[Spoileralert]The toughest decision in the game - The Mad God's Bargain

Carnagan

Not sure if demanding a better reward for doing the right thing says more about your approach to the game or your own moral compass...

Seriously though, I love how the game has so many "nothing is simple/no right answer" moments. Sheoggorath actually offers one of the most obvious binary "good/evil" choices in the game. Either leave someone who only wanted to help completely mad and let them be taken away to the Shivering Isles* so you can personally profit, or take the high road and return her to normal while forgoing the nice fate payment.

It's a hard choice and it should be. I don't want them taking out the challenge of the combat, why would I want them to take out the really, really hard choices too. If mechanics and rewards are more important than the story, then the choice is easy for you. If you care about the story and want to do the right thing, you have to accept that doing the right thing doesn't mean big rewards for you.

* Don't kid yourself that she'll be safe or taken care of in the Shivering Isles. You were paying attention to the Chateau, right?

Samadhi

Cured of insanity, or sent to the Asylum to remain crazy forever.

I selected to save Valaste; she is an introvert and Eyevea is the ideal location for the life she chose for herself.
I have enough skill points in game for the build I designed without the other option anyway.

drawxne_ESO

Samadhi wrote: »

Cured of insanity, or sent to the Asylum to remain crazy forever.

I selected to save Valaste; she is an introvert and Eyevea is the ideal location for the life she chose for herself.
I have enough skill points in game for the build I designed without the other option anyway.

I actually felt the other way. Looking at Valaste I felt that if she was 'cured' and stayed in Eyevea, what kind of life would that be? She'd be among fellow mages, yes, but most likely she'd keep to herself, buried in her books, just like she did in her past.

Sheogorath himself says that madmen often present the most sound of arguments, and listening to Valaste, I felt that she would genuinely be happier on the Shivering Isles. In fact, I didn't even care about the skill points making this decision.

abrizsb14_ESO1

This quest is the biggest *** in the game. I still can't believe they allow you to pass up on 2 skill points. Might not seem much, but end game, it does mean quiet a bit actually.

abrizsb14_ESO1

memmel17b14_ESO wrote: »

I contacted customer support about this decision, directed at if these 2 skill points are entirely lost to our characters based on our decision, and here was their response...

Greetings Adventurer

I can understand your dilemma but have no fear. every character is on the same footing when it comes to skill point every class every race and every alliance by the time they have hit veteran rank 3 will all have the same exact amount of skill point I hope this helps settle your question.
Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Warm Regards,
The Elder Scrolls Online Team

Please tell me that you didn't believe the rep. These are the same representatives that send you the same solution to every problem...

Please try the following:
/reloadui
/camp wait 15 mins relog
Please repair your client

This should solve your problem.

This comes after you told them that you already tried the above solutions. They have no clue what they are doing, and just reading off a screen. Their customer service sucks beyond anything I have seen.

They called me at 2am, yes, 2am!!! I put a call back time between 10-8pm PST or something like that, and they called me at 2am just to tell me to try and /reloadui, and /camp and log back in. I almost flipped my shiz! Then I told him graciously, as it was 2am, that I already tried these things, and I put that in my ticket!!!! He then stated that he will forward this to the higher tier. Which was weeks ago, and not a word back since then.

Basically, they call you at ungodly hours, they tell you stupid things to try, and then basically tell you to F'off in a nicer way.

GG Zenimax, your games got more bugs then any game I have seen at launch. Sad part is, 80-85% of the current bugs were reported months before the game launched. The pvp balance is a joke, the customer service sucks, and you don't care about your users.

Artemiisia

I literally laughed out load, brilliant pic OP !!

Skill points all the way, girl is crazy

Samadhi

drawxne_ESO wrote: »

Samadhi wrote: »

Cured of insanity, or sent to the Asylum to remain crazy forever.

I selected to save Valaste; she is an introvert and Eyevea is the ideal location for the life she chose for herself.
I have enough skill points in game for the build I designed without the other option anyway.

I actually felt the other way. Looking at Valaste I felt that if she was 'cured' and stayed in Eyevea, what kind of life would that be? She'd be among fellow mages, yes, but most likely she'd keep to herself, buried in her books, just like she did in her past.

Sheogorath himself says that madmen often present the most sound of arguments, and listening to Valaste, I felt that she would genuinely be happier on the Shivering Isles. In fact, I didn't even care about the skill points making this decision.

Bolded/italicized is actually what motivated me to pick to save her. There is nothing wrong with introversion, aside from general society looking down on introverts as being socially inferior, lonely, or maladjusted to society.
Eyevea is a place where an introvert can read books and live in peace without being harassed by society for living in that way. She is among people who value her for her gifts, rather than treat her as throwing her life away because of them.

