Concerns About ESO’s Future Direction and Solo Player Experience

JiubLeRepenti · May 4

Honestly this thread baffles me.

How could ZOS possibly want to kick solo players out of the game when 95% of the content we’ve got these last 10 years is playable solo?

For the first time in 11 years, they’re doing a very, very good job by adding a new, fresh type of event and by addressing most of the QoL we’ve been asking for, and then you have people like OP who are trying to do some childish blackmail with his “OMG ZOS StoP DoiNg ThIs or I will CAnceL mY SubscRIPTioN!!!”.

Yeah, well, you know what? If ZOS doesn’t add flying mounts, cloaks, and a new zone on Atmora, I wILl hOLd mY brEAth and mY moM will bE verY anGRy!!!

ZOS, you’re currently doing a great job. Please keep evolving like this. People are coming back.

Decimus · May 4

As mostly a solo player I hope the next content can be made a bit more difficult, I did find it a little bit too easy still after adjusting the build for it.

Also it'd be awesome to have some actual soulslike mechanics like the OP mentions: attacks that you have to dodge roll or maybe even block tapping (i.e. parry), would be super cool.

Anyone having difficulties would always have the option of grouping up with other people like in every other MMO out there.

AScarlato · May 4

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Honestly this thread baffles me.

How could ZOS possibly want to kick solo players out of the game when 95% of the content we’ve got these last 10 years is playable solo?

For the first time in 11 years, they’re doing a very, very good job by adding a new, fresh type of event and by addressing most of the QoL we’ve been asking for, and then you have people like OP who are trying to do some childish blackmail with his “OMG ZOS StoP DoiNg ThIs or I will CAnceL mY SubscRIPTioN!!!”.

Yeah, well, you know what? If ZOS doesn’t add flying mounts, cloaks, and a new zone on Atmora, I wILl hOLd mY brEAth and mY moM will bE verY anGRy!!!

ZOS, you’re currently doing a great job. Please keep evolving like this. People are coming back.

I hope we get more content like this. Cooperative fun is vital for MMO success. Let's be realistic here, games tailored to single player I feel mostly do a better job at catering to systems for solo play. It's great ESO has a lot of that too, but at their heart I'm someone who believes we should be encouraged to interact in MMOs rather than get medicore online single player expeirences.

I feel like the lack of such community content is how the game stagnated for so long. The most common complaints I see is that the combat isn't as good as single player games while soloing, the writing isn't as good as some single-player offerings, the immersion can't be a strong as single player games, etc.

SeaGtGruff · May 4

heimdall14_9 wrote: »

its funny to me that the 3 main players that are going hard with the night market is to hard are players that want to do nothing to get awarded for doing something , or hasnt even tried the night market but yet wants to talk about something they aint even tried ... i get that for someone that want to do nothing to get something night market might not be for you but for us that like to play the game the night market has been a blast

Well, to be fair to those 3 main players, there's a free house which requires completing a quest in the Night Market (which is very easy to do and requires 0 fighting afaicr), and it has 3 wings which need to be unlocked by engaging with the vet-level PvE content inside the 3 districts.

Personally, I don't feel the need to acquire every house that gets added to the game, but I can also understand why players who are very much into housing (as a lot of casual players are) might want to acquire this particular house. As I said, it's easy to acquire and requires no fighting at all, so that shouldn't be a source of anger-- unless someone is just loathe to even set foot in the Night Market and do the simple "run around and talk to people, then choose a faction" introductory quest.

But even if someone who's avoiding anything to do with the Night Market (as is their right, if they so choose) decides to bite the bullet and go do the introductory quest to get the house, they might be upset that the only way to unlock the 3 wings is to engage with the content inside the 3 districts-- and not just briefly, but pretty intensely, since there are many splinters which need to be collected and each one drops from a specific source. The only thing I can say to them about that is-- don't worry if you acquire the house but don't want to do what's needed to unlock the 3 wings, because afaik each wing is just a tiny room; at least, I unlocked 1 wing yesterday and that's what it looked like to me, unless I missed seeing something about it, like a door leading into a larger area. So basically, if you acquire the house by doing the simple introductory quest, you don't need to be stressed out about not wanting to clear every boss in the districts to unlock the 3 wings, because they are actually kind of underwhelming-- which is probably a good thing, since if they were huge and amazing then players would be more likely to be upset about not unlocking them (which is something that should be totally doable during the 7 weeks).

