TESO devs nerf DpS and the community is raging! Trouble with announcement
Almost two weeks ago we reported that Zenimax with Update 35 in August significant adjustments to The Elder Scrolls Online combat system want to do. The two main goals of the planned changes are: 1) To increase accessibility by allowing developers to increase the duration of outgoing effects (damage over time, buffs, and ailments) at the cost of reducing their strength. 2) The effectiveness of “Weaving” should be reduced, which means that experienced players will deal noticeably less damage. In this way you want to reduce the difference to the damage values of beginners who have not yet mastered weaving.
A look into the Forum area for the TESO public test server enough to realize that many players are extremely critical of the planned changes. Especially on the 27 pages of this thread bundles a large part of the criticism. And the criticism was to be expected. It’s never a good idea in an MMO context to take away something that players have earned. This also includes reducing the damage across the board for all players who have learned a way of playing over months and years that allows them to do as much damage as possible.
In the form in which the adjustments are currently on the PTS, these mean a significant weakening not only for DpS professionals. Even beginners will cause less damage with Update 35 than before, for example because the strength of DoTs has been weakened. The reduced frequency of DoT ticks also means that many armor sets and skills that have effects that can be triggered by such DoT ticks are weakened. Also the one at the moment extremely popular oak soul ring is weakened by the update.
Endgame players are beside themselves
So far Update 35 is only on the PTS, but the planned adjustments for the combat system are already affecting the live servers. Numerous endgame players have left Tamriel, so many that several raid groups and even individual endgame communities have had to announce their early demise. The lower number of motivated endgame players in turn affects the trading prices of items relevant to the endgame. In other words: the prices are falling (via NefasQS).
Parts of the endgame community are said to have been so frustrated by the announcements that they targeted content creators from the TESO ecosystem like Nefas toxically. The well-known streamer reported a few days ago that he had never experienced abusive attacks on such a blatant scale in all the years.
Unfortunately, most of the content in The Elder Scrolls Online is very basic.
Source: Zenimax
Karsten is torn
As I wrote earlier, trying to enforce balancing issues with blanket nerfs is never a good idea. Nerfs are frustrating, and it’s almost always a better way to approach the problem from the other direction (i.e. with buffs from weak playstyles, skills, and so on).
With a view to Elder Scrolls Online, however, the buff strategy is also problematic. How are you supposed to buff the damage of beginners without increasing the damage potential of the pros? In addition, TESO (buy now €49.99)üover most of the content is already far too simple (which I only remembered recently in the Test to High Isle had criticized). Buffs would only make quests, dungeons, world bosses and the like even easier.
My hope now is that everyone will first take a deep breath. Nobody needs toxic behavior. In addition, Zenimax should reconsider the plans for the combat system. Simplifies buff and debuff management, yes, but at the same time doesn’t weaken the potency of DoTs (and thus other things like set effects). And let the veterans use their minmaxing style of play, with which they can clearly set themselves apart from beginners.
From my point of view, it is more important that upcoming content, even if it is only story quest challenges, once again poses a challenge. That beginners in the game are given training opportunities to learn mechanics such as weaving in a targeted manner. And that the developers stop constantly tinkering with the basic combat system and that they instead expand the existing options with new ones (e.g. new weapon skill lines).
how do you see it? Should the Zenimax developers go through with their plan or listen to player feedback? Could you live with a clear nerf across all classes if it’s easier for beginners? What adjustments would you like to see in TESO’s combat system? Tell us in the comments!
Reference-www.buffed.de