I'm sure a game mechanic to kidnap random npcs to sell them to pirates (or directly to House Dres), or to force them to work in your own mining business (or similar) will not cause any scandal at all.

The frequent events are overwhelming to me. I have things to do, which is to finish all the zones on my 3 characters that haven't completed them. But every time I start another event comes up, and now all these Tome tasks. I do minimal for the events and have not put much effort into the Tomes, but these are still a burden to me rather than something I enjoy.

I can't even imagine how overwhelming this may feel to a player new to ESO that would like to play through all the stories, too.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

First, thanks for the feedback. A bit of follow up before asking a question. We are adding some new things for folks to do. Dynamic Encounters (Currently on PTS), Favors (Currently on PTS), Rumors (Coming later this year), Sages Vault (coming later this year) and our events are aimed to give more things to do. We are trying to find a right balance for events, since we have heard feedback around having too many.

It sounds like you are looking for more things for players to do based on their agency, rather than activities we have set up in-game. But please correct me if I am wrong. Just trying to make sure the request is understood.

Is there something you are looking for in particular? Like some examples from other games you have played would be helpful. Just so we can send things to the right places.

I think more things should be added to Infinite archive, I thought it was meant to be evergreen content but it has become too stale now.

Yeah, part of what led me to take a 2 year break was just running out of non-group related content to do that wasn't just quests. Quests are neat and a foundation of the game, but most of the time I don't want my experiences to be "on rails". It got to the point where I had all the holiday achievements and was just going through the motions of flipping stuff on the market for gold to pay for a trader to just repeat that over and over again. I want reasons to go back to previously cleared public dungeons (for something more than the Undaunted quest) or pretty much any other reason to visit a zone that I have 100% exploration on. Vvardenfell actually solves this a little better than most zones, as it has multiple rare furnishings, paintings, and even a special motif, and most of this stuff can drop anywhere in that zone and is rare enough that it's quite the find.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

First, thanks for the feedback. A bit of follow up before asking a question. We are adding some new things for folks to do. Dynamic Encounters (Currently on PTS), Favors (Currently on PTS), Rumors (Coming later this year), Sages Vault (coming later this year) and our events are aimed to give more things to do.

Great questions, Kevin!

In terms of what there is to do, myself and my guildmates all look for something that is both rewarding and can accommodate variable group sizes.

I'll recount something that happened to us recently.
But let's take the systems you mentioned, because I'm losing my optimism on them. If there are rewards, they're quite finite and players will eventually move on from the system once they exhaust those limited rewards.

• Dynamic Encounters. These sound really cool, based on this article. If we're just getting three, then I foresee these being something that is just peppered into someone's session, rather than am enduring focus. That's fine, but if you're exhausted on the other content, then it's not enough to keep people logging in. And while the rewards do sound attractive, it is a limited inventory. It's not like IA or doing randoms, where there's always something to chase.
• Favors. Based on this article, it's DOA for me. I'm sorry, I'm not just doing things for gold or some small housing item I'll forget about. Maybe there's a target audience, maybe this will help with scribing, I dunno. Regardless, it seems like very short-lived content.
• Rumors. Content-wise, not my cup of tea. It sounds cool, I'm just not the target audience. I'll do it if there's some dynamic element to it and good rewards. I'm not confident there will be, so I'm a little pessimistic on this one.
• Sages Vault. I don't know enough to form an opinion. But looking at the other systems, not terribly optimistic.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

We are trying to find a right balance for events, since we have heard feedback around having too many.

FWIW, I'm super burnt out on them. I only do them because they're the only systems that get refreshed rewards. I'd rather see less events and those rewards be updated in some permanent game system.

It's been said a million times, there just needs to be less FOMO. Less events, less timed deals. Your teams do so much wonderful work on the games assets, it's a shame how much is not earnable, or even purchasable, at our whim. It's all "you had to be there".

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Is there something you are looking for in particular?

I want to be able to earn something that I consider worthwhile in fun systems.

