Studio Director’s Letter: 2025

Rasande_Robin

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I strongly dislike the direction this game is going, to put it mildly...

"Chiors" are the second worst thing I know. Right under FOMO..

Daily writs are not fun but very valuable.

When fun gets overwritten by value it's bad, very bad. And when fun is not rewarding that is also very bad.

I thought endeavors was bad because now you have writs on "steroids".

Then comes golden pursuit which in turn is endeavors on "steroids"..

Now we will have seasons which will be golden pursuit on "steroids"...

I can promise I will not support this practice any longer not even with eso+.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

dinokstrunz wrote: »

5. Other than the data blackout they had, I really recall too much server issues, maybe the odd server lag here and there but for the most part its been pretty standard stuff as the last number of years.

Don’t forget the PTS Planemeld.

Desiato

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Quoted post has been removed

I would be weary of someone offering me something like a bar of gold for no apparent reason. It would most likely be a trap of some sort.

It's not really a good analogy though, because we pay ZOS for a service that is about to change, so naturally people are concerned about what that might look like.

The cynicism you are observing isn't necessarily reflective of the posters, but rather their relationship with the service provider. Many have read letters like this before...

But I'm positive. Life is change. I think the eso devs are good people who try really really hard and are in this hopeless position of trying to please an incredibly broad and diverse audience. Whatever we're presented with, I won't doubt it's their best effort given the circumstances.

Gaebriel0410

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I honestly love that they are breaking the formulaic predictable cycle. They have added so many zones with the chapters, and I think it is a good thing that they are revisiting the game's foundations to make them better.

To me, updating the basegame zones, improving combat and animations and elaborating on the staple ES factions like FG, DB etc. sounds wayyyy better than a new zone with 8 delves, 3 sets etc. I enjoy the chapters but eventually it became too predictable what you'd get. So I think it is the right time to shake it up a bit, I like to be surprised!

One thing I've noticed with ESO is that when reading about it online, the sky is literally always falling and people tend to be cynical to the extreme. Back in 2014 the game was bad because Wildstar was gonna kill it. Then it was bad because the zones were too lineair and difficult. So they opened it up and ditched the sub, and behold, now the game was bad because non sub games would attract the wrong kind of player, etc. etc. And these days it seems to be "but they only put effort in their new mystery mmo".

It seems like they literally can't win, whatever they do is met with cynism, pessimism, paranoia and hyperbole, it's been like that since ESO was launched and it is kinda sad, as it makes me less interested in talking about the game online, as it just gets exhausting really fast.

So I just hope they will take actual player feedback and criticism into account, but at the same time also not letting the endless negativity spirals dissuade them from trying out new, hopefully exciting things and doing what they believe is best for the game.

AcadianPaladin

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I am pleased to see what appears to some acknowledgement that the ‘keep adding zones’ approach is not sustainable. The game’s content is already massive and I’m pleased to see what I believe to be a shift toward optimizing what is already there in terms of improving older zones, adding to existing questlines, focusing on improving/fixing what is already there.

I’m hopeful that we’ll see less cartoonish exploding neon graphics, a fix for the Timbercrow Wanderer costume diaper butt, giving mounts the ability to swim, moving away from hip/butt/crotch flappers on light/medium armors, adding more depth and AI enhancement to the companion system. There is tons of wonderful content already in the game and plenty of room to enhance what already exists.

CatoUnchained

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

My disappointment began back in 2018 when Cyrodiil was, apparently, put on the lowest priority list for performance fixes. Then U35 in 2022, now they've announced that there will be essentially no substantial new content in 2025 at all. There is an undeniable trend here.

Razmirra

Cautiously optimistic, I will just have to wait and see what happens, but I am pleased they will be updating assets starting with the starter zones (Khenarthi/Stros/Bleakrock) as it is badly needed as the base game content (textures in particular) are stuck in 2014-2015.

When it comes to feedback, they should not take just the upper echelon players and streamers' feedback as primary but also the less known/unknown players such as ourselves.

