Jan and the reveal on 27th Jan.

Elsonso

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Last year we had a teaser on 5th Jan and the reveal on 27th Jan.

This might be why we have to wait for the monthly cash shop advertisement.

DeltaForce64x

Repeatable STORY content please! This is VITAL players like myself who cannot purchase story DLCs often, solo story please with our companions!

BretonMage

I just saw on Reddit that the reveal was going to be on 31 January. I'm already anxious enough now as it is

Araneae6537

BretonMage wrote: »

I just saw on Reddit that the reveal was going to be on 31 January. I'm already anxious enough now as it is

I would like to know when to look forward to more info but I could not find any source for this, or any specific date for the reveal.

I had hoped we would at least get a teaser today! I am still salty about this past year, but have some hope for the next, especially if we’re returning to elven content — Telvanni peninsula or Falinestri would be awesome! TES III Morrowind is why I loved Elder Scrolls, the world-building, unique sights and sounds — I want someplace to give me that otherworldly feel again!

Elsonso

Araneae6537 wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

I just saw on Reddit that the reveal was going to be on 31 January. I'm already anxious enough now as it is

I would like to know when to look forward to more info but I could not find any source for this, or any specific date for the reveal.

It came from Bethesda Germany's upcoming stream schedule, where 10 January has a "Look behind" and 31 January has a "Look ahead".

MochaForumFiend

re: Fan Gatherings

I read in @ZOS_MattFiror newsletter that there will be a fan gathering in Spring, 2023. That may seem far off now, but it's just a couple months (beginning of Spring). Likely, ZOS already knows where the venue will be since it's not the kind of thing you book last minute.

For those of us who might have to travel and/or make reservations, is there any way we can get an update about this? If ZOS would like this event to be well-attended, advanced notice would go a long way toward helping folks. Thanks.

TaSheen

MochaForumFiend wrote: »

re: Fan Gatherings

I read in @ZOS_MattFiror newsletter that there will be a fan gathering in Spring, 2023. That may seem far off now, but it's just a couple months (beginning of Spring). Likely, ZOS already knows where the venue will be since it's not the kind of thing you book last minute.

For those of us who might have to travel and/or make reservations, is there any way we can get an update about this? If ZOS would like this event to be well-attended, advanced notice would go a long way toward helping folks. Thanks.

@ZOS_Kevin, can you help this person out with this query?

Elsonso

TaSheen wrote: »

MochaForumFiend wrote: »

re: Fan Gatherings

I read in @ZOS_MattFiror newsletter that there will be a fan gathering in Spring, 2023. That may seem far off now, but it's just a couple months (beginning of Spring). Likely, ZOS already knows where the venue will be since it's not the kind of thing you book last minute.

For those of us who might have to travel and/or make reservations, is there any way we can get an update about this? If ZOS would like this event to be well-attended, advanced notice would go a long way toward helping folks. Thanks.

ZOS_Kevin, can you help this person out with this query?

I am curious, as well, but am not expecting a response.

TaSheen

Elsonso wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

MochaForumFiend wrote: »

re: Fan Gatherings

I read in @ZOS_MattFiror newsletter that there will be a fan gathering in Spring, 2023. That may seem far off now, but it's just a couple months (beginning of Spring). Likely, ZOS already knows where the venue will be since it's not the kind of thing you book last minute.

For those of us who might have to travel and/or make reservations, is there any way we can get an update about this? If ZOS would like this event to be well-attended, advanced notice would go a long way toward helping folks. Thanks.

ZOS_Kevin, can you help this person out with this query?

I am curious, as well, but am not expecting a response.

It's worth a try?

RedBranch

Do we have a date for the Global Reveal Event?

Any details on the ESO Fan Gathering? The sooner the better… people need to plan.

Elsonso

RedBranch wrote: »

Do we have a date for the Global Reveal Event?

We do not. However, Bethesda Deutschland published that there is a reserved time on the last day of January for a stream that sounds like it will be talking about what is coming this year. It is not called the global reveal event, though. It might be the after-reveal show.

Jaraal

RedBranch wrote: »

Any details on the ESO Fan Gathering? The sooner the better… people need to plan.

The EverQuest Fan Faires were a lot of fun. Thankfully, they didn't wait until the last minute to give details.

blktauna

Seriously, folks need time to make travel plans. It's not an oh let be hop the train into town for dinner sort of thing.

RedBranch

@Elsonso thank you… @Jaraal … I had the chance to attend QuakeCon when Elsweyr was coming out and it was great… the developers and social teams were very welcoming and accessible.

It’s been SO quiet since this letter came out which is exactly what makes people so anxious. Long periods of silence followed by a burst of information and then silence again.

Elsonso

RedBranch wrote: »

@Elsonso thank you… @Jaraal … I had the chance to attend QuakeCon when Elsweyr was coming out and it was great… the developers and social teams were very welcoming and accessible.

It’s been SO quiet since this letter came out which is exactly what makes people so anxious. Long periods of silence followed by a burst of information and then silence again.

The silly thing is that they know the dates, especially for the reveal, and they could tell us today, and we would know... and it would probably not hurt them in the slightest.

Seraphayel

robwolf666 wrote: »

Anyone have any idea when the January reveal event is likely to be?

I'll copy my post from another thread:

If ZOS is not massively changing their announcement philosophy, the stream should be announced the latest this Friday and take place either on January 24 or 26, unless it happens next week, which I doubt. This is based on the previous announcement / reveals:

High Isle: announcement January 5 / reveal January 27
Blackwood: announcement January 13 / reveal January 26
Greymoor: announcement January 9 / reveal January 16
Elsweyr: announcement January 6 / reveal January 15

The big outlier was Summerset, the stream was announced March 19 and the Chapter was revealed March 21. If the Q1 patch has nothing to do with the Chapter, we could have another announcement in February / March though. So nothing set in stone.