I do wish anyone who's completely against the Night Market would at least give it a fair try, but it's entirely their own business if they choose not to. And it's their right to give their feedback, just like everyone else, even if that feedback is "this kind of content is not for me and I'd rather not see more of it in the future." I don't feel that way, myself, but I won't denigrate anyone who does feel that way.

Decimus · May 4

Athory wrote: »

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

Honestly this thread baffles me.

How could ZOS possibly want to kick solo players out of the game when 95% of the content we’ve got these last 10 years is playable solo?

For the first time in 11 years, they’re doing a very, very good job by adding a new, fresh type of event and by addressing most of the QoL we’ve been asking for, and then you have people like OP who are trying to do some childish blackmail with his “OMG ZOS StoP DoiNg ThIs or I will CAnceL mY SubscRIPTioN!!!”.

Yeah, well, you know what? If ZOS doesn’t add flying mounts, cloaks, and a new zone on Atmora, I wILl hOLd mY brEAth and mY moM will bE verY anGRy!!!

ZOS, you’re currently doing a great job. Please keep evolving like this. People are coming back.

My only two points about [snip] market are:
ZOS should add a normal mode.

There isn’t any…

And I’m the “children” here? Seriously?
About your mom… that’s your problem. Solve it.

I only asked ZOS to cancel my subscription once, and in fact I asked them to delete my entire account. And they did it.
Kids think like you ^^

But... we only have a normal mode? I think they should add a veteran mode with more difficulty.

fernflower · May 4

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Feel like I have to put in my two cents - excellent content this time @ZOS! I explored every corner with big pleasure! And yes, I spent most of my time there solo.

JiubLeRepenti · May 4

ZOS should add a normal mode

I already replied to this non-sense:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8471505/#Comment_8471505

Plus, as it has already been mentioned on this thread before: this is the normal mode.

All the bosses and trashes basically hit and have the same amount of HP than bosses/trashes in normal trial.

The night market event is made to be played in group (which can be found very easily through the group finder, guilds, chat, etc.).

And, above all of this, I've quickly checked some of your recent threads: everytime you're complaining about something:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/692129/i-m-so-angry#latest
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/692201/crazy-market-daily-locations#latest
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/692304/the-snip-market-completely-misses-the-point-of-eso#latest
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/692172/opulent-eradicator-trial#latest
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/692129/i-m-so-angry/p1

At this point, maybe it'd better for you to simply stop playing the game and to cancel your subscription. It seems the direction the game has been taken recently can't meet your expectations. Too bad.

excole10 · May 4

A big part of the ESO Community is right now learning to group up, speak to others und coordinate (in case of the "Trial") to get their goals accomplished. The group finder was kinda empty the first evening (on EU), but it filled up more and more over the weekend. As an Event Zone people who normally play solo are probably more likely to try that for the first time, than joining groups for a trial. Everyone can hop in and out as they please no harm done to anyone. And everyone who does, will immediately see the effect of the whole thing becoming easier. If the group even has a tank its again a much better experience. You will fly through the market with your group, maybe die sometimes, but who cares.

As a note. Every pvp event has the same discussion, there some pve players feel it is their absolute birthright to go in a pvp zone, during a pvp event, and not be disturbed while they do their pve stuff. How daring to kill a pve player in a pvp zone. If their argument cant hold up anymore, its always bad game design etc. Never is it even considered, that such players need to engage with the pvp aspects to get their stuff done more easy.

Its the same with this honestly. Players engaging with the aspects of such content (grouping up, looking to improve their builds and playstyle, not expecting to be handheld for everything) will get through it no problem, while ones who dont will loudly complain and demand it all be changed, just like their pvp experience.

Thats not to say everything is perfect. Zos can make it easier for players to find stuff, explain stuff, and help their players who are actually engaging in the content to get a better experience (ex: i dont know where the other players are, where the fights happen, is everyone afk in the hub?, do i really need to switch instance for my group and how do i do that (a "solo player" wouldnt know that, etc). Difficulty wise, from a endgame player who plays for trifectas: No, NM is most definitely not hardcore and to suggest that is absolutely ridiculous.

For the balance aspect of solo friendly vs group content, Zos is not really bringing more group content this year than before. There are no dungeons on the roadmap, instead we get this and i am generally very happy they're changing things up with new stuff and trying to make it exciting. Which they - for the most part - succeded in and can build upon, instead of dumbing everything down again.

I know every Comunity has something to complain about all the time. But looking at other MMOs, and also playing some of them, its most amazing for me that the casual Eso Crowd doesnt seem to realize how good they are treated by Zos. Still.

shadyjane62 · May 4

I was upset the first day when all I experienced was instant death, but now I have become ambivalent. It.s not for me. I'm doing challenges, but I am virtually abandoning the account I have had for 12 years.

I will do the challenges and crafting stuff which will be a lot harder since I just unsubbed from 2 accounts.

This moment always comes after a long time in a game. It may not go your way, the last few years have added many things not for me, but I always had a new zone in a new chapter. This is second year I have been disappointed in what ESO has become.

I am not leaving as I still have friends and stuff to do. But I am looking for other things to do.

I wish all those who are happy in Night Market a really good experience. I wish those who are closed out like me find something here for them.

Edited for second thoughts.

Psyphiman · May 4

I am new here to the forums, and a long-time casual turned enthusiastic player who is starting to dive deeper in game. Have a great day as well and wish you the best

Prophet_of_Malacath · May 4

Athory wrote: »

As long as I have the option to play the way I want, as it has always been in ESO, I’m fine with it.
The day that changes is the day I stop caring about ESO and move on.

i mean, technically, you dont get to solo Fungal Grotto II due to the paralysis mechanic.

You can't solo Direfrost Keep due to the pressure plates requiring 2 players.

Can't solo most trials.

So perhaps you're past due - may you sustain the strength of your convictions in your future endeavors.

DeathStalker · May 4

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

Let me start off by saying I'm almost always a solo player, and I have nerve damage in my primary hand and have to play heavy attack builds to even play at all. My right hand shakes uncontrollably at all times. I have been taking part in the night market. I wanted to get the house completely unlocked, including the bank, which requires getting 5k favor. I got that done a day ago, as well as earning the skin for completing 40 objectives in the Golden Pursuits. The only things I haven't done are 2 things: I got 5k favor instead of 10k, and the trial. The trial I tried with, we tried for 2 hours and couldn't get past the first stage. I will not use Discord (should never be required for anything imo), so the trial was confusing and just made no sense to me. I finally quit the trial after 2 hours of failure; my hand just hurt too badly. I guess I will never get the trial done.

Now my feedback. The fact that this statement is even necessary speaks volumes. The NM is way too hard. I don't think anyone is saying don't do group content, but just to please find a way to include us solo players as well. I've done this content, and it was miserable. Everything about the NM is just miserable because of how hard it is. For me, this event is just an example of the direction that ESO seems to be going in right now. Absolutely everything seems to be about pvp and making things harder. If things are harder than they are terrible, horrible, and miserable. If the zone is instanced, then why not make the current difficulty vet mode and drastically cut the difficulty for a normal mode for others? If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included. Because of my hand, I will always be limited, and I accept that there is some content, like the trial for the NM I just won't be able to do. But if you can, please find a way to remember and include people like me, it would be appreciated. Thank you for your time

ZOS_Hadeostry · May 4

Greetings,

After removing some unnecessary back and forth from this thread, we would like everyone to keep posts on the subject at hand, civil, and constructive.