Northwold

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Many of ESO's problems seem to stem from the constant need to focus on next year's chapter, so problems with the game as a whole never get fixed. You just get more and more content layered on top like bad paint jobs piling on top of one another.

In that light, I think what the letter says is really good, actually, in that they want to concentrate on the game *overall*, rather than all attention constantly being focused on what comes next and what's been before being left to rot.

Also, if their intention is to release bits and pieces throughout the year, perhaps we will see a more consistent population in the game, rather than a horde of people just after a chapter release and then tumbleweed. Although, as a solo player, I rather like the tumbleweed.

MrGrim

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Fomo seasonal stuff makes me want to play the game less the moment i miss even 1 thing. this will kill the game for me at some point for sure.

I_killed_Vivec

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Here's a scary thought...

Despite the fanfare, Gold Road was obviously the "usual" Q4 release for the Necrom Chapter - certainly in terms of story-telling and quests.

Necrom was released in June 2023, heralded in January 2023 - so you can assume that most of the work had been done by then, including the Q4 release of Gold Road (later made into its own chapter).

Now we know there will be no new chapter in 2025. There might be "seasons" but we won't know until April at the earliest, and who knows when the first might drop.

All the time we've been wondering where the next chapter will be ZoS have known that there won't be a next chapter. In fact they probably haven't developed any new content (DLCs apart) for two years now!

Mik195

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I just worry that the value of ESO Plus is being downgraded while ZOS is now going to expect constant purchases that likely add up to more than the cost of a chapter upgrade. I'm tired of seeing shrinkflation in everything.

AzuraFan

Mik195 wrote: »

I just worry that the value of ESO Plus is being downgraded while ZOS is now going to expect constant purchases that likely add up to more than the cost of a chapter upgrade. I'm tired of seeing shrinkflation in everything.

I asked in the pinned studio letter thread what this would mean for ESO+. No answer. I expect we'll hear the details in April.

I'm glad mine will expire in November. It will give me time to evaluate the "more difficult overland" (if it comes out in 2025), what exactly is included in a season and how it's monetized, and whether ESO+ will still be worth it with all the changes. Yes, there's the craft bag, but if I don't pick up a single crafting item for months, I'll still have enough to do the dailies for a long time. I also have a lot of bank space available -- once I place the hundreds of pieces of furniture currently stored there into one of my 30 empty houses lol.

I_killed_Vivec

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

AzuraFan wrote: »

Mik195 wrote: »

I just worry that the value of ESO Plus is being downgraded while ZOS is now going to expect constant purchases that likely add up to more than the cost of a chapter upgrade. I'm tired of seeing shrinkflation in everything.

I asked in the pinned studio letter thread what this would mean for ESO+. No answer. I expect we'll hear the details in April.

I'm glad mine will expire in November. It will give me time to evaluate the "more difficult overland" (if it comes out in 2025), what exactly is included in a season and how it's monetized, and whether ESO+ will still be worth it with all the changes. Yes, there's the craft bag, but if I don't pick up a single crafting item for months, I'll still have enough to do the dailies for a long time. I also have a lot of bank space available -- once I place the hundreds of pieces of furniture currently stored there into one of my 30 empty houses lol.

No matter what ZoS might say about not going into maintenance mode, I feel they are putting me into maintenance mode.

Chapter announcement should have been in January, now "season" announcement won't be until April...

TaintedKurse

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I wish there was a "Not Sure" option. Because that's how I feel.

While I think the current model has gone very stale. I worry this may be too far of step away from what people are used to. Our usual player boom is whenever a new chapter gets dropped people come back to check it out. Without the hype or excitement of what is to come. I worry we won’t be able to interest players enough to check it out. ESO is in a state where player count is pretty low. Most of the talk amongst my groups is that of dissatisfaction and "why are we here" attitudes.

I'm just not sure if this is what's going to change their mind. Or bring in new players. I think it could be a great refresher for current players if the updates pan out but, I fear what we have seen in the past. Often when we are promised new things others are taken away. I just worry this lack of focus will end with us receiving less content. Resulting in a year that just feels like a year of maintenance with little result.

