State of the game? (Player participation)

Everest_Lionheart · October 2022

As an endgame player I was fed up long before U35 having to chase the meta and relearn combat every 3-4 months. The game wasn’t fun having to parse again on 9 trial DPS and unlock extra skill lines in addition to grinding the gear, especially mythics that would get put down on the next patch or two. Games are meant to be fun and not a grind, U35 was a continuation of that for the endgame. Of course those of us that stayed did what we always do and figured it out, for the most part it’s much ado about nothing other than trying to make sense of timers on some classes. Or if you want to hit 5% less than the top end lean into those 20 second dot durations and build around them and spam one skill 14-15 times before refreshing dots. It’s not very engaging that way but it sure beats managing 8 different durations and breaking your head.

So what I have done recently is to play the casual game and reroll a new magsorc and go zone by zone completing all quests. 40+ quests later I’m still in Auridon. Just soloed BC1 at level 29 in my crafted training gear. OK yes I’ve got nearly 2000 CP on this account which makes the content basically faceroll easy almost every zone. But that’s not the point, the point is seeking out every quest marker and completing it.

So here I around hour 30 in Auridon, I know where to seek the quests and I’m still not done there. To do all quests in each faction zone is looking at 350+ hours plus Coldharbour and Craglorn probably looking at over 400 hours of base game content without setting foot in PvP. That’s a lot of content without setting foot in DLC. Taking the time to actually play, listen to dialogue and complete it all could take even longer.

If you view the game as an extension of the Elder Scrolls universe it’s in fantastic shape right now. If you view it as an MMO, it’s still a work in progress.

kargen27 · October 2022

Enundr wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

"If you look around and google post U35 builds and how to's for new trials and dungeons you will see there basically aren't any."

Alcast, Hack the Minotaur, Dottz Gaming, Arzyel and skinnycheeks all have Lost Depths updates for builds.

You must not check those pages very often. Those are all the same builds that were posted prior to U35. They just changed the titles on their web pages.

In other words, there is no way to get back the dps/performance that was taken away with U35, so there are no changes to the pre U35 builds for the most part.

funny I got my DPS back on my Templar. I wasn't doing outstanding DPS before so maybe the players hitting 80k+ had a drop they can't get back. All it took for me was spending some time hitting world bosses solo and getting used to the new rotation timing.

if your referencing to the training dummies they got boosted so player dps loss wouldnt be as noticeable.

Training dummies are boring. I said I went out and hit world bosses. Soloing world bosses is a much better way to determine how changes affected my characters and what I need to do to adjust.

Jaraal · October 2022

It’s all because the spreadsheet is more important to them than player fun and engagement.

The vision is not about making players happy, it’s about creating some perfect balance that can only exist in a vacuum. And assuming that such balance could ever realistically be achieved, it would be promptly tossed on it’s ear with the six or nine new sets and various class and weapon changes that happen every four months.

It’s the digital version of chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

boi_anachronism_ · October 2022

If anything is going to "kill the game" it's over monitization. The whole unique effects for harvesting being in crown crates.. basically everything ends up in the crown store. If they want to encourage player retention they will make more cosmetics achievable in game.

Sarannah · October 2022

As there were multiple replies responding to my post, I'm just going to globally reply to them all.

Just because I see things differently and in a more positive light, does not mean there is any reason to insult me. The things the OP mentioned can easily be explained by multiple different factors, which I named. This is not being dismissive of their or anyone else's observations, I just see things differently.
In my opinion the main thing holding the game back at the moment, is the game itself, and it's restrictions on things that can be bought. Furniture, storage/bank space, houseguests, characterslots, new classes, etc.

