Honestly it's not just the horrible drop rate...

MidniteOwl1913

So yes, the drop rate for the event is really bad, but as others have pointed out lots of things have terrible drop rates. Personally I spent 2-3 hours a day for a couple of weeks in Crimson Cove trying to get the 3rd lead for the moon pool furnishing. But, and it's a pretty but, in that case there was no drop dead date for the lead and I had the place to myself, not crowds. For the event pages, the crowds and the hard stop point make this low drop rate 1000 times worse.

With geysers yes you can get the incredibly rare drop from the shell trove, but with hoards you are not likely to get enough damage to get the box making the hours and hours of grinding pointless if they don't yield the drop. Worse than pointless because doing almost anything else would have led to a number of motifs and rare crafting mats from those boxes. This lead is for most players a terrible choice grind to get they page loss out on the boxes, maximize the boxes lose out on the pages. You have to ask yourself why on earth zos would do something like this to players for something that's supposed to be a celebration. Maybe you have an answer, I don't.

The Vardenfell WB drops are just as bad, but at least (most of the time) you get a box for your efforts.

How on earth could something I've so looking forward to have gone so wrong?

dcrush

Because the anniversary event is less of a celebration and more of a marketing tool to try and increase the time players spend in-game with the hopes of enticing them to spend some money in the crown store.

SxFurey

It's been like this for years. Top 12 Dps get to loot the WB (and boxes). Feedback was given to ZOS but they dont seem to do anything about it. There was even a suggestion to increase the hp of the WB and dolmen boss and the like just for the event, so that they stay alive longer when they get nuked by players who are hoping to be the top 12 dps.

Tannus15

these drops are an example of what should be in the game
there is no reason not to have these sorts of rare chance, bound drops seeded throughout

Hapexamendios

dcrush wrote: »

Because the anniversary event is less of a celebration and more of a marketing tool to try and increase the time players spend in-game with the hopes of enticing them to spend some money in the crown store.

Well, speaking for myself, it's not working.

tsaescishoeshiner

dcrush wrote: »

Because the anniversary event is less of a celebration and more of a marketing tool to try and increase the time players spend in-game with the hopes of enticing them to spend some money in the crown store.

I don't think hours sitting at a world boss makes them wanna splurge on crates. If anything it might burn them out on the game, right?

MidniteOwl1913

Tannus15 wrote: »

these drops are an example of what should be in the game
there is no reason not to have these sorts of rare chance, bound drops seeded throughout

Rare is fine, rare and time-limited is not.

Carcamongus

People won't want to spend more at the crown store if they're frustrated by a celebration that feels like punishment. This should've been indeed an event for good marketing, but it seems to be backfiring terribly. You don't want unhappy and burnt-out players at the beginning of the 10th anniversary celebration, but that's what's happening. Also notice how the devs are silent on this matter. Unless I missed something, not a word was said by them to even at least acknowledge our complaints. There's still time to undo some of the damage, but I fear nothing is going to change. This isn't a good omen for the next 10 years.

Shadowbinder7

dcrush wrote: »

Because the anniversary event is less of a celebration and more of a marketing tool to try and increase the time players spend in-game with the hopes of enticing them to spend some money in the crown store.

I’m sure many of us know this is true.

I wonder if the ZOS developers are aware that this is however an extraordinarily weak tactic that doesn’t work, and actually simply pushes away players who stay on the game longer than a couple of months?

Make the drops interesting to earn, through challenge and questing, and please stop abusing the player base with RNG drops, and other weak methods to attempt to maximise profit. Most people won’t buy off the crown store anyway unless they actually planned to in the first place for something specific

Shadowbinder7

Carcamongus wrote: »

People won't want to spend more at the crown store if they're frustrated by a celebration that feels like punishment. This should've been indeed an event for good marketing, but it seems to be backfiring terribly. You don't want unhappy and burnt-out players at the beginning of the 10th anniversary celebration, but that's what's happening. Also notice how the devs are silent on this matter. Unless I missed something, not a word was said by them to even at least acknowledge our complaints. There's still time to undo some of the damage, but I fear nothing is going to change. This isn't a good omen for the next 10 years.