I really think they should have kept the chapter model while still adding this seasons model. I don't think it's entirely a bad idea. I just think that by removing it they have convinced people that large scale ESO content is done/finished. We need a world where we have both things. A large zone and story may be time consuming for the dev team but, what that shows is they need a larger dev team. We should be able to release small side content and maintenance without shelving our usual updates. Maybe that's something you are working on but, it's how it comes across.

I do like the idea of the zone being released in chunks. That is IF those chunks contain actual content. Such as trials, dungeons, and PVP activities. If not, there isn't much worth waiting for. So, unless this results in more of those things. You are probably going to see a negative response.

I don't know many people who play this game to just quest. While all the overworld stuff is nice. That's not what most players who play this game are participating in. It would be nice to do but, just not worth a year of sole focus. Especially if it means we are not getting a full fledged chapter.

Like if they had said they are planning to do all of these things. Maybe change up how the land mass is released and add more of different approach to keep people engaged the whole year. I think most would be more receptive. However, with the current announcement it sounds like major updates are "too much" and that we are scaling back to make it more manageable for the team.

Overall I like the agenda I just don't like what we are sacrificing to make it happen. I also worry that if it doesn't come to fruition this could one of the worst years for ESO we have ever seen. Your putting yourself in a place where you have no room to pivot. The reaction is going to be the final nail of decision for many who play this game. Because if the seasons don't work what then? Also, seasons aren't a new idea. I think it's something people are tired of in other games. I'll try it out but, if it's bad I just don't plan on waiting anymore for it to get good. I think a lot of players feel a similar way.

alternatelder

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

TaSheen wrote: »

He lost me at "increasing overland combat difficulty".

I'm not the best, but I can mow down lots of content with no issue. But I hope they look at other games like The First Descendant and how they split up normal and hard mode with a toggle. Would be great to slip a private instance option in there as well, even Fallout 76 has this with their subscription.

Elvenheart

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Cautiously happy, but I need more info, and a harder overland has to be optional. My prediction is that “Experimenting with more zones like Craglorn (although not as large in area or scope)” means that we will get something the size of a trial or dungeon that won’t be linear like those are now, but have a more open world feel abet on a smaller scale, maybe with more than one quest instead of just one like they are now, and not be instanced (or they may be instanced, not sure on that part).

katanagirl1

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I was very concerned after reading the letter. First of all, I guess the prior complaints about people not wanting to hear how “we’re going to do better” again resulting in a letter filled with sunshine and rainbows and no hint of the many actual disasters that happened this year. I have said that I don’t think we should keep beating them on the head about it, but a lack of acknowledgment of it completely took me by surprise and set a bad tone for me. I’m not talking about the datacenter event, that was completely out of their control.

I would love a Cyrodiil update but the outline for what is being suggested sounds like a limiting of choices of skills and gear after introducing scribing, which in my opinion threw what little balance there might have been out the window. It’s like doing a 180 degree knee-jerk reaction. It seems like there could be a much more minimal change to the zone than that, like limiting cross healing as others suggested.

Harder overland might make a few very vocal people happy, but I can’t understand why dungeons, trials, and arenas are not where those people spend their time. I do those activities but as someone else posted in another thread, I go to overland to relax and unwind, to do surveys and treasure maps and easy farming. I spend much more time there than in harder content, so this could really kill the game for me.

I am also afraid the loss of chapters and more bite-sized content will be overall less new areas and more cost. I can’t agree with those who say we don’t need new zones. I do spend time in many older zones but I want actual new things to do and not just running the same old stuff, like them adding another update to IA (and me essentially getting farmed again for that), and I want new stories. I’m okay more or less with a relaxed schedule and not firm deadlines but the switch to more bug fixes in favor of less content did not work out well in the past in my opinion.

I have a lot invested in this game, but I have done so with two other games in the past and when those games no longer gave me the experience I enjoyed I did walk away from them and never went back. I don’t want that to happen to me with this game. I will just have to wait and see but I have a bad feeling about it.

joergino

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Harder overland might make a few very vocal people happy, but I can’t understand why dungeons, trials, and arenas are not where those people spend their time. I do those activities but as someone else posted in another thread, I go to overland to relax and unwind, to do surveys and treasure maps and easy farming. I spend much more time there than in harder content, so this could really kill the game for me.

