Some 1.6 issues that I wished the Imperial City update did more to address

Joy_Division · August 2015

I'm generally not one of those people who wear nostalgia glasses. There were things I hated about 1.5 and let's not ignore the reality that many players left the game in 1.5 only to come back (temporarily) hoping that 1.6 would make it better. That being said, I do believe the game was more enjoyable to play in say December 2014 than it is now and I am disappointed some issues that have arisen since 1.6 have not been addressed in this current patch. None of this means I am going to quit playing. It's just meant to provide some perspective to where ESO was , where it has gone, and where it could go that might make it better.

The most productive way to play this game is to nuke zombies and goblins. Of course, this has always been the fastest way to level-up, but before 1.6, goblin-grinders could not actually gain more character power than me and I got the game's best loot by actually completing the game's most difficult content.
Virtual infinite resources Before 1.6, it was difficult to balance damage Vs. sustain. Now we all do the same thing: stack weapon / spell damage as high as possible because it's easy to trivialize sustain. Don't blame the champion system here. As a magic build, the day 1.6 came out was the day I permanently dropped spell symmetry from my bar.
Racial Imbalance That we have given up hope that ZoS can actually balance the races and instead are impatiently awaiting a race change option is a damning indictment. No other way to sugarcoat it.
Trivializing Content Remember when the Praxin fight in Spindleclutch was a legitimate DPS check? Remember when we used to go into the tunnel against the Lich in Wayrest Sewers because it was a legit challenge otherwise? Remember when you actually needed a legit tank and healer to complete DSA? Again this is not a champion system issue, but something that was apparent to anyone who did a pledge the first day 1.6 released.
Itemization Better, but still a problem. Set-bonuses are not balanced: +magicka/stamina and +spell/weapon damage are (still) too strong relative to the others. Charged, Sturdy, Powered, Exploration, and other undesirable and essentially worthless traits ought to be competitive in a system that uses RNG instead of a token system. Most 5 piece bonus are not worth the loss in spell/weapon damage needed to acquire them.
Stale Ultimate generation We can debate whether an ultimate "problem" existed beforehand, but the current "solution" is less than satisfying. I do agree that removing out of combat ultimate was a good idea (yet there are still ways around this). However, the removal of a dynamic system to generate ultimate outside of the virtual cool-down that exists now limits build variety and, importantly, has taken away one of the few tools that smaller groups could utilize to defeat the dreaded "zerg."
Magicka detonation This skill was designed to fight "zergs" and has instead has been (ab)used to set up single target burst damage and strengthened the very thing it was designed to counter. Removing the cast time from the proximity version now removes the disincentive for individuals and "zergs" from using it. The ranged version still does not give an individual player a viable counter as they have to render themselves defenseless for too long to cast this skill, which often resulted in death or the spell failing completely because the target moved out of range. I think a pure focus on immediate damage was/is a mistake.
Promoting a meta that has encourage "zergs." There are many theories out there why "zerging" has become so strong and I do not care to partake in these arguments (again). I will say this. Before 1.6 it was plausible for small groups of four or so to actually engage and fight zergs as opposed to pick off stragglers and escape, which is what smaller groups tend to do now. This is a fundamental difference. A Dragonknight or Templar is now at a inherent disadvantage as it could better compete in the old way, which I think has led to the perception that Nightblades and Sorcerers have risen to the top of the PvP foodchain. Even so, Nightblades and Sorcerers have had to adapt. In 1.5, I remember Krim, an AD nightblade, used to stand his ground with just a few allies and fight "zergs," rather than dodge rolling / cloaking away. This implies that the combat power of the "zerg" has become too disproportionately strong. We can debate the reasons until the cows come home, but the sort of gameplay that saw small groups compete in a head-up battle (as opposed to hit and run) I just do not see a lot of anymore and the Imperial City update has not provided us with the sort of mechanical changes that might bring back this play style. I really think the lack of dynamic ultimate generation has hit this gameplay hard as smaller groups always generated much more ultimate than larger ones
Lack of challenge presented by End-Game content It's awesome the PvP players got "their" update but I do not understand how PvE oriented players were not thrown a bone. Yes, there are two new dungeons, but nothing has been done with the sort of classic raids that Trials are supposed to represent, or Dragonstar Arena. That these have not been adjusted to VR16 at the least is puzzling and that the designers still allow us to DPS the portals in DSA and effectively neuter the challenge is incomprehensible. It would not have been asking much for the developers to tweak the difficult or add a "nightmare" mode where it was not possible to straight up 100% burn the Mantikora in Sanctum Opedia.
Imbalances brought about by the Champion System I am aware there are plans on a catch-up mechanic and a talk of a seasonal "cap". As long as those ideas remain on the drawing board and not in game, the issues with the Champion system will persist and intensify. I am of the belief that flat percentages are boring (and at present too high) and would have preferred that players choose to unlock passives or talents that would (in a minor way) accentuate their play styles. A missed opportunity to diversify builds IMHO

I still enjoy playing ESO, but I like to see ZoS use the lessons learned since 1.6 and make a better game so that I would enjoy playing ESO more.

david.haypreub18_ESO · August 2015

All great points!

