Spellcrafting, a Fantasy?

The_Titan_Tim

Was Spellcrafting ever in the cards?

This year was the biggest push for the feature I have ever seen, after last years push prior and it seems like it’s just falling on deaf ears.

Can we get a response from ZOS about the future of this promised system?

It would lessen the pain of getting burnt again this year after constant wave after wave of nerfs to our already favorite classes… just to have a glimpse of hope for new skills to replace the now useless ones we have, if this were to be implemented.

Sir_Hammock

How have spellcrafting been promised?
The only thing I've ever seen them talking about it was when they said they have no interest in this system.

The_Titan_Tim

Sir_Hammock wrote: »

How have spellcrafting been promised?
The only thing I've ever seen them talking about it was when they said they have no interest in this system.

It was given it’s own presentation, being used as a selling point at Quakecon 2014, done by old Gameplay Director, Nick Konkle.

Highly informative video, you should check it out.

DMuehlhausen

Instead of Spellcrafting they are giving you a spellcrafting class.

You'll never get the skill line and who cares. they could say there are 1 Billion possible spells and outside hardcore RPers only like 3 would be used.

LittlePinkDot

It was always a fantasy.

Sir_Hammock

The_Titan_Tim wrote: »

Sir_Hammock wrote: »

How have spellcrafting been promised?
The only thing I've ever seen them talking about it was when they said they have no interest in this system.

It was given it’s own presentation, being used as a selling point at Quakecon 2014, done by old Gameplay Director, Nick Konkle.

Highly informative video, you should check it out.

Yes and which afterwards they said they were scrapping the idea because it didn't work. So that presentation have absolute zero promise in it

The_Titan_Tim

Sir_Hammock wrote: »

The_Titan_Tim wrote: »

Sir_Hammock wrote: »

How have spellcrafting been promised?
The only thing I've ever seen them talking about it was when they said they have no interest in this system.

It was given it’s own presentation, being used as a selling point at Quakecon 2014, done by old Gameplay Director, Nick Konkle.

Highly informative video, you should check it out.

Yes and which afterwards they said they were scrapping the idea because it didn't work. So that presentation have absolute zero promise in it

ZOS have never said they were scrapping the idea, if you could share with me where you saw that, it would be great.

All I’ve seen about it, was that it was on the backburner, not scrapped, that is ambiguous. It tells the reader that the feature would eventually come out.

If you’ve read that the feature was scrapped and ZOS have stated it was never going to come out that would be the verification the community needs to stop being lead on.

Cazador

Here's an interview with Matt firror from last year.
https://youtu.be/jqU7KjfGNsw
Spellcrafting comes up at 4:41.

It's worth noting that he states that the showcase back in 2014 had the caveat that they don't know if they were going to do it and that what they were showing was just an idea.
He does note that they still have that idea but there are no plans right now for spellcrafting, though it may possibly be revisited.

So to summarize it wasn't really a promised system, at least not according to this interview, probably isn't currently planned, but maybe something revisited later.

Edit: kind of forgot what year it was and realized this interview was from last year

Jusey1

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

It was always a fantasy.

but there's no escape from reality...

Arunei

I'm pretty sure they've said within the last few years there's still no plans for Spellcrafting.

People need to realize that it would more than likely just wind up being Enchanting 2.0. You'd have like a base that would determine level, choosing Spell or Physical Damage, and then some sort of additional effect. It wouldn't really open up as much as people think it would, because there would only be a handful that were viable, just like with Glyphs.

And for people saying "well it would maybe let Class X have a skill like Class Y has", you'd have people pointing out how that's basically just homogenizing Classes and that at that point there's nothing special to differentiate them.

And balancing it would probably be a pain in the butt too. Let's face it, ZOS sometimes isn't the best at balance.

The_Titan_Tim

Cazador wrote: »

Here's an interview with Matt firror from last year.
https://youtu.be/jqU7KjfGNsw
Spellcrafting comes up at 4:41.

It's worth noting that he states that the showcase back in 2014 had the caveat that they don't know if they were going to do it and that what they were showing was just an idea.
He does note that they still have that idea but there are no plans right now for spellcrafting, though it may possibly be revisited.

So to summarize it wasn't really a promised system, at least not according to this interview, probably isn't currently planned, but maybe something revisited later.

Edit: kind of forgot what year it was and realized this interview was from last year

How is selling someone something under the premise of it being capable of doing a particular thing, excused years later by being written off as just an “idea?”

Leading us all on year after year is exhausting, if we could get a solid “No. Spellcrafting will never happen.” That would end the discussion…

A lot of people would be unhappy, sure, but at least we could move onto other topics.

Thormar

Jusey1 wrote: »

but there's no escape from reality...

Can we please, please get this rolling...
Open your eyes...

Faulgor

I just want new skills for my characters, man.

How is that an impossibility in an MMO?

fizzylu

Faulgor wrote: »

I just want new skills for my characters, man.

How is that an impossibility in an MMO?

