Personally the Seasons model I think works better. The way things used to be we'd get the main Chapter in Q1, a few Dungeon DLCs, and then the rest of the story thing for Q4. The main new content, systems, Gear, all that was locked to basically the first and last quarters of the year, since the Dungeon DLCs only ever added two Dungeons each and that's next to nothing in terms of real content.

With Seasons, it's...a bit confusing when Season X stuff is mentioned in a Season where it won't be introduced (like how they went over Dynamic Encounters in the Patch Notes for U50 even though those aren't coming until Season One) and I don't understand the point of mentioning them beyond "a current feature calls on something that won't be introduced yet we'll give more info on that thing when it's live". That aside though, content is introduced in a more consistent and regular pace than just one big update and one smaller one at opposite ends of the year.

This Season seems sparse to many, and people are saying "the content we're getting over time is less than what we'd get all at once" but I mean...we have to keep in mind this is LITERALLY the first year for this new model. It would be understandable if it was a bit dry in terms of content. Except imo it hasn't been, we've gotten a decent amount of new stuff and we have even more things coming for the rest of the year.

We also don't really know what all is still coming for later in the year. There could be any number of things they just haven't revealed yet, we've been told a lot about Season One stuff but afaik nothing really about Season Two or onward, other than knowing the Class reworks are going into next year and knowing we're getting ""more Skyrim"" later in the year. But we don't know anything about Season Two stuff for winter.

This model also gives them more freedom to work on different things they couldn't do on a fixed schedule like Chapters were, which is always a good thing.

Prefer Chapters. I haven't seen the same level of hype for random seasons content as I had for Chapter releases with a year of themactic and cohesive offerings.

A random daedric market that isn't a market, 2 random unrelated stories (one of which seems to just to remind us how funny Cheese is I suppose), no lasting zone in 2026, and no real vision behind what we will get and why (at least that I can discern) makes me dislike seasons.

I do like rewards and new systems, but we could have gotten rewards and new systems just as easily in Chapters if they had the development resources.

Last year was definitely not a good year for the game. And I don't think Subclassing was a good idea at all. As long as it exists, it will be bad for the game. Solstice was actually a nice addition to the game yet it came with a lot of issues.

They have clearly recognized these things and are definitely making adjustments to correct these very serious issues. Communication was definitely a big one and I truly believe they are listening to us.

If what people say is true and they lost most of their staff (theyre working on the new Elder Scrolls game, ect), then its only fair to give the very busy ones who remain a better time table to work with. If youve got half the staff, how could anyone reasonably produce the same amount of content?

One of the interesting aspects of what I see is them creating entire new Systems. This is a smart approach. Once those systems are streamlined, they can then very easily add and expand upon them. That means that once they are here, we will have a lot more coming at us. It is too early I think in this process for it to be as large as say the yearly model. I do believe once its all been worked in though, that will change.

I was at a very low point with them until very recently with U50 and the tension in my Guilds was at an all time high. Stagnation, no variety, "The beam", people not being able to play their characters or be punished, ect. I ran 8 trials today alone. And for the first time in over a year, it wasn't a 'laser show'. I actually saw Nightblades out there. Sorcerers, Templars, Werewolves, ect. The Class Mastery Passives may have saved Eso. My Guilds have been slowly dying. This alone is helping slow that trend. As frustrating as it is, the Devs have convinced me they understand what's happening with U50. I think they just need some more time. They have a new Director too and it is my opinion he was tasked with a major headache. It is also my opinion that he's a smart guy and up to the task and that he really cares about Eso. As much as Im a critic, they deserve a chance and some of the big new changes are just the beginning of this.

I think this ship was 2 inches from the final iceberg but it’s being turned around real hard. Of course, only time will tell. But the seasons model just really wasn’t working. I miss the consistency (you know what you’re getting), the dungeons (*vague gestures at my signature*), and the overarching theme (Seasons are too short to have a real theme tying them together and the tome doesn’t match the content releases either). But I’m not a big exploratory player… I did, however, quest because I’m big on lore and character development. And I have hated the main quest of the past SEVERAL YEARS of Chapters. I am truly hopeful that with ZOS not releasing a zone this year and with us not knowing when in the year we’ll get Winterhold… that maybe, just possibly, we will finally get another story of quality. I want another Summerset. I want another Greymoor (before I was betrayed by Markarth). I don’t care how long it takes, I want a good story.

Not to mention, the freedom to give us experimental content? Yes, please! They’re not always going to hit right but give us anything but more daily quests to spam e through. I’m finally hopeful that we’ll get meaningful additions to events. Not just more dailies (again, to spam e through), but activities. (Once again, I ask for a snowball fight for New Life!)

