No new dungeons?

tomofhyrule · January 8

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

just remember that Seasons are supposed to be flexible, and they did indicate that the roadmap is what they have planned but is not set in stone.

How probable is it that this leads to getting more content unplanned, vs. simply meaning that they don't need to release things if they don't get them ready by the planned deadline, which means less content?

And yes, of course that means less content altogether, if one thing planned for, let's say, November just gets finished in February because of some problems they took a lot of time to understand and fix - the things that were planned for December, January and February will also move to a later date on the schedule then.

Seraphayel wrote: »

And that exactly might be what we‘re getting. The Night Market just seems to be an evolution of what they tried to do with Craglorn 12 years ago.

Did they call it an actual zone? I somehow suspect it to be just something like the Writhing Fortress again, in terms of size. A dungeon with "dungeon-difficulty bosses" which you don't need to group for, but you still need to cooperate somehow. The only difference seems to be that there are different questgivers/factions and you need to choose one and the whole thing is a competition about which faction gets the objectives done the fastest.

I guess the question is this. Would you rather have a repeat of last years quality of content at the same price or higher? Or would you rather have a lighter year of content that you dont have to pay for?

And this is also something on a per-person basis. 2025's year of content was incredibly lazy... except for the people who like dungeons, since they managed to go back up to 4 in the year (2023 and 2024 only had one set), and those were some of the best dungeons we've had in the game.

If the question was "do you want 2025's quality of dungeons?" ABSOLUTELY
If the question was "do you want 2025's quality of server-wide event?" HARD PASS

Well, we're getting server-wide temporary event zones in 2026, but not the dungeons...

Part of this is also looking at the quality of the different ESO teams. The Dungeons team is the only one that has consistently knocked it out of the park. Every other team has really gotten sloppier and sloppier, and the worst offenders are the Writing Team (the writing has been on a steady decline since the glory days of Orsinium-Summerset, with a few odd high points in thigs like Zerith) and the Combat Team (where it's easier to list what they did right than it is to list what they've whiffed).
And 2026 seems to be sacrificing the content from best teams (dungeons, art team's zone design and motifs).

Seraphayel · January 8

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

Destai · January 8

ZOS_GregoryV wrote: »

Greetings all,

Just wanted to share a link to the Roadmap, which shows Solo Dungeons listed under Season Two. Additionally, the article that was posted today, under the Future Seasons section, it currently shows "Solo dungeons! " as well as "And more!".

This is the only information I have about this matter at the moment, as I am a Moderator, not a dev. With that said, I do not want to speculate, or provide any potential Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation, as that is against the Community Rules. All we can do is wait and see what the future holds.

I hope this information helps!

Regards,
-Greg-

Please review this link.

Nick Giacomini: Right now, there are no new group dungeons planned for 2026. We do have a Trial that's going to be coming. You mentioned the Night Market. And solo dungeons are going to be coming. That will allow players to engage in dungeon content solo, and there will be different difficulties and rewards associated with those.

As a player of the game, I would assume given that "no new group dungeons" being called out by leadership means they're not included in the "more".

Solo dungeons aren't new dungeons per se; they're changes to existing dungeons. On stream and the roadmap, they state the existing dungeons of March of Sacrifices and Moonhunter Keep are the pilot dungeons for the new mode. That's not new content, it's just adding new modes to existing content. The core concern of this thread, is new dungeons, not changes to existing dungeons. Hope that nuance is clear, not sure if you're a player of the game or not.

I hope this information helps.

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_Kevin FYI - can you shed some light please?

Reginald_leBlem · January 8

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

You are so close to the point and yet continue to miss it.

Seraphayel · January 8

Reginald_leBlem wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

You are so close to the point and yet continue to miss it.

There is no point. Being concerned that there are no new dungeons is valid. But completely ignoring everything else and missing context deliberately is making this discussion meaningless.

We have the roadmap for this year, no new dungeons coming. If that‘s a dealbreaker, I’m sorry, that’s the way it is for this year. Maybe we‘ll get four new dungeons next year. Someone then will complain why we haven’t gotten another event zone.

SaintJohnHM · January 8

Seraphayel wrote: »

Reginald_leBlem wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

You are so close to the point and yet continue to miss it.

There is no point. Being concerned that there are no new dungeons is valid. But completely ignoring everything else and missing context deliberately is making this discussion meaningless.

