Official Feedback Thread For 2026 ESO Reveal

esotoon · January 7

Danikat wrote: »

but beyond the survey mentioning some names there is no info at all about them.

I found this to be extremely odd. The survey mentions several things that weren't covered in this livestream. Yet this survey is meant to be about the things announced in the live stream.

Why weren't these things talked about?

If as we are told feedback is so important now, what good is a survey that is asking us question about things we have no knowledge of?

Frustratingly, the things that are in the survey but not the livestream are the very things that might assuage some of the negativity that this announcement is rightfully receiving (i.e. more content, more PVP info, etc.).

DenverRalphy · January 7

Destai wrote: »

I also think it would be helpful to know more about this team that’s watching out feedback. Like, who are they? What feedback should we be providing them? Are they technical or business people?

Respectfully, I disagree. Any team assigned to watching out for our feedback needs to be as indistinguishable as possible, if not outright anonymous. Reason being is that anonymity allows them to observe and assign priority based on unbiased weight. Tell us who they are, and priority is skewed by who can muster the most targeted feedback.

[edit] Not to mention the mountain of backlog it would create as they're hit with a deluge correspondence.

heaven13 · January 7

I'm more tentatively hopeful than I expected to be. I think there are a lot of good QOL updates that will be good for the game. I appreciate that there were multiple acknowledgements of mistakes that they made and are working on correcting (30 day guild trader listing, 3-team BGs, subclassing, etc) so it shows more humility, imo, than we've seen in the past.

I do think the pricing is a little skewed (would like to see them drop to $10 and $20 respectively for the 2 tiers) but I'm not as angry about the battlepasses as might be expected. The benefit here, to me, is that the paid version of the battlepasses looked to be cosmetic only: pay if you want those cosmetics and they are guaranteed (not RNG chances in crates) and you give yourself more time to get them if you can't complete in one season/quarter. Currently, you have to buy the chapter (or SotWC) to get the latest gear and mythics and whatever else if you need it for your build. If all the new content becomes free, those new sets and mythics become available for everyone and so you can only buy the BP if it has items you're interested in.

I will say please learn your lesson from templar jabs/flurry/grim focus and make animation changes optional instead of forced. Some people love their character's animations as they are and will not enjoy new ones, especially flashier ones.

Dayth · January 7

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

Cosmetics are a massive part of endgame though, we have an outfitting system for that reason, we do quests and world events for motifs pages, we do seasonal events to get style pages, obtaining cosmetics is content to us.

Will there be an actual gameplay barrier in obtaining the cosmetics? Will we be able to get cosmetics from a previous pass or will we be permanently locked out because we missed the 3 month window?

karthrag_inak · January 7

3 Team BGs!!!!!

markulrich1966 · January 7

so we are supposed to pay for battlepass instead of chapters.
However: I lately bought chapters when they were on sale, so 6-10 months after release. (I play 4 accounts, so this has massive financial impact).

But if I understand it correctly, you don't have such an option with battlepass, as after 6 months the season is already over.
So to participate in all content on all 4 accounts, I had to pay roughly 4x30 x4= 480 Euro per year?
That's gross.

Alastrine · January 7

danko355 wrote: »

I'm wondering if I will get a refund if I have multiple characters with 8-10 Outfit slots. Doesn't sound fair I had to waste so much crowns.

That's not reasonable.
Would be like all of us that paid to buy Clockwork City wanting a refund because now its free.
It happens.

TheOubliette · January 7

Hi ZoS.

I like the news I'm hearing about the direction of ESO. However...

It's lovely that you had Twitch Drops for watching the reveal stream, but being in Australia, some of us are being distinctly left out. I wake up this morning, to see that I would have needed to have woken up at 5AM to watch on Twitch.

Come on guys, Australia already has ass ping to NA, and we're always on the wrong side of guild events time-wise. Can we please find a way to not punish this time zone on the precious Twitch Drops by limiting them for a single hour, before reasonable people wake up?

Thanks

Alastrine · January 7

GMdoghunter wrote: »

tophatsaur wrote: »

Getting back into ESO after a few years away. I watched the livestream, and was left a little confused. I mostly play ESO for the story and zones; are no new ones being added for 2026? Or, is there going to be a separate announcement for what to expect story/content-wise, and this one was for a general overview? I haven't played since Blackwood and so am accustomed to the big announcements with the cinematics and flair. Has ESO moved away from this?

