Make fantasy important again... for everyone

Madarc

@ZOS_NickG and anyone else who may be affected

Many people have written here in the forum that group content is less fun.
Is it because it's too easy? Because I want to achieve my successes on my own? I don't know...
There's a saying: A problem shared is a problem halved.
That's why I also believe that fun shared is fun doubled.

Let tanks be tanks again and healers be healers again. Get rid of subclasses and focus more on abilities, or rather on individual class abilities.
And make sure that it is necessary or even essential to play together as a group again.

You can/could already play a healer or tank with any class. The corresponding skill lines deserved more love,
but instead we got subclassing and equalization.
Of course, some classes or races will be more suitable for certain roles or group tasks than others.
But...
Why not?

We are operating within a classic fantasy genre, so there is no need to adjust it to the extent that the airy, scantily clad, cute little forest elf...
is just as capable a tank as an old, ugly orc in full metal armor.
(I know...just an ironic example. But it describes how I feel from the perspective of a player who has lost a lot of immersion in Teso).

Because that (not only that) kills any enjoyment of moving around in a fantasy world and facing its challenges TOGETHER, ...and if I can manage it, ...solo as well.
TESO is a classic MMO with fantastic possibilities, not a solo shooter.
What would be so wrong with that?

Seriously: We play in a fantasy genre that, with all its stories and entities, is subject to certain rules.
And it is precisely these circumstances that ensure immersion in an MMO like this.

Take away all that immersion from players, let everyone, every Class, be anything imaginable, and you'll end up with everyone playing solo. Especially when you don't have to work hard to earn that ability, but instead get it handed to you on a silver platter.

I do NOT want to speak out against solo content in principle, but I think it is urgently necessary to focus more on group content again, both in terms of cohesion or combat against each other. There is enough solo content.
Here.
And in many other games of the same genre....
Which I don't want to play. I want to stay home in Tamriel.
And meet like-minded people there.
just my 2 cent

Best regards and see you all soon in Tamriel!

ESO_player123

If I have to group for every single challenge with a healer and a tank I'll just quit. I started playing ESO because of how much can be achieved solo. I do group content with PUGs, bit I do not need a group o feel immersed in the game.

ArchangelIsraphel

On the contrary, I think the magic in ESO lies in the fact that classes are capable of swapping roles in both group and solo content. They always could, even without subclassing, now it's just easier to do. I enjoy group content, not utter dependency on other players. Being able to hold my own makes me a better group player. Making me rely on others wholly outside of extremely challenging content would only make group content worse. Subclassing has its flaws, but lifting class role restrictions isn't one of them.

We are already getting the base classes looked into, it was part of the Livestream, and with any hope pure classing will be possible again. But subclassing should be refined, not removed. Scribing should also be tuned to be more useful.

I also don't think there's enough solo content with variety, personally. We've got quite a bit of group content, including a new challenging group event and we're getting a new PVP mode. I'm sure we'll see development happen on both sides of the table, but for now, as someone who enjoys both aspects, I'm happy solo players are getting some love.

twisttop138

I'm a big group guy. Trials 3 or 4 nights a week, learning hm and trifecta trials and dungeons. PSN guild group always going so even when not grouped I'm with others. I like the group aspect, I play tank and DPS and I wish more stuff needed 3 roles.

That said. I think the magic of ESO is that there are tons of different people that do and enjoy different things. I think everyone wants to feel included and have content they enjoy. I don't feel threatened by solo dungeons. It's a much requested feature. I don't think folks should be forced to grouping they don't want to. I also know that subclassing is not going anywhere, it's time to face that.

Madarc

ESO_player123 wrote: »

If I have to group for every single challenge with a healer and a tank I'll just quit. I started playing ESO because of how much can be achieved solo. I do group content with PUGs, bit I do not need a group o feel immersed in the game.

I completely agree. Even though my focus in an MMO tends to be on the MMO aspect, i.e. the community.
But both are undoubtedly possible.

However, I have noticed, both in myself and in my friends with whom I discuss this, that the main reason for leaving the game is often a lack of or too few fellow players.
I also believe that the shift towards “more solo content” has contributed to many players leaving.

Perhaps somewhat misleading in the initial thread:
Of course, I also really like solo content, or rather the feeling of having “achieved something on my own,” or not necessarily having to join a group. But if I'm often surrounded by solo players, I might as well get a game designed for that.
That's why I think both should be equally important.

Onomos

Subclassing isn't always the issue. Understanding is often the issue. I prefer running as a tank because I know and understand the mechanics. When I watch people who are either new to tanking/healing or not actually playing that role, it can be a painful endeavor. But when they ignore important mechanics and die, or don't listen when I try to help explain, it makes me never want to run group content again. My most recent example was during the dark orb boss in DoM. We wiped like 3 times on normal because they just did not understand the mechanic.

I'm all for group content, but for people like me that are mostly solo, bad group experiences make me spend even more time solo.

Warhawke_80

If you compared the folks who do group content especially Old School content like Raiding to the folks who solo or Duo with "A" friend

Madarc wrote: »

@ZOS_NickG and anyone else who may be affected

Many people have written here in the forum that group content is less fun.
Is it because it's too easy? Because I want to achieve my successes on my own? I don't know...
There's a saying: A problem shared is a problem halved.
That's why I also believe that fun shared is fun doubled.

Let tanks be tanks again and healers be healers again. Get rid of subclasses and focus more on abilities, or rather on individual class abilities.
And make sure that it is necessary or even essential to play together as a group again.

You can/could already play a healer or tank with any class. The corresponding skill lines deserved more love,
but instead we got subclassing and equalization.
Of course, some classes or races will be more suitable for certain roles or group tasks than others.
But...
Why not?