In terms of dollars spent per year, it's really close to a wash between the two. Granted, we have only seen one season thus far and one data point does not indicate a trend, but $15 for a costume (which I didn't think looked all that special) is not something I find appealing. So if I ignore the +Bonus part of the deal, then $45 per year for the Premium Tomes is comparable to what I'd have been paying for a chapter upgrade each year. The ESO Plus remains constant and covers the fourth Tome with the Premium Points, so it's not like I'm being asked to open my wallet any farther than I was under the chapter model.

The two stories coming up with Season One are kind of a mixed bag. I think the Thieves Guild story is pretty well done (and I'm very happy about Quen making a return... pleas, sir, may I have more?), but Uncle Sheo is mostly just a bit of fluff (Wes Johnson is in fine form, however). Both are very enjoyable, but neither is going to take more than a handful of hours to complete and even that long would mean you're taking your time. I didn't do much more than unlock the new mythic (got one upgrade at one point, I think), but it's got some interesting uses for those who like to (role)play on the shady side of the street and I'm looking forward to seeing how it behaves when fully upgraded.

On the whole, not super-thrilled with seasons over the chapters, but also not super-disappointed. I have issues with differences between the free and Premium tiers in terms of Tome Points, page unlocks, and the quantity of stuff to buy with those Tome Points. I also have issues with how the game simply refuses to understand that "no means no" when it comes to weekly challenges and then has the sheer gall to charge me gold to get rid of challenges which I'd already said "no" to (multiple times). That belongs up there as Lesson 1 or maybe Lesson 2 in the "How to aggravate your players for fun and profit" course. There could also be significantly more variety in some of those challenges, btw.

Like many things in the game, "needs work" sums it up pretty well, but I'm not upset enough to uninstall and move on.

EDIT to add: one minor disappointment with Seasons is that we now have an earnable skill point cap (around 400 with base-game access, I think). Chapters added around a dozen points per zone to the pool from the story, public dungeon, and skyshards. Keep in mind that I have access to everything and access to skill points isn't an issue for me. Just noting that "no more chapters" is also accompanied by silence on the question of adding more earnable skill points.

Gabriel_H wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

I don't think the game is dying overall. But I'm not sure the change in direction will ultimately be positive for me, so in that sense, the game might be dying (for me). I enjoy questing and exploration above everything else. I'll get some questing this year, which is great, but in terms of hours, it won't be much.

Thieves guild story (Looks to be 8 quests)
Sheogorath story (looks to be 6 quests)
Rumours (An exploration system with no markers and that you have to find yourself)
Favours (3 NPCs, 20 parts per NPC)

Yeah, I know. But there's no new exploration on the list. To be clear, by exploration, I mean exploring a new area. I don't consider doing surveys exploration, and I won't see rumours like that either. Also, 14 quests are a few hours worth of content (I'm betting some people will be done the day it's released). The quests in a zone also only last a few hours, but a zone comes with delves, PDs, WBs, mythics, non-quest achievements, and a new area to explore.

Having said that, as I posted when favours and rumours were announced, they're along the lines of what I like. But whether it will be enough to keep me here, I don't know.

There's also the sages vault, which will be new, but I can't get hyped about it because there's often a mismatch between what's described and what actually arrives. It could be fun, or it could be frustrating and grindy with poor rewards. That's a wait and see.

I don't care about high seas battles or the incursions. Combat-focused stuff doesn't do it for me.

Anyway, I'm here until my sub runs out in February. As I said in another thread, if a new area isn't announced for earliesh next year, it will be difficult for me to stick around, as much as I'd like to. Frankly, I'm getting bored at this point.

I do like that with the seasons format, they're pushing out content more frequently. That's a real positive for the new model.

It's also possible that nothing they push out will really re-ignite my interest because I've been playing ESO for quite a while now and maybe it's just time for me to move on to something else. This is the longest I've played an MMO. When I left other MMOs, it wasn't because they weren't releasing content that interested me (including new zones). They'd just run their course for me. Even with new stuff, it felt like I was doing the same thing, and I realized it was time to go. It's possible I'm reaching the same point here.

Buffy121 wrote: »

The current direction of the game feels like it is all about builds (subclassing, class mastery, class reworks, scribing etc). I like to create a character and then play the game. The constant changes are annoying me because making new builds is boring for me.

It has felt that way for the last couple of years for sure. There's non-combat stuff coming soon, though. Not a new zone, unfortunately, but at least something. But yes, the game sometimes feels like it's all about builds and not much else.

I prefer the model we are using now. I just find it very confusing since Updates don't match with Crates Seasons nor Tome Seasons - it's a bit messy to understand when one thing will arrive.

But maybe it's just that I am not used to this and with time it will become more natural to just check, thing by thing, their release date, instead of expecting the past "big dates".

katanagirl1 wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Prefer Chapters. I haven't seen the same level of hype for random seasons content as I had for Chapter releases with a year of themactic and cohesive offerings.

A random daedric market that isn't a market, 2 random unrelated stories (one of which seems to just to remind us how funny Cheese is I suppose), no lasting zone in 2026, and no real vision behind what we will get and why (at least that I can discern) makes me dislike seasons.

