Why do expansions feel so...empty?

Rouz

I also had this same issue when High Isle released. It hasn't been that long since Necrom was released. Yet when I go into the open world. It feels so...empty. This is on PC, not sure what console looks like. But I'm sitting there trying to do world bosses and nobody wants to do them. I sit by the world boss and nobody shows up to kill it. I walk around questing and rarely see other players.

This isn't a super uncommon issues. I go play DF in WoW and the leveling zones are mainly empty cause everyone moved on. But its been a week and a half. Necrom should not feel this empty.

I'm not sure if its a megaserver issue. Or the total amount of players in a zone was reduced for performance reasons. But its so depressing seeing the newest zones added feel so...empty. Having to leave a world boss cause you just don't have enough people to kill it. Either cause you're solo or you were only able to find one other person. To feel forced into these min/max builds that can solo everything.

katanagirl1

We don’t have Necrom yet on console but I agree with the unpopulated zones for us too.

Base game zones you can run around for a long time and see absolutely no one. DLC areas and chapters are very vacant too, except for Galen, players still doing dailies there.

I don’t know how dynamic the instances are generated and maintained, but it seems like they could use a lot fewer of them in base game zones especially, and also somewhat fewer in newer zones. It could be that the server strain is such with all the huge amount of code that they are extremely limited in how many players can be comfortably handled per instance now, compared to earlier.

If they were able to shift more resources to the newer zones from older ones then they could also perhaps get more players into the new zones. Just a thought.

Freelancer_ESO

For High Isle, they deliberately spun up a bunch of instances so it wouldn't be too crowded.

I'd assume they did the same thing for Necrom.

It works great for the solo content but, it can be sub-optimal for group content.

Sarannah

On PC EU, even on off-times people show up at world bosses. And everywhere I go I keep running into other players, like every 5 seconds I run into someone. Also everywhere I go, I run into dead mobs, so players were just there. Rarely do I have a fishing spot to myself, as players are leveling rapport for sharp.

Due to the expansion being new, players are out in the world doing stuff. They aren't done with everything and waiting at the main hub yet, though that will happen more and more when the expansion becomes older.

The daily crafting hubs, like vivec city, are filled to the brim with players.

Rouz

chessalavakia_ESO wrote: »

For High Isle, they deliberately spun up a bunch of instances so it wouldn't be too crowded.

I'd assume they did the same thing for Necrom.

It works great for the solo content but, it can be sub-optimal for group content.

Yeah I can see that. Especially since so many people play this game as a singleplayer game. But at the same time seeing a freshly released zone so empty in an MMORPG gives just sad feelings. And like you said, group content takes a hit.

Its almost as if they need to find a new way to approach LFG. Like perhaps a new LFG section that lists out groups that are currently looking for members . And its categorized by zone and then activities in that zone. Exploration, Questing, World Bosses, Public Dungeons, and then the group world events (dragons, harrowstorms, etc) for that respective zone. Right now you're just relying on discords/guilds or hoping people are paying attention to chat. Which sadly people seem to rarely be doing.

markulrich1966

am on xbox and also don't plan to get Necrom anytime soon.
But some thoughts:
I have read, that there are no rare materials as rewards.

Those play a keyrole in Summerset and Elsweyr, rewarded for daily Worldboss and delve quests.
In Blackwood too, but there they are not a guaranteed drop. As some bosses there are also hard to finish, there are less players doing those quests.

So seing people doing dailies, is a combination of difficulty and rewards (Apart from material also furnishing blueprints).

From what I have read so far, Necrom does not meet both criteria to convince me to do dailies there, so I skip the purchase, as a nice story alone is not enough reason for me to buy a chapter.

Those who bought it and now "miss" in the zone, might have finished the main and sidequests already, and/or level up companions and their new arcanist in their favourite regions, or scry for antiquities.

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

I'm wondering why they don't adjust the number of instances to keep a reasonable population level in each instance ? It seems to be obvious to us that the instances are currently underpopulated in the new zones (especially given how new they are), so why don't ZOS reduce the number of instances to allow for this ? It gives everyone a really bad impression when a new zone looks empty.

MasterSpatula

I haven't had any trouble having enough zoners show up to do World Bosses in the Necrom zones--Except for the Walking Nightmare, and that's probably because the Walking Nightmare fight is like a root canal without anesthesia. I'll probably be avoiding that one from now on as well.

Necrotech_Master

i still see plenty of people, at least its not as bad as say the greymoor release and there were literally 50+ people standing around every quest giver actually making it almost hard to turn in quests (and oh boy the lag lol)

i personally am fine that all the WBs are not being camped by 20+ players and getting nearly instagibbed constantly for the entire time between the releases (PC to console release period)

Elsonso

This Chapter has two large zones to split up the players, and that is going to work against seeing people. I see players in both zones, all the time. They are hardly abandoned, but I do feel they are spread out quite a bit. In my mind, this is how it should be. I don't feel that I need to see mobs of players, and prefer not to.

This Chapter also has a class. I know a few people can level up in hours, but I think most people who started on launch day are still working on it. They probably won't be doing it in the Chapter zones. so they are going to be off in other parts of the game doing that thing.