About the content creators and them leaving. Content creators (and other player) have been saying the game is too easy. Yet before OneTamriel, when the game was hard, the game lost players because the game was hard. To counter this point ZOS released an update which reduced everyone's damage across the board, yet this isn't well received as well. Meaning, do those content creators and players even know what they are asking for? In the thread about tougher overland many players, including myself, have pointed out tougher content only makes it more tedious/annoying. Due to update 35, people are actually noticing this is correct, as the game became more tedious for everyone. As all those players jumped on the bandwagon of what was wrong with the game, they now have to suffer the result of that complaint. But instead of admitting they were wrong about tougher content and what would be the result of their own request, they complain and 'quit' the game. The lesson is: Be careful what you wish for!

Not saying the game doesn't have issues or that the playerbase isn't down somewhat, but that doesn't mean anything as there are multiple factors at play here. Corona is gone, vacationtime is over, the game hasn't released any major content recently, inflation, other game releases, a war, etc etc. As well as update 35 not being that well received by the top players. Something which ZOS could easily turn around if they wanted to(U35).

The facts we know are: The servers are still online, ZOS is still releasing quarterly updates, ZOS is still releasing bi-weekly patches, ZOS has put money in new servers for atleast two different realms, and recently a dev even came out and stated the game is not in maintenance mode. So there is no reason at all to be negative, simply because the player numbers are down for a month or two.
Posts with this type of negativity could actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy, because they might chase away new players who otherwise may have put money into the game.
But let's for a second assume the game really is going into maintenance mode, does it really matter as long as they do not take the servers offline?! We could all still play for how many years the game would be in maintenance mode, it could even grow during that period. Because the game itself is solid.

Overal I see the future for ESO could be amazing, as long as ZOS does think about what they do before they implement it. And the game keeps expanding. I know I'm not going to like everything about the game, and I won't like every future update, but I also know MMO's keep evolving. This helps me keep faith in the game, and the game's creators!

PS: Why are people so overly negative nowadays? There is a difference between being realistic and being negative, I like being an optimistic realist. (as this post should show hehe)
PPS: A better world starts with you, visit the bug or technical support forum every once in a while to offer suggestions. Even if they do not/might not help the raised issue(s), years from now it could help someone with a similar problem.

Edit: Accidentally replied this to another topic about the same thing. (no problem though)

SerafinaWaterstar · October 2022

S: Why are people so overly negative nowadays? There is a difference between being realistic and being negative, I like being an optimistic realist. (as this post should show hehe)
PPS: A better world starts with you, visit the bug or technical support forum every once in a while to offer suggestions. Even if they do not/might not help the raised issue(s), years from now it could help someone with a similar problem.

Agree. It seems that if something does not exactly match their ‘vision’ of how things should be (for them), then it’s the end of the damn world, the end is nigh etc etc. Childish & tedious.

Do I like everything Zos do in this game? No. But would rather send constructive criticism (& yes am aware Zos routinely ignores this) than just whinge & wail & moan.

Like AWA - disliked this immensely. But have adapted & has not actually affected gameplay as much as I had thought it would.

Update 35 - waited to see what it actually felt like & again, adapted. And there are updated builds out there, despite the continued naysaying/denial from the usual suspects on here.

This game is still good, but not perfect.

It will never be perfect - but don’t let that be the enemy of good. 🙂

ellmarie · October 2022

I definitely agree with the guild trading system. People are still selling their companion gear for 10000s. I had mine listed in our not so little guild for dirt ass cheap, good traits, all blue and purple, and no one bought them. There needs to be some kind of change to this. I don't know if people only go to the major cities to check or what. And it is time consuming to go to every freakin guild trader in every major hold.

I can see that when you get to a certain level the game can get a bit boring. I look forward to events. There are so many people on, it's fun. Other than that, I've been trying to build a big house in my Doomchar Plateau. That's taking me some time and too much coin and crowns.

**** The CP tree needs some more unassigned passives!!!! When you get to about 1600, other than the craft tree, what to do with your points if you can't assign them??

I have 7 characters and it's fun to level them to CP, then after that, you have to do the same zone quests or whatever. How many times can you kill Molag Bal?

