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

Eccentric

Before I created the picture in OP, I was stunned by the intense and good voice acting they did on Sheogorath. After he with a low deep voice told me how I could become more powerful and presented me with this choice, I became very uncertain on wether I should save or give up the girl.

After some quick google research on the internet and lurking on some shady random forum I noticed someone write they recieved 2 skillpoints by giving up Velaste. I logged off the game and had to think about it for several of hours before I finally reached my decision.

I had taken some screenshots to savor the moment and show to my friends. With some work stitching the pictures together and showing it off, I thought it would be funny to hear what ppl thought about the choice on the forums.

There you have it, the origin of this thread.

Manamane

Just like Shaggy to Screw with the player one last time!!! I love it! Thanks for the spoiler, now I know what I am doing! Stuck up Altmer! To many in the world as it, so if I can thin the herd and get 2 skill points... SO BE IT!!! lol

Aeradon

We'll never know if the Mages quest line continues on. My bet is that it most likely will. Really wanna see what's the repercussions. 2SP is nothing in this game IMHO.

*unless I managed to hit 28 in crafting and ran out of skill points to add a slot into my research timer...Everybody loves butterflies and Valaste will be living our dreams then*

MKLS

2 Skill Points and a Valaste who is happy chasing butterflies and staying with Uncle Sheo - so what she is crazy - at least she is happy crazy rather than miserable sane as she was before.

Rev Rielle

Shalidor made it pretty clear which choice you should take. Saving Valaste mightn't 'mean' anything to some now, but chances are it certainly will in the future.

Who's mad enough to take the 2 skill points anyways? Skill points are everywhere there's so many more available than you'll ever need. Whoever took the skill points I'm sure the Mad King's have a good chuckle over.

kaze_mizuno_ESO

Lausanna wrote: »

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.

Just to make it perfectly clear, this second reward is unlocked regardless of your choice regarding Valaste. You make it sound like something you only get for saving her, which is not the case.

james.resnerb14_ESO

So I just completed this quest for the first time; I received the book but not the skill points. Do I need to petition or was it due to completing the quest at Level 38?

Rev Rielle

james.resnerb14_ESO wrote: »

So I just completed this quest for the first time; I received the book but not the skill points. Do I need to petition or was it due to completing the quest at Level 38?

No, you don't get any skill points for that I believe.

Digiman

In the long run the 2 skill points are pretty useless and I knew I would kick myself later in the late game if I betrayed Valaste

Carnagan

james.resnerb14_ESO wrote: »

So I just completed this quest for the first time; I received the book but not the skill points. Do I need to petition or was it due to completing the quest at Level 38?

Read the book.

No, really, I'm not just being a smart ass. Go into your inventory and read the book itself. That should give you the skill points.

Whisper292

There's an add-on that allows the player to hold on to and re-read every book they come across in the game that's actually better than the library Shalidor gives you. I chose to save Valaste, so basically, I got squat. But she seemed glad that I saved her, and let's face it--Uncle Sheo may have said she would be happy there, but he's not the most benevolent of Daedric Princes, so who knows what torments he would have placed on her once he got her to the Shivering Isles?

Now, here's an interesting question: why was Sheogorath so interested in Valaste anyway? He went through the whole Mages Guild questline just so he could take her home with him. Hmm...

Carnagan

Whisper292 wrote: »

Now, here's an interesting question: why was Sheogorath so interested in Valaste anyway? He went through the whole Mages Guild questline just so he could take her home with him. Hmm...

Honestly, I don't think that Valaste was actually the point of the whole exercise. It was fun to drive her mad, of course, and he left the impression that it was what he had been after but I doubt it was that simple.

I think the whole point was to drive her insane, then see what this new and entertaining mortal he had been playing with would do when offered personally gain against the sanity/life of an ally.

He would have just taken Valaste if she had been the whole point, after all.

Arcanebumblebee

I had pretty much decided to let Uncle Sheo have Valaste before I was even offered the skill points. Looking back at her memories, she was always very lonely and unhappy. Suddenly, she was happy again, if a little off in the head... but it wasn't an unpleasant sort of insanity.

When I talked to her before making the decision, she said something along the lines of, "Adept, if I go back to the way I was... I don't know, but if I go with him... maybe I'll be happy."

My original choice was reaffirmed and I got skill points to boot.

Pretext

It is sad to see posters saying that by having a good moral compass they would have made a mistake had they not checked what would happen first!

Imagine if we applied that thinking to real life and relied on guess work to tell us what probable outcomes would be and only picked those choices that gave us 'points'.

Why then we would have the world of dubious morals we do today.

KerinKor

I love those in this thread that say 'ZOS suck' for making the moral choice 'inferior' ... this quest clearly goes right over their heads, but I'm not surprised to see that.

In fact this thread is a great example of where games do actually reflect people's personalities a lot .. there are those for whom making the moral choice is reward in itself and those who, as someone early on in the thread said, considers themselves a dumb@ass .. to the latter group, that's just a sad way to view it.

Hridh

They should make something visible to other players about your choice, like 2 different end of Mage guild titles, so, if the player wishes to let others know of his bargain with the Mad god, he can show it off ^_^

When all the bugs and xploiting have settled down, it's this kind of quests with choices which will have made me stuck with ESO .

Oh and that voice actor... makes me wish to offer MYSELF to uncle Sheo... though, in all honesty, I would probably have offered another bargain : can I give you old useless Shaly, keep Valaste insane at my side, and reign supreme over the Guild aided by the knowledge of the Folium, to be read to me by my mad butterfly-loving assistant?