I agree with this and I have been wondering the very same thing ever since I read the first "overland is too easy" post.

moderatelyfatman

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

The more things change.....
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/445615/combat-update-in-u21-a-new-approach/p1

Qagh

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I'm very sad.

- less content
- no chapter
- boring seasons and golden pursuits(i know it from NW)
- better performance in Cyrodiil? I don't believe it!

Time to say goodbye after christmas. 🥲

Attorneyatlawl

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Excited, but slightly worried about the whole pvp skills thing. I really just want cyrodiil to work well like it did in 2014. If they separate pvp skills out from pve ones, I hope we still have strong customization available. That was one of the major factors as to why I loved eso.

After reading the letter, I'm coming back. I just hope they can deliver on cyrodiil somehow. Performance is my number one concern. Color me cautiously optimistic...

For now, I bought the gold road collection to catch up with, and if they make cyro work well again, I'll subscribe again.

Wiseau

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

ESO is getting a battle/season pass, which will 100% be locked behind some sort of paywall. Called this way back when Golden Pursuits were announced. That was them testing the waters for a battlepass. And now it's happening. They're going Destiny 2 route. The moment they drop any paid pass, I am DONE with this game. Runescape tried pulling this, and the players rioted. Maybe we need to do the same. This is so disappointing.

AzuraFan

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Harder overland might make a few very vocal people happy, but I can’t understand why dungeons, trials, and arenas are not where those people spend their time. I do those activities but as someone else posted in another thread, I go to overland to relax and unwind, to do surveys and treasure maps and easy farming. I spend much more time there than in harder content, so this could really kill the game for me.

They don't seem to spend their time fighting dragons (solo or with just one or two other players), doing harrowstorms solo, wandering bosses solo, mirror incursions solo, etc. IOW, they don't engage with the more difficult overland content that's already there, which has always made me look upon the "more difficult overland" request with a jaded eye. I always pay attention to what people are actually doing, rather than what they're saying. It could be a rewards thing, but that means once these players have all the rewards from a more difficult overland, they'll abandon it, leaving those of us who spend a lot of time in overland stuck with it.

Whether this is successful or kills the game (I think it has the potential to do that if ZOS gets it wrong) will depend on what exactly ZOS means by it, so I'll wait and see. But like you, if they get it wrong, I'll be gone.

robwolf666

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

I liked Chapters, you knew exactly when new story/zone content was coming and could look forward to it, now it's effectively when we feel like it with Seasons. Not sure why they seem to want to shift focus to PvP, they get moaned at no matter what they do. Just separate completely PvE and PvP so they don't interfere with each other. And definitely don't try and force players into playing content they're not interested in to "progress".

LadyGP

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

Wiseau wrote: »

ESO is getting a battle/season pass, which will 100% be locked behind some sort of paywall. Called this way back when Golden Pursuits were announced. That was them testing the waters for a battlepass. And now it's happening. They're going Destiny 2 route. The moment they drop any paid pass, I am DONE with this game. Runescape tried pulling this, and the players rioted. Maybe we need to do the same. This is so disappointing.

There is zero evidence that there will be a battlepass and it will be paywalled.

Now, with that being said... if they do this... (keeping thoughts to myself so I don't get banned).

tomofhyrule

LadyGP wrote: »

Wiseau wrote: »

ESO is getting a battle/season pass, which will 100% be locked behind some sort of paywall. Called this way back when Golden Pursuits were announced. That was them testing the waters for a battlepass. And now it's happening. They're going Destiny 2 route. The moment they drop any paid pass, I am DONE with this game. Runescape tried pulling this, and the players rioted. Maybe we need to do the same. This is so disappointing.

There is zero evidence that there will be a battlepass and it will be paywalled.

Now, with that being said... if they do this... (keeping thoughts to myself so I don't get banned).

The problem is that there is also zero evidence that they won’t.

