Studio Director’s Letter: ESO’s 2023 Retrospective & the Future

Arcanasx

Approaching five years and now seemingly more without any mention of adding any proper PvP content itself tells quite the story. Just not a great one however.

spartaxoxo

Arcanasx wrote: »

Approaching five years and now seemingly more without any mention of adding any proper PvP content itself tells quite the story. Just not a great one however.

They did mention they weren't adding new pvp content until the server refresh happened at the end of this year. You'll have to wait until the global reveal to know if any of the new content next year will be PvP. But they have been pretty clear about why PvP has not been receiving content.

joergino

This letter hints at a very bleak future for average or bad players like myself.

Elsonso

joergino wrote: »

This letter hints at a very bleak future for average or bad players like myself.

How so?

Destai

Pretty standard fare letter from him. It doesn't really do much for me. The value of these letters is lower because we get so little communication and roadmaps through out the year. And there's never really follow-up on what the letters promise vs. what they achieve.

We also have refined our processes to ensure that updates launch with fewer issues, and for the great majority of situations, we achieved that. We did have longer downtimes than usual a few times due to the hardware refresh, but looking back, I’m pretty happy with where things are—especially after our Epic Games Store launch in July, where we saw our highest monthly active user numbers since 2015.

We had the endeavors ban issue, a rash of login queues, the crown store fiasco and multiple events interrupted by maintenance woes. It's really hard to feel like your processes were improved in light of those events. I'll give you that the expansion launch wasn't the worst, but the rest of the year saw some problems with day to day systems.

Necrom was our highest-rated Chapter (in some ratings, highest since Summerset), and shows our commitment to amazing storytelling. I’m especially happy with how the Apocrypha zone turned out. Adding to the Elder Scrolls lore on Daedric realms is something we take great pride in, and I think we nailed the combination of obsession with knowledge and creepy visuals that are the hallmark of Hermaeus Mora. And for the first time in a few years, the story will continue in 2024, as the 2023 story (no spoilers here!) ended on a cliffhanger.

I feel like the new class carried the expansion. I haven't heard many people say here, Reddit, or in my guilds that the story compares to Summerset. Is the story bad? No. Would I say it's amazing? Absolutely not. For me, the narratives peaked in Elsweyr overall. There's been some good stories since, but I haven't had any stand out stories in a while.

You did nail the vibe on this expansion, so kudos there. So much so that I don't want to revisit Apocrypha. It's like the neon green version of Coldharbour. It's good, the assets are fantastic, but I honestly don't want anymore Apocrypha content.

And wrapping up 2023, we launched Infinite Archive, adding a challenging, repeatable game mode to ESO. This is a type of content that we want to do more of in the future: really fun, challenging experiences with great rewards that players can enjoy for a long time. ESO is always about great storytelling, so we won’t abandon story quests and content, but we will balance it out with more systems like dungeons, trials, and special new content like Infinite Archive.

Great rewards? Where?

There's one mount. There's some class sets, with the sorcerer one being problematic. The rest are ok, I think the DK one is the strongest. IMO, we have enough sets; this really should've been where apex-quality rewards could be earned. Still, I'm glad this was launched. I think it could've used another year of development, but the core idea is strong.

I agree with the direction of launching new repeatable content. I just hope it aligns with the request for better rewards. Still seems like the vast majority of visually compelling cosmetics are locked behind the crown store. Would like to see new content address that.

Next year will kick off with a Global Reveal show in January, and we are excited to continue the story from last year but in a different part of Tamriel. It's going to be great, and we have some new systems that I think everyone will want to hear about. I'm not going to spoil it now, but you should definitely look out for the Global Reveal announcement and mark your calendars!

Excited to see what launches! I'm sure I'll gobble it up like I always do.

ESO is in a great place—enjoyed by millions. In fact, almost two million of you joined ESO last year, not counting the players enjoying the game for free from the Epic Games Store. We have been massively successful for many years now, and we are very thankful for all of you who have helped make this happen. As we approach the 10th anniversary of this amazing experience, I would just like everyone to acknowledge the path we've been on and appreciate the hard work we have all done to keep ESO amazing. It takes a village to develop and operate a game like this, and that village absolutely includes everyone reading this right now. Thanks so much for everything you do for ESO.

I really wish this sense of gratitude extended into how the community is handled day-to-day. Stuff like engaging PTS feedback (like the whole PTE thing and the sorcerer set in IA), actually providing regular updates on when PVP 's getting fixed and providing compensation when there's service outages.

All in all, looking forward to next year.

Elsonso

Destai wrote: »

I feel like the new class carried the expansion. I haven't heard many people say here, Reddit, or in my guilds that the story compares to Summerset. Is the story bad? No. Would I say it's amazing? Absolutely not. For me, the narratives peaked in Elsweyr overall. There's been some good stories since, but I haven't had any stand out stories in a while.

Overall, I was not very impressed with Summerset. I know a lot of people liked it, but it was rather bland for a zone and the story was forgettable. Literally. I had to run out to UESP to remind me of the story. It was not the first time, either. Of all the Chapters, Summerset is the one I have the hardest time remembering.

In my assessment, Necrom > Summerset.

That said, we get to continue the story in 2024, and my feeling is that this is because they shorted us a story DLC this year. Hoping they don't repeat for 2024.

TaSheen

Elsonso wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

I feel like the new class carried the expansion. I haven't heard many people say here, Reddit, or in my guilds that the story compares to Summerset. Is the story bad? No. Would I say it's amazing? Absolutely not. For me, the narratives peaked in Elsweyr overall. There's been some good stories since, but I haven't had any stand out stories in a while.

Overall, I was not very impressed with Summerset. I know a lot of people liked it, but it was rather bland for a zone and the story was forgettable. Literally. I had to run out to UESP to remind me of the story. It was not the first time, either. Of all the Chapters, Summerset is the one I have the hardest time remembering.

In my assessment, Necrom > Summerset.

That said, we get to continue the story in 2024, and my feeling is that this is because they shorted us a story DLC this year. Hoping they don't repeat for 2024.

I didn't enjoy the entire "daedric war" arc. The only thing I use those zones for now is Vivec for crafting, CWC and Summerset for antiquities, grabbing wayshrines and skyshards, and when I was doing master anglers (well, not done yet - have two more to go, but too many events this year *sigh*). I've done the three zones on one character, and am not bothering with them on anyone else.

So having another long multi-zone story isn't my idea of a good time. I much preferred the year long stories.

Araneae6537

Although I did enjoy Elsweyr, I prefer this past year’s format over the year-long story. And while I love dungeons, we’ve so many now, that adding two good ones a year is fine with me. I also feel that the companions added this year are the best yet both dialogue and storywise. I also really enjoy the new class and the Infinite Endless Archive. I think it offers something for less skilled players like myself to work on and improve in — otherwise so much of the game is left-click-to-win easy or can be an overwhelming challenge. The rewards are good too (I love housing, and books), although I think it’s too bad the class sets aren’t better.

My main disappointments are 1) PvP hasn’t gotten any new content or, to my knowledge, been improved in any meaningful way, and 2) I would like to see better responses to PTS feedback as well as general player concerns where possible.

Destai

Elsonso wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

I feel like the new class carried the expansion. I haven't heard many people say here, Reddit, or in my guilds that the story compares to Summerset. Is the story bad? No. Would I say it's amazing? Absolutely not. For me, the narratives peaked in Elsweyr overall. There's been some good stories since, but I haven't had any stand out stories in a while.

Overall, I was not very impressed with Summerset. I know a lot of people liked it, but it was rather bland for a zone and the story was forgettable. Literally. I had to run out to UESP to remind me of the story. It was not the first time, either. Of all the Chapters, Summerset is the one I have the hardest time remembering.

In my assessment, Necrom > Summerset.

That said, we get to continue the story in 2024, and my feeling is that this is because they shorted us a story DLC this year. Hoping they don't repeat for 2024.

That's fair, to each their own. I think for me, and maybe it's this way for others, the game and ourselves were younger. As a result, it just holds a special, nostalgic place. I can see where objectively Summerset is no different than the last few stories we've gotten. The zone though, and especially Alinor crafting area, for me are home. But yeah, it's all subjective, thanks for the perspective.

jad11mumbler

Twohothardware wrote: »

If the plan is to grow the player base back to what it once was then the two major updates to ESO in 2024 should include Crossplay and moving the base game to free to play on all platforms. The Elder Scrolls Online should be one large player base instead of three small fractured bases across three platforms and multiple regions.

Yeah let's get even more of a bot problem going with the F2P.

And crossplay will never happen between PC and consoles, nor should it.
Console + Console may as well be a thing though.

spartaxoxo

Destai wrote: »

Great rewards? Where?

There's one mount. There's some class sets, with the sorcerer one being problematic. The rest are ok, I think the DK one is the strongest. IMO, we have enough sets; this really should've been where apex-quality rewards could be earned. Still, I'm glad this was launched. I think it could've used another year of development, but the core idea is strong.

Endless Archive gave us

71 new furnishing plans
32 furnishings (non-book)
65 new book furnishings
The class sets
1 non-combat pet
2 tattoo sets (4 total tattoos)
1 mount
3 mementos

In addition, update 40 also gave us

17 new antiquities furnishings in other zones
27 more book furnishings in other zones
4 new Tales of Tribute tapestries
16 new home goods furnishings in the Telvanni Peninsula
A new tales of tribute deck
Grand Master Crafting Stations
Jewelry Overhaul


The new vendor in EA also allows us to

Target buy treasure maps in particular zones
Get specific purple companion gear of the particular type that we want
Get Undaunted Style pages
Get leads and dungeon fragments (which gives access to rewards from other content including other cosmetics)


This has probably been the most rewarding update they have ever pushed out, and there are rewards for most everyone.

Reverb

This letter is for the execs and the board. It isn’t meaningful for those of us engaged in day to day gameplay and that’s ok I guess. We are never Matt’s target audience, because we aren’t the ones approving his studio budget or deciding if he gets to keep his job.

Destai

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Great rewards? Where?

There's one mount. There's some class sets, with the sorcerer one being problematic. The rest are ok, I think the DK one is the strongest. IMO, we have enough sets; this really should've been where apex-quality rewards could be earned. Still, I'm glad this was launched. I think it could've used another year of development, but the core idea is strong.

Endless Archive gave us

71 new furnishing plans
32 furnishings (non-book)
65 new book furnishings
The class sets
1 non-combat pet
2 tattoo sets (4 total tattoos)
1 mount
3 mementos

In addition, update 40 also gave us

17 new antiquities furnishings in other zones
27 more book furnishings in other zones
4 new Tales of Tribute tapestries
16 new home goods furnishings in the Telvanni Peninsula
A new tales of tribute deck
Grand Master Crafting Stations
Jewelry Overhaul


The new vendor in EA also allows us to

Target buy treasure maps in particular zones
Get specific purple companion gear of the particular type that we want
Get Undaunted Style pages
Get leads and dungeon fragments (which gives access to rewards from other content including other cosmetics)


This has probably been the most rewarding update they have ever pushed out, and there are rewards for most everyone.

Those are good rewards, but they're not great. They're not apex quality. I don’t play ToT, I don’t use pets, and I don’t use tattoos. And the furnishing plans are non-curated RNG drops.

For some those rewards are enough, but to me they're small compared to the massive amount of ultra attractive content locked behind either RMT or crates.

I want the ability to earn apex-quality rewards like houses and mounts through gameplay.

Update 40 was strong, sure. I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction. I am excited to see what the next year has in store.

spartaxoxo

Destai wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Great rewards? Where?

There's one mount. There's some class sets, with the sorcerer one being problematic. The rest are ok, I think the DK one is the strongest. IMO, we have enough sets; this really should've been where apex-quality rewards could be earned. Still, I'm glad this was launched. I think it could've used another year of development, but the core idea is strong.

Endless Archive gave us

71 new furnishing plans
32 furnishings (non-book)
65 new book furnishings
The class sets
1 non-combat pet
2 tattoo sets (4 total tattoos)
1 mount
3 mementos

In addition, update 40 also gave us

17 new antiquities furnishings in other zones
27 more book furnishings in other zones
4 new Tales of Tribute tapestries
16 new home goods furnishings in the Telvanni Peninsula
A new tales of tribute deck
Grand Master Crafting Stations
Jewelry Overhaul


The new vendor in EA also allows us to

Target buy treasure maps in particular zones
Get specific purple companion gear of the particular type that we want
Get Undaunted Style pages
Get leads and dungeon fragments (which gives access to rewards from other content including other cosmetics)


This has probably been the most rewarding update they have ever pushed out, and there are rewards for most everyone.