It's funny, I played Skyrim for 8 years, and how on earth did I not get bored? I don't know, I just loved it.... but I've only played ESO for about 3 now, and just starting to get to that point. I need some puzzle solving quests or something else to work toward that won't cost me in game or not in game money.

heaven13 · October 2022

It was U33 that killed ESO for me. I just don’t have the interest in my many characters that I used to because ZoS decided, for the most part, that they all are essentially the same with different cosmetics or different colored skills. To have the functionality I had before, I needed to create spreadsheets outside of the game that tracked things, even as simple as when a character was created or reached level 10 or level 50. I enjoyed that aspect of ESO and I just can’t experience that any longer.

U35 is more of the same refarm/relearn grind that many updates have been in the past few years. It’s exhausting and not at all fun for those who want to progress in the vet and HM content. Throw changes at the wall, see what happens, use some buzzwords to try to get people to accept that seemingly directionless change (performance, accessibility, player power fantasy, all which seem to fall short of the intended goals). U35 worse than most as some people have pointed out since it seems very unfinished/unpolished when looking at things like hybridization that still haven’t been finished. Add the animation changes that are directly contradictory to ZoS’s promise that they wouldn’t change established visuals and so many people are fed up.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying questing and solo content. I too enjoy that. But I enjoy a variety of activities in this game and so many of the decisions this year have severely decreased the value I get from ESO.

Billium813 · October 2022

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

If anything is going to "kill the game" it's over monitization. The whole unique effects for harvesting being in crown crates.. basically everything ends up in the crown store. If they want to encourage player retention they will make more cosmetics achievable in game.

I disagree, ESO is like the least predatory monetization out there! There are a TON of "free" in game cosmetics and emotes through motifs and achievements. The crown stores selling cosmetics is exactly where we as a community should want the cash shop to be! Just because the cosmetics in the cash shop are desirable, doesn't make the game "over monetized".

This being said... I would like to see increased support from ZOS to support ingame purchasing of Crowns for Gold from other players. Their official stance is to support the transaction, but since there is no real ingame support, it's prone to players getting ripped off! Just add the "COD (Cash on Delivery)" option to the crown store "send as gift".

I think what is going to "kill the game" are more mediocre releases of the same old, same old zone design and no new PvP content. As far as mechanical zone design, High Isle was really meh and ToT was too narrow to capture the player base's attention. If they do the same thing again, and fail to give players what they REALLY want (new skills, new classes, new PvP), and opt to just release more dungeons, more sets, more trials, more copy/paste zone design... ESO will die. The game is getting stale, we have enough dungeons/sets/zones ZOS! GIVE US SOMETHING NEW!

SaffronCitrusflower · October 2022

Billium813 wrote: »

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

If anything is going to "kill the game" it's over monitization. The whole unique effects for harvesting being in crown crates.. basically everything ends up in the crown store. If they want to encourage player retention they will make more cosmetics achievable in game.

I disagree, ESO is like the least predatory monetization out there! .....[/b]

Not true. There is virtually nothing in terms of mounts and cosmetics earnable in game. Almost everything is in the crown store. And over the last two years crown store prices have quadrupled. Style pages can only be used by those with ESO+.

Gaebriel0410 · October 2022

I agree that there should be much more earnable things in game, especially in terms of mounts appropriate to all races.

But prices haven't quadrupled at all, they have remained pretty consistent. As far as I know, things that are expensive now were expensive years ago as well. There's plenty of stuff that I find too expensive for what it is, but I don't think they've been inconsistent in their pricing.

I am also pretty sure that everyone can use style pages, it would be ridiculous if those were ESO+ only.

Billium813 · October 2022

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Not true. There is virtually nothing in terms of mounts and cosmetics earnable in game. Almost everything is in the crown store. And over the last two years crown store prices have quadrupled. Style pages can only be used by those with ESO+.

It feels like you are describing something very specific. What exactly are you referring to when you say "mounts and cosmetics" and "Style pages"?

