PTS Participation & Experience Survey

ZOS_Kevin
ZOS_Kevin
Community Manager
Hi everyone! We put together a short survey to help us better understand ESO Public Test Server (PTS) participation, and how we can improve the overall experience. This survey will be open until the end of September 25. We’d love to hear from you even if you’ve never participated in the ESO PTS. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts with us!

Link to the survey: https://beth.games/46niSAe
Community Manager for ZeniMax Online Studio and Elder Scrolls OnlineDev Tracker | Service Alerts | ESO Twitter
Staff Post
  • skinnycheeks
    skinnycheeks
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    Thanks Kevin! Great to see yall gathering feedback about the PTS experience. Definitely a lot of improvements that can be made here!
  • Syldras
    Syldras
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    I really appreciate to see you asking us for feedback more often. Thank you!
    @Syldras | PC | EU
    The forceful expression of will gives true honor to the Ancestors.
    Sarayn Andrethi, Telvanni mage (Main)
    Darvasa Andrethi, his "I'm NOT a Necromancer!" sister
    Malacar Sunavarlas, Altmer Ayleid vampire
    Soris Rethandus, a Sleeper not yet awake
  • Morvan
    Morvan
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    Just sent mine, very glad to see more communication lately, thank you.
    @MorvanClaude on PC/NA, don't try to trap me with lore subjects, it will work
  • Destai
    Destai
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    Thanks, Kevin, glad to see surveys!

    Entered my feedback in the survey, but want to reiterate here.

    I mainly won't participate in PTS because I don't feel like my feedback changes anything. Whether it's bugs or controversial changes, it seems like PTS is "too late" to get you guys to truly change course on things. I would think if something's poorly received on PTS, it's pulled from the build and given more time to bake. The core problem is things are being released too soon. Subclassing is the prime example, but there's been countless bugs and combat changes over the years.

    Also, as I said in another thread, the spreadsheet way of doing things needs to change. No one wants to offer detailed, well-reasoned feedback only for some spreadsheet to take priority. Combat changes especially. Seeing where the current changes fall in the overall roadmap is important. Understanding why changes have to be made is important. The little developer insights we get now are too brief and see no follow up. And if those explanations provided don't stand up to public scrutiny, there's no reason why the change should go live.

    As a console player, I'm really limited in what I can do with PTS anyways. I only have the base game on PC, which used to be enough, but no longer is. So, either make PTS free or provide console PTS. The more people that can test, the better off you'll be.
    Edited by Destai on September 18, 2025 7:53PM
  • spartaxoxo
    spartaxoxo
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    Gave my feedback in the survey but want to reiterate it here to make sure it's seen. Console should really have a way to participate in PTS. Even if it's just template only and nothing carries over.
  • twisttop138
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    spartaxoxo wrote: »
    Gave my feedback in the survey but want to reiterate it here to make sure it's seen. Console should really have a way to participate in PTS. Even if it's just template only and nothing carries over.

    I agree with this very much. I used to be a PC mmo player but since my kids have gotten to be teenagers I do the gaming PCs for them. Just PS5 for me. I used to always do pts in multiple games. I would love to do this again.
  • LalMirchi
    LalMirchi
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    Done! Thanks.
  • StihlReign
    StihlReign
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    Bam done! :)
    "O divine art of subtlety and secrecy!

    Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands.” – Ch. VI, v. 8-9. — Master Sun Tzu

    "You haven't beaten me you've sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke." — Ra's al Ghul

    He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious — Master Sun Tzu

    LoS
  • tomofhyrule
    tomofhyrule
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    Thank you so much for giving us the chance to give feedback on the PTS. I know I’m not the only one who was severely disappointed about how the PTS and feedback from thence was handled this year.

    I really hope the devs take our responses to heart. I always want to do my part to make the game better for everyone, even if I’m just a normal guy, not a content creator.

    Here’s hoping U49, 50, and beyond and their PTS cycles will give us all a reason to love this game again!

