What would make you spend more time in ESO?

  • Pinja
    Pinja
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    Orbital78 wrote: »
    Enjoyable builds that can progress harder content rather than artificial walls unless you run the same build as everyone else.

    Part of this is just issues with PvE player culture and it's war against creativity. I put together Perfected Bahsei's and Beacon of Oblivion on a pure Sorcerer build and got rejected from a PUG because I didn't have Herald of the Tome. In Pvp if it slaps it slaps regardless of what some streamer says.
    Edited by Pinja on October 20, 2025 1:12AM
    Pinja for Dual Wands.
    Pinja's three server solutions:
  • onyxorb
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    Removal of Map based Antiquity/Furnishing leads. Or a solution for being able to reliably farm treasure maps for the zone you are in. Details here for anyone who is interested: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/683736/removing-map-based-leads

    Having the Option to change the platform bosses during Arc 1 of IA.
    It could cost 500 fortunes like a vision change would cost.
    This would be VERY useful in letting people consistently complete Arc 1 for the daily.
    Not everyone is good in IA, not everyone is going to want to research builds. A lot will just want to do the dailiy.
    This would only be an option for Arc 1, not later Arcs.

    Allow us to select one or two modes that we do NOT want to be queued into for Random BGs.

    Allow us to select one or two patrons we do NOT want to use when playing ToT. This step would be right before the patron selection phase of a match.

    Allow us to queue for random Dungeons with a premade group of 2 people and 2 companions, or 3 people and one companion. Would not be able to requeue if someone leaves due to being a special queue.
    I want to be able to get the perks of random dungeon queues when running with friends, without the inconvenience of PUGs (like not being able to go slow or do the dungeon quest).

    Having an option to purchase additional copies of homes we already own. This would allow for owning 2 versions of Willowpond Haven for instance. Having additional houses would let me create more builds and spend more time in game.

    I would love to have an option to have companions do the same dance we are doing. So if I do a jig, they would also do one for as long as I'm doing it. (would pay crowns if I could do the Kid and Play dance with them :D )

    If I could swap out bosses I have problems with in IA, I would probably do the daily a few times a week.
    If I could disable patrons I have issues with in ToT, I would probably do the ToT dailies as well.
    If I didn't have to play 2 team capture the relic, I would do more battleground dailies.
    If I could queue up with spouse and our companions, we would definitely do daily randoms each day



    Edited by onyxorb on October 20, 2025 1:52AM
  • moderatelyfatman
    moderatelyfatman
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    Specifically, what do you think should be changed about or added to ESO that would make you spend more time in-game? Please be specific about how your suggestions would increase your playtime.

    Here's a few examples of the kind of feedback I'm looking for:
    • Alternating 2-Team and 3-Team Battlegrounds weeks. I would feel excited to play on my favorite Battlegrounds format again. Also, cycling the two formats on a schedule allows me to plan ahead for when I'll log on to play it.
    • More Infinite Archive content + 3rd Class Set. I would grind for the new Class Sets if they're useful in the builds I create, and I'd play the IA just to see the new Visions/enemies/stages added to it since the last time I played it.

    Convince me that the devs (Combat devs in particular) are listening to the players.
    They could literally do nothing for the next year but if I believed that the devs are listening and genuinely working of fixing things, then I have hope and a reason to invest my time and money in the game.
    Right now, I consider 2025 to be the worst year in ESO in terms of bad changes. We've had subclassing, 8v8 BGs, a Vengeance Campaign that looks like becoming the default despite player opposition and a 'season' that costs more and provides less than every chapter before it.
  • kivrin99
    kivrin99
    Soul Shriven
    1) A story that I can actually care about. Good stories make you care about the characters, have you wondering what's going to happen next and can't stop from going to the next quest, and maybe even tear up. Let your characters show some emotion, let there be some real surprises in the story. Bring back favorite characters more often and let them experience every story with us instead of just being in one chapter. The story and pacing of the dialogue is so much the same for every character in the game, it's become predictable and boring. And frankly, unbelievable.

