ESO - is it on life support?

Elsonso

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Vulkunne wrote: »

Brakkish wrote: »

I LOVE ESO to death. I play it daily, it's how I wind up before work, and how I wind down after. Been doing this for years.

Playing the last few months I've had to come to terms with longer Queue times and less and less of the player base to interact with. It's finally starting to impact my experience having less people to interact and enjoy aspects of the game with.

I'm looking for some positive thought for the outlook of the game. Should I be expecting a turnaround for the near future... or should I consider ESO to be in the digital version of hospice right now.

It does appear that something has changed.

They will neither admit or entertain the possibility of it on here.

Time will tell the tale.

I attribute this to changes ZOS made in Update 35 that caused some of the higher end players to leave the game. This would hit in the Tank and Healer areas particularly hard, I think. In turn, it makes group building longer and the presence of "fake role" players probably more common.

I'm not certain that the game has fully recovered from that debacle.

If the rest of the game is similar to the Steam Charts, we have more or less recovered from Update 35. And the game is currently gaining players.

I wasn't talking about recovering numbers of players, but types of players.

Edit: You can have a million more players in the game, but if they are all in Dungeon Finder as Damage, it doesn't matter. I think U35 got rid of more people filling Tank and Healer roles than Damage roles.

spartaxoxo

Elsonso wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Vulkunne wrote: »

Brakkish wrote: »

I LOVE ESO to death. I play it daily, it's how I wind up before work, and how I wind down after. Been doing this for years.

Playing the last few months I've had to come to terms with longer Queue times and less and less of the player base to interact with. It's finally starting to impact my experience having less people to interact and enjoy aspects of the game with.

I'm looking for some positive thought for the outlook of the game. Should I be expecting a turnaround for the near future... or should I consider ESO to be in the digital version of hospice right now.

It does appear that something has changed.

They will neither admit or entertain the possibility of it on here.

Time will tell the tale.

I attribute this to changes ZOS made in Update 35 that caused some of the higher end players to leave the game. This would hit in the Tank and Healer areas particularly hard, I think. In turn, it makes group building longer and the presence of "fake role" players probably more common.

I'm not certain that the game has fully recovered from that debacle.

If the rest of the game is similar to the Steam Charts, we have more or less recovered from Update 35. And the game is currently gaining players.

I wasn't talking about recovering numbers of players, but types of players.

Edit: You can have a million more players in the game, but if they are all in Dungeon Finder as Damage, it doesn't matter. I think U35 got rid of more people filling Tank and Healer roles than Damage roles.

I think it's far more likely a lot of those returning players were interested in Endless Archive, which is not a dungeon finder activity, then that they skew so much more dramatically towards DPS that the recovered numbers don't matter.

svendf

gronoxvx wrote: »

Cant really say its in maintenance mode. But you can tell its on bare-minimum skeleton crew while they do enough to rake in the $$ to fund their other MMO they are developing. Especially since ESO's primary function now is aggressive monetization of the crown store compared to anything else.

Once FFXIV drops on xbox then it will be adios for eso for a lot of us on a regular basis. Only thing that has kept the xbox population going has been the lack of decent competition in the MMO space.

You are very much welcome and looking forward in giveing you a helping hand - xbox player´s. Long time waiting, now you get the chance.

From a PS5 player.

gronoxvx

maboleth wrote: »

No. It's on extended maintenance.

gronoxvx wrote: »

Cant really say its in maintenance mode. But you can tell its on bare-minimum skeleton crew while they do enough to rake in the $$ to fund their other MMO they are developing. Especially since ESO's primary function now is aggressive monetization of the crown store compared to anything else.

Once FFXIV drops on xbox then it will be adios for eso for a lot of us on a regular basis. Only thing that has kept the xbox population going has been the lack of decent competition in the MMO space.

In your world maybe.
I'm not sure many of you realize how big ESO has become. The team behind it is huge, from guys doing housings and furnishing stuff to ToT cards, new zones, quests, trials, arenas, items. It takes sooo much work on so many areas.
Not to mention that all new Endless Archive has just been released.

Nothing to see here, yet another mindless 'world is collapsing' thread, move along.

Not saying it doesnt take a lot of work or that their roster isnt large. But when they drop houses that are worth more than $100+, furnishing packs that makes them huge amounts income, polymorphs hidden behind crownstore packs that cant be gifted and new content to get cash compared to fixing bugs that have been around for years and performance, then you know where their priorities lie.

