It hurts to say goodbye to something that you love. It’s hard to walk away when you know in your heart it’s time to go. But sometimes, the pain is too much to bare and you have to just pack up and go. When an MMO cooks up a disconnect between the Development Team and the Players, shards of a once shared world begin to crumble and fall. When the players make a collective decision to congregate and embark on an exodus from a MMO they’ve spent years with, the world will take notice. The greatest display of a mass exodus was when the colossal World Of Warcraft community had enough and left the juggernaut hosted by Activision-Blizzard, especially when long time player Asmongold fled to Final Fantasy 14. I thought we would never see a mass exodus of this magnitude again, but in late summer of 2022 history is beginning to repeat itself. --------------------------------- One of the top dogs of MMOs has struck a chord with their players, mostly deriving from poor communication techniques. This is a game that I have considered home and spent nearly 2000 hours flourishing in such a beautiful world. Update 35 has created arguably the worst received update in the Elder Scrolls Online community. An update that the developer, Zenimax Online Studios (or ZOS), had initially marketed as an update that would focus on increasing accessibility in game, has managed to make a foul ball at their take. During 5 weeks of PTS testing before the update went live, players were able to try out the proposed changes, and provided feedback that was concerning. With Update 35 now live for PC players as of August 22 many players have made the difficult decision to pack up and leave ESO for good, many finding refuge with Final Fantasy XIV. Being a veteran player myself, I had intentions of giving ESO some time to let the dust settle, but Update 35 has proven to be a universal downgrade of the ESO experience. What I find ironic is that Update 35 is officially named “Lost Depths”. It’s hard to express in words, but this update I feel is the beginning of the turn for the worst. With the Crown Store (in game cash shop) becoming more prominent with each chapter, along with a diminishing in game reward system the implementation of Lost Depths has been the straw that broke the camel's back. Joining the mass of players who had left during the pts cycle, I am saying a sad goodbye to a game that I had called home since 2019. My entry into ESO was during the Elsweyr chapter, which I confidently believe was ESO at its absolute best. The zones of Northern and Southern Elsweyr was breath-taking with the desert oasis and jungle biomes it produced. The zone story for both, especially Northern Elswyer was the perfect eclipse of TES storytelling and ESO fleshing out the immersion. It was the first major display of Khajiit lore coming off page and was executed flawlessly. The dungeons and trial were some of the best group PVE content that it could be. Even the player homes released with the zones are some of the most beautiful and unique layouts to date. I was completely taken aback that a game developer would go all out for the Khajiit and brining the province of Elsweyr to fruition. I was ready to see where ZOS would take the game next. The following Chapter, Greymoor, brought back Skyrim and resurrected TES lore from the first era as we were introduced to the Gray Host and expanding the vampire and werewolf traditions TES 5: Skyrim had exposed us to already. It was not as magnificent as Elsweyr, but it was great in its own right. ------------------------------ The current chapter in the ESO development cycle is High Isle, which is showcasing the Noble Bretons and the attempts to end the Alliance War that the base game of ESO’s story launched with. Some of the games best gear was introduced with the release of High Isle, along with arguably the best mechanic balanced PVE group dungeons and trial ever in ESO. The problem that Update 35 introduced with an across the board nerf to player damage and healing, which has caused the game to feel very unbalanced and clunky combat. The damage reduction was explained in the pts to be a 10% reduction, but it seems to be more on the 20%-30% side depending on your weaving efficiency. The promise of more accessibility has not been delivered, and many players have questioned how these changes help increase accessibility. With the previous mentioned issues, and now the combat being more tedious and less fun to engage in, many players have decided that enough is enough and logged off their accounts for good. I love The Elder Scrolls, and over time ESO is becoming less Elder Scrolls and slowly becoming the next WoW cash shop grab. Only time will tell what will happen to ESO, but the reasons that I had stayed with ESO are now gone. It’s time for me to say goodbye and move on to find a new MMO I can call home, and that home will be made in Final Fantasy XIV where many ESO players have sought refuge. I never thought I’d end up a MMO refugee, but now lies before me a journey of great unknown, curiosity and fear. It is a feeling of bittersweet change and will accompany me on my journey as a MMO refugee. I will miss you ESO and the great memories and friends I had while with you. Thank you for those moments. And for all ESO players feeling the effects of the exodus, whether you stay or leave, may your roads lead you to warm sands. "May your roads lead you to warm sands"
|
Details
AuthorThe Sin City Demon that's Hellbent on becoming your favorite FF14 Content Creator. Archives
May 2024
Categories |