Enjoying this game but hit VR1 and now thinking about quitting. Why? No it's not the upcoming grind.

Geralt_of_Aalst · November 2015

Who said a title can never say it all?

But seriously, let me elaborate a bit. I've played half a dozen mmorpg's before ESO. One for 5 years, one for 3 years and the others for 3 to 12 months. I must say ESO is the best mmo I've played so far. But after three months and 689 hours according to Steam, all of a sudden I feel like quitting. It can't be a coincidence I just hit level 50 aka VR1.

I know what's coming. I've been reading guild chat from 2 pve/pvp guilds and 2 trading guilds for 3 months now. I know about the grind that's to come. To be honest, I was looking forward to it! A lot of the questing I did up until now meant doing gray quests and killing gray mobs. As you know, that is boring. So I was looking forward to the VR "grind", to me it seemed like a challenge at last. Besides, "the grind" can't be the reason I feel like quitting because I haven't even started it yet.

I hit VR and I feel like quitting. I'm not exactly sure why that feeling suddenly hits me. The only reason I can think of is because the gap is so huge, it's ridiculous to even think about bridging it. There is a temporary cap of 501 champion points now. http://esoacademy.com/champion-system/ states: "The developers estimate that 1 Point can be earned every hour if you are progressing at a steady rate."

So that's 500 hours. But I'm a social player, I like to help out people, I like doing social events with guildies, I like fishing, I play the inventory management minigame, and so on. So we may be talking about a lot more hours. Enlightenment may compensate but still, you know what I mean. In other mmorpgs your goal is to hit max level and then get good gear for that max level. In ESO, that goal is so vague. Hitting max level and getting VR16 gear is nothing if you don't get the champion points to go with it. I'm thinking that's the reason why I feel like moving on.

I loved PvP in ESO. But I had to stop doing PvP because it leveled me too fast before VR. So... yay, now you can PvP! Nope, too many people tell me PvP at VR is totally dependant on champion points. After looking through the constellations, I know they are right.

I'm not looking to start another discussion about CP, that's been done. I'm not desperately looking for reasons to stay. I have a backlog of 450 games on Steam (more on GoG etc.) to look forward to. Not to mention Fallout 4 in a few days. No, I'm just looking for opinions about the psychological wall I just hit by people who had a similar experience. Any insights, opinions, speculations etc. are much appreciated.

Jitterbug · November 2015

Ive quit the game many times. Always come back tho.

Asia_Skyly · November 2015

I have been playing since pre-launch. I always took the Veteran rank levels to mean: "Time to grow/skill up". I see this as the natural evolution of your "skills" as a player. Keep in mind these were the veteran ranks prior to the series of nerf that followed during many patches. So it was significantly greater of a "wall".

Veteran ranks used hit you in the face like stone fist. However, you learned, you explored your class skills, you expanded your tactics, etc. It really allowed you to "grow" as a player and dramatically improve.

Of course, once you were VR10, there was another wall, Dungeons. Again, you had to learn and adapt and go even deeper into your arsenal of skills. After dungeons, then there was trial, were the things you learned in pre-VR,VR and Dungeons were simply not cutting it. If all of that was not enough, there was always the ultimate test: PvP.

I took the trip from VR1-VR10 as an extension of an already excellent game. It did not take long. I did Cadwell Silver and Gold and got immersed into the stories of AD and EP (I am DC). It was a great ride, and enjoyed every bit of it.

You kids now have easier VR ranks, easier access to CP and the new CP catch up mechanic. You have it so easy!

Allyhoo811 · November 2015

Don't forget that in addition to the 501 champion point cap, the Orisinium dlc is also introducing a catch mechanic. Basically, the fewer CPs you have the faster you will earn them. As you get closer to the cap it will start taking longer, and once you reach cap it takes significantly longer to earn more than someone who hasn't yet reached 501 CP.

I saw one player report that they had earned 3 CPs in 15 minutes with the catch up mechanic. That actually seems too fast to me (speaking as someone who doesn't have anywhere near 501 CPs, and likes things to feel like the require a little effort), so I don't think it will be the uphill battle you imagine

SirAndy · November 2015

I call BS. My dedicated PvP character has been in Cyrodiil since level 10 (That's a 10 without the VR in front of it).

She's VR14 now and it's been loads of fun all the way through. Anyone telling you that PvP can't be fun unless you're maxed in level and CP is full of BS.

