Sunsetting the content pass and going for "Seasons" instead

Anilahation · December 19

What would a "seasonal" version of ESO be like.

Some examples of Seasons in Games is League of legends had a season that changed the maps according to theme of the season
Another example is how Seasons operate in Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. The way seasons work in Diablo-like ARPGs is basically the "base/core" game still exist, but a season will come out to add a seasonal mechanic to have the game feel fresh and at the end of the season this mechanic will retire to retain power creep and some really beloved seasonal mechanics will actually join the base game in a "balanced" form.

So let's try to brainstorm an Elder Scrolls Online Season. First, I think it's important that a season becomes a quarterly thing similar to POE 2, to give it a LONG window for people to enjoy but not overstay its welcome by being like half the year.

Season of the Dawnguard (Optional Seasonal Characters)

The Dawnguard wage a renewed war against an evolving strain of vampirism born from Molag Bal’s forgotten covenants. This isn’t just a resurgence—it’s a mutation, forcing mortals and vampires alike to adapt.

The season explores light vs corruption, hunter vs hunted, and moral choices without forcing players into vampirism.

Players can create a Seasonal Character
Seasonal characters:
Start fresh at level 1
Have access to season-exclusive systems, skills, and rewards
Convert to normal characters at season end
Non-seasonal characters can still play the story, but won’t access the seasonal mechanics

Core Seasonal Mechanic
Players collect dawn guard relics reminiscent of famous Dawnguard operatives of the pass.

These relics they can equip 3 at a time and they simply will help them aid vs the new vampire enemies (making undead explode with light magic, Dodging creates blinding flare, light attacks burn enemies, Bosses can be light marked and this helps your allies deal more damage) basically subtle ideas but you get the picture.

Seasonal Activity
Dawnguard mapping, you can pick a zone and like in POE2 fashion you are meant to play the "zone" like the base version but it is full of these new vampire enemies and the modifiers like Vampires gaining new abilities, Sunless zones that give vampires permanent health regain( you will need heal cut or simply displacements to move them out of dark spots), Enemies resistant to normal attacks but weak to "Holy attacks"(seasonal relics can convert some of your iconic spells to Holy damage)

The ascended Vampires are also on the map but patrol the whole zone aggressively, will hunt for the players, new abilities weekly and simply being a more engaging type of enemy.

Temporary skill line
Just giving a dawnguard skill line that you will level through the season and simply give you a good grounding to tackle the vampire enemies.

Cyrodil twist

Players load into a version of Cyrodil where they can play for The Dawnguard, Werewolves or Vampires. These loadouts have unique abilities exclusive to PVP letting people really get some unique PVP experience. (Maybe making Vampires stronger solo but needing health to drain, Werewolves better in a pack and Dawnguard the middle ground) Vampire players are more spread out so requires more individual skill but not blowing up groups simply harder to kill but needs to trip up people to kill them since its damage is more based around sudden surges of damage.

Put some big seasonal boss in a dungeon with a seasonal version of that dungeon you can play.

This is obviously just a rough example of how I think ESO could tackle seasons but it has a lot of potential if done right and can really take advantage of the whole world on top of giving us a twist on Cyrodil.

spartaxoxo · December 19

I think it will be the same thing and just rebranded because people found the old phrase confusing.

Anilahation · December 19

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I think it will be the same thing and just rebranded because people found the old phrase confusing.

you might be right and it will just be a whole year being a season

Syldras · December 19

Whatever it is in detail (we already know it will be Dark Brotherhood themed), I really don't want limited-time content that vanishes again. Not willing to pay any money for that. It seems like a waste of time to me to create things just to remove them again. And I don't think I'm the only one who thinks that, considering how people reacted when they heard the Writhing Fortress would be gone again after a week.

PeacefulAnarchy · December 19

You are misunderstanding seasons (from what they've said in the past about what they want to do). Their goal, as I understand it, is to sell all dlc for real cash before it moves to the crown store, and have that dlc be of different sizes and styles than previous chapters. It's not about time limited mechanics beyond some time limited cosmetic rewards and maybe events like writhing wall. This is why they can't settle on a name, because dlc vs chapters is already a distinction they've made, and they want to clarify that this is something different but all the other common names come with baggage that players are turned off by.