What's fun:

• More factions. I'd like to explore more of the Dark Elf houses, with story and daily quests. Same goes the Breton Houses and High Elf colleges. More than just sending me to some random delve or other locale; you could have specific mini-instances like you do for the thieves guilds.
• Group activities. Again, meaningful group activities is hard to find outside of dungeon finder, trials, and arenas. Especially when you don't have the full group the content requires. The Night Market is looking to address that problem; perhaps Craglorn can get a spruce-up.
• Horde Modes. Something you could tie into the factions mentioned above, or as a standalone. I always found tower defense games to be pretty fun. Make the rewards cool, and I'd do this.
• Meaningful property ownership. Putting this is an edit, because someone mentioned having businesses. That'd be great, could turn your houses into something that generates gold.

What's worthwhile:

• Increases in player power or utility, preferably account wide. Companion keepsakes are good example.
• Styles. Fashion truly is the endgame, so any thing that gets me new outfits is appreciate.
• Houses. Not the biggest housing person at the moment, but I do go in spurts, and will absolutely do content that nets me one.
• Mounts. Yes, I have a million, but they're always fun. I know my two year old loves sitting next to me while I jump around on my mounts.
• Gear sets. Provided they're not nerfed, which seems like a big ask, I like finding themed gear sets to try out.
• Skill points. They're helpful, especially with subclassing.
• Transmutes. These should be far easier to come by.
• Furnishings. This is definitely at the bottom, but they are fun to get. Again, need houses to put them in, but they're a good seasoning to the dish.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Like some examples from other games you have played would be helpful. Just so we can send things to the right places.

Guild Wars 2 is IMO your closest competitor. There's a lot of similar design principles, but their execution is vastly different.

• Dynamic Events exist in every zone.
• Those dynamic events are truly a spectacle, especially in later expansions.
• Rewards are worthwhile. You can make legendary weapons, get styles, etc.
• Account masteries contribute to player strength.
• The fun isn't time limited. It stays. It grows. Yes, the game has some events, but the core gameplay loop is strengthened because of how they build the reward systems.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

First, thanks for the feedback. A bit of follow up before asking a question. We are adding some new things for folks to do. Dynamic Encounters (Currently on PTS), Favors (Currently on PTS), Rumors (Coming later this year), Sages Vault (coming later this year) and our events are aimed to give more things to do. We are trying to find a right balance for events, since we have heard feedback around having too many.

It sounds like you are looking for more things for players to do based on their agency, rather than activities we have set up in-game. But please correct me if I am wrong. Just trying to make sure the request is understood.

Is there something you are looking for in particular? Like some examples from other games you have played would be helpful. Just so we can send things to the right places.

In GTA V Online, there are businesses; they could be made similar to The Elder Scrolls Online.

For example,

Players could own sawmills and sell the wood they obtain for gold or keep it to craft items.

There are many types of businesses that could be added to the world:

Jewelry stores, taverns, farms, etc.

Players could buy these properties with gold and crowns, just like houses.

Guild halls could also be added as properties available for purchase in exchange for gold and crowns.

I believe that what keeps a game alive is the things players can do within the game world.

Another thing they could add would be buildings where players can spend their gold.

For example,
In GTA V Online, there are adult clubs.

The Witcher 3 also has adult clubs.

I often play that game just to visit them.

Instead of putting npcs into a big sack and carrying them to a daedric shrine for sacrifice (for what ever reasons, it's not like most daedric princes would care for that), how about adding a number of daedra-related daily quests to the daedric shrines that are already in game?

Syldras wrote: »

I'm sure a game mechanic to kidnap random npcs to sell them to pirates (or directly to House Dres), or to force them to work in your own mining business (or similar) will not cause any scandal at all.

It was an example.

All systems or activities will become stale given enough time. There isn't a guard against that. There also aren't any universally appealing rewards. What makes a worthwhile reward differs greatly between players. Adding things you 'have' to do isn't a solution, as it just creates burnout and bitterness. I eventually had to start ignoring events, even ones I used to like, because I was tired of the constant stream of them. I've only lasted playing ESO for 10+ years because... I don't play it constantly.