Simple as that ...

starlizard70ub17_ESO · November 2015

The way leveling is set up now, by the time the next DLC is out in Feb/Mar? , you'll be at V16 with around 300-400 cp if you play around 15 hours a week. I won't worry about falling behind.

Dexter411 · November 2015

I know what you mean. I have similar problem with ESO or ESOTU. Why am i forced to help other leader of the alliance (cadwell's silver)? You saved all Tamriel from great danger, here is 300g and this *** ring on top of very small amount of exp. That is not all. I can not find any group for dungeons, most of them are vr10 and above(im vr3). When you hit Veteran rank or lvl50 you should be "proud" or atleast feel some kind of progress but every time i hit lvl50 i want to quit ESO because i know i will need to do pointless thing for every character,and it takes so long...

Van_0S · November 2015

Thus, that ends.

Now, on to the next thread.

Wisler89 · November 2015

Wait, are you telling us that you played nearly 700 hours and only now reached VR1? If that is the case, I think I would quit this game if I were you. When I started this game (which was early access, meaning I spend way to much time playing this game) I read somewhere that it takes about 80-150 hours to reach VR1, depending on how fast you played. Now I know people who are able to grind a char to vr16 in less than a week (about 6-10 hours a day for 5 days and voilá) but not everyone wants that. I know I did things relativly slow with my first char, BUT it didn't take me nearly as long as you...
And back then I had the same problems as you now discribe, even took a one month break from this game. I guess for you it is now even worse than it was for me back then...

The reason for your "psycological wall" is quite easy to identify, I think: You invested quite an amout of time in this game and finally finished your char and his/her story (meaning your alliance) BUT now you have to play through the two other alliances, which take about as long as the first, each. Well a little less because no mages/fighters guild and no main story. But even if you take this into account and try to play faster, you may be looking at another 700 hours of gameplay. Or more. AND THEN you reach endgame, where you can invest even more time if you are willing.
Long story short, I think you just can't stomach playing this game any more after essentially finishing it. Because as I read your post I think you have quite an emotional connection with your char and his/her story and the other two alliances just aren't a part of this.

If you still want to try and play this game and are concerned about CP, don't be. If you have 0 CP and play for about 1 hour I estimate you should get anywhere between 1 and 30 CP (or more) depending on how fast you play/grind. Of course it slows down as you get more, but I'm at nearly 400 CP and even here they are cheaper to get than before the newest patch.

failkiwib16_ESO · November 2015

By the time you hit v16 then you'll have sufficiant cp to do dungeons and content with a little boost. You shouldn't prohibit yourself from progressing in the game, because we get new players everyday. You can play with them instead of your current friends and guildies, if you feel your friends have progressed beyond you in terms of cp.

Get new friends, lvl up or quest with them. There are lots of people with little to no cp in ESO.

bryanhaas · November 2015

Geralt_of_Aalst wrote: »

Who said a title can never say it all? But seriously, let me elaborate a bit. I've played half a dozen mmorpg's before ESO. One for 5 years, one for 3 years and the others for 3 to 12 months. I must say ESO is the best mmo I've played so far. But after three months and 689 hours according to Steam, all of a sudden I feel like quitting. It can't be a coincidence I just hit level 50 aka VR1.

I know what's coming. I've been reading guild chat from 2 pve/pvp guilds and 2 trading guilds for 3 months now. I know about the grind that's to come. To be honest, I was looking forward to it! A lot of the questing I did up until now meant doing gray quests and killing gray mobs. As you know, that is boring. So I was looking forward to the VR "grind", to me it seemed like a challenge at last. Besides, "the grind" can't be the reason I feel like quitting because I haven't even started it yet.

I hit VR and I feel like quitting. I'm not exactly sure why that feeling suddenly hits me. The only reason I can think of is because the gap is so huge, it's ridiculous to even think about bridging it. There is a temporary cap of 501 champion points now. http://esoacademy.com/champion-system/ states: "The developers estimate that 1 Point can be earned every hour if you are progressing at a steady rate."

So that's 500 hours. But I'm a social player, I like to help out people, I like doing social events with guildies, I like fishing, I play the inventory management minigame, and so on. So we may be talking about a lot more hours. Enlightenment may compensate but still, you know what I mean. In other mmorpgs your goal is to hit max level and then get good gear for that max level. In ESO, that goal is so vague. Hitting max level and getting VR16 gear is nothing if you don't get the champion points to go with it. I'm thinking that's the reason why I feel like moving on.

I loved PvP in ESO. But I had to stop doing PvP because it leveled me too fast before VR. So... yay, now you can PvP! Nope, too many people tell me PvP at VR is totally dependant on champion points. After looking through the constellations, I know they are right.

