What do you all think of the doom saying about the game by content creators?

  • FrankonPC
    FrankonPC
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    There were people outside those two groups you particularly target every time, so relax.

    70 Stream team members how many represent those who don't Raid or PVP? ...Who didn't get a word in edgewise by his own admission, and it really still doesn't account for anything else I mentioned...

    Sit back and let the "Vets" handle it never ends well.


    you misheard. he said he took over in some instances. he said they)the other stream team members) agreed with him.
  • FrankonPC
    FrankonPC
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    React wrote: »
    There were people outside those two groups you particularly target every time, so relax.

    70 Stream team members how many represent those who don't Raid or PVP? ...Who didn't get a word in edgewise by his own admission, and it really still doesn't account for anything else I mentioned...

    Sit back and let the "Vets" handle it never ends well.


    The majority of them are not raiders or PVP players.

    The game has been geared towards the casual side for years now, by the admission of Matt firor in this year's letter. They've been dedicating the majority of their resources to questing/lore building and casual friendly content.

    That was fine to an extent, but lately it has been coming at the expense of the endgame experience. PvP hasn't received new content in almost four years, gamebreaking combat bugs are repetitively being introduced to the game, difficult PVE content is bugged in ways that make it unbeatable, and server performance on PC NA is deteriorated again.

    If you actually watch the video Nefas posted, the things he brings up are all valid concerns. Many of them are even to the benefit of casual players - such as improvements to reward systems and less predatory monetization. He even is critical of some of the negativity that other creators and members of the community have been voicing lately.

    Endgame players in general don't have a vendetta against casual players - it's bizarre that when they voice their concerns, the sentiment from the opposite side is "they're just whining about stuff that doesn't matter!!".

    This. Please look at the stream team members and tell me how many of them play pvp or do end game raiding. It's been geared towards casual content for a while now, which is more than fine...but your retention suffers when you don't have repeatable content. Something that they're figuring out now i guess.
  • FrankonPC
    FrankonPC
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Turtle_Bot wrote: »
    FrankonPC wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    https://youtu.be/Z5UAVDMDMMI

    This was a really informational video done by nefas highlighting the pain points the players have been feeling, and zos themselves listening to feedback on.

    Nefas even goes into detail about how "they're well aware" of their retention issues as well as other pain points and want feedback to make the game better.

    Kind of pokes a hole in that whole "doing it for clicks" POV since the devs see the same writing everyone else sees. If you've had doubts, you SHOULD watch this.

    Currently watching this myself, it's really interesting and telling.

    I've never understood the undeserved hate that so many content creators get from many here on the forums. It's like there's an infestation of denialism and "anti-negativity at all costs" going on where people just cannot accept that the game is not in a healthy place at the moment and that the company and dev team needs to hear the criticisms (especially the valid and constructive criticisms) to help them to steer it back in the right direction to keep it growing and improving for many years to come, which is what we all should want.

    The vast majority of content creators do it because they love the game, not because it gets them views and the proof is in the numbers.

    Just look at the numbers for games like minecraft, fortnight, COD, BF, DotA, League, etc compared to ESO. All of those other games get insane viewer numbers that eso content creators could only dream of even during the best of times, yet the content creators are still doing eso content and have only really branched out within the past month or so due to the game itself becoming barely playable for how they enjoy playing the game.

    If the content creators were only in it for the views or the clicks as is claimed by some, then those creators would have permanently switched over to another more popular game a long long time ago and would never even consider playing ESO or creating content for it again.

    There's a very "yes man" approach on the forums, partially created because of how harsh the moderation team can be at times. There are messages that absolutely should not exist, but there's also just a heavy hand in a lot of moderation that funnels a lot of warranted negativity from the forums. This leaves you with an echo chamber of positivity that isn't indicative of the actual player base.

    It's always fun to come on the forums and see the perspective here because it's vastly different than youtube, twitch and discord. It's not that anyone here is wrong. There are plenty of people that ARE happy with this game and they should be mentioned as well(like I do in my videos). There's also a lot of unhappy players because their content does not work, is not being worked on, etc.