There are two things that make me keep playing games, and none of them are rewards:
(1) Choices that actually have an impact (slightly different lines of dialogue don't count)
(2) Building things... not decorating... building.

One of my favorite quest-lines in ESO is actually the Coldharbor one, where you see the Hollow City fill out with people based on how you've completed the quests in the zone. One of my favorite activities is housing (often on the PTS where I'm unconstrained).

A piece of gear or some gold or whatever isn't going to push me to do something that I don't already want to do. Those things aren't driving forces but bonuses. Just because a repetitive daily quest has "fun" rewards doesn't make that activity fun. It makes it a chore. Activities need to stand on their own.

Side note: I'd love to see more work put into the housing system. Not just adding more furniture or trinkets, but the system and what we're able to build and automate with it. Let us create living systems and build (not just decorate). I love games like Fallout 4, Minecraft, No Man's Sky, Astroneer... and really ESO's system is already well on it's way to being very good.

elinien wrote: »

All systems or activities will become stale given enough time. There isn't a guard against that. There also aren't any universally appealing rewards. What makes a worthwhile reward differs greatly between players. Adding things you 'have' to do isn't a solution, as it just creates burnout and bitterness. I eventually had to start ignoring events, even ones I used to like, because I was tired of the constant stream of them. I've only lasted playing ESO for 10+ years because... I don't play it constantly.

There are two things that make me keep playing games, and none of them are rewards:
(1) Choices that actually have an impact (slightly different lines of dialogue don't count)
(2) Building things... not decorating... building.

One of my favorite quest-lines in ESO is actually the Coldharbor one, where you see the Hollow City fill out with people based on how you've completed the quests in the zone. One of my favorite activities is housing (often on the PTS where I'm unconstrained).

A piece of gear or some gold or whatever isn't going to push me to do something that I don't already want to do. Those things aren't driving forces but bonuses. Just because a repetitive daily quest has "fun" rewards doesn't make that activity fun. It makes it a chore. Activities need to stand on their own.

Side note: I'd love to see more work put into the housing system. Not just adding more furniture or trinkets, but the system and what we're able to build and automate with it. Let us create living systems and build (not just decorate). I love games like Fallout 4, Minecraft, No Man's Sky, Astroneer... and really ESO's system is already well on it's way to being very good.

Has GTA V Online become monotonous over time?

Just look at any ranking.

The Elder Scrolls Online could learn some valuable lessons from other games. Analyze what makes them so successful and apply it.

There's one thing I'd like to see added to the game: in-game surveys. Players could submit feedback to the game developers via an NPC.

This would be a very useful tool for understanding the opinions of current players.

It could be implemented through an in-game event.

Players who participate would receive a reward.

I think there is more than enough to do. I still have content to do from blackwood that is balance locked where most cannot do it.

The main thing I wish for is raising the floor and lowering the ceiling as far as balance goes. Rework of unused sets, and improved builds that aren't going to cause/worsen RSI from playing this game at mid to higher difficulty.

They are adding to the thieves guild, which was a missed opportunity for too long. That is sort of a whole other sneaky aspect of game play.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Is there something you are looking for in particular? Like some examples from other games you have played would be helpful. Just so we can send things to the right places.

Not the op but while I love this game there are a few things from other games I desperately want to see in ESO in some capacity:

• New Game+/Quest Reset Shrine/Worldstate Toggle-a lot of other mmos offer this and I have posted at length about wanting to see old quest zones or do a refresher on them on my main or a character who has unique race/class/etc dialogue options.
• Screenshot/Cinematic Mode-Infinity Nikki ruined other games for me in this regard with it's gorgeous and easy to use screenshot support mode that offers great camera controls (more zoom in/out and camera height adjustment options), day/night/weather cycle changes/adjustments, lighting adjustments, the ability to hide npcs and other players when taking screenshots, the ability to pause an animated pose/emote mid action to not guess on hitting that perfect screenshot moment, and ways to share fashion/outfit presaves/strings with other players so they can quickly copy them and use them too. Would be huge for the fashion/rp community.
• Mount fashion-Diablo 4's stable letting you swap saddles for mounts of a same type (ie horse for horse) and giving you trophies (cosmetic bags, flags, tokens, and other items that can adorn your mount) could be an awesome and natural addition to eso's awesome fashion systems in game and give us new opportunities to customize our characters.
• More interactions with animals and critters in the world including our noncombat pets-many games could reference for this but it would be cool to do emotes with pets or mounts or even more of the domesticated animals around the world.
• Swimming underwater-I've been disappointed since beta we couldn't swim underwater and hope it gets added eventually.

