Got mixed feelings on the mq (like most of eso mq what else is new), but the zone itself is gorgeous. Imo right up there with Summerset and artaeum.

Destai wrote: »

I'm overall mixed on it, but it had its strengths. My biggest gripes are the story quality and the orange glow at sunrise/sunset.
The zone otherwise was pretty cool. Most of the delves and public dungeons were fun. Silorn was pretty epic. Skingrad was pretty well done; that crafting area is fantastic if you're done with your horse trainings. And the music was exquisite as always.

The landscape and assets, as well as the music, are never a problem, from my point of view. That team is always doing superb work. Although in this case I also really dislike the strong yellow light, it's a bit too much and just jarring for my eyes. But other than that, it's a beautifully designed zone with a lot of details especially in towns. I'm also amazed about how much new tools and tableware there is now, especially centered around wine and cheese

The thing I usually criticise most is also the writing. I found it better than it had been in High Isle, but it still wasn't what I had wished for after we had wonderful content releases like CWC or Summerset.

Necrom and Gold Road is my favorite storyline thus far, I really hope Ithelia returns, we learn what happened between Leramil and Mora, the cliff hanger with the alternate reality Curate Gadayn, and we confront Mora over the harm his actions caused (Ithelia would never have went mad in the first place if not for Mora's intervention in fate).

Also would be interested to know if the theories are true that Meridia and Ithelia are somehow connected, and if Mora was involved in the cursing of Jyggalag into becoming Sheogorath... Would also be cool to get lore or a story involving BOTH Jyggalag and Ithelia, since they're like S tier in terms of power (though any storyline involving Sheogorath and Jyggalag would be absolutely epic to see explored in ESO).

So many possibilities, and Necrom-Gold Road setup some many new possibilities for lore and story, it was an incredible chapter, and despite the complaints and need for buffs, Scribing/Spellcrafting is an awesome system that was the icing on the cake for me.

Like some other have said, the visuals and to some extent the overall atmosphere are quite good, it's quite pleasing to play in Gold Road, just like in most regions of ESO. They're the usual limitations of course, villages are comicaly smalls ( well ok Ontus are not that small, but the Rustwall Estate is not that impressive for some kind of country side residence for the Count and / or their most important guests ), not a lot of houses open in Skingrad sadly, and so on, but I'm nitpicking.

On the other hand, the quests and the overall writing is... not for me. Some quests are nice, the Ontus plot was nonsense but I appreciated the girl in her role, and I did like the story between the two woodelves in Valshabar, it was nice. Outside of that... well I didn't finish the zone and the main story, and I have absolutely no interest in doing so.

And for me it's not just quest writing wich is problematic, it's the overall world building and the coherence of it, the continuity of it. Really, when the female legionnaire, can't remember her name, just say that it was ok that the Dawnwoods happened and the woodelves settled in, because there was no people living here anyway, the story just lost me - why would I be involved if there is no problems, no consequences, nothing but the vilains screaming 'I'm gonna destroy everything, just watch me !' and then the day is saved. Sorry I don't know what happened to the poor pet bear, maybe he's been turned into some monstrosity by the wildburn and it's tragic, but in a way I don't care about a pet bear.

There is also many more things. At no point, in the quests I have done at least, there is no talking about the 'adversity' between the colovians and the ayleids, and I didn't see any animosity against the woodelves newcomers, fear of Skingrad being destroyed aside, even when a good part of these newcomers claim an ayleid legacy. It's just like, racism and injustified hatred don't exist in ESO anymore, be happy ! Baddies are baddies because they are baddies, and we don't like baddies because they are baddies, that's all ! Simple, easy, just plain boring.

Colovians were a recurrent ennemy in the base game, I remember them in Alakir, in Bangkorai, in Malabal Tor, in Reaper's March - they were rough, not only misguided by some Tharn doing Molag Bal good work, but in themselves they were not kind at all to the local peoples. Is this mentionned anywhere at all ? Why can't we talk about that with NPC ? Once again, it's just 'we're friends now, let's fight the baddies together !', end of the story.

There is no feeling of being in a world with different factions, with adversity, compromises, negociations, a world where ennemies could ally for a time against a greater threat, but with the aknowledgement of the limits of this alliance, just like we had when we launched the assault against Coldharbour in the base game. ANd sure, it's not a recent thing, we can look at Eslweyr, Summerset, Worthgar too - there was some kind of justification, yes, but it was hilariously weak, but I'm really sad to see yet again a rigidly self-contained story, that more than fail to be part of a greater story. The concept of a greater story in ESO is a sad joke, because things like the peace summit in High Isle are just free punches in it.