Necrotech_Master

Elsonso wrote: »

This Chapter has two large zones to split up the players, and that is going to work against seeing people. I see players in both zones, all the time. They are hardly abandoned, but I do feel they are spread out quite a bit. In my mind, this is how it should be. I don't feel that I need to see mobs of players, and prefer not to.

This Chapter also has a class. I know a few people can level up in hours, but I think most people who started on launch day are still working on it. They probably won't be doing it in the Chapter zones. so they are going to be off in other parts of the game doing that thing.

not to mention the need for skill points, which is usually skyshards and public duneons throughout the rest of the game

Kendaric

Sarannah wrote: »

On PC EU, even on off-times people show up at world bosses. And everywhere I go I keep running into other players, like every 5 seconds I run into someone. Also everywhere I go, I run into dead mobs, so players were just there. Rarely do I have a fishing spot to myself, as players are leveling rapport for sharp.

Due to the expansion being new, players are out in the world doing stuff. They aren't done with everything and waiting at the main hub yet, though that will happen more and more when the expansion becomes older.

The daily crafting hubs, like vivec city, are filled to the brim with players.

It depends on the zone... certain zones are definitely busy and it's easy to get stuff like WBs done. But other zones are rather quiet, though that's not necessarily a bad thing as far as I'm concerned... fewer people means fewer glowy mounts/pets/skins and brightly dyed outfits in the ugliest color combinations possible.

bmnoble

You have people out levelling their Arcanists and the new companions in other zones.

Tandor

Wherever I go in the rest of the world, arcanists are falling over themselves. I assume from their levels that they haven't rushed through the expansion and moved on but bought it primarily for the new class which they're focussed on levelling up on familiar content including wayshrines and guild skills etc, with a view to exploring the Telvanni Peninsular later. I suspect that when there isn't a new class the expansion zones are more populated in the early weeks.

Hapexamendios

Right now Galen is the crowded area.

Alpheu5

Rouz wrote: »

Its almost as if they need to find a new way to approach LFG. Like perhaps a new LFG section that lists out groups that are currently looking for members . And its categorized by zone and then activities in that zone. Exploration, Questing, World Bosses, Public Dungeons, and then the group world events (dragons, harrowstorms, etc) for that respective zone. Right now you're just relying on discords/guilds or hoping people are paying attention to chat. Which sadly people seem to rarely be doing.

Fallout 76 has something like that called Public Teams, where someone can start one and everybody in the instance can see where they are, what they're doing, and join at will. I can honestly can see myself using it and doing more varied content if an iteration made its way to ESO.

zaria

chessalavakia_ESO wrote: »

For High Isle, they deliberately spun up a bunch of instances so it wouldn't be too crowded.

I'd assume they did the same thing for Necrom.

It works great for the solo content but, it can be sub-optimal for group content.

Agree, now Morrowind was pretty insane as it was so many people in instances, was in an sneak mission but so many people around it felt more like taking the last emperor keep in Cyrodil at prime time.
I assume its easy to create new instances but its harder to close them as they have to be empty so playing off prime time they feel empty,

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

Tandor wrote: »

Wherever I go in the rest of the world, arcanists are falling over themselves. I assume from their levels that they haven't rushed through the expansion and moved on but bought it primarily for the new class which they're focussed on levelling up on familiar content including wayshrines and guild skills etc, with a view to exploring the Telvanni Peninsular later. I suspect that when there isn't a new class the expansion zones are more populated in the early weeks.

It's all that book reading. "Never run with books", my ma always told me. Run with books, and you'll end up falling over yourself.

FeedbackOnly

Lack of a group like Dragons

No group finder for zone events

Snamyap

Sarannah wrote: »

On PC EU, even on off-times people show up at world bosses. And everywhere I go I keep running into other players, like every 5 seconds I run into someone. Also everywhere I go, I run into dead mobs, so players were just there. Rarely do I have a fishing spot to myself, as players are leveling rapport for sharp.

Due to the expansion being new, players are out in the world doing stuff. They aren't done with everything and waiting at the main hub yet, though that will happen more and more when the expansion becomes older.

The daily crafting hubs, like vivec city, are filled to the brim with players.

I killed a world boss on the peninsula yesterday, at around 6.30pm, all by my lonesome. Not that I mind, and it was an easy one, but it did surprise me that nobody showed up.

kynesgrove

I find that asking in zone chat or offering to share a corresponding daily quest helps bring people together. Doesn't guarantee results but I haven't had any trouble on PC NA running into people at boss sites, harvesting nodes and questing in Necrom. At least 3 active thieves looting urns in the city since launch. Maybe it's a time difference thing or definition of "full and active".

It's certainly not brimming like during an anniversary event, but I have a hard time not seeing a player over every hill top scrying or exploring.

Mayrael

There's also an explanation for this based on the specific nature of ESO, namely scalability. In most MMOs, you have zones where you level up, and there are zones designated only for players who have already reached the maximum level. In ESO, there is no such division. Someone at the maximum level can play in the same zone as someone who is just starting the game, which leads to a much greater dispersion of players. Not everyone chooses to play the new expansion immediately after its release because they don't always enjoy crowds. Sometimes, players already have ongoing storylines and prefer to finish them first without disrupting their flow, and so on.

