Veteran Ranks and Endgame is just awful.

Dcaliber · August 2015

Let me get this out of the way, this is not a thread about me raging over the game, rather me voicing my opinions and ideas to HELP the game.

1. Veteran Ranks- I'm not going to go on talking about what has been said over in a thousand threads. VR's are killing ESO on consoles.All my friends are just burnt out of questing. All but 1 have quit. 7 guilds I had joined at launch are now COMPLETELY dead due to VRs.(And lack of communication) The time required to reach VR14 is ridiculous. That doesn't even go over the fact that questing in ALL the zones doesn't even get you to VR14! You still have to grind mobs to get xp.
-Solution- Exactly what ZOS has planned. Scrap VR's and just have the champion system(with seasons and catch up mechanics of course). Allow players to hit 50, and have the option to do silver+gold for champion points, nothing else. This needs to be added asap. Console players are used to games mmos like Destiny and FX where it doesn't take hundreds of hours to hit cap.

2. Lack of communication(No text chat)- I don't know how many of the devs actually main on consoles, but the lack of communication is mind-boggling. Let's say you join 5 guilds. In order for a guild to ask you if you want to do a delve, you have to manually join the voice chat. Most likely, out of the 100 players in the guild, MAYBE 2 will be in the voice chat. This is only for one guild of the five. So either you end up messaging the entire guilds via console messaging or the gm spams a new message of the day. Most guilds don't even talk to each other because of the lack of communication tools.
-Solution- ADD TEXT CHAT. Please. It is 100% needed. What about deaf players? We need it. If I have to join one more Cyrodiil pug via a guy screaming " COME TO STEPS FOR INVITE" I am going to scream.

3. Battle Leveling- I pvp'd from level 10 to 45 and had an absolute blast in Cyrodiil(apart from no text chat). We were all even and didn't have champion points or VR's to rely on, only our pvp prowess. Then I hit VR1 and que'd for Cyrodiil and was destroyed by VR14's from PC who have insane gear and champion points. It just isn't fun. That was the last time I went to Cyrodiil.
Solution-Battle leveling needs to be in all campaigns, not just non vet. At least give me a fighting chance.

I doubt I will be playing ESO for much longer. I just hope that when I return that these problems are fixed.

I really do love the Zos team. It is awesome to see them come on ESO live and answer these questions and for the most part, the team has been straight forward. I would just appreciate if the team acknowledges these as problems on consoles. And trust me, they are HUGE problems. (WE NEED TEXT CHAT)

I hope my fellow ESO players show some support, especially fellow console players.
Thanks everyone!

VincentBlanquin · August 2015

depends of what you expecting from to be vr14. The only improvement is you can find top gear and craft it to gold (its not worth for lower level gear). BUT THERE IS NO NEW GAME FEATURES ON VR RANK 14.

leepalmer95 · August 2015

1. Doesn't take hundreds of hours to hit v14... lvl 1-50 is like 10 hours, 1 vet rank = 2 hours per. You just need to know how, if you have a decent pve queating build e.g. can take hits with decent aoe dmg, questing is easy. Also your not forced to quest you can grind a bit or go in pvp to break it up, do dungeons, delves, dolmens, hunt skyshards, lore books, try do achievements for dyes etc...

2. The no text chat is a bit of a problem, only thing i can reccomend is to use these forums to join a pve guild to do vet pledges, trials and dsa.

3. A vet 6 will destroy a vet 1, doesn't matter if there a pc transfer or not, the fact is before you hit vet ranks you didn't need to worry about gear, cp points, viable builds, etc... because with every doing half the dmg a vet 14 would with 1.5x the hp you can afford to make mistakes, be hit with siege etc...
However when you hit vet 1 i'd suggest getting to 3-4 first, finding a decent build online or make one yourself, gearing up properly (meaning no random green/blue gears, at the minimum i'd use all blue set gears which compliment your build which usually means being able to craft it or finding someone to craft it for you.

Mighty_oakk · August 2015

VincentBlanquin wrote: »

depends of what you expecting from to be vr14. The only improvement is you can find top gear and craft it to gold (its not worth for lower level gear). BUT THERE IS NO NEW GAME FEATURES ON VR RANK 14.

Heh yeah getting to vr14 is overrated.

Really only thing todo is pvp.

