Companions should be more useful by having jobs... SUCH AS DOING OUR CRAFTING SURVEYS!

Vaughndaunted

sharffffff wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Asking for supports is something we should do. I’m assuming you don’t craft. When you do choose to craft and accumulate surveys… you’ll see what I’m talking about. I still want to do trials, go to Cyrodill and be available for the social aspect of the game. If ZOS can make that a little easier, it’ll be better for newer players as well. No one should have to do so many surveys. If they left the character max slot at 8… it might be manageable. But the character max slot is 20 now. Things are now out of control. I’m requesting a way to reign some of that in by allowing us to add apprenticeship to companions or introducing a new assistant that will do surveys for us.

I only have one active character, but yes, I do craft. I do crafting dailies every day, as well as I steal every thieves' trove and treasure chest I see - so I get both surveys and treasure maps accumulated quite quickly - not as quickly as it would be with 20 characters, but then again, each of those characters has their own inventory.
So once my inventory space goes up too high, when even deconstructing everything I ever picked up doesn't get it out of the yellow, I just go and dig up or collect everything I have collected so far. It doesn't take much time (unless it's Cyrodiil treasure maps), and you just fly around the map, collect them and continue with your day.
I'd try to assume that you don't want to do that because of the lack of eso+, then yes, having all those materials clog up your inventory would be extremely annoying, but considering you're still suggesting your companions do pick up those materials for you I don't feel like that's the case.

I paid for ESO plus for the next 3/4 years. When I tell you I am at the pinnacle of the ceiling… I’m there. There’s nothing higher until ZOS raises the ceiling by adding ways to alleviate some of the master crafting agonies. My situation is an agony. All my characters have 50 in each category of the crafting tree. They each have max hirelings in each skill tree that has one. They each have 215 bag space meaning I bought the 3 pack Mule pets and bought all bag space. My bank space is maxed. I have a guild for all master writs earned and I’ve already filled it up… sold master writs 5x over. All 4 of my small storage boxes are designated to black smithing, clothing, jewelry and woodworking surveys… they’re filled. My 4 large storage chest are filled with companion/training gear, stamina gear, magicka gear, tank/healing gear… The upcoming DLC will only stack more. My banker has my alchemy and enchantment surveys. I declutter and breakdown gear often.

The thing is housekeeping cannot take a majority of a players time. Farming cannot take a majority of a players time. I think if I reached the level of expertise with managing storage and getting writs done… A WRIT MASTER DESERVES AN APPRENTICE!!!!!!

If all my companions can be that, then so be it. We need help.

HELP WANTED.COM

lol. It’s funny but it’s true. ZOS Please help. I’m begging.

Vaughndaunted

SilverBride wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Our companions have their own lives when not adventuring with us. I don’t think more utility would be given to either surveys or companions without some cost / taking something away. If you have too many surveys, do them, destroy them, do fewer writs — you’ve many options.

You do know these are npcs right? If you want to RP and your companions have lives outside of being npcs who follow you that’s great and I encourage it but game mechanics shouldn’t be held back because of non existent NPC lives.

We can do surveys every day and not let them build up, or set aside time one day a week to catch up on them, as many players do. But turning our Companions into servants isn't the answer.

Maybe companions can be more than companions. We have 6 of them now… we’re getting 2 more at the end of year. It would be nice if they did more than die in AOE or or not be used at all. Be honest, when was the last time you did anything on each companion? Do they have all purple gear? Can being a crafting apprentice open up doorways that allow companions to live in their truth when they are not active or if they’re at our house.

Imagine a housing system where each companion can work on their expertise pending the surveys they do. In return, they work on crafting their own gear suitable for them. It gives them in combat bonuses. This is incentivized play. Just like archive gives class based gear… companions could get the same based on their apprenticeship. It’s gold!!!

I really don't see that happening.

Have faith my good sir. ZOS hears their players. They probably have it on the drawing board. Now that there’s a forum post with ideas they could capitalize on through in game rewards or through crown store purchases… they’ll look into the viability I’m sure of. Storage is an issue they could always incentivize. Look at the Grand Crafting Stations. They consolidated it for us. They’re paying attention. Have faith!!!

