Is ESO making a comeback?

Vatter · October 2014

I love seeing these fan boi threads. They make me laugh.

1. game companies are notorious for paying off reviewers.
2. the super data subscription information is NOTofficial numbers and is highly questionable.
3. eso has hundreds of game altering bugs that have not been fixed since launch. i.e. - memory leaks, desyncs, lag, crashes, inability to interact with environment, weapon swap not working, passive and active skills not working as intended. Animation inconsistencies. etc. Not to mention the exploits.
4. Zos has consistently released updates packed full with bugs that were brought to their attention on the pts server but were never fixed.
5. Zos Customer support is god awful dog (snip).
6. Grouping is a joke.
7. stamina builds are a joke.
8. craglorn is awful.
9. cyrodiil is broken.
10. The game past lvl 50 is just a grindfest. (if I wanted to play another faction i would of rolled one.)

I'll stop at an even 10 because you should get the picture by now.

In the end however, whether your a fan boi or a hater (truth teller) Zos doesn't give a (snip) about you or me. Its a business. the goal of a business is to make money. You either fall under group A or group B. in other words, we are nothing but numbers to be added or subtracted. Zos has a business plan complete with deadlines, budgets, etc etc. and they mean to follow it wether we quit or not.

By now you should see that forums are merely a way to glorify the player and make them feel like they are being heard or make them think they actually have a hand in the creation process. You don't.

Do you honestly feel like you are being heard when you post in these forums?

Wouldn't it make sense to pay people to promote your game in their articles to help push sales for the upcoming holidays?

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the positive posters on these forums are actually ZoS employees.

WraithAzraiel · October 2014

Gedalya wrote: »

Reality check; ESO was never on the decline or failing. Angry players during the first few months posting "Goodbye" threads and other related posts on these forums does not equal failure. The same is true for Guild attrition; for example I was in a Guild that largely switched to ArcheAge; but for every player like that more bought and played the ESO.

Lol ArchAge - Korean knockoff Final Fantasy

Lord_Draevan · October 2014

Vatter wrote: »

I love seeing these fan boi threads. They make me laugh.

1. game companies are notorious for paying off reviewers.
2. the super data subscription information is NOTofficial numbers and is highly questionable.
3. eso has hundreds of game altering bugs that have not been fixed since launch. i.e. - memory leaks, desyncs, lag, crashes, inability to interact with environment, weapon swap not working, passive and active skills not working as intended. Animation inconsistencies. etc. Not to mention the exploits.
4. Zos has consistently released updates packed full with bugs that were brought to their attention on the pts server but were never fixed.
5. Zos Customer support is god awful dog (snip).
6. Grouping is a joke.
7. stamina builds are a joke.
8. craglorn is awful.
9. cyrodiil is broken.
10. The game past lvl 50 is just a grindfest. (if I wanted to play another faction i would of rolled one.)

I'll stop at an even 10 because you should get the picture by now.

In the end however, whether your a fan boi or a hater (truth teller) Zos doesn't give a (snip) about you or me. Its a business. the goal of a business is to make money. You either fall under group A or group B. in other words, we are nothing but numbers to be added or subtracted. Zos has a business plan complete with deadlines, budgets, etc etc. and they mean to follow it wether we quit or not.

By now you should see that forums are merely a way to glorify the player and make them feel like they are being heard or make them think they actually have a hand in the creation process. You don't.

Do you honestly feel like you are being heard when you post in these forums?

Wouldn't it make sense to pay people to promote your game in their articles to help push sales for the upcoming holidays?

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the positive posters on these forums are actually ZoS employees.

I was going to lol this based off the first sentence, but there is truth in here too... sadly that 1-10 list is mostly spot-on, in my opinion.

I disagree with the customer service point because, as someone who works in customer service, I know it's a hit-and-miss in any company. Some will want to help, some won't care, and everything in between.

Game has huge potential, but still bogged down in a lot of issues.

WraithAzraiel · October 2014

Vatter wrote: »

I love seeing these fan boi threads. They make me laugh.

1. game companies are notorious for paying off reviewers.
2. the super data subscription information is NOTofficial numbers and is highly questionable.
3. eso has hundreds of game altering bugs that have not been fixed since launch. i.e. - memory leaks, desyncs, lag, crashes, inability to interact with environment, weapon swap not working, passive and active skills not working as intended. Animation inconsistencies. etc. Not to mention the exploits.
4. Zos has consistently released updates packed full with bugs that were brought to their attention on the pts server but were never fixed.
5. Zos Customer support is god awful dog (snip).
6. Grouping is a joke.
7. stamina builds are a joke.
8. craglorn is awful.
9. cyrodiil is broken.
10. The game past lvl 50 is just a grindfest. (if I wanted to play another faction i would of rolled one.)

I'll stop at an even 10 because you should get the picture by now.

In the end however, whether your a fan boi or a hater (truth teller) Zos doesn't give a (snip) about you or me. Its a business. the goal of a business is to make money. You either fall under group A or group B. in other words, we are nothing but numbers to be added or subtracted. Zos has a business plan complete with deadlines, budgets, etc etc. and they mean to follow it wether we quit or not.

