Ertosi wrote: »

Jan 15th - Final Update: No Spellcrafting for 2019.



Rich's own words during the after show stream: "It's something we're not planning on doing any time soon. It's not on our road map right now."


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I'll leave the previous information below for future reference:
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This is meant to be a comprehensive list of all of the evidence seen for and against Spellcrafting being added to ESO soon.

Please note I'm aware there have been other recent posts concerning Spellcrafting and if it might be coming soon. A few other players have asked that I post this information separately so that we can dig into it further and include any information others might bring to our attention. If you have any new information on this topic, please join in and share.

Evidence For:

• Much of the groundwork for a Spellcrafting System has been done for a long time. A teaser on how it worked was first released during ESO presentation at Quakecon in 2014.
  QuakeCon 2014: ESO Future of The Elder Scrolls Online: Spellcrafting
  https://youtu.be/3LkeMacg-b0?t=3183
• ESO - The Year Ahead 2016 put Spellcrafting on the "back burner" but said they really liked it and would bring it to the game in the future.

  Spellcrafting is on the back burner for now. It is a fun and interesting system, but it is not in our current plans to bring it to you in the coming year. We really like the design and what it contributes to the game, though, so we will do what we can in the future to make it happen and do it right. -Matt

• August 2016 Matt Firor stated in an interview "[Spellcrafting] will come eventually, it’s just further out."

  Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn’t like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.
  
  But it will come eventually, it’s just further out.
  -Matt

  
  Source: Elder Scrolls Online Interview with Matt Firor
• Late 2016 players compiled a comprehensive list of all datamined Future Content and Zones. Only two items on that list have yet to be added, one of which is Spellcrafting.
  All datamined Future Systems and Zones from 2016 have already been added to ESO including: Warden, Battlegrounds, Jewelrycrafting, Murkmire, Mephala's Realm (not released as a zone, but its assets were heavily used in Summerset), Vvardfenfell, Clockwork City.
  
  Spellcrafting and Horse Racing were the only old datamined Future Contents left that have not yet been added to ESO.
  
  Note that just like Spellcrafting, many said we'd never see Jewelrycrafting either, but we finally got it last year with Summerset.
  
  Source: All Known Future Content
• 20 Spellcrafting Spells were datamined in late 2016.
  • Bound Weapon
  • Burden
  • Charm
  • Conjure Dremora Lord
  • Conjure Familiar
  • Conjure Flame Atronach
  • Courage (Conjuration)
  • Drain Life
  • Fire Storm
  • Frenzy
  • Frostbite
  • Ice Cloak (Destruction)
  • Heal Other
  • Lightning Bolt
  • Magicka Resistence
  • Muffle (Illusion)
  • Oak Flesh
  • Paralyze
  • Restore Stamina
  • Ward Self

  
  Source: All Known Future Content
• The last official word on spellcrafting was on their twitter acount in 2017.
  https://twitter.com/TESOnline/status/865640403571101701
• Many Spellcrafting files have since been datamined.
  For example:
  
  
• The last unofficial news on spellcrafting were new assets added early 2018 in one of the Dragon Bone patches. They indicate the UI for Spellcrafting was being worked on again.
  https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/83aau2/datamining_there_appears_to_be_some_new/
  
  The following art assets were found while looking through the game files, but they are hidden from the live game. They read as UI elements for a spellbook:
  

  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_base_left.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_base_right.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_highest_base_left.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_highest_base_right.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_showall_base_left.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_showall_base_right.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_alteration.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_alterationhealer.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_block.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_conjuration.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_destruction.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_general.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_heavyarmor.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_illusion.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_mysticism.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_mysticismhealer.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_onehanded.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_restoration.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/spellbook_tabicon_twohanded.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/ui-spellbookleft.dds
  /esoui/art/spellbook/ui-spellbookright.dds

• November 2018, ZOS stated there is an upcoming Racial Passive balance pass. The timing would be perfect if there were new game systems also coming that could be worked in.

  I’m guessing many of you will be interested to know more about the racial balance changes. While we aren’t ready to share specific details yet, here’s a peek at the goals driving the team’s effort:

  • When selecting a race, players should have multiple effective options for any given gameplay role.
  • The combat power provided by each race should be more equalized.
  • Players should feel a stronger sense of power progression through racial passives as they level up.
  • The unique feeling and flavor each race provides should be retained and enhanced where possible, and remain faithful to established lore.

