Are you more hopeful for the game since the Jan 7th announcement?

dinokstrunz · January 9

No

DenverRalphy wrote: »

dinokstrunz wrote: »

I'm not convinced from what I saw on the global reveal. There is zero hype building up. ZoS really needs to learn how to hype of their product for once. Not saying the changes are good/bad just not enough to really revive the game for me. The direction feels all over the place.

If there's one thing ZOS knows how to do.. it's hype a product. So much so, it's also what got them into hot water with the fanbase the past couple of years. IMHO, It's good that they've dialed it down a notch or three.

I disagree. The stream was a complete snorfest for alot of people with people going "Just show us what's planned" but in sloppy ZoS fashion all they did was display a road map which is extremely boring. "Show don't tell" comes to mind and yes you can have the longwinded explanations after showing all the major changes. ZoS really could learn a thing from other studios like GGG. They're much better a hyping up new content, ZoS haven't been able to hype new content for years.

DenverRalphy · January 9

Maybe

dinokstrunz wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

dinokstrunz wrote: »

I'm not convinced from what I saw on the global reveal. There is zero hype building up. ZoS really needs to learn how to hype of their product for once. Not saying the changes are good/bad just not enough to really revive the game for me. The direction feels all over the place.

If there's one thing ZOS knows how to do.. it's hype a product. So much so, it's also what got them into hot water with the fanbase the past couple of years. IMHO, It's good that they've dialed it down a notch or three.

I disagree. The stream was a complete snorfest for alot of people with people going "Just show us what's planned" but in sloppy ZoS fashion all they did was display a road map which is extremely boring. "Show don't tell" comes to mind and yes you can have the longwinded explanations after showing all the major changes. ZoS really could learn a thing from other studios like GGG. They're much better a hyping up new content, ZoS haven't been able to hype new content for years.

Did you miss the past 2 years of over hype? This last stream the hype was likely intentionally toned down after the playerbase pretty much blew their stack after two years of hype. Everything from the amazing housing updates, the long awaited spectacular PvP update, and let us not forget our most recent favorite "Once in a lifetime historic event!".

Seriously.. ZOS knows how to hype. It's just that right now, even though they're pitching new seasons/products, the worst thing they could probably do is lean into any form of hype.

RebornV3x · January 9

Maybe

They needed to go all out this year with 2025 kinda being a disaster. But with new leadership changes and layoffs its understandable looks like there going to do QoL improvements and a refresh which the game sorely needs so its fine and the whole battle pass thing is going to be better in the long run

Vonnegut2506 · January 9

No

I did not watch the stream, but I have not read anything on the roadmap, the answers that have been given as follow-up, or any of the posts about 2026 that gives me any semblance of hope about the future. Having been in many MMO's that were headed towards maintenance mode (LotRO, SWtOR, EQ, New World, etc.), the only thing I am getting is a strong sense of deja vu.

Gracous · January 9

No

The new money model is a no go for me. In Canada ESO+ costs $172+tax per year. Im on PS5. And now they are adding a $42CAD (x4) + tax cost to the game. It will be close to $350CAD/yr. That alone is is enough for me to say no and probably quit. With the economy the way it is that's just too much. I understand they have to make money also but to triple the price for content that isn't coming is too much for me.

LonePirate · January 9

These poll results tell me that there is absolutely nothing ZOS could have done to make a plurality of poll participants hopeful about the future.

Personofsecrets · January 9

No

Designers moving to a new monetization method is maybe an interesting, but neutral thing

A number of the changes proposed do seem like net plusses

The leaked supposed changes to DK seem horrid and make me think that the designers are just stuck in their old way.

So overall neutral and that is especially since ToT balance remains terrible.

tomofhyrule · January 9

Maybe

LonePirate wrote: »

These poll results tell me that there is absolutely nothing ZOS could have done to make a plurality of poll participants hopeful about the future.

A lot of this is because of what has become of the game in the last 3-4 years.

