No this is not going to be a tear filled cry-tale of how anyone got butt-hurt by any DK's...sorry to disappoint any forum trolls, you will have to get your nom-noms elsewhere.
Warning: For those of you that are the "TL;DR" types...this isn't the post for you...it's mainly for Zenimax as well as those that don't mind a deep read and feel the same/share the same experience...and feels passionately about ESO like I do.
This is an honest and sincere call to Zenimax Studios and Paul Sage and the rest of the team about what you created, and are likely unintentionally enabling with the Dragon Knight Class.
The Preface(let's just get this out of the way):
We understand you stated clearly multiple times that you want to take a very careful and slow and methodical approach to all class changes & balancing on many occasions. It has become a mantra spoken now regularly in every interview, blog, forum post, discussion anywhere when discussing the game.
That said, from an outside persective...For quite some time now, and each day that keeps passing, it has been looking more and more every day like you have been actually creating the very issue you were so set on avoiding.
The Topic at Hand:
DK's have become the choice class to play hands-down, speaking especially for competitive PvP in Cyrodiil in this discussion, versus all other classes. Now yes all the other classes inherently are unique and stand apart from other classes in many respects in their skills/animation...at their cores they are conceptually developed well and fun to play mechanically more or less. Yes, you do technically offer variety with every class, especially by being compared to one another, but thats just superfluous compared to efficacy when actually implemented in combat.
That said, dig a little deeper into how well rounded and effective each class as a whole is another discussion entirely, yet is the opposite side of the same coin. Again, let me reiterate, we know well that you are all continuing to look at all the classes and 'monitor' the data and the feed back, etc.
Getting past all of that above, we are left with one undeniable fact that has been displayed clearly by the player behavior trend in action. No matter how well you designed, continue to monitor, carefully balance & change things over time...you made the DK by far...leaps and bounds more viable than any of the other classes in the game from the start. So much so that people have been re-rolling in mass to DK's because of this.
There is no match in any combination of any class that can outshine a DK in over all effectiveness. Especially when you further consider all the aspects you can customize that the game gives you from glyphs, to gear type, set bonuses, skills/morphs, passives(racials included), cost of resources(this is a big one - compared to other clsses), weapons, etc etc etc...and on and on. At this point most everyone knows those details that make this DK trend one thats more than a mere trend. This core fact about DK's have in effect, made the mass population see all other classes as largely ineffective in PvP(even those like myself that still hold onto our chosen non DK classes)...and that is a SERIOUS PROBLEM.
The community aspect:
I have heard the discussions in various Voips, in group chats, guild chats, Cyrodill chat, zone chats, forums, blogs, reddit etc. It is not a secret...you built a class that just flat out trumps the rest heavily. So much so that people continue to re-roll to it that don't even like the class just because of its raw effectiveness in all areas(and this is not even yet tossing into the pot for consideration being a vampire).
You are to be commended for creating such a beautifully synergistic class that just blows the other 3 classes out of the water. Yet it's so good, so effective, so unbeatable in most witnessed occasions...it take upwards of 15+ people to kill one DK player. Seeing and considering this, who would even bother playing the other 3 classes other than by forced dedication, habit, and historical love of the other class types.
But, when the game is all so incredibly DK heavy, and that number grows daily...you see it all around you every day, all you ever come across anymore are hoards of DK's in Cyrodiil - and it's a completely useless endeavor to even try to enjoy Cyrodiil anymore if you are not a DK. I rarely run across many Sorcers or Night Blades at all, though I know there are some out there...they are hard to find. Then there are Templars...even harder to find the previous two classes. Sure I know they exist and I know people play them...BUT not enough....and all of the above is why and everyone knows it to be true.
Where we are currently left:
For most players, the game has evolved into 'Dragon Knights Online' in the Tamriel world setting... not Elder Scrolls Online where you give the player the true CHOICE...which used to be your mantra. The choice is clear...if you want to play in ESO and in Cyrodiil and pay to enjoy the experince and feel as effective as everyone else...........
it's be a DK or go home.
Edited by Fshober28b14_ESO on July 16, 2014 7:44PM