Success and Failure at Recruiting Players

UGotBenched91 · July 2023

Hey everyone,

I’m curious what other experiences people have had recruiting friends and family to play ESO.

I’m sadly 0/3. Got two friends to try it years ago and they gave up after a day.

In the early 2000’s I played Lineage 2 (best orcs!) with my dad. I tried to get him to play ESO about two years ago. He enjoyed the game but got confused on where to go with the overwhelming amount of quests (we really need some type of diff symbols or colors for diff quest types).

Anyone having any success recruiting other players?

LunaFlora · July 2023

i dont try to recruit people
and wouldn't want to ask people that i dont already know are elder scrolls fans

quests do have different markers/colours

zone story quest markers are bigger than side quest markers and repeatable quests are blue versions of the side quest markers

Deathgiggle · July 2023

My brother refuses to play. he did try it for all of about 2 hours but then declared it was a poor mans World of Warcraft and won't come back. Little background: I played WoW for over 10 years with my brother, his wife, my wife and a lot of our real life friends. Even people my brother served with in the Navy, came over and joined our guild and as his kids grew up, they started playing too.
That being said, we have an immense amount of friends that play video games for hours each night. When my brother agreed to try out ESO, he talked to his friends still playing WoW about it as many of them had burnout from that game. It's why I came here, as I just got burned out of raiding each night for years on end. However, almost all of them had negative things to say about ESO. They had either tried it or knew someone that did and did not like it.

Some of the main reasons listed by my brother as to why he did not want to continue playing it. I also heard some of these echoed by our old guild members as well.

1. His biggest complaint was no auction house. Although I showed him how Guild traders worked and told him I had no trouble making millions using that method, he could not get over the fact, that he could not search every items listed, server wide. Also running around to check the prices of an expensive item was not his idea of fun. I told him about TTC, but having to use a 3rd party website was also not as slick as a server wide auction house.

2. Guild loyalty! This was a huge one for me as well, but I got over it. He and MANY of our guildmates that still play WoW, had this as one of their complaints in this game. Here is ESO, you can join multiple guilds. Coming from WoW, where people join only one and usually stay loyal to that guild for years and years, that is sort of a shock. In over a decade of playing WoW, I was only a member of 2 guilds and we fought, we raided, we cried, we laughed, we felt each others real life sorrows and joys, etc. I made lifelong friends there and could not imagine splitting my time between 2, 3, or even 4 guilds. Here I have to, because the trader is limited to 30 spots, so I have to join more than one. Although my ESO guilds do a lot of stuff together and there are friends to be made and discord conversations, many of my guildmates do belong to other guilds and split their time. It makes the bonding a little less to be honest.

3. Flying mounts! Yes, this was a disappointment to me as well, when coming here. I was used to flying mounts in WoW and some other games. How cool is it to soar above these vast lands you enjoy questing through? Not here! I came to live with just the cool ground mounts we have in ESO, but my brother and many of our old WoW guildmates, complained about the lack of features in this game, flying mounts being one of them.

4. Raiding and Dungeons: Although we have a lot of dungeons and they are somewhat comparable to WoW's, our trials and world bosses are no where near the scale and fun factor as theirs. Are you sick of me comparing this game to WoW yet? I could go on and on, but my point is that games like that are a direct competitor to games like this. If ESO wants to appeal to more of the gamers that like these types of games, they would have to change their features to the point that this game would go in a vastly different direction. You may think they are 2 different games and appeal to different types of players, but look at their similarities. Questing, guilds, world bosses, dungeons, mounts, fishing, skill points, lore background, etc. They are different in a way, but appeal to the same type of players. So why would my friends come play in a kiddie pool, when they have access to an infinity pool at a mansion? The lore is different here, but the enjoyment of raiding/trials, doing quests, exploring the lands on mounts, farming, etc., are the same in the player. When i try to recruit my friends, they consider this a toned down version of WoW and refuse to see it any other way

_Zathras_ · July 2023

Deathgiggle wrote: »

but then declared it was a poor mans World of Warcraft and won't come back.:(

It is a fair comparison. I bounced between EQ2 and WoW since they both launched, with more time spent in WoW in the long term. All your points are fair, and are generally the top pain points why people try it here, then leave.

Some of the main positive differences are the quality of questing, housing and useful crafting, more realistic graphics, and a less toxic community. Those are huge points to consider for some people, and reasons to stay.