I personally don't have much of a problem with the current ultimate generation system, and I would probably add a bit about class imbalance (really, right now in PvP it is NB or Sorc or GTFO, and the changes in the latest patch seem only to make the problem worse), but overall, I think ZOS really needs to think seriously about all these things.

Things like the racial imbalance are really frustrating. It is obvious to pretty much every player in the game that there is an imbalance here, but ZOS just seems obstinate in refusing to accept what their players are saying. Same thing about Werewolves and Templars. ZOS is just plain obstinate on these issues, for reasons that they never seem able to explain.

I simply can't explain why they didn't just increase hit points relatively to levels they were at pre-1.6, rather than applying a blanket nerf to damage and healing and shields.

ThatNeonZebraAgain · August 2015

All great points, many of which have been around for a year or so. These are big picture issues, which like you say aren't really addressed in IC or Update 2.1 (in fact, they are making some aspects of these problems worse, like issue #1). I think one of the factors around some of the hesitation around IC is that we don't know what the future direction of the game is, and how they are going to tackle these big issues. We need a solid Road Ahead article that isn't fluff and stuff we already know. Why invest time and money into a game when it feels like a lot of things are in limbo, changing in value, and many issues unresolved? For example, ever since June I've pretty much just been stockpiling writ reward bags, Undaunted Gold Keys, and mats because using them now would be a waste and it would be better to hold onto them once I know they might be better used.

As to why they aren't buffing Trials up to VR16, my guess is that they want to encourage people to the new PvE content in IC because, well, they need to make a profit. They will introduce V16 Trials as a stopgap between IC and Orsinium's slated release in December/November, or will up them to VR18 when Orsinium drops (assuming they keep up the level and gear grind behind DLC content).

Stikato · August 2015

Wow, what a fantastic post. Agreed on absolutely everything. ZOS, please read this!

Teiji · August 2015

Community asked for no soft-caps; ZoS delivered.

We knew this would happen, but we didn't listen.

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

RoamingRiverElk · August 2015

Agree, so much. Small groups need to become more viable again in pvp. Instead, change after change zergs are favored more and more.

WTB 1.5.

Soris · August 2015

Funny thing is, one shot from stealth is still happening. And certain abilities like WB, snipe, camo hunter can still hit half of someones health without stealth. While the other skills hit like a wet noodle..

Your blanked nerfs didn't solve anything Zeni. It was a bad decision, everything you did after 1.5 was bad and you should feel very bad.

Stikato · August 2015

This game still has some great pvp mechanics, but there are fundamental problems with the removal of softcaps and with how percentages are calculated.

Rather than fix the root problems, Zeni is trying to add additional layers of percentage modifiers to fix the symptoms. I have a feeling that once players get a handle on the new system, gear, and inevitable exploits, the pvp situation will be worse than ever.

Stalwart385 · August 2015

Good post. A few things that stood out to me.

The move further toward dps burst and away from defensive sustain makes the zerg stronger.

Please get rid of portal aoeing so the groups dont have to split up and stand on portals. Vdsa has become way too gimpy because of this and a pure time based score.

Trials and vdsa will be silly in 2.1 since they are not going vr16. On SO I've run with groups that dont go down once. This is going to be the norm soon.

k2blader · August 2015

Nice summary of issues. Not to say I think it's the most important issue but your description of the "encouragement of the zerg" is a fair-minded assessment of the current situation leading people to believe the more mobile classes (sorcs and NBs) have the advantage in PvP. Maybe that is true right now, but I don't think the solution is to decrease mobility, like what Zeni is doing, as some builds just aren't made for melee. Sometimes I feel like people think everyone ought to always be in the middle of a melee brawl-fest-- which is fine if that's what you chose your class for, but it's unrealistic to expect every class should be that way.

Ishammael · August 2015

Agree completely. Good post. Hopefully someone at ZoS reads.

Maybe we will get a road ahead article or something.

ToRelax · August 2015

Ishammael wrote: »

Agree completely. Good post. Hopefully someone at ZoS reads.

Maybe we will get a road ahead article or something.

A road back article would be even better.

Etaniel · August 2015

Well written post.
I think magicka det should solely scale on the number of targets hit, it should definitely not be used in 1v1 situations, and not against 4 man groups either.