Just ZOS silence is hurting the game

Pupsy · January 2015

It bothers me that instead of receiving answers or comments from staff on threads that would be satisfied with a little feedback, they simply take the time to remind people of forum rules instead of offering actual feedback. I understand that the forum moderators might not have all of the knowledge needed to fully answer the question but even a simple "we'll be trying to communicate better in the future, etc.." would be better than nothing.

daneyulebub17_ESO · January 2015

An MMO, unlike other types of games, represents a long term commitment for its players--both in time and money-- and its understandable that players want to be reassured that the time, money, plans and effort of today is not going to be wasted by the game making a drastic change that will make it unplayable for them in the near future.

F2P would be such a turn for me, and when there are undeniably concerning developments (like the recent ones regarding 6 month subs and stock being removed from stores) that get a lot of discussion and outside reporting, year-old statements from before those developments just don't cut it. Neither does total silence.

I'm asked to constantly renew my commitment to this game financially. They should be willing to occasionally renew their commitment to me, as well, when it comes to their promises. Especially when they make moves that on the surface can very reasonably be construed to put those old promises in doubt.

Lynnessa · January 2015

I think the silence about bunny ears is the most disturbing.

Zershar_Vemod · January 2015

Pupsy wrote: »

It bothers me that instead of receiving answers or comments from staff on threads that would be satisfied with a little feedback, they simply take the time to remind people of forum rules instead of offering actual feedback. I understand that the forum moderators might not have all of the knowledge needed to fully answer the question but even a simple "we'll be trying to communicate better in the future, etc.." would be better than nothing.

Because all the forum mods have instant access to all inner workings and if so, could obviously share them without consulting their superiors..

Samadhi · January 2015

Whoever at ZOS has made the decision for the company to keep quiet about this issue deserves a raise.

ESO has received more free publicity (law of publicity: any publicity is good publicity) by not responding to these rumours than they could drum up at cost through direct advertisement.
ESO has probably even received more publicity these past few weeks simply by ZOS remaining silent than they have received for the game since it came out.

A ZOS representative already made a statement about 6 month subscriptions; it just gets ignored or considered invalid (ironically because it was a member of ZOS that made said statement, and apparently ZOS can't be trusted anyway).

ZOS is under no obligation to comment on Australian stores pulling their stock though; if the companies made the decisions, then it is their own responsibility to comment or not.
EBGames already commented through official channels (a formal comment on their facebook) that it is part of a regular stock recall.
The only comments that have come from the other companies so far are from "informants" that must remain nameless (this usually means it is some low-tier worker who would lose his or her job for spreading misinformation if his or her name was attached to the comment).

Meanwhile, gaming news outlets are posting new news stories every time someone so much as sneezes on an ESO game box.

timidobserver · January 2015

I bet that this thread has gotten so many hits due to the moderation post in this thread. They should remove the ZOS marker from moderation posts...

Bouvin · January 2015

ZOS isn't that silent actually.

It's the silence on the game's own forums that's the issue.

However, you can get a lot of info from ESO Live (all available on YouTube) and reddit...

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · January 2015

I put a quote by the president of ZOS and thats STILL not enough of an official word? What will be acceptable I wonder if that is not.

SLy_Kyti · January 2015

I am on a 6 month sub. Still. While it may not be a NEW option for some, I assure you it is still a option for me. One that is set to auto renew. Just putting that out there.
As to the silence, some threads seem like bait and wary fish know better.
Some forum posts ask for information that is lacking on the knowledge base, those mostly receive answers. I see most speculative threads devolving. Like this one. Apologies to the OP.

fromtesonlineb16_ESO · January 2015

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

“The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience, hundreds of hours of gameplay, tons of depth and features, professional customer support - and a commitment to have ongoing content at regular intervals after launch. This type of experience is best paired with a one-time fee per month, as opposed to many smaller payments that would probably add up to more than $14.99/month anyway.” - Matt Firor President ZOS

There you go official word given.

Link?

In any case, the same level of people made the same denial in Turbine, Trion and Bioware .. all their games went F2P, no reason to think ZOS' word has any more value than those three.

Morshire · January 2015

fromtesonlineb16_ESO wrote: »

In any case, the same level of people made the same denial in Turbine, Trion and Bioware .. all their games went F2P, no reason to think ZOS' word has any more value than those three.

