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What ZOS would do if they were smart.

AuldWolf
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I can't just pick up sticks without even trying. I know I've repeated myself until I'm blue in the face, but let's just make one thread where it's all together in one place. The ways to improve ESO and make the most people happy, and pretty much quadruple profits in the process.

- Space out content drops more, hire more QA testers and have longer QA testing periods, all the rushing does is cost customers (this does not increase profits);
- Make all resource nodes/chests/et cetera player-instanced to encourage organic socialising;
- Have trials scale to the number of people playing them (dynamically, in case anyone joins/leaves) rather than expecting a set amount;
- Add difficulty settings to trials (including a casual difficulty);
- Have trial rewards drop at all difficulties, not just hard (hardmode rewards only serve a tiny minority, whilst peeing off everyone else);
- Actually listen to the class reps, don't be afraid to swap them out for new ones if you think they aren't listening to the community;
- Separate PvP from PvE balancing;
- Focus on FUN over balancing for PvE content, don't be cowards about this (none of your current players find Everquest admirable);
- Make werewolf a toggle (seriously, how did you mess this up?);
- Add a cosmetics system for werewolf players, with new werewolf forms (like the behemoth, and others) on the crown store.

Okay, I've said my piece. It's all I can do. I'm just tired of groundhog day and watching MMO developers always make the same mistakes until their games end up on life support due to having alienated all their players.

@ZOS_GinaBruno -- I'd appreciate if you could pass this on to the relevant parties.
 
Edited by AuldWolf on July 12, 2018 1:01AM
  • Mystrius_Archaion
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    I would have to agree on all points. Many of them, especially the groupign ones, were done in City of Heroes at launch in 2004. It is Groundhog Day for development.
  • ezio45
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    definitely on board with this, they need more consistent qol and bug updates too
  • MerlinPendragon
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    I disagree on most points... especially the generalized blather ones like "focus on fun" , "listen to player reps".

    The game is doing fine as is. Sure there might be some PVP balance concerns, but the PVP in this game is still head and shoulders above most other games and certainly over comparable MMOs. As soon as one OP template is nerfed, another pops up. That's PVP in every MMO.

    Trials should remain difficult, not turned into some hand holding world full of smurfs. Want easy? Do a delve or some overworld content. Want a high end reward? Get better. There shouldn't be any participation trophies.

    Werewolves don't require changes.

    ESO is already special. Please don't try to turn it into WoW with a bunch of snowflake requests.
    _____________________________________
    Merlin Pendragon - Uther Pendragon - The Lady of the Lake - Sir Lancelot
  • SunRaider
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    They should hire a fashion designer, all theyre costumes and armor look pretty much the same...

    They could make tons of cash selling appealing costumes, like the npc neireds costume on Ax Corinth dungeon.
  • Doctordarkspawn
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    Agreed on all points.

    Anyone who argues with 'focus on fun not balance' is a relic and likely just trying to argue for status quo at this point.

    Also to the above poster: If by 'special' you mean 'special needs' then yes. The games design is screwey. It's a failed DAOC knockoff who's combat has consistantly struggled to find a happy medium since. It's never going to be a pinacle of hardcore gameplay and games that try to be, Wildstar comes to mind which was built on the idea of hardcore raiding culture, die on the vine.

    ESO isn't 'special' by adhereing to outdated and outmoded models. It needs fun. Not 'balancing' into the stoneage every 3 months.
    Edited by Doctordarkspawn on July 12, 2018 5:31AM
  • Gilvoth
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    those are your desires and opinions.
    you dont speak for the entire eso community.
  • NickStern
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    Really need that LOL Button Back
  • Doctordarkspawn
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    those are your desires and opinions.
    you dont speak for the entire eso community.

    He never did at any point.

    He said 'make most of the community happy'. Guestimation maybe but nowhere did he usurp your ability to disagree with him.

    Calm down.
  • NickStern
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    those are your desires and opinions.
    you dont speak for the entire eso community.

    He never did at any point.

    He said 'make most of the community happy'. Guestimation maybe but nowhere did he usurp your ability to disagree with him.

    Calm down.

    With out the metrics that the game devs have he only speaks for himself. He can not claim it would make most happy,
    nor can he claim it would quadruple profits since again he has no metrics on current profits.
  • starkerealm
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    NickStern wrote: »
    those are your desires and opinions.
    you dont speak for the entire eso community.

    He never did at any point.

    He said 'make most of the community happy'. Guestimation maybe but nowhere did he usurp your ability to disagree with him.

    Calm down.

    With out the metrics that the game devs have he only speaks for himself. He can not claim it would make most happy,
    nor can he claim it would quadruple profits since again he has no metrics on current profits.

    More than that, just off rough user data, expecting profits to quadruple is kinda absurd. Basically saying, "do what I say, and this game will be the most successful MMO in history." Because, apparently, the only thing holding back ESO is making Werewolf a toggle (when there are relatively few werewolf players in the game, based on my completely subjective method of wandering around and looking at people's buffs) and perfected drops on normal (when only a tiny minority of the population ever even run trials.) Right.

