Are these hints of spell crafting incoming?

SpacemanSpiff1 · January 2024

Drammanoth wrote: »

If this is spellcrafting, I have ONE question:

Who will be responsible for balancing it?

there's a whole spreadsheet.

Wolf_Eye · January 2024

Syldras wrote: »

If I consider what most features of the past years were, it's probably something no one expected and not many people actively wished for. Probably something that was already positively received in another game.

Generally, it's funny how many people see the word "crafting" alone as a hint on spellcrafting. As if you couldn't craft all kinds of things in this game. Maybe the new feature is professions and you'll be able to craft bread as a baker

Elvenheart wrote: »

It could always be the ability to craft companion gear. 😉

They could add that, but it would hardly qualify as one year's special feature.

Especially on the anniversary year. Companion crafting, while I would LOVE that, wouldn't really be what I'd think of when I think of "the special 10th year anniversary feature". Maybe as a side feature coming in Q4.

Elsonso · January 2024

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Wolf_Eye wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

If I consider what most features of the past years were, it's probably something no one expected and not many people actively wished for. Probably something that was already positively received in another game.

Generally, it's funny how many people see the word "crafting" alone as a hint on spellcrafting. As if you couldn't craft all kinds of things in this game. Maybe the new feature is professions and you'll be able to craft bread as a baker

Elvenheart wrote: »

It could always be the ability to craft companion gear. 😉

They could add that, but it would hardly qualify as one year's special feature.

Especially on the anniversary year. Companion crafting, while I would LOVE that, wouldn't really be what I'd think of when I think of "the special 10th year anniversary feature". Maybe as a side feature coming in Q4.

I do think that companion crafting could qualify as the special feature for the year. This is "jewelry crafting" level stuff, and that was a special feature of a chapter a while back.

BXR_Lonestar · January 2024

SilverBride wrote: »

I hope not. I can't think of anything worse.

I'm with you. Spell crafting sounds like fun at first, but I think back on my days playing oblivion and skyrim and I remember all of the ridiculously overpowered spells that you could make, like basically any attack spell + invisibility, which basically means you can play the rest of the game without risk of death/harm in any combat situation. That was fun - in a single player game where you don't have to worry about balance, but in a game like ESO? It'll either destroy game balance or it will be so watered down that it won't, and then people will be disappointed in it in the same way they're disappointed in the class-specific armor sets.

wolfie1.0. · January 2024

Kendaric wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I hope not. I can't think of anything worse.

I honestly can't understand why someone would feel this way.

I honestly can't understand why someone wouldn't. The last thing I want is more micromanaging of my characters.

But you don't have engage with the system at all unless you want to. Like the normal crafting skills, it will be another option for those who want that. It most likely won't have any effect on you if you choose to ignore it.

I wouldn't be so quick to say that you have a choice to not engage in the system. Mostly because we have 0 details on how it would work.

I Mean look at it this way. Tales of tribute and housing are two features that I can avoid in game if I wish right? They are in the game but adjacent to the main features.

However, inorder to be effective in the endgame of either pvp or pve you can't avoid crafting. Whether it's to earn gold to buy gear, craft potions, craft food, or even reconstruct gear. You are going to have to engage in crafting at some point.

While I am sure that someone will say that crafting can be avoided, with pains, another intrusive change was account wide achievements which was non optional and the only way to avoid it was to create a new account and limit yourself to a single character on said account.

So how about we not say that a potential and speculative change is going to be optional before we see exactly how it's going to be implemented.

Granted I am not opposed to new systems. I love many of the ones implemented, but it's not often the what is implemented that's the issue, it's the how.

colossalvoids · January 2024

Elsonso wrote: »

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Wolf_Eye wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

If I consider what most features of the past years were, it's probably something no one expected and not many people actively wished for. Probably something that was already positively received in another game.

Generally, it's funny how many people see the word "crafting" alone as a hint on spellcrafting. As if you couldn't craft all kinds of things in this game. Maybe the new feature is professions and you'll be able to craft bread as a baker

Elvenheart wrote: »

It could always be the ability to craft companion gear. 😉

They could add that, but it would hardly qualify as one year's special feature.

Especially on the anniversary year. Companion crafting, while I would LOVE that, wouldn't really be what I'd think of when I think of "the special 10th year anniversary feature". Maybe as a side feature coming in Q4.

I do think that companion crafting could qualify as the special feature for the year. This is "jewelry crafting" level stuff, and that was a special feature of a chapter a while back.

Not sure it matches closely, everyone uses gear and jewellery but companions are already a feature by itself, so it's kinda useful only for ones engaging in it. Usually we were getting features that are usable in vacuum without interactions with previous features.

