ESO needs to integrate its DLC content better. Clicking a thing on an interface isn't immersive.

Dahveed

This goes for most (if not all) DLCs, but I'm starting the Deadlands DLC and nothing in the game is pointing me there at all.

I click the interface for the "prologue" and it says "Lyranth sent me a letter", which she absolutely did not do. There is no letter in my inventory and no messenger was sent.

After I complete the prologue she tells me "I'll contact you" or something, which she does not do. I again have to open my video game interface and go to the paid DLC section and artificially open a thing to click on which once again tells me "Lyranth sent me a letter", which she absolutely did not do. There is no letter in my inventory.

Now the quest tells me to go to Fargrave, which I only ever entered once with the help of portals from Lyranth. So now my character - who has never learned how to enter fargrave, and has only been there once with the help of a Dremora who knew how - is supposed to just *know* how to get there. Nothing in the game tells you anything, except for a quest marker to a magic portal that just happens to be behind the cathedral in town. (A magic portal to Oblivion which nobody in town seems to notice, care about or talk about in the entire city, as though it were no big deal)

I had to look up online how to get to Fargrave and Google told me to just go to this portal, which apparently was there all along. Who knew?


This game just constantly has to remind me every DLC that none of this is real, it's all paid content, in an online monetized video game. You can't escape and immerse yourself, and figure things out for yourself. You always have to have massive arrow quest markers and interface knick-knacks and workarounds to artificially advance.

Taril

Most DLC have some person standing around in towns literally yelling at you as you pass by, whom starts their Prologue quests.

If not directly starting their respective DLC questlines (DB and Theives Guild both have their questlines able to begin in any Outlaws Refuge where Quen or the DB lady will be).

Dahveed

Taril wrote: »

Most DLC have some person standing around in towns literally yelling at you as you pass by, whom starts their Prologue quests.

If not directly starting their respective DLC questlines (DB and Theives Guild both have their questlines able to begin in any Outlaws Refuge where Quen or the DB lady will be).

The last 3 (or 4, I can't remember) did not.

I have been googling all this stuff several DLCs in a row now, precisely because I wanted to find what you are referring to without having to just click on a quest in the UI.

In the case of Deadlands it is frankly astonishing that they don't put something in Lleyawin leading me to the next phase, but I have come to expect absolutely nothing logical in terms of story and quest progression from this game anymore.

i.e., when NPCs tell me, word for word, "I will contact you" and then literally never contact you ever again until you open a gimmicky UI quest thing so that YOU contact THEM.

I mean how hard is it to just send an in-game mail or have a courier deliver a quest like they did in Skyrim, a game made over 10 years ago for a fraction of the budget? Give me their team and I could fix their entire main quest and DLC structure in an afternoon, it really is THAT easy to fix this mess so that it makes at least a modicum of sense.

Dahveed

...not to mention they already do this in this very game with their main quest with the prophet who "appears" to you. Which is also a bit on the gimmicky "teleporting sage wizard only you can see" side of the fantasy genre, but at least it's something and it's the actual game moving things along.

TaSheen

It depends on your level when you may see the "quest forwarder" individual. They made some changes with that a few updates back (no, I don't know when, because I don't ever expect a game like this to be "immersive" so I don't keep track - besides after playing 7 years, I know where everything is anyway).

Taril

Dahveed wrote: »

The last 3 (or 4, I can't remember) did not.

Gold Road has Galsa-Baru in alliance capital cities to start its Prologue quest.

Necrom has Leramil the Wise in Sadrith Mora to start its Prologue quest.

Firesong has a letter from Druid Laurel in Evermore to start its Prologue quest.

High Isle has Jakarn in alliance capital cities and Lady Arabelle outside of Vivec City to start its Prologue quests.

Deadlands has Rogatina Cinna in Belkarth which leads to Lyranth in Marbruk Outlaw's Refuge to start its Prologue quests.

That's the last 5 DLC, besides the DLC that just added in Dungeons .

Syldras

Of course one can come across these quest starter items/npcs by chance, and of course one can check on UESP - if one knows UESP - but let's say a new player wants to start a specific storyline, how would they know where exactly to go? In my opinion, the best solution would be that accepting the quest in the menu should point the player character to the normal starting location without skipping a part. If you're supposed to find a letter, you should find that letter there.

SeaGtGruff

[Crazy Idea Number 4,652] Maybe our houses, apartments, and inn rooms should have a mailbox where quest-starting letters show up?

katanagirl1

There is a section in the Inventory that only shows up sometimes, it is called something like Quest Items. Could these letters be going there? It’s been a long time since I did the old dlc so I don’t remember.

Some of the newer DLCs prologue quests do say something about contacting you, but instead you go to the wayshrine that is open in the new zone and they will be there to give you the quest.

ESO_player123

Syldras wrote: »

Of course one can come across these quest starter items/npcs by chance, and of course one can check on UESP - if one knows UESP - but let's say a new player wants to start a specific storyline, how would they know where exactly to go? In my opinion, the best solution would be that accepting the quest in the menu should point the player character to the normal starting location without skipping a part. If you're supposed to find a letter, you should find that letter there.

I think there was an update where they removed/relocated the NPCs that were yelling at players all over the place that they need to go to that DLC/start this prologue. If I remember correctly, that was done because "there were too many quest markers, and new players were overwhelmed" (at least how I remember it). So, now we have what we have.

