Is the Goal of the Next Event to Stop Player Loss?

UppGRAYxDD · July 2017

Once you go Craft Bag, you never go back....and ZOS knows this

Asardes · July 2017

I just go guild store since money takes no space

Remag_Div · July 2017

KingMagaw wrote: »

Remag_Div wrote: »

I kinda wish ZOS could release the playercount for all 3 versions. Not games sold, like active unique daily players who have logged into the game the past month or something to get an average.

Z0$ are actively not being transparent when it comes to player activity. Why wouldn't a company let the players know this data?

Its to shield and muddy the water so when a game does go downhill, its takes longer for people to notice.

Is releasing population numbers something common in other MMO's? I don't really play other games so I am not sure.

DanStartheFirst · July 2017

Personofsecrets wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

I think it's a marketing push to get more people on ESO+, the same way that free access weeks were a marketing push to get more people to join the game.

The crates work in two ways, one as a way to stop subscribers being mad everyone gets a free bunch of ESO+ and also as the taster of crates which might make players buy more.

As for the management it really depends, I don't like their current marketing style so a shake up there (at at least a re-evaluation of how it's handled) would be nice, otherwise I am happy with the development and direction of the game.

Don't forget customer support.

It seems like peoples experiences with the support team are of high variance.

Yes very high variance first time customer support took 10 days and multiple tickets. Second time took literally 1 minute of office time (sent in the evening recieved responce at 9:01 am next day)

Personofsecrets · July 2017

I wonder how many players trust the development team.

Sigtric · July 2017

Personofsecrets wrote: »

Sigtric wrote: »

Gods forbid they should market their product. Must be the end of the world!

Also where was there any evidence of such a "management shakeup"?

All things during the content drought pre-IC looked like all hands on deck to make the console release happen.

Here is the evidence that you requested.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-sage-b7b3a41/

There were some other folks who also left, but I can't remember their names.

If you look at the dates of when things were happening, including IC drop date, PTS dates, Paul's departure, and taking into consideration time for development, it doesn't line up for me.

Paul left 3 weeks after console launch, and IC hit about 2 months later. IC was in development before Paul left. The content drought started way way before that in summer 2014. What did he do, put in a 6-9 month notice of intent to resign? That makes a whole lot of sense.

That lull in updates was almost certainly due to getting console ESO to ship. No studio in their right mind is going to stop content development because some higher up(s) are on their way out unless things are horribly bad.

MLGProPlayer · July 2017

Remag_Div wrote: »

KingMagaw wrote: »

Remag_Div wrote: »

I kinda wish ZOS could release the playercount for all 3 versions. Not games sold, like active unique daily players who have logged into the game the past month or something to get an average.

Z0$ are actively not being transparent when it comes to player activity. Why wouldn't a company let the players know this data?

Its to shield and muddy the water so when a game does go downhill, its takes longer for people to notice.

Is releasing population numbers something common in other MMO's? I don't really play other games so I am not sure.

They don't. Blizzard was the only dev to do it, and that was to showboat because they had 12 million subs

Personofsecrets · July 2017

Sigtric wrote: »

Personofsecrets wrote: »

Sigtric wrote: »

Gods forbid they should market their product. Must be the end of the world!

Also where was there any evidence of such a "management shakeup"?

All things during the content drought pre-IC looked like all hands on deck to make the console release happen.

Here is the evidence that you requested.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-sage-b7b3a41/

There were some other folks who also left, but I can't remember their names.

If you look at the dates of when things were happening, including IC drop date, PTS dates, Paul's departure, and taking into consideration time for development, it doesn't line up for me.

Paul left 3 weeks after console launch, and IC hit about 2 months later. IC was in development before Paul left. The content drought started way way before that in summer 2014. What did he do, put in a 6-9 month notice of intent to resign? That makes a whole lot of sense.

That lull in updates was almost certainly due to getting console ESO to ship. No studio in their right mind is going to stop content development because some higher up(s) are on their way out unless things are horribly bad.

I think that you may be switching cause and effect with your last sentence. Do you remember if Paul got a good send off for his hard work? I sure don't.

Blutengel · July 2017

Its probably a ploy to get people hooked on crown crate gambling .... <.<;

Mojmir · July 2017

Blutengel wrote: »

Its probably a ploy to get people hooked on crown crate gambling .... <.<;

nope, its more of a "oh crap the crafting bag was nice for a few days,now im pretty much forced into subbing because my inventory is now all screwed up"

this whole event screams nefarious and devious.

Doctordarkspawn · July 2017

It wouldn't suprise me if it was a marketing push or if it was a legit attempt to stop the bleeding of players.

Doctordarkspawn · July 2017

Sigtric wrote: »

Gods forbid they should market their product. Must be the end of the world!

