ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

FoJul wrote: »

So basically, what I got from this stream (without being too harsh against Zos developers) is we kept hearing the repeated words transparency. This is one thing the community has been wanting for years. Even mentioning some QoL updates that we have been asking for. This is the right step forward in my opinion.

However, most of the updates that we will get are obviously pointed towards casual/new players. This is cool, but when you talk about rereleasing old items that might have been missed via events from the past and stuff via the Bazaar, essentially you are just giving another pay option to get stuff I'm proud of having as a long-time player. Will this mean you can just buy exclusive event stuff?

Additionally, like @React asked before, you guys weren't really "transparent" on the whole vengeance and the mid-size PvP mode. Kind of shifted me back in the corner thinking we have been ignored as a PvP community once again.

And finally, class rebalance/restructure/recolor whatever you want to call it. It's kind of sad that balance is being milked so much. The balance is so out of touch and lack of transparency and feedback from the past created this monster, and we have to wait what seems to be 2 years to see it fixed. Balance that starts with 1 class per cycle is unfair and will not fix any balancing issues until every single class finally gets addressed, which is awhile from now. I know this isn't my game, but I hate this.

I would like to know if you guys will seriously consider feedback on the class changes, and what measures we need to take as a community to feel heard on the matter. If you do this correctly for each class, I believe the game will be very good going forward and the wait just might be worth it.

Overall, the QoL features are nice, and the stream was ok, but above is some things I didn't fully understand. The new monetization seems ok but wasn't really my flavor. And that's ok. I can deal with it.

Thanks for the feedback here. So on Vengeance and Mid Size PvP modes, the intention was not to make anyone feel forgotten. Vengeance was talked about and we had released our write up a month ago about Vengeance generally. And the Mid Size PvP mode is still being scoped out. We will have more information later in the year when a general plan is set.

As do class rebalancing, we are working to get player feedback to guide teams during the process. Last year, the class survey was the first step in that process. Over the coming months, we will have more opportunities to get core feedback for various classes earlier on in the dev process. So if the player base things we are missing important items, we can get that feedback with more time to make changes. We’ll have more info as we start work on the Warden class, and you’ll see changes for DK on Monday for PTS.

Ok, thanks for the communication, and I strongly look forward into the PTS cycle and seeing how you guys choose to handle the PTS development.

P.S. you did it, got my hopes up once again.

From the way it sounds, the battlepass system will be consolidating endeavors, event tickets, etc into one and will also be on a weekly basis, which I think may end up being less grindy in the long term since we'll be getting more rewards even from just the free track and we don't have to juggle between doing multiple objectives in a day, and we can take our time and do our weeklies as we see fit or even reroll if we don't like what objectives we have to do.

I think if this replaces crown crates, that would be a good change, because it would mean everyone would have the ability to outright earn the items that they want to instead of gambling for them. I will echo the sentiment though that the base premium track SHOULD be included with ESO+ at a bare minimum, especially with all future content being base game (which is also a good thing in the long run, don't get me wrong), compensating by giving the premium track to subscribers would be a totally fair replacement.

As for the other changes, a lot of this does sound very player friendly. I'm really interested in the Night Market, since introducing more players to endgame PVE would really help out the raiding community and make it less scary to people who want to give it a go, since they'll be able to enter on their own and try it out without the weight of feeling like they're holding the group back.

I'm also curious about solo dungeons, and if achievements (like challengers) will be reworked for them. I really hope that we retain the ability to choose between a solo instance or a 4 man instance, and I hope that the vet/hm version of a solo instance introduces new, challenging mechanics to change things up and keep it fresh.

There's a lot of doom and gloom in this thread, and I think this year may be bumpy, but a lot of these changes seem very player first so I am optimistic that it'll come together and be a good year for ESO. I think them taking a step back with chapters will also give the zone team more time to refine the story, design, etc of future zones and give us content with the same quality that we saw back when Morrowind, Summerset and Elsweyr released because the expectation of crunch will be less over their heads and they can make stories which they are genuinely passionate about which will also be worth it in the long run.

