Games graphics and current gameplay keep new players away, and should be ZOS top priority

JiubLeRepenti · 11:17AM

I was originally planning to make a thread asking forum members what they think ZOS's development priorities should be going forward, especially after the recent wave of layoffs that hit the team. The class refresh? A new zone? QoL requests? An event refresh? But the more I think about it, the more I feel that none of those things should be ZOS's priority right now.

I've recently spoken with several people who:

had already stopped playing ESO,
were thinking about getting into the game but were still on the fence,
or had no interest in coming back.

As the conversations went on, I noticed they all kept bringing up the same issue: the game feels old, and the gameplay feels outdated.

ESO was released in 2014. Unless I'm mistaken, its engine was originally based on HeroEngine, which dates back to... 2005. I know it has been heavily modified over the years, but it's still obvious: the game and its gameplay feel rigid. For years, players have been asking for improvements, only to be met with the same answer: "it's not technically feasable." Here we are in 2026, playing a fantasy MMO, and we still don't have cloaks, flying mounts, or even the ability to stand on a moving platform.

I have a lot of respect for the development team, and I have no doubt they're doing everything they can. But it's clear that ESO no longer meets the standards of 2026. And I believe that's one of the biggest reasons why the game struggles to attract new players. And trust me or not, but it's also the reason why some people leave the game (according to what I've heard/read on some Discord/Subs). I know graphics and gameplay aren't everything, but in my opinion they're the most important parts of any game. Especially the gameplay. Even for an MMO that puts as much emphasis on storytelling and exploration as ESO does.

I also agree with the point made in this thread:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/697114/stop-it-just-stop-digging#latest

The development team seems to have lost its direction. It feels like they're running around like a headless chicken without really knowing where they're going. Again, I know they're doing their best and genuinely trying new things. I'm not blaming them, and this isn't meant as developer bashing. But I think that, even if it takes a significant amount of time and money, ZOS should focus on these 3 priorities above everything else:

A complete overhaul of the gameplay, core mechanics, and animations (not just the class refresh).
A graphical upgrade to bring the game closer to 2026 standards.
Crossplay (which I believe is already being worked on).

The class refresh is a good first step, but it's still far too limited imo.

As for the graphics, players have been using ways to improve the game's visuals for over ten years now: NVIDIA filters, ReShade, and so on. Why not start by implementing some similar visual improvements that don't require a massive development effort but could already make the game look and feel noticeably better?

Vanilla graphics (these are my settings):

ReShade + NVIDIA filters:

I'll finish with one concern: a few weeks ago, Guild Wars 3 was announced. When it eventually launches, and potential new players have to choose between a 12-year-old MMO with visuals that look like they came from a 2010 game and a brand-new MMO offering 2026 graphics and gameplay, I'm afraid the choice won't even be a difficult one. I think we all know which direction they'll go.

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

Thanks,
Jiub

NotaDaedraWorshipper · 12:00PM

Almost every time I see someone post some reshade picture it's too much and doesn't look better than vanilla imo, just different. A lot of times in a negative way.

JiubLeRepenti · 12:05PM

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Almost every time I see someone post some reshade picture it's too much and doesn't look better than vanilla imo, just different. A lot of times in a negative way.

Well, that was not the main point of this thread tbh.

Also, these are my settings. You don't have to use the same than me of course. it's juste to illustrate how the game could be easily improved with very basic options.

And it's not only about the colors. It also adds volumetric fog options, better HDR, better light effects, etc.

tomofhyrule · 12:20PM

Respectfully, there are so many bigger problems than just “I want capes!”

The team was just decimated, so they have little bandwidth for anything. And the Class Reworks being unfinished are making the balance issues so much more evident. And now, those just got delayed until some unspecified time next year.

Combat affects every part of the game, from the most casual of overland flower-picking to the most hypersweaty PvP. There is nothing else that touches this many parts of the game - even Crossplay is irrelevant to the many players who play exclusively solo.

Every single thing the team does from now until the Refreshes are done will always come with “why did this get prioritized over the Refreshes?”, even if they have nothing to do with each other. That’s why the Refreshes should be priority #1 (and #2-6) above everything else.

You don’t think the game looks pretty? Put on your Reshade and drop your gamma to the lowest setting. Done.

Luneca · 12:23PM

Reworks should be the priority, despite what the WW and DK players keep saying. But it won't be happening because reworks are now content. Gotta have hype as part of the planned scheduled changes.

