DEATH THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE

Uriel_Nocturne · June 2016

Elfdominion4 wrote: »

altemriel wrote: »

Elfdominion4 wrote: »

New policy Zenimax leads to the death of the game.

Firor says that Zenimax is aiming to release multiple, smaller DLC packs to cater to players who return to the game intermittently, creating something akin to 'episodes' for the game:

"It’s interesting to see what happens when you take away the subscription model away," Firor explained. "You don’t see a hardcore playstyle - like playing for six months and then quitting - we don’t see that. We have a lot of players who will play for two or three weeks because they want to get through a zone and then stop. Then they come back two months later for another month, because there’s no pressure to play all of it at once.

"Our DLC packs cater to that, because they’re smaller, bite-size chunks of story and associated quests."

Learning about the new policy ZENIMAX Paul Sage decided to leave the company, it is realized that it leads to the death of the game .Before he has been laid off many developers, who are now in the company can not cope with the task, here's a small update release.

The high price of the game, membership and some things in the crowns Store suggests that developers are interested in the money, rather than the development of the game. As an example it was possible to give a panther dromatha for completing hard mode MOL.

I play with the release of the game and remember all the hardcore content, a new trial Sanctum, dungeon, world bosses, but now all of you can go solo in addition to a trial and Dumb dungeon. Developers listen to beginners and those who are not able to overcome the requirements for hardcore content, and over time it becomes easier and there is no desire to play this game. If earlier it was possible to say that the game is worth the money that it costs to buy, at the moment it does not say. Even at the largest game exhibition came from old news. Today I learned that the developers will produce small DLC for returning igrakov and I was very disappointed in the company. If developers do not reconsider its policy, then the game will soon die, and they will not stay the choice of how to make it free to play. At this point in the game is nothing to do, and in the next update too. Maybe I will follow the example of many of my guild and leave the project.

Possibly some areas will be smaller.

I apologize for my bad English.

source pls!!!?

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/06/15/e3-2016-the-elder-scrolls-online-to-receive-new-dungeons-customisation-and-housing-dlc?hootPostID=19889d7f9a47d6b72ac81bf34e2a112f

I discovered your issue, OP.

You're getting your info from IGN(orant).

They're know for being one of the worst sell-out gaming "journalist" sites, and rarely accurately reflect information.

But this wouldn't be the end of ESO. Frankly, the doom and gloom threads are getting tiresome...

Armitas · June 2016

Elfdominion4 wrote: »

New policy Zenimax leads to the death of the game.

Firor says that Zenimax is aiming to release multiple, smaller DLC packs to cater to players who return to the game intermittently, creating something akin to 'episodes' for the game:

"It’s interesting to see what happens when you take away the subscription model away," Firor explained. "You don’t see a hardcore playstyle - like playing for six months and then quitting - we don’t see that. We have a lot of players who will play for two or three weeks because they want to get through a zone and then stop. Then they come back two months later for another month, because there’s no pressure to play all of it at once.

What if instead of that we made the game so people didn't want to leave in 2 months due to lag, loading screens, poor class development and imbalance. What if we catered to the people that do stick around, and balanced the game out so people aren't running around with 7.6k weapon power?

What if all those people that keep coming back every two months are doing so to see if you fixed what caused them to leave?

Volkodav · June 2016

cosmic_niklas_93b16_ESO wrote: »

Volkodav wrote: »

RedRoomGaming wrote: »

You don’t see a hardcore playstyle - like playing for six months and then quitting

I played since release on ps4 and now only check research. I quit like a dog because there is nothing in it for me anymore.

If you arent playing,why do you come into the forums then?
Just askin,..

Because we want ZoS to make the game good again instead of the crap we got now.

I wasnt being rude,just curious.Promise.

Adding my safety smiley now:

Hehehe. xD

Mojmir · June 2016

Armitas wrote: »

Elfdominion4 wrote: »

New policy Zenimax leads to the death of the game.

Firor says that Zenimax is aiming to release multiple, smaller DLC packs to cater to players who return to the game intermittently, creating something akin to 'episodes' for the game:

"It’s interesting to see what happens when you take away the subscription model away," Firor explained. "You don’t see a hardcore playstyle - like playing for six months and then quitting - we don’t see that. We have a lot of players who will play for two or three weeks because they want to get through a zone and then stop. Then they come back two months later for another month, because there’s no pressure to play all of it at once.