If there may be any questions in regards to the rules, please feel free to review them here

Soarora · May 5

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

DeathStalker · May 5

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Melkorrian · May 5

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

ZOS, I hope you continue to stay on the path you've chosen. I really like the approach you've chosen for this year (and hopefully for future years, too). I can only wish you huuuuge patience and endurance xdd

Soarora · May 5

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts

, especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

icefyer_ESO · May 5

Personally, my main issues with the event are:

1, the keys. Having to refarm them repeatedly each time you want to do the dungeon or trail isn't fun.

2, the rewards are rather...lackluster, as far as the sets go. They're decent beginner sets, but you can get them easily pretty much anywhere else, why not some unique sets that are nightmarket exclusives that show up every time so that people will always be wanting them and so have incentives to do the event each time it comes around? I'm not sure how that'd work though, but I know people in other games like GW2 absolutely swarm their seasonal events for account-bound cosmetics and the like.

3, the daily quests you discover in the zone aren't displayed on the map or compass until you're basically right ontop of them unlike every other daily quest you can pick up in the game where you can see them on the compass from quite a way off. It'd be great if they were shown on the map or compass if you get within their ~1/4th of the map or so, so that they're easier to find and get favor for those that are soloers or simply want to knock some out for easy favor? I think that might help with favor for soloers feeling so slow.

4. Why do we have to pick up the favor orbs that drop? I think it'd also help the favor thing if that source favor was just considered a basic drop that was instantly added to your favor count instead of having to find an orb and hope you get it before it despawns. But even then its such a small amount of favor it's not usually worth picking up anyway.

5. The skirmishes might need a bit toned down, but not a ton I think. Earlier we got crushed doing the Sorrows one because the sword mini-boss was slamming our tank for half his health per auto-attack swing, and both them and the spider simply one-shot anyone else they so much as looked at funny, alongside needing to deal with the pillars while said boss is rampaging through the party because both tanks got two-shot faster than I could heal them. I've been in full 12-man squads with healers, tanks and all and have failed them a lot more than completed but there have been some victories. Especially that one and the Brood one in the Skittering district in particular. The Parch one isn't nearly as bad as those two.

6. Speaking of getting two-shot. The damage enemies deal might be a tad much for said skirmishes. The bosses are generally fine with a non-fake tank, but I'm not sure tanks should be getting squished in two hits vs skirmishes like that. Even the Calamatous boss doesn't do that. Plus the fact that said calamatous bosses are set to patrol through the skirmish zones, and a it means that we've had to face off against multiple bosses simultaneously. Once the cala ghost lady in Sorrows wandered into the skirmish zone so we had to fight the equivalent of 3 bosses simultaneously + adds.

Also, recovering from said two / one-shots, the slow-fall from the respawn is difficult to control. Several times I've ended up sailing away, plus the long duration of it means that it often results in a disaster-dominoes effect where a couple key people die, and then the 30-second or whatever timer is still ticking as they're just standing there waiting to see if they can revive in time or if everyone's just going to be finished off, then suddenly respawn and the boss goes for them. It'd be nice if you could, say, attack to cancel the invincibility period early or something.

Pepegrillos · May 5

Kevin the real mvp

DeathStalker · May 5

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts , especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

Solo content coming sometime in the mythical future doesn't erase what you and others are intentionally ignoring, which is the last year or more of a primary focus on group, pvp, and hard difficulty content. Even the bread crumbs of solo content will be overshadowed by the majority of this year or more of content that is for group, pvp, and hard difficulty. If there was a significant solo content drop, then where is the new zone? Again, no integrity. Intentionally ignoring the past year or more of solo players being ignored

Edit: Overland difficulty and pvp changes are included in my talking points

Skjaldbjorn · May 5

I don't particularly love this event overall, it has issues, but I have been thinking about this all day, and literally cannot wrap my head around the idea of players "being used" for this event. What does that even mean? My crew just went in as a 12-stack and wiped all the bosses to get what we need. We didn't "use" anyone. We've done it multiple times and let people surf with us to get the bosses they need. Even when they screw up fights like the werewolf boss.