Anyway, end of my ranting. There is still a lot of good things in ESO, and there might be still a lot of good things coming for ESO in the future. Visually, in terms of ambiance, I think the game will still be really good, and fun to play. Story-wise... I don't have any hope for the coming one.

I liked the zone, but I'm partial for Imperial themes. I've wanted to turn a house into a winery for a long time and the devs finally added grapevines as a craftable furnishing, so soon I'll be producing wine in Apocrypha. Because why not... The Dawnwood area is gorgeous, so much I kind of wish it were bigger. The main quest wasn't bad, but I wouldn't call it memorable either. It didn't stir many emotions, unlike those from Wrothgar and Summerset, for example. The whodunnit side quest with that Khajiit investigator (Fuzzy Thunderpants or something?) was fun, though.

On the other hand, I found the yellow glare a bit excessive, though that's a minor problem. A bigger issue is, as stated by a poster above, the bosses with their insufferable invulnerability phases. Heck, even a delve boss got one! Mirrormoor incursions aren't a pain like bastion nymics, but they can get tiresome if you're farming motifs, leads or some other drop. One criticism I had involved Castle Skingrad being off-limits, but that was fixed later.

In sum, I liked the zone. As we move towards the uncharted waters of season passes, perhaps I'll think of the West Weald with some nostalgia from a time of more predictability. Especially if the new system doesn't work very well...

By the way, who's this Ithelia people keep mentioning? Name sounds familiar, but I can't quite figure it out...

Carcamongus wrote: »

By the way, who's this Ithelia people keep mentioning? Name sounds familiar, but I can't quite figure it out...

Syldras wrote: »

Sounds like something my nix hound had for dinner last week. It's a brand of nix food, no?

People? Naa, eet ain't a people.
Nix Hound food? Oi, nix hound food is whateva! The be usin' their proboscis to drain their prey of bodily fluids, it surely ain't no "ithelia"!

You two got me sides a bustin, surely "Ithelia" means "Aye, thee a liar!"

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

My problem is the writing of the main quests. Not Ithelia or the the dawnwood conflict, per se. It is the way everything is presented. You are thrown into a static situation and are told these are the bad guys, you are the good guy and now go and battlefight them. No exposition, no inciting incident, no rising action. And the boss fights are somewhat anticlimactic. I mean, you get that there is a climax going on right now, because they rub it into your face. But everything that sets the quality of a climax, like the depth of the antagonist's character or the perception of their strengths and abilities, is either just poor or diluted to a point of irrelevance.

I've noticed in many of stories since Greymoor have really strong elements but aren't delivered in a satisfactory way. To me at least. Greymoor was good, but they could've made the villain more sympathetic. They were trending in that direction early on, but I don't feel like it was a sustained movement throughout the story. Same thing with High Isle, the villain was initially presented as an anti-establishment force and then that fizzled out. I liked the idea of old world druid clashing with new world noble houses and an empire knocking on their door. Cool ideas there, so were the raiding Sea Elves. Just seemed like a lot of elements packed into a story that didn't give them room to breathe.

Now, Gold Road didn't really have many elements I liked. Most of the characters weren't enjoyable, especially Leramil. The whole Ithelia arc didn't sit well either. The only element that was remotely appealing was the Dawnwood conflict. I'd have expected those to be the Incursions for the zone, but there wasn't any. Like you said, we're just told about it.

It's a beautiful zone though. Had some really magical moments exploring. Kinda bummed that Castle Skingrad wound up being a $100 castle. Would've been nice to explore that.

Destai wrote: »

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

My problem is the writing of the main quests. Not Ithelia or the the dawnwood conflict, per se. It is the way everything is presented. You are thrown into a static situation and are told these are the bad guys, you are the good guy and now go and battlefight them. No exposition, no inciting incident, no rising action. And the boss fights are somewhat anticlimactic. I mean, you get that there is a climax going on right now, because they rub it into your face. But everything that sets the quality of a climax, like the depth of the antagonist's character or the perception of their strengths and abilities, is either just poor or diluted to a point of irrelevance.

I've noticed in many of stories since Greymoor have really strong elements but aren't delivered in a satisfactory way. To me at least. Greymoor was good, but they could've made the villain more sympathetic. They were trending in that direction early on, but I don't feel like it was a sustained movement throughout the story. Same thing with High Isle, the villain was initially presented as an anti-establishment force and then that fizzled out. I liked the idea of old world druid clashing with new world noble houses and an empire knocking on their door. Cool ideas there, so were the raiding Sea Elves. Just seemed like a lot of elements packed into a story that didn't give them room to breathe.

Now, Gold Road didn't really have many elements I liked. Most of the characters weren't enjoyable, especially Leramil. The whole Ithelia arc didn't sit well either. The only element that was remotely appealing was the Dawnwood conflict. I'd have expected those to be the Incursions for the zone, but there wasn't any. Like you said, we're just told about it.