Elsonso

Seraphayel wrote: »

The big outlier was Summerset, the stream was announced March 19 and the Chapter was revealed March 21[/url]. If the Q1 patch has nothing to do with the Chapter, we could have another announcement in February / March though. So nothing set in stone.[/i]

Considering that they said, "you'll have to wait for our Global Reveal Event in January," I am thinking that if they wait until February or March, they are going to have to offer free beer to get people back into the auditorium.

Seraphayel

Elsonso wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

The big outlier was Summerset, the stream was announced March 19 and the Chapter was revealed March 21[/url]. If the Q1 patch has nothing to do with the Chapter, we could have another announcement in February / March though. So nothing set in stone.[/i]

Considering that they said, "you'll have to wait for our Global Reveal Event in January," I am thinking that if they wait until February or March, they are going to have to offer free beer to get people back into the auditorium.

Ah, I didn't know they already stated that they'll announce it in January. Must have missed that in the letter. Well then the upper half of my comment applies.

Seraphayel

So, it's January 25 and they do it the same day as Microsoft / Xbox has all their announcements.

LarsS

@ZOS_Kevin can we get an update about when the new hardware will arrive, you should have a better idea of the date by now. I would also like to know if all servers in EU will go live at the same time. As I remeber it, it was said (quite a while ago) that PC/EU would be first.

Jammy420

I am ecstatic that they finally have made it clear that weaving is part of the combat, and that fast based combat is the core of the game. Now that can finally be let rest, and let no one mention it again, please.

Seraphayel

And, on the other hand, our veteran players consistently tell us that they would like more content that isn't played through just once—they would like more content they can enjoy for years; content that utilizes our already existing zones to add new things to do, and most importantly, introduces some new gameplay

Where exactly is this? You’ve announced nothing like this. Content that isn’t played through just once - yes you did with the endless dungeon.

But where is the stuff to make old zones interesting again? New things to do? Where is it?

eternalshockcable

To the Director,


I feel based on my play style that the player count of TESO related to pvp players would increase if the studio would focus a team dedicated for pvp related content.

Yes , TESO was fleshed out from a single player standpoint of story driven content and quests. Yet, it has an entire community of player verses player based solely on the pvp side of the game.

With these decisions made by you and the powers that be , it feels like pvp is on the back burner which it is by reading.

I don't know why you're getting focused solely on the pve content and we could talk numbers if you would like. There are hundreds of games out there that proven that pvp related content is a market. You're just not focusing that market correctly like you could be.

For instance:

Lock the Free to play to a "quality" the gear you're wearing

Mythics if you're going to have them in Cyrodiil , you have to be a subscriber. The best gear, you should be paying for it.

Get PVP servers and PVE servers. No need for the explanation there but here we go:

With pvp servers the entire map could be pvp , of course given safe zones of the cities . With that we could have our pvp ques on the pvp servers.
This way pvp is paid for and can facilitate its own team.

Provide if not quarterly bi-annually pvp updates bare minimum .

As much as I love pvp , someone loved pvp that added it to the game. Y'all just got to refocus, this gem could shine even better. Even more now that there is almost an over saturation of pve content this is where we should be going " ok we got some pve content and a new class coming, now lets alternate and focus pvp content."

Really you could just alternate every year bare minimum between pve and pvp related content.

Now I'm not trying to be rude so pardon my wording it's just this is how I speak. What we shouldn't want is whats called "half-booty" content basically like there isn't really reasoning for picking one particular gameplay like pve over pvp related content when the game itself is both play styles .

That would be like saying we gave you this be happy we're focusing on this direction when you have an entire community saying for years we need content and for the content we have to be fixed.

You're just missing out on a gem that I believe it could be shined up .

Thank you for reading and hearing me out,
theshockcabletv

ps. you fix cyrodiil and I'll resubscribe. Yes i know its free to play. That's where I believe you have a market and you should too.

Caribou77

My favorite line from the Global Reveal: "...and the best PVP in online gaming..." (Stares hard, grinning into the camera)

mzprx

Caribou77 wrote: »

My favorite line from the Global Reveal: "...and the best PVP in online gaming..." (Stares hard, grinning into the camera)

the thing with all these "letters and reveals" - they are all written not by developers, but by a bunch of PR guys that know exactly what to say to make people go "well, this looks promising". and a lot of people do just that. they don't see the "letter from studio director" as just a word salad, but that is exactly what it is. empty promises mixed with a bit of new content that will 100% be Crown Store exclusive (or, even better, Crown crate exclusive) with some added apology to look like they've done some self-reflecting, which is there for that exact purpose - to look like they've done it (self-reflecting), not that they're actually admitting a fault. how many times have they promised to improve the performance? how many times have they assured us that the next patch will not be as messy as the last one? how many times have they promised us new and exciting content, only for us to see it locked behind a paywall?

they talk about adding "the most requested features". are they? how many people have requested new animation for chopping wood? but that's what we're getting. a minimap? nah, we know people have been asking about that since the game release and it's a standard feature in every other game out there but let's just not add that. just one of many examples, i could go on but let's not (i don't want this to be a wall of text, it's getting dangerously close)..

so next time you people see another "letter from studio director" remember - they've promised it all before and never fulfilled those promises..

just a personal note - how many years does it take to fix PvP? apparently decades..