Given the issues this year, will you pre-order in 2026?

JAZZKa · December 5

I’m not ordering anything else - I’m done - what a mess!

Hell no

RaddlemanNumber7 · December 5

I’m not ordering anything else - I’m done - what a mess!

Not buying. probably not playing

Durham · December 5

Don’t Know

The Bottom Line

People think that getting bought by a massive company (Microsoft) means endless funding and huge improvements. But in practice, it means:

Less autonomy
More oversight
Pressure to produce profit
Restrained communication
Conservative decisions
Possibly budget ceilings that didn’t exist before

So when players wonder why things aren’t improving—or why long-standing issues go untouched—this is the real reason. The studio isn’t free to operate like an indie MMO team anymore. They’re answering to a corporation whose size and structure naturally prioritize stability and profit over innovation and player-driven development.

The DAoC Era Already Taught Us This Lesson. When EA bought Dark Age of Camelot, everyone thought:
“Finally, we’ll get more money to improve the game!”

But what happened?
Budgets tightened. Development slowed. Priorities shifted to profits over players.
DAoC didn’t get the rescue people expected—and that same pattern is repeating today across multiple studios.

Acquisitions Aren’t About Creativity; They’re About Profit

People forget this: when a major corporation buys a studio, they’re not doing it to make a better game—they’re doing it to make a better financial portfolio.
That means:
More restrictions
More monetization
Less risk-taking
Less transparency
Focus on safe, proven content

And yes, less willingness to pour money into things that don’t directly generate instant revenue

Veinblood1965 · December 5

I’m not ordering anything else - I’m done - what a mess!

I actually quit day one of the WW event, the quests were so lame after all the hype, gave away all my gold, items, logged off and unsubcribed. No idea why I'm lurking on the forums, just habit. WW event was just the last straw. I was so fed up with all the changes within the last year that just sucked the fun out of the game. I quit even after paying for the season pass and only seeing the first half of solstice.

Wereswan · December 6

Don’t Know

My enthusiasm was sunk by U46.

AzuraFan · December 6

Don’t Know

Veinblood1965 wrote: »

I actually quit day one of the WW event, the quests were so lame after all the hype, gave away all my gold, items, logged off and unsubcribed. No idea why I'm lurking on the forums, just habit. WW event was just the last straw. I was so fed up with all the changes within the last year that just sucked the fun out of the game. I quit even after paying for the season pass and only seeing the first half of solstice.

For me so far, the second half of Solstice is better than the first. You might want to check it out.

M0ntie · December 6

I’m not ordering anything else - I’m done - what a mess!

I am playing ESO the least I have in about 5 years.
End game content (trials) got too much of a mind numbing grind with ZoS making flip flop changes that required completely redoing load outs over and over. The game plays like *** - worse than ever with skills failing to fire, lag, disconnects, slideshow fps etc etc.
The Wall event, while being good in design and aesthetics, was just a ridiculous buggy mess. The overland quests for Solstice were also very buggy resulting in them taking about twice as long as they should to complete. The display of skyshards complete is bugged right now! [snip]
I really don't think I'll be buying next year's new content unless there is a serious commitment from ZoS to stop wasting our time with their poor quality software.
[edited for profanity bypass]

NotaDaedraWorshipper · December 6

Don’t Know

This poll option is the best I suppose. I don't know but it's unlikely, but I base it on what we see about the content from previews and pts.

The last chapter I preordered was Elsweyr and since then I've only seen downgrades in writing and content, so unlikely. It's very unlikely but if the next content whatever they are gonna call it, show great promises it's plausible I could.

Kendaric · December 6

I’m not ordering anything else - I’m done - what a mess!

I don't know if the game can even be considered an Elder Scrolls game anymore.

The mounts in the clown store and crates have constantly gotten weirder, they are pushing fixed brightly colored hair styles onto us, etc. The writing has consistently become worse since Elsweyr, which is a shame. And now we're expected to pay full price for less content than before ...

Sorry, but I rather play Skyrim or even the Oblivion Remaster again. Or maybe TES 1: Arena ... haven't touched that in years.

kojou · December 7

I will only order after launch when I can see what I’m buying

I didn't pre-order this year. I was skeptical of what I would be buying since it wasn't the usual "chapter" that we normally get.

Come to find out the wall event was basically just running a bunch of daily quest?

I waited until they dropped the price to ~$17 and bought it then so I could do the zone stuff and trial. I missed out on the wall, but from what I understand, I didn't miss much.

I will do the same next year. Wait until I can see what they are doing and then decide if I will participate.

noblecron · December 7

Don’t Know

I'm completely unsure because as much as I love ESO the way my budget is, irl needs come first before hobbies.

SaffronCitrusflower · December 7

I will only order after launch when I can see what I’m buying

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Not buying. probably not playing

I fear this is where I'm at too. I don't want to be, but with vengeance and the deception that went with it I just don't think I can ever trust ZOS again. They finally broke me.

ESO still has so much potential, but ZOS has said point blank they're not even going to try to fix Grey Host going forward. That's the same as me telling my boss I'm coming to work, collecting a check, but I'm only going to do the easy tasks. I don't understand how that's going to go over with the boss in this case, but I know what would happen to me and my job if I took that approach.

So much potential it hurts even worse to see it wasted like this.

We have 64% of people in this poll saying they will never buy again or have to see what's offered before they buy. That means 2/3rds of the player base have lost faith in ZOS and they need to see receipts before making a purchase in the future.

This is not where any company wants to be and the customers aren't too happy about it either. Pre sales from here on out are going to tank, and most likely the corporate overlords will come down hard because of this, creating a self fulfilling prophecy of failure.

SaffronCitrusflower · December 7

I will only order after launch when I can see what I’m buying

kojou wrote: »

I didn't pre-order this year. I was skeptical of what I would be buying since it wasn't the usual "chapter" that we normally get.

Come to find out the wall event was basically just running a bunch of daily quest?

I waited until they dropped the price to ~$17 and bought it then so I could do the zone stuff and trial. I missed out on the wall, but from what I understand, I didn't miss much.

I will do the same next year. Wait until I can see what they are doing and then decide if I will participate.

That's what I did too. And I'm still not sure I got $17 worth with Solstice. It's so buggy it's annoying to play, and the camps are nearly impossible to solo. It'll be really interesting to see what they're proposing for 2026.

Ashryn · December 7

I will only order after launch when I can see what I’m buying

I definitely was feeling burned at purchasing this past season and I am not doing it in 2026 again. They need to now prove that they have decent content (not just re-skins of everything) and enough of it to justify their prices! I so miss the days of Summerset and Elseweyr!