Maybe they'll finally clarify all this in 3 weeks.

licenturion · December 19

The way Diablo 4 does it usually doesn't work for other games

New World (RIP) also tried seasonal servers where you had to make a new character and level them. But they had to revert this quickly. Same with Division 2. I don't think it will work for ESO.

Personally, I think seasons will be new quest chains in existing base game zones + Vvardenfell (because those are the ones everyone has access to) and maybe a zone graphics refresh for the zones that cover that questline and also a few new delve-like locations for those quests. And then sometimes they will have a bigger season where they release a whole new mini-zone like Galen. But I don't think we get huge zone content drops like before. There will probably be lots of content in all kinds of varieties (new scribe skills, new tribute deck, new companion, new BG maps, new PvP zone, new dungeons, class rework, new trial...) every month. But I fear this will mean no more large chapterlike drops because they take up the most development time and can't be split into pieces.

DragonRacer · December 19

I liked Diablo IV overall, but the Eternal Realm feels a bit pointless outside of repeating side quests after you’ve completed the campaign. Everyone jumps into the new seasons with new Level 1 seasonal characters, which I enjoyed for a while. And then I burned out on the grind of basically re-learning/re-leveling every season. I’d very much prefer ESO never go that route. I want to take my 10-year-old main into new content, not be forced to basically make a new Level 1 version of her and by the time I’ve gotten a hang of the new stuff, the season ends and gets cast into the purgatory of the Eternal Realm.

I’ve drifted away from playing it the past season or two because of that, and adding in a new class for preordering the next chapter has not lured me back.

Soarora · December 20

I don't think it's worth putting in the effort into speculating-- they've most likely been working on the next several, they can't just take a hard turn on what they've already planned out. We'll find out more in just three weeks.

Danikat · December 20

"Season Pass" can mean all kinds of things, depending on the game. In a lot of games it's basically a loot box system where the pass enables you to earn boxes like crown crates which give you extra cosmetics, but it doesn't affect your access to game modes, stories or anything like that. In others it's just what they call DLC bundles. Or it can mean temporary maps and game modes which will be deleted later on.

We'll have to wait until January to find out what ZOS means by it, although I suspect it is going to be the same as the content pass and they just changed the name because everyone kept pointing out it was a season pass with a confusing name.

The important thing for me is how much of it will be permanently available. It's not worth paying for anything that's going to be deleted from the game when ZOS decides we've had enough and it's time for something else. It was annoying enough playing Guild Wars 2 when they were constantly doing temporary releases, but at least they knew better than to charge for it so it was all free updates.

Radiate77 · December 20

I have big concerns with this.

One of the main reasons why I do not play ARPGs, is the Seasonal reset, and if this turns into a situation where we need to make new characters to experience each season, that’s going to be it for me.

ZomZom · December 20

Instead of another zone or quest arc, I’d personally be more interested in systemic improvements that affect all existing content — better performance, graphics options, UI refinements, and reliability across zones. Those are changes most players experience constantly, not just once per story.

I wonder how many other players have so much existing content left that they aren’t primarily motivated by new zones/quests? What kinds of seasonal mechanics (not limited-time stuff) would you want to see that reuse the vast base game content — e.g., new enemy modifiers, world events, dynamic challenges?

Erickson9610 · December 20

Anilahation wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I think it will be the same thing and just rebranded because people found the old phrase confusing.

you might be right and it will just be a whole year being a season

It may not be a whole year. Seasons can be shorter than a year long, meaning we could get multiple, shorter Seasons per year.

LunaFlora · December 20

i think it is best to simply wait and see.
the 2026 reveal livestream is the day after New Life Festival ends

Dagoth_Rac · December 20

I expect they'll go back to the earlier concept of DLC/Updates. When a Update might be like when they added Justice system or housing or Heists or Champion Points or Imperial City. Stand-alone content with varying focus and features, no standard cadence, and no large PvE zone as centerpiece of a year-long story. I don't think they are going to rehaul game and make everyone go back to Level 1 every few months and then the content going away once season ends. I can't imagine that kind of system.

I think they just don't have budget for the large Chapters and quests and voice acting and stuff. And they don't want to be locked into that, or locked into really any expected content flow. The seasons are gonna be just a hodgepodge of content, giving ZOS more flexibility in how much they spend per quarter and break player expectations after like 7 or 8 years of a comfortable but predictable pattern of content.

