What do you want to see from ESO in 2021?

ploddab16_ESO · January 2021

So, new year, new chances and all that.

What would you like to see ESO do to improve itself this year?

My personal points would be:

More ambitious scale and scope. ESO has been over reliant on small chunks of it's world and story, and has been resting on the laurels of the systems that have lingered for years without making any real additions to how you can play the game since Summerset (Psijic skill line). We need larger areas to explore, more to do in them and most importantly new systems that will affect regular gameplay (spellcrafting at last, please!).
A larger focus on bug squashing, net code improvements and server improvements. 'Nuff said, this has long been a thorn in ESO's side and it's high time that it was addressed.
More communication from the dev team to the playerbase.
Less focus being placed on the crown store. Right now there is an imbalance of things to earn in game and things to be earned on the crown store, and with each release and new crown crate season this only grows. More 'retired' items or limited time items need to be brought into the game world to be earned through regular gameplay in order to give players more incentive to revisit older zones that no longer hold any reward for them. Mounts, outfits, emotes and housing items would be of particular benefit here and would do much to bring players back to places like Morrowind or Orsinium. There also needs to be more ways to earn housing than just with crowns, a return of enormous gold sinks would be very welcome.
Skins/Tattoos being fixed. After so long I think it should be a priority to fix the layering issues of tattoos and skins, especially when it comes to Khajiit and Argonian players who have their base skins overridden by a new body tattoo.
More improvements to PVP. Cyrodil needs more content put into it, pure and simple. New siege weapons, updates and upgrades to forts, new guild mechanics that will make guilds more invested in their captured structures, the return of hireable NPC guards... The works. ESO needs to reinvest in what was once a core part of the game to help retain it's playerbase and expand it.

Well, that's my list of things I'd like to see ESO and Zenimax do. What's yours?

cmetzger93 · January 2021

Spellcrafting, new weapons (magicka melee weapon, and spears), gardening for housing and armor mannequins. I would also love to see more mini games like a card game that could be played in taverns. Updated textures and animations would be awesome too, they have plenty that they COULD do but there is no telling what they actually have planned. I have a lingering feeling their plans are not as ambitious as my hopes.

Vanos444 · January 2021

A new race!

Minyassa · January 2021

More improvements to housing. We still don't have the updated decorator privilege (to allow those with decorating privilege to actually place items) that we very badly need, and there are lists and lists of little things that could use tweaking.

More policing of bots and griefers. Actual in-game GMs would be nice. Imagine instead of devs getting scads of tickets about so and so doing X thing there were staffers who could actually just go right there and see what's going on themselves.

Basically lots of QOL work. New content is nice but there's enough old content already to keep me happy for a couple of years before it starts to get stale. Annoyances get old far more quickly than content!

Vanos444 · January 2021

A new weapon skill tree like spears.

aetherial_heavenn · January 2021

I'd like no new systems: none

By this I do not mean no new story/quest content! I mean not introducing another complex game wide thing into a very full pot of ways to break the game. (We've had jewellery, psijic, mythic and antiquites, new classes, etc. multiple 'silo-ed' adjustments to skill lines and CP, plus some notorious combat system changes.)

No wonder there's no time to balance current systems or implement fixes to buggy base code.

So on that we disagree, OP. But otherwise I like your list.

What I'd really like is for all dev teams to focus on scanning the last 2 years bug reports/repeated complaints, including forums as well as in game reports, which are related to their area of expertise (combat, CP, textures, skins, cosmetics, mounts, items, broken quests and lore books, character design typos, etc). Then for them to present a prioritized by players' report list of issues in their area to the QA manager.

Then I'd like the resources put into dealing with them. I'd like the marketing and crown store team halved and the QA team doubled until subscribers get such a great product that they market it for free..

hey one can dream!

Starlock · January 2021

Above all else, I want to see serious changes to how this game is monetized.