To his credit, Nick has said it many times: they intend to take accountability and actually increase communication and work with the players. But the thing is that a lot of us who have been around for a while have heard that spiel so many times by now, and we've seen the trajectory the game's quality has been on. We've seen what's become of our feedback. We've seen the communication just ghost us. We've seen things go live despite everyone on PTS warning about problems, and then those become problems on live and everyone acts like it's a huge surprise.

Even if words sound nice - and this reveal did make it look like they intended to put players more in mind - it will take a lot more than just nice words for them to regain the trust they lost. We haven't really seen anything yet, so were understandably going to be skeptical when we hear "we'll do better" for the 15th time. Sure, it's a new leadership, so maybe this time it'll stick.

A lot of things are going to hinge on next week when the PTS goes live. There will be issues and people will give feedback. And then we'll see if anyone intends to listen to said feedback. If PTS is just more talking to a brick wall, then we'll know nothing changed.

Let's face it: ESO, specifically from about Q3 2024 through all of 2025, has used up pretty well every drop of good will a lot of people had. Trust will only take you so far. Actions speak louder than words. We're not magically going to believe things are going to do a 180 just because a different person said it this time.

Renato90085 · January 9

Yes

I'd like to offer a reminder.
developing new content takes about a year.like solstice first leak is 2023 dec
and you know..the dev fired last year and restructuring
i not say i not disappointment,but this stream good enough as it is now.
This year 100% is definitely going to be a tough year since last year big fail and fired

Danikat · January 9

No

According to the community team's various forum posts there are some new quests and activities planned, including some which might be permanent if we meet ZOS requirements for our participation, ZOS just didn't consider them worth mentioning and wanted to focus on the exciting opportunity to pay for permission to grind for collectibles instead.

So it's not as bleak as the announcement made it sound, they haven't entirely forgotten that a game is supposed to be about having things to do, but it looks like it's at best a secondary consideration for the foreseeable future.

WaywardArgonian · January 9

Yes

Yes, but with a caveat. A lot of the stuff I saw were things I have actually wanted in the game for some while. I could notice more than before that they did actually listen to feedback, even if not everyone will be happy. From a personal point of view, I can't really fault them for not adding new dungeons when I barely engage with that content as is. The prospect of improving the day-to-day experience of the stuff we already have is an attractive one to me.

At the same time, I also suspect that part of this new approach is born out of having to work with a smaller budget/team. The classic chapters always required new art, new music, hiring voice actors, quest design, etc. So while I don't think making a new chapter containing pretty much the same forms of content every year was necessary, I do wonder if we're just going to live in a world of perpetually reused assets from this point onward.

Aardappelboom · January 9

Yes

They said the right things and the approach is a refreshing take and something I've been asking for a long time. Actively telling us what's in the works instead of secretly guarding it until a big reveal without any knowledge of how people will react is definitely what they should be doing right now to turn things around. Also deciding to implement things partially, fulfilling the needs and wants of the playerbase instead of endlessly explaining why something can't be done is also a good way forward.

I was not a huge fan of chapters but the zones, story and how it tied in with dungeons was definitely something I always looked forward to, so I'll miss that this year but I haven't played in a while and with the new difficulty slider and I have a couple of chapters left to do, so I'm fine with another transition and experimental year but I can imagine for someone who has been playing since last release this could be a bit of a tiresome year.

Still I am more looking forward to the future now than I was 2 years ago and the switch in leadership is at least refreshing.

BretonMage · January 9

Maybe

On a personal level, no. I'm not interested in more cosmetics and events. Unless I hear about interesting story content or about companions, then I'm likely going to be relatively uninvested in ESO this year.

But on a general level, if they're more receptive to their playerbase, I think it's a positive sign for the game. I know ZOS was a bit busy with the other project last year, but perhaps this year, they'll attempt to turn things around. I'm hoping at least that bugs will get fixed more promptly this year.

SolidBeast · January 9

No

DenverRalphy wrote: »

Did you miss the past 2 years of over hype? This last stream the hype was likely intentionally toned down after the playerbase pretty much blew their stack after two years of hype. Everything from the amazing housing updates, the long awaited spectacular PvP update, and let us not forget our most recent favorite "Once in a lifetime historic event!".

Seriously.. ZOS knows how to hype. It's just that right now, even though they're pitching new seasons/products, the worst thing they could probably do is lean into any form of hype.

I agree with the other user. ZOS does not know how to build hype. Overpromising and underdelivering does not equal hype. I don't remember the average player being truly excited after any ZOS devstream. They don't have the charisma or the knowledge of what the fanbase really wants to be able to hype things up. Look to Digital Extremes for a studio who knows how to build hype. They do so by showing, not telling, but even when they tell, the excitement the devs themselves feel is truly infectious. We don't have that here. Last time I remember feeling hype was when I saw the Elsweyr trailer. There was a distinct lack of energy in the room in this latest devstream, but it's kind of always been this way with ZOS. And I don't say this to bring anyone down, but I do think it merits stating.

ShinyBacon · January 9

Yes

definitely optimistic, mainly seeing all the QoL improvements coming through and being for free.
Most of them dont affect me (dont have any bank space, horses to level up anymore as i dont have new characters and dont plan to create new characters) but even though most of them are no use to me i like the thinking behind it to make the game more accessible to all players.
I am a tiny bit bummed out about no new zone and story, yes, because I am a quester and explorer by heart, however i do hope that some questing and exploring will be offered and i just hope that the things that i do like chasing and exploring (finding new furnishing plans, crafting etc) will still get added.

I found the reveal stream also much more pleasant and honest, idk the streams under previous leadership were a lot more "fake hype" and "PR Slang" this stream felt more like a conversation between players and grounded

I have to say i am a bit worried about the class changes coming up, i am still burned out from U35. I never was a "competitive player" but the year leading up to it i put a lot of work into learning how to parse, farming content for optimal gear, joining prog teams and soooo sooo much grinding, just for it to be wiped off the slate and all my work being diminished. I understand that class changes are needed and requested by a lot of players as combat is a very important tool to keep players engaged, I just dont have the energy to completely rework my characters to make them usable again. So i keep my fingers crossed that the changes are not tooo dramatic

But coming back to the things i am optimistic about
After seeing the nice system changes i have hope more will follow and although i know some of my wishes might be absurd (

) maybe the teams might look into other things like:

Crown Horses available with gold > how about some Crown Houses being available with gold? There could be a vendor at that Gold Coast Bazaar that has different offerings quarterly where crown exclusive houses could be offered for gold, Not just for a week or for a day but a whole quarter, so people can save up a few millions, i dont expect them to be cheap
more crown purchases to carry over servers, I spent so many crowns on the EU server and i am completely naked on the NA server, if i could just carry over my houses, or even just ... lets say... 20 select items, whether houses or horses, i would be more inclined to play on both servers. Maybe a "Vault" could be implemented where you can put stuff in there that will be shareable on both servers?

MincMincMinc · January 9

The only thing to be hopeful for is that we have someone like Nick as the game director. In several pvp discords people seemed to like him enough to start making giga chad versions of him. Honestly I think people are just happy to have someone not spewing wishy washy statements like the other lady on stream.

Rewatching the vod he probably said more things of substance than the previous couple years of these interviews. Also IMO atleast this vod didnt feel like the team was being held at gunpoint. The management shakeup probably helped there.

SkaiFaith · January 9

Yes

My answer is not only mine but also what I've seen in comments around the web and in my circle of ex-players - many feel like this will be a good time to return with all the upcoming awesome changes.
So it's not just me, but others are deciding to give trust again to ZOS. Their new strategy is working!

I think it's good to celebrate when it's due.
We'll see how 2026/2027 will go but the future is indeed promising, for once!
I have MUCH MORE hope now than in 2023-2025.

Ragnarok0130 · January 10

No

I've seen ZoS over promise and under deliver far too many times since 2014 to be excited; heck hybridization isn't even finished years later. I'm at the wait and see/prove me wrong stage.

