When will Maelstrom Arena reward accomplishement instead of luck? (100+ runs screenshot history)

Duiwel · May 2016

Perhaps a compromise OP? After completing it on VR you get your normal drop + say a VMA token? if you collect 10 tokens you can also purchase 1 item you would like?

How is this for a compromise ? Surely it is reasonable and ZoS should attempt something of the sort

InfaM · May 2016

Duiwel wrote: »

Perhaps a compromise OP? After completing it on VR you get your normal drop + say a VMA token? if you collect 10 tokens you can also purchase 1 item you would like?

How is this for a compromise ? Surely it is reasonable and ZoS should attempt something of the sort

Yep that's exactly what as been requested many times on forum already, a combination of RNG and tokens, so that lucky player would still have their desired item on the first runs, while unlucky ones would atleast be guaranteed to have it after 100+ runs, I don't even mind if they set it to 50 tokens as long as there's a concrete goal that lead to a concrete reward instead of endlessly rolling the dice for unwanted items.

BTW it's never mentioned but when we ask for token system, it's usually in combination with the current system , not a replacement.

Shader_Shibes · May 2016

InfaM wrote: »

Shader_Shibes wrote: »

2 runs today resulted in sharpened dagger and precise flame staff

Gz , if those were the weapons you were farming for I'm glad that someone finally get rewarded with the desired item.

Thanks. They were pretty much yeah. My stam builds are sorted and my magicka are almost. I would like a lightning staff for my sorc tho ^^

Ch4mpTW · May 2016

Wollust wrote: »

But RNG is fun according to Wrobel.
This guy is the biggest/best/most annoying troll ever. Trolling thousands of players everyday.

LOL! Truth! I cringed so hard on the last ESO Live stream, when we he said RNG was fun (and appeared to be serious). I have no idea how the guy has been there for so long. I really don't.

Makkir · May 2016

Crafters should be able to craft weapons with 1 set bonus, maybe they don't need to be AS powerful as VMA weapons, but at least it keeps the economy player centric rather than locking BiS behind PvE content. I meant, one of the initial reasons I came o ESO was the promise of crafters being pivotal.

newtinmpls · May 2016

InfaM wrote: »

Oh and I have a news for you, RUNNING VMA 100 TIMES FOR NO REWARDS IS NOT FUN ! There's nothing fun in spending an hour in that boring place full of long scripted spawn to end up with an unwanted reward, was probably fun the 10 first runs, then you realise that those 10 hours you just spent there for nothing could repeat endlessly and then it gets really boring.

<snip>

PS : I'll update this thread every 10 runs

There is a saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result ... is not sanity.

I don't like grinding, so I don't.

I think that changing how you play might change your enjoyment.

OTOH as my mother in law used to say, no one does anything unless they are getting SOMETHING out of it.

InfaM · May 2016

newtinmpls wrote: »

InfaM wrote: »

Oh and I have a news for you, RUNNING VMA 100 TIMES FOR NO REWARDS IS NOT FUN ! There's nothing fun in spending an hour in that boring place full of long scripted spawn to end up with an unwanted reward, was probably fun the 10 first runs, then you realise that those 10 hours you just spent there for nothing could repeat endlessly and then it gets really boring.

<snip>

PS : I'll update this thread every 10 runs

There is a saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result ... is not sanity.

I don't like grinding, so I don't.

I think that changing how you play might change your enjoyment.

OTOH as my mother in law used to say, no one does anything unless they are getting SOMETHING out of it.

I reached the point where my enjoyment will only come back once I get my hands on those weapons I'm farming for.

Your mother in law was right about that, I'm clearly doing VMA expecting to get the desired weapons, so when I'm still using my nirnhorned weapon after 100+ runs I know that this RNG system is a scam and I'm close to the point of quitting that game, there should be an alternative that rewards the accomplishement along with that RNG, like I said 100+ runs is not harmless and even in 500 more runs there's nothing that guarantee that I'll have any of the weapons that I need, so at some points I wonder if farming VMA means something, it's more like gambling than farming.

Stillian · May 2016

Wonder if devs will ever reply to topics like that...

Neophyte · May 2016

It is like gambling. The fact you need to repair your armor every round spending gold with no reward at the end

SlayerTheDragon · May 2016

I cried a little while reading this post.