Vaughndaunted

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/649763/survey-assistant#latest

I also just realized someone else posted the same thing at the beginning of the year… it’s amazing how two different players have the same idea… that can’t be a coincidence. It’s a fact… we need help with surveys.

sharffffff

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

I paid for ESO plus for the next 3/4 years. When I tell you I am at the pinnacle of the ceiling… I’m there. There’s nothing higher until ZOS raises the ceiling by adding ways to alleviate some of the master crafting agonies. My situation is an agony. All my characters have 50 in each category of the crafting tree. They each have max hirelings in each skill tree that has one. They each have 215 bag space meaning I bought the 3 pack Mule pets and bought all bag space. My bank space is maxed. I have a guild for all master writs earned and I’ve already filled it up… sold master writs 5x over. All 4 of my small storage boxes are designated to black smithing, clothing, jewelry and woodworking surveys… they’re filled. My 4 large storage chest are filled with companion/training gear, stamina gear, magicka gear, tank/healing gear… The upcoming DLC will only stack more. My banker has my alchemy and enchantment surveys. I declutter and breakdown gear often.

Wait, if your situation is so bad, why not just do the surveys once you get them? Especially considering they're stackable, you just pick up the whole stack, go to the location, collect the materials, sprint back on the mount for a second and it's respawned? Material bag is infinite, so that shouldn't be an issue, and considering you have enough skill points to both max out crafting and do other things, most of the wayshrines should be unlocked, making this a trivial task? Like I'm genuinely curious why you don't just... do the surveys

SilverBride

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I really don't see that happening.

Have faith my good sir. ZOS hears their players. They probably have it on the drawing board. Now that there’s a forum post with ideas they could capitalize on through in game rewards or through crown store purchases… they’ll look into the viability I’m sure of. Storage is an issue they could always incentivize. Look at the Grand Crafting Stations. They consolidated it for us. They’re paying attention. Have faith!!!

To clarify, I am not a sir.

They put a lot of thought and work into the Companion system and I very seriously doubt they will turn them into servants because some players don't want to do surveys.

Vaughndaunted

sharffffff wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

I paid for ESO plus for the next 3/4 years. When I tell you I am at the pinnacle of the ceiling… I’m there. There’s nothing higher until ZOS raises the ceiling by adding ways to alleviate some of the master crafting agonies. My situation is an agony. All my characters have 50 in each category of the crafting tree. They each have max hirelings in each skill tree that has one. They each have 215 bag space meaning I bought the 3 pack Mule pets and bought all bag space. My bank space is maxed. I have a guild for all master writs earned and I’ve already filled it up… sold master writs 5x over. All 4 of my small storage boxes are designated to black smithing, clothing, jewelry and woodworking surveys… they’re filled. My 4 large storage chest are filled with companion/training gear, stamina gear, magicka gear, tank/healing gear… The upcoming DLC will only stack more. My banker has my alchemy and enchantment surveys. I declutter and breakdown gear often.

Wait, if your situation is so bad, why not just do the surveys once you get them? Especially considering they're stackable, you just pick up the whole stack, go to the location, collect the materials, sprint back on the mount for a second and it's respawned? Material bag is infinite, so that shouldn't be an issue, and considering you have enough skill points to both max out crafting and do other things, most of the wayshrines should be unlocked, making this a trivial task? Like I'm genuinely curious why you don't just... do the surveys

I do this. But imagine having to go to Alik’re Desert to do 60 of the same blacksmithing survey… to go back and forth a few meters to respawn then takes time. But I have to do that for all the rest of my surveys. It’s not feasible to do that and get some excitement from the game. You let them stack and pull them as needed when you’re getting low.

You also have to imagine how costly it is to keep up with doing your writs. It’s expensive without farming your surveys. I’ll be basically turning ESO into a farming simulator. That’s not fun at all right? Crafters will understand this issue more than a player who does not craft to this extent.

Vaughndaunted

SilverBride wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I really don't see that happening.

Have faith my good sir. ZOS hears their players. They probably have it on the drawing board. Now that there’s a forum post with ideas they could capitalize on through in game rewards or through crown store purchases… they’ll look into the viability I’m sure of. Storage is an issue they could always incentivize. Look at the Grand Crafting Stations. They consolidated it for us. They’re paying attention. Have faith!!!

To clarify, I am not a sir.

They put a lot of thought and work into the Companion system and I very seriously doubt they will turn them into servants because some players don't want to do surveys.

I apologize.

As for the ESO companion situation, we don’t know what ZOS is willing to do. It’s not a thing for you. It doesn’t take away from your gameplay… it’s an additive. You could do your surveys regularly. But for me, I would like an apprentice to assist with surveys. However they implement that would be appreciated.

