Companion Surveys

Dimorphos · June 23

I think we need our companions to ease our workload. Too much online time in this game get spent doing daily crafting and going after surveys. If you play +10 characters, you know what I mean. And surely it was intended that we have more than one character. Even with my online times which can vary from 5 to 14 hours daily I find rarely enough time to run dungeons, trials and do pvp.

Yes I can leave daily crafting undone and forget surveys, but surely it was not meant to be so. It is also one of the best ways to generate gold in this game.

I suggest that we get a system that would allow us to use our companions to pick up the surveys and materials gathered would arrive by mail. It would always take some predetermined time for a companion to gather one survey and that companion would be unavailable for other activities during that time. You could make the gathering of surveys more effective by using more companions, but they would always be unavailable for other activities during that time. It could also be limited to 10surveys/companion/day or something like that.

Maybe this would lower the prices of materials a bit, but I would gladly accept that to gain more time for other activities in this game.

Just a thought. Feel free to share yours or upvote if you agree that gathering surveys is unnecessary time sink.

Erickson9610 · June 23

Why should this be a Companion feature?

Nothing about Companions suggests that this is remotely relevant to what they do — they don't even have inventory space to carry things like crafting materials.

Dimorphos · June 23

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Why should this be a Companion feature?

It was the first idea I had. You have to put up "some effort" to gain the survey materials. This effort would be the loss of a companion while it travels on to gather your surveys. The gathering would also only happen while you are online.

But yes, I would be up for any change that would take this time sink away from us but still give us the benefits. But I think benefits should always come against some slight inconvenience/effort made.

Erickson9610 · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

But yes, I would be up for any change that would take this time sink away from us but still give us the benefits. But I think benefits should always come against some slight inconvenience/effort made.

We could get Survey Assistant who trades Surveys for raw materials at a similar rate to the Fencing Assistant? Maybe it would also work for Treasure Maps as well to make it worthwhile.

Dimorphos · June 23

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

But yes, I would be up for any change that would take this time sink away from us but still give us the benefits. But I think benefits should always come against some slight inconvenience/effort made.

We could get Survey Assistant who trades Surveys for raw materials at a similar rate to the Fencing Assistant?

Could work also yes. Actually this is very good idea too. But I like my original idea too since other games already use or had similar.

freespirit · June 23

I am too lazy to actually farm materials and tbh why should I when surveys give so many more mats in a shorter time.

Sure I miss out on housing mats but the gold earned from selling excess mats from surveys more than covers that cost.

My point being is I see doing surveys as a "necessary evil" based on how I choose to spend my play time. I don't feel ZoS needs to provide me with an easier way to do them.

Every game has its "grinds" surveys are one of ESO's.

Dimorphos · June 23

freespirit wrote: »

I am too lazy to actually farm materials and tbh why should I when surveys give so many more mats in a shorter time.

Sure I miss out on housing mats but the gold earned from selling excess mats from surveys more than covers that cost.

My point being is I see doing surveys as a "necessary evil" based on how I choose to spend my play time. I don't feel ZoS needs to provide me with an easier way to do them.

Every game has its "grinds" surveys are one of ESO's.

ESO has enough grinding even if we would get some easing concerning surveys. I must say I really do not understand people who think as you do. And I don't mean to offend you, not at all, everyone can have their own opinion. I just don't get it.

SilverBride · June 23

Companions are our allies, not our chore workers.

RealLoveBVB · June 23

Players playing 10+ chars, but claiming they don't have time... find the mistake.

Materials are the most sold sources in guild traders. If a "bot" gathers the surveys, it will crash the last bit the market has to offer.

Dimorphos · June 23

SilverBride wrote: »

Companions are our allies, not our chore workers.

Why is it more acceptable to call our companions to aid us in battles than to have them aid us gathering resources. Surely gathering resources is more safe than fighting monsters.

Dimorphos · June 23

RealLoveBVB wrote: »

Players playing 10+ chars, but claiming they don't have time... find the mistake.

Materials are the most sold sources in guild traders. If a "bot" gathers the surveys, it will crash the last bit the market has to offer.

What mistake? We can have 8 characters per account by default and we can further up that to 20 characters after purchasing more slots. If it was not meant to be so, we would not have so many slots for characters per account.

RealLoveBVB · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

RealLoveBVB wrote: »

Players playing 10+ chars, but claiming they don't have time... find the mistake.

Materials are the most sold sources in guild traders. If a "bot" gathers the surveys, it will crash the last bit the market has to offer.

What mistake? We can have 8 characters per account by default and we can further up that to 20 characters after purchasing more slots. If it was not meant to be so, we would not have so many slots for characters per account.

I wasn't talking about how many chars someone can have, but how many chars everyone is playing per day.

So someone claiming they are playing 10+ chars per day, but don't have time to do surveys... find the mistake again:)

Dimorphos · June 23

I must say I really have nothing in common with 99% of the people in this forum. No matter what I write or suggest all I ever get is negative or opposing responses. In-game I usually get at least 50-50 responses some are against but others agree.