As for the OP's question.. I don't recruit, but I have talked with a couple of random people who did play the game. They had played one of the single player ES games, usually Oblivion or Skyrim, and liked the idea of a MMO version of the ES universe.

shadyjane62 · July 2023

My husband was day one player. The bot problems then drove him out, he refuses to even try again.

The rest of my friends play other games.

Nestor · July 2023

MMORPGs are a niche game. Where millions play something like Call of Duty everyday, or the newest shiney game for two weeks after release, MMOs require an investment in time. Not every gamer wants to do that. Heck, I never played an MMO until this game because of the time investment. That being said the time needed to be able to enjoy the game like getting needed gear etc is minimal.

Also this game does a poor job of explaining how to actually play the game. There is some good information hidden in F1. But most people don't even know the help screens exist.

I think bringing people from WOW would be harder than it should, as people are grind shy from that game.

Elsonso · July 2023

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Hey everyone,

I’m curious what other experiences people have had recruiting friends and family to play ESO.

I’m sadly 0/3. Got two friends to try it years ago and they gave up after a day.

Anyone having any success recruiting other players?

I tried it with some MMO and Elder Scrolls fans that I know. Over time, everyone who I recruited to the game departed. I stopped trying to recruit people years ago because of this. One of them never got out of the Wailing Prison. They've been in there 85 months, now.

Giulietta · July 2023

Over a few years, I tried to talk 4 people into it- no sucess either, I'm afraid

Edit: one of them recently said he'll take another look at it (he already played but only during beta) once he's got the time for it

Braffin · July 2023

Elsonso wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Hey everyone,

I’m curious what other experiences people have had recruiting friends and family to play ESO.

I’m sadly 0/3. Got two friends to try it years ago and they gave up after a day.

Anyone having any success recruiting other players?

I tried it with some MMO and Elder Scrolls fans that I know. Over time, everyone who I recruited to the game departed. I stopped trying to recruit people years ago because of this. One of them never got out of the Wailing Prison. They've been in there 85 months, now.

That's what I call a win for molag bal.

TaSheen · July 2023

Here's a weird take on this: my daughtter and granddaughters were invited to the open beta. We'd all played WoW and RIFT together, so I was interested in their feedback on ESO.

They - hated it. Had no use for it. None of them had played any TES game prior - in fact when I said I'd played them all since Arena released they were.... shocked. "You played all those dorky games??"

So TES is a - um - what to call it..... I guess it either fits, or it doesn't. And when it doesn't, well.... it's just a total throwaway. To this day, none of them have any use for TES or ESO. And to me.... TES and ESO are the BEST games out there.... To them, I'm just weird. To me - they have no clue about game fun.

Seriously.... TES V Skyrim, and TES IV Oblivion are games I still play today, along with ESO. Tamriel is my "home". It's an odd thing - that while all of us (my sister, my nephew, my daughter, her husband, their daughters, and about 30 friends) played WoW and RIFT.... I'm the only one who loves TES and ESO unreservedly. None of the rest of them would touch it with a ten foot pole.

Their loss.

Davvy123 · July 2023

I don't try to recruit people to MMOs either. I did once, it was for WoW, which I had played for several years then. I successfully got my stepson to try it, he got hooked on it, got his girlfriend to play it, she joined, and all 3 of us played that for maybe 5 years straight.

Then they switched to FFXIV, got me to try it, and I went along, dropped WoW, played FFXIV for about 3 years. But then I got nostalgic, came back to WoW, got burnt out or disgusted because of Shadowlands, dusted off ESO (which I'd tried before for a year or so). ESO has now kept my interest for the last 18 months or so, and I can't get my stepson and his GF to touch it with a ten foot pole, they're so *married* to FFXIV (no kidding, they had a wedding ceremony for their characters in FFXIV).

I've played all of the TES games, except for Skyrim, which I started but never finished. ESO is really nice and low-pressure, for me at least. I do miss WoW's Auction House and its Transmog system, and flying mounts. But overall, I'm happy with ESO and am content to be the only one in my family to enjoy it.

katanagirl1 · July 2023

I made a lot of friends in ESO, but nearly all of them have moved on for one reason or another.

I did recruit the hubby to play, but I’m a PvP player and a trials team member and he runs around in the crafted gear I made for him doing quests, doesn’t even want to get a monster set. So, limited success.

