Proposal: Artifacts

Woodenplank

First off; This will likely be a rage-inducing, developer-ignored, soon-forgotten thread, but please hear me out before making a comment.

Mighty, enchanted artifacts have always been a part of the Elder Scrolls Universe (and most fantasies, tbh), and have been the rewards of particularly hard or engaging quests/dungeon crawls throughout all the games. Except for ESO of course.

Now; I do get why, of course. Balance and equality of gear and skills are intrinsically important traits of any MMO. And if let everyone have an artifact (whether through a quest line or some Trial/Dungeon farming) they lose their uniqueness, and become artificial instead (excuse the pun).

There is a silver lining here, however. Or rather; two silver linings.

1. Imbalance is intrinsic in ESO - (I'm not saying the developers are bad at balancing (and this thread is not for such discussion)). I am, however, saying that imbalance of skills and power has been a feature of the game since launch. I am, of course, talking about Emperorship in Cyrodiil. Doubling regeneration and ultimate gain, almost doubling stats and greatly increasing healing received, even in PVP which is - more than anywhere else - about balance (If someone out-damages you in a Trial, well sure you all get through bosses faster. If someone out performs you in PVP you lose and get your corpse teabagged). But the mechanic still exists and does - to my knowledge - not incite alot of rage or balance-moaning.
2. Tamriel's Artifacts are fickle - Even through previous games, most artifact descriptions end with something along the lines of: "After having been with a Hero long enough the artifact disappears for a while before choosing a new owner" (See: (this)en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Tamrielic_Lore). While previously just an explanation for why Heroes of the previous installation of TES games couldn't keep the artifacts they found (i.e. Mehrunes Razor can be acquired in Morrowind, Oblivion, and later Skyrim), it could also serve as an excuse for continually changing which player of ESO gets to hold the fabled artifacts.

My proposal:

• A trial, quest, or other challenge wherein players of various categories compete to achive a high score (similar to Maelstrom arena or Weekly Trials) to unlock ownership of a corresponding artifact for one week.
• Any one player should only be able to acquire the artifact once every three weeks (to prevent stagnation and "artifact hogging") OR everyweek the top contesters from cycling Alliances will get their chance to own the artifacts. This way you prevent single accounts from constantly grabbing the artifacts, and it also gets to play a part in the Alliance War (again; artifacts will never be powerful enough to single-handedly win campaigns/weekly standings).
• Categories - I.e. there are separate artifacts and score-evaluations for different builds (DK whose max stat is Stamina, DK whose max stat is health, magblade, stamsorc, etc. etc.). The artifacts provide unique, and powerful bonuses that are relevant for the common builