The Elder Scrolls Online is looking to experiment in 2025, ranging from its new seasonal content model, a major server-wide event unlike anything in the game's history, and even the ability to mix and match abilities from different classes to create something entirely new.
Developer ZeniMax Online revealed what's coming in the year ahead for its long-running MMORPG at a recent ESO Direct. In it, studio director Matt Firor reiterated much of what he said in an end-of-year blog post from December. Unlike every year since 2017's Morrowind chapter, 2025 will not see the release of a new expansion, but will instead see the game shift to a seasonal content model that Firor said will allow it more freedom to experiment when it comes to releasing new content and addressing the needs of the game.
"We want to keep telling great stories, but also mix in new ideas and gameplay systems, and that's exactly what we're going to do," Firor said. "But we'll do this in a different cadence, one that allows us, the developers, to broaden our focus and increase variety."
ESO game director Rich Lambert and executive producer Susan Kath then dove into what all will be coming in place of a new chapter. The game's first season under this new format will be Seasons of the Worm Cult, one that will actually serve as a decade-later sequel to the game's original Molag Bal storyline and will kick off in June. It will introduce a new zone, the isle of Solstice, where players will investigate the resurgence of Bal's Worm Cult and meet familiar faces from the game's first main quest along the way. The zone is home to outcast elves and Argonians, with Carribean-esque beaches and tropical forests for players to explore.
The new Solstice zone sits off Tamriel's southern coast.
Though Seasons of the Worm Cult will last most of the year, Kath made clear that might not be the case for future seasons. In the years ahead, seasons could be shorter, ranging from three to six months. Those may take the form of "remix" seasons where ZeniMax Online revisits old storylines, with the developer teasing a Dark Brotherhood-themed season.
Instead of purchasing a new chapter, players will instead be able to purchase a $50 content pass that will include all of the year's upcoming seasonal updates, including new dungeons. The content pass will be separate from ESO's existing ESO Plus subscription, though all of Season of the Worm Cult's new dungeons will be included as part of ESO Plus. During a post-ESO Direct press Q&A attended by GameSpot, Kath said the team was looking at ways to further add to and incentivize ESO Plus but did not announce any specifics.
News that subclassing will be coming to ESO for all players in June is likely the biggest announcement. Regardless of which of the game's seven classes a player originally picked, they'll be able to select abilities from up to two skill lines from other classes to experiment with, with over 3,000 unique skill line combinations.
The ESO Direct and subsequent Q&A didn't dive into many details, but ZeniMax Online did confirm players will need to keep at least one skill line from their original class. While one character can learn all the available non-main class skill lines, they'll only be able to actively use abilities from two other class skill lines at a time. The feature will unlock at the game's max level of 50, and unlocking subclass skill lines will be account-wide across all characters. Some class skill lines will cost double the amount of skill points, though Lambert said he doesn't think that will be a problem for the game's dedicated players.
Aside from subclassing, ZeniMax Online is experimenting in other ways as well. The new Solstice zone will be divided in half by a massive magical barrier called the Writhing Wall, an obstacle that will see players later in the summer participate in a server-wide event that will be the first of its kind in ESO. Players on each server will need to come together to gather resources, defend the island from the Worm Cult, and eventually breach the wall, in the process unlocking the second half of the zone. From how it was described, it sounds similar to something like vanilla World of Warcraft's iconic Gates of Ahn'Qiraj event, where players contributed to a war effort in order to unlock the gates and access two new raids. Lambert said breaching the wall will be a one-time event per server but that there will be ways to experience most of the event for those who miss out.
"The goal will be to work together with fellow players to breach the wall from the West and gain access to the Eastern half of Solstice," Lambert said. "Your mega-server's collective effort and activity is really going to dictate how fast that server will progress through the phases, which ultimately means players are going to experience the epic final encounter and outcome of the event at different times."
One major experiment ZeniMax Online has already conducted is the recent Cyrodiil Champions test, which was briefly mentioned during the ESO Direct. It's the studio's answer to performance problems that have long plagued the game's large-scale PvP mode and something that Firor specifically called out as needing to be addressed in his end-of-year blog post. The test, which ran March 24-31, vastly simplified abilities and stats for all players in Cyrodiil in the name of significantly improving performance. In the Q&A, Firor said the test was a huge success and surpassed its goal of being able to support the number of players in Cyrodiil seen shortly after the game's launch in 2014.
"It couldn't have gone much better," Firor said. "It was beyond-our-wildest-dreams successful."
Lambert said the next step is to dig through the "mountains of data" from the test. Then, the team will begin to add more changes like additional skill lines and stats before running more tests, slowly working towards turning Cyrodiil Champions into a full-fledged feature.
ZeniMax Online is also putting an emphasis on catering to new and returning players. As spotlighted in the ESO Direct, updates have already been made to the game's tutorial and starter zones, and the team will continue to look at making the returning player experience better with a "Welcome Back" system set to debut this summer. Kath declined to go into detail on what such a system would entail during the Q&A but said it wasn't a "one-size-fits-all" approach and that it would be a "quest-based, reward-driven experience."
ESO celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year, and Firor said the game will continue to evolve in the years to come, now with a new format that will allow the team to improve aspects of the game it couldn't find time for on its old yearly chapter schedule.
"We just didn't have time to do all those little things," Firor said. "This lets us open the development schedule and do lots of cool little things as well as continue to work on content."
