Half the content double the price

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Syldras wrote: »

So has anyone checked the size of the map on pts yet? Is it comparable to High Isle or even less?

Smaller than High Isle. My big issue was how empty it felt - like horse simulator in Cyrodiil but without the PvP.

MasterSpatula

The content is supposed to trickle in throughout the year instead of being released all in one "chapter." So, there's two perspectives on your complaint:

1. You're completely jumping the gun. Chill. It'll all work out the same by the end of the year.
2. They've set it up so it's impossible to tell whether or not you've been ripped off until the year has passed, hoping by then you won't really notice.

I try not to be a cynic, but considering the whole "double-billing for ESO+ members" thing, I find it hard to dismiss option 2.

Juomuuri

Yeah, I saw it myself on PTS and decided that I'm not going to buy the season pass. I play ESO mostly for the lore and questing (but also for dungeons if I group with my friends), so this is saddening. I'm gonna play through the quests on PTS to experience this thing and then I'll just focus on the old content...

Pepegrillos

To think that with Greymoor we got Western Skyrim + Blackreach on launch and The Reach later on.

Alinhbo_Tyaka

I certainly don't have any incentive to buy the season pass. With the continual shrinkage of new content I see no reason to start paying ZOS to play the game other than a month of ESO+ to play the prior year's content (assuming that will still be an option going forward). While I don't think the game is close to being in maintenance mode I believe ZOS has made it clear that the intent is to reduce the amount of new content while still charging for a full package.

Tazzy

licenturion wrote: »

I finished the first of the main story on the PTS yesterday.

These are my feelings about it and I also wrote this (with some other feedback) also on the PTR forums (no spoilers)

I hate the new delivery model now that I see this in practice. The main quest is very very short. I listened to all the conversations and I clocked in around 2 hours for the whole story. The zone is so small and has many shrines so there is also no travel time or sightseeing involved either. Waiting 6+ months for the next small bit really puts a damper on things and it is making me think about just waiting to buy the pass until the second part comes out and binge all the content then. Then there will probably be sales and there will be a decent amount of content because this is not it and really doesn't feel worth the hefty price tag yet. I was hoping there would be more content with the new formula and increased price, but so far it feels really like something like 'Galen', which was given away for free back in the day.

I guess the whole package is about the same size as a chapter from the previous years. But what you get now is a tiny appetizer slice and really doesn't justify the money. If feels more like a 1500 crown zone. I feel glad I waited to purchase because I wanted to check the PTS first to see if there was enough value. Not convinced at all, so I will probably wait for a sale in Q4. Both parts and the dungeons will be out by then. As for the wall event, this can be done in old zones as well and probably just consists of filling progress bars with the community until they disable the wall server side.

(see the next post below for more info about the amount of thing to do in actual number + map screenshot)

I was torn the whole time about whether to pay the money for the pass, but thanks to your information, I'm going to hold off and wait for a sale. Thank you very much for the information!!!

Red_Feather

I am not an ESO+ member so I get 4 dungeons which I normally never get because it's too expensive. I think of it as a fair deal. I'm just glad that ZoS are getting more time to work on creative things now instead of that old formula of big zone with X dolmens, X public dungeons, X quests, etc.

mesna

@licenturion Thanks for your posts. They were very insightful.

licenturion wrote: »

As for the wall event, this can be done in old zones as well and probably just consists of filling progress bars with the community until they disable the wall server side.

I think you might be spot on with this. The Steam page for the pass says the Writhing Wall Event is starting August 18th, which is within a month of the previous new chapter community events that took place each September. I will set my expectations accordingly and be pleasantly surprised if they are exceeded.

AScarlato

Well, I already thought I was getting half the content for the same price when they cut out 2 dungeons and Q4 stories.

Now it seems they added 2 dungeons back, cut a regular chapter in half to push that half to Q4. So...overall less but it doesn't seem that much less than the past years.

The higher price though is a bit bizarre. I'd refer they didn't bundle the dungeons as most of us get ESO+ that play this regularly, and others do't' even do them. Then price this at $40.

