Necrom/Gold Road story appreciation thread

AnduinTryggva · September 25

I know that there are quite some grudges against it, specifically in terms of play time in relationship to prices for these DLCs.

I can connect to this criticism which is basically a customer/client story aka value/money relationship.

I don't want to go into this kind of discussion as there are already a ton of threads dealing with this kind.

What I want to write is that actually I really consider, putting the shortness aside, this storyline one of the best. It really shines because it is so much different from all the others.

What I really appreciate above all is this:
- there is no real dedicated evil side although of course one side has to lose in order to save the world. THIS! This is how a good storytelling looks like. You understand why the evil side acts like this even though you know you have to beat it. I even felt quite some pity for them as the evil side had no evil motivations, they simply could not avoid negative consequences emanating from their very nature. And how could you blame someone just for being what they are? Finally, FINALLY, a story that is not black and white but so many shades of grey as a good story should be.
- very nice story twists. I could have thought of some other twists and even quite obvious ones but I am still happy with them.
- engaging characters.
- The philosophical backdrop of the story. That lend some real depth to all of it. Awesome!

Rkindaleft · September 25

I'm a fan of the zone design. The saturated autumn look of the zone looks pretty especially at sunset.

I liked the story but something I would have done differently is that I feel Ithelia needed more focus. The best quest in the whole questline was the one at the inn where she's sitting by the fire and you visit the other versions of her in alternate realities. She needed more lore. I think at least one of the wood elf quests should have been mainly about her and building her character up further which would be better for worldbuilding.

Necrotech_Master · September 25

Rkindaleft wrote: »

I'm a fan of the zone design. The saturated autumn look of the zone looks pretty especially at sunset.

I liked the story but something I would have done differently is that I feel Ithelia needed more focus. The best quest in the whole questline was the one at the inn where she's sitting by the fire and you visit the other versions of her in alternate realities. She needed more lore. I think at least one of the wood elf quests should have been mainly about her and building her character up further.

this, ithelia felt like more of a bullet point on the content

good example of overhyping lol

StarOfElyon · September 25

AnduinTryggva wrote: »

I know that there are quite some grudges against it, specifically in terms of play time in relationship to prices for these DLCs.

I can connect to this criticism which is basically a customer/client story aka value/money relationship.

I don't want to go into this kind of discussion as there are already a ton of threads dealing with this kind.

What I want to write is that actually I really consider, putting the shortness aside, this storyline one of the best. It really shines because it is so much different from all the others.

What I really appreciate above all is this:
- there is no real dedicated evil side although of course one side has to lose in order to save the world. THIS! This is how a good storytelling looks like. You understand why the evil side acts like this even though you know you have to beat it. I even felt quite some pity for them as the evil side had no evil motivations, they simply could not avoid negative consequences emanating from their very nature. And how could you blame someone just for being what they are? Finally, FINALLY, a story that is not black and white but so many shades of grey as a good story should be.
- very nice story twists. I could have thought of some other twists and even quite obvious ones but I am still happy with them.
- engaging characters.
- The philosophical backdrop of the story. That lend some real depth to all of it. Awesome!

My biggest complaint is that it ended so quickly and now Ithelia is gone forever. Really sad.. She had so much potential for a longer story and timeline-breaking shenanigans.

Syldras · September 25

StarOfElyon wrote: »

My biggest complaint is that it ended so quickly and now Ithelia is gone forever. Really sad.. She had so much potential for a longer story and timeline-breaking shenanigans.

Timeline breaking would have been the thing I'd actually wanted to see, especially as the prologue was hinting on historical events that changed Tamriel's cultures greatly (through lorebooks we found there). One example was the end of Daedra worship and beginning of the Tribunal religion in Morrowind. They could have showed us a different Morrowind, one where the Heart of Lorkhan was never utilized (which means no Tribunal, no cursed Chimer, and probably a different outcome of the War of the First Council), within a quest.

AnduinTryggva · September 25

StarOfElyon wrote: »

AnduinTryggva wrote: »

I know that there are quite some grudges against it, specifically in terms of play time in relationship to prices for these DLCs.

I can connect to this criticism which is basically a customer/client story aka value/money relationship.

I don't want to go into this kind of discussion as there are already a ton of threads dealing with this kind.

What I want to write is that actually I really consider, putting the shortness aside, this storyline one of the best. It really shines because it is so much different from all the others.

What I really appreciate above all is this:
- there is no real dedicated evil side although of course one side has to lose in order to save the world. THIS! This is how a good storytelling looks like. You understand why the evil side acts like this even though you know you have to beat it. I even felt quite some pity for them as the evil side had no evil motivations, they simply could not avoid negative consequences emanating from their very nature. And how could you blame someone just for being what they are? Finally, FINALLY, a story that is not black and white but so many shades of grey as a good story should be.
- very nice story twists. I could have thought of some other twists and even quite obvious ones but I am still happy with them.
- engaging characters.
- The philosophical backdrop of the story. That lend some real depth to all of it. Awesome!

My biggest complaint is that it ended so quickly and now Ithelia is gone forever. Really sad.. She had so much potential for a longer story and timeline-breaking shenanigans.

Yeah, I felt the same. I really think Ithelia is actually such a tragic figure it could be right out of an ancient Greek drama. It was done with a bit too quick. But I guess economic background had played into it. Sadly.

AVaelham · September 27

While it's perhaps a step in the good direction after the Greymoor-Blackwood-High Isle trifecta, the Ithelia Arc had the potential to be a real game changer in the ESO status-quo. I thought we would explore her background far more than we did, especially her connection to Magnus since she is a Magna Ge, and her relationship to Meridia as well as a fellow Magna Ge. Since the location for this Chapter was in Cyrodiil, I thought it would affect the Three Banners War somewhat as well. What we got was good, don't get me wrong, but I feel like it wasn't as ambitious as I would've expected it to be - especially in this anniversary year.

I also can't believe Mirrormoor was not an actual zone! Or something like Blackreach.

AnduinTryggva · September 27

AVaelham wrote: »

While it's perhaps a step in the good direction after the Greymoor-Blackwood-High Isle trifecta, the Ithelia Arc had the potential to be a real game changer in the ESO status-quo. I thought we would explore her background far more than we did, especially her connection to Magnus since she is a Magna Ge, and her relationship to Meridia as well as a fellow Magna Ge. Since the location for this Chapter was in Cyrodiil, I thought it would affect the Three Banners War somewhat as well. What we got was good, don't get me wrong, but I feel like it wasn't as ambitious as I would've expected it to be - especially in this anniversary year.

I also can't believe Mirrormoor was not an actual zone! Or something like Blackreach.

I am not a lore master so can you explain what a Magna Ge is?

As for Mirrormoor? As far as I understand the main story

this plane got destroyed somewhere and Ithelia wanted to destroy Apogrypha and build a new Mirrormoor on top of the ruins of Apogrypha.

AnduinTryggva · September 27

BTW: Did I mention that the side quest on Narsis Dren is really so awesomely hilarious!

I enjoyed it so much.

It I may give advice: Do this before you complete the main story line. The epilogue on Narsis is also very much hilarious.

Syldras · September 27

AVaelham wrote: »

I also can't believe Mirrormoor was not an actual zone! Or something like Blackreach.

It's a mostly destroyed and empty plane since Ithelia had been "forgotten" the last time. Mostly only one city remained. And we see a lot of that one.