I have 2 Senche, 4 Indrik, 2 Quasigriff mounts & the Ebon Dwarven Wolf mount. None of which I specifically purchased with crowns. I don't disagree that it'd be nice to get more achievement mounts like Ebon Dwarven Wolf, but there are plenty of "free" mounts if you just participate in events and through the Seals of Endeavor system.

As far as cosmetics go, what specifically are you wanting that is locked in the crown store? Yes, the Undaunted Weapons pack styles are only available in the crown store, but the monster helm and shoulders are available in the game. Yes, there are personalities and polymorphs that are crown store exclusives, but there are plenty given for quest completions and achievements too.

No one is going to say there aren't crown store exclusives, but to say "Almost everything is in the crown store" is simply not true. It sounds like you are referring to something very specific that you want; like the up coming Customized Actions, which isn't even out yet so we don't know what will be free and what will be exclusive to the cash shop.

Billium813 · October 2022

Gaebriel0410 wrote: »

But prices haven't quadrupled at all, they have remained pretty consistent. As far as I know, things that are expensive now were expensive years ago as well. There's plenty of stuff that I find too expensive for what it is, but I don't think they've been inconsistent in their pricing.

I think they are referring to the fact that in game Crown prices were ~300:1 approximately Spring-summer, 2021. Now, Crown prices are closer to ~1400:1. These are player driven prices of course, not ZOS prices. But it's understandable to be upset about this price hike if you want to purchase store items with in game gold.

Gaebriel0410 wrote: »

I am also pretty sure that everyone can use style pages, it would be ridiculous if those were ESO+ only.

Since style pages are sellable in guild traders, I don't believe they are only usable by ESO+ members as well. I think they are referring to something very specific, like Undaunted Arms Packs or ESO+ benefits during events. But they are being very generic and far too broad

Cazador · October 2022

Billium813 wrote: »

Gaebriel0410 wrote: »

But prices haven't quadrupled at all, they have remained pretty consistent. As far as I know, things that are expensive now were expensive years ago as well. There's plenty of stuff that I find too expensive for what it is, but I don't think they've been inconsistent in their pricing.

I think they are referring to the fact that in game Crown prices were ~300:1 approximately Spring-summer, 2021. Now, Crown prices are closer to ~1400:1. These are player driven prices of course, not ZOS prices. But it's understandable to be upset about this price hike if you want to purchase store items with in game gold.

Gaebriel0410 wrote: »

I am also pretty sure that everyone can use style pages, it would be ridiculous if those were ESO+ only.

Since style pages are sellable in guild traders, I don't believe they are only usable by ESO+ members as well. I think they are referring to something very specific, like Undaunted Arms Packs or ESO+ benefits during events. But they are being very generic and far too broad

Definitely is a bit too broad since motifs also fall under cosmetics and there is over 100 different ones that are fully able to be earned in game.

Jaraal · October 2022

Gaebriel0410 wrote: »

But prices haven't quadrupled at all, they have remained pretty consistent. As far as I know, things that are expensive now were expensive years ago as well. There's plenty of stuff that I find too expensive for what it is, but I don't think they've been inconsistent in their pricing.

You mean, like 400 crown gems for a costume? That's the most expensive one to date. Next one may be 600, or 800.

SaffronCitrusflower · October 2022

Billium813 wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Not true. There is virtually nothing in terms of mounts and cosmetics earnable in game. Almost everything is in the crown store. And over the last two years crown store prices have quadrupled. Style pages can only be used by those with ESO+.

It feels like you are describing something very specific. What exactly are you referring to when you say "mounts and cosmetics" and "Style pages"?

I have 2 Senche, 4 Indrik, 2 Quasigriff mounts & the Ebon Dwarven Wolf mount. None of which I specifically purchased with crowns. I don't disagree that it'd be nice to get more achievement mounts like Ebon Dwarven Wolf, but there are plenty of "free" mounts if you just participate in events and through the Seals of Endeavor system.