    PS: Don’t worry Kevin, we all still love you regardless!
  • LunaFlora
    LunaFlora
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    nice survey, i filled it in
    miaow! i'm Luna ( she/her ).

    🌸*throws cherry blossom on you*🌸
    "Eagles advance, traveler! And may the Green watch and keep you."
    🦬🦌🐰
    PlayStation and PC EU.
    LunaLolaBlossom on psn.
    LunaFloraBlossom on pc.
  • ZOS_Kevin
    ZOS_Kevin
    Community Manager
    Thanks Kevin! Great to see yall gathering feedback about the PTS experience. Definitely a lot of improvements that can be made here!

    Yeah definitely. We want to make sure PTS still serves its purpose while being helpful to players generally. The leadership team wants to make sure that short-term and long-term changes can be made to improve the PTS experience overall.

    Looking forward to reading through everyone's feedback!
    Community Manager for ZeniMax Online Studio and Elder Scrolls OnlineDev Tracker | Service Alerts | ESO Twitter
    Staff Post
  • ZOS_Kevin
    ZOS_Kevin
    Community Manager
    Thank you so much for giving us the chance to give feedback on the PTS. I know I’m not the only one who was severely disappointed about how the PTS and feedback from thence was handled this year.

    I really hope the devs take our responses to heart. I always want to do my part to make the game better for everyone, even if I’m just a normal guy, not a content creator.

    Want to echo this. The survey is to make sure we get feedback from everyone. We know many want to help in making the game better for everyone. We want to make sure we are giving everyone the tools to do that. And if we are missing some of those tools, we can see what is possible to resolve pain points.

    Community Manager for ZeniMax Online Studio and Elder Scrolls OnlineDev Tracker | Service Alerts | ESO Twitter
    Staff Post
  • WhiteCoatSyndrome
    WhiteCoatSyndrome
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    Sent! Happy to see this. 😄
    #proud2BAStarObsessedLoony
    PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!
    A useful explanation for how RNG works
    How to turn off the sustainability features (screen dimming, fps cap) on PC
  • Destai
    Destai
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    ZOS_Kevin wrote: »
    Thank you so much for giving us the chance to give feedback on the PTS. I know I’m not the only one who was severely disappointed about how the PTS and feedback from thence was handled this year.

    I really hope the devs take our responses to heart. I always want to do my part to make the game better for everyone, even if I’m just a normal guy, not a content creator.

    Want to echo this. The survey is to make sure we get feedback from everyone. We know many want to help in making the game better for everyone. We want to make sure we are giving everyone the tools to do that. And if we are missing some of those tools, we can see what is possible to resolve pain points.

    FWIW - I know that SkinnyCheeks offered to sit down with Brian and walk through the sets for a couple hours. Man - what an idea - can that happen? Can that be a live stream please?

    Speaking of tools - I think understanding how people like him test or what tools they've been given by ZOS would go a long way. Having standard metrics, forms, etc. to test with would be helpful.
  • LonePirate
    LonePirate
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    I submitted my feedback as I have been poking around on the PTS since it was first turned over to players many years ago. As I said in the survey, my biggest complaint about the PTS is that ZOS largely ignores bugs and issues reported by players unless they are major issues that block content or processes - stuff that the internal ZOS team should have found before it reached the PTS. If players are going to the trouble of downloading the PTS, testing changes or content and using the /bug function to report feedback and issues, then ZOS should prioritize fixing those issues. There is so much rigid schedule adherence that unexpected issues reported by players seem like an afterthought and probably contributes to why they are often ignored. Respecting players’ time should be a PTS priority and that is definitely not the case.
  • Fischblut
    Fischblut
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    I am very grateful that this time I can also participate in survey like in good old times, no forbidden access! :smiley: Something was done on ESO-end to allow participation, thank you <3
  • colossalvoids
    colossalvoids
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    Glad that's getting some attention, quit participating in cycles because no feedback being acted upon and just testing for myself feels not needed anymore in my personal player journey. Hopefully PTS could get back to what it was around Summerset, where you were able to submit a report and see it fixed the next cycle or one after that instead of spamming same ones patch after the patch without any recognition. I get that it's not bad marketing tool but honestly the primary purpose should be a priority, an absolute one at that.
  • festegios
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    its great that you are asking for feedback,

    but what I want to see is that you actually take action on that feedback,

    why not do a:

    you said:
    we did:
  • Tannus15
    Tannus15
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    We need some sort of feedback loop.

