Finding Quests

Yautja

One of the major level gap problems I've experienced is due to being unable to find quests at my level. I constantly find quests for a few levels above, constantly die and eventually complete them. Then stumble upon the lower leveled quests which have lost most of their value now that I've leveled up past them. I've learned that in the achievements section it tells you how many quests are left, but doesn't tell you which ones you have and have not completed. Which is a wonderful guideline but not nearly enough to locate those isolated quests which I waste time wandering in search for.
I want to know if anyone has found something which sort of maps out the general area of quests in each of the provinces.

syphinb

And i have had the complete opposite experience, but i will tell you one thing..explore...explore...explore some more. This game will not hold your hand and it's one of the lesser linear MMO's out there compared to the rest of the on-rails hand holding MMO's.

Kinda lame to use esohead to guide your way, might as well just have a huge arrow above your head leading the way to your next quest.

Yautja

Not at all, and just because I want a method or guide to find quests rather than wander and waste time doesn't make me some lost child who needs a massive arrow pointing me in every which way.

Hackle

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a way to maximize your (leveling) experience by being able to do/find quests within your level range. There simply isn't. It's natural and just makes damn good sense to do things you're capable of (due to skills being locked/unlocked at your level) rather than wandering, figuratively, several miles outside your level zone to find quests, die (or not die) several times trying to complete them, only to then stumble upon quests you've leveled yourself out of because you somehow missed this random NPC in the middle of nowhere.

Yes, we all know that the little white and black arrows along the meter up top help guide us towards quest givers and quest destinations but it is completely unreliable when you're too far away from any given quest NPC for it to show up. It's a flawed system that relies far to heavily on exploration of every nook and cranny.

I am, in no way, saying that questing should be made linear because, honestly, I feel that would kill not only immersion but limit (my) enjoyment that the freedom to roam allows, but I am saying that a better indicator for potential quests isn't out of line as it would be very nice to be able to complete ALL the quests in an area (however small/large) before moving to the next and be made to feel like an idiot/failure when (you) find an NPC you missed because it was in a spot just outside your radar's range only to be now found because you're half a foot to the left/right of where you were previously.

It wouldn't kill immersion and doesn't make people 'immature' or stupid to want a better way to maximize their game play. It just makes them players with a different play style than those that don't have the same frustration with the current system.

mdziur

I've managed to stay 2 to 3 levels above all the quests. I stayed in the starter islands until I was sure I did most of the quests on each island. I've been playing solo for all but one quest. I found all the quests just by wandering around gathering crafting materials. I didn't really do any mail quests. I just did any low level quest (or quest equal to my level) as I found them. I think a problem a lot of people are having is they are rushing around doing quests without really getting into the story for each quest. But hey whatever... I'm playing it like I'm Skyrim. Its working for me so far.

Khelrik

Going back to the starter islands from the home city was my idea as well. Allowed me to not only level up against mobs that were at my level, but the plethora of crafting mats help out to start crafting right away. In fact i still make a run to Stros M'Kai to gather iron rather quickly since it's all over the place there. Jumping right into Daggerfall's quest straight from Coldharbour just didn't seem like a good idea, and thought the better choice was to do the starter islands first. But to each his own, if it works for you, then go for it.

Bunzinator

It seems that there are a lot of people spawning in Daggerfall, and trying to do the quests there, that are levels above them. Maybe the message that you get from the first quest-giver sending you back to Stros M'Kai should be a little "stronger"? I don't know.

And I totally disagree that a quest system that relies on exploration is in any way flawed. I much prefer it over the mindless hand-holding you get from WOW et. al. That *** is flawed, right there. This, after all, is an Elder Scrolls game, and the Elder Scrolls philosophy should prevail over the hum-drum MMO philosophy, IMO.

Rev Rielle

Bunzinator wrote: »

It seems that there are a lot of people spawning in Daggerfall, and trying to do the quests there, that are levels above them. Maybe the message that you get from the first quest-giver sending you back to Stros M'Kai should be a little "stronger"? I don't know.

And I totally disagree that a quest system that relies on exploration is in any way flawed. I much prefer it over the mindless hand-holding you get from WOW et. al. That *** is flawed, right there. This, after all, is an Elder Scrolls game, and the Elder Scrolls philosophy should prevail over the hum-drum MMO philosophy, IMO.

I agree. The game is set up specifically that way to reward you for exploring. It's an essential essence of the Elder Scrolls single-player series of games that they've brought to this MMO version. So many other online games do not reward for wandering about and using your actual eyes to explore the world your character's a part of. It's a boon to the game that ESO does.

Stautmeister

If you see an empty spot on your map, you can be pretty sure there is a dungeon or quest there.
Figured this out pretty qucikly. If i find a quest over my current level, i check the map an see where i missed stuff.
A lot of questgivers actually run up to you when you enter their general area.
Im loving this system!
Im immersed in the game, i listen to npc's discussing stuff, i read notes pointing me in directions. I love how this game for once doesnt hold your hand but says:

Heres the world, good luck, do whatever you want, save whoever you want.
If your really in a lot of trouble you can always pve in cyrodil.

Hackle

Bunzinator wrote: »

And I totally disagree that a quest system that relies on exploration is in any way flawed. I much prefer it over the mindless hand-holding you get from WOW et. al. That *** is flawed, right there. This, after all, is an Elder Scrolls game, and the Elder Scrolls philosophy should prevail over the hum-drum MMO philosophy, IMO.

