Im So Bummed and Mad at this Game. Lost my Progression Spot.

kylewwefan · February 2019

I totally don’t get the competitive aspect. On PS4 platform, there’s seriously maybe 2~3 competitive groups. Thats really not any kind of competition.

I’m sure others want to be competitive. But they’re not. Anywhere close to the top scores. I mean, is competing for spots 5 through 100 competitive? Really?

Raiding is fun, but it’s not competitive.

I can run Maelstrom on anything but Sorc or nightblade and get on leaderboards. I’m not really competitive, but I’m on there.

Could it be dumbed down so more people could do it? Sure would be better than doing HRC over and over.

SoLooney · February 2019

So this game is at fault for you not being able to commit to raid schedules?

I'm all for blaming zos and all but that's a personal issue, get your life together and take responsibility instead of blaming others

Monsieur · February 2019

Power creep should have made it so that old content should be easily completable by pugs. But the reality is that 1 in 3 pugs still wipe on rakkhat in nmol.

I get your frustration, I’ve been and left guilds where raid leaders expect you to treat the game like a second job.

Until ZOS can figure out how to make mechanics that aren’t flat out one-shots which require all 12 people to know and understand, the end-game is always going to be like this.

Kilnerdyne · February 2019

In my experience Progression Time Trial guilds raid on average either twice or three times a week, for 2 to 3 hours an evening. Because of the requirements to join those progressive guilds they can do multiple runs of the same Time Trial within that 2 to 3 hour period, either working on a Speedrun, Nodeath, Leaderboard score or Special Achievement.

4 to 9 hours a week doesn't seem like a huge investment to me personally. Another hobby (which this would fall under) such as Swimming, Football, Hockey or Golf could easily take up the same amount of time when you factor in travel and competitions.

I think what was missing was a solid commitment to something. If my son or father turned up in the middle of a football match and needed something I wouldn't stop the game to address the issues, i'd explain to them that I was busy and they would understand i'd already allocated committed time & effort to my team.

There's still 70 free hours in a week available after factoring in a 40hour working week, 7 hours sleep a night and 9 hours for your hobby. This has nothing to do with the way the game is setup.

Wifeaggro13 · February 2019

Kilnerdyne wrote: »

In my experience Progression Time Trial guilds raid on average either twice or three times a week, for 2 to 3 hours an evening. Because of the requirements to join those progressive guilds they can do multiple runs of the same Time Trial within that 2 to 3 hour period, either working on a Speedrun, Nodeath, Leaderboard score or Special Achievement.

4 to 9 hours a week doesn't seem like a huge investment to me personally. Another hobby (which this would fall under) such as Swimming, Football, Hockey or Golf could easily take up the same amount of time when you factor in travel and competitions.

I think what was missing was a solid commitment to something. If my son or father turned up in the middle of a football match and needed something I wouldn't stop the game to address the issues, i'd explain to them that I was busy and they would understand i'd already allocated committed time & effort to my team.

There's still 70 free hours in a week available after factoring in a 40hour working week, 7 hours sleep a night and 9 hours for your hobby. This has nothing to do with the way the game is setup.

I agree. the issue is ZOS did not support this permanent gaming community. they focused on the churn base and pumped out content for them. very little emergent game systems and the Advancement being the CP which is fundementaly broken.this Did nothing for the community minded player.the end game community is thin compared to 2016 its very much a bummer. it was teaming with pug trials and normal modes. not so much now.

electromagnets · February 2019

Have you ever played a team sport? This is not even remotely an issue with the game, it’s an issue with commitment. I understand that RL stuff gets in the way, but it’s really a matter of prioritizing. If you were 1st string on your basketball team and “friends showed up out of the blue” to have a drink or whatever, would you skip the game for that? Guessing no, but If the answer is yes then you’d never be a member of any progression team, RL or not.

spartaxoxo · February 2019

Reverb wrote: »

I feel bad for OP. And was inclined to let this be a place to vent about the sometimes frustrating intersection between hobbies and other commitments. But then I started reading comments about how zeni should make content easier so things like this don’t happen. No. Just no.

90% of the game is already faceroll easy. It’s really unreasonable to ask the only 10% that’s challenging get dumbed down to cater to people who have other priorities.

"Casuals" Will always be at a disadvantage compared to people who spend more time playing. This is true for every hobby. Always.

The guy who only rides after work with the kids a few days a week will never keep pace with a competitive cyclist. The guy who only jogs on Saturday mornings will not be a competitive marathoner. The person who golfs a few times a year will never be as good as the person who does a few times a week. The driver who tracks Laguna Seca over and over will post more consistent times then a guy doesn't.

And a daily (or hard-core) gamer in an MMO will have more money, better gear, and more achievements than someone who plays rarely and/or casually. It's unreasonable to expect any differently. If you're not OK with that, single player games and hobbies might be better for you.

While that is true, other games try to keep the harder completion of content at a difficultly where it takes hours of practice to complete, but is not so difficult that the only way to find a group is to be in an elite guild.

So you could yell for a pickup group on a day when you have nothing else to do, get your caffeine and gamer fuel, and spend the next 10 hours trying to complete it. And you can do that for days on end without getting a clear, until you do.

Here even that probably won't be enough, so you have to tackle it in chunks with a dedicated raid group.

This cuts off a LOT of players who are have more than enough skill and patience to learn it, due to lack of opportunities.