InfaM · May 2016

Daily hello to @ZOS_Finn @Wrobel @ZOS_RichLambert

Xjcon · May 2016

After reading through most of this thread I have to ask. Why would other players want others held back by something? Several posts indicate that they agree some people should never get a certain item......what? Why not? I don't think it should be from the first clear but why shouldn't effort be rewarded?

I was lucky to finally get a precise inferno in the weekly disappointment a couple weeks ago. And even though it's not a sharpened it's still being used.

I have watched more people leave this game because ZoS changed the meta then people who claim they got bored after they maxed out their build.

InfaM · May 2016

Daily hello to @ZOS_Finn @Wrobel @ZOS_RichLambert

Julianos · May 2016

InfaM wrote: »

@ZOS_Finn @Wrobel @ZOS_RichLambert

I'm really pissed by that situation but I'll try to be constructive and polite even if I have that feeling that I'm getting screwed by your RNG system everytime I run VMA.

I did more runs before that thread but I started taking screenshot and save weapons 90 runs ago.

So, I'm trying to get my hand on a sharpened fire staff and on a sharpened 2h maul and 2h axe, I like round number so let's say that the following screenshots are what I got from my latest 80+ runs, and let's say that 1 run is about 1hour, so those screenshot are the "rewards" of 80+ hours of farm in what might be the most boring content in the game

! VMA DOESN'T REWARD YOUR SCORE !

I can do 10Millions score and be the #1 there's nothing that will guarantee me that I'll get the item that I want, while it's possible to do 1000 score and get the weapons that I want, score have no impact on arena rewards , so why bother with score ?

! VMA DOESN'T REWARD YOU FOR HOW MANY RUNS YOU DID OR HOW MANY TIME YOU SPENT COMPLETING IT !

I can complete it 500 time and there's still nothing that will guarantee me that I'll get the item that I want, while some can get it on their first run, not fair and makes no sense , so am I supposed to be motivated about the idea that it could turn into an endless farm if I'm not "lucky" enough ?

! VMA REWARDS LUCK AND ONLY LUCK !
(I don't have a screenshot to prove that one as I'm not lucky though...)
Those facts are more discouraging than motivating.

I sold all the useless jewelry/armor I had in the last chest so you can count that 33 times out of the 80+ I went to farm the "maelstrom" arena for it's only purpose (which is weapon) I ended up with a powerfull set of "maelstrom" jewelry/armor ? oh wait there's no such thing, only useless armor and jewelry.... anyway I just kept the weapons for the screenshot and as you might guess , NONE OF THESE F*** WEAPON IS ONE OF THOSE 3 I NEED.

Now let's be serious zenimax, I don't want to endlessly farm that *** hoping for your f***d up system to give me the weapon as a gift, I want to be rewarded for my accomplishement, I don't want to be lucky, I want to earn it (which should already be the case with the time I spent there) , I'm "farming" VMA, I'm not f**ng gambling it, so farm=reward and reward≠luck , get it ?

Implement a f**ng token system or anything that will reward the time/score spent there completing the arena.

Oh and I have a news for you, RUNNING VMA 100 TIMES FOR NO REWARDS IS NOT FUN ! There's nothing fun in spending an hour in that boring place full of long scripted spawn to end up with an unwanted reward, was probably fun the 10 first runs, then you realise that those 10 hours you just spent there for nothing could repeat endlessly and then it gets really boring.
Right now I don't even know how much more time I'll have to spend there to hope for the last chest to "gift" me the weapons I want, 200 more run/hours ? 400 more hours ? seriously, you just removed veteran rank because it was supposed to be a grind, what about vma rng then ? atleast there was an end to veteran rank... but there's no end when rolling the dice on such a stupid RNG system that is VMA weapon farming.

I'm tired of waiting for luck to get the weapons I'm farming for, the fact that I'm able complete the arena means nothing when I have to roll the dice hoping for RNG favor on the last chest.

@ZOS Read it carefully because it's like you just don't care about that issue since I'm not the first to post about it and you never replied to any of those thread, it's been like that for month but hey as you ignore all post about it you'll probably hear about this issue for the first time if you ever see that thread....