We have the roadmap for this year, no new dungeons coming. If that‘s a dealbreaker, I’m sorry, that’s the way it is for this year. Maybe we‘ll get four new dungeons next year. Someone then will complain why we haven’t gotten another event zone.

Wrong again. There aren't any guilds based around having new companions. And we're not arguing that there shouldn't be content that other folks enjoy, it's really weird that you would type so much to dismiss why the current roadmap makes the game a lot less fun for many of us.

Vastelle · January 8

I've been here from the start and enjoy this game a lot. With that said, I wish as a multi-player game online if they didn't want to create new dungeons, that the upgraded the old ones to have another level of difficulty instead of being solo. I feel this year's focus is very much on the single player, and not on group content with guilds. I feel that would be a nice refresh to existing content that would bring high levels back into old dungeons. But just my thought.

SaintJohnHM · January 8

cwloop2010_ESO wrote: »

I've been here from the start and enjoy this game a lot. With that said, I wish as a multi-player game online if they didn't want to create new dungeons, that the upgraded the old ones to have another level of difficulty instead of being solo. I feel this year's focus is very much on the single player, and not on group content with guilds. I feel that would be a nice refresh to existing content that would bring high levels back into old dungeons. But just my thought.

Yep. It's gross that the only updates to dungeons (in an MMO!) is to make them single player. We would be totally stoked if they went through the existing dungeons and added a higher HM level with new challenging mechs (not just more dmg and boss health).

But this year we get nothing, and we don't know what we're going to do without new content.

zenonuk · January 8

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

cwloop2010_ESO wrote: »

I've been here from the start and enjoy this game a lot. With that said, I wish as a multi-player game online if they didn't want to create new dungeons, that the upgraded the old ones to have another level of difficulty instead of being solo. I feel this year's focus is very much on the single player, and not on group content with guilds. I feel that would be a nice refresh to existing content that would bring high levels back into old dungeons. But just my thought.

Yep. It's gross that the only updates to dungeons (in an MMO!) is to make them single player. We would be totally stoked if they went through the existing dungeons and added a higher HM level with new challenging mechs (not just more dmg and boss health).

But this year we get nothing, and we don't know what we're going to do without new content.

Also agree here.

Although I am generally in favour of a repeatable solo story mode for ALL dungeons, it has somewhat limited value. I already solo many of the dungeons, including some on vet HM - so having additional options at the mid-/higher-end, and/or having the earlier base game dungeons upgraded to the same standard of the latest DLC dunegons.... that would be something I'd have liked to have seen. Maybe once the solo story mode is implemented, we'll see them revisit the difficulty of normal/vet mode to bring things into some sort of alignment with the later DLC difficulties.

In any event, they I hope that solo/story mode also comes with achievements to hunt, it will at least give me something to do outside of the group content.

tomofhyrule · January 8

cwloop2010_ESO wrote: »

I've been here from the start and enjoy this game a lot. With that said, I wish as a multi-player game online if they didn't want to create new dungeons, that the upgraded the old ones to have another level of difficulty instead of being solo. I feel this year's focus is very much on the single player, and not on group content with guilds. I feel that would be a nice refresh to existing content that would bring high levels back into old dungeons. But just my thought.

This is definitely a feeling I've gotten recently from the game as a whole.

I know that The Elder Scrolls is a single-player franchise, and that was originally where I came from. I understand the desire to have a lot of single-player content in ESO.
But lately, it has felt like there's been more and more of a push to make all of ESO single-player content and to push out the players who came for the MMO part of the game. We're seeing a lot more emphasis placed on the stories and questing (the quality of those notwithstanding) and the single-player experiences, and very little in terms of group content. Even Subclassing really felt like it went in that direction - the "please give us feedback on Subclassing and Scribing" thread did ask questions in a way that presumed Subclassing was empowering people to complete content they couldn't before, i.e. being able to solo things.

It does feel like the focus for ESO's multiplayer content is more things like World Bosses and World Events, where a bunch of people show up an play as a zerg of soloists instead of a group. Look also at Vengeance as the current favored PvP mode, or the chaos that was the Writhing Fortress.

