sarahthes wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

First of all, thank you for your post, but to me there are a few concerns:

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Mastery
Whether you've played for 10 minutes or 1000 hours, there should always be something to learn or improve upon. That loop of learning should be consistently fun and rewarding. Our combat is designed to challenge you along two primary paths: character builds and skillful execution. Outside of combat, your character build should test your ability to refine a large number of choices into a proficient engine for battle. Tests of skillful execution occur during battle, challenging you to realize the potential of your build and outperform opponents in fast-paced, active combat.

• Builds consist of the combination of abilities, items and Champion Points
• Real-time resource management (Health, Magicka, Stamina, Ultimate)
• Optimizing ability rotations and timing
• Light attack weaving
• Group “builds” and synergies

I get that you want combat to be engaging, and that there needs to be room to grow. But right now most of this list(bolded) excludes many players from quite some of the game's content, as this list assumes everyone is top tier or will be top tier one day. Not even taking into question if they even want to be top tier. Some of this list(and barswapping) excludes a very very large group of players from playing higher content. Shouldn't the goal be to get more players playing(including in higher content), instead of chasing most away, and having few left playing. Currently many do not see this engaging/challenging combat as "let's do this!", but rather as "screw that, I'm going to try another game!". It looks like a mountain to climb, but only very few actually want to make that climb. It is a game afer all.
In my opinion, the game should provide these mastery mechanics(and barswapping) until a player has mastered them. Once they have mastered these mechanics, they should automatically take over control of them. Basically raising the floor, or as I have called it in other threads "crutch mechanics": Auto barswap, more skilldamage when not light attack weaving, automatic resource management, etc. These won't affect the top tier player, but will let inexperienced players and bad players(like me) have a much higher floor. And once they master one or more of these mechanics, they can choose to perform them manually, as that will/should always provide a better result.
PS: Ultimate should automatically regen like all the other resources, one ultimate per second.

I think there is a very strong misconception that you need to be perfect first before attempting content.

It's not true. You don't need to be perfect and the current DPS "minimums" that I see raid guilds requiring are absolutely incorrect and too high for most content.

The items you highlighted:

[*] Real-time resource management (Health, Magicka, Stamina, Ultimate)
[*] Optimizing ability rotations and timing
[*] Light attack weaving

You should continuously work on these, but you can clear all vet dungeons and vet trials without having any of this optimized if you're strong on mechanics. It will get easier as your damage increases (which will happen as you improve) but you can complete it much earlier than that. You honestly don't need to worry about that stuff until you get to HM and trifectas level. Anyone who says otherwise just wants to feel superior.

And if you think you should be able to clear all HMs and trifectas without working on your skill and ability at the game then I don't know what to tell you.

I think you read something in my post which isn't there. As I never said players would need to perfect their dps, but I do feel combat requires too much "work" to be any fun. It is just senseless buttonsmashing at this point, with all those different core combat mechanics combined(weaving, rotation, timing, resource management, barswapping, etc).

Personally I am never going to bother with any of the combat mechanics(weaving, rotation, barswapping, etc), as I feel it is too much work. And work is the last thing a game needs, in my opinion.

And you are right that vet/hm dungeons and trials do not require perfect or even high DPS, but the thing is, they do. Let me explain: At this moment there isn't a trialfinder available, meaning basically the only way to do (vet) trial content is through guilds. Guilds who set these crazy high requirements. So even though there isn't a requirement, technically there is a high minimum requirement because of (most) guilds. And for veteran/hm dungeons, if you do not have high enough DPS, you will get kicked. Combine that with players having unrealistically high expectations, and you have an endgame barely anyone runs. Or barely anyone can run/wants to run.

And yes, I do feel players should be able to clear vet/hm content without any "work". Hence the request for "crutch-mechanics". You can't seriously expect new players to stay with the game, if the first thing they hear is: "To play this game, you have to work on point a, b, c, and d, for many hours". This is an unreal expectation, as this will chase away almost any player. I love the game, and even I am not going to bother with any of that. Add to that the horrible group experiences with speedrunners plus fake roles, makes the choice for new players to stay with this game even smaller.

