ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

Welcome to everyone in the Elder Scrolls Online community! As the year is drawing to a close, I’m going to take some time to walk you through my thoughts on 2024 – and look ahead to 2025 and how ESO will be evolving to meet the changing needs of the community. 

...

I feel like most of these changes, as with most changes made in recent years have been more geared toward meeting the changing needs of ZOS, not the player base. As a PvP main, I feel like this has been the trend since pre 2020 and this sounds like a roadmap for more of the same.

I very much hope to be wrong on this point. But it's not as if we don't have years of data to form our expectations going forward either.

Finally! I, and many others too, have been saying this for years: seperate PvP and PvE!

Start with the Abilities.
Proceed with the sets.
Create a seperate login on a dedicated server.

This is the way!

React wrote: »

Are these "pvp specific" skills going to be animation changes only? Are there plans to change the functionality of cross healing/shielding?

The comments regarding PvP gave me horrible flashbacks to those many months of painful experiments we endured a few years back with the only end result being a couple rounds of lowering the population cap.

JustLovely wrote: »

React wrote: »

Are these "pvp specific" skills going to be animation changes only? Are there plans to change the functionality of cross healing/shielding?

The comments regarding PvP gave me horrible flashbacks to those many months of painful experiments we endured a few years back with the only end result being a couple rounds of lowering the population cap.

I took part in those "experiments" and while most of them were horrible, one was really good. In one of those "experiments" they removed cross-healing & I think also heal stacking or something like that. The result was pretty much no ball groups were playing and also, surprise, surprise with ball groups gone - lag was gone. Game worked. It was more or less 2014 PvP Experience. Huge army vs army fights. No lag and no cheese... But oddly, despite player feedback, ZOS ignored this...

DeathStalker wrote: »

So what I read is,
1. no more big content releases.
2. bigger focus on pvp.
3. make things harder.

If that is the goal, do not be surprised when the population of this game decreases even more. This game's content should be made easier, not harder. PVP should not be a primary focus ever. All I read from this is a disaster in the making. Please stop listening to the vocal minority or you will lose a lot more people.

When I think of the "vocal minority" I think of people who try to make the case that PvP should not be a primary focus for the end game player community.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Why is PC's UI fixing being prioritized over console? Console does not benefit from add-ons. There are a large amount of fixes that people enjoy that massively improves the game that console never gets to benefit from. In addition, there are things that are improvements to the user experience that only pc gets for no discernible reason.

Addons aside, the PC UI is vastly inferior to the console UI. I see them both. I get the PC UI when I hit a key on the keyboard, even though I use a controller (which means I see the console UI most of the time). The PC UI looks like a game out of the 90s. Tiny font. Cramped interfaces. Just horrible. It needs an overhaul badly.

As for the rest of the letter, the seasonal content sounds promising. As someone who predominantly likes to quest, I like the fact that I'll get new content more regularly, rather than only once a year. I've been saying that I'd consider quests in existing zones new content, and I meant it. That includes the guilds too. I'm excited to see how this actually rolls out and how much we get each season. Hopefully it won't be overpriced.

Harder overland - I feel that more difficult overland is one of those "be careful what you wish for" things. It could really backfire in terms of the population. I'll wait and see how this is actually implemented. If overland turns into a slog, it'll be bye-bye ESO. I'm not interested in having to slog through mobs that take longer to kill just to get from A to B, or mobs that have annoying mechanics when all I want to do is get to the woodworking survey spot. But if it's just a slight uptick, or it's limited to wandering bosses that don't engage you unless you engage them (like the guys in Telvanni Peninsula), or if it's optional, then okay. So this is a wait and see how they do it item, but a very important item for me because I spend so much time in overland. If they get it right, great. If not, I'll exit the game.

Of course, the letter describes what ZOS intends to do in the best possible terms. I'll wait and see how it actually plays out.

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

I look back on 2024’s content and updates, and am very satisfied with our story, content, and systems updates.

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

We have been able to keep up with the times, make hard decisions and big changes when it was time to make them. Looking back on all the changes that have gotten us here, it is pretty clear that we have generally made the right decisions at the right times for our game.

Its always funny how every year these letters manage to act like ZOS has been doing a great job the whole time.
It would be much more believable if you would actually admit to all of the mistakes you still make all the time instead of acting like everything is perfect.

DeathStalker wrote: »

So what I read is,
1. no more big content releases.
2. bigger focus on pvp.
3. make things harder.

If that is the goal, do not be surprised when the population of this game decreases even more. This game's content should be made easier, not harder. PVP should not be a primary focus ever. All I read from this is a disaster in the making. Please stop listening to the vocal minority or you will lose a lot more people.

If by "make things harder" you mean, "require more than light attacking and sneezing on a major story boss to defeat it", then yes; I don't consider myself particularly sweaty, but after re-playing the base game on EU with no CP or sets... the boost to difficulty is much-needed. They don't have to make overland content nightmarish, and and the difficulty should be able to be toggled off, but having to use more than five attacks to defeat Mannimarco, or Molag Bal, or even the Dark Mane, makes for a more rewarding gameplay experience.

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

JustLovely wrote: »

React wrote: »

Are these "pvp specific" skills going to be animation changes only? Are there plans to change the functionality of cross healing/shielding?

The comments regarding PvP gave me horrible flashbacks to those many months of painful experiments we endured a few years back with the only end result being a couple rounds of lowering the population cap.

