ESO Group Finder for Dungeons needs Grouping By Difficulty

We looked at the problem of extreme builds and gameplay in Elder Scrolls Online, where it concerned Player versus Player (PvP). In this article we examine where it has long existed in PvE (Player versus Environment), specifically in Dungeons -- and therefore why the Group Finder for Dungeons needs to group content by difficulty to separate the different levels of play.

What It looks like in PvE

Extreme builds and gameplay have been in PvE for a long time, but people just see the symptoms and complain about just those. We'll even skip discussing Light Attack Weaving and all sorts of Animation Cancelling exploits that contribute to gameplay being pushed into not-intended not-supported levels. The symptoms include:

• Players using the group finder to enter dungeon for their Random Dungeon daily bonus, but zooming ahead solo to finish the dungeon basically solo. They will fake roles of tank or healer just to get into a group faster then hope that the dungeon won't actually require group mechanics.
• Some players complaining that a lot of veteran content is too easy.
• Trial mechanics being short-cut. For example, the final fight of normal mode Maw of Lorkhaj can be finished before even the second phase begins (running in the back looking for hidden enemies to avoid an automatic raid wipe).

Players can, through builds and gameplay, shortcut too many mechanics and go through dungeons far faster than intended. These players then become arrogant and have no patience for newer players and even kick them from dungeons even though they qualify to queue and try it. Established players are using the kick mechanic to artificially raise the entry bar for game content.

Meanwhile, newer players trying to learn a dungeon are not getting proper teams and the chance to learn dungeons and mechanics because a very strong player might be put in their group and that player will just bulldoze everything and even grief them for being unable to keep up.

BUT

It's not all about the extremes. The present reward structure of Pledges encourages players who just want the rewards to try dungeons they are not ready for. They queue, go in over their head, the group fails, and everyone wastes time.

The "league" structure we suggested for PvP to group players by ability is theoretically in place in PvE as the hardest achievements in group content. Players who want a real shot at those achievements would realistically have to form their own groups instead of trying their luck in the Group Finder (and you already can't use the Group Finder for trials).

But what we have are broken situations, especially in the Group Finder:

• Players are faking roles.
• Some are faking as tanks or healers because they don't want to wait in the queue too long. They hope that the team they end up in will have overpowered players who will still succeed without a tank or healer.
• Some are faking because they can solo the dungeon or think the team won't need a healer or tank because they can overpower it with high damage dealing. Although this is in fact possible, not all teams can do this and newer players can end up in a team with no tank or no healer when they really need one.
• All players need the full range of content for their rewards.
• For example, the daily Pledges for Undaunted Keys can involve a very easy dungeon, or a very hard one.
• But all players, whether they are experienced and geared or not, will try to get those Keys. This is like Major Leagues playing in Minor Leagues and vice versa.
• When experienced players need group members for the hard content, they might get inexperienced players not ready for that content.
• When inexperienced players are trying to learn the easier content and progress, they can't properly do that. Either they get kicked out for slowing down the team, or the rest of the overpowered team just bulldozes everything and they don't get a chance to do (and learn) anything.
• The hardest trial achievements and rewards are "sold" by players who sell "carries".
• Basically, you are just along for the ride while the rest of the team completes the toughest content in the game and gets you that achievement or reward.
• The fact that players can do this means enough of them are playing builds that are well beyond what is intended that they don't need a full competent team for the toughest content.

How to Fix it in PvE

We can still use the idea of separating players by ability, but instead of trying to measure who is capable of what (and controlling what dungeon content they want to do), we can grouping the various Dungeons by Difficulty instead. And instead of the artificial and clumsy distinction between Dungeons as being Normal or Veteran, we pool both types together.

A simple three-tier Difficulty grouping is proposed -- Easy, Medium, and Hard. Which dungeon falls into which group can be based on statistics of how frequently parties disband instead of completing the dungeon successfully.

Further, the reward structure for Daily Random and Pledges needs to change.

• Players can still queue for any dungeon, but they can also queue for a group of dungeons by Difficulty.
• Players can only pick up two Undaunted Pledges per day from a pool of six: Two Easy Dungeons, two Medium Dungeons, and two Hard Dungeons. Ideally, players who are competent at harder dungeons will naturally choose pledges from the higher difficulty dungeons. If they are in over their head they can drop the Pledge and choose an easier one.
• By limiting the Pledges but expanding the options, we encourage players to choose what fits the time they have or their ability if they want more rewards. Instead of trying to get all Pledges even if they are not experienced and geared enough to do certain Pledges.
• Undaunted Pledges provide Keys according to difficulty: 1 Key for Easy, 2 Keys for Medium, 3 Keys for Hard, plus one Key for completing a dungeon in Hard Mode.
• Daily Random Dungeon rewards are based on the highest difficulty Group selected.

If too many players pick Easy Dungeons but display disruptive gameplay (e.g., faking roles or going solo and leaving the rest of the team to deal with the mess of pursuing enemies) or toxic attitudes (e.g., overgeared overpowered players berating newer players in Easy League dungeons) then Terms of Service need more rigorous enforcement for harassment or disrupting gameplay.