In my opinion, any player who wants to participate in any content, should be able to participate in that content. Atleast in PvE.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

ApoAlaia wrote: »

After U35 any mention of combat changes fills me with dread and foreboding.

Just to make sure we're all on the same page, these values have been our guiding principles for years and are the things we will continue to be our goals moving forward. Nothing here is technically new, outside of simply sharing it with everyone.

@ZOS_GinaBruno Don't you think that something "new" would've been appropriate here? Something specific about the controversial changes we've all been riled up over. I'm not sure how stating your founding principles applies here because "new" changes in U35 onwards upset the community. U35 really broke a lot of our communities and we all want to know why specific decisions were made and what the final state of combat will approximately look like. Why is there no tie-back to those concerns that were brought up here in spades? It really feels like we're having two different conversations here.

I can parse nearly 100k on a dragonknight (a class I barely know) or 80k on a stamWarden, my very first character that I have been playing for 3 years.
Is this what you intended, ZOS?

Sarannah wrote: »

sarahthes wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

First of all, thank you for your post, but to me there are a few concerns:

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Mastery
Whether you've played for 10 minutes or 1000 hours, there should always be something to learn or improve upon. That loop of learning should be consistently fun and rewarding. Our combat is designed to challenge you along two primary paths: character builds and skillful execution. Outside of combat, your character build should test your ability to refine a large number of choices into a proficient engine for battle. Tests of skillful execution occur during battle, challenging you to realize the potential of your build and outperform opponents in fast-paced, active combat.

• Builds consist of the combination of abilities, items and Champion Points
• Real-time resource management (Health, Magicka, Stamina, Ultimate)
• Optimizing ability rotations and timing
• Light attack weaving
• Group “builds” and synergies

I get that you want combat to be engaging, and that there needs to be room to grow. But right now most of this list(bolded) excludes many players from quite some of the game's content, as this list assumes everyone is top tier or will be top tier one day. Not even taking into question if they even want to be top tier. Some of this list(and barswapping) excludes a very very large group of players from playing higher content. Shouldn't the goal be to get more players playing(including in higher content), instead of chasing most away, and having few left playing. Currently many do not see this engaging/challenging combat as "let's do this!", but rather as "screw that, I'm going to try another game!". It looks like a mountain to climb, but only very few actually want to make that climb. It is a game afer all.
In my opinion, the game should provide these mastery mechanics(and barswapping) until a player has mastered them. Once they have mastered these mechanics, they should automatically take over control of them. Basically raising the floor, or as I have called it in other threads "crutch mechanics": Auto barswap, more skilldamage when not light attack weaving, automatic resource management, etc. These won't affect the top tier player, but will let inexperienced players and bad players(like me) have a much higher floor. And once they master one or more of these mechanics, they can choose to perform them manually, as that will/should always provide a better result.
PS: Ultimate should automatically regen like all the other resources, one ultimate per second.

I think there is a very strong misconception that you need to be perfect first before attempting content.

It's not true. You don't need to be perfect and the current DPS "minimums" that I see raid guilds requiring are absolutely incorrect and too high for most content.

The items you highlighted:

[*] Real-time resource management (Health, Magicka, Stamina, Ultimate)
[*] Optimizing ability rotations and timing
[*] Light attack weaving

You should continuously work on these, but you can clear all vet dungeons and vet trials without having any of this optimized if you're strong on mechanics. It will get easier as your damage increases (which will happen as you improve) but you can complete it much earlier than that. You honestly don't need to worry about that stuff until you get to HM and trifectas level. Anyone who says otherwise just wants to feel superior.

And if you think you should be able to clear all HMs and trifectas without working on your skill and ability at the game then I don't know what to tell you.

I think you read something in my post which isn't there. As I never said players would need to perfect their dps, but I do feel combat requires too much "work" to be any fun. It is just senseless buttonsmashing at this point, with all those different core combat mechanics combined(weaving, rotation, timing, resource management, barswapping, etc).

Personally I am never going to bother with any of the combat mechanics(weaving, rotation, barswapping, etc), as I feel it is too much work. And work is the last thing a game needs, in my opinion.