By now you should see that forums are merely a way to glorify the player and make them feel like they are being heard or make them think they actually have a hand in the creation process. You don't.

Do you honestly feel like you are being heard when you post in these forums?

Wouldn't it make sense to pay people to promote your game in their articles to help push sales for the upcoming holidays?

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the positive posters on these forums are actually ZoS employees.

Hmmmmmmm the Bitter is strong with this one.

thelordoffelines · October 2014

morvegil wrote: »

this game will be F2P in a year

I thought it was 6 months? Oh right it was 6 months 7 months ago...

Pallmor · October 2014

Neizir wrote: »

I just read this article on MMMORPG.com talking about the state of ESO 6 months on (Even though it's been 7 months since release, but close enough):
mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/821/feature/9069/How-to-Rebound.html
It talks about ESO's total revenue figures since release (not including box sales) and I myself have also talked about the rough subscription numbers this equates to in this thread (1.2 Million, give or take about 100k.)
It also talks about what Zenimax is doing to improve ESO. They've been honest about the missteps and the mistakes they made pre and post-launch and are working to fix those issues.

However, it also talks about ESO rebounding, making a comeback.

In their article, they said this:

"The team was honest about having made some missteps, reading certain situations badly, and underestimating player wants and needs in others. The problem with MMORPGs is they don’t often get second reviews or in-depth looks, and while MMORPG.com does do this, the game will still have those critical reviews and scores that, in my opinion, don’t reflect the game as it stands now. While some games trim their update schedules, ESO keeps delivering on both new features, promised post-launch work (like the new facial animations currently on test server and included in the upcoming update), and improvements promised to the community after launch."

"The game is flourishing in spite of the initial issues. In numbers some will surely debate, SuperData Research released its 2015 MMO market report that includes revenue to date in 2014. The Elder Scrolls Online came in in 11th place with $111 million in estimated revenue in player spending this year. That doesn’t seem to include box sales, either. Sure, numbers came from Bethesda in any official way, but there are other ways you can tell the game has been doing well. Even though there is megaserver technology, the game is populated. People run around playing at all times of the day and night. Things feel alive in Tamriel. Like Destiny, a lot of people bought the game and people still play it, but unlike Destiny, there’s a lot to do solo in ESO, and a large world to explore and play in. Sure, Bungie plans to add to its game, but the rebound ZeniMax has seen comes from rolling up its sleeves and digging in."

After reading the whole thing, I absolutely agree with it all. Imo, ESO is making a big comeback. The population seems to be growing based on the influx of players in the starting zones, and the amount of posts, especially on Reddit, about players coming back and coming for the first time, bringing positive reviews. The console launch will only add to this rebound.

But what do you all think? Is ESO making a comeback?

I don't think it ever left.

When it came out, it was met with a huge wall of vitriol from ranting TES fans who were FURIOUS that this wasn't a single-player game and actually [gasp] charged a MONTHLY FEE!!!!! Granted, there were a lot of bugs and things weren't always well balanced, but that's the case with any new MMO at launch. But judging from the vitriol, you would think this was the worst game ever made.

It was so bad that I myself held off a few weeks from playing, thinking "Good lord, this game sounds AWFUL." When I finally did start to play (about 3-4 weeks after release) I was shocked to find a very fun game with just a few typical new-MMO hiccups.

Now, yes it has greatly improved over the last 6 months (kudos to the devs who release new content and patches a lot faster than almost any other MMO I've ever played). But it was never really "broken" to begin with. The perception that it was was a lie perpetrated by people who wanted it to fail from the get-go.

So I don't think it's a case of "TESO is making a comeback." I think it's a case of "More and more new players are realizing that TESO is a much better game than they had been led to believe."

Darklord_Tiberius · October 2014

Adonikam wrote: »

Darklord_Tiberius wrote: »

Neizir wrote: »

I just read this article on MMMORPG.com talking about the state of ESO 6 months on (Even though it's been 7 months since release, but close enough):
mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/821/feature/9069/How-to-Rebound.html
It talks about ESO's total revenue figures since release (not including box sales) and I myself have also talked about the rough subscription numbers this equates to in this thread (1.2 Million, give or take about 100k.)
It also talks about what Zenimax is doing to improve ESO. They've been honest about the missteps and the mistakes they made pre and post-launch and are working to fix those issues.

However, it also talks about ESO rebounding, making a comeback.

In their article, they said this:

"The team was honest about having made some missteps, reading certain situations badly, and underestimating player wants and needs in others. The problem with MMORPGs is they don’t often get second reviews or in-depth looks, and while MMORPG.com does do this, the game will still have those critical reviews and scores that, in my opinion, don’t reflect the game as it stands now. While some games trim their update schedules, ESO keeps delivering on both new features, promised post-launch work (like the new facial animations currently on test server and included in the upcoming update), and improvements promised to the community after launch."