On one hand, I think it's good that more players will be able to access cosmetics, however as someone who already finds many of the current cosmetics to be unbearably loud, I really hope we will have the option to turn off other players' cosmetic effects. This may even be a dealbreaker for me, as aesthetics is a major part of my gaming experience.

Also, I was really hoping to read that ESO will be prioritising quality story content going forward, given that there have been complaints about story quality in recent years.

I'm not massively excited about the Battle-Pass system. I feel at a minimum the middle tier should be included with ESO+, because outside of the craft-bag and old dlc access, there's not much incentive or reward to having it now unless im missing something outside of that one time bonus for subbing for a year? And if you consider the cost for those outside the US / EU for ESO+ to begin with, and then adding the Battle-pass cost on top of that.... hmm.

The rest actually sounds pretty good, will wait and see how it all pans out.

Desiato wrote: »

On the subject of the new Trial, the proposed release date is puzzling because in general, end game MMO communities are less active during the summer than they are during the fall/winter months. Especially during winter holidays.

IMO, the new trial should be released in November.

New trials have always come in June, with the Chapter release. Moving it to November makes the gap 17 months from when we got OC.

It was good to see the comms etc be less of a marketing piece and more an information exchange.

The thing i dont want to see in the coming year is that the build diversity afforded to tanks and healers because of subclassing is totally destroyed by the class refresh - tank and healers builds have been stale for alot longer than DDs because of very few meaning sets being introduced and different playstyles like PoE being nerfed to a point that they are not worth the effort, and whilst i get that there has been significant power creep in DPS, I've only looked at this from a PVE perspectivce but things like healing levels are still not at the level they were in u34, so the power aspect for roles other than DD is in a very different place.

ESO+ is in a very awkward position at the moment IMO. I think it would be fair to make the first premium battle pass tier included in ESO+.

My first thoughts are all this sounds good and looks great. Again, actions speak louder than words. The change from chapters to seasons makes more sense now that you explained it better.

The main takeaway I got from the stream is what sounds like a refocused effort on ESO and what made it fun and accessible to begin with, and more open communication. I feel like whatever the other game that was canceled late last year was taking away ZOS’s focus from ESO and we, the players, could tell it. 

You have given me some hope for the future of ESO but time will tell, as I am still pessimistic considering last year's poor showing and a little concerned that there is no new landmass or little story content talked about. 

Plus, when can console have a PTS too?

Stay safe

LalMirchi wrote: »

Sorry to say but increased prices combined with a lack of new story and questing content do not make this one happy at all.

There are no increased prices. In fact, all future content is free. There's a new battle pass for cosmetics, not for content.

Winterhold?

Seraphayel wrote: »

LalMirchi wrote: »

Sorry to say but increased prices combined with a lack of new story and questing content do not make this one happy at all.

There are no increased prices. In fact, all future content is free. There's a new battle pass for cosmetics, not for content.

"They basically announced zero additional content except a time-limited zone made from old assets and a whole lot about an expensive battle pass system that has not one but two paid tiers."

Quoting a post from another player. If there are no new stories or questing content I'm seriously underwhelmed.

Night Market seems like BS now that you revealed it will be active for 7 weeks in the first half of the year... I hate it. Please reconsider making it at least 3 months (the full season).

i re-watched the last night event and i cant find a single plus for me who is used
to have a new area (even chopped last 2 years) to explore and lore ,dungeons and people to discover .....

my sub expires in March ,after this i honestly not sure if ill continue

very disappointed

Wanted to make sure I had thought this announcement through fully, before posting. So here it is:

Yeah.... no! This is the kiss of death for ESO. If you look at the announcement it all seems positive, until you start to analyze it all, making it clear that all this is smokes and mirrors with nothing behind it. Battle passes are for games where the plug can be pulled at any moment, which is exactly what this feels like.

