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[Column] Elder Scrolls Online: Is ESO Dying or Just Carving a Niche?

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  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,445
    I would point out that WS did not release data either, not sure if they have now?
  • SaluteSalute Member UncommonPosts: 795
    Originally posted by Tbau

    "As one of the largest privately held gaming companies, Zenimax/Bethesda has no obligations to release any form of official numbers."

     

    How does anyone in their right mind say this?

     

    Zenimax/Bethesda has ALWAYS released numbers for previous games. They use them to keep their games in the news and to keep hype going. They even released pre-order numbers for Skyrim.

    The fact that nothing has been said at all shows it didn't even sell well.

     

    Anyway, their targeting Bothe MMORPG players and Elder Scrolls SRPG fans is the reason this is just another in a long line of subpar MMORPGs made lately. They tried to be everything for everyone instead of focusing on a market. It was said a long time ago, now it shall be said again.

    TESO is SWTOR 2.0

     

    Not even close.

    If you check Raptr (same at xfire but i m not mention it because it tracks way less hours/players than Raptr) hours, ESO drop rate is maybe the biggest ever seen in a AAA mmo. After 3 months only, its in the 40th place with 70k hours/week while SWTOR is in 21 having 143k hours/week.

    Btw i know what many will say about Raptr, but it tracks more than 30m players gaming hours and games like LoL, Dota, Counter, D3, WoW are always in the first places.  Its not about total numbers but a very accurate %

    So no, ESO is not like SWTOR or GW2 or FFA etc at all.

     

    All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1
    Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2

  • AneovaAneova Member UncommonPosts: 14
    How many people DON'T use things like Raptr though? Who use other means of comunicating and that don't track game time all those services have to be taken with a grain of salt.

    image

  • Recon0303Recon0303 Member Posts: 9
    Originally posted by Vonatar

    "The Wheel of Time turns..."

     

    It's always the same with a new headline MMO. Hype and expectation, people dive in in their hundreds of thousands, they hit max level in a week or two, get bored and move on. The massive population drop after a month or two should be expected in any MMO these days and it doesn't mean the game is dying, just levelling out as you say.

     

    People said SWTOR was dying, or died. We had all the jokes about the TORtanic. And yet it seems to be highly profitable these days with its f2p model.

     

    People just don't play MMOs long term anymore. Some do, but there seems to be a large mass of MMO players that move from game to game. The so-called "content locusts".

    I been gaming since games have  been around, the average MMO for us, was 5-7 years. Now its 30 -60days. People, get bored fast and want to solo.This is why MMO's are dieing and will die.

    Most people don't want to believe me, watch 5 years from now maybe a little more, and MMO's won't be around or won't be the same.. Heck they are way different now with all the hand holding stuff that have which for me is boring...

  • spiritouspathspiritouspath Member UncommonPosts: 5
    myself i played once at beginning of beta and then when beta was at it middle stone then at near the end and all the time i solve my self eso was not worth playing it just clearly gave me what wow did for me once but now a days wow just for me is boring and not enough because what some other mmorpgs games what arent out yet what are still in aphla what has gave me sense i have gotten aphla access sense i saved and paid hundred of dollars to become a founder for some and or know some one who is a founder for others the ones what are in aphla like archeage it gives me the excitement to play what other games do not do any more 

    the spirits has risen up by the call of the spirit lord so the spirits will forge a path no one shall block the spiritouspath!!

  • illutianillutian Member UncommonPosts: 343

    Game is "painfully average" - Angry Joe

    And I fully agree with his assessment.

    Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.

  • Fockewulf8Fockewulf8 Member UncommonPosts: 19
    I loved ESO storyline and quests.  The thing that has led me to not play for a few weeks was the poor endgame.  Now yes there is Cyrodil for PVP (which is my main thing) however I was looking for something to keep my attention and that has not.  I'm not sure what I was looking for but no end game content has kept my attention.  Maybe I just needed a break for a few after getting VR1.  My sub is still active and I plan to get back into lvling alts at least very soon.  I'm mainly waiting to see what they do with more endgame content (both pvp and pve).  I'm eager to continue the storyline of my main.  Although I find myself going back to SWTOR (and considering WoW again) for my PvP urges...
  • TibernicuspaTibernicuspa Member UncommonPosts: 1,199

    A niche game takes a niche budget, and actually executing on that niche.

     

    The only niche that TESO had a hope at was the RvR niche, but it fucked it up so entirely that people can't stand it.

     

    It's dying.

