As a newer player queuing into vet dungeons and normal dungeons, it seems to me that the skill gap between the top players and the worst players is a VERY large gap in this compared to other MMOs except FF14 pre Stone, Sea, Sky. There's been encounters where I, a 160~ cp stamblade pull 24-28k dps single target in a dungeon and a 700+ cp whatever can barely hit 10k dps. Now, I do have prior raiding experience in server first and world first progression in other MMOs. However, a player who is 4x my lvl and gearwise should at least pull the same.
Likewise, the difference between a good tank and a good healer is much too large in this game, with good tanks being noticed for their timely use of debuffs, blocks, and grouping and then there are the tanks who tunnel vision and hold block and provide no utility for the group or healers who solely spam heal and doesn't buff, debuff, or provide other utility.
Now, the reason why there is a discrepancy between the "elitist" groups on the forums and reddit and the "ultra casual" is apparent in ESO just like it was in FF14. A lack of a GOOD tutorial for new players. When games like ESO consist of a large number of players who are used to light/heavy spam from skyrim coupled with the lack of overland difficulty and mind numbingly easy Dolmens, it's no wonder there is such a large discrepancy. Players simply don't need to improve in 90% of the game.
Now, I know there are alot of players that don't want to feel pressure to follow "meta builds" and have a desire to "play as they want", but the issue is that the community isn't improving as a whole. From what I garnered, the top end players have been asking for harder trials/ dungeons, but that is impossible if the 99+% of the current playerbase cannot complete them. The skill gap is simply too large
A solution ZOS can provide is what other MMOs such as EverQuest, WoW, FF14, The Secret World, Wildstar, etc has already provided. A instance/dungeon/trial that players can/need to complete in order to participate in endgame content. I'm sure many older gamers can remember Matt from EQ and how players bemoaned the "difficulty" of the dps checks before they can progress, but in the end it made the game healthier as a whole. Likewise, WoW players can remember when they added DPS/Tank/Healer specific trials that players need to Gold/Silver in order to even queue up late game. They were all balanced so that the HPS/DPS/or TPS check required is just above the bare minimum required for completing all dungeons/trials.
In other games, a similar trial is introduced, but not made mandatory by giving players an incentive to pass it such as a title/mount/gold/etc.
However, in ESO the closest thing we have is vMA which as some of know is a DPS centric arena. We need something that can cater to each role.
Examples -
Tank Trial - Complete before queue as Tank/gives BiS tank X/mount
Players need to grab aggro from X mobs and protect Y NPCs for Z minutes. NPCs will damage the mobs/boss and tanks can provide debuff rotations to boost the NPCs damage. There will be a number of interrupts required and every so often a mob will break away and tanks need to grab back aggro. In addition, a random assortment of mechanics from popular trials/dungeons will occur that tanks need to complete. Healer Trial - Required for queue as healer or healer petskin/mountskin
Healers will need to maintain a standard HPS over a couple NPCs attacking a boss who are taking DoTs. NPC's will have resources (stamina, magicka, etc) that healers can provide them along with buffs to boost their damage on the boss OR maintain a higher HPS as the boss gradually increases the Direct Damage and DoTs the longer it is alive. A few mechanics will be provided at random. This allows healers to choose whether to complete it by buffing and healing NPCs to make the boss die faster OR speccing into full heals and try to keep up the increasing HPS requirement as damage becomes near unbearable. DPS - A multipart trial
The first part will have DPS required to deal (25k/35k/45k, depending on difficulty) dps on a stationary target or kill it before X minutes.
The second part will require them to learn how to aoe down a pack of mobs in x seconds.
The third and final part will be similar to the first part, except they have to only maintain 70% of their stationary dps while dodging red and performing mechanics. All red damage is a oneshot. To stimulate real trials and dungeons, the more dps they do, the less red and mechanics they have to perform.
I know this is a controversal topic as seen on the forums and on reddit with some players proudly claiming 5/10/15k dps being enough for X. However, there should not be such a large gap in player skill. The gap as it currently stands, divides the playerbase between "elitist" 60k dps group requirements and 5k dps light attackers. This causes issue when balancing future content as shown with the perceived difficulty of dlc dungeons vs vanilla and becomes a nightmare for developers to try and balance future trials and dungeons so that players are able to complete them, but good players can't just DPS down what is an intended 12min boss fight in 2 minutes.