There are few things that turn me off to a game more than unscrupulous monetization. I usually boycott such games outright, but ESO was an exception for me because of the quality of content they delivered. As this game's monetization has gotten worse, the scales have tipped. What they tried to pull with the Murkmire event was a breaking point. I can't justify supporting this game anymore, or playing it that much when there are so many other great games that better respect my time and money. The team who works on this game is a talented bunch who do good work, which makes this situation quite a shame, but it is what it is. We'll have to see if Microsoft buying out Zenimax Media changes things, but I suspect that it won't.

Beyond that? It's hard to care anymore, unfortunately. I suppose what I'd want most is a new class because that means new story to tell. Not much else will interest me. Or rather, not much else will interest me that can realistically be done with the game in its present incarnation. The stuff I want would be a radical departure from the current design philosophy.

Aptonoth · January 2021

Vanos444 wrote: »

A new race!

Systems and Content Suggestions:
More housing slots! Its about damn time stop forcing PC to have lower housing slots than consoles if we can handle it. It would be trivially easy to let PC players have more housing slots as an option but with a warning it could affect performance easy peasy. It feels like there are no perks to playing this game on PC except UI mods sometimes when elder scrolls has always been best on PC with mods well let us have some options here for the higher end rig people like myself.

New Races:
Fox people (in lore) or I want Ice Elves to become a playable race to the Ebonheart Pact, Maoromer to the Dominon, and Reachmen as a dedicated new race to the covenant.

New weapons starting with melee magick then speard, and finally crossbows. Someday we can get martial arts/fists and throwing stars/darts/things in a Morag Tong themed year if they want even more.

Battlemage and an Icemage and a Greybeard I also want to see new classes at some point I know many will ugh but classes visual flavor adds lots to the roleplaying and we are missing a dedicated battle mage type of character and a dedicated ice type of fighter.

Separate pve and pvp balance sick of the races all being boring and non-loreful abilities because of balance. We could have so much cooler stuff in this game for pve if pvp was its own balancing and I'm sure pvp people would also breath a sigh of relief knowing a change wasn't made to appease the pve masses.

Story Tips and Suggestion:

Part of me wants really big zones too but at the same time they have to cut out lots that is in these areas as it is compared to a full game. I think what I want to see is same zone and dlc size but higher quest density also not every quest has to involve killing or a celebration at the end sometimes we can have a party or a good example in witcher 3 is when we have to help get a theatre play written once in a blue moon some non-combat quests involving the npc's and fleshing them out would be fantastic.

A good example I liked was when in the reach we get Sai figuring out how to use his spirit blade and his development with Lyris. This was a perfect example of fleshing out characters from being npc's to memorable. Like I said if you had two years and some non-combat quests for the major characters in the plot to get to know them all better it would mean so much more if and when they are killed or when a big development happens or they reappear after years and years. ESO at this point has an overabundance of characters from all the dlc to work with at this point and I think adding anymore will make the problem worse so pick some favorites and start working them into real characters instead of plot exposition npc's. Remember don't overdo it though.

A small point is that every chapter always feels like it will be "end of the world" and it never is. Well what if we meet a villain who wants the world intact lol but is super evil and we have to stop him. So politics and the ongoing war are great ideas for future villains. Or we can have the ever popular greedy or insane leaders give the end of the world stuff a break at this point as it has been overdone. Another good example for blackmarsh is to bring back Sload as the big enemy who want to sink the swamp and destroy the hist. This would let us develop the sload as a fleshed out people and force and also still be big bads.

Also on top of that I think its fine to have have each year themed to a province but the main story is stretched super super thin and it feels like we are getting introduce too new characters every two seconds and none of them have any time to develop. My solution to them is have the big overarching bad guy threaten two different provinces and have a recurring cast of characters for two like morrowind and summerset it really felt like I got to know some of those npc's better than in any of the other years so far.

ESO is known for great story telling but you could really hit it out of the park with these suggestions and some creative thinking.

Cameron991 · January 2021

I would love to see a new weapons such as spear, and spell crafting! It’s getting kind of old using only staves I want to run around with flame hands and cool looking spears! I would also like to see a new class!