ESO is competing with other MMO games, so lets compare:
The other major MMO with subscription is releasing a new expansion this year, which is 90€ for the deluxe edition that includes all the expansions cosmetics. This is the total for the expansion(chapter) + a major feature(housing).
The new ESO battle pass model is 4x30€ for seasons for a year, which contains no new chapter(expansion) and only one new feature(sage's vault). And if we want to have the season's cosmetics, we have to earn them through gameplay.
Why on earth would anyone choose to pay for this more expensive ESO battle pass model vs other MMO's? Most of which are more polished as well.

Making a battle pass model is usually a last stop for a game. So the game can squeeze as much money as they can from the last remaining players(whales). Which is why players last year were glad it wasn't really a battle pass. Battle passes only work if a game is polished already, whereas ESO still has year old bugs(horses, companion->marauder aggro, break free, PvP performance, etc) and has released barely any content last year that was still massively bugged to the point that it ruined all that new content(writhing wall/solstice). Therefor I doubt ESO will make it through 2026 with this model!

Listening to the playerbase gone wrong:
1: After the overwhelming feedback last year where you named it the 2025 "content pass", practically all players openly stated they were glad it wasn't really a battle pass. And that naming it a "pass" at all was a bad decision, due to the negativity surrounding battle passes. So you decide to release a complete battle pass! Seriously?!?
2: You have gotten quite a bit of feedback from players about them missing out on older cosmetics. So with seasons you made a new system for players to earn these cosmetics through gameplay, while at the same time you create seasons where if players do not pay for that specific season they miss out on those cosmetics forever. It's like you heard this feedback but forgot about it halfway through. Bad!

Now personally I don't really mind paying more, but I hate timed stuff and battle passes. Due to the nature of this battle pass system implementation, we can actually miss out on cosmetics if we do not buy a season. Atleast with the crown store the items came back someday.
Another thing I dislike is the battle pass cosmetics being behind a firm paywall. Meaning that if we see someone ride a season premium+ mount, we are basically looking into their wallet, knowing they spend real money on that. Atleast with the crown store, players could have gotten those mounts by playing the game and getting seals of endeavours to buy them. Making cosmetics into payed showpieces isn't to my liking.
Why the double dip on payments, with ESO+ and battle passes. Why not just remove ESO+ and only have battle passes. Or have ESO+ automatically include the highest battle pass. Maybe one new subscription that has ESO+ and battle pass combined in it. Makes it easier to understand, easier to buy, easier to maintain, and harder to miss out on anything. This implementation should have been thought through much better!

All the mentioned QoL should should have been implemented years ago. That is even besides the point of some of the QoL not feeling adequate to me, like the transmute cap now being 3000 instead of unlimited, the furnishing limit not being increased for notable houses, etc. Way too little, and WAY too late.

Disappearing story content, is another 100% big NO for me! Content should not appear and disappear, it should only appear.

Harder overland does not interest me, PvP does not interest me, still no massive inventory increase, still no massive bank increase, no geode stacking, older systems being neglected, no mention of companions, no CP increase or other longterm systems mentioned, solo dungeons should have been +3 companion dungeons, boat combat does not interest me. Sage's vault sounds interesting though, but that is all. And we heard nothing about that feature, while that is actually the only thing of substance and not about the payment model.
So basically nothing about longevity/longterm or for the gameplay and players itself. Which does not make the future seem hopeful at all, the contrary actually.

What is this game anymore? So many changes to the payment model, the entire class refreshes that may or may not work out in the end(could have made 7 new classes with the same effort/time), the class visual changes that may or may not work out in the end, basically no new content at all anymore, even more push to FOMO with battle pass just not daily FOMO(especially for those who want to collect all cosmetics like me), feeling like I am being nickle and dimed for more money, etc. Where does this leave ESO, as to me this makes it seem like the ESO I play now may not even exist anymore in two years.

Sorry, but the only somewhat good thing I have heard in this announcement were the QoL changes(and maybe the sage's vault). Everything else was just bad!

Not sure on how I am going to deal with this information! Normally I am very positive about ESO, but I can't this time. Especially not after what happened last year with the buggy writhing wall event and with how buggy solstice was!

Not even sure on if I should stick around, due to this announcement. But I am 100% sure that I am no longer paying real money for anything to do with ESO anymore!