One Tamriel – Why It’s The Right Move
So at E3, Matt Frior (Game Director) announced the concept of One Tamriel. It lets players from all Alliances and all Levels complete the same content through the Battle Level scaling system. What this means in reality is that all zones will be CP 160 (mobs and quests will be at CP 160) and those players below Level 50 will have their main stats scaled up to an average CP 150 character.
This is the exact same system used in all DLC zones like Orsinium, Hew’s Bane and the Gold Coast. It’s also used in Cyrodiil and Imperial City. The zones don’t scale to the player, instead the player scales to the zones.
The other part of One Tamriel is removing the Alliance restrictions in PVE and letting players from all three Alliances play together in all PVE zones.
There has concern in the ESO community about this plan. Will this mean that the popular zones will be overwhelmed with players? Will mobs and nodes be impossible to harvest? What is the point of leveling up now? Here is why it’s a good move.
A Larger Population
One Tamriel removes all Alliance restrictions on all zones. This means that players can freely roam between Aldmeri Dominion zones and Daggerfall Covenant zones at any Level. It also means that players from opposing Alliances can see and play with each other. You can now walk right up to them, group with them and quest with them.
This removes the three-way split in the population created with the Alliances. This in turn provides more players for Group Dungeons, more player for Trials, more players to queue in the Group Finder and more players to quest with.
Some people have suggested that this will bring more lag, more server issues and over-crowded zones. This won’t be the case, however, because of the megaserver system that ESO runs on. The megaserver splits the population of a zone into several instances. This happens right now in the background and you probably don’t notice it because it is smart. It places friends and Guild members together. It’s the same system at work when you finish a quest in a zone and it changes the landscape and NPCs for you but those who haven’t completed the quest yet still see the old landscape and NPCs.
With viable zones all around Tamriel the population may even spread out further. The higher Level players can grind or gather crafting nodes in any zone, so they won’t be all forced into the DLC zones. Also lower Level players can quest in any zone, so the starter zones may be less populated as well as players spread out across all zones. This change makes all zones of equal value in terms of quests, mobs and experience.
Visit Old Zones
I have a Level 40 character which has been in Cyrodiil since Level 20. This means when I go back to PVE I am stuck doing quests which I am way over-leveled for. I don’t even get XP for killing monsters in these zones any more because I am too far above their Level. This will all change with One Tamriel as it allows every single zone to be filled with quests at your strength and mobs at your strength. This might even make older zones more popular because experienced players can re-visit these areas without being penalised with no XP and little challenge.
One Tamriel also means that players can explore the DLC zones and not be penalised for becoming over-leveled in their original zones.
I have another character who is Level 50. With One Tamriel I can go back and complete some of the content I missed in the first few zones all the while gaining XP and fighting mobs at my Level.
Explore
When I first started my characters I wanted to explore new lands at my own pace. Instead of simply following the main zone quest, in One Tamriel I can choose to go all around Tamriel and do whatever quests I want. This is much more like an Elder Scrolls experience than a linear quest system progressing through the zones in a set order.
If I want a change of scenery I can go from Stonefalls to Auridon and then on to the Alik’r Desert, it matters not!
Cross-Alliance
A friend of mine has a lower Level Templar. I have a lower Level Nightblade. We want to play our lower Level characters together but at the moment we can’t because we made them on different Alliances. The only way we can even see each other is in Cyrodiil for PVP! With One Tamriel we can quest together and group together in any zone. This benefits players like us and also players from the active role-playing community which is currently split over the three Alliances.
Also, I can use my higher Level character with my friend’s lower Level character but we can both do the same quests and activities because we are both scaled. We don’t have to worry about out-leveling one another any more.
The Point Of Leveling
Some people have questioned the point of increasing your Level in a system where you are always scaled up. There’s no doubt that One Tamriel will reduce the impact of increasing your Level. There are still several advantages to becoming a higher Level though.
A higher Level character will still have far superior gear, more Skill Points, more Attribute Points and more Champion Points. Also, all of the content which has a Veteran mode like Group Dungeons and the Maelstrom Arena can only be completed with characters over Level 50.
Edit: Just to reiterate, scaling does not effect the gear you can wear. So a Level 40 can only wear Level 40 and below gear even when scaled to CP 160.
Issues
There are some potential issues with One Tamriel. Some players dislike the fact that the three Alliances are supposed to be at war with each other, not grouping together to run Trials. Some are also unhappy that they can’t travel to really difficult zones any more in order to really test themselves. They might miss the experience of attempting content which is harder than they should even try. Do you have any other potential issues with One Tamriel?
Edit: There are lots of good points being brought up in the comments below.
The problem is that ZOS is delaying essential mmo content like housing, character appearance change and even new zones, only to introduce this huge level scaling changes which I believe most “veteran” ESO players do not need right now. I would prefer getting new things that every other mmos already have (housing – basic functionality in any decent game…), than wasting valuable resources for improving things that don’t really need those changes.
I’m not saying that scaling itself is wrong, but I believe it’s not the best moment to introduce it – especially at the expense of things that players were waiting for months if not years.
Disappointed.
I would have to agree. As a Beta tester, I have been waiting for character appearance changes since the beginning. They talk about role-play,. but don’t let us adjust our characters to compliment said play style.
On top of that, I would LOVE housing! A solid housing system would help not only bring in new players, but also excite veterans!
One Tamriel isn’t a bad concept, imo, but I do feel it is coming before other things that the game could have benefited more from at the moment.
My concern is about the further dilution of ‘faction pride.’ a lot of new, ESo-competitivie games are coming out that create the kind of faction tension and storyline that creates imbalance and edge– something I consider key to a good MMO. Currently, pvp is becoming weak in the game due to other factors that have diluted faction pride, e.g. allowing toons of different factions to play on same home server, etc. While it seems, on the surface to be awesome to allow such player flexibility, it also creates a very vanilla feel to the game that I suspect will wither interest in the long run.
This isn’t the right move. It’s basically removing the skill aspect of the game in favour of people who probably don’t play MMOs. They are doing this to attract the main series players because let’s face it The Elder Scrolls hasn’t required skill since Morrowind.
This move is to craeate a Elder Scrolls Online game. Until now it was an MMO ambiented in the ES universe, nothing more. If you want something more difficult you can go where you were until now. All the zones were preatty easy, Craglorn too (I could Solo the 90% of the content). Want something difficult? Maelstrom Arena, Trials, Vet dungeons, Imperial City (PvP, Dungeons are easy ^^ )
That’s a genuinely imvsresipe answer.
Ok….
Im the little templar you all see in ep running around 2 zones ahead of myself.
Ive spent countless hours and gold gearing up and love a major challenge
Having soloed everything.
I think wrothgar and hews bane are a joke.
No…i dont do trials…hate grouping.
So….
Im now concerned about this level scaling going game wide.
Whats to become of all my low level gear once im scaled.
Whats my drive to level if i can already do the public dungeon in my starter at 4 as it is now…
And go to deshaan when im 10 .
Maybe im just confused..
Johnny
If this is your fear, I suggest you dont use any Champion points. When you go to higher zones, in a short while you will get your a** kicked, and thus will enjoy the zone much more. When you then reach level 50, add in champion points, and PvP.
Here’s the thing though; to follow story progression properly they will still have stronger base stat NPCs in general probably, right? I still think higher level zones will container harder to beat monsters just based on differential stats, similar to level progression allowances. This is represented just by looking at the DLC enemies compared to Cadwell’s Gold c160 enemies. Dlc enemies kind of exist to be experienced by everyone, but the Cadwell enemies seem far more challenging now than they were before, especially since they’re all considered c160 instead of vr10.
