Time Expired - So when will ESO be production release ready?

ballistic · May 2014

Our free game time is over... and while I'm not saying goodbye... I cannot resubscribe until things are fixed and while I know there are quite a few players who have boosted ahead because of ZOS's incompetence on server-side security in relation to vulnerabilities and exploits.

My experience consisted of helping ZOS police bots that should never have been able to get away with what they did, explaining to ZOS how to prevent this happening and how to stop speedhacking, bumping into numerous bugs, finding quests where NPCs would not spawn where people were waiting for days to finish those quests, playing as a class with bugged passives, etc. and enjoying the client's ability to leave my character trapped in scenery whenever there were lag issues due to how things loaded up.

@ZOS_MattFiror ... You failed to prioritize the server-side vulnerabilities, it means there are plenty of players now with an unfair advantage and your team seems woefully incapable of dealing with the problem that this lack of foresight has caused. It's 2014 man, not 2005. For your engine/core to be as exploitable as it has clearly been is ridiculous and has devalued the game for me considerably. As a fan of the Elder Scrolls series, it's a big disappointment.

If you ever get ESO's technical problems sorted and if you are ever able to thoroughly purge any unfair advantage players gained from cheating and gold buying... then let me know, but until then... I'll hold back from re-subscribing as I feel ESO has been wrecked and am concerned that essential server-side checks are still likely missing.

Really do hope you get these issues fixed and will be happy to resubscribe once they are.

class101 · May 2014

Re-subscribe please and support them, without our money they can't work

South_of_Heaven · May 2014

Well I am saying goodbye, more or less. And besides the bugs, exploits, multi-box bots etc, the game design is what ultimately couldn't keep me playing.

GossiTheDog · May 2014

Goodbye threads are being closed. But hopefully the game gets to a working state (around about December for the console release) and people return. My guild is almost empty now.

ballistic · May 2014

I'm not saying goodbye... I'm saying I'll hang around and wait to resubscribe - if the server-side engine was solid right now, I'd resubscribe and be playing again already... I'm just asking when it's likely to be that these issue will be sorted out.

Sidney · May 2014

Your horse is going to starve. ;/

Kyle_Roberts · May 2014

If only I could bottle all these tears...

Utildai · May 2014

Welcome to an MMO... Obviously, this is your first one....

ballistic · May 2014

@Utildai - I helped several WoWEmu servers manage strategies against cheats and am familiar with multiple cores, etc. I've also been a GM serving several thousand players at any given time and have played about 6-7 MMORPGs (and a larger number of MMOs in general)

I spelled out to ZOS how to prevent exploits and witnessed them fail to do anything for weeks, appalled to see them fail to implement the things I would have had in place from the date of launch.

Portraying me as new to MMO's might make you feel superior... but it does little to detract from the validity of the points I've raised.

Leeta · May 2014

class101 wrote: »

Re-subscribe please and support them, without our money they can't work

I want to subscribe but cant since there are some peroblems on their end with peoples subs going through...so they gonna lose A LOT of money as it is now anyway lol

OP is doing the right thing and waiting it out for awhile now, this game and its support is a mess atm

Tarokor · May 2014

Ahh but for them to fix it they have to admit there is a problem and actually give us a straight answer that doesnt end with "will be coming soon" or "your patience is appreciated."

Zenimax have NO FRIGGIN IDEA what customer service is and will not give you a straight answer, like the OP i am gone, if i had gotten one legitimate response from all the times i had try to contact zenimax via forums/help/callback system/facebook hell calling the damn call centre without being hung up on i would be staying caus it would show they are learning/listening at least

But i havent gotten a response other than automated emails.I dont pay money for a game to do someone else's job. To be blunt, what we are paying for is a game that should still be in open beta.

Pretty soon only the fanboi's who think bots/spammers/game breaking bugs/exploits/broken quests/phasing issues/grouping problems etc is working as intended will be left

Caus sure as i can be, zenimax have shown by there responses that they dont want to learn.One final note to prove this point. Who the hell launches an entire new content pack to the PTS and before any testing is done announces it will go live in 10 days.

Zenimax have learned nothing and as a result those of us that as ES fans had been looking forward to this MMO for years are now will be leaving in droves.

themfdrez · May 2014

I unsubbed a few days ago, feel ripped off to have paid $80 on such an unpolished product. Trying to enjoy my last few days doing dungeons, took my group 25 minutes of relogging, reforming group to be able to see eachother in game.

Fairydragon3 · May 2014

Kyle_Roberts wrote: »

If only I could bottle all these tears...

Dont shrink me Gypsy

GossiTheDog · May 2014

themfdrez wrote: »

I unsubbed a few days ago, feel ripped off to have paid $80 on such an unpolished product. Trying to enjoy my last few days doing dungeons, took my group 25 minutes of relogging, reforming group to be able to see eachother in game.

