2023 New Feature Speculation

Seraphayel

blktauna wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

This absolutely should not sound or come over as elitist. It’s not meant that way. But if you compare ESO to most if not any other MMORPG out there, the game requires very little from you. The skill ceiling to just get the basic things done that are meant to be done solo is very low.

And apparently many players choose ESO for this. Seems to me most people whole love this game are TES single player gamers and that informs the tuning.

Again, because you find it simple, doesn't mean many don't agree.

I'd prefer not to have overland mobs be more annoying than they are thanks. I would like bosses to scale more. While its a challenge to kill some on my lowbie, it's not on my trial toon. But that's sort of how it should be,

I'd prefer an old school Craglorn type area where you can go for that kind of challenge. But we all saw how that went the last time.

I don't really get your point. You don't want harder overland content - okay, what's the problem? Don't do it. Nobody is asking for it to be a mandatory part of the game for everyone. Each and every Chapter catered towards newcomers and players like you (that seem to want overland easy and doable without effort). It's clear that this doesn't work anymore like it did in the earlier Chapters. They completely ignored veteran players for years now and it shows by just how stale and boring the game has become. Something ZOS seems to have realized - at least I hope so.

Some other posters here are mixing up features with quality of life updates, too. An auction house wouldn't be a feature either, it would be a quality of life update for the trading post. A feature is generally a brand new system that has not been part of the game before, let it be a class or something like housing. The distinction isn't 100% clear, but there's a huge difference between QoL (many are confusing with feature) and real features.

Anumaril

I'm hoping for spellcrafting, but I'd settle for a multi-year storyline about finally being able to hide my damn shoulder items.

(difficulty selection for overland would also be a nice plus)

blktauna

Seraphayel wrote: »

I don't really get your point. You don't want harder overland content - okay, what's the problem? Don't do it. Nobody is asking for it to be a mandatory part of the game for everyone. Each and every Chapter catered towards newcomers and players like you (that seem to want overland easy and doable without effort). It's clear that this doesn't work anymore like it did in the earlier Chapters. They completely ignored veteran players for years now and it shows by just how stale and boring the game has become. Something ZOS seems to have realized - at least I hope so.

But we know they won't do a slider. It's always all or nothing and tbh some days I don't want to be craglorn level challenged when I'm just trying to get across the map to find a quest spot. I get that from my pvp and I don't want my gear farms to take more time away from that than necessary. Now if they'd stop upending the combat ever couple of weeks I wouldn't have to worry about that.

I agree that vet players are being either ignored on what they'd like or targeted because they are past the skill level the devs want to keep the game at. It's no win seemingly.

SilverBride

blktauna wrote: »

I agree that vet players are being either ignored on what they'd like or targeted because they are past the skill level the devs want to keep the game at.

Vet players are not being ignored. There is a plethora of veteran dungeons and trials and arenas for them to participate in.

Kallykat

Seraphayel wrote: »

Some other posters here are mixing up features with quality of life updates, too. An auction house wouldn't be a feature either, it would be a quality of life update for the trading post. A feature is generally a brand new system that has not been part of the game before, let it be a class or something like housing. The distinction isn't 100% clear, but there's a huge difference between QoL (many are confusing with feature) and real features.

I agree that some of the things mentioned here would be QOL updates (Q3). I also wanted to point out that there is a difference between "feature" and "system" in the letter.

The tentpole system for Q4 would presumably be something wholly new and zones-spanning as it is carrying the entire Q4 update. They said: "We have created 40 or so hours of hand-built content EVERY YEAR since 2015, as well as a myriad of dungeons and new systems like One Tamriel, thieving, assassinations, companions, Tales of Tribute, antiquities, crafting writs, housing, graphical character customization, solo/group arenas, PVP battlegrounds, and much more." I expect something like spellcrafting would fall under this category.

The new "feature," on the other hand, is probably going to be a smaller addition to an existing system--somewhere between QOL update and new system. They did say it was highly requested by the community and would appear with the chapter in Q2. This is where something like a new class might fall, I'd imagine.

Giraffon

I hope they go back to their old format during the reveal. Last year was very cringy. You could smell the fear coming off of them. They knew they were pushing crap! I also recall that it felt like marketing tried to take over the event. They need to go back to an informal format without any dorky transitions or narratives.

I'm not sure they could do it worse than last year so improvement is almost guaranteed...right?

Elsonso

Giraffon wrote: »

I hope they go back to their old format during the reveal. Last year was very cringy. You could smell the fear coming off of them. They knew they were pushing crap! I also recall that it felt like marketing tried to take over the event. They need to go back to an informal format without any dorky transitions or narratives.

I'm not sure they could do it worse than last year so improvement is almost guaranteed...right?

