[Player Suggestion] ESO Improvements, Features, and Possible Overhaul

TheBastion · March 2015

Ixtyr wrote: »

Dang, @DDuke and @TheBastion, y'all have been going at it since I bounced out. Let me chime back in with something quickly, and we'll see if it helps.

In terms of level scaling, I agree with @DDuke. I hate it. I hate it in Guild Wars 2, regardless of whether I'm scaling down or the mobs are scaling up.

That said, I do agree with @TheBastion, level scaling keeps the content challenging and more playable. And I love that. Unfortunately, again, as Duke said, we're playing a game that largely has little to no replay value in most zones. So the value in scaling is somewhat diminished.

So here's my somewhat-shoddy-but-still-remotely-possible solution - voluntary level scaling.

We've seen it in games like RIFT - you, the player, can consciously choose to make yourself a "mentor" to anyone at least 5 levels lower than you. If you're, say, a Daggerfall Covenant player, and you're maxed out at 50 with the Champion System and whatnot (assuming no Vet Ranks for this system, since they'll be removed), you could enter Glenumbra and choose to lower your level down to as low as Level 5. You'd retain all of your skills and points, but your stats would be nerfed. You get to consciously choose whether you want to downlevel your main temporarily to play with your buddy's new character, instead of having to level an alt or simply roflstomp everything around you.

This would also allow maxed players looking for a decent challenge to have the opportunity to nerf their stats and try to solo harder content (imagine a Level 10 player trying to complete the entire Bangkorai zone).

To me, this sort of system would simply enable players to play however they want to with their friends or by themselves, in a manner that is unintrusive on the gameplay of everyone else.

---

Secondly, keep in mind that all of this scaling we're discussing may just be a moot point whenever ZOS removes the Veteran Ranks in a future patch. That's something I didn't fully consider when you spoke about the Mercenary/Neutral Zones idea. When ZOS rebalances Vet Ranks, the existence of Veteran Rank zones could become unnecessary, and all zones would simply be scaled to 50 at that point - a la Guild Wars 2 horizontal progression at level 80 for all "end-game zones". That makes this sort of a system a lot more viable...and I'm coming to like the idea even more.

--

Lastly - the roaming bandits idea. I like this, but I'd like for it to be scaled for the zone (and based on how many players join the fight, their levels, etc), and scaled dynamically. Again, a RIFT reference - just perhaps a bit less "fixed" of a system. Basically, I'd like to see more dynamism in the open-world events that happen. Dark Anchors are fixed, and the little random oblivion tears are too few and far between...and fairly bland.

But I'd like to expand upon this idea. A lot. I'd like more options - like, say, having a bit more of the alliance wars involved in open world zones. What if you were sitting in Greenshade, and a fleet of Redguard ships landed on the northwestern beaches, and a full, all-out invasion of the zone began? Players from that faction would not be involved (as ZOS wants to keep PvP in Cyrodiil), but huge armies of NPCs wrecking through zones would give PvE players and RPers a heck of a lot to do and enjoy. If no one helps out, then gradually the Redguards take over quest hubs, maybe they build up a small fort and continue to invade into Malabal Tor, so it's up to the players of the Dominion to hold them back. Similar events would happen in the zones of all three alliances. How cool would that be? And would it not keep PvE and RPers happy and excited, and help to improve the overall "feel" of having alliance-pride?

--

Just a thought. Loving this thread.

@Ixtyr
On Voluntary Level Scaling/Mentoring:
I like this idea. It seems to be a good midway between what @DDuke and I would like to see but were seemingly unable to come to given that we seem to exist on separate ends of the spectrum. It gives the challenge - on a more personal level - without infringing on others who don't necessarily appreciate the mechanic.

Ixtyr wrote:

Secondly, keep in mind that all of this scaling we're discussing may just be a moot point whenever ZOS removes the Veteran Ranks in a future patch. That's something I didn't fully consider when you spoke about the Mercenary/Neutral Zones idea. When ZOS rebalances Vet Ranks, the existence of Veteran Rank zones could become unnecessary, and all zones would simply be scaled to 50 at that point - a la Guild Wars 2 horizontal progression at level 80 for all "end-game zones". That makes this sort of a system a lot more viable...and I'm coming to like the idea even more.

