5 Alarming Signs That ESO Is in Decline…

[00:00:00]You definitely know The Elder Scrolls Online is in trouble when ZOS can't even support the Crown Store anymore.

[00:00:05]Hey everyone, it's Spooks. There's been quite a bit of news in the last week or so shedding additional light on what's going on at ZeniMax Online Studios, the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online, and none of it looks particularly good for the game. In this video, we're going to cover the recent letter from Bethesda Game Studios indicating that ZOS is essentially being absorbed to build The Elder Scrolls 6, the fact that update 51 has been delayed again, the absolute reality of vengeance testing going forward even though basically nobody wants it, this insane debacle of releasing a new skill style that has essentially no purpose, and the news that just came out indicating that monthly Crown Store showcases are essentially a thing of the past. Before we get into these doomer highlights, please take a moment to like, hype, and subscribe.

[00:00:52]I'm going to read the relevant portions from this BGS letter suggesting that ZOS is being pulled off of ESO to work on TES 6. But before I do, I want to mention I've been agnostic from the beginning of this whole saga. I've gone through periods where I'm more or less hopeful, but my main objective here is just to present the facts as they are, regardless of what hopes I may have for The Elder Scrolls Online, to help the community understand the situation with the utmost clarity. The fact that I'm pointing out these troubling signs does not mean I am an ESO doomer. It doesn't mean I think the game is over, but I think it's hard to look at these following five stories and not see a noticeable decline. So, first of all, this letter, which has been talked about a lot recently, but I hadn't got the chance to cover yet. This was released on July 17th by Bethesda Game Studios, and it was apparently written by Todd Howard, but I don't see any actual byline in here, any proof that he actually wrote it. So, the letter begins with a bunch of meaningless corporate boilerplate, just talking how much they love games, how much they love us. I love you, you love me, we're a Bethesda family. Then it goes on to say the studio is not giving up on Starfield, they're doubling down on mods that are created by players, and they're also doubling down on Fallout 5 and apparently Fallout 76, even though I hear that project was essentially gutted. Fallout 4 is 10 years old now, so it's definitely time for a new single-player installment in the franchise. Now, this is where things get interesting. Obsidian is being shifted to go work on the new Fallout game, but then I'm going to read this next paragraph in full so we get a complete understanding of what's being said here.

[00:02:14]We're also bringing our teams closer together across Bethesda. ZeniMax Online Studios will partner closely with Bethesda Game Studios on The Elder Scrolls franchise while continuing to deliver incredible new experiences for The Elder Scrolls Online. Season 1 Return to the Thieves Guild, which was definitely an incredible experience, recently launched and the team has more planned for the future. By aligning more directly across the franchise, we can create even better experiences for players. Bringing our teams closer together is helping us build a stronger foundation for everything we create next. And apparently they're still working hard on The Elder Scrolls 6.

[00:02:50]Lord knows when it'll be released, but it is still in production.

[00:02:56]So, there are a variety of different ways you can read this section. On the one hand, you could say there's just going to be more open communication between BGS and ZOS, which would be good. From what I understand, there's been a lot of tension between the two studios, a lot of difficulty collaborating on basically anything. ZOS wants to incorporate something from The Elder Scrolls universe that's new to ESO, BGS fights tooth and nail to make it difficult. They essentially don't like sharing their toys. And during these times of decline or consolidation, better communication is essential. And while I'm still skeptical about reading too much into this, it does seem that when you look closely at the wording, that it's at least possible ZOS is being redirected to help with TES 6. Part of the reason I think this is due to possibly unintentional contextual cues.

[00:03:39]This is under the heading studio collaboration, for instance, and the first very brief paragraphs deals with moving a studio completely to stop working on its own game and work on Fallout 5 instead. So, while the following parts of the section do not directly say that ZOS is going to be working on TES 6, you can read between the lines to see why people at least be thinking that. It's mainly just this one sentence or sentence fragment. Zenimax Online Studios will partner closely with Bethesda Game Studios on The Elder Scrolls franchise. Not Bethesda will partner closely with ZOS, but ZOS will partner closely with Bethesda. And then if you look at the next fragment of the sentence, things become even more clear.