Maybe this forum attracts a certain kind of people and I really do not belong among them.

RealLoveBVB · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

I must say I really have nothing in common with 99% of the people in this forum. No matter what I write or suggest all I ever get is negative or opposing responses. In-game I usually get at least 50-50 responses some are against but others agree.

Maybe this forum attracts a certain kind of people and I really do not belong among them.

If bots are doing the surveys, which will decrease the value of materials, is not a valid argument for you?

SilverBride · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Companions are our allies, not our chore workers.

Why is it more acceptable to call our companions to aid us in battles than to have them aid us gathering resources. Surely gathering resources is more safe than fighting monsters.

We wouldn't expect our real life friends to come over and do our laundry and dishes for us because they are our friends and not our servants. Being our character's companion and ally is the same type of relationship.

Dimorphos · June 23

SilverBride wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Companions are our allies, not our chore workers.

Why is it more acceptable to call our companions to aid us in battles than to have them aid us gathering resources. Surely gathering resources is more safe than fighting monsters.

We wouldn't expect our real life friends to come over and do our laundry and dishes for us because they are our friends and not our servants. Being our character's companion and ally is the same type of relationship.

but using our companions to aid us in battles which we started is perfectly acceptable? Why can't an ally aid us gathering resources. I would accept a real life friend to help me gather wood for the camp fire while I fight off the bear.

Dimorphos · June 23

RealLoveBVB wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

I must say I really have nothing in common with 99% of the people in this forum. No matter what I write or suggest all I ever get is negative or opposing responses. In-game I usually get at least 50-50 responses some are against but others agree.

Maybe this forum attracts a certain kind of people and I really do not belong among them.

If bots are doing the surveys, which will decrease the value of materials, is not a valid argument for you?

I don't think it would effect the prices that much. And there could even be a slight penalty in materials gained if companion is used to gather them. And I wasn't speaking just about you, there are others too.

SilverBride · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

but using our companions to aid us in battles which we started is perfectly acceptable? Why can't an ally aid us gathering resources. I would accept a real life friend to help me gather wood for the camp fire while I fight off the bear.

Yes, because they were created to aid us in battle.

It's also very different to ask a friend we are camping with to gather wood for the fire we will both be using, and having them go to our home and do our daily chores while we do other things just because we don't like doing chores.

LootAllTheStuff · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

I must say I really have nothing in common with 99% of the people in this forum. No matter what I write or suggest all I ever get is negative or opposing responses. In-game I usually get at least 50-50 responses some are against but others agree.

Maybe this forum attracts a certain kind of people and I really do not belong among them.

It may just reflect the difference in communication medium. In-game chat by it's nature is always going to consist of more short, snappy, spur-of-the-moment responses. Forums give people a chance to stop and think before responding (not saying we always do, but the possibility is there), at which point they might well have second thoughts. By the time someone's thought about it in zone chat/discord/whatever, the topic is already long gone.

As for your proposal: I can see the appeal, but I can also see the merits of some of the counter-arguments. The survey-trader someone suggested above might be a reasonable compromise, depending on how it was implemented. I don't think either being able to send your companion (which should prevent you fyourrom summoning a second one while they're away) or using a survey trader should yield as much as doing it for your self.

Dimorphos wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Companions are our allies, not our chore workers.

Why is it more acceptable to call our companions to aid us in battles than to have them aid us gathering resources. Surely gathering resources is more safe than fighting monsters.

While I'm gathering resources, my companion is watching my back! Not that there's any real danger of my character dying while gathering plants, but it's a workable role play rationalisation.

Dimorphos · June 23

TBH, the real time sink is to write anything at all or make suggestions in this forum. 99% of you people just come to argue for the sport of arguing about anything at all, or just disagree because that is what you do.

So I will stop doing this and if I ever get any ideas concerning how to improve ESO, I will direct those messages straight to the company people.

Kimda · June 23

As playing my archer quite often, I'd like to have my companion bring the loot, or a non-combat pet to bring it to me, just like a bird dog.

Dimorphos · June 23

SilverBride wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

but using our companions to aid us in battles which we started is perfectly acceptable? Why can't an ally aid us gathering resources. I would accept a real life friend to help me gather wood for the camp fire while I fight off the bear.

Yes, because they were created to aid us in battle.

It's also very different to ask a friend we are camping with to gather wood for the fire we will both be using, and having them go to our home and do our daily chores while we do other things just because we don't like doing chores.

"they were created to aid us in battle" how dare you even say such a thing

And my companions will enjoy the gathered materials as much as I do since I get gold from it and that gold can be used to buy better armor for them to be safe. I am done with you you have no logic at all.

SilverBride · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

"they were created to aid us in battle" how dare you even say such a thing

"Companions are non-player characters who can aid you on your adventures throughout Tamriel. Once called to your side, these stalwart allies will assist you in combat."