JiubLeRepenti · 12:28PM

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Respectfully, there are so many bigger problems than just “I want capes!”
You don’t think the game looks pretty? Put on your Reshade and drop your gamma to the lowest setting. Done.

This can't be anything else than troll, honestly.

The game has crappy textures in most of places, very poor light effects, rusty animations, poor environment elements, no dynamic physic, etc.

Ardriel · 12:46PM

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Respectfully, there are so many bigger problems than just “I want capes!”
You don’t think the game looks pretty? Put on your Reshade and drop your gamma to the lowest setting. Done.

This can't be anything else than troll, honestly.

The game has crappy textures in most of places, very poor light effects, rusty animations, poor environment elements, no dynamic physic, etc.

This has nothing to do with trolling. There are more important things that the developers need to address right now.
Class reworks are a top priority. Class balancing needs to be improved urgently. These issues are causing the most frustration among players right now. We don’t want to lose any more players, do we?
If you want to implement all the things you have in mind—which are, of course, good and interesting—you’d have to rebuild ESO from the ground up. They might as well just make a completely new Elder Scrolls Online 2. That’s not going to happen. At least not in the next few years, and not as long as the focus remains on Elder Scrolls 6. ZOS is now working with Bethesda.
It’s possible that a new Elder Scrolls Online will be released a year or two after ES6 comes out.
I fear they’ll do whatever requires the fewest resources for ESO. That’s just how it is, unfortunately.

Eldovar · 12:52PM

While I don't agree that graphics should be priority with all the stuff going on right now...I do understand your point.

Every time I tried to bring a friend, colleague and even my partner into the game it was usually 'no, it looks so ugly' when they looked up some YouTube video and that was it.

My partner even said to me a few weeks ago he will play Guild Wars 3 with me when it comes and out because 'it looks so good' but doesn't want to play ESO because it looks ugly and I am too far ahead.

spartaxoxo · 1:34PM

I actually agree the game needs a touch-up in the looks department. I have had multiple people refuse to play the game because it looks too old.

I think class refresh and crossplay are more important but after they should strongly consider giving it a visual overhaul.

MorallyBipolar · 1:40PM

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

I was originally planning to make a thread asking forum members what they think ZOS's development priorities should be going forward, especially after the recent wave of layoffs that hit the team. The class refresh? A new zone? QoL requests? An event refresh? But the more I think about it, the more I feel that none of those things should be ZOS's priority right now.

I've recently spoken with several people who:
had already stopped playing ESO,

were thinking about getting into the game but were still on the fence,

or had no interest in coming back.

As the conversations went on, I noticed they all kept bringing up the same issue: the game feels old, and the gameplay feels outdated.

ESO was released in 2014. Unless I'm mistaken, its engine was originally based on HeroEngine, which dates back to... 2005. I know it has been heavily modified over the years, but it's still obvious: the game and its gameplay feel rigid. For years, players have been asking for improvements, only to be met with the same answer: "it's not technically feasable." Here we are in 2026, playing a fantasy MMO, and we still don't have cloaks, flying mounts, or even the ability to stand on a moving platform.

I have a lot of respect for the development team, and I have no doubt they're doing everything they can. But it's clear that ESO no longer meets the standards of 2026. And I believe that's one of the biggest reasons why the game struggles to attract new players. And trust me or not, but it's also the reason why some people leave the game (according to what I've heard/read on some Discord/Subs). I know graphics and gameplay aren't everything, but in my opinion they're the most important parts of any game. Especially the gameplay. Even for an MMO that puts as much emphasis on storytelling and exploration as ESO does.

I also agree with the point made in this thread:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/697114/stop-it-just-stop-digging#latest

The development team seems to have lost its direction. It feels like they're running around like a headless chicken without really knowing where they're going. Again, I know they're doing their best and genuinely trying new things. I'm not blaming them, and this isn't meant as developer bashing. But I think that, even if it takes a significant amount of time and money, ZOS should focus on these 3 priorities above everything else:
A complete overhaul of the gameplay, core mechanics, and animations (not just the class refresh).

A graphical upgrade to bring the game closer to 2026 standards.

Crossplay (which I believe is already being worked on).

The class refresh is a good first step, but it's still far too limited imo.

As for the graphics, players have been using ways to improve the game's visuals for over ten years now: NVIDIA filters, ReShade, and so on. Why not start by implementing some similar visual improvements that don't require a massive development effort but could already make the game look and feel noticeably better?