I’m too old to have real life friends to recruit into playing this game.

Vhozek · July 2023

I've tried to get like 4 or 5 people into this game.
They never came back after that first time.
All the answers I got was that it was really boring.
They all play MMOs so it being an MMO was not a negative.

Nightowl_74 · July 2023

I have several family members who play other MMO's and online games with me, but ESO isn't a good match for any of them. One reason is that we can't play together on different platforms and there's no way I could transfer without losing everything I've collected over the years.The hybrid subscription model and crown store that goes along with it, is off-putting to others. I think there are things about ESO that all of them would actually enjoy a lot, but not enough to offset those two things. My dad is in his seventies, he's not going to get a PS5 and start using that instead of his PC, but we play other MMO's together. Both my brothers feel ESO would be too expensive overall, between the way it's designed and the way they would want to play.

Uvi_AUT · July 2023

Game is too old, too tired and too graphically outdated to recommend it to anyone in 2023. If you didnt play it in the last decade and have no emotional connection to it, you wont be playing it.

LalMirchi · July 2023

I was recruited by a friend a few years ago. I came, I saw, I played and I'm still here, thanks for asking

ixthUA · July 2023

ESO, unlike many other MMOs, requires a lot of knowledge from player to enjoy the game.
In other games you need to use all skills available to the class, while in ESO need to select which skills to use.
In other games you just get better and better class gear, while in ESO you need to know which sets to use.
In other games you just loot better gear, or buy it on market, while in ESO BIS gear is transmuted and upgraded, which requires leveling craft.
ESO requires addons for increased enjoyment, but need to know which ones to use.
I could try to get people i know into ESO, but i dont know how to teach them all this knowledge, so i don't even bother.

Mesite · July 2023

It was the graphics that discouraged the people I know. A few people I know had played Skyrim, Oblivion and even Morrowind, but they weren't as impressed with the look of ESO.

But I think it's good.

Lumenn · July 2023

I recruited some a few years ago from EQ1 and WOW but they left after a year or so. All the above stated complaints, auction house, forced delay on crafting, horse training etc, and apparently the monetization is worse than daybreak(I played EQ1 the first 13-14 years, but haven't played since, so no idea how it is now)

The biggest complaint was the back and forth, complete 180's from the balance team. Having to completely redo/gold your build in some cases every few months was a turn off. Changes were too extreme, too fast.(zos has gotten a LITTLE better on this)

Mostly I think people are just loyal to where they started and it's hard to give up 10+ years in many cases of experience, resources, knowledge, etc. I know I played for a few years longer in EQ even after being disgusted with some of the changes due to all the above and guildmates/family.

Mesite · July 2023

Before I bought my new account on Xbox I thought long and hard. Eventually decided to play casually and not spend too much time/ money on it. I have to decide if I have time for antiquities, Cyrodiil or Imperial City.

Or achievements.

It isn't until you start over you realise how much you've actually done in the past.

You need a lot of commitment to catch up if you are a new starter.

SimonThesis · July 2023

I would not recommend this game to others.

The constant bugs that don't get fixed and odd changes in direction of the game make it very hard to recommend. It is a beautiful game with the best version of combat, the best system of large scale pvp, trials, beautiful housing, voice acting. Its such a good game unfortunately ruined by constant bugs and bad decisions. Also, if Wow can have flying mounts why can't Eso?

LannStone · July 2023

Never tried to recruit anyone
That would be like enticing a young person to start smoking or drinking.

Ragnarok0130 · July 2023

I don't try to recruit friends or family because if they want to play the game they will. In the past with other games I had mixed results getting people to play so I tend to focus on finding like minded players to join who are already playing the game. I have much better results and a much better player experience playing this way.

Diminish · July 2023

Myself, and quite a few friends came to ESO from D1. Different genre, but it wasn't so much about the type of game we came to ESO from, but more so the experience together. Like that game, and those before it, we left that game due to the direction it took. There were about 15 - 20 of us; we had all been gaming together for over a decade across a large number of games at that point.

I am the only one who stuck around on ESO longer than about a month. It isn't for everyone, and early game is very, very lackluster and boring. If you happen to sludge through it, end game is better, but still not something I would call overtly good, and nothing I would entice anyone to try to reach. It takes a special kind of person to play ESO regularly in comparison to some other games. It is way too slow, and casual for the type of friends I typically game with on a regular basis.

