The biggest mistake Zenimax made was not expanding cyrodiil's content

[Jerome Powell]

I was a former Elder Scrolls Online player, on and off across both Xbox and PC. I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore player, but I was definitely the "average" adventurer — someone who participated in some events, bought a few chapters, and racked up just under 1,000 hours. Enough time to see the game's trajectory change over the years.

I still remember when ESO was rougher around the edges, especially during its early days on console. The original tutorial and intro areas were actually challenging with those stupid clannfear's being immortal... It was challenging and pushed us to adopt certain styles and pushed us to achieve a real world goal. Over time, though, ZOS progressively made everything more casual, to the point where almost every major system felt designed for the least effort possible. From level scaling to the easiest delve/overland content imaginable. You could feel the streamlining creep in with every patch and event.

The biggest missed opportunity, in my opinion, was ignoring their original main selling point: large-scale PvP and sieges. It's shocking how little PvP evolved since 2014. No new, game-changing PvP systems, no serious risks taken to expand it, no attempts to modernize it beyond Battlegrounds — and even those were left to stagnate. ZOS constantly played it safe, relying on more of the same: new quest zones, new dungeons, but no real innovation. Veteran players starved for meaningful content while the core gameplay loop remained unchanged for a decade.

They could have pushed into new territory — bringing in PvP systems that could have competed with battle royale mechanics, reworked the clunky animation system that everyone complained about, or introduced dynamic world PvP events — but they didn't. It feels like ZOS got scared of upsetting the status quo, so they just doubled down on low-risk content.

For me, the final straw was when they gutted the viability of staff builds, particularly with Lightning Staffs. Solo playstyles that used to be fun and unique became nonviable overnight. It sent a clear message: ZOS doesn’t listen to its community and doesn't understand what made their game great in the first place.

I genuinely believe ESO had one of the strongest foundations an MMO could ask for — great lore, solid worldbuilding, amazing art direction. But years of missed chances, safe decisions, and disconnection from their player base have left the game in slow decline. Unless something major changes, I don't see it surviving the next few years beyond a trickle of new, casual-first content.

[AmaiAmai]

Post this on the game's main forum and test how fast you cop a ban because saying this will hurt little Lambent's feelings.

[PlayGame]

even posting here need to careful with words, they can ban u with reason "challenging" "mocking" "taunting" their team member

[Jerome Powell]

Originally posted by PlayGame:

even posting here need to careful with words, they can ban u with reason "challenging" "mocking" "taunting" their team member

It is constructive criticism

[Elendir Blue]

Originally posted by PlayGame:

even posting here need to careful with words, they can ban u with reason "challenging" "mocking" "taunting" their team member

As Jerome wrote, there is nothing in OP that would lead to ban at steam forum.
But as Amai wrote, it would lead to some 24-72 hour ban at ZOS's ESO forum.