And what are we seeing in 2026? Another 'event zone,' that really sounds mostly like another all-server thing like the Writhing Fortress was. More stories to do solo. Existing dungeons (that are already soloable) being made easier to solo. It honestly feels like the Trial is the odd thing out here, and that's probably only because that's the "expected" thing to add.

I'll bring it up again: if the game is going more and more into a solo game, what's going to happen to the playerbase when TES6 comes out? ESO, if it's going to coexist with TES6, needs to offer things that TES6 doesn't have. That means questing and solo content is redundant... but we are unlikely to have things like MMO dungeons in TES6.

Seraphayel · January 8

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Reginald_leBlem wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

You are so close to the point and yet continue to miss it.

There is no point. Being concerned that there are no new dungeons is valid. But completely ignoring everything else and missing context deliberately is making this discussion meaningless.

We have the roadmap for this year, no new dungeons coming. If that‘s a dealbreaker, I’m sorry, that’s the way it is for this year. Maybe we‘ll get four new dungeons next year. Someone then will complain why we haven’t gotten another event zone.

Wrong again. There aren't any guilds based around having new companions. And we're not arguing that there shouldn't be content that other folks enjoy, it's really weird that you would type so much to dismiss why the current roadmap makes the game a lot less fun for many of us.

I‘m not dismissing anything. Concerns are valid, as I said. I‘m just trying to point out why it’s good for the diversity in this game that they hit the pause button for new dungeons and instead give us other types of group content that was highly neglected in the last decade while the dungeon community got three dozen dungeons in the last years.

It was about time we get another type of group content. Even if there are no new dungeons this year, you‘ll get a trial. What can I say, that’s how it is this year. They even communicated this possibility last year when they announced the transition from Chapters to Seasons.

PvP players don’t get nothing besides a new reward track they haven’t even talked about yet. These players have been neglected and I am sure there are as many PvP guilds as there are dungeon guilds. So again, moot argument.

You‘re dismissing the new types of group content without even knowing what they are. Maybe you‘ll like them and they are a good replacement for this year at least. Maybe not? Just wait until we have more information and try them as they won’t cost anything. If you don’t like them, I’m sure you‘ll get your new dungeon on the road map for next year.

Have fun.

SaintJohnHM · January 8

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Reginald_leBlem wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

You are so close to the point and yet continue to miss it.

There is no point. Being concerned that there are no new dungeons is valid. But completely ignoring everything else and missing context deliberately is making this discussion meaningless.

We have the roadmap for this year, no new dungeons coming. If that‘s a dealbreaker, I’m sorry, that’s the way it is for this year. Maybe we‘ll get four new dungeons next year. Someone then will complain why we haven’t gotten another event zone.

Wrong again. There aren't any guilds based around having new companions. And we're not arguing that there shouldn't be content that other folks enjoy, it's really weird that you would type so much to dismiss why the current roadmap makes the game a lot less fun for many of us.

I‘m not dismissing anything. Concerns are valid, as I said. I‘m just trying to point out why it’s good for the diversity in this game that they hit the pause button for new dungeons and instead give us other types of group content that was highly neglected in the last decade while the dungeon community got three dozen dungeons in the last years.

It was about time we get another type of group content. Even if there are no new dungeons this year, you‘ll get a trial. What can I say, that’s how it is this year. They even communicated this possibility last year when they announced the transition from Chapters to Seasons.

PvP players don’t get nothing besides a new reward track they haven’t even talked about yet. These players have been neglected and I am sure there are as many PvP guilds as there are dungeon guilds. So again, moot argument.

You‘re dismissing the new types of group content without even knowing what they are. Maybe you‘ll like them and they are a good replacement for this year at least. Maybe not? Just wait until we have more information and try them as they won’t cost anything. If you don’t like them, I’m sure you‘ll get your new dungeon on the road map for next year.

Have fun.

Wrong again. There is no overland/event/world/etc content that compares to dungeons, it will not be as fun.

I don't PVP, but I still wish they had more content that's fun for them and I never bother spending time typing to tell them to basically "suck it up, that's just the way it is". Let's just leave it be, the points have been made.

Seraphayel · January 8

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Reginald_leBlem wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

SaintJohnHM wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

joergino wrote: »

There are already way too many dungeons with way too many sets in this game.

I just counted how many dungeons were added in the last 11 years and it's 34. I also think this is more than enough and one "gap year" without a new dungeon is no problem at all. And don't forget, we're still getting a new trial and several types of new group content that's just not an instanced dungeon.