I will say though, as much as I have personally enjoyed ESO at times over the years, I wouldn't recommend it to a new player unfortunately. Especially to someone I know personally; that ship has sailed. The "friends" I make in-game don't even stick around, and I really don't blame them. I have yet to meet anyone who plays ESO regularly who has not quit playing the game 15 different times lmao. To me, for the past few years ESO is the game you come play when you just want to relax. How can I say this... It's the game you play when you feel like gaming, but don't really want to "play" a game

We will leave it at that.

SeaGtGruff · July 2023

SimonThesis wrote: »

Also, if Wow can have flying mounts why can't Eso?

I think it has something to do with the game's basic engine and its inability to handle vertical or elevated movement that isn't tied to the surface of something. Or maybe it's because of the anti-cheat algorithm rather than the basic engine. I think that's also why we don't have swimming underwater.

Elsonso · July 2023

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

SimonThesis wrote: »

Also, if Wow can have flying mounts why can't Eso?

I think it has something to do with the game's basic engine and its inability to handle vertical or elevated movement that isn't tied to the surface of something. Or maybe it's because of the anti-cheat algorithm rather than the basic engine. I think that's also why we don't have swimming underwater.

I think it is many things. Other things to consider... They broke the game into separate zones that require loading screens, and flying would make them small and would probably require invisible walls to keep players in the zones. They didn't plan to have people flying, so some of the 3D models for buildings probably don't have collision on top, if they even have a top. They also didn't design quests with the idea that players could just swoop in. You may have noticed, but they like to guide the player along a pre-determined path to get to quest objectives.

katanagirl1 · July 2023

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

SimonThesis wrote: »

Also, if Wow can have flying mounts why can't Eso?

I think it has something to do with the game's basic engine and its inability to handle vertical or elevated movement that isn't tied to the surface of something. Or maybe it's because of the anti-cheat algorithm rather than the basic engine. I think that's also why we don't have swimming underwater.

I think you are onto something.

I have noticed in Sadrith Mora that when sneaking (inside homes you have to trespass) when downstairs underneath npcs that they detect you just as if you were next to them on the same floor. Seems like detection range is using an x-y axis distance without taking into account the z-axis, the vertical one.

TaSheen · July 2023

I have always had the feeling that ESO doesn't utilize the z-axis. Look at the "swimming" animation. You can't "dive" under the water (well, if you jump off a height into deep water, you do wind up under the water for a few seconds, but you can't stay there or go deeper).

That's z-axis not being an option. Remember the underwater areas in WoW and RIFT? Z-axis was obvious because you were literally deep under the surface, and able to maneuver and fight (if you could manage that - I couldn't.... I loved Vashj'ir - but it literally made me "seasick" because of my vertigo issue).

And WoW's flying mounts - that was z-axis as well. ESO does have some height terrain, but there's no actual z-axis in the case of a skybox where one could use a flying mount.

endgamesmug · July 2023

All my friends quit at one tamriel and morrowind, my brother and my neighbour asked about eso recently but i havent pursued that with them doesnt seem like it would be a healthy thing to do.

SeaGtGruff · July 2023

I would recommend ESO to anyone who asked me about it, but I would not volunteer a recommendation of any game out of the blue unless I knew that someone already has an interest in either a particular game series as a whole or a genre of game.

In any case, my recommendation would be to try it out during a free-play weekend or to buy just the base game, so the person could "mess around" in the game as cheaply as possible to get their feet wet and see whether or not they thought it might be something they'd enjoy spending more time and money on.

Lebkuchen · July 2023

I started to play ESO with 4 real life friends when it came out on console, because my wrist could not handle World of Warcraft anymore, and my friends did not own a gaming PC. For years i could not play on PC because every time i touched a mouse my wrist hurt like hell.

My friends all stopped playing this game because of performance issues and bugs. They rage quit and came back a couple of times. But now they just laugh at me when i ask them if they want to play ESO for a few hours. They tell me their new games are way better and more fun and i should stop playing this mess, because it will never get fixed...

Same with most of the friends i made in this game.

So no, i can not recommend ESO to anyone. Not like this. And to be honest, if it wasn't for the server refresh, the code rewrite and the promise to focus on bug fixes in quartal 3 and "to do better from now on", i would have finally quit playing this game a couple of months ago too. I hope they can deliver this time, because when i think about ESO it feel like the donkey in this picture: