Survey Assistant!!!!

sshogrin · January 3

We need a Survey Assistant!
An Assistant that you can put like 25 surveys on and will go do those surveys for you, deliver back the next day.
I envision them so what ever level/CP perks you have on the character that gives the surveys to the assistant would be the level of materials they would send back.
I'm not looking for an Assistant to do treasure maps, not asking for a whole lot. Surveys can take some time to do, especially in the AD zones.
If not a survey assistant, then the option to harvest all stacked surveys you have on you, getting the total amount of materials that you'd get like we do now, of running away, resetting the survey map, then running back.
This would add a whole lot to the "quality of life" improvements ZOS has been trying to implement in the game.

Braffin · January 3

While I think an assistant would be a bit too much automation, I agree with your suggestion to harvest all stacked surveys in one go.

Tandor · January 3

Stacking surveys would be fine, but not a survey assistant. The alternative is not to hoard them.

sshogrin · January 3

Braffin wrote: »

While I think an assistant would be a bit too much automation, I agree with your suggestion to harvest all stacked surveys in one go.

I have 32 characters between 3 accounts...I understand the too much automation feeling, but I have a ton of surveys, I get behind, I'd like to be able to do more in the game than do surveys...we already have the hirelings in the crafting skill lines, to me this is an extension of the hirelings...

zaria · January 3

Ember should be able to do enchanting surveys as she enjoy harvesting runestones so much.
But some danger she sell all the Kuta for moonsugar and talking about bad rnd.

Katzenzunge · January 3

Stacking I could see, automating them kinda feels a bit to "idle-game" for me personally.

I like doing surveys.
Not all of them all the time, but sometimes it's relaxing, wombling across the map(s) and gathering the stuff

VoidCommander · January 3

Could have the ultimate solution and not have such an arbitrarily limited bank size. That is the most criminal thing MMOs do that I honestly think should be made illegal. Limiting Inventory/Bank space so harshly just creates a problem so they can sell a solution. It is a very scummy business practice that doesn't enhance the game in any way.

Braffin · January 3

sshogrin wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

While I think an assistant would be a bit too much automation, I agree with your suggestion to harvest all stacked surveys in one go.

I have 32 characters between 3 accounts...I understand the too much automation feeling, but I have a ton of surveys, I get behind, I'd like to be able to do more in the game than do surveys...we already have the hirelings in the crafting skill lines, to me this is an extension of the hirelings...

Well, nobody (but yourself) is forcing you to do crafting/surveys on 32 different characters. Feel free to play as you want.

Anyway, a game shouldn't be balanced around the needs of people, which arbitrary maximize their ingame chores by repeating the very same on various accounts. I'm not saying it's bad to play on multiple accounts, but if you don't enjoy it, just reduce what you don't enjoy.

derkaiserliche · January 3

The problem is that people with many chars would get way too many benefits from the daily crafting quests then.

They are already pretty insane rewardwise, so the surveys shouldnt be too easy.

OsUfi · January 3

VoidCommander wrote: »

Could have the ultimate solution and not have such an arbitrarily limited bank size. That is the most criminal thing MMOs do that I honestly think should be made illegal. Limiting Inventory/Bank space so harshly just creates a problem so they can sell a solution. It is a very scummy business practice that doesn't enhance the game in any way.

Storage in ESO is not a problem. People just need to stop hoarding junk.

Tandor · January 3

OsUfi wrote: »

VoidCommander wrote: »

Could have the ultimate solution and not have such an arbitrarily limited bank size. That is the most criminal thing MMOs do that I honestly think should be made illegal. Limiting Inventory/Bank space so harshly just creates a problem so they can sell a solution. It is a very scummy business practice that doesn't enhance the game in any way.

Storage in ESO is not a problem. People just need to stop hoarding junk.

Agreed, plus it's not a "very scummy business practice" to allow players to choose not to pay a monthly subscription but then give QoL benefits to those who do choose to do so.

karthrag_inak · January 3

VoidCommander wrote: »

Could have the ultimate solution and not have such an arbitrarily limited bank size. That is the most criminal thing MMOs do that I honestly think should be made illegal. Limiting Inventory/Bank space so harshly just creates a problem so they can sell a solution. It is a very scummy business practice that doesn't enhance the game in any way.

It enhances the game by strongly motivating players to provide cash flow to pay for continuing hardware costs and dev participation without requiring it. Because, you know, devs work hard and ought to be paid for their work. Expecting work for free is what's scummy, in Khajiit's eyes. But then again, Khajiit has been a developer/engineer for decades who got quite used to being undervalued and under-appreciated in the past.

sshogrin · January 4

Braffin wrote: »

sshogrin wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

While I think an assistant would be a bit too much automation, I agree with your suggestion to harvest all stacked surveys in one go.