    I do a lot of parses on the PTS when there are balance changes or new item sets to see what's useful, but I honestly don't know if that feedback is seen or valued at all.

    If it is, then something along the lines of "that's interesting" or "that's working as intended" would help.
    If it's not useful then "can you try it under X circumstances" so I can see the intent of something.

    Take the new set "Xanmeer Genesis". I don't know what the purpose of this set is. I don't know what kind of feedback to the devs are looking for when I can't see anyone using the set under any circumstances.

    A good example though is the poisonious serpent changes a few updates ago. The set was and is badly underperforming as a PvE set. Is that what it's intended for? It comes from a trial, so my understanding is that it should be a PvE set, but the proc and poison damage is far too low for that. I posted a CMX to show that, but nothing was changed. Am I missing something? What is the intended use of the set?
  • festegios
    festegios
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    Tannus15 wrote: »
    We need some sort of feedback loop.

    What is the intended use of the set?

    I honestly think that about a lot of sets, there are far too many that are dead on arrival, or that once had a purpose but then fell behind.

    obviously not every set can be 'meta' for PVE DPS, but there shouldnt be such a wide divide, and the solution is not just to nerf those high performing
  • Tannus15
    Tannus15
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    festegios wrote: »
    Tannus15 wrote: »
    We need some sort of feedback loop.

    What is the intended use of the set?

    I honestly think that about a lot of sets, there are far too many that are dead on arrival, or that once had a purpose but then fell behind.

    obviously not every set can be 'meta' for PVE DPS, but there shouldnt be such a wide divide, and the solution is not just to nerf those high performing

    the solution currently is to pretend everything is fine.
    I don't get it.
  • Tannus15
    Tannus15
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    I should have put this in the feedback.

    Do you want suggestions for solutions or just an outline of the problem?

    I read a lot of long, well thought out posts on the PTS forum which give suggestions of solutions and none of them ever get a reply or implimented. Are these people wasting their time with suggestions that you guys don't care about because you want to come up with your own ideas, or are they taken on board and then dismissed or put into a backlog of some sort?

    I stopped giving suggestions ages ago because nothing ever comes from it and it doesn't seem to be welcomed.
  • Personofsecrets
    Personofsecrets
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    Tannus15 wrote: »
    I should have put this in the feedback.

    Do you want suggestions for solutions or just an outline of the problem?

    I read a lot of long, well thought out posts on the PTS forum which give suggestions of solutions and none of them ever get a reply or implimented. Are these people wasting their time with suggestions that you guys don't care about because you want to come up with your own ideas, or are they taken on board and then dismissed or put into a backlog of some sort?

    I stopped giving suggestions ages ago because nothing ever comes from it and it doesn't seem to be welcomed.

    This
  • silky_soft
    silky_soft
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    Tannus15 wrote: »
    I should have put this in the feedback.

    Do you want suggestions for solutions or just an outline of the problem?

    I read a lot of long, well thought out posts on the PTS forum which give suggestions of solutions and none of them ever get a reply or implimented. Are these people wasting their time with suggestions that you guys don't care about because you want to come up with your own ideas, or are they taken on board and then dismissed or put into a backlog of some sort?

    I stopped giving suggestions ages ago because nothing ever comes from it and it doesn't seem to be welcomed.

