Elder Scrolls the MMO

[Max Peck]

This sounds, to me, like they're moving into more of a mainenance/SaaS mode, ditching annual "chapter" updates and going to "seasons". I guess we'll see how it pans out.

Studio Director’s Letter: 2025 & Beyond

Turning the Page on Chapters

We have been incredibly successful with our strong annual Chapter releases: starting with Morrowind in 2017 up through Gold Road just six months ago. Zone design and quest/content is at the core of every Elder Scrolls game, as our annual Chapter release model highlighted. We will still do lots of story content, but now, looking into 2025, we need to concentrate on different types of content to support all types of ESO players. So, we are putting Chapters aside and will be focusing on new types of content, and a new release philosophy. More on that below.

As 2025 will be a transition year for new content, we are going to have new zone-based content launch in 2025 - but you'll have to wait until April to hear the specifics about how it is different. Stay tuned!


Introducing Seasons

Over the course of 2025 we will be moving more towards a seasonal content model and away from launching massive content updates once a year, as we did with Chapters. We will be talking much more about this in the future, but in 2025 expect to see named Seasons of three or six months duration with a mix of themed story content, events, store items, dungeons and more.

2025 will be a mix of old and new as we move the dev team towards creating smaller bite-sized pieces of content. We will still have some larger items that we've been working on for over a year, which you'll see launch as well.

Freeing up the dev team from needing to adhere to a strict annual cycle means we will be able to have teams launch content when it is ready throughout the year and not work to a date in June – this will let us focus on a greater variety of content spread over the year. This supports the new Seasons model, and will enable us to release content, updates, fixes, and systems in a more efficient manner.

And a lot of this sounds like "we need more grind":

Here are some of the ideas that we are working on, some of which you may see on the live servers as tests in 2025 and beyond. Some of these will be tests and some will be improvements based on player feedback:

• We need to seriously address Cyrodiil performance. Our (ambitious) goal is to return it to the concurrency levels we supported in 2014. So, we will be experimenting with a Cyrodiil campaign where all classes will have PvP-specific (and more performant) skills that replace the standard player skills with the expectation that we can support more players per campaign
• Increasing the difficulty of standard overworld combat
• Improving the overall feel of combat with animation, FX, and potentially audio work
• Experimenting with more zones like Craglorn (although not as large in area or scope), created exclusively for high-end group and soft-group content with associated gear chase
• Adding and refining tools to make guild recruitment, interaction, and management easier and more logical
• We have many more ideas here, and of course, we are listening to you and will be coming up with new ideas based on your feedback

[Max Peck]

I don't much care about the upcoming dungeon DLC, and most of the base game updates won't affect me, but the change to the Crafting champion abilities sounds promising.

Update 45 Preview

Arriving in tandem with the dungeon DLC is the Update 45 base-game patch. This free update includes a host of changes and improvements that all ESO players can enjoy.

Cyrodiil Champions Test Campaign

Update 45 introduces the early stages of the new Cyrodiil Champions test PvP campaign. When playing a Cyrodiil Champions test campaign, you and your fellow players are locked to specific class builds, including abilities, attributes, and items. This test allows us to monitor how the server reacts to simplified abilities, with the goal being to collect data and help us plan for the future of Cyrodiil and abilities.

During this test, seven set Cyrodiil Champion classes are available, and access to some features are blocked, including Crown Store provisions, items not included in the class templates, and more. During a Cyrodiil Champions campaign, all competitors are at equal power levels—it all comes down to skill!

Note that with Update 45, we are only just beginning to test the Cyrodiil Champions campaigns. Expect a full rollout with greater options and a more polished experience in the future.

Starter Zone Refresh

The starter zones of Betnikh, Stros M’kai, Bleakrock, Bal Foyen, and Khenarthi’s Roost have all undergone a makeover, bringing them more in line visually with the detail of ESO’s recent additions such as West Weald or the Telvanni Peninsula.

These starter zones have received improvements to their terrain transitions, materials and lighting, and atmosphere. Signs and banners have been positioned to better highlight services (such as crafting or banking locations), and lighting has been adjusted to better define important paths and other areas of detail. With the addition of more organic clutter and props, various portions of the zones should feel a little less sparse and a little more lived in—go check them out!