"The game is flourishing in spite of the initial issues. In numbers some will surely debate, SuperData Research released its 2015 MMO market report that includes revenue to date in 2014. The Elder Scrolls Online came in in 11th place with $111 million in estimated revenue in player spending this year. That doesn’t seem to include box sales, either. Sure, numbers came from Bethesda in any official way, but there are other ways you can tell the game has been doing well. Even though there is megaserver technology, the game is populated. People run around playing at all times of the day and night. Things feel alive in Tamriel. Like Destiny, a lot of people bought the game and people still play it, but unlike Destiny, there’s a lot to do solo in ESO, and a large world to explore and play in. Sure, Bungie plans to add to its game, but the rebound ZeniMax has seen comes from rolling up its sleeves and digging in."

After reading the whole thing, I absolutely agree with it all. Imo, ESO is making a big comeback. The population seems to be growing based on the influx of players in the starting zones, and the amount of posts, especially on Reddit, about players coming back and coming for the first time, bringing positive reviews. The console launch will only add to this rebound.

But what do you all think? Is ESO making a comeback?

From the moment I first played ESO in beta, I loved this game and realized the potential for greatness. What many young people and players do not understand is that a game like WOW was not built in a day. Its going on 9 long years for that game and ESO is in its infant stage; it has that potential. I started playing MMO's over 12 years ago DAOC, Guild Wars, WOW, Vanguard, Warhammer Online, Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, LOTR and the list goes on. I have played all of these for over a year and some up to 6 years; some until they closed the servers down ie vanguard and warhammer. I have been through countless Beta's and launches and seen some pretty bad game releases; ESO is far from the worst lol.

With that being said, something I have noticed for years, since wotlk days in WOW and it became prominent during GW2 launch. The MMO player base is changing from what it was when I got into gaming. I guess it could best correlate to a crackhead looking for their next fix after a month or two of gaming. Those that quit the game in the first few months, the "RAGE" type are exactly the crowd I am referring too. These types of players actually do more harm than good for any game and honestly I do not want my gaming experience clouded with more trolls and basement warriors. I could care less if some of those people came back.

As far as ESO making a comeback, I would say it never needed a comeback. Yes they lost players initially, but from the recent Meta numbers released ESO is doing extremely well compared to many MMO's 6 months after launch. At this point, ESO will only grow and I think the fair question to ask is; How much do you think ESO will grow? With the updates planned up to 2.0, which logically would be an expansion type of content, I think ESO will grow exponentially. Everyday new people join this community, if you go to the starter zones during prime time or on the weekends, the proof is the abundant of players. With the changes to Veteran levels in 1.5, I think this will help bring even more people back to the game new and old. Grinding to VR14 was not an issue for me due to my gaming experience, but to an average gamer it would seem to be a bit intense. What they talked about during QuakeCon and the Guild Summit, Champion system, Justice system, Thieves Guild/Dark brotherhood, Spell crafting and Imperial City PvP/PvE zone; will only bolster the numbers for ESO. These updates will carry the game through another 6 months and at that point, I feel ESO will be set.

On a final note, I think ZOS is doing a much better job listening to the community which will only add to their success, as long as they continue to do so. They are taking a step in a positive direction. Once PvP is addressed, should be 1.6 (it was supposed to be 1.5) and the next few updates, it will give a good idea as to the future of this game.

Sorry to call you out, but if you label the people quitting in the beginning as "RAGE" quitters then you're top of the fan boy pool. The reason those people quit was because the game was released in a terrible state. They didn't learn from previous MMO's which could of easily pointed out what not to do.

First, if they had actual servers where you could see server population this game would be considered DEAD. They're not dead because they hide those numbers behind a megaserver, but you can easily get a rough estimate of how many people are playing the game. Take PVP for example, you know exactly how many players are on a locked server and they only have 8 campaigns or so? Then go to any VR zones past the first town and it is completely empty. Try finding a quest group for any of the VR content past the first town. Okay, maybe people are not questing? Go to Craglorn and see how many people are questing in Craglorn? None.. Maybe they don't want to quest there, fine, see how many people are raiding or grinding in Craglorn. It is always the same people no matter what account you login or character you login it is only a handful of people playing.

PVP is just horrible. People who play PVP have been complaining since the first month that the game design of AOE abilities is complete trash. Zenimax takes FOREVER to make any adjustments to PVP and these adjustments needed to be made on the first month. Zenimax knows people who Home on a server with all scrolls then guest on another server and keep their buffs is completely *** yet they have still not fixed it. The game is already past 6 months and they still cannot fix simple no brainer issues.

I really hope they turn the game around. When they do I will honestly come back and play it again as I really loved the game and the Elder Scrolls series, but let's be honest.. If they didn't have the Elder Scrolls name behind it this game would of closed. Not fail or made enough money to continue like SWTOR, the game would of closed.

MAIN QUEST LINE BROKEN? Seriously? You had a year of beta testers who told you about these issues and they're still broken when the game went live. THE MAIN QUEST LINE.

Like I had already pointed out this games release was far from "terrible" as you put it. It had some issues yes, but compared to Warhammer, Vanguard and Guild Wars 2 it went much smoother. Bugs at any launch are to be expected, but maybe in your mind they are not. Come down to reality for a split second and join us here on earth. Are you really bringing up the Main Quest Line? You are starting to sound like a desperate guy wanting his girlfriend back after she dumped you. It was a problem for three days, I know because my templar had this bug. What was my solution? O yea that's right, I am playing an MMO, so why not go make another character! But it seems you were one of the few guys that spammed Coldharbour chat yelling in caps about how bad the game was. Acting like that does not give you any credibility my man.

