Soul Shriven or Thieves Guild?

Ghanima_Atreides

One of the first things that I noticed after update 1.5.2 is that all Soul Shriven NPCs in Coldharbour (and presumably the player character but I have no character low level enough to check) have changed from their slave rags into some quite fetching roguish armor that a friend of mine remarked looks more at home in a Thieves Guild den than Molag Bal's realm. This struck me as strange and at odds with the spirit and purpose of those outfits, which were supposed to emphasize the awful conditions soul shriven are forced to live and work in.

So, what gives? Did the Lord of Domination decide to improve the life quality of his slaves or did someone mix up the rags models with the upcoming Thieves Guild armor? Did the "rule of cool" win out because the old rags were considered too ugly, even though most people only wear them very shortly before changing intro proper gear?

Gilvoth

these are the new "raggs" we had?

Ghanima_Atreides

Yep. Like I said, I didn't actually make a new character just for the purpose of seeing if they also apply to the player, but every Soul Shriven NPC in Coldharbour wears them now so most likely; yes.

Lyris Titanborn also has a new outfit when you meet her in "Daughter of Giants" which at least looks more ragged and less...armor-like.

Naivefanboi

lol pictureing molag ball runnen around changing everyones clothes xD

adriant1978

Well if this is "rule of cool" then the player character doesn't get to be a cool kid. The change seems to apply to NPC Soul Shriven only.

Louis

the starting area had these people geared up because as you start the prologue of the main story that there was an uprising and most of the soul shriven free will or not has geared up, this in my opinion sounds more on par

Ghanima_Atreides

My pictures aren't from the starting area though. They are from the area you rescue Lyris from at level 10 during Daughter of Giants.

Louis

Ghanima_Atreides wrote: »

My pictures aren't from the starting area though. They are from the area you rescue Lyris from at level 10 during Daughter of Giants.

well then that sucks. i just thought it was reasonable but after hearing that then it just doesnt make sense

Circuitous

On the PTS, new characters were given sets of Soul Shriven Armor instead of rags. Apparently this extended to NPCs as well. ZOS reverted the change for players, but the NPCs apparently didn't get the memo (too busy staring at the walls, I imagine).

ZOS_TristanK

We did fix an issue in patch 1.5.2 where Soul Shriven NPCs were not wearing the correct equipment, which is why they look a bit spiffier now.

Previously we were planning to make adjustments to what player-characters wore when they woke up to find themselves slaves to Molag Bal, but we reverted this change based on player feedback. So you may not look as spiffy as some of the other Soul Shriven, but keep in mind that you're kinda new.

Louis

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

We did fix an issue in patch 1.5.2 where Soul Shriven NPCs were not wearing the correct equipment, which is why they look a bit spiffier now.

Previously we were planning to make adjustments to what player-characters wore when they woke up to find themselves slaves to Molag Bal, but we reverted this change based on player feedback. So you may not look as spiffy as some of the other Soul Shriven, but keep in mind that you're kinda new.

excuse me if i may ask, i dont really understand why would the soul shriven have those wear? the ones that stand there is there some sort of story to it?

Ghanima_Atreides

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

We did fix an issue in patch 1.5.2 where Soul Shriven NPCs were not wearing the correct equipment, which is why they look a bit spiffier now.

Previously we were planning to make adjustments to what player-characters wore when they woke up to find themselves slaves to Molag Bal, but we reverted this change based on player feedback. So you may not look as spiffy as some of the other Soul Shriven, but keep in mind that you're kinda new.

It just seems strange to me...these are supposed to be slaves worked to the bone in terrible conditions, not well-equipped soldiers. I understand that people wanted nicer-looking gear, but wouldn't it have been more fitting to add better-looking/more interesting rags that still looked like, well, rags, something a slave in Coldharbour might wear? Lyris' outfit is an example of what I mean.

seanvwolf

Louis wrote: »

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

We did fix an issue in patch 1.5.2 where Soul Shriven NPCs were not wearing the correct equipment, which is why they look a bit spiffier now.

Previously we were planning to make adjustments to what player-characters wore when they woke up to find themselves slaves to Molag Bal, but we reverted this change based on player feedback. So you may not look as spiffy as some of the other Soul Shriven, but keep in mind that you're kinda new.

excuse me if i may ask, i dont really understand why would the soul shriven have those wear? the ones that stand there is there some sort of story to it?

The Soul Shriven were much like you, vibrant and plump and ready to take on the forces of Oblivion, even after their souls were separated from their bodies. They were able, within their prison of Coldharbour, continue to maintain some semblance of community under the lashes of their oppressors, perhaps to give them some hope of escape or to maintain their sanity that much longer to make their torment that much sweeter to the God of Schemes. This is noted by the occasional named Shriven NPC's who can speak with you and some even talking about actively selling goods to other Soul Shriven in Coldharbour. The profusion of goods in crates, urns and trunks is testament that they continue to, when able, restock with goods found in the Daedric Plane or on Nirn as spoils of Molag Bal's forces excursions and exploits. Overtime, seclusion, depression and torment took a toll on their minds. Some have become feral, others resigned in inaction, while others, like you, are able to take part in the prisoner uprising.

I_killed_Vivec

I'd like to have the old rags as a costume - to walk the land in humility...