    ESO happiness/unhappiness isn't black and white, it's a lot of gray that we all inhabit, and those that think it's an either/or thing are just living in their own echo chamber and should at least hear out the other perspective. We'd all be a lot better off for it.
  • Oakenaxe
    Oakenaxe
    ✭✭✭✭
    The "doom saying" is just people expressing their valid concerns. For a lot of us the game is in a bad spot right now. In my opinion, it is the least attractive since 2017 when I started playing. All of that impression seems to be related to one's playstyle. If it doesn't affect yours, great! But that doesn't change the fact that for - what seems to be the majority of - the endgame community, things are not looking good.

    I see people commenting "who cares about streamers/content creators" "they don't represent the whole playerbase". Well, some of us do care about what they have to say, myself included; and I don't even watch streams! It just so happen that some of them share the same view as I do. Some of them represent my portion of the playerbase, so I feel represented when they bring things to light. Also, I'm almost sure that there are more casual streamers than endgame ones out there, so there is no reason to dismiss anyone. I'm sure your point of view is being expressed by some streamers as well!

    If the game is fine to you as it is, awesome! I'm happy for you. But please, don't try to deny other people's perspective just because it doesn't match your own. A lot of people are unhappy but still have a deep care for the game, so instead of just quietly leaving, we are trying to voice our concerns in order improve things. This way more people can enjoy the game as much as some of you are enjoying right now. Everybody wins ;)
    Edited by Oakenaxe on December 14, 2022 6:55PM
    a.k.a. Leo
    non-native English speaker
    200-300 ping and low fps player
  • Rageypoo
    Rageypoo
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes it's for content, but it wouldn't be interesting if there wasn't at least some truth in it.
  • PrimusTiberius
    PrimusTiberius
    ✭✭✭✭
    They say the things they say for clicks, I watch them for tips on content only, their opinions are just that, opinions and I have my own.
    Everyone is going in one direction, I'm going the other direction
  • sarahthes
    sarahthes
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭
    FrankonPC wrote: »

    ESO happiness/unhappiness isn't black and white, it's a lot of gray that we all inhabit, and those that think it's an either/or thing are just living in their own echo chamber and should at least hear out the other perspective. We'd all be a lot better off for it.

    On that, I'll agree...my concern is we are going to end up having the game steered by a few content creators and their rabid fans...I mean talk about Echo chamber, say anything against a Streamer, and his calvary will charge over the hill to shout you down.

    Can't get more Echoy than that.

    I don't know any streamers with that loyal of a following anymore, other than maybe one. And he's very, very casual focused so his followers are a lot closer to what you seem to want based on what you say here. I don't think you have anything to worry about from that perspective.
  • Destai
    Destai
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


  • FrankonPC
    FrankonPC
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


    Yeah I came away with the same conclusion and had a different opinion on communication as well. My perspective is that I just want them to do what they say they're going to do. If you're going to re-architect the servers in 2022 and provide periodic updates, then provide periodic updates and not one in November of 2022 that it's happening in 2023.

    If you're going to say you're doing a Q and A, then do the Q and A. I'm not expecting any more or any less than what they say they're going to do.
  • seventy_kg
    seventy_kg
    ✭✭✭
    the people that say streamers doom post for viewership are most likely casual overland or housing players, endgame players, regardless of pvp or pve, have been saying it for years that the games combat and mechanics and the frequent unnecessary changes in an already unbalanced meta are killing the game.
    You can have your opinion, and ESO isn't dying technically, but it is 100% losing a huge amount of endgame players due to the combat and balance changes and lack of meaningful endgame content in PvP.
    Just to give you an idea, the all time high daily active player count in this game is 4 times what it is today, last i checked ESO has 13k active daily players, as opposed to 49k 2 years ago, is it dying? 13k is still a lot of players, is it losing a large amount of people? definitely
    As an endgame PvP'er I can't help but feel hopeless sometimes about the state of the game, and with all due respect, non-endgame players will hardly ever be affected by our concerns, after all, an inbalance in meta means nothing to overland content and housing
  • Kiralyn2000
    Kiralyn2000
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Turtle_Bot wrote: »
    I've never understood the undeserved hate that so many content creators get from many here on the forums. It's like there's an infestation of denialism and "anti-negativity at all costs" going on where people just cannot accept that the game is not in a healthy place at the moment

    For me, it has nothing to do with defending ESO from negativity, but just from an overall general not understanding why "content creators"/streaming is even a thing, let along something that some people are making (vast amounts of) money at. No particular 'hate' for ESO content creators, just the entire content creator concept & people having this bizarre idea that it's somehow important to gaming, at all.

