Do you love playing the game, but are concerned that the game community is dying?

Elloa · October 2015

The players always come and go. Jump from one game to another and then come back. That's how it works nowadays. But I don't think the community is dying.

Maybe the PVP community is dying? I don't know. But contrary of what a lot of PVPer believes, the game would still live and even be successful without PVP and the PVP community. There is plenty, plenty, plenty of players that do not give a **** about PVP.

Thrasher91604 · October 2015

OP, why do you care? Do what you enjoy. Don't follow the herd.

Genomic · October 2015

Suicidal_Godot wrote: »

...you do know that there's a population tracker for those PC players using steam (and running the game under steam)???

Look you here: http://steamcharts.com/app/306130#1y

Seems population is - peaks after releases notwithstanding - more or less stable. I.e. standard decay, nothing worth bothering, IMHO...

According to that, the Steam population dropped 27% in the last month. I'd say that's a fair reason for concern. Though it doesn't of course count all of the players across PC and consoles, the few thousand on Steam are well above a statistically representative sample size.

Genomic · October 2015

Actually, looking at that data more closely, it doesn't show much stability at all. Lots of peaks and troughs associated with going B2P, DLC releases and so on, but there's only so many rabbits that ZOS can pull out of their hat. Once those stop, that Steam data suggests the decline will be fairly rapid and continuous. I'd say it will stabilise at some point, but we haven't reached that point yet. I have to wonder how low the population will drop before it reaches equilibrium?

Edit...and I'm also wondering if that population will be economically viable for ZOS. But then many MMOs continue to tick over with low populations (actually, most seem to be in that situation, to be honest).

UltimaJoe777 · October 2015

Ethromelb14_ESO wrote: »

Do you love playing the game?

I do enjoy playing it, yes. Doesn't mean it doesn't annoy me sometimes though lol

Ethromelb14_ESO wrote: »

Are concerned that the game community is dying?

Even if it was, nope.

Funkopotamus · October 2015

Well to be fair you must ask this question for each platform..

I will tell you that on the PC the community is still fairly strong.

Xbox one?... The player base looks like it was hit by a biblical plague!
Most of the people that have left ESO on Xbox one could have been avoided if only ZOS would have listened to most of us on the forums.

Things like Text Chat, Broken Group Finder, Broken CP system "I know it is being addressed now" but there are a lot of people that did not know the fix was coming before they left. Transfers also did not help to keep players interested in Xbox one.

BTW: I voted #1.

Thrasher91604 wrote: »

OP, why do you care? Do what you enjoy. Don't follow the herd.

Thrasher he cares because if things continue down the path we are on right now there will not be a choice to "Follow the herd"...

kevlarto_ESO · October 2015

I like the game, but the community in this game for the most part has not been all that much of a tight knit bunch, there are exceptions and I am concerned those folks might be moving on.

Genomic · October 2015

Funkopotamus wrote: »

Well to be fair you must ask this question for each platform..

I will tell you that on the PC the community is still fairly strong.

Xbox one?... The player base looks like it was hit by a biblical plague!

If that's the case, maybe they should shut down the xbone servers and merge PC and PS4, like FFXIV has done. After all, it was Microsoft that was blocking cross-platform play.

UltimaJoe777 · October 2015

Genomic wrote: »

Funkopotamus wrote: »

Well to be fair you must ask this question for each platform..

I will tell you that on the PC the community is still fairly strong.

Xbox one?... The player base looks like it was hit by a biblical plague!

If that's the case, maybe they should shut down the xbone servers and merge PC and PS4, like FFXIV has done. After all, it was Microsoft that was blocking cross-platform play.

Wouldn't do any good. The servers within the megaserver are all instanced so you wouldn't notice any difference in visible population. Also this would cause more problems than solve as both PC and Consoles have different issues present and the merger would only make things worse.

mtwiggz · October 2015

Since IC release I've noticed a clear decline in the amount of people I know that still play. I'm not as much concerned about the community dying as I am with long term players leaving due to long term issues that have not been resolved. As players leave new players will take their ranks. The community will replenish over time until the servers are taken down, if or when that happens.