Dojohoda · January 10

No

I'm more no than maybe.

LPapirius · January 10

We'll see how it goes. It's nice to see ZOS finally reversing at leas tone of their horrible changes and going back to 30 day guild store listings. But there still needs to be some reversions of things like the jabs animation and many other bad changes that came with U35.

I might be more hopeful, but I just don't see ZOS rebounding from so much focus on cosmetics and no focus on the core game play for so many years.

SilverBride · January 10

No

It's the most disappointing reveal in the 12 years this game has been around. I honestly don't see a lot of hope for this game's future if the best we are offered are cosmetics, with the "better" ones being behind a paywall. The QOL changes do not make up for this.

Cooperharley · January 10

Yes

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Am I hopeful for the game? Remains to be seen.
Words are words, so let's actually see them listening. Let's see them interacting with the PTS testers. Let's see them go in a direction for all players.

But am I excited for 2026? Not in the slightest.
The main thing I wanted was a new Class since the existing seven are stale, but I really didn't think one would be coming because of the decision to do 7x Class refreshes over the next two years, and I doubt they'd want to muddle that with another Class on top of it.
But the fact that the Group Dungeons were sacrificed on the altar of "here's what you all want" feels awful. The Group Dungeons are hands-down the best content this game puts out, and instead of getting new Dungeons to experience with our friends, we're getting... FOMO event Writhing Fortress-esque stuff sometimes and solo versions of soloable dungeons?
At least I can just ride around the new zone and experience the art team's work though, right? Oh wait.
Yeah, all we're getting that's new is a few more storylines, when the writing of the game is consistently highlighted as one of its weakest points as of late, and one of those storylines is going to feature the Elder Scrolls series's most insufferable annoyance?

Honestly, when I'm sitting here thinking that 2025 had more than this? 😬

Man with this kinda thought process, I'd play another game. Sounds like you're seriously unhappy with the game. I used to be like this to a degree and i left, played other games and came back shortly before this announcement and i personally couldn't be more excited.

Castagere · January 10

No

For me, after this new direction i finally uninstalled ESO from my PC. It's been on my PC for years. This change is really nothing. The whole giving DLC to base game owners has got to be a joke. The loyals will take anything given to them. It's really sad what's happened to this game.

Cooperharley · January 10

Yes

SilverBride wrote: »

It's the most disappointing reveal in the 12 years this game has been around. I honestly don't see a lot of hope for this game's future if the best we are offered are cosmetics, with the "better" ones being behind a paywall. The QOL changes do not make up for this.

A vast majority of cosmetics and collectibles are behind a paywall. Freeing up a lot, along with 16 mounts and tying it to gameplay is better IMO.

We need new systems, new QOL adjustments, and a better foundation/improvement to the game we already enjoy. Just aimlessly adding new zones with some quests and not addressing long standing player sentiment doesn't make any sense. See you in 2027

SilverBride · January 10

No

Cooperharley wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

It's the most disappointing reveal in the 12 years this game has been around. I honestly don't see a lot of hope for this game's future if the best we are offered are cosmetics, with the "better" ones being behind a paywall. The QOL changes do not make up for this.

A vast majority of cosmetics and collectibles are behind a paywall. Freeing up a lot, along with 16 mounts and tying it to gameplay is better IMO.

We need new systems, new QOL adjustments, and a better foundation/improvement to the game we already enjoy. Just aimlessly adding new zones with some quests and not addressing long standing player sentiment doesn't make any sense. See you in 2027

I never buy cosmetics, or loud flashy mounts and recalls, so this doesn't appeal to me at all. The QOL improvements are the only good thing I see coming from this, but it does not make up for the things that I find unappealing.

I stated in another thread that I have 3 characters that still have a lot of zones I'd like to complete and that will take at least a year, so I hope these changes don't have a negative outcome.

