Official Feedback Thread For 2026 ESO Reveal

ThundariansBirthday · January 8

Really enjoyed the stream, the new leadership, and the emphasis on communication/transparency.

That being said, I would really like clarification on the tome/battle pass. If a season is focused on new questlines or a new zone, do these disappear when the season is over if you haven't bought one of the passes? Or is it just the earnable rewards that disappear?

I think everything we heard is a great step in the right direction, but I am worried about being unable to revisit locations/storylines once the season has passed.

spartaxoxo · January 8

ThundariansBirthday wrote: »

Really enjoyed the stream, the new leadership, and the emphasis on communication/transparency.

That being said, I would really like clarification on the tome/battle pass. If a season is focused on new questlines or a new zone, do these disappear when the season is over if you haven't bought one of the passes? Or is it just the earnable rewards that disappear?

I think everything we heard is a great step in the right direction, but I am worried about being unable to revisit locations/storylines once the season has passed.

The battle pass is just cosmetics. They are yours to keep forever if you buy them. The free ones expire at the end of the season.

Most new gameplay content will now be added for free to the base game. The year one dlc is also being made free.

The Night market is an event zone but it doesn't sound like the other stuff expires. At least, they didn't mention it.

DenverRalphy · January 8

ThundariansBirthday wrote: »

Really enjoyed the stream, the new leadership, and the emphasis on communication/transparency.

That being said, I would really like clarification on the tome/battle pass. If a season is focused on new questlines or a new zone, do these disappear when the season is over if you haven't bought one of the passes? Or is it just the earnable rewards that disappear?

I think everything we heard is a great step in the right direction, but I am worried about being unable to revisit locations/storylines once the season has passed.

Any new zones, questlines, content, etc.. are all free and will remain. Although they did poorly refer to Event Zones when they should have refered to them as Event Instances. As events are evolving toward instanced content (like the writhing fortress) that can return when needed.

Mr_Friendly · January 8

@ZOS_Kevin

Do all versions of battlepass cover only future content, or will previous content be accessible as well?

Right now, PVP is P2W with regard to the mythic items from the last season's pass. Will I be able to get them without owning the content pass or not?

HappyTheCamper · January 8

So after reading the Tamriel Times article, my question is if my 12 month sub resets in July, do I have to wait and get my 12 automatic premium tokens then? If the season 0 stuff starts in April, am I going to get compensated for waiting?

Apologies for lack of phrasing in the last sentence. I’m not trying to sound entitled, I’m just wondering since this all starts in April, and I’m already locked into subbing every July, do I get anything for the remains months until then? It would be nice if I at least got 3 premium tokens, but I suppose I understand if not.

Edit: it looks like maybe/yes. The article I found for future readers!

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69141

Necrotech_Master · January 8

positives:

like the various QoL changes coming, as some were desperately overdue
like having more things available for gold
like a system for obtaining previous limited time items

negatives

battlepass (good god why, these are so awful)

SilverBride · January 8

There are some things I like the idea of, and other things I don't, and others that I find confusing. And I am left wondering where ESO went.

I've felt it moving down a path away from what it's been toward something I don't recognize, and not in a good way. The changes are just too much and too different all at once.

Yökarhu · January 8

The stream was well organized, neat and it did it's job. Was good to see the new lead.

There are so many things that I am exited about, even after 6000 hours. I am overjoyed the whole content will be free after you purchase the base game.

Now comes the but:
It matters nothing, that the content is free, if the new players are forced to sub just to manage their inventory. You wanna loot everything, when you are new. You wanna decon, you wanna sell. If half of the gaming time goes to your inventory management, that is a bad game. They will not stick with the game. You have to find a solution to it. Give a new player free ESO+ for one season. Let them truly experience the game before you force them to decide if they wanna invest in it. Or don't you trust in your product? I won't invite single friend to this game again, until I can confidentially say, I am proud of ZoS and it's fair monetization (like Warframe).

The mandatory sub and the gambling loot crates are embarrassing at this time and age. Be more innovative! I have nothing agaist the battle pass per se, nor the ESO+ (well the old version had content in it, now we just get cosmetics and more space?), you gotta get the money from somewhere. Just get rid of the remants of the greedy era, will you? The more players you have, the more they wanna fashion. They wanna look at the new shiny mount and ride to victory with many new well dressed friends. ^_^

Try it! Give us one year without crates, just crown store with the rotating cosmetics you have in the crates and see how much more ppl put money in it, when they know they get the items they pay for. Being fair with us will pay off. ( i know many ppl who don't wanna put money in the crown store atm, on principle, bc they don't wanna support a game that thinks its ok to put us gamble with our money)

I am so happy you are listening us with many, many aspects.
Please listen to us with these as well. I have new hope for this game after 3 years of sadness.

