How the main ESO quest could have been better

Gidorick

*spoiler warning*... I guess

I personally feel that ZOS missed the mark with ESO's main quest. We all play THE vestige, THE person who can bring down Molag Bal... It always seemed kind of shortsighted for an MMO.

ESO's narrative could have been more along the lines of the player being one of many vestiges who are being tapped to help defeat Molag Bal. It's a task that requires many players to accomplish and you must work together with others to bring the Daedric Prince down. The five companions should have been roles that players fulfill to create the "New Council of Champions." Players should have been encouraged to find other players to group with during the campaign to have each of the roles of the five champions fulfilled. Groups that didn't have enough players would simply have those roles filled by the NPCs... as ESO does now. The four companions would have simply been there to act as mentors and to use in the case of groups having fewer than five. The group would have then done something like vote for the NPC companion they take with them, with the leader's vote counting twice in the case of a tie.

ESO would have had a matchmaking system that would allow players to search for other players who are at the same point of the quest as they are.

In the end, the last battle would have involved 5 players taking on Molag Bal instead of just one. Perhaps players would even go in with a whole horde of other players including characters from their questing adventures and other adventurers wanting to take on the Daedric prince. Those random adventurers could have acted as fodder and at the end of the battle the New Council of Champions could have stood on the battlefield, among a field of slain adventurers, Molag Bal defeated and the safety of Nirn well in hand.

Those are the ways I think the Main Narrative could have been better. Are there ways in which you think it could have been better?

Taisynn

I disagree. While this is an MMO, it is also an Elder Scrolls game and I feel like majority of the quests should be allowed to be done solo. Because I enjoy that sort of thing. I joined ESO for the ever expanding storyline and promise of updates, not for the group play. That's just a bonus.

But that is all up to preference anyway.

Besides, that ship has sailed and them revisiting it now wouldn't make them money.

Plus I get pissed off in Dungeons when people skip through the voice dialog... Like literally angers me to the point my boyfriend and I will kick them from our group. If I got matched with some ass who did that in the Main Story, or Coldharbour, I'd rage quit the game. Because Coldharbour was my FAVORITE area.

Gidorick

Taisynn wrote: »

I disagree. While this is an MMO, it is also an Elder Scrolls game and I feel like majority of the quests should be allowed to be done solo. Because I enjoy that sort of thing. I joined ESO for the ever expanding storyline and promise of updates, not for the group play. That's just a bonus.

But that is all up to preference anyway.

Besides, that ship has sailed and them revisiting it now wouldn't make them money.

Plus I get pissed off in Dungeons when people skip through the voice dialog... Like literally angers me to the point my boyfriend and I will kick them from our group. If I got matched with some ass who did that in the Main Story, or Coldharbour, I'd rage quit the game.

erm.... I suggest that NPCS fill the roles that don't have players. Players who wanted to play the quest solo would be able to do so by continuing the quest without being in a group. The Companions would simply fill the rolls needed @Taisynn.

I too like to listen to all of the dialogue, so I totally get frustrated with players who do that. I could see there being grouping options like: "Skip Dialog Ability" toggle to help get like minded players grouping together.

And of course it's too late to change anything and I'm not expecting ZOS do so... this is more of a "what if" thread.

susmitds

Taisynn wrote: »

I disagree. While this is an MMO, it is also an Elder Scrolls game and I feel like majority of the quests should be allowed to be done solo. Because I enjoy that sort of thing. I joined ESO for the ever expanding storyline and promise of updates, not for the group play. That's just a bonus.

But that is all up to preference anyway.

Besides, that ship has sailed and them revisiting it now wouldn't make them money.

Plus I get pissed off in Dungeons when people skip through the voice dialog... Like literally angers me to the point my boyfriend and I will kick them from our group. If I got matched with some ass who did that in the Main Story, or Coldharbour, I'd rage quit the game. Because Coldharbour was my FAVORITE area.

Then I think, you really need to chill. I am a lore fanatic, but even I can't bothered to read through all those mindless banter everytime.

Taisynn

I don't think I need to chill at all. I love the voice acting. It's so well done and I love it very much. When others skip through it, I get so angry and feel like I've missed a vital part of the story...

Elsonso

I agree that the main quest missed the mark by a wide margin, for an MMO. It is very Elder Scrolls, as it is, but Elder Scrolls games have not been MMO games, up until now. ZOS could have been a bit more imaginative in how they blended ES and MMO together in the main quest.

In any MMO game, the player should never be The One. That should be some basic rule that every MMO lead should have tattooed on him somewhere. So, yeah, the Five Companions should have been a 4 person endeavor plus the one "required" NPC (for reasons that I will not spoil), and NPCs filling in blank spots as needed.

The main quest should have never had "Solo" stages. While able to be done solo, the game should have been designed to scale up to parties, allowing groups to complete the quest stages.

In the end, the problem with the main quest is that it is small. It needed to be Epic, in a way that no single player TES game could ever do.

Gidorick

You know @lordrichter I thought about that one required NPC and thought...

that it would be cool if there was a player that had to choose to be sacrificed. It would be an unpopular opinion, I know... but damn wouldn't it be cool if there were a point where one player MUST be sacrificed and the other three are thinking "wait, what?"

That sacrificed player could go through a separate little side mission while the other players are completing the main mission. Maybe like... they are the ones that free their souls while the other players are the ones who defeat Molag Bal.

Those are just some initial thoughts. A little creativity can go a LONG way.

I actually had my questing partner quit ESO because the main quest was solo. They said "If I want to play a solo game, I'll go play a solo game."

Elsonso

Gidorick wrote: »

You know @lordrichter I thought about that one required NPC and thought...

that it would be cool if there was a player that had to choose to be sacrificed. It would be an unpopular opinion, I know... but damn wouldn't it be cool if there were a point where one player MUST be sacrificed and the other three are thinking "wait, what?"

That sacrificed player could go through a separate little side mission while the other players are completing the main mission. Maybe like... they are the ones that free their souls while the other players are the ones who defeat Molag Bal.

Those are just some initial thoughts. A little creativity can go a LONG way.

I actually had my questing partner quit ESO because the main quest was solo. They said "If I want to play a solo game, I'll go play a solo game."

Yeah, I know. What really irks me about the main quest is how they could have made some relatively minor changes is the main quest and completely changed the feel. If they had assumed the proper mindset early, they could have prioritized the scaling we have today into the base game, and with that, the whole game would have been able to be much more Epic.

They wouldn't even have to really change the overall flow of the main quest. All they would have had to do is get rid of The One concept, open it up to group play, and scale to the number of players running the quest. Do it solo, do it with friends.

Kimba_Do

For a first MMO based on the Elder Scrolls franchise, this one thinks they did a decent job. Could they have done better? Of course, but that same principle applies to just about everything, game or otherwise.

As for the dialog, usually the initial portion gets listened to, but after that, this Khajiit tends to just read rather than listen. There are exceptions, however.

Kalifas

Gidorick wrote: »

*spoiler warning*... I guess

I personally feel that ZOS missed the mark with ESO's main quest. We all play THE vestige, THE person who can bring down Molag Bal... It always seemed kind of shortsighted for an MMO.

ESO's narrative could have been more along the lines of the player being one of many vestiges who are being tapped to help defeat Molag Bal. It's a task that requires many players to accomplish and you must work together with others to bring the Daedric Prince down. The five companions should have been roles that players fulfill to create the "New Council of Champions." Players should have been encouraged to find other players to group with during the campaign to have each of the roles of the five champions fulfilled. Groups that didn't have enough players would simply have those roles filled by the NPCs... as ESO does now. The four companions would have simply been there to act as mentors and to use in the case of groups having fewer than five. The group would have then done something like vote for the NPC companion they take with them, with the leader's vote counting twice in the case of a tie.

ESO would have had a matchmaking system that would allow players to search for other players who are at the same point of the quest as they are.

In the end, the last battle would have involved 5 players taking on Molag Bal instead of just one. Perhaps players would even go in with a whole horde of other players including characters from their questing adventures and other adventurers wanting to take on the Daedric prince. Those random adventurers could have acted as fodder and at the end of the battle the New Council of Champions could have stood on the battlefield, among a field of slain adventurers, Molag Bal defeated and the safety of Nirn well in hand.