If you do not see anyone in Craglorn, I just got done grinding another character to Veteran level, so do not act like you know the zones are empty bud. They are not.

"PVP is just horrible"- Maybe when you played a few months ago that was your assessment, but since you have said yourself you do not play the game right now your opinions are irrelevant lol. Everything you are complaining about in your attack on the PVP in this game is either fixed or getting fixed with 1.5/1.6, so again; irrelevant.

[Moderator Note: Edited per our rules on Rude and Insulting Comments]

Pallmor · October 2014

Adonikam wrote: »

Darklord_Tiberius wrote: »

Neizir wrote: »

I just read this article on MMMORPG.com talking about the state of ESO 6 months on (Even though it's been 7 months since release, but close enough):
mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/821/feature/9069/How-to-Rebound.html
It talks about ESO's total revenue figures since release (not including box sales) and I myself have also talked about the rough subscription numbers this equates to in this thread (1.2 Million, give or take about 100k.)
It also talks about what Zenimax is doing to improve ESO. They've been honest about the missteps and the mistakes they made pre and post-launch and are working to fix those issues.

However, it also talks about ESO rebounding, making a comeback.

In their article, they said this:

"The team was honest about having made some missteps, reading certain situations badly, and underestimating player wants and needs in others. The problem with MMORPGs is they don’t often get second reviews or in-depth looks, and while MMORPG.com does do this, the game will still have those critical reviews and scores that, in my opinion, don’t reflect the game as it stands now. While some games trim their update schedules, ESO keeps delivering on both new features, promised post-launch work (like the new facial animations currently on test server and included in the upcoming update), and improvements promised to the community after launch."

"The game is flourishing in spite of the initial issues. In numbers some will surely debate, SuperData Research released its 2015 MMO market report that includes revenue to date in 2014. The Elder Scrolls Online came in in 11th place with $111 million in estimated revenue in player spending this year. That doesn’t seem to include box sales, either. Sure, numbers came from Bethesda in any official way, but there are other ways you can tell the game has been doing well. Even though there is megaserver technology, the game is populated. People run around playing at all times of the day and night. Things feel alive in Tamriel. Like Destiny, a lot of people bought the game and people still play it, but unlike Destiny, there’s a lot to do solo in ESO, and a large world to explore and play in. Sure, Bungie plans to add to its game, but the rebound ZeniMax has seen comes from rolling up its sleeves and digging in."

After reading the whole thing, I absolutely agree with it all. Imo, ESO is making a big comeback. The population seems to be growing based on the influx of players in the starting zones, and the amount of posts, especially on Reddit, about players coming back and coming for the first time, bringing positive reviews. The console launch will only add to this rebound.

But what do you all think? Is ESO making a comeback?

From the moment I first played ESO in beta, I loved this game and realized the potential for greatness. What many young people and players do not understand is that a game like WOW was not built in a day. Its going on 9 long years for that game and ESO is in its infant stage; it has that potential. I started playing MMO's over 12 years ago DAOC, Guild Wars, WOW, Vanguard, Warhammer Online, Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, LOTR and the list goes on. I have played all of these for over a year and some up to 6 years; some until they closed the servers down ie vanguard and warhammer. I have been through countless Beta's and launches and seen some pretty bad game releases; ESO is far from the worst lol.

With that being said, something I have noticed for years, since wotlk days in WOW and it became prominent during GW2 launch. The MMO player base is changing from what it was when I got into gaming. I guess it could best correlate to a crackhead looking for their next fix after a month or two of gaming. Those that quit the game in the first few months, the "RAGE" type are exactly the crowd I am referring too. These types of players actually do more harm than good for any game and honestly I do not want my gaming experience clouded with more trolls and basement warriors. I could care less if some of those people came back.

As far as ESO making a comeback, I would say it never needed a comeback. Yes they lost players initially, but from the recent Meta numbers released ESO is doing extremely well compared to many MMO's 6 months after launch. At this point, ESO will only grow and I think the fair question to ask is; How much do you think ESO will grow? With the updates planned up to 2.0, which logically would be an expansion type of content, I think ESO will grow exponentially. Everyday new people join this community, if you go to the starter zones during prime time or on the weekends, the proof is the abundant of players. With the changes to Veteran levels in 1.5, I think this will help bring even more people back to the game new and old. Grinding to VR14 was not an issue for me due to my gaming experience, but to an average gamer it would seem to be a bit intense. What they talked about during QuakeCon and the Guild Summit, Champion system, Justice system, Thieves Guild/Dark brotherhood, Spell crafting and Imperial City PvP/PvE zone; will only bolster the numbers for ESO. These updates will carry the game through another 6 months and at that point, I feel ESO will be set.

On a final note, I think ZOS is doing a much better job listening to the community which will only add to their success, as long as they continue to do so. They are taking a step in a positive direction. Once PvP is addressed, should be 1.6 (it was supposed to be 1.5) and the next few updates, it will give a good idea as to the future of this game.