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Developer ZeniMax Online revealed what's coming in the year ahead for its long-running MMORPG at a recent ESO Direct. In it, studio director Matt Firor reiterated much of what he said in an end-of-year blog post from December. Unlike every year since 2017's Morrowind chapter, 2025 will not see the release of a new expansion, but will instead see the game shift to a seasonal content model that Firor said will allow it more freedom to experiment when it comes to releasing new content and addressing the needs of the game.
"We want to keep telling great stories, but also mix in new ideas and gameplay systems, and that's exactly what we're going to do," Firor said. "But we'll do this in a different cadence, one that allows us, the developers, to broaden our focus and increase variety."
Seasons Of The Worm Cult
ESO game director Rich Lambert and executive producer Susan Kath then dove into what all will be coming in place of a new chapter. The game's first season under this new format will be Seasons of the Worm Cult, one that will actually serve as a decade-later sequel to the game's original Molag Bal storyline and will kick off in June. It will introduce a new zone, the isle of Solstice, where players will investigate the resurgence of Bal's Worm Cult and meet familiar faces from the game's first main quest along the way. The zone is home to outcast elves and Argonians, with Carribean-esque beaches and tropical forests for players to explore.
The new Solstice zone sits off Tamriel's southern coast.
Though Seasons of the Worm Cult will last most of the year, Kath made clear that might not be the case for future seasons. In the years ahead, seasons could be shorter, ranging from three to six months. Those may take the form of "remix" seasons where ZeniMax Online revisits old storylines, with the developer teasing a Dark Brotherhood-themed season.
Instead of purchasing a new chapter, players will instead be able to purchase a $50 content pass that will include all of the year's upcoming seasonal updates, including new dungeons. The content pass will be separate from ESO's existing ESO Plus subscription, though all of Season of the Worm Cult's new dungeons will be included as part of ESO Plus. During a post-ESO Direct press Q&A attended by GameSpot, Kath said the team was looking at ways to further add to and incentivize ESO Plus but did not announce any specifics.
Subclasses
News that subclassing will be coming to ESO for all players in June is likely the biggest announcement. Regardless of which of the game's seven classes a player originally picked, they'll be able to select abilities from up to two skill lines from other classes to experiment with, with over 3,000 unique skill line combinations.
The ESO Direct and subsequent Q&A didn't dive into many details, but ZeniMax Online did confirm players will need to keep at least one skill line from their original class. While one character can learn all the available non-main class skill lines, they'll only be able to actively use abilities from two other class skill lines at a time. The feature will unlock at the game's max level of 50, and unlocking subclass skill lines will be account-wide across all characters. Some class skill lines will cost double the amount of skill points, though Lambert said he doesn't think that will be a problem for the game's dedicated players.
New Experiments
A massive magical barrier, the Writhing Wall, divides the new Solstice zone in half.Aside from subclassing, ZeniMax Online is experimenting in other ways as well. The new Solstice zone will be divided in half by a massive magical barrier called the Writhing Wall, an obstacle that will see players later in the summer participate in a server-wide event that will be the first of its kind in ESO. Players on each server will need to come together to gather resources, defend the island from the Worm Cult, and eventually breach the wall, in the process unlocking the second half of the zone. From how it was described, it sounds similar to something like vanilla World of Warcraft's iconic Gates of Ahn'Qiraj event, where players contributed to a war effort in order to unlock the gates and access two new raids. Lambert said breaching the wall will be a one-time event per server but that there will be ways to experience most of the event for those who miss out.
"The goal will be to work together with fellow players to breach the wall from the West and gain access to the Eastern half of Solstice," Lambert said. "Your mega-server's collective effort and activity is really going to dictate how fast that server will progress through the phases, which ultimately means players are going to experience the epic final encounter and outcome of the event at different times."
One major experiment ZeniMax Online has already conducted is the recent Cyrodiil Champions test, which was briefly mentioned during the ESO Direct. It's the studio's answer to performance problems that have long plagued the game's large-scale PvP mode and something that Firor specifically called out as needing to be addressed in his end-of-year blog post. The test, which ran March 24-31, vastly simplified abilities and stats for all players in Cyrodiil in the name of significantly improving performance. In the Q&A, Firor said the test was a huge success and surpassed its goal of being able to support the number of players in Cyrodiil seen shortly after the game's launch in 2014.
"It couldn't have gone much better," Firor said. "It was beyond-our-wildest-dreams successful."
Lambert said the next step is to dig through the "mountains of data" from the test. Then, the team will begin to add more changes like additional skill lines and stats before running more tests, slowly working towards turning Cyrodiil Champions into a full-fledged feature.
ZeniMax Online is also putting an emphasis on catering to new and returning players. As spotlighted in the ESO Direct, updates have already been made to the game's tutorial and starter zones, and the team will continue to look at making the returning player experience better with a "Welcome Back" system set to debut this summer. Kath declined to go into detail on what such a system would entail during the Q&A but said it wasn't a "one-size-fits-all" approach and that it would be a "quest-based, reward-driven experience."
ESO celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year, and Firor said the game will continue to evolve in the years to come, now with a new format that will allow the team to improve aspects of the game it couldn't find time for on its old yearly chapter schedule.
"We just didn't have time to do all those little things," Firor said. "This lets us open the development schedule and do lots of cool little things as well as continue to work on content."
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