Quality-of-Life Improvements

This base-game patch also features a host of quality-of-life improvements to the game. This includes an improvement to the initial mount experience by significantly increasing their starting movement speed value (without dramatically increasing their top end speed). The team has also reworked specific Craft (green) Champion stars so they no longer need to be slotted for you to benefit from their effects. Finally, the team has also increased the visibility of the value of Mundus Stone Boons, including reminders as to when and where you can find them.

[Max Peck]

Pan-Tamriel Celebration In-game Event

A Party Across Tamriel The Pan-Tamriel Celebration kicks off Thursday, January 23 at 10AM EST, and runs until Tuesday, February 4 at 10AM EST. Part of The Elder Scrolls Online 10-Year Anniversary Celebration, this in-game event allows you to acquire a massive variety of bonus rewards as you adventure throughout Tamriel.

[Daehawk]

I just reinstalled yesterday.

[Skinypupy]

I’ve been playing through the new Gold Road story and West Weald zone over the past week. Rolled a Steam Warden, which I hadn’t tried before.

Been fun, but I’m sure I’ll set it aside again once I’m done with this xpac’s story (like usual)

[Daehawk]

I owned Gold Road all last year but never did the quest...I Started today by taking my Necron Arcanist to West Weald and will play it out soon. Should be fun.

[Skinypupy]

Quick question about companions. I started a new toon from scratch with Gold Road and recruited a companion right away. She's been with me since level 5 or so and I have had her active the entire time. I'm currently level 31, and my companion hasn't even hit combat level 6 yet. Is there supposed to be that big of a gap or am I doing something wrong?

I know they only get XP from kills (not quests) so I've had her involved in every battle I've done the whole time I've been playing this character. Anything I should be doing different?

[Max Peck]

Quick question about companions. I started a new toon from scratch with Gold Road and recruited a companion right away. She's been with me since level 5 or so and I have had her active the entire time. I'm currently level 31, and my companion hasn't even hit combat level 6 yet. Is there supposed to be that big of a gap or am I doing something wrong?

I know they only get XP from kills (not quests) so I've had her involved in every battle I've done the whole time I've been playing this character. Anything I should be doing different?

I don't think there is any direct relationship between your character level and the companion's combat level. The companion is only getting a fraction of your combat xp (15% + the rapport bonus, which tops out at 20% in the top rapport tier), so it's going to be slower going if you're getting most of your xp from quests rather than combat. Building rapport (i.e. doing things the companion likes and avoiding things the companion dislikes) will speed things up, as will using xp boosters (they increase your combat xp, which in turn increases the companion's xp). Aside from that, you can always spend some time grinding combat xp to move things along even faster. Having said all that, if you're having fun doing what you're doing, I wouldn't worry too much about how fast they level up. I've got a couple of companions to level 20, but I put a lot more effort into figuring out how to build rapport than combat levelling.

For an extensive guide to all things companion, check out the UESP Companion guide.

[Skinypupy]

Thanks Max. I wasn’t overly concerned about it, just making sure I wasn’t doing something wrong.

Finished up the Gold Road questline tonight. New zone was cool and some of the side quest stories were good (the murder mystery being a standout) but the main quest was mostly meh. After the cliffhanger Necrom left on, I was hoping for something a little more interesting, I guess. Still, definitely worth the $25 and 30’ish hours I spent with it. Might fiddle around for a bit more since I subbed for a month.

[Max Peck]

Golden Pursuits—Kick off a New Adventure This January

The New Year, New Adventure Golden Pursuits campaign begins today, Tuesday, January 21 at 10AM EST, and runs until February 4 at 10AM EST! During this campaign period, you can obtain a variety of awesome in-game rewards including copious Transmutation Geodes, a statue of an iconic figure, and a new 10-Year Anniversary costume.

Let’s take a peek at the milestone rewards and learn how many New Year, New Adventures campaign activities must be completed before you can collect your rewards:

• Complete two activities—25,000 Gold
• Complete four activities—100 Transmutation Geodes
• Complete six activities—Statue, High Elf Hero
• Complete eight activities—75,000 Gold
• Complete 12 activities—10-Year Anniversary Elven Hero costume