Sorry to call you out, but if you label the people quitting in the beginning as "RAGE" quitters then you're top of the fan boy pool. The reason those people quit was because the game was released in a terrible state. They didn't learn from previous MMO's which could of easily pointed out what not to do.

First, if they had actual servers where you could see server population this game would be considered DEAD. They're not dead because they hide those numbers behind a megaserver, but you can easily get a rough estimate of how many people are playing the game. Take PVP for example, you know exactly how many players are on a locked server and they only have 8 campaigns or so? Then go to any VR zones past the first town and it is completely empty. Try finding a quest group for any of the VR content past the first town. Okay, maybe people are not questing? Go to Craglorn and see how many people are questing in Craglorn? None.. Maybe they don't want to quest there, fine, see how many people are raiding or grinding in Craglorn. It is always the same people no matter what account you login or character you login it is only a handful of people playing.

PVP is just horrible. People who play PVP have been complaining since the first month that the game design of AOE abilities is complete trash. Zenimax takes FOREVER to make any adjustments to PVP and these adjustments needed to be made on the first month. Zenimax knows people who Home on a server with all scrolls then guest on another server and keep their buffs is completely *** yet they have still not fixed it. The game is already past 6 months and they still cannot fix simple no brainer issues.

I really hope they turn the game around. When they do I will honestly come back and play it again as I really loved the game and the Elder Scrolls series, but let's be honest.. If they didn't have the Elder Scrolls name behind it this game would of closed. Not fail or made enough money to continue like SWTOR, the game would of closed.

MAIN QUEST LINE BROKEN? Seriously? You had a year of beta testers who told you about these issues and they're still broken when the game went live. THE MAIN QUEST LINE.

Wow, another poster who complains endlessly about how horrible the game is, yet still seems to be here every month. [Yawn]

Xeres14 · October 2014

Yeah it's hard to say anything is on comeback after 6 months of being released (with a few exceptions). I think they're trying but I'm not sure if they're focused on the right thing. I think there's a couple things going on here:

1. The fans don't know what they want. Many want a new version of Skyrim even though they went out and bought a MMO. Some want a WoW clone. Some want something in between. No wonder why the devs don't answer much - they must have a pounding headache after reading these forums.

2. The elephant in the room. Yeah, you know what that is. And if something even remotely resembles it a portion of the fans totally freak out declaring that the elephant is crap and that's why they're one of the enlightened few who see it this way. That's fine - everyone is entitled to their opinion. But if the devs have the same mindset then that's a problem. A vast vast majority of MMOs are the same at some level - as is ESO. Don't shelve an idea because it may make your game resemble another in some way. Shelve it because it isn't legitimately the direction you want for this game. Hopefully that's what's going on.

DragonWitch · October 2014

Lord_Draevan wrote: »

Fun fact: to post on these forums, you need an active account.

No you don't...

Daenerys · October 2014

Gyudan wrote: »

Lord_Draevan wrote: »

Adonikam wrote: »

MAIN QUEST LINE BROKEN? Seriously? You had a year of beta testers who told you about these issues and they're still broken when the game went live. THE MAIN QUEST LINE.

Was that an issue for everyone or just a small-moderate percentage? I remember playing through 2 characters in the first month and never ran accross an uncompletable main quest mission. Only problem I had was with Balreth's quest in Stonefalls in early access, and ZOS fixed in the next day and I was able to progress.

Oh come on, all the early April veterans remember the time spent naked in the Coldharbour library trying to jump from a bookshelf to light the unreachable brazier.
Good memories

this one remembers

then shortly thereafter I got stuck like this, as if to say why Zenimax, why?!

Darklord_Tiberius · October 2014

The double standard on these forums is laughable.

Jacques Berge · October 2014

Never went away... I see new players all the time... I've fluffed my guild with a ton of new players... It's actually pretty awesome. People think because the QQers his forums the most that the game is failing some how. Just like in real life, the loudest demographic doesn't mean it's the largest demographic.

Lord_Draevan · October 2014

DragonWitch wrote: »

Lord_Draevan wrote: »

Fun fact: to post on these forums, you need an active account.

No you don't...

If you're able to, you're the exception. I had my subscription cancelled until two weeks ago and when I tried to sign in I was told "Permission Denied". When I re-subscribed, I was able to sign in.

EDIT: If you have game time remaining but no active subscription, you can post. Once you run out, you get the "Permission Denied" message when you try to sign in.

Audigy · October 2014

ZO does not do everything right but this we all know I guess. The thing is, as much I disagree with specific things, you need to give ZO credit for having a really good community team.

I saw how you can be treated as a customer by other MMO companies, your chars are deleted, you lose your names, whole items just disappear and nobody is talking to you or is trying to help, so chapeau to Jess, Gina, Kai & Co for doing a very good job.

CapuchinSeven · October 2014

I don't think it was ever failing, I've been critical of their quality control and on two occasions I've come THIS close to quitting but over all the game has been and is doing well.

PVP is suffering though, that's clear.

kongkim · October 2014

People whine to much on the forum. Never had any real problems in the game og ran into bugs that ruind the game for me.

Crumpy · October 2014

Ah, I'm gonna miss all this blinded fan boy love.
Like a dog that you mistreat but it still, dopily, stays at your side...