Ruke_Unlimited

Hridh wrote: »

They should make something visible to other players about your choice, like 2 different end of Mage guild titles, so, if the player wishes to let others know of his bargain with the Mad god, he can show it off ^_^

When all the bugs and xploiting have settled down, it's this kind of quests with choices which will have made me stuck with ESO .

Oh and that voice actor... makes me wish to offer MYSELF to uncle Sheo... though, in all honesty, I would probably have offered another bargain : can I give you old useless Shaly, keep Valaste insane at my side, and reign supreme over the Guild aided by the knowledge of the Folium, to be read to me by my mad butterfly-loving assistant?

^ This should be an option...

dodgehopper_ESO

shadoshryke wrote: »

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?

Your last paragraph sends the point home. Its a little sad that if you care about pvp in the game, you feel funneled into doing something you don't like in the story. If it had been a strong gear item, the choice wouldn't have been as bad. Lets set the right and wrong thing aside, 2 points is 2 points, and when it comes to competition its a shame they've designed it this way. Its not that its not realistic I suppose, but it is a bit sickening.

Carnagan

No, let's be fair. With the number of skill points available in the game, aren't going to mean much. They're nice, of course, but anyone who is PVP focused is never going to find themselves unable to get the skills they need.

There are several hundred skill points available in the game. You aren't being funneled into anything. You are being offered a boon that is extremely small in the grand scheme of things and you need to sell out an ally to get it.

Find me one person who has gotten all the sky shards and other skill points but keeps dying because they are lacking 1 skill (and not because they are bad at PVP), and I'll completely agree that this is a terrible design choice. I don't think I'll ever see that example but I look forward to people trying.

Chiren

Probably one of the most honest tests of character ever put into a game, MMO or not.

I think while its a controversial design choice, its also an awesome one, and I commend the game designers for having the BALLS to put it there.

Now no one can ever say that the choices in ESO don't make a difference, no "be that as it may" crap.

jesterstear

I chose to "save" Valaste.

Don't try justify nabbing your skill points under the pretence you're doing what's best for her. Her madness is entirely Sheogorath's doing and of course she'll say whatever because she's under control of his spell and has no idea what he's got in store for her. None of the other denizens of his realm, with the possible exception of Haskill, are having much in the way of fun.

Cured of her madness, she's happy again. Yes her upbringing wasn't filled with the best memories but she's in her element with the mage's guild, surrounded by books and people of a similar disposition. She's even got that extra dimensional island to chill out on now that you've pulled it from Sheogorath's clutches.

I'm pretty sure I did get an extra skill point from that memory gift.. is that a recent patch thing?

Anex

I'm just about here (like literally)... unfortunately zone chatters spoiled this choice for me before I even got there..

So I'm torn, I feel stupid NOT to take the 2 SP, but at the same time I'm sitting here with like 16 unused because I don't know where to put them or lack skill in a tradeskill where I WOULD put them.

Honestly I probably could use to throw some in another spec since I'm suffering as a NB who went assassination/dual wield spec and can't progress on the main story line (apparently I need to go siphon but this is not my play style ).. but it just bugs me too much in regards to the story to leave her that way. -_-

I guess I'm gonna be stupid and save her, I'm a sucker for the hero thing. Maybe on another character with a more evil inclination (I like to play both sides), but this time around I just can't Too bad doing the right thing doesn't pay... kind of like real life, the good guys/girls sometimes lose too.

Carnagan

Doing the right thing shouldn't be about personal gain. That's what's so awesome about this particular choice. It is literally about personal profit versus doing the right thing.

And considering the game is full of difficult, no right answer choices to make, the fact that the most difficult one is also the most binary and black and white is fantastic.

Arora

Cyrodill is not a Moral Place

SilvaRavenheart

Love this quest!

reggielee

I didnt have a problem with leaving her with him. She was quite arrogant and unhappy her entire life. For the first time she seemed content and was not alone. Sheog"s past 'prisoners' in his manor seemed to be happy and content within their rooms and I felt that he had a special affinity for her, especially now that she was mad. Shalidor was also wearing on my trust due to his indifference to her increasing instability, he was very good at manipulating others for his own needs, extremely arrogant in his own right. He couldnt care less for her, she was a tool he needed, as was my character. At the end when it was apparent the books were a trap that were affecting her he did not pause to protect her but rather continued with his own agenda as always. screw him

Whatever ***'s purpose he intends for her I dont think it will be one of torture but rather amusement perhaps at her madness, as well as his gathering of info from the ragings of the mad. I also wonder if perhaps he felt something for her, since he spent so much energy on snaring and entraping her. It went well beyond a comeuppance revenge act in my mind. I have no fear for her in his hands and feel that eso has a master plan with this storyline.

I only was concerned about how others would treat my actions and if I would be shunned or reprimanded in the mage guild, but there wasnt a blip of concern about her. It was like 'oh well, c'est le vie'. Especially from Shalidor. My biggest concern, and this had me thinking about my choice the longest...was that her loss in the war effort would be immense as she was a great mage in her own rights.

In the end, her single minded arrogance, lack of empathy and unhappiness with her lot in life made my decision easy. I didnt do it for the points, I always play with my heart

Ysne58

Yeah, Shalidor, Telengar, Ealcil -- all jerks.

kieso

im hanging back on this quest and waiting for an update.

SilvaRavenheart

If you'd seen the shivering isle in their entirety like in Oblivion, you'll see it would be an awful place to be living. It's basically a psychotic insane asylum en masse

darkstar2084

praise the mad prince! I was running out of skyshards & skill points at vet 12. so went back and sold her out. haha