What is holding ESO back from being the GOAT MMO for YOU?

Gray_howling_parrot · November 2023

DISCLAIMER: ESO is probably my favorite game I've played, truthfully. Definitely my favorite MMO. Is it perfect? Of course not! No game is. What I'm curious about here is what YOU guys believe to be holding ESO back from being the greatest. This is for constructive criticism for ZOS and I personally GREATLY appreciate all the work that they constantly put into the game!

If you think ESO is perfect, you wouldn't change a thing, etc. then this poll is not for you

Feel free to chime in obviously! Free speech of course, but mainly just curious what the playerbase thinks! Cheers and Happy Saturday!

rauyran · November 2023

I voted "Other" since ESO is currently the greatest MMO available, in my opinion.

Gray_howling_parrot · November 2023

rauyran wrote: »

I voted "Other" since ESO is currently the greatest MMO available, in my opinion.

Cheers

NoticeMeArkay · November 2023

I wish I could vote for multiple positions. Additional to point 1) Monetization, I'd like to add point 2) Lack of PvP updates and Point 3) Bugs and /or performance issues.

The monetization is the main reason why I don't recommend the game to friends. Watching other players completely losing their mind and manners other deactivated "gifting" features shows how easily people can get addicted to microtransactions and I'd never reel my friends into that pool.
The mount tied to necroms zone achievements was a big step into the right direction and I hope they'll continue this.
Perhaps one day we won't be greeted by two crown store showcases in a row upon logging in but an ingame list of patchnotes one day, here's still hoping.

I rarely touch PvP - With a high propability I'd play it more often and more serious if it wouldn't feel so stale. Right now I'm farming Tel'Var in the Imperial City to unlock the new outfit style, but I can already tell you that I won't step another foot into IC nor Cyrodiil once I'm finished. Doing the same stuff there for years is about as fun as repeating the same daily quest for a decade. I really hope the actual PvP-players will stop being silenced on streaming platforms and their lack of content been adressed soon enough.

The amount of bugs reported on PTS that are not being adressed is too bloody high. The amount of faulty content being sold, not once but many times even twice or more often, on the store despite being reported as buggy is too damn high.
With every "free to play"-weekend, our servers are overflown with a new wave of players who are going to run into the same, exact, thousand-times reported and still ignored, bugs as me and many others did years ago.
And now we've even reached the point where in newer cases we're told those are features.

That's an awful state. I'm playing the game but I'm not recommending it to anybody. I'll rather play with people who just like me already spent too much time on it to just make a cut.

rpa · November 2023

Goat MMO simulator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M828g6hwWaE

spartaxoxo · November 2023

Nothing. For me, it's simply the best. There are things I would change, but that's true of every game. No other MMO has captured my attention this long.

Kendaric · November 2023

For me:

> It doesn't feel "Elder Scrolls" enough, due to all of the glowy skins, mounts, polymorphs, etc

> The way classes are done, i.e. the lack of classes that are/feel mundane rather than magical

> Lack of "schools of magic" skill lines for those who want to use magic, instead it's all baked into classes and staves. There are very few few classic spells from the series.

> Severely limited exploration due to some zones being tiny

Edit:

> The lack in weapon skill line variety, e.g. we lack unarmed/martial arts, polearm, single weapon, offensive version of weapon + shield

> Very limited RP options in dialog and virtually no consequences

Nebs · November 2023

I love this game, i wouldnt be on the forums if i didnt, but what keeps menfrom recommending it to friends is the monetization and the performance.

Though, the biggest problem with monetization I have are actually Event Tickets in the crown store and the new bundles with exclusive items that they're now pushing out and not crown store prices or even crown crates. After they started selling tickets in the crown store many events in the game got unmistakably less generous, and since Microsoft bought Zenimax/Bethesda it has only gotten worse. The new bundles that are exclusive to massive crown crate purchases, or most recently the weapon style that comes with an armorer feel grossly monetized that are purposefully design to take advantage of people's fear of missing out and not even necessarily providing a desirable product.

You know how they could sell new Armorers to players that already owned one? By discounting Armorers to the price of a house guest after "unlocking" the feature of an armorer with the higher cost. That, however, wouldn't be in the spirit of moneymoneymoney.

But yeah, other than that, Performance. I hate how the server performance is not at all consistent and servers become undeniably overworked during free play periods, undaunted events, and pvp events. You'd think that being bought by one of the biggest server providers in the world would have improved their servers' available resources but instead it's just meant they now have the mastered skimming the line of Barely Functional.

KlauthWarthog · November 2023

Bugs and performance issues are the big bad for me.
Some of combat "quirks" like weaving and weapon swapping are just a big "meh" for me, nothing I particularly love, nothing I particularly hate... until you look at the game funny, and everything related to combat starts falling apart.