DenverRalphy · January 8

The single best thing I took away from the whole reveal, is that the season/pass system is designed around players actually playing the game to progress and earn rewards. Daily login rewards are gone and Endeavors are transformed into objectives that are dispatched weekly that take playing the game to accomplish, and with the only deadline being the season's end date.

Lord_Hev · January 8

Cooperharley wrote: »

Lord_Hev wrote: »

All my enthusiasm and optimism went out the window the second dragonknight animation CHANGES were shown. Have we learned nothing from the templar jabs controversy? Can we STOP CHANGING EXISTING ANIMATIONS PLEASE. Either make it completely OPTIONAL like a style or dye or not at all! Stop forcefully changing animations the players have grown accustomed and attached to for years.

I absolutely loved the changes. Same for 2H. That's just your opinion homie.

And I like the "new" jabs, yet I would still fight tooth and nail for the original animation to be made optionally available because many fans hate the new update 35 jabs.

ZOS_Kevin · January 8

spartaxoxo wrote: »

ThundariansBirthday wrote: »

Really enjoyed the stream, the new leadership, and the emphasis on communication/transparency.

That being said, I would really like clarification on the tome/battle pass. If a season is focused on new questlines or a new zone, do these disappear when the season is over if you haven't bought one of the passes? Or is it just the earnable rewards that disappear?

I think everything we heard is a great step in the right direction, but I am worried about being unable to revisit locations/storylines once the season has passed.

The battle pass is just cosmetics. They are yours to keep forever if you buy them. The free ones expire at the end of the season.

Most new gameplay content will now be added for free to the base game. The year one dlc is also being made free.

The Night market is an event zone but it doesn't sound like the other stuff expires. At least, they didn't mention it.

New quests and stories will not expire.

ZOS_Kevin · January 8

Mr_Friendly wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin

Do all versions of battlepass cover only future content, or will previous content be accessible as well?

Right now, PVP is P2W with regard to the mythic items from the last season's pass. Will I be able to get them without owning the content pass or not?

The Tamriel Tome is only cosmetic. Anything that has power associated with it, like a mythic will be earnable without the battlepass.

ZOS_Kevin · January 8

HappyTheCamper wrote: »

So after reading the Tamriel Times article, my question is if my 12 month sub resets in July, do I have to wait and get my 12 automatic premium tokens then? If the season 0 stuff starts in April, am I going to get compensated for waiting?

Apologies for lack of phrasing in the last sentence. I’m not trying to sound entitled, I’m just wondering since this all starts in April, and I’m already locked into subbing every July, do I get anything for the remains months until then? It would be nice if I at least got 3 premium tokens, but I suppose I understand if not.

This is a good question. We will ask the team and get specifics on timing based on when your ESO Plus was purchased.

hiyde · January 8

I have concerns about some of the new reveals today but I wanna save that for another post.

I want to point out some of the things that impresssed me today:

1: It was nice to see the team do a live stream together, from an actual set vs. from multiple home offices. I hope this continues.

2: It was *really* nice to see top management like @ZOS_Susan and @ZOS_Kevin diving into the trenches on reddit today and answering numerous questions. I'd argue even going further and engaging with more of the negatively toned comments. These are the choices you made. Own them, stand behind them, explain your reasoning.

3: It was awesome to see a few requests from the April 2025 Guild Summit find their way into the dev cycle. I don't have to ask my guildies to wear hideous cooking aprons just to rep our guild? OMG. Guild-wide mail, changes to guild banks, reverting back to 30 day listings. THANK YOU.

4: The trends of more & higher quality communication appears to be continuing and improving. Don't lose this momentum!

5: And finally, thanks for the increased insight and more comprehensive list of what's coming in the next year and beyond.

Well done.

Malyore · January 8

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

ThundariansBirthday wrote: »

Really enjoyed the stream, the new leadership, and the emphasis on communication/transparency.

That being said, I would really like clarification on the tome/battle pass. If a season is focused on new questlines or a new zone, do these disappear when the season is over if you haven't bought one of the passes? Or is it just the earnable rewards that disappear?

I think everything we heard is a great step in the right direction, but I am worried about being unable to revisit locations/storylines once the season has passed.

The battle pass is just cosmetics. They are yours to keep forever if you buy them. The free ones expire at the end of the season.

Most new gameplay content will now be added for free to the base game. The year one dlc is also being made free.

The Night market is an event zone but it doesn't sound like the other stuff expires. At least, they didn't mention it.

New quests and stories will not expire.