[00:04:16]The author of this letter, whether it's Todd Howard or whoever, made sure to put in the caveat while continuing to deliver incredible new experiences for The Elder Scrolls Online. To me, this indicates they really are reallocating at least some of the remaining staff at ZOS to work on TES 6, which makes maintenance mode for ESO a more and more distinct possibility. So, that's the first piece of doom and gloom I wanted to share. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, but don't worry, there's more.

[00:04:42]We already knew that Update 51 was being delayed by a couple of weeks past its original release date, but now we know it's being delayed even further. This recent forum post from ZOS Kevin reads thusly, "Hi everyone. We have an update on the start date of U51 PTS. Week one of PTS will now start on August 3rd. As we've been working on our adjusted road map, we made the determination that the start date need to shift one more week.

[00:05:05]We understand the additional delay is frustrating and appreciate your patience as we continue to work on our updated road map." So, given the fact that PTS cycles usually four or five weeks, that could be changing here as well. This means U51 will not be coming out till mid-September. Some people are saying they are thinking of being even longer delay. Others are wondering if the whole PTS cycle is going to be shortened.

[00:05:24]Others are expressing confusion about Warden not being included in U51 PTS.

[00:05:29]This user, Serafiel, says class updates are the most important thing for ESO's future. You cannot do one single class and ignore all the others. Yes, I was just watching a video today from a creator, I forget his name, Nova something, but I'll find the video and I'll link it above here, who was talking about the reason he's quitting is because DK has been meta for far too long. Other users are questioning whether the delay is actually due to layoffs at all? And they're bringing attention to the fact the team is doing everything they can seemingly to avoid mentioning the name Warden. So, we will have to see here. But yes, we are seeing the beginning of what will likely be a cascading series of delays with the release of new content. We were originally looking forward to the full release of U41 sometime in August. Now it's definitely being pushed back. The communication is appreciated from ZOS_Kevin, but these delays are definitely becoming concerning.

[00:06:13]Concerns are also being raised by the fact that a new round of Vengeance testing began this week. I know some people like it. I definitely do not. And the community tends to share my sentiment there. Vengeance is strongly disliked as is indicated by this recent poll on the forums. When asked about their priorities for the game, 96% out of 216 respondents chose class rework while only 3% chose Vengeance testing.

[00:06:36]ZOS_Kevin jumps in to do some damage control here saying the following. Hi all, just want to give some insight here. The Vengeance testing we have going on this week was already factored in and scheduled a few months ago.

[00:06:46]However, we are still committed to the class refresh and working on adjusting our schedule. We should have more to share soon. So, class refresh is still a core focus moving forward. While that is nice to hear, it's good they haven't just given up on class reworks, but we already knew that. Whether or not this Vengeance campaign was scheduled months ago, pushing forward with some of the most hated content in the game at a time like this is just bad optics. I know there are some exceptions, but I'm just going to say nobody, nobody wants more Vengeance. Just the general nobody minus the exceptions. What we want is reassurance that our favorite game is going to continue. That it's going to continue to be serviced, going to continue to be healthy. We just generally want reassurance. And Vengeance is the last thing from reassuring. I guess it's good they still have the resources to do it, but it does seem like quite the faux pas to slip in another Vengeance test when the game is already on such shaky ground. The awesome chimpanzee responds to this by saying just cancel the test. There's still time to save the PvP community. Uh we'll see about that. Held between says they should ditch vengeance and think a little less about making the game casual-oriented. He then reminds me of a really excellent comment I got yesterday.

[00:07:51]So, this guy, and I'm sorry, but I don't speak Chinese, so I've no idea what his name is, but I really appreciate the points he made. I'm just going to read this comment in full. If asked about ESO's fundamental philosophy, I would answer, "ESO is a niche game. It's not a game for people who buy something just cuz they see an ad recommending it, or who line up for a hot dog just because of the queue. ZOS must understand this.

[00:08:11]If they understand this and develop accordingly, ESO might still survive.

[00:08:14]Niche audiences don't leave once they found their niche. One great example of a niche audience within ESO is the PvP community. They are happily installed in their little niche. They don't want to be pushed out of it, but that's exactly what Vengeance is doing. You have Vengeance, you have great host. I think they added Blackreach back in, but Vengeance has not fixed PvP for hardcore PvP niche players. It makes it considerably worse. It's somewhat appealing to casuals, but this guy's right, whatever his Chinese name is.