You say this perfectly. Though honestly, the way the devs are playing this business with the game, there isn’t gonna be more than a year or two at this rate. Which will be very sad indeed. I hope some drastic changes in both the game system and the apparent attitude of the people responsible for the game’s continued development in all aspects appears very soon

aedra

Agreed... Partner and I were just talking about this...its so strange how this is set up. You want to retain players and keep them playing throughout the event, sure obvious stuff, but if only bursty veteran min-maxer DPS players are allowed to get the extra box at populated places like the geysers...does that really foster a friendly open celebratory vibe? It'd just end up putting off a lot of people in the end especially newer players.

MidniteOwl1913

aedra wrote: »

Agreed... Partner and I were just talking about this...its so strange how this is set up. You want to retain players and keep them playing throughout the event, sure obvious stuff, but if only bursty veteran min-maxer DPS players are allowed to get the extra box at populated places like the geysers...does that really foster a friendly open celebratory vibe? It'd just end up putting off a lot of people in the end especially newer players.

It put me off and I'm not a new player.

Reginald_leBlem

Once again, they have announced a free gift (Thieves guild DLC) tied to an achievement. Good!!! Excellent!! More of this!!!

Whhyyyyy didn't they make these drops tied to achievements?

Lydawobbles

I will be taking an extended break. I haven’t rage quit eso in a long time, but this has pushed me over the edge.

Whoever thought putting a *rare* drop to also be bound AND limited time must really hate us.

I’ve never felt such a middle finger in my face in my 8 years here.

Lydawobbles

Nevermind that I had to uninstall and reinstall my entire game because of the freeze glitch. 😒

Desiato

If you can weave attacks, you can get geyser boss loot. I did it ungrouped for the vast majority of my grind and got loot 99% of the time. The only exception was a one hour period on when it was busier than it had been the rest of my grind and I was only getting loot 75% of the time because it was so crowded I could barely see the boss most of the time. So I joined a zone chat group for an hour and that solved my problem.

I did it with two characters. One with a meh build, one with a bad build.

The meh build was 5x Mother's Sorrow, 5x Julianos, 1x trainee and a ring of the wild hunt on a Warden with a ice/resto staves(!) The armor is purple and the staves are yellow. This is a build I threw together for overland content. Before the boss appeared, I dropped an elemental storm, placed a winter's revenge on the ground and when it appeared I weaved crushing shock. Anyone can throw this build together.

The bad build was spc/willpower/groth/trainee/wild hunt on a nb. I did the same thing except the elemental blockade and swallow soul. This is something I use for overland content and healing normal dungeons. What I use it for is so easy, I don't care that it sucks.

I barely know how to play this game because I was away for so long and everything is different. I'm old and slow. My gear sucks. If I can do it, so can you.

MidniteOwl1913

Desiato wrote: »

If you can weave attacks, you can get geyser boss loot. I did it ungrouped for the vast majority of my grind and got loot 99% of the time. The only exception was a one hour period on when it was busier than it had been the rest of my grind and I was only getting loot 75% of the time because it was so crowded I could barely see the boss most of the time. So I joined a zone chat group for an hour and that solved my problem.

I did it with two characters. One with a meh build, one with a bad build.

The meh build was 5x Mother's Sorrow, 5x Julianos, 1x trainee and a ring of the wild hunt on a Warden with a ice/resto staves(!) The armor is purple and the staves are yellow. This is a build I threw together for overland content. Before the boss appeared, I dropped an elemental storm, placed a winter's revenge on the ground and when it appeared I weaved crushing shock. Anyone can throw this build together.

The bad build was spc/willpower/groth/trainee/wild hunt on a nb. I did the same thing except the elemental blockade and swallow soul. This is something I use for overland content and healing normal dungeons. What I use it for is so easy, I don't care that it sucks.

I barely know how to play this game because I was away for so long and everything is different. I'm old and slow. My gear sucks. If I can do it, so can you.

No, no I can't. And there were 40-50 people there I couldn't see the boss 99% of the time. I couldn't even find the shell until some of them had left. The boss went down in 4-5 seconds.

Your experience is *not* my experience. I'm glad you didn't find it awful but telling me it shouldn't be awful for me because it wasn't awful for you isn't helpful. If I can't see the boss my build and skill don't matter.

vsrs_au

Hapexamendios wrote: »

dcrush wrote: »

Because the anniversary event is less of a celebration and more of a marketing tool to try and increase the time players spend in-game with the hopes of enticing them to spend some money in the crown store.