Dr_Con

World Bosses drop trash, at least with Galen release we had sets that you might use. Now we got sets that you have to stand still to benefit from or get EXP off monsters to see benefit. One forces you to stay on a bar for 15 seconds then swap to get some resources back... why? Galen's drops were 2/3 for wins (Back Alley Gourmand seems better in theory than in practice, so not as good any more) and we saw people farming bosses for a long time to the point where items oversaturated the market, and some people still do. Galen/High Isle also had more vendor trash drops which incentivized farming the bosses for a different part of the population who depends on that for income.

HidesInPlainSight

Dr_Con wrote: »

World Bosses drop trash, at least with Galen release we had sets that you might use. Now we got sets that you have to stand still to benefit from or get EXP off monsters to see benefit. One forces you to stay on a bar for 15 seconds then swap to get some resources back... why? Galen's drops were 2/3 for wins (Back Alley Gourmand seems better in theory than in practice, so not as good any more) and we saw people farming bosses for a long time to the point where items oversaturated the market, and some people still do. Galen/High Isle also had more vendor trash drops which incentivized farming the bosses for a different part of the population who depends on that for income.

The sets are lack luster, only one Mythic is worth farming, and zero non-crafted sets are useable in No CP campaigns.

One crafted set, is worthwhile and its only because its straight penetration at 5-piece.

The expansion is cool, I like the Aracanist, leveled one to 50 day 1, got the Mythic necklace day 2 and havent been back except to craft some pieces of armor from Shattered Fate set.

If it was not for the Arcanist class, there would be almost absolutely nothing in the expansion for players like me, who don't care about story or pve at all.

ADarklore

Well, and let's also not forget that D4 released a day after Necrom, so this could also be why the game in general feels a bit empty.

SerafinaWaterstar

Disagree. Been doing HI dailies & always people around.

And when doing surveys or other stuff in other zones find myself getting annoyed at the number of people running around!

DarcyMardin

The new Necrom zones are the emptiest I’ve ever seen on a new chapter drop. It’s weird. I go to the world bosses and most of the time, no one else is there. (PC NA). I ride along the roads wondering “where is everybody?” For anyone waiting for the crowds to die down, I think it’s already happened. Or maybe I’m just on at off-peak hours?

I really like the new zones, the arcanist, and the quests I’ve completed there so far. But so far I haven’t been able to talk my own husband into buying the chapter. The arcanist visual effects give him motion sickness.

Taggund

My general impression is that Necrom zones has been pretty empty. I completed the number of quests I needed to be able to buy the house with gold, and the only reason going back now is the delve quest for Azandar rapport, and that will stop once he is maxed.

For me, the zones are annoying overall (can't even afk at a wayshrine while questing), so not concerned with it at this time. I figure I'll do the rest of the zone when the event for it starts, and hope that brings in more people.

Haenk

Maybe it's been too expensive for the rather little content?

NettleCarrier

I haven't played much in the new zone, or any new zone on release for that matter because they just aren't different enough to what we already have. Everything follows a formula. I have unlimited time to grab the skyshards, kill each world boss once, clear the two public dungeons, run the trial, fish the new fish, and grab the two new companions. There's no sense of urgency and I've done 80% of that list already in the 1-2 hours I play each day. I always wait for the inevitable yearly event focused around the new chapter to do the storyline quest because it gives me more to do than run from point A to point B in scripted sequences :P.

Wing

high isle (and Necrom)

are split up and instanced off because the game cannot handle the player count anymore, (look at pvp)

NOT to "help out solo players"


look at blackwood, right after the harrowstorm mess that crippled the servers (anyone remember those what a mess) and then the reach, one of the technically worst launches in ESO history (granted they screamed covid like everyone else did around this time)
we got the blackwood world event system, all these sectioned off portals to instanced dungeons that then funneled you into instanced boss arenas, before then opening portals to drop you back into the overworld instance.

that turned out great.

then high isle, the most instanced off expansion i have ever seen, so many zones and dungeons split into sub zones and dungeons that quest trackers and the map become an absolute CHORE and your better of guessing where the quest wants you to go and porting ahead of it.

i play with very elderly individuals, some with many grand children.

they know NOTHING about the forums, the meta, how the game works, and even they said the world felt dead on launch day, many of us have moved to FF14 and are loving the sense of community.

we came back post expansion (were not excited to be honest) and even only a few days later it already felt dead and over. . .

but that same laundry list of dailies and time gated motifs was there, and honestly this game feels like such a slot machine with all the money systems and checklist content that its getting harder and harder to enjoy the elder scrolls game thats underneath it all.

at least among my friends that still play we are so casual to the point of apathy.
we dont do dailies anymore, we dont do writs, we dont check all the chores and dailies anymore, we dont bother with all the SAVE THE WORLD quests anymore.

we literally just walk around and harvest resources, chatting and talking, thinking of all the ways ESO could be better.