Newbie filter of ESO is too much "disgusting joke". No thanks.

AvalonRanger · January 15

Newbie filter of ESO is too much "disgusting joke". No thanks.

FG1 skipping level design, Book mech of Scrivener's hall .. Bad Twin boys of MoL... Everywhere.
Sometimes, I feel bit malicious joke against ESO Newbie filter. Please stop those bad joke seriously.

Since group finder tool was released, I've been studying 12men Trial though,
the newbie filter is more malicious and terrible than 4 men dungeon. It's so much painful, no fun at all.
Just only for stressful gear farming burden.
(Newer Trial like Sanity's Edge and BreadSail Reef are better game design, but still not good enough.)

Basically, computer game is real time action contents. It's not popcorn movie. There's no time to read
game rule document though the combat. Thus everything happen within milliseconds, so developer
must tell proper game situation to the player "instantly".

However...

ZOS can't do it. Both UI design and game flow planning of ESO are really vague and sometimes nonsense.
And It's confirmed solidly. Not less people are complaining against this. I don't think that totally new player
can get accustom to those newbie filter immediately.

Then, here is my real question. "Does public test server really work for improving ESO game design?"

"I don't think so."
I used to be a beta test player in 2014. And I was pure ESO newbie in those days. But now I'm not totally
newbie. Maybe my feeling is very different from pure beginner players. If ZOS doesn't hire pure beginner
player for new ESO contents testing phase, then testing result going wrong.

Game developer keep watching same game build over and over, then their sense will become very different
from pure newbie players. That's simply not good.

I hope that ZOS do "true newbie player test" before releasing new DLC contents.

Billium813 · January 15

AvalonRanger wrote: »

Then, here is my real question. "Does public test server really work for improving ESO game design?"

The point of the PTS is not to improve game design... it's to answer two questions:

"Do these changes work on your computer?" and "Are there any legitimate game breaks with these changes?"

The ZOS devs are not interested in opinions or discussions on the game outside of the changes they are making. They want to make their changes and just want us to make sure they work; there is no discussion. Everything else goes in the trash.

LunaFlora · January 15

what's a newbie filter?

TaSheen · January 15

LunaFlora wrote: »

what's a newbie filter?

Good question. I'm tending toward the belief that OP has a beef with overland difficulty.

Trejgon · January 15

LunaFlora wrote: »

what's a newbie filter?

The only thing I can think of is attempt at more polite phrasing of the phrase "noob filter" which refers to mechanics or classes, that are unforgiving to unskilled players. One example of such use I experienced was "noob filter profession/class" as a descriptor of a class that was designed in a way, that you needed to master that class to get even minimal viable end-game performance.

freespirit · January 15

I think the op is using the group finder to learn Trials.....

That is always going to be rough!

He made another thread about the Twins mechanics in NORMAL MoL, tbh that fight with what might be a pug group with limited experience is probably one of the worst to learn.

I have done that many times with my guilds and an extremely patient leader, it can easily go wrong!

valenwood_vegan · January 15

I'm confused, but as best as I can understand it... trials are hard when running them for the first time? That's intended... probably want to get into a dedicated trial guild if trying to learn them, and not attempt to do so through PuG's. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding.

Ph1p · January 15

I think OP is criticizing the lack of in-game explanation for certain mechanics, like players bombing each other on the MoL twins. Sometimes, NPCs give hints, like Divayth Fyr in HoF or Olorime in Cloudrest, but often you have to find out the solution through trial and error (or read a guide). At the same time, OP is learning new trials with PUGs and without voice chat, which definitely hinders the learning experience.

Personally, I don't mind having to learn and find out how mechanics work in-game. I actually enjoy going into new DLC dungeons completely blind and give veteran or even HM difficulty a try, just for the fun of it... But I would only do this with a pre-made group that can discuss mechanics via voice chat.

Danikat · January 15

LunaFlora wrote: »

what's a newbie filter?

I was going to ask the same thing.

My first interpretation was that they've encountered some players using one or more of the options in the new Group Finder to exclude newer players so they have more of a chance of getting people who know how to do things like skip parts of dungeons and maybe calling it a newbie filter. But it doesn't sound like it.

I think I understand the last part of the post though:

AvalonRanger wrote: »

Then, here is my real question. "Does public test server really work for improving ESO game design?"

"I don't think so."
I used to be a beta test player in 2014. And I was pure ESO newbie in those days. But now I'm not totally
newbie. Maybe my feeling is very different from pure beginner players. If ZOS doesn't hire pure beginner
player for new ESO contents testing phase, then testing result going wrong.

Game developer keep watching same game build over and over, then their sense will become very different
from pure newbie players. That's simply not good.

I hope that ZOS do "true newbie player test" before releasing new DLC contents.

I think the OP is trying to ask if ZOS ensure new players test DLC on the PTS before it's released.

In which case the answer is no, but that doesn't mean they don't ever do this type of testing.

The PTS is an entirely self-selecting group, it's available to anyone with a PC ESO account but ZOS don't require or encourage (or discourage) specific type of players from using it, it's entirely up to each individual to decide if they want to use it and what they want to do while they're on there.

But ZOS have mentioned doing other play tests in addition to the PTS (and seperate from QA, which is a different process focused entirely on finding bugs) and it's likely some of those do include having people who are new to ESO or have never played it before try things out. (I've heard it called 'Tissue Testing' because the testers start entirely fresh but after one use you have to replace them, like tissues.)

However I think it's unlikely they have brand new players attempting DLC Trials because that's not something that's intended for new players. Trials is ESO's name for raids, they're supposed to be one of the hardest areas of the game and something that will take experienced groups a few attempts to complete.

Wing · January 15

i think i see what your getting at.

*mechanics or encounters trivialized by skips / knowledge that new players would have no idea about and ESO does nothing / anything to explain. the "Tom Bombadil" effect.

*this has gotten worse over time, with more and more dungeons / trials / content having one off or twice off obscure mechanics or gameplay interactions that exist nowhere else and serve only to provide a form of difficulty / novelty for vet players. while also completely alienating, confusing, and turning off new players.

the destiny 2 raid effect.

this is kind of because the base ESO combat loop is not really defined or fun. and so vets need "things" to do during combat because combat itself is boring.
it was designed around action combat, that ability for PC's and NPC's to move during combat and ability use. but was changed to play like a traditional parse MMO with everyone and bosses just standing around.
and with level scaling nothing is ever so easy you feel like a god, or so hard you feel like you need to go level.

its all incredibly decent, very meh, fantastically good enough. all the time, forever, no progression.

does anyone else think its silly that FF14 has more interactive combat encounters, dungeons, and raids that often have more going on and yet ESO has the more dynamic combat system as far as agency and mobility?

people still complain about ESO combat to this day, its still changed and reinvented to this day.
hard to design content around a core game loop so not fun that they just make card games instead.

KiltMaster · January 15

You ain't gonna be perfect at everything on your first go. If that were the case, many of us would've been done playing years ago. Sometimes the fun is learning how things work and using your brain.

Tan9oSuccka · January 15

Is it just me, or is the original post composed a bit odd? Almost like Google translator meets some type of AI writer?

“And it’s confirmed solidly”. 😊

DragonRacer · January 15

Tan9oSuccka wrote: »

Is it just me, or is the original post composed a bit odd? Almost like Google translator meets some type of AI writer?

“And it’s confirmed solidly”. 😊

English perhaps is not OP's first language. I try to keep that possibility in mind if a post reads oddly.

ZOS_Icy · January 15

Greetings,

This thread has been moved to the Public Test Server section, as it is better suited there.

Thank you for your understanding.