I feel like a lot of players are being forced for the first time to truly engage with and endure core fundamental mechanics of ESO, like watching heavy timings, or ground AoEs, or a bunch of other things, and actually being punished for not performing them correctly. That kind of "training" is so good for the community at large, honestly. I think ESO has had a wealth of content that was far too simple and easy for entirely too long.

There's nothing "hardcore" about the Night Market. It's reasonably mid tier group content by and large. My premade groups haven't wiped a single time. All this manic panic and freak out that Zos is "killing solo players" because they released a single event that doesn't cater to them is so utterly absurd.

Soarora · May 5

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts , especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

Solo content coming sometime in the mythical future doesn't erase what you and others are intentionally ignoring, which is the last year or more of a primary focus on group, pvp, and hard difficulty content. Even the bread crumbs of solo content will be overshadowed by the majority of this year or more of content that is for group, pvp, and hard difficulty. If there was a significant solo content drop, then where is the new zone? Again, no integrity. Intentionally ignoring the past year or more of solo players being ignored

Edit: Overland difficulty and pvp changes are included in my talking points

"Mythical future"... update 50 is dropping next month. Do you know what's in update 50?... solo content. You know when solo dungeons are coming? Q4. Do you know when Q4 releases? Late October / Early November. Like it does every year. It's not mythical at all.

Alright, let's say I'm intentionally ignoring the last year (which saying intentionally is once again insulting my character, so thanks for that). Last year... we had 2 dungeon dlcs like we used to before 2023. In 2023 and 2024, we had 1 dungeon dlc and 1 story dlc when before 2023 we had 2 dungeon dlcs and 2 story dlcs. Last year... we had... 2 dungeon dlcs... and two halves of a story... so... like... before 2023. Now granted, there are slightly less quests than a Chapter + story dlc would get you pre-2023, however Solstice has 11 quests. Gold Road (the only story content in 2024) has 5 (+1 if you had done Necrom iirc). Necrom has 9 (the only story content in 2023). So, last year was an improvement over the two years prior.

So, in the past year what was focused on groups? Well the trial's always there and not relevant when I'm talking about dungeons specifically. Writhing Wall was a group event... are you referring to Writhing Wall and... the... Vengeance tests? Writhing Wall absolutely is not equivalent to difficult group content, aside from the assault on the wall it wasn't even group instanced, and PvPers seem to not even like Vengeance. Overland difficulty? That's not relevant to dungeons? That's for solo players that want a harder difficulty? The only time I can imagine this argument working right now is the Naj Caldeesh pressure plates. Which is one singular thing. And you can get around the pressure plates solo.

Bread crumbs of solo content? Like the FOUR OR MORE ENTIRELY NEW SYSTEMS FOR SOLO PLAYERS? You know, like, the two entire questlines, favors, rumors, sage's vault, solo dungeons, and other things we've not heard much about yet? But hey, none of that matters because there's no new zone, right?

So then why does Night Market equal dungeons if two new questlines, favors, rumors, sage's vault, solo dungeons, and more don't equal a zone? Take a look at a mirror.

SANGUARI · May 5

Hi @ZOS_Kevin

If instances are made larger than 36 players, or if the number of instances is reduced so too many ungrouped players end up in the same one, it will break the whole boss-killing flow and turn into just waiting for respawns. Even now, if there are two 12-player groups inside, the rotation can already get disrupted.

Please don’t listen to a small minority complaining on the forum and walk back this well-designed event. Keep up the good work.