Foxtrot39 · November 2023

There is a lot and little at the same time

-The game physic and graphic are dated, at least character models could use an increase of polygon number to look less blocky and early disguise/armor and graphic lift up : they still look like painted texture on the body rather than armor pieces

-Movement is still feeling very restrictive with no vertical option (not asking to fly but stuff like climbing a small rock rather than running all the way around the hill instead would be nice)

-The environements are too look alike due to the use of nigh identical assets making the geographic features and lightning the real difference between maps

-The lack of incentive to not use wayshrine whenever possible if not mat farming

-The lack of overland difficulty, making everything soloable, take away what MMO usualy push for : random making groups to take on challenges together

-Lack of RP regarding your own race/class and proficiencies, only a handfull of dialogue ever reference you race, class or even lvl in provisionning even if it would be relevent

-PvP is a total mess

-Combat could use some change, aside the whole weaving and ressource based economy its still the most basic combat system you can find within any MMOs form the last 20 years

-Map size and world event, ironicaly for me the best PvE map is actually cyro : its big, filled with hidden quest and events along enemies of notable varying difficulty and the siege mechanics adds quite some flavour

-Even tho we have seal of endeavor and gold for crown exchange, monetization is quite hefty

Zodiarkslayer · November 2023

Most of the above are not wrong. But tgr key points that are holding ESO back are:

Too many changes to the game, in too short a time frame.

PvP isn't a seperate game mode, it is integrated into the main game. That is the main problem.
And it has a high entry barrier. Resulting in too low a population to be fun. Its way below the critical mass now.
And the guys that want to play no matter what, are being fractured and devided further by the different modes Cyro, IC and BGs, plus the sub categorisation in under LvL50, NoProc and "Normal". It is highly questionable that this is a healthy choice for an ever shrinking PvP population.

Lack of character customisation. Every change to an existing character costs crowns. Why not gold? Why?

AVaelham · November 2023

Voted Other for overall plot/story. I'm tired of the 'everything everywhere all at once' approach to the game's timeline. They're moving in the right direction right now with the over-arching story spanning multiple chapters, but the base story is still left unchanged, the Alliance War is in the same spot we left it almost ten years ago. For all its faults, Destiny 2 for example makes me feel I am actually living in that universe, things are in motion.

Elsonso · November 2023

Other.

For starters, the general lack of goats in the game. There are better options for an MMO that has goats.

For entirely justifiable reasons, ESO turned out to be a pretty good, but average, game. Fun, to be sure. I'm still here, so it isn't a bad game. BUT... To be greatest, one has to really nail it at every opportunity. That is what is holding it back.

AzuraFan · November 2023

ESO is the only MMO I play, so I guess it's the best for me. I find the combat (and all associated design, like bosses, skills, etc.) is what makes the game less than great for me.

A very close second is RNG. This game has miserable RNG, and everything (even content, now, with the Endless Archive) seems to revolve around it. I don't expect super-duper RNG, but out of all the hours I've spent in MMOs, this is the worst for that. So I guess that would tie in to rewards. Bump up the RNG odds a little. Just a little. Not sure why they're so miserable here, and it's not to always to push us towards the crown store. Sometimes you can't buy stuff (like leads and rare fish) that you need.

francesinhalover · November 2023

I only play eso so obviously for me it's the best lol

However all those options are hard to chose because all of them are something that i would like to see fixed in the game (outside of pvp. Separate it from pve.)

Overland pve could really use a difficulty filter. Even if it is a mythic that should be easy have. That increase all dmg taken by 90% and reduces all dmg done by 90%. The reward could be 150% permanent xp boost when mythic is used that works with all other xp sources.

Combat for me the problem is the reliance on the same skills over and over, making all classes feel the same. I want new skill lines.
for me psijic was a complete failure. I wouldn't mind if it got reworked.
I don't like undaunted skills, all of them require other player synergy's.
Deadly cloak shouldn't make our character look all white glowy also, i just don't like it.

There's several bugs with several outfits in the game and costumes. that will probably never be fixed.

My biggest issue with the crown store is that some things take sooo long to come back :c
Anequine Oasis Eyes (i really want it. please bring it back T_T) will probably take years to come back.

TaSheen · November 2023

It IS GOAT for me - best MMO and most fun I've had since Skyrim released.

gariondavey · November 2023

ESO was created and marketed as a pvp mmo and then 3-4 years into its existence the amount of time, resources, and effort that went into pvp balancing, content, and population cultivation dropped so markedly your jaw nearly hit the floor.

But I guess to the spreadsheet wizards and corporate overlords, drawing in the seemingly endless masses of casual players with thick pocketbooks yet thin dedication was the better choice than maintaining its seasoned, knowledgeable, and game-devoted veteran population.

Watching and playing eso over the years feels analogous to the fall of a great empire. You know from history that falls like this can be deterred with a few wise decisions, yet sadly there is little indication that this will ever occur.

Tornaad · November 2023

ESO is the Only MMO I have ever seriously played (I played WoW for all of 30 seconds before I got annoyed by its controls and Final Fantasy for about a minute) and it will likely be the only MMO I will ever play.

Bobargus · November 2023

If the game had a difficulty slider, that of Skyrim - from novice to legendary, it would have made the game great for everyone. More difficulty options that are not connected to a player's build, gear, and/or status, the better it would be in my opinion.