I'm not looking to start another discussion about CP, that's been done. I'm not desperately looking for reasons to stay. I have a backlog of 450 games on Steam (more on GoG etc.) to look forward to. Not to mention Fallout 4 in a few days. No, I'm just looking for opinions about the psychological wall I just hit by people who had a similar experience. Any insights, opinions, speculations etc. are much appreciated.

Leaving and then coming back is probably better for you, if you try to force yourself to stay on you will end up hating the game. Sometimes a break is needed. I try to just play at my level and not worry about grinding (except to find good gear to sell) to me that seems more enjoyable but to each their own.

vamp_emily · November 2015

Why does everyone like Fallout? I looked at some stuff on Fallout 4 and it just doesn't seem like it would be a fun game.

I personally think allot of people think once they get to vet level 1, its end game then they kind of get depressed finding out how much longer they have to go to get to vet16.

I just play the game, I don't worry about CP or the best gear, i just play. Its more of a social game for me, and I enjoy yelling at the guys in PvP.

I loved PvP in ESO. But I had to stop doing PvP because it leveled me too fast before VR. So... yay, now you can PvP! Nope, too many people tell me PvP at VR is totally dependant on champion points. After looking through the constellations, I know they are right.

Vet level PvP can be tough, but you can always go stand on the keeps wall with your siege ready to defend or clap as Queen Emily rides by on her horse.

Uneed2Stop · November 2015

Geralt_of_Aalst wrote: »

Who said a title can never say it all? But seriously, let me elaborate a bit. I've played half a dozen mmorpg's before ESO. One for 5 years, one for 3 years and the others for 3 to 12 months. I must say ESO is the best mmo I've played so far. But after three months and 689 hours according to Steam, all of a sudden I feel like quitting. It can't be a coincidence I just hit level 50 aka VR1.

I know what's coming. I've been reading guild chat from 2 pve/pvp guilds and 2 trading guilds for 3 months now. I know about the grind that's to come. To be honest, I was looking forward to it! A lot of the questing I did up until now meant doing gray quests and killing gray mobs. As you know, that is boring. So I was looking forward to the VR "grind", to me it seemed like a challenge at last. Besides, "the grind" can't be the reason I feel like quitting because I haven't even started it yet.

I hit VR and I feel like quitting. I'm not exactly sure why that feeling suddenly hits me. The only reason I can think of is because the gap is so huge, it's ridiculous to even think about bridging it. There is a temporary cap of 501 champion points now. http://esoacademy.com/champion-system/ states: "The developers estimate that 1 Point can be earned every hour if you are progressing at a steady rate."

So that's 500 hours. But I'm a social player, I like to help out people, I like doing social events with guildies, I like fishing, I play the inventory management minigame, and so on. So we may be talking about a lot more hours. Enlightenment may compensate but still, you know what I mean. In other mmorpgs your goal is to hit max level and then get good gear for that max level. In ESO, that goal is so vague. Hitting max level and getting VR16 gear is nothing if you don't get the champion points to go with it. I'm thinking that's the reason why I feel like moving on.

I loved PvP in ESO. But I had to stop doing PvP because it leveled me too fast before VR. So... yay, now you can PvP! Nope, too many people tell me PvP at VR is totally dependant on champion points. After looking through the constellations, I know they are right.

I'm not looking to start another discussion about CP, that's been done. I'm not desperately looking for reasons to stay. I have a backlog of 450 games on Steam (more on GoG etc.) to look forward to. Not to mention Fallout 4 in a few days. No, I'm just looking for opinions about the psychological wall I just hit by people who had a similar experience. Any insights, opinions, speculations etc. are much appreciated.

Honestly, PLAY FALLOUT 4 lol. But yea i play eso all the time, but when fallout 4 comes out i definitely will take a little break from eso. I will say though, for me, vet rank took a long time to get to. I read all the dialogue, read a lot of the books did every single quest and every little thing in an area before moving on. What kept ME going after that: Looking forward to all the awesome questing i will get to do. Being able to see all the areas and learn all of the stories they have. I didnt think about the grind, just moreso all the questing experience im going to have and all the lore i will learn. so maybe think of it more like that if you second guess quitting!

Nestor · November 2015

Geralt_of_Aalst wrote: »

No, I'm just looking for opinions about the psychological wall I just hit by people who had a similar experience. Any insights, opinions, speculations etc. are much appreciated.