Kego · October 2014

CapuchinSeven wrote: »

I don't think it was ever failing, I've been critical of their quality control and on two occasions I've come THIS close to quitting but over all the game has been and is doing well.

PVP is suffering though, that's clear.

Then, where does this game shine at all?
It is clearly not PvE, cause PvE is so meaningless in this game. Leaves it with a bad PvP and a huge Grindfest up to VR14.

No wonder that all of our ~80 Member from our Multi-Gaming Guild moved back to their old MMOs. I was the last and I switched the lights off.

Pendrillion · October 2014

Sorry but I can not say I don't get the feeling that there has been some sort of smearing campaign going in the media. But thats not the games fault IMO. It's how Journalism is done these days. If you look at the angry reviews you just get that.

One of life's realities is, that you find what you seek. If you focus on all the errors and bugs, you certainly will find them. To point out the obvious.

The sad truth is. And I feel like its even more true in english speaking media than others. (But I probably only see whats written in two different languages.): A balanced fact based review gives you NOT the hits you want. People are so used to jump at scandals and being able to have some sort of good laugh at the expense of others that this grew into the only solution to get some meaningful ad revenue.

Not to speak of the obviously deeply ingrained entitlement from people on the net. Only a few people on the net have a glimpse of what a programming horror such a game could be.

And just for comparison: Skyrim is STILL rid with bugs. Not to speak of most Fallout games. It comes with the terrain. Literally. Sandbox and detailed graphical worlds call for it. And then you change one simple thing in the wonky card house you built, and twenty more bugs spring up. Its not just bad quality testing. Its the nature of the game. Of course if anyone in here is able to code so solid that this game never will have issues again, go forth and find a job at Zenimax Online. :P

And I say it here as I said it in other places. This game is pretty thriving. In my eyes. And it has a good solid core community of people who like it. I met a good deal of great people in this game. And I hope it stays that way

JKorr · October 2014

Gyudan wrote: »

Lord_Draevan wrote: »

Adonikam wrote: »

MAIN QUEST LINE BROKEN? Seriously? You had a year of beta testers who told you about these issues and they're still broken when the game went live. THE MAIN QUEST LINE.

Was that an issue for everyone or just a small-moderate percentage? I remember playing through 2 characters in the first month and never ran accross an uncompletable main quest mission. Only problem I had was with Balreth's quest in Stonefalls in early access, and ZOS fixed in the next day and I was able to progress.

Oh come on, all the early April veterans remember the time spent naked in the Coldharbour library trying to jump from a bookshelf to light the unreachable brazier.
Good memories

Actually, no. And yes, I was in early access.

I didn't rush to get to the end. I ran into an issue with Balreth. That was patched. By the time I got to the library whatever glitch it was must have been fixed. There was a lot of half a step right/left/back/forward niggling around, but it worked the first time through for me. I now have three vet characters. I didn't run into any main quest breaking bugs with the last two, only the Balreth thing with the first one. [five other alts for crafting and stuff; no major problems with any of them, with a couple getting close to vet rank]

They could listen more to the people finding bugs in the beta on the pts. Sometimes I can see why they don't; all of the OMG WHERE IS TEH NEW CONTENT I'M GONNA CANCEL IF THEY DON'T RELEASE NEW STUFF people would, again, have a fit. If they release stuff that might be broken, they can patch if people find the problem. If it works, well, then it works.

Elsonso · October 2014

morvegil wrote: »

this game will be F2P in a year

...provided you have an active subscription.

Zorrashi · October 2014

Kego wrote: »

CapuchinSeven wrote: »

I don't think it was ever failing, I've been critical of their quality control and on two occasions I've come THIS close to quitting but over all the game has been and is doing well.

PVP is suffering though, that's clear.

Then, where does this game shine at all?
It is clearly not PvE, cause PvE is so meaningless in this game. Leaves it with a bad PvP and a huge Grindfest up to VR14.

No wonder that all of our ~80 Member from our Multi-Gaming Guild moved back to their old MMOs. I was the last and I switched the lights off.

Very clearly you were in it for the destination and not the journey.
ESO has a very lore rich and story driven content in PvE. The voices are (mostly) well done, a decent amount of characters are interesting, and the world just feels more alive than just mindlessly doing tasks to get some item.

To each their own I guess.

JKorr · October 2014

Pallmor wrote: »

Adonikam wrote: »

Darklord_Tiberius wrote: »

Neizir wrote: »

I just read this article on MMMORPG.com talking about the state of ESO 6 months on (Even though it's been 7 months since release, but close enough):
mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/821/feature/9069/How-to-Rebound.html
It talks about ESO's total revenue figures since release (not including box sales) and I myself have also talked about the rough subscription numbers this equates to in this thread (1.2 Million, give or take about 100k.)
It also talks about what Zenimax is doing to improve ESO. They've been honest about the missteps and the mistakes they made pre and post-launch and are working to fix those issues.

However, it also talks about ESO rebounding, making a comeback.