Oblivion had an entire expansion based on the Shivering Isles; it's not what I would consider a happy place -- it's the fantasy equivalent to an insane asylum. Everyone is insane and inhabitants attack and kill each other. The Isles have mad torture devices all over the place.

Part of me even thinks that the actual cure for her insanity was the knowledge that her peers respect her and value her contributions more than they value personal power.
It's probably a pretty big deal to someone who grew up without any friends to know that her presence is more valued by someone than a boon from a deity is.

IceDread

I wanted to save her, and I love the moral choices in this game, but ignoring 2 skill points? no. Besides who knows, maybe I in the future get the chance to save her anyway, lets hope so.

pete_gb_ESO

I just finished this quest, choosing the book over curing Valaste, thinking I'd get 2 skill points. However, I got no skill points.
Any idea if this is intentional or a bug?

abrizsb14_ESO1

pete_gb_ESO wrote: »

I just finished this quest, choosing the book over curing Valaste, thinking I'd get 2 skill points. However, I got no skill points.
Any idea if this is intentional or a bug?

You get a book, and you have to use it apparently, and that grants the 2 skill points.

Azzouron

I agree this one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in the game. I ultimately went with my morals and saved her, I don't think she'd fair well in the shivering isles!
I think some people miss the point of daedric quests, you aren't supposed to be rewarded for doing the right thing. Unfortunately it means in this game, where skill points are valuable, that we lose out on two which really sucks! This quest is perfectly in keeping with the lore of daedric princes though,offering mortals heavy rewards to do their bidding for their sadist enjoyment.
Therefore I can't really complain about it , I've adored the entire mage's quest line so god damn much ^-^!

User

Why would you sacrifice 2 skill points? Sacrifice her! Two skill points are definitely worth it!

MaoZeAl

Ok so after reading this post i told the guy he could take her. quest ended with me getting a book and wondering where the hell my 2 skill points are. Did i need to talk to the chick to let her go to the isles and not the shae dude? I am seriously kickin myself

MaoZeAl

PS. im 40 and book requires 43. Does the book give 2 skill points?

twjacksonb14_ESO

Yes, read the book (/use - E ) and it grants 2 skill points

luizterra23

If you sell yourself per 2 points that means that Sheogorath got you good!! Or better saying, he got me good! =P

Tatuaje

I hated the Sheogorath quests with a passion. Not my sense of humor, on the whole felt like it was a major waste of my time with his silly cackling. Therefore within the game I chose to save Valaste, he wanted her, so I did not let him get her. It was not to hard to figure out what the reward was to be.

The 2 points, at level 49.5, I have all the passives, all the skill and weapon upgrades I want and still have 2 points left to spend. I have 2 DPS skills and the rest are dedicated to heals. Unless something in the V ranks changes a lot I have no idea what to do with more points. A few more are needed for crafting but say maybe 5 - 7 in the distant future????

Nick4628

I was about to save her before reading this! Thanks for the info guys

silvernightscape

Just did this and choose to save her and was given a gift by Shalidor... Eidetic memory and his library. Can now retain everything you have read and will read.

Eccentric

silvernightscape wrote: »

Just did this and choose to save her and was given a gift by Shalidor... Eidetic memory and his library. Can now retain everything you have read and will read.

...and you get this by not saving her aswell... ! :disagree:

Diaboli

abrizsb14_ESO1 wrote: »

Please tell me that you didn't believe the rep. These are the same representatives that send you the same solution to every problem...

Please try the following:
/reloadui
/camp wait 15 mins relog
Please repair your client

This should solve your problem.

This comes after you told them that you already tried the above solutions. They have no clue what they are doing, and just reading off a screen. Their customer service sucks beyond anything I have seen.

I have tried the /reloadui and /camp for 15 minutes thing, it worked almost every single time. I used it for the fighters guild quest, the army of meridia, and a few other situations where NPC's were stuck in terrain. I'm not saying it always works, but it's certainly preferable to sitting on your hands and waiting.

bloodenragedb14_ESO

i kept her, one reason is that, though i love my uncle sheo, valaste is a talented mage and in my opinion, the guild needs her.

im also hoping that if the mages guild get any story expansions down the line, im hoping saving her will work in my favor

GrimKonstantin

My two cents on the topic, Yes, you do not get a better reward for doing the right thing and returning her sanity than you would for selling her out for the 2 SP. In my opinion, this is how it should be. The feeling of doing the right thing is usually the only reward you get for doing so, giving a better of equivalent reward removes the morality of the choice and makes either choice meaningless. Maybe down the road you will be rewarded for your actions, and better than the two skill points, as the noble choice usually only benefits you in the long run, but you can never know if this is what will happen.

