ZOS has announced their upcoming Global Reveal stream, and we wonder as ESO Turns 10: Cyrodiil, Spellcrafting, and New System Speculation!
ESO Global Reveal Stream Announced
This Spring will mark ESO’s 10th Anniversary and as the new year begins the developers at ZOS have announced the date of their traditional beginning of the year Global Reveal Stream. It will take place on Thursday, January 18 at 4PM EST, immediately following the Xbox Developer Direct. You can watch it on the main Bethesda Twitch channel. Additionally, if you have your ESO and Twitch accounts linked you’ll have the chance to earn a brand-new Pyromancer’s Quandary emote.
While there have been some little leaks and rumors floating about, we don’t really know what to expect to be the next big piece of content in ESO. Last year ZOS surprised fans with the release of a new class, the Arcanist. A new class is always major news, and an exciting addition to the game! However, considering that they just implemented this in 2023, it is highly unlikely that they would plan another new class for 2024.
Since ESO will officially be celebrating it’s 10th anniversary, we expect to see some pretty exciting celebrations! What might ZOS have in store for players? We have a few thoughts, ideas and speculations below.
ESO Turns 10: Spellcrafting Speculation
Spellcrafting has long been a subject of speculation in the ESO fandom. Primarily because it is a known feature which was developed for the game before it originally launched in 2014. In 2014 the developers announced spellcrafting to players and discussed it at Quakecon. With each passing year and every new content launch, players speculate on spellcrafting as one of the potential new features for that very reason.
The original idea for spellcrafting in 2014 was that it would allow players to find and combine various spell effects. The developers intended to introduce it at the end of the Mages Guild questline at Eyevea. Following this next story quest would unlock a new Spellcrafting skill line. Using rune tablets, paper and charcoal, you would record these ‘spells’ in your spellbook. Once this ‘recipe’ was complete, you would then have to craft your own stone tablet. Additionally, these spells could be customized as Ultimates, Enduring, Reduce Cost, Ritual, or AOEs. Overall, it was a complex system which would have really impacted gameplay.
With all the development time and work that went into the original version of spellcasting, some fans may feel like finally putting it into the game would be relatively ‘easy’ for the developers. Since they wouldn’t have to start from scratch. However, the fact that the developers originally intended spellcrafting to be part of the game at launch and now, nearly 10 years on, it is still missing, suggests that there were some major issues with implementation.
Still, it would be very exciting to see Spellcrafting finally come to ESO. Even if it’s very different than originally envisioned, it would potentially add some really fun versatility to gameplay and reinvigorate build crafting, as well!
New Content for Cyrodiil?
Cyrodiil and the large, epic battles within this dedicated PvP space where a huge part of the game’s original appeal at launch. Indeed, some of the best experiences in the game can be had in Cyrodiil, as opposing alliances clash and battle for the Ruby Throne. Unfortunately, however, this vast PvP landscape has long suffered from lag and other technical issues. ESO alleviated some of this in 2022/2023 when they upgraded their hardware across all servers. For a time, this seemed to improve a lot of performance issues. Consequently, the Cyrodill population spiked as many old players returned to the game. However, these improvements were unfortunately not long lasting, and excitement and participation once again dropped.
ZOS mostly kept quiet about the PvP front until early December when they made an announcement regarding new tests on Cyrodiil performance. The developers have never revealed official numbers or population caps on the Cyrodiil servers. But players speculate that at launch, the number of players per faction was much higher than it is today. The new, lower population cap was meant to help improve server performance. However, the current number is so low that in a huge space such as Cyrodiil even when playing in a full server fights often don’t have the same frantic and fun feel.
While this population test has come and gone, we hope that it may herald a new revitalization plan for Cyrodiil in 2024. There are many players who are passionate about the PvP gameplay in ESO. It would be incredibly exciting to see PvP return to the spotlight and become a major part of developer plans for the 10th anniversary.
ESO Turns 10: New System Speculation
One of the major content expansions released last year was the Endless Archive, a new playable, limitless arena/dungeon. Unlike the standard arenas and dungeons in ESO, however, it does not have a Normal or Veteran mode. It simply progressively gets harder and harder to complete as you finish each cycle/arc. Players can attempt the Endless Archives solo or with a friend/NPC companion. As stated by ZOS Lead Encounter Designer Mike Finnigan, one of the goals the developers had when creating the Endless Archive was having a new system that they could ‘change and adapt, and that we can add stuff to in the future.”
So, what might be some of the possible changes or additions to the Endless Archive ZOS could also release this year? One of the most obvious things they could implement in the Endless Archives is new armor sets. When it originally launched last year, players could collect specific class sets. Each class in the game had it’s own specific set. Moreover, the 5-piece boost on each set was tied to a specific class skill line. And since each class has three unique skill lines, that means that in the future there could be up to two more class specific sets – one for each skill line. Perhaps we’ll see at least one of those release later this year?
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