In their article, they said this:

"The team was honest about having made some missteps, reading certain situations badly, and underestimating player wants and needs in others. The problem with MMORPGs is they don’t often get second reviews or in-depth looks, and while MMORPG.com does do this, the game will still have those critical reviews and scores that, in my opinion, don’t reflect the game as it stands now. While some games trim their update schedules, ESO keeps delivering on both new features, promised post-launch work (like the new facial animations currently on test server and included in the upcoming update), and improvements promised to the community after launch."

"The game is flourishing in spite of the initial issues. In numbers some will surely debate, SuperData Research released its 2015 MMO market report that includes revenue to date in 2014. The Elder Scrolls Online came in in 11th place with $111 million in estimated revenue in player spending this year. That doesn’t seem to include box sales, either. Sure, numbers came from Bethesda in any official way, but there are other ways you can tell the game has been doing well. Even though there is megaserver technology, the game is populated. People run around playing at all times of the day and night. Things feel alive in Tamriel. Like Destiny, a lot of people bought the game and people still play it, but unlike Destiny, there’s a lot to do solo in ESO, and a large world to explore and play in. Sure, Bungie plans to add to its game, but the rebound ZeniMax has seen comes from rolling up its sleeves and digging in."

After reading the whole thing, I absolutely agree with it all. Imo, ESO is making a big comeback. The population seems to be growing based on the influx of players in the starting zones, and the amount of posts, especially on Reddit, about players coming back and coming for the first time, bringing positive reviews. The console launch will only add to this rebound.

But what do you all think? Is ESO making a comeback?

From the moment I first played ESO in beta, I loved this game and realized the potential for greatness. What many young people and players do not understand is that a game like WOW was not built in a day. Its going on 9 long years for that game and ESO is in its infant stage; it has that potential. I started playing MMO's over 12 years ago DAOC, Guild Wars, WOW, Vanguard, Warhammer Online, Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, LOTR and the list goes on. I have played all of these for over a year and some up to 6 years; some until they closed the servers down ie vanguard and warhammer. I have been through countless Beta's and launches and seen some pretty bad game releases; ESO is far from the worst lol.

With that being said, something I have noticed for years, since wotlk days in WOW and it became prominent during GW2 launch. The MMO player base is changing from what it was when I got into gaming. I guess it could best correlate to a crackhead looking for their next fix after a month or two of gaming. Those that quit the game in the first few months, the "RAGE" type are exactly the crowd I am referring too. These types of players actually do more harm than good for any game and honestly I do not want my gaming experience clouded with more trolls and basement warriors. I could care less if some of those people came back.

As far as ESO making a comeback, I would say it never needed a comeback. Yes they lost players initially, but from the recent Meta numbers released ESO is doing extremely well compared to many MMO's 6 months after launch. At this point, ESO will only grow and I think the fair question to ask is; How much do you think ESO will grow? With the updates planned up to 2.0, which logically would be an expansion type of content, I think ESO will grow exponentially. Everyday new people join this community, if you go to the starter zones during prime time or on the weekends, the proof is the abundant of players. With the changes to Veteran levels in 1.5, I think this will help bring even more people back to the game new and old. Grinding to VR14 was not an issue for me due to my gaming experience, but to an average gamer it would seem to be a bit intense. What they talked about during QuakeCon and the Guild Summit, Champion system, Justice system, Thieves Guild/Dark brotherhood, Spell crafting and Imperial City PvP/PvE zone; will only bolster the numbers for ESO. These updates will carry the game through another 6 months and at that point, I feel ESO will be set.

On a final note, I think ZOS is doing a much better job listening to the community which will only add to their success, as long as they continue to do so. They are taking a step in a positive direction. Once PvP is addressed, should be 1.6 (it was supposed to be 1.5) and the next few updates, it will give a good idea as to the future of this game.

Sorry to call you out, but if you label the people quitting in the beginning as "RAGE" quitters then you're top of the fan boy pool. The reason those people quit was because the game was released in a terrible state. They didn't learn from previous MMO's which could of easily pointed out what not to do.

First, if they had actual servers where you could see server population this game would be considered DEAD. They're not dead because they hide those numbers behind a megaserver, but you can easily get a rough estimate of how many people are playing the game. Take PVP for example, you know exactly how many players are on a locked server and they only have 8 campaigns or so? Then go to any VR zones past the first town and it is completely empty. Try finding a quest group for any of the VR content past the first town. Okay, maybe people are not questing? Go to Craglorn and see how many people are questing in Craglorn? None.. Maybe they don't want to quest there, fine, see how many people are raiding or grinding in Craglorn. It is always the same people no matter what account you login or character you login it is only a handful of people playing.

PVP is just horrible. People who play PVP have been complaining since the first month that the game design of AOE abilities is complete trash. Zenimax takes FOREVER to make any adjustments to PVP and these adjustments needed to be made on the first month. Zenimax knows people who Home on a server with all scrolls then guest on another server and keep their buffs is completely *** yet they have still not fixed it. The game is already past 6 months and they still cannot fix simple no brainer issues.

I really hope they turn the game around. When they do I will honestly come back and play it again as I really loved the game and the Elder Scrolls series, but let's be honest.. If they didn't have the Elder Scrolls name behind it this game would of closed. Not fail or made enough money to continue like SWTOR, the game would of closed.

