Thoughts on Seasons?

AScarlato · January 15

Lucasl402 wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

Lucasl402 wrote: »

Books have much better stories that video games.

Well, then people could just stop developing video games altogether. Or tv shows. Or movies. Sitting in front of a screen isn't healthy anyway. One could become an athlete instead or perhaps an acrobat and join a circus.

Glad you see my point. Playing video games for the story is a waste of time when there are so many better options out there.

Not for immersion and this ignores how far some writers in games have come where this feels like a dated opinion. Clair Obscur moved me more than anything in recent traditional media.

Punitio · January 15

I have spent houndreds of dollars in this game as a PvP player, just to use cool cosmetics in Cyrodiil. But, i don't see me buying that battle pass along with ESO+, is too much.
I may consider buying the battlepass if the price was $10, even then i think is high if u also need to pay ESO+ to really enjoy the game.
I know you dont have to buy battle pass as is just cosmetics, i don't care if they keep those prices, i will just stick to the free one.

thedocbwarren · January 16

No passes for me and not interested in temp event areas. I will say one thing I happy about is it lets me wind down a bit since I have been religiously logging in every day to get endeavours and login awards plus non-rewarding dailies. I don't like cosmetics as I have the same since I picked it years ago. Sets are not a thing for me as I never PvP and so no difference. Good news for me is I get to finish up all the content I have not completed and maybe move on to something else with no disappointment orr FOMO. I'll keep my ESO+ for now, but that's it for me.

Danikat · January 16

thedocbwarren wrote: »

No passes for me and not interested in temp event areas. I will say one thing I happy about is it lets me wind down a bit since I have been religiously logging in every day to get endeavours and login awards plus non-rewarding dailies. I don't like cosmetics as I have the same since I picked it years ago. Sets are not a thing for me as I never PvP and so no difference. Good news for me is I get to finish up all the content I have not completed and maybe move on to something else with no disappointment orr FOMO. I'll keep my ESO+ for now, but that's it for me.

OK I'm curious, because I've seen a few people saying this: if you don't like cosmetics why go out of your way to do endeavours? What can you get from them which is worth the trouble of collecting seals?

Lixiviant · January 16

They've gotta be kidding with this reveal. After the Solstice disaster, I'm done with anything titled "Season Pass".

After 10 years I discontinued the ESO Plus yearly drain and screw the craft bag. First time I didn't participate in the January event as the interest just isn't there any more.

Had some good years, but it has run its course. Noticed most of my friends have bailed on this game.

Syldras · January 16

Danikat wrote: »

OK I'm curious, because I've seen a few people saying this: if you don't like cosmetics why go out of your way to do endeavours? What can you get from them which is worth the trouble of collecting seals?

Not sure if I fall into this category as I wouldn't say I don't care for cosmetics at all, and I do collect seals if it can be done with some easy task (if not, I just ignore it). But the thing is that I don't care much for cosmetics and if the game's financing concentrates on that now, I'm probably a quite "useless" customer in that regard. And if doing chores off a list to get currency for cosmetics became the game's main playstyle, I would also lose interest because it would feel quite useless for me.

But, to answer your question: I think people might mean they care very little for cosmetics, not not at all (as there's really nothing non-cosmetic that can ever be bought with seals)? Or maybe they only consider mounts, costumes, markings and such as cosmetics, but not furnishings? Most of my seals are indeed spent on furnishings - though that also happens only rarely, but it's even rarer when it comes to everything else. But it is a reason that I do collect easy-earned seals: So I have them ready if the rare occasion comes up that something of interest for me is for sale.

Generally, I do wonder whether the battle pass will get ZOS enough revenue. Which percentage of the playerbase will subscribe every month? Which percentage will buy occasionally when they see something that interest them in one season? How many people might not care for cosmetics at all, and how many only rarely?

I think the main reason I might be a horribly customer

is that I'm "strictly" a roleplayer and I only equip my characters with things that make sense for them (and I wonder how many other people play their game like that). Take that mount from the 1st battle pass for example, that changes its glow color depending on game time: It's an interesting idea and good design. But I would never buy it because I don't know why any of my characters would plausibly have such a thing. Of course one could always make up some background story, but it still doesn't feel fitting to me personally. So the only mounts I ever bought were that standard Dwemer car and the standard Vvardvark mount for my Dunmer main because it just fits who he is. I also have one standard guar for another Dunmer character (an adventurer of humble origins), though I'm not sure whether I bought that one with crowns or seals. If they hadn't been available through events, I probably would have also bought 1 indrik for my Altmer character. But that's it. I don't feel the need to have 50 different mounts per character. One or two are absolutely enough for me (and often, a free/event one already does it).