No new Zones for 2026.Only a few new events,Night Market etc.

They have also stated new questlines, storylines etc.

Ian135791 · January 7

Not interested in Non-Persistent content except for the existing event structure in persistent zones. When I play i like to do what I want not be needing to play an area that will disappear in a few months. The wall was ok cause it at least gave a new persistent zone.

ZOS_Kevin · January 7

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

Cosmetics are a massive part of endgame though, we have an outfitting system for that reason, we do quests and world events for motifs pages, we do seasonal events to get style pages, obtaining cosmetics is content to us.

Will there be an actual gameplay barrier in obtaining the cosmetics? Will be able to get cosmetics from a previous pass or will we be permanently locked out because we missed the 3 month window?

Yes, you will still be able to earn cosmetics through gameplay. That is not changing. Endgame rewards will still be rewarded through in-game play, like completing trials, dungeons, etc. These are additional themed cosmetics.

If you purchase a premium pass, then you own it. You can complete it years down the line if you like.

ZOS_Kevin · January 7

karthrag_inak wrote: »

3 Team BGs!!!!!

We know folks have been asking for this back. So glad we can have this added again.

Alastrine · January 7

Enodoc wrote: »

Why "Season Zero"? If this is supposed to be "the first season", that makes it Season One by definition, and Seasons of the Worm Cult becomes Season Zero by relegation (since SotWC was advertised as a "Season" already, and not a "Chapter").

I would guess because it goes by yearly. SotWC was in 2025.
Why call the first one Season Zero, meh, likely just like a reference to "Ground Zero". The beginning of a virtually whole new system. is what I assume.

LukosCreyden · January 7

Considering that this is the Season of Transparency, I was surprised at the lack of transparency. Most of the stuff in the roadmap wasn't really explained at all. What is a Sage's Vault? What feature is this? Is it something that is exciting enough to make me reinstall? I don't know because we weren't told, so I have not reinstalled.

Seminolegirl1992 · January 7

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

karthrag_inak wrote: »

3 Team BGs!!!!!

We know folks have been asking for this back. So glad we can have this added again.

omg you guys are bringing them back! love love love love

Alastrine · January 7

GMdoghunter wrote: »

SnakeDodger wrote: »

Soooo, im not sure if im getting the battle pass thing correct, but basically the paid content that was included in eso plus after 12 months will now be a forced 12 month subscription to get it? Thats what it seems like it with that premium plus tier and the way eso plus works with it...

More or less yes that is correct,you need to be Subscribed to eso+ for 12 months as in complete months/days to get the free premium+ tier for a season of your choice.

But battle pass things, the Tomes, aren't really content so much as rewards.
For ESO+, it's like a "buy 12 months of Plus, get 1 premium tier Tome free" is what it is.
I would not think of it as content. It's replacing the daily rewards and endeavor quests.

SkaiFaith · January 7

BEST. REVEAL. EVER.
I could use lots of words but it left me speechless and moved - YOU LISTENED!
THANK YOU

I had a fear for the future of the game due to "being burnt in the past" but I now have renewed faith. GO, new ZOS!

Seminolegirl1992 · January 7

As always Kevin, thank you for continuing to provide clarity and answering questions on the forums.

SummersetCitizen · January 7

$120 for Seasons
+$140 for 1 year of ESO Plus
——————
$260 per year for the “full” experience 😵

That doesn’t even include other cash grabs… items sold for real money instead of crowns (for example, the anniversary pet and the house in the housing starter pack).

This is significantly more money for what seems to be far less meaningful, new content.

ZOS_Kevin · January 7

Hi All, we added this to the main post, but wanted to share these article links as well. Incase they are helpful to clear any confusion. We are also keeping an eye out for questions so that we can clarify any as needed.

Seasons: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69137
Tamriel Tomes: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69141
Gold Coast Bazaar: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69139

ZOS_Kevin · January 7

Seminolegirl1992 wrote: »

As always Kevin, thank you for continuing to provide clarity and answering questions on the forums.

Happy to do so! Keep the questions coming. Anything we cannot answer immediately, we will talk to the team and get answers.

freespirit · January 7

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

As long as all I am missing out with Premium Tomes thingies is basically cosmetic, then I don’t care.

Been playing for 10 years & have a stupid number of mounts & costumes & pets & styles that I don’t use anyway. Am now too old to get FOMO.