  -Rob Garret

  Source: Combat Update in U21 - A New Approach
  
  
  Most likely unrelated, but a big addition like Spellcrafting would open many opportunities to help better align ESO's racial passives with past TES games. Many of Tamriel's races excel at the various schools of magic. Doing so would certainly help ESO remain faithful to established lore, as suggested by Rob Garret above.
  
  For example:

  Races and Magic School Aptitude in Skyrim:

  • Altmer excel at Illusion and are great in all the other schools.
  • Argonians are great at Restoration and Alteration magic.
  • Nords have no magic aptitude.
  • Bosmer and Khajiit have no magic aptitude but are great with Alchemy (which is sometimes considered a school of magic despite not having spells attached).
  • Orsimer have no magic aptitude but are great with Enchanting (which is often considered a school of magic despite not having spells attached).
  • Bretons excel at Conjuration and are great with most other schools of magic.
  • Dunmer excel at Destruction and are great with Illusion and Alteration.
  • Redguard are great at Destruction and Alteration.
  • Imperials excel at Restoration and are great at Destruction.

  Source: Races_(Skyrim)
• Creative Director's Letter: That's a Wrap on 2018! said little but might have hid a clue.
  Its a huge stretch, but there could be a clue in the recently posted Creative Director's Letter:
  

  2019 is almost upon us, and it’s going to be a huge year for The Elder Scrolls Online. I can’t say too much just yet, and it is incredibly difficult to have to hold back details, but ESO will be 5 years old next year - a huge milestone for us and the community! As such, next year’s story and adventure will be something truly special for all Elder Scrolls Online players. We are so excited to be able to share it with you soon, and we can’t wait to see how you all put all the pieces together starting early next year. -Rich

  
  If meant as a literal clue, being able to put all the pieces together sounds an awful lot like how they described their Spellcrafting system which they mentioned way back in 2014 at QuakeCon, but then shelved. Like glyph enchanting, spellcrafting entails collecting the various pieces and putting them together to make the custom spell of your choosing.
  
  If I were on the team and had been working on Spellcrafting, but was not yet allowed to say so, I'd be looking forward to seeing all of the different ways players were going to put their spell pieces together and would have worded it exactly the same. As tiny as this clue is, and as much of a strech as it probably is, the moment I first read it I instantly wondered if it was slyly referring to spellcrafting. The only other alternative to what he might have meant if it they were going to be dropping clues for us for other features that would be coming in 2019.
• The Wrathstone Tablets sent to the Twitch stream team are very reminiscent of the old Spellcrafting Tablets. The first one was reported by @ClassyKatie on Jan 4 via Twitter.
  
  

  • The Spellcrafting tablets were described as often being fragmented which requires the pieces to be placed back together
  • The Spellcrafting tablets were said to vary in appearance, but note how both use basic geometric shapes like circles, dots and triangles.
  • The name "Wrathstone" might itself be a hint towards Spellcrafting. Crafted spell tablets come in all levels, like other crafted materials. Their material theme is Stone, with "Marble and Runestone" being the two named in the 2014 Spellcrafting preview.
  • Note: While the Wrathstone tablets sent to the streamers have a very 3D dragon skull, the same tablet can be seen in the 7 sec Elsweyr teaser clip as still having a dragon skull image but was very flat, much more like the Spellcrafting tablet shown here.

  
  Counterpoint: These tablets just as easily could be a simple item used to introduce the next story. Perhaps the tablet is an ancient key that has kept sleeping dragons imprisoned and once it was whole again, it allowed for their release.
• Abnur Tharn's letter mentioned knowledge that will help him "end the misguided Three Banners War." Could Spellcrafting be that knowledge?

  Adventurer,
  
  I have followed your progress with interest and deemed you
  worthy of rendering assistance. Knowledge has come to my
  possession that will help me end the misguided Three Banners
  War and restore peace to Tamriel. You shall accompany me.
  Be ready to answer my summons. And answer it quickly...
  I hate to be kept waiting.
  
  High Chancellor
  Abnur Tharn

  
  What could be this knowledge he is referring to? Perhaps he's found a new way of crafting spells, not seen before in ESO's current age (Spellcrafting). Perhaps he's referring to the Dragons, hoping to harness their power to help him end the war (which could mean Dragons would be introduced as a new "siege" weapon allowing you to effectively "nuke" your enemies). Either way, I doubt they plan on truly ending the Three Banners War (Cyrodiil PvP), rather that is just their flavorful way of having him introduce a new mechanic which will be used in said war.
  