Though I must admit, my main got another Vvardvark mount (the black one) from those seals we got for free after the Solstice event. But I still don't think I'll need 10 different variants of that either (now my character rides one and my companion got the other one).

AzuraFan · January 16

For me, the tomes are basically paying for endeavors and login rewards. So instead of logging in every day and doing the endeavors and getting seals, and grabbing that day's login reward, I'll have to pay for the privilege of earning this stuff. Yes, you get some of the new currency too, but it's all about cosmetics, consumables, and such.

I'm not sure I'll want to pay for busywork. Because that's essentially what it will be. I can see someone who's really into cosmetics and housing wanting to do it. But I'm not that player.

I suspect most seasons I'll just do the free version, unless one of the earnables is something I really want. That's rare, though. I haven't bought crates in a long time because there's nothing in them that's a must-have for me. I'll get one free premium tome every year via ESO+ and that could turn out to be all I'll want.

As to whether it's a cash grab, I can see it both ways. It's paying for stuff we used to do for free (endeavors and login rewards), but the rewards may be of better quality. It's also completely optional. The tomes aren't like a chapter or a DLC, which provided actual content that I wouldn't want to miss. So I guess whether it's a cash grab will depend on what you like to do in-game and how important it is to not miss out on a season's offerings. FOMO, IOW.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

Hi all, wanted to hop in the thread to clarify some points mentioned.

Event Zones will not be the only zones or only kind of content going forward. Still plan to have new zones, classes, systems, etc, as we have in the past. The major difference here is that they are not all tied to the same update. So rather than having everything come in a chapter, they will be released as they are ready. These systems, zones, classes, etc will all be free as long as you own the base game going forward. A good example of this will be Overland Difficulty and the Night Market. We have announced new content and gameplay mechanics coming that all fit under this banner. You can see that from the graphic below. The plan is to show more of these things as we get them into a good state to show. That way you have a proper representation of the content. Night Market, a brand new content type, will be on PTS next week, so that will be the start of showing things. We have the ability to bring the Night Market in full time if players really resonate with it, so that is not off the table. But we will have more things over the coming weeks and months.

As for the Tamriel Tome, the premium tiers will be cosmetics and in-game currency. Once you own a tome, you can tackle them at your own pace. To see how it will function, it will be on PTS on Week 3. In-game rewards outside of the Tome will still be there as well. For example, there is a free house from participating in the Night Market event zone, called Night's Den. So we still plan to have valuable rewards for in-game participation. The key part here is the Tamriel Tome is optional. If you do not like what is on offer, you do not need to engage with it. It will not stop you from accessing any of the gameplay content and you will still earn items on the free track.

Lastly, ESO+ subscribers will get a free Premium + Bonuses Tamriel Tome for those who are subscribed for 12 months.

For those confused about any systems, please check out the following articles that go into detail on some of the systems mentioned here.

Seasons Article
Tamriel Tome Article
ESO+ Benefits Article

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

AzuraFan wrote: »

For me, the tomes are basically paying for endeavors and login rewards. So instead of logging in every day and doing the endeavors and getting seals, and grabbing that day's login reward, I'll have to pay for the privilege of earning this stuff. Yes, you get some of the new currency too, but it's all about cosmetics, consumables, and such.

Just wanted to note that this is not accurate. Items like seals of endeavor and items that you would find on the login rewards page will be on the free track of the Tamriel Tome.

shadyjane62 · January 16

Read all the articles, still not convinced it's worth opening my wallet. A recent bad experience with support has made me leery of getting in any further.

AScarlato · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

For me, the tomes are basically paying for endeavors and login rewards. So instead of logging in every day and doing the endeavors and getting seals, and grabbing that day's login reward, I'll have to pay for the privilege of earning this stuff. Yes, you get some of the new currency too, but it's all about cosmetics, consumables, and such.

Just wanted to note that this is not accurate. Items like seals of endeavor and items that you would find on the login rewards page will be on the free track of the Tamriel Tome.

Will they require more effort or some sort of "daily chore" to get the items we used to just click on upon logging in - in regards to what used to be daily rewards?

Syldras wrote: »

I think the main reason I might be a horribly customer is that I'm "strictly" a roleplayer and I only equip my characters with things that make sense for them (and I wonder how many other people play their game like that).