Vanilla graphics (these are my settings):
ReShade + NVIDIA filters:

I'll finish with one concern: a few weeks ago, Guild Wars 3 was announced. When it eventually launches, and potential new players have to choose between a 12-year-old MMO with visuals that look like they came from a 2010 game and a brand-new MMO offering 2026 graphics and gameplay, I'm afraid the choice won't even be a difficult one. I think we all know which direction they'll go.

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

Thanks,
Jiub

Focus right now should be on fixing the systems already in place. We don't need new housing or companions. We need focus on game play bugs and performance issues. There is a ton of content already. Less cosmetics and more QoL improvements.

BretonMage · 1:59PM

The class refresh should be a good opportunity to update some of the aesthetics and animations of combat at least.

tomofhyrule · 2:09PM

Remember that the refreshes are updating the visuals and animations. Compare DK now to what they looked like before. Compare the new Werewolf model to the old one.

But remember also that there are hardware constraints. The past two years, they’ve actively been trying to reduce the animation budget because of performance on obsolete hardware - and in some cases it’s very obvious that it missed the mark. However, hardware that is at the min specs (like last-gen consoles, with only 8GB RAM total, some of which supports the OS) are already not able to handle things well.

If they want to update everything that much, they will also need to end support for last-gen consoles and older PCs. Which - considering how expensive they are now, thanks AI - will also push out large numbers of players.

How many 2026 games that have all the graphical bells and whistles of 2026 are made for PS4 anymore?

PurpleScroll · 2:11PM

People seem to forget that ESO supports HDR now. It makes a dramatic improvement in overall colour and lighting, far better than any of those "filters" could possibly achieve. I don't mean the ones who turn on "vivid" mode either, that mode looks atrocious in my opinion.

These screenshots are dithered down to 8-bit colour and do not have the full contrast, but still give you an idea of how ESO can look just with stock settings:

BardokRedSnow · 2:16PM

Maybe I have boomer gamer eyes now but I thought the game lately has looked great and wonder periodically do they do small graphics updates. Its not on par with oblivion remastered or anything, and its no cyberpunk, but there's not many mmos that look as good.

Maybe mmos are just a dying breed, it doesnt seem like gen z plays them. Its mostly millennials and up.

All that aside I would say visual upgrades are never bad, but I doubt thats what keeps new players away, what keeps players coming is knowing a game is being updated and is active. When eso drops another night market piece of content or an actual good questline, not this quirk chungus cheese fest stuff with the "Sithis Shaped Hole" and god of chaos, and of course the class refreshes especially... then people will return.

Pretty graphics don't mean anything if there's nothing to do.

AdonisJorge · 2:20PM

No, it should not

Sephyr · 2:21PM

Ardriel wrote: »

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Respectfully, there are so many bigger problems than just “I want capes!”
You don’t think the game looks pretty? Put on your Reshade and drop your gamma to the lowest setting. Done.

This can't be anything else than troll, honestly.

The game has crappy textures in most of places, very poor light effects, rusty animations, poor environment elements, no dynamic physic, etc.

This has nothing to do with trolling. There are more important things that the developers need to address right now.
Class reworks are a top priority. Class balancing needs to be improved urgently. These issues are causing the most frustration among players right now. We don’t want to lose any more players, do we?
If you want to implement all the things you have in mind—which are, of course, good and interesting—you’d have to rebuild ESO from the ground up. They might as well just make a completely new Elder Scrolls Online 2. That’s not going to happen. At least not in the next few years, and not as long as the focus remains on Elder Scrolls 6. ZOS is now working with Bethesda.
It’s possible that a new Elder Scrolls Online will be released a year or two after ES6 comes out.
I fear they’ll do whatever requires the fewest resources for ESO. That’s just how it is, unfortunately.

This. Honestly, I can't even bother myself logging into the game with the balance the way it is—and I haven't. So in essence, yeah, they're actively losing people. With the extended schedule of class reworks, it literally boils down to; "am I having fun playing this game?" And right now that question is no. I really don't think a graphical overhaul is going to fix that for me.

alternatelder · 2:33PM

I think you're speaking for a very low percentage of people. It didn't chase people away before, otherwise the game would have died a long time ago. There were mamy games with more advanced combat and even better graphics around the same time.

Destai · 2:40PM

I'd disagree actually.

Well, the class refresh is a graphical upgrade. So, yes, that should be a priority for myriad reasons outlined elsewhere. Outside of that, most of the game is fairly modern looking. I would say outside of base game, most textures and graphical assets look quite attractive.