Cireous · January 2021

I want housing to be less of a hassle. Storing furniture in different houses is a nightmare. I want to just open a menu and pull furniture from it at will.

I also want a return of the Champion system, new, improved and completely uncapped.

Aptonoth · January 2021

Cireous wrote: »

I want housing to be less of a hassle. Storing furniture in different houses is a nightmare. I want to just open a menu and pull furniture from it at will.

I also want a return of the Champion system, new, improved and completely uncapped.

For infinite grind play any other mmo please. Leave eso alone its one of its major selling points is you don't need to grind nearly anything. BDO, FF14, WoW, and so many others all cater to what you want. Or play a game like Diablo or Path of Exile.

Fata1moose · January 2021

QoL: Toggle sprint (tap shift instead of having to hold it)
Spears
Actual dialogue trees: Right now we can only ask questions or select the one option. I want to be able to inject my character's personality within the conversation and I want NPCs to react to what I say. Right now we're all essentially the same character.
Crossbows
Bard profession (not a combat skill line but performing in inns and such)
Companion system similar to SWTOR with their own stories, romances, etc.
Housing: Armor mannequins using outfit slots, activate mannequin > select outfit > outfit is equipped to armor mannequins. Also would like to see shields as weapons and coat of arms as housing decorations.
Skingrad is all but confirmed as the chapter zone I hope Q4 is Bravil

I don't think we'll get much this year due to the year end message to the community but this is what I want not what I expect. Maybe some of this will make it next year!

linuxlady · January 2021

Vanos444 wrote: »

A new race!

Snow Elves

Aptonoth · January 2021

linuxlady wrote: »

Vanos444 wrote: »

A new race!

Snow Elves

Snow Elves, Sea Elves, and playable Argonian Behemoth's would be my dream lol. Still I think Snow and Sea have more than a good chance of happening. My two favorite types of elves would instant delete some of my high elves to have room for more of these elves lol.

noneatza · January 2021

Less crashes to desktop

RPGplayer13579 · January 2021

Snow Elves, Falmer. The few that are hiding in a remote valley may be holding a grudge against the Nords, and the Dwemer as well. They could form an alliance with the Daggerfall Covenant for the promise to get a new home for themselves. A similar deal reached between King Emeric and King Kurog.

Sea Elves, Maormer. Yes, they hate everyone. But, they hate the Altmer far more then anyone else. A long running territory dispute. An accord could be reached with the Ebonheart Pact in exchange for possession of the Summerset Isles.

Dwarves, Dwemer. They have a history fighting the Chimer, who became Dunmer. Natural enemies of the Tribunal. But why side with the Aldmeri Dominion? See the Quest, The Orrery of Elden Root and Queen Ayrenn's ratification.

Aptonoth · January 2021

RPGplayer13579 wrote: »

Snow Elves, Falmer. The few that are hiding in a remote valley may be holding a grudge against the Nords, and the Dwemer as well. They could form an alliance with the Daggerfall Covenant for the promise to get a new home for themselves. A similar deal reached between King Emeric and King Kurog.

Sea Elves, Maormer. Yes, they hate everyone. But, they hate the Altmer far more then anyone else. A long running territory dispute. An accord could be reached with the Ebonheart Pact in exchange for possession of the Summerset Isles.

Dwarves, Dwemer. They have a history fighting the Chimer, who became Dunmer. Natural enemies of the Tribunal. But why side with the Aldmeri Dominion? See the Quest, The Orrery of Elden Root and Queen Ayrenn's ratification.

Dwarves should never come back. Dwarves and aylieds are the two no no cultures in my book. Only old school Bethesda could do them satisfactorily. I think gobline could be added as a playable race to either daggerfall as a second possible contender.

vestahls · January 2021

More frames, less ping.