Furthermore, I'd like to know more about what you meant in your quoted statement above. Seems like you have something going and it's piqued my interest. I encourage you to expound on that, if only so I can understand it better.

On Dynamic Events (and example given):
I will have to agree on that mechanic as well as the example stipulated. It turns ESO Tamriel into a living, breathing world in every sense of the word. A life of consequence, whether you choose to help or not. Things like that.

DDuke · March 2015

From my perspective, Mentoring system sounds fine, as long as it just downscales the high level (not the other way around).

Ixtyr · March 2015

TheBastion wrote: »

@Ixtyr
On Voluntary Level Scaling/Mentoring:
I like this idea. It seems to be a good midway between what @DDuke and I would like to see but were seemingly unable to come to given that we seem to exist on separate ends of the spectrum. It gives the challenge - on a more personal level - without infringing on others who don't necessarily appreciate the mechanic.

Ixtyr wrote:

Secondly, keep in mind that all of this scaling we're discussing may just be a moot point whenever ZOS removes the Veteran Ranks in a future patch. That's something I didn't fully consider when you spoke about the Mercenary/Neutral Zones idea. When ZOS rebalances Vet Ranks, the existence of Veteran Rank zones could become unnecessary, and all zones would simply be scaled to 50 at that point - a la Guild Wars 2 horizontal progression at level 80 for all "end-game zones". That makes this sort of a system a lot more viable...and I'm coming to like the idea even more.

Furthermore, I'd like to know more about what you meant in your quoted statement above. Seems like you have something going and it's piqued my interest. I encourage you to expound on that, if only so I can understand it better.

On Dynamic Events (and example given):
I will have to agree on that mechanic as well as the example stipulated. It turns ESO Tamriel into a living, breathing world in every sense of the word. A life of consequence, whether you choose to help or not. Things like that.

On the second point, @TheBastion, I'm basically suggesting that when Veteran Ranks are removed, ZOS is going to have to fully rebalance everything in the game - stats, will have to be scaled to Level 50, gear will need to be rescaled somehow to level 50, materials for crafting will need to be revamped, etc. Basically, the Veteran System is so heavily ingrained into the game, the developers will need to rebalance what is effectively 64 levels plus max-level progression to fit within 50 levels, but not make players feel overly nerfed when it happens. That's a huge challenge, and why they aren't doing it with Patch 1.6.

My suggestion was that, along with the removal of Veteran Ranks, and to not totally screw up the story so they'd have to rewrite it, it would make sense to assume all zone areas would default to Level 50 for Cadwell's Silver & Gold. You'd just progress horizontally through the Champion System at that point.

However, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe if ZOS implemented the voluntary-leveling system...could they do away with all of the DC/AD/EP separated zones, and just have zones level 1-50? That way EP, DC and AD players would play together, which would fit in well with the Mercenary/Neutral idea...

Apologies if I'm a bit unclear, I've been working on this post while multitasking work & the TESO Nation podcast for the past three hours or so. Basically, I'm trying to say we could have all players playing in the same zones together, just some of them would be working on the Silver/Gold stuff, and could have the option to play as a mentored-down version of themselves in that zone.

Hypertionb14_ESO · March 2015

TheBastion wrote: »

Weapon Gilding:

Though I use the term gilding, as it is the proper term used in metallurgy, it is just basically the ability for players to apply dye to their weapons, shields, bows and staves much like ZOS has allowed at present with Armor Dye when the system arrived in Update 3.

There isn’t much to expound on this particular topic as it’s self-explanatory.

Miscellaneous:

Of a few I’d like to tackle briefly, I would like to make note of the fact that weapons disappear when riding a mount. Though I understand there are addons out there that help to refresh it, it’s merely for client-side and I don’t personally see the merit or logic for equipped weapons to disappear when mounting one’s horse.

