I don't understand the hype for upcoming ESO changes, I think the game will lose it's meaning.

SummersetCitizen · January 11

ZOS is one part of ZeniMax media. This is from Wikipedia:

ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. The company additionally owns the development studios Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield), id Software (Doom, Quake, and Rage), Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Prey, and Redfall), MachineGames (Wolfenstein), and ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online). Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for $8.1 billion in March 2021 and operates it under the Microsoft Gaming division.

Lucasl402 · January 11

Zenimax = ZOS= Zenimax Online Studio.

What you posted says that ZOS is the parent company of Bethesda. Everything Bethesda creates is under the ZOS umbrella which is under the Microsoft umbrella.

In other words, everything Bethesda produces is a ZOS product and a microsoft product at the same time.

Isn't capitalism fun? The same thing has happened with many of the major cable and print media outlets and it's not good at all for freedom and free thinking.

Soarora · January 11

Lucasl402 wrote: »

Zenimax = ZOS= Zenimax Online Studio.

What you posted says that ZOS is the parent company of Bethesda. Everything Bethesda creates is under the ZOS umbrella which is under the Microsoft umbrella.

Zenimax Media and Zenimax Online Studios (ZOS) are two different companies. ZOS is a sister company to Bethesda and ZOS only has control over ESO. Zenimax Media is the parent company to ZOS, Bethesda, and other game studios. Microsoft bought Zenimax Media, with the assistance of Bethesda. Just because they have similar names doesn’t mean they’re the same thing.

Syldras · January 11

Lucasl402 wrote: »

My understanding is that ZOS is Bethesda's parent company. Everything Bethesda creates is a ZOS product. And Microsoft owns them both now as they purchased ZOS a couple or so years back.

The parent company is ZeniMax Media. ZOS and Bethesda are separate studios of this company.

Lucasl402 · January 11

Syldras wrote: »

Lucasl402 wrote: »

My understanding is that ZOS is Bethesda's parent company. Everything Bethesda creates is a ZOS product. And Microsoft owns them both now as they purchased ZOS a couple or so years back.

The parent company is ZeniMax Media. ZOS and Bethesda are separate studios of this company.

Different companies that share the same physical address.

Syldras · January 11

Lucasl402 wrote: »

Different companies that share the same physical address.

My doctor shares the same adress/building with a bakery. Can I go to the doctor to buy a pretzel?

tomofhyrule · January 11

Lucasl402 wrote: »

SummersetCitizen wrote: »

Lucasl402 wrote: »

But the problem with ES6 is that it will still be a ZOS game. ...if it's ever created.

The Elder Scrolls VI is being developed by Bethesda Game Studios, not ZeniMax Online Studios.

ZOS is a separate entity under that umbrella. They are tasked with developing/managing the live service game.

My hope is that they have very little to do with the ES6 game.

My understanding is that ZOS is Bethesda's parent company. Everything Bethesda creates is a ZOS product. And Microsoft owns them both now as they purchased ZOS a couple or so years back.

No, there’s another company in there.

Zenimax is the parent, which has Zenimax Online Studios and Bethesda under them (among other subsidiaries).

TES6 and ESO are not associated as they are different branches.

Ph1p · January 11

Wow, this is getting ridiculous, so let's get the facts straight:

Bethesda Softworks is the video game developer that created the Elder Scrolls franchise, starting with Arena. They were founded in the 1980s.
In 1999, the founder of Bethesda Softworks, together with a partner, created a new parent or holding company for Bethesda Softworks, which was Zenimax Media. It served essentially as an administrative layer.
In 2001, they spun out the development unit from Bethesda Softworks, which continued to be the publishing arm of the company. This established Bethesda Game Studios, which is the developer that made Skyrim, Starfield, and is now working on Elder Scrolls VI.
In 2007, Zenimax Media created a new subsidiary called Zenimax Online Studios, led by Matt Firor, whose purpose was to develop ESO.
In 2020, Microsoft acquired Zenimax Media and all its subsidiaries, including Bethesda Game Studios and Zenimax Online Studios, but also id Software (Quake, Doom), Arkane (Dishonored, Prey), and MachineGames (Wolfenstein).

In other words, ZOS (ESO) is a sister company to Bethesda Game Studios (Elder Scrolls VI). They are both subsidiaries of Zenimax Media, which is now a part of Microsoft.

Castagere · January 11

Ph1p wrote: »

Wow, this is getting ridiculous, so let's get the facts straight:
Bethesda Softworks is the video game developer that created the Elder Scrolls franchise, starting with Arena. They were founded in the 1980s.

In 1999, the founder of Bethesda Softworks, together with a partner, created a new parent or holding company for Bethesda Softworks, which was Zenimax Media. It served essentially as an administrative layer.

In 2001, they spun out the development unit from Bethesda Softworks, which continued to be the publishing arm of the company. This established Bethesda Game Studios, which is the developer that made Skyrim, Starfield, and is now working on Elder Scrolls VI.

In 2007, Zenimax Media created a new subsidiary called Zenimax Online Studios, led by Matt Firor, whose purpose was to develop ESO.

In 2020, Microsoft acquired Zenimax Media and all its subsidiaries, including Bethesda Game Studios and Zenimax Online Studios, but also id Software (Quake, Doom), Arkane (Dishonored, Prey), and MachineGames (Wolfenstein).

In other words, ZOS (ESO) is a sister company to Bethesda Game Studios (Elder Scrolls VI). They are both subsidiaries of Zenimax Media, which is now a part of Microsoft.

Correct, and this is why the mmo community is a mess. You have people who don't believe in facts; they refuse to see what's right in front of them. You can't even convince them that Microsoft owns it all. They will keep believing that everything is separate from the other.