For info, if you can't see each other in dungeon you have to teleport to each other one by one. This puts you all in the same phase. Of course, it's also an unacceptable and undocumented design feature which I think will cost Zenimax customers.

South_of_Heaven · May 2014

class101 wrote: »

Re-subscribe please and support them, without our money they can't work

Sorry we are not running a charity here.

Hearts · May 2014

themfdrez wrote: »

I unsubbed a few days ago, feel ripped off to have paid $80 on such an unpolished product. Trying to enjoy my last few days doing dungeons, took my group 25 minutes of relogging, reforming group to be able to see eachother in game.

Im VR10 and im farming Wayrest and i never had this problem.. I had this during the beta but not now, and i dont know anyone who has had this problem either.. You sure youre not phased or somethign?

GossiTheDog · May 2014

Hearts wrote: »

themfdrez wrote: »

I unsubbed a few days ago, feel ripped off to have paid $80 on such an unpolished product. Trying to enjoy my last few days doing dungeons, took my group 25 minutes of relogging, reforming group to be able to see eachother in game.

Im VR10 and im farming Wayrest and i never had this problem.. I had this during the beta but not now, and i dont know anyone who has had this problem either.. You sure youre not phased or somethign?

It's phasing, I had it earlier. If everybody wayshrines to a dungeon they get different phases. You have to teleport to each other. This isn't documented in game anywhere.

raglau · May 2014

class101 wrote: »

Re-subscribe please and support them, without our money they can't work

LOL. ZOS cashflow is really not our problem as customers.

They have dropped the ball in terms of customer service and are now paying the price. My guild is decimated now the free month is up, and two of the trading guilds I am in are now too low to have a store any longer.

I hate to say it, but this game looks to be a Titanic. I imagine they'll cancel the console release because it seems unlikely the name will recover from such a weak launch.

I resubbed for an experimental month but I feel like a masochist.

The fact ZOS are releasing more content this week without fixing what they already have first, is a disaster waiting to happen. They already cannot effectively service customers with issues, imagine how bad it'll be when firefighting a new set of bugs introduced in 1.1. The only possible silver lining is there will be so few subscribers by the time 1.1 comes out that people may actually stand a chance of getting a response!

Great game, appalling management and support from ZOS. Utterly clueless.

Cerveny · May 2014

I am in five different trading guilds. All of those guilds had anywhere from 15 -30 pages on their guild store full of stuffs. I was searching through it yesterday and each guild now only has 1 to 2 pages. I am not sure if people are just not selling on the guild store, items are moving faster or people didn't re-sub.

Well it won't stop me from playing. Yes I hate the bugs, bots, customer service. Including the fact that my vault was wiped including the cash in my vault and my vault upgrades were reset during that vault reset bug. Customer service said that they did not have any proof of it so I wasn't going to get reimbursed. Even with all of that it is just too early not to re-sub and give it a fighting chance.

I mean its ESO, I have been waiting for this for what seems like forever. Plus it is a new MMO, this kind of stuff just happens and to be honest it should be expected to some degree! Either way, hope those that do quit come back in the future, till then, happy hunting in whatever fantasy world you are moving on to!

GossiTheDog · May 2014

@squicker I hate to say it, but I think you're right. The actual game is great, I feel, just customer service is absolutely not the AAA service Matt thinks it is, and the game is too buggy and shipped too early.

I think it's very telling the console release was pushed for 6 months (especially considering the Xbox One is DirectX 11 Windows 8 kernel and games are exe files!). The problems with the game must have been known before shipping as there had been 0 console footage shown, so I fear the PC audience is basically paying to beta test for console launch. The problem is that risks creating very bad word of mouth for console release. Every single comment I read on main stream websites and social media about this game is now negative. It's a real shame.

raglau · May 2014

Cerveny wrote: »

Plus it is a new MMO, this kind of stuff just happens and to be honest it should be expected to some degree!

Whilst launch issues should be expected to some degree, the deafening silence from ZOS and the total disarray they are exhibiting in getting the exploits under control should not be expected. One would imagine they had a strategy for dealing with these matters, but it's very clear they do not.

That's what's making people leave, ZOS clearly are not a safe bet because they are not thinking strategically, and therefore the game will have very little chance of surviving for any reasonable time. So people will not wish to invest time in their chars. It's a company thing, not a software release thing.

A big disappointment, ZOS should be ashamed of their failure to support one of the most lucrative brands out there. Christ, ESO was a license to print money, all ZOS needed to do was appear to have a single clue as to what they were doing.

Chanz · May 2014

Cerveny wrote: »

I mean its ESO, I have been waiting for this for what seems like forever. Plus it is a new MMO, this kind of stuff just happens and to be honest it should be expected to some degree!