I am pretty sure that this sums it up completely. Unless ZOS comes out and says they are for sure going F2P, anything else would only be met with more speculation and rumor. What blows me away is that people are screaming now for comments, but were probably telling others to just "shut up and take it" or "unsub" when people were using the same arguments about the CP and the silence by ZOS. So I reissue this quote from a very wise person:

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

I put a quote by the president of ZOS and thats STILL not enough of an official word? What will be acceptable I wonder if that is not.

Muizer · January 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGSKrC7dGcY

a_good_kidub17_ESO · January 2015

I think the fact that a staff member took the time to address the thread is a good indicator that they are aware, they do read the forums, and they do care, and they aren't giving us the silent treatment.

They'd rather comment on concrete stuff, like forum rules and how some are dissolving the thread. Rather than comment on pure speculation. They are letting you know they are coming close to locking up this thread. Communicating. Instead of just locking/deleting it without warning.

Why worry about it anyways? There's more important stuff to worry about than if a game goes f2p. I'm more worried about how bad I am at pvp now since i came back last month.

And whats for supper? I'm hungry. Hope its not chili.

:l

Mettaricana · January 2015

ironic gm broke the silence yet still didnt give us an answer.... just a scolding for forum use rules... beginning to believe the f2p/ b2p propaganda and tomorrow will be the announcment during the live episode. unless they plan on a free to download pay to play plan lol

JessieColt · January 2015

Mettaricana wrote: »

ironic gm broke the silence yet still didnt give us an answer.... just a scolding for forum use rules... beginning to believe the f2p/ b2p propaganda and tomorrow will be the announcment during the live episode. unless they plan on a free to download pay to play plan lol

Forum Moderators are not GM's.

Forum Moderators only know what the company tells them, and even then, they are still under an NDA unless and until they are cleared to talk about it.

Chances are, since they are Forum Moderators, that will never happen.

WraithAzraiel · January 2015

RazielSR wrote: »

TheBull wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

To my knowledge, no one has left because they think the game might end up going free-to-play. Mainly because no one with half a brain thinks that.

And as always, didn't you quit? Every time I see you post threads like this, it comes months after your promise to leave the game entirely.

What does his decision to quit have to do with the topic? Im a bit confused as he has to be subbing to be able to speak on here. So its unclear where youre leading with this..

I think he's saying OP is an emo drama queen. I could be wrong, but I think that's where he is going.

It is that I left the game LIKE A LOT of people. Then I was back and I even gave a key for free. I was back because I liked the idea of champion and justice system. Now Im jusr scared about the game going f2P and I would like this whole thing to stop. This man as you can see is hunting me like a pseudo hircine and always saying"hey hey didnt you leave? Blablablaaa"

So wait if you left the game, how do you still have access to the forums? Isn't that a thing? No sub, no forum access?

Or are you still paying a sub just to throw your opinions around on the forums and be bitter?

Mercurio · January 2015

Wow! I've been patiently ignoring this PR debacle for a few days but the dev post makes me think we are in fact going the F2P route. bleep me. I love this game but will drop it the second I hear the decision to go F2P. Just like SWTOR.

If not, terrible PR sense.

Mettaricana · January 2015

Mercurio wrote: »

Wow! I've been patiently ignoring this PR debacle for a few days but the dev post makes me think we are in fact going the F2P route. bleep me. I love this game but will drop it the second I hear the decision to go F2P. Just like SWTOR.

If not, terrible PR sense.

kinda with ya on the dropping it like its hot if it goes f2p i can just see the mountain of pay walls to get anything done champion system for premium players lol mounts for 10$, 1$ per dyed armor peice like i've seen in games before.... i really hope tomorrow clears some things up for everyone

AlayneStone · January 2015

I'm still hoping this f2p is nothing but rumours, some are getting a little carried away with it, no way to know for sure until they say something about it tho, might as well just ignore it, speculating isn't going to change anything. By now I'm sure they know how everyone feels if the game goes f2p.

Valen_Byte · January 2015

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

RazielSR wrote: »

TheBull wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

To my knowledge, no one has left because they think the game might end up going free-to-play. Mainly because no one with half a brain thinks that.

And as always, didn't you quit? Every time I see you post threads like this, it comes months after your promise to leave the game entirely.

What does his decision to quit have to do with the topic? Im a bit confused as he has to be subbing to be able to speak on here. So its unclear where youre leading with this..

I think he's saying OP is an emo drama queen. I could be wrong, but I think that's where he is going.