    Yes, yes - <old man yells at cloud.gif>
    Edited by Kiralyn2000 on December 14, 2022 8:05PM
  • seventy_kg
    seventy_kg
    ✭✭✭
    also the game needs another mega server, Asia Pacific and Oceanic players need to be able to play the game with less than 200 ping
  • Tandor
    Tandor
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    seventy_kg wrote: »
    also the game needs another mega server, Asia Pacific and Oceanic players need to be able to play the game with less than 200 ping

    I quite understand that, so let's hope that enough of the 2 million new players this year live in those areas to warrant not one but three new megaservers as clearly you couldn't add only one megaserver and leave the other platforms out of it.
  • Tannus15
    Tannus15
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    For people who are happy with the game as it stands you literally have no concerns to raise.
    You're happy, the game is exactly what you want, awesome.

    For people who are unhappy they have pain points to raise, and right now people who want to PvP or to do challenging PvE content are the people who are unhappy.

    These groups in particular are also the groups which require communities to survive. I'm in a trial guild. I need 11 other people to do a trial. If the people I normally do trials with start leaving because they are unhappy I can't do the content any more.
    This leads to guilds focused on these areas of content collapsing and even more people leaving.

    The people who are most content with the game right now prefer overland / story content. They are the least affected by other people leaving because it has no direct impact on their ability to complete the content they want to play.
    They are also the people ZoS seem to have been most focused on for the past few years. Tales of tribute and companions were not added for the end game PvE or PvP crowd.

    For those of you who are not in either of those communities I don't think you really grasp how disgruntled people are, and how little something like a non-combat pet apology means. All trial prog groups have basically shut down their prog since U36 landed because of bugs.
    Imagine if you couldn't interact with any NPC's for 7 weeks because of a bug. That is the scale of impact U36 has had.

    Content creators don't want to talk negatively about ESO, but if they are from either of these communities they will become a joke if they cannot recognise the problems which have plagued this year.

    For someone whose content is doing trials, their viewers watch because they want to see them doing trials. How much impact do you think it's having on those streamers when their groups can't do trials? People are going to start looking for content elsewhere.

    These issues have flow on effects.

    Why are some streamers "doom saying"? Because aspects of the game literally are not working and communities are collapsing as a result.
  • SeaGtGruff
    SeaGtGruff
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    As far as ESO's viewership numbers, my observation is that the numbers tend to follow the streamers, not the games being streamed. That is to say, a lot of people seem to watch specific streamers and will tune in to see them play-- and chat, or whatever-- regardless of what game they happen to be playing.

    Case in point: I like to watch some of the older TES games being played, but you will almost never see Arena or Daggerfall drawing more than a few viewers.

    Yet there have been times when I've opened up Twitch and-- WTF?-- there were hundreds of viewers watching Arena, and there was only one streamer playing Arena! Ah, it was a streamer I'd never heard of, but who has very loyal followers who number in the hundreds, and he had decided to do a playthrough of Arena-- on an old computer and loaded from the old diskettes, of all things. Day after day, he would continue his playthrough of Arena, and each day he would have hundreds of viewers watching him. Yet now that he's long since moved on to other games, Arena is back to having less than a dozen viewers, even on days when there are multiple streamers playing it at the same time.

    Today I noticed the same thing with Daggerfall-- hundreds of viewers, all watching a single streamer playing Daggerfall. More people were watching Daggerfall than any of the other TES games except for ESO.