I do like rewards and new systems, but we could have gotten rewards and new systems just as easily in Chapters if they had the development resources.

This is what I came here to say. If you are happy doing the same repetitive tasks you have been doing for ten years but now get a reward for it, then it is an improvement for you. If you want new experiences that you can do at your own pace, then you are disappointed.

Yes, we will get some light content later, but neither of which is something that can replace a whole zone full of different things to do.

I did get more enjoyment out of the NM than I thought I would, but the grind for keys and the grind to 10,000 favor sucked all of the fun out of that. I don’t know why more people don’t seem to notice that the daily grind might have gone away, but the overall cumulative grind has gone up significantly.

2 Things.

We need to find a way to stop the misinformation that there wont be new zones, story, dungeons and trials after multiple announcements that there will be.

And the other thing is that those types of content were not "canceled" for what we got in seasons this year. They could not with their team size and budget, do all the extensive reworks and game repairs in 2026 that they have been putting off for years or even made worse in some ways. And give us a new zone and all the bells and whistles.

The choice to fix the game massively was what we sacrificed a zone for. Not how content is released. And in 2027 we will be getting that type of content back, in a game which is now permanently vastly better for the sacrifice of waiting a year.

Buffy121 wrote: »

I am currently playing 40 minutes each week checking out the weekly vendors and the crown store because I have a lot of gold and crowns.

There isn't anything else for me to do. I have finished the free Tombs content and Solstice. The Night Market, trials and dungeons don't really interest me. I like to explore new areas and take part in new stories.

The current direction of the game feels like it is all about builds (subclassing, class mastery, class reworks, scribing etc). I like to create a character and then play the game. The constant changes are annoying me because making new builds is boring for me.

I am not sure of the direction ESO is taking and there is a good chance that unless they have an adequate number of new zones and stories I won't be taking that journey with them. All of my friends have uninstalled the game already.

This makes sense, there are always a large chunk of players who just pop in to play a couple weeks or 1-2 months when a new zone or major patch comes out.
But there are thousands of players who play ESO every day of every year, and it was definitely very smart of them to finally try to fix the game for those players. Because the temporary new content players will always be a thing, but if they lose too many of the players who make up the games annual foundation. There would be no game to return to, and it was already getting pretty bad for those numbers and perceptions in 2025. I was concerned as to where now I am not.

New zone content will come in 2025, will be more than happy to see lots of temporary players return and have fun around then. 💚

rhythmsuji wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

Prefer Chapters. I haven't seen the same level of hype for random seasons content as I had for Chapter releases with a year of themactic and cohesive offerings.

A random daedric market that isn't a market, 2 random unrelated stories (one of which seems to just to remind us how funny Cheese is I suppose), no lasting zone in 2026, and no real vision behind what we will get and why (at least that I can discern) makes me dislike seasons.

I do like rewards and new systems, but we could have gotten rewards and new systems just as easily in Chapters if they had the development resources.

This is what I came here to say. If you are happy doing the same repetitive tasks you have been doing for ten years but now get a reward for it, then it is an improvement for you. If you want new experiences that you can do at your own pace, then you are disappointed.

Yes, we will get some light content later, but neither of which is something that can replace a whole zone full of different things to do.

I did get more enjoyment out of the NM than I thought I would, but the grind for keys and the grind to 10,000 favor sucked all of the fun out of that. I don’t know why more people don’t seem to notice that the daily grind might have gone away, but the overall cumulative grind has gone up significantly.

2 Things.

We need to find a way to stop the misinformation that there wont be new zones, story, dungeons and trials after multiple announcements that there will be.

And the other thing is that those types of content were not "canceled" for what we got in seasons this year. They could not with their team size and budget, do all the extensive reworks and game repairs in 2026 that they have been putting off for years or even made worse in some ways. And give us a new zone and all the bells and whistles.

The choice to fix the game massively was what we sacrificed a zone for. Not how content is released. And in 2027 we will be getting that type of content back, in a game which is now permanently vastly better for the sacrifice of waiting a year.

I think it’s fair to say we won’t get chapter size zones anymore. I don’t think that is misinformation, they actually came out and said no more chapters.

You pretty much just restated what I said in your second paragraph too. We gave up something for upgrades (overland difficulty being one of them) because of limited staff and resources. I spoke about what is currently going on this update, not about future content.

I think one of the issues that the chapter model presented is one that other longstanding games with dlcs have also struggled with. The looming paywal of content for new players.

Even with the deluxe edition where you get all of the chapters you still dont have all of the dlc content, and if you buy it all with $$$ like most new players would likely do, it would be rather daunting.

Games like City skylines and Stellaris have this issue as well.

The best bang for the dollar is to subscribe, get access to the content and then unsub when done. Its not exactly encouraging for player retention.