As far as cosmetics go, what specifically are you wanting that is locked in the crown store? Yes, the Undaunted Weapons pack styles are only available in the crown store, but the monster helm and shoulders are available in the game. Yes, there are personalities and polymorphs that are crown store exclusives, but there are plenty given for quest completions and achievements too.

No one is going to say there aren't crown store exclusives, but to say "Almost everything is in the crown store" is simply not true. It sounds like you are referring to something very specific that you want; like the up coming Customized Actions, which isn't even out yet so we don't know what will be free and what will be exclusive to the cash shop.

I am describing something specific.

Mounts and costumes that used to cost 100 gems in the crown store now cost 400 gems or more. Most mounts and the shiniest of shinies used to be able to be purchased outright for crowns. Now they can only be purchased with gems. (which means you have to buy many, many, many crown crate packages to get the gems now)

They used to give crown crates away in daily rewards, but not anymore. ESO used to give some things away to encourage players, but not anymore. Everything is monetized now.

The largest pack of 21,000 crowns you can buy used to cost $75 four years ago. (not on sale) Now it's $149.

Billium813 · October 2022

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Billium813 wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Not true. There is virtually nothing in terms of mounts and cosmetics earnable in game. Almost everything is in the crown store. And over the last two years crown store prices have quadrupled. Style pages can only be used by those with ESO+.

It feels like you are describing something very specific. What exactly are you referring to when you say "mounts and cosmetics" and "Style pages"?

I have 2 Senche, 4 Indrik, 2 Quasigriff mounts & the Ebon Dwarven Wolf mount. None of which I specifically purchased with crowns. I don't disagree that it'd be nice to get more achievement mounts like Ebon Dwarven Wolf, but there are plenty of "free" mounts if you just participate in events and through the Seals of Endeavor system.

As far as cosmetics go, what specifically are you wanting that is locked in the crown store? Yes, the Undaunted Weapons pack styles are only available in the crown store, but the monster helm and shoulders are available in the game. Yes, there are personalities and polymorphs that are crown store exclusives, but there are plenty given for quest completions and achievements too.

No one is going to say there aren't crown store exclusives, but to say "Almost everything is in the crown store" is simply not true. It sounds like you are referring to something very specific that you want; like the up coming Customized Actions, which isn't even out yet so we don't know what will be free and what will be exclusive to the cash shop.

I am describing something specific.

Mounts and costumes that used to cost 100 gems in the crown store now cost 400 gems or more. Most mounts and the shiniest of shinies used to be able to be purchased outright for crowns. Now they can only be purchased with gems. (which means you have to buy many, many, many crown crate packages to get the gems now)

They used to give crown crates away in daily rewards, but not anymore. ESO used to give some things away to encourage players, but not anymore. Everything is monetized now.

The largest pack of crowns you can buy used to cost $69 four years ago. Now it's $149.

Thank you for providing more detail! I wonder if sales are low and they are cranking up prices to cover loses? Or perhaps prices were lower for a limited time? Are "Gems" a relatively recent addition to the crown store? Perhaps they altered Gem costs to match crate drop rates and match what they WANT items to cost for Gems. Depends on how long they have been a store mechanic. Unfortunately, it's all arbitrary and totally within ZOS's control to mess with drop rates and costs. I personally don't have any knowledge or experience with purchasing Crowns or Gems, or opening crown crates, but what you describe does sound bad. Did ZOS ever make a public comment on changing prices?

I was only focusing on the statement "There is virtually nothing in terms of mounts and cosmetics earnable in game. Almost everything is in the crown store.", which IMO sounded too vague and excessively critical. There are PLENTY of mounts and cosmetics available in the game, without requiring purchase. They do sell the "shiniest" for real money, but I think that is understandable and if players want that attention, they can buy it if they want. It's the cost of having the game exist in the first place and I'm fine with that.

