[Transparency Request] - A day in the life of Brian Wheeler segment

Lionxoft · February 2015

Mr. Wheeler,

The PvP in this game is great and it allows us to have a lot of fun with our friends as well as our enemies. The open world aspect of Cyrodiil is interesting and I think that the Imperial City will bring a refreshed outlook on PvP beyond just emperor trading. With all of that said I believe that the PvP community is running on fumes and has been for 6 months or more. The emp cap and alliance rank grind has become stale. Now the game is still a lot of fun to wipe zergs with your friends (or wipe zergs consisting of your friends) however we need something new.

In your signature it states "Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City". I would presume that these are the areas that you and your team focus on however as a consumer that has been paying his sub I find myself asking myself. "What does Brian Wheeler and his team do?" There have been no additions to Cyrodiil of visible weight but rather only subtractions. Now this might be due to our limited view of seeing what is on the live server and/or PTS however the changes beyond subtractions are hard to pinpoint.

Campaigns have been limited to 4 vet campaigns and in return the PvP team added 1 non-vet campaign for lowbies. I should note that these campaigns were indeed given new names so that's kind of a fresh change. It might not be the change we were looking for however it often comes up in discussion when we reminisce with our friends about the old times on Auriel's Bow or Scourge (May it RIP) and that is a lot of fun. The keep siege objective gameplay style is great however I think that there should be other aspects to Cyrodiil as well. Trade routes that can be intercepted to gain benefits to your group in that proximity maybe similar to Ayleid wells however if they are not intercepted they could bolster the defensive capabilities of the objective structures within Cyrodiil. When you look beyond the keep and outpost battles in Cyrodiil there isn't that much to do that actually involves PvP. Now I understand that someone will say "But there are daily quests in Cyrodiil"... That is not PvP. That is PvE. I want to slay players not AI.

A portion of your signature states keeps and siege but what kinds of considerable changes have been made to the keeps and siege? Added a few guards here and there. Added an oil pour height requirement. Removed forward camps. Removed purchasable mercs. Beyond that nothing else comes to mind. Some of the siege weaponry is pretty useless as well so seeing some buffs to that aspect would be nice. Also, keeps should have a different style or layout. I understand that the Imperials are very uniform but essentially all the keeps are exactly the same? This creates a routine capture strategy that is easy to execute or on the other side easy to defend. There needs to be more randomness and variety. Now when I say randomness I don't mean the keeps change via magicka because that would be stupid. When I state that they should be more random is the tactic in which one would take one keep as opposed to another. Also, multiple dimensions on how a single keep can be taken. The common strat is to take a postern or ram the front door. Leaving 3 possible ways of entry and ultimately a predictable defense.

Another aspect that I think needs to be addressed or communicated is PvP gear and the plan for it. Currently, the best sets available in the game are found via PvE. Sure, there are some interesting sets such as the Arch-Mage, Shadow Walker and Morag Tong sets however the traits on those pieces are often less than desirable. With that said I personally love the Ravaging set since it's one of the few PvP bought sets that offer the impen trait which I love. Currently, beyond the PvP alliance rank grind or emperorship farming there are no rewards for the PvP game mode. There is nothing exclusive to PvP players such as gear since all the PvP gear can be traded. There are no significant set bonuses similar to those found with PvE dungeon dailies. I want to PvP and earn my gear through PvP! I don't pay a subscription to this game so I have to waste my time doing PvE dailies to get the best gear in the game to PvP with it. I would politely request (after my last sentence it's hard to say that) some form of token system for better gear with desirable traits be included into the equation.

Last week I made a post requesting some more information regarding the "High End PvP" sets that were shown off at Quake Con 2014. These sets are not in the game currently and I was extremely disappointed when I saw them featured in the "Mephala's Realm" DLC pack preview screenshot posted by a fellow community member. Did you really allow them to repurpose our necessary sense of progression and put it behind not only a paygate but one that requires PvE gameplay? We need you to step up to the plate for us when decisions like that could arise. How do you respond when situations like that arise?