    I'm sure all those players out there fishing are thinking, "you know, this game would be fun, if I could just turn into a werewolf, and then go make a sandwich, come back, and continue fishing as a wolf."
  • NickStern
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    I'm sure all those players out there fishing are thinking, "you know, this game would be fun, if I could just turn into a werewolf, and then go make a sandwich, come back, and continue fishing as a wolf."

    Hmm something is fishy in that sandwich...... ;)

  • ezio45
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    I disagree on most points... especially the generalized blather ones like "focus on fun" , "listen to player reps".

    The game is doing fine as is. Sure there might be some PVP balance concerns, but the PVP in this game is still head and shoulders above most other games and certainly over comparable MMOs. As soon as one OP template is nerfed, another pops up. That's PVP in every MMO.

    Trials should remain difficult, not turned into some hand holding world full of smurfs. Want easy? Do a delve or some overworld content. Want a high end reward? Get better. There shouldn't be any participation trophies.

    Werewolves don't require changes.

    ESO is already special. Please don't try to turn it into WoW with a bunch of snowflake requests.

    are you insane???? have you been on eso since summerset? this is the most broken pos i have ever seen
  • MattT1988
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    AuldWolf wrote: »
    I can't just pick up sticks without even trying. I know I've repeated myself until I'm blue in the face, but let's just make one thread where it's all together in one place. The ways to improve ESO and make the most people happy, and pretty much quadruple profits in the process.

    - Space out content drops more, hire more QA testers and have longer QA testing periods, all the rushing does is cost customers (this does not increase profits);
    - Make all resource nodes/chests/et cetera player-instanced to encourage organic socialising;
    - Have trials scale to the number of people playing them (dynamically, in case anyone joins/leaves) rather than expecting a set amount;
    - Add difficulty settings to trials (including a casual difficulty);
    - Have trial rewards drop at all difficulties, not just hard (hardmode rewards only serve a tiny minority, whilst peeing off everyone else);
    - Actually listen to the class reps, don't be afraid to swap them out for new ones if you think they aren't listening to the community;
    - Separate PvP from PvE balancing;
    - Focus on FUN over balancing for PvE content, don't be cowards about this (none of your current players find Everquest admirable);
    - Make werewolf a toggle (seriously, how did you mess this up?);
    - Add a cosmetics system for werewolf players, with new werewolf forms (like the behemoth, and others) on the crown store.

    Okay, I've said my piece. It's all I can do. I'm just tired of groundhog day and watching MMO developers always make the same mistakes until their games end up on life support due to having alienated all their players.

    @ZOS_GinaBruno -- I'd appreciate if you could pass this on to the relevant parties.
     

    - Agree. Performance gets worse every DLC/chapter. Fix what you have first ZOS before adding to it, pretty simple.
    - I can take or leave this one. I can see logical arguments from both sides of the issue. If they leave it as is, fine with me. If they make the nodes player instanced, also cool.
    - Worth looking into, definitely. I’m not completely on board, but it’s a discussion worth having.
    - We have this already. Normal or vet. With a third tier for the last boss if wanted. Maybe they could add a third tier for the whole trial. If it were me I’d just say buff normal, so it can actually challenge players and try to prepare them for vet, but not everyone wants that.
    - Completely disagree with this. If your doing harder content, the rewards should be better. Otherwise what will motivate people to make the step up?
    - Agree
    - 100% agree
    - Going to need a bit more details on this one. What exactly are you asking for?
    - I don’t play werewolf, so either way is fine with me.
    - Yep good idea.
  • Turelus
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    - Space out content drops more, hire more QA testers and have longer QA testing periods, all the rushing does is cost customers (this does not increase profits)
    This is always the risk of rapid development, on the other side if we don't have rushed out content people complain they're bored with nothing to do for months.
    ZOS was taking on a new trials tester which seems they're looking at more skilled internal testing for their content.

    - Make all resource nodes/chests/et cetera player-instanced to encourage organic socialising;
    Instancing things is less social, because you no longer interact with other players regarding something. Yes it's frustrating when you compete with players however that's still organic interactions which can lead to socialsing.

    - Have trials scale to the number of people playing them (dynamically, in case anyone joins/leaves) rather than expecting a set amount;
    That's not something easy to balance for and would also require changing the way leaderboards etc. are calculated. It's easier for them to develop and balance around an expected group size and composition.

    - Add difficulty settings to trials (including a casual difficulty);
    This exists already. Normal, Veteran, Veteran HM (with mini-trials having various HM tiers)

    - Have trial rewards drop at all difficulties, not just hard (hardmode rewards only serve a tiny minority, whilst peeing off everyone else);
    This somewhat happens as well, just most of the highly desired items are locked behind the higher tiers. You can still get titles, dyes, achievements for normal levels.

    - Actually listen to the class reps, don't be afraid to swap them out for new ones if you think they aren't listening to the community;
    They're always going to listen, but may not always act. Just because the community wants something in a specific way doesn't mean it's best for the game. Also it's way too early to be talking about replacements of non-performing reps.