Skjaldbjorn · May 5

DeathStalker wrote: »

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Hi. I just wanted to say, I read your other post, and I both feel for you and think you're being grossly over-dramatic. I have severe nerve damage in my mouse hand. I have effectively no feeling. I had to stop using an MMO mouse completely because I couldn't use the side keys. It took me ~6 months to re-learn to use a mouse without my hand drifting. My hand hurts after playing a lot.

And yet, I have most of the trifectas in the game, I am a ~110-130 CPM DPS and am no young fella. If you *want* to improve, you can. I do feel awful that your hand shakes, but at the same time, devs can't balance the game around our nerve damage. That isn't realistic at all. So as someone with at least a similar condition, I cannot agree.

colossalvoids · May 5

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts , especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

Solo content coming sometime in the mythical future doesn't erase what you and others are intentionally ignoring, which is the last year or more of a primary focus on group, pvp, and hard difficulty content. Even the bread crumbs of solo content will be overshadowed by the majority of this year or more of content that is for group, pvp, and hard difficulty. If there was a significant solo content drop, then where is the new zone? Again, no integrity. Intentionally ignoring the past year or more of solo players being ignored

Edit: Overland difficulty and pvp changes are included in my talking points

I hope those kinds of solo players do remember that we had years of completely nothing for some players out there, years of only the basics etc. whilst focus was easy overland content and barebone clicker events. Zos are coming to their senses addressing something that was willingly ignored for a decade, not going on war with their more casual community.

Nemesis7884 · May 5

By far most of the content released this year is solo focused and not more group content gets released than in every previous year when we always got group content in q1...i really dont understand the argument.

tomofhyrule · May 5

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts , especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

Solo content coming sometime in the mythical future doesn't erase what you and others are intentionally ignoring, which is the last year or more of a primary focus on group, pvp, and hard difficulty content. Even the bread crumbs of solo content will be overshadowed by the majority of this year or more of content that is for group, pvp, and hard difficulty. If there was a significant solo content drop, then where is the new zone? Again, no integrity. Intentionally ignoring the past year or more of solo players being ignored

Edit: Overland difficulty and pvp changes are included in my talking points

Uhh... what?

"Mythical future?" You must mean "confirmed by ZOS themselves to release on June 8 2026, and also confirmed to be releasing throughout Season one through September." As we can see in both the roadmap and the PTS.

Also those PvP changes you're talking about are the installation of Vengeance as a permanent Campaign, which is 1) not at all desired by a large portion of the PvP base, and 2) is indicative of ZOS actually removing content from PvPers in the form of Blackreach and Ravenwatch campaigns.

You seem to be equating "solo content" to "new zone" in your argument, which yes, is not coming this year. But if "new zone" is your gauge for solo content, then how can you say there was no content last year, when you did get a new Zone in Solstice?

But as @Soarora has mentioned (that you are conveniently ignoring), content designed for one subset of endgamers is not equivalent to content for other endgamers. Ok, we're getting a self-nerf option. That's for soloists who want to be sweaty. Ok, we're getting a new trial. That's for people who prefer to play in large groups. The group of players who like their small intimate groups gets... oh, nothing.
If you want to imply that "you sweaty people are getting overland difficulty so therefore you dungeon people should be happy!" then we are just as allowed to say "you people who want a new zone got the Night Market so you should be happy!"

Nemesis7884 · May 5

Also from a personal note - we are a community of diverse players wih diverse preferences - there should always be something for everyone to have fun together, give and take...these at time extreme complaints vs anything but solo content can come across like wanting to push all parts of the community out that might like prefer group or pvp content....

DeathStalker · May 5

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts , especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

Solo content coming sometime in the mythical future doesn't erase what you and others are intentionally ignoring, which is the last year or more of a primary focus on group, pvp, and hard difficulty content. Even the bread crumbs of solo content will be overshadowed by the majority of this year or more of content that is for group, pvp, and hard difficulty. If there was a significant solo content drop, then where is the new zone? Again, no integrity. Intentionally ignoring the past year or more of solo players being ignored

Edit: Overland difficulty and pvp changes are included in my talking points

"Mythical future"... update 50 is dropping next month. Do you know what's in update 50?... solo content. You know when solo dungeons are coming? Q4. Do you know when Q4 releases? Late October / Early November. Like it does every year. It's not mythical at all.