This time it will be a full on Microsoft XBox show followed by an ESO specific show. I expect the first one will be dripping with marketing hype over the four games they will talk about. The second one will be more typical of an ESO event, complete with nothing that wasn't already said in the first show because that would spoil the "surprise".

The most important part of all of this will be to tune in long enough to get the whateveritis that they are dropping for watching. Tune in, mute tab, minimize window, come back in an hour to claim drop.

Syldras

Elsonso wrote: »

The most important part of all of this will be to tune in long enough to get the whateveritis that they are dropping for watching.

The most important part of all this is the forum battle that will ensue after the reveal.

Elsonso

Syldras wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

The most important part of all of this will be to tune in long enough to get the whateveritis that they are dropping for watching.

The most important part of all this is the forum battle that will ensue after the reveal.

Can you imagine what it will be like in here if "veteran overland" is not mentioned? There is a good chance we will find out, so stock up on popcorn now.

Syldras

Elsonso wrote: »

Can you imagine what it will be like in here if "veteran overland" is not mentioned? There is a good chance we will find out, so stock up on popcorn now.

Well, of course they won't mention that. Everyone knows it will be Telvanni Peninsula + spellcrafting

Honestly, I'm still not sure what to think about all this. While the chances for Telvanni Peninsula are good, I assume, I'm not so sure about spellcrafting. I could even imagine that the chapter will take place somewhere on Telvanni Peninsula (that piece of land is huge, I somehow doubt it will all be in one chapter), but at a place where House Indoril is prevalent, and not House Telvanni. Then spellcrafting would be less probable.

Elsonso

Syldras wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Can you imagine what it will be like in here if "veteran overland" is not mentioned? There is a good chance we will find out, so stock up on popcorn now.

Well, of course they won't mention that. Everyone knows it will be Telvanni Peninsula + spellcrafting

Honestly, I'm still not sure what to think about all this. While the chances for Telvanni Peninsula are good, I assume, I'm not so sure about spellcrafting. I could even imagine that the chapter will take place somewhere on Telvanni Peninsula (that piece of land is huge, I somehow doubt it will all be in one chapter), but at a place where House Indoril is prevalent, and not House Telvanni. Then spellcrafting would be less probable.

I fear spell crafting, but not as much as some feature that edits out parts of the game. Veteran overland would probably do that. Global auction house would probably do that. I'm not sure if I like those better than stuff that goes off in some strange lore direction driven by revenue projections.

As for the zone... whatever it ends up being, I have mixed feelings. I don't think that ZOS has what it takes to pull off a big zone, with lore, story, and tons of stuff to do. I think they are too distracted, and too off balance. I think that we are going to get a Diet Zone that will make High Isle look like a banquet.

I guess we'll see.

Syldras

Elsonso wrote: »

As for the zone... whatever it ends up being, I have mixed feelings. I don't think that ZOS has what it takes to pull off a big zone, with lore, story, and tons of stuff to do. I think they are too distracted, and too off balance. I think that we are going to get a Diet Zone that will make High Isle look like a banquet.

I have the same feelings. Also, the writing wasn't quite good lately. Silly dialogues, lore mistakes... In that aspect 2022 was worrying. It's a pity. I really hope they won't totally botch that new zone. Maybe I'd even prefer them to make up some completely new place instead of ruining Dunmer background lore, no matter if Telvanni or Indoril. And not only that, it would be sad for all the missed opportunities if they take an important region of Tamriel and don't make something useful of it, but only fill it with cheap superficial cliché writing.

blktauna

I wonder if they will delete "Cyrodil" and "fix pvp" entries as well lol

At this point I dread whats coming. Fortunately I have plenty of existing stuff to do that should keep me bust for some years. I just hope they don't [snip] up combat in another 180 SURPRISE! update.

[edited for profanity bypass]

BretonMage

Elsonso wrote: »

I fear spell crafting, but not as much as some feature that edits out parts of the game.

Spellcrafting will mean interminable grind. Therefore it will probably be spellcrafting.

TaSheen

BretonMage wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

I fear spell crafting, but not as much as some feature that edits out parts of the game.

Spellcrafting will mean interminable grind. Therefore it will probably be spellcrafting.

And that means I'd never touch it. I don't DO grinds any more.

wilykcat

More and advanced character customizations just like in Guild Wars 2.

Elsonso

BretonMage wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

I fear spell crafting, but not as much as some feature that edits out parts of the game.

Spellcrafting will mean interminable grind. Therefore it will probably be spellcrafting.

They have to introduce a hefty grind so that they have something to sell in the cash shop.

In this case, I figure we will be assembling molecules that drop at random from chests in order to build the paper and ink that lead to the location of a random drop spell fragment in some delve or dungeon. 50 fragments and you can get the first word of the spell's incantation, which shouldn't be more than a couple hundred words.