  Why Abnur Tharn? He is a very powerful spellcaster, ever hungry for powerful knoweldge, and an Imperial Battlemage would be a great NPC to introduce a new type of magic to players of all factions, unencumbered by oversight from the various guilds.
• ESO's "Interactive" live Twitch stream on Jan 9th had a background that was reminiscent of a spellcrafting tablet.
  
  (edit: Image isn't showing for me. Here's a direct link: https://i.imgur.com/hK5Mzhp.jpg )
  
  The pattern matches the Wrathstone tablet pattern exactly, but it is unknown if they both are Spellcrafting Tablets or something else. As viewers clicked, sparkles of energy moved from the middle of the screen to the glowing lines, although it also appeared that it was a timed event and that doing so didn't actually help the energy lines progress forward. It still gave the impression of infusing the tablet with magical energy. Also note the information icon at the bottom middle is an icon of a flame.
  
  If they aren't spellcrafting tablets, then their appearance is a massive troll on the part of ZOS as they well know many fans have been eagerly awaiting ESO's introduction of Spellcrafting.
• The special voice message from Abnur Tharn could hold another hint.
  Abnur Tharn voiceover:
  
  
  source:
  

  https://twitter.com/TESOnline/status/1083043360032673792

  
  

  "Yes, yes, I see what you did. Do you want a sweet biscuit?...
  Collect the tile and let's be on our way."

  
  This wouldn't have been the teaser if it wasn't meant as a big clue. The "tiles" being collected sound like the spell tablet fragments players will need to collect before being able to craft spells.
  
  Counterpoints: The tiles could just as easily be used for unlocking Necromancy, the dragons, or merely be for a one time puzzle. There's also the possibility the sound bite isn't referencing a scene the player has with Abnur; rather it could be a sound bite from the scene where he discovers the two pieces of the Wrathstone shown in the teasers with the khajiit companion of his.
• Could TESOnline's tweet for the Jan. 15th Announcement Stream Rewards hold another hint for Spellcrafting hidden in the thumbnail for the next Chapter's concept art?
  
  
  On the edge of what we're shown in the thumbnail, there seems to be the outline of a magical doorway similar to those leading to ancient rooms where the Spellcrafting tablet fragments are held.
• Opinion: We know this year is bringing us Elsweyr, Necromancers, and Dragons, but there has been no mention of any new game systems yet. A new game system would be needed to avoid this year's features being dwarfed by each of the last two years.
  2017 brought us:

  • The Player Housing System released as the Homestead free update.
  • The Transmutation System with the Clockwork City DLC.
  • Battlegrounds PvP Mode with the Morrowind chapter.

  2018 brought us:

  • The Outfitting System and Player Housing Storage with the Dragon Bones DLC.
  • The Jewelrycrafting System and Psijic Skill Line with the Summerset chapter.

  
  
  Dragon's are just bosses, Elsweyr is just a new region, Necromancers as a new class is big, but is still dwarfed by 2017 when we got Wardens as a new class, a new PvP mode, the transmutation system and Housing system. So far, 2019 only amounts to lots of big name dropping without any real substance.
  
  Please note that I'm only including new content that can be used by any toon/class as the "systems" listed; zones are also excluded.
  
  
  

  2019 is almost upon us, and it’s going to be a huge year for The Elder Scrolls Online. I can’t say too much just yet, and it is incredibly difficult to have to hold back details, but ESO will be 5 years old next year - a huge milestone for us and the community! As such, next year’s story and adventure will be something truly special for all Elder Scrolls Online players. -Rich

  Source: Creative Director's Letter: That's a Wrap on 2018!
  
  For this year to truly be something special, its going to need a huge new game mechanic. Without one, it will certainly fall short of previous years, turning this year into the year of hype and little else. An overarching storyline between all of this year's content is a cool idea, but in no way compares to a new game mechanic. If you really want to go big, go with the mechanic that has been asked for more often than any other - Spellcrafting.

