I concede that. They've done a great job and I love this game to no end. I just wonder if it would not have been better had they hadn't listened to player feedback?

It comes down to which side makes the most noise really, those who were fine with it obviously didn't voice the pleasure about it because they were content. Those who wanted it their way voiced their displeasure and ZoS obviously made the call that X amount of people were enough to do this. As more and more get to join in on the beta now it's fluctuating to go back to that way, and it's basically a tug of war and the devs are stuck being the rope.

That should sum it up perfectly they are working on this and working to make it so there is a direct balance between the two. As well they should, I think they struck perfect balance between Cryodiil's pvp zone and leaving the outside zones strictly pve. There isn't a single issue I have with that system, as I view the outside zones to be more like green zones anyway now with this system.

My issue is on behalf of new players. I had a fantastic time on the AD and DC starter islands (saving EP for launch!), and I'm worried that new players who are like me, who love interesting NPCs and story, aren't going to know to go back to the starter islands first, so that the story lines up best. As of last beta, the story is kind of a mess, and not nearly as engaging as it was before.

As long as the devs make it clear that story-driven players should hit the starter islands asap, it's not an issue. Or at least, it shouldn't be one big enough to give the game up over.

I actually couldn't have put that better myself. That being said, like a lot of other people have already mentioned here; this was a non-issue that was blown way out of proportion.

If you look at the poll i referenced earlier in this post you can see that even the players that hate the changes were completely cool with there being the ability to skip the content it was just the way in which it was changed that's rubbing folks the wrong way. I see no reason for a tug of war both parties can have what they want it just completely blows my mind how the devs couldnt anticipate this prior to nullifying the starter islands. Not only that but how much more did they have to spend on development to achieve this new method when just adding in a few quick options with its previous setup would have taken literally a few days to code in...baffling and disturbing.

Even though it is close the fact they are working on it, makes me think at least they will strike the right balance to appease both sides. I am actually enjoying this now, that they are looking for a balance between the two sides with the aspects rather than appeasing one side. They could have purposely went the route they did last beta, in order to see if those who didn't voice their opinions would have a opinion now it's changed, which would send them in the direction to balance it. I like the pvp/pve balance idea they came up with on Cyrodiil, where I just may spend quite a bit of my time as dropping oil on players heads as they rushed the door was too damn entertaining to me. If they are willing to find balances between every change they make then I feel a lot better for the direction the game will go in the future.

My thoughts exactly.

I find it highly encouraging that the devs are in tune with the community, even during crunch-time to get the game finished. Here's to hoping they continue to be this engaged after launch!

I dont mean to come off as overly harsh or critical i just hope in the future they think things through a bit more and take their time to consider lore, story, and the different types of players they will have in the future.

When I leave Coldharbor on March 31st, I don't really care where I will end up. I just want to be in Coldharbor . . . NOW!

Why all the fuss about the intro... There's a reason why it's "optional".

And it's the manner of that optionality that has been causing issue.

Seehttp://www.gamesas.com/topic/1495176-about-the-skip-the-starting-zone/ for details.

tl;dr? In a nutshell, it's a story issue.

It's better to start a thread like that, and then come to realize more than you previously knew, so you don't make a rash decision and come to regret it. I'm with Bucpar, 10 days away hell everyday now the days seem to last longer and longer, as if I was counting down the days to leaving country again. I would just knock myself out to make the days go by faster, but sadly doctors advised against that.