For me, the larger issue is the staleness of gameplay. The class refresh is one component of the solution, the other component is just having more fun and rewarding systems. We need more tentpole systems like IA. Systems that are well integrated with the rest of the game and compel us to play them for a long time. If you look at random dungeons - you can do them for a long time. Most of the new content - not so much.

Night Market was a good attempt, but was another FOMO system. The game's too focused on FOMO. Their actions have spoken much larger than their words on this. They still seem dedicated to delivering time-limited systems. That approach guarantees a revolving door, with increasingly less people walking back in.

Treeshka · 2:54PM

JiubLeRepenti wrote: »

I'll finish with one concern: a few weeks ago, Guild Wars 3 was announced. When it eventually launches, and potential new players have to choose between a 12-year-old MMO with visuals that look like they came from a 2010 game and a brand-new MMO offering 2026 graphics and gameplay, I'm afraid the choice won't even be a difficult one. I think we all know which direction they'll go.

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

Thanks,
Jiub

While i agree that some of the graphics in this game can turn people away but one should consider that MMO games are long term ones. Brand new MMO means not much content compared to already established games.

For some people MMO also requires a certain world setting. ESO is an MMO but there is no other Elder Scrolls themed MMO out there, and probably never will. So graphics are not the only option. Also Khajiit only exist in ESO not in other games, so that is also an option when people choose which game to play.

Udrath · 3:04PM

I don’t really care about graphics that much, but I do not like overly cartoony stuff like guild wars 2 and retail wow. ESO graphics are decent, if they update anything it just needs to be character movement. Needs more weight to it. New world did a good job with movement.

Soarora · 3:05PM

I got a new PC recently and can finally use max graphics without concern that something’s going to catch fire. The game is beautiful, though you can see texture differences in old zones vs new but they were working on updating old zones anyway. The only problem is the lack of saturation by default. That and my preference for a very specific aliasing look got me to download reshade again.

As for feel of playing the game, it’s an MMO. Not everyone’s going to like the style of it. Even among MMO players, there’s no top-down camera or point-and-click or autoattacking etc etc. But the gameplay is part of what sets ESO apart. We hear complaints of people who don’t like it but don’t forget, there are people here only because they like the gameplay— not even for the TES theme. A “complete overhaul” of the gameplay would only alienate people who already play the game.

PoveusRonin · 3:10PM

Here we are in 2026, playing a fantasy MMO, and we still don't have cloaks, flying mounts, or even the ability to stand on a moving platform.

In all that info added, this was the biggest complaints I found other than the graphics. Not every game has to have or even needs cloaks, we are not Superman/Batman.

Flying mounts are not needed here either. This is one of the very few MMO's that I have ever played where it's not just littered with enemies that you have to kill to move around. That is one of the main reasons most want flying mounts.

Stand on a moving platform? I don't see much need for this to make it that important of an item.

Now to the meat, the graphics. This is a 10 year old game. The graphics honestly look rather nice for being an older game. Not every game has to have the same style and appearance or why would they come to ESO rather than other game number 4?

My biggest gripe I wish they would fix is the zoom in on your character. The camera doesn't stay behind you and instead goes off to the right. When I want a closer view of a puzzle or something, it's weird seeing my character go off to the side. And I still haven't fixed the issue where my camera locks in place when I fully zoom in. It was something to do with an addon and some changes they made a few patches back.

Overall, if they are leaving for one of the original post complaints, they probably wouldn't stay long even if all those were magically fixed. As to graphics, they would have to keep updating every 2 or 3 years to keep the players happy who complain on those and that's just not a feasible option for a MMO.

AllenaNightWood · 3:35PM

as much as id love to see some more graphics upgrades to ESO at least on console legacy systems have to be dropped first but tweaking my HDR settings helps it dont consider it a priority, zone refeshres are great to bring old zone appearance up to par of new ones

Stamicka · 3:53PM

I have no problem with how ESO looks. I actually prefer it over the generic and samey art style that a lot of these Unreal Engine 5 MMORPGs have. For example, Ashes of Creation was so much uglier to me than ESO ever was. Also with a lot of Korean MMOs, if you just showed me screenshots I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one it is.

I don’t think graphical improvements would hurt, but I just don’t think it would help with population very much.

