[Column] Elder Scrolls Online: The XP Boost Potion

SBFord

Earlier this week, Monday to be exact, Zenimax implemented something that typically has a bit of controversy around it. Experience Boost potions, I’m completely against anything that increases your leveling experience however the way ZOS implemented it is probably one of the best ways I’ve seen it done.

Read more of Ryan Getchell's Elder Scrolls Online: The XP Boost Potion.

Entris38

I don't mind the exp potions at all in any form if implemented well. I had considered purchasing them from the crown store with the 13,500 crowns I have from subbing, being I haven't seen anything worth buying yet from the crown store. I've since changed my mind being it was announced that they were 10 potions for 1000 crowns and they just changed it to 5 for 1000....

victorbjr

Interesting. makes me want to go back for a spell and throw some points into Provisioning.

Octagon7711

Now I see why they nurfed xp.

Geddon95405

utterly standard non-sub feature and completely expected

 

 

Righteous_Rock

why bother playing if you don't like the game so much that you have to buy experience potion so you can skip content? also if you want to skip content why do you have to pay to do so? why not just let people create max level characters? all they want to do is end game or be competitive in pvp anyhow.

Octagon7711

A lot of games do let you buy or include near max level characters with their expansions.  Now SWTOR will be including a level 60 in their next expansion.

Scott_Jeslis

Sounds good, decent implementation IMHO. I assume these stack on the EXP bonus subbers get?

Iselin

It has also been quite a boon already for the duplicate (to me) recipe market. 

 

I've always sold those when I have empty sales slots in my guild stores and the sales usually trickle in slowly. Yesterday I sold nearly 50,000 gold worth of recipes, probably to speculators anticipating the predictable price hike now that everyone wants to be a provisioner.

bcbully

Originally posted by Benbrada
Sounds good, decent implementation IMHO. I assume these stack on the EXP bonus subbers get?

yep they do.

Kardiamond

Originally posted by Righteous_Rock
why bother playing if you don't like the game so much that you have to buy experience potion so you can skip content? also if you want to skip content why do you have to pay to do so? why not just let people create max level characters? all they want to do is end game or be competitive in pvp anyhow.

It's not like that.

I don't mind leveling if it's not a chore. Sadly, I get bored fast. So if leveling is too slow (like it is currently for me) I will stop playing.

Let me level fast, and I will stay. That's why I loved GW2 leveling, it was horizontal and didn't get boring. 

I don't want a max character right away, I want to learn my character. Leveling fast is great because you aquires new skills, and you have a feeling of progression. If it's too slow, you don't really feel the progression anymore.

 

Ides385

I think this was great for the simple fact that it made fishing actually relevant. Before it was a novelty at best. They actually have a pretty neat fishing system. Nothing too deep, but better than I would have thought before trying to get Perfect Roes. It also adds to provisioning, specifically provisioning writs. It was a pretty bland profession before, not really worth doing the writs. Now I am fishing in my spare time and doing provisioning writs daily. I even leveled another character in provisioning to get two writs a day. In one quick move they've nicely improved the quality of life outside of running dungeons for an endgame player. Still has ways to go, but a nice move.

 

BTW endgame players know what this is really nice for. More champion points. Pop one before you run vDSA or a Trial. They're good for leveling VR I guess also, but don't use them 1-50, that would be a huge waste.

 

 

 

Lazarus71

I personally see no issue with these at all the way they are implemented. If someone wants to level faster in the game that is their business. I prefer to take my time and level at the speed I was intended to.  

Ginaz

I generally like to take my time levelling the first go round in an MMO. However, after the third or fourth time through, I like to speed things up a bit, which is why I like xp boosts such as this.

VicodinTaco

I can't remember the last time I've played an MMO where I wasn't over leveled and overgeared for the whole fucking time.

Lheiah

I think your really just playing semantics with numbers here. One crafting attempt with the right perks will give you 200 minutes of experience boost compared to the 120 minutes for the crown store item. Only thing I get out of this is whining for the sake of something to whine about to get page hits. Congrats, you won a cookie and another pay check!

 

Or,  are you saying that someone that has done nothing to progress their character should get the same benefits as someone that has? Even though the brand new character has no access to the mats to make the potion in the first place for the most part. In that case they only get the 30 minutes instead of 120 minutes, but that 30 minutes doesn't cost any extra cash.

 

You do realize if they are not generating income, we the players get a lot less content developed??? This is one of the most unobtrusive cash shops I have ever seen and you have to bend over backwards to find a reason to complain? pfft

 

Really getting tired of mmorpg.com's 14 year old mind set.