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/60015

virtus753 · June 23

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

But yes, I would be up for any change that would take this time sink away from us but still give us the benefits. But I think benefits should always come against some slight inconvenience/effort made.

We could get Survey Assistant who trades Surveys for raw materials at a similar rate to the Fencing Assistant? Maybe it would also work for Treasure Maps as well to make it worthwhile.

An assistant has been floated before, and I definitely like the idea. I don’t think they could be based on Pirharri, though.

Pirharri was the first and is unique among assistants: she is not a discrete purchase but one part of a much bigger DLC that costs 40% of what we pay for a single standalone assistant. Not only can she not launder (just like banker assistants can’t access guild banks or traders), but she also takes a massive cut that can’t even be made up for with the bonuses available to us. (The most we can get is 87.5% of the full value.) Comparing her to standalone assistants, who do not take any cuts, suggests this cut is tied to her much lower cost.

While standalone assistants do not always provide all the services of their non-assistant counterparts, they provide the full value for those services they do offer. Merchant assistants offer the full value of goods sold to them, just as if you had sold it to a non-assistant merchant. They just save you the time of finding a merchant NPC, the same as a survey or treasure map assistant would save you the time of finding their locations. Decon assistants respect extraction passives and provide everything one would get at a crafting table. (They even count as a crafting table for endeavor purposes.) A survey assistant should likewise respect Plentiful Harvest and provide everything we’d get by picking up the survey ourselves. A treasure map assistant should respect Treasure Hunter, Gilded Fingers, and Fortune’s Favor, without a cut.

These are the standards ZOS set with standalone assistants. If they were to offer one with a cut like Pirharri, they should be prepared to knock down the price quite a lot, given Pirharri’s price point (one fraction of a content pack sold for 2k crowns). They would also have to be prepared to lose out on sales from players who won’t use an assistant with intentionally impaired value, even if they already have access to that assistant, which happens with Pirharri. I would think that’s a big part of their change in model to full value at a much higher price point.

SilverBride · June 23

Erickson9610 wrote: »

We could get Survey Assistant who trades Surveys for raw materials at a similar rate to the Fencing Assistant? Maybe it would also work for Treasure Maps as well to make it worthwhile.

That is a very good idea. I'd definitely purchase a Survey Assistant if one were available.

Dimorphos · June 23

SilverBride wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

"they were created to aid us in battle" how dare you even say such a thing

"Companions are non-player characters who can aid you on your adventures throughout Tamriel. Once called to your side, these stalwart allies will assist you in combat."

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/60015

who can aid you on your adventures throughout Tamriel. Gathering surveys is part of all that. Maybe you started this all as a joke but you are wrong. Simple as that.

SilverBride · June 23

Dimorphos wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Dimorphos wrote: »

"they were created to aid us in battle" how dare you even say such a thing

"Companions are non-player characters who can aid you on your adventures throughout Tamriel. Once called to your side, these stalwart allies will assist you in combat."

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/60015

who can aid you on your adventures throughout Tamriel. Gathering surveys is part of all that. Maybe you started this all as a joke but you are wrong. Simple as that.

"Once called to your side, these stalwart allies will assist you in combat."

Gathering surveys is not combat or an adventure.

So let's just agree to disagree.

EDIT: A very reasonable solution would be a Survey Assistant as @Erickson9610 suggested. Their whole purpose would be to help with gathering surveys and would not require reprogramming like adding this feature to the companions would.

Supreme_Atromancer · June 23

I don't think its a terrible idea- I think there are a few alternatives mentioned that could work just as well, if that's what people wanted, and options are always good. I personally enjoy Tamriel-spanning harvesting expeditions when I'm in the mood, so I wouldn't use it. But I can see how its tedious for others. The fantasy justification doesn't seem THAT problematic to me- Lydia certainly bore my burdens from time to time in Skyrim. And who's to say that a companion wouldn't enjoy harvesting?

Alternatively, being able to buy and sell them could solve the same problem. For the sake of discussion. There must be reasons they don't want to do that; I wonder what those reasons are?

Regarding posting on the forums- be prepared for a lot of pushback when you do. Some of it valid, and good for discussion. Some of it not so valid, and yeah, some of it just people being unnecessarily mean lol. Remember even ZOS gets raked over hot coals for their ideas sometimes, doesn't mean that its always right.

redlink1979 · June 23

Better yet, we could receive containers similar to master writs containers. And once you open a container, you collect a generated survey and by reading it, as a lorebook, the resources are sent to your mail (with the possibility of receiving extra materials per type of survey and per survey location as it happens atm).
Amount and quality of the mats received on the mail would obey the same rules that are set now by the plentiful harvest passive and the crafting rank.

With this solution we'd address two issues: time spent traveliing back and forth and the inventory management (reminder, there are currently 186 different survey reports (base game+dlc zones))

zaria · June 23

Have the surveys simply restart then done instead of you having to run x meters in y direction to reset who is annoying.

Frayton · June 23

A survey assistant or vendor where we can trade our surveys for their respective mats are great ideas that have been suggested to ease the survey chore.