Characters that got forgoten and could be added to stories ...

Elsonso · January 2023

colossalvoids wrote: »

I'd love having arcs and consequences but any reoccurring encounter is rendered useless and absolutely killed by "play in any order you like!" nonsense. It would not work the way we want most likely.

Eveli is a great example, from having an arc in Orsinium she turned into akorn-brain in Blackwood that lead people disliking actually pretty well written character from before. She wasn't favourite by any stretch but now it's a Stuga tier material. And remember when Naryu turned up in Morrowind people thought it wasn't a good cameo, oh jolly times, little we knew of what's to come.

Not writing it to go against other posters or the op but if some of the writers ever turning their heads forum side they're should be 100% aware of issues some of us having. Personally I see only two ways out, either we need more new original stories and characters (better new and uninspired than good old and made uninspired) or time line needs to move forward somehow.

If they had done it right, it would have worked. ZOS is of two minds when it comes to this. One part thinks this is happening in whatever order the player does content, while the other part thinks the story is linear, end-to-end, in the order they are released.

If they had just stuck to "all at one time" rather than trying to do both, then it would have been a lot more successful.

Dark_Lord_Kuro · February 2023

I really like to have some returning character here and there. I prefer when they get the sidequest treatement tough or play a minor role in the main story (like the captain in high isle) but dislike when they get the mainquest partner treatment. That sould be reserved to new npc.
I also like when they choose more forgoten npc like that kajiit raised by orc from orsinium making a comeback in southern elsweyr. One character i would like to see in necrom would be the dunmer that lost his son in the stonefall main story. Necrom being a burial site for dunmer it would be fitting to see him there.
I like when we can discuss what we have done since we last met with them.

I think they make to world feel like its going foward as it should and not stuck in 582. Yes we should be able to play it in any order but the world should feel like its going foward and these are a good compromise between having everything hapen at the exact same time and us being in 590 or something.

phantasmalD · February 2023

Elsonso wrote: »

If they had done it right, it would have worked. ZOS is of two minds when it comes to this. One part thinks this is happening in whatever order the player does content, while the other part thinks the story is linear, end-to-end, in the order they are released.

Yeeee, pretty much this. "Play in any order' is actually just a marketing lie, the stories are absolutely written with linear chronology in mind.
Hell, even within year long stories they couldn't bother to maintain flexibility. Like, funny story, I actually played Galen before High Isle and, when encountered on High Isle, the one shared NPC (Lord friggin Bacaro) won't recognize you and greet you as if you were meeting him for the first time.
Your knowledge also doesn't carry over, like you encounter the Firesong circle on Galen, but High isle never acknowledges that.
And just the friggin whiplash of having Eldertide be a major antagonistic group on High Isle, but an ally faction on Galen.

Literally couldn't bother to make sure that the two parts of a year long story can be played in any order.

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Another one of my gripes with the High Isle storyline.

And let's not forget that High Isle literally cannot take place before the Coldharbour questline, as that story has a 3-alliance meeting and temporary truce, that's treated as the first ever such event.

Supreme_Atromancer · February 2023

fall0athboy wrote: »

For example, I really want Sun-in-Shadow to show up in whatever Telvanni land we get in the future inevitably. Since Morrowind is free and essentially base-game, they could just make Heart of a Telvanni required for her potential Telvanni-Lands questline.

Ah, The Heart of a Telvanni, honestly one of my favourite quest chains in the entire game.
Sun-in-Shadow served a little story which was utterly complete by the time we moved on from Sadrith Mora. I can't see any case where a cameo would do anything but cheapen it, by diluting the impact.

Eoki would be good, though!