TaSheen

Elsonso wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

I fear spell crafting, but not as much as some feature that edits out parts of the game.

Spellcrafting will mean interminable grind. Therefore it will probably be spellcrafting.

They have to introduce a hefty grind so that they have something to sell in the cash shop.

In this case, I figure we will be assembling molecules that drop at random from chests in order to build the paper and ink that lead to the location of a random drop spell fragment in some delve or dungeon. 50 fragments and you can get the first word of the spell's incantation, which shouldn't be more than a couple hundred words.

Bah. Not EVER going there.

BretonMage

Elsonso wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

I fear spell crafting, but not as much as some feature that edits out parts of the game.

Spellcrafting will mean interminable grind. Therefore it will probably be spellcrafting.

They have to introduce a hefty grind so that they have something to sell in the cash shop.

In this case, I figure we will be assembling molecules that drop at random from chests in order to build the paper and ink that lead to the location of a random drop spell fragment in some delve or dungeon. 50 fragments and you can get the first word of the spell's incantation, which shouldn't be more than a couple hundred words.

Don't forget the continuously changing meta that keeps you restarting the process every 3 months!

Seraphayel

Syldras wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Can you imagine what it will be like in here if "veteran overland" is not mentioned? There is a good chance we will find out, so stock up on popcorn now.

Well, of course they won't mention that. Everyone knows it will be Telvanni Peninsula + spellcrafting

Honestly, I'm still not sure what to think about all this. While the chances for Telvanni Peninsula are good, I assume, I'm not so sure about spellcrafting. I could even imagine that the chapter will take place somewhere on Telvanni Peninsula (that piece of land is huge, I somehow doubt it will all be in one chapter), but at a place where House Indoril is prevalent, and not House Telvanni. Then spellcrafting would be less probable.

I mean... we do have the official thread about overland difficulty for quite some time now (November 2021). So they had basically over a year to work on this and have it as a main feature coming to the game - the timing of the thread and the announcement just fit. Will it be the main feature? Who knows. It would be a huge step in the right direction though.

The biggest problem is still combat, it's boring and stale and has been so for years. That's where Spellcrafting comes into play, it would revitalize ESO combat.

My fear is, ZOS is completely oblivious about the situation and we're getting another tone-deaf announcement of something pointless that they try to sell as a main feature. Last year just burned so many players because the card game was absolutely a new low. My brain tells me they are not in the position to repeat this again, but...

And Telvanni Peninsula is way smaller than Vvardenfell. If we go by the official maps, it's maybe just 20% of Summerset / Vvardenfell. Edit: I was wrong and confused Telvanni Islands with the Peninsula.

Syldras

Seraphayel wrote: »

And Telvanni Peninsula is way smaller than Vvardenfell. If we go by the official maps, it's maybe just 20% of Summerset / Vvardenfell.

Well, if you look at this -



the Telvanni Peninsula is the whole landmass East of Vvardenfell, bordering Deshaan and Bal Foyen in the South. It's not exactly small. If you mean the islands on the right side, those are the Telvanni Isles, which is a different thing.

Seraphayel

Syldras wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

And Telvanni Peninsula is way smaller than Vvardenfell. If we go by the official maps, it's maybe just 20% of Summerset / Vvardenfell.

Well, if you look at this -



the Telvanni Peninsula is the whole landmass East of Vvardenfell, bordering Deshaan and Bal Foyen in the South. It's not exactly small. If you mean the islands on the right side, those are the Telvanni Isles, which is a different thing.

Ah, then it's my bad. I indeed confused the island(s) on the top right with the Peninsula. I mean... peninsuala already rules that out, lol.

Hesperax79

Vindold wrote: »

They dug their own grave by choosing such approach with sets...it's really hard for them nowadays to make a new viable sets which will not ruin balance like Mara's Balm etc...tbh I'd be happy if they rework it.

Yes, it is a very hard to make balance. There is simply too much option atm. But the real endgame of ESO is the set collection. Making serious changes here doesn't looks possible, because this means the total changes of the existing game.

Elsonso

Seraphayel wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Can you imagine what it will be like in here if "veteran overland" is not mentioned? There is a good chance we will find out, so stock up on popcorn now.

Well, of course they won't mention that. Everyone knows it will be Telvanni Peninsula + spellcrafting

Honestly, I'm still not sure what to think about all this. While the chances for Telvanni Peninsula are good, I assume, I'm not so sure about spellcrafting. I could even imagine that the chapter will take place somewhere on Telvanni Peninsula (that piece of land is huge, I somehow doubt it will all be in one chapter), but at a place where House Indoril is prevalent, and not House Telvanni. Then spellcrafting would be less probable.

