Werewolves and the State of the Game

hypertails101b14_ESO

The Elder Scrolls series has always been a series based around the concept that your character is who you want them to be, regardless of good or bad. (so long as you're saving the world from its ultimate doom somewhere in there) If you've spent any decent time playing The Elder Scrolls Online, you will understand that Zenimax Online had this goal in mind when creating the game. -Make an Elder Scrolls game.- There are obviously limitations that must be set for the large leap from a Single Player game to an MMO, and I have to definitely salute the wonderful developers that actually made this game turn into something more than a terrible knock off. That said, I think it is highly important to note that the game has been released, but as with all MMO releases, it is far from finished. The ongoing development on this game is what will make or break it, and I'm sure the developers know. The manner in which they have handled most important issues has been great. Direct and straightforward. The truth of the matter is though that we're seeing the less straight forward issues in the game being handled as if this is already a finished product. The reason I bring the Werewolf tree into this argument is because I find it to be a perfect example of this. Some things in the game are just not being handled properly by development.

The basic design of the game is to allow players to be the character they want to be. Vampire, normal human, werewolf, whatever else that wants to be brought into the game down the road: you are what you choose. The design has been very blatantly shown to us as a success through the crafting system in the game. You can look how you want and put the stats you want on whatever gear you want. What this shows us about the game design is that the point is not to be penalized for making your character how you want him to be. You don't suffer a game disadvantage if you want a new style, nor do you suffer a game disadvantage if you decide to switch up your play style for the day. I believe this was in the official dev state of the game post. Healer by day, Tank by night. Your choice. You choose. Now off this concept, we end up at the Werewolf Skill line, dumbstruck. Look at that face up there. Seriously. We are handed right off the bat a 50% weakness to poison and nothing else but an ability that, by taking, we are really putting ourselves at a disadvantage 95% of the time. As a Nightblade I can opt for 400 extra damage every 50 ultimate. Or I can slot my Werewolf ability for 925 Ultimate, that upon transformation you can arguably claim that you become weaker after all factors are included. If by the 800 other posts on here you can see room for arguing that your 925 ultimate ability makes you weaker, it's saying 925 ultimate ultimately goes to waste. But let's think about the opportunity loss as well. Now I may be using 925 for what more or less trades off good and bad aspects relatively equally, but I am almost missing out on 925 ultimate worth of Ultimate ability uses. The 18 extra times I could use my 400 damage NB ultimate will definitely equate to more damage than I am adding to my arsenal in Werewolf form. and even if it was close, I'd still be able to keep the utility of my full build. Werewolf form doesn't need to be OP. Werewolf form needs to be even with those who choose not to use it. Not a significant disadvantage. It's part of the game design to not be penalized for who you choose to be. That includes both werewolves and non. Werewolves should not be stronger than normal peeps, and vice versa. No one should suffer that penalty. (There will never be a PERFECT balance, but somewhere near it can be achieved.) The Werewolf skill line is jut not done well enough to fit the games intended design. IMMEDIATELY THIS SHOULD SEND OFF A RED FLAG THAT IT NEEDS TO BE REWORKED.

Which leads me to my next point, this game is NOT A FINISHED PRODUCT. If you want to argue it is because it has been sold already, keep in mind all the products that sell with the promise of more release. Until ESO announces it will no longer be continued, this game is not finished. Content is still being made, and will be for the foreseeable future. So close to its initial launch, ESO needs to be making big advancements on what doesn't fit with the intended game design. All the avid efforts made to remove bots from the game is great PR, but if we saw the same intense approach to other aspects of the game that need real work, we would see the game improve so quickly. When you're less than 2 months into the launch you are NOT in the tweaking phase of all the minor details. Fixing minor bugs on aspects that are more detrimentally flawed only forces the developers to become attached to the work they've done, and implores them to continue tweaking something that actually just needs change. DO NOT GET INTO A LOOP OF FIX AFTER FIX THAT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING BUT CONTINUE AND/OR INCREASE COMPLAINTS. BE CAPABLE OF MAKING REAL CHANGE.

MMO's are always evolving and changing. Without the change the game gets stagnant and gives the players nothing to do. This INCLUDES experiencing important changes to game mechanics. There shouldn't be a fear to change what is already in the game, ESPECIALLY if it is obvious it needs reworking.Tweaks only go so far, and honestly continuing in such a way where you go the opposite direction of the more mainstream feedback just makes it worse for all the people that it effects. THIS TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT ALIENATES THE PLAYERS FROM THE GAME. Yes maybe something wasn't working properly, but when players cry out that their favorite mechanic (which they are complaining about because it doesn't fit the overall design for the game. THE ONE THEY ARE PAYING FOR UNDER THE PREMISE OF THE GAMES DESIGN) in the game is making them not capable of keeping up with the rest of the community, changing something out of their favor and making a more broad problem worse just screams I DONT CARE. I really feel Zenimax Online does care, but it is very important to note that ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. (Unless you're a politician.)
- If you're not sure what this relates to, see all the other posts on the devour bug being fixed. You'll find an elaboration on the issue there.


I'm just another of many other people that were frustrated by the fact that I'm teased with the idea that I can be a Werewolf without hurting my character overall. Either I'm forced to slot in Werewolf form to enjoy the obviously very short transformation which leads to an overall decline in my combat capabilities (factoring in both the time AND RESOURCES needed to build up, and the benefits from within transformation), or I become a werewolf, but don't slot in the ability and I'm tacked with a 50% poison weakness. Truthfully the overall need here is CHANGE. Not more fixes. I'd like to skip getting into the details of what I think can/should be fixed and leave that to the devs and the million other posts here already on the subject, but as a whole the developers need to make change on this particular subject. There is no reason to fear the risks, your customers that care mostly for this part of your game are already unsatisfied. Take a step in the right direction and make an effort outside of bug fixes and tweaks.




Also I'd like to offer a quick tip for peeps that have the well-founded complaint that WW form costs too much. This is the best I've been able to do to compensate for the fixes:

5 set of the Savior's Hide set allows for 33% cheaper WW transformation.
3 set "of the Dragon" pieces gives 20% less ultimate costs.

Combined they offer a much cheaper WW transformation that can alleviate some of the pains of WW ultimate cost If you DW or 1H and shield you only need 1 piece of heavy armor in the mix for the Of the Dragon set. WW form scales nicely with armor anyways. Hope it helps.

Thank you again Zenimax Online for an enjoyable game, regardless of the flaws. And thanks to all the people here making continued posts in an effort to make the game more enjoyable for everyone.