SilverBride · January 2024

If this is really some sort of crafting coming I hope it's a furniture crafting station. It's more than a little inconvenient to have to run to 3 different stations just to see all the beds we can make. And I hope they give us subcategories in our crafting menu like there is in the housing editor, rather than all the items of a category in one jumbled mess.

Elsonso · January 2024

colossalvoids wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

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Wolf_Eye wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

If I consider what most features of the past years were, it's probably something no one expected and not many people actively wished for. Probably something that was already positively received in another game.

Generally, it's funny how many people see the word "crafting" alone as a hint on spellcrafting. As if you couldn't craft all kinds of things in this game. Maybe the new feature is professions and you'll be able to craft bread as a baker

Elvenheart wrote: »

It could always be the ability to craft companion gear. 😉

They could add that, but it would hardly qualify as one year's special feature.

Especially on the anniversary year. Companion crafting, while I would LOVE that, wouldn't really be what I'd think of when I think of "the special 10th year anniversary feature". Maybe as a side feature coming in Q4.

I do think that companion crafting could qualify as the special feature for the year. This is "jewelry crafting" level stuff, and that was a special feature of a chapter a while back.

Not sure it matches closely, everyone uses gear and jewellery but companions are already a feature by itself, so it's kinda useful only for ones engaging in it. Usually we were getting features that are usable in vacuum without interactions with previous features.

The scope of companion crafting can be at least as large as the scope of jewelry crafting. It can involve new materials and new stations. If they wanted to, it could start an entirely new segment of the player economy that does not exist today. That is what makes it big enough to be a Chapter level thing.

aspergalas4 · January 2024

Lugaldu wrote: »

aspergalas4 wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

I still don't understand what so many people find so exciting about spellcrafting.

Many of us just want more content and other than new classes we haven't had much in the way of new spells and skills to play with on existing characters that we main or play most. It also opens up a new line of customisation. With fashion being endgame for many the ability to customise the appearance of skills only adds to the depth of that aspect of the game further.

While I completely understand that people wish for something new/ new content (I do too), I share the opinion of @Tandor and others - I am afraid that this kind of customisation will bring even more flashy, glowing, noisy stuff into Tamriel. For my taste there is already now much too much of flashy stuff.

I don't disagree with your assessment at all, and in fact concur that there are an increasing number of flashy and glowy things that are at odds with the established aesthetic in the game. If it is spell customisation/crafting I hope it is done in such a way that doesn't make everyone Arcanists in terms of visuals. It would be great though to customise our spells even just visually to have a more consistent theme for our characters.

MindOfTheSwarm · January 2024

Quethrosar wrote: »

why get excited about something like spell crafting when everyone would still need to use the same version of the spell to be effective ?

Because I could fill out an entire bar with Frost ground DoT’s and proc hundreds of Chills and become a walking blizzard. 🥶

MindOfTheSwarm · January 2024

Also, even if it is not full customization and is more like tweaking to discovered spell scrolls. It would still be cool.

Eg: Ground DoT lasts 16 seconds. But you can switch the damage type according to your wishes.

Trejgon · January 2024

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

I'm with you. Spell crafting sounds like fun at first, but I think back on my days playing oblivion and skyrim

Did you by any chance mean oblivion and morrowind? since skyrim has no spell crafting system (unless you specifically mod it in, tho last time I did pay attention to skyrim's modding scene there was no spellcrafting mod....)

Finedaible · January 2024

Companion gear crafting would be the most disappointing addition, but I could see them doing it simply because nobody requested companions in the first place, and it's relatively risk-free for them to implement. Definitely not something I would buy a chapter for.

Soarora · January 2024

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Kendaric wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I hope not. I can't think of anything worse.

I honestly can't understand why someone would feel this way.

I honestly can't understand why someone wouldn't. The last thing I want is more micromanaging of my characters.

But you don't have engage with the system at all unless you want to. Like the normal crafting skills, it will be another option for those who want that. It most likely won't have any effect on you if you choose to ignore it.

I wouldn't be so quick to say that you have a choice to not engage in the system. Mostly because we have 0 details on how it would work.

I Mean look at it this way. Tales of tribute and housing are two features that I can avoid in game if I wish right? They are in the game but adjacent to the main features.

However, inorder to be effective in the endgame of either pvp or pve you can't avoid crafting. Whether it's to earn gold to buy gear, craft potions, craft food, or even reconstruct gear. You are going to have to engage in crafting at some point.

While I am sure that someone will say that crafting can be avoided, with pains, another intrusive change was account wide achievements which was non optional and the only way to avoid it was to create a new account and limit yourself to a single character on said account.

So how about we not say that a potential and speculative change is going to be optional before we see exactly how it's going to be implemented.

Granted I am not opposed to new systems. I love many of the ones implemented, but it's not often the what is implemented that's the issue, it's the how.