  • GismolandGismoland Member UncommonPosts: 79
    Well it got boring soo fast I just moved onto WildStar and back to World of Warcraft - Warlords Expansion when released. ESO team was great to start with but lately it just puzzles me with all the nerfing just like in SWG. Unless they can really come out with more classes *Archer / Ranger / Necromancer so on* it's gonna be a dying game.
  • JalindorJalindor Member UncommonPosts: 16

    To be honest, I liked ESO. I liked doing the storyline and the side quests. I'm not really into PvP so didn't try the PvP zone.

     

    The reason I left was that I can play other mmo's for free and paying a subscription at this time is a little hard as I am out of work. Before the game was released there was a lot of talk about it going straight to free to play, but that obviously got shelved because of the usual guff from all the fanboi's about wanting a subscription to keep all the 'undesirables' away. 

     

    So I'll back to playing LotRO and also trying out Defianace now it is free to play and I'm not really missing ESO now, but would probably come back if it went to free to play.

  • GrmpGrmp Member UncommonPosts: 7
    Like FF14 or Eve Teso has to stay the course and it will survive
  • GrmpGrmp Member UncommonPosts: 7
    Like Eve and just recently FF14 Teso has to stay the course and not give in and it will survive
  • JipseyJipsey Member Posts: 1

    Not a kid, never played WOW. I soooo wanted this to be THE GAME where I could stay. But it's just so boring and bland. Repetitive quests, unbalanced classes (bye bye NB..I did love you for a very short while), so dreary and grey.

    i love questing normally, not a power leveler.

    Vet lvl quests are ridiculous, and not worth a sub to me. Seriously? Replay other areas? Roaming is pointless, it is not at all like skyrim where you can wander and explore..there is nothing to find. oh but wait...they are going to give us more rubbish we can pick up. And do exactly what with? Put in our pretend houses?

    And as for quests that take forever to do, and if you don't finish them? Redo from the start? Whatever.  

    and while I am going on....I hate having to have so many addons. Why not offer more choice in game? Like other games do? (yes yes, i know, my choice...but i really wanted my minimap amongst other things)

    Only stayed 2 months because i was in such a cool guild, but they don't pay my sub.

    back to GW2....great graphics, fun areas to explore, original quests.

  • KhazaKhaza Member UncommonPosts: 8

    What is making most people leave is the 1-2 FPS in Cyrodiil. Makes the PvP in the game unplayable.

     

    Many of my guildies and friends have cancelled their sub, so have I and sub runs out 8th.

    So for me to even concider resubbing something drastic has to happen to the FPS issues in Cyrodiil.

  • eaoseaos Member UncommonPosts: 14
    I can't even believe people play these type of MMO's that have laughable pointless "pvp"  you might as well play war of the roses or viking or mount and blade.  For anyone that wants real end game pvp check out darkfall unholy wars.  I am so glad I didn't jump on this bandwagon, all my friends that bought it quit playing with in 2 months, and my online gaming buds (bout 15 of them all did the same thing)
  • wgc01wgc01 Member UncommonPosts: 241

    Most games today are niche games, there is money to be made, and nothing wrong with a niche game, as long as they keep putting back into the game, once your number 1 like wow has been there is only one direction to go at that point.

    I am in a huge guild in ESO,(we have 4 guilds and about to start #5) we are still growing more people joining than leaving, as with any new mmo the first few months will lose players, the game goes through growing pains, bugs and balance issue, this is a NEW game does not have 7 years of being live to fall back on, wow still has bugs and balance issues, heck Ever Quest still has issues that go back to it's early days.

    If your looking for gaming perfection any kind of online games are not for you, never gona happen anytime soon if ever.

    I am still having fun in ESO, it brings so much to the table at launch, I have played mmo's since mudz and meridian59, I have been around the gaming block a few times, ESO if given a chance will be a great game, but a lot of today's gamers do not seem to have the patience to let a new product of any kind grow and improve instead, move on to another buggy project, that I will never figure out.