Alright, let's say I'm intentionally ignoring the last year (which saying intentionally is once again insulting my character, so thanks for that). Last year... we had 2 dungeon dlcs like we used to before 2023. In 2023 and 2024, we had 1 dungeon dlc and 1 story dlc when before 2023 we had 2 dungeon dlcs and 2 story dlcs. Last year... we had... 2 dungeon dlcs... and two halves of a story... so... like... before 2023. Now granted, there are slightly less quests than a Chapter + story dlc would get you pre-2023, however Solstice has 11 quests. Gold Road (the only story content in 2024) has 5 (+1 if you had done Necrom iirc). Necrom has 9 (the only story content in 2023). So, last year was an improvement over the two years prior.

So, in the past year what was focused on groups? Well the trial's always there and not relevant when I'm talking about dungeons specifically. Writhing Wall was a group event... are you referring to Writhing Wall and... the... Vengeance tests? Writhing Wall absolutely is not equivalent to difficult group content, aside from the assault on the wall it wasn't even group instanced, and PvPers seem to not even like Vengeance. Overland difficulty? That's not relevant to dungeons? That's for solo players that want a harder difficulty? The only time I can imagine this argument working right now is the Naj Caldeesh pressure plates. Which is one singular thing. And you can get around the pressure plates solo.

Bread crumbs of solo content? Like the FOUR OR MORE ENTIRELY NEW SYSTEMS FOR SOLO PLAYERS? You know, like, the two entire questlines, favors, rumors, sage's vault, solo dungeons, and other things we've not heard much about yet? But hey, none of that matters because there's no new zone, right?

So then why does Night Market equal dungeons if two new questlines, favors, rumors, sage's vault, solo dungeons, and more don't equal a zone? Take a look at a mirror.

Are you serious? 2023 and 2024, you are aware it's 2026. No Integrity at all. The thieves' guild is like 8 quests, so stop. 8 quests for a year is a joke and an insult. Whether they like the pvp changes or not doesn't remove the fact that it's been a primary focus for ESO. Between the pvp changes and the overland changes, mixed with the Night Market, is why we are not getting a new zone. A new zone is where most solo players spend their time, and no new zone because of pvp, group, and harder content, as I said. All we get are crumbs. Since you have proven to be unable to have an honest and truthful dialogue about this, not able to demonstrate a shred of integrity, I'm done with this conversation.

DeathStalker · May 5

colossalvoids wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

DeathStalker wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Athory wrote: »

Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?

Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?

To answer the core questions asked:

Q: Does ZoS have plans to turn ESO into something like a Dark Souls-style game?
A: No.

Q:Do they have any plan to push solo players out of the game?
A: No.

Just following up here generally. We hear the feedback from solo players about the Night Market content. We want to follow up with just few things.

We have no intention of pushing solo players out of the game. However, we started this year off by noting that we were going to try some new things. Night Market is one of them. While we always provide group players with trials, we also wanted to try something different. This was not to alienate solo players, but rather to add a new way to play. That being said, we do hear the feedback and have passed that on our teams for future consideration, especially for when Night Market comes back later in the year. Remember, part of the ethos of this event is to add to it over time.

As several have noted in this thread as well, we have a roadmap that is publicly available. The point of the roadmap is to showcase the content we have coming throughout the year. As is noted on the roadmap and current PTS testing, we have plenty of solo friendly content as well. Thieves Guild and Sheogorath Questlines, Favors system, Rumors system, Two Solo Dungeons, Sage's Vault, and the list can keep going. And that is all on top of existing content. We also understand that not every piece of content will be for everyone, and that is okay.

