"All told, the combination of Tamriel Unlimited and the console launch, "opened up the game to millions of people."

"That's actually new players," Firor adds. "It's been huge. Bethesda doesn't talk numbers, but it's been huge... It was way beyond our expectations,"

Milking the playerbase? The whole interview is about how people are now just able to buy the game and not spend another penny on it if they don't want to.

This doesn't surprise me. I see tons of lowbie players leveling up all the time.

What DOES surprise me is how the quality of the player character visuals has gone down. The "Skyrim crowd" isn't here for your mannish looking new female armors, that's for sure. ZOS, you need to FIX this!

I gained nothing from reading that article other than Matt Firor saw the Berlin wall come down and they have a bunch of new players.

I don't mean to be critical but I'm really sick of these articles that address absolutely nothing and provide no real insight to the current state of the game.

Player retention is key.

I like this Matt Firor, I'd like him even more if he would push for spellcrafting to come sooner rather than later. Retain players? That is a double-edged sword. To retain players you have to create long progression, deep systems, smooth functionality, and adhere to a code of values, go too far though and you alienate the very players they are trying to bring in.

I think a majority of offline Elder Scrolls fans don't want one extreme or the other when it comes to time commitment and grouping rules. It's great an mmo can feel like it's offline counterparts often. I doubt anyone wants a completely single player mmo experience or a 100% group focused mmo. I believe they have found a good middle ground. I only wish I had the option to group with good scaling even in instances where content is designed for solo.

I love B2P cause it's the closest to the model of offline games. One could argue P2P brings more content since revenue is steady. But for me, I appreciate quality over quantity as long as content isn't too stretched thin. With all the performance issues some complain about here, I've had my fair shared of wonky bugs lol. It still managed to win an award for best mmo, and that says something.

It provided insight for me. The game was failing on PC, where PC gamers were expecting an MMO in the traditional sense (or, on the polar opposite, the mod capabilities that make Elder Scrolls so hot on PC). ZOS failed to deliver to either of these groups for rathe obvious reasons.

They were left with two options: change the game drastically (which they did to a small extent) to suit one or the other end of this spectrum, or supply the product to their actual target audience.

They did this, and consoles boomed. Because many console players weren't looking for a full-scale MMO or a hardened mod factory. They were looking for a fun action-based experience with small groups of friends (generally speaking, and I'm making assumptions).

I read this article and it supports my own assumptions of the state of the game.

TequilaFire wrote: »

Now that Bethesda's IP has been proven as commercially viable in an MMO format, it's only logical that the conversation should turn towards the other immensely popular brands in the company's stable.

Yeah, Fallout 4 Online! FTW

Not from this team though I hope.

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Milking the playerbase? The whole interview is about how people are now just able to buy the game and not spend another penny on it if they don't want to.

Reread it. They shifted focus to the Skyrim player. They're focusing on Single player content of the game because that is proving to attract the new customer.

Let's also mention how cheap the base game is too.

The question is will they retain all these players, and with the mention of how successful TG was and how they're predicting DB to be the same as they're both heavily SP focused.

I understand and agree with everything you just said, except that I still have no clue what you mean by "milking the playerbase".

Oh well I feel like the little DLCs are milking us. I've enjoyed higher quality mods from fallout and TES games for free. (Not saying ESO DLC should be free, because I'm not)

I want to see more MMO in this "MMO". What's the point of paying monthly or 30 bucks for DLC when the previous TES games are higher quality, infinite content, and cheaper.

Because the other Elder Scrolls games don't have to deal with millions of players all in the same world at the same time and interacting with each other. MMO's also have much higher maintenance costs in order to keep them running even as smoothly as they are now.

That's where the money goes. It's not "milking the player base" as other Elder Scrolls only have to worry about your one singular system. MMO's have to account for every system logged into the game at the same time.

It's the difference between an MMO and a SP RPG.

Besides, the graphics and visuals in ESO are leagues better than any other MMO I can think of.

Uriel_Nocturne wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Milking the playerbase? The whole interview is about how people are now just able to buy the game and not spend another penny on it if they don't want to.

Reread it. They shifted focus to the Skyrim player. They're focusing on Single player content of the game because that is proving to attract the new customer.

Let's also mention how cheap the base game is too.

The question is will they retain all these players, and with the mention of how successful TG was and how they're predicting DB to be the same as they're both heavily SP focused.

I understand and agree with everything you just said, except that I still have no clue what you mean by "milking the playerbase".