Or try for hours to get a trials group

Dcaliber · August 2015

leepalmer95 wrote: »

1. Doesn't take hundreds of hours to hit v14... lvl 1-50 is like 10 hours, 1 vet rank = 2 hours per. You just need to know how, if you have a decent pve queating build e.g. can take hits with decent aoe dmg, questing is easy. Also your not forced to quest you can grind a bit or go in pvp to break it up, do dungeons, delves, dolmens, hunt skyshards, lore books, try do achievements for dyes etc...

You're missing my point. The point being VR take forever to the average player, not a min\maxer. VRs need to just be removed to avoid new players being over whelmed.

Potenza · August 2015

But its not about the destination.....its the journey

Tholian1 · August 2015

Wow. Same experience for me. The guilds I joined at launch are all dead and the friends I made are not even playing ESO anymore. I always see them in other games when I turn on my console. I hope ZOS figures out why so many aren't progressing to vet. It's lonely up here.

Tonnopesce · August 2015

1. Most of what you say is true however usually console gamers are "game hoppers" and sorry what? Destiny has hours of gear grind to reach max level and in the next dlc they will rise the cap with 20 more levels...

2. Well text chat is a must have on a MMO but i stop here since usually they close threads regard text chat.

3. battle level IS on all the campaigns but it ends with VR1, welcome to the real game from v1 you simply cannot do what you want with your build.

3,5. with the next dlc battle level will be rised to VR12 so at least they have solved this

Xendyn · August 2015

Not a console player but some of these issues overlap.

1. Yes, agree. I hate grinding, puts me to sleep lol. I miss the old Craglorn grinds where you could team up with 11 other people and it was fun. A shift to making Silver/Gold parallel and optional would be nice so I can pick and choose my way instead of being forced into the same exact thing every time. After leveling 4 VRs...just bleh.

2. I have no idea how you guys manage to do anything with no zone wide text chat. You have my full support.

3. Battle leveling will be taken care of with the new updates.

Dcaliber · August 2015

Tonnopesceb16_ESO wrote: »

3. battle level IS on all the campaigns but it ends with VR1, welcome to the real game from v1 you simply cannot do what you want with your build.

3,5. with the next dlc battle level will be rised to VR12 so at least they have solved this

Yeah because fair and balanced pvp is out of the question

It shouldnt be that way

Deadfinger6 · August 2015

I've played since launch on xbox 1, probably 2-3 hrs a night. I'm level 41. You must have been plowing through the levels. Will the game suddenly get more interesting for you at Vr14 - I highly doubt it. Slow down enjoy the quests, if it was a race to get to VR14 then I have to say you've been soundly betten by the PC players

leepalmer95 · August 2015

Dcaliber wrote: »

Tonnopesceb16_ESO wrote: »

3. battle level IS on all the campaigns but it ends with VR1, welcome to the real game from v1 you simply cannot do what you want with your build.

3,5. with the next dlc battle level will be rised to VR12 so at least they have solved this

Yeah because fair and balanced pvp is out of the question
It shouldnt be that way

it's a mmorpg not a moba, if people who have played 10 times more than you and worked on their character 10x more, famred mats and such 10x more than you get no advantage whats the point?

Dcaliber · August 2015

The point is that throughout all the effort they put into the game, they should be a master of their build. They shouldn't have to rely on superior level. Just because they farmed zombies for days on end doesn't mean they should have a statistical advantage over someone else.
Skill vs time.

NewBlacksmurf · August 2015

I don't think it's a console issue.
It was the same VR frustration for me on PC with diff reasons.

VR levels were said to be removed which many assumed by now but after console release...now we are hearing they are adding more levels with no content to support them

Your frustration isn't just on that platform trust me

leepalmer95 · August 2015

Dcaliber wrote: »

The point is that throughout all the effort they put into the game, they should be a master of their build. They shouldn't have to rely on superior level. Just because they farmed zombies for days on end doesn't mean they should have a statistical advantage over someone else.
Skill vs time.

skill comes with time.

Your saying people who got to vet 14 have put less effort then those that didn't? people who farmed dsa or such for drops so they'll have enough gold to buy their vet 14 gear, improve it until gold, but golden enchantments, level and morph all there pvp skills, learn to use there pvp skills and then go kill some vet 1-3 who has played the game 1/20th of the time the vet 14 did?

Wish people who stop complaining about levels and just go get vet 14 themself, it's really not difficult.

stewart.leslie76b16_ESO · August 2015

Dcaliber wrote: »

The point is that throughout all the effort they put into the game, they should be a master of their build. They shouldn't have to rely on superior level. Just because they farmed zombies for days on end doesn't mean they should have a statistical advantage over someone else.
Skill vs time.