No. You may not want many of us to have fun this year, but it's fair that we ask for more of the content we like to play.

Overland/event content is not fun for us, it doesn't have the same challenges we prefer.

No new dungeons means many people will leave the game because there is nothing new for them.

Okay? I mean that argument can be used with any type of content that is not coming.

No new companions? Players will leave.

No new PvP maps? Players will leave.

I mean there’s no way they can please everyone and the dungeon crowd is the one that definitely got the most content in all of ESO‘s existence.

You are so close to the point and yet continue to miss it.

There is no point. Being concerned that there are no new dungeons is valid. But completely ignoring everything else and missing context deliberately is making this discussion meaningless.

We have the roadmap for this year, no new dungeons coming. If that‘s a dealbreaker, I’m sorry, that’s the way it is for this year. Maybe we‘ll get four new dungeons next year. Someone then will complain why we haven’t gotten another event zone.

Wrong again. There aren't any guilds based around having new companions. And we're not arguing that there shouldn't be content that other folks enjoy, it's really weird that you would type so much to dismiss why the current roadmap makes the game a lot less fun for many of us.

I‘m not dismissing anything. Concerns are valid, as I said. I‘m just trying to point out why it’s good for the diversity in this game that they hit the pause button for new dungeons and instead give us other types of group content that was highly neglected in the last decade while the dungeon community got three dozen dungeons in the last years.

It was about time we get another type of group content. Even if there are no new dungeons this year, you‘ll get a trial. What can I say, that’s how it is this year. They even communicated this possibility last year when they announced the transition from Chapters to Seasons.

PvP players don’t get nothing besides a new reward track they haven’t even talked about yet. These players have been neglected and I am sure there are as many PvP guilds as there are dungeon guilds. So again, moot argument.

You‘re dismissing the new types of group content without even knowing what they are. Maybe you‘ll like them and they are a good replacement for this year at least. Maybe not? Just wait until we have more information and try them as they won’t cost anything. If you don’t like them, I’m sure you‘ll get your new dungeon on the road map for next year.

Have fun.

Wrong again. There is no overland/event/world/etc content that compares to dungeons, it will not be as fun.

Let's just leave it be, the points have been made.

You. Don’t. Know. Yet.

Indeed, points have been made. Farewell.

RebornV3x · January 8

I'm glad were not getting any new dungeons this year. In years past they were stuck behind ESO+ so most people never did them or even know they exist and even on normal there so difficult most people do them once or twice and never again. So if your not on when they release good luck ever finding a group to do DLC dungeons with. I'm glad the devs have chosen to focused on other stuff than to keep making stuff only a few people will ever interact with.

Soarora · January 8

RebornV3x wrote: »

I'm glad were not getting any new dungeons this year. In years past they were stuck behind ESO+ so most people never did them or even know they exist and even on normal there so difficult most people do them once or twice and never again. So if your not on when they release good luck ever finding a group to do DLC dungeons with. I'm glad the devs have chosen to focused on other stuff than to keep making stuff only a few people will ever interact with.

The only time they’ve been behind ESO+ was Lep Seclusa and Exiled Redoubt for like a month. New dungeons will be free anyways, though that means ZOS is going to need to figure out how to deal with the people who don’t want DLC dungeons in their random queue. Either telling them to kick rocks or make a non dlc vs DLC queue (which I would be happy with as I want to only queue DLC!).

We cannot pass judgement as to how many people do dungeons but it seems to be a fair bit, ranging from “I’m here for a specific reward, farming on normal” to “I’m doing this trifecta for the 20th time”. We need ZOS to shuttle more interest with dungeons as an activity as opposed to just a tool to farm transmute. There’s more to dungeons beyond the queue, but people need pushed to get there.

I hope the solo editions of MoS and MHK will make doing those dungeons 4-man more enjoyable for people (knowing how to do them before jumping straight in). And keeps people who don’t want to do 4-man out of the 4-man versions of those dungeons, so dungeons can be more focused towards a 4-person experience. I think both groups will be happier.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom · January 8

Hi all! We've seen some questions and concerns about no new group dungeons or a new story zone on the Seasons roadmap. While this is true, there is challenging PvE group content and new quest/story content coming to ESO this year. It's just not coming in the way of a dungeons DLC and a new zone, like it always has in the past. With Seasons, we'll be delivering more types of experiences that may look a little different than what we've done before (and that doesn't mean new dungeons or story zones are off the table forever for Seasons.)