I took part in those "experiments" and while most of them were horrible, one was really good. In one of those "experiments" they removed cross-healing & I think also heal stacking or something like that. The result was pretty much no ball groups were playing and also, surprise, surprise with ball groups gone - lag was gone. Game worked. It was more or less 2014 PvP Experience. Huge army vs army fights. No lag and no cheese... But oddly, despite player feedback, ZOS ignored this...

This is a good example of the point I was trying to make. Thank you.

We've been begging ZOS to limit cross healing and shield stacking and that the change is going to positively impact performance, but after more than 5 years of asking, it's yet to happen.

I am a little disappointed that we aren't guaranteed the same additions to old systems every year (such as Companions, Antiquities, Scribing, Tales of Tribute, etc) but I hope whatever new additions to those old systems are extraordinary!

Sounds like less content, more focus on PC and forgetting the console player's. Sure the game needs updates but if is as underwhelming as the quarter 3 fixes of the last year then ESO is in trouble.

Plus I laughed when you talked about listening to player feedback on new ideas. Always thought that's what PTS we for but history has shown ZOS often overlooks most of it.

Oh well was looking forward to crown sale at the end of the year but will hold off on new purchases for now. Keep ESO plus for now, always renew yearly in June. Turned off auto renewal and take a wait and see attitude. [snip]

As long time player from the start of console release to playing daily for the last few years. This doesn't look or sound good given the history of of the past few years. Hope I am wrong.

Stay safe 🙂

[edited for quitting post]

Poss wrote: »

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

We need to seriously address Cyrodiil performance. Our (ambitious) goal is to return it to the concurrency levels we supported in 2014. So, we will be experimenting with a Cyrodiil campaign where all classes will have PvP-specific (and more performant) skills that replace the standard player skills with the expectation that we can support more players per campaign.

I’m excited to see changes to Cyrodiil and potential fixes to performance, however, I’m VERY dubious about the idea to replace skills however vague you are here.

Performance issues aside, the biggest problem with Cyrodiil is heal, shield and mitigation stacking and the fact this is taken advantage of by ballgroups with absolute zero intention of playing the map. So if it’s only class based skills being replaced, won’t that mean vigor and radiating regen are still going to be available?

My initial thought was more single target only direct damage skills, and less AoE/DoT/HoT skills, as everyone knows that the excessive calculations of some current skills/sets are the main culprit in the performance degradation. That would certainly hurt the organized heal and shield stacking groups the most.

It would also allow ZOS to ban specific problematic gear sets from EC (Experimental Cyrodiil) without touching their effects in PvE. Sort of a hybridized no proc campaign, except instead of banning all procs, they will be able to exclude/include various sets and skills that they felt were contributing to the lag and disconnects.

@ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_JessicaFolsom
For your questions for later:

1) Seasonal content normally sends some alarm bells for players when it comes to P2W concerns when it comes to 'battle pass' rewards. Will there be gear or skills locked behind the battlepass or will everything be player tradable?

2) The Cyrodiil announcement is a little concerning due to the fact that the 'no proc' campaign proved that players will not transition to a 'non main' campaign to experiment with these rulesets unless forced/highly encouraged. The playerbase in Cyrodiil is currently so low that there are many other problems which should be solved prior to these changes. Namely a) Population based factional scoring adjustments. b) Improved campaign rewards and reward tiers, c) Adjusted mechanics such as heal stacking, group set performance and CC immunity rules (rush of agony).

3) Overworld difficulty, I would suggest rather than modifying overworld difficulty having some standardised 'debuffs' that can be applied to your character to signify a 'hardcore' experience. These buffs would be applied at character creation and would show a small symbol by the players name in identify them, there could be a certain buff which is removed upon death for example and one which is always applied until a player cleanses it at an npc. For example 'hardcore' players also shouldn't be able to make use of CP.

4) Adjusting player skills in Cyrodiil sounds like it could lead to essentially just homogenization of all abilities as is the case with the mag/stam split which players are already unhappy about. Could there be serious though and discussion with the playerbase before a lot of time is spent on this. (PTS test events perhaps?)

5) Will each season pass purchases be 1/3rd of the cost of the chapters (assuming 3 seasons a year roughly) or is this more of a financially driven move to increase player spending above the current subscription + chapter price?

drip_fromtheinkwell wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

So what I read is,
1. no more big content releases.
2. bigger focus on pvp.
3. make things harder.

If that is the goal, do not be surprised when the population of this game decreases even more. This game's content should be made easier, not harder. PVP should not be a primary focus ever. All I read from this is a disaster in the making. Please stop listening to the vocal minority or you will lose a lot more people.

If by "make things harder" you mean, "require more than light attacking and sneezing on a major story boss to defeat it", then yes; I don't consider myself particularly sweaty, but after re-playing the base game on EU with no CP or sets... the boost to difficulty is much-needed. They don't have to make overland content nightmarish, and and the difficulty should be able to be toggled off, but having to use more than five attacks to defeat Mannimarco, or Molag Bal, or even the Dark Mane, makes for a more rewarding gameplay experience.

By making things harder I mean increasing the difficulty in any way, form, or fashion. They could have included casual players and players like myself with limitations by talking about opening the difficult content already in the game ( harder dungeons and all trials ) to casual players. they have no interest in anything but pvp and making things harder and that will drive people away even more. call me crazy, tell me I'm wrong, that's fine. but when the population count drops even more don't be surprised.

Soarora wrote: »

Overland really is too easy, even as a casual I never struggled with the basic enemies.

That was the best part for me. There is plenty of challenging content in the game already. Overland was my relaxing playing through the story time. That doesn't include struggling through the content.