Thank you for clarifying that. With all of the streams discussion of reducing FOMO, it seemed weird to then tie expiring tomes to seasonal content. It made it a bit more confusing on what a season's end meant for content, and for FOMO tactics.

I want to throw my voice in the mix too by saying I love that they are making more things free and available outside of the crown store.

ZOS_Kevin · January 8

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I guess I just want to mirror some others on this thread about my confusion about what everyone is so enthusiastic about. I am a PvE player, so I should look forward to new dungeons -- nope, there aren't any; a new trial - nope; a new zone with story quests - nope; a new class - nope; account-wide armory slots - nope only the dress-up slots; my ESO+ subscription getting more value - not a chance. So why am I excited again?

Hey there! Just wanted to clarify, we do have some of those items coming.
There is a new trial, Crimson Veldt.
We have solo dungeons coming as well.
The Night Market will also be a dungeon adjacent activity to do as well. It should have difficulty in the ballpark of a dungeon.
We have new quests for Thieves Guild and Sheogorath coming as well.
We also have a list of around 20 quality of life things coming in Update 49/ Season Zero, and more to come later in the year.
If you care about the Tamriel Tome, there is some added value there. And we are taking feedback from others back to the team as well. But totally understand that if you don't care about the Tome, then there is not added value this time around.

But hopefully that helps to showcase some of the things we are doing to add PvE value.

Syldras · January 8

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

And some things I’m very 🤨 about - Night Market is temporary? I don’t like where that seems to be heading.

Exactly. It might just be the Night Market this year, but what might it be next one? This whole direction makes me wary.

bobsontpm wrote: »

On minus (-)
- no cinematics (I know it costs a lot of money, but please, please continue the tradition of doing cinematics for the reveal, that we can put together into one long movie).

I'd generally have been interested in getting some cinematic, but what would they have made one about this time? There was nothing on a new zone or story today.

GatheredMyst wrote: »

So long as there are an appropriate number of rewards being put into the actual zones as well, and everything cosmetic isn't being stuffed into the battlepass, i'll be fine with optional cosmetics finding their way into the battle pass instead.

Which zones?

BlueRaven wrote: »

Maybe I am in a minority but I was really hoping for new companions.

Or a continuation of the old companion stories, at least. Or any additions to the companion system.

Malyore wrote: »

While there were a lot of things that seem promising, and also a few things that seem concerning/contradictory, there is one thing to share that I feel is vital to the game, yet was not discussed on stream:
The improved writing, narrative, and interaction of quest stories.
All of the other updates to gameplay don't mean much if there isn't a fun game to play.

Right now I expect a Sheogorath story full of weird quips and a Thieves Guild questline with lots of moral lessons (Friendship is awesome! Don't steal except from the baddies! Protect the environment!).

But seriously, it's also strange they've introduced dialogue options and quest choices and different endings - and then there's so little story content this year?!

Arunei · January 8

I'm pretty sure that once a Season ends, you won't be able to "subscribe" to it.

Free_Slash_Intro-Tamriel-Tomes_sku-grid-3840x2160.png?ex=6960219b&is=695ed01b&hm=aa538f249fca480d48d0e3fdb3afd5a423df706572402ae0d0755e7563e159bc&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=2898&height=1631

Free_Slash_Intro-Tamriel-Tomes_sku-grid-3840x2160.png?ex=6960219b&is=695ed01b&hm=aa538f249fca480d48d0e3fdb3afd5a423df706572402ae0d0755e7563e159bc&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=2898&height=1631

You can see where it says "Tome Duration" that it says "Available for the duration of the Season", which very strongly implies that once the Season ends, there's no further access to it. Only if you pay the 15 or 30 dollars do you get permanent access to the Tome and its rewards.

Now what I can see them doing is MAYBE adding certain things from past Seasons to the Bazaar, since the whole point is to cycle through previously available items and they said in the livestream they're really trying to cut down on FOMO.

However I am curious about what the Sage's Vault is supposed to be, since I don't think that was mentioned in the stream.

MATH_COW · January 8

Please @ZOS_Kevin can you at least give a date for the come back of the french voiceover, the "as soon as possible" was already said in august and sound kinda like a lie. French community deserve a real answer!

Seraphayel · January 8

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I guess I just want to mirror some others on this thread about my confusion about what everyone is so enthusiastic about. I am a PvE player, so I should look forward to new dungeons -- nope, there aren't any; a new trial - nope; a new zone with story quests - nope; a new class - nope; account-wide armory slots - nope only the dress-up slots; my ESO+ subscription getting more value - not a chance. So why am I excited again?