[00:08:39]There's already plenty of casual content in the game. I'm a casual myself, but at the same time, ZOS needs to stop thinking in generalities. They need to make their content appeal to specific niches. I think he's right about that being the way the game will survive. So, thanks for the comment, China guy.

[00:08:56]So, number four on our list, something that's absolutely blowing my mind, is the fact that the new skill style for the sorcerer's overload ultimate, lightning yellow, apparently does not apply to light or heavy attacks. So, what's the point? Your hands just glow yellow, but the light and heavy attacks look the same? There are a couple different threads about this at this point, but this one was posted originally by Faltase. He posted a screenshot of the skill style in the shop, and then analyzes it below. "Does not apply to light or heavy attacks" in the description of the yellow overload skill style. If this is intentional, it's super lazy and makes zero sense.

[00:09:31]Why make a skill style for it if just the ambient aesthetic gets changed? Are you telling us the light and heavy attacks will not be yellow? Because of the ambient effects of the ultimate are yellow, but we shoot blue lightning.

[00:09:41]That is infinitely stupid and deserves to be changed immediately. And for those who aren't familiar with overload, he explains what this all means. The ultimate overload overrides your lightning heavy attack. Your lightning heavy attacks should therefore be yellow with this skill style. It's called continuity and consistency. And this is a bit profane, but it's worth saying, you don't just half-ass something people will spend their hard-earned money on.

[00:10:01]This is out, but they're saying please don't release it. It's an insult to the people like me who are excited for yellow sorcerer styles. And it's one of the laziest design choices to date. I mean, I think it's the laziest ever.

[00:10:12]This is absolutely crazy. This is some wild work from the wildest of workers I know.

[00:10:20]So, ZOS Kevin does respond down the line, but I don't really like his response, honestly. Hi all, thanks for raising this. We escalated this to the team and we agree this one missed the mark. We had a fix planned for this, but we did not catch the mismatch between the fix to be on live and when the skill style was releasing until now. The skill style will apply to lightning heavy attacks once the fix goes live with U51, whenever that comes out, right? It will also be previewable at that time. We'll talk with the team that manages the crown store to bring this item back shortly after its fix has been live, as well. Just my lord. So, analyzing this, it's good that he says they missed the mark, but I'm sorry, this sentence is total BS. We had a fix planned for this, but we didn't catch the mismatch? That just can't be true. And you know why? In the description in the crown store, which is linked in this thread, it says right there, this does not apply to light or heavy attacks. That means they did catch it. They knew this was the case. They just went ahead and released it anyway. They could have delayed the release till U51, but they released it now, which is just one caveat people will probably miss. I might have missed it. If I'd logged in today and I looked at this, I probably would have bought it. It is available now. I wonder how many people have bought it, got their ultimate up, applied it, started using it, and were just shocked by the fact their lighting was still blue. This may be a small thing, but it's an example of the incompetence that seems to only be growing as the studio goes to the layoffs, is thrown into turbulent changes. It's just more unprofessional than having your dog on the stream to literally on purpose release a broken item in the Crown Store. The Apocrypha Bound Arms Pack bugging with Inspired Scholarship was one thing. I understand this being a bug you didn't catch, but this they absolutely did know this was the case. But they just released it anyway. That is an absolutely bad look.

[00:12:03]It just reeks of decay. That something vital is decaying at the core of ZoS.

[00:12:07]That's the only way this could be allowed to happen.

[00:12:12]But we still have one more piece of doom and gloom to get to. If you guys aren't already huddled in fetal position and weeping silently, there's a new threat from today, well, by the time this releases, yesterday, started by ZoS Kevin talking about changes to the Crown Store. The thread is titled Crown Store website updates, and he has the initial post with quite a few replies. So, let me go through the whole thread here. So, from ZoS Kevin, "Hey everybody. We want to let you know about changes to how we communicate Crown Store updates on the website. To help manage workload, we've decided to remove the web Crown Store from the official elderscrollsonline.com website on Wednesday, July 22nd. The ability to acquire Crowns by the website will remain, and of course, this does not affect the items that will be offered on the Crown Store in The Elder Scrolls Online. You will still need to log into the game to view and purchase the latest offerings." And now, that's the part that really matters to me.