QuakeCon Gear concept

Mephala's Realm Teaser

Actual QuakeCon 2014 footage where it reads from his lips that it is "high end pvp gear"
Note: 1:08:01 is the timestamp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlOse0J9NrI&feature=youtu.be&t=1h8m

Lastly, or at least for this post, I arrive at the Imperial City. This is still not in the game despite information from a trustworthy source that it was indeed ready at the guild summit. Now I understand that you might want to make this a DLC and to be completely clear that is OK. You need to make your money somehow but making us wait until post console launch is not reasonable. Now it's been said that the Imperial City is a PvE zone that requires an essence of PvP to open it up or clear enemy players in it however at this point that story has been twisted so many times that we don't know what it is exactly. The best determining action would be to get our hands on it. Imperial City needs to release soon. The PVP player base needs something new. The Imperial City is "ready" so I think it would be a smart decision to release it even as a day one DLC 3/17/15. Can't believe I just said that but that's how starved the PvP realm is.

I snooped around some old posts regarding additions to Cyrodiil and I found a post here:
Source: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/68593/alliance-war-faq#latest

Q: Are you all done building Cyrodiil or will there be any PvP updates?
A: There will be plenty of updates to Cyrodiil as the game lives on. There are already plans for the first few patches!

What was added to Cyrodiil in the first few patches? Does this mean adding more guards etc or were actual additions planned but cancelled?

With all of that juicy feedback provided upstairs I think it's important to get more transparency from the PvP team including yourself and communicate "What's the happs" to the players. Whether that's bridging the gap between the community management team and your team or simply just logging a bit more time here on the forums. I would love to know what has been worked on in the PvP team that handles "Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City" since the guild summit. Something that I have seen work incredibly well with other titles is a work in progress (WIP) section of the forum that kind of shows what the development teams are working on and it also helps allow some valuable feedback regarding concepts before it hits PTS. I think that this would also help the general consensus regarding your approval rating. You might not care however the community says some harsh things your way because of just the simple absence of communication or content delivery.

With all that said I hope that you blow us away with the Imperial City and any upcoming changes (PvP centric gear, Keep design, broadening the dimension of the meta, siege weaponry etc. I went over most of my thoughts and I'm sure the community will have some to add.)

Thanks in advance to @ZOS_BrianWheeler @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

I hope that you found this post to be constructive. It wasn't my intention to flame a developer but rather provide unbridled feedback from a frustrated customer. Thanks for understanding ahead of time.

TL;DR
I of course encourage you to read the above blocks of text errr I mean feedback.

Features that should be visited

New or Upgraded Siege. For example: Make ice, lightning etc more viable.
Updated Keep layout to promote multi-dimensional strategy instead of the same strategy utilized in virtually every siege.
New objectives that are PvP centric within Cyrodiil. (Trade routes etc. See example provided if more info is needed)
PvP Gear

What's happening with?

Again, new PvP sets that are only available via PvP progression. Similar to undaunted.
Making progression overall in Cyrodiil meaningful.
Imperial City. Where is it and why won't it be a day one DLC release on 3/17/2015? According to sources it's finished.
Campaign structure for Tamriel Unlimited

Panda244 · February 2015

Holy flaming flamingo wall of text Batman.
Faints.

@Lionxoft This post is riddled with great information and I agree a great deal with basically everything, ever since launch all Cyrodiil has been is go here, zerg this, capture this wall, 50/50 that keep while we 50/50 this keep. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, as I still have fun in PvP up until this day. But it has been getting old, and PvP needs something, anything. ASAP.

Random Keep Layouts, is something that is severely lacking. It's also complete nonsense coming from a architectural viewpoint, Bloodmayne is built on what looks to be a swampy marshland, meaning it would be similar to St. Petersburg or Venice in the fact that it's sinking, and with that in mind, a few catapults could rip the walls of their foundation and topple it over relatively easy. Then there's Dragonclaw, way up north in the mountains, and the walls there would be constantly under the influence of water freezing, then melting, freezing, melting, cracking everything from walls to wood, so these two keeps would have to be set up differently to combat the harsh environment that they're in.