Iluvrien · January 2021

Progress the story of areas we have already visited. If it is at peace then make it so, with enemies beyond the walls. If it was attacked, then resolve it (Bleakrock still burns). If some of the assets can be replaced (through a rebuild) then all the better. Continue the stories we began. Make us feel a greater connection to this world.

That goes for filling in some of the mysteriously locked buildings too.

Spellcrafting.

If they can’t add spellcrafting then concentrating on making existing systems deeper. For example make trait research more interesting than a time gate. Make systems active, rather than passive. Horse riding training is another example.

Expand on cultural identity. Tie classes (if we must have them at all) to institutions in our homeland and make customisation options available that are unique to those institutions. Leverage the lore to make characters unique and interesting, not increasingly vivid particle systems.

ESO could be so much deeper than it is, and most of these things could be done with creating entirely new zones. Cheaper!

Make more things earn able in game, rather than lootbox or crown store only. If an item absolutely has to be paid... then move it into the crown store for a fixed price. Lose lootboxes entirely. Put players over profit. End of.

Goren · January 2021

A Sword and Magic weapon skill line. This would be such a refreshing thing to all player characters, more build diversity, more roleplay. Eso needs something new like that, something that benefits all player characters.

Second thing I wish for if we don't get sword and magic is a new animation as an instant cast ability for Wrecking Blow. I don't like the animation for Uppercut, it made more sense back when you used to knock back the enemy but now it's just ugly.

kapachia · January 2021

Better server performance.

Lugaldu · January 2021

Please more variance in the course of the story. As has been said many times before, it would be nice if decisions had a real consequence, at the moment it doesn't really matter how you act, the result is always the same. If there were at least two completely different paths, that would be an improvement. Not everyone sympathizes with every NPC and wants to work with them.

RPGplayer13579 · January 2021

RPGplayer13579 wrote: »

Snow Elves, Falmer. The few that are hiding in a remote valley may be holding a grudge against the Nords, and the Dwemer as well. They could form an alliance with the Daggerfall Covenant for the promise to get a new home for themselves. A similar deal reached between King Emeric and King Kurog.

Sea Elves, Maormer. Yes, they hate everyone. But, they hate the Altmer far more then anyone else. A long running territory dispute. An accord could be reached with the Ebonheart Pact in exchange for possession of the Summerset Isles.

Dwarves, Dwemer. They have a history fighting the Chimer, who became Dunmer. Natural enemies of the Tribunal. But why side with the Aldmeri Dominion? See the Quest, The Orrery of Elden Root and Queen Ayrenn's ratification.

If it is slavery that makes them a "no, no option" then wouldn't that disqualify the Dunmer as well? Anyway, its a game.

Now for some potential passives.

Dwemer, their bonus should focus on Blacksmithing and Enchanting. Also Heavy Armor.

Maormer, if sailing ever becomes a thing then that is their advantage. Who knows what can happen with a new generation of consoles. If not, then maybe Medium Armor and Duel Weilding.

Falmer, some ideas, resistance to cold, spears, advantage with magic. I am open to ideas.

Scardan · January 2021

Better sidequests. Please, take quality over quantity.

Also spellcrafting. There is somewhere very old trailer on topic, I think it would work well.
And, when forcing full respec, please, do not allow it to be buggy. I am begging you.

Better khajiits NPC. From what I have seen, most of them are against skooma. One even burned the whole farm to prevent his sister to make skooma. It is ridiculuos. It is like bees being against honey.
Also please, fix high elves. Altmers and antiracism, this is ridiculous, although I am 100% sure that queen is just lying to me about her being not racist (not racist altmer, where did she live before, on the moon, being educated by Khajiits?).

Aaaand I want to see this game more mature. It has 18+ rating, but most content is child friendly.

Grandchamp1989 · January 2021

1. Performance is the no1 issue ATM.

The crashes, lag and desynch needs to go. Can't have a reactionary combat system if things on your screen is 1-2 seconds delayed.

2. There's a severe lack of content to be earned in game. More mounts, pets and skins please, and not just for the trifecta runs. Make it more balanced.