Those are the ways I think the Main Narrative could have been better. Are there ways in which you think it could have been better?

Multi-player speechcraft dialogue roleplay during level questing in groups.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/171138/advanced-speechcraft-expansion-concept

The five roles of champions players could be done with a 4 man dungeon quest every 5 levels or so that act as a rite of passage, meaning you can't level until you complete that section.This would also baby step players into doing group PvE content. I don't know if everyone would like that though since it would feel more like a normal mmo versus Elder Scrolls Online. Also it would jarring to supposedly have 5 player companions assist you throughout your journeys only they are different characters every phase of the story. There needs to be more Rites Of Passage in this game, scattered in the pre 50 cap and onto Champions and whatever else comes.

They should have added some Origins stories for the races and classes so every playthrough would yield a different experience than the last. And a speechcraft expansion would do wonders for making stories feel fresh even if the reward is the same, the different colors of story would be interesting.

Tandor

I disagree wholeheartedly with the OP. The main storyline works well as it is - leave well alone! ESO isn't intended to be a traditional MMO and provides a good balance of solo and group content. Those MMOs that have gone down the group-based storyline approach have usually ended up being forced into making the content more soloable. Like it or not, grouping - especially pick-up grouping - has gone out of fashion and tying the main storyline quests to it makes no sense in the modern gaming world.

Elsonso

Tandor wrote: »

I disagree wholeheartedly with the OP. The main storyline works well as it is - leave well alone! ESO isn't intended to be a traditional MMO and provides a good balance of solo and group content. Those MMOs that have gone down the group-based storyline approach have usually ended up being forced into making the content more soloable. Like it or not, grouping - especially pick-up grouping - has gone out of fashion and tying the main storyline quests to it makes no sense in the modern gaming world.

Being a "non-traditional MMO" does not mean that it is not an MMO.

The single player TES games are limited in what they can present to the player in terms of epic game play. In the end, single player TES games are about a guy running around "saving the world" one more time. This is all heroic, but there is just so much that one guy with a "sword" can be expected to take on, even if they are the Dragonborn, Hero of Kvatch, or the Nerevarine.

ZOS should have designed a main quest for both solo and group play. They could have crafted the systems and quests that would have delivered a solo main quest common in the single player games, but also delivered an epic multiplayer main quest that no solo game could have touched.

What ZOS delivered was a solo main quest that is walled off from the rest of the game. They could have done better. They had years of development to make it happen. A game like ESO deserves an epic multiplayer main quest.

Gidorick

lordrichter wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

I disagree wholeheartedly with the OP. The main storyline works well as it is - leave well alone! ESO isn't intended to be a traditional MMO and provides a good balance of solo and group content. Those MMOs that have gone down the group-based storyline approach have usually ended up being forced into making the content more soloable. Like it or not, grouping - especially pick-up grouping - has gone out of fashion and tying the main storyline quests to it makes no sense in the modern gaming world.

Being a "non-traditional MMO" does not mean that it is not an MMO.

The single player TES games are limited in what they can present to the player in terms of epic game play. In the end, single player TES games are about a guy running around "saving the world" one more time. This is all heroic, but there is just so much that one guy with a "sword" can be expected to take on, even if they are the Dragonborn, Hero of Kvatch, or the Nerevarine.

ZOS should have designed a main quest for both solo and group play. They could have crafted the systems and quests that would have delivered a solo main quest common in the single player games, but also delivered an epic multiplayer main quest that no solo game could have touched.

What ZOS delivered was a solo main quest that is walled off from the rest of the game. They could have done better. They had years of development to make it happen. A game like ESO deserves an epic multiplayer main quest.

I agree and I would also like the message of "we can do it together!" to exist within the TES world. So far all we have ever had are Heros and "chosen ones" it would be nice to see people ban together to achieve something great.

craybest

I agree it's weird when all our characters fill such a specific role in the story, the OP idea is nice.

TheShadowScout

I agree wholeheartedly with Gidoric. Since I dislike MMOs where everyone ends up in "Ay am dah ONE!" storyline... it gets ridiculous if everyone who gets through the story gets an "unique" title along the lines of "the one who saved the world" or such... better to have the story rteflect that there are many players.
I mean... can you imagine the arguments? "I killed Mannimarco" - "no, I did" - "did not, I did" - "did too, you phoney" - "no it was me" - "shaddup, I done it!"...