Gameplay matters the most and ESO has many gameplay issues.

rothan117 · 4:00PM

The cost in time, money and personnel resources to do what OP wants is not viable. MS made that clear when they axed have the staff. MS is not going to make that kind of investment. We cannot even get much new content and class refreshes at the same time and a lot of players who play mostly for the questing and story will be gone by the time we get new content of that type. I know I am finding other things to play and it has nothing to do with graphics. Graphics do not make up for nothing interesting to do.

ceruulean · 4:33PM

Light attack weaving has turned off more players than anything. If the devs overhauled combat to be more organic and less monotonous, with options to use left click to extend combos or trigger special attacks, I'm sure many players will try the game again, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen.

For example, instead of dragon knight whip doing 25k dmg because you accumulated 3 stacks, the power could be split into a 2 part attack. First pressing the skill button deals a little damage because it's instant. In general, instant skills with 0 telegraph or windup should only do poke damage, and empowered DK whips currently ignore this balance and feel unfair as a result. Pressing left click adds a 2nd hit to whip that has a 0.4 cast time and deals high damage, but bashing/blocking/barswapping cancels this hit. This way, DKs have to put skin into the game and expose themselves to deal massive damage. This would also change the inputs from LC > skill > LC > skill, to LC > Skill > LC, reducing the total needed inputs.

Right now you can blockcast whip and just spam it, or save your 3 stacks and kill whoever with an ultimate > whip combo. As a result, nobody takes ESO combat seriously because it's spammy, and it stalemates because there's no way to punish bad plays by trading blows. You can only win through attrition of resources, and hope the opponent forgets an armor buff and your attacks crit higher when you go to punish their aggressiveness. Or wear burst damage sets like Balorgh and acuity and use ultimates like corrosive/2h and 1 shot your opponent so they can't react. Of course corrosive armor is an issue too, but I'm just trying to explain basic combat stuff.

ZomZom · 4:59PM

I play primarily on PS5 Pro, with a second account on PC. That colors both halves of this for me.

On graphics: ReShade and NVIDIA filters aren't part of this conversation for console players at all, so "just use ReShade" isn't an answer for a big chunk of the playerbase. HDR does help — I run it and the lighting is better than it gets credit for — but color grading doesn't add polygons or texture resolution. That's the actual gap. ESO's art direction is one of its strongest assets; the composition and mood in these environments hold up beautifully. What holds them back is low poly counts and low-res textures, especially in older zones. No filter fixes that. Honestly, a ground-up overhaul is what I'd want — it's the only thing that actually solves the problem — but I have a hard time seeing it get funded, especially after the layoffs. Continued zone refreshes are probably the realistic path.

On priorities, I'd put fundamentals first, with crossplay near the top — and I'd push back hard on the idea that it's irrelevant to solo players. I play solo PVE almost exclusively and it affects me constantly: my two accounts can't touch each other, and every purchase, achievement, and hour I put into one is walled off from the other.

More to the OP's point, though: the current segregation is genuinely confusing to newcomers. Someone's friend says "come play ESO," and the first question isn't "what do you enjoy doing" — it's "which console do you own, and which megaserver." Get it wrong and you've bought the game twice or you're playing alone. Modern games have trained people to expect that buying a game means playing it with whoever they want, wherever they want. ESO asking them to navigate a platform-and-region matrix before they've even made a character is a real barrier, and it costs the game people who never post on forums to complain about it. It's also a population problem for solo players — more bodies at world bosses and dolmens, faster queues, a world that feels lived-in.

Cross-progression is the piece I'd personally want most, and I know it's the harder of the two.

ceruulean · 5:02PM

ZomZom wrote: »

I play primarily on PS5 Pro, with a second account on PC. That colors both halves of this for me.

More to the OP's point, though: the current segregation is genuinely confusing to newcomers. Someone's friend says "come play ESO," and the first question isn't "what do you enjoy doing" — it's "which console do you own, and which megaserver." Get it wrong and you've bought the game twice or you're playing alone. Modern games have trained people to expect that buying a game means playing it with whoever they want, wherever they want. ESO asking them to navigate a platform-and-region matrix before they've even made a character is a real barrier, and it costs the game people who never post on forums to complain about it. It's also a population problem for solo players — more bodies at world bosses and dolmens, faster queues, a world that feels lived-in.

Cross-progression is the piece I'd personally want most, and I know it's the harder of the two.

Yeah this is a real issues. It's like, "Oh you play ESO too? Great, let's add each other after work!"

"Why can't I find your name? Is it spelled correctly?"

"Oh, you're on PC and I'm on PS5. Damn."