Marto · January 10

Yes

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Morvan wrote: »

Wup_sa wrote: »

I would be much more hopeful if they quit changing animations and focusing more on balance.

They're not changing just animations with the class rework, they're meant for balance.

And that's a problem.

We should not have to wait two years to get a balanced game, especially when U46's PTS was full of people saying "THIS IS AN UNBALANCED MESS; DO NOT RELEASE IT LIKE THIS!" and the devs were like "lol who cares." And now, because they need to spend two years rebalancing the game Class by Class, we're not likely to see anything new for combat until 2028 at the earliest.

They should have been spending U47 and U48 balancing the Classes and interacting with PTS, so that we could maybe see new stuff for these Seasons beyond prologue-level quests and the fifty-seventh time Sheogorath is shoved in our faces.

Ok... you're not wrong. But what's your solution to this?

For ZOS to start working on the Class Refreshes today, tell us nothing and show us nothing for 2 years, and then dump them all at once on the January 2028 PTS? And because it's so much, there's no way the playerbase can give adequate feedback or the devs can respond to the feedback in time?

That's what they've done for years now. And it doesn't work. It doesn't make anyone happy.

Large-scale class reworks to bring them up to par with the new classes are needed. That much is certain. And every option you could have for releasing these changes has pros and cons.

I think the approach ZOS is taking is probably the best one. Not without its issues, but still better than the alternatives.

Silaf · January 10

Yes

All the announcments were things the comunity were asking since forever and the new direction toward more class identity and not less is important. The Bazar in particular is a really welcome addition.

That said the elephant in the room is there... no new zone and quests.
For new players this is irrelevant but if you are a veteran you need something new to mix with the grind to keep playing regurarly.
Events so far are simply the same repeatable easy quest with the 1000 new armor style as a reward... they can't replace new content.

Still the new direction is very good. I have hope.

Syldras · January 10

No

Silaf wrote: »

All the announcments were things the comunity were asking since forever and the new direction toward more class identity and not less is important. The Bazar in particular is a really welcome addition.
That said the elephant in the room is there... no new zone and quests.
For new players this is irrelevant but if you are a veteran you need something new to mix with the grind to keep playing regurarly.
Events so far are simply the same repeatable easy quest with the 1000 new armor style as a reward... they can't replace new content.

It's interesting, we have exactly the same opinion on this, but I have voted "no". I guess in the end it all comes down to the question how much trust a player still has after how the past few years have been.

Arrodisia · January 10

No

freespirit wrote: »

Where's the dungeons, the new zone, the new World Bosses, the new incursions, the new story etc etc?

What was announced was not Elder Scrolls to me!

Oh and just to add, so I can personally ignore the Battlepass because cosmetics aren't my thing(unless ofc furnishings are deemed cosmetic!), however what I wont be able to ignore is everyone elses new flashy cosmetics.

Please, please do not fill our world with more exploding mounts!!

This!!!! fixes don't replace content. Many games consistantly release content, fixes and balances regularly. Billions have been spent in this game. You'd never know it with this announcement. This isn't even 1/4 of the new content needed to excite the majority of players. There's nothing concrete as far as long term playable content here, just crumbs. We all just got future pushed again.

2025 was supposed to be the transition time to fix this game and many waited patiently. This, unfortunately, reeks like the corpse called maintenance mode. So no, for the 1st time, I'm not hopeful at all right now, at least not for ESO.

LalMirchi · January 10

Yes

I'm very positive to the QOL changes and the focus on balancing the classes. I would however have preferred nerfing Arcanist as a 1st step /joke

I will wait and see how the Battle Pass fares but at my current spending rate that is an $30 increase yearly for me. Not an earthshaking price increase - so, bearable.

I still take the hype of increased communication and more interaction with players with a truckload of salt. The next few PTS cycles will illuminate this for me, as there I'm gravely disappointed with both communication and interaction with players on PTS.

I am resigned to not having large new zones and extensive new storylines as there is only so much a vastly reduced workforce can do at present.

So I still raise The Glass of Optimism! Cheers!