My main concern is with the actual game itself. Though that is a completely different story for a completely different thread.

UltimaJoe777 · October 2015

mtwiggz wrote: »

Since IC release I've noticed a clear decline in the amount of people I know that still play. I'm not as much concerned about the community dying as I am with long term players leaving due to long term issues that have not been resolved. As players leave new players will take their ranks. The community will replenish over time until the servers are taken down, if or when that happens.

My main concern is with the actual game itself. Though that is a completely different story for a completely different thread.

There will always be players coming and going. Most tend to be "browsers" that try out the game, get bored a few days later, and play something else. Others tend to juggle games, at least on console. Those that stick around are the more dedicated players, and since there are millions of people out there able to play the game or obtain it I do not believe the community is dieing in any way. Some will come, some will go, but such is the way of the MMORPG.

Tommy1979AtWar · October 2015

Genomic wrote: »

Funkopotamus wrote: »

Well to be fair you must ask this question for each platform..

I will tell you that on the PC the community is still fairly strong.

Xbox one?... The player base looks like it was hit by a biblical plague!

If that's the case, maybe they should shut down the xbone servers and merge PC and PS4, like FFXIV has done. After all, it was Microsoft that was blocking cross-platform play.

I for one would love them to merge the PC and Sony servers, PS4 EU is like a ghost town compared to what it was, merging the two would be a huge boost to the population.

NativeJoe · October 2015

ESO is fine. If old games like star trek online are still going strong, this game will not have issues for years to come. This game is pretty demanding graphically, and Next year alot of people will be getting newer cards(like me) that will eat this game alive graphically. Laptops will be too...which will add another big group to the community.

as for the community specifically... Yes I see signs of decline. incentives to form guilds for something other then trading has been destroyed by the lack of trials...so we don't cooperate nearly as much anymore.

Umad_BrO · October 2015

We hit a rough patch with the alliences working together in PvP killing each other to get emperor easier (you all know it's happening).
But all and all it's times like this (down time) we can see the community here helping each other with our withdraws.

I complain a lot, more than I should, but I know I will be playing this for at least 2 more years.

Umad_BrO · October 2015

Genomic wrote: »

Suicidal_Godot wrote: »

...you do know that there's a population tracker for those PC players using steam (and running the game under steam)???

Look you here: http://steamcharts.com/app/306130#1y

Seems population is - peaks after releases notwithstanding - more or less stable. I.e. standard decay, nothing worth bothering, IMHO...

According to that, the Steam population dropped 27% in the last month. I'd say that's a fair reason for concern. Though it doesn't of course count all of the players across PC and consoles, the few thousand on Steam are well above a statistically representative sample size.

Do you have a steam account?
Check the ESO forums there, you'll see why it dropped.

Volkodav · October 2015

Ya know,as long as the game is up and running,I'm happy.Sometimes there arent many people about wherever I happen to be at that time, and then again,later on there are.At different times there are more people,so it's all the same to me. I dont think for a minute that it's dying.I see mostly PvPers here in the forums who think its dying,more so than those who PvE.

Suicidal_Godot · October 2015

Genomic wrote: »

Suicidal_Godot wrote: »

...you do know that there's a population tracker for those PC players using steam (and running the game under steam)???

Look you here: http://steamcharts.com/app/306130#1y

Seems population is - peaks after releases notwithstanding - more or less stable. I.e. standard decay, nothing worth bothering, IMHO...

According to that, the Steam population dropped 27% in the last month. I'd say that's a fair reason for concern. Though it doesn't of course count all of the players across PC and consoles, the few thousand on Steam are well above a statistically representative sample size.

...that's what I meant by "release peaks". There's a noticeable bulge in the graph which somewhat ups the count. People just getting into the game when some new stuff is released, playing this within a week or three, then plodding on to another game, to return when the next new thing comes out here.

Sure, difficult to guesstimate how much this affects the count, but the baseline since that peak is stable (i.e., let's face it, slowly declining... ...but that's normal for every game), just an upwards bump in the first week of September. This bump is represented in the table, too, ofc...

