The MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online has gained a lot of content in recent years. Besides new areas and quests, new features have also been added to the game. But what is still missing in ESO? MeinMMO author MiezeMelli has extensively looked into this and put together several points.
What are features? These refer to game content intended to enhance the player experience in ESO, aside from quests and areas. It is therefore more about functional expansions or extras.
And we won’t dilly-dally, as there is quite a lot on the community’s wishlist. Admittedly, I have also filled a Word document myself. So let’s start with smaller changes and build up to bigger dreams.
1. An overview of total playtime, across all characters
Why do you have to use add-ons for total playtime? You’re often asked how many hours you have played ESO and have to log into all characters to sum it up. With my 18 characters and the loading screens, I easily spend 30 minutes or more.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned add-ons have not worked for me so far, so I really have to log into each character. This is really just a waste of time and probably wouldn’t be hard to realize. After all, you can get the playtime of individual characters with the chat command “/played”.
This would be a change that would definitely not receive negative criticism. Unless you could only display the total time and no longer the character times. But every player would welcome a cross-character complement.
2. The items in the Crown Store are too expensive
Of course, buyers often like to complain about the price. However, I suspect that Bethesda would also benefit from a reduction in Crown Store prices. And for a very simple reason: People are generally more willing to spend so-called “small amounts” than larger sums.
As an example, let’s take the music box “Invitation to Chaos,” which is currently available for 1,000 crowns in the shop.
Crowns can be purchased in packages. Depending on the number of crowns, the price per crown changes:
| Package | Cost | Cost for 100 crowns |
| 1) 750 crowns | 6.99 € | 0.93 € |
| 2) 1,500 crowns | 12.99 € | 0.87 € |
| 3) 3,000 crowns | 20.99 € | 0.70 € |
| 4) 5,500 crowns | 34.99 € | 0.64 € |
| 5) 14,000 crowns | 84.99 € | 0.61 € |
| 6) 21,000 crowns | 129.99 € | 0.62 € |
This means for our music box that, depending on the crown package, the exact price is between 6.10 € – 9.30 €. Personally, I find this too expensive for a tiny furnishing item and have only purchased maybe 2 or 3 out of the many music boxes. However, if a music box were to cost 3.00 – 5.00 €, I’m quite sure I would have every single one.
But as it stands, I have no more music boxes and don’t buy crowns for that. In the end, it’s a lose-lose situation that could easily be turned into a win-win by lowering Crown Store prices.
Of course, the crowns for the ESO+ membership would also need to be adjusted accordingly. If the prices in the Crown Store were reduced, it would only be fair for the crowns in the membership to be slightly reduced as well.
3. Increasing the maximum number of character slots
This request may surprise some newcomers, as you can unlock up to 18 character slots in ESO. However, when you look at the community in the mid to end game, it is not uncommon. There are now 6 classes in ESO.
As a diligent PvE player, you can easily calculate 12 character slots for each DD. One character for each class, both magicka and stamina variations. Then this DD also tanks a little, so let’s count with 6 characters again. And there we already hit our limit.
If this player now wants to start healing extensively, they would have to start rebuilding another character for that. And we haven’t even considered PvP yet.
Personally, I wish for additional slots for 2 more tank classes that I currently miss. In principle, I always find it sensible that whenever a new class is introduced, sufficient new character slots should be added as well.
4. More and more housing items are coming, but where to put them?
Since Update 13 Homestead, a constant stream of new and especially numerous furnishing items has been added to the game. But where to put them? My storage chests are bursting at the seams, and I am not an uncommon sight using homes as an IKEA furniture exhibition.
I have several beautifully furnished houses and unfortunately also cluttered storage rooms because nothing fits anymore in my storage chests. I sell simple items at the vendor and have unlocked all chests that I almost exclusively use for furnishing items.
A solution is definitely needed! The community has often considered a kind of housing pouch, similar to the crafting pouch. The crafting pouch holds all materials for crafting, regardless of quantity. Something like this would be a dream for every housing enthusiast, and many would be willing to get ESO+ or similar for it.
The item limit is an old and annoying topic. And we know the reason why the maximum number of item slots is not raised. This would not be possible on consoles due to performance issues. Nevertheless, for detail-oriented housing fans, this remains an open wound.
5. What has happened to the server improvement project?
In January 2020, at the ESO Tavern in Cologne, a tiered program for server improvement was introduced. This program received very positive feedback at the time, and dissatisfied players felt they were being heard.