    2) Better rewards for just playing the game, across the board--for literally everything that is looted in the game and achievements. Every loot or box doesn't have to have an amazing reward, but it should at least have something useful in it, with a chance for something great. Bombard us with new dyes, or fun cosmetics that make my armor glow or will change my hair color or will put a cute hat on my pet, or furnishings (more than just 2 rugs that will drop from an event, how about those 2 rugs in 8 different colors?), or other useful/fun things that will make people want to play. There's too much junk that drops in the game right now.

    3) On kind of the flip side, stop trying to make people play longer or grind harder with terrible RNG or nested RNG for the good/useful things that do drop in the game. We expect to have to grind some, it's an MMO, but when the grinding feels futile and has little to no reward, it's going to have the opposite effect and people are going to give up. It starts to feel like a crutch to add low RNG in place of being really creative with finding fun ways for us to spend our time in game….for a lot of money we're being asked to spend. There needs to be a better balance.

    I could add more, but I'll stop there since these are the biggest things for me personally. I've taken a break for the moment from ESO, but I love the game and would gladly come back if these and some of the other good suggestions others have were implemented. I realize it's probably been a tough few months for ZOS, and every game has its ups and downs, but I'm hopeful that things can start to turn around next year.
  • guarstompemoji
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    Clean up the useless sets to reduce new player confusion and allow greater choice in gear diversity.
    Make class lines interesting and impactful.
    Better balance difficulty levels by testing them against 3 established gaming styles, not casual vs top 2% of playerbase. Make it casual, 30%, 10%. Consistently. Test.
    Improve the graphics.
    Integrate Subclassing, Velothi amulet, and so forth, properly into base game. Why do players have to wander so many places to accomplish what they want? Why is pre-existing knowledge required? Why go to Summerset to unlock Jewelry Crafting (still)?
    Integrate social aspects, such as the option to be alerted when a friend or a guild mate posts a group finder, or to alert those groups (assuming they have their alerts enabled).

    ...Stop work on ESO1, clean up the code, and move to ESO2.
    Edited by guarstompemoji on October 20, 2025 6:33AM
  • amiiegee
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    ...Stop work on ESO1, clean up the code, and move to ESO2.

    What makes you think an ESO 2 aka a new game, where people loose everything they worked on in the past 10 years would help ?
  • Orbital78
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    Pinja wrote: »
    Orbital78 wrote: »
    Enjoyable builds that can progress harder content rather than artificial walls unless you run the same build as everyone else.

    Part of this is just issues with PvE player culture and it's war against creativity. I put together Perfected Bahsei's and Beacon of Oblivion on a pure Sorcerer build and got rejected from a PUG because I didn't have Herald of the Tome. In Pvp if it slaps it slaps regardless of what some streamer says.

    Beacon is not bad for IA or solo, and it depends on what level of content. They keep pushing higher damage requirements in trials it seems.

    They can claim all sets are useful and balanced but I still disagree or more sets would be used.
  • LadyLethalla
    LadyLethalla
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    Another Oceanic guild that I could do trials and dungeons with. Haven't done any since the demise of the old guild in... I think late 2021. If only people could learn to be more tolerant :#
    x-TallyCat-x // PC EU DC - For the Covenant! // ESO Platinum trophy - 16th May 2017.
    Melbourne Australia - the land of Potato Internet.WTB ESO OCEANIC SERVER
  • lostineternity
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    I would like to see actually interesting event in ESO.
    Because for now every and each of ESO events are the same - kill world boss/close dolmen/do daily quest -> farm lootboxes. It's boring and uninspired.
  • DarkStrifeYT
    DarkStrifeYT
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    More players. It seems like the game is a ghost town in a lot of zones. Feels empty.
    I am dark strife. Khajiit since arena... ya know when they were humans... with face paint... still khajiit only all games...
  • alpha_synuclein
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    AzuraFan wrote: »
    I like all of these. To clarify just in case, by "all dungeons soloable", I mean a story mode, not just making the few dungeons with two levers and such soloable.

