Subscribing and small DLCs

Munku · June 2016

Hey fellow ESOers!

I have an issue with the new "small" DLCs mentioned in the IGN article. I've been a loyal subscriber since the beginning, even when I wasn't playing the game.Now Matt is deciding to give smaller DLCs for people who come back and forth. I have one single issue with this: what, then, is going to keep me (and other) ESO+ members from subscribing? A small DLC with almost no content will last a couple weeks at best; looking at that, in my opinion, might not be enough to continue my subscription.

The only way I can see this working without a loss of membership is 2-3 small DLCs in a quarter.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Formatting

Munku · June 2016

Sorry for the bad formatting...don't know how to edit the post
(Never mind, found out how)

UltimaJoe777 · June 2016

Think of it this way: small chunks of 1 big DLC are provided every few weeks or so until the next quarter and it all adds up to a normal-sized DLC.

Munku · June 2016

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Think of it this way: small chunks of 1 big DLC are provided every few weeks or so until the next quarter and it all adds up to a normal-sized DLC.

That would be okay, as I stated, but the article doesn't state that. It just says smaller DLC and nothing about releasing more every couple of weeks.

UltimaJoe777 · June 2016

Munku wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Think of it this way: small chunks of 1 big DLC are provided every few weeks or so until the next quarter and it all adds up to a normal-sized DLC.

That would be okay, as I stated, but the article doesn't state that. It just says smaller DLC and nothing about releasing more every couple of weeks.

Well I can't say the time between them but that's basically the gist of it: multiple small DLCs consecutively to reel in those who come back for new content then leave until more new content.

Runefang · June 2016

I imagine you'll sub for a month, play the new content and then un-sub. Come back 3 months later and repeat.

Agalloch · June 2016

If they make small dlc's like episodes ..they will make u sub every month. They must ad free content also..

Munku · June 2016

Runefang wrote: »

I imagine you'll sub for a month, play the new content and then un-sub. Come back 3 months later and repeat.

That's the thing: I dislike doing that. Even if I don't plan on playing, I like having the ESO+ at all times. I never know when I leave for a month or so, and I never know when I come back.

It would be interesting to see how they would put out this smaller content. I could be very wrong, but wouldn't it be hard to release a landmass?

Digiman · June 2016

@Munku can you source the article where he said that?

From what I am gathering this is actually a good thing because it means more frequent tweaking between bugs and class balancing.

I think everyone has picked up the pattern that the game balancing is between giving Stamina a Booster shot one DLC then the next is Magicka every 3-6 months.

However if they do this a monthly basis it won't be a tug of war between the two and actually bugs like say the LFG tool could get fixed much more quickly instead of waiting for one huge DLC to see if they have bothered to fix it.

My biggest gripe with ESO and ZoS was that they took to long to address issues and when they did they ended up screwing the pooch further.

Elsterchen · June 2016

@Munku ... now I do not seem to find that article. Maybe it would help a discussion if you just link it in your first thread?

found it ... i guess: ign.com/articles/2016/06/15/e3-2016-the-elder-scrolls-online-to-receive-new-dungeons-customisation-and-housing-dlc

First thoughts:

I don't think Matt has the correct impression when thinking players that jump in for a week and then leave for some time only do so because of content issues. That might be the case for some players that are "maxed out" (for whatever they value worth "maxing") or even (semi-) professional gamers that just get bored inbetween DLCs and like to stay "on top" in case something "really good" is released ... etc. Imho, for those players it really doesn't matter wether content is relased in bits or a big bundle. They will find time to play.
My guess is many more players carter a casual playstyle, bc they just happen to have a job, family and/or some sort of real-life commitments that need their time and attention. These players presumably just manage to fit in a few hours here and there for playing (when the kids visit the grandparents/cinema etc , the spouse is on a meeting, or they have holidays... etc). I am not sure wether this playerbase will welcome small bits of content at a faster rate ... or just feel pressure to play more in order to somehow "catch up" (hence: encounter stress).

Adding to this I think success and failure will strongly depend on how the playerbase experiences this changes, if at any point the impression arises that:
- small bits of content = bugs (new and old) at a faster rate, leaving the game in a constant state of fixing and changes (worse then the current state) instead of
- small bits of content = less bugs that are faster dealt with.
and/or
- small bits of content = a big sum of crowns to experience all content, nicely masked in smaller boxes to pay for (cashcows welcome!) instead of
- small bits of content = a nice chance to have a look at a DLC without the need of buying all of it at once.
and/or
- small bits of content = the need to be ingame all the time in order to keep up with all the changes/goodies (stress and more stress)instead of
- small bits of content = a steady inflow of new content that can be experienced at any time and due to the fact that some players get to experience the content earlier then others overpopulation in new zones can be reduced significantly.

... well, I think its really up to zeni and the way they work out the changes as well as communicate them to us, that will determine how the playerbase handles these changes.

Another thing that will be very interesting is how rather big changes i.e. raising CP caps, introducing new mats etc. will find their way into the small-content-at-shorter intervalls idea.