AzuraFan · October 2022

Anecdotal (like everything is on this topic), but I've noticed that forum activity has slowed. It used to be that if I didn't check the forums for a day, I had 2-3 pages of new topics to look at on the General forum. Now there's maybe half a page (and it's not due to the mods moving stuff elsewhere). That's never a good sign, because it means even those disgruntled with the game can't be bothered to complain about it. They've basically just left.

As far as the in-game population, it's difficult to say because of the instancing.

Tandor · October 2022

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

The largest pack of 21,000 crowns you can buy used to cost $75 four years ago. (not on sale) Now it's $149.

That pack launched in August 2017 at $149.99 and went on sale that December with a 50% discount at $74.99. Subsequent sales were at lower discounts and the pack remains at the original full price today.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/449991/crown-pack-sale-price-history-updated-june-2019

SaffronCitrusflower · October 2022

Tandor wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

The largest pack of 21,000 crowns you can buy used to cost $75 four years ago. (not on sale) Now it's $149.

That pack launched in August 2017 at $149.99 and went on sale that December with a 50% discount at $74.99. Subsequent sales were at lower discounts and the pack remains at the original full price today.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/449991/crown-pack-sale-price-history-updated-june-2019

Thanks for posting a link to the history. It does still show the cost of crowns has gone up considerably however. (by about 33%)

And you did not comment on how most items used to be purchasable with crowns, but now the big items can only be purchased with gems, which requires the purchase of many, many, many crown crates to acquire.

Tandor · October 2022

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

The largest pack of 21,000 crowns you can buy used to cost $75 four years ago. (not on sale) Now it's $149.

That pack launched in August 2017 at $149.99 and went on sale that December with a 50% discount at $74.99. Subsequent sales were at lower discounts and the pack remains at the original full price today.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/449991/crown-pack-sale-price-history-updated-june-2019

Thanks for posting a link to the history. It does still show the cost of crowns has gone up considerably however. (by about 33%)

And you did not comment on how most items used to be purchasable with crowns, but now the big items can only be purchased with gems, which requires the purchase of many, many, many crown crates to acquire.

That pack is still being sold today at the original price in 2017, and the lower price you quoted was a sale price contrary to your claim. The subsequent prices detailed in the list I linked to were the sale prices, not the normal prices which haven't changed. Sale discounts have varied over the years, sometimes lower, sometimes higher.

As for gems, which I have as little interest in as I have in crates and crowns generally, I was specifically replying to your point on the cost of the 21,000 crown pack by way of providing a quickly googled history showing your claims on that aspect to be wrong.

TaSheen · October 2022

Is SaffronCitrusFlower perhaps talking about the gold to crowns cost rather than the cost of crown packages on the store?

Eiregirl · October 2022

PapaTankers wrote: »

27 Dungeons of Multiple Difficulties for group only 12 trials of multiple Difficulties for Group only Countless World bosses for group only, a Guild System that none can sell if they are not part of the group...Casuals get a few hours of content a year nothing more.

Yep all about the casuals.

The problem is it's never enough...vets won't be happy until all overland content is Group required...

2350 quests completable for a solo player, 42 zones all with their own storylines, countless world bosses that you can solo

Believe me, vets are perfectly fine with solo players and casual players doing their own thing.

Have you participated in dungeon ques lately? 27 dungeons where you have to wait a hour to get into , because noone bothers to do them anymore, due to lack of rewards.

The dungeon queues times are for the most part only a problem for those who do not do one of the following.
1. Solo dungeons
2. Do dungeons with friends for that instant que
3. Do dungeons with guildies for that instant que
4. Group with people in zone chat (this one and #2 and #3 are what most people do especially for randoms).

Dungeon queues are something I don't generally mess with because I don't have to just like many other people in the game.

If nobody soloed dungeons or did them with friends and guild mates then there would be plenty of people available for the queue but why should I bother with waiting in a queue when I can solo them or get friends and guild mates to get an instant queue?