Perhaps a change of this might be a consideration. As a player, I do enjoy seeing my weapons equipped when riding my horse.

these 2 in particular are some of the best arguments for actual implementation of said features, but i would like to add that the ability to see other players weapons while they are mounted would be beneficial for PvP, as you could tell the general build of your target before you attack them.

TheBastion · March 2015

Ixtyr wrote: »

TheBastion wrote: »

@Ixtyr
On Voluntary Level Scaling/Mentoring:
I like this idea. It seems to be a good midway between what @DDuke and I would like to see but were seemingly unable to come to given that we seem to exist on separate ends of the spectrum. It gives the challenge - on a more personal level - without infringing on others who don't necessarily appreciate the mechanic.

Ixtyr wrote:

Secondly, keep in mind that all of this scaling we're discussing may just be a moot point whenever ZOS removes the Veteran Ranks in a future patch. That's something I didn't fully consider when you spoke about the Mercenary/Neutral Zones idea. When ZOS rebalances Vet Ranks, the existence of Veteran Rank zones could become unnecessary, and all zones would simply be scaled to 50 at that point - a la Guild Wars 2 horizontal progression at level 80 for all "end-game zones". That makes this sort of a system a lot more viable...and I'm coming to like the idea even more.

Furthermore, I'd like to know more about what you meant in your quoted statement above. Seems like you have something going and it's piqued my interest. I encourage you to expound on that, if only so I can understand it better.

On Dynamic Events (and example given):
I will have to agree on that mechanic as well as the example stipulated. It turns ESO Tamriel into a living, breathing world in every sense of the word. A life of consequence, whether you choose to help or not. Things like that.

On the second point, @TheBastion, I'm basically suggesting that when Veteran Ranks are removed, ZOS is going to have to fully rebalance everything in the game - stats, will have to be scaled to Level 50, gear will need to be rescaled somehow to level 50, materials for crafting will need to be revamped, etc. Basically, the Veteran System is so heavily ingrained into the game, the developers will need to rebalance what is effectively 64 levels plus max-level progression to fit within 50 levels, but not make players feel overly nerfed when it happens. That's a huge challenge, and why they aren't doing it with Patch 1.6.

My suggestion was that, along with the removal of Veteran Ranks, and to not totally screw up the story so they'd have to rewrite it, it would make sense to assume all zone areas would default to Level 50 for Cadwell's Silver & Gold. You'd just progress horizontally through the Champion System at that point.

However, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe if ZOS implemented the voluntary-leveling system...could they do away with all of the DC/AD/EP separated zones, and just have zones level 1-50? That way EP, DC and AD players would play together, which would fit in well with the Mercenary/Neutral idea...

Apologies if I'm a bit unclear, I've been working on this post while multitasking work & the TESO Nation podcast for the past three hours or so. Basically, I'm trying to say we could have all players playing in the same zones together, just some of them would be working on the Silver/Gold stuff, and could have the option to play as a mentored-down version of themselves in that zone.

@Ixtyr
I wholeheartedly agree with doing away with the Veteran Rank zones in favor of there simply being the voluntary scaling/mentoring system. In fact, I do believe I made mention of that in my original post.

Hypertionb14_ESO wrote: »

TheBastion wrote: »

Weapon Gilding:

Though I use the term gilding, as it is the proper term used in metallurgy, it is just basically the ability for players to apply dye to their weapons, shields, bows and staves much like ZOS has allowed at present with Armor Dye when the system arrived in Update 3.

There isn’t much to expound on this particular topic as it’s self-explanatory.

Miscellaneous:

Of a few I’d like to tackle briefly, I would like to make note of the fact that weapons disappear when riding a mount. Though I understand there are addons out there that help to refresh it, it’s merely for client-side and I don’t personally see the merit or logic for equipped weapons to disappear when mounting one’s horse.

Perhaps a change of this might be a consideration. As a player, I do enjoy seeing my weapons equipped when riding my horse.

these 2 in particular are some of the best arguments for actual implementation of said features, but i would like to add that the ability to see other players weapons while they are mounted would be beneficial for PvP, as you could tell the general build of your target before you attack them.