I'm excited about the overland difficulty slider, the night market event zone (finally something new), the greatly improved reward structure, new thieves guild quests, and the slate of QOL changes. Also, there is a new trial.

I guess I missed the trial part, thanks for the clarification.

NP. Oh, also, they mentioned we're getting naval battles (guessing it's an event or something??? IDK). IDK what that means but I'm excited to find out. Hope it's cool!

Where exactly did they announced naval battles? Don’t be fooled by the name of the new event.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · January 8

Seraphayel wrote: »

Where exactly did they announced naval battles? Don’t be fooled by the name of the new event.

One of the devs on the livestream name-dropped it as an example of a possible experiment.

HappyTheCamper · January 8

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

HappyTheCamper wrote: »

So after reading the Tamriel Times article, my question is if my 12 month sub resets in July, do I have to wait and get my 12 automatic premium tokens then? If the season 0 stuff starts in April, am I going to get compensated for waiting?

Apologies for lack of phrasing in the last sentence. I’m not trying to sound entitled, I’m just wondering since this all starts in April, and I’m already locked into subbing every July, do I get anything for the remains months until then? It would be nice if I at least got 3 premium tokens, but I suppose I understand if not.

This is a good question. We will ask the team and get specifics on timing based on when your ESO Plus was purchased.

We luv you Kevin.

Seraphayel · January 8

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Where exactly did they announced naval battles? Don’t be fooled by the name of the new event.

One of the devs on the livestream name-dropped it as an example of a possible experiment.

There‘s a big difference between announcing and just mentioning something. I also cannot imagine how naval battles would even work with ESOs engine. Sounds like a mess and something that’s really, really unnecessary (imho).

DenverRalphy · January 8

I didn't hear mention of naval battles. I heard of something happening "On the high seas", but I took that to mean taking place on the deck of a ship. Not actual ship battles.

spartaxoxo · January 8

Seraphayel wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I guess I just want to mirror some others on this thread about my confusion about what everyone is so enthusiastic about. I am a PvE player, so I should look forward to new dungeons -- nope, there aren't any; a new trial - nope; a new zone with story quests - nope; a new class - nope; account-wide armory slots - nope only the dress-up slots; my ESO+ subscription getting more value - not a chance. So why am I excited again?

I'm excited about the overland difficulty slider, the night market event zone (finally something new), the greatly improved reward structure, new thieves guild quests, and the slate of QOL changes. Also, there is a new trial.

I guess I missed the trial part, thanks for the clarification.

NP. Oh, also, they mentioned we're getting naval battles (guessing it's an event or something??? IDK). IDK what that means but I'm excited to find out. Hope it's cool!

Where exactly did they announced naval battles? Don’t be fooled by the name of the new event.

They mentioned it briefly in the stream when going over the roadmap. They also brought it up in an interview that I just made a thread about.

There's going to be a Heart's Day event in February and an event that might involve seas and ship battles and things like that. We're still experimenting with it and trying to find the fun for this, but absolutely, events aren't going away.

https://wccftech.com/elder-scrolls-online-zenimax-interview-free-content-battle-pass/

heimdall14_9 · January 8

Vengeance PvP Progression System
Rank up and progress to earn new rewards and even unique passive abilities for the Vengeance PvP campaigns.

can we take it this is going to come out now and if so whats happening to GH PVP ????

Syldras · January 8

Seraphayel wrote: »

There‘s a big difference between announcing and just mentioning something. I also cannot imagine how naval battles would even work with ESOs engine. Sounds like a mess and something that’s really, really unnecessary (imho).

I don't expect more than we got in the base game (and East Solstice), to be honest. So you're on a ship in some ocean environment and can shoot ballistas at some enemies that pop up, perhaps use a grappling bow to get on another ship parking next to you and fight some enemies there. If it's more than that, I'd truly be surprised.

hiyde · January 8

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I didn't hear mention of naval battles. I heard of something happening "On the high seas", but I took that to mean taking place on the deck of a ship. Not actual ship battles.

I was transcribing in real-time for our guild discord and this is the quote I typed:
"Experimental content including NAVAL BATTLES" and I'm like 99% sure that was all that was said.

dcrush · January 8

Gingaroth wrote: »

At the moment, I just want to know if there will be another chance to get those 8 crates?

I logged in a bit late, the drops didn't work immediately, and stopped working before the stream ended.
With the stream only lasting 50 minutes, I didn't get to claim anything.

Hi @ZOS_Kevin - any info on this? The stream was (as usual) in the middle of the night for players from the Asia Pacific region so it would be great to know if there will be other streams where these 8 crates can be earned.

aussie500 · January 8

Would have liked to get a chance to get some of those crates, since I could not watch the stream at 3am AEDT.