Another thing I always thought would be fun, would be the ability to set up fortifications along paths of serious interest. Say Alessia bridge for example, the enemy can just walk on through... So allow us to build fortifications such as rubble, blocking the doors on the bridge, or actually adding doors to the bridge, even if they're incredibly weak it'll slow down the enemy advance, or make them move around Southeast and take the bridge below Drake. This is something I always thought would be cool, but not entirely needed.

As for newer PvP gear and actual PvP gear with actual traits that actually work, this has been needed since launch. The only thing the current Dominion/Covenant/Pact gear has going for it, is it's looks, the traits aren't bad, but the bonuses are mediocre at best, not to mention they're outright expensive. I shouldn't have to pay 248k AP for a single piece of gear, 300-400k for a full set of v14 gear sounds more reasonable.

As far as the Imperial City goes, I don't think it's going to have much of a PvP aspect at all, I believe it's something like.

The Aldmeri Dominion owns the six inner keeps, so the Aldmeri Dominion players can enter the city and PvE inside.

However I could be wrong, but from the datamined maps that you can find on the forums and how it was explained in Quakecon and the ESO Live episodes, it doesn't sound like a big buff to PvP, now you mentioned something about Keep Layouts, something else I'd like to mention is terrain.

Not a lot of people probably care about this little feature but it seriously makes up a big part of Cyrodiil experience. Currently, Cyrodiil from the south to about Blue Road Keep and Fort Ash is completely devoid of any interesting features of terrain, there is the river separating Pact territory from Dominion territory, the giant hole southeast of Blue Road, and the Nikel mile-gate we all know and love. That's it, there's no hilly regions, take the Catskill Mountains in New York as an example, I'm not talking legitimate mountain ranges as they're aren't any in the middle of Cyrodiil, but hills like the Catskill and the valleys would make for very interesting strategy. Another thing that's SEVERELY lacking in Cyrodiil is vegetation, I know that's due to technical issues and allowing everyone to play without lag, but forests in ESO really need to be worked on. There's like a tree every 10m separated by a bush every 5m, it's sadly pathetic. I'd like to see some server-side weather too, just inside Cyrodiil, rainstorms that obscure your maximum view distance, they'd be blizzards up north, severe lightning that has a chance to set your siege on fire. Just more interesting stuff, because currently most of Cyrodiil with the exception of really the areas around Kingscrest, Farragut, Arrius, and Glademist, Rayles, Warden, is really bland. It's just fields, sad, open, fields. The area inbetween Dragonclaw and Kingscrest has got to be my favorite zone in the entire game, it's got some nice little lakes, and it's very mountainous, then there's the road that leads directly to each keep, and it's rather flat and open, there's the little wooden bridge that leads from one hill to the other, over the road. Etc.

My two cents, @ZOS_BrianWheeler reply to OP's post and give him a cookie, he deserves it!

Lionxoft · February 2015

@Panda244 I like Batman.

Oughash · February 2015

Lionxoft -- great post. Very well written. I agree completely with all of your suggested additions. There aren't many, and they are minor: PvP gear, vary the keep layouts, add distributed objectives, and Imperial City.

Hopefully they receive this feedback!

Gyudan · February 2015

I'd love to see a segment about the server hamster too.

Manoekin · February 2015

Not like I'm trying to stick up for him too much here, but it's not like he controls everything. Most things people want to see in pvp, even if it's in his area of work, has to go through other people. You want to capture that bridge? You need the UI team that has been swamped with console. You want new gear? Gotta get the art team and itemization teams. He has his role to play. I'm positive he wants all these things, and some of them are or should be ready to go. Ultimately though imo, even he has a boss.

Merlight · February 2015

Before I read the wall, I feel the urge to reply to the title:
He's Not The Messiah - Monty Python's Life of Brian

DeLindsay · February 2015

All I have to add is good luck getting ZoS to become more transparent. It's wishful thinking at best.

Lionxoft · February 2015

Merlight wrote: »

Before I read the wall, I feel the urge to reply to the title:
He's Not The Messiah - Monty Python's Life of Brian

I don't think it's entirely out of bounds to expect someone to deliver in areas that are their responsibilities. He mentions those responsibilities in his signature and those were the topics mentioned. Reaching out to the lead of that realm isn't a bad idea either when you want information in regards to it.

