The YouTuber and streamer NefasQS explains at the beginning of the year why all platforms related to ESO University have been shut down and why there will be no more content from him about Elder Scrolls Online.
Who is NefasQS? The well-known YouTuber and streamer goes by the name Caspar and has been producing videos primarily about MMORPGs for several years, with his roots in Elder Scrolls Online. This is evident from several factors:
- Over all the time, NefasQS claims to have produced more than 1,000 videos on the topic of ESO (via YouTube). He has been playing since the beta in 2013 and has set various world records in raid and arena achievements over the past decade.
- NefasQS was the driving force behind the “ESO University” project (via esouni.com), which has been providing interested parties with guides, tools, and information about the MMORPG for years.
- With Vitality, the hardmode stream team, and Council of Raiders, he has established various other community projects for the ESO cosmos.
- He was one of ten selected players from the community who could provide direct feedback to the developers regarding classes and combat.
- It is not surprising that NefasQS has been part of the official “ESO Stream Team” since 2020.
With Update 44, there was a complete overhaul of the battlegrounds PvP in ESO:
What has NefasQS announced? In his first video for 2025, the YouTuber explained that he will no longer be producing content about Elder Scrolls Online in the future. He also wants to have nothing to do with the MMORPG as a private gamer from now on.
This decision naturally has direct implications for ESO University, the associated Discord server, the Patreon campaign of ESOU, and the podcast: everything has already been discontinued and taken offline. Caspar has also not been part of the “ESO Stream Team” since December 2024.
Bye, bye – Tamriel!
What is the reason for the drastic departure from ESO? To answer this very question, NefasQS took more than 42 minutes. Anyone who wants to know everything in detail should check on YouTube.
Below is the still quite long summary of the main points:
- In 2022, a group that is said to have connections to alt-right movements initiated a coordinated hate campaign on Twitch and Discord. The victims were members of NefasQS’s guild and community as well as the YouTuber himself. Several other affected streamers even withdrew from the community due to the constant attacks.
- ZeniMax’s initial reaction was said to be “frustrating,” as it apparently seemed to be evaluated as simple “PvP drama.” It seems that something only happened from the official side when the hate campaign expanded to other areas. Later, there was supposedly even a phone apology from the officials because they hadn’t taken the reports seriously at first.
- Shortly after these incidents, Update 35, one of the worst content patches in ESO’s history, was announced. For NefasQS, many of the combat adjustments were nonsensical, too extreme, and poorly timed (too soon after the introduction of the new raid). Many players are said to have lost confidence that the developers knew what they were doing and how to improve ESO.
- When the update landed on the test server, the player experience was so bad that NefasQS’s community project Vitality, which until then had more than 300 raid leaders, collapsed in a very short time: 185 raid leaders announced their departure from ESO almost immediately because they had no hope left for the MMORPG.
- When NefasQS released a video titled “The Worst MMO Update Ever” about the update, he was criticized by a community manager from ZeniMax for not being constructive and fair in the video. One should not report so emotionally about the game. Whether the criticism is justified, you better make up your own mind on YouTube.
- At this time, the stress from working with ESO is said to have first negatively impacted NefasQS’s health, resulting in shingles.
- In 2023, NefasQS increasingly felt like just the “token Asian” in the official “ESO Stream Team.” While other members often received very quick and positive reactions to inquiries, his experiences were often quite different.
- There were repeatedly ideas to involve ZeniMax staff (not just developers) in the podcast or in community raids, or to hold an ESO stream during certain events. According to NefasQS, there was no serious engagement with these proposals.
- Instead, there were apparently increasingly frequent attempts from the “ESO Stream Team” to exert influence over podcast guests, video content, or Discord moderation (e.g.: user XY should be banned).
- In 2024, several major events related to ESO were on the agenda, such as the anniversary party in Amsterdam or TwitchCon 2024. According to NefasQS, not a single event was free of problems with the officials.
- NefasQS particularly felt bad about the moment when he was forced by Senior Creator Engagement Manager Gina Bruno to end the stream during the ongoing stream at TwitchCon in San Diego. He describes it as a form of “public humiliation” that he had never experienced in this manner before.
- Moreover, the increasingly rarer videos about ESO caused increasing frustration.
- Although NefasQS had already reported several times about datamining leaks and always made it clear that he himself would not engage in datamining and that no one should spoil anyone with the leaks, after his video on the battlegrounds leaks, he was apparently confronted by a community manager claiming that he was tarnishing the hard work of the developers.
- Later, it turned out that the community manager hadn’t even seen the video, but had only reacted to a report from the ESO community.
In the course of the video, NefasQS repeatedly shows video scenes or messages that support his claims. He reportedly withheld many other screenshots and evidence to protect the affected employees at ZeniMax. He does not want anyone to be fired because of these matters or for the community to initiate a boycott or a shitstorm.
How does the community react to the allegations? It is clear that the video from NefasQS is generating many reactions – for example, over 1,880 comments on YouTube or over 670 comments in this Reddit post.
- sawmanUK seems to have had bad experiences as well (via YouTube): “A certain Richard Lambert described my content as ‘shock jock’ content… I also started collaborating with a number of other game studios afterward.”
- PainInTheAxe is shocked (via YouTube): “It’s such a shame because you were always someone who really tried to make this game/this community great.”
- Arttea can relate to the feeling of public humiliation (via YouTube): “The clip from San Diego was really tough – I was uncomfortable just watching it, and I wasn’t even there, so I can only imagine how you must have felt at that moment.”
- General-Oven-1523 summarizes the case on Reddit as follows: “It’s really nothing interesting, just one of those so-called content creators who think they are the center of attention and realize that a company cares neither about them nor others.”
- Ukonkilpi is also not on NefasQS’s side (via Reddit): “I don’t know the guy, but after this video, I get the impression that he is a narcissist who is incredibly difficult to work with and whose world always revolves around him.”
How do you evaluate the situation and the end of NefasQS’s ESO career? Can you understand that the streamer no longer wants to work with Bethesda and ZeniMax? Would you have liked to see the developers show more sensitivity at some points? Share your thoughts in the comments! What the future holds for ESO can be found here: Gold Road was the last chapter for Elder Scrolls Online, everything will be new from 2025