"Skeleton crew" doesnt mean theyre understaffed. Just enough to keep their costs down as much as possible and profits at their highest.

HalfDragoness

ImmortalCX wrote: »

New World was/is eso like. But eso has 20x the content and !ore. Is New World dying?i cant imagine anyone picking that over eso.

I wonder what new ppl trying eso for the first time experience? What are the turn offs?

Wow is the biggest most successful mmo, and what eso lacks in comparison is vertical progression. If they could figure out how to create vertical progression, it would have a more serious feeling end game. Every expansion in wow added a ton of new raid content.

My gut feeling is that alot of ppl play eso like a sp game and have fun for a few weeks. But its a casual experience and they evertually quit because not enough carrots.

I just want to say this is one of the major reasons I love eso. I personally find vertical progression so boring, not just in WoW, Valheim and other such games too. You start out with just your fists, then you punch a tree and a rock until you can make an axe, then you use your axe to cut down better trees to make better tools/weapons, so that you can mine better rocks to make better tools/weapons, so you can kill a different boss.... You basically just do the same thing over and over except it's slightly harder each time. Because there's no variation in the path ahead, it's like I start the game and the tasks ahead can only be completed in a certain order and a certain way so I feel no ened to play through it because I know exactly what will happen.
I love that eso has a lower ceiling and then lots of horizontal progression room to make different builds.

This isn't a personal attack at you, I'm just saying different people want different things from their games, the thing you dislike about eso is the thing I most value.

Vulkunne

HalfDragoness wrote: »

ImmortalCX wrote: »

New World was/is eso like. But eso has 20x the content and !ore. Is New World dying?i cant imagine anyone picking that over eso.

I wonder what new ppl trying eso for the first time experience? What are the turn offs?

Wow is the biggest most successful mmo, and what eso lacks in comparison is vertical progression. If they could figure out how to create vertical progression, it would have a more serious feeling end game. Every expansion in wow added a ton of new raid content.

My gut feeling is that alot of ppl play eso like a sp game and have fun for a few weeks. But its a casual experience and they evertually quit because not enough carrots.

I just want to say this is one of the major reasons I love eso. I personally find vertical progression so boring, not just in WoW, Valheim and other such games too. You start out with just your fists, then you punch a tree and a rock until you can make an axe, then you use your axe to cut down better trees to make better tools/weapons, so that you can mine better rocks to make better tools/weapons, so you can kill a different boss.... You basically just do the same thing over and over except it's slightly harder each time. Because there's no variation in the path ahead, it's like I start the game and the tasks ahead can only be completed in a certain order and a certain way so I feel no ened to play through it because I know exactly what will happen.
I love that eso has a lower ceiling and then lots of horizontal progression room to make different builds.

This isn't a personal attack at you, I'm just saying different people want different things from their games, the thing you dislike about eso is the thing I most value.

I played New World for the better part of a year, up until that major DLC hit (the one with everyone getting killed trying to walk across the border into the new zone *snickers* - they was some real silly fellows there).

Uh New World and ESO share some common themes, perhaps some common culture however they are no where even close to being similar really. I found New World combat very clunky. Its very 'bulwark' like and its one of those games that's very unforgiving if you make a mistake. Have to admit, I grew to hate that game even though I was a pretty good solo with it.

One thing I hated from New World, one of many things, was how someone with like this little hatchet could have so much power especially over someone in Heavy armor with a shield. Another thing I abhorred was how only the 'special' folks and the 'elites' (including streamers) could participate in wars. God I hate that game. I hate it so much.

Anyways, I poke at ESO for various things at times but ESO's strength is in its versatility. I mean you choose your build and the game reflects things in like a real-time sort of way instead of a clunky, um kind of thing where you have to make your fighting moves in order - or else. Rotations just did not feel the same in New World.

ESO has alot going for it. I hope next year those fellas come back to the table to talk about fixing some of this stuff and also giving us a better animation for Templar jabs. Table or not, whether I remain with the game or not, ESO is so much better than New World. It doesn't have to be that way but I know many people, including at least two guilds that returned to ESO after being left empty handed with dead expectations after playing New World for about the same amount of time.

