The basics of a good game are still there but I do have moments, especially after this patch, when I wonder if they are deliberately trying to kill it with bad patches and just focus on the console market...

My suspicion is that the problems are possibly organisational rather than technical.

For example - it was clear from fairly soon after 1.1.2 was released to the US servers that it had done serious damage to their area and had accidentally wiped an entire PvP campaign. Either the lines of communication were so dreadful that no-one important was aware of this after a full working day OR the important people simply did not understand (or care) that they could have pulled a broken patch for the EU and at least saved half the players from new exciting pain.

So my guess is that you have an underfunded dev team without the resources for doing decent QA, constant pressure from a hierarchy that was expecting MMO meets TES to be an easy money spinner, push for new group content to appease a vocal minority of MMO locusts... all things considered a failure like this was predictable to all but ZOS themselves.

The question is - what now?

If it were me I'd be looking to do some massive and serious damage control.

- Be honest about the problems that existed before and have now been added.
- Be clear about what can be fixed soon and what will take time.
- Be damn sure that any future fixes pushed out are tested (posts from PTS testers suggest they only tested pre-built toons in Craglorn).
- Seriously consider getting in quickly and giving a free month to all current subscribers (yes there is some self interest there but equally it would show players the love that they are not feeling right now).
- Do not be driven too much by the vocal MMO elite, they have always moved from game to game and always will. Consider your target audience and pander to them as well, they will be the ones who are still playing in 5 years if you can ride out this current mess.

Frankly I don't see this happening 'cos it's not just Zenimax, Bethesda have always been lousy at PR & customer communication & TES games have often relied on players to fix the worst problems which is not an option here.

I find myself wanting this game to succeed as I truly enjoy the bits that work BUT the company and it's management seem to be unable to see there is a deep and genuine set of problems let alone fix them.

Well, honestly? I won't say "rubbish". At least not yet. I just feel that the devs are trying too hard to impress, and in the meantime keep breaking things. On that note, they do try to go back and fix what they broke. I also feel they just need to slow down a bit and do things with a bit more passion and care. If they don't I can't see myself sticking around for too much longer.