Walk quietly and carry a big stick

SantieClaws

It was kind of nice to see new players all wearing their soul shriven gear. You always knew who the new players were that way. The ones who didn't realise yet that they were actually wearing pyjamas.

adriant1978

seanvwolf wrote: »

The Soul Shriven were much like you, vibrant and plump and ready to take on the forces of Oblivion, even after their souls were separated from their bodies. They were able, within their prison of Coldharbour, continue to maintain some semblance of community under the lashes of their oppressors

This is a fair point, although in my opinion the new outfit looks too military. It looks like a uniform of sorts, hence the confusion with Thieves Guild armor. I'd like to see them in more of a patchwork of gear, that looks like they scavenged what they could from the trash and leftovers of Molag Bal's realm.

brandon

ZOS_TristanK wrote: »

We did fix an issue in patch 1.5.2 where Soul Shriven NPCs were not wearing the correct equipment, which is why they look a bit spiffier now.

Previously we were planning to make adjustments to what player-characters wore when they woke up to find themselves slaves to Molag Bal, but we reverted this change based on player feedback. So you may not look as spiffy as some of the other Soul Shriven, but keep in mind that you're kinda new.

Does this change have some sort of story reason for it? It just seems weird that "slaves" would have such a nice outfit and not slave type clothes. I mean they are slaves so they shouldn't have good clothes at all. Personally i don't like the change. @ZOS_TristanK

jockjammerb16_ESO

I recently rerolled one of my chars and found this out. You (your char) still starts with the old shriven pyjamas.The new soul shriven gear drops from chests and mobs now but it isnt called soul shriven,which I find misleading. It says homespun just like all the normal motif gear that drops in the tutorial zone but has the new unique optic. apparently it also comes in Hvy,med. and light. I got 1 hvy peice,3 med. and 1 light while doing the tutorial. The bad thing is it is bound either on pick up or equip,I didnt pay attention.
I have a character that I would like to play as a poverty stricken bum and would love to get the new "shriven light shoulders and hood but cant find any on sale. Great begger outfit that would look excellent with the prisoner dropped set. Somebody drop me a line if you get those peices and they can be traded pls.

MornaBaine

Hmmm... I'm gonna have to roll a new bank alt just to see this stuff! LOL Can you get the new soul shriven/homespun gear IN the Cold Harbor tutorial???

jockjammerb16_ESO

yes. As far as I know it's the only way to get it. With the limited number of character deletes farming a full set is really hard. Espescially as mobs stop dropping loot after you get a certain level

jockjammerb16_ESO

The medium armor chest had a very unique Icon however the other peices I found looked pretty generic until I equipped them. So take a good hard look atthe icon before equipping it if you you dont want it bound to you.

MornaBaine

jockjammerb16_ESO wrote: »

The medium armor chest had a very unique Icon however the other peices I found looked pretty generic until I equipped them. So take a good hard look atthe icon before equipping it if you you dont want it bound to you.

Thanks!

Elsonso

brandon wrote: »

Does this change have some sort of story reason for it? It just seems weird that "slaves" would have such a nice outfit and not slave type clothes. I mean they are slaves so they shouldn't have good clothes at all. Personally i don't like the change. @ZOS_TristanK

It could be a prelude to a game change where you exit Wailing Prison as a Level 50. The entire game will then be collecting Champion Points. You will be able to visit the old alliance quests through Cadwell Bronze, Silver, and Gold. You will also be able to go back in time and relive the defeat of Molag Bal and his minions. All of this scaled up to your level, of course.

MornaBaine

lordrichter wrote: »

brandon wrote: »

Does this change have some sort of story reason for it? It just seems weird that "slaves" would have such a nice outfit and not slave type clothes. I mean they are slaves so they shouldn't have good clothes at all. Personally i don't like the change. @ZOS_TristanK

It could be a prelude to a game change where you exit Wailing Prison as a Level 50. The entire game will then be collecting Champion Points. You will be able to visit the old alliance quests through Cadwell Bronze, Silver, and Gold. You will also be able to go back in time and relive the defeat of Molag Bal and his minions. All of this scaled up to your level, of course.

Oh gods....please kill me now. ANYTHING but this!

Elsonso

MornaBaine wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

brandon wrote: »

Does this change have some sort of story reason for it? It just seems weird that "slaves" would have such a nice outfit and not slave type clothes. I mean they are slaves so they shouldn't have good clothes at all. Personally i don't like the change. @ZOS_TristanK

It could be a prelude to a game change where you exit Wailing Prison as a Level 50. The entire game will then be collecting Champion Points. You will be able to visit the old alliance quests through Cadwell Bronze, Silver, and Gold. You will also be able to go back in time and relive the defeat of Molag Bal and his minions. All of this scaled up to your level, of course.

Oh gods....please kill me now. ANYTHING but this!

I would tend to agree. However, if history has shown us anything, it is that Zenimax is incredibly sensitive to anyone who says "this takes too long".

• They completely bypassed the starting islands and made them an optional backwards step
• They added a bypass for the Wailing Prison
• They added Cadwell so that players would not have to roll Alts and play the game three times instead of one time.
• Everyone leaving the Wailing Prison is now wearing armor instead of rags because it takes too long to scare up armor. Maybe players don't know they need armor.

These are just the ones that pop to mind immediately. There are probably others.

They seem to want the players to be able to get to the end game as quickly as possible. I can think of no better way to do it than to drop everyone in Craglorn when they exit the Wailing Prison and have Cadwell standing nearby to launch you on his quests.

I am just wondering what Zenimax does when the "this takes too long" crowd starts saying "boring, nothing to do here".