I have 32 characters between 3 accounts...I understand the too much automation feeling, but I have a ton of surveys, I get behind, I'd like to be able to do more in the game than do surveys...we already have the hirelings in the crafting skill lines, to me this is an extension of the hirelings...

Well, nobody (but yourself) is forcing you to do crafting/surveys on 32 different characters. Feel free to play as you want.

Anyway, a game shouldn't be balanced around the needs of people, which arbitrary maximize their ingame chores by repeating the very same on various accounts. I'm not saying it's bad to play on multiple accounts, but if you don't enjoy it, just reduce what you don't enjoy.

ZOS themselves have talked about quality of life improvements for gamers, I see this as a QOL improvement.
All I'm getting at is that Survey Maps can take some time to do, especially in the AD zones.
I don't craft on all characters, that takes a bunch of time to do, even with addons (which adds even more character load time).

TaSheen · January 4

I enjoy getting out to do surveys. If you want surveys changed, that needs to be optional.

Quackery · January 4

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

TaSheen · January 4

Quackery wrote: »

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

I'm not sure I've ever got a lead from a survey....

LannStone · January 4

derkaiserliche wrote: »

The problem is that people with many chars would get way too many benefits from the daily crafting quests then.

They are already pretty insane rewardwise, so the surveys shouldnt be too easy.

As a player with max character slots on two accounts, I tend to agree - beyond the individual player, it would have a pretty drastic impact on the economy

katanagirl1 · January 4

I never had a problem with this in the past, but with just 7 characters now doing daily writs, and only 5 of them doing the equipment ones, the surveys are piling up to the point where I have to do them at least once per week due to inventory and bank space being limited.

I am not sure they would make a survey assistant either, and making the site use up all your surveys at once would require code changes, which is probably not going to be a priority at this point.

The number of surveys increases with every new zone, so the total number of them is constantly going up. That means more sites to visit, more inventory/bank space than before.

I was thinking it would be nice if they could shift some of the load from surveys to hirelings. I put skill points into them but oftentimes the amount of mats I get from them is rather meager.

Gray_howling_parrot · January 4

I think both options are nice: stacking of the surveys and an assistant. Even better than an assistant, I’d like an option for your companions to be set as survey mules, where each day you can hand a companion a survey, 1 per companion, and they’ll give you the resources in the mail or something the next day upon reset. It could require max level and rapport to be available for instance.

If people would like to go and do it themselves, and they enjoy taking a while and collecting resources, then they don’t have to have the assistant, just like you don’t have to have them now and can just talk to merchants, bankers, etc. I find when people say no to ideas on here, they just mean they wouldn’t use it themselves, and would prefer to have the option to use it or not, but the better question is, are you actively against someone else using it? In which case, 99% of the time SHOULD be a no.

Stackable would also be a nice QOL option across the board, 100%. Visiting the same zone for the same spot 3 separate times is silly and slightly immersion breaking.

zaria · January 4

TaSheen wrote: »

Quackery wrote: »

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

I'm not sure I've ever got a lead from a survey....

I have gotten it, they count as standard harvesting nodes so say an alchemy survey in Coldharbor has an chance of getting an void crystal lead, one in Shadowfern can give the wading kilt fragment and so on.

Now my main issue with surveys is the run away x meter in some direction to restart the nodes. Had they just spawned as you picked the last one things would be much easier.

Araneae6537 · January 4

Quackery wrote: »

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

Those leads drop from nodes, not specifically from survey nodes.

Surveys do stack in our inventory. I am definitely not in favor of multiple surveys being collected at once (not having to leave in some manner and come back), if that is what is meant. Have I sometimes found it a bother to do so or accumulated a backup? Sure! But that’s on me, if I do the writs and wait to collect the surveys. If multiple surveys could be collected all at once, that seems like it would mean a greater faster reward for people who do lots of crafting writs, and would probably lead to their being nerfed in some way, such as the plentiful harvest CP no longer applying.

The surveys should stay as they are. You can delete them if you don’t find them worth your time to do.

Tandor · January 4

Cooperharley wrote: »

I I find when people say no to ideas on here, they just mean they wouldn’t use it themselves, and would prefer to have the option to use it or not, but the better question is, are you actively against someone else using it? In which case, 99% of the time SHOULD be a no.

I think you're wrong on that. Most critical posters also have in mind the good of the game. In particular, there is a very valid position to adopt against further simplication and trivialisation of core parts of the game structure.

