The ESO Website is Much Less Enticing Than it Used To Be

ProfesseurFreder · June 2017

Just sayin'. When I started playing a couple of years ago, the site was ever so much more enticing with detailed descriptions of most everything that could be found in the game at the time. It's frankly what finally brought me in.

While I understand the reasons for its being Morrowind-centric at this point, I wish that it had more depth. It *ONLY* shows Morrowind, and there's not even a link to older showcase content. I keep trying to bring in friends, but the site gives them much less of substance to look at that it used to. It almost has the feel of something thrown together in a hurry. IMHO, you'll bring in more players with a better and deeper website that shows off everything ESO has to offer (I've been playing two and a half years now and am nowhere near running out of content).

Ryelis · June 2017

I would have to agree with this - though I don't remember what it had used to be at this point.

I recently returned to the game (had been a beta tester) once the whispers of a Morrowind chapter got under my skin. I visited the site for game information to see what the new state of the game was, brush up on races and classes, and I felt that the information was severely lacking. Even the guides they have up were pretty lackluster in terms of the information I was seeking.

I ended up scouting around on different ESO Wiki pages to get the technical information I was after in order to determine whether I wanted to give the game another shot or not, as I had not cared much for it at the time of initial launch.

BlackSparrow · June 2017

As someone who works in web communications... this is a web design fad I'm not particularly fond of: big, graphical splash pages, minimalist text, and not much actual content, at least not in a place that's user-friendly to find.

Thank goodness for wikis and Youtube, or else no one would get any sense of the content before they bought.

ZOS_GinaBruno · June 2017

Thanks for the feedback, guys. The main Morrowind page you see when you first visit the website provides the broad strokes of what content is available, but we do have several articles that go into the content in more detail (you can go to the main page of the website by clicking on the Community tab at the top).

Additionally, we do utilize tags in all our articles so you can sort by topic. For example, pulling up all the tags with Homestead will net you all these detailed articles: http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/category/homestead.

There's also a Search button at the top of the website so you can go back and find older articles easily.

What sort of information would you all find helpful on the website?

skywarnmc27 · June 2017

The ESO store part of the website is broken, unless you want to buy crowns. You can NOT buy the upgrades.

ZOS_GinaBruno · June 2017

skywarnmc27 wrote: »

The ESO store part of the website is broken, unless you want to buy crowns. You can NOT buy the upgrades.

Broken in what way? Did you make sure you're logged in?

LMar · June 2017

There's also a few links that are broken especially of older content for example linked through the help part of the site I believe. I don't have any specific links right now but I remember trying to read some old explanations on the different factions and when I clicked on the "The Story(?)" "The factions" I just got an error page. I can't seem to find it on the website right now

ProfesseurFreder · June 2017

One specific thing I could say is that the first thing you see when you land on the site is the one big splash panel for MORROWIND with the hand logo and the Buy Now links.

--> There's nothing to indicate any other content on the page. Everything else that's on the page is "below the fold." It was several visits by the time I finally noted that there was stuff to see below the fold -- and in this business you can't count on people coming back after one visit.

You absolutely need to put something "above the fold" that will lead new people to a deeper exploration of what ESO is all about. You could still have a largish splash panel, say, to the left, with a pillar of graphical links on right that enticed people in. Just having a marbled splash panel with the logo and a "Buy Now" button above the fold is not enough to say the least. Even if all you added was an "explore the world of Tamriel" button to the existing layout, as long as it was above the fold, that would be better than nothing.

A website that relies on one large splash image needs for that image to accomplish at least two things: Make a Statement, and Draw People Deeper. The current set-up does neither.

The original layout actively invited a visitor to scroll down, and rewarded them for doing so with a kind of unfolding "travel brochure" approach that was much more involving than what you have now.

Asardes · June 2017

They should have pics of nude Wood Elf and Breton girls

ProfesseurFreder · June 2017

*sigh*

NewBlacksmurf · June 2017

My observation @ZOS_GinaBruno is that the artwork and layout comes off on a Desktop gaming machine as low quality and more of an artist's digital drawing rather than high quality image presentation. A lot of whats on the website is a similar gripe from your players....alignment, quality and logic seem off for the default user interfaces on all platforms.

-The page is waaaay too long and stretched too wide (it seems to be designed for a mobile device but still too long top to bottom) Too much empty space on the side upon the very top Morrowind logo....its looks odd on desktops.