Its called game burn out. It happens with every game I play a lot of. I have to put it down for 3 to 6 months before I can pick it up again. Happened with each and every title in the TES series, and all the Fallouts. I pick up other games, play them for a while, or even stop gaming for a month or three.

So, take a break, then come back later.

Oh, and as far as CPs goes, the Catch Up mechanic works great, you will be spinning up your CP count like you would not believe. So, don't worry about that over much. And, once you get around 300 or so, unless your doing PvP, you really don't need any more CPs. Heck, even 225 is enough. I have CPs I have not assigned because I can't find places to put them now, and I am in the low 300's.

Prabooo · November 2015

I leveled my newest char V8 in two months... L2P

olimarfreak · November 2015

Prabooo wrote: »

I leveled my newest char V8 in two months... L2P

And i'm V10, started in beginning of October or so. Don't know how he played 689 (!!!) hours and only got to V1?
What were you doing all the time? Fishing?

You can grind really fast, just look up some guides, there are tons on youtube with spots for each alliance. Sure, it's a pain in the ass and boring but it's worth it. Finish Cadwells Silver and Gold, do Group Dungeons and if you have a good group of high lvl players go to Craglorn. It's that simple.

Johngo0036 · November 2015

hey @Geralt_of_Aalst,

You have more options now that orsinium has dropped,
the grind from vr1 to vr16 as they refer to it does not have to be a grind,

I have NEVER, not once on my 4 VR16 chars, 1 VR13 Char or 1 vr5 char completed cadwells silver or gold,

i go to Cyrodiil and level in a PVP environment doing daily quests there...

If you go about it positively you can and will enjoy it but what i liked was the fact that i could get ganked at any point by the Enemy....

Now with Wrothgar you have a whole new world to explore and i think this is the BEST DLC or improvement to date...

Geralt_of_Aalst · November 2015

I want to thank everyone who made time to post in this thread.

A few people misunderstood and think I'm looking for faster ways to level up or for better spots to grind. That's not the case. Sometimes I'm online for a whole evening and do nothing but things that don't necessarily yield XP like stealing, fishing, shopping and social activities. The "hours played" counter is the number of hours I spent online, not the number of hours I spent questing and killing things to level up. To each his play style, right?

The other people understood the message I tried to convey better. I must admit the amount of understanding I get surprised me a bit, and it's good to read some people even experienced the exact same feeling at some point. I read some arguments that reduced this nagging feeling I'd better quit ESO, but in the end I think I'll take the advice some of you gave me and just take a break for now. It's good advice and like I said, a break from ESO is coming anyway with the release of Fallout 4. Maybe I'll return to ESO in a few months, especially if the thieves' guild and brotherhood questlines are added by then AND if they are well received by you guys, the ESO players

As a final note to the developers, I would like to add that the whole VR thing makes for a bad business model for an mmorpg. Apparently, most people who posted in this thread felt they hit some sort of a psychological barrier at level 50 in this game, even if only for a moment. This is a feeling you never get in other mmorpgs, even those that had a level cap of 75 or higher when I started playing them, because it's linea recta to max level. In ESO you get a level cap and another one right after that, which can be demotivating. I know there has been talk of removing the VR and also of the VR never getting removed => well, they should take this argument into account as well, it seems.

Alucardo · November 2015

1 CP an hour? I don't think they really tested it through the fingers of an actual ESO gamer. I'm earning 17-20 per night without trying, and by trying I mean mindless farming.
The "grind" to reach a new vet level has been so much easier for me since the improvements they made in exp gain for veterans were put in place. I didn't think I'd get past VR1, but I'm VR5 now. Might not sound like much, but I literally just started playing my vet again coming from Bogwater Blade (non-vet campaign).
I guess what I'm trying to tell you is it's not all that bad now. Sure a vet level will take you significantly longer than a normal one would, but it's a lot better now. They knew it was bad, and they did something about it. Just like they knew the difference in CPs was bad, and they've somewhat fixed that also.
Dive into the Orsinium content with your vet to get a fresh view of the game. It might help you appreciate it a bit more and keep you around. You'll become so engaged in the content you won't even notice your CPs flying up at a rapid pace like mine did. I nearly fell off my chair when I went to assign them and I had 33 in each tree unallocated after a short period of time.

CavalierPrime · November 2015

You played ESO 8 hours a day for 3 months and just hit v1? I played at the same rate and hit v1 in 1 week. V16 only 5 weeks later. Youre doing something wrong. The game is fun regardless of level, but at max level it becomes boring if you dont have people to play with.