@Hypertionb14_ESO
Thank you for clarifying that. I should have said that weapons on mounts should apply to all across the board as a server-side mechanics rather than a client-side one.

ThinkerOfThings · March 2015

First off, great post, many of these ideas I have been mulling over, especially in regards to level scaling. It seems this will become far more important with the addition of new content that scales to level and runs along side the normal story / level progression. Additionally I like the idea of still having a gear chase but not having veteran levels associated to it.

To expand on what was already discussed, I would love to see a new set of customization options for our gear. The idea behind the set bonuses would be that they are a new tier of upgrade for pre-existing gear that adds flavor and customization but does not intrude on the established sets. A thought I had was a series of items that allowed us to imbue a current set of armor with an increase in stats in the same way upgrading the quality currently works but with a bit of flair. These pieces would individually grant a standard bonus (same as any quality upgrade, or perhaps to a specific stat i.e. crit, weapon damage, magica ) but when say you had three or five pieces imbued into gear your character is wearing you would get a flavor bonus on top of whatever set bonus was already on your gear. The flavor bonus for your armor starts as primarily cosmetic but when you have enough pieces you would get a better buff. Additionally the weapon specific upgrades would include a static increase in power similar to the way armor works, but would have a flavor ability that scales in power based on the number of corresponding armor aspect pieces you had. That way you could mix and match aspects for both weapons and armor.

Some ideas/examples I had in regards to this were:

Armor Aspect of the Phoenix:
3 piece bonus: Your eyes glow a fiery orange
5 piece bonus: You can revive without the use of a soul stone once every (x) number of minutes, when you use this ability you are wreathed in (cosmetic) flame for (y) amount of time.

Weapon Aspect of the Phoenix:
When in combat your character is surrounded by a cloak of flame, the fire from this cloak does (x) amount of damage ( where (x) is scaled damage based on the number of Phoenix aspect armor pieces adorned by a character )

Armor Aspect of the Waywalker:
3 piece bonus: Stars occasionally float around you
5 piece bonus: A glowing star appears on your forehead and you may use a way shrine for no cost once every (x) minutes.

Weapon Aspect of the Waywalker:
Your weapon is surrounded by twinkling starlight, once every (x) amount of time, your weapon will call down (y) number of comets on an engaged hostile enemy that do (z) amount of damage each (where (y) is the number of Waywalker Aspect Armor pieces a player has )

Armor Aspect of Nocturnal's Shadow:
3 piece bonus: Crouching causes you to be surrounded by flitting shadow.
5 piece bonus: When you dodge roll you are surrounded by a shadow and dodge rolling twice in a row will cause the second dodge roll to be at reduced cost, this can occur once every (x) amount of time.

Weapon Aspect of Nocturnal's Shadow:
Your weapon is consumed by shadow, when dodging your character has (x) chance to summon a murder of crows. These crows slow and do minor damage to players in the area of effect. The crows last for (y) amount of time (where (y) is the number of Nocturnal's Shadow Armor Aspect pieces a player has )

Armor Aspect of Mara's Light:
3 Piece bonus: Your healing spells cause you to glow with a soft white light.
5 Piece bonus: A priestess of Mara will follow you around and recite proverbs from Mara's holy books, while active the Priestess of Mara has (x) chance to cast an additional heal for (y) amount of life on a damaged member of your party.

Weapon Aspect of Mara's Light:
Your weapon is surrounded in white light, casting a healing spell may summon up to (X) Motes of Mara, while active a Mote of Mara increases the chance for your healing spells to crit by (y) amount. When a player gains (X) Motes of Mara, the motes burst causing the players next healing spell to crit and have (x)% reduced cost ( where (x) is the number of Mara's Light Armor Aspect pieces a player has).

Jewelry Aspects:
I felt like I should bring them up, but I havn't come up with a fun way of adding them incorporating them to the aspect system.

To play daedra's advocate real quick, I do see players who pre-ordered the game and can choose any race in any alliance viewing some of the discussed ways of opening up the game as lowering the value of their pre-order bonus. Having players locked to their starting faction may be a good idea in order to help with Alliance balance in PvP as well as not to upset people by giving away a pre-order bonus to everyone. That being said I imagine if that pre-order bonus was still to have some value in another form or fashion, that people would be less upset by that change.