PS : I'll update this thread every 10 runs

I only done VMA 1 time and quited at arena 5 or 6 and never set foot in VMA ever again. Because RNG and artificial difficulty with lag + frustration + anger. VMA = waste of time and gold to me. You lost more than you earn. A guy can finish VMA only once and can get the weapon tho you may not get the weapon even on 8965th run thats just a BS system i can not accept that. Im not going to do VMA even it drops god mod 1 shot weapons untill zos give us a token system. I want to be rewarded for my time and effort not punishment. Also im doing very well with my own crafted legendary gears both pvp and pve why would i waste my time and gold and make myself mad and frsutrated ?

bedlom · May 2016

They should just add them to the golden vendors list.

InfaM · May 2016

Daily hello to @ZOS_Finn @Wrobel @ZOS_RichLambert

Eshelmen · May 2016

Did maelstrom 4 times and got the Staff and bow.. 2 for 4 isn't so bad

Nighn_9 · May 2016

Someone needs to research how many players with ESO+ got maelstrom weapons in so many runs compared to players without it.

Shader_Shibes · May 2016

bedlom wrote: »

They should just add them to the golden vendors list.

MerkzM8 · May 2016

You guys are lucky you can even run, the lag on Xbox One round 2 is absolutely ABSURD. I don't know if it happens for everyone. But as soon as I enter stage 2, it goes down to a consistent 10FPS, it is a joke.

Vercingetorix · May 2016

Well, I guess ZoS could always put the MA weapons for sale each weekend with that golden cat. Then, when everyone's weapon is special - no one's weapon will be.

LegendaryArcher · May 2016

Nighn_9 wrote: »

Someone needs to research how many players with ESO+ got maelstrom weapons in so many runs compared to players without it.

Did 77 runs on ESO Plus. Then I cancelled. ~200 runs by now. No Sharpened Inferno, no Sharpened Maul, no Sharpened Bow, no Precise Resto.
Will be quitting ESO on 31st unless the patch notes say that the weapon drop rate has been increased to 100% at the very least.

Shader_Shibes · May 2016

LegendaryArcher wrote: »

Nighn_9 wrote: »

Someone needs to research how many players with ESO+ got maelstrom weapons in so many runs compared to players without it.

Did 77 runs on ESO Plus. Then I cancelled. ~200 runs by now. No Sharpened Inferno, no Sharpened Maul, no Sharpened Bow, no Precise Resto.
Will be quitting ESO on 31st unless the patch notes say that the weapon drop rate has been increased to 100% at the very least.

It will be for DB, all be it with a now diluted trait pool >.<

LegendaryArcher · May 2016

Shader_Shibes wrote: »

LegendaryArcher wrote: »

Nighn_9 wrote: »

Someone needs to research how many players with ESO+ got maelstrom weapons in so many runs compared to players without it.

Did 77 runs on ESO Plus. Then I cancelled. ~200 runs by now. No Sharpened Inferno, no Sharpened Maul, no Sharpened Bow, no Precise Resto.
Will be quitting ESO on 31st unless the patch notes say that the weapon drop rate has been increased to 100% at the very least.

It will be for DB, all be it with a now diluted trait pool >.<

Where do you have this info from? As far as I know, it will be 50% weapon/50% jewelry.

Source:

ZOS_Finn wrote: »

We increased the set item drops in Maelstrom Arena to remove the chance of completing an arena and not getting a set piece. That was the take away from this change.

The Final Arena loot chest will drop a Weapon 50% of the time and a piece of Jewelry 50% of the time.

The Leaderboard reward will be a weapon 100% of the time AND a piece of Jewelry 50% of the time.

Hope that clears things up!

Shader_Shibes · June 2016

LegendaryArcher wrote: »

Shader_Shibes wrote: »

LegendaryArcher wrote: »

Nighn_9 wrote: »

Someone needs to research how many players with ESO+ got maelstrom weapons in so many runs compared to players without it.

Did 77 runs on ESO Plus. Then I cancelled. ~200 runs by now. No Sharpened Inferno, no Sharpened Maul, no Sharpened Bow, no Precise Resto.
Will be quitting ESO on 31st unless the patch notes say that the weapon drop rate has been increased to 100% at the very least.

It will be for DB, all be it with a now diluted trait pool >.<

Where do you have this info from? As far as I know, it will be 50% weapon/50% jewelry.

Source:

ZOS_Finn wrote: »

We increased the set item drops in Maelstrom Arena to remove the chance of completing an arena and not getting a set piece. That was the take away from this change.