[00:12:59]"Furthermore, for the same reason, the monthly Crown Store showcase blog will also change. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we will continue to reassess how we promote the Crown Store in the future. Thank you." Uh yeah, that's so vague and ominous. And what he's really saying here is they don't even have the capacity to offer Crown Store items on the website anymore. They'll still sell Crowns, but apparently the team has been so gutted, they can't even take pictures of items and put put on the store and let people buy them. This, more than anything, is just a huge sign the game is going into a steep decline. The Crown Store is the bread and butter of ESO, and they can't even support the Crown Store? That is absolutely wild. But, let's go down the thread.

[00:13:42]Death and Debauchery asks for some clarification. Can you provide some initial context of what will be changing about the Crown Store Showcase blog? Not happening at all? Less pictures? No timeline? Any information be helpful. To which Zos Kevin just responds, "We're going to circle back." Like a White House press secretary. Then, in response to another post saying just a bulleted list of items with dates would be acceptable, Zos Kevin does say there will at least be a bulleted list of items. Just confirmed that info. In response to someone asking if the whole Crown Store catalog could just be automated, which totally makes sense, a bot simply posts what's currently in the Crown Store online somewhere, Zos Kevin responds, "This is not possible due to several tech limitations, and building the tech was not an option, but the idea was explored." All right. And then Barret Ron, who's apparently involved with the UESP, says this. "That's going to be a problem for UESP because I know we use those high-resolution screenshots from the official website on our wiki."

[00:14:35]To which Zos Kevin replies, "The goal is to provide what we can, especially because we know folks like UESP do use those shots. But, to be blunt, the team responsible for the blog and those screenshots doesn't have the capacity to provide those at the scale we could before. But, we will provide what we can for now and adjust from there." And that's basically it.

[00:14:56]So, there you go. That does it for this week in ESO Doomer news. I just want to be really clear here at the end. I am not trying to add fuel to the fire. I'm not trying to convince people to quit the game. I still love The Elder Scrolls Online, and I don't see that ever stopping. But, I do think we need to be clear-eyed and focused on the reality of what's going on. Accepting the truth is the only way to enact real change. We can't just bury our heads in the sand and act like everything's okay. It's definitely not. Things are not going well at Zos. And no, I'm not saying this is the end of the studio or the end of the game, but do have some very ominous prevailing factors at play now.

[00:15:26]Apparently BGS is essentially absorbing ZOS to work on TES 6. U51 is delayed again. They're still working on Vengeance. They're releasing completely broken skill styles. And the team has been so gutted they can't even make the Crown Store showcase the way they did before. These are not good signs. And so I hope you'll join me in praying for ZOS and for The Elder Scrolls Online that they get through this difficult part of the game's history with flying colors.

[00:15:49]That ESO improves from here. Yes, again, I do feel like we also need to be apprised of the situation, not avoid the hard truth. That's the best way we can help the game and the studio at this time.

[00:16:02]In the comments, let us know what you think about the situation. Do these signs point to the beginning of the end for ZOS? Can ESO pull through this? What kind of insight does this information provide you on what's going on with ESO and the future of the game? Leave it all in the comments. And before you go, please do support the channel by liking, hyping, and subbing. You can take your support a step further by becoming a member of the Swamps Army. Check out some of the merch below the video or go to my Fourth Wall site for a full catalog of merch and the option to leave a donation. Plus, you can leave donations here on YouTube in the form of Super Thanks. I am massively grateful for all your support. Yet, I'm even more grateful to God. So, we're going to finish the video as always with a prayer to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[00:16:39]Lord, I thank you for gaming and for ESO and all the wonderful experiences we have in this game and the world of gaming in general. Lord, I do beseech you to be with The Elder Scrolls Online.

[00:16:49]To be with its players. To be with the developers. To be with the game itself.

[00:16:54]Uplift it and protect it. Help ESO make it through these trying times stronger, more robust, more capable of facing the future. Lord, I ask you to not let the game go into maintenance mode. I ask you to rally the community together to love the game more, to support it more. Not even necessarily financially. Just send it love and support in this difficult time. Lord, I thank you for the ability to make this video today. I give all glory to you for my channel and for this video. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

[00:17:22]All right, that's going to do it. Again, sorry for being such a downer, but it had to be said. Before you go, please remember to like, hype, comment, and subscribe. And when you do subscribe, turn on notifications cuz I'll be back soon with new content.

[00:17:39]>> [music]