Now, the grouping with others thing... as a sociophobe, I do most things solo, or not at all, and only very rarely find people in the game that I would feel comfortable grouping with (or that would spend the effort to get me to that point through good roleplay, more's the pity)... but if there was an NPC option, that would be no problem...

But the core oft the issue, that I would have loved a storyline that had my player characters be "one of many vestiges", working together, possibly even using the solo queststyle by claiming they need to defeat Molag Bal in multiple layers of reality, and throughout the narrative explain that there are many, many vestiges (players) fighting at this very moment... I'd have loved it like that!

Of course... I also would have liked it is some quests were a bit different depending on who does them. Like, a quest where you NEED to go invisible to get past a point for nightblades, but the same quest stage giving out one where you NEED to heal someone for templars, or where you NEED to have a pet for Sorcs, or NEED to use some fire class skill for DKs... just so people get the "each is doing their part, in their area of expertise" feeling... (possibly a big level with several paths, you take the one according to your class, NPCs or your groupmates take the others... something like that anyways). And quests that go different depending on which race you selected. And quests that go different depending on which build you have (aka, for the game, which is higher, stamina or magicka).
Stuff like that, to make the game feel more consiostent and interactive...

Not that it matters at this point... but it would have been cool if the story was constructed without such "fluff dissonance"...

Ah, well. Maybe next game that catches my interest. (not that I expect any to draw me away from ESO anytime soon, since I pick my games for the background, not the game... and I haven't heard any rumours of any interesting background to be made into a new MMO anytime soon...)

craybest

100% agree Shadowscout, more importance to our class, and just change some dialogues so we're one of many vestiges that help in defeating him.
GW2 had the same problem in its main storyline, and it gets weird. Everyone and their mom was the pact leader, it just irks me.

Vigarr

Remove that early quest where you have to walk through with the prophet for a history lesson...that would make it a bit better.

Tholian1

I loved the main story, although I wish it were a bit longer and allowed for players to become more attached to the companions. It is a TES game which places the player as THE hero, which is what I like about TES games. Maybe you would prefer a different MMO which isn't related to the TES franchise?

I can only speak for myself, but I only play this game because it is based heavily on TES and if there were a new single player TES game without all the MMO nonsense, I would be playing that game instead. Until then, I appreciate the effort the Devs have made to appeal to us single player fans of the franchise.

WalkingLegacy

I don't know if this is on topic @Gidorick but I feel like the story was too watered and toned down.

Like we have an M rated game but it's still trying to cater to kids...I wish it would own it's M rating.

I agree with the whole vestige thing though and that last fight wasn't satisfactory nor challenging.

SolarCat02

Gidorick wrote: »

*spoiler warning*... I guess

I personally feel that ZOS missed the mark with ESO's main quest. We all play THE vestige, THE person who can bring down Molag Bal... It always seemed kind of shortsighted for an MMO.

ESO's narrative could have been more along the lines of the player being one of many vestiges who are being tapped to help defeat Molag Bal. It's a task that requires many players to accomplish and you must work together with others to bring the Daedric Prince down. The five companions should have been roles that players fulfill to create the "New Council of Champions." Players should have been encouraged to find other players to group with during the campaign to have each of the roles of the five champions fulfilled. Groups that didn't have enough players would simply have those roles filled by the NPCs... as ESO does now.

Main storyline questing that requires other players to group up?
I would like to point to Craglorn as an example of how this works in game. (Don't get me wrong! I absolutely love Craglorn and wish it scaled to VR16. It's also very nice there's hardly anyone in lower Craglorn, so we don't have lag like everywhere else...)

It would be fun to have a parallel storyline of course. I am always up for more group dungeons,and having a series of them with a storyline that spanned across them would be really fun. (In this case I would really like them to be repeatable, too, on some level, so I can help others through them, and relive the fun!)

Please no NPC helpers, or make them optional? If I am soloing, I always grab one NPC if offered, but if I am with at least one friend any NPC just gets in the way...