Unfortunately being a Roleplayer with a revolving door of character concepts is what got me into spending so much. They all need homes, with furniture, and specific outfits, and mounts....

My main had misfortune of being interested in Ayleid history and when that crown crate came out I lost $600 before I got the Radiant Apex horse. Regrettably I don't even use that anymore since it blinds me upon summoning and just ultimately felt too flashy. But you know, FOMO.

PeacefulAnarchy · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

As for the Tamriel Tome, the premium tiers will be cosmetics and in-game currency. Once you own a tome, you can tackle them at your own pace. To see how it will function, it will be on PTS on Week 3. In-game rewards outside of the Tome will still be there as well. For example, there is a free house from participating in the Night Market event zone, called Night's Den. So we still plan to have valuable rewards for in-game participation. The key part here is the Tamriel Tome is optional. If you do not like what is on offer, you do not need to engage with it. It will not stop you from accessing any of the gameplay content and you will still earn items on the free track.

Lastly, ESO+ subscribers will get a free Premium + Bonuses Tamriel Tome for those who are subscribed for 12 months.

For those confused about any systems, please check out the following articles that go into detail on some of the systems mentioned here.

Seasons Article
Tamriel Tome Article
ESO+ Benefits Article

One thing that makes it really hard for people to grasp value is that you have no info about what this actually looks like in practice.

There are weekly and seasonal challenges. OK. How do their rewards compare?

Tome Points are a unique new kind of currency that are earned when completing a Season’s challenges. They serve two related purposes:

They automatically unlock Tamriel Tome pages, granting access to each page’s rewards
They can then be spent, in any order, on unlocking individual Tamriel Tome rewards on a page

So we have tomes, within the tomes are tome pages which are unlocked (sequentially?) but the unlock simply gives the opportunity to spend the points on the rewards in the page?

Is there a cap to points?
Are points limited to a specific tome or can they be saved?
If you get all the earnable points, will that allow you to get all the (non-premium) rewards?
How many points are in a season (2000 Tome points for premium plus means nothing without context)
How much will the various rewards cost?
Premium lets you "continue to progress and unlock rewards from the specific Tome." I assume then that not only can free tier not unlock further pages but they also can't unlock specific rewards in pages they did unlock, after the season ends? I feel like that's what it means but I'm not sure.

Based on the very limited Trade Bar selection on PTS week 1 (handful of items, each worth 1 bar, obviously not a real cost) I expect week 3 pts to show how tomes work but not let us understand value, completability, and possibly even scope. People can't fairly judge a system that could be great value or horrible value or anything in between without seeing at least a representative value of costs and earnings. Without that people will instead judge based on their current feelings about zos, their general feelings on this kind of monetization, and their specific feelings about other cases of similar monetization they've seen.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

For me, the tomes are basically paying for endeavors and login rewards. So instead of logging in every day and doing the endeavors and getting seals, and grabbing that day's login reward, I'll have to pay for the privilege of earning this stuff. Yes, you get some of the new currency too, but it's all about cosmetics, consumables, and such.

Just wanted to note that this is not accurate. Items like seals of endeavor and items that you would find on the login rewards page will be on the free track of the Tamriel Tome.

Those kinds of items will, be, but in what quantities, and what amount of relative effort?

Personally I do think the tome system is a good replacement for login rewards and endeavors. But I have no idea if the actual implementation will end up being better than what we have now or not.

AzuraFan · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

For me, the tomes are basically paying for endeavors and login rewards. So instead of logging in every day and doing the endeavors and getting seals, and grabbing that day's login reward, I'll have to pay for the privilege of earning this stuff. Yes, you get some of the new currency too, but it's all about cosmetics, consumables, and such.

Just wanted to note that this is not accurate. Items like seals of endeavor and items that you would find on the login rewards page will be on the free track of the Tamriel Tome.

You're right, I forgot about the free tier. Having said that, I read the article about tomes, and I thought the paid upgrades were the same thing as the free tier in terms of the types of tasks, and they won't have a time limit to complete them. So if we do pay, aren't we paying to do more of the same types of tasks that we do now as endeavors? If not, then I genuinely don't understand what the paid upgrades provide beyond another set of rewards and no time completion limit.

thedocbwarren · January 16

Syldras wrote: »

Danikat wrote: »

OK I'm curious, because I've seen a few people saying this: if you don't like cosmetics why go out of your way to do endeavours? What can you get from them which is worth the trouble of collecting seals?