The Final Arena loot chest will drop a Weapon 50% of the time and a piece of Jewelry 50% of the time.

The Leaderboard reward will be a weapon 100% of the time AND a piece of Jewelry 50% of the time.

Hope that clears things up!

I dun goofed, was thinking of gold key chests xD

eaton68_ESO · June 2016

Not going through all the posts to see if this was already brought up, but on top of it all, best weapons in the game are attainable through solo content only. This doesn't exactly promote group/social behavior in game, ZOS.

LegendaryArcher · June 2016

eaton68_ESO wrote: »

..best weapons in the game are attainable through solo content only.

Or are they?

Haven't gotten to run vMA since the update. Will do my final run(s) tomorrow. If the last chest keeps dropping anything but weapons, I'm outta here.

LegendaryArcher · June 2016

Just ran vMA for the first time after DB release. Uninstalled ESO for good.

ESO punishes you for having skills or investing time. In 200 vMA runs, I haven't seen a single Sharpened Maul, Sharpened Inferno, Sharpened Bow, or Precise Resto. And I know there are many people with 500 runs that haven't gotten their weapon and quit the game. I could name at least 12 that I got to know over the past 2 years that I know quit just because of vMA drop rates. 16, if you count those that quit because of the Undaunted chest drop rates.

My thread on this topic (12 pages) got ignored.

For those still playing ESO or even giving ZOS money: try Black Desert!
A loot system that rewards your effort, time invested, skill and leadership skills; capped RNG (if item X doesn't drop after Y runs, chance of 100% to get it on Y+1 run), items behind uncapped RNG are always BoE.
You're very skilled? You get rewarded. You're investing a lot of time/effort? You get rewarded. You're leading a great guild that is successful? You get rewarded.
Furthermore, better graphics than ESO, bigger world, more RP potential, much less lag, especially in PvP, and a wide variety of content, from very easy to impossibly challenging.

I know there are quite a few people that have gotten their Maelstrom weapons. Some even got them on their first run. If you're one of them, congratulations. But always keep in mind that next update it could be you who will have to invest effort similar to 500 vMA runs and still not get what you're looking for.

Maybe, just maybe, it's just time for a better game.

A big Thank You to everyone who supported me for weeks in trying to convince ZOS to end this nonsense. I've made many good friends in ESO, and will miss quite a few that, sadly, won't be moving with me to Black Desert for good.

I'm out! All the best to all of you! Even those telling me to L2P to solve the RNG issue.

@InfaM I know you're still trying to get what you need. I salute you for it and wish you the best of luck. Maybe you'll have enough patience to continue your work here on the forums and convince ZOS to make a change one day.

peniku8 · June 2016

I'll join the discussion and I agree with OP, the RNG is horrible. I had dozens of msa runs and have been in the weekly every single week since I started doing it and I didn't even get a single inferno staff, let alone the trait being sharpened.
The changes on droprates are a joke, nobody is farming msa for the sets, everybody just wants their BIS weapons.

I highly support the idea of the token system, I'd do it the way that you get 1 point for every 100k points you gather, so you get your 5 tokens for a good run. The final chest should have a weapon droprate of 33% then and a weapon of your choice should be worth 50 tokens. This way, RNG would still be there but you would be able to get your weapon in a decent amount of time.
And before anybody complains, I don't think that someone who ran the arena 5 times or more still gets a score of less than 400k.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · June 2016

Ill keep the daily reminder going: @ZOS_Finn @Wrobel @ZOS_RichLambert where you at guys?

Any response would be great. Perhaps, "we are looking into it", or "we have no intention to change", something? You realize this is driving away core players, many since beta. This is not something off putting to casuals or noobs or whatever. You have core players leaving your game because you refuse to acknowledge a fundamental competent of your game. You create a very difficult piece of content, that I am only assuming less than 5% of the population can complete. This is the part of the population that is driving progression. You then gate BIS weapons behind the content, but decide that only a random small % (of the small % of players running) will get these weapons despite their best efforts. Do you not see how this creates discord, jealousy, frustration, and downright rage among the players setting the standard for your game?

Why wont you respond? Are you afraid? Do you not Care? What is it?

I really try to be a fanboy of this game, and I play way more than I should. However, I am starting to realize that there is little difference between me and the degenerate gambler plugging away at a slot machine all alone in a dark casino. I will win next time, oh wait, I mean next time....