Lionxoft · February 2015

Manoekin wrote: »

Not like I'm trying to stick up for him too much here, but it's not like he controls everything. Most things people want to see in pvp, even if it's in his area of work, has to go through other people. You want to capture that bridge? You need the UI team that has been swamped with console. You want new gear? Gotta get the art team and itemization teams. He has his role to play. I'm positive he wants all these things, and some of them are or should be ready to go. Ultimately though imo, even he has a boss.

@Manoekin , these are all PvP related suggestions so it was my first guess especially since Brian Wheeler claims ownership of the topics mentioned and he is indeed the PvP lead. Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City . Maybe mention those at ZOS that you think it would be better directed to in your comment.

This isn't a flame war directed towards Brian Wheeler. I'd just love to get a better insight into what the PvP team is doing in regards to Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City. I must admit that I brought up the PvP gear topic beyond those aforementioned but only because I feel the gear that is worn in PvP holds a large weight in it's progression. I haven't seen any progress in PvP since launch except for the items listed in the original post (Oil height, merc removal, forward camp removal etc. See the post for others) and we are approaching our first year anniversary as an MMO community. I'm sure a lot of work is being put into smoothing out performance and rightfully so but not everyone plays on the ultra laggy campaigns. Those players should receive rewards all the same.

As I posted in the original post the high end PvP gear art seems to be ready as it was previewed in the "Mephala's Realm" teaser. It looks awesome too! I don't think that this point should be so overlooked. Unless "Mephala's Realm" is a PvP zone that we haven't heard of that would mean either it's a misleading teaser wearing gear not found in the realm, a simple mistake or our "High End PvP Gear" was repurposed as a pay gated PvE set. Each alliance was supposed to receive a unique set of this gear.

c0rp · February 2015

LOL, nice post...I often wonder what the PVP people are doing everyday...I mean... a year has gone by and what has changed in Cyrodiil? In the large scope of things the answer is nothing. Do they play H1Z1 all day or what?

Manoekin · February 2015

Lionxoft wrote: »

Manoekin wrote: »

Not like I'm trying to stick up for him too much here, but it's not like he controls everything. Most things people want to see in pvp, even if it's in his area of work, has to go through other people. You want to capture that bridge? You need the UI team that has been swamped with console. You want new gear? Gotta get the art team and itemization teams. He has his role to play. I'm positive he wants all these things, and some of them are or should be ready to go. Ultimately though imo, even he has a boss.

@Manoekin , these are all PvP related suggestions so it was my first guess especially since Brian Wheeler claims ownership of the topics mentioned and he is indeed the PvP lead. Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City . Maybe mention those at ZOS that you think it would be better directed to in your comment.

This isn't a flame war directed towards Brian Wheeler. I'd just love to get a better insight into what the PvP team is doing in regards to Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City. I must admit that I brought up the PvP gear topic beyond those aforementioned but only because I feel the gear that is worn in PvP holds a large weight in it's progression. I haven't seen any progress in PvP since launch except for the items listed in the original post (Oil height, merc removal, forward camp removal etc. See the post for others) and we are approaching our first year anniversary as an MMO community. I'm sure a lot of work is being put into smoothing out performance and rightfully so but not everyone plays on the ultra laggy campaigns. Those players should receive rewards all the same.

As I posted in the original post the high end PvP gear art seems to be ready as it was previewed in the "Mephala's Realm" teaser. It looks awesome too! I don't think that this point should be so overlooked. Unless "Mephala's Realm" is a PvP zone that we haven't heard of that would mean either it's a misleading teaser wearing gear not found in the realm, a simple mistake or our "High End PvP Gear" was repurposed as a pay gated PvE set. Each alliance was supposed to receive a unique set of this gear.

Your assumption is the same that everyone had at some point. My post was just to make you think more about your questions. I do not have a list of ZOS employees and their titles, nor the time to go step by step through your issues.