Soarora · January 11

Castagere wrote: »

Ph1p wrote: »

Wow, this is getting ridiculous, so let's get the facts straight:
Bethesda Softworks is the video game developer that created the Elder Scrolls franchise, starting with Arena. They were founded in the 1980s.

In 1999, the founder of Bethesda Softworks, together with a partner, created a new parent or holding company for Bethesda Softworks, which was Zenimax Media. It served essentially as an administrative layer.

In 2001, they spun out the development unit from Bethesda Softworks, which continued to be the publishing arm of the company. This established Bethesda Game Studios, which is the developer that made Skyrim, Starfield, and is now working on Elder Scrolls VI.

In 2007, Zenimax Media created a new subsidiary called Zenimax Online Studios, led by Matt Firor, whose purpose was to develop ESO.

In 2020, Microsoft acquired Zenimax Media and all its subsidiaries, including Bethesda Game Studios and Zenimax Online Studios, but also id Software (Quake, Doom), Arkane (Dishonored, Prey), and MachineGames (Wolfenstein).

In other words, ZOS (ESO) is a sister company to Bethesda Game Studios (Elder Scrolls VI). They are both subsidiaries of Zenimax Media, which is now a part of Microsoft.

Correct, and this is why the mmo community is a mess. You have people who don't believe in facts; they refuse to see what's right in front of them. You can't even convince them that Microsoft owns it all. They will keep believing that everything is separate from the other.

I think we all know that Microsoft owns everything LOL. It’s a matter of being correct in the blame, not an argument that every part of the chain is independent from each other. Drives me bonkers when people blame Todd Howard or Bethesda for things that happen in ESO.

DenverRalphy · January 11

Ph1p wrote: »

... which is the developer that made Skyrim, Starfield, and is now working on Elder Scrolls VI.

LIES!! Lies I tell ya! There's no such creature known as TES VI!!! It's a myth!

AzuraFan · January 11

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

I think 2026 is the last roll of the dice.
If these changes don't turn things around, I suspect ESO will go the way of New World in 2027.

I'm not sure it will go the way of New World and be shut down, but if these changes don't increase the population, or at least stem the bleeding, then it could go into maintenance mode sooner rather than later. I'm hoping the new leadership team has been given at least a couple of years to try to improve things. If MS is saying "show us the money in 2026 or else," the game's lifespan could be in trouble.

katanagirl1 · January 14

I understand the hype for the new season, though I do not share it. There are a lot of good QoL additions that we have been wanting for years in the video. It’s good they are finally listening, I mean they’ve done some cool things on their own but they have also been spinning their wheels on other things. I see a lot about “new content” but not much about filling out the empty spots in the map. You could argue that Golden Pursuits are new content, but they just have us doing the same things we have already been doing and give us a prize. From what I see there will be more rewards, which is what we have asked for, but it will not come from new chapters, and they haven’t even committed to talking about a new zone, however small it might be. Sure they might do it later, but it’s not encouraging at this point, if they had something planned then they would have talked about it.

Again, as I have said before, the very loud voices saying chapters are boring, content is too easy, have been an open invitation to give us less, and to make it at a level that many casual players cannot keep up anymore. The devs have been unable to see how divided the community is, we had a good split of content for casuals (overland) and end game min maxers (hm group dungeons, trials) but now story bosses are too hard for some players and world bosses have huge health pools and no one does them. I’m afraid the harder overland will be a ton of work that interests a very few players for a very short time before they are bored again. I have no desire to go and do everything again at this point, I want new stuff to do. If that is all of the “new content” we get, then it’s a huge disappointment.

EDIT: typo

AzuraFan · January 14

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Again, as I have said before, the very loud voices saying chapters are boring, content is too easy, have been an open invitation to give us less, and to make it at a level that many casual players cannot keep up anymore. The devs have been unable to see how divided the community is, we had a good split of content for casuals (overland) and end game min maxers (hm group dungeons, trials) but now story bosses are too hard for some players and world bosses have huge health pools and no one does them. I’m afraid the harder overland will be a ton of work that interests a very few players for a very short time before they are bored again. I have no desire to go and do everything again at this point, I want new stuff to do. If that is all of the “new content” we get, then it’s a huge disappointment.

For this year, I'm glad to see some story content, but I'll need to see how many hours there are. As for the difficulty creep, yeah. I don't have a problem with the story bosses, but I know some posters complained they couldn't do them, and those posters haven't posted for a long time - I assume they quit. At least the overland difficulty is optional. I don't need it, but if it brings people back to the game, that'll be a good thing.

There was enough this year, like the tomes and the story content, to keep me around to check it out. Next year, I'll see.

Desiato · January 14

Though ZOS and Bethesda are technically separate studios, they are known to assist each other with projects.

I think it's possible the chapter model didn't actually fail with ESO, and what we're experiencing is a strategic shift.

Why would such a shift occur?

Well, I'm about to say something contentious that some will scoff at. It's generally understood in the gaming industry that both Fallout 5 and TES6 are deep in development. That's a lot of world and story content that has to be created. I would guess at least some of the people that once did that for ESO have been doing that for other titles for the past year and a half.

Furthermore, last year the Oblivion Remaster released with short notice. Many expect a FO3/NV remaster to appear with short notice sometime soon. I think it's possible Zenimax decided traditional ESO chapters would have their sales cannibalized by the remasters.

The bottom line is that ESO is currently no longer a vehicle for story driven TES content and probably won't be for the foreseeable future.

Thus the transition of ESO from a chapter focused game to more of a typical Live service game.