Account-Wide Wish List

sans-culottes

Dragonnord wrote: »

No, no more AwA stuff. AwA already killed the game and made a lot of players leave when alts became useless for achievements.

@Dragonnord , I’ve seen this sentiment before, but I admit I don’t fully understand it. Why would account-wide achievements make alts “useless”?

For many players, alts are still incredibly valuable: different roles, playstyles, crafting setups, story paths, class experiments, RP identities, even PvP campaigns. None of that disappeared with AwA. If anything, AwA reduced grind fatigue and made alts more enjoyable for some folks, since you don’t have to repeat the exact same hoops just to earn a title you’ve already unlocked.

Could you clarify what specifically felt like a loss? I’m genuinely curious.

Dragonnord

Also, there are some things that are meant to be by character, not AwA.

Not everything in a game has to be AwA. Otherwise, you cut the life of a game to half or more.

Crafting AwA? Antiquities AwA? Really? Why don't you delete all your characters and stay with only one then?

Again, some things are meant to be by character.

sans-culottes

Dragonnord wrote: »

Also, there are some things that are meant to be by character, not AwA.

Not everything in a game has to be AwA. Otherwise, you cut the life of a game to half or more.

Crafting AwA? Antiquities AwA? Really? Why don't you delete all your characters and stay with only one then?

Again, some things are meant to be by character.

@Dragonnord, I appreciate your perspective, though I’m still a bit unclear on how account-wide achievements actually diminish the usefulness of alts.

For many players, alt characters still serve meaningful roles: different builds, different roles in groups, different guild memberships, different quest outcomes, and so on. Removing duplicated achievement tracking didn’t eliminate that—it just made it optional.

I understand the concern about overextending AwA systems, and I do agree some features should remain character-bound. But I don’t quite follow the idea that QoL changes like these “cut the game’s lifespan in half.” For a lot of us, they’ve made the game more playable across more characters, not less.

I’m genuinely curious: are there specific systems you feel have been negatively affected by AwA, beyond achievement tracking? It might help others understand the core of the concern.

Dragonnord

sans-culottes wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

No, no more AwA stuff. AwA already killed the game and made a lot of players leave when alts became useless for achievements.

@Dragonnord , I’ve seen this sentiment before, but I admit I don’t fully understand it. Why would account-wide achievements make alts “useless”?

For many players, alts are still incredibly valuable: different roles, playstyles, crafting setups, story paths, class experiments, RP identities, even PvP campaigns. None of that disappeared with AwA. If anything, AwA reduced grind fatigue and made alts more enjoyable for some folks, since you don’t have to repeat the exact same hoops just to earn a title you’ve already unlocked.

Could you clarify what specifically felt like a loss? I’m genuinely curious.

As I mentioned, achievements. People use to complete dungeons, trials, etc. achievements (speed runs, hard modes, trifectas, titles, etc.) with, let's say your Magicka Nightblade that it was completely different than using a Stamina Necromancer, or with their Templar Healer then their Warden Healer, or even with different roles, like completing vAS+2 achievement with a tank, then with their healer, then with their dps.

And so there was a way for them to differentiate their skills with their different classes and roles.

For several players it felt like they were playing the game again, that they were having new challenges again when loging in with different clases and roles and they had like their "profile" (figurative) showing their skills as a player, by sharing their completions with a specific class and role when requested.

Then that feeling died when your tank completed, let's say, Rockgrove trifecta and your level 40 healer automatically had that achievement too.

That's why.

Please don't continue to ask me thinks like "But they can...", "But why then not..."

I was there at that moment and it was like that, and the fact that a lot of players left the game because of that it's a big proof too, regardless what you or I can think about AwA.
 

Tandor

Some play alts, others play multiple characters.

Alts are just for getting a different class or role to endgame as quickly as possible, and the more you switch stuff to account-wide the quicker you can achieve that.

Multiple characters are for actually playing through the game more than once. The more you switch stuff to account-wide the less content there is for subsequent playthroughs.

Also, a player whose main has completed endgame content used to have an incentive to take other players through that content because they were able to do so on their other characters and get the achievements again. When the achievements became account-wide they no longer had any reward for taking other players through the dungeons and so they lost the incentive to do so. It's no surprise that the result is regular complaints about the reduced endgame population - a lot of those players ended up leaving the game and they predicted this would happen when the change was being contested on PTS.