    Right now the more popular streamers who used to play ESO-- the ones who can draw in a thousand viewers or more-- aren't playing ESO. Some of them do come back to play and stream ESO for a time, and when they do the viewership numbers for ESO always go way up. Then they move on to something else (again), and ESO's viewership numbers go down again.

    I won't try to analyze why some streamers can consistently draw hundreds or thousands of viewers regardless of what game they happen to be playing, because I think there can be several different reasons-- personality, information, skill, action, etc.-- and it won't be the same reasons for every streamer, or even for every one of a given streamer's viewers. But the streamers who tend to play ESO most of the time, with perhaps a few other games thrown in on occasion, don't seem to have those huge viewership numbers for whatever reasons. They do have faithful viewers who like to tune in regularly, but they don't seem to have huge numbers the way some streamers do. And oddly enough, they also tend to have positive attitudes about the game, rather than seeming to be constantly critical of it. Several of them do play trials, so they're clearly "end-game players," but the fact that they aren't bashing the game seems to keep a lot of viewers from following them, as though they aren't sensational enough. Or maybe they just aren't "clicking" with a lot of viewers who feel unhappy about the game and are looking for others who feel the same way? I don't know.
    I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!
  • Priyasekarssk
    Priyasekarssk
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don’t know who they are. I never watched their streams either. ESO is in pretty bad shape. Seems developers themselves ditched the game and milking the dying cow. Nothing flashy in any of the past years. Only a miracle can save the game from downtrend.
    Edited by Priyasekarssk on December 14, 2022 9:38PM
  • Tannus15
    Tannus15
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    @SeaGtGruff speaking for myself mostly what I watch is starcraft 2 streams. when even my favourite streamers start streaming something else i usually turn off the stream.
    I don't care about AOE4 or whatever else, I'm there for only 1 game.
  • bmnoble
    bmnoble
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    Got you to watch there videos and streams didn't it, nothing more than click bait.

    People have been saying the game is ending since before I even started playing yet its still here.
  • Necrotech_Master
    Necrotech_Master
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don’t know who they are. I never watched their streams either. ESO is in pretty bad shape. Seems developers themselves ditched the game and milking the dying cow. Nothing flashy in any of the past years. Only a miracle can save the game from downtrend.

    while every patch this year has had some kind of release problem, i think that things will improve next year mainly for 2 reasons:
    • stadia will be dead, so they wont have to deal with "certification" on patches which should help get things fixed much faster
    • less trying to just churn out large batches of lower quality content, but (if things go according to their proposal) are able to churn out better quality content and focus a little more on QoL and actually fixing things, the situation may improve
    plays PC/NA
    handle @Necrotech_Master
    active player since april 2014

    i have my main house (grand topal hideaway) listed in the housing tours, it has multiple target dummies, scribing altar, and grandmaster stations (fully filled out with current game), as well as almost every antiquity furnishing on display to preview them

    in progress: acquiring mundus stones (currently only have the thief)

    feel free to stop by and use the facilities
  • Alinhbo_Tyaka
    Alinhbo_Tyaka
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


    I think it is good that community managers had a get together with the stream team but I think it is the wrong group on the ZOS side. The folks that should have been involved are the ones that make the actual decisions and control the design and direction. They are the group that needs to hear the unfiltered concerns and issues of the player base as they are the only ones that can address them. While the community managers are nice enough people, and I think they really do wish to help resolve player concerns, the fact is they can do nothing more than relay what they think they heard to development and respond with whatever development tells them to.
  • Marcus684
    Marcus684
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    I personally have only ever watched one streamer, IAmKrusty, and only because I randomly came across him once and his online persona entertained me. I have played probably 2 of the hundreds of titles he streams and afaik he’s never played ESO. I play ESO basically everyday and dabble in every aspect of the game except end-game raiding.

    I am an example of someone whose streaming viewership means exactly zilch to the overall health of a game.