We are operating within a classic fantasy genre, so there is no need to adjust it to the extent that the airy, scantily clad, cute little forest elf...
is just as capable a tank as an old, ugly orc in full metal armor.
(I know...just an ironic example. But it describes how I feel from the perspective of a player who has lost a lot of immersion in Teso).

Because that (not only that) kills any enjoyment of moving around in a fantasy world and facing its challenges TOGETHER, ...and if I can manage it, ...solo as well.
TESO is a classic MMO with fantastic possibilities, not a solo shooter.
What would be so wrong with that?

Seriously: We play in a fantasy genre that, with all its stories and entities, is subject to certain rules.
And it is precisely these circumstances that ensure immersion in an MMO like this.
{Snip}

I get where you're coming from, man...

You want that old-school MMO vibe—real roles, tanks tanking, healers healing, everybody needing each other to get stuff done, and that classic fantasy feel where a big armored orc makes sense as a tank and a tiny elf doesn't. Sharing the fun doubles it, right? Totally fair point....

But honestly, I gotta push back a bit.... The game's changes—like subclassing and letting any class do any role—aren't really what's killing group play. Most folks in ESO already play mostly solo or just with one buddy, and that's been the case forever, way before all this flexibility stuff came in.

Look at the forums (even recent polls from 2025): tons of people say 75-100% solo time, with a bunch hitting 90-95% or straight-up 100%. One poll had like half saying 100% solo. People call it "Skyrim with friends" or an Elder Scrolls game first, multiplayer second. They do quests, explore, dailies, housing—all alone. Grouping? Mostly just for vet dungeons, trials, or when a friend hops on. The game was built super solo-friendly from the start: full stories, zones, delves, lots of normal dungeons and world bosses you can solo if you know your build.

Making roles super strict again (locking classes, forcing the trinity hard) probably wouldn't flip that. It might just make a lot of those solo/duo players quit or play even less, since the big draw for so many is jumping in the game on their own schedule, doing their own thing, maybe teaming up sometimes. The player base is huge—millions registered, hundreds of thousands active—and a ton stick around because it's chill and flexible.

Yeah, immersion's cool—an elf in skimpy gear shouldn't tank like a plated orc—but people already dress and build to fit the fantasy if they care. The freedom doesn't ruin it for everyone; it just doesn't force it.

Group stuff's still there and active in endgame (trials, vet, PvP), and ZOS keeps it going. But the game's real strength is letting you solo most of it, duo with a friend, or group when you feel like it. For the majority, that's why they stay and keep the game feeling alive.I'd love more group vibes too when it happens naturally, ( Like I meet some cool people in a Public Dungeon) but pushing mandatory grouping hard might shrink the crowd instead of growing it.


Just my thoughts—

Madarc

Onomos wrote: »

I'm all for group content, but for people like me that are mostly solo, bad group experiences make me spend even more time solo.

I completely understand your reasoning.
I felt the same way, which is why I played solo more than in groups. But at some point, I found that unsatisfying in a game like this... Right now, I prefer to play a different MMO where I can only achieve certain things with the help of a group.

In addition to the (also well-designed) solo content there, which has become very (too?) easy here in TESO and is apparently going to become even easier, it offers me bigger, more exciting, and more interesting challenges.
And so I even “enjoy” paying for a game.
Okay, that last sentence is a bit of an exaggeration. But I'm getting what I hoped to pay for.
At least, that's how I feel.

Madarc

Warhawke_80 wrote: »

Look at the forums (even recent polls from 2025): tons of people say 75-100% solo time, with a bunch hitting 90-95% or straight-up 100%. One poll had like half saying 100% solo. People call it "Skyrim with friends" or an Elder Scrolls game first, multiplayer second.

That's true, but I've been complaining since 2025

...hmm,.... maybe, because I remember how Teso was announced as an MMO in the European/German press back then (2012), even with a note (from Bethesda) that “you shouldn't expect Skyrim Online.” Instead, they wanted a full-fledged and independent MMO. That changed a few years later. 2016–2018? (-as far as I can remember)
I also remember Matt Firior announcing at the time (paraphrasing): “We want to be more than an MMO.” In other words: more of a solo game than an MMO, a game with optional MMO content.
An understandable decision that was certainly due to the success of games like 'Fortnite' and similar titles, which were apparently seen as successful competitors.
Nevertheless, typical MMORPG content such as housing was still included. In that case, I've often asked myself, and still do: how does that fit together? A game focused on solo play, with the option of housing? I would prefer “Sims” in that case. After all, isn't housing not only about the possibility of it, but also about exchanging and sharing with other players? Not?...*shrug*

In recent years, I have seen many guilds (including the housing-oriented ones) break up. The same goes for players focused on trading, role-playing, joint discovery and learning... you name it.
It has also become more difficult to find players (or opponents) for solo/duo content. PvP threads are full of it.
And I think it's hard to deny that certain areas have become empty. Will crossplay fix that? No Idea...
Of course, those who say that subclassing (which I picked as an example) is not the main or even the only reason why it's becoming emptier are also right.

What am I doing/writing here right now? - ...maybe it's because, like many others (at least I can say that about my circle of ingame and rl friends and after frequent reading and impressions from the TESO forum), - I'm looking for a reason to move back to TESO. Will that work in 2026? I have no idea, and Zos hasn't really convinced me,.. after last year.

So,....enough crying on my part.
And sorry for that wall of text.


Write something cheerful and encouraging!
Thanks in advance for reading and responding

I wish you all a wonderful time in Tamriel !
(and please continue to let know what kept you here or brought you back)