It is, on a level, flawed when the indicators for finding quests are not strong enough. When a person standing in a location doesn't see any kind of indicator for a quest in their area and, for example, moves to the left when the quest giver is on the far right which they're now moving away from and wasn't aware they were moving away from it -- yeah, tiny bit flawed.

No one is asking for hand-holding, just a stronger indicator for quest NPCs.

mlstevens42_ESO

I suppose one can talk to the people in the area to see if they suggest an area to go to. Many of the older TES games you had to talk to people they did not just stand there with an arrow over them that suggested someone needed to talk with them. I know it is not as convenient for some perhaps. It does not make it bad though just different.

dumbo

kstauthamerb16_ESO wrote: »

If you see an empty spot on your map, you can be pretty sure there is a dungeon or quest there.

^ good advice.

Another thing to remember is that icons on your minimap start black and turn white after you've completed the "main quest chain". So if you see a broken black tower symbol, go and explore it.

And obviously, don't forget the short dungeon things with the torch symbols - there's usually a skyshard, a new quest chain starter and an achievement/loot...

Similarly, the skull-and-crossbones can usually be completed by either asking in zone chat or waiting a few minutes for some people to turn up.

scabrous_ftz

kstauthamerb16_ESO wrote: »

If you see an empty spot on your map, you can be pretty sure there is a dungeon or quest there.
Figured this out pretty qucikly. If i find a quest over my current level, i check the map an see where i missed stuff.
A lot of questgivers actually run up to you when you enter their general area.
Im loving this system!
Im immersed in the game, i listen to npc's discussing stuff, i read notes pointing me in directions. I love how this game for once doesnt hold your hand but says:

Heres the world, good luck, do whatever you want, save whoever you want.
If your really in a lot of trouble you can always pve in cyrodil.

Just want to second this. I've looked at my map and thought "wow, there seems to be a large gap between these two wayshrines, I bet there's another in between". Sure enough, not only was there a wayshrine, but a few quests as well.

GamePlayer7

I too have been falling behind in the leveling. I'm now level 25 and the only quests I can find are level 30+. I started being maybe 1-2 levels under the quests while I was in my teens. Now I'm finding myself 5 levels below the quests I'm being given.

I'm not sure what more I can do for exp., other than maybe go do Cyrodiil activities. I explore entire zones, do anchors, kill the skull and crossbones elites, etc.. I even kill extra mobs in any given area just for some extra experience. When I look at the map there's no part I haven't explored, yet I'm still falling further and further behind somehow.

I did not fully do Stros M'kai, which may be part of the problem, but I can't see any value in going back there now. I don't think the quests/exploration there will provide me with any appreciable experience at level 25.

For what it's worth, this seems to be a fairly common issue. I've seen a few people in zone chat stating that they are having the exact same problem with being under-leveled. I also seem to see a lot of people who are level 24-25 doing quests that are level 28-29. I assume they probably aren't doing these higher quests by choice, these are probably the only quests they can find.

Also, just an observation, but I've been seeing a number of AoE grinding groups pop up in various areas. I think that some people have simply decided that AoE grinding is a superior method of leveling. I can't help but think that some of these folks have run out of quests too, and therefore have to look for alternative means of gaining experience. I'm not saying that grinding groups are a problem, per se, but I can't imagine that's the sort of leveling behavior the devs had planned for ESO.

Skylandra

I don't agree at all - from a PvE Perspective this game is almost perfectly balanced. I haven't been to Cyrodiil and the quests are still my level (at the time of writing lvl 26) or slightly less. There is so much story driven content its unbelievable. I make sure I complete and explore as much as I can too. I guess if you dont explore you will be in a sticky situation, but then you could do stuff like Cyrodiil to make up for it.

Yautja

I have nearly filled out the maps (In all areas up to Stormhaven) and a lot of people misunderstand. I don't want an on rails game telling me the location of every quest. I would prefer if the range of the undone quest marker was largely increased, as it only appears when you 10-20 meters away from it and it can cause a lot of confusion in finding these quests. I much prefer exploration games and exploring for experience, not hide seek with the damn quests. Which it feels like right now. Looking for empty spaces on the map is a great idea, but once you've found all but four or five quests, that method is irrelevant. I can spend a good hour looking for a quest and maybe find one now. The PvE experience is great, but the navigation needs to be buffed up. An easier method of finding quests needs to be implemented.

spinality

Random searching is obviously one of the great features of the game. A detailed in-game quest map would take away the fun. But that search can get tedious during the end phases of 'completism.' We already have VERY strong but non-intrusive in-game help about finding skyshards (if you resist the temptation to use a skyshard map). I'd think something along those lines, but maybe weaker, would help when trying to find the last 2-3 quests in a region. Just knowing that there's e.g. "an incomplete quest near Wayrest wayshrine" would be great. Such clues might stay hidden until you've completed a large proportion of related quests. But when you get to 90% of the quest progress bar, a few hints would make the final search less tedious. A quest location map with the option "show icons when only X quests remain at this level" would make me happy; I'd set it to one or two. (However, since the platform does not expose completed quest history, it's hard to see how an add-on could help with this.)