The worst it could be is like the arcanist class or antiquities, assuming that we're talking about the Chapter feature and not the free Q4 one. It sure helps to have an arcanist and an array of antiquities, but not technically required.

BXR_Lonestar · January 2024

Trejgon wrote: »

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

I'm with you. Spell crafting sounds like fun at first, but I think back on my days playing oblivion and skyrim

Did you by any chance mean oblivion and morrowind? since skyrim has no spell crafting system (unless you specifically mod it in, tho last time I did pay attention to skyrim's modding scene there was no spellcrafting mod....)

Yes, sorry.

In my experience, spell crafting in the single player games was so broken and OP that it was basically gamebreaking. Nothing was a legitimate threat anymore. That's fun in a single-player game, but in a multiplayer game environment, this could really be problematic. That is, if spellcrafting is similar to how it worked in the single player games.

WrathOfInnos · January 2024

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Trejgon wrote: »

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

I'm with you. Spell crafting sounds like fun at first, but I think back on my days playing oblivion and skyrim

Did you by any chance mean oblivion and morrowind? since skyrim has no spell crafting system (unless you specifically mod it in, tho last time I did pay attention to skyrim's modding scene there was no spellcrafting mod....)

Yes, sorry.

In my experience, spell crafting in the single player games was so broken and OP that it was basically gamebreaking. Nothing was a legitimate threat anymore. That's fun in a single-player game, but in a multiplayer game environment, this could really be problematic. That is, if spellcrafting is similar to how it worked in the single player games.

It would not be able to give that level of freedom. I imagine ESO spellcrafting would simply remove the magnitude slider. The damage, and in some cases duration, would be automatically set in a way to maintain game balance, which would not be difficult now that all skills follow the same coefficients from a spreadsheet. The player still gets to select spell type and effects.

Gray_howling_parrot · January 2024

SilverBride wrote: »

If this is really some sort of crafting coming I hope it's a furniture crafting station. It's more than a little inconvenient to have to run to 3 different stations just to see all the beds we can make. And I hope they give us subcategories in our crafting menu like there is in the housing editor, rather than all the items of a category in one jumbled mess.

I couldn’t think of anything worse 😉

But for real, yes this would be cool. Spellcrafting would also be incredible.

Gray_howling_parrot · January 2024

Finedaible wrote: »

Companion gear crafting would be the most disappointing addition, but I could see them doing it simply because nobody requested companions in the first place, and it's relatively risk-free for them to implement. Definitely not something I would buy a chapter for.

I want companions (personally) to be able to use player sets personally. Idc about the 2-4 piece bonuses, but the 5 piece bonuses would be dope. Obviously only ones that make sense.

I’d also love to be able to utilize up to 3 companions in a dungeon setting and have smarter AI! CC, AOE taunt for the tanks, higher dps (up to 25k) etc

prof-dracko · January 2024

I hope not, simply because no matter how they implement it, people are going to be upset. It'll either not be how some thought it would, be horribly unbalanced in a way that'll upset the PvP-ers, or be stupidly grindy. Or all three. There is no way to do it at this point, after people have asked for so long, that won't crash and burn in some way. Also known as the 'Duke Nukem" effect.

WrathOfInnos · January 2024

prof-dracko wrote: »

I hope not, simply because no matter how they implement it, people are going to be upset. It'll either not be how some thought it would, be horribly unbalanced in a way that'll upset the PvP-ers, or be stupidly grindy. Or all three. There is no way to do it at this point, after people have asked for so long, that won't crash and burn in some way. Also known as the 'Duke Nukem" effect.

It’s true that there will always be some people disappointed, but this is true for every new feature. I was disappointed by companions and Tales of Tribute, and while I like mythic items I did not like the introduction of “grindy mobile games” like Scrying and Excavation. That is no reason to stop adding new features, as the game needs new things to stay fun over the years. I’m optimistic about Spellcrafting.

Finedaible · January 2024

prof-dracko wrote: »

I hope not, simply because no matter how they implement it, people are going to be upset. It'll either not be how some thought it would, be horribly unbalanced in a way that'll upset the PvP-ers, or be stupidly grindy. Or all three. There is no way to do it at this point, after people have asked for so long, that won't crash and burn in some way. Also known as the 'Duke Nukem" effect.

The way I see it, if ZoS never takes chances or risks they will never arise above average. Looking back on past decisions for the game's direction, I would say they have been playing it too safe. Sure, game balance is important in a competitive game environment with PvP and leaderboards but they haven't exactly been expanding on those competitive aspects of ESO over the years. Many players don't care about leaderboards because it doesn't mean anything, you don't get anything special aside from titles and maybe a mount that gets overshadowed by everything in the gamble crates and cash shop. So what if they accidentally break balance for a little bit? That's what adjustment patches are for.