Especially one with so much potential.... I guess Zenimax is just too in the habit of streamlining any new ability ideas into proc sets hahahahaaaa

Faulgor

fizzylu wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

I just want new skills for my characters, man.

How is that an impossibility in an MMO?

Especially one with so much potential.... I guess Zenimax is just too in the habit of streamlining any new ability ideas into proc sets hahahahaaaa

Sadly true. Look at a set like Dark Convergence and tell me that couldn't or shouldn't have been a skill, an ultimate even.

chessalavakia_ESO

The_Titan_Tim wrote: »

Cazador wrote: »

Here's an interview with Matt firror from last year.
https://youtu.be/jqU7KjfGNsw
Spellcrafting comes up at 4:41.

It's worth noting that he states that the showcase back in 2014 had the caveat that they don't know if they were going to do it and that what they were showing was just an idea.
He does note that they still have that idea but there are no plans right now for spellcrafting, though it may possibly be revisited.

So to summarize it wasn't really a promised system, at least not according to this interview, probably isn't currently planned, but maybe something revisited later.

Edit: kind of forgot what year it was and realized this interview was from last year

How is selling someone something under the premise of it being capable of doing a particular thing, excused years later by being written off as just an “idea?”

Leading us all on year after year is exhausting, if we could get a solid “No. Spellcrafting will never happen.” That would end the discussion…

A lot of people would be unhappy, sure, but at least we could move onto other topics.

At least to me, the body language/tone of voice/choice of words in that video suggests that it's not a direction that he intends to go in.

Leading people on can avoid having them quitting and can avoid dealing with situations where you could look bad if you have to change approaches.

For example, let's say the story this year ends up being considered weak, the quality of life changes don't do as much as people hope, and the endless co-op dungeon doesn't find much of an audience. ZOS might end up in a position where Spellcrafting would suddenly be more appealing than it otherwise would be.

tomfant

Too bad so many youtubers jumped on the idea that spell crafting could be a thing. You guys were hype trained by those content creators. So, go into their channels and leave your frustration there.

It's always better to keep expectations low, and be occasionally surprised by something big. Riding the hype train almost always leads to dissapointnent.

ApoAlaia

I thought spellcrafting had a chance of being this year's feature.

I'd still like to see spellcrafting introduced.

Said that I get the impression that a new class has the potential to please more players than spellcrafting ever could.

It feels to me that at this point most of us who are excited with the idea of spellcrafting are the ones who saw originally that Quakecon video and went 'that is the thing from Morrowind/Oblivion!'

Which it isn't because it cannot be in an MMO where unbalanced systems cause uproar. So it will be something that is kinda like it but not quite?

That is a harder sale (something that is a bit like the thing you remember enjoying on those single player games but not quite) than 'hey, here, a new class!'

And is not like 'gib new class' doesn't belong in the 'most requested' category.

It definitely didn't leave me scratching my head like ToT did.

Northwold

I don't really get the disappointment. It's pretty obvious that in a game that has PvP spellcrafting would be either:

- impossible to balance; or

- so crippled / limited to prescribed options to make it balance that it wouldn't be worth having.

No one has come up with a credible explanation of how it would get past the balance problem and still be worth having. So yes, it always looked like a fantasy.

FeedbackOnly

Cazador wrote: »

Here's an interview with Matt firror from last year.
https://youtu.be/jqU7KjfGNsw
Spellcrafting comes up at 4:41.

It's worth noting that he states that the showcase back in 2014 had the caveat that they don't know if they were going to do it and that what they were showing was just an idea.
He does note that they still have that idea but there are no plans right now for spellcrafting, though it may possibly be revisited.

So to summarize it wasn't really a promised system, at least not according to this interview, probably isn't currently planned, but maybe something revisited later.

Edit: kind of forgot what year it was and realized this interview was from last year

Painting was also a system, some things just don't make it

Wolfchild07

Maybe they're saving it for Winterhold College. Saying people will only use a few spells is a bad excuse. That won't happen if it's done right, and numbers/functionality can be changed if that happens.

ForumBully

Since it seems this wasn't it... again, I'd give up on the idea. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get some new skills when ZOS finally accepts that some of the existing abilities are pointless and have no use to anyone ever.

Tensar

Wolfchild07 wrote: »

Maybe they're saving it for Winterhold College. Saying people will only use a few spells is a bad excuse. That won't happen if it's done right, and numbers/functionality can be changed if that happens.

The map in ESO is really bad, the college dosn't exist

DMuehlhausen

Jusey1 wrote: »

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

It was always a fantasy.

but there's no escape from reality...

Back to life, back to reality...

Garethp

Balance aside, wasn't it just a year or two ago that they changed a bunch of set abilities because having too many things that need conditional checks to see if they trigger or not was causing the servers too much strain? And that's for fairly simple set bonuses too.

Even if they were able to balance it somehow, spellcrafting would take that problem to the next level. If the servers had to calculate on the fly what effects a specifically crafted spell has every time it's cast, it would likely be extremely difficult to do without having even worse server performance. Making those calculation when they're hardcoded (because they're predetermined, set abilities or bonuses) is ridiculously quicker than doing it on the fly with data pulled from the database.