It is that I left the game LIKE A LOT of people. Then I was back and I even gave a key for free. I was back because I liked the idea of champion and justice system. Now Im jusr scared about the game going f2P and I would like this whole thing to stop. This man as you can see is hunting me like a pseudo hircine and always saying"hey hey didnt you leave? Blablablaaa"

So wait if you left the game, how do you still have access to the forums? Isn't that a thing? No sub, no forum access?

Or are you still paying a sub just to throw your opinions around on the forums and be bitter?

He said, he left and now he is back....

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO · January 2015

fromtesonlineb16_ESO wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

“The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience, hundreds of hours of gameplay, tons of depth and features, professional customer support - and a commitment to have ongoing content at regular intervals after launch. This type of experience is best paired with a one-time fee per month, as opposed to many smaller payments that would probably add up to more than $14.99/month anyway.” - Matt Firor President ZOS

There you go official word given.

Link?

In any case, the same level of people made the same denial in Turbine, Trion and Bioware .. all their games went F2P, no reason to think ZOS' word has any more value than those three.

Copy the quote into google you can find multiple links to it. This is an interview just before the game came out. They were crystal clear this game is not ever going to be a f2p or b2p model.

ashlee17 · January 2015

This is why companies don't comment on rumors. It devolves quickly.

RazielSR · January 2015

WraithAzraiel wrote: »

RazielSR wrote: »

TheBull wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

To my knowledge, no one has left because they think the game might end up going free-to-play. Mainly because no one with half a brain thinks that.

And as always, didn't you quit? Every time I see you post threads like this, it comes months after your promise to leave the game entirely.

What does his decision to quit have to do with the topic? Im a bit confused as he has to be subbing to be able to speak on here. So its unclear where youre leading with this..

I think he's saying OP is an emo drama queen. I could be wrong, but I think that's where he is going.

It is that I left the game LIKE A LOT of people. Then I was back and I even gave a key for free. I was back because I liked the idea of champion and justice system. Now Im jusr scared about the game going f2P and I would like this whole thing to stop. This man as you can see is hunting me like a pseudo hircine and always saying"hey hey didnt you leave? Blablablaaa"

So wait if you left the game, how do you still have access to the forums? Isn't that a thing? No sub, no forum access?

Or are you still paying a sub just to throw your opinions around on the forums and be bitter?

Molag Balls itself allows me.

I just hope to be the idiot here,and the rest of the people scared for the f2p thing. Maybe this wont be that funny.

PolskiBunny_ESO · January 2015

I don't think "any press is good press." I know quite a few people that were on the fence on ESO. Now, for them, they have no reason to try it. All the news turned them off from buying and subbing to the game when they can wait and see if it goes free to play instead.

I wonder how many people have been affected by this sort of thought process. I don't think the game would suffer free to play too much and if you like the game, you'll still like the game.

But if you're on the fence, or like it but don't think it's worth the sub, why would you sub with these rumors floating around that aren't being addressed by the company?

Korah_Eaglecry · January 2015

Tandor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

To my knowledge, no one has left because they think the game might end up going free-to-play. Mainly because no one with half a brain thinks that.

And as always, didn't you quit? Every time I see you post threads like this, it comes months after your promise to leave the game entirely.

What does his decision to quit have to do with the topic? Im a bit confused as he has to be subbing to be able to speak on here. So its unclear where youre leading with this..

Hasn't it been pretty well established that the removal of posting rights on the forums once your sub has expired isn't working as intended?

Well established where exactly? Im sorry if I dont keep up with the Player News Network. But I have yet to run into anyone who is 'posting yet unsubbed'.

When I unsubbed I was not able to post and infact had to contact Support to post once I resubbed.

But sure. Lets pretend as if theres some information EVERYONE is supposed to know that obviously not everyone could possibly know.

I based my comment on the numerous claims on these forums from people who said they were still able to post despite their sub having lapsed, and in some cases from people who said they had played in beta but never subsequently subscribed. They may all be pulling the wool over our eyes, hence my phrasing it as a question rather than as a statement of fact.

You didnt just phrase it as a question. You phrased it as fact.

Well Established being the key words here. Whats well established is that you need a sub to post on here. Not the other way around. People claiming otherwise shouldnt be taken so seriously. Until a Mod or Dev confirms it then its nothing but players trolling each other.