3. PvP rebalance that doesn't screw over the PvE side. But I agree the proc meta is boring.

4. Bug fixes for older Dungeons and Trials. Maybe even some rebalance tweaks to bring them up to speed.

5. Optional Hardmode scroll for quest bosses

6. Higher furnishing item limit for housing

7. A new skill line for everyone with a % based heal to bring all classes closer in terms of Tanking potential. Some classes are held back for no good reason.

8. No more Tank nerfs, there's too few of us as is. Make it more fun, not more of a hassle every other patch.

joerginger · January 2021

Bugfixes

Performance improvements

QoL improvemts to:
- ingame mail system
- hirelings
- surveys

Mythreindeer · January 2021

Fix the server lag...does anything else really matter?

ploddab16_ESO · January 2021

In terms of races I'd like to see the fox people, goblins and Falmer as possible racial options, as well as perhaps the Akaviri races because there seems to be a lot of untapped potential there. Also, an Akavir expansion at last would be amazing, the team would have so much room to work there.

Also, yes, a story that doesn't resolve around a world ending threat. Give us a Caesar, a legitimate threat that wants to conquer Tamriel instead of destroying it like the Daedra do. Again, Akavir could be a great way to do this and it would be the perfect way to update the old world with Akaviri invasions whilst also bringing us an entirely new continent that actually feels like a continent (unlike Summerset, which feels far, far too small, they should do Akavir properly with multiple zones. If they want to continue on the episodic DLC route this could work as well, as we'd get a zone at a time. But still, make it big, make it believable.).

Sgrug · January 2021

Cross healing when not grouped in PvP

Cireous · January 2021

Aptonoth wrote: »

Cireous wrote: »

I want housing to be less of a hassle. Storing furniture in different houses is a nightmare. I want to just open a menu and pull furniture from it at will.

I also want a return of the Champion system, new, improved and completely uncapped.

For infinite grind play any other mmo please. Leave eso alone its one of its major selling points is you don't need to grind nearly anything. BDO, FF14, WoW, and so many others all cater to what you want. Or play a game like Diablo or Path of Exile.

I suppose you feel the Champion Point system is a grind? Hmm. I can't remember a time when I wasn't capped on Champion points. I've never perceived it as a grind. I'm more so disappointed that there is never anything cool to work towards in the system once you've reached cap, and when I do get a new point, because of the cap, I don't even get to spend it on anything.

It's just a very dull experience right now. I'm looking forward to more spice.

Bat · January 2021

Minyassa wrote: »

More policing of bots and griefers. Actual in-game GMs would be nice. Imagine instead of devs getting scads of tickets about so and so doing X thing there were staffers who could actually just go right there and see what's going on themselves.

Instead of GMs, they could implement a type of overwatch system where players who are invested in the game (say, a 5k hours in-game threshold or something like this), could be offered to inspect reports of suspicious activity or malicious behaviour.

For instance, if a ticket for harassment is sent, the overwatch player could be sent the chat message that was being reported, but with anonymity for the original poster. If the message is deemed harassment or a containing hate speech of any kind, the overwatch player could rate it as such and the matter would be forwarded to moderators for further evaluation and verdict, ultimately leading to a ban on that end.

If a ticket for cheating is sent, any overwatch player could be granted access to the area (like a player.moveto command) where the cheating is supposedly taking place, and the overwatch spectator could be made invisible so as to not alert the potential cheater. This could work especially well for reports on farming bots for instance, since I imagine they are many times easier to discern as cheaters than for instance PvP cheaters - to my knowledge there aren't wall hacks for this game for instance, but a farming bot will be either set on a course and just run in the exact same loop over and over, or stagnant but possible to pull away from the node using for instance the Battered Bear Trap, and then the assessment could be forwarded to moderators who could come and join in the spectating bubble to witness any abnormal behaviour.

The overwatch players could be rewarded for doing this work with either crowns, crown store items, or other things of in-game value.