Not sure if I fall into this category as I wouldn't say I don't care for cosmetics at all, and I do collect seals if it can be done with some easy task (if not, I just ignore it). But the thing is that I don't care much for cosmetics and if the game's financing concentrates on that now, I'm probably a quite "useless" customer in that regard. And if doing chores off a list to get currency for cosmetics became the game's main playstyle, I would also lose interest because it would feel quite useless for me.

But, to answer your question: I think people might mean they care very little for cosmetics, not not at all (as there's really nothing non-cosmetic that can ever be bought with seals)? Or maybe they only consider mounts, costumes, markings and such as cosmetics, but not furnishings? Most of my seals are indeed spent on furnishings - though that also happens only rarely, but it's even rarer when it comes to everything else. But it is a reason that I do collect easy-earned seals: So I have them ready if the rare occasion comes up that something of interest for me is for sale.

Generally, I do wonder whether the battle pass will get ZOS enough revenue. Which percentage of the playerbase will subscribe every month? Which percentage will buy occasionally when they see something that interest them in one season? How many people might not care for cosmetics at all, and how many only rarely?

I think the main reason I might be a horribly customer is that I'm "strictly" a roleplayer and I only equip my characters with things that make sense for them (and I wonder how many other people play their game like that). Take that mount from the 1st battle pass for example, that changes its glow color depending on game time: It's an interesting idea and good design. But I would never buy it because I don't know why any of my characters would plausibly have such a thing. Of course one could always make up some background story, but it still doesn't feel fitting to me personally. So the only mounts I ever bought were that standard Dwemer car and the standard Vvardvark mount for my Dunmer main because it just fits who he is. I also have one standard guar for another Dunmer character (an adventurer of humble origins), though I'm not sure whether I bought that one with crowns or seals. If they hadn't been available through events, I probably would have also bought 1 indrik for my Altmer character. But that's it. I don't feel the need to have 50 different mounts per character. One or two are absolutely enough for me (and often, a free/event one already does it).

Though I must admit, my main got another Vvardvark mount (the black one) from those seals we got for free after the Solstice event. But I still don't think I'll need 10 different variants of that either (now my character rides one and my companion got the other one).

Better said than what I was going to say. I do the daily stuff to enjoy the game. I don't want to buy stuff nor group. I want to play Elder Scrolls. If that is not going to be around and this is cute Fortnight... then I'm out.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

shadyjane62 wrote: »

Read all the articles, still not convinced it's worth opening my wallet.

And that is fine. That’s part of what we are trying to highlight. You will still be able to engage on all new gameplay systems regardless.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

thedocbwarren wrote: »

Better said than what I was going to say. I do the daily stuff to enjoy the game. I don't want to buy stuff nor group. I want to play Elder Scrolls. If that is not going to be around and this is cute Fortnight... then I'm out.

There will be weekly and seasonal challenges rather than daily. We got a lot of player feedback that daily challenges felt like doing a chore list and felt very time restrictive. So weekly and seasonal challenges are meant to give that same challenge feeling but without the 24hr pressure.

AScarlato · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

thedocbwarren wrote: »

Better said than what I was going to say. I do the daily stuff to enjoy the game. I don't want to buy stuff nor group. I want to play Elder Scrolls. If that is not going to be around and this is cute Fortnight... then I'm out.

There will be weekly and seasonal challenges rather than daily. We got a lot of player feedback that daily challenges felt like doing a chore list and felt very time restrictive. So weekly and seasonal challenges are meant to give that same challenge feeling but without the 24hr pressure.

It's great they are now weekly/seasonal instead of daily which definitely felt chore-like.

Are we buying daily rewards with whatever currency we get out of said chores? I think I am confused since it seems what used to be something I innately get now requires some task instead outside of logging in.

Overall I am not a player who likes artificial tasks, I prefer to live in the world and mostly do stories and content that capture my interests, so I am curious. Most of the endeavors I have were accidental and happened to be given as I played naturally.

Edit: I wanted to clarify I do like things like event quests. But I'm not really a big fan of "go kill 50 ghosts" or whatever on a to-do list like Golden Endeavors, which is why I skip most of those.

Hamfast · January 16

Questions, questions, so many questions...

Like most, I am not interested in cosmetics unless I am interested in a cosmetic. So I hope we will learn early enough what cosmetics will be available in time to decide to get them.

I have been paying for ESO+ since Beta. I understand that a company that provides a service like ESO has to have income to pay the people who develop, test, and maintain the game, along with a million other tasks. Part of that income is from my ESO+, so as long as I am playing, I will keep paying.