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

On the new quest and story side of things, similarly we do have new content coming between the Thieves Guild and Sheogorath major questlines, the Night Market (it also has a full story and quests) and new Trial, the High Seas of Tamriel in-game event, as well as new story content tied to systems, old and new, that we haven't expanded upon yet. The solo dungeons coming in Season Two will also provide a great opportunity for players who enjoy story and haven't yet had a chance to experience the dungeon stories before, starting with Moonhunter Keep and March of Sacrifices.

Soarora · January 8

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

Thank you for the additional information on The Night Market! I’m glad to hear we weren’t forgotten about but I’m worried this will be another Bastion Nymic situation. Bastion Nymics are 4-person but they’re certainly not dungeons. For context on the kinds of things we do, my dungeon guild supports dungeons for pledges, challengers, hard mode progs, trifectas, motif farms (on hard mode) and mask farms (sometimes also on hard mode), but we also support Black Rose Prison and Infinite Archive.

I hope that the difficulty (at least optionally) will truly be high enough for those of us who do hard mode dungeons and it won’t just be a veteran level burnfest. I don’t expect Black Gem Foundry trifecta level of difficulty from a temporary event but something around Lep Seclusa Hard Mode would be nice.

licenturion · January 8

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hi all! We've seen some questions and concerns about no new group dungeons or a new story zone on the Seasons roadmap. While this is true, there is challenging PvE group ....of Sacrifices.

Will all these new things contain new assets, new music, new voices, new outfits etc? Or will they be set in existing repurposed maps and zones without new major art additions?

LukosCreyden · January 8

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hi all! We've seen some questions and concerns about no new group dungeons or a new story zone on the Seasons roadmap. While this is true, there is challenging PvE group content and new quest/story content coming to ESO this year. It's just not coming in the way of a dungeons DLC and a new zone, like it always has in the past. With Seasons, we'll be delivering more types of experiences that may look a little different than what we've done before (and that doesn't mean new dungeons or story zones are off the table forever for Seasons.)

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

On the new quest and story side of things, similarly we do have new content coming between the Thieves Guild and Sheogorath major questlines, the Night Market (it also has a full story and quests) and new Trial, the High Seas of Tamriel in-game event, as well as new story content tied to systems, old and new, that we haven't expanded upon yet. The solo dungeons coming in Season Two will also provide a great opportunity for players who enjoy story and haven't yet had a chance to experience the dungeon stories before, starting with Moonhunter Keep and March of Sacrifices.

So it is, in fact, less stuff. Zones are more than just the sixteen or so story quests.

ZOS_Finn · January 8

Soarora wrote: »

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

Thank you for the additional information on The Night Market! I’m glad to hear we weren’t forgotten about but I’m worried this will be another Bastion Nymic situation. Bastion Nymics are 4-person but they’re certainly not dungeons. For context on the kinds of things we do, my dungeon guild supports dungeons for pledges, challengers, hard mode progs, trifectas, motif farms (on hard mode) and mask farms (sometimes also on hard mode), but we also support Black Rose Prison and Infinite Archive.

I hope that the difficulty (at least optionally) will truly be high enough for those of us who do hard mode dungeons and it won’t just be a veteran level burnfest. I don’t expect Black Gem Foundry trifecta level of difficulty from a temporary event but something around Lep Seclusa Hard Mode would be nice.

Without going into too much detail (because you will see it soon on PTS), Night Market is a brand new type of zone that started with a group focus. There are activities solo players can do but they will be hard pressed to get to these activities without at least following groups of players around. The pack pulls you normally would see in overland are amped up here and there are lots of challenging monsters in the more open sections as well as the instanced sections. The goal is to give groups of players more activities in a dedicated zone where they can just go and have fun. For instance, one piece of internal feedback from someone that plays regularly in dungeon and trials was that they appreciated having activities for asymmetrical group comps. If you only have 5, 6, or 7 people online, you can jump in Night Market and have a good time.