Well, speaking for myself, it's not working.

Same here, I'm afraid. I've spent the last several months playing other games, and only logging into ESO for less than 10 minutes each day to collect a few things. My ESO motivation is pretty low right now.

aedra

Desiato wrote: »

If you can weave attacks, you can get geyser boss loot. I did it ungrouped for the vast majority of my grind and got loot 99% of the time. The only exception was a one hour period on when it was busier than it had been the rest of my grind and I was only getting loot 75% of the time because it was so crowded I could barely see the boss most of the time. So I joined a zone chat group for an hour and that solved my problem.

I did it with two characters. One with a meh build, one with a bad build.

The meh build was 5x Mother's Sorrow, 5x Julianos, 1x trainee and a ring of the wild hunt on a Warden with a ice/resto staves(!) The armor is purple and the staves are yellow. This is a build I threw together for overland content. Before the boss appeared, I dropped an elemental storm, placed a winter's revenge on the ground and when it appeared I weaved crushing shock. Anyone can throw this build together.

The bad build was spc/willpower/groth/trainee/wild hunt on a nb. I did the same thing except the elemental blockade and swallow soul. This is something I use for overland content and healing normal dungeons. What I use it for is so easy, I don't care that it sucks.

I barely know how to play this game because I was away for so long and everything is different. I'm old and slow. My gear sucks. If I can do it, so can you.

It's not bad advice in general, but the problem is I live in Australia and deal with an average of 250 ping. There's also the more pressing issue that so few people to begin with will qualify for the box anyway. There's just waaay too many people funnelled into one zone. At least with the dolmen grind you can spread out.

shadyjane62

Carcamongus wrote: »

People won't want to spend more at the crown store if they're frustrated by a celebration that feels like punishment. This should've been indeed an event for good marketing, but it seems to be backfiring terribly. You don't want unhappy and burnt-out players at the beginning of the 10th anniversary celebration, but that's what's happening. Also notice how the devs are silent on this matter. Unless I missed something, not a word was said by them to even at least acknowledge our complaints. There's still time to undo some of the damage, but I fear nothing is going to change. This isn't a good omen for the next 10 years.

Another ten years? Unlikely if if's like this. This year, I thought it would be better.

At least the cake didn't bleed.

Aektann

Carcamongus wrote: »

People won't want to spend more at the crown store if they're frustrated by a celebration that feels like punishment. This should've been indeed an event for good marketing, but it seems to be backfiring terribly. You don't want unhappy and burnt-out players at the beginning of the 10th anniversary celebration, but that's what's happening. Also notice how the devs are silent on this matter. Unless I missed something, not a word was said by them to even at least acknowledge our complaints. There's still time to undo some of the damage, but I fear nothing is going to change. This isn't a good omen for the next 10 years.

Totally agree. I spent money in another game and this one is now in "maintenance mode" for me. I'm logging in, use cake and log out.

I'm sure that all this was invented for the sake of beautiful statistics for investors, and not for us to have fun.

Anifaas

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

You have to ask yourself why on earth zos would do something like this to players for something that's supposed to be a celebration.

"Celebration" is just another opportunity for ZOS to boost their metrics. "Hey boss: everyone loves the anniversary content! They just can't stop doing it!!!"

JDredd

500 dolmens and no drop.... that is worse than rare lol.

FluffyBird

Anifaas wrote: »

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

You have to ask yourself why on earth zos would do something like this to players for something that's supposed to be a celebration.

"Celebration" is just another opportunity for ZOS to boost their metrics. "Hey boss: everyone loves the anniversary content! They just can't stop doing it!!!"

I bet my whole account that Matt Firor is going to pat himself on the back extra hard this year

redlink1979

JDredd wrote: »

500 dolmens and no drop.... that is worse than rare lol.

Rare + rng + time windowed = you might never get it

Elsonso

Tannus15 wrote: »

these drops are an example of what should be in the game
there is no reason not to have these sorts of rare chance, bound drops seeded throughout

Yes, these drops should be in the game. They should not be a limited time rare drop only given out to the "super fans" who have unlimited amounts of time to spend on them.

Nothing in this game, aside from Crown Purchases and Daily Rewards (and things gifted from ZOS), should start off as bound. Until the player binds them, everything should be tradable or sellable.