 

 

Tamanous

Originally posted by VicodinTaco

I can't remember the last time I've played an MMO where I wasn't over leveled and overgeared for the whole fucking time.

I'll give ESO credit here because it is easy to be under leveled for content as no hardline hub-centric progression is in place. You actually do have to search out content to remain on par with level. Main zone story and guild quests aren't enough past the 1st zone. Granted it is still easy as hell to kill things 3-4 levels above you.

 

We knew xp buffs were hitting cash shop ages ago but it is a good thing that you can craft xp potions still as an option. ESO appears to remain a game where the cash shop is 100% optional. I hope it remains that way.

Alomar

This is what happens when there's a cash shop, small pay-to-win features are added before any actual fixes or content. I could care less about any pay-to-win xp potion to this minor extent, but seeing as this took a priority over months - a year of broken content/no new content shows everything you need to know. Priorities are all over the place from ZOS. Pvp continues to die as huge amounts of the community no longer have any faith or trust in this developer.

 

blbeta

I have never had a problem with anything a company sells that speeds things up.  Some people either don't have or don't like to spend the time on portions of a game.

 

Items sold that make your character more powerful in competitive situations, and can't be earned with time are the only things I believe are pay2win.

 

Cosmetics and anything sold to speed things up are great.  I am glad most games have gotten away from the direct pay2win items and can still make money.

 

Octagon7711

The thing I don't like is that the xp potions bring leveling back to what it was before the nerfing.  I'm not saying this seems planned from the start but...

Mickyknox

Guess you musta missed this E3 video        

Iselin

Originally posted by Octagon7711
The thing I don't like is that the xp potions bring leveling back to what it was before the nerfing.  I'm not saying this seems planned from the start but...

Yeah... that mythical nerfing. I've heard lots of talk about it but I've leveled 4 characters to VR5+ both pre and post alleged nerf. Funny thing is that I always seem to end up at the same level in the same places.

 

The only things they have consistently nerfed from the first month till now are the spots that were giving extra XP that the grinders went to en masse. I'm not saying that this is exactly a good thing since I don't really have a problem with grinders finding sweet spots and using them, but this has been a ZOS thing since release and they've been consistent: when they notice them, (usually because some dumbass in a forum brags about it lol) they nerf them.

 

Quest XP for people who level that way has not been nerfed at all....ever.

 

So any attempt to tie in XP pots to XP nerfs is just a groundless conspiracy theory.

rojoArcueid

Originally posted by VicodinTaco

I can't remember the last time I've played an MMO where I wasn't over leveled and overgeared for the whole fucking time.

Im always having a fun challenge with higher level trash mobs in the open world because i dont rush or grind dungeons for levels and gears. As a result, i always hit the next zone being underleveled by 1-4 levels. I find the exp rate in ESO quite nicely paced without exp potions and playing at my own pace. I like to find my own workarounds when possible.

Bladestrom

Originally posted by rojoArcueid

Originally posted by VicodinTaco

I can't remember the last time I've played an MMO where I wasn't over leveled and overgeared for the whole fucking time.

Im always having a fun challenge with higher level trash mobs in the open world because i dont rush or grind dungeons for levels and gears. As a result, i always hit the next zone being underleveled by 1-4 levels. I find the exp rate in ESO quite nicely paced without exp potions and playing at my own pace. I like to find my own workarounds when possible.

I agree, i hit v14 and gold with half a zone to go which is not too bad, xp pots would push you too far ahead over time.  If i was levelling an alt however and just wanted to do the main questlines then the pots would be really handy.

rojoArcueid

Originally posted by Bladestrom

Originally posted by rojoArcueid

Originally posted by VicodinTaco

I can't remember the last time I've played an MMO where I wasn't over leveled and overgeared for the whole fucking time.

Im always having a fun challenge with higher level trash mobs in the open world because i dont rush or grind dungeons for levels and gears. As a result, i always hit the next zone being underleveled by 1-4 levels. I find the exp rate in ESO quite nicely paced without exp potions and playing at my own pace. I like to find my own workarounds when possible.

I agree, i hit v14 and gold with half a zone to go which is not too bad, xp pots would push you too far ahead over time.  If i was levelling an alt however and just wanted to do the main questlines then the pots would be really handy.

True. I havent tried leveling my V1 character so i dont know how is the vet exp rate.

Bladestrom

It's pretty much 1 million per zone so 1 zone per level assuming you clear zones.