What if instead of that we made the game so people didn't want to leave in 2 months due to lag, loading screens, poor class development and imbalance. What if we catered to the people that do stick around, and balanced the game out so people aren't running around with 7.6k weapon power?

What if all those people that keep coming back every two months are doing so to see if you fixed what caused them to leave?

This is what I'm sayimg

Theodorus · June 2016

rotaugen454 wrote: »

In a few billion years, the sun will have expanded to the point that it has swallowed earth, so ESO's time is limited regardless.

Is this what they mean by "global warming"?

Dixa · June 2016

Go ask Carbine Studios how concentrating their game for the hardcore audience worked out in the end.

I'll wait.

Whatzituyah · June 2016

Theodorus wrote: »

rotaugen454 wrote: »

In a few billion years, the sun will have expanded to the point that it has swallowed earth, so ESO's time is limited regardless.

Is this what they mean by "global warming"?

@Theodorus
Thats about the gases on Earth what hes talking about are star stages.

But thats off topic try an astronomy class to learn that.

daemonios · June 2016

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

yodased · June 2016

daemonios wrote: »

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

To be completely fair the guy who said that doesn't work there any more

Yolokin_Swagonborn · June 2016

What is dead can never die.

NewBlacksmurf · June 2016

Funny cause under the leadership of Paul Sage we had VR systems, limiting zones, quests that phased ppl out away from others, one DLC for 6 months, approx 600k active subs, console delay for a year plus and this solo only quest stuff.

Paul left

Now we get 1 DLC every 3 months, 7 million account that purchased the game, crown store, no sub required (kinda) VR conversion and soon to be One Tamriel with another DLC and housing next year...OH and for those on console who asks forever, text chat

While all of this isn't my cup of tea, it's clear whose doing better

I quit until Paul Sage left

daemonios · June 2016

Dixa wrote: »

Go ask Carbine Studios how concentrating their game for the hardcore audience worked out in the end.

I'll wait.

Nobody's asking them to focus on a part of the player base exclusively. But on a different note:

- Who do you think runs content with pugs and gives them a few insights on how to play effectively? I can assure you it's not casuals.
- Who do you think theorycrafts and makes guides available for others so they can progress to the harder content? Not casuals.
- Who do you think develops the add-ons used by much of the PC/Mac community, some of which were considered so necessary that they've been added to the game (e.g. floating combat text)?
- Who do you think streams ESO and shows others who may or may not be playing ESO what is possible in the game?
- Who do you think makes guilds and puts up with ZOS' terrible tools for managing guilds and guild stores so that players can find almost anything that ZOS still hasn't made Bound on Pickup?

If you develop ESO for the players who only come back for the few weeks after a new "episode" is published, you will lose your long-term, subscribed players. And I'm pretty damn sure others will follow.

yodased wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

To be completely fair the guy who said that doesn't work there any more

True. But if you remember those days before the announcement of ESO 2.0, ZOS let the rumours fester for months and didn't confirm them until the very last minute. His word was ZOS' word, they backtracked on it and hid it until they couldn't hide it anymore.

Volkodav · June 2016

Yolokin_Swagonborn wrote: »

What is dead can never die.

I cant think what is dead.Certainly not ESO.
She's alive and kickin!

THEDKEXPERIENCE · June 2016

daemonios wrote: »

Dixa wrote: »

Go ask Carbine Studios how concentrating their game for the hardcore audience worked out in the end.

I'll wait.

Nobody's asking them to focus on a part of the player base exclusively. But on a different note:

- Who do you think runs content with pugs and gives them a few insights on how to play effectively? I can assure you it's not casuals.
- Who do you think theorycrafts and makes guides available for others so they can progress to the harder content? Not casuals.
- Who do you think develops the add-ons used by much of the PC/Mac community, some of which were considered so necessary that they've been added to the game (e.g. floating combat text)?
- Who do you think streams ESO and shows others who may or may not be playing ESO what is possible in the game?
- Who do you think makes guilds and puts up with ZOS' terrible tools for managing guilds and guild stores so that players can find almost anything that ZOS still hasn't made Bound on Pickup?