Realistically, we can expect another of those peaks when Orsinium comes out. Then the migrant gamers will com again, play through the new stuff, and move on again.

Knootewoot · October 2015

I do not love the game. I love my wife and my kids and my cat. I do like the game. The community is not dying, but it is suffering. Depending on the day you log in, most of the times I cannot find a group for dungeons. Also now mostly when I login there is no PvP going on in cyrodill. Of course I can join for IC for more farming but I am not interested in that.

When I logged in during the first month(s) so many people you could see and PvP battles where huge with 300 people fighting. These days I count myself lucky if I see 30-40 people on screen in cyrodill.

These days I log in and look at the cyro map. If the entire map is 1 color, I log out and play other games. Sadly my CP's get way behind to others. Also not very motivating after a while to log in then. And sadly Fallout 4 is around the corner. This will mean I will be alone wandering around in the wastelands soon.

Ninety9lives · October 2015

Yes its a worry but you see influxes of new players come in all the time.
Orc DLC will bring more players
Many retailers will do specials that will bring more
Steam sales will be huge
Steam stats for players online of ESO go up during and after a sale and when it drops down its always larger than it was before.

treemanx · October 2015

Not concerned, just moving on. Honestly its repetition, and any game that practices repetition is forgotten about. Login, visit stable, do writs, do undaunted, but i usually leave before then out of boredom..

Volkodav · October 2015

Wow.It's no wonder that some people complain about boredom,when they have power driven through this game to get their gear and levels.Jeez. There is so much more than that.I cannot even imagine getting bored with it.I mean,I do have two vets,but I still use one of them,and never get bored. I have others who arent vets,and still find the quests fun,and I've been playing since the first betas. This is what you get from plowing through ESO:: Bored players who cant think of anything to do other than grind. Those people seem so single minded to me.

Funkopotamus · October 2015

WhiskeyRiver.AZub17_ESO wrote: »

Wow. It's no wonder that some people complain about boredom, when they have power driven through this game to get their gear and levels. Jeez. There is so much more than that .I cannot even imagine getting bored with it. I mean,I do have two vets, but I still use one of them, and never get bored. I have others who aren't vets, and still find the quests fun ,and I've been playing since the first betas. This is what you get from plowing through ESO:: Bored players who cant think of anything to do other than grind. Those people seem so single minded to me.

Well to be honest it is not their fault.. This game really pushed people to do the "Plowing"! ESO centers End Game around PvP and a broken CP system.. Add in the fact that consoles had transfers to deal with then you have a recipe for grinding! It is not the players fault that they get bored. It is the dev teams job to come up with content to keep players engaged. Neverwinter does this by a mix of PvP and HARD to complete End Game content that punishes players for not knowing mechanics and working together as a team.. Most of ESO's end game dungeons are just too easy and they all are nothing but OMGZURGOMGZURGBUTTOMSMASHFTW! Speed runs with very little reward. No MMO is going to keep a player base with content like this.

Also I would like to add that the players that I personally know that have left this game are quality MMO players. Players that have been around playing MMO's since games like EQ and Asherons Call. I understand there are always "New Players" coming into the community it is just sad to see quality members of this community leave over things that can be fixed if ESO would address them properly.

I do hope things get turned around as I was planning to be playing ESO for the next few years...

Thrasher91604 · October 2015

Funkopotamus wrote: »

Well to be fair you must ask this question for each platform..

I will tell you that on the PC the community is still fairly strong.

Xbox one?... The player base looks like it was hit by a biblical plague!
Most of the people that have left ESO on Xbox one could have been avoided if only ZOS would have listened to most of us on the forums.

Thrasher91604 wrote: »

OP, why do you care? Do what you enjoy. Don't follow the herd.

Thrasher he cares because if things continue down the path we are on right now there will not be a choice to "Follow the herd"...

Treat it as an opportunity to break free of the herd.:)

Master_Kas · October 2015

At this point I don't care tbh. I loved , really loved this game up to 1.5 . Never had so much fun in a game as this.

1.6 was okay even with is bugs.

But this patch? The lag / slideshow we're having in cyrodiil latley + the disconnects? I'ts a joke.