Same applies on the Crown Store Link, Very odd spacing and alignment

-Desktop: Why do you still have two bars?
-Mobile: Why is the one bar completely different than the desktop arrangement?

-Why are your images for Homestead also such low quality on desktop at least?

Time provides this opportunity to look at World of Wacraft site as its in a similar state, however the presentation aligns with their in-game experience in terms of the resolution and image quality. Link

-Notice how they have a New player section and a returning player section. It helps to give an accurate and inviting direction depending upon the customer.

-Their image quality mimics that of what my PC would show in-game

-Image and logo placement as well as links and video content align from top to bottom and do not have an ever endless scrolling feel on desktop or mobile

Other clean examples from other games

Guild Wars 2 Link
Black Desert Online link
Elite Dangerous link
Neverwinter link

Notice how the alignment, simple arrangement and use of space vs the clutter on Morrowind's page

always thought it was my devices but now others are pointing it out too

Ryelis · June 2017

@ZOS_GinaBruno In terms of what I was looking for when I came poking, I was looking for information about races, alliances, classes and what the classes could do under each of their skill lines and other skill lines that weren't related to the classes specifically. While I found general overviews, broad stroke information, and articles (both in looking at the Community > Guides as well as doing a search in the Community section), I didn't find anything specific.

When I'm deciding whether or not I want to play a game I read some of the overview of the game, its story, and characters/classes. But then I start to delve more into character creation, seeing what I can play and what the races and classes can do.

For example, looking for information on Dunmer as far as their basic background, their stat bonuses, traits, etc. There is no real information to be found in that way. What I have found is more short story view opposed to a technical gameplay standpoint. Searching 'Dunmer' and 'Dark Elf' both yielded nothing akin to what I was looking for. Searching 'Nightblade' gives me patch notes, chronicles, and articles, but no page that details their skills and abilities unless they are buried somewhere deep in one of these articles.

Niaver · June 2017

What do you want from them? Even new article about Warden skills (the newest class!) has outdated information.

LMar · June 2017

Gotta keep in mind that specific skills and lines do change over time. Hard to keep updating old articles on specific in game descriptions. That's why the patch notes are there, and there is a link to the Patch notes in the main page

NewBlacksmurf · June 2017

Ryelis wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno In terms of what I was looking for when I came poking, I was looking for information about races, alliances, classes and what the classes could do under each of their skill lines and other skill lines that weren't related to the classes specifically. While I found general overviews, broad stroke information, and articles (both in looking at the Community > Guides as well as doing a search in the Community section), I didn't find anything specific.

When I'm deciding whether or not I want to play a game I read some of the overview of the game, its story, and characters/classes. But then I start to delve more into character creation, seeing what I can play and what the races and classes can do.

For example, looking for information on Dunmer as far as their basic background, their stat bonuses, traits, etc. There is no real information to be found in that way. What I have found is more short story view opposed to a technical gameplay standpoint. Searching 'Dunmer' and 'Dark Elf' both yielded nothing akin to what I was looking for. Searching 'Nightblade' gives me patch notes, chronicles, and articles, but no page that details their skills and abilities unless they are buried somewhere deep in one of these articles.

Very valid points. This site has been lacking for years....what I highlighted.

Many have said his for years and other than third party sites, they offer nothing.

Ryelis · June 2017

LMar wrote: »

Gotta keep in mind that specific skills and lines do change over time. Hard to keep updating old articles on specific in game descriptions. That's why the patch notes are there, and there is a link to the Patch notes in the main page

I do keep that in mind and, frankly, I would like even outdated information as a starting point somewhere. However, there wasn't even that anywhere on the website that I could find to begin to get an idea of what even the base skill does before delving through recent patch notes to see what is current about them.

When you haven't played the game at all (or since beta) reading patch notes and literally nothing before that doesn't really tell you much of anything that makes any lick of sense. But maybe that's just me.

ShedsHisTail · June 2017

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

skywarnmc27 wrote: »

The ESO store part of the website is broken, unless you want to buy crowns. You can NOT buy the upgrades.

Broken in what way? Did you make sure you're logged in?

I ran into this yesterday, too.
I was looking for pricing on the DLC stuff and it wasn't showing up.

I mean, no, I wasn't logged in, I was at work.
But I don't feel like I should have to have an account to price check.