Volkodav

Gidorick wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

I disagree wholeheartedly with the OP. The main storyline works well as it is - leave well alone! ESO isn't intended to be a traditional MMO and provides a good balance of solo and group content. Those MMOs that have gone down the group-based storyline approach have usually ended up being forced into making the content more soloable. Like it or not, grouping - especially pick-up grouping - has gone out of fashion and tying the main storyline quests to it makes no sense in the modern gaming world.

Being a "non-traditional MMO" does not mean that it is not an MMO.

The single player TES games are limited in what they can present to the player in terms of epic game play. In the end, single player TES games are about a guy running around "saving the world" one more time. This is all heroic, but there is just so much that one guy with a "sword" can be expected to take on, even if they are the Dragonborn, Hero of Kvatch, or the Nerevarine.

ZOS should have designed a main quest for both solo and group play. They could have crafted the systems and quests that would have delivered a solo main quest common in the single player games, but also delivered an epic multiplayer main quest that no solo game could have touched.

What ZOS delivered was a solo main quest that is walled off from the rest of the game. They could have done better. They had years of development to make it happen. A game like ESO deserves an epic multiplayer main quest.

I agree and I would also like the message of "we can do it together!" to exist within the TES world. So far all we have ever had are Heros and "chosen ones" it would be nice to see people ban together to achieve something great.

One thread advocated separating the continents,and people cried LORE,LORE,it wouldnt be right.
To remove the main character in any TES game would totally break that.
You know me,..I dont cry LORE.Hehe. Heck,I'm even open for some new things.
However,this is part of what makes an Elder Scrolls game.Growth is fine, but not total change altogether.And that is what it would be. ESO is different for many reasons.One being that you are the main focus and this makes for immersion.

Gidorick

Kalifas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

*spoiler warning*... I guess

I personally feel that ZOS missed the mark with ESO's main quest. We all play THE vestige, THE person who can bring down Molag Bal... It always seemed kind of shortsighted for an MMO.

ESO's narrative could have been more along the lines of the player being one of many vestiges who are being tapped to help defeat Molag Bal. It's a task that requires many players to accomplish and you must work together with others to bring the Daedric Prince down. The five companions should have been roles that players fulfill to create the "New Council of Champions." Players should have been encouraged to find other players to group with during the campaign to have each of the roles of the five champions fulfilled. Groups that didn't have enough players would simply have those roles filled by the NPCs... as ESO does now. The four companions would have simply been there to act as mentors and to use in the case of groups having fewer than five. The group would have then done something like vote for the NPC companion they take with them, with the leader's vote counting twice in the case of a tie.

ESO would have had a matchmaking system that would allow players to search for other players who are at the same point of the quest as they are.

In the end, the last battle would have involved 5 players taking on Molag Bal instead of just one. Perhaps players would even go in with a whole horde of other players including characters from their questing adventures and other adventurers wanting to take on the Daedric prince. Those random adventurers could have acted as fodder and at the end of the battle the New Council of Champions could have stood on the battlefield, among a field of slain adventurers, Molag Bal defeated and the safety of Nirn well in hand.

Those are the ways I think the Main Narrative could have been better. Are there ways in which you think it could have been better?

Multi-player speechcraft dialogue roleplay during level questing in groups.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/171138/advanced-speechcraft-expansion-concept

The five roles of champions players could be done with a 4 man dungeon quest every 5 levels or so that act as a rite of passage, meaning you can't level until you complete that section.This would also baby step players into doing group PvE content. I don't know if everyone would like that though since it would feel more like a normal mmo versus Elder Scrolls Online. Also it would jarring to supposedly have 5 player companions assist you throughout your journeys only they are different characters every phase of the story. There needs to be more Rites Of Passage in this game, scattered in the pre 50 cap and onto Champions and whatever else comes.

They should have added some Origins stories for the races and classes so every playthrough would yield a different experience than the last. And a speechcraft expansion would do wonders for making stories feel fresh even if the reward is the same, the different colors of story would be interesting.

Someone linking one of my own concept threads in a discussion thread I created... woah. I like the idea of having some quests being solo and some being multiplayer. The game, as it is now, doesn't really teach you how to play. You're just thrown in and told to "go play".