As we will be rewarded for 12 months of ESO+ with a free Pass+, would my 12 years of ESO+ count toward it now?

I do wonder how much of this change is due to the new overlords, you know, Microsoft.

I played another game, played it for 7 or 8 years. I met my wife in that game, and we celebrated our 16th anniversary this month... That game, Asheron's Call, was released at the same time as EverQuest, but when Microsoft took over, they decided it was not worth advertising, supporting, or making the game available to the public... I played for several more years, but the attrition was obvious.

As I still enjoy ESO, and would hate to see it go the way of Asheon's call, I am almost willing to support whatever it takes to keep the Overlords out of our business...

In the spirit of the new focus on communications, feel free to let us know how we can help.

twisttop138 · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi all, wanted to hop in the thread to clarify some points mentioned.

Event Zones will not be the only zones or only kind of content going forward. Still plan to have new zones, classes, systems, etc, as we have in the past. The major difference here is that they are not all tied to the same update. So rather than having everything come in a chapter, they will be released as they are ready. These systems, zones, classes, etc will all be free as long as you own the base game going forward. A good example of this will be Overland Difficulty and the Night Market. We have announced new content and gameplay mechanics coming that all fit under this banner. You can see that from the graphic below. The plan is to show more of these things as we get them into a good state to show. That way you have a proper representation of the content. Night Market, a brand new content type, will be on PTS next week, so that will be the start of showing things. We have the ability to bring the Night Market in full time if players really resonate with it, so that is not off the table. But we will have more things over the coming weeks and months.

As for the Tamriel Tome, the premium tiers will be cosmetics and in-game currency. Once you own a tome, you can tackle them at your own pace. To see how it will function, it will be on PTS on Week 3. In-game rewards outside of the Tome will still be there as well. For example, there is a free house from participating in the Night Market event zone, called Night's Den. So we still plan to have valuable rewards for in-game participation. The key part here is the Tamriel Tome is optional. If you do not like what is on offer, you do not need to engage with it. It will not stop you from accessing any of the gameplay content and you will still earn items on the free track.

Lastly, ESO+ subscribers will get a free Premium + Bonuses Tamriel Tome for those who are subscribed for 12 months.

For those confused about any systems, please check out the following articles that go into detail on some of the systems mentioned here.

Seasons Article
Tamriel Tome Article
ESO+ Benefits Article

I'm curious though Kevin. New zones, classes etc all cost quite a bit. A fear I've seen, that I also feel, is that now there's no return on that investment. What incentive does Zos have to make us something like, say Western Skyrim. A large zone full of side quests and delves and all the accoutrements. Or to invest in a new class. Other battle pass games in the genre are very skint on the content except the paid tier of the pass for cosmetic items.

Not trying to be an ass, genuinely curious. As we start to look more like fallout 76, a game I play and love, its worrying.

Edit to add. I do appreciate that there is more that hasn't been brought up yet. This is a mistake on your guys part I believe. The Livestream talked long about the new way to pay you guys and not nearly enough about what we'll play. Not super different to previous years, but this year is different. Thank you. You do quite a bit of the heavy lifting for Zos in how many players view the company. I hope they appreciate your hard work.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

twisttop138 wrote: »

I'm curious though Kevin. New zones, classes etc all cost quite a bit. A fear I've seen, that I also feel, is that now there's no return on that investment. What incentive does Zos have to make us something like, say Western Skyrim. A large zone full of side quests and delves and all the accoutrements. Or to invest in a new class. Other battle pass games in the genre are very skint on the content except the paid tier of the pass for cosmetic items.

Not trying to be an ass, genuinely curious. As we start to look more like fallout 76, a game I play and love, its worrying.

Edit to add. I do appreciate that there is more that hasn't been brought up yet. This is a mistake on your guys part I believe. The Livestream talked long about the new way to pay you guys and not nearly enough about what we'll play. Not super different to previous years, but this year is different. Thank you. You do quite a bit of the heavy lifting for Zos in how many players view the company. I hope they appreciate your hard work.