I made the choice fully expecting to always be 2 points behind people that gave her you, because in the grand scheme of things, the 2 points wasn't worth going against what I believe in, even in a video game.

tldr: I think the rewards are exactly what they should be.

shadoshryke

Zikai_Enakis wrote: »

I'm glad I came across this thread prior to finishing the quest. With my moral compass, I may have saved her.

But after reading their dialogue, Sheo will keep her safe and she wants to go (probably because she's mad). Either way, Sheo and Valaste get what they want. I get what I want. Only Shally gets the shaft, and he still gives you his boon afterward anyway.

Sheo just wants Valaste because out of all the nonsense she'll spout out, perhaps she'll say something worthwhile to him. Meh, why not?

Remember that she is only mad BECAUSE of what Sheogorath did. He used the books to drive her mad by magic. Sheogorath promises a book that will give you the worth of "half a dozen of those skyshard things" (i.e. 6 skyshards = 2 skill points), so we should know that he makes it sound grander than the actual reward.

Now, I finished the quest, got a really nice blue staff from Valaste, and also got a boon from the Arch-mage that allows me to learn faster from books (reading at bookcases when in Eyevea).
Pretty weird that the affect while in Eyevea is a book swirling about me all the time....

Honestly, now I have Valaste and the archmage to interact with, and 2 SP is nothing that I can't make up because there is plenty of room for gaining skill points in this game, via dungeons, skyshards and quests.

Honestly, I think this is very fitting, unless I am focused on PvP in this game. It is just like SW approach where there is supposedly more direct power being darkside than light. Is 2 skill points really that much of a boon over another person?

Svann

Its so obvious. He loves her. And she loves him. I could not send her away to live with Shalidor despite his good intentions.

Adernath

Sihnfahl wrote: »

liquid_wolf wrote: »

Well... some of us will.

All of us will. Sheogorath is drawn to adventurers like the Vestige.

We're -interesting-.

I tooked the book, and as I ventured into the vet zones, guess what? I saw Valaste in one of the mages guilds. Had a good laught. I had a normal conversation with her, she wasnt insane

Lausanna

Hellorush wrote: »

Someone can confirm anything about this “Remembering all the books you have read before” which you recieve if you choose to pass on SP? Is it really a reward for passing on SP?

Does it provide an option in your Journal tab? Does it contain all readable objects, including notes? Is there no other way to make your char “remember” all readen books if you chosed Skillpoints?



Question for those who got a skillpoints: Which books you can see in your Journal tab? Only collections (like dwemer 2/10 and so on.)? You got any SP from Shalindor afterwards?

Question for those who passed on skillpoints: Which books do you see in your Journal tab? Do you see notes or other books which wasn't there before you made a choise against Sheo? Does Shalindor gives 1 skillpoint for the "good" decision?

Exact description of the reward follows. If you like surprises don't read it.

You literally see everything you've ever read. When you look under the lore tab there is now a new section called "eidetic memory," complete with categories similar to the ones in the original lore book log. Everything you've already read should be logged there, though this seems to be bugged at the moment - I have many entries, but not a single skill book recorded, even though I have gained many skill points from reading and recognize the titles.

I didn't get any skill points out of this, but I am happy with it. My decision was in-character, and I like the reward. I won't necessarily make the same choice on an alt, but that would be an RP decision. Losing 2 points out of the 300+ you already have access to doesn't seem like a big deal to me. You lose the instant gratification of 2 skill points, but if you are into lore or have gamer-OCD there is long-term gratification in turning down the skill points. For me that was the better choice.

lex.derioneb17_ESO

Just to remind you guys, you do right things because they are right, not because they benefit you in any way. It is the whole point of the concept of righteousness.
So i find all this QQ abpout being "forced" hilarious. Just like real life "you know I was forced to be a robber it pays better"

isengrimb16_ESO

I'm nowhere near there (and spoilers be damned, I can read about something all I like, but experiencing it is another kettle of fish) - but I like Sheogorath. I can't help it. I always like Coyote stories, and the three 16 Accords of Madness read like typical (bawlderized) Coyote stories (some tales of his are very dirty). I also like the Reynard the Fox cycle.

I have ES Anthology, and while I dislike the clunkiness of older games, the first thing I wound up doing in Oblivion was wander into the Shivering Isles. I'll go on eventually, I just got weirded out by those people complaining about evil dopplegangers of themselves. But I think I'll eventually just ignore them, and go on to find Sheogorath.

So, yeah, he wants to give me two skill points? Hmm. Not much of a dilemma there.

Seroczynski

No-brainer. Two skillpoints over storyline everyday.