And you are right that vet/hm dungeons and trials do not require perfect or even high DPS, but the thing is, they do. Let me explain: At this moment there isn't a trialfinder available, meaning basically the only way to do (vet) trial content is through guilds. Guilds who set these crazy high requirements. So even though there isn't a requirement, technically there is a high minimum requirement because of (most) guilds. And for veteran/hm dungeons, if you do not have high enough DPS, you will get kicked. Combine that with players having unrealistically high expectations, and you have an endgame barely anyone runs. Or barely anyone can run/wants to run.

And yes, I do feel players should be able to clear vet/hm content without any "work". Hence the request for "crutch-mechanics". You can't seriously expect new players to stay with the game, if the first thing they hear is: "To play this game, you have to work on point a, b, c, and d, for many hours". This is an unreal expectation, as this will chase away almost any player. I love the game, and even I am not going to bother with any of that. Add to that the horrible group experiences with speedrunners plus fake roles, makes the choice for new players to stay with this game even smaller.

In my opinion, any player who wants to participate in any content, should be able to participate in that content. Atleast in PvE.

Well, what would be "not too much work"? ("work" being loose term here, as it's as much work as timing your block right in Skyrim)

You can't realistically expect mechanics being done automatically for you as a solution, it's going against everything this post is talking about even. If the combat isn't fun it won't become any more fun for you with some automatic barswaps or else whatever that might mean even, as you should decide on an actual situation, should you swap or stay for a mechanic, phase in a fight or just because you're spamming shield without being automatically thrown away to another bar. Combat is based around decisions, not "senseless mashing" some people believe.

The guild part is the one where you can take the matter in your own hands, if you feel that every guild you saw yourself sets those high demands and expectations you can find same minded people and start one together, can be not a guild but a DC server even, that's not the most important part here. People tend to play with ones on the same page, so it would be pretty logical way out of problem you personally have if there's a demand.

About kicks and such you can't be kicked if you made a group yourself without throwing your expectations on another 3 random person. There's also no unrealistic expectations, just all kinds of people thrown together and trying to find a weaker link, I'd suggest avoiding random finder for learning purposes for own sanity trying to digest others behaviour and paint them in the light that suits your narrative.

To the last point it seems that zeni themselves disagree, as currently casual content ends on regular veteran difficulty and HM being an insane leap in difficulty catering to those 0.1% basically saying that veteran is the highest we want you to go, as hardmode is where the game starts for another group of payers. If they'll go out of their way and make vet HM digestible for "everyone" they'll need another difficulty setting again, which will lead to complaints about it being "unachievable" etc. making a circle no one wants to participate in.

Personally I think they might need to tune HMS down to some degree as their accessibility goal persists, not that I'm thrilled about it myself but mostly to avoid the "difficulty leap" for the sake of people progressing content and unable to make such a leap without relearning the game and optimising their friends out of groups.

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Active Combat
We believe combat is more engaging when you are on the move and continuously taking action. Battles should be exhilarating, with threats and opportunities coming fast and you feeling empowered to respond in kind. In any given moment you should have options for reacting to your opponents and shouldn't be held back by long waits between actions. This requires controls to be responsive and consistent so you feel connected to your character and in control of the outcomes of your battles.

• No ability cooldowns and a short global cooldown
• Most abilities are instant, with cast times being the exception
  

First off, I want to say, thank you for communicating with us, even if it doesn't completely answer our questions at the moment, with more communication and providing reasons for the decisions made will go a long way towards repairing the lost trust and giving the community the ability to see the end goals and the reasons for why there has been a lot of disruptions to reach those goals (see U35).

Next, and more importantly my 2 points that I have some serious questions about regarding balancing of magicka sorcerer.

I would like to bring your attention to these 2 specific quoted points from "Active Combat" and how they have conflicted with the balance and design choices of sorcerer abilities for years now.

First point is the "Most abilities are instant with cast times being the exception.