If it does end up that the pvp gear was repurposed or is now behind a pay gate... well none of that is Brian's fault. As for other changes to PvP, regarding things within his realm, I think small changes to ticks and guards goes in there. I can't remember exactly, but I'm almost positive there was or was supposed to be a slight change to AP gained in certain ways. Things like these don't make the patch notes usually and are just done behind the scenes as slight corrections. If I'm wrong then someone can point that out. I might be missing some things I'm not sure.

Basically, adding things to Cyrodiil takes more than just a "pvp team" just like adding a new dungeon or zone takes more than a specialized team.

I agree with you though that there needs to be more change and a new freshness to pvp soon.

Lionxoft · February 2015

Manoekin wrote: »

Lionxoft wrote: »

Manoekin wrote: »

Not like I'm trying to stick up for him too much here, but it's not like he controls everything. Most things people want to see in pvp, even if it's in his area of work, has to go through other people. You want to capture that bridge? You need the UI team that has been swamped with console. You want new gear? Gotta get the art team and itemization teams. He has his role to play. I'm positive he wants all these things, and some of them are or should be ready to go. Ultimately though imo, even he has a boss.

@Manoekin , these are all PvP related suggestions so it was my first guess especially since Brian Wheeler claims ownership of the topics mentioned and he is indeed the PvP lead. Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City . Maybe mention those at ZOS that you think it would be better directed to in your comment.

This isn't a flame war directed towards Brian Wheeler. I'd just love to get a better insight into what the PvP team is doing in regards to Cyrodiil, Campaigns, Keeps and Siege, Imperial City. I must admit that I brought up the PvP gear topic beyond those aforementioned but only because I feel the gear that is worn in PvP holds a large weight in it's progression. I haven't seen any progress in PvP since launch except for the items listed in the original post (Oil height, merc removal, forward camp removal etc. See the post for others) and we are approaching our first year anniversary as an MMO community. I'm sure a lot of work is being put into smoothing out performance and rightfully so but not everyone plays on the ultra laggy campaigns. Those players should receive rewards all the same.

As I posted in the original post the high end PvP gear art seems to be ready as it was previewed in the "Mephala's Realm" teaser. It looks awesome too! I don't think that this point should be so overlooked. Unless "Mephala's Realm" is a PvP zone that we haven't heard of that would mean either it's a misleading teaser wearing gear not found in the realm, a simple mistake or our "High End PvP Gear" was repurposed as a pay gated PvE set. Each alliance was supposed to receive a unique set of this gear.

Your assumption is the same that everyone had at some point. My post was just to make you think more about your questions. I do not have a list of ZOS employees and their titles, nor the time to go step by step through your issues.

If it does end up that the pvp gear was repurposed or is now behind a pay gate... well none of that is Brian's fault. As for other changes to PvP, regarding things within his realm, I think small changes to ticks and guards goes in there. I can't remember exactly, but I'm almost positive there was or was supposed to be a slight change to AP gained in certain ways. Things like these don't make the patch notes usually and are just done behind the scenes as slight corrections. If I'm wrong then someone can point that out. I might be missing some things I'm not sure.

Basically, adding things to Cyrodiil takes more than just a "pvp team" just like adding a new dungeon or zone takes more than a specialized team.

I agree with you though that there needs to be more change and a new freshness to pvp soon.

Again, if you read the original post it simply inquires about the topics that are stated in his signature. It offers some suggestions, gives a recap from the player's perspective and asks about progress. Beyond gear I don't think that anything is out of his scope however he is the PvP lead and PvP gear should in my opinion fall under that category of responsibilities.

I think it goes without saying that a project of this scope requires different teams however a good manager or team lead will know how to properly bridge the gap between different teams and get the projects finished.

In the original post I mentioned that I was a frustrated customer. I believe I have every right to be frustrated with the development of the PvP game mode.

We are approaching our year anniversary as an MMO community and since the game has gone live. We have seen very few changes or updates. I put this in the original post as well however it might have been overlooked because of it's length. I'd love to know what was planned and whether or not it was implemented.

Q: Are you all done building Cyrodiil or will there be any PvP updates?
A: There will be plenty of updates to Cyrodiil as the game lives on. There are already plans for the first few patches!