ONE thing you really don't like about the writing in ESO?

Cosmo_Nova

Ascendant Order as villains. The way they're painted as comically evil just for being anarchist revolutionaries, while at the same time monarchistic rule is treated as an inalienably good thing.

It's a similar situation to the third season of The Legend of Korra where the anarchist villain does a bunch of awful things like torturing a child just to... show how evil he is, I guess. Yes, you can argue that the villain is a terrible person, but it's conveniently because of the horrible acts the writers made him do, and not something derived from his beliefs.

If you want your antagonist's motivation to be a difference in political ideology, at least be prepared to show some nuance if you're going for thought-provoking writing.

Supreme_Atromancer

psychotrip wrote: »

Political events which could be fascinatingly complex, filled with intrigue, controversy, and potential questlines, often feel oversimplified and brushed aside.

This is probably key, for me. I want an immersive experience, that's what I've come to expect from Elder Scrolls, and its why I'm here in ESO. For similar reasons, I feel even stronger about geographical settings (Tamriel is the main character, after all), which often have immediate and obvious hooks that can be explored, but just get overlooked. Last year I asked how you can write about the Trans-Niben without recognising its place in Elsweyr history in any sort of meaningful way.

I feel similar things could be said for Hroldan, which, by lore was known for its impenetrable stone walls, and its future importance in the conflict between the Nords and Colovians with the Reachmen, and could have offered insight on why the hell a faction essentially defined by their resistance to foreign rule would be interested in Falkreath. Instead we get a wedding circle.

Similar to the Elsweyr situation, Ard Caddach is High King of The Reach during the events depicted in ESO, and the Reachmen exist in Skyrim's Reach, but also in the Western Reach, at Frostbreak Fortress, and Jacdaw Cove (which is practically right there next to Markarth), but we know nothing of the situation- how they interract, or how they relate.

Solitude is far closer to various High Rock locations than Eastmarch, but when it comes to forming new alliances its gotta be all about daddy Jorunn because we can't have anything more interesting.

Dragonstar is an absolutely fascinating place. It straddles the border between two completely different worlds, culturally and aesthetically. In the future, that border-straddling will be more than figurative, when the Nords, dreaming of first empire glories, invade the city and manage to hold half of it for some substantial period of time. But what do we get in ESO? The most boring, uninspired, whatever-place possible. There's nothing to explore about its history or its character. Nothing interesting. The flavour built up over 20 years of writing is more or less traded in for next to nothing. For similar reasons, consider Ephesus. Its a Redguard territory within the Dragontails in the 3rd era. During ESO's timeframe, its clearly fallen under the juristiction of High Rock, but doesn't it have any sort of story to tell? How did this exchange happen? How do Redguards living here feel about it? Were they Crowns, or Forebears? Spoilers, you can't answer that because there is literally absolutely nothing in the whole subregion related to Ephesus at all. There is no place. No story, no character, nothing.

While I believe that stuff gets overlooked and sometimes the nuance is not understood by some of the writers (boooo!!), I suspect that its mostly writing isn't given enough time, space or priority. They have X lines of spoken dialogue, and Y checklist themes- if the thing you're precious about is included at all, its likely going to be *really* brief. A nod, rather than anything you can sink your teeth into, or explore. Sadly.

newtinmpls

The devastation of the logic of the Green Pact.

KingArthasMenethil

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Political events which could be fascinatingly complex, filled with intrigue, controversy, and potential questlines, often feel oversimplified and brushed aside.

This is probably key, for me. I want an immersive experience, that's what I've come to expect from Elder Scrolls, and its why I'm here in ESO. For similar reasons, I feel even stronger about geographical settings (Tamriel is the main character, after all), which often have immediate and obvious hooks that can be explored, but just get overlooked. Last year I asked how you can write about the Trans-Niben without recognising its place in Elsweyr history in any sort of meaningful way.

I feel similar things could be said for Hroldan, which, by lore was known for its impenetrable stone walls, and its future importance in the conflict between the Nords and Colovians with the Reachmen, and could have offered insight on why the hell a faction essentially defined by their resistance to foreign rule would be interested in Falkreath. Instead we get a wedding circle.

Similar to the Elsweyr situation, Ard Caddach is High King of The Reach during the events depicted in ESO, and the Reachmen exist in Skyrim's Reach, but also in the Western Reach, at Frostbreak Fortress, and Jacdaw Cove (which is practically right there next to Markarth), but we know nothing of the situation- how they interract, or how they relate.

Solitude is far closer to various High Rock locations than Eastmarch, but when it comes to forming new alliances its gotta be all about daddy Jorunn because we can't have anything more interesting.

Dragonstar is an absolutely fascinating place. It straddles the border between two completely different worlds, culturally and aesthetically. In the future, that border-straddling will be more than figurative, when the Nords, dreaming of first empire glories, invade the city and manage to hold half of it for some substantial period of time. But what do we get in ESO? The most boring, uninspired, whatever-place possible. There's nothing to explore about its history or its character. Nothing interesting. The flavour built up over 20 years of writing is more or less traded in for next to nothing. For similar reasons, consider Ephesus. Its a Redguard territory within the Dragontails in the 3rd era. During ESO's timeframe, its clearly fallen under the juristiction of High Rock, but doesn't it have any sort of story to tell? How did this exchange happen? How do Redguards living here feel about it? Were they Crowns, or Forebears? Spoilers, you can't answer that because there is literally absolutely nothing in the whole subregion related to Ephesus at all. There is no place. No story, no character, nothing.

While I believe that stuff gets overlooked and sometimes the nuance is not understood by some of the writers (boooo!!), I suspect that its mostly writing isn't given enough time, space or priority. They have X lines of spoken dialogue, and Y checklist themes- if the thing you're precious about is included at all, its likely going to be *really* brief. A nod, rather than anything you can sink your teeth into, or explore. Sadly.

I wouldn't say Hroldan was known for "impenetrable stone walls" when all we had was at one time it was fortified and Tiber/Hjalti shouted down the gates. That tells us nothing about the walls or the siege in general. We do know the Thu'um was really strong siege weapon of the Ancient Nords to the very point they didn't even bring siege equipment because the lore version of the thu'um simply outclassed battering rams, catapults, ladders and trebuchets.

Blackwood does have a big issue given the writing focus was on TES4 nostalgia with the Daedra focus and the totally not Mythic Dawn it's why it isn't only the Trans-Niben that's a problem but also the mythical Nibenese Culture.

Sassa

For me the one thing would be the "always too late trope." We're trying to prevent someone from being kidnapped/killed? Too late. Prevent an item from being stealed? Too late. Searching for a mysterious artifact that can help us? Too late, the villains got it before us and left a mocking note.

I understand the need for tension in the narrative, but my character ALWAYS being too late is getting old. I would love another way to drive the stories onwards.