And I don't think that's the way it should be, because I think the primary determinant of whether or not you get a clear should be how much time and effort you are willing to put in, not how much coin you have or who you know. That is not currently the case.

jcasini222ub17_ESO · February 2019

@Wifeaggro13 hit on a point I was going to say. Couldn't agree more.

I remember way back 2013/2014 this game was also marketed for "working professionals" with the idea even hard content would be in reach. I thought "well that would be neat if they keep to it". It would be in reach because of the size of the community in both end game PvE and PvP. I remember various different tiers of endgame raiding guilds. Where some were hyper strict with scheduling and others we much less so. Overall, we just don't have that big of endgame tiered groups now. No doubt design decisions decimated both communities.

I honestly think making content easier or harder is irrelevant. Make it engaging, I haven't met too many that love one shot mechanics. That stuff is a sure fire way to devalue roles (healer) and shrink populations.

Ramber · February 2019

How about never referring to anything as "adulting"

NocturnalSonata · February 2019

Blaming a game for your real life commitments? I need to remember this fantastic logic, so I can blame my real life commitments for my inability to game whenever I please... oh wait...

D0PAMINE · February 2019

I couldn't tell you how many friends quit while they were active in Progression Guilds.

ChunkyCat · February 2019

You’re over there trying to figure out how to do some leader board trials and I’m over here trying to figure out how to wreck some folks in Battlegrounds.

This game is wild.

Aurielle · February 2019

You should be mad with your guild mates, not the game...

Lord_Wrath · February 2019

I have been busy since launch lol, I only play one toon! Since then I have done maybe 5 trials, mostly due to an invite or just filling the last spot. It was fun, but any other attempt can be an ungodly process - and any organized event I just cant make it or dedicate uninterrupted time.

Bouldercleave · February 2019

kylewwefan wrote: »

I lost my Progression spot for VMOL, now back to being an alt. Because real life got in the way. Again. Feels like I’m always on and playing this game, but never at the right time. I’ll probably have no interruptions for the next year, but the past three weeks stuff comes up and I can’t make it. I’ve had to leave in the middle and then had friends show up out of the blue, then being stuck out and would be late.

Really I can’t blame them for kicking me out of that spot. There’s 11 other real people waiting and ready and I can’t get myself straight 1 day in a month. Adulting blows. I think the vast majority of players in this game are just like me. We can’t fill out rosters half the time because people don’t want to commit to something they might get pulled away from at a moments notice.

Availability is such an issue. Trying to get the same 12 people to be available, ready and willing to play at the same time a couple weeks in a row to work on something is quite the achievement in itself.

I’m just so upset and disgusted with this game. I put so much time and effort into it, but it’s never the right time. Eff it. Let’s have a beer.

How are you mad at the game when the problem is real life getting in the way?

You people will blame ZoS for just about everything.

olsborg · February 2019

Its basicly how I feel about doing raiding to get bis gear for pvp. I can do it so rarely and time is never perfect so here I am. A pvper who can never get arena weapons or other hard to get equipment because all i can and do when im logged on is pvp. Why arent certain arena weps in end of campaigns rewards😞

Wifeaggro13 · February 2019

olsborg wrote: »

Its basicly how I feel about doing raiding to get bis gear for pvp. I can do it so rarely and time is never perfect so here I am. A pvper who can never get arena weapons or other hard to get equipment because all i can and do when im logged on is pvp. Why arent certain arena weps in end of campaigns rewards😞

Ues Zos does not get it. The two communities do not really care to be forced to participate in activities outside their chosen playstyle. It's not exclusive , zoe forced PVE to do pvp to obtain , caltrops horn,and barrier. Let's not get started on master weapons fiasco. At launch both communities had a definite interest in playing the whole game. The sewers were great fun and encouraged game play cross over. But when you fail to expand or emerge game play you lose populations or playstyles in favor of churn base economics.

Luigi_Vampa · February 2019

It sucks, but it is what it is. I also can't really partake in raiding anymore. I don't have the time and the time I do have for this game is broken up. I just solo now, because I can't commit to regular times. It isn't the games fault. It's the genre. I love mmo's but with a family, full time work etc... It is hard to seriously partake in raiding anymore. I day dream now of living alone and having all the time I want to take part in this hobby of mine, but I love my wife and kids and know that balance is the key. One day my kids will be grown and I'll have some free time to partake in the endgame of a future mmo... Maybe.

I'll raise a glass of whiskey to your sorrows, OP. Cheers!

Taunky · February 2019

To be honest, this is kind of why I switched over to PvP. Furthermore, I play as a healer and whenever a trial is posted on the guild discord it's filled almost immediately (plus there's too much white-knighting for my taste).

Jaimeh · February 2019

Of course RL is always a priority, as it should be. Sometimes other plans get in the way, or somebody has an emergency, but I don't think anyone on a team would be unsympathetic, because it could happen to them as well. At least I've never seen people ostracized from runs because they had to opt out on a couple of occasions. However, if you care about end-game raiding, you should make an effort to turn up for those runs. A good idea would be to find a guild that runs on a few different days/times of the week so you have more options. Having said that, end-game is not a casual part of ESO, it requires planning, schedules, rosters, etc., because runs fall apart if people can't show up, and if there are always substitutes for certain roles, there's not going to be a real sense of progression. It's a struggle finding a group that works, but I really hope you do, and you can enjoy that part of the game again.