Surveys take a ton of time to do. Doing writs takes a ton of time to do if you haven’t created a system for yourself. Simplifying things is best. Would you use a calculator to solve a majority of your math problems or would you use scrap paper and your fingers?

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

sharffffff

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Surveys take a ton of time to do. Doing writs takes a ton of time to do if you haven’t created a system for yourself. Simplifying things is best. Would you use a calculator to solve a majority of your math problems or would you use scrap paper and your fingers?

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

I have to clarify, which platform are you playing on? Because on PC, doing daily writs (even master writs if you know the crafting style) takes just a couple of seconds, especially in places like Vivec, where every station is placed conveniently right next to one another. Addons exist, after all, and you can complete daily writs on one character in less than a minute.
I know it's different for consoles, though, as those do not have access to addons

SilverBride

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

The best way is to just do the surveys the day we get them and not let them stack up. Or set aside a time once a week to do the week's worth in one session if that is easier. It doesn't take that long and the amount of mats we get from them means no additional farming is needed, so they can actually save us time.

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

sharffffff wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Surveys take a ton of time to do. Doing writs takes a ton of time to do if you haven’t created a system for yourself. Simplifying things is best. Would you use a calculator to solve a majority of your math problems or would you use scrap paper and your fingers?

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

I have to clarify, which platform are you playing on? Because on PC, doing daily writs (even master writs if you know the crafting style) takes just a couple of seconds, especially in places like Vivec, where every station is placed conveniently right next to one another. Addons exist, after all, and you can complete daily writs on one character in less than a minute.
I know it's different for consoles, though, as those do not have access to addons

"Less than a minute" is an exaggeration. The times are more like the ones shown at the start of this thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/x93d6r/rated_ranked_the_efficiency_of_all_24_daily_writ/

Writ times are affected by network connections, too, and not all of us have tiny network latency when playing the game.

Vaughndaunted

sharffffff wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Surveys take a ton of time to do. Doing writs takes a ton of time to do if you haven’t created a system for yourself. Simplifying things is best. Would you use a calculator to solve a majority of your math problems or would you use scrap paper and your fingers?

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

I have to clarify, which platform are you playing on? Because on PC, doing daily writs (even master writs if you know the crafting style) takes just a couple of seconds, especially in places like Vivec, where every station is placed conveniently right next to one another. Addons exist, after all, and you can complete daily writs on one character in less than a minute.
I know it's different for consoles, though, as those do not have access to addons

Console. PS5

Vaughndaunted

SilverBride wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

The best way is to just do the surveys the day we get them and not let them stack up. Or set aside a time once a week to do the week's worth in one session if that is easier. It doesn't take that long and the amount of mats we get from them means no additional farming is needed, so they can actually save us time.

Thanks for your feedback. I’ll keep in mind.

Mesite

Maybe the materials from the surveys that companions dig up could go directly into the craft bag and only be used for crafting, and you aren't allowed to sell them for profit. So there is a differentiation between the two types of work - yours or your companions' hard work. And you aren't profiting from having companions that the people who only have the base game can't get.

sharffffff

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

sharffffff wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Surveys take a ton of time to do. Doing writs takes a ton of time to do if you haven’t created a system for yourself. Simplifying things is best. Would you use a calculator to solve a majority of your math problems or would you use scrap paper and your fingers?

If there’s a way to do something better… having an open mind is always good.

I have to clarify, which platform are you playing on? Because on PC, doing daily writs (even master writs if you know the crafting style) takes just a couple of seconds, especially in places like Vivec, where every station is placed conveniently right next to one another. Addons exist, after all, and you can complete daily writs on one character in less than a minute.
I know it's different for consoles, though, as those do not have access to addons

Console. PS5

Ah, that makes sense. Writs do take a lot more time when you don't have addons that automate the entire process, so I understand what you're saying.

SilverBride

I get it, too, but instead of turning the Companions into something they aren't why not ask for an NPC similar to the ragpicker that we can trade our surveys to for a lesser amount of mats than we would get if we did it ourselves?

spartaxoxo

Mesite wrote: »

Maybe the materials from the surveys that companions dig up could go directly into the craft bag and only be used for crafting, and you aren't allowed to sell them for profit. So there is a differentiation between the two types of work - yours or your companions' hard work. And you aren't profiting from having companions that the people who only have the base game can't get.

Eh. Base game only players already can't make use of a number of systems. It's expected that you can't do everything if you're not picking up chapters.