Oh well I feel like the little DLCs are milking us. I've enjoyed higher quality mods from fallout and TES games for free. (Not saying ESO DLC should be free, because I'm not)

I want to see more MMO in this "MMO". What's the point of paying monthly or 30 bucks for DLC when the previous TES games are higher quality, infinite content, and cheaper.

Because the other Elder Scrolls games don't have to deal with millions of players all in the same world at the same time and interacting with each other. MMO's also have much higher maintenance costs in order to keep them running even as smoothly as they are now.

That's where the money goes. It's not "milking the player base" as other Elder Scrolls only have to worry about your one singular system. MMO's have to account for every system logged into the game at the same time.

It's the difference between an MMO and a SP RPG.

Besides, the graphics and visuals in ESO are leagues better than any other MMO I can think of.

Captain Obvious alert. Way over your head.

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Milking the playerbase? The whole interview is about how people are now just able to buy the game and not spend another penny on it if they don't want to.

Reread it. They shifted focus to the Skyrim player. They're focusing on Single player content of the game because that is proving to attract the new customer.

Let's also mention how cheap the base game is too.

The question is will they retain all these players, and with the mention of how successful TG was and how they're predicting DB to be the same as they're both heavily SP focused.

They havent shifted anything. I dont know what Online game youre playing but it must not be ESO. The game has always had a core focus on single players being able to tackle the vast majority of content. The Main Story of all things cant be grouped for. You have to do it solo. The amount of group content being added to the game compared to soloable content has not changed.

I agree with this. ESO has always been a MMO geared towards roping in single-player RPG fans (as one would expect with anything TES-branded).

If future content is going to be single player story orientated that's honestly fine by me (Thieves Guild was awesome). All I ask is that they cater towards the MMO side of things by adding new Trials/Dungeons for groups etc...

Uriel_Nocturne wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Uriel_Nocturne wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Milking the playerbase? The whole interview is about how people are now just able to buy the game and not spend another penny on it if they don't want to.

Reread it. They shifted focus to the Skyrim player. They're focusing on Single player content of the game because that is proving to attract the new customer.

Let's also mention how cheap the base game is too.

The question is will they retain all these players, and with the mention of how successful TG was and how they're predicting DB to be the same as they're both heavily SP focused.

I understand and agree with everything you just said, except that I still have no clue what you mean by "milking the playerbase".

Oh well I feel like the little DLCs are milking us. I've enjoyed higher quality mods from fallout and TES games for free. (Not saying ESO DLC should be free, because I'm not)

I want to see more MMO in this "MMO". What's the point of paying monthly or 30 bucks for DLC when the previous TES games are higher quality, infinite content, and cheaper.

Because the other Elder Scrolls games don't have to deal with millions of players all in the same world at the same time and interacting with each other. MMO's also have much higher maintenance costs in order to keep them running even as smoothly as they are now.

That's where the money goes. It's not "milking the player base" as other Elder Scrolls only have to worry about your one singular system. MMO's have to account for every system logged into the game at the same time.

It's the difference between an MMO and a SP RPG.

Besides, the graphics and visuals in ESO are leagues better than any other MMO I can think of.

Captain Obvious alert. Way over your head.

The please enlighten the rest of the populace to the depths of your oceans of thought.

Because by all of your responses, you seem to be having difficulty understanding why the graphics/visuals in an MMO aren't the same crisp fidelity of a Single-Player RPG, and you seem to also be having trouble with understanding why the costs involved in an MMO are higher than a one-off Single-Player RPG.

I simply explained what concepts you seem to have a difficult time grasping.

Where did I say anything about graphics or visual.

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Milking the playerbase? The whole interview is about how people are now just able to buy the game and not spend another penny on it if they don't want to.

Reread it. They shifted focus to the Skyrim player. They're focusing on Single player content of the game because that is proving to attract the new customer.

Let's also mention how cheap the base game is too.

The question is will they retain all these players, and with the mention of how successful TG was and how they're predicting DB to be the same as they're both heavily SP focused.

They havent shifted anything. I dont know what Online game youre playing but it must not be ESO. The game has always had a core focus on single players being able to tackle the vast majority of content. The Main Story of all things cant be grouped for. You have to do it solo. The amount of group content being added to the game compared to soloable content has not changed.

I don't know either to be honest. This game is struggling with its identity. It's trying to be all things while being half assed at them all. Jack of trades. Master of none.

Idk if there's a million around right now. I have at least 20 people I started playing eso with and only one of them on my friends list still plays soooo....