Korah_Eaglecry · January 2015

Zershar_Vemod wrote: »

Pupsy wrote: »

It bothers me that instead of receiving answers or comments from staff on threads that would be satisfied with a little feedback, they simply take the time to remind people of forum rules instead of offering actual feedback. I understand that the forum moderators might not have all of the knowledge needed to fully answer the question but even a simple "we'll be trying to communicate better in the future, etc.." would be better than nothing.

Because all the forum mods have instant access to all inner workings and if so, could obviously share them without consulting their superiors..

And because forum mods should put player egos above the job theyre entrusted with. ::eyeroll::

Faulgor · January 2015

ITT: People don't know the different obligations and limits of moderators, developers, publishers, and anyone else involved in the game development process.

Silence has always been the strategy of Bethesda Softworks, and current rumours are not going to change any of that.

Friendly reminder by Pete Hines:

https://twitter.com/DCDeacon/status/543035633493889024

https://twitter.com/bethblog/status/409085013397733376

KiriX · January 2015

Black PR is still stay PR, isn't it?

nerevarine1138 · January 2015

Mercurio wrote: »

Wow! I've been patiently ignoring this PR debacle for a few days but the dev post makes me think we are in fact going the F2P route. bleep me. I love this game but will drop it the second I hear the decision to go F2P. Just like SWTOR.

If not, terrible PR sense.

There has not been a developer post in this thread. The only developer statement on free-to-play has been that they aren't planning on it. If that isn't good enough, then too bad. They can't be any more clear, and continuing to deny rumors just makes people like you think they're hiding something.

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

To my knowledge, no one has left because they think the game might end up going free-to-play. Mainly because no one with half a brain thinks that.

And as always, didn't you quit? Every time I see you post threads like this, it comes months after your promise to leave the game entirely.

What does his decision to quit have to do with the topic? Im a bit confused as he has to be subbing to be able to speak on here. So its unclear where youre leading with this..

Hasn't it been pretty well established that the removal of posting rights on the forums once your sub has expired isn't working as intended?

Well established where exactly? Im sorry if I dont keep up with the Player News Network. But I have yet to run into anyone who is 'posting yet unsubbed'.

When I unsubbed I was not able to post and infact had to contact Support to post once I resubbed.

But sure. Lets pretend as if theres some information EVERYONE is supposed to know that obviously not everyone could possibly know.

I based my comment on the numerous claims on these forums from people who said they were still able to post despite their sub having lapsed, and in some cases from people who said they had played in beta but never subsequently subscribed. They may all be pulling the wool over our eyes, hence my phrasing it as a question rather than as a statement of fact.

You didnt just phrase it as a question. You phrased it as fact.

Well Established being the key words here. Whats well established is that you need a sub to post on here. Not the other way around. People claiming otherwise shouldnt be taken so seriously. Until a Mod or Dev confirms it then its nothing but players trolling each other.

Moderators have confirmed on many occasions that there have been bugs allowing unsubscribed players to post. It's not a big deal in the context of this thread, but just to lay that little side-argument to rest: it has happened.

Tandor · January 2015

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

To my knowledge, no one has left because they think the game might end up going free-to-play. Mainly because no one with half a brain thinks that.

And as always, didn't you quit? Every time I see you post threads like this, it comes months after your promise to leave the game entirely.

What does his decision to quit have to do with the topic? Im a bit confused as he has to be subbing to be able to speak on here. So its unclear where youre leading with this..

Hasn't it been pretty well established that the removal of posting rights on the forums once your sub has expired isn't working as intended?

Well established where exactly? Im sorry if I dont keep up with the Player News Network. But I have yet to run into anyone who is 'posting yet unsubbed'.

When I unsubbed I was not able to post and infact had to contact Support to post once I resubbed.

But sure. Lets pretend as if theres some information EVERYONE is supposed to know that obviously not everyone could possibly know.

I based my comment on the numerous claims on these forums from people who said they were still able to post despite their sub having lapsed, and in some cases from people who said they had played in beta but never subsequently subscribed. They may all be pulling the wool over our eyes, hence my phrasing it as a question rather than as a statement of fact.

You didnt just phrase it as a question. You phrased it as fact.

What I said was : "Hasn't it been pretty well established that the removal of posting rights on the forums once your sub has expired isn't working as intended?"

Which part of "Hasn't it" at the start of a sentence and "?" at the end of a sentence do you not recognise as the basis of a question rather than a statement?