I mean... we do have the official thread about overland difficulty for quite some time now (November 2021). So they had basically over a year to work on this and have it as a main feature coming to the game - the timing of the thread and the announcement just fit. Will it be the main feature? Who knows. It would be a huge step in the right direction though.

That assumes that they want to do veteran overland zones. They seemed resistant to it in the past, which could have been misdirection. A pinned thread on the forum doesn't mean the development team is interested in doing it. At best, it means they are interested in what people think about it.We know that they are not going to go to a forum thread for design or implementation ideas, so all that thread does is present what people think about the idea. Their interest could be because they want to develop such a feature, or they are using it to internally justify not developing such a feature.

I do think that ZOS is having some sort of a midlife crisis behind the curtain there, and veteran overland could be the convertible sports car they think they need to feel young again. They can do a WotC and try to ignore player outrage until it subsides, so can't rule it out. When pops wants that convertible, pops is gonna buy the convertible.

SilverBride

Seraphayel wrote: »

I mean... we do have the official thread about overland difficulty for quite some time now (November 2021). So they had basically over a year to work on this and have it as a main feature coming to the game

The pinned overland thread was created to address a problem. Every week there was a new thread that always devoled and was locked only to be replaced by another. This was causing a negative experience for many forum posters so the pinned thread was created to keep the discussion in one place and stop the repeated threads.

Elsonso wrote: »

A pinned thread on the forum doesn't mean the development team is interested in doing it.

This is correct. They even posted part of an interview with Rich Lambert in that thread where he stated that there are no major plans for overland difficulty.

Seraphayel

SilverBride wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

I mean... we do have the official thread about overland difficulty for quite some time now (November 2021). So they had basically over a year to work on this and have it as a main feature coming to the game

The pinned overland thread was created to address a problem. Every week there was a new thread that always devoled and was locked only to be replaced by another. This was causing a negative experience for many forum posters so the pinned thread was created to keep the discussion in one place and stop the repeated threads.

Elsonso wrote: »

A pinned thread on the forum doesn't mean the development team is interested in doing it.

This is correct. They even posted part of an interview with Rich Lambert in that thread where he stated that there are no major plans for overland difficulty.

This doesn’t mean they’re not well aware of the problems and aren’t tackling them one way or another. To think it’s just there to consolidate overland feedback without causing any developer reaction is pretty ignorant in my opinion.

DMuehlhausen

Elsonso wrote: »

wenchmore420b14_ESO wrote: »

And from Konkles presentation in 2014, it looks as if they have the coding done for this.

When this came up in 2021, it seems to me that the comment was that they could not use that original coding. I got the impression that the whole thing was down in the ZOS basement at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying beware of the skeevers.

At this point the original code is so broken you wouldn't want to use. However to add to that if you remember when the game launched there was phasing based on just quest answers to NPCs. it was separating the players to much and they decided they don't want to do that anymore. If they want to make Overland better than there need to be random events that take groups, or like WoW had back in the day that elite quests where you need to group up.

There should also be bigger death penalties. People shouldn't be able to ujust pull entire delves to get to the boss or skyshard die, and have basically no penalty.

SilverBride

Seraphayel wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

I mean... we do have the official thread about overland difficulty for quite some time now (November 2021). So they had basically over a year to work on this and have it as a main feature coming to the game

The pinned overland thread was created to address a problem. Every week there was a new thread that always devoled and was locked only to be replaced by another. This was causing a negative experience for many forum posters so the pinned thread was created to keep the discussion in one place and stop the repeated threads.

Elsonso wrote: »

A pinned thread on the forum doesn't mean the development team is interested in doing it.

This is correct. They even posted part of an interview with Rich Lambert in that thread where he stated that there are no major plans for overland difficulty.

This doesn’t mean they’re not well aware of the problems and aren’t tackling them one way or another. To think it’s just there to consolidate overland feedback without causing any developer reaction is pretty ignorant in my opinion.

The pinned thread was created to deal with a problem on the forums.

BretonMage

DMuehlhausen wrote: »

There should also be bigger death penalties. People shouldn't be able to ujust pull entire delves to get to the boss or skyshard die, and have basically no penalty.

There was a recent poll about death penalties and the response was overwhelmingly against it. In any case, I think this ignores the real problem about delves, that they're just not fun. And it's not just the challenge level. Delves are perfect for new players because enemies are easy and spaced out, so these players have more time to react and adjust. For more experienced players, you're basically just facing a small smattering of enemies spread out in a long, winding cave, and it's tedious. If they were to design content to take longer to complete, then they should reduce the grind and increase the rewards. Or reduce the grind at the very least. People speed run things because they're grinding.

Rontabs77

Rontabs77 wrote: »

A Trial Finder feature would be awesome.

Thank you ZOS.