My question for this point is, why are both of the sorcerer burst heals (summon matriarch and dark exchange + morphs) tied to a cast time if cast times are supposed to be the exception and not the majority (yes the heal of matriarch is instant, but summoning the matriarch, which is required to be able to use the heal in the first place, has an interruptible cast time and the pets survivability (and AI) has not kept up with the power creep over the years that every other class has received so they have become walking (or flapping) targets in PvP).
Also the magicka morph of the class spammable ability (crystal fragments) not only has a cast time but also has very poor rng on it to actually deal damage that is comparable to other spammables and no other significant buffs to make up for this downside (plar jabs is AoE, and either heals or provides major sorcery/brutality and every other class's main in class spammable provides either strong unique buffs to damage, healing or utility (whip, concealed, dive) or is at the very least instant cast (skull/scythe)).

On to the second part, the point about no ability cooldowns and a short global cooldown.

Why do these 3 core key class defining abilities for sorcerer (frags, summon matriarch and dark exchange) go on to a long, forced cooldown if they are interrupted mid cast and most importantly why is this forced cooldown 3 times the length of the global cooldown of 1 second.
It is punishing enough that being interrupted mid cast cancels the ability and stuns the caster forcing them to break free, but to have such key core combat abilities such as both class burst heals and main magicka spammable be hard locked (greyed out) on a cooldown equal to 3 global cooldowns for being interrupted is way over the top and completely conflicts with this statement about "no ability cooldowns".

Hoping you can take these points into consideration for U37. Sorcerer doesn't need huge buffs to numbers, just freeing it from these clunky 2018 mechanics and punishing draw backs would allow the class to be fun and exciting to play again, as would releasing it from its pet enforced prison (please stop trying to force sorcerers into being zookeepers, many players don't enjoy this playstyle and forcing sorcerers into it by tying the main class burst heal to the pets conflicts with your "play how you want" mantra for many sorcerer players).

Sarannah wrote: »

First of all, thank you for your
Personally I am never going to bother with any of the combat mechanics(weaving, rotation, barswapping, etc), as I feel it is too much work. And work is the last thing a game needs, in my opinion.

And you are right that vet/hm dungeons and trials do not require perfect or even high DPS, but the thing is, they do. Let me explain: At this moment there isn't a trialfinder available, meaning basically the only way to do (vet) trial content is through guilds. Guilds who set these crazy high requirements. So even though there isn't a requirement, technically there is a high minimum requirement because of (most) guilds. And for veteran/hm dungeons, if you do not have high enough DPS, you will get kicked. Combine that with players having unrealistically high expectations, and you have an endgame barely anyone runs. Or barely anyone can run/wants to run.

And yes, I do feel players should be able to clear vet/hm content without any "work". Hence the request for "crutch-mechanics". You can't seriously expect new players to stay with the game, if the first thing they hear is: "To play this game, you have to work on point a, b, c, and d, for many hours". This is an unreal expectation, as this will chase away almost any player. I love the game, and even I am not going to bother with any of that. Add to that the horrible group experiences with speedrunners plus fake roles, makes the choice for new players to stay with this game even smaller.

In my opinion, any player who wants to participate in any content, should be able to participate in that content. Atleast in PvE.

Your post comes off as you thinking that you are not good enough to do vet/vHM content and you don't want to do the requisite practice/work/farming to get better to be able to run that content, but still want to be allowed to do that content despite not having the skills or gear to complete that content making yourself a group carry. If you want that you can already do that by paying gold to a carry group, but the group content that end gamers find engaging is difficult, and requires homework, practice, commitment, and repetition to get good enough to complete it and we like the sense of accomplishment when we finally down a boss that we've been working on for a while. All content isn't made for all players to complete nor should it be. So if you don't want to do the work to run vet and vHM trials then don't, but you don't get to demand that you should be able to or that the content should be changed to something the current audience of that content would find unenjoyable.

