The prologue swap is a mistake

Sheridan

I don't like the way they turned the main plotline of the game into some kind of optional side quest that you can take in the starting area. I understand that Zenimax wants to position Morrowind more like standalone game than just another DLC (selling it in boxes etc.), so they even created the alternative start, which takes the player directly to Vvardenfell. But in doing so they screwed up with their own original idea of ESO storyline, which is mostly based on the fact that your character HAS NO SOUL. You've lost it when Mannimarco performed his ritual on you, and your main personal goal is to reclaim it somehow. It is mentioned in numerous dialogs throughout the game, and many quest plots revolve around this feature of yours (in short, your character is able to do a couple of things or survive in situations that common people can not). But now you can just skip all these original events completely (even unintentionally, if you miss that quest marker) and still play the storylines of all alliances with all the same old dialogs and quests about your lack of soul. It's evident mistake of writers and this is rather sad.

Also, at the start you are weak and terrified person that has lost everything (including your soul) and escapes Coldharbour prison to begin your gradual ascension to glory. But now you can level your character to a demi-god veteran clad in legendary armor, and then graciously let Mannimarco stab you to "escape" prison. (imagine starting Skyrim with level 100 Dovakin who can easily slay Alduin right in Helgen - which completely contradicts all the subsequent events.)

That, by the way, brings me to the main thing that is wrong with the switch of tutorials. You simply can't appear in the prison the same as before, with all your armor, gear and weapons armed. Not because of the prison guards, but because your original mortal body died in that ritual chamber somewhere in the Imperial City, stabbed by Mannimarco (and remained there with all the belongings, probably sacked and dumped afterwards). You do not "teleport" to Coldharbour prison - you reborn there, recreated as a Soul-shriven husk around your "vestige", presumably from the Azure Plasm, the same way daedra bodies reborn in Oblivion when they killed in the Mortal Plane (the theories of this are described in the lorebook "Chaotic Creatia: The Azure Plasm").

And now this great premise and basis of the Elder Scrolls Online storyline is screwed up, ignored and discarded by the same developers and writers that created it in the first place! Now it is no more than a side-quest that you can start anytime, "teleporting" to the prison. All because of their precious Morrowind, and for the sake of the casual new players, who (as Zenimax probably thinks) would be confused if the game with "Morrowind" in the title will not start on Vvardenfell.

This should be the other way around - the original Coldharbour prologue by default, and Morrowind prologue (which does not affect the rest of the game at all) as the optional quest which starts when you board the ship to Vvardenfell. Isn't this obvious? Or at least the game should let you choose the tutorial at the start.

Beardimus

It's her sounds like that makes sense to me, I'm surprised they did it this way, i guess it's to freshen up the focus to this Chapter.

To be fair PvE is pretty confused since OneTamriel, at least Cadwells Gold/Silver had a weak reason for all alliances everywhere.

Enodoc

As someone who brought up the numerous story issues during the closed beta, I completely agree. I hadn't even considered the point about gear and having a different body after the sacrifice, so that's a good one. Perhaps they could get around that by removing all your gear when you arrive in the prison, and returning it in the Sealed Urn. (If the Morrowind tutorial could be accessed by existing characters, you could do the same there with the Personal Effects coffer.)