Evidence Against:

• There was no word of Spellcrafting coming this year during the Season of the Dragon Reveal on Jan. 15th. Unless they are saving it for E3, we'll be seeing yet another year of no Spellcrafting.
• August 2018: A class rep posted to one of the ESO Discords that Rob Garrett (ZeniMax Lead Gameplay Designer) had told him Spellcrafting was scrapped.
  Post is one of the class reps talking about a discussion they had with Rob Garrett
  
  
  Counterpoints: This could very easily be misinformation, either intentionally or unintentionally. Plans also change; what might have been true then might no longer be true now.
• Dragons - Are they just bosses, or are they going to be introduced as some new mechanic?
  We won't know any more details on how dragons are going to be included until the big reveal on the 15th. If they are going to be included as just another type of boss, then 2019 will still need some sort of big new game mechanic to compare to what was added in the previous two years.
  
  This is the only tidbit we have so far concerning the dragons:

  Venture to the land of the Khajiit in The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr, our newest chapter, an epic story in an all-new zone. Face dread creatures from the past—Dragons!—and discover the dark skills of a new character class, the Necromancer, as you join with new friends and old enemies to save Elsweyr from war and devastation.
  
  ESO reaches new heights of storytelling with a war against the Dragons that unfolds and builds over four quarterly releases to an unexpected climax.

  Source: Datamined Chapter III ESO: Elsweyr
  
  Joining forces with new friends and old enemies to fight a "war against the Dragons" sounds huge but it'll need to be more than just a story to truly be a new mechanic. If they are going to be introduced in a way that makes then a true new mechanic, that will likely mean Spellcrafting will be pushed back again.
• Opinion: "We haven't gotten it yet, so it's never going to come."
  That's what many kept saying for years about Jewelrycrafting, but we got that last year with Summerset.
• Opinion: "It would be overpowered."
  Not true, if it was well designed. As shown in the original 2014 Spellcrafting preview, all crafted spells are within certain bounds. You can't just add everything you want and make an all-powerful spell.
• Opinion: "It would be impossible to balance."
  Not true. Again, it would be within a bounded system. Yes, there are lots of variables to worry about, and surely it will require lots of tweaking on the PTS, but it is very possible to introduce it in a balanced manner.
  
  Additionally the exact same logic of "something would be impossible to balance" could be used against any new mechanic, so why bother adding anything new ever?
• Opinion: "It would overshadow all other skills."
  Not if well designed. Spellcrafting should be used to help round out all builds. It should be brought with the perspective of supplementing Class and Weapon skills; it should never outshine Class and Weapon skills.
  
  Yes, it will give every class access to abilities they never had access to before, but those abilities should come with a higher resource cost than required by classes which naturally have access to those abilities.
• Pareidolia - In short, many of us could just be seeing what we want to see.

  Pareidolia: the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern The scientific explanation for some people is pareidolia, or the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness.

  
  While it's true that so many of us could just be seeing what we hope is coming, the fact that so many have begged for this feature and anxiously awaited it's addition to ESO only highlights how badly it needs to be added. Sooner rather than later.
  
  Counterpoint: If the Wrathstone tablets happen to not have anything to do with spellcrafting, I would find it hard to believe the ESO team wouldn't have realized many would interpret them as being spellcrafting tablets. In such a case, their addition would be a deliberate red herring and could easily be considered trolling a portion of their fan base.

Summary:
It's clear that quite a bit of work has gone into Spellcrafting since ESO first came out, but all of the recent hints and clues seen could easily be instead pointing to other new features coming to ESO. Most of the evidence against Spellcrafting is just player opinion based off of fear it might not be brought to the game in a balanced manner. In the end, we're still left waiting for concrete information to be given to the community from the ESO team.

Ertosi wrote: »

Summary:
It's clear that quite a bit of work has gone into Spellcrafting since ESO first came out, but all of the recent hints and clues seen could easily be instead pointing to other new features coming to ESO. Most of the evidence against Spellcrafting is just player opinion based off of fear it might not be brought to the game in a balanced manner. In the end, we're still left waiting for concrete information to be given to the community from the ESO team.

Okay. I guess the same thing could be said about spell crafting?

Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn’t like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.

But it will come eventually, it’s just further out.

Ertosi wrote: »

Nerouyn wrote: »

While I would dearly love to have spellcrafting, your summary is dishonest.

Ertosi wrote: »

Summary:
It's clear that quite a bit of work has gone into Spellcrafting since ESO first came out, but all of the recent hints and clues seen could easily be instead pointing to other new features coming to ESO. Most of the evidence against Spellcrafting is just player opinion based off of fear it might not be brought to the game in a balanced manner. In the end, we're still left waiting for concrete information to be given to the community from the ESO team.