You've got a fair point if it was only an MMO. However this is an RPG and as such you are not exactly up against the player, you are up against the character. RPG gamers are a totally different breed to other gamers, we live by stats, we have no problem with grinding out xp (you think getting to V14 is bad then try a D&D table top battle, 1 minute of game time can take a whole night to resolve).

They could remove all the stats and everyine have a cookie cutter character to play with, but then it's be nothing more then Call of Duty The Sword and Pointy Ears Edition. However, all the RPG gamers (that be the players which built the franchise) will leave. And unfortunately there is no real middle ground to be had with this.

MaKTaiL · August 2015

I couldn't disagree more. I've been playing on PS4 since it came out and I'm just enjoying the quests and story on my own pace. I'm on veteran rank 7 doing quests on a rank 4 area. Leveling is fine the way it is, I don't feel like I'm grinding at all.

Tommy_valkyria · August 2015

> tl;dr
"I want to be as good as people who play 10 times more than me!"

Uhm.. No?

Eriquito3 · August 2015

Dcaliber wrote: »

Let me get this out of the way, this is not a thread about me raging over the game, rather me voicing my opinions and ideas to HELP the game.

1. Veteran Ranks- I'm not going to go on talking about what has been said over in a thousand threads. VR's are killing ESO on consoles.All my friends are just burnt out of questing. All but 1 have quit. 7 guilds I had joined at launch are now COMPLETELY dead due to VRs.(And lack of communication) The time required to reach VR14 is ridiculous. That doesn't even go over the fact that questing in ALL the zones doesn't even get you to VR14! You still have to grind mobs to get xp.
-Solution- Exactly what ZOS has planned. Scrap VR's and just have the champion system(with seasons and catch up mechanics of course). Allow players to hit 50, and have the option to do silver+gold for champion points, nothing else. This needs to be added asap. Console players are used to games mmos like Destiny and FX where it doesn't take hundreds of hours to hit cap.

2. Lack of communication(No text chat)- I don't know how many of the devs actually main on consoles, but the lack of communication is mind-boggling. Let's say you join 5 guilds. In order for a guild to ask you if you want to do a delve, you have to manually join the voice chat. Most likely, out of the 100 players in the guild, MAYBE 2 will be in the voice chat. This is only for one guild of the five. So either you end up messaging the entire guilds via console messaging or the gm spams a new message of the day. Most guilds don't even talk to each other because of the lack of communication tools.
-Solution- ADD TEXT CHAT. Please. It is 100% needed. What about deaf players? We need it. If I have to join one more Cyrodiil pug via a guy screaming " COME TO STEPS FOR INVITE" I am going to scream.

3. Battle Leveling- I pvp'd from level 10 to 45 and had an absolute blast in Cyrodiil(apart from no text chat). We were all even and didn't have champion points or VR's to rely on, only our pvp prowess. Then I hit VR1 and que'd for Cyrodiil and was destroyed by VR14's from PC who have insane gear and champion points. It just isn't fun. That was the last time I went to Cyrodiil.
Solution-Battle leveling needs to be in all campaigns, not just non vet. At least give me a fighting chance.

I doubt I will be playing ESO for much longer. I just hope that when I return that these problems are fixed.

I really do love the Zos team. It is awesome to see them come on ESO live and answer these questions and for the most part, the team has been straight forward. I would just appreciate if the team acknowledges these as problems on consoles. And trust me, they are HUGE problems. (WE NEED TEXT CHAT)

I hope my fellow ESO players show some support, especially fellow console players.
Thanks everyone!

I support and agree with all these.

Would also like to see namebars, but that is secondary to the issues mentioned here.

I agree completely

Sithisvoid · August 2015

I love vet ranks. They weed out all the uber bads

BrassRazoo · August 2015

What is the difference between VR14 and level 60?
Do you really think that an MMO stays at one level cap?
The level cap is the level cap and it always goes up.
So Imperial City takes it to VR16, if there were no VR it may just be level 70.
Would that make you feel better?

Dawiz08 · August 2015

Van i have your stuff. Bigdonof08 ps4

Eocosa · August 2015

I have to say, and this comes from someone who has played numerous MMORPGs for many years (on PC), and is currently enjoying ESO on XB1 that I simply think you are experiencing a fairly common difference between many console players and PC MMORPG fans.