And besides, now that companions can come Q4 there's nothing stopping them from giving them to everyone like they did IA.

spartaxoxo

SilverBride wrote: »

I get it, too, but instead of turning the Companions into something they aren't why not ask for an NPC similar to the ragpicker that we can trade our surveys to for a lesser amount of mats than we would get if we did it ourselves?

This would also be fine. I don't care if it is or isn't a companion personally. I just want something I can use to get rid of surveys without a total loss.

Araneae6537

I really don’t understand. I transfer all surveys and master writs to my main crafter and sometimes I end up accumulating more than I am doing and bag space becomes inconvenient. But these are the rewards I worked for by doing crafting writs. If it involved no effort to get the materials from the surveys, I’m sure the rewards would be reduced. If I accumulate too many, I have only myself to blame, no? I make some time to do them, by zone or by wayshrine proximity or whatever.

spartaxoxo

I don't think lacking game design that is consumer unfriendly should be blamed on the consumer. Many people don't do them often because they aren't fun to them. And it's not a wonder why. They are mindless busy work that has no gameplay to them whatsoever. Some people enjoy that about them. Meditative, relaxing, excuse to see the scenery or do nearby activities that actually offer some gameplay. Nothing wrong with enjoying it. But likewise, it's not unreasonable that many customers don't want to spend time doing rote chores instead of gameplay when they play a game.

Elder Scrolls clogs up your inventory with all kinds of stuff you'll need but many will find irritating to go get often, and then sells you partial solutions. It's not limited to just the surveys. The devs themselves have admitted that the inventory management has gotten out of hand and are taking steps to reduce it.

Letting people give up some of their mats to automate the process of survey collecting so it isn't just one more thing to manage is good for the mat market (less mats) and good for many users. And ones that don't want to do that would be still be free to go get it themselves.

Kendaric

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Letting people give up some of their mats to automate the process of survey collecting so it isn't just one more thing to manage is good for the mat market (less mats) and good for many users. And ones that don't want to do that would be still be free to go get it themselves.

It would, however, lead to a decline of players that are actively doing something in the world. Considering how empty some zones already feel, that is not a good thing.

Admittedly I am one of the players that absolutely hates the surveys and generally destroys them, but I'd rather not have automated system for surveys.

UGotBenched91

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Our companions have their own lives when not adventuring with us. I don’t think more utility would be given to either surveys or companions without some cost / taking something away. If you have too many surveys, do them, destroy them, do fewer writs — you’ve many options.

You do know these are npcs right? If you want to RP and your companions have lives outside of being npcs who follow you that’s great and I encourage it but game mechanics shouldn’t be held back because of non existent NPC lives.

We can do surveys every day and not let them build up, or set aside time one day a week to catch up on them, as many players do. But turning our Companions into servants isn't the answer.

Again….you do know these aren’t real people and digital codes inside a game?

SilverBride

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Our companions have their own lives when not adventuring with us. I don’t think more utility would be given to either surveys or companions without some cost / taking something away. If you have too many surveys, do them, destroy them, do fewer writs — you’ve many options.

You do know these are npcs right? If you want to RP and your companions have lives outside of being npcs who follow you that’s great and I encourage it but game mechanics shouldn’t be held back because of non existent NPC lives.

We can do surveys every day and not let them build up, or set aside time one day a week to catch up on them, as many players do. But turning our Companions into servants isn't the answer.

Again….you do know these aren’t real people and digital codes inside a game?

The surveys aren't real either. Or anything in game for that matter. But we do create attachments to our characters and our houses and everything we enjoy in game, and these things do matter to us. This is what keeps us playing.

Vaughndaunted

It's all good everyone. Enjoy the game and keep putting your ideas out there. Everyone's opinion matters. Thanks for sharing.

spartaxoxo

Kendaric wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Letting people give up some of their mats to automate the process of survey collecting so it isn't just one more thing to manage is good for the mat market (less mats) and good for many users. And ones that don't want to do that would be still be free to go get it themselves.

It would, however, lead to a decline of players that are actively doing something in the world. Considering how empty some zones already feel, that is not a good thing.

Admittedly I am one of the players that absolutely hates the surveys and generally destroys them, but I'd rather not have automated system for surveys.

That's a fair point actually. I'd still prefer it be automatic because the time sink is preposterous but it would need to be implemented in such a way to alleviate that concern. Perhaps you could only send them out to one zone at a time, and you have to be in that zone while they're doing it. That way you can still see the zone chat to help people out and would incentivize you to play on the map while you waited

jtm1018

Yes, non active companions should be put to use.
We should be able to sent them to collect mats.