Stamicka · 5:02PM

ceruulean wrote: »

Light attack weaving has turned off more players than anything. If the devs overhauled combat to be more organic and less monotonous, with options to use left click to extend combos or trigger special attacks, I'm sure many players will try the game again, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen.

I think there’s a lot of truth to this. A lot of MMO vets claim that ESO’s combat is the worst they’ve ever seen and that’s why they don’t play.

On the flip side there’s people like me who love ESO’s combat and it’s the reason I’ve stuck with the game through all of the many complaints I have.

In my opinion, I think it’s a better strategy to just embrace such a fundamental aspect of the game even if it’s different from competitors. Let the game be different and find its audience. ESO has spent so much time trying to change itself to attract those who don’t like the combat that they’ve upset a lot of long time players with their decisions.

If ESO tried to become like tab target MMOs, I would quit immediately and so would players like me. I love light attack weaving, no cooldowns, and the overall speed of ESO’s combat. I wonder if the hatred for that stuff comes from tab target MMO nostalgia or using keyboard and mouse as the input method.

I wasn’t even born when games like EverQuest came out, so I have no nostalgia for old school tab target MMOs. I also play with controller, and I can definitely see how playing without it would dramatically worsen my experience.

I don’t really subscribe to the idea that ESO’s combat is somehow objectively bad/inorganic and that it needs to change. I just think it’s very different than what a lot of old school players are used to. It could be an asset if they just embraced it imo.

ceruulean · 5:05PM

Stamicka wrote: »

ceruulean wrote: »

Light attack weaving has turned off more players than anything. If the devs overhauled combat to be more organic and less monotonous, with options to use left click to extend combos or trigger special attacks, I'm sure many players will try the game again, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen.

I think there’s a lot of truth to this. A lot of MMO vets claim that ESO’s combat is the worst they’ve ever seen and that’s why they don’t play.

On the flip side there’s people like me who love ESO’s combat and it’s the reason I’ve stuck with the game through all of the many complaints I have.

In my opinion, I think it’s a better strategy to just embrace such a fundamental aspect of the game even if it’s different from competitors. Let the game be different and find its audience. ESO has spent so much time trying to change itself to attract those who don’t like the combat that they’ve upset a lot of long time players with their decisions.

If ESO tried to become like tab target MMOs, I would quit immediately and so would players like me. I love light attack weaving, no cooldowns, and the overall speed of ESO’s combat. I wonder if the hatred for that stuff comes from tab target MMO nostalgia or using keyboard and mouse as the input method.

I wasn’t even born when games like EverQuest came out, so I have no nostalgia for old school tab target MMOs. I also play with controller, and I can definitely see how playing without it would dramatically worsen my experience.

I don’t really subscribe to the idea that ESO’s combat is somehow objectively bad/inorganic and that it needs to change. I just think it’s very different than what a lot of old school players are used to. It could be an asset if they just embraced it imo.

This has nothing to do with tab target, nostalgia, or pace/speed. I play a ton of action combat games. Even FPS players can attest that ESO combat is just terrible and induces RSI in a way that most other games don't. If a combat system has a higher risk of inducing RSI, that doesn't make it good or quirky, it is objectively terrible for the majority of the community.

LadyGP · 5:08PM

Graphics aren't a problem one bit - just look at the numbers for older games that 10-15 years later are still cooking.

The gameplay/combat/meta, etc is a problem though. I'm speaking mainly from a PVP standpoint.. when you go into GH right now it's pure cancer. The fact the studio ignored ball groups for so long, then added scribing, then added subclassing, and now the class reworks... it's some of the most depts of heck I've ever entered... and I say this as someone who ran with ball groups for over 5 years.

Don't start talking about vengence - no one wants that - we just want a more balanced pvp. We don't have to remove ball groups but we do need ot make it so it doesn't take 50 people 20 minutes to kill them.

The studio is past the gace period of the DK rework that brought people back and they are now hemorrhaging players again. Buggy/broken seasons/contents aren't brining them back.

Edit - seeing lots of people talk about mechanics/combat.

Look, the reason people come back year after year when their favorite game crashes and burns is because ESOs combat is so iconic. The combat system, the way it feels, even with all the gripes we have with it, is why we keep coming back. Doing something like removing it, or stripping it all out/rulesets all out to make it just another washes slop everyone can do everything... this would just be yet another case of the studio chasing a trend that died 5 years beofre they decided to act on it.

Don't do that. Please.

- xCat