Totally get the question. No harm done. The incentive for us is simple. Ultimately, we want to make a game that you, the player, wants to continue to play and return to. We know folks come to ESO for a variety of things, and we want to continue to support that. To do that, we will need to continue to provide content that you will want to play and engage with. So the things you noted, like investment in a new class, or a new zone with story content and delves, new trials, etc. These are things that we have seen players ask for and we want to continue to deliver those. With the new structure, we can do that without having to stick with one specific deadline like we did under chapters. Lastly, the new leadership team is very serious about building the game with you, the player. A big part of that is delivering on gameplay elements you want, being honest and adapting on things that miss the mark wherever possible, and ideally delighting with things you didn't expect. This is on top of continuing QoL improvements. If those elements continue to build a healthy and happy ESO community, then that is our return on investment.

On the livestream bit, thank you for the feedback. We have passed similar feedback on to our Leadership Team and other teams in charge of the production. The goal for the stream was to articulate that a lot was changing and changing because of player feedback. We will have a stream to talk about more about the specific details of seasons beyond Season Zero (keep your eyes open for that announcement) in the coming months. But we viewed it as an opportunity to level set with the immediate changes happening. Which with the existence of this thread, shows was needed, but with more detail to try and clear up any confusion. The payment piece is one part of that, but as you can see, there is quite a bit changing and going over that and what is coming in Update 49/Season Zero was the goal.

DalisMagnus · January 16

Finally a place to attest try to be level headed about this…

I find seasons to be a good and bad thing. Good for ESO with what MS has done to you and how poorly you did in Season of the Worm, but bad for the potential shift in the game that I love.

I know the MS acquisition likely did a number of your team. Both in man power and requirements by your new corporate overlords. Your reduction in man power is forcing you to make the tough choice of sub par chapter/season like content or shifting to shorter easier to produce content. It’s likely that MS has you working on something(s) else that’s not ESO so that’s put even more pressure on your limited resources. Seasons are the best choice for this situation, however I think they can become a problem

Season systems aren’t always welcome, I will always think Destiny when I hear seasons. But I would need to go study the topic more than I have. I worry seasons will turn into an event, with event flavored Golden Pursuits while you can continue to promise more. No new content, just recycled and reskinned content to keep us paying for Tomes and Plus to fund other games in development, maybe throw in a LTO item or three too invoke the FOMO in other fellow collectors.

Seasons also break away from our beloved chapter system but that point I feel has been hammered home enough.

These seasons have also not mentioned one of my favorite systems in ESO, antiquities. I would understand the man power and time requirements to make new antiquities but to not make more new ones would basically be shelving a whole game mechanic that I personally love

To be brief on it, I’m hesitant about the season system do the potential abuse by devs to milk their community for money offering lack luster rewards as compensation. I both do and don’t look forward to this major change to my primary game.

KAT0MI · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi all, wanted to hop in the thread to clarify some points mentioned.

Event Zones will not be the only zones or only kind of content going forward. Still plan to have new zones, classes, systems, etc, as we have in the past. The major difference here is that they are not all tied to the same update. So rather than having everything come in a chapter, they will be released as they are ready. These systems, zones, classes, etc will all be free as long as you own the base game going forward. A good example of this will be Overland Difficulty and the Night Market. We have announced new content and gameplay mechanics coming that all fit under this banner. You can see that from the graphic below. The plan is to show more of these things as we get them into a good state to show. That way you have a proper representation of the content. Night Market, a brand new content type, will be on PTS next week, so that will be the start of showing things. We have the ability to bring the Night Market in full time if players really resonate with it, so that is not off the table. But we will have more things over the coming weeks and months.

As for the Tamriel Tome, the premium tiers will be cosmetics and in-game currency. Once you own a tome, you can tackle them at your own pace. To see how it will function, it will be on PTS on Week 3. In-game rewards outside of the Tome will still be there as well. For example, there is a free house from participating in the Night Market event zone, called Night's Den. So we still plan to have valuable rewards for in-game participation. The key part here is the Tamriel Tome is optional. If you do not like what is on offer, you do not need to engage with it. It will not stop you from accessing any of the gameplay content and you will still earn items on the free track.

Lastly, ESO+ subscribers will get a free Premium + Bonuses Tamriel Tome for those who are subscribed for 12 months.

For those confused about any systems, please check out the following articles that go into detail on some of the systems mentioned here.

Seasons Article
Tamriel Tome Article
ESO+ Benefits Article

It would be amazing since we are getting the high seas event to even add in some new fishing quests for the players who like to fish. Also it would help players to work towards the fishing achievements for the zones

Sadras · January 16

I miss chapters, and I've never played a game in which I liked seasons or battle passes. I gave a few of them a chance in the past, but it always killed my enjoyment pretty quickly, and it always took the game's focus away from what I cared about (good long coherent stories, interesting lore and worlds to explore) and turned everything into a homework and to-do-lists that ultimately didn't matter, and in some cases that one could then pay to get completed because nobody actually wanted to do all those things or could manage to, with limited time and that pesky "having a life" business that gets in between. One just wanted the rewards. And sure, the companies made their money, but the actual heart and soul of the respective games died in the background. I don't want that to happen to ESO. I really love this game, and it's been an on-again off-again longterm game home since shortly after it released on console.

