How to fix ESO's dwindling playerbase

Tendrielle

Here is what needs to be done:

- 2 Companions in U44 is a massive PVE update concentration. You can easily make one fully crownstore-only in the future. The revenue will help create cool new costumes and such!
- Likewise, two dungeons is too much! Spread out the 2 dungeons over the year, one in Q1, one in Q3. This will keep dungeon-runners engaged with the game.
- Instead of redesigning Cyrodiil in a way that attracts too many players (with server performance issues then), concentrate the existing campaigns on 1 with a lower pop max for a better PvP experience
- With all the existing guild shops but not so many players around, just close 50% of the shops in base game areas. This will certainly have an effect on the market. And players have to buy the DLC for access to the shops, increasing revenue, which should never dwindle!
- Reset some of the old achievements which are outdated now and tie them to new skill styles. This will create a fresh new game experience even for veteran players.
- Last, but not least: Bug Fixes are most important. Dedicate a full Update to bug fixes only! We are waiting for it.

It is so easy to fix this game i still love... with some investment, @ZOS_MattFiror @ZOS_RichLambert. I guess you all get what I mean.

Syldras

Tendrielle wrote: »

- 2 Companions in U44 is a massive PVE update concentration. You can easily make one fully crownstore-only in the future.

They are both in the crown store. Also, I seem to have a different interpretation of "massive".

Tendrielle wrote: »

The revenue will help create cool new costumes and such!

And this helps "to fix ESO's dwindling playerbase"?

Tendrielle wrote: »

- With all the existing guild shops but not so many players around, just close 50% of the shops in base game areas. This will certainly have an effect on the market. And players have to buy the DLC for access to the shops, increasing revenue, which should never dwindle!

I'm not sure whether any player would be happy about having to buy DLCs to access a reasonable amount of guild traders.

EnerG

This is very funny, the costume part had me laughing!

OtarTheMad

Q3 was supposed to be dedicated to bug fixes. Last year it was an awesome update honestly but this year Q3 wasn’t really about that which was a bummer.

darvaria

STOP introducing new gear. STOP nerfing classes and existing gear. STOP changing the meta every few months. We don't need new gear. There are what? 350 plus gear sets in this game? DON"T ADD MORE.

OtarTheMad

darvaria wrote: »

STOP introducing new gear. STOP nerfing classes and existing gear. STOP changing the meta every few months. We don't need new gear. There are what? 350 plus gear sets in this game? DON"T ADD MORE.

Completely agree. They could take some older, not so used sets and redo them and make them better and more fun.

OnnuK

Perhaps the ZOS/ESO team could take the time to listen to us during streams and browse the forums to understand what the community truly desires. That alone would make a significant difference. Lately, logging in and completing endeavors has started to feel a bit repetitive. If I’m not actively playing, what should I do with my flashy Apex mount?

barney2525

dwindling playerbase?

is dwindling like bowling?

The day I don't find enough players to run dolmens in Alik'r is the day I start being concerned about the numbers of players.

ya gotta love the ones who " Know " how to fix the " problem " they say exists.

Xandreia_

i dont like when players make "heres how to fix" "my proposal for.." "you need to do this zos" posts because 9/10 times its full of bad takes and even worse business ideas lol

MJallday

i think the OP was meant to be comedic

i just find it a bit sad

Vrelanier

They should fix pvp because that brings streamers, who get viewers, who get into eso, and it helps keep the game afloat between bigger pve updates. Make it attractive, functional, fast paced, and fun, and keep it fresh with seasons, ranks, whatever it takes. There's so much money to be made through pvp & streamers it's insane how Zos just ignores it. They fix that, and whole playerbase will benefit.

fizzylu

@Vrelanier
Wrong, the answer is obviously more crown crates.

alpha_synuclein

MJallday wrote: »

i think the OP was meant to be comedic

i just find it a bit sad

Sarcasm doesn't take very well on the internet xd

Udrath

They just need to make a new game entirely.

fizzylu

Udrath wrote: »

They just need to make a new game entirely.

Maybe it's just me, but considering ESO's current playerbase and the games overall reputation amongst the gaming community (especially the MMO crowd).... I feel like this is a good way to lose a lot of current players while also not fairing well with the mythical new players it's supposed to draw in.

MJallday

alpha_synuclein wrote: »

MJallday wrote: »

i think the OP was meant to be comedic

i just find it a bit sad

Sarcasm doesn't take very well on the internet xd

i thought sarcasm was banned on here.

Kisakee

Tendrielle wrote: »

Here is what needs to be done:

- 2 Companions in U44 is a massive PVE update concentration. You can easily make one fully crownstore-only in the future. The revenue will help create cool new costumes and such!
- Likewise, two dungeons is too much! Spread out the 2 dungeons over the year, one in Q1, one in Q3. This will keep dungeon-runners engaged with the game.
- Instead of redesigning Cyrodiil in a way that attracts too many players (with server performance issues then), concentrate the existing campaigns on 1 with a lower pop max for a better PvP experience
- With all the existing guild shops but not so many players around, just close 50% of the shops in base game areas. This will certainly have an effect on the market. And players have to buy the DLC for access to the shops, increasing revenue, which should never dwindle!
- Reset some of the old achievements which are outdated now and tie them to new skill styles. This will create a fresh new game experience even for veteran players.
- Last, but not least: Bug Fixes are most important. Dedicate a full Update to bug fixes only! We are waiting for it.

It is so easy to fix this game i still love... with some investment, @ZOS_MattFiror @ZOS_RichLambert. I guess you all get what I mean.

/s

Fixed that for you.

To be fair all of those new PvP features and massive changes probably cost a lot of time and money and even if not many like it it's the first step into a new design to help that player base. They just need to stick to it long enough to make it right which probably means less PvE stuff. As much as i dislike most PvP activities it's totally fine that they finally receive an update for sure.

fizzylu

Things they could do:
1. Finally figure out what is negatively impacting performance and fix it.
2. Stop treating PTS as just a bug and balancing test; announce new feature ideas earlier and actually use player feedback to determine if these features should even be added into the game and how to execute them in the way that makes players the most happy.
3. Make chapters a size worth their price.
4. Stop guising QoL updates/changes as new content/features.
5. Add more earnable rewards instead of just stuffing the majority of things into the crown store, especially not the crown crates.
6. Improve the endgame experience by giving more incentive to do trials, vet dungeons, and pvp.

Things it's too late to do:
1. Make good engine.
2. Have basic features of MMOs like capes and swimming.
3. Don't make a spammy, inherently flawed combat system that has to claim an oversight in it as a normal aspect of the combat (la weaving).
4. Don't make proc sets that are just as or even more powerful than actual abilities.
5. Don't go the cash shop route instead of the mandatory subscription.

Grizzbeorn

Xandreia_ wrote: »

i dont like when players make "heres how to fix" "my proposal for.." "you need to do this zos" posts because 9/10 times its full of bad takes and even worse business ideas lol

Yup.
OP's idea of "fixes" would drive me away from the game.

robwolf666

The only thing that's keeping me away from playing ESO regularly at the moment is Starfield, so maybe they should blame Bethesda...

Elsonso

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

Xandreia_ wrote: »

i dont like when players make "heres how to fix" "my proposal for.." "you need to do this zos" posts because 9/10 times its full of bad takes and even worse business ideas lol

Yup.
OP's idea of "fixes" would drive me away from the game.

Yes, but they can easily counter that by increasing prices by 50-100% for all of the new players swarming into the game!

Dragonnord

Sorry OP, but yours are the worst proposals I have read in a very long time in these forums.
 

JiubLeRepenti

How to fix ESO's dwindling playerbase

In my humble opinion, the most important/urgent would be to:

1. Massively invest into PvP and fix servers for good
2. Massively invest into endgame/high level content
3. Change the endless pattern of each new chapter (new trial, six delves, three craftable sets, six WB, etc.)
4. Seriously investigate the QOL changes requested by the community for years
5. Stop being focused on the Crown store, and reduce how much money must be spent into basic elements (race or appearance tokens, etc.) I mean... You litterally have to pay tokens to change your hair color, wtf

Aside of that, I made a list of QOL/global suggestions a few time ago:

1. Change the events or bring new ones, since they're often (always?) the same year after year;
2. Provide different music during battles (always the same);
3. Allow players to choose their own wallpaper for the game's home menu;
4. Add the possibility of having skill and attribute point reset stations in your home;
5. Add trial-related events (e.g. sell raid boss sets as for style page dungeons, etc.) in order to push trial group finder activity;
6. More NPCs diversity (children, old men, beggars, more itinerant NPCs, etc.);
7. Make transmutation stones available for deconstructing crafted Mythical items;
8. Change hair color without using a token;
9. Introduce capes as some mods allow it in Skyrim;
10. Create new mounts with new assets instead of offering 20 Welvas with different skins;
11. Increase the difficulty of dungeons outside DLC, which have suffered from the DPS increase;
12. The same goes for the overworld: increase the overall difficulty and include dangerous enemies;
13. Diversify sources to obtain a same lead;
14. Provide more interaction with certain housing objects (chests of drawers, cupboards, sideboards that are currently useless, for instance);
15. Allow to skip all mobs in dungeons (not always possible);
16. Fix the crosshair that sometimes shows you everything but the thing/player you're targeting;
17. Allow duels and Tales of Glory invitations to count in PvP/Tales of Glory level progression;
18. Review the RNG of certain leads;
19. Fix persistent crashes on PC (probably related to servs);
20. Offer a better housing tool inspired by the Immaculate Construction addon, to make it easier to build structures;
21. Also for housing, review the placement grid system (always align it with the main structure and/or the entrance);
22. Adapt the Infinite Archives system and enable saving after a cycle/allow to skip first cycles when you did them several times before;
23. Fix the bugs that keep you in combat when enemies no longer appear on the compass or have been killed;
24. Lower the price of certain tokens, or even completely remove them, such as the name change token. This should be free;
25. Ajust the number of assignates received from master writs;
26. Allow more mounts to be purchasable from stables;
27. Be able to kill guards AND add a very big fine when you do it;
28. Offer real texture upgrades, especially for armor and weapons (for instance the Morag Tong armor looks very, very bad);
29. Share game & player/account statistics;
30. Allow in-game romances (like in Skyrim);
31. A chat channel for friends only (as for guilds);
32. Be able to report a player for abusive trial abandonment or introduce a "reputation" system;
33. Use AI to translate other languages (Russian, Chinese, etc.) towards your mother tongue;
34. Offer seamless transition between zones (WoW-style, with no loading times, but probably technically impossible);
35. Increase/diversify the number of notable rewards obtainable through quests and game content (mounts, mansions, skins, polymorphs, etc.);
36. Add a free camera mode for screenshots or video captures (and let the player to hide other players).

Think is, I'm afraid the possibility to add all these QOL/requests would require a complete shift to new game engine and new servs... But we all know ZOS will never do that, right?

Tendrielle

Well, as being noticed by some, the only serious line was the last one. I think ESO still has a huge potential for investment, and even the funds for it. For me, especially in PvP. They should actually do the opposite of all the "proposals". Unfortunately, some of the "proposals" come close to what is actually happening.

I believe, the current development - thinning out, stretching and repeating content is a way to loose more players (- and to also starve the cash cow ESO still seems to be). And that saddens me.

colossalvoids

You're joking but they're probably thinking someone leaked their papers for the future of the game.

Pevey

Tendrielle wrote: »

Well, as being noticed by some, the only serious line was the last one. I think ESO still has a huge potential for investment, and even the funds for it. For me, especially in PvP. They should actually do the opposite of all the "proposals". Unfortunately, some of the "proposals" come close to what is actually happening.

I believe, the current development - thinning out, stretching and repeating content is a way to loose more players (- and to also starve the cash cow ESO still seems to be). And that saddens me.

I thought it might be sarcasm, which is why I didn't respond with my thoughts on how bad some of these ideas are. But it's hard to tell sometimes.

SkaiFaith

barney2525 wrote: »

dwindling playerbase?

is dwindling like bowling?

The day I don't find enough players to run dolmens in Alik'r is the day I start being concerned about the numbers of players.

ya gotta love the ones who " Know " how to fix the " problem " they say exists.

To be fair... Xbox EU, Alik'r dolmen run in hours 1:00AM - 10:00AM (my time) DURING 2XP events, you can't find people, usually alone or at most with 2 others.

It was NOT like this before, so something has changed for sure in playerbase on this server.

manukartofanu

You were supposed to add "sarcasm."

Syldras

manukartofanu wrote: »

You were supposed to add "sarcasm."

It's the internet. Unless you know the poster you never know whether something is a joke, a spontaneous uninformed take, or the weird ramblings of a confused person.

MISTFORMBZZZ

barney2525 wrote: »

dwindling playerbase?

is dwindling like bowling?

The day I don't find enough players to run dolmens in Alik'r is the day I start being concerned about the numbers of players.

ya gotta love the ones who " Know " how to fix the " problem " they say exists.

Hope youre joking and the xp grinding Zone where everyone comes to level a char isnt a indicator for you for the player base.

The games population is shrinking rapidly on all servers, specially the consoles suffer.

Warhawke_80

Sarcasm aside....


This is an old discussion that won't go anywhere...I don't think Zenimax will do what is necessary to bring folks back....I know they are working on a new MMO and I believe most of their focus is on that ...what money they do spend on the game is for ridiculous things that no one really wants in my opinion....

The development cycle seems to be all about what the devs think is cool not what the player base wants...and we just can't change that...

I recently did s survey with Blizzard and FFXIV both of them asked hard questions they wanted to know what sucked and what could they do to fix it.

Zenimax developers think they are doing just fine, and that is hard for me to say because I really respect guys like Bill Slavicsek, and Rich Lambert ( I mean hell I once read how Rich spent a buttload of his own time just trying to get a minor thing to work in game) I just wish they would look at the actual issues of the game and start giving us things that we are actually asking for instead of what they are giving us.

Asking about how to better communicate is fine and dandy....but it does nothing if your just going to turn around and make the game that just you and the other devs want instead of what your customer base wants.