However, even if you're right and players oppose a suggestion because they don't want it for themselves, that argument works both ways as most players who post suggestions do so because they want them for themselves, not necessarily because they think they would be for the good of the game.

Azphira · January 4

I want an assistant that acts like an outfit station.

Czeri · January 5

Oh, surveys. I do see that they are already a QoL improvement, because if I had to hunt down mats without having surveys I'd never do crafting dailies. Also, to be fair, ZoS did improve some aspects of them (remember having to group up to be able to collect the enchanting survey by the swarming wasp nest in Craglorn?).

On the other hand at this point I have double digits of each survey except for the ones right next to wayshrines. And let's face it, it wasn't meant to be like this. The surveys were originally conceived to only drop in one zone - the one at your character level. That's why Coldharbour, Craglorn and Wrothgar have multiple survey sites, to make it slightly more varied. The current insanity is a byproduct of One Tamriel, so we're way overdue a solution that doesn't make your gameplay feel so much like a chore. My vote's on a merchant that will buy surveys for mats. Failing that, an assistant.

sshogrin · January 5

derkaiserliche wrote: »

The problem is that people with many chars would get way too many benefits from the daily crafting quests then.

They are already pretty insane rewardwise, so the surveys shouldnt be too easy.

You can create extra characters and spend the time crafting also to get the "too many benefits".
It takes time to login/out with a bunch of toons...I've reduced my daily crafting just because of the time it takes to get each toon loaded.

sshogrin · January 5

Quackery wrote: »

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

It's only treasure maps that drop leads.....

Gray_howling_parrot · January 5

Tandor wrote: »

Cooperharley wrote: »

I I find when people say no to ideas on here, they just mean they wouldn’t use it themselves, and would prefer to have the option to use it or not, but the better question is, are you actively against someone else using it? In which case, 99% of the time SHOULD be a no.

I think you're wrong on that. Most critical posters also have in mind the good of the game. In particular, there is a very valid position to adopt against further simplication and trivialisation of core parts of the game structure.

However, even if you're right and players oppose a suggestion because they don't want it for themselves, that argument works both ways as most players who post suggestions do so because they want them for themselves, not necessarily because they think they would be for the good of the game.

That’s fine lol. But in general, a live service game is going to have changes. Plain and simple. This game largely plays like a single player game, and as such, it attracts people like yourself who I tend to see disagree on a vast majority of posts, because they don’t want their game to change - which is fine! That’s your opinion.

But I would rather see conversation personally on a basis of, “maybe not this, but here’s an alternative”, rather than outright disagreement on every level, because then the developers implement things in game that get lots of backlash - like the recent tales of tribute, which is successful for a minority of the player base, but was received very poorly by a large majority. So I urge you and other people on the forums to give constructive feedback and alternatives rather than simple no’s all the time with some fancy wording. Cheers

tmbrinks · January 5

sshogrin wrote: »

Quackery wrote: »

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

It's only treasure maps that drop leads.....

False. There are several leads that drop from surveys, including one from jewelry surveys only. They also drop leads from their respective crafting nodes in the appropriate zones.

XxCaLxX · January 5

This would make the economy of material way worse than it already is. Passively collecting material is what I consider bot farming and we all can see what that does to the economy. I'm fine with collecting all stacks of surveys in one go though but if we allow NPCs to collect for us then that'll lead down a path of people wanting NPCs to do a lot more than that.

Czeri · January 5

tmbrinks wrote: »

sshogrin wrote: »

Quackery wrote: »

Some surveys drop leads, so that wouldn't really work.

It's only treasure maps that drop leads.....

False. There are several leads that drop from surveys, including one from jewelry surveys only. They also drop leads from their respective crafting nodes in the appropriate zones.

Having a survey merchant or an assistant wouldn't stop people who want to hunt for leads from doing the surveys the old-fashioned way. And having usable surveys in every zone was never the design, so the hundreds of separate documents clogging the players' inventories need a fix.

Gray_howling_parrot · January 5

XxCaLxX wrote: »

This would make the economy of material way worse than it already is. Passively collecting material is what I consider bot farming and we all can see what that does to the economy. I'm fine with collecting all stacks of surveys in one go though but if we allow NPCs to collect for us then that'll lead down a path of people wanting NPCs to do a lot more than that.

Eh, I think this is more of a symptom of the underlying problem - a lack of gold sinks in ESO 🤷🏻‍♂️.

Most mats are decently priced rn - I don’t think it’d change them very drastically. Except for a few *cough columbine cough.* Supply would go up a little with demand being relatively the same, so it should decrease prices slightly according to basic economics, but that’s obviously a shot in the dark.