Danikat · December 20

Radiate77 wrote: »

I have big concerns with this.

One of the main reasons why I do not play ARPGs, is the Seasonal reset, and if this turns into a situation where we need to make new characters to experience each season, that’s going to be it for me.

I think it's incredibly unlikely they'll do that. It works for those types of games because they're designed around constantly resetting your progress like that, and I assume people who play them don't get that attached to their characters.

As this topic shows there's a lot of things 'season pass' can mean, but I think that's the least likely choice. ESO wasn't designed or marketed as that sort of game and I think it would make a lot of people angry if they tried that.

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

I expect they'll go back to the earlier concept of DLC/Updates. When a Update might be like when they added Justice system or housing or Heists or Champion Points or Imperial City. Stand-alone content with varying focus and features, no standard cadence, and no large PvE zone as centerpiece of a year-long story. I don't think they are going to rehaul game and make everyone go back to Level 1 every few months and then the content going away once season ends. I can't imagine that kind of system.

I think they just don't have budget for the large Chapters and quests and voice acting and stuff. And they don't want to be locked into that, or locked into really any expected content flow. The seasons are gonna be just a hodgepodge of content, giving ZOS more flexibility in how much they spend per quarter and break player expectations after like 7 or 8 years of a comfortable but predictable pattern of content.

That could actually be good IMO. I got a little frustrated last year when ZOS started going "we hear you, we know you've been saying you don't like how predictable our releases have become, so we're changing what we call them and how you pay for them!" while keeping what they released the same. I know they said it was a transitional year and they'd likely been working on a chapter for months before someone decided to change things, but IMO it would have been better to release Sostice as a chapter and save the change for when they were actually ready to do it.

But most importantly I would like a bit more variety in what they release, like we had in the first few years where maybe it would be a zone and story focused DLC or one more focused on introducing new mechanics or a mix, but I was perfectly happy with the payment model where each DLC, chapter or whatever they want to call it is released complete and we know what we're getting and that we will get all of it.

It's fine if we don't know what's coming next until we get it, it doesn't need to be like the last few years where we always knew the schedule would be dungeon DLC, chapter, dungeon DLC, then zone DLC or feature update. But when it gets to the point of actually buying something we should know what it will be and when it's released it should all be in the game.

Seraphayel · December 20

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I think it will be the same thing and just rebranded because people found the old phrase confusing.

I hope seasons mean we will get two major updates per year, one in Q2 and one in Q4 (April and October). This could look like:

Season of X:
Q1: Dungeon(s)
Q2: New small zone or questlines / new small or enhanced feature

Season of Y:
Q3: Dungeon(s)
Q4: New small zone or questlines / new small or enhanced feature

Each season costs $19.99 and lasts for half a year.

Anilahation · December 20

Danikat wrote: »

Radiate77 wrote: »

I have big concerns with this.

One of the main reasons why I do not play ARPGs, is the Seasonal reset, and if this turns into a situation where we need to make new characters to experience each season, that’s going to be it for me.

I think it's incredibly unlikely they'll do that. It works for those types of games because they're designed around constantly resetting your progress like that, and I assume people who play them don't get that attached to their characters.

As this topic shows there's a lot of things 'season pass' can mean, but I think that's the least likely choice. ESO wasn't designed or marketed as that sort of game and I think it would make a lot of people angry if they tried that.

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

I expect they'll go back to the earlier concept of DLC/Updates. When a Update might be like when they added Justice system or housing or Heists or Champion Points or Imperial City. Stand-alone content with varying focus and features, no standard cadence, and no large PvE zone as centerpiece of a year-long story. I don't think they are going to rehaul game and make everyone go back to Level 1 every few months and then the content going away once season ends. I can't imagine that kind of system.

I think they just don't have budget for the large Chapters and quests and voice acting and stuff. And they don't want to be locked into that, or locked into really any expected content flow. The seasons are gonna be just a hodgepodge of content, giving ZOS more flexibility in how much they spend per quarter and break player expectations after like 7 or 8 years of a comfortable but predictable pattern of content.