    - Separate PvP from PvE balancing;
    In some areas (sets) yes, but in regards to skills no. This is more a personal opinion of course, however as a PvX player I like having an understand what my skills do without having to learn two game modes. That's one of the things that attracted me to this game to start with.

    - Focus on FUN over balancing for PvE content, don't be cowards about this (none of your current players find Everquest admirable);
    That's not good if they also want competition. Also balance is fun, without having balance you'll see what we have now, people are not happy because their classes feel weak in comparison to others and they don't want to change class to enjoy the game. You're better having a game get all classes around the same level than going for fun and having one class be greater than everyone else.

    - Make werewolf a toggle (seriously, how did you mess this up?);
    Been suggested a lot before, with their latest changes for the werewolf DLC it seems this isn't an option they want, they've gone with passives which mean if you keep attacking you can stay in the form longer.

    - Add a cosmetics system for werewolf players, with new werewolf forms (like the behemoth, and others) on the crown store.
    More cosmetics and alternative looks for things is always welcome.

    @Turelus - EU PC Megaserver
    "Don't count on others for help. In the end each of us is in this alone. The survivors are those who know how to look out for themselves."
  • FakeFox
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    I think trial scaling is a very bad idea. Trials are pretty much the only competitive PvE activity their is and not having fixed group sizes would conflict with that. Also many trial mechanics are based around a set amount of players, meaning that you would need to completely rework trials and probably lower the mechanical complexity.
    I'm all for scaling group sizes for certain content, but not for trials. A arena like MSA or DSA that scales with group size would be great for example.
    Edited by FakeFox on July 12, 2018 10:16AM
    EU/PC (GER) - Healermain since 2014 - 50305 Achievement Points - Youtube (PvE Healing Guides, Builds & Gameplay)
  • maboleth
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    Sure there might be some PVP balance concerns, but the PVP in this game is still head and shoulders above most other games and certainly over comparable MMOs.

    Then why is ESO doing poorly on Twitch? Every single popular PVP MMO is there. Even Skyrim is still doing better.

    ZOS marketed the game as a massive large scale, end-game PVP in 2014. The first DLC was Imperial City, a mixture of PVP and PVE (and a fine one that is, I so wish IC was more popular!). Then more and more PVE people started coming, as ESO started getting positive reviews. ZOS switched the priority, with PVP being more of a niche than something ESO is known for.

    How do we know this? There wasn't any serious overhaul on making Cyrodiil technically better. Every DLC and Chapter has been and will be quest and PVE based (I'm a diehard quester too, but love PVP as well!), with the exception of new battlegrounds maps. Cyrodiil and IC have been largely marginalized by ZOS and probably buried somewhere on their priority list.
  • Slick_007
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    i like people who claim 'if they were smart they'd do what i say' but dont have the faintest clue about how to make or run a game themselves. I would suggest by not doing as you say, since your post is just a wish list for what you want, not whats best for the game, that they are indeed smart.
  • Lucious90
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    I agree iwth some of this post....

    Trials are supposed to be hard... Rewards shouldn't be handed out for the sake of "fun".... Your grinding optimizing gear etc should lead to you being able to start trials.... Not just be able to walk in complete a trial and get end game better gear.....

    I agree that ZoS needs to slow the f down with the DLC and Chapter release..... Do 1 big release and a 1 or two DLC tacked on to that Chapter release, but give people time to go through all of the content. Longer Testing phases would do some good.... Though Ive heard of rumors that bugs are popping up after the PTS and such.

    I agree with separation of PvP and PvE..... Could lead to better balance expanding on PvP only gear so I dont have to PvE for BiS gear.....

    They should listen to the Class reps and Im assuming are.... But not everything will go answered, and thats something we have to live with to a point.
    Xbox/NA
    Naturegoat - Stam Warden
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  • Tandor
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    I pretty much agree with the comments from @Turelus .

    However, I'm none too clear what the OP's jibe at Everquest is about. It seems to imply that Everquest was based around balance rather than fun. Assuming that we are talking about Everquest and not Everquest 2 then nothing could be further from the truth. The classes in EQ were not remotely balanced, but they were all fun to play. Some could be soloed very effectively, some simply had to be grouped. Some had a single role, others had multiple roles - and in the case of necromancers few people actually understood what their potential roles really were! It's also totally false to claim that "none of your current players find Everquest admirable" - plenty of MMO players in general and ESO players in particular yearn for the more challenging days of EQ rather than the dumbed down WoW variants that they're mostly stuck with today!

    As for class representatives, I'm all for them having a role in the future development of the game provided that between them they truly are representative of the playerbase as a whole. Having a class represented only by a PvPer, for example, would be no better than having it represented by a quest-oriented PvEer or elite trialist. Each class has to be represented by a broad spectrum of players across all playstyles including both groupers and soloers. I've no idea how the present mix of class reps measures up to that.
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