Suddwrath

Currently, according to Microsoft's own numbers, ESO is #48 out of the top 50 most played games on Xbox. I am very interested to see how FFXIV coming to Xbox next year will impact the ESO player population on Xbox. When I played ESO on Xbox for several years one of the primary reasons was due to there not being many other MMO options and I knew many other players who felt the same. FFXIV and ESO are two very different experiences and gameplay styles so obviously it won't appeal to everyone, but it feels like there will be a decently large exodus away from ESO when it happens.

Sallymen

Y'all are out of your minds for thinking ESO has gone into maintenance mode lol

-Game is still receiving updates
-Developers or Reps are still interacting with the community
-Game is still receiving maintenance

Just because you think content has slowed down doesn't mean the game is in maintenance mode. We literally received a new class and one of the most unique PvE modes in the last several years. This game is anything but in maintenance mode.

DMuehlhausen

Elsonso wrote: »

Amottica wrote: »

Want to see a game on life support download SWTOR. It has been on life support for years and releases less than 3 hours of questing every two years, a raid, and a couple of dungeons. The game has a very small fraction of the player base it started with while ESO has been able to maintain their playerbase.

I've never played that game. Is SWTOR worth trying?

It's a great game, but they did the same thing a lot of MMOs did at launch. They didn't have enough servers, spun up a bunch of extra ones. Lost tons of players after the free period was over. A lot of servers had almost no population so people stopped playing.

Bioware also started going through massive changes shortly after it's launch so they struggled to keep stuff coming out.

ESO_CenturionPlayer

i took indefinite hiatus after U40. the game IS dying. i monitor forums for a glimmer of hope, but we all know what is going on.

the tone deaf updates, lack of QA/fixes and general disregard of player input makes time spent on this game a waste for me.

they want quick turn, new players as their main source of revenue. i don’t feel valued as a long time player. i won’t be rewarding their continually disappointing updates with my money or time in the foreseeable future.

OnnuK

Well after playing thousands of hours, I stopped ESO+ sub. I am only attending my progs and doing endeavors. Steam's MENA - USD price changes was the last strike for me. Bethesda / ZOS really do not care Turkish market and do not even try to do anything. So not subbing and standby playing is just to protest this "we do not care" attitude. It is sad to see ESO players once 20K on steam now dropped to 12K on average in 1 year. I hope ZOS focuses on ESO and hears us.

ESO is #1 MMORPG for me but it feels like they abandoned it. Look at WoW. They marketed and created SoD hype for a 19 years old game, and it worked...
my 2c...

IZZEFlameLash

Ph1p wrote: »

A game on life support wouldn’t have server upgrades, full-scale new chapters, or active job listings like ESO does.

It actually can. Especially when there are whales. Technically, live service games with cash shops can stay afloat as long as they can keep their whales spending. They just have to save money by reusing assets with minimal color differences, same-y storyline with names changed and gradually decrease the new stuffs within an 'expansion'. That allow them to have larger maintenance mode team than other studios that are not producing live service games.

Mrtoobyy

Been playing since beta on PC EU. I can say from my experience that the game is less crowded and has a very different feel to it since the last updates.

In my personal opinion alot of QOL features has been an improvement but the class/balance changes has mainly been for the worst.
I think the devs need to listen to their players more, but hey it's their game and as long as it is free I will probably continue to play from time to time but I haven't spend a single penny since High isle came out for a reason

CrazyKitty

IZZEFlameLash wrote: »

Ph1p wrote: »

A game on life support wouldn’t have server upgrades, full-scale new chapters, or active job listings like ESO does.

It actually can. Especially when there are whales. Technically, live service games with cash shops can stay afloat as long as they can keep their whales spending. They just have to save money by reusing assets with minimal color differences, same-y storyline with names changed and gradually decrease the new stuffs within an 'expansion'. That allow them to have larger maintenance mode team than other studios that are not producing live service games.

You mean like the Endless Archive? Aren't all the beasties in EA seen somewhere else in the game before? (all but a few anyway?) Or how about all the different versions of the same mounts we've had for years?

IZZEFlameLash

Mrtoobyy wrote: »

Been playing since beta on PC EU. I can say from my experience that the game is less crowded and has a very different feel to it since the last updates.