Syldras · January 8

So grouping is not necessary at all (as in having a fixed group like in 4-player-dungeons)? Or are there some instanced locations within that Market where it's needed? I'm wondering since I've seen how chaotic/unorganized the Writhing Fortress was where people were just running around killing things but many didn't really have a clue what was even going on, even more so since they joined when some parts were already finished and some bosses had already been killed by other people. I also wonder how that situation could be avoided - people entering in the middle of it and missing content because of that. Or arriving when half of the location is already dead.

ZOS_Finn · January 8

Syldras wrote: »

So grouping is not necessary at all (as in having a fixed group like in 4-player-dungeons)? Or are there some instanced locations within that Market where it's needed?

The zone is open but with a smaller player cap and much harder content. We don’t force you to group to enter but to do the content, you will want to.

There ARE instances though within that are capped at 4 players like dungeons (3) and 12 players (1). Much like dungeons and trials, you can enter solo but good luck

Pevey · January 8

It's very good to see a few people from the ZOS team jumping in here to provide information and engage more directly with the players.

tomofhyrule · January 9

ZOS_Finn wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

Thank you for the additional information on The Night Market! I’m glad to hear we weren’t forgotten about but I’m worried this will be another Bastion Nymic situation. Bastion Nymics are 4-person but they’re certainly not dungeons. For context on the kinds of things we do, my dungeon guild supports dungeons for pledges, challengers, hard mode progs, trifectas, motif farms (on hard mode) and mask farms (sometimes also on hard mode), but we also support Black Rose Prison and Infinite Archive.

I hope that the difficulty (at least optionally) will truly be high enough for those of us who do hard mode dungeons and it won’t just be a veteran level burnfest. I don’t expect Black Gem Foundry trifecta level of difficulty from a temporary event but something around Lep Seclusa Hard Mode would be nice.

Without going into too much detail (because you will see it soon on PTS), Night Market is a brand new type of zone that started with a group focus. There are activities solo players can do but they will be hard pressed to get to these activities without at least following groups of players around. The pack pulls you normally would see in overland are amped up here and there are lots of challenging monsters in the more open sections as well as the instanced sections. The goal is to give groups of players more activities in a dedicated zone where they can just go and have fun. For instance, one piece of internal feedback from someone that plays regularly in dungeon and trials was that they appreciated having activities for asymmetrical group comps. If you only have 5, 6, or 7 people online, you can jump in Night Market and have a good time.

Thanks Finn

I will wait to see it, but it is still sounding a lot more Bastion Nymic/Writhing Fortress than a dungeon, and I will definitely say that neither of those scratched that dungeon itch for me personally. I also am wary of the fact that the Night Market is not a permanent fixture, so that means that I'd be pressured into running it when it's out because I wouldn't be able to run it in the off-season.
Also in regards to what does and does not scratch that itch, I will say that I'm one of those people who prefers dungeons to trials any day of the week - Trials need more people and generally demand more optimization of builds, which itself does get in the way of the "play as you want" mantra, while dungeons are more intimate and personal with your friends and they normally do allow some off-meta strategies or builds (and in the current case, pureclass builds) to still be able to get the highest-level trifecta achievements.

While I know that we who love dungeons have been spoiled a bit lately, 2023 and 2024 did get us used to only one set of dungeons over the year. I really wish the team had considered delaying one of the 2025 dungeon pairs into 2026 so we could still have gotten something this year - the fact that the Q3 dungeons dropped so soon after the motifs from the Q1 dungeons started dropping made it a very hectic month of grinding dungeons and then nothing again.

We are hopeful that we haven't seen the end of actual dungeons yet, but there's definitely something that doesn't feel good about saying "I can't wait to see what 2027 brings" in the first week of 2026.

Thanks for popping in though, and we hope for the best.

PS: I'll say it again - the Black Gem Foundry hardmode was incredible! My group and I went in blind on release day and it was so much fun to puzzle out all three of the hardmode fights, and the final encounter with the staff pose mechanic was so much fun when we finally cracked it. That time we spent in there figuring it out is among my favorite memories of this entire game. Please make sure that everyone who was involved in making that dungeon knows how good of a job they did there!

AScarlato · January 9

Appreciate the solo dungeons so I can finally listen to stories.

It's getting harder with less roleplayers logging in to find people to do a dungeon super slowly for the story lately.

Seems maybe these ones were picked to tie into the Werewolf Revamp.