Those are good rewards, but they're not great. They're not apex quality. I don’t play ToT, I don’t use pets, and I don’t use tattoos. And the furnishing plans are non-curated RNG drops.

For some those rewards are enough, but to me they're small compared to the massive amount of ultra attractive content locked behind either RMT or crates.

I want the ability to earn apex-quality rewards like houses and mounts through gameplay.

Update 40 was strong, sure. I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction. I am excited to see what the next year has in store.

Some of those furnishings are most certainly apex quality.

edit: Personally, I think there's multiple apex quality rewards in EA. But, "Good" vs "Great" is subjective. There are definitely a lot of rewards, objectively. And you get them as a reward from content. It's more than a step in the right direction for me. It's a huge leap forward.

Destai

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Great rewards? Where?

There's one mount. There's some class sets, with the sorcerer one being problematic. The rest are ok, I think the DK one is the strongest. IMO, we have enough sets; this really should've been where apex-quality rewards could be earned. Still, I'm glad this was launched. I think it could've used another year of development, but the core idea is strong.

Endless Archive gave us

71 new furnishing plans
32 furnishings (non-book)
65 new book furnishings
The class sets
1 non-combat pet
2 tattoo sets (4 total tattoos)
1 mount
3 mementos

In addition, update 40 also gave us

17 new antiquities furnishings in other zones
27 more book furnishings in other zones
4 new Tales of Tribute tapestries
16 new home goods furnishings in the Telvanni Peninsula
A new tales of tribute deck
Grand Master Crafting Stations
Jewelry Overhaul


The new vendor in EA also allows us to

Target buy treasure maps in particular zones
Get specific purple companion gear of the particular type that we want
Get Undaunted Style pages
Get leads and dungeon fragments (which gives access to rewards from other content including other cosmetics)


This has probably been the most rewarding update they have ever pushed out, and there are rewards for most everyone.

Those are good rewards, but they're not great. They're not apex quality. I don’t play ToT, I don’t use pets, and I don’t use tattoos. And the furnishing plans are non-curated RNG drops.

For some those rewards are enough, but to me they're small compared to the massive amount of ultra attractive content locked behind either RMT or crates.

I want the ability to earn apex-quality rewards like houses and mounts through gameplay.

Update 40 was strong, sure. I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction. I am excited to see what the next year has in store.

Some of those furnishings are most certainly apex quality.

edit: Personally, I think there's multiple apex quality rewards in EA. But, "Good" vs "Great" is subjective. There are definitely a lot of rewards, objectively. And you get them as a reward from content. It's more than a step in the right direction for me. It's a huge leap forward.

I'll have to check them out, tbh. Thanks for the heads up there's stuff there.

Hotdog_23

Been here since the console launch. Sure, there have been ups and downs, but it has been fun and enjoyable, or I would still not be here. The game has gotten better as time has passed. There are areas that need more work, or lots of work. I hope you don't forget about them when adding the new shinnies. 

Also, please don’t forget us, the console people, when adding new things. Since, we don’t have add-ons to help fix or add to what you include in the base game, I just wanted to say thanks and happy holidays. Looking forward to next year!

Stay safe

ESO_Nightingale

If next year is anything like this year I'm gonna play the game even less. We really need some new combat content we can use on our existing characters.

gronoxvx

I wonder if theyll ban anyone mentioning "pvp" in the stream again like they did last year.

Elsonso

gronoxvx wrote: »

I wonder if theyll ban anyone mentioning "pvp" in the stream again like they did last year.

Banning anyone who mentions it is a little extreme. That said, my potentially unpopular opinion is that if people in chat start spamming the word 'pvp', or 'cyrodiil', or anything else, whether it is related to PVP or not, then they probably should ban or timeout those people.