In my opinion the conception is fine but it does create a kind of lore lol to players who are loyal to their factions. I think you should be allowed to do pvp arenas, in zone duels, or add more pvp zones to really make pvp the focus of the story again. For now it seems like a giant gimmick and with the overlapping main zone stories, will be very awkward to explain if you’re not a part of that faction.
This is a good point. Mobs will still have to be scaled to some extent. A lot of people don’t realize that right now, if you were to walk into Wrothgar with a level 5 character in the pathetic gear you have coming out of Wailing Prison, with 5 whole skill points, you’re going to get face-stomped by the first mob you fight. If they don’t change the way scaling works, that’s going to be the fate awaiting the new players that they’re attempting to attract with this.
Just to tinker i did an experiment..
Yesterday i took my lvl 41 to orsinium.
I couldnt equip my v gear.. a plus
Scaled to 150….
Ok.
So i head outside…
Off a few mobs like nothing
Thats what i hate.
Group bosses are cool.
But thats not meat and potatoes.
Unfortunately im of the mind many will agree the game is becoming to complacent.
An offline mode would be way cool…
Its a file isnt it…..
Just thinkin out loud
Johnny
I have a level 36 now, and go to the scaled zones. I am still wearing a level 4 crafted set. I find them challenging enough to have a ton of fun. If I were to be challenged too much, I would either gear up, or add champion points. There is so much variety now, any one could find a way to have fun.
I wonder about prioritization and direction when I see large changes being kicked around. I tend to stick with games for a long time, and something like this could really affect my enjoyment.
People that want skill points will still find themselves needing to do the original content vice jumping into Wrothgar at level 4…the quest line rewards give skill points, hunting skyshards makes it almost impossible to not find dozens of other things. .quests, dolmens, etc.. This change won’t eliminate the need for almost anything..it’ll just make every solo quest the same difficulty, which will become quite boring and even more monotonous.
I’d rather see Dawnguard, The Companions, and the dozen other 1000+ year old organizations that Bethesda developed over the course of the 5 Elder Scrolls games, than making everything (not a murder or theft contract) the same. I don’t care about housing. I would like character updates, maybe a “barbershop”.
Creative content is always the best addition to a game IMO. Maybe give us a way to have more than 5 abilities (and an ultimate) slotted at a time…per weapon set.
This is going in the right direction yes, but not exactly in the right direction.
Yes the game should be more accessible to players, but to make EVERY zone(Coldharbour aside..) in ESO accessible to every player right away is a good way to make your dedicated players feel like you’re casualizing the game. It’s extremely off putting to old players who had to work to get to the zones that required a certain level to explore.
What would be a BETTER idea would be to execute player scaling and zone accessibility in a way similar to that of Guild Wars 2. Scale players down to lower level zones and allow the quests and enemies there to provide an acceptable amount of exp to give players incentive to explore skipped areas. And make all starting zones accessible from the start for players.
That way instead of limiting a new player who started in stonefalls only to stonefalls, you allow them to have access to Stonefalls, Glenumbra, and Auridon.
leave all starting zones the way they are. levels 5-15 and give any player from any alliance access to all three and leave the sub-sequential zones that come after the same.
This way you maintain the feeling of needing to level to progress to new zones while allowing new players to have more options as to where they want to level, and allowing players of old to play with their new friends, and still get acceptably rewarded for playing with them in low level areas to give old players reason to re-explore missed content.
TLDR:
-Leave zone levels the same.
-Scale higher level players down in lower level zones and allow
them to get rewards/exp for missed/skipped content.
-Don’t allow players to scale up to higher level zones in ESO vanilla.
-Give new players access to all three starting zones after tutorial so they
have three paths they can rotate between to go through instead of one.
I’m actually looking forward to these changes, because player populations are imbalanced and spread way too thin in PVE. The whole point of Bethesda games is the open choice/choose your own adventure gameplay. There is no reason why even if factions are at war, two friends could not still be friends and separate themselves from that conflict if they so wish. Wars are between governments, not necessarily all the people. So just keep that in mind.