There is zero evidence of anything, really. All we have is a plan and a “we’ll show it off in a few months.”

That’s the problem. We’re left with a complete unknown and no answers, and all we can do is speculate… and from what I’ve seen, speculation doesn’t tend to lead to increased hype, it more tends to lead to resentment and (once things are revealed) disappointment that things couldn’t possibly live up to what people hoped for.

katanagirl1

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

AzuraFan wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Harder overland might make a few very vocal people happy, but I can’t understand why dungeons, trials, and arenas are not where those people spend their time. I do those activities but as someone else posted in another thread, I go to overland to relax and unwind, to do surveys and treasure maps and easy farming. I spend much more time there than in harder content, so this could really kill the game for me.

They don't seem to spend their time fighting dragons (solo or with just one or two other players), doing harrowstorms solo, wandering bosses solo, mirror incursions solo, etc. IOW, they don't engage with the more difficult overland content that's already there, which has always made me look upon the "more difficult overland" request with a jaded eye. I always pay attention to what people are actually doing, rather than what they're saying. It could be a rewards thing, but that means once these players have all the rewards from a more difficult overland, they'll abandon it, leaving those of us who spend a lot of time in overland stuck with it.

Whether this is successful or kills the game (I think it has the potential to do that if ZOS gets it wrong) will depend on what exactly ZOS means by it, so I'll wait and see. But like you, if they get it wrong, I'll be gone.

Yes, thank you for echoing my sentiment. If they don’t engage with the current harder content but insist that overland or story quests be beefed up instead, I would hope that would not be considered a valid thing to do.

BasP

I am happy with the direction ESO is being Taken to

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Harder overland might make a few very vocal people happy, but I can’t understand why dungeons, trials, and arenas are not where those people spend their time. I do those activities but as someone else posted in another thread, I go to overland to relax and unwind, to do surveys and treasure maps and easy farming. I spend much more time there than in harder content, so this could really kill the game for me.

I can't speak for others that would like Overland to be more difficult, but I personally would welcome an optional (significant) increase in the difficulty of quest content especially. I find it hard to be engaged and immersed if everything dies so quickly, including the bosses which were hyped up to be world ending threats. I've done less than half of Chapter's and DLC's main quest lines because of it.

A recent example of a questline I did would be Zerith-Var's quest. Though I really enjoyed the story itself, I found the last fight a pretty big letdown. I would've greatly preferred a difficult fight that would've made the end of the quest more memorable for me.

So, for me, a properly implemented - and optional for those that don't want it - more difficult Overland that makes the questing experience more engaging will mean that I have hours of quests to do.

AzuraFan wrote: »

They don't seem to spend their time fighting dragons (solo or with just one or two other players), doing harrowstorms solo, wandering bosses solo, mirror incursions solo, etc. IOW, they don't engage with the more difficult overland content that's already there, which has always made me look upon the "more difficult overland" request with a jaded eye.

This seems to be a bit of a generalization? I've done those solo, aside from the Mirrormoor Incursions because there were always other people around. I haven't stepped foot in West Weald for a while now though - but a more difficult Overland would give me a reason to revisit the zone at least for a while because I'd then do the Main Quest and side quests I haven't done yet.

LukosCreyden

The fact that people are complaining about a potential increase to overland challenge is concerning.
What are you guys doing? Naked, fist only challenge runs?

Cannot answer the poll as I need to see more before I come up with a full opinion of my own.

TaSheen

I am disapointed with the direction ESO is being Taken to

LukosCreyden wrote: »

The fact that people are complaining about a potential increase to overland challenge is concerning.
What are you guys doing? Naked, fist only challenge runs?

Cannot answer the poll as I need to see more before I come up with a full opinion of my own.

Hardly. I'm old, my reflexes (never really very good) are really bad, and my only connection is satellite - with ping around 750ms on a GOOD day, and 999+ most of the time. I pay 4 annual subs, and deal with the issues, because it's TES. I manage a couple of mobs overland more or less okay - but any more than that is quite a problem for me.

And yes, I'm quite aware that there are people who simply think I should just go away because I'm not the kind of player they find of any value.