Since this is a "what if thread", I would say that players should have experienced the skills of each of the classes in Coldharbour when we are escaping. Give the player a skill from each of the skill lines. and have the player play the role of DPS, Tank, and Healer at different times. Only at the end of the Coldharbour escape should we should have been given the choice of class.

Racial quests.. YES please @Kalifas ! But those, I think, would be more single-player since it would be a more personal story line.

Moonscythe

I have kind of come to the conclusion that MMO means Massively Multiple Opinions. I kind of agree with you on principle @Gidorick but to carry it out runs into those other opinions which number as many as there are players and they will never really agree.

For my own self, I would have liked to see a far more complex main story with more than one path to take down Molag Bal. It's not as if anything any one player does affects the world in any significant fashion so why not add some flexibility to game play. There could be a more dynamic approach to the prophet quests that lets the player choose how they advance the plot based on their class or play style or preference for small groups or solo. Main alliance quests could also work that way. It might even make leveling a new alt more enticing.

Kalifas

Gidorick wrote: »

Kalifas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

*spoiler warning*... I guess

I personally feel that ZOS missed the mark with ESO's main quest. We all play THE vestige, THE person who can bring down Molag Bal... It always seemed kind of shortsighted for an MMO.

ESO's narrative could have been more along the lines of the player being one of many vestiges who are being tapped to help defeat Molag Bal. It's a task that requires many players to accomplish and you must work together with others to bring the Daedric Prince down. The five companions should have been roles that players fulfill to create the "New Council of Champions." Players should have been encouraged to find other players to group with during the campaign to have each of the roles of the five champions fulfilled. Groups that didn't have enough players would simply have those roles filled by the NPCs... as ESO does now. The four companions would have simply been there to act as mentors and to use in the case of groups having fewer than five. The group would have then done something like vote for the NPC companion they take with them, with the leader's vote counting twice in the case of a tie.

ESO would have had a matchmaking system that would allow players to search for other players who are at the same point of the quest as they are.

In the end, the last battle would have involved 5 players taking on Molag Bal instead of just one. Perhaps players would even go in with a whole horde of other players including characters from their questing adventures and other adventurers wanting to take on the Daedric prince. Those random adventurers could have acted as fodder and at the end of the battle the New Council of Champions could have stood on the battlefield, among a field of slain adventurers, Molag Bal defeated and the safety of Nirn well in hand.

Those are the ways I think the Main Narrative could have been better. Are there ways in which you think it could have been better?

Multi-player speechcraft dialogue roleplay during level questing in groups.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/171138/advanced-speechcraft-expansion-concept

The five roles of champions players could be done with a 4 man dungeon quest every 5 levels or so that act as a rite of passage, meaning you can't level until you complete that section.This would also baby step players into doing group PvE content. I don't know if everyone would like that though since it would feel more like a normal mmo versus Elder Scrolls Online. Also it would jarring to supposedly have 5 player companions assist you throughout your journeys only they are different characters every phase of the story. There needs to be more Rites Of Passage in this game, scattered in the pre 50 cap and onto Champions and whatever else comes.

They should have added some Origins stories for the races and classes so every playthrough would yield a different experience than the last. And a speechcraft expansion would do wonders for making stories feel fresh even if the reward is the same, the different colors of story would be interesting.

Someone linking one of my own concept threads in a discussion thread I created... woah. I like the idea of having some quests being solo and some being multiplayer. The game, as it is now, doesn't really teach you how to play. You're just thrown in and told to "go play".

Since this is a "what if thread", I would say that players should have experienced the skills of each of the classes in Coldharbour when we are escaping. Give the player a skill from each of the skill lines. and have the player play the role of DPS, Tank, and Healer at different times. Only at the end of the Coldharbour escape should we should have been given the choice of class.

Racial quests.. YES please @Kalifas ! But those, I think, would be more single-player since it would be a more personal story line.

Well sometimes a personal story can be country or city wide if the strife comes to your front door instead of the news. They have 3 nations and PvP that takes place in Cyrodil. Why can't there be dynamic events like Guild Wars 2, except in this context, players are involved in defending or strengthening their nations interest across Tamriel. A branching story with dynamic events and public events adding brevity to caring for or betraying one's nation. Political turmoil variances like assassinations, arson, etc.