Im NA EP on xbox one, mournhold is the most populated city at any given time but during ‘peak’ hours the lag is worse then Haderus, its just atrocious. Now you want to add two other factions to the s..t show we call mournhold, absurd!
I think the best solution for those that didn’t have the for thought to make a character on the same aliance as their friends would be to impliment a 4th NEUTRAL faction, they can play and travel with and through any aliance they just cant pvp with a faction (mercenary maybe) i know ALOT of RP guilds that will do nothing but start s..t with ad and dc if they are wandering through ep territory, im sure it’s the same in the other aliances aswell.
We ARE at war for the crown, you may not like the war, you may be opposed to the war but your ‘country’ is at war with another. Do you think the british could just stroll through berlin in 1942 regardless of their feeling of the war? It IS lore breaking. That being said i personally wouldn’t care about lore breaking faction mingling if there were some consequences for doing so such as pvp in mournhold if you break the peace, or something to that effect.
The fact that you are at war doesn’t matter much. Now i’m a dark elf with the aldmeri, in all the ES games there were no restriction in that way and here had not to be. For the latency will be just the same thing. Every faction have his main city, all will be diluited in on the cities, and Murnhold probably will be far less populated. And over all the Megaserver tecnology will work much better with 1 less rule (faction restriction), so be happy ^^ we will have an ES game to play with other and some PvP where it have to be (Cyrodiil).
I just started playing this game. I got up to level 12, doing quest around Davon’s Watch. I then started exploring other zones. I went to Deshaan. It was considerably difficult and I had to be very careful. I then went to Shadowfen and got murdered QUICKLY by the first mob my character encountered.
From my perspective, I LIKE that. It gives me something to aspire too. I can’t just stroll into any old zone. I have to work up to it.
Perhaps I’m missing the point of One Tamriel. I mean, even in Skyrim, you couldn’t just go anywhere at a low level.
What am I not understanding about this upcoming change. It sounds bad to me.
I’ve been on ESO for approximately a month. I’m an old gamer that enjoys the challenge. I like the idea above of scaling the higher players down and give me something to work for. Every MMO I’ve played had it where you worked up to get to a new territory to explore. That was something you looked forward to. Friends would say “Wait till you hit this level and are able to explore here. It’s worth the effort.” So where is the challenge going to be now? Doing your builds? That comes with experience and research. You work through the different scenarios to see what build works best in what type of situation. With One Tameril it sounds like the build won’t matter as much because everything will be leveled. I might want to take on a higher ranked mob to test a build and see the results. Now that mob will be leveled down to my character.
Seriously….sorry to be repetitive…. there is no point of levelling up now. Soooooo disappointing.
Primarily growing and getting stronger is a motivator to play.
With that removed…..enough said.!!
I played ESO before One Tamriel, and I’ve played after One Tamriel. The game, for me, has been destroyed. There’s no challenge anymore, and it’s damn near demoralizing to see a brand new character doing more damage than one you’ve sunk countless hours into. One Tamriel is a joke, and as such, I’m in the process of attempting a refund. Until One Tamriel is repealed, the game has lost all appeal. Part of the fun in questing with friends is the chance to create a new character, in a new alliance, and level a different type of character. The fun has been sucked out of ESO. Bethesda, Zenimax, if you’re listening, One Tamriel was a terrible move and has put me off of your software for the foreseeable future.
I must say I disagree. For me, this completely negates the point of progression and leveling up which is at the core of ESO games (except for Oblivion). For me, being unable to face certain enemies first, then being able to go back to the same area after having leveled up some and “woop their ass”, so to speak, is a major incentive, cuz it makes me feel like I am making progress. I even did not mind too much not getting XPs from low level zones, as long as I could go back and really be able to one shot-kill NPCs which, at the beginning of the game, provided a real challenge. It feels realistic, simply put. Now, no matter where I go and who I fight, it takes about the same amount of time and challenge to defeat them…. To me, it is a terrible idea.