NewBlacksmurf · June 2017

LMar wrote: »

Gotta keep in mind that specific skills and lines do change over time. Hard to keep updating old articles on specific in game descriptions. That's why the patch notes are there, and there is a link to the Patch notes in the main page

I disagree that it should hard to update them.

If you're updating your tooltips in the game accurately (another issue), it's just a copy and paste

RMerlin · June 2017

The age verification splash also needs to go. I'm getting tired of having to fill it every time I switch computer/browser. On one occasion I mistyped the year, and was locked out of the site from that browser until I tracked down the related cookie...

This check is meaningless legal-wise. Anyone just fills it up with anything they want. For one I never enter my real birth date on such pages, for privacy reasons.

This is the only website I visited in the past several years that still uses such a check.

Ilsabet · June 2017

Is it possible to buy individual DLCs on the site? I don't see them on the Store page.

NewBlacksmurf · June 2017

Ilsabet wrote: »

Is it possible to buy individual DLCs on the site? I don't see them on the Store page.

@Ilsabet
Not it's not
They have a confusing and frustrating system.

Some DLC is only available via crowns or ESO Plus subscriptions

Chapters (dlc) is only available website purchase.

Gold edition that includes some of the dlc unlocked by crowns and eso Plus is available in a large bundle but isn't compatible if you already own the game. There is a bundle in the crown store but that only works limited to each server so you have to purchase it twice if you server swap

Ilsabet · June 2017

Hrm. I mostly ask because I'm still holding out hope that they'll put DB on sale but I'll be traveling next week and won't be anywhere near my computer. If I could use a phone to check in and buy it then I wouldn't have to worry about missing the sale while I'm gone. But maybe they'll just forget about the sale and it won't matter.

Dear ZOS, please put DB on sale before Sunday or keep it on sale for like two weeks until I get home. Your friend, Ilsabet.

NewBlacksmurf · June 2017

Ilsabet wrote: »

Hrm. I mostly ask because I'm still holding out hope that they'll put DB on sale but I'll be traveling next week and won't be anywhere near my computer. If I could use a phone to check in and buy it then I wouldn't have to worry about missing the sale while I'm gone. But maybe they'll just forget about the sale and it won't matter.

Dear ZOS, please put DB on sale before Sunday or keep it on sale for like two weeks until I get home. Your friend, Ilsabet.

@Ilsabet

I k ow many asked and they said they're focusing on Morrowind so while a sale was assumed, there is going to be no event.

Doubt you're gonna miss something next week as it should've been announced by now

Ilsabet · June 2017

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Ilsabet wrote: »

Hrm. I mostly ask because I'm still holding out hope that they'll put DB on sale but I'll be traveling next week and won't be anywhere near my computer. If I could use a phone to check in and buy it then I wouldn't have to worry about missing the sale while I'm gone. But maybe they'll just forget about the sale and it won't matter.

Dear ZOS, please put DB on sale before Sunday or keep it on sale for like two weeks until I get home. Your friend, Ilsabet.

@Ilsabet

I k ow many asked and they said they're focusing on Morrowind so while a sale was assumed, there is going to be no event.

Doubt you're gonna miss something next week as it should've been announced by now

Yeah, I know not to expect an event, but I've been holding off on buying DB in hopes of getting it on sale. It's probably past time for that, but if they were to surprise us I'd want to be able to take advantage of it.

Belidos · June 2017

Time provides this opportunity to look at World of Wacraft site as its in a similar state, however the presentation aligns with their in-game experience in terms of the resolution and image quality. Link

My god that looks absolutely horrible, there's no design value there, it's all just clumped together and stacked up. The worst part of it is that the content is right up against the edge of the screen, that's one of biggest no-no's in web design, you need to centralize your focus on a web page, you leave space to the left and right between the content an the edge of the screen so that your focus is drawn to the content, otherwise the eyes are moving back and forth across the screen without focus. If any of my web guys had produced that they would have been out the door with heir final paycheck in hand.

The ESO web site, apart from the morowind front page, looks fine and is pretty standard in its design, there's a few things i would change but overall it seems to look ok.

ProfesseurFreder · June 2017

It _looks_ fine. But I think that they could put a better face forward and more inviting content specifically addressed to attracting new users.

That's what I'm hoping they can improve, or return to.