Also where was there any evidence of such a "management shakeup"?

All things during the content drought pre-IC looked like all hands on deck to make the console release happen.

@Sigtric

People have allready posted Paul Sages profile but let me give some backround on that.

Paul sage was a part of the creative director from when the game launched to the console launch. Meaning he likely oversaw the game until june 2015. He oversaw the Craglorn release, and the original balance along with the release of Tamriel Unlimited.

Paul quit at the time, or near to the time, over fifty people at Zenimax online lost their jobs. This, I do have a citation for.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-18-elder-scrolls-online-irish-customer-service-office-closed-and-300-jobs-lost-report

The basic TLDR from this link: Local news sources reported that Zenimax had cut 300 jobs. Zenimax's PR department made a statement, saying that only 50 jobs had been cut. Whatever the case, this is generally when the actual in game game-masters got canned.

Shortly after, Imperial city launched, which made radical changes to the combat system including the now imfamous block change.

So, in other words, shortly -after- the rocky launch of consoles, Paul Sage Quit, along with a massive cut of jobs. We dont know -what- jobs were cut, but we know they were, so even in game game-masters would qualify as management.

Edit: You say that Paul left 2 months prior to the IC release. Mind citing a source on that? I can find no verifiable, or big name account stating precisely -when- Paul left, only article dates. Because the earliest reporting I can see done on Pauls departure, is june 1rst 2015. IC launched june 14th of the same year, so if you have a date I'd love to see it.

Sigtric · July 2017

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

Sigtric wrote: »

Gods forbid they should market their product. Must be the end of the world!

Also where was there any evidence of such a "management shakeup"?

All things during the content drought pre-IC looked like all hands on deck to make the console release happen.

@Sigtric

People have allready posted Paul Sages profile but let me give some backround on that.

Paul sage was a part of the creative director from when the game launched to the console launch. Meaning he likely oversaw the game until june 2015. He oversaw the Craglorn release, and the original balance along with the release of Tamriel Unlimited.

Paul quit at the time, or near to the time, over fifty people at Zenimax online lost their jobs. This, I do have a citation for.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-18-elder-scrolls-online-irish-customer-service-office-closed-and-300-jobs-lost-report

The basic TLDR from this link: Local news sources reported that Zenimax had cut 300 jobs. Zenimax's PR department made a statement, saying that only 50 jobs had been cut. Whatever the case, this is generally when the actual in game game-masters got canned.

Shortly after, Imperial city launched, which made radical changes to the combat system including the now imfamous block change.

So, in other words, shortly -after- the rocky launch of consoles, Paul Sage Quit, along with a massive cut of jobs. We dont know -what- jobs were cut, but we know they were, so even in game game-masters would qualify as management.

Sure.

This all happened at the very end of the content drought. My point is a "management shakeup" had nothing to do with it.

Doctordarkspawn · July 2017

Sigtric wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

Sigtric wrote: »

Gods forbid they should market their product. Must be the end of the world!

Also where was there any evidence of such a "management shakeup"?

All things during the content drought pre-IC looked like all hands on deck to make the console release happen.

@Sigtric

People have allready posted Paul Sages profile but let me give some backround on that.

Paul sage was a part of the creative director from when the game launched to the console launch. Meaning he likely oversaw the game until june 2015. He oversaw the Craglorn release, and the original balance along with the release of Tamriel Unlimited.

Paul quit at the time, or near to the time, over fifty people at Zenimax online lost their jobs. This, I do have a citation for.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-18-elder-scrolls-online-irish-customer-service-office-closed-and-300-jobs-lost-report

The basic TLDR from this link: Local news sources reported that Zenimax had cut 300 jobs. Zenimax's PR department made a statement, saying that only 50 jobs had been cut. Whatever the case, this is generally when the actual in game game-masters got canned.

Shortly after, Imperial city launched, which made radical changes to the combat system including the now imfamous block change.

So, in other words, shortly -after- the rocky launch of consoles, Paul Sage Quit, along with a massive cut of jobs. We dont know -what- jobs were cut, but we know they were, so even in game game-masters would qualify as management.

Sure.

This all happened at the very end of the content drought. My point is a "management shakeup" had nothing to do with it.

I disagree with that.

We can only speculate, of course, but It's probable that financial troubles were the cause of the content droubt, causing hard decisions to be made, like layoffs, and the model change. It's also possible, that people disagreed with how some things were run under paul, given the radical balance changes that were made shortly after or before his departure.

The content droubt was likely a sign of intense restructuring and restaffing. Again, we can only speculate, but I disagree that it had 'nothing to do with it'.

I'll also post again if you didn't see if, where are you geting the dates from?

Doctordarkspawn · July 2017

Personofsecrets wrote: »

I wonder how many players trust the development team.

I sure as *** dont.