Just thinking about performance alone it was clear that it wasn't going to happen, and will probably never be on the cards.

tomofhyrule

I think people hyped themselves up about spellcrafting, and are now disappointed that it's not. They didn't ever promise up spellcrafting for this reveal, but so many people promised others that the emote *100% meant spellcrafting* the people who wanted it are feeling let down.

Yes, they said it before. Over 8 years ago. And we haven't really gotten any word on it since. It's safe to say it's been tabled by this point. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, but remember the original idea of spellcrafting from before: going places, looking for runes, scrying them together...
...it almost sounds like a lot of that was repurposed into the leads/antiquity system.

I still think that balancing and class identity would be all over the place with Spellcrafting. It won't be like it was in Morrowind or Oblivion (and Skyrim skipped Spellcrafting) where you could make a "spell of nuking the enemy." You'd probably get a few utility things and maybe one meh damage ability, because if that was better than class skills, then why would people play their class instead of just run all crafted spells?

fleetingyouth_ESO

How is selling someone something under the premise of it being capable of doing a particular thing, excused years later by being written off as just an “idea?”

Leading us all on year after year is exhausting, if we could get a solid “No. Spellcrafting will never happen.” That would end the discussion…

A lot of people would be unhappy, sure, but at least we could move onto other topics.

The developers have never implied since the game was released and it didn't materialize that this might be a feature. They have in no way led anyone on year after year. There has only ever been fan speculation based on very limited and mostly old info.

Content creators latch on to any theory that sparks interest and hype it up because that's how you get views and they don't have to be beholden to their opinions if they are wrong.

Since the games release spellcrafting has never been on the table and like many have said above I'm pretty sure if they ever did include it most of the players who want it would be very unhappy with what they got.

Way to many players read volumes between the lines instead of just taking the devs at there word.

I saw another post yesterday where a user tried to argue the new big end of year feature might still be vet overland because to them that's what endless dungeons sounded like to them. I mean come on.

Holycannoli

tomofhyrule wrote: »

I think people hyped themselves up about spellcrafting, and are now disappointed that it's not.

They also got hyped up about a bard class, especially considering the musical theme of this event starting today, but instead they gave us another caster class.

Spellcrafting would have breathed new life into this game like no new caster class ever could. It was already fairly thought out too, and looks like it would have been amazing for customization of our current characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeaizaBRewg

I'm not totally disappointed in the reveal but arcanist just doesn't evoke the same kind of excitement that spellcrafting or bard would have.

fleetingyouth_ESO

[quote}
Spellcrafting would have breathed new life into this game like no new caster class ever could. It was already fairly thought out too, and looks like it would have been amazing for customization of our current characters.
[/quote]

This isn't exactly true, and you're looking at it from a player's perspective. The new player-requested feature was always going to be a new class regardless of all the fan/youtube theories. The developer's main goal is to bring in new players and not retain old players.

As a business and from a marketing perspective it is always better to market new content to potential new players and possibly lure back old players who have left. A new class is a sure thing and will create more buzz in the gaming media, more articles, and more conversation in the wider gaming world of people not currently playing the game.

That is how just about every MMO on the market has revitalized its game over time. That is the ONLY guaranteed way to increase game sales and make the studio money.

If they wanted to make existing players happy they would have made some sort of new skill line or feature that added value to the existing characters players already have, and it sounds like that is what the new end of the year feature will do.

Melivar

Was always a fantasy. While in a way I would also love to have spell crafting mostly because i don't PVP a ton but the system would either be so broken or useless that I am not sure what the point would be. It would just be so hard to balance in a game where they already have balance issues the majority of the time.

I do think that if they were to introduce spell crafting that it would be time to start looking for a new game. This wouldn't be because it would be broken or useless but because it would likely be a last-ditch effort that they decided they had no other choice to bring in to try and keep the game alive or on life support.

Now getting some new skill lines like psijic order to use on our existing classes would be great. Perhaps a bard line which I think would be much more feasible than bard being a stand alone class.

Holycannoli

fleetingyouth_ESO wrote: »

As a business and from a marketing perspective it is always better to market new content to potential new players and possibly lure back old players who have left. A new class is a sure thing and will create more buzz in the gaming media, more articles, and more conversation in the wider gaming world of people not currently playing the game.

Disagree. Spellcrafting would be a much more exciting addition to market to both new and old players. Customizable spells instead of yet another rather generic casting class? Besides the portal what will arcanist do that will make it and this game really stand out?

They dropped the ball here. If they wanted to generate buzz they should have gone ahead with spellcrafting. Arcanist will be a snooze for gaming media and the gaming world. It's really not that unique aside from that portal which will wind up being talked about for the problems and exploits it will cause.

Let me ask: As a potential new player - never played ESO before - would you be more excited about a MMORPG adding a new casting class or adding a system to customize your spells and abilities? You choose if it's AOE or single target, DoT or burst, long cast time or instant, etc.