Dragonnord

@sans-culottes Above you also now have Tandor's post confirming what I explained.

sans-culottes

Dragonnord wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

No, no more AwA stuff. AwA already killed the game and made a lot of players leave when alts became useless for achievements.

@Dragonnord , I’ve seen this sentiment before, but I admit I don’t fully understand it. Why would account-wide achievements make alts “useless”?

For many players, alts are still incredibly valuable: different roles, playstyles, crafting setups, story paths, class experiments, RP identities, even PvP campaigns. None of that disappeared with AwA. If anything, AwA reduced grind fatigue and made alts more enjoyable for some folks, since you don’t have to repeat the exact same hoops just to earn a title you’ve already unlocked.

Could you clarify what specifically felt like a loss? I’m genuinely curious.

As I mentioned, achievements. People use to complete dungeons, trials, etc. achievements (speed runs, hard modes, trifectas, titles, etc.) with, let's say your Magicka Nightblade that it was completely different than using a Stamina Necromancer, or with their Templar Healer then their Warden Healer, or even with different roles, like completing vAS+2 achievement with a tank, then with their healer, then with their dps.

And so there was a way for them to differentiate their skills with their different classes and roles.

For several players it felt like they were playing the game again, that they were having new challenges again when loging in with different clases and roles and they had like their "profile" showing their skills (as a player) by sharing their completions with a specific class and role when requested.

Then that feeling died when your tank completed, let's say, Rockgrove trifecta and your level 40 healer automatically had that avhievement too.

That's why.

Please don't continue to ask me thinks like "But they can...", "But why then not..."

I was there at that moment and it was like that, and the fact that a lot of players left the game because of that it's a big fact too, regardless what you or I can think about AwA.
 

@Dragonnord, I appreciate the explanation, though I still find the logic behind the complaint somewhat puzzling.

What I gather is that the issue revolves around the symbolic weight of earning the same achievement multiple times on different characters. For you, the value was in the repetition itself—the ability to showcase role-specific completions as a kind of skill résumé. That is a valid preference, but I don’t think it supports the conclusion that alts have somehow become “useless.”

The accomplishments themselves haven’t been erased. Players are still perfectly free to complete trifectas, hard modes, and speed runs on different roles and classes. That process remains just as challenging, just as satisfying, and just as replayable for those who care to do it. What has changed is that the account earns the achievement rather than the character, which mainly affects how those completions are displayed—not whether they occurred.

If the issue is that you can no longer use the achievement list as a sortable proof of role-specific mastery, then that sounds more like a UI limitation than a game-breaking loss. It certainly doesn’t follow that this change “killed the game,” especially given how many players report that AwA systems have actually improved their alt experience by reducing tedium.

I understand that you feel something was lost. But I remain unconvinced that account-wide achievements make alts obsolete. They simply make them optional for people who previously felt required to repeat content they had already mastered.

Dragonnord

sans-culottes wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

No, no more AwA stuff. AwA already killed the game and made a lot of players leave when alts became useless for achievements.

@Dragonnord , I’ve seen this sentiment before, but I admit I don’t fully understand it. Why would account-wide achievements make alts “useless”?

For many players, alts are still incredibly valuable: different roles, playstyles, crafting setups, story paths, class experiments, RP identities, even PvP campaigns. None of that disappeared with AwA. If anything, AwA reduced grind fatigue and made alts more enjoyable for some folks, since you don’t have to repeat the exact same hoops just to earn a title you’ve already unlocked.

Could you clarify what specifically felt like a loss? I’m genuinely curious.

As I mentioned, achievements. People use to complete dungeons, trials, etc. achievements (speed runs, hard modes, trifectas, titles, etc.) with, let's say your Magicka Nightblade that it was completely different than using a Stamina Necromancer, or with their Templar Healer then their Warden Healer, or even with different roles, like completing vAS+2 achievement with a tank, then with their healer, then with their dps.

And so there was a way for them to differentiate their skills with their different classes and roles.

For several players it felt like they were playing the game again, that they were having new challenges again when loging in with different clases and roles and they had like their "profile" showing their skills (as a player) by sharing their completions with a specific class and role when requested.

Then that feeling died when your tank completed, let's say, Rockgrove trifecta and your level 40 healer automatically had that avhievement too.

That's why.