    Which dungeons? With the exception of NC they are all soloable afaik.
    AzuraFan wrote: »
    Also, Bastion Nymic should be soloable.

    It is.

    They are for some but not for all. I suspect that more players can't solo these than can. We need a story mode.

    If soloing a normal dungeon is an issue for long time players, then what we need are better combat tutorials.
  • alpha_synuclein
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    And to actually answer the question:
    1. Since subclassing is here to stay, significant rework that strenghtens pure classes.
    2. Nerf to Fatecarver.
    3. Rework of armor passives to make light armor actually competitive in damage dealing.
    4. Same with weapons. 5 years of dagger meta is enough
    5. New gear options for healers, with interesting ways of execution (something like pearls pre-nerfs).
  • SilverBride
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    If soloing a normal dungeon is an issue for long time players, then what we need are better combat tutorials.

    Not everyone playing is a long time player. And not everyone playing will be able to perform at the level necessary to solo a lot of dungeons, especially DLC ones. Reading and understanding combat tutorials doesn't mean the player will be able to put it into practice.
    PCNA
  • Nemesis7884
    Nemesis7884
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    More content or more characters
  • Gabriel_H
    Gabriel_H
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    AzuraFan wrote: »
    I like all of these. To clarify just in case, by "all dungeons soloable", I mean a story mode, not just making the few dungeons with two levers and such soloable.

    Which dungeons? With the exception of NC they are all soloable afaik.
    AzuraFan wrote: »
    Also, Bastion Nymic should be soloable.

    It is.

    They are for some but not for all. I suspect that more players can't solo these than can. We need a story mode.

    They require effort and game knowledge but they are all soloable, other than NC (due to the silly drawbridge mech).
  • SilverBride
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    They require effort and game knowledge but they are all soloable, other than NC (due to the silly drawbridge mech).

    Not everyone will be able to put game knowledge into practice even with a lot of effort.
    PCNA
  • alpha_synuclein
    alpha_synuclein
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    If soloing a normal dungeon is an issue for long time players, then what we need are better combat tutorials.

    Not everyone playing is a long time player. And not everyone playing will be able to perform at the level necessary to solo a lot of dungeons, especially DLC ones. Reading and understanding combat tutorials doesn't mean the player will be able to put it into practice.

    I used the expression "long time players" exactly because I didn't mean people new to the game.

    And combat tutorial is not something to read. It's an interactive exercise with instructions on mechanics and relevant feedback for build, rotation and execution of mechanics.

    As for putting things in practice, of course we all have different skill ceiling (and for different reasons), but I believe that much more people would be able to do things like soloing normals if they were provided with more support. Right now majority of training for harder activities happens outside of the game and that's not a good thing.
  • fizzybeef
    fizzybeef
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    More players. It seems like the game is a ghost town in a lot of zones. Feels empty.


    Agree, need crossplay badly
  • Gabriel_H
    Gabriel_H
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    They require effort and game knowledge but they are all soloable, other than NC (due to the silly drawbridge mech).

    Not everyone will be able to put game knowledge into practice even with a lot of effort.

    The whole point of the game, any game, is to overcome challenges.
  • Gabriel_H
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    More players. It seems like the game is a ghost town in a lot of zones. Feels empty.