Granted this is all from my personal experience, but many people that I know that are big console players often go from game to game beating it and looking for the next popular game to dominate. That mentality, while fine, is the polar opposite of what is expected in an MMORPG. I have played computer/video games my whole life essentially, and can say that realistically 80% of that time was spent with maybe 3-5 games throughout my entire life.

Here one must invest many many hours in leveling up their character. Once they hit cap they then jump aboard the "gear treadmill" until the next expansion and level cap raise occurs. Yes this often requires doing the same dungeon over and over hoping that you get the drop you want. I believe this burns out many of the more game hungry console players who were expecting this to be a multiplayer version of Skyrim.

Granted this is also a complaint for PC users as well from what I have read, but I simply do not fully understand it personally as I am okay with questing for days and days with my character (to me it feels like each tier of Caldwell is like a very extensive expansion). I do view these types of games as the "journey is more important then the destination" sort, admittedly.

Your second point I do support completely even though I have personally managed without it

Like several people before have said, your third point will essentially be taken care of with the DLC. Sure there will be a large gap between a VR12 and a VR16, just as there will be with a fresh VR16 and a fully geared and fine tuned VR16. Unfortunately there is not a lot they can really do about that without completely making gear worthless in PvP. This one, I personally just figure is not THAT big an issue as I view it more as AvAvA then simply one player vs another. I found the geared and skilled players are kind of spread amongst the Alliances so they kind of cancel each other out.

dlepi24 · August 2015

You sit here and compare everything to Destiny as if it's some magical perfect MMO. Destiny doesn't have text chat. Destiny doesn't have group finder. Destiny didn't even have voice chat for a long time. Destiny has an awful level up system based entirely on RNG. Destiny doesn't have guilds. Destiny doesn't have crafting. Hell, Destiny doesn't even have content to play after 10 hours. This game has an absurd amount of content and a variety of things to do than Destiny. Destiny is one of the worst MMO's ever.

leepalmer95 · August 2015

dlepi24 wrote: »

You sit here and compare everything to Destiny as if it's some magical perfect MMO. Destiny doesn't have text chat. Destiny doesn't have group finder. Destiny didn't even have voice chat for a long time. Destiny has an awful level up system based entirely on RNG. Destiny doesn't have guilds. Destiny doesn't have crafting. Hell, Destiny doesn't even have content to play after 10 hours. This game has an absurd amount of content and a variety of things to do then Destiny. Destiny is one of the worst MMO's ever.

Destiny shouldn't be considered an mmorpg, it's just borderlands with multiplayer.

ghostwise · August 2015

Veteran ranks are awesome IMO. Currently vr2 and only been playing about a month casually. Craglorn looks super fun and me and some guildies will be steamrolling that place soon.

Dcaliber · August 2015

MaKTaiL wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more. I've been playing on PS4 since it came out and I'm just enjoying the quests and story on my own pace. I'm on veteran rank 7 doing quests on a rank 4 area. Leveling is fine the way it is, I don't feel like I'm grinding at all.

That is until you reach the end of questing and have to grind zombies to level. The questing will only take you to VR10. This is the main focus of my thread(1)

Dcaliber · August 2015

dlepi24 wrote: »

You sit here and compare everything to Destiny as if it's some magical perfect MMO. Destiny doesn't have text chat. Destiny doesn't have group finder. Destiny didn't even have voice chat for a long time. Destiny has an awful level up system based entirely on RNG. Destiny doesn't have guilds. Destiny doesn't have crafting. Hell, Destiny doesn't even have content to play after 10 hours. This game has an absurd amount of content and a variety of things to do than Destiny. Destiny is one of the worst MMO's ever.

I mentioned Destiny once...

OzJohnD · August 2015

well I got to V11 with questing so there !

ghostwise · August 2015

Dcaliber wrote: »

MaKTaiL wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more. I've been playing on PS4 since it came out and I'm just enjoying the quests and story on my own pace. I'm on veteran rank 7 doing quests on a rank 4 area. Leveling is fine the way it is, I don't feel like I'm grinding at all.

That is until you reach the end of questing and have to grind zombies to level. The questing will only take you to VR10. This is the main focus of my thread(1)

So have you done everything in craglorn and all the quests in cyrodiil too then?

ghostwise · August 2015

There are also the daily undaunted quests for dungeons...