Being "forced"

Alphashado · December 2014

ESO in it's current state is much more linear that it was presented to be. Unlike most other MMOs, ESO is very restrictive on the options a player has in order to reach level cap. So if a person likes the game and looks forward to getting to level cap in order to play competitive end game content, then they are forced to grind through a very narrow linear path of quest chains, and they are forced to complete the final 4 levels of the VR system doing group content.

There are very few viable options compared to most MMOs. Another big reason is that the XP comes from initial completion of objectives only. Which also makes it linear because there is very little incentive to repeat any objectives. Once you kill a zone boss or clear a dungeon (any dungeon), or complete a Dolmen, there is very little reason to do them again unless you want to help a friend. That is one of the biggest difference between ESO and other MMOs.

In a nutshell, it's because for such a gigantic game, ESO offers very few options to progress to end game in its current state.

Audigy · December 2014

Blud wrote: »

I've noticed in a lot of threads that people are saying that they feel "forced" to play a certain way. I've said it myself in some of my posts, mainly related to having to group for "endgame" content.

I realize that forums for any game tend to have a lot of negativity and complaining. That is kind of the nature of forums, because the happy people are busy playing instead of visiting the forums. Here, you get people with an axe to grind versus a group of "defenders." The defenders must come for the forum pvp

And each game has it's certain usual type of mmo complaints -- balance issues, bugs, lack of content, grind, etc. But one thing I've noticed a lot in ESO complaints in particular (compared to other games like ArcheAge, WoW, Darkfall, etc.) is that people say they feel "forced" to do x or y.

Where does this perception of being "forced" come from and why does it seem more prevalent in ESO than in other games? What is it about the design philosophy of ESO that causes people to complain about this?

It doesn't.

At WOW you have the same debate since years, pretty much every game that has forced content.

ESO forces you to solo until VR 12 then it forces you into Group. WOW forces you to solo until 100, then into group....

Its always the same and what I criticize since years.

There was a time in MMOs when you didn't had to "group", as simply put an invite mechanism didn't even exist there.

You played together or you didn't but everything was accessible, everything was a challenge and everyone could participate.

For instance,

you entered a dungeon and in that dungeon everyone else could enter. It had several levels, some had up to 100 so clearing the dungeon for a single player could take days but if more joined you then maybe just a single day.

It was a living and breathing world, without instance ID´s, portals that only premades could cross etc.

But not only this,

the world did host several mob and boss types. You could come across a small village where a huge dragon was harassing its villagers. Alone you couldn't do much but you could save villages by fighting off smaller minions while for the big dragon mama half the server was needed.

Today however, you never have any of these things in MMOs. Everyone is forced to play alone just to find out that at max level they are forced into guilds and premades.

Its a horrible situation and no Development team seems to understand it.

zaria · December 2014

Audigy wrote: »

Blud wrote: »

I've noticed in a lot of threads that people are saying that they feel "forced" to play a certain way. I've said it myself in some of my posts, mainly related to having to group for "endgame" content.

I realize that forums for any game tend to have a lot of negativity and complaining. That is kind of the nature of forums, because the happy people are busy playing instead of visiting the forums. Here, you get people with an axe to grind versus a group of "defenders." The defenders must come for the forum pvp

And each game has it's certain usual type of mmo complaints -- balance issues, bugs, lack of content, grind, etc. But one thing I've noticed a lot in ESO complaints in particular (compared to other games like ArcheAge, WoW, Darkfall, etc.) is that people say they feel "forced" to do x or y.

Where does this perception of being "forced" come from and why does it seem more prevalent in ESO than in other games? What is it about the design philosophy of ESO that causes people to complain about this?

It doesn't.

At WOW you have the same debate since years, pretty much every game that has forced content.

ESO forces you to solo until VR 12 then it forces you into Group. WOW forces you to solo until 100, then into group....

Its always the same and what I criticize since years.

There was a time in MMOs when you didn't had to "group", as simply put an invite mechanism didn't even exist there.

You played together or you didn't but everything was accessible, everything was a challenge and everyone could participate.

For instance,

you entered a dungeon and in that dungeon everyone else could enter. It had several levels, some had up to 100 so clearing the dungeon for a single player could take days but if more joined you then maybe just a single day.

It was a living and breathing world, without instance ID´s, portals that only premades could cross etc.

But not only this,

the world did host several mob and boss types. You could come across a small village where a huge dragon was harassing its villagers. Alone you couldn't do much but you could save villages by fighting off smaller minions while for the big dragon mama half the server was needed.

Today however, you never have any of these things in MMOs. Everyone is forced to play alone just to find out that at max level they are forced into guilds and premades.

Its a horrible situation and no Development team seems to understand it.

As for WOW, then I played the fastest way to level was doing random dungeons however this was hard if it was you was an new player, all the ones leveling alts did not want noobs to slow them down.

I think that grouped dungeons and raids came to give more accessible content and also balance difficulty.
If you only had public dungeons and bosses people would do the hardest content in huge groups, good players would use small groups as loot was shared.

Many of the old MMO had long spawn times on bosses to avoid farming, this made people angry because then you got an group and gone to the area the boss was just killed. Imagine if respawn on bosses in ESO public dungeons was 2 hours.
----
I don't see ESO forcing people much, rather it reward diverse play, yes this is also some sort of forcing

ahstin2001nub18_ESO · December 2014

i come to the forums of all MMOs to participate in conversations about bettering the game, classes, quests, or fun. or to learn about other classes or aspects of the game

unfortunately, i would agree with the notion that the "complaints" are more aggressive here than other MMOs. it seems that with each new class of MMOs there are more whiners. i think this normally, is due to console gamers coming to the MMO line and think its the same, its not. this game is an exception in that this WAS a console game, so you gotta expect a lot of "solo elite console gamers" who have followed the elder scrolls line into the MMO field, be put off from not being able to play in console gaming fashion. i speak of this from my own experience, when i moved from desktop/console games to MMOs. i loved MMOs, but hated MMOs until i understood MMOs.

most complaints do end up being pretty baseless. complaints with "play as you want" being a lie are just ridiculous- why people take it SOOOOO literally is mind boggling, but when you compare it to other MMOs, you can get away with quite a bit. i am currently testing 3 heavy, 3 medium, 1 light.... yeah lets see a tank do that in any other game. right now i think i just have the wrong set bonuses, so once i get my next VR ill change the set bonuses but keep the 3/3/1 and see if it works. i so far like 4 heavy, 3 medium. i have played with DW, 2hander, and intend to try the staffs and bow at some point. i picked the "tank" (DK) class yet i can have an option to cast spells and shoot at critters with a stick? awesome...

my only complaint about the game of any substance, is refine combat... abilities still don't always respond and since the last patch now block doesn't always block... see thats a complaint. 99% of the game is combat oriented and its only operating at 75% capability- maybe less at times. but to complain about being a templar that cant kite mobs with sword and shield or something just gets old. i even read that they are against kiting so it can't be done, okay ill kite ya a dolmen sometime to show you, that you can.

*shrugs* but that is just my opinion...

edit:

@zari in EQ i needed a mob that had a 1 week timer lol i never got em =(