    The game is much bigger. Base game holds little to no interest for long-time players. Re-working which instance players end up in would solve the ghost town problem to some extent, but the underlying issue would remain.
  • Ezhh
    Ezhh
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    A few things that come to mind:
    • My main (sorc) feeling usable as a parse DD in high level trials - preferably without the answer being "subclass Herald of the Tome" (atm even that doesn't bring sorc up far enough because all the sorc lines are too poor).
    • More generally, balance between various skill lines so you don't lose so much by not running a very few specific things.
    • Communication from zos that consistently feels like more than "we'll do better next time" and/or silence.
    • Return of 3 team Battlegrounds.
    • Hyped new content turning out to be something other than reskinned dolmens and fetch/carry quests.
    • Less reliance on event fomo to get people into the game (I don't play games for this kind of busywork).
    • Overall reduction in the cost or increase in content - game feels like less value for money as of this year.
    Edited by Ezhh on October 20, 2025 8:44PM
  • whitecrow
    whitecrow
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    True randomness, rather than a "programmed" feel.
  • Enemy-of-Coldharbour
    Enemy-of-Coldharbour
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    I only spend time in game when something new has dropped. I have completed almost all content, so if nothing new has dropped, there is no reason for me to login other than daily/weekly endeavors.

    Silivren (Silly) Thalionwen | Altmer Templar | Magicka | 9-Trait Master Crafter/Jeweler | Master Angler | PVE Main - Killed by U35
    Jahsul at-Sahan | Redguard Sorcerer | Stamina | Werewolf - Free Bites | PVP Main
    Derrok Gunnolf | Redguard Dragonknight | Stamina | Werewolf - Free Bites
    Liliana Littleleaf | 9-Trait Grand Master Crafter/Jeweler (non-combat)
    Amber Emberheart | Breton Dragonknight | Stamina | Master Angler
    Vlos Anon | Dunmer Nightblade | Magicka | Vampire - Free Bites
    Kalina Valos | Dunmer Warden | Magicka | Vampire - Free Bites
    Swiftpaws-Moonshadow | Khajiit Nightblade | Stamina
    Morgul Vardar | Altmer Necromancer | Magicka
    Tithin Geil | Altmer Sorceress | Magicka
    Dhryk | Imperial Dragonknight | Stamina

    Guild Master - ESO Traders Union
    PC/NA - CP 2540+
  • SilverBride
    SilverBride
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    They require effort and game knowledge but they are all soloable, other than NC (due to the silly drawbridge mech).

    Not everyone will be able to put game knowledge into practice even with a lot of effort.

    The whole point of the game, any game, is to overcome challenges.

    Challenges aren't all combat related. For some it's a challenge to gather all the motifs in the game, or to become a master crafter or a successful trader.

    These same players may also want to do every dungeon quest and enjoy the unfolding story, and we are all aware that this is not always possible in a group.

    Players have different capabilities and we can't expect others to be able to succeed at the same things that we do.
    PCNA
  • ssewallb14_ESO
    ssewallb14_ESO
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    If there was an overland nightmare mode I would probably re-play the whole game. No idea how long that would take, but probably quite some time.
  • MorallyBipolar
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    Make PvP work like it did in 2015-2018

  • loosej
    loosej
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    Delete subclassing.
    Drop Akamai.
    Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup (source: despair.com)
  • Oberon45
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    A large Vet level zone (like the original version of Craglorn) but without any forced group required mechanics (multiple pressure plates etc.). It would scratch the want to explore something new itch as well as being more difficult than regular overland.
  • Uvi_AUT
    Uvi_AUT
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    For me its the Overland-Difficulty Overhaul
    Registered since 2014, Customer Service lost my Forum-Account and can't find it.....
  • BasP
    BasP
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    AzuraFan wrote: »
    I like all of these. To clarify just in case, by "all dungeons soloable", I mean a story mode, not just making the few dungeons with two levers and such soloable.

    Which dungeons? With the exception of NC they are all soloable afaik.
    AzuraFan wrote: »
    Also, Bastion Nymic should be soloable.

    It is.

    They are for some but not for all. I suspect that more players can't solo these than can. We need a story mode.

    They require effort and game knowledge but they are all soloable, other than NC (due to the silly drawbridge mech).

    Last time I checked Naj-Caldeesh can be soloed. You can use Streak to bypass the drawbridge and get to the other side.
    Edited by BasP on October 20, 2025 4:13PM
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