I understand a need to change the monetisation model, and battle passes can be wildly successful obviously. But what I always looked forward to was getting a big new zone to get lost in, a main quest, side quests, something big sometimes like a new class, and have this whole experience together. I could deal with a slower release schedule for something as big as a zone, and I could get used to something like zones getting dropped with some quests and then more quests getting added to them over time. I thought after Solstice, maybe we were headed into a direction something like that.

It's also not like I've got nothing to play. I switched my main platform a while back and still have endless replay and questing potential, so this isn't a point to quit because "nothing left to do" or anything like that despite being a long-time player.

But a whole year without a story- and questing zone (not event zone) worries me about the future of the game. It's not just about what I can do right this moment but whether I can see myself playing ESO in a year or two or three, and that determines the amount of my investment and motivation now. Goes for both money and time. E.g. I love housing and giving all my characters roleplay-suitable homes, but a new house to either buy or earn via in-game stuff like the Night Market only matters down the line if I think I'll still be using it next year. If ESO quits being an Elder Scrolls game, I might as well not bother. And I'd much, much rather have good reasons to stick around. There's nothing that can quite replace this world and what's already been built.

Still, e.g. I've played both Diablo and Destiny, and now I don't anymore. And I still sometimes think, wouldn't it be nice if they'd just stayed as they began so I could run around the cool worlds with their cool lore and not feel like "What am I even doing here anymore?" Please don't become that.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

AScarlato wrote: »

It's great they are now weekly/seasonal instead of daily which definitely felt chore-like.

Are we buying daily rewards with whatever currency we get out of said chores? I think I am confused since it seems what used to be something I innately get now requires some task instead outside of logging in.

Overall I am not a player who likes artificial tasks, I prefer to live in the world and mostly do stories and content that capture my interests, so I am curious. Most of the endeavors I have were accidental and happened to be given as I played naturally.

Edit: I wanted to clarify I do like things like event quests. But I'm not really a big fan of "go kill 50 ghosts" or whatever on a to-do list like Golden Endeavors, which is why I skip most of those.

I am going to preface with this: On week three of PTS, the Tome system will be live on the PTS server in a test state. So while it will not be indicative of the full Tamriel Tome rewards releasing in Season Zero, it will reflect day to day function of how you will interact with the Tome. So that will certainly help reduce confusion that wasn't cleared up in the article. If you have access to PTS, highly encourage trying it out to see how you think it will fit in with your playstyle. If you don't have PTS access, I'm sure we will have content creators who will make videos to also help show the experience.

As for the how to claim rewards, I will point you to what we posted in this week's PTS patch notes:

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Tamriel Tomes

The Update 49 PTS Season as well as the Update 49 PTS Tamriel Tome will go live on 1/27/26 at 10 AM ET.
In addition, please note that the Update 49 PTS Tamriel Tome is not fully representative of the Season Zero: Tome of Dawn and Dusk that goes live on April 2, 2026. The goal for PTS is to test functionality and address any bugs present in Tome functionality.
This PTS Tome will have several differences from what you will see in April. Some of these differences may include rewards, the placement of rewards, as well as final values for the Pages, Challenges, and Tome Points.

Tamriel Tomes are a new way for players to earn a wide array of rewards for engaging directly with ESO’s content and systems. Read more below to find out what this system brings to the game.

Our goal with Tamriel Tomes is to introduce a battle pass-like system that makes ESO consistently more rewarding to play for everyone.
The Tamriel Tome will be a central part of Seasons, offering rewards themed around the Season and activities to complete. We want to make sure everyone can participate in it, whether you’re interested in Questing, Trials, PvP, Crafting, or other playstyles.

A new Tamriel Tome will launch with every Season, with each Tome lasting the full duration of the Season.

Everyone will have access to the Free side of the Tamriel Tome which offers rewards from new cosmetics, Seals, Trade Bars (more on this below), and gameplay items. A paid upgrade to the Premium version will also be available, offering additional cosmetics and rewards. The Tamriel Tome will change for each new season. However, if you decide to purchase the Premium Tamriel Tome - it’s yours to keep forever. You can come back to it and continue to progress it at any time.