MAIN QUEST LINE BROKEN? Seriously? You had a year of beta testers who told you about these issues and they're still broken when the game went live. THE MAIN QUEST LINE.

Wow, another poster who complains endlessly about how horrible the game is, yet still seems to be here every month. [Yawn]

Best part; he isn't playing the game. He's still here to post old information, spread misinformation and raise the negativity on the forums, but he isn't playing the game.

Nerouyn · October 2014

I can't speak to whether the game is making a comeback because I've only just started playing. I didn't buy it at launch because I had been following it closely and could clearly see all the bad bits. I had money put aside to buy it but ultimately decided not to.

The announcement of spellcrafting - making the game more like the classless single player games - is what recently caught my attention. I happened to read that news just as Steam was having a half-price sale for ESO. So I picked it up.

I hope that spellcrafting is all they promise - MMO developers often promise much and deliver little. But I also hope they address other problems before launching it because there's a great big stinking pile of them which make the new player experience wholly unecessarily annoying, frustrating, unpleasant etc.

I think I'm mostly past the horrible bits now but because of them I wouldn't presently recommend it to anyone I know.

Lord_Draevan · October 2014

To those doubting that you need an active subscription/game time to post on the forums:

So if you're on here commenting, it's means you're paying the monthly fee, or that you still have game-time remaining. So clearly it's not so bad as all the doom-and-gloom people claim if they're still paying the subscription...

JKorr · October 2014

Kego wrote: »

CapuchinSeven wrote: »

I don't think it was ever failing, I've been critical of their quality control and on two occasions I've come THIS close to quitting but over all the game has been and is doing well.

PVP is suffering though, that's clear.

Then, where does this game shine at all?
It is clearly not PvE, cause PvE is so meaningless in this game. Leaves it with a bad PvP and a huge Grindfest up to VR14.

No wonder that all of our ~80 Member from our Multi-Gaming Guild moved back to their old MMOs. I was the last and I switched the lights off.

I have to ask then, why are you on the forums? If "you were the last and switched the lights off", why are you posting here to tell us about it?

The whole "where does the game shine" is personal preference. I have 8 characters; three I've taken to vet rank and started Cadwell's Silver. I haven't touched pvp. I don't want to touch pvp. I have an offer from guildmates to escort me through Cyrodiil to do the delves and pick up books and skyshards. I know if I tried it solo, I'd never make it. The "PvE is so meaningless" content has managed to hold my attention. I might never manage to get a character to v14, but, as long as I'm having fun and enjoying my game, I don't really care.

Pallmor · October 2014

Crumpy wrote: »

Ah, I'm gonna miss all this blinded fan boy love.
Like a dog that you mistreat but it still, dopily, stays at your side...

Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find some new MMO to complain about.

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · October 2014

I am concerned over the low population in PvP. We know for sure that there could not possibly be more than 12,000 players worldwide in Cyrodiil at any one time (8 campaigns with a hard cap of 1,500 players each), and I have never seen all four EU campaigns full at the same time, so a reasonable estimate is that there are maybe 5,000 people playing in Cyrodiil at peak hours these days. They would all fit in a dozen large guilds. Sure, not everyone is online all the time, and most PvP players are probably not in Cyrodiil all the time, but unless they start attracting a lot more players specifically to PvP, Cyrodiil is becoming an unimportant side show instead of a main feature of the game.

The PvE population is definitely disastrously low in VR zones, but lower level zones seem to be doing OK, with a clear influx of new players. Given the silence from ZOS, we really have no good way of knowing how many players are in the game at locations where we see one reasonably full phase. It might be just barely enough to fill that one phase, or it might be tens or even hundreds of phases running in parallel.

Given the size of the world and the apparent limit where the game considers an area too crowded and starts phasing, one full phase would mean roughly a couple thousand players in each of the 15 regular zones, or around 70,000 players. If that's all there is, the game is not doing as well as they had hoped, but 70k players still translate to $10M in revenue each month. Plus, there may be a whole lot more players, and we wouldn't know it. We're only guessing.

I am not going to guess and wonder about these matters too much, but yes, the game is clearly in need of a rebound, and I hope that is what we are seeing in the lower level zones.

CapuchinSeven · October 2014

Kego wrote: »

CapuchinSeven wrote: »

I don't think it was ever failing, I've been critical of their quality control and on two occasions I've come THIS close to quitting but over all the game has been and is doing well.

PVP is suffering though, that's clear.

Then, where does this game shine at all?
It is clearly not PvE, cause PvE is so meaningless in this game. Leaves it with a bad PvP and a huge Grindfest up to VR14.

No wonder that all of our ~80 Member from our Multi-Gaming Guild moved back to their old MMOs. I was the last and I switched the lights off.

It shines in PVP, it's their quality control that suffers (something I make clear I'm not happy with, far too many game crippling bugs are making it into live that just shouldn't be). They need to work on the server lag and performance but the game isn't a year old I can give them the benefit of the doubt (for only so long, but I can).

Balance and blobbing gameplay are being worked on, they've made it clear they don't intend for PVP to be that way. So again I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

The game IS fun in PVP, or at least I think so else I wouldn't keep playing.