I heard the Exile's REdoubt Story was pretty good - if there is any chance that can be among the upcoming offerings next year

Eurymachos · January 9

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone.

Oh, so the Night Market zone is a much bigger concept than a Trial or Group Dungeon (which are also zones) with mini dungeons and a (mini-?)mini trial in it.

Ngā mihi,
Eurymachos

AScarlato · January 9

ZOS_Finn wrote: »

If you only have 5, 6, or 7 people online, you can jump in Night Market and have a good time.

In some of my guilds I'm usually the ONLY person online these days. I'd be stoked to have "only 5-7" lol.

Soarora · January 9

ZOS_Finn wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

Thank you for the additional information on The Night Market! I’m glad to hear we weren’t forgotten about but I’m worried this will be another Bastion Nymic situation. Bastion Nymics are 4-person but they’re certainly not dungeons. For context on the kinds of things we do, my dungeon guild supports dungeons for pledges, challengers, hard mode progs, trifectas, motif farms (on hard mode) and mask farms (sometimes also on hard mode), but we also support Black Rose Prison and Infinite Archive.

I hope that the difficulty (at least optionally) will truly be high enough for those of us who do hard mode dungeons and it won’t just be a veteran level burnfest. I don’t expect Black Gem Foundry trifecta level of difficulty from a temporary event but something around Lep Seclusa Hard Mode would be nice.

Without going into too much detail (because you will see it soon on PTS), Night Market is a brand new type of zone that started with a group focus. There are activities solo players can do but they will be hard pressed to get to these activities without at least following groups of players around. The pack pulls you normally would see in overland are amped up here and there are lots of challenging monsters in the more open sections as well as the instanced sections. The goal is to give groups of players more activities in a dedicated zone where they can just go and have fun. For instance, one piece of internal feedback from someone that plays regularly in dungeon and trials was that they appreciated having activities for asymmetrical group comps. If you only have 5, 6, or 7 people online, you can jump in Night Market and have a good time.

I see asymmetrical groups pop up here and there in my guild as well, where a group can’t find a 4th or end up with 5 or 6 people and have to figure out which 4 are going to do the dungeon. It would be nice as a group bonding activity to have small group content that isn’t bound to 4 but not so high that it’s 12. I sincerely hope that my community finds the Night Market fun, I guess we’ll see on PTS how difficult we find it and if it’s engaging enough to stand alongside dungeons for us!

Thank you Jess and Finn (and even Greg earlier on) for your comments. It’s really nice to see this communication, especially since the stream had so much to cover that it didn’t really touch on these things in detail.

ESO_player123 · January 9

Soarora wrote: »

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

So it's not less, just different. One example that we haven't really talked about yet, but you will see when Night Market comes to the PTS this month, is there are three 4-Player instances (with 1 boss encounter) and one 12-player Trial encounter (1 boss) in that zone. We had a studio playtest today and we can also attest that the Night Market encounters are quite challenging! The Night Market is a unique experience and while it isn't a new dungeon or Trial, we think it'll scratch that same itch.

Thank you for the additional information on The Night Market! I’m glad to hear we weren’t forgotten about but I’m worried this will be another Bastion Nymic situation. Bastion Nymics are 4-person but they’re certainly not dungeons. For context on the kinds of things we do, my dungeon guild supports dungeons for pledges, challengers, hard mode progs, trifectas, motif farms (on hard mode) and mask farms (sometimes also on hard mode), but we also support Black Rose Prison and Infinite Archive.

I hope that the difficulty (at least optionally) will truly be high enough for those of us who do hard mode dungeons and it won’t just be a veteran level burnfest. I don’t expect Black Gem Foundry trifecta level of difficulty from a temporary event but something around Lep Seclusa Hard Mode would be nice.

If such HM difficulty is not optional (as in no easier version exists) this content will be out of reach for the majority of players. Many players (myself included) have never been in newer veteran DLC dungeons. All I can do is solo them on normal mode. And I do it normally just once for the story and lore books. For farming it's just pugging on normal.

Considering it's not permanent content and it has a nice house locked behind it, having just HM level challenge would be such a turn off.

Lapin_Logic · January 9

GOOD No more set bloat or FOTM to have to farm for "META" builds, gives a bit of breathing room to catch up on old stuff