I really like a lot of the upcoming things this year-favors, rumors, sage's vault, naval battles, etc and would also like to see more explorations of adventuring in different terrains and their hazards and excitement, so I hope there is more of that planned too.

Okay, some things I suggest may not be exactly what you asked about so, you can choose to ignore or whatever.
Yes, sometimes the events can be a bit overwhelming when you have them back to back however, there are long periods without events so, I do the events I want and ignore those I don't, simple. I do love most of them though. I'm not into PVP but, I still do a bit during Whitestrakes. I also take breaks from the game when I need to. I think you are definitely headed in the right direction with Tomes, and the Night Market. Now, I am a take your time type of player and still have a lot of content to keep me busy. That being said, not everyone plays slow, like me. Some have more time or just move faster through the content so, I can understand their boredom. I also agree a lot of rewards for some content is kinda meh.You need to wow people yet, you need to keep people, and not everyone likes the same things. At the moment I only have a couple of suggestions. One idea is, why not make it so that we can actually pick up some of the furnishings in the world, emphasis on some, and put them in our pocket to use in our houses? I know squat about coding so I'm not sure if possible , but it would be fun to traverse the world looking for a certain special piece.
2nd isn't necessarily what you asked about but please, please, please give us a way to change our hair color in game! You could put a barbershop in select cities. Or, hear me out, what about adding it to the dye station, there are already tons of colors there? You wouldn't even need to change the name, lol. Oh, you could make the hair dye earnable or purchasable either with Crowns or in Tomes, or Night Market. Just something, please.

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

First, thanks for the feedback. A bit of follow up before asking a question. We are adding some new things for folks to do. Dynamic Encounters (Currently on PTS), Favors (Currently on PTS), Rumors (Coming later this year), Sages Vault (coming later this year) and our events are aimed to give more things to do. We are trying to find a right balance for events, since we have heard feedback around having too many.

It sounds like you are looking for more things for players to do based on their agency, rather than activities we have set up in-game. But please correct me if I am wrong. Just trying to make sure the request is understood.

Is there something you are looking for in particular? Like some examples from other games you have played would be helpful. Just so we can send things to the right places.

These things, and the entire event zone concept, are a great start for fleshing out the overworld and making it feel a little less dead once the main zone story has been cleared. If there was zone thing I could suggest to the ESO design team, it would be to take a look at how Guildwars 2 does "meta" event "chains". Particularly, I would love to take them to the "Straits of Devastation" zone.



The three "invasion" event chains all have to complete their final "success" event, at which point the Group event chain at the bottom starts. The whole thing is just really dynamic (this is all alongside a bunch of other little one-off events and smaller chains). But also, there are reasons to complete the group event; only while the "pact" controls the temple at the end does it unlock the vendor there that sells some styles, and it's one of the most cost-effective sources of a material used in high end crafting. So, it's fun, it's dynamic, and there are reasons to keep doing it.

The technology underpinning ESO is way better and the writers are better, you guys could do so much cool stuff if you picked up the event chain concept. Make complex repeatable quest chains with, and this is important, failure conditions. Make things hard, make it possible to fail, but when events fail, they shouldn't "just be over" give us a failure event to do after that until it resets from a pseudo-checkpoint event and we can try again.

Can you imagine if Auridon was actually under siege by the Yaghra and it only ended if players made it end (until they attacked again) by fighting their way there from Shimmerene?