All trial groups have to prog a new trial; nobody just spawns in for the first time and gets a trifecta, not even the top 1%, because they too need to figure out what the fight mechanics are, practice them, and then complete the trial even if it's relatively fast compared to normal trial groups. This isn't even limited to ESO, I progged Operations (their trials) in SWTOR for 7 years straight with the same group, my other SWTOR prog members came from WOW where they did the same thing - progging the hardest content is a staple of the MMO genre and trials should always require work, time, and commitment. If you want a quick run do a normal trial but watering down the hardest content so people don't have to "work" to complete would kill trials and end game communities and nobody wants to run a longer version of Fungal Grotto - there's a reason people always take the shortcut in that dungeon because it's unenjoyable being so easy.

No, trials and dungeons do not require perfect or high DPS since there are training groups, because as raider we want more raiders, more people to prog with which is why we train them instead of chasing them away. When it comes to specific content, Guilds/trial groups do not gate keep, they set base line requirements such as DPS numbers, gear sets required, and CP points to participate in a specific dungeon or trial prog group or just generic trial run because those are the bare minimum required to have a good chance of clearing that content and that's not even taking the trial specific mechs into account which are typically explained in game before a pull unless a group has run together consistently. These requirements are a direct reflection of the encounter team's design decisions not of guilds being "elitist" - this prevents the entire group from wasting their time progging a run when it was scheduled to be a fun or gear run. Guilds normally train their new raiders via normal trial gear runs so new raiders slowly get properly geared, learn how to raid, then they also host vet training runs, and once you start getting your clears you can join the big boy groups doing the harder trials. There's an entire method that you either didn't see in your experiences with guilds or decided you shouldn't have to abide by that would have set you up for success in end game raiding.

I 100% agree that there should be a normal Trial finder; this wouldn't work with vet because you need communication, and known quantities (minimum levels of gear/DPS/heals/tanks/knowledge) to clear vet trials. A normal trial finder would make gear farming much better for many people and allow people to see what trials are all about. We had a normal Operations finder in SWTOR and it was fun, however just like with ESO's dungeon finder sometimes the group doen't clear, and sometimes people leave when a specific Operation loads. Just temper your expectations for a normal trial finder if it ever happens. I encourage you to check out ESOU and its project vitality raider training. There are still a few training runs going on post U35 that would help you get up to speed if you really want to raid. There are also resources to help improve your DPS up to par if that is the role you wish to fill but that will require practice.

Sarannah wrote: »

I knew beforehand people would get hung up on this part... which is why I used the words "most" and "barely anyone". Ofcourse I know there are other possibilities to make a group, and that some guilds have different requirements for groups, but that does not change that overall the minimum requirement for certain content is set by most guilds. And as a result, barely anyone running that content.

How does it change my point? You are implying that "barely anyone" is running that content because "overall the minimum requirement for certain content is set by most guilds". From this it turns out that there are much more people than "barely anyone" who want to play this content, but due to the requirements, they cannot play it.
I repeat the question. Why people who aren't happy with existing requirements aren't starting their own groups. Not look for a group without requirements, but start their own. According to you there should be many people (and it's supposedly majority) who would gladly join a group that has no requirements whatsoever.

INM wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

I knew beforehand people would get hung up on this part... which is why I used the words "most" and "barely anyone". Ofcourse I know there are other possibilities to make a group, and that some guilds have different requirements for groups, but that does not change that overall the minimum requirement for certain content is set by most guilds. And as a result, barely anyone running that content.

How does it change my point? You are implying that "barely anyone" is running that content because "overall the minimum requirement for certain content is set by most guilds". From this it turns out that there are much more people than "barely anyone" who want to play this content, but due to the requirements, they cannot play it.
I repeat the question. Why people who aren't happy with existing requirements aren't starting their own groups. Not look for a group without requirements, but start their own. According to you there should be many people (and it's supposedly majority) who would gladly join a group that has no requirements whatsoever.

My experience with organized groups is more PVP than PVE, but I imagine its similar. Most players don't start their own regular group without requirements because it's a lot of effort and eventually, they figure out the value of minimum requirements if they are doing content where it matters.

PUGs can get away with no requirements and low expectations.

Organizing a regular group is a ton of work and a bigger time commitment. So the more people do it, the more they realize the value of having minimum requirements that respect the whole group's time. Moreover, they end up seeing the tangible impact on the group's success when someone isn't on the same page as everyone else.