I think it is time for an internal review of game design policies around drop rates and bound items.

shallot

Anifaas wrote: »

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

You have to ask yourself why on earth zos would do something like this to players for something that's supposed to be a celebration.

"Celebration" is just another opportunity for ZOS to boost their metrics. "Hey boss: everyone loves the anniversary content! They just can't stop doing it!!!"

I wonder what there metrics will look like next month when people are so burnt out and probably a lot get so disappointed by putting in hours farming for the styles and getting nothing they quit.

You know except for gambling time instead of money this is just like a slot machine in a casino, with the loud flashy skill effects from the overcrowded geysers disorienting you as you mindlessly press the attack button for a prize you may very well not get no matter how much time you put into it. Then because of the sheer number of people farming it, enough win and announce their winnings in chat despite the low drop rate that you feel you can't leave whether due to a sunk coast fallacy of knowing you spent your entire Vegas vacation with nothing to show for it or spite as people say they won in a fraction of the time you have already spent and feeling like they stole the jackpot you primed the machine for despite it being random. Heck its even worse with the limited time only aspect of it and not knowing if these styles will be back next year and not even getting consolation gems to eventually be able to get what you wanted like with crown crates.

I really don't think this will be good for the long term player retention and health of the game. There's a reason so many of those hardcore old school mmos aren't around anymore, they drove away too many customers to sustain their costs.

AvalonRanger

ZOS game designer did too much bad game planning.

Not just drop rate problem. The location and mission are too much narrow.
So everyone keep staying same area. And keep ruining contents through all event period.

Just scatter drop zone all over the Tamriel and any daily mission.
And don't do idiotic super low drop rate reward again.

TheImperfect

I have been fairly lucky with drops for the most part but do think an adjustment could be made to make it less frustrating for people whose RNG is really bad. It could have a system that asks you what antiquity (or in an event, what event item) you are trying for and after so many tries/drops/hours of trying it could then let you have the reward or choose from the reward options depending because you made enough effort for it. Or maybe you could accrue points for the zone which unlock it.
I have no idea if that is possible to implement or too difficult to be a practical solution because I don't work on games development.

Desiato

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

No, no I can't. And there were 40-50 people there I couldn't see the boss 99% of the time. I couldn't even find the shell until some of them had left. The boss went down in 4-5 seconds.

Your experience is *not* my experience. I'm glad you didn't find it awful but telling me it shouldn't be awful for me because it wasn't awful for you isn't helpful. If I can't see the boss my build and skill don't matter.

That's not what I did. I explained how I made it not awful for me as an average player with average gear.

I'll also say if it was awful for me, I just would have opted out. IMO, any torture people feel from this event is self-inflicted. It's just pixels with no gameplay consequences.

40-50 other players was normal in my experience. I spent a good 15 hours on geysers! When I finally decided to join a group, it was more dense than that.

The purpose of my post was to help others help themselves. There are posts in this thread claiming that one needed to be a minmaxed dpser to get loot and that simply isn't the case. One deriving their opinions of the event based on the forum posts here will think it's hopeless and might give up without even trying.

And if one can't do it on their own, why not join a zone group?

JustLovely

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

So yes, the drop rate for the event is really bad, but as others have pointed out lots of things have terrible drop rates. Personally I spent 2-3 hours a day for a couple of weeks in Crimson Cove trying to get the 3rd lead for the moon pool furnishing. But, and it's a pretty but, in that case there was no drop dead date for the lead and I had the place to myself, not crowds. For the event pages, the crowds and the hard stop point make this low drop rate 1000 times worse.

With geysers yes you can get the incredibly rare drop from the shell trove, but with hoards you are not likely to get enough damage to get the box making the hours and hours of grinding pointless if they don't yield the drop. Worse than pointless because doing almost anything else would have led to a number of motifs and rare crafting mats from those boxes. This lead is for most players a terrible choice grind to get they page loss out on the boxes, maximize the boxes lose out on the pages. You have to ask yourself why on earth zos would do something like this to players for something that's supposed to be a celebration. Maybe you have an answer, I don't.

The Vardenfell WB drops are just as bad, but at least (most of the time) you get a box for your efforts.

How on earth could something I've so looking forward to have gone so wrong?

Agreed. I feel ZOS is being disrespectful of my time and effort with drop rates this low, and during a "celebration" event too. What are we celebrating again? Banging our heads against the wall for 20 days?