In regards to making the world available to everyone but maintaining some alliance presence perhaps we could add new quests to each zone to replace Alliance specific quests for non alliance members in that zone, while leaving all of the non alliance specific stories available for anyone of any Alliance. To replace alot of those alliance specific quests per zone while keeping in theme with the whole, you are just a good guy out doing your thing, we could add some repeatable quests (bring this shipment of goods to x person in zone y, oh your attacked by monster z on the way) to fill in some of the spots where Alliance specific quests are supposed to happen as well as the linear story lines found at a quest hub.

Also are we planning on throwing out Cadwell's Gold and Silver altogether? I was thinking we could keep these, however they unlock just the main story quests for each alliance and before starting each of those quests you would get a bonus costume reward in the form of an Alliance appropriate Polymorph, then head out to do the main quests in those zones, once complete with both you would get a Polymorph for you own Alliance. This way it would still make sense as how you are able to go over and be entrusted with a quest by an alliance ruler after potentially slaughtering hundreds of their troops in Cyrodiil.

Additionally there could be quests where you actively work against that alliance by completing daily / repeatable quests to stop (x) number of shipments, or kill (x) number of opposing alliance NPCs in a zone. I really like the idea of zone events to be added for some of these as I always felt like they made a world seem more alive, perhaps some of those could be incorporated in. Some if not all of the current zone bosses, once scaled, could be rotating events that appear on the map every so often and have to be completed by a larger number of people, splitting potential damage between the number of people in the event. Or another good zone event would be waves of enemies such as bandits attacking outside of a town. Perhaps some of the current zone bosses, once scaled, could be rotating events that appear on the map ever so often and have to be completed by a larger number of people, splitting potential damage between the number of people in the event. Or another good zone event would be waves of enemies such as bandits attacking outside of a town.

Completion of these world events could provide a currency that when enough are gathered are used to purchase that higher tier gear that was also discussed. Scaling how quickly these could be obtained while making it so that all players have access to the next tier, but those who are put in extra work in one area or another can get a little extra seems like it would be important as well.

The addition of new quests and item features is not as simple as just slap some boolean statements together and call it a day, new features require alot of work work, which takes time and money to produce but hey this is a guided over haul wish list right?

Just a few ideas I wanted to add to this fantastic article, thank you.

Ixtyr · March 2015

@ThinkerOfThings, rather than quote your post, I'll just state my thoughts quick.

First, I like your cosmetic gear customization ideas. Personally, I'd like to see them as skins that you could apply to gear, similar to dyes, but I can see how having them crafted as an additional "Trait" of sorts could work.

Second, about pre-orders - the any race / any faction should have never been a pre-order exclusive. I personally want ZOS to add that as a DLC for everyone. Let players play the race they want in the faction of their choice. It was a foolish gimmick and I dislike it strongly, and that's coming from an early beta tester and someone who has the pre-order bonus himself.

Third, I believe I mentioned and discussed my thoughts on the reapplication of Cadwell's Silver & Gold as a revamp of the Veteran Rank system with a mentoring-system a few posts before yours, so I'll let you check that out rather than re-writing. The same goes for dynamic world events.

All in all, I think we're on a fairly similar wavelength. I'm definitely liking the direction this thread is going. Hopefully @ZOS_JessicaFolsom and the gang are keeping their eyes on this thread and pass some of the ideas along.

TheBastion · March 2015

Ixtyr wrote: »

@ThinkerOfThings, rather than quote your post, I'll just state my thoughts quick.

First, I like your cosmetic gear customization ideas. Personally, I'd like to see them as skins that you could apply to gear, similar to dyes, but I can see how having them crafted as an additional "Trait" of sorts could work.

Second, about pre-orders - the any race / any faction should have never been a pre-order exclusive. I personally want ZOS to add that as a DLC for everyone. Let players play the race they want in the faction of their choice. It was a foolish gimmick and I dislike it strongly, and that's coming from an early beta tester and someone who has the pre-order bonus himself.