Or

Lets us have at 3 companions active while out adventuring in tamriel.

UGotBenched91

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Our companions have their own lives when not adventuring with us. I don’t think more utility would be given to either surveys or companions without some cost / taking something away. If you have too many surveys, do them, destroy them, do fewer writs — you’ve many options.

You do know these are npcs right? If you want to RP and your companions have lives outside of being npcs who follow you that’s great and I encourage it but game mechanics shouldn’t be held back because of non existent NPC lives.

We can do surveys every day and not let them build up, or set aside time one day a week to catch up on them, as many players do. But turning our Companions into servants isn't the answer.

Again….you do know these aren’t real people and digital codes inside a game?

The surveys aren't real either. Or anything in game for that matter. But we do create attachments to our characters and our houses and everything we enjoy in game, and these things do matter to us. This is what keeps us playing.

Game would be a lot better off if this sentiment was shared toward the attachment with actual players.

Vaughndaunted

Araneae6537 wrote: »

I really don’t understand. I transfer all surveys and master writs to my main crafter and sometimes I end up accumulating more than I am doing and bag space becomes inconvenient. But these are the rewards I worked for by doing crafting writs. If it involved no effort to get the materials from the surveys, I’m sure the rewards would be reduced. If I accumulate too many, I have only myself to blame, no? I make some time to do them, by zone or by wayshrine proximity or whatever.

Let's really pull back some layers here. When was the last time ZOS changed the formula for the rewards from crafting writs? It changed with jewelry crafting, when the champion tree was upgraded by allowing us to earn a little more gold from quests, when they added leads to doing certain writs, and when they got rid of chromium grains... that being said, the foundation of the rewards still has not changed. We have a right to let the developers/programmers know when something no longer serves a function due to the growing complexity in the game. As players, we must voice our concern. We still get ambrosia recipes for the last 8/9 years from provisioning... Why is that okay? Should things be swapped out for different rewards?

Change doesn't happen because the developers find a system they created to burden them. This is a burden on players the developers may not know exists... They deserve to know they've created a system that is obsolete and needs to be upgraded. The rewards structure may need to be looked at in order to meet the needs of players who take crafting seriously. We deserve to still be included based on what we are asking for. It's not much too rework an actual issue. Just takes a voice to say "Hey, why are we being rewarded the same thing for years and can we have some assistance in resolving it?" This is a functionality thing.

Do yourself a favor... ask yourself what purpose does housing and crafting truly have? Housing has become a guild based thing... but guild mates mainly go to the houses to craft gear and do master writs if the grand crafting stations have all the stations. Doing writs is the only way to get those stations. To do writs, we need materials. To get materials, we must farm. If ZOS really looks at making houseguest more functional, they all should be able to have a job rather than be a moving, talking furniture. Increase functionality. However ZOS would think tank this... it would be appreciated.

Syldras

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Do yourself a favor... ask yourself what purpose does housing and crafting truly have? Housing has become a guild based thing...

There's actually a big housing "scene" that furnishes buildings and builds their own structures just for fun. Not sure about percentages, of course, but housing definitively isn't a guild-only thing that's entirely about crafting or productivity of some sort.

SilverBride

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Our companions have their own lives when not adventuring with us. I don’t think more utility would be given to either surveys or companions without some cost / taking something away. If you have too many surveys, do them, destroy them, do fewer writs — you’ve many options.

You do know these are npcs right? If you want to RP and your companions have lives outside of being npcs who follow you that’s great and I encourage it but game mechanics shouldn’t be held back because of non existent NPC lives.

We can do surveys every day and not let them build up, or set aside time one day a week to catch up on them, as many players do. But turning our Companions into servants isn't the answer.

Again….you do know these aren’t real people and digital codes inside a game?

The surveys aren't real either. Or anything in game for that matter. But we do create attachments to our characters and our houses and everything we enjoy in game, and these things do matter to us. This is what keeps us playing.

Game would be a lot better off if this sentiment was shared toward the attachment with actual players.

I have made some very good friends that I talk to and interact with every day. But personal friendships with other players isn't what this thread is about.

Pixiepumpkin

SilverBride wrote: »

Vaughndaunted wrote: »

Companions need to be smarter. We paid for it.

How did we pay for our Companions?

....

Did you purchase Elder Scrolls Online and or pay for a subscription to ESO+? Because if so, you paid for the game and anything that resides inside of it.