If you develop ESO for the players who only come back for the few weeks after a new "episode" is published, you will lose your long-term, subscribed players. And I'm pretty damn sure others will follow.

yodased wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

To be completely fair the guy who said that doesn't work there any more

True. But if you remember those days before the announcement of ESO 2.0, ZOS let the rumours fester for months and didn't confirm them until the very last minute. His word was ZOS' word, they backtracked on it and hid it until they couldn't hide it anymore.

And who do you think cares? Not the casuals. Seriously, a significant majority of players don't come to these forums, look for builds online or watch twitch. The number of people who simply turn on the game every week or two for an hour or two dwarf the people that you're describing.

There are people who have played for a solid year that don't even understand how guild banks work because they don't care. They just think it's fun to kill a zombie on their totally awesome level 31 character with that sweet green armor.

cosmic_niklas_93b16_ESO · June 2016

danielpatrickkeaneub17_ESO wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

Dixa wrote: »

Go ask Carbine Studios how concentrating their game for the hardcore audience worked out in the end.

I'll wait.

Nobody's asking them to focus on a part of the player base exclusively. But on a different note:

- Who do you think runs content with pugs and gives them a few insights on how to play effectively? I can assure you it's not casuals.
- Who do you think theorycrafts and makes guides available for others so they can progress to the harder content? Not casuals.
- Who do you think develops the add-ons used by much of the PC/Mac community, some of which were considered so necessary that they've been added to the game (e.g. floating combat text)?
- Who do you think streams ESO and shows others who may or may not be playing ESO what is possible in the game?
- Who do you think makes guilds and puts up with ZOS' terrible tools for managing guilds and guild stores so that players can find almost anything that ZOS still hasn't made Bound on Pickup?

If you develop ESO for the players who only come back for the few weeks after a new "episode" is published, you will lose your long-term, subscribed players. And I'm pretty damn sure others will follow.

yodased wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

To be completely fair the guy who said that doesn't work there any more

True. But if you remember those days before the announcement of ESO 2.0, ZOS let the rumours fester for months and didn't confirm them until the very last minute. His word was ZOS' word, they backtracked on it and hid it until they couldn't hide it anymore.

And who do you think cares? Not the casuals. Seriously, a significant majority of players don't come to these forums, look for builds online or watch twitch. The number of people who simply turn on the game every week or two for an hour or two dwarf the people that you're describing.

There are people who have played for a solid year that don't even understand how guild banks work because they don't care. They just think it's fun to kill a zombie on their totally awesome level 31 character with that sweet green armor.

And then when they come into a vet dungeon they cry as their light attacking build doesn't do anything and gets all the content nerfed until you barely have to hit anything anymore before it dies, lol.

Eshelmen · June 2016

Is it an unexpected move? Not really.
Does it mean you shouldn't get annoyed by it? No.

People need to understand that no matter what points you make, no matter what pros outweigh the cons, that someone will see it differently.
A lot of forum regulars here spend hours and hours defending ZOS, and it gets them no where.

A lot of other users spend hours disregarding ZOS project aka ESO. But in the end, it boils down to two things. It's either you play it, or you don't.

Adding "small bite sized chunks" every four months is okay in my eyes.But it's not the greatest idea IMO either.

They need to release a big DLC eventually. One that targets all audiences and not just a select demographic. This whole past year of DLCs has been IMO aimed toward assisting users who don't frequently play on a daily basis. This is of course IMO.

Branching/expanding PVP, multiple new zones in a DLC, expanding skill lines, adding new professions, much more end game content, new cosmetic features, more subsriber bonus', more classes, etc...

Nit picking a few of these at a time just doesn't seem to cut it for me for the long haul. But I am definitely excited about the recent changes to this game, it keeps the game fresh.

I feel ZOS will soon have amazing news/info on what they will bring us in the next year(Other than Tamriel One). I'm staying subscribed for now, and I feel ESO hasn't even peaked with its potential yet.

daemonios · June 2016

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Funny cause under the leadership of Paul Sage we had VR systems, limiting zones, quests that phased ppl out away from others, one DLC for 6 months, approx 600k active subs, console delay for a year plus and this solo only quest stuff.

Paul left

Now we get 1 DLC every 3 months, 7 million account that purchased the game, crown store, no sub required (kinda) VR conversion and soon to be One Tamriel with another DLC and housing next year...OH and for those on console who asks forever, text chat

While all of this isn't my cup of tea, it's clear whose doing better

I quit until Paul Sage left

VR levels made more sense than CP ranks which are a vertical system disguised as something else. You now have 3600 levels instead of 65, with the added insult that you can't use your earned levels until ZOS decides to increase the CP cap. I will happily admit that grinding 8 toons to VR16 was no small feat, but that could have been dealt with by fiddling with the XP needed and with the XP rewards from quests and grinds.