    Take this for what it’s worth.
  • redlink1979
    redlink1979
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭
    I play the games I feel like on my free time, I don't watch others. Couldn't care less about those "content creators"
    "Sweet Mother, sweet Mother, send your child unto me, for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear"
    • Sons of the Night Mother | VforVendetta | Grownups Gaming EU | English Elders [PS][EU] 2500 CP
    • Daggerfall's Mightiest | Eternal Champions | Legacy | Tamriel Melting Pot [PS][NA] 2300 CP
    • SweetTrolls | Spring Rose | Daggerfall Royal Legion | Tinnitus Delux [PC][EU] 2525 CP
    • Bacon Rats | Silverlight Brotherhood | Canis Root Tea Party | Vincula Doloris [PC][NA] 2300 CP
  • SeaGtGruff
    SeaGtGruff
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Tannus15 wrote: »
    @SeaGtGruff speaking for myself mostly what I watch is starcraft 2 streams. when even my favourite streamers start streaming something else i usually turn off the stream.
    I don't care about AOE4 or whatever else, I'm there for only 1 game.

    @Tannus15, I'm like you in that respect-- I follow the game(s) more than the streamers.

    I do occasionally develop a fondness for certain streamers and will continue to tune in after they've finished playing whatever game they were originally streaming when I first came across their channel-- but I'm much less inclined to continue watching them unless they're playing one of the other TES games, or some RPG I'm already familiar with or am curious about. Generally speaking, once they've finished their playthrough(s) of the TES game(s) I was watching them play, I tend to tune into someone else's channel.

    But it seems as if a lot of other viewers are more likely to follow the streamer rather than the specific game being streamed. Or maybe a sizable percentage of their followers and viewers are actually bots or whatdver? I don't know.
    I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!
  • Agenericname
    Agenericname
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


    I don't begrudge Gina asking what communication means. I think it was phrased as "what does it is mean to you?" As in, "what exactly are you looking for?" Fine, but there hasnt been a follow up in my opinion.

    I'm glad that they got the information from the stream team, but, Im left wondering, where's the QnA? We've waited two months for an update. Not the QnA, an update. The impression that Im left with is, if you're not a streamer, your voice doesnt matter to them.
  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't begrudge Gina asking what communication means. I think it was phrased as "what does it is mean to you?" As in, "what exactly are you looking for?" Fine, but there hasnt been a follow up in my opinion.

    Asking about communication seems to be a recurring theme. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why it is such problem for them that they need to ask every year. :neutral: I'd really love to have them explain it to me because I must be missing something terribly fundamental.
    XBox EU/NA:@ElsonsoJannus
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    PSN NA/EU: @ElsonsoJannus
    Total in-game hours: 11321
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • deadpool3431
    deadpool3431
    ✭✭✭
    brylars wrote: »
    Sawman only has 17k subs. What does he know?

    Number of subs is not indicative of how much someone knows. His style of presentation is unique so the numbers reflect that. Plus he doesnt care how many he has.

    You tell that to Mr fortuitous spector!
  • HappyTheCamper
    HappyTheCamper
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


    I think it is good that community managers had a get together with the stream team but I think it is the wrong group on the ZOS side. The folks that should have been involved are the ones that make the actual decisions and control the design and direction. They are the group that needs to hear the unfiltered concerns and issues of the player base as they are the only ones that can address them. While the community managers are nice enough people, and I think they really do wish to help resolve player concerns, the fact is they can do nothing more than relay what they think they heard to development and respond with whatever development tells them to.

    That’s the point of ZOS’s community team though
  • Destai
    Destai
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


    I think it is good that community managers had a get together with the stream team but I think it is the wrong group on the ZOS side. The folks that should have been involved are the ones that make the actual decisions and control the design and direction. They are the group that needs to hear the unfiltered concerns and issues of the player base as they are the only ones that can address them. While the community managers are nice enough people, and I think they really do wish to help resolve player concerns, the fact is they can do nothing more than relay what they think they heard to development and respond with whatever development tells them to.

    Nefas mentioned the tensions in the community and I just don’t see any efforts made to resolve them. They could engage threads and do some actual damage control. If they’re so tired of bad optics and toxic communities, well what have they done to resolve it? Has Gina responded to any of the major issues beyond the once or twice a year glorified tweet? Not that I can see.