Sarannah wrote: »

Now I do not think anyone wants to change ESO's core combat mechanics, atleast I do not. As this is one of the things which makes ESO unique. But I do feel too much is expected from players, to not have these systems be done automatically if the player wants them to be done automatically. However, doing all these combat core mechanics manually should always provide a better result. Right now the DPS difference in same build/gear, can be 10k vs 100k. With automated crutch-mechanics, this could be 70k vs 100k. Depending on how these crutch-mechanics would be implemented.

In short: Raising the floor, without changing the ceiling nor ESO's core combat mechanics.

A team can do normal Hel Ra Citadel from start to finish without any gear except what you pick up from trash if you bother learning the mechanics and how combat works in group content, and it doesn't require much clicks-per-second optimisation. You can be sloppy with low DPS and still clear a normal trial, it just takes longer.

The requirements for training trials are basically none besides be in voice chat to listen to instructions and saying anything to the contrary is just false. Since ZOS doesn't bother teaching people how to play group content it falls to the community. If you don't want to or can't put in the work to play at higher levels then don't. Accept you won't get those achievements unless you pay for a carry and move on. I'll never get Planesbreaker with my disabilities but I still enjoy progging and I don't expect that bar to be lowered to me.

Stop nerfing the game because people playing at a level above other people after the work put in is somehow unfair. We want a challenge and we want to be rewarded. You don't get to autopilot that. It's like casuals asking for Elden Ring etc to get nerfed. If these games are too hard for you then move on to something that isn't, or stick to overland and normal difficulty group content, and leave us who enjoy hard stuff to enjoy hard stuff.

I don't tell the devs to get rid of Tales of Tribute even though it's a junk mini game with broken ranking that's aggravating to play for rewards that really aren't worth it. It's a time sink for hours played on the clock at best. Go do stuff like that and do normal trials, and let people who enjoy hard trials enjoy hard trials without everything getting nerfed or broken every 3 months.

I'd like to know why one class has great tools and a super high ceiling and is fun to play to maneuver and master all those tools while others are as simplistic and nerfed to niche builds that just do not feel rewarding nor fun unless you "cheese" one aspect. And if it has anything to do with hiring a guy that maimed the former.

This is NOT to say to destroy the one class that feels skill based and rewarding

LordDragonMara wrote: »

But the moment i see game Devs starting to talk about lowering the skill ceiling, so the floor can be raised i know this is the beginning of the end.

The goal was not to lower the skill ceiling: the goal was to lower the power associated with that skill ceiling. It may seem like a subtle distinction, but it's an important one.

And that outsized effect of that skill ceiling causes very real, tangible problems, such as with content balance. Their goal of closing the power gap (not necessarily the skill gap) is a much-needed one. Now, one could argue that their attempts at doing this in U35 were ineffective, but they were absolutely correct in the pursuit of that goal, even if their actual attempt was a fumble.

Yup. Templar class is def not part of your values, let alone stamina Templar which is deleted now.

Also, as some others stated. If this is the only kind of communication you can offer (politically placed statements that tell us nothing new and are not helpful), then silence is actually probably better.

As a day 1 player, all this makes me really sad. Not even angry really anymore. I need a “depression” emote.

Nerf the content, not the players. It's not our fault ZOS squeeze the power creep and mechanics into every new release. We didn't ask for forced mechanics and what they've done to DoTs, especially ground AoEs. In the same breath they're saying they want to make combat more accessible they're making it ridiculously complicated to execute for people who don't want to or can't invest the effort to learn and grind.

Getting Graven Deep on a random normal makes me cringe because people don't know and can't follow the mechanics and the dungeon can't be completed. Same with world bosses overland, like Walks-Like-Thunder in Mirkmire. Try clearing that with the totem heal mechanic when nobody knows how it works. Depending how bad it is and who's there it's impossible to kill no matter how masteried you are.

Now I have grind, change, and incompetent group member fatigue I'm not playing any more because it's just straight up frustrating not being able to at least melt through stuff. I can burn through Fungal Grotto pretty much on my own but trying to do DLC random normals is torture. I always slow down for people to do the quests and make sure they wait when they need to so they don't miss a step, and I do the quests for skill points on my lowbies. But the point is to get it done as efficiently as possible for the rewards. I'd do random vets if there was a chance the higher difficulty would bring higher competence but it doesn't and I just want to melt things for transmutes.

