Today, we embark on a journey to explore how PVE gameplay in the Elder Scrolls Online can reach new heights through four simple yet effective changes.
When delving into PVE content, like dungeons, trials, and arenas, players often face various challenges. It can be frustrating to endure long cues as a damage dealer or struggle to gather 12 people for a trial. This is precisely where our four ideas come into play.
1. Increased Group Size
Number one, we’ve expanded group size.
Now, I know your initial reaction might be skepticism, as dungeons are traditionally seen as four-person content. However, hear me out. The frustration with the dungeon queue stems from encountering fake tanks, fake healers, and low DPS groups. Damage dealers often endure lengthy queue times. Why is this the case?
It’s primarily due to a shortage of genuine tanks and, in some cases, healers as well. Consequently, the queue is predominantly filled with damage dealers. Experienced players often avoid the queue because the groups they join are often subpar.
To alleviate this issue, we propose increasing the group size for random dungeon queues to six people, allowing for two extra damage dealers. This change would improve the dungeon queue and reduce the need for fake tanks and healers. It would make dungeon runs less tedious.
However, this expanded queue should only apply to random dungeons and pledge content to maintain balance, grouping with six people instead of four would disable dungeon achievements.
Also Read: Ultimate Build & Skill Guide For The Arcanist Class In Elder Scrolls Online Necrom
2. Mentor System
Number two, a Mentor System.
Implementing a Mentor System comes with its challenges as it requires patience and experienced individuals, who are willing to assist others in completing dungeon and trial content. This system should not serve solely as a status symbol for experienced players. Helping new players is crucial for the overall health of an MMO ecosystem. Ensuring that new players have a positive experience increases their likelihood of sticking around, fostering a thriving community.
Alternatively, we could introduce a bonus for completing a dungeon with somebody who has never done it before. For example, how much ESO Gold each person will get. Inform the group at a start that there is a newcomer present, which will encourage patience and support.
3. Trial & Arena Group Finder
Number three, we’ve got the Trial & Arena Group Finder.
Please don’t mistake this idea for another dungeon queue system. It functions differently as it allows players to create a Lobby for a specific trial or arena. These Lobbies would have requirements for participants to sign up or join, which would include their role, the amount of Champion Points they’ve got, their unlocked achievements, and the ability to preview their slotted skills.
Once a full group is assembled, the leader selects to begin the trial and everyone is instantly teleported in. This approach eliminates the randomness of getting ill-prepared players and significantly improves accessibility totrial and Arena content.
For instance, one could create a Lobby specifically for beginners in Veteran Aetherian Archive with the requirement being that you need to have 160 Champion Points and have completed normal Aetherian Archive and have no gear requirements.
Interested players would simply apply to join the Lobby. This would effectively revolutionize trial content and facilitate gear forming from normal trials. Moreover, it allows players to continue playing ESO while searching for a group rather than resorting to spamming the zone chat and waiting around in hope of finding suitable teammates.
4. Group Role Tutorials
The fourth and final idea is a level-10 role tutorial.
The beginner tutorial in ESO leaves much to be desired. By the time a player reaches level 10, they’ve unlocked the dungeon queue and have some experience under their belt in the game.
This is where we believe another tutorial should be introduced when accessing the dungeon finder. At level 10, players would be prompted to select a role and complete a tutorial specific for that role before queuing for any content.
For example, if you choose the tank role, you’d embark on a tank tutorial. This tutorial would give you some information and cover the absolute basics of tanking in a concise and informative manner. Potentially, utilizing an arena-style environment akin to Veteran Maelstrom Arena.
So, each section of the tutorial would focus on a different aspect of tanking and you go to a different little room and you get teleported through once you’ve completed that specific part of the tutorial.
Things could include setting up your tank with heavy armor, explained resistances and block costs, and other core information. It would progress through areas covering blocking, taunting crowd control, positioning, and more.
The goal is to equip players with the minimum knowledge required to perform their chosen role adequately and not hinder their group's progress. If players decide to switch roles, they would need to complete the corresponding tutorial for that as well.