One must naturally consider at what time the announcement was made: just before the pandemic was declared. Of course, that changes a lot. Nevertheless, I find communication very important. Bethesda is already doing some things well in this regard, but in my opinion, there wasn’t the desired feedback regarding this project.
It should be noted that ESO had significant server issues before the Greymoor release, which did improve significantly with the release of Greymoor. Still, it occurs repeatedly that, for example, players are repeatedly booted from the game during raids. Just in the past few weeks, my raid groups have faced those issues again.
Unfortunately, such problems keep occurring, and the community continues to want these issues addressed. Personally, I would have liked a response to the tiered project in the form and with the presence with which it was announced.
The tests regarding server performance in the Cyrodiil area could have been communicated better in my opinion. Or rather, I would have liked a stronger dialogue between players and developers. Of course, I cannot judge how feasible this is, as programming goes no further for me than a simple calculator in Java.
6. Really exciting new main quests, like Greymoor or Markarth
While I can only speak for myself, I found the Blackwood main quest to be really dull compared to previous stories. Moreover, I am not the biggest fan of the NPC Eveli, who I believe contributed absolutely nothing relevant to the story.
During the quests, you were rather held up by her and had to retell her repeatedly what had happened in the previous situation. This really disrupted the flow of the quests for me, and moreover, she had no relevant role in the main quest itself.
It was cool to meet characters from the Dark Brotherhood. Because this is one of the stories I liked the most. Still, I felt that Blackwood somehow lacked dynamism overall.
I hope that the next quest line can regain dynamism and uniqueness. For example, I was totally surprised in Markarth by the fact that you could talk to the “villain” yourself. Moreover, I could somehow understand his story. The lines between good and evil blurred a little.
For me, that makes for a good and relatable story, as this absolute separation between good and evil doesn’t exist in real life. I’m always interested in the reason and the development, and that was really well implemented in Markarth. Moreover, I love the down-to-earth style of the Reachmen; I really have a soft spot for them.
In Blackwood, strong characters with a lot of background and dramatic stories were lacking.
7. Battlegrounds – We also want our old modes back
I know, I’ve often complained when my random battleground was again the chaos ball. Nevertheless, I miss the variety. It’s great that you can sign up in groups again, but why were all modes removed except for deathmatch?
It must be somehow possible to choose between solo and group searches and select one or more modes. At least that would be the solution that would truly satisfy the community.
Previously, the following battleground modes existed:
- Deathmatch (points for killing blows)
- Relic Theft (the opposing relic must be stolen and brought to your own base)
- Chaos Ball (the bearer of the chaos ball receives points, but also takes damage)
- Flag Capture (points for capturing flags)
The ideal situation would be if you could select all modes that are relevant to you. And that combined in a solo or group search.
8. Hiding companions, followers, and pets of other players
No matter if the Guardian has their bear standing in front of the quest hand-in or a Twilight Warden is fluttering around in your view. It’s incredibly annoying and can often really hinder gameplay. Every player knows it, and it annoys everyone. Why is there no option to make the companions, followers, or pets of other players invisible?
You would be doing everyone a huge favor. Because with the numerous companions, Tamriel is not enlivened, but simply becomes confusing. I have taken several screenshots for this.
Who hasn’t complained about the Guardian bears? 
4 companions, 1 bear, and 1 explosive companion… Beautifully overwhelmed by NPCs. 
Wing in the picture, anyone? 
Sorc pets… Just no.
9. Integrating more “Quality of Life” add-ons into the base game
In recent years, such features have been added to the game and received consistently positive feedback. I can only appeal to the developers: When so much good feedback comes from every corner of the community, then focus on these areas. These “Quality of Life” features ESO has received in recent years include:
- automatic selection for daily crafting quests, similar to the add-on Dolgubon’s Lazy Writ Crafter
- detailed search in the guild store, similar to the add-on Awesome Guildstore
- duration display on the action bar, similar to the add-on “Action Duration Reminder“
- The add-on Multicraft has also been replaced by base game functions
With such features, the developers can certainly score points in all areas of the community and make the game somewhat clearer. Moreover, it is a fair compromise for console players who do not have the opportunity to use external add-ons.
What are your wishes for the coming year? What should not be missing in your opinion in 2022? Feel free to write it in the comments; perhaps I can still improve my wishlist by adding a few points. You can find out which features have already been well received in the community in our article: The 5 Features That Make ESO One of the Best MMORPGs in 2022