Grega

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

[Crazy Idea Number 4,652] Maybe our houses, apartments, and inn rooms should have a mailbox where quest-starting letters show up?

Basically like RDRO has? Sure. Although I don’t think OP will find it realistic either - probably something down the lines of - “ well it’s not immersive to think 500+ letters could be stuffed in this dinky little mailbox”

Destai

I just think it should all be stored in the stories menu. You go there, they’re in chronological order, can select the prologue or main quest, and then you go on your way. Having so many characters and stories is really hard to make immersive and even harder not to make intrusive.

Hapexamendios

I'm fine with it as it is. Doesn't bother me.

OsUfi

I've had a great idea. Put them everywhere. In every major city. Have them shout at at you as you arrive at the way shrines. Do you know how long they've been looking for you?

BasP

OsUfi wrote: »

I've had a great idea. Put them everywhere. In every major city. Have them shout at at you as you arrive at the way shrines. Do you know how long they've been looking for you?

Yeah, that seems like a great way to let all cardsharps and collectors know that they can test their wits and courage in a brand new card game— Tales of Tribute!

Danikat

I doubt there's one system which would satisfy both the people who want a fully immersive experience, and the people who want one clear method to start all DLC stories instead of having to know where to go for each one. (They tried with Wrothgar and the result was an NPC who runs at you yelling for your attention every time you enter a starter city.)

I agree with the person who said starting it from the menu shouldn't skip steps and should instead send you to find the quest giver in the world, but that has the same problem: how did your character know to go to that location and talk to that person?

You can find them all in the world naturally like any other quest, but that doesn't help if you want to start a specific one now.

Dahveed

Taril wrote: »

Dahveed wrote: »

The last 3 (or 4, I can't remember) did not.

Gold Road has Galsa-Baru in alliance capital cities to start its Prologue quest.

Necrom has Leramil the Wise in Sadrith Mora to start its Prologue quest.

Firesong has a letter from Druid Laurel in Evermore to start its Prologue quest.

High Isle has Jakarn in alliance capital cities and Lady Arabelle outside of Vivec City to start its Prologue quests.

Deadlands has Rogatina Cinna in Belkarth which leads to Lyranth in Marbruk Outlaw's Refuge to start its Prologue quests.

That's the last 5 DLC, besides the DLC that just added in Dungeons .

Sorry, I should have been more precise, I meant the last ones that I had done, not the last ones ZoS released.

Syldras

katanagirl1 wrote: »

There is a section in the Inventory that only shows up sometimes, it is called something like Quest Items. Could these letters be going there? It’s been a long time since I did the old dlc so I don’t remember.

I don't know if it's the case for every dlc, but I know that I checked a few times, and there was nothing.

ESO_player123 wrote: »

I think there was an update where they removed/relocated the NPCs that were yelling at players all over the place that they need to go to that DLC/start this prologue. If I remember correctly, that was done because "there were too many quest markers, and new players were overwhelmed" (at least how I remember it). So, now we have what we have.

These characters wouldn't have to run towards the player character, or yell, or stand in the same city. Especially not in crowded places like the bank or the crafting area. Quest markers could get a different color to show which dlc they belong to or just that they lead to some new dlc or prologue.

Dahveed

Syldras wrote: »

Of course one can come across these quest starter items/npcs by chance, and of course one can check on UESP - if one knows UESP - but let's say a new player wants to start a specific storyline, how would they know where exactly to go? In my opinion, the best solution would be that accepting the quest in the menu should point the player character to the normal starting location without skipping a part. If you're supposed to find a letter, you should find that letter there.

Like I said, the NPCs specifically, overtly and directly tell you, word for word, I WILL CONTACT YOU. Then they don't. Ever.

Thus, the player would know where to go because that NPC that literally just told me they would contact me then contacts me (via courier, in-game mail system, or whatever).

Dahveed

OsUfi wrote: »

I've had a great idea. Put them everywhere. In every major city. Have them shout at at you as you arrive at the way shrines. Do you know how long they've been looking for you?

They could actually do it in a smart way and not an annoying way.

(I know the word "smart" and "AAA game development" are rare to see in the same sentence nowadays, but one can dream.)

For example, about 50 years ago computer programmers invented something called conditions. You put the word "if" in front of your line of code.

So "if" my character has completed Blackwood, and "if" Lyranth has already told me "I will contact you", "then" a courier will arrives when you enter a town with the letter telling you that she needs help.

I know, I know. An "if" "then" logical code in a game released in the 21st century is absolute crazy talk and way too taxing on developer resources. This game barely makes billions of dollars in profit, so how could they possibly do something so complicated?

Let's not raise the bar too high.

liliub17_ESO

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

[Crazy Idea Number 4,652] Maybe our houses, apartments, and inn rooms should have a mailbox where quest-starting letters show up?

You mean, like other games have?

Problem is, the 'quest starters' are hidden in the Collections tabs (I think it is). Unless you know content stuff is there, you don't know to go, look for the content available to your account, and "accept quest".

licenturion

This a problem with every live online service game out there. It is layer upon layer upon layer of UI stuff to start and track things.

I never expect much immersiveness when it comes to games like this. Especially when everyone is running around in skins or mounts straight ripped out of Fortnite.

I thought their rework with the portals in Balifiera was a step in the right direction, but instead of improving on it, they scrapped it.