Leveling Beyond 50 in the Pact

bellanca6561n · September 2014

I wanted to continue playing the game with Andala, my Dunmer character, after I hit 50. This was my sixth character and I finally created one I truly enjoyed thoroughly.

The Pact has its own identity. As you quest in their realms you begin to get into that aspect in a way I haven't really in an online game before.

Problem is, by the time you get there you not only don't like the other factions much, you certainly don't to play FOR them.

After all, isn't this like fighting for Austria-Hungry in WWI and being told to go off and fight for the British? Then the Russians? Nothing against the British or the Russians exactly. It just doesn't make any sense, story wise or otherwise. Rather it feels like they wanted more levels without creating more content.

Plus many of the these scripted quests were quite a bit of fun.

No big deal really. Normally you'd just quit a game and move on. No point in making a fuss over it. All that does is make you leave angry and adds nothing.

I'll try to stay in the Pact by playing in Cyrodiil but I will miss the Pact themed stories, written by professional writers and executed by professional game designers, coders, and artists. I knew nothing of the Elder Scrolls series before playing this game but I certainly grew to appreciate the milieu as I played this one.

But I have to ask: are there plans to overcome this odd story distortion - born of the need to ship and thus pay bills - now that the game has shipped and customers are paying the bills? Are there plans for any future faction themed quest packs?

Thank you one and all

[edit: ah, Photobucket emerged from maintenance as I first posted this....not sure why but I simply HATE to write a post without pictures.]

Rune_Relic · September 2014

I think the idea is to move you over to the opinion the other faction are not really any different to you (nasty/evil) and also being used by the schemes of molag bal....maybe deliberately. Hence the need to build some empathy. Divided we fall. But it does give the game this schizophrenic mentality that leaves me stumped.

The war is still ongoing in PVP endgame.....yet there is a kind of truce in PVE endgame. Which exactly is the current state of affairs ?

Hence you get calls for Vet stuff to be non faction based from the PVE perspective. Should PVP even exist if the factions are in truce ???

Well its left to the fighters and mages guild to be left neutral parties to face molag bal while the emperor war goes on. So actually there never is any kind of truce....just an agreement that a joint neutral force will take on molag bal.

bellanca6561n · September 2014

Yes, I considered that, RR, when I was taking my first character to VR7 but stopped because I found that my motivation had evaporated, especially when my previous faction had suddenly become the baddies.

Sounds a bit silly on the face of it I know. But it has me stumped as well, beyond the purely practical matter of creating more levels than you have quests for.

So no plans then to change this setup I take it? No further faction focused quest packs then. That's okay. I began playing in the beta, got the Imperial Edition to begin as early as I could, purchased a six month subscription, made several characters and enjoyed them. I had fun. I certainly won't leave feeling cheated.

It's a pity, though, as one thing this studio seems very good at is telling a story from a point of view.

Bleakraven · September 2014

Indeed, I have little motivation to continue levelling because, well, it's not really my character and my faction's story anymore, it's just something else. Why not add tougher quests in previous faction zones? Would be so cool.

bellanca6561n · September 2014

Agreed.....and with the instancing/layering system they have in place you could do exactly that: use the same setting for fresh stories.

If their aim was attract people who enjoy the content style of their earlier titles, and who don't love World of Warcraft style raiding or even Dark Age of Camelot style PvP, it would seem to me that this would certainly accomplish that goal.

KenjiJU · September 2014

Our character is a hero without borders and above all the petty faction lines. We could only hope to be so soulless. (I guess) *shrug*

BloodStorm · September 2014

Ya. It bugged me a lot as well. I took a break from ESO. Vet 10 was max then. I plan on coming back in 5 to 10 months when Ps4 version launches. Then can make, experiance AD from 1- 49. Then off to new content. I refuse to do the other factions quests again and want a fresh start. The the other factions kill imersion because you get into your character and story but then throws it on it's head and you feel like a traitor to your faction.

Woolenthreads · September 2014

LOL. As I have 5 AD, 6 BC and 4 EP characters I think I can truthfully say I have no loyalty to the factions

bellanca6561n · September 2014

Woolenthreads wrote: »

LOL. As I have 5 AD, 6 BC and 4 EP characters I think I can truthfully say I have no loyalty to the factions

One of the nice things, actually, about the three stories IMO is that all of them have their unsavory aspects. Thus faction loyalty does require a stretch. But it's more interesting than the usual good guys and bad guys with the bad guys being bad for no apparent reason.

Elder Scrolls is a chunky stew of western civilization history, seeking to vivify it through fantasy and abstraction. Unlike Tolkien who was clearly using this recipe as a poultice for a deep, deep trauma, one sees many hands at work here.

Thus it's a matter of taste and atmosphere which one you prefer. But due to resource constraints we have to play all of them.

Hurbster · October 2014

I just cannot get into playing another faction after playing the EP story through. I don't want to help the people who invaded Stonefalls, Bal Foyen or Bleakrock. Neither can I believe (after playing a bit of AD) that the elven queen sanctioned all that business with the Argonian eggs and the skin changers.

bellanca6561n · October 2014

Hardest part for me in the Dominion was those Green Pact taliban. Apart from making less than no sense - living at the top of the food chain to honor the bottom of the food chain - the quest where you kill the girl who ate a flower was simply too much.

Actually you don't kill her. You have one option: lead her to the hall of judgement where a strangler plant sucks the life out of her as she screams.

And flowers are appendages of plants, not plants. Needed a break after that one.