This may not be a good example, but think about Ghost Recon Breakpoint. In it, even when players choose to play the game together, the game responds to the players individually instead of as a group (if i remember correctly).

Assuming that i remember GR:B correctly, If this online game can do this, why shouldn't any other online game such as ESO?

To sum up: The only thing that is holding ESO back, in my opinion, is the lack of an in-game difficulty slider.

Let players play however they wish, devs.

Sarannah · November 2023

Two things really:
1: The dps gap. (Shouldn't exist)
2: The way dungeons are broken/abuse of other players. (fake roles/speedrunning/etc)

CrazyKitty · November 2023

I wanted to pick two of your poll options, and one that wasn't an option.

Monetization and lack of PvP support are the two options on your poll I would have selected. And we aren't supposed to talk about the problem that's not in your poll.

Destai · November 2023

Honestly, it is the best MMO for me right now. Maybe in a different time of my life I would say otherwise. Guild Wars may come close, but it’s not on console and not very active.

But, yeah there are some issues with it. For me the most egregious problem is the reward system. There’s simply too much attractive content tied to the store and in limited time deals. There’s simply too much stuff that costs more than the game itself. Most of it should be in the game itself. And I don’t mean through seals; I don’t think that’s a fair system either.

If I look through the achievements, there is very little content as a reward. Most of it are titles, dyed, and the occasional costume or skin. There should be houses as achievement rewards every expansion. There should be apex quality rewards tied to achievements and I shouldn’t have to do trifectas to get it.

Kesstryl · November 2023

I voted other for years of rushed and unpolished trope plots, one dimensional characters with little to no growth over the lifetime of your friendship with them across chapters, absent dialogue choices and RP flavor text, absent acknowledgement of character race and choices (vampire, guilds, werewolf, etc) in dialogue and quest branches, absent side quests with different endings based on choices like base game had.

For an MMO based on one of the best RPG single player game franchise in video game history, ESO needs a lot more in the RP side of G.

Fenris_Arainai · November 2023

I don't know what is a "Goat MMO". But if you mean what would make me like it more, the answer is simple (and not in the options): more story.

Instead, this is the year when story got severely cut (no story in Autumn).

So from my perspective, the game got WORSE this year.

TaSheen · November 2023

Fenris_Arainai wrote: »

I don't know what is a "Goat MMO". But if you mean what would make me like it more, the answer is simple (and not in the options): more story.

Instead, this is the year when story got severely cut (no story in Autumn).

So from my perspective, the game got WORSE this year.

Greatest [Game] Of All Time....

AzuraFan · November 2023

TaSheen wrote: »

Greatest [Game] Of All Time....

Egads, I need to clarify my earlier post then. ESO is the best MMO I'm playing (because it's the only one I'm playing). It's not my GOAT and never will be because of the nature of MMOs. I think it could be improved, though, like all games. And it's fun when they get things right.

Ulo · November 2023

I'd love expansions of content we already have, add more to preexisting skill lines like expanding the max level beyond 50 or adding active abilities to the DB or TG. Maybe make a specialist horse trainer that can increase some of your mounts stats beyond 60 for an extra cost, Rework alot of those older set bonuses that are just outright worse then the newer ones. Alot less likely to happen but I also love to see a new weapon type like spears. Oh, and for the love of god please, please, please rework the bloody Werewolf.

tl,dr improve prexisting content.

Tandor · November 2023

ESO is pretty much the perfect MMORPG for me, which isn't to say that there aren't aspects that I would change including the shift towards things being account-wide and the trading system being locked behind guild membership.

However, so far as the poll options are concerned, I don't see an issue with monetisation given that it relates to cosmetic and convenience items which I mostly don't want and anything I do see as worth having is met by my subscription crowns. I don't PvP, and I don't experience any significant bugs or performance issues. I like the combat, and there is plenty of challenging content for me as a solo/cooperative player including base game dungeons and world bosses etc. Other things like the quality and extent of voiceovers together with the housing and crafting systems complement the rest of the game. While I do play other games to keep things fresh ESO has been my main gaming home since launch and it's likely to see me out.

Ezhh · November 2023

Bugs (especially ones mentioned during PTS) not getting fixed very quickly.

Class and set-imbalances. I know arcanist is the new thing, but does it really have to be overtuned to the point that it's the only parse DD most trial groups will accept? This makes the game more and more monotonous. Did most class sets from EA really need to be completely worthless? Why can't completely un-used sets be given a buff so they might not be terrible?

Monetization. I'd love to do more with housing, but not when new houses cost more than I can buy a new game for.

Wildberryjack · November 2023

I voted other because of FFXIVs job system. You don't need to have a character for every job/class. All you need is ONE character and you can do every job/class on them. I find that a much more convenient system.

TheImperfect · November 2023

It is GOAT already!

The Elder Scrolls Online

What is holding ESO back from being the GOAT MMO for YOU?

What is holding ESO back from being the GOAT MMO for YOU? 331 votes