It's a beautiful zone though. Had some really magical moments exploring. Kinda bummed that Castle Skingrad wound up being a $100 castle. Would've been nice to explore that.

I was seriously interested in Castle Skingrad, but I did not really care for the layout. Another maze house where the interior does not feel like it matches the exterior.

I love the aesthetic and the guards were a nice touch, but I'd prefer a normal walled castle with a large courtyard and a castle building structure with some turrets and a few levels. Nothing crazy.

The other thing was the size. I just can't fathom how I'd decorate that with 700 slots. 1500, sure, but 700 goes fast if we are to mimic the look of homes/buildings/rooms in game (which is what I often try to do).

Hapexamendios wrote: »

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I liked the visuals and sounds of the zone; I thought the quests were pretty good. I enjoyed all of the delves and the public dungeons. I really like scribing. I just wish the person who designed the world boss fights and the incursions was forced to play them solo for a month as punishment for the craptacular invulnerability phases everywhere.

Pretty much this. There were far too many enemies with invulnerability phases in this chapter. One or two I wouldn't complain. The amount was ridiculously high and it is a very boring mechanic.

Also stuns and knockbacks. I loving using the casted abilities from scribing, but it gets old when the mobs keep knocking me back during the cast. Makes me feel like I am being stunlocked by a wow rogue. They seemed excessive this chapter, but that could be due to me actualling using a casted abilty for once.

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I agree about the town of Ontus. When I stepped into some of the houses for quests, I was impressed with how they were decorated. They had the feel of Victorian times, slightly more elegant and sophisticated than previous zones.

100%. Ontus decorating was extremely well done. Hats off to the artist who worked on them. It as a good blend of elegant and "lived in".

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I am also always fond of Ayleid ruins and the zone had plenty of those to explore, though I was disappointed that one of them was somewhat closed off after you completed the quest.

I have never really been a fan of Ayleid but the Gold Road chapter gave me a greater appreciation for them. I think in part becasue I like the new Ayleid assets and would like to see more of those furnishing pieces made.

But ya, Ontus. I would like a 400/600 slot home there.

I really would like a permanent residence for one of my characters in both High Isle and West Weald, but the home offerings are too large with maze floor plans. Give me waters edge in either of those zones and I'd be a happy cat.

YstradClud wrote: »

Heren wrote: »

There is still a lot of good things in ESO, and there might be still a lot of good things coming for ESO in the future. Visually, in terms of ambiance, I think the game will still be really good, and fun to play. Story-wise... I don't have any hope for the coming one.

The art team hit the ball out of the park in this game, but I actually just had a similar discussion about the direction of writing on the forums of another mmorpg I play. I am just hoping the writers actually start taking the players feedback onboard about it.

Yeah, it's clearly not an ESO-only issue. Well, maybe it's just a me ( and some other people too ) issue !

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

But ya, Ontus. I would like a 400/600 slot home there.

I really would like a permanent residence for one of my characters in both High Isle and West Weald, but the home offerings are too large with maze floor plans. Give me waters edge in either of those zones and I'd be a happy cat.

In some way the ( heavily ) staggered release of homes give some hopes of having more 'comfy' houses in Colovia ! And maybe in High Isle too, who knows ?

YstradClud wrote: »

Well, it's even worse of a problem in the one of the other mmorpgs I play now (I play three). It's got to the point that a lot of the community laughs at you if you play the game for the story and lore

Where does that general tendency come from?

Heren wrote: »

In some way the ( heavily ) staggered release of homes give some hopes of having more 'comfy' houses in Colovia ! And maybe in High Isle too, who knows ?

I hope so!

I'd love to see a smaller home similar to Waters Edge (but maybe like a 400 slot house, I forget the category type) in High Isle.

The house over the bridge next to the Tales of Tribute club would be a heck of a nice house in game.

Something similar in West Weald would be welcoming as well and frankly even clockwork city in the city itself.

Hapexamendios wrote: »

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I liked the visuals and sounds of the zone; I thought the quests were pretty good. I enjoyed all of the delves and the public dungeons. I really like scribing. I just wish the person who designed the world boss fights and the incursions was forced to play them solo for a month as punishment for the craptacular invulnerability phases everywhere.

Pretty much this. There were far too many enemies with invulnerability phases in this chapter. One or two I wouldn't complain. The amount was ridiculously high and it is a very boring mechanic.

Agreed. Like a 20 second immunity then 1 second to damage, then another 20 seconds. Takes 15 hours to kill one boss. INCURSIONS are just mind numbing. Kind of had me wondering if I was going to "wait" before signing up for future zone implementations to see if it got worse.