As for the DLC, let's see:

- IC was Ok. Map-wise it was tiny, but being a PvP area, size isn't everything. The two dungeons were great but have been nerfed to a shadow of their former self. It also reinforced the BoP-fest that ESO has turned into (I've done these dungeons hundreds of times and 9 months later am still missing some sets; there is no way you can justify this).

- Wrothgar was the largest DLC by far. The map is reasonably large, there are 2 big public dungeons, a number of smaller delves, 6 world bosses that actually require a group to kill... However, in terms of group content, it was a no-show. Instead they introduced a solo trial which is the ONLY way to get your hands on the BiS weapons in the game. All armour sets from vMA are all but ignored, and the ones from outside the trial - Briarheart, Pariah, etc. are so frustrating to obtain at max level and with decent traits that only a handful of people use them.

- TG and DB (yes, I'm lumping them together because that way they might actually make one decent DLC). Where to begin? Tiny maps, no group dungeons, continuation of the RNG- and BoP-fest. I only ever go to Hew's Bane because the latest DLC introduced new motifs; I hadn't set foot in it since I finished the zone on my main character, and that took all of 2 weeks. The Golden Coast is the same - I'm only missing 3 achievements and there will be nothing else to do there. The only content in these 2 DLCs that's even worth running after that is MoL and vSO.

But hey, since they're not devoting resources to fixing bugs, punishing cheaters or developing actual content, they have all the time in the world to offer us those shiny, time-limited new mounts and costumes in the crown store. Happy days! /s

So yeah, I'm not so sure Paul Sage leaving was a good thing.

Troneon · June 2016

DLC's with tiny amount of solo content in an MMO...this is what we are seeing.

With 1% if not 0% being actual challenging or even multiplayer content...

It's pathetic and laughable for an MMO...

MMO's are dying in general...with the RPG kind anyway....

Volkodav · June 2016

danielpatrickkeaneub17_ESO wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

Dixa wrote: »

Go ask Carbine Studios how concentrating their game for the hardcore audience worked out in the end.

I'll wait.

Nobody's asking them to focus on a part of the player base exclusively. But on a different note:

- Who do you think runs content with pugs and gives them a few insights on how to play effectively? I can assure you it's not casuals.
- Who do you think theorycrafts and makes guides available for others so they can progress to the harder content? Not casuals.
- Who do you think develops the add-ons used by much of the PC/Mac community, some of which were considered so necessary that they've been added to the game (e.g. floating combat text)?
- Who do you think streams ESO and shows others who may or may not be playing ESO what is possible in the game?
- Who do you think makes guilds and puts up with ZOS' terrible tools for managing guilds and guild stores so that players can find almost anything that ZOS still hasn't made Bound on Pickup?

If you develop ESO for the players who only come back for the few weeks after a new "episode" is published, you will lose your long-term, subscribed players. And I'm pretty damn sure others will follow.

yodased wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

To be completely fair the guy who said that doesn't work there any more

True. But if you remember those days before the announcement of ESO 2.0, ZOS let the rumours fester for months and didn't confirm them until the very last minute. His word was ZOS' word, they backtracked on it and hid it until they couldn't hide it anymore.

And who do you think cares? Not the casuals. Seriously, a significant majority of players don't come to these forums, look for builds online or watch twitch. The number of people who simply turn on the game every week or two for an hour or two dwarf the people that you're describing.

There are people who have played for a solid year that don't even understand how guild banks work because they don't care. They just think it's fun to kill a zombie on their totally awesome level 31 character with that sweet green armor.

And here is yet another description of "casuals".
I get confused by each different one.
I was called a casual becaause I dont PvP,or do endgame things.
But how can I be casual when I read this? I cant be.
I am one of those players who plays upward of 4-5 hours,..every day.
Also,why is wrong with being happy you killed a zombie at L31,wearing green armor.
To read this seems like an elitist talking.
BUT,I know you dont mean it that way.
It's just that too many people rank on those people who are fine with their blue or green gear.Those who arent interested in PvP,or trials,etc. They find fault and call them casuals,which is usually indicating an insult.Many of those called "casuals" are not people who have played MMOs very long,or if they did,they didnt play many.They are just people who love to play games,like everyone else,and they need time to get to where these upper echelon,nose in the air, fancy geared players are now.
Its sad that there are those who look down their noses at other players.No matter what their gear rating,or their levels.
(funny thing though,..those nose in the air players were once just like those they call "casuals",thinking they're cool in green gear.)

arena25 · June 2016

Oh, god, another one of these threads.