In my personal opinion alot of QOL features has been an improvement but the class/balance changes has mainly been for the worst.
I think the devs need to listen to their players more, but hey it's their game and as long as it is free I will probably continue to play from time to time but I haven't spend a single penny since High isle came out for a reason

Well, as someone who has played since beginning of 2015, I can definitely agree. 'But but difference instances' argument also falls short, because even the most populated instance just isn't as populated. I sometimes do miss Rawl'kha, Belkarth that were just filled with players in almost every part of it and zones where you constantly see people riding away/with you as annoying as that one person taking your resource node in a microsecond difference was.

Jarl_Ironheart

Suddwrath wrote: »

Currently, according to Microsoft's own numbers, ESO is #48 out of the top 50 most played games on Xbox. I am very interested to see how FFXIV coming to Xbox next year will impact the ESO player population on Xbox. When I played ESO on Xbox for several years one of the primary reasons was due to there not being many other MMO options and I knew many other players who felt the same. FFXIV and ESO are two very different experiences and gameplay styles so obviously it won't appeal to everyone, but it feels like there will be a decently large exodus away from ESO when it happens.

I am a mega elder scrolls fan and been playing ESO for 7 years but when 14 comes out on Xbox I'm gonna spending alot more time there personally. It's rewards are so much better. I like killing creatures or completing quests/bosses and getting a cool pet, cosmetic, mount, etc. Not having to spend $25 to get a simple cool looking horse or having loot boxes shoved into my face like ESO. I feel alot of people are probably gonna follow suit when it releases.

Tandor

IZZEFlameLash wrote: »

Mrtoobyy wrote: »

Been playing since beta on PC EU. I can say from my experience that the game is less crowded and has a very different feel to it since the last updates.

In my personal opinion alot of QOL features has been an improvement but the class/balance changes has mainly been for the worst.
I think the devs need to listen to their players more, but hey it's their game and as long as it is free I will probably continue to play from time to time but I haven't spend a single penny since High isle came out for a reason

Well, as someone who has played since beginning of 2015, I can definitely agree. 'But but difference instances' argument also falls short, because even the most populated instance just isn't as populated. I sometimes do miss Rawl'kha, Belkarth that were just filled with players in almost every part of it and zones where you constantly see people riding away/with you as annoying as that one person taking your resource node in a microsecond difference was.

But why define population levels in a game that is constantly expanding according to whether the players always stay in the same place, or whether the current most populated centres are as populated today as the former ones were before guilds had their own instanced crafting stations or players had crafting stations in their own instanced homes, not to mention their own personal bankers and merchants etc? The game is very differently structured these days.

Elsonso

.

Tandor wrote: »

IZZEFlameLash wrote: »

Mrtoobyy wrote: »

Been playing since beta on PC EU. I can say from my experience that the game is less crowded and has a very different feel to it since the last updates.

In my personal opinion alot of QOL features has been an improvement but the class/balance changes has mainly been for the worst.
I think the devs need to listen to their players more, but hey it's their game and as long as it is free I will probably continue to play from time to time but I haven't spend a single penny since High isle came out for a reason

Well, as someone who has played since beginning of 2015, I can definitely agree. 'But but difference instances' argument also falls short, because even the most populated instance just isn't as populated. I sometimes do miss Rawl'kha, Belkarth that were just filled with players in almost every part of it and zones where you constantly see people riding away/with you as annoying as that one person taking your resource node in a microsecond difference was.

But why define population levels in a game that is constantly expanding according to whether the players always stay in the same place, or whether the current most populated centres are as populated today as the former ones were before guilds had their own instanced crafting stations or players had crafting stations in their own instanced homes, not to mention their own personal bankers and merchants etc? The game is very differently structured these days.

Even with all that, I think that Rawl'kha was replaced by Vivic City and Alinor, for a lot of people, too. I haven't been there in ages, outside of some event or quest that takes me there.

Belkarth was largely driven by people trying to form groups, and a drop in population was predicted there after Group Finder came out.

IZZEFlameLash

Tandor wrote: »

IZZEFlameLash wrote: »

Mrtoobyy wrote: »

Been playing since beta on PC EU. I can say from my experience that the game is less crowded and has a very different feel to it since the last updates.

In my personal opinion alot of QOL features has been an improvement but the class/balance changes has mainly been for the worst.
I think the devs need to listen to their players more, but hey it's their game and as long as it is free I will probably continue to play from time to time but I haven't spend a single penny since High isle came out for a reason

Well, as someone who has played since beginning of 2015, I can definitely agree. 'But but difference instances' argument also falls short, because even the most populated instance just isn't as populated. I sometimes do miss Rawl'kha, Belkarth that were just filled with players in almost every part of it and zones where you constantly see people riding away/with you as annoying as that one person taking your resource node in a microsecond difference was.