Please don't continue to ask me thinks like "But they can...", "But why then not..."

I was there at that moment and it was like that, and the fact that a lot of players left the game because of that it's a big fact too, regardless what you or I can think about AwA.
 

@Dragonnord, I appreciate the explanation, though I still find the logic behind the complaint somewhat puzzling.

What I gather is that the issue revolves around the symbolic weight of earning the same achievement multiple times on different characters. For you, the value was in the repetition itself—the ability to showcase role-specific completions as a kind of skill résumé. That is a valid preference, but I don’t think it supports the conclusion that alts have somehow become “useless.”

The accomplishments themselves haven’t been erased. Players are still perfectly free to complete trifectas, hard modes, and speed runs on different roles and classes. That process remains just as challenging, just as satisfying, and just as replayable for those who care to do it. What has changed is that the account earns the achievement rather than the character, which mainly affects how those completions are displayed—not whether they occurred.

If the issue is that you can no longer use the achievement list as a sortable proof of role-specific mastery, then that sounds more like a UI limitation than a game-breaking loss. It certainly doesn’t follow that this change “killed the game,” especially given how many players report that AwA systems have actually improved their alt experience by reducing tedium.

I understand that you feel something was lost. But I remain unconvinced that account-wide achievements make alts obsolete. They simply make them optional for people who previously felt required to repeat content they had already mastered.

Tell that to the huge amount of endgamers that left because of AwA. There were long conversations and "good-bye" threads in several Discords.

As I mentioned, I didn't provide the explanation above to continue a debate here (this thread is not about what happened with AwA) about a matter that is done already and have done wrong to the game, regardless the diferent opinions and point of views.

Nothing will change the feeling of the players that left and nothing will make them come back, since AwA can't be undone.
 

tomofhyrule

sans-culottes wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

sans-culottes wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

No, no more AwA stuff. AwA already killed the game and made a lot of players leave when alts became useless for achievements.

@Dragonnord , I’ve seen this sentiment before, but I admit I don’t fully understand it. Why would account-wide achievements make alts “useless”?

For many players, alts are still incredibly valuable: different roles, playstyles, crafting setups, story paths, class experiments, RP identities, even PvP campaigns. None of that disappeared with AwA. If anything, AwA reduced grind fatigue and made alts more enjoyable for some folks, since you don’t have to repeat the exact same hoops just to earn a title you’ve already unlocked.

Could you clarify what specifically felt like a loss? I’m genuinely curious.

As I mentioned, achievements. People use to complete dungeons, trials, etc. achievements (speed runs, hard modes, trifectas, titles, etc.) with, let's say your Magicka Nightblade that it was completely different than using a Stamina Necromancer, or with their Templar Healer then their Warden Healer, or even with different roles, like completing vAS+2 achievement with a tank, then with their healer, then with their dps.

And so there was a way for them to differentiate their skills with their different classes and roles.

For several players it felt like they were playing the game again, that they were having new challenges again when loging in with different clases and roles and they had like their "profile" showing their skills (as a player) by sharing their completions with a specific class and role when requested.

Then that feeling died when your tank completed, let's say, Rockgrove trifecta and your level 40 healer automatically had that avhievement too.

That's why.

Please don't continue to ask me thinks like "But they can...", "But why then not..."

I was there at that moment and it was like that, and the fact that a lot of players left the game because of that it's a big fact too, regardless what you or I can think about AwA.
 

@Dragonnord, I appreciate the explanation, though I still find the logic behind the complaint somewhat puzzling.

What I gather is that the issue revolves around the symbolic weight of earning the same achievement multiple times on different characters. For you, the value was in the repetition itself—the ability to showcase role-specific completions as a kind of skill résumé. That is a valid preference, but I don’t think it supports the conclusion that alts have somehow become “useless.”

The accomplishments themselves haven’t been erased. Players are still perfectly free to complete trifectas, hard modes, and speed runs on different roles and classes. That process remains just as challenging, just as satisfying, and just as replayable for those who care to do it. What has changed is that the account earns the achievement rather than the character, which mainly affects how those completions are displayed—not whether they occurred.

If the issue is that you can no longer use the achievement list as a sortable proof of role-specific mastery, then that sounds more like a UI limitation than a game-breaking loss. It certainly doesn’t follow that this change “killed the game,” especially given how many players report that AwA systems have actually improved their alt experience by reducing tedium.