I would be fine with unique solo racial quests as well too. Made playing thorough DAO multiple times much more enjoyable.

Taisynn

@Volkodav Oh, that would be *gasp* me! (Insert heroic pose here)

Anywho, this is an Elder Scrolls game. In it's TL, it's a prequel to the games we know as Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. To seperate the continents would mean they'd have to revisit all those games and fix the map, betray their loyal player base, and completely f'up what people have grown to love. I play, (bugs, glitches, and frustration with often incompetent ZOS employees) because of loyalty to the storytelling I know and love in this game.

And to remove the solo elements of the hero would also betray that player base. "To be a ring bearer (hero) is to be alone," - Gladriel LOTR. We have PLENTY of group content including dungeons, PVP, and the fact you can group in all the other zones.

To put it all in perspective:

Gidorick

Taisynn wrote: »

@Volkodav Oh, that would be *gasp* me! (Insert heroic pose here)

Anywho, this is an Elder Scrolls game. In it's TL, it's a prequel to the games we know as Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. To seperate the continents would mean they'd have to revisit all those games and fix the map, betray their loyal player base, and completely f'up what people have grown to love. I play, (bugs, glitches, and frustration with often incompetent ZOS employees) because of loyalty to the storytelling I know and love in this game.

And to remove the solo elements of the hero would also betray that player base. "To be a ring bearer (hero) is to be alone," - Gladriel LOTR. We have PLENTY of group content including dungeons, PVP, and the fact you can group in all the other zones.

To put it all in perspective:

I completely disagree it would betray the player base @Taisynn . Why? Because I'm part of that player base. I come from the TES side of the customer base, not the MMO side.

The only reason players have always been "the one" is because the games were single player. We weren't always the "chosen one" either. I mean, in Oblivion we are just the "Hero", it could have been anyone. In Arena and Daggerfall we are just charged with a task. Only in Morrowind, Skyrim, and ESO are we supernaturally superior than any other regular adventurer. The things most TES players love about TES is the lore, the world, the races, and the freedom of questing. What those players wanted when they asked for an Elder Scrolls MMO is to be able to play a TES game with friends.

What did we get? An MMO that prevents you from playing the main quest with your friends. Not exactly what we asked for.

TheShadowScout

Vigarr wrote: »

Remove that early quest where you have to walk through with the prophet for a history lesson...that would make it a bit better.

Actually that one is pretty nifty.
When you play through it the very first time.
The next few times... meh. And a "Hey prophet-dude, skip the history lession, I know all about the soulburst and stuff!" option would have been a good thing...

Tholian1 wrote: »

It is a TES game which places the player as THE hero, which is what I like about TES games. Maybe you would prefer a different MMO which isn't related to the TES franchise?

Every single player game places the player as THE hero - and in single player games, it works. In MMOs... not so much, when there are hundreds "THE Hero" players running around and stumbling over each other... Nothing to do with TES, because that is the world setting, and not the game flavor...

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

...but I feel like the story was too watered and toned down.

Like we have an M rated game but it's still trying to cater to kids...I wish it would own it's M rating.

When I pre-ordered it back in 2014, it came with a "16" rating. Later to be raised to "M" with the "Tamriel Unlimited" upgrade and the introduction of the justice system.

But yeah, many among the players feel like you, me among them. I'd have wanted the game gritty and pushing the limits of a "M" rating rather then this watered down version... I'd even pay extra if they were to offer an option that might refit some of this, some sort of... "Brutality Pack"?

But not just that, also with many stories I felt they were needlessly "pulling punches". All those "rescue my kid" quests that turn out to be fully grown adults somehow incapable of setting one foot in front of the other without player assistance? The "my mom still treats me like a baby" shtick works that once in Stormhaven, not so much when you encounter a similar quest in Alik'r... or other quests where they carefully avoided some possibilities...
And of course, all those "please fulfill my last wish" people with no blood or visible wounds. [sarcasm] Because we cannot show that death in battle at medieval/fantasy tech levels was bloody and scary and painful [/sarcasm]
Oh, well. Maybe some other game will dare to go there in a while...