That's how I want to play, so why does everyone have to get nerfed when the complicated content and lack of skill/knowledge in less powerful players are the problems? Teach people how to succeed and they will, unless they expect to succeed without effort. We don't expect the game to be tailored around the endgame prog community but a little consideration would be nice. I feel bad for the PvP community and their perpetually broken, stale environment. Consideration for them would be nice too. And I straight up have no idea how people play this game on console with all those problems.

You have a variety of escalating difficulties to choose from in this game. The hardest content is achievable for many people. It isn't for many others. Why? People can't do enough DPS and they don't know mechanics or how to play their roles. How do people learn mechanics? Give them toggleable combat tips and tutorials during combat in trials and dungeons etc. How do people learn their roles? Give the Fighters, Mage's, and Psijic guilds or the Undaunted something to to by giving DPS, tank, and healer training.

ZOS can create their own "how to play" recources online instead of relying on the community to output and regulate the amount of information people need but aren't given. Where's this aspect of "raising the floor" in any of ZOS' plans for mastery? Or is this one of those things that's too much effort and money for the studio to invest, so the players can keep teaching other players or just be bad at the game? Even with all this, people who don't want to do "homework" won't, and will remain unable to do group content well. Anyone who won't play as a team by playing to their role and moving with the group will fail at group content. There is no amount of nerfing players that will ever change that.

Combat changes in U35 had the opposite effect to the intention stated. The intention was to raise the floor by simplifying DoTs. We see more parses well above 100k, nice work. They're invariably the same races of the same classes in the same gear with the same skills and the same potions and the same buff foods. Stale homogenised meta. People in the same meta are failing to reach that level, we're still seeing parses at 50k. Why? What's the difference?

Mastery. People have to put a lot of effort into learning light attack weaving, optimised ability rotations, when to synergise or take a potion, and manage all those bits and pieces just bashing a dummy. It can be overwhelming but it gets better with practice. With practice people will see their DPS rise with their mastery. There are addons and community members who can help to learn about cooldowns, animations cancelling, etc. Then they have to transfer those skills to an active environment with mechanics and 11 other group members. It's a lot. There is nothing that can be done to not make learning group content a lot.

ZOS can deal with the accessibility, as in disability accommodations, side of things by nerfing or by providing alternatives. We're sick of all the nerfing. Medium and heavy attack builds should be perfectly viable if light attacks are too much. I have arthritis and I can relate. But they aren't, because ZOS keeps changing combat to focus around one thing or another. I don't even remember why heavy attack builds got nerfed. Classes get nerfed into the ground and forgotten about then resurrected as OP. Rinse and repeat. So much change has happened so frequently that things constantly have to be relearned, re-geared, re-adjusted, or some other kind of grind and we're just done. That's another reasons the endgamers left. We don't want to spend our time farming gear and materials to compensate for the most recent combat upheavals, we just want to prog trifectas.

I'm really tired of people wanting to be able to do everything in a game just because they bought it and trying to drag the game down when they can't. MMORPGs aren't meant to be "platinumed". The endgame doesn't want to have the game revolve around them and nobody is asking for that. Y'all can keep your overland etc however you want and get into group progression like everyone else. Just don't expect to be able to do group content well without learning how. It's ZOS' own fault ZOS doesn't teach you how to play properly, not our fault for being exclusionary or inaccessible.

The poor quality of life in the game this year in particular and the lack of proper communication from ZOS are just nails in the coffin. Committed endgame proggers will still be around and if new players want to learn they will teach them. Apart from that PvP is pretty dead after years of neglect, which kind of defeats the purpose, because they're sick of these combat upheavals and bugs too. In trying to appeal to a wider audience ZOS has moved the game in the direction of being Skyrim Online and lost a large part of its identity and player base in the process. At this rate they'll be losing brand loyalty, which should be a priority in marketing metrics.