I understand that you feel something was lost. But I remain unconvinced that account-wide achievements make alts obsolete. They simply make them optional for people who previously felt required to repeat content they had already mastered.

This is a factor of different people playing the game differently. It’s been explained quite well that without the “carrot” of getting a serotonin boost of a new achievement popping because you did something on an alt, there’s no incentive to do something like that again beyond “I want to help this other person and get nothing in return.” It has to do with different values - see also the overland thread for the difference between the “I just want harder overland for the challenge!” and “I want harder overland for the challenge! But it should drop better rewards because of the extra challenge.”

People did leave the game after AWA released in U33. They were the people who really really hated the idea of all of their characters sharing one list of accomplIshments. The PTS thread went on and on about compromises, even posting something from the WoW devs when they went account-wide achieves where they stressed the importance of catering to both the “my toons are all tools in my toolbox” and “my toons are all individual characters and should be treated as such” bases. ESO… ignored the latter for the former.

Yes, addons restored that functionality for players who wanted it, but the fact was that ZOS removed it and essentially told them to suck it up and deal with it. To someone who doesn’t see their characters that way, of course that seems like a non-issue… but that is everything for the other group.

In fact, there are still some features broken because of it. The Giant Cheese in WSkyrim can now only be done once per account because it is tracked by that achievement and not by character. A lot of the random encounters are tracked by achievement so the dialogue is wrong (the merchants will be pouty with your Lawful Good paladin because your Chaotic Evil rogue stole from them once last year).

Neither is a wrong way to play. But it is wrong to discount people who do play that way because you don’t see their viewpoint.

Hypertionb14_ESO

HatchetHaro wrote: »

My own additions to that list:

• Outfit Slots
• Armory Slots

Quoted for Truth

Shagreth

Haven’t played in a while, and it’s sad to see the usual people still advocating against more account-wide features. It’s 2025— lack of time and money is a big deal, especially for those of us who still work. Making everything account-wide would save the game from becoming irrelevant. Take a look at WoW and why it's still successful, they keep introducing one account-wide feature after the other, its ability to evolve is what's remarkable about that game, ESO sits in the other end.

Anyway, I still wish they had just introduced a class change token instead of subclasses. This kind of idea might work wonders in a single-player game, but for ESO? I’m not sure. We’ll have to wait and see.

I really hope they finally make every recipe, motif, etc., account-wide.

Jestir

I would love for motifs, recipes, furnishing plans and trait research to be account wide but I understand why they aren't. The related items would lose almost all their value

Mount training as well but they could also just speed it up so it doesn't take half a year to do, even at 3% a day the process would still take 60 days to finish but that would feel so much better

Scribing is a bit weird cause it's just an incentive to do dailies or engage with vendors in certain locations and the most important parts just take a bit of gold after you unlock it the first time

The individual skill lines will never happen as long as people are willing to buy them to skip the grind but I wish at least the "grindable ones" were faster to level after you have done the full grind once

But the giant mess that is the eidetic memory, that I would be all in on being account wise

kevkj

HatchetHaro wrote: »

My own additions to that list:

• Outfit Slots
• Armory Slots

Monster Hunter Wilds comes with an unlimited craft bag, as well as 140 loadout and outfit slots right from the get go.

I know, I know. ESO is a mmo with up to hundreds of players in rich, persistent instances bla bla bla. It is indeed apples to oranges, but i think it is good to be aware of how different things are in other games.

Shagreth

kevkj wrote: »

Monster Hunter Wilds comes with an unlimited craft bag, as well as 140 loadout and outfit slots right from the get go.

I know, I know. ESO is a mmo with up to hundreds of players in rich, persistent instances bla bla bla. It is indeed apples to oranges, but i think it is good to be aware of how different things are in other games.

Some people know, the developers also know, and many have left for greener pastures. The greed of ZOS will never diminish, I've made my peace with that. Have to say however that they are finally addressing a lot of issues the game has. I made a thread before I quit about dated visuals & animations (plus sound) "floaty" combat, overland difficulty, weather control in houses, furniture stash box, ability to change class (subclasses.. not quite, but close) and a few other things, and they are actually addressing them all in one fell swoop in 2025, at least I hope they do. I doubt the animations & sound rework will do anything major for the overall feel of combat, but time will tell.