But why define population levels in a game that is constantly expanding according to whether the players always stay in the same place, or whether the current most populated centres are as populated today as the former ones were before guilds had their own instanced crafting stations or players had crafting stations in their own instanced homes, not to mention their own personal bankers and merchants etc? The game is very differently structured these days.

Notice from my usage of past tense, I am recalling the past, not talking about Rawl'kha and Belkarth as current pop centers.

Warhawke_80

ESO_CenturionPlayer wrote: »

the game IS dying.

No matter how many times you proclaim it, or wish it to be true....it does not make it so.


ESO will still be here and will still be updated when the saviour MMO's in development will long be canceled or closed, just look at games like Runescape, UO, or Lotro....sure you can say they are on maintenance mode but a metric crap ton of people still play them,( I was shocked to find out just how many people still played UO of all things) and they are still regularly updated....heck look at FFXI still has a great population....still being updated.

And I see nothing new to challenge any of these games including ESO. The game is dying for you, it's no longer fun for you.


Many of us disagree.

jad11mumbler

The Elder Scrolls Online is doing great across multiple platforms and store fronts, regardless of what one store shows since it does not account for the rest.

OtarTheMad

The game is fine. The switch to this new format, dungeon-chapter-qol stuff-system, had to be done and I am glad it was. However, that means more downtime and some players might move on temporarily to other games. It’ll probably stay quiet until news of 2024 content is released.

Pixiepumpkin

I don't think the game is dying, but I do get saddened by how few post in the housing forums. It seems kinda dead over there.

I also find it interesting how few people I see in the Telvanni Peninsula and when I try to find a guild member there for a fast taxi, it's the least used zone out of all the guilds I am in.

I also feel like the Telvanni Peninsula/necrom chapter, blackwood chapter and high isle chapters/ zones are sparse in there decorating and design compared to elsweyr, summer set or greymoore.

They all feel less worked on to me, and I wonder if others feel the same way and this is why the zones are deadish.

I think ESO has easily a decade of life in it, but it's not a given and the team is gonna have to continue working hard. There is no resting on their laurels.

Brakkish

I still log into the game daily, in the morning and in the evening.

ESO is still hands down my favorite MMO of all time, I'm emotionally invested. I've played dozens of MMOs over the decades (Tera, BDO, FFXIV, Rift, LOTRO, Aion, WoW, EQ, AoC, Warhammer, the list goes on..) This is digital home for me. Been so for more than a decade.

I've had to evolve as this game has, taking the good with the bad - like any human, we all have our flaws and strengths. And yes, it's not the same game it was at the start - not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm greatly invested into it's current direction, where it ends up, and how many people are either drawn to it, or pushed away.
My hope is that the direction it's headed is one that brings new life and renewed interest to many people for years to come.

Ulfgarde

[snip] Any long-time veteran worth his salt knows that new player retention is extremely low. That's why it's ALWAYS the same old faces.

Would merging the servers help? Absolutely, [snip]

[edited for bashing & discussing moderator action(s)]

Ph1p

Ulfgarde wrote: »

[snip] Any long-time veteran worth his salt knows that new player retention is extremely low. That's why it's ALWAYS the same old faces.

Would merging the servers help? Absolutely, [snip]

What are you talking about? There are two active threads on page 1 of General ESO Discussion talking about population decline. On just this page, there are people saying that zones are less crowded, that ESO only has a skeleton crew, or that the game is dying. If you were right, this would be the worst "censorship" attempt I've ever seen...

[edited to remove quote]

Tandor

Ulfgarde wrote: »

[snip] Any long-time veteran worth his salt knows that new player retention is extremely low. That's why it's ALWAYS the same old faces.

Would merging the servers help? Absolutely, [snip]

[edited for bashing & discussing moderator action(s)]

I suspect most people know that traditional endgame content players are down, but that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with new player retention rates. The world has been increasing in size all the time and there are plenty of endgame options outside of group dungeons, trials and Cyrodiil. I'd expect even more of a reduction in those activities with the introduction of Infinite Archive, formerly known as Endless Archive, given that it is primarily additional veteran content.