People said ESO was dying. Well, on Steam, it is right now in at #80 of Steam's 100 most played games, in fact, the only other MMO with more players is Wildstar, and they are only 2 spots ahead. At noon today, ESO had 1,800 different people playing...and that's the PC people who have a Steam account.

The game is not dead, if Steam has anything to say about it...in fact, far from it. What is dead is the OP's enthusiasm for the game.

I'll be back later when I can be bothered.

Signed,

Lord Arena25

P.S. All the stats, including the 1,800 different people and the spot on the top 100, came from Steam's Top 100 Played Games list, at noon Eastern today (6/15/2016). The stats may be different now, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.

Junipus · June 2016

How I imagine everyone who supports ESO unequivocally

khele23eb17_ESO · June 2016

arena25 wrote: »

Oh, god, another one of these threads.

People said ESO was dying. Well, on Steam, it is right now in at #80 of Steam's 100 most played games, in fact, the only other MMO with more players is Wildstar, and they are only 2 spots ahead.

Wait what? Wildstar has more players than ESO? THAT does worry me.

As for the OP... I suspect hes not that far off and we wont see anything on the scale of Wrothgar again any time soon.

ShedsHisTail · June 2016

Elfdominion4 wrote: »

New policy Zenimax leads to the death of the game.

Firor says that Zenimax is aiming to release multiple, smaller DLC packs to cater to players who return to the game intermittently, creating something akin to 'episodes' for the game:

"It’s interesting to see what happens when you take away the subscription model away," Firor explained. "You don’t see a hardcore playstyle - like playing for six months and then quitting - we don’t see that. We have a lot of players who will play for two or three weeks because they want to get through a zone and then stop. Then they come back two months later for another month, because there’s no pressure to play all of it at once.

"Our DLC packs cater to that, because they’re smaller, bite-size chunks of story and associated quests."

Well, if that was the death-stroke, then it sounds to me like it started dying when they abandoned the subscription model in the first place.

Volkodav · June 2016

dap_robertb16_ESO wrote: »

How I imagine everyone who supports ESO unequivocally

Oh,look! A snarky car!

ShedsHisTail · June 2016

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

arena25 wrote: »

Oh, god, another one of these threads.

People said ESO was dying. Well, on Steam, it is right now in at #80 of Steam's 100 most played games, in fact, the only other MMO with more players is Wildstar, and they are only 2 spots ahead.

Wait what? Wildstar has more players than ESO? THAT does worry me.

As for the OP... I suspect hes not that far off and we wont see anything on the scale of Wrothgar again any time soon.

Well, don't forget ESO was originally not launched on Steam, and the player population is split between PCs and two separate console releases. So Steam stats only represent a fraction of the actual player base. Probably a minority fraction.

Flynch · June 2016

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

arena25 wrote: »

Oh, god, another one of these threads.

People said ESO was dying. Well, on Steam, it is right now in at #80 of Steam's 100 most played games, in fact, the only other MMO with more players is Wildstar, and they are only 2 spots ahead.

Wait what? Wildstar has more players than ESO? THAT does worry me.

As for the OP... I suspect hes not that far off and we wont see anything on the scale of Wrothgar again any time soon.

Wildstar is F2P now, so it's not so surprising that it has a lot of players tbh.

Averya_Teira · June 2016

danielpatrickkeaneub17_ESO wrote: »

You have to cater to casual participants in every form of entertainment to survive. Hardcore fans of anything will always show up (even if only to complain) because that's what hardcore fans do. Casual fans are where your extraneous income comes from.

Take a moment to go look at another message board for ANYTHING. There will be some hardcore fan saying that their favorite hobby is dying.

The thing is... you're supposed to create content for both casual and hardcore players. Casual players pay the bills, Hardcore players make a game survive by making something to strive for for casuals and by creating content outside the game. Think mmo-champion or Curse were founded by casual players?