As long as I can access whatever content they decide to release, that’s ok. Then if I decide that I really want a certain thing, I can buy a pass.

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

I really don't like the new Battlepass idea, not one bit!!

Also where does the distinction between "Gameplay" and "Cosmetic" fall??

I can happily ignore 99% of the usual cosmetic's that we are offered BUT where it starts to worry me, is what category do furnishings and even houses fall into?

Will I suddenly find many beautiful housing items locked behind the super, duper, premium+++ pass??

There are already too many locked behind crowns imo, I suspect there is now another place to put them!! 😮‍💨

Rkindaleft · January 7

DenverRalphy wrote: »

frogthroat wrote: »

Battle Passes - Higher prices for less value? 30 bucks for a Season, 3 seasons per year? That's 90 bucks per year. More than the deluxe editions for the expansions. Pay more, get less? This feels like it comes from Microsoft shareholders, not ZOS devs, because you must be a shareholder or at least higher up if you are so out of touch that you think battle passes are a good idea. Those kill games.

Actually it's 4 seasons per year. Each season is 3 months.

Current system $50 for content pass, and $140/year for ESO+. Total $190.

New season model.
First year $30/season, that's $120/year. ESO+ $140/year = $260 for first year.

Subsequent years $260 minus one season credit of $30 = $230

That's an absolutely ludicrous price. You can buy new AAA games for half the price or less with more content in them??

There's absolutely no way this is going to be worth the value, especially since as far as I understand, some of the actual "content" updates will be free and this will contain a lot of cosmetics.

Dayth · January 7

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

Cosmetics are a massive part of endgame though, we have an outfitting system for that reason, we do quests and world events for motifs pages, we do seasonal events to get style pages, obtaining cosmetics is content to us.

Will there be an actual gameplay barrier in obtaining the cosmetics? Will be able to get cosmetics from a previous pass or will we be permanently locked out because we missed the 3 month window?

Yes, you will still be able to earn cosmetics through gameplay. That is not changing. Endgame rewards will still be rewarded through in-game play, like completing trials, dungeons, etc. These are additional themed cosmetics.

If you purchase a premium pass, then you own it. You can complete it years down the line if you like.

But that's if you purchase the pass, what I meant was what if I missed the 3 month window to purchase it, there's a new current pass and I'd like a cosmetic from a pervious pass, will there be a way for me to obtain something from an older pass? Is there some sort of...barrier?

Seminolegirl1992 · January 7

SummersetCitizen wrote: »

$120 for Seasons
+$140 for 1 year of ESO Plus
——————
$260 per year for the “full” experience 😵

That doesn’t even include other cash grabs… items sold for real money instead of crowns (for example, the anniversary pet and the house in the housing starter pack).

This is significantly more money for what seems to be for less meaningful, new content.

I share your sentiment here to a degree. While I'm stoked about the battlepass idea, I wish craft bags were infinite, and that eso+ would simply be replaced by this feature. And just have the free option, a $10, and a $20. Or even the 15 and 30. And have the original eso+ benefits added to the battlepass first paid tier. I understand ZOS needs revenue of course, but with how expensive crown store items are- this would be a nice change and still make them good money.

Lissiexx · January 7

I am paid up for ESO+ till August. Not sure I am going to be paying for any Battlepass …sounds frankly ridiculous. Maximum price for minimum effort …… business model ‘let’s reroll existing content and make them pay for it again but a lot more’ and no one will notice. Wrong! No new zone, class, combat system, anything other than cosmetics/visuals/events and fixing stuff you have been going to fix for literally years and years. Thought the writhing wall event was bad and genuinely I left Solstice alone and enjoyed other parts of the game that were less bugged as I was struggling to find ‘fun’ in logging on …… but 2026 reveal …I feel sad but also annoyed at how much you have disrespected loyal players like myself. In my opinion this was just dreadful.

Desiato · January 7

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

Cosmetics are a massive part of endgame though, we have an outfitting system for that reason, we do quests and world events for motifs pages, we do seasonal events to get style pages, obtaining cosmetics is content to us.

Will there be an actual gameplay barrier in obtaining the cosmetics? Will be able to get cosmetics from a previous pass or will we be permanently locked out because we missed the 3 month window?

Yes, you will still be able to earn cosmetics through gameplay. That is not changing. Endgame rewards will still be rewarded through in-game play, like completing trials, dungeons, etc. These are additional themed cosmetics.