LunaFlora

gronoxvx wrote: »

I wonder if theyll ban anyone mentioning "pvp" in the stream again like they did last year.

maybe don't expect an answer to pvp questions during streams that are not related to pvp.
Bethesda's livestreams seem quite planned out and zos probably only wants to answer questions related to the stream.

plus people spam pvp messages in the twitch chat like every single livestream, if it were my livestream i would blacklist pvp related words because of that

Four_Fingers

Well maybe if they bothered to address PvP once in a while people wouldn't have to spam PvP inquires in chat.

Jaraal

spartaxoxo wrote: »

The new content isn't being teased this year, which is a bit disappointing. We already don't get a lot of information that gets you pumped about what's coming up in the future, so wish they had given us a little bit of a tease.

Look in your fragments menu in-game, you can get some clues about what's coming up.

Elsonso

Jaraal wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

The new content isn't being teased this year, which is a bit disappointing. We already don't get a lot of information that gets you pumped about what's coming up in the future, so wish they had given us a little bit of a tease.

Look in your fragments menu in-game, you can get some clues about what's coming up.

Do we trust fragments to lead us to what the Chapter will be about?

Jaraal

Elsonso wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

The new content isn't being teased this year, which is a bit disappointing. We already don't get a lot of information that gets you pumped about what's coming up in the future, so wish they had given us a little bit of a tease.

Look in your fragments menu in-game, you can get some clues about what's coming up.

Do we trust fragments to lead us to what the Chapter will be about?

I don't trust anything. But ZOS is not known for doubling back on things they have already invested time in.

Suddwrath

These end of the year director letters from Matt feel like they are written for corporate stakeholders rather than the players. They feel so detached from the reality of the game and player experiences.

LunaFlora

.

Jaraal wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

The new content isn't being teased this year, which is a bit disappointing. We already don't get a lot of information that gets you pumped about what's coming up in the future, so wish they had given us a little bit of a tease.

Look in your fragments menu in-game, you can get some clues about what's coming up.

the molag bal collectibles are just for the events like this year's Dibella collectibles.

he's the base game big bad antagonist so it's fitting for the 10th anniversary, but probably not connected to the 2024 dlc.

Ingenon

Overall, I think the Necrom chapter is good, with an interesting zone story. I enjoy the Sanity's Edge trial, although I still find ways to die in there every time I complete it on veteran. The Infinite Archive is challenging for me, lots of nice drops from there, as @spartaxoxo listed earlier in this thread. As noted in the studio director's letter, almost two million new players joined ESO this year, and in July the active player numbers were the highest since 2015.

Looking forward to seeing what next year brings!

Twohothardware

jad11mumbler wrote: »

Twohothardware wrote: »

If the plan is to grow the player base back to what it once was then the two major updates to ESO in 2024 should include Crossplay and moving the base game to free to play on all platforms. The Elder Scrolls Online should be one large player base instead of three small fractured bases across three platforms and multiple regions.

Yeah let's get even more of a bot problem going with the F2P.

And crossplay will never happen between PC and consoles, nor should it.
Console + Console may as well be a thing though.

The game has already been F2P on PC. A larger F2P push on all platforms will bring in a new audience of players that otherwise wouldn't check out the game, and more players means more investment from Bethesda for content for all of us.

And why should crossplay never happen between PCs and consoles? It's happening in a lot of other games, including MMOs, just fine. Crossplay not only addresses issues in regards to player population in Cyrodiil and having more active Trials guilds, but it also gives everyone freedom.

With Crossplay, if you want to switch consoles or move to PC, you can do it while playing with your same friends, staying in your same guild, and keeping all of your hard-earned gear and Crown Store purchases instead of starting over with nothing.

YandereGirlfriend

To be honest, I feel really good about the game's direction these days.

As a primarily PvP player, that might be a surprising thing to say, but I'm glad to see new systems and different types of content being implemented, as the game definitely felt like it was stuck in a bit of a rut prior to Necrom.

I also take it as a somewhat hopeful sign that we had the population test for Cyrodiil. I would like to think that this indicates that the devs are still paying attention to it and are interested in increasing performance and the population cap in tandem, which would be a huge boon for the format.

Now, if we could just get some more skill lines and Spellcrafting... mwaha.

TaSheen

Oh, so more gold sellers like we've had ever since the Epic F2P garbage? No thanks. It's bad enough as it is.