Cadbury · October 2022

Everest_Lionheart wrote: »

As an endgame player I was fed up long before U35 having to chase the meta and relearn combat every 3-4 months. The game wasn’t fun having to parse again on 9 trial DPS and unlock extra skill lines in addition to grinding the gear, especially mythics that would get put down on the next patch or two. Games are meant to be fun and not a grind, U35 was a continuation of that for the endgame. Of course those of us that stayed did what we always do and figured it out, for the most part it’s much ado about nothing other than trying to make sense of timers on some classes. Or if you want to hit 5% less than the top end lean into those 20 second dot durations and build around them and spam one skill 14-15 times before refreshing dots. It’s not very engaging that way but it sure beats managing 8 different durations and breaking your head.

So what I have done recently is to play the casual game and reroll a new magsorc and go zone by zone completing all quests. 40+ quests later I’m still in Auridon. Just soloed BC1 at level 29 in my crafted training gear. OK yes I’ve got nearly 2000 CP on this account which makes the content basically faceroll easy almost every zone. But that’s not the point, the point is seeking out every quest marker and completing it.

So here I around hour 30 in Auridon, I know where to seek the quests and I’m still not done there. To do all quests in each faction zone is looking at 350+ hours plus Coldharbour and Craglorn probably looking at over 400 hours of base game content without setting foot in PvP. That’s a lot of content without setting foot in DLC. Taking the time to actually play, listen to dialogue and complete it all could take even longer.

If you view the game as an extension of the Elder Scrolls universe it’s in fantastic shape right now. If you view it as an MMO, it’s still a work in progress.

I've always considered ESO less of an MMO and more as a multi-player version of Skyrim. That helps lessen the impact of the multitude of nerfs over time.

jtm1018 · October 2022

Game is deader than dead.

Its badder than bad.

Its lamer than lame.

Its sucker than suck.

Will it get worse next year, heres hoping.

MagicalLija · October 2022

I started playing ESO back on Xbox in 2016, it very quickly became my comfort game when I was in a pretty tough time. And I hate to say it but ever since Greymoor, the game has just been getting so stale.

No longer getting classes/weapon skills means that the main focus of the DLC should be on the story and not the mechanics, but like, where's the story? Greymoor was just your obvious evil man is doing evil things for evil purposes, blackwood was the same and now high isle which was treated as a more political and less end-of-the-world scenario has now been flung into a doomsday scenario with the new DLC.

My guild have literally halved. SO many friends have just quit the game now to go to other MMOs or just quitting MMOs entirely.

I've personally stopped funding the game, and playing in general, just hop on to get my daily and that's it. It's a shame when a game company does more unique and interesting updated to their crown store rather than their actual game.

FluffyBird · October 2022

MagicAndrej wrote: »

more political and less end-of-the-world scenario has now been flung into a doomsday scenario with the new DLC.

I'm worried because I don't get how Ascendant "power to the people" plot connects to Firesong "horticultural shoplifting" plot. And I don't have any hopes for some unexpected plot twist like "Ascendant Lord is really into gardening and alliance leaders just peed on his lavender bush once". Either I'm stupid and didn't pay attention or ZOS can't even hold a single plot line together now. Neither is good.

MagicAndrej wrote: »

a game company does more unique and interesting updated to their crown store rather than their actual game.

If only...

ProudMary · October 2022

Judging by some of the dialogue you hear in High Isle it seems like ZOS is planning on ending the three banners war. Makes it seem like they have plans for shutting down cyrodiil to me.

Casul · October 2022

ProudMary wrote: »

Judging by some of the dialogue you hear in High Isle it seems like ZOS is planning on ending the three banners war. Makes it seem like they have plans for shutting down cyrodiil to me.

The final nail in the coffin if so.

martinhpb16_ESO · October 2022

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

The state of the game depends on what you want...

For the vast majority of players, the game is perfectly fine....Raiders "disagree"

And we get at least Ten "State of the game threads a week" Most of which end up getting locked over bickering.

In the quote above "vast majority of players" read 'people who play like I do'

For the vast majority of players in my extensive circle of guilds and friends, there has been a significant downturn in play time.