That could actually be good IMO. I got a little frustrated last year when ZOS started going "we hear you, we know you've been saying you don't like how predictable our releases have become, so we're changing what we call them and how you pay for them!" while keeping what they released the same. I know they said it was a transitional year and they'd likely been working on a chapter for months before someone decided to change things, but IMO it would have been better to release Sostice as a chapter and save the change for when they were actually ready to do it.

But most importantly I would like a bit more variety in what they release, like we had in the first few years where maybe it would be a zone and story focused DLC or one more focused on introducing new mechanics or a mix, but I was perfectly happy with the payment model where each DLC, chapter or whatever they want to call it is released complete and we know what we're getting and that we will get all of it.

It's fine if we don't know what's coming next until we get it, it doesn't need to be like the last few years where we always knew the schedule would be dungeon DLC, chapter, dungeon DLC, then zone DLC or feature update. But when it gets to the point of actually buying something we should know what it will be and when it's released it should all be in the game.

Yeah I can get the warriness of resetting or starting your character on level 1 but ARPGs and WoW remixes show that you can really flip the formula around when the content you're making isn't focused around "completely geared" characters.

It means everyone gets to jump in and you're not obligated to play catch up, especially for PvP cyrodil... like if we got a seasonal cyrodil with themed templates like an ice mage or a stealth archer or a dual wield Berserker vs simply having our class abilities which combat just resolve around cycling buffs and spamming heals on ourselves.

Syldras · December 20

If I had to guess, I'd say doing smaller releases now instead of big chapters might not be that much of a free choice, but more or less a necessity. Look at the past year, how bugged everything was, how the number of quests was reduced, how things just seemed not to have gotten ready in time for release. This sadly gives me the impression that they just can't do big releases right now because they don't have the neccessary workforce for it. Which, by itself, doesn't look like a good sign for the longevity of this game, and makes me worried. Though of course it's honest at least not to attempt something that can't be done satisfactorily and go for smaller releases instead. The question remains whether these will be interesting and the price will be worth it. And whether it will be enough to keep players interested.

SummersetCitizen · December 20

Player numbers keep going down. I am guessing revenue is also going down as a result.

How can any future content be superior when resources are drying up?

They are shooting themselves in the foot by churning out minimal, buggy content which pushes more customers away. It’s a downward spiral that self-perpetuates.

This “season” was definitely not worth the price.

wolfie1.0. · December 21

My preference is not to have content that disappears after a time.

However, IF it must exist, and some or all of it pay gated then it needs to offer the following:

1) worthwhile lasting rewards: basically zos, give us crown level content, titles, rewards.
2) engaging content: it needs to feel like we are facing a dire threat, something big and the actions we take need to show some impact on the ingame world.
3) it needs to be complete: we need full scale testing an it to be as bug free as possible.
4) memorials: there needs to be a meaningful way to memorialize the event.

Elvenheart · December 22

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

I expect they'll go back to the earlier concept of DLC/Updates. When a Update might be like when they added Justice system or housing or Heists or Champion Points or Imperial City. Stand-alone content with varying focus and features, no standard cadence, and no large PvE zone as centerpiece of a year-long story. I don't think they are going to rehaul game and make everyone go back to Level 1 every few months and then the content going away once season ends. I can't imagine that kind of system.

I think they just don't have budget for the large Chapters and quests and voice acting and stuff. And they don't want to be locked into that, or locked into really any expected content flow. The seasons are gonna be just a hodgepodge of content, giving ZOS more flexibility in how much they spend per quarter and break player expectations after like 7 or 8 years of a comfortable but predictable pattern of content.

I think I might like it if it turns out to be like this.

bmnoble · December 22

My stance is if I am paying for content, I want access to that content till the moment the servers shut down for good.

Having limited time stuff, that then gets removed or vaulted to be brought back someday, doesn't make me want to bother with it let alone pay for it.

Even if it were to last a quarter or half a year I got no guarantee I will have time to sit down and play at length over that time period, especially if I have to waste time levelling a character from scratch each time.

I made my existing characters the way I want them for me the point of having more content is taking my existing characters on new adventures, that is the main advantage of online RPG's over single player ones to me.

StackonClown · December 22

on a similar note, will zos stop selling 2025 season pass on 1-Jan-26 ? Is it still valid any more ?