Right now, ESO doesn't really have anything "hard" to do. Well I mean vMSA can be hard, but it's mostly due to bugs, lag or crashes lol...

**I am a very casual player, so don't attack me for whatever reason lol...

Volkodav · June 2016

Averya_Teira wrote: »

danielpatrickkeaneub17_ESO wrote: »

You have to cater to casual participants in every form of entertainment to survive. Hardcore fans of anything will always show up (even if only to complain) because that's what hardcore fans do. Casual fans are where your extraneous income comes from.

Take a moment to go look at another message board for ANYTHING. There will be some hardcore fan saying that their favorite hobby is dying.

The thing is... you're supposed to create content for both casual and hardcore players. Right now, ESO doesn't really have anything "hard" to do. Well I mean vMSA can be hard, but it's mostly due to bugs, lag or crashes lol...

"Hardcore" doesnt mean actuall "hard content".Hardcore means this:
"A hardcore gamer is someone who spends a significant amount of his/her time playing video games. Time can relate to playing non-stop for an extended period of time (several hours in a sitting),..or playing on a consistent schedule (go to work, come home play until 3:00AM, go to sleep for 5 hours, get up and go to work, etc.)
It has nothing to do with content being "hard".

ConeOfSilence · June 2016

Play something else then if you are not happy, it is only a game after all.

MuddledMuppet · June 2016

daemonios wrote: »

Dixa wrote: »

Go ask Carbine Studios how concentrating their game for the hardcore audience worked out in the end.

I'll wait.

Nobody's asking them to focus on a part of the player base exclusively. But on a different note:

- Who do you think runs content with pugs and gives them a few insights on how to play effectively? I can assure you it's not casuals.
- Who do you think theorycrafts and makes guides available for others so they can progress to the harder content? Not casuals.
- Who do you think develops the add-ons used by much of the PC/Mac community, some of which were considered so necessary that they've been added to the game (e.g. floating combat text)?
- Who do you think streams ESO and shows others who may or may not be playing ESO what is possible in the game?
- Who do you think makes guilds and puts up with ZOS' terrible tools for managing guilds and guild stores so that players can find almost anything that ZOS still hasn't made Bound on Pickup?

If you develop ESO for the players who only come back for the few weeks after a new "episode" is published, you will lose your long-term, subscribed players. And I'm pretty damn sure others will follow.

yodased wrote: »

daemonios wrote: »

So ESO finally turned into a full-fledged, episodic, freemium mobile game. Just on a computer/console. Bravo, ZOS. You had me fooled when you stated initially that the subscription model was the only one you were considering, and that you were sticking with it.

To be completely fair the guy who said that doesn't work there any more

True. But if you remember those days before the announcement of ESO 2.0, ZOS let the rumours fester for months and didn't confirm them until the very last minute. His word was ZOS' word, they backtracked on it and hid it until they couldn't hide it anymore.

Allow me to add a further note:

1) some people would rather fail a dungeon with friendly players than beat it with arrogant elitists. Strangely enough, it's rarely a joyous occasion to team up with others who hold those 'beneath' them with contempt. Some people do spread some insights in a friendly manner for sure, but there are plenty around who are just as likely to rant and rage quit.
2) Theory crafting and guides can be a great help, but they can also lead to insanely powerful builds that make all content in the game weak and unchallenging, leading to more and more power creep, wider and wider power differential, and endless fotm builds and yells for nerfs. I would guess that as many demands for nerfs come from non-casuals as casuals in these forums.
3) Add-on. Great. Except they lead to devs not having to address many qol issues that should have been addressed, and to battle information that imo should have remained hidden.

I'll admit something upfront; I'm not the greatest player out there. Certainly not the worst, but probably bad enough to earn scorn from many people who post in these forums, in a word: Average.

I've never asked for any content to be made easier, but neither have I squeezed every last possible drop of power available and then moan that content is to easy. I, and my friends, make builds that Center around concepts, and then figure out how we can make those the best we can. We have fun. Dungeon difficulty doesn't put us off trying, but you wanna know what puts us off filling our last spot if we're one short? Not someone who is still growing as a player, but someone who has nothing but contempt for those not up to their ideal.

When Cyrodill is empty, when the servers shut down to lack of support, it won't be because the top 10% leave, it will be because us filthy casuals are finally sickened of the disdain shown towards us.