Gidorick

TheShadowScout wrote: »

Oh, well. Maybe some other game will dare to go there in a while...

Perhaps another game will @TheShadowScout , but I probably won't be playing it because it won't be a TES MMO.

Volkodav

Taisynn wrote: »

@Volkodav Oh, that would be *gasp* me! (Insert heroic pose here)

Anywho, this is an Elder Scrolls game. In it's TL, it's a prequel to the games we know as Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. To seperate the continents would mean they'd have to revisit all those games and fix the map, betray their loyal player base, and completely f'up what people have grown to love. I play, (bugs, glitches, and frustration with often incompetent ZOS employees) because of loyalty to the storytelling I know and love in this game.

And to remove the solo elements of the hero would also betray that player base. "To be a ring bearer (hero) is to be alone," - Gladriel LOTR. We have PLENTY of group content including dungeons, PVP, and the fact you can group in all the other zones.

To put it all in perspective:

Just so ya know,..I have played them all and still play Morrowind.I am not a newbie to the TES series.
I have no idea what you are talking about here.Did you actually read my comment?
I didnt advocate separating the continents,nor did I agree with removing the main hero.
I merely mentioned what someone else had posted about and got slammed for.I personally am happy with it all as it is,and if you actually read my comment,it said that to remove the main hero,the one,wouldnt be right.
So,your"gasp" is a bit out of line there,pal.

WalkingLegacy

@TheShadowScout

Remember when Oblivion released it was T rated as well? They had to change it to M though because of the zombie flesh and gore in game.

I think ESRB ratings caught up with ESO in this same regard.

I agree with you though.

Tholian1

TheShadowScout wrote: »

Vigarr wrote: »

Remove that early quest where you have to walk through with the prophet for a history lesson...that would make it a bit better.

Actually that one is pretty nifty.
When you play through it the very first time.
The next few times... meh. And a "Hey prophet-dude, skip the history lession, I know all about the soulburst and stuff!" option would have been a good thing...

Tholian1 wrote: »

It is a TES game which places the player as THE hero, which is what I like about TES games. Maybe you would prefer a different MMO which isn't related to the TES franchise?

Every single player game places the player as THE hero - and in single player games, it works. In MMOs... not so much, when there are hundreds "THE Hero" players running around and stumbling over each other... Nothing to do with TES, because that is the world setting, and not the game flavor...

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

...but I feel like the story was too watered and toned down.

Like we have an M rated game but it's still trying to cater to kids...I wish it would own it's M rating.

When I pre-ordered it back in 2014, it came with a "16" rating. Later to be raised to "M" with the "Tamriel Unlimited" upgrade and the introduction of the justice system.

But yeah, many among the players feel like you, me among them. I'd have wanted the game gritty and pushing the limits of a "M" rating rather then this watered down version... I'd even pay extra if they were to offer an option that might refit some of this, some sort of... "Brutality Pack"?

But not just that, also with many stories I felt they were needlessly "pulling punches". All those "rescue my kid" quests that turn out to be fully grown adults somehow incapable of setting one foot in front of the other without player assistance? The "my mom still treats me like a baby" shtick works that once in Stormhaven, not so much when you encounter a similar quest in Alik'r... or other quests where they carefully avoided some possibilities...
And of course, all those "please fulfill my last wish" people with no blood or visible wounds. [sarcasm] Because we cannot show that death in battle at medieval/fantasy tech levels was bloody and scary and painful [/sarcasm]
Oh, well. Maybe some other game will dare to go there in a while...

I seem to recall someone from Bethesda saying that he didn't think the TES experience would translate well into an MMO. I think he was right when it comes to having multiple heroes stumbling over each other and the heavy reliance on guilds and grouping with others for some content which can be a huge pain for those that do prefer the tradition single player experience they have grown accustomed to in TES games.

I look at the trophies for completing the content in the game on my PS4 and all the trophies for the group content (like craglorn and the public dungeons for each alliance), including PvP, have extremely low percentages of completion. I do not see why any of the solo content needs to be converted into group content if the majority of players, at least on one platform, isn't completing the group content that already exists. Forced grouping with strangers to playthe game isn't the same as wanting to optionally play TES with friends.

The main quest is fine as a solo experience.