I'm not saying they should release a broken version of spellcrafting, but I am at least confident ZoS is smart enough to make a system that isn't totally broken and could be adjusted over time if needed. It's better than sticking with the same stagnant combat skills we've had since launch.

OtarTheMad · January 2024

Finedaible wrote: »

prof-dracko wrote: »

I hope not, simply because no matter how they implement it, people are going to be upset. It'll either not be how some thought it would, be horribly unbalanced in a way that'll upset the PvP-ers, or be stupidly grindy. Or all three. There is no way to do it at this point, after people have asked for so long, that won't crash and burn in some way. Also known as the 'Duke Nukem" effect.

The way I see it, if ZoS never takes chances or risks they will never arise above average. Looking back on past decisions for the game's direction, I would say they have been playing it too safe. Sure, game balance is important in a competitive game environment with PvP and leaderboards but they haven't exactly been expanding on those competitive aspects of ESO over the years. Many players don't care about leaderboards because it doesn't mean anything, you don't get anything special aside from titles and maybe a mount that gets overshadowed by everything in the gamble crates and cash shop. So what if they accidentally break balance for a little bit? That's what adjustment patches are for.

I'm not saying they should release a broken version of spellcrafting, but I am at least confident ZoS is smart enough to make a system that isn't totally broken and could be adjusted over time if needed. It's better than sticking with the same stagnant combat skills we've had since launch.

Agreed. I am one of those players who just does not pay attention to the leaderboards. Whether that’s PvP or PvE, I don’t check them. I just jump in PvP, sometimes having fun with friends and sometimes solo and same goes for PvE.

I think you got to try.

Sakiri · January 2024

I don't want it because I'm not interested.

Everyone will be using the same spells in their gameplay niche anyway(pvp, trials, dungeons, etc) because they're mathematically the best anyway and if you can't get that effect somehow, you'll be behind.

I mean look at trial raiders now. They mostly use the same builds within their subspec. Very rarely do you get someone using a sub par build(like myself, and that's only because I run a heavy attack oakensorc build), and they're all built the same way.

colossalvoids · January 2024

I see mostly positives in that, some classes would be able to work around their lack of tools or build around preferred elements (which are supported by their specific class passives) whilst still obeying to the same spreadsheet as before, as surely it won't be spellcrafting from previous tes games with it's modifiers. It will still be worse than class skill counterparts but with a twist of choosing right ability types for the build you're going for instead of taking just what you have plus a couple of guild skills (if any).

Personally more options the better, miss tweaking with something new in ESO as most features aren't having any depth to them.

maboleth · January 2024

Sakiri wrote: »

I don't want it because I'm not interested.

Everyone will be using the same spells in their gameplay niche anyway(pvp, trials, dungeons, etc) because they're mathematically the best anyway and if you can't get that effect somehow, you'll be behind.

I mean look at trial raiders now. They mostly use the same builds within their subspec. Very rarely do you get someone using a sub par build(like myself, and that's only because I run a heavy attack oakensorc build), and they're all built the same way.

100% agree.
That's what you get on multiplayer games like this one. Collective minds working together, usually at their own benefits, finding exploits and shortcuts. Then mostly meta setups are used.

That's why you cannot get anything exciting out of MMOs in that adventurous regard. Only if you opt to play alone and with your companions.

Lugaldu · January 2024

Seraphayel wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

I'll just leave it here since many people in this thread seems to have some wierd ideas of what spellcrafting would look like. This is how ZoS planned it to look like

Start watching at 53:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkeMacg-b0&t=3190s

Ten years ago. This has been buried forever since. The video gets linked each year before a Chapter is announced, people discuss it each year before a Chapter is announced, this is basically the same procedure each and every year with the exact same result: Spellcrafting is not and will never be a real thing coming to the game, at least not in the designated design shown in the video.

Oh yes, same procedere as every year...

Muizer · January 2024

Could it be just spell casting though. As in with your hands as per the stand-alone TES games? I mean after all they are crafting it for us. Emote could also point in that direction.

Melivar · January 2024

[snip]

Why would we need an emote to be pretend spell crafting if there is going to be an actual action to be done with real spell crafting.

So instead, we'll let them pretend to spell craft so they will stop asking.

[edited for minor bashing]

Pixiepumpkin · January 2024

Melivar wrote: »

[snip]

Why would we need an emote to be pretend spell crafting if there is going to be an actual action to be done with real spell crafting.

So instead, we'll let them pretend to spell craft so they will stop asking.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ayFZvxbxWMQ&pp=ygUOUG9zc2liZSBwb3NzdW0%3D

[edited to remove quote]

Fata1moose · January 2024

I think I’d rather just have school of magic skill lines like the destruction, alteration, illusion, etc. Would be more straightforward and easier to balance.

Then give us new weapons in spears, crossbows and 1H+magic the latter would pair well with the skill lines. Could make some diverse builds.