Gated access to imperial city, why only one alliance having access will be boring.

AssaultLemming · July 2015

So I've played about 20 hours on the pts so far and one thing is clear to me, the only fun thing in IC is the PvP. The PvE aspect (other than dungeons/quests) is basically just a big grind, it's cracked wood cave on a larger scale. If only one faction has access at a time the only thing to do inside will be grind grind grind.

Please zos, make it so access is only dependant on holding your 3 primary keeps, and one of your 2 emp keeps. This is going to make it much more likely that at least 2 factions have access so there will always be PvP inside. Without relatively easy access this zone will just be a PvE grind fest, and that's no fun at all...

krees28b14_ESO · July 2015

From what I remember of the patch notes and things devs said in other posts, they are looking at testing the access in different ways to see which one will be best. IC is supposed to be viewed as a reward for fighting and winning the war. Not have 24/7 access for simply being part of it.

redspecter23 · July 2015

I'll be a real rebel and suggest not gating access at all. Putting a mechanic into the game that keeps players out of your newest content, the only zone released in almost a year, content you want people to spend money on, is a ludicrous decision.

Gated access combined with the near inability to swap campaigns for up to a month can not possibly be something that the majority of the community sees as a good thing.

If I log into the game and want to play the new Imperial City content, I do not want to spend time clearing out keeps just to get in the door. I want to play the new content, not the content I've had access to for over a year.

Glory · July 2015

I agree with OP. This won't be PvP if you can't enter!

If the PTS server isn't excessively full of people, it will be fine on live.

CaptainObvious · July 2015

If there is no gating then there is no tactical advantage to the center city on the larger scale. If it was separate then it could be pocket plane Illudium Phosdex and be a new completely separate map.

Since it shares resources then there should be a benefit and a cost. Similar to loading down an opposing faction's population bars with PvEers or AFKers.

xaraan · July 2015

I kind of disagree. I like the mix, but the pvp is too heavy when the pop is locked and in there.

When I first got in and the pop wasn't locked all around it was cool. You fought your way through mobs and occasionally ran into players. That's what was nice.

Once it got locked it turned into running into giant groups, having groups camping spawns and entrances and feeling more like Call of Duty than ESO's pvp. Every single fight, especially boss fights, there wasn't a chance you'd run into players, it was a guarantee there were guys waiting to jump you when you got to low health during a boss fight that wouldn't aggro on them.

Hoping it feels more like it did at first once there are more campaigns.

AssaultLemming · July 2015

More and more I think the solution here must be to have different campaigns with different access rules then, the campaigns are all going to have different rules anyway so perhaps one campaign has all access, one has majority keep access etc...

AssaultLemming · July 2015

Haderus, which is going to be scored on resources could be all access, The campaign focused on elder scrolls could be that you need your factions scrolls for access and the other campaigns could be gated by home keeps...

Hiero_Glyph · July 2015

Besides the fact that you will pay 2,500 crowns for content you may not be allowed to play there is the issue that once a campaign is population capped, not everyone will have IC. So the result is a potential population imbalance if you can even access the content in the first place. It really is a mess once you include the gating mechanics as buff campaigns will ruin IC for everyone but the grinders.

olemanwinter · July 2015

krees28b14_ESO wrote: »

From what I remember of the patch notes and things devs said in other posts, they are looking at testing the access in different ways to see which one will be best. IC is supposed to be viewed as a reward for fighting and winning the war. Not have 24/7 access for simply being part of it.

And that means I'm not buying the DLC.

I've played DC exclusively since launch. I'm not paying the same $$ as some dude that rolled AD or EP to have statistically (across all campaigns) perhaps 15-20% as much access to the thing I paid for.

Forget it.

olemanwinter · July 2015

xaraan wrote: »

I kind of disagree. I like the mix, but the pvp is too heavy when the pop is locked and in there.

When I first got in and the pop wasn't locked all around it was cool. You fought your way through mobs and occasionally ran into players. That's what was nice.

[..........]

Hoping it feels more like it did at first once there are more campaigns.

I feel the same, but I don't see the problem.

I think this would give another reason to search out something other than the highest population campaigns for your home.

There are tons of campaigns that are virtually empty on live. I go into campaigns that have 2 or 3 bars of my enemy and none of my own alliance....and I can't find a person anywhere. lol

Maybe, with IC being more compact I can actually find a non-zerg fight on a low-pop server.

In other words, I don't think "breathing room" will be a problem if you choose your campaign wisely.

In general, comment not specifically to you, I think:

It should remain 100% ungated. The fewer keeps you own the further through enemy territory you have to travel, and I think that's enough.

CaptainObvious · July 2015

xaraan wrote: »

I kind of disagree. I like the mix, but the pvp is too heavy when the pop is locked and in there.

When I first got in and the pop wasn't locked all around it was cool. You fought your way through mobs and occasionally ran into players. That's what was nice.

Once it got locked it turned into running into giant groups, having groups camping spawns and entrances and feeling more like Call of Duty than ESO's pvp. Every single fight, especially boss fights, there wasn't a chance you'd run into players, it was a guarantee there were guys waiting to jump you when you got to low health during a boss fight that wouldn't aggro on them.

Hoping it feels more like it did at first once there are more campaigns.

So here's the thing. Right now everyone is focused on the center ring. Having a lock on the center makes a tradeoff of having to manage the original content with the new. Also known as, you ignore the quest to take the farthest keep when you don't have the home field keeps.