Orbital78

Hopefully they go all out on that one public dungeon, I wasn't expecting a cut down on public dungeons and delves. I hope the zone isn't too tiny.

Amottica

kargen27 wrote: »

the dozens of other threads on this were not enough? If it isn't worth the price don't purchase.

I agree. Zenimax will not look at every thread, as that is too time-consuming. That is why threads are closed, and a link to the active thread is added to the closing statement.

Dagoth_Rac

It is exactly half the number of public dungeons and delves as a Chapter, with the other half coming in Q4. I don't know how anyone could expect half of the Content Pass to have just as many public dungeons and delves as a whole Chapter. If people don't like what is essentially a Chapter being split into two and dropped across Q2 and Q4 instead of all at once in Q2, okay, that is a valid complaint. But make that complaint! "I don't like having my Chapter split in two!" Or, "I don't like paying for a whole Chapter now but only getting to play half it at first and needing to wait until Q4 to play rest!" Or, "This is third year in a row where we only get 1 trial, 2 public dungeons, 6 delves, and 6 world bosses! We used to get more up until 2022 and I want to go back to that!"

But as long as there is thread after thread of, "Western Solstice only has half the public dungeons (or delves or world bosses) of Gold Road!" it is going to be threads that ZOS ignores. Because that is exactly what ZOS said Western Solstice was going to be!

Skorro

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

It is exactly half the number of public dungeons and delves as a Chapter, with the other half coming in Q4. I don't know how anyone could expect half of the Content Pass to have just as many public dungeons and delves as a whole Chapter. If people don't like what is essentially a Chapter being split into two and dropped across Q2 and Q4 instead of all at once in Q2, okay, that is a valid complaint. But make that complaint! "I don't like having my Chapter split in two!" Or, "I don't like paying for a whole Chapter now but only getting to play half it at first and needing to wait until Q4 to play rest!" Or, "This is third year in a row where we only get 1 trial, 2 public dungeons, 6 delves, and 6 world bosses! We used to get more up until 2022 and I want to go back to that!"

But as long as there is thread after thread of, "Western Solstice only has half the public dungeons (or delves or world bosses) of Gold Road!" it is going to be threads that ZOS ignores. Because that is exactly what ZOS said Western Solstice was going to be!

Sure, so is it the title that's upsetting you?
I thought it was a nice one that explained my point quite well.

In previous years the paid content was a big zone with all the goodies and additionally ESO+ (a zone and dungeons).
Today they are offering us (what we can assume) is 2 smaller zones and dungeons - of which one of the zones and the dungeons are also covered in ESO+.
So essentially we are getting - wait for it - less content at a higher cost 😉

Edited to add: also instead of trying to derail this thread, why not make a new one to complain about forum folks that don't fit your idea on on post etiquette? 🙃 This is a discussion. If the community team wants to close/edit this thread and move the talks elsewhere, they will 🤷

Orbital78

Maybe Kevin or someone from ZoS can chime in, but some of the Stream Team seem to think the zone is basically cut in half. I am hoping the other half will have 3 delves and a public dungeon as well. That would bring it more in line with typical DLC zones.

Thorncrypt

By purchasing the content pass... ESO+ members get permanent ownership of the four dungeons and the zones, so if you ever want to take a break from subscribing, you should be fine. You can also use the crowns that you would have put into this for other content.

lillybit

Thorncrypt wrote: »

By purchasing the content pass... ESO+ members get permanent ownership of the four dungeons and the zones, so if you ever want to take a break from subscribing, you should be fine. You can also use the crowns that you would have put into this for other content.

You're right of course. I forgot about the extra rewards for owning them over just having access. Oh hang on, that isn't right. It must be the extra boss then. Nope not that either. It's almost as if there's no difference at all!