We know this may come off as a contentious statement, but it does bear repeating. While we are an Elder Scrolls game, we are also an MMO. Storytelling and the heart of solo adventure will always be an important part of ESO. However, some of our event/ event zone content will be focused on encouraging group play. It is the nature of the genre. Additionally, we know just like there are players who come for solo content, there are also players who come for group content and challenging group content. So we want to make sure we are providing new things for them as well.

We'll close with this. Last year, we saw many threads throughout the year asking us to address content and find new ways of renewing the gameplay experience, both in variety and challenge. We are in the first passes of this now with items like Night Market going live. But we will have content throughout the year to address both solo and group play within the community. The feedback is helpful to steer us on the right track. So thanks to everyone, both solo players and group players, who have given their constructive feedback regarding the Night Market. The team is taking a look at what can be done during this current running and what can be adjusted for the next run of the Night Market.

If you spent the next year or 2 making every dungeon and trial soloable, don't you think the people who like things hard would be throwing a fit the way solo players are now? This makes most of the people screaming for things to be harder hypocritical for criticizing solo players for just wanting to be included.

No, we wouldn’t throw a fit like solo players are. We don’t have dungeons this year and you don’t see anyone wailing about that. There’s a few comments of “I would’ve preferred to have dungeons this year” and the like, but calmly stated. Now granted, there was a thread that was about not having dungeons this year before PTS but that was before we knew what Night Market was (and thus we assumed the difficulty would be too easy).

In fact, I’m well prepared that ZOS tackling solo dungeons might mean we don’t get more dungeons for a while. I would like for us to at least get 2 next year but… suitable additions to Night Market could help hold us over. Either way, no, I don’t think we’ll be throwing a fit. Besides, there’s so much solo content coming this year… so really, the equivalent would be if dungeon endgame was wailing right now and we’re not… except to keep Night Market hard, I suppose 🤷.

People aren't complaining about no dungeons because absolutely EVERYTHING else is about group and harder play. posts like this just prove to me that none of you who like group or harder play have a shred of integrity

Mmhm... the super hard group content that is overland questing? The super hard group content that is solo story mode dungeons, made precisely for people who can't or won't solo normal dungeons? The 12-man content of the game that has a different (yes, overlapping, but different) community than dungeons is relevant to the dungeon community? Tales of Tribute? Is Tales of Tribute equivalent to dungeons now? How about New Life, or Jester's Festival, or the Anniversary event, or Heart's Week? Zeal of Zenithar? Those are all about group and harder play? If everything other than dungeons is about group and harder play, then what are you even playing? Sure, throw a personal insult at me as if you know anything about me as a person beyond a couple of forum posts , especially when I literally just pointed out that there's solo content coming out this year but the only thing dungeoneers get is Night Market. Solo players get more content than we do this year and no one's throwing a fit as far as I can see.

Solo content coming sometime in the mythical future doesn't erase what you and others are intentionally ignoring, which is the last year or more of a primary focus on group, pvp, and hard difficulty content. Even the bread crumbs of solo content will be overshadowed by the majority of this year or more of content that is for group, pvp, and hard difficulty. If there was a significant solo content drop, then where is the new zone? Again, no integrity. Intentionally ignoring the past year or more of solo players being ignored

Edit: Overland difficulty and pvp changes are included in my talking points

I hope those kinds of solo players do remember that we had years of completely nothing for some players out there, years of only the basics etc. whilst focus was easy overland content and barebone clicker events. Zos are coming to their senses addressing something that was willingly ignored for a decade, not going on war with their more casual community.

This is the very reason I screamed hypocrisy for so many of the same community screaming for years for updates and inclusion to attack the solo community for not wanting to be forgotten, but to be remembered and included too during this time.

Edit: If it was wrong of ESO (and it was) to ignore the group, harder content, and pvp crowd and put almost all focus on easy content, as you put it. Then it's equally wrong to do the inverse and ignore the solo community and almost exclusively focus on the group, pvp, and harder content crowd. If not, then that's hypocrisy and a double standard