    For me if ESO, goes f2p or they pull the plug, I might just hang up the mmo ring myself, online games are changing and to me not in a fun way...:)

  • YrthWyndAndFyreYrthWyndAndFyre Member UncommonPosts: 9

    I quit WoW having one of the highest ranked Alliance trees in the realm.  It was a job.  Dailies for money. Farm for materials.  Make stuff.  Raid seven days a week.  When you've got the raids canned, then start escorting people through.  And then, having refined and fine-tuned my tree and my skills over years, they switched it up so anybody could get a brand new 'toon to the exact same level and gear in five days flat, even if they weren't willing to pony up the dough for a pre-built-and-levelled on the internet.  When 80% of the end-game population are cretins, even escorting people through raids is babysitting.  Basically 9-man raids with a boat-anchor along for the ride.  You hope they die fast so as not to mess up the rest of the group by trying to 'help'. I despised the PvP.  As a tree I had an active battle-field lifespan of about 38 seconds.  Softest of the soft targets.

    I know that quite a few people have quit ESO.  I expected it.  There would be a whole bunch of people who zoomed right to VR10 and then said (putting on very best Tommy Chong voice), "Hey, man!  This ain't no World of Warcraft, man!"  No, and thank Dog.  Frankly, I'm sure the game will get along just fine without people who are just searching for a place where they can transfer their finely tuned WoW ganking skillz.  

    But I also think that quite a few people are joining up.  People like me, who are terminally bored with WoW clones and are looking for something genuinely new, and a few who never much cared for WoW and have been looking for, well, this.  The starter zones are still packed.  And not just existing players levelling new 'toons, because they're asking questions - they don't know how the world works.  Many of them are new players.

    Maybe ESO will never have the subscriber base that WoW has now.  We'll see what it's like in ten years.  What I do know is that every other MMO I tried after leaving WoW, I zoomed a 'toon to max level to find out I was in WoW again and quit.  SWTOR is the only one that managed to hold my interest.  In ESO, I don't have a single 'toon at max level - never have, and I was playing in closed beta - it's been half a year.  For the first time, though, I have two Veteran Rank toons, and a third almost there.  I'm still engaged in the story line, and still trying out new characters.  I *love* the PvP and participate regularly.  Sure, there are a few loose cannons scrambling around raising havoc, but there are also a few coordinated groups engaged in strategic warfare considerably more sophisticated than the, "OK, guys, ZERG!" 'strategy' that is /de riguer/ in other MMOs.

    I haven't tried any end-game content yet (VR10+).  Maybe, in a few months, I'll have a 'toon high enough to participate in that stuff and then I can render an opinion on it, but I'm having 'way too much fun for the time being.  Six races x six classes x three armor types x six weapon types x five alternate skill lines = 3,240 possible builds *not counting* attribute and skill point distribution strategies *or* skill selections.  It could take awhile.

    It's harder, but more rewarding.  Maybe all it will do is carve a niche and hold there.  After all, it's the first of it's kind.  But maybe it will inspire others to break the WoW mould we've been stuck in for so long.  Or maybe, being the first of it's kind, it will surprise everybody and do what nobody has done before.  Establish a new standard against which games of this genre are judged.  For too long I've heard people whine, "The reason the WoW model is so popular is because it works!"  Wrong.  The reason it is so popular is because until now it has been the only model.  It's easy to be the best when you're the only one playing, and it's easy to choose when there is only one choice.  Let's see how it does with legitimate competition.

  • tomc78tomc78 Member UncommonPosts: 3

    I read some of the posts here but not all as there are like 14 pages, but I wanted to give my two cents about ESO.   In my opinion one of the main reasons people are complaining about the game and left,  is the fact that they are comparing it to Skyrim, and other Elder Scrolls game....and why not...it's got the Elder Scrolls name....but It's not exactly an Elder Scrolls game.  So the Elder Scroll hardcore fans are throwing temper tantrums that their expectations weren't satisfied and gave the game bad reviews...in fact I wasn't going to buy the game because I read the reviews..but something nagged at me and I did buy the game and I'm loving it.  I went into the game realizing it wasn't a true Elder scrolls game and my expectations weren't so high.

    But people did leave because of the gold spammers....which they fixed...at least i haven't seen any lately..so correct me if I'm wrong.  The bugs left a sour taste in people mouths...as some of the bugs didn't allow you to complete the quests.  But they fixed a lot of them, and I haven't had any issues....people are complaining about bugs, that never happened to me.  A lot of the bugs can be cured by a re-log.  

    People also left because they didn't like the fazing part...where you couldn't see your group members if you were on a different part of the quest line.  Most of them didn't understand that some of the quests were actually solo quests.  They added the description to dungeon doors so you can tell what's what.  Still...Fazing can be a problem.  Also public dungeons have been a problem....even for me.  what i mean is that I enter the dungeon..but people are there before me and i just run to the end of the dungeon with no fighting and get to the end just in time to put in my two shots before the boss dies and I get credit for it....or I get there too late and have to wait for the respawn...which doesn't take too long...but i can see somebody quitting the game because of it.