There are a considerable number of subscribers who never let it lapse becaus it's an unplayable nightmare for them without it. I myself have subbed continuously for almost 10 years, through emergencies, unemployment and pandemic, and never considered cancelling until now. What benefit is it to us in real, practical terms other than your mythical "you can play if you don't sub" excuse?

Even the permanent ownership line is weak considering that if the servers close it's gone just the same as it would be if you sub. It's only rented either way.

Also, we can't use "the crowns that you would have put into this" on other things. The whole point is we wouldn't have bought them because we're already paying for them.

Ignoring the chapter which everyone paid seperately for anyway, subbing monthly costs 4 times as much as buying all the previously released yearly content. Every year. If you take out the value of access to that content, is the craft bag really worth that much more than content they've spent time and money developing?

licenturion

Orbital78 wrote: »

Maybe Kevin or someone from ZoS can chime in, but some of the Stream Team seem to think the zone is basically cut in half. I am hoping the other half will have 3 delves and a public dungeon as well. That would bring it more in line with typical DLC zones.

It is. Steam store page states this clearly: Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 2 (Oct 27, 2025): Explore the second half of the new zone and bring the Seasons of the Worm Cult saga to its ultimate conclusion.

You can also see this in the achievements on PTS where 5 of the 10 notable locations are greyed out with 'Undiscovered eastern Solistice location'

This is an old school chapter that is probably fully done but with a the line/wall drawn in between for forced drip feed. The removal of the line (wall) will just be like the previous community events where we all do stuff to fill a progress bar. When the last milestone is reached the wall will be disabled server side. (In the past we got gifted a new extra Q4 zone like Galen, Deadlands, ...)

The whole point of the discussion is why pay way more for a chapter now when you only get it half. It makes more sense to buy it when part 2 is out. By then there are probably -50 percent Q4 sales again. I finished the first part of the story and it is only 2 hours long. Just when it starts to go somewhere it stops. The PTS did a good job of killing my FOMO to have the content pass on day 1.

I hope next year their roadmap will be better and more dynamic. Because this is still the old chapter format but forced into a new dripfeed structure and doesn't really work for me now that I played it. I want to play the rest of it like a real chapter and probably buy it in Q4. Just like I do with TV series, I wait until all episodes are there and binge.

Thorncrypt

lillybit wrote: »

Thorncrypt wrote: »

By purchasing the content pass... ESO+ members get permanent ownership of the four dungeons and the zones, so if you ever want to take a break from subscribing, you should be fine. You can also use the crowns that you would have put into this for other content.

You're right of course. I forgot about the extra rewards for owning them over just having access. Oh hang on, that isn't right. It must be the extra boss then. Nope not that either. It's almost as if there's no difference at all!

There are a considerable number of subscribers who never let it lapse becaus it's an unplayable nightmare for them without it. I myself have subbed continuously for almost 10 years, through emergencies, unemployment and pandemic, and never considered cancelling until now. What benefit is it to us in real, practical terms other than your mythical "you can play if you don't sub" excuse?

Even the permanent ownership line is weak considering that if the servers close it's gone just the same as it would be if you sub. It's only rented either way.

Also, we can't use "the crowns that you would have put into this" on other things. The whole point is we wouldn't have bought them because we're already paying for them.

Ignoring the chapter which everyone paid seperately for anyway, subbing monthly costs 4 times as much as buying all the previously released yearly content. Every year. If you take out the value of access to that content, is the craft bag really worth that much more than content they've spent time and money developing?

I want to gently push back on a couple of things. The permanent ownership of content through the content pass isn’t just about server longevity. It’s about flexibility and agency. If someone needs to take a break from ESO+, they don’t lose access to the dungeons and zones they purchased. That matters to players who can’t maintain a consistent subscription and still want to enjoy what they’ve invested in. It’s not perfect, but it's a way to make the game more accessible over time.

As for the crowns, I get that it doesn’t feel like a fair exchange if you wouldn’t have bought them in the first place. But for others who budget their crowns carefully, having content ownership frees them up to prioritize cosmetics, houses or mounts instead of spending crowns just to play a zone.