If you purchase a premium pass, then you own it. You can complete it years down the line if you like.

Please give us examples of the kind of items each tier of Battle Pass will offer and what players who opt out of it will be missing.

I don't care about cosmetics in general, but I also don't mind paying for the games I play if I feel I'm getting good value -- AND I don't like the idea of being a second class citizen.

I'm not sure if you guys realize it, but what you're actually competing with are regular new releases of AAA B2P Live Service games AND new AAA RPGs. Most online gamers I know would rather buy a few new games like Arc Raiders and BF6 through the course of the year than play ESO with ESO+.

ESO is 12 years old with dated graphics!

Even with ESO+, inventory management in ESO is awful for me. It's SO TEDIOUS. You've leaned too heavily into adding items just to promote it. Not only does the craft bag need to be added to the base game, there needs to be an equipment bag added to make equipping characters easier for end game content.

Alastrine · January 7

Well, I don't see changing my gameplay that much unless I really like the 'jobs' that are in the Tomes.
I won't pay any more for the game other than the one account that I have kept Plus on (I used to have 3 accounts that all had Plus but money is tight so down to just my main).
Zero interest in paying for Premium Tomes, Battlepasses or anything else.

- I don't mind that there isn't a new zone, and hope the new questlines and stuff are interesting and fun. Can't pay $50+ for a new zone every year anyway any more. SotWC wasn't worth it at all at all at all - for me anyway. It was alright, but not that much money's worth.
- Love the increase to housing slots, period.
- Love that some crown mounts will be available for just gold.
- Love the 30-day listing window being reinstated.

- Don't love that Plus isn't worth any more other than the 1 Premium Tome a year. I think this deal should have been sweetened. Perhaps give us one mid tier Tome every month, or even every second month for 6 a year. Just 1 for a year of Plus is a bit stingy imo. For 6 I'd say ok. And it's good no price increase for Plus, need to keep it that way.
- Don't love changing animations for DK. It doesn't improve the play of the skills and often just leads to a ton of bugs, so I don't see this as upgrading the class in any way at all.

I think that's all the main points I have atm but will likely come up with others as it all sinks in. In short, I'm not going anywhere but as to whether I'll be inspired to play more than what I am now - which is considerably less than say, a year ago, - remains to be seen.

ZOS_Kevin · January 7

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

Cosmetics are a massive part of endgame though, we have an outfitting system for that reason, we do quests and world events for motifs pages, we do seasonal events to get style pages, obtaining cosmetics is content to us.

Will there be an actual gameplay barrier in obtaining the cosmetics? Will be able to get cosmetics from a previous pass or will we be permanently locked out because we missed the 3 month window?

Yes, you will still be able to earn cosmetics through gameplay. That is not changing. Endgame rewards will still be rewarded through in-game play, like completing trials, dungeons, etc. These are additional themed cosmetics.

If you purchase a premium pass, then you own it. You can complete it years down the line if you like.

But that's if you purchase the pass, what I meant was what if I missed the 3 month window to purchase it, there's a new current pass and I'd like a cosmetic from a pervious pass, will there be a way for me to obtain something from an older pass? Is there some sort of...barrier?

We'll ask the team about this specifically. That is a fair question.

Dayth · January 7

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Dayth wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

That's the general idea here. You will not be locked out of content if you choose not to buy the Tamriel Tome. It is cosmetic, not a gameplay barrier.

Cosmetics are a massive part of endgame though, we have an outfitting system for that reason, we do quests and world events for motifs pages, we do seasonal events to get style pages, obtaining cosmetics is content to us.

Will there be an actual gameplay barrier in obtaining the cosmetics? Will we be able to get cosmetics from a previous pass or will we be permanently locked out because we missed the 3 month window?

Yes, you will still be able to earn cosmetics through gameplay. That is not changing. Endgame rewards will still be rewarded through in-game play, like completing trials, dungeons, etc. These are additional themed cosmetics.

If you purchase a premium pass, then you own it. You can complete it years down the line if you like.

But that's if you purchase the pass, what I meant was what if I missed the 3 month window to purchase it, there's a new current pass and I'd like a cosmetic from a pervious pass, will there be a way for me to obtain something from an older pass? Is there some sort of...barrier?

We'll ask the team about this specifically. That is a fair question.

I appreciate it.