Trade Bars are a new currency primarily earned from engaging in the Tamriel Tome. This new currency replaces Event Tickets and will never be sold for Crowns. In addition, you can earn Trade Bars from In-Game Events and PvP progression system coming up called Veterancy.
You’ll progress the Tamriel Tome through a new Challenge System that features Weekly Challenges and Seasonal Challenges. As you complete Challenges, you’ll earn Tome Points. Earning Tome Points will unlock further pages in the Tamriel Tome, and you can use Tome Points on unlocked pages to obtain rewards.

You’ll have access to 5 Weekly Challenges, refreshing every week. These Challenges provide a wide variety of activities to engage in, and if you don’t like some of your Weekly Challenges or are trying to sync your activities with a friend, you’ll have the ability to reroll Weekly Challenges.

Seasonal Challenges will offer more specific or larger activities, and will often be highly thematic to the current Season’s activities and Events. Unlike Weekly Challenges, Seasonal Challenges cannot be rerolled.

And don’t worry if you’re not able to play every day either! Weekly Challenges will accumulate up to 12 at once, letting you take breaks and pick it back up when you’re ready.

Finally, while we were setting out to design the Tamriel Tome, one of our main goals was to simplify some fragmented reward systems. To this end, we’re removing the Endeavors and Daily Login Reward systems from the game in Update 49. You can expect to see many of these rewards, such as Seals and consumable items, on the Free side of the Tome. Both of these systems make less sense in our new Seasons world - we didn’t want to increase the feeling of a chore-list from completing endeavors and claiming log-in rewards, all on top of completing the battle pass.

You can learn more about the Tamriel Tomes system in this article.

tomofhyrule · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi all, wanted to hop in the thread to clarify some points mentioned.

Event Zones will not be the only zones or only kind of content going forward. Still plan to have new zones, classes, systems, etc, as we have in the past. The major difference here is that they are not all tied to the same update.

Thanks for the information, Kevin. I'll admit that I was really quite disappointed to see that Dungeons were not making the cut at all this year, but I've been holding out hope that they'd come back in the future and eventually we'd get an 8th Class (or 9th as well, I'm not picky). I'm especially excited to see Classes designed in a post-Subclassing world with the team's new view on making each line important and not delineating by role.

I did really like the Chapter system for its consistency, but I can see how that would have been restrictive. I just hope that the new Seasons system can allow us to keep seeing new additions to the game beyond cosmetics. I know "Battle Pass" tends to be a dirty word in the gaming world, but I will wait to see what it offers before I make a full judgement.

I will say that I did tend to enjoy Endeavors and Golden Pursuits, but a lot of that is that I've felt there's not much to do in game lately and I've been in a holding pattern in game until I get new characters to build from scratch, which is what I really want to do. I totally can't wait to get new Classes since I'm one of those one-character-per-Class players and I now have a second backstory that's trying desperately to write itself, so I do need a 9th Class before long.

Also the communication we've gotten from the entire team since the reveal has been incredible, and is really helping feel like we are valued, so thank you and everyone for taking the time to pop into various threads.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

Sadras wrote: »

But a whole year without a story.

While we will not have a zone questline this year, we will have new quests and stories to tell.

Sadras · January 16

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Sadras wrote: »

But a whole year without a story.

While we will not have a zone questline this year, we will have new quests and stories to tell.

Oh yeah, typography, I meant a story-zone, like Wrothgar.
I do appreciate there being new stories in general.

Also BTW seconding the post above: Really appreciate the communication and the continued attempts to explain this whole thing since the reveal. I don't envy the task with such an overhaul.

ZOS_Kevin · January 16

Sadras wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Sadras wrote: »

But a whole year without a story.

While we will not have a zone questline this year, we will have new quests and stories to tell.

Oh yeah, typography, I meant a story-zone, like Wrothgar.
I do appreciate there being new stories in general.

Also BTW seconding the post above: Really appreciate the communication and the continued attempts to explain this whole thing since the reveal. I don't envy the task with such an overhaul.

No worries. We understand this is a big shift across the board, so happy to help clear any confusion or address worries.

Eurymachos · January 16

Oof. ZOS_Kevin still working hard at drinks o'clock on Friday night.

tohopka_eso · January 16

I might've missed it in the stream but I searched the main ESO site and tried looking in some of the other threads. I just can't find the pricing for the seasons that was mentioned.