Belegnole · July 2017

It's a simple marketing technique that is often used to increase revenue. It can cause people to sub who haven't before and some may be tempted to continue gambling.

An added benny is that if one was to use metrics taken during the event. One might think that there were more regular players than there really are. As subs will log in every day for the crates and non subs will be taking advantage of the temporary subscription perks.

Personally I see nothing nefarious, and as I would probably be playing anyway I will be logging in for sure. Cause free crates! Plus if they like what they see from it we may get more little events that benefit us all.

SoLooney · July 2017

I wouldnt necessarily say it is because they are losing revenue, but its basic marketing 101. Offer a nice bonus for those who have eso plus with crown crates. Those who dont have eso plus can try it out free and see how they like the benefits.

Humans like to gamble and they like free stuff. Crown crates is the gambling and eso plus trial is the free stuff. People who never bought crown crates will get several free and it might be an incentive to test their luck and see if they can get something nice like those mounts and buy more.

People who try the eso plus and like the benefits may continue and buy eso plus.

I might personally sub for a month and try it out for the event.

Imhotep71 · July 2017

Zvorgin wrote: »

Based on the server side lag lately, I'd say a lot of players are in game.

This right here. The servers are buckling under the strain. the North American PS4 server is packed.

Tasear · July 2017

Seems like they are simply giving what we asked for.. more plus benefits.

Juju_beans · July 2017

It's no different then the play for free weeks they've done

It's to give players a chance to try out ESO+.
It also gives the ESO+ players some freebies.

And if those that try ESO+ out like it enough to subscribe then they get the freebies as well.

The company has to make revenue to continue providing the game.
Without a mandatory subscription they have to use other means to make revenue.

Solariken · July 2017

Whether ZOS is doing this event due to ESO bleeding subs is sort of irrelevant because they should always be reaching for more subs and retaining subs. So in that sense it doesn't come as any surprise.

With that said it's no secret that ZOS marketing are a bunch of amateurs who have never had a clue what they are doing - hence changing business model several times since release and the shameless/predatory cash-grabbery. I actually think @ZOS_RichLambert and his posse would make an absolutely stellar, featureful, and immersive game if they weren't under the heavy thumb of ZOS suits.

SydneyGrey · July 2017

MarbleQuiche wrote: »

Gold Edition released in Sep. I believe it was on sale in Nov.

Maybe that was it. That was the edition I got, actually. LOL.

Balgost wrote: »

The first ever "free to play weekend" in Nov followed by a very nice sale price was what got me to try the game again (and stick around) and I'm sure many others.
http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2016/11/15/eso-free-play-weekend--playstation-4-and-pcmac

And this as well. I guess the "free to play" weekend was extremely successful.

Doctordarkspawn · July 2017

Imhotep71 wrote: »

Zvorgin wrote: »

Based on the server side lag lately, I'd say a lot of players are in game.

This right here. The servers are buckling under the strain. the North American PS4 server is packed.

Actually considering how widespread it is, it's much more likely to be a technical issue with latency.

Or a datacenter malfunctioning. How about you try to draw a conclusion from the facts, and not the facts to support a conclusion?

NyassaV · July 2017

They need to fix the game... Then fire Wrobel (sorry bud, nothing personal) and get someone who can actually wither speak convincing BS or just balance the game

Personofsecrets · July 2017

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

Imhotep71 wrote: »

Zvorgin wrote: »

Based on the server side lag lately, I'd say a lot of players are in game.

This right here. The servers are buckling under the strain. the North American PS4 server is packed.

Actually considering how widespread it is, it's much more likely to be a technical issue with latency.

Or a datacenter malfunctioning. How about you try to draw a conclusion from the facts, and not the facts to support a conclusion?

Some people think that server lags become more frequent when there isn't the weekly maintenance. Do you think that such an event is likely and how could that be?

Some others have believed there to be paid for DDOS attacks at certain points, but I never heard the motivation for such an attack.

Skinzz · July 2017

Stop player loss? I can't even play for 4 days now because of the lag. What a joke...

Korah_Eaglecry · July 2017

This is just to drive up ESO+ sales. This isnt a sign that theyre bleeding subs or players. As they are already expecting an exodus. What theyre hoping for is to maybe catch more of the regulars that are possibly holdouts or some casuals that would otherwise forget theyre subbed.

KingMagaw · July 2017

http://massivelyop.com/2015/08/19/rumor-more-layoffs-for-zenimax/

Zenimax isn't well liked here in Ireland. They got granted from the government and given a massive business unit to use to develop jobs locally. Emplyed around ~500 people for < 6months then sacked them all but kept the grant from goverment and business unit. To my knowledge only <5 people work down there now.

They justified it as they had customer support set up. They clearly didn't and CHET the auto responder turned players off the game by continully wasting there time.