You even included this quote but completely missed the point.

https://wccftech.com/elder-scrolls-online-interview-looking-ahead-with-game-director-matt-firor/

Okay. I guess the same thing could be said about spell crafting?

Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn’t like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.

But it will come eventually, it’s just further out.

That's the game director saying that the design which was revealed to us all oh so long ago is one they don't like, i.e. we'll probably never see that.

A direct quote from the game director. The guy in charge. That's as concrete as information gets and not "baseless player opinion".

No, you even included this quote but completely missed the point. I'll highlight for you...

Okay. I guess the same thing could be said about spell crafting?

Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn’t like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.

But it will come eventually, it’s just further out.

That final bit is a pretty solid remark which is not open to interpretation. It will come. The part of "we didn't like the design" is very open to interpretation... did they not like it overall? Did they not like bits and pieces? All we could do is guess, but taken in the full context of the entire sentence, it seems like it was merely too much work to get it release ready at that time.

Let's look at another quote by Mat Firor on Spell Crafting, also from 2016:

Spellcrafting is on the back burner for now. It is a fun and interesting system, but it is not in our current plans to bring it to you in the coming year. We really like the design and what it contributes to the game, though, so we will do what we can in the future to make it happen and do it right. -Matt Firor (source)

So in the same year, we have 2 quotes by Matt Firor on spell crafting. In one he says "they didn't like the design" and in the other he said they "really like the design". Totally opposite remarks on the same thing. How can both be said by the same guy at about the same time? Just guessing, but the most reasonable reason would be they liked it overall but it still had a few catching points they didn't feel was polished enough to release it at that time, which is what caused it to be placed on the back burner.

Reistr_the_Unbroken wrote: »

Ertosi wrote: »

Nerouyn wrote: »

While I would dearly love to have spellcrafting, your summary is dishonest.

Ertosi wrote: »

Summary:
It's clear that quite a bit of work has gone into Spellcrafting since ESO first came out, but all of the recent hints and clues seen could easily be instead pointing to other new features coming to ESO. Most of the evidence against Spellcrafting is just player opinion based off of fear it might not be brought to the game in a balanced manner. In the end, we're still left waiting for concrete information to be given to the community from the ESO team.

You even included this quote but completely missed the point.

https://wccftech.com/elder-scrolls-online-interview-looking-ahead-with-game-director-matt-firor/

Okay. I guess the same thing could be said about spell crafting?

Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn’t like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.

But it will come eventually, it’s just further out.

That's the game director saying that the design which was revealed to us all oh so long ago is one they don't like, i.e. we'll probably never see that.

A direct quote from the game director. The guy in charge. That's as concrete as information gets and not "baseless player opinion".

No, you even included this quote but completely missed the point. I'll highlight for you...

Okay. I guess the same thing could be said about spell crafting?

Same thing. With spell crafting we actually got in enough to start seeing how it worked, we didn’t like the design so much and it was going to be more work than we thought to get it to launch so we kind of put it aside to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, One Tamriel, housing etc.

But it will come eventually, it’s just further out.

That final bit is a pretty solid remark which is not open to interpretation. It will come. The part of "we didn't like the design" is very open to interpretation... did they not like it overall? Did they not like bits and pieces? All we could do is guess, but taken in the full context of the entire sentence, it seems like it was merely too much work to get it release ready at that time.

Let's look at another quote by Mat Firor on Spell Crafting, also from 2016:

Spellcrafting is on the back burner for now. It is a fun and interesting system, but it is not in our current plans to bring it to you in the coming year. We really like the design and what it contributes to the game, though, so we will do what we can in the future to make it happen and do it right. -Matt Firor (source)

So in the same year, we have 2 quotes by Matt Firor on spell crafting. In one he says "they didn't like the design" and in the other he said they "really like the design". Totally opposite remarks on the same thing. How can both be said by the same guy at about the same time? Just guessing, but the most reasonable reason would be they liked it overall but it still had a few catching points they didn't feel was polished enough to release it at that time, which is what caused it to be placed on the back burner.

Did you look at the dates of both sources? The one where they say they like the design was from January 12, 2016. The other one, where they don’t like it? It’s from *gasp*
August 23rd.

Darkhorse1975 wrote: »

Cireous wrote: »

[...] Unless ZOS is an evil trollface. Though, you are not an evil trollface ...are you ZOS?