Just waiting for some other game to come out , logging in mostly to play with our raid and to talk with friends in game nothing more. If these wasn't here I wouldn't be either.

No you can't have my stuff, slackers!

DenMoria · October 2015

Tommy1979AtWar wrote: »

Genomic wrote: »

Funkopotamus wrote: »

Well to be fair you must ask this question for each platform..

I will tell you that on the PC the community is still fairly strong.

Xbox one?... The player base looks like it was hit by a biblical plague!

If that's the case, maybe they should shut down the xbone servers and merge PC and PS4, like FFXIV has done. After all, it was Microsoft that was blocking cross-platform play.

I for one would love them to merge the PC and Sony servers, PS4 EU is like a ghost town compared to what it was, merging the two would be a huge boost to the population.

I agree. And that's coming from a guy who likes to solo! It's dern lonely on the EU server much of the time, especially at low levels (I created a few new ones as alternates).

DenMoria · October 2015

Knootewoot wrote: »

I do not love the game. I love my wife and my kids and my cat. I do like the game. The community is not dying, but it is suffering. Depending on the day you log in, most of the times I cannot find a group for dungeons. Also now mostly when I login there is no PvP going on in cyrodill. Of course I can join for IC for more farming but I am not interested in that.

When I logged in during the first month(s) so many people you could see and PvP battles where huge with 300 people fighting. These days I count myself lucky if I see 30-40 people on screen in cyrodill.

These days I log in and look at the cyro map. If the entire map is 1 color, I log out and play other games. Sadly my CP's get way behind to others. Also not very motivating after a while to log in then. And sadly Fallout 4 is around the corner. This will mean I will be alone wandering around in the wastelands soon.

You love your cat? Mine drives me crazy. Wait... I guess I love my cat too.

ADarklore · October 2015

So some say ESO has a bad reputation amongst the "MMO community"... well that is good, because ESO doesn't need those type of old-school and out-dated, full of nothing but negativity players anyway. ESO is not, and has never tried to be, an old-school MMO that is geared only towards groups... in reality, ESO is filled with a majority of Elder Scrolls SOLO players who like having the option to group on occasion.

As for consoles... that is where you typically find the single-player 'game hoppers' that constantly jump to the next FOTM title. Typically, it is the PC players who are used to being in it for the long haul. Sure we've lost some veteran players along the way, but that really shouldn't be unexpected. Most humans are creatures of habit and routine and most struggle with change and adaption... and ESO has gone through a LOT of changes since PC launch and many of those original players just couldn't, or wouldn't, adapt to the changes that were necessary to make the game more attractive to a broader audience.

Personally, on PC-NA, I constantly see players no matter what time of day or location... so I am not concerned about player population.

Korah_Eaglecry · October 2015

If you think these forums represent the whole. Youd be mistaken. The vast majority probably arent even aware that theres a forums. And even if they did. Theyd have no reason to come here.

Korah_Eaglecry · October 2015

mtwiggz wrote: »

Since IC release I've noticed a clear decline in the amount of people I know that still play. I'm not as much concerned about the community dying as I am with long term players leaving due to long term issues that have not been resolved. As players leave new players will take their ranks. The community will replenish over time until the servers are taken down, if or when that happens.

My main concern is with the actual game itself. Though that is a completely different story for a completely different thread.

IC launched at the beginning of the school year for many. And the end of the summer for anyone taking final vacations before the start of the build up to the holiday season.

If anyone left because of IC itself. Its yet to be seen if its for good. There arent any numbers out there for us to utilize. And even if we had numbers. We wouldnt be able to ascertain who was taking a break, who was too busy with work/school and who had moved on to other games.

This is nothing more than a DOOM thread. They seem to pop up here every once and a while. Especially not long after summer comes to an end.

lycanslerwb17_ESO · October 2015

nimander99 wrote: »

People that think this game is dying mystify me... every where I go in game is packed with players.

wish i was where you were then. whenever i am on its like a ghost town. I play at night time in Australia, and im doing cadwells Silver, and i wish i'd see more peoples on to play with.