    There is defiantly a problem somewhere along the chain of management that blocks all this. Unless that is sorted out even providing feedback in this survey is pointless.
    This recent update has made me sad. Sad for the game. Sad for the community. Sad to pay whatever it is now. I want the previous eso back.
  • Techwolf_Lupindo
    Techwolf_Lupindo
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    The only reason I log into PTS now a days is to make sure the client did not break on SteamDeck like it did a few years ago and not only did it not run at all on my main system, but my backup laptop also. Had to buy a new laptop at the local department store after a few days and no solution was in sight.
  • Renato90085
    Renato90085
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    should I answer in my native language? for me the survey seems to be in my language instead of english.
  • i11ionward
    i11ionward
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    Hi @ZOS_Kevin ,
    I shared this idea in the survey, but I also wanted to bring it up here.

    Has the development team ever considered running a Closed Beta Test (CBT) before launching the PTS for a new update? As we all know, by the time the PTS goes live, many of the changes are already finalized for the live release, which means there’s usually little room to make meaningful adjustments during the PTS cycle. Because of this, a lot of feedback from the PTS may end up being overlooked simply due to time constraints.

    What if, before opening the PTS, there was a CBT with invited players—experienced and respected members of the ESO community—who could provide more objective feedback and suggestions on the new content? That way, the dev team would have more time to react and make adjustments before the PTS phase.

    What do you think about this idea?
  • Turtle_Bot
    Turtle_Bot
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    ZOS_Kevin wrote: »
    Hi everyone! We put together a short survey to help us better understand ESO Public Test Server (PTS) participation, and how we can improve the overall experience. This survey will be open until the end of September 25. We’d love to hear from you even if you’ve never participated in the ESO PTS. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts with us!

    Link to the survey: https://beth.games/46niSAe

    Thanks for posting this survey, I have left my feedback as well, mostly to add to what others have already mentioned here.

    I just want to also add my voice, that there are some players and content creators who are extremely dedicated to ESO that would be well worth sitting down with and having an open and honest talk with them on some topics.

    As @Destai mentioned above, I believe @skinnycheeks has offered in the past to sit down with the team and discuss many things about ESO in-depth (most recently gear sets) and it would be a shame to see such an easy win for the team in terms of creating an (open and honest) discussion on multiple topics with respected and knowledgeable members of the community go to waste.

    In the past there were other respected content creators who also offered to sit down with ESO staff (dev team, and/or community managers) and have an open and honest but also fair and respectful discussion about ESO about various topics, yet those interviews/discussions never eventuated/got cancelled, despite being such an awesome way for ZOS to reach out to the community in regards to very big issues within the game at those times. I would hate to see ZOS fumble this same opportunity again, especially since it is such a easy win not only for ESO, but for ZOS as well, especially to see things from the discussion be allowed to be shared with the community.
  • Turtle_Bot
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    i11ionward wrote: »
    Hi @ZOS_Kevin ,
    I shared this idea in the survey, but I also wanted to bring it up here.

    Has the development team ever considered running a Closed Beta Test (CBT) before launching the PTS for a new update? As we all know, by the time the PTS goes live, many of the changes are already finalized for the live release, which means there’s usually little room to make meaningful adjustments during the PTS cycle. Because of this, a lot of feedback from the PTS may end up being overlooked simply due to time constraints.

    What if, before opening the PTS, there was a CBT with invited players—experienced and respected members of the ESO community—who could provide more objective feedback and suggestions on the new content? That way, the dev team would have more time to react and make adjustments before the PTS phase.

    What do you think about this idea?

    This was part of my feedback in the survey as well (well not specifically a closed beta test), but at least running the PTS for longer to allow the team more time to look at, consider and potentially implement changes given in feedback that is given on the PTS (and on the PTS section of the forums here).
  • DenverRalphy
    DenverRalphy
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    I think it would help if ZOS were to outline a more exact intent or purpose of the PTS. Explaining exactly what kind of feedback they expect from the players on the PTS.

    Because from what I've observed over the last decade is that it's really not much more than an early access preview of "This is what's coming, see if you can break it". Because more often than not, what you see on PTS goes to live, bugs and all. Occasionally some tweaks are made. But for the most part mountains of feedback seem to fall to the wayside.
    Edited by DenverRalphy on September 19, 2025 2:35PM
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