    The Veterans have left because the content is different......it's my understanding from my guild mates, that the content becomes...well...obviously harder, and you will most likely need to change your character build.  Also the game is young, and there seems to be a lot of veterans...but not enough....and time becomes a factor.  Meaning people have different times when they can play....but that's the problem with all MMO's is it not?  you get to the harder levels and you can't find a good group to play with?

    The one thing I didn't like about ESO is the fact you can be in 5 different guilds...some people like that idea...I for one..don't.  There's no Auction house, so you need to be in a guild with a guild store, or actually talk in the chat window and advertise what you are selling.  I think that's another reason people tend to leave....The community....A lot of great people...but there's a lot of idiots as well that can make the game look bad.

    And there are others who complain about class balance.....i won't disagree with them, but I do wonder how many are complaining because they don't know how to play their class properly and pick the wrong skills that synergize with each other and don't know how to PVP...etc..etc.

    so Is ESO dying?  Not at all.  I love this game and plan on taking my time and do everything the game has to offer....but being a story driven game....I would imagine the replayability isn't that great.....unless you like creating new toons with new builds....and dont' mind replaying the same story lines. 

    Is it a Niche game....maybe.....the combat and UI is different than what people are use to.  You can't mouse click your abilities..you have to press the number key...or the shortcut key that you've made yourself.  So if your new to MMO's or new to this style of combat it can take some time to get used to.

    so all in all I find this game to be quite under rated and it's definitely worth playing...and my advice to the elder scrolls fans....come back with new eyes and you'll enjoy it.

     

     

     

  • ChannceChannce Member CommonPosts: 570
    ESO is a great game that may get bad if the mmorpg.com crowd has its way and dumbs down the content.  For this website to rate WS higher than ESO only shows that the reviewers here are not very sophisticated when it comes to games, easy mode ftw.

    When I said i had "time", i meant virtual time, i got no RL "time" for you.

  • maciopamaciopa Member CommonPosts: 49
    Expecting ESO to become F2P no later than October this year.
     
  • AeonbladesAeonblades Member Posts: 2,083

    Shrug, seems like the world is bustling with players and I haven't noticed much a drop in population past the first month of whiners dropping out.

     

    Game is great and still one of the best MMO experiences you can buy at the moment. I have played both WS and ESO extensively and ESO won out fairly quickly. I enjoy the challenge of ESO and the range of options for gameplay over WS's more simplistic design.

     

    ESO had it's fair share of problems at release, but it gets better every patch, which is rare for MMO's released these days. Will it end up as a niche game? Sure. Is that a problem? No.

    Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
    Have played: You name it
    If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.

  • RandoritaRandorita Member Posts: 2

    I played the beta and was underwhelmed by the play and overwhelmed by all the bugs.  When it came out, I read most of the bugs were still there.  I am not going to pay that much for a game, plus a monthly charge to debug a game.  After reading some of the subscription practices by Zenimax and the starting subscriptions foulups, I am glad I didn't give them my money.  I believe I will just wait 5-1/2 years for the next Elder Scrolls game.  There are other games out that are more interesting, cost less, and have fewer bugs.  

    Bethesda, what we really wanted was a co-op or small group play game.  You gave us ESO.

  • pi.til.12pi.til.12 Member Posts: 10
    /I'm currently pl'DYING"aying EESO and and don't see a dying game. Maybe you should log in and find out for your self
  • ArclanArclan Member UncommonPosts: 1,550

    If ESO would launch a sub server without cash shop (other than potions, maybe), and remove the quest hubs, I would absolutely purchase and sub the game.

    Game companies need to stop force feeding game monetization to everyone; they would probably attract a lot more players. Like the majority of voters on this site who don't like game monetization.

    Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
    In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit

  • SoandsosoSoandsoso Member Posts: 533
    Originally posted by Arclan

    If ESO would launch a sub server without cash shop (except maybe xp potions, etc), I would sub and check the game out; might even purchase it. Hmm it's a quest hub game, though, right? Ugg.

    Still, if game companies would stop trying to force feed game monetization to everyone, they would probably have a lot more players.

    All you have to do is do a little research and you can find out all you need to know to make a decision.

     

    Or you can just make a rant post here and then go spend money only to make another post on how you were forced to buy it or the company scammed you in some way....that seems to be the mindset on this site.

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