    Yes, development needs to be engaged in those conversations but I don’t think they’re prepared to hear direct opinions on the consequences of the decisions they make. The CMs are ultimately shielding them from that, mostly because they are trained to be professional communicators. Yet, none of them are proactively gathering feedback outside of a select circle. None of them are updating us regularly on the issues, so rifts are formed and then people start pestering them for basic updates. The rifts will never heal if supposed industry leaders can’t provide status updates like literally every other company in the world.
    Edited by Destai on December 15, 2022 5:09AM
  • Destai
    Destai
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    Nefas just posted a really good video summarizing a conversation he and the stream team had with the devs & community managers. Might be worth looking at.

    He did a really good job with this video and I appreciate him being candid with the community managers. Hopefully it starts to sink in. I find myself mostly in agreement with him, except for his take on the Q&A. It's a bad look they're not updating it - regardless of whether they're giving us one or not.

    My take away is honestly just disappointment. It's good they reached out to the Stream Team but it's really alarming that they're struggling with communication this far into the game. All the points Nefas made I know I've made and many others have made for the last few years. It's hard not to feel like they're ignoring the forums. Furthermore, Gina asked something similar last year with the "what's communication" tweet. Seeing that from a supposedly seasoned professional is shocking. But like I said, I'm happy they reached out and got a more unfiltered and direct take on what's happening with the community. Hopefully it amounts to something, but seeing is believing.


    I don't begrudge Gina asking what communication means. I think it was phrased as "what does it is mean to you?" As in, "what exactly are you looking for?" Fine, but there hasnt been a follow up in my opinion.

    I'm glad that they got the information from the stream team, but, Im left wondering, where's the QnA? We've waited two months for an update. Not the QnA, an update. The impression that Im left with is, if you're not a streamer, your voice doesnt matter to them.

    She asked that on Twitter and I had to beg Kevin to get her over here. When she did, it was an excuse about having industry talk on her Twitter. I think my response is linked in my signature. But, she couldn’t be bothered to give us more than one response before disappearing. Nevermind our questions, feedback, and concerns. That completely ruined her image for me. So I agree with you 100%. Us everyday folk, our opinions don’t typically warrant a response.
    Edited by Destai on December 15, 2022 5:23AM
  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Destai wrote: »
    She asked that on Twitter and I had to beg Kevin to get her over here. When she did, it was an excuse about having industry talk on her Twitter. I think my response is linked in my signature. But, she couldn’t be bothered to give us more than one response before disappearing. Nevermind our questions, feedback, and concerns. That completely ruined her image for me. So I agree with you 100%. Us everyday folk, our opinions don’t typically warrant a response.

    Her request had bad "optics" but I understand what was happening and what happened, so I don't really hold that against her.

    The thing to keep in mind regarding "our questions, feedback, and concerns" is that they have unlimited access to the information we share in here. On the topic of listening to what we have to say, I would suggest that they have that dialed in. :smile:

    If there is an issue at ZOS related to communication, it is more along the lines of aggregation and comprehension, and then turning that into a quality response. Often, they will start improving, only to go backwards. There are a couple cycles where this has happened over the years. Too many pieces of the puzzle on their end are missing to clearly see why it happens.

    I liked one thing Nefas said along this subject. He repeated an old suggestion that ZOS has not addressed. ZOS needs to have a place where all of the various comments, interviews, statements, and press releases exist so that people can find them. This came up last time back when Rich was sharing information in his stream, and it really emphasized the problem. More recently, I guess there were interviews that have been done. Part of the communication problem is that ZOS doesn't tell people that they communicated and we have to find it on our own.

    I have said similar in the past: They need a person that can disseminate information, answer questions, and basically communicate with their customers. This is clearly not what a Community Manager does, nor a Forum Manager. They need an Information Manager. Not just for ESO. This is also going to plague New Game if they don't correct it.
    XBox EU/NA:@ElsonsoJannus
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    PSN NA/EU: @ElsonsoJannus
    Total in-game hours: 11321
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
Sign In or Register to comment.