CatoUnchained wrote: »manukartofanu wrote: »I would divide the userbase into 3 groups.
1. Straight chapter players: only play ESO as a single player game, don't engage with other players or the crown store outside of dlc
2. Casual hybrid players: into chapter stories, questing, but also mmo social activities, housing, trading and collecting
3. MMO players: play ESO like an MMO, may also engage in all other activities
Of course, in reality it's much more granular than that. Of this group the target audience has pretty clearly been group 1 since Morrowind. They, of course, are not well-represented in the forums despite generating the most revenue IMO.
Group 3 is the most embittered as they were the target audience at launch, but have felt alienated from ZOS as they've watched the game change in ways they do not prefer.
What I think ZOS has tried and failed to do by nerfing the poop out of their own gameplay is get group 1 into the MMO side of the game. It seems they may be re-thinking this approach, but we'll have to see.
Even if the first group were the top revenue drivers, which is highly debatable, focusing on them is a risky strategy. They’re an unreliable audience that requires constant effort and significant marketing resources to engage. They might skip buying the new chapter altogether and opt for a different game if another game's advertisement catches their attention more effectively.
That said, moving away from chapters says a lot about the direction being taken.
You're obviously talking about the casual players who only log on for a few hours/week, right?
If ESO was primarily MMOish, I would have tried it out and dropped it.JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »1. Price - A lot of people might not be able to buy TES6 when it comes out, so they will stick with what they have already paid for: eso, especially since ESO is still getting new content. No, it isn't like a brand new game, but it will still be something to keep them interested while waiting for TES 6 to come down in price.
Since it'll be part of PC and XBox Gamepass on day one, price shouldn't be an issue for anyone. Just subscribe for a month or two.
PapaTankers wrote: »The way the question is worded it sounds like another one of them "us vs them" questions.
Never have I ever seen a playerbase as divided as in ESO.
It can easily be both.
Erickson9610 wrote: »What's important is determining whether players prefer ESO being more heavily influenced by the legacy of the singleplayer TES games, or more heavily influenced by the MMORPG genre as a whole. ESO can be both, but is it more of a singleplayer TES game or more of a massively multiplayer online game?
Erickson9610 wrote: »What's important is determining whether players prefer ESO being more heavily influenced by the legacy of the singleplayer TES games, or more heavily influenced by the MMORPG genre as a whole. ESO can be both, but is it more of a singleplayer TES game or more of a massively multiplayer online game?
There are a ton of fantasy MMO games out there. Only one of them is based on Elder Scrolls, which is primarily a single player experience.
Elder Scrolls players who want to play with other Elder Scrolls players in a manner that is fully supported by the studio and publisher have no other option but ESO.
MMO players who want to play a with other MMO players can go to a number of other games.
It is both an Elder Scrolls game and an MMO, but I think it should be an Elder Scrolls game first and an MMO second. MMO features that do not make the game a better Elder Scrolls game should be a lower priority than features that make it a better Elder Scrolls game.
Shara_Wynn wrote: »Why does it have to be one or the other? Surely it would be in the best interests of ZOS (or any games company) to cater for both the hardcore and casual gamer.
Shara_Wynn wrote: »Why does it have to be one or the other? Surely it would be in the best interests of ZOS (or any games company) to cater for both the hardcore and casual gamer.
The main concern is usually to do with workload and available resources.
Catering to "Hardcore" audience means spending time and resources on creating new Veteran content, Trials and "Harder Overworld" style things like what Craglorn was supposed to be and incorporating things like "Gear Chase".
Catering to "Casual" audience means spending time and resources on creating new stories, furnishings, houses, new maps to explore and more things to encourage people to revisit older zones (Like revamps and addendums to older stories)
A team can only work on so many things at once. A development team is not infinitely large. So they will have to pick and choose what to work on. If they spread themselves too thin, then neither audience is happy (As can be noted with the recent responses to their latest stuff - With endgame PvE players not particularly happy with the most recent content and how it plays so heavily into the Arcanist's cleave and casual PvE players not having particularly great stories)
It's one of the pitfalls for the MMO notion of "Make content for everyone" - It's all well and good in theory. But in practice you run into the issue of maintaining development of all these multitudes of systems (Especially as business are want to reduce staff for better net profits more so than increase staff in order to expand the capabilities of development)
PapaTankers wrote: »I think this would apply more if we would be talking about a small Indie studio.
This is zenimax we are discussing here. A studio backed by microsoft. A studio that sells 100 dollar virtual homes and god knows how many gamba crates.
I just saw a comment in another thread that mentioned the first option as the ideal for ESO, and I thought, "If that's what ESO was, I wouldn't be here."
So, yeah, I'm with @TaSheen on this one: very happy ESO is not like WoW in that way. I did the endgame grind in WoW once upon a time, and I never want to go back to that kind of gaming.
I really just like hanging out in Tamriel and questing around, roleplaying my characters. The minigames I can take or leave, depending.
Exactly this.
I don't think ESO neccessarily has to die once TES6 is released. Sure, some players will leave for TES6 for a while, but at some point, even with mods available, you have seen everything and want some new stories and places. And it does make a difference, for people who are interested in the lore, at least, whether it's 2nd era or 4rd era and whether movement is restricted to one province or whether we can move around on the whole continent. So, even if I have to split my freetime on both ESO and TES6 after the latter was released, I still don't see them as competitors.
Yeah, I feel the same way regarding TES6. I'm sure I will play it when it releases (I've played every Elder Scrolls game in its time) and I am looking forward to it. But however good it is, as a single player game it won't have the longevity of content that ESO does. Plus, I really like the second era lore I've been getting exposed to in ESO, and one of the upsides for me is the Tribunal is still in existence. It kind of broke my heart in Skyrim when I realized what the Dunmer had been reduced to.
PapaTankers wrote: »What about mmo players who also enjoy elder scrolls theme? What other options do they have? There are always single player elder scrolls games questers can enjoy.
PapaTankers wrote: »What about mmo players who also enjoy elder scrolls theme? What other options do they have?
PapaTankers wrote: »What about people who enjoy all aspects of the game?
I just saw a comment in another thread that mentioned the first option as the ideal for ESO, and I thought, "If that's what ESO was, I wouldn't be here."
So, yeah, I'm with @TaSheen on this one: very happy ESO is not like WoW in that way. I did the endgame grind in WoW once upon a time, and I never want to go back to that kind of gaming.
I really just like hanging out in Tamriel and questing around, roleplaying my characters. The minigames I can take or leave, depending.
Exactly this.
I don't think ESO neccessarily has to die once TES6 is released. Sure, some players will leave for TES6 for a while, but at some point, even with mods available, you have seen everything and want some new stories and places. And it does make a difference, for people who are interested in the lore, at least, whether it's 2nd era or 4rd era and whether movement is restricted to one province or whether we can move around on the whole continent. So, even if I have to split my freetime on both ESO and TES6 after the latter was released, I still don't see them as competitors.
Yeah, I feel the same way regarding TES6. I'm sure I will play it when it releases (I've played every Elder Scrolls game in its time) and I am looking forward to it. But however good it is, as a single player game it won't have the longevity of content that ESO does. Plus, I really like the second era lore I've been getting exposed to in ESO, and one of the upsides for me is the Tribunal is still in existence. It kind of broke my heart in Skyrim when I realized what the Dunmer had been reduced to.
Oh, moi aussi! Right now, alongside ESO, I'm playing both Oblivion and Skyrim; adding TES VI to that is a definite YES! If I'm still alive and able to play games when (if...) it ever releases....