Please... just please stop with the "new MMO, this stuff is expected to happen". Some of the stuff was expected to happen in the BETA and fixed afterwards, but not in ESO. Some of their (Zeni) design choices were doomed since their introduction.
Countless things are wrong with the game and yet they want to add more content, while not even addressing some of the problems. Was it even expected for players to be double or triple charged for their subscription? Customer service is one of the worst i have ever seen in all the years i played MMORPG's.

Personally, i think only a new fresh launch will save the game. Something FFXIV had with the "A Realm Reborn". But i don't think we will see this, because unlike Western companies, Japanese ones value their business, customers and feel morale obligations to both if something is wrong. Western gaming companies nowadays just care about how much $ they are going to get for unfinished products... and ESO is yet one more unfinished product and that's a damn fact no matter how much fanboys disagree with it.

raglau · May 2014

GossiTheDog wrote: »

Every single comment I read on main stream websites and social media about this game is now negative. It's a real shame.

Yes, it's very sad. Such a great opportunity for the brand and for us Elder Scrolls fans. A wasted opportunity that will not arise again.

I guess the rushed release of 1.1 is to try and entice a few people to continue subbing for another month, in the hope they can remediate and keep them on the hook after that.

But I cannot imagine the PC release has a chance of breaking even, so I find it very unlikely executive management will approve more funding going towards a console release when the name is just so much mud.

Reignskream · May 2014

Chanz wrote: »

Cerveny wrote: »

I mean its ESO, I have been waiting for this for what seems like forever. Plus it is a new MMO, this kind of stuff just happens and to be honest it should be expected to some degree!

Please... just please stop with the "new MMO, this stuff is expected to happen". Some of the stuff was expected to happen in the BETA and fixed afterwards, but not in ESO. Countless things are wrong with the game and yet they want to add more content, while not even addressing some of the problems. Was it even expected for players to be double or triple charged for their subscription? Customer service is one of the worst i have ever seen in all the years i played MMORPG's.

Personally, i think only a new fresh launch will save the game. Something FFXIV had with the "A Realm Reborn". But i don't think we will see this, because unlike Western companies, Japanese ones value their business, customers and feel morale obligations to both if something is wrong. Western gaming companies nowadays just care about how much $ they are going to get for unfinished products... and ESO is yet one more unfinished product and that's a damn fact no matter how much fanboys disagree with it.

But this is a new MMO. Not even a month and a half old.

raglau · May 2014

Reignskream wrote: »

But this is a new MMO. Not even a month and a half old.

Exactly, and look at just how much damage has been done to this brand in the mere 6 weeks ZOS have been at the reigns.

It's not the bugs, it's the (lack of) support and management. They charge people £69 for a game and a £9 a month sub, they need to be absolutely at the top of their game, not straggling along playing catch up and having farmers run rings around them.

Reignskream · May 2014

squicker wrote: »

Reignskream wrote: »

But this is a new MMO. Not even a month and a half old.

Exactly, and look at just how much damage has been done to this brand in the mere 6 weeks ZOS have been at the reigns.

It's not the bugs, it's the (lack of) support and management. They charge people £69 for a game and a £9 a month sub, they need to be absolutely at the top of their game, not straggling along playing catch up and having farmers run rings around them.

New company, new problems, new bugs, old bugs, repeatable bugs. It's going to be a trial and error type event for the next 6 months. Sucks that some have it worse than others, but I remember stuff happening like this in other releases of MMOs.

Daethz · May 2014

Bots have barely bothered me.
What bothers me is combat delay.

Udaku · May 2014

class101 wrote: »

Re-subscribe please and support them, without our money they can't work

I never read more bs in one post. Go in kindergarten and pee in the flower pot.

raglau · May 2014

Well, no company should be playing trial and error on customer time and money. When a company charges a sub it's a statement that, "we are so confident in our ability to manage this product that you are willingly going to pay us to do it".

It's not a case of, "please bung us a tenner a month while we play trial and error for 6 months."

I am afraid that's not how the customer supplier relationship works.

If they were still at trial and error stage they should not have released it, because it's simply not tenable to charge people for experimentation. Customers will do what they are doing, and take their money elsewhere.

Reignskream wrote: »

New company, new problems, new bugs, old bugs, repeatable bugs. It's going to be a trial and error for the next 6 months.

RedTalon · May 2014

Bots will always be issues to a degree, that won't change.

The speedhacks and other bot programs will become less and less over time but there is no 100 percent fix.

raglau · May 2014

RedTalon wrote: »

Bots will always be issues to a degree, that won't change.

The speedhacks and other bot programs will become less and less over time but there is no 100 percent fix.

Agreed. Ironically however, ZOS scatterbrained attempts to fix this have actually penalised the players more than the bots themselves were doing. It's this sort of thing that shows their lack of experience in the market, and it is that which is driving people away. No one likes to hand their money to amateurs.

I resubbed for another experimental month but I sat their thinking, "on principle alone I don't think I should be giving these people any more money".