Third, I believe I mentioned and discussed my thoughts on the reapplication of Cadwell's Silver & Gold as a revamp of the Veteran Rank system with a mentoring-system a few posts before yours, so I'll let you check that out rather than re-writing. The same goes for dynamic world events.

All in all, I think we're on a fairly similar wavelength. I'm definitely liking the direction this thread is going. Hopefully @ZOS_JessicaFolsom and the gang are keeping their eyes on this thread and pass some of the ideas along.

@Ixtyr / @ThinkerOfThings
"Hear, hear!"

That's all I really need to say at this point. Some - if not most - of our ideas seem quite a logistical nightmare to implement if chosen but I am personally of the mind that things that are worth doing usually end up being quite excruciating to do, but rewarding in the end.

Some very, very good ideas put forth in the thread so far; not to mention changes, additions and re-iterations about my original post to things which I may have overlooked in passing.

Let's keep it up, guys, and may the greens see our suggestions herein! [T]7

Mikoto · March 2015

I was thinking how about instead of throwing out Cadwell entirely That it could be a hybridization. Basically when you hit 50 you can explore the entire map and -see- other players from the other factions. Now you might be thinking how would level 50s do the content? Easy when you undertake the quest the area the quest needs it will become a level 50 phase and when you're done it'll turn back to normal.

So while you're doing your quest you will see only people of your level and won't disturb the others that are leveling up normally and when you're done you can go back to socializing and running around with others. Same with delves and public dungeons. That way we don't have to scale you -down- and make you feel weaker as a result. It'll make the world feel truly alive and more open but without the disturbance. Thoughts?

Ffastyl · March 2015

With the several posts on level scaling, I feel I have to mention Battle Leveling. This setting, as most of us know, scales our characters to VR5 effectiveness in Cyrodiil. However, I have noticed of late that Battle Level is toggled on upon entering Cyrodiil and reverted to player settings upon exiting (on or off). This makes the setting meaningless aside from a placebo effect. But it can be repurposed towards level scaling.

Adding the functionality to apply Battle Levels to non-Alliance War zones would effectively create the mentoring system discussed several times. The conditions to toggle Battle Level would have to be changed to accommodate such a function and it should be applied when transitioning between zones, like the particle effects memory setting. Restricting the setting so would prevent players from toggling Battle Level for a single fight, whether to show off or to beat it, and prevent abuse of the setting in open world PvP.

Needless to say, once open world PvP is implemented there should be a way to differentiate between a battle leveled player and a non-battle leveled player. Although, leaving battle leveled players unmarked would bring a type of gamble to PvP similar to the Justice System's NPCs: you do not know the power level of your target until you fight him/her. This makes some NPC shakedowns go afoul as, guards or no, the player is outmatched.

To address the effectiveness Battle Level should scale players to in each zone, a level on the lower end of those appropriate to the zone seems ideal for balancing and incentivising. Battle Level is accessible to all players from level 1, so making the scaled effectiveness the average level or higher would invite new players to toggle Battle Level on and overpower half or more of the zone. Endgame players also have a tremendous gear advantage, to which a low scaling for Battle Level would counteract. Keep in mind Battle Level is a voluntary system in which participants want the zone to be challenging.

A cursory list of Battle Level scaling could be as follows:
Glenumbra/Auridon/Stonefalls (+starting islands) - Lv 3
Stormhaven/Grahtwood/Deshaan - Lv16
Rivenspire/Greenshade/Shadowfen - Lv 24
Alik'r Desert/Malabal Tor/Eastmarch - Lv31
Bangkorai/Reaper's March/The Rift - Lv37
Coldharbour - Lv44
Craglorn/Cyrodiil/Endgame Zones - Lv50

A side effect of this is allowing lower level players to travel to higher level zones without being hopelessly outclassed. They will still be at a disadvantage, but nothing player skill cannot overcome (e.g. A level 17 can fight a troll in Cyrodiil (VR5) with Battle Leveling).

zeuseason · March 2015

I took a long break from this game and upon coming back, I felt these were huge pitfalls in the feature list for this game:

No mass AH system
No working group finder
VR levels are still horribad and destroy end game

TheBastion · March 2015

Mikoto wrote: »

I was thinking how about instead of throwing out Cadwell entirely That it could be a hybridization. Basically when you hit 50 you can explore the entire map and -see- other players from the other factions. Now you might be thinking how would level 50s do the content? Easy when you undertake the quest the area the quest needs it will become a level 50 phase and when you're done it'll turn back to normal.

So while you're doing your quest you will see only people of your level and won't disturb the others that are leveling up normally and when you're done you can go back to socializing and running around with others. Same with delves and public dungeons. That way we don't have to scale you -down- and make you feel weaker as a result. It'll make the world feel truly alive and more open but without the disturbance. Thoughts?

@Mikoto
Seems like something that plays on a more technical and mechanic-based aspect of the game. Could be something to consider, regardless. Good of you to put up the idea.

Ffastyl wrote: »

With the several posts on level scaling, I feel I have to mention Battle Leveling. This setting, as most of us know, scales our characters to VR5 effectiveness in Cyrodiil. However, I have noticed of late that Battle Level is toggled on upon entering Cyrodiil and reverted to player settings upon exiting (on or off). This makes the setting meaningless aside from a placebo effect. But it can be repurposed towards level scaling.

Adding the functionality to apply Battle Levels to non-Alliance War zones would effectively create the mentoring system discussed several times. The conditions to toggle Battle Level would have to be changed to accommodate such a function and it should be applied when transitioning between zones, like the particle effects memory setting. Restricting the setting so would prevent players from toggling Battle Level for a single fight, whether to show off or to beat it, and prevent abuse of the setting in open world PvP.

Needless to say, once open world PvP is implemented there should be a way to differentiate between a battle leveled player and a non-battle leveled player. Although, leaving battle leveled players unmarked would bring a type of gamble to PvP similar to the Justice System's NPCs: you do not know the power level of your target until you fight him/her. This makes some NPC shakedowns go afoul as, guards or no, the player is outmatched.

To address the effectiveness Battle Level should scale players to in each zone, a level on the lower end of those appropriate to the zone seems ideal for balancing and incentivising. Battle Level is accessible to all players from level 1, so making the scaled effectiveness the average level or higher would invite new players to toggle Battle Level on and overpower half or more of the zone. Endgame players also have a tremendous gear advantage, to which a low scaling for Battle Level would counteract. Keep in mind Battle Level is a voluntary system in which participants want the zone to be challenging.

A cursory list of Battle Level scaling could be as follows:
Glenumbra/Auridon/Stonefalls (+starting islands) - Lv 3
Stormhaven/Grahtwood/Deshaan - Lv16
Rivenspire/Greenshade/Shadowfen - Lv 24
Alik'r Desert/Malabal Tor/Eastmarch - Lv31
Bangkorai/Reaper's March/The Rift - Lv37
Coldharbour - Lv44
Craglorn/Cyrodiil/Endgame Zones - Lv50

A side effect of this is allowing lower level players to travel to higher level zones without being hopelessly outclassed. They will still be at a disadvantage, but nothing player skill cannot overcome (e.g. A level 17 can fight a troll in Cyrodiil (VR5) with Battle Leveling).

@Ffastyl
See, this is another aspect to consider when we're talking about the topic of level scaling. Another valid suggestion that plays on the level scaling scheme already used in Cyrodiil which - I must admit - I forgot was already in the game. With that said - including the variables presented - such a system would help pave the way to something that's close to level scaling, if not the direct system entirely.

Kudos.

Kai087 · March 2015

There's quite a lot of deep stuff here, but I particularly like the weapon gilding (aka dyes for weapons) and the mercenary system the most. Dyes for weapons is something I could easily see being brought into the game, and I think everyone can agree that it'd be a great idea to dye weapons in addition to armor to really refine your character's look.

The mercenary idea is a spark towards freedom of choice for the player, which is a strong factor for an Elder Scrolls game. I'd definitely love to see something like that in, so that the players are free to act and choose what they decide, instead of NPCs/Game restrictions out of odd design choices deciding for them. You see NPCs all over Tamriel of all races, regardless of what province it's in. It's not really a stretch at all to be independent and decide where your character really wants to go, and what it wants to be. I was actually surprised this was not the case from the very beginning of ESO.

TheBastion · May 2015

Kai087 wrote: »

There's quite a lot of deep stuff here, but I particularly like the weapon gilding (aka dyes for weapons) and the mercenary system the most. Dyes for weapons is something I could easily see being brought into the game, and I think everyone can agree that it'd be a great idea to dye weapons in addition to armor to really refine your character's look.

The mercenary idea is a spark towards freedom of choice for the player, which is a strong factor for an Elder Scrolls game. I'd definitely love to see something like that in, so that the players are free to act and choose what they decide, instead of NPCs/Game restrictions out of odd design choices deciding for them. You see NPCs all over Tamriel of all races, regardless of what province it's in. It's not really a stretch at all to be independent and decide where your character really wants to go, and what it wants to be. I was actually surprised this was not the case from the very beginning of ESO.

Whoa. Been a while, and this has been buried in my absence.

You make a good observation, @Kai087. Not unlike my own, actually. It makes me glad to know that that little nuance there is noticeable to others, as well. Refreshing to know that I'm not alone in how you see Khajiit in Covenant lands, some Altmer merchants in Skyrim, perhaps an odd Breton or two in Aldmeri territory closer to High Rock or Cyrodiil.

They're everywhere. No reason you can't get gossip from them when you're nearby.

In general, though, I'd like to hear more from you guys! Let's get this noticed by ZOS. \[T]/

Deome · May 2015

Scratch my previous, wrong discussion.

Kronosphere · May 2015

DDuke wrote: »

There's a good reason the vast majority of people still consider Morrowind to be the best Elder Scrolls title.

In fact, what I'd like to see ZOS add is high level alcoves in lower level zones. Areas, which you'd pass as a low level and think "uh oh, I better come back here later!", adding a sense of danger & excitement to the game, rather than just steamrolling one zone after another, trying not to fall asleep in the process.

this x1,000,000! it was not a wise decision to have such linear progression through zones and missions. when you are finished a zone in eso. it is essentially obsolete in all ways. your done with it. no reason to go back. might as well delete it. this is contrary to how elder scrolls is. especially morrowind. make the world seem real. make there be like in real life, danger in some areas, safety/ease in others. the game lacks flow and gets that generic rollercoaster mmo feel with how they have done it. i long to need to still be in stonefalls its my characters homeland after all. yet he no longer needs to go there and this makes me sad. add more entrances to each zone, add some hard stuff and easy stuff to each zone, give me reasons to go EVERYWHERE and not just cross off x zone when im done with it. if we opened up all zones at once, instead of being completionist mode each zone at a time as u go, you could just naturally find quests and being exploring a heap of zones at once, freely and openly and progress without being locked to one place. id be leveling in stonefalls for a bit, get to level 5 go to reapers march, see a scary gave with a "danger" sign in auridon and know to steer clear. run into the odd overleveled spider die, know to avoid it. all of a sudden the place gets character! im scared of this place! i know this path is safe! i can beat the bandits there! it would be truly magical! the world would live and breathe!

id even go so far to make wolves always so strong. every monster always being the same strength would be way more awesome. i know when i played morrowind if i saw a ascended sleeper id run for my life, doesnt matter where i am its still an ascended sleeper and they are tough. why are wolves not able to kill a level 2 yet another place are stronger than balreth this feared cursed monster that kills armies? its just takes out ALL of the personality and soul of the game. if u want a stronger wold, make a new one with slightly diff colours call it snow wolf, timberwolf, deadly wolf and so on. dont mix and match stats to a monster based on location=(

if this happened eso would live forever and be TRULY unique. nothing else would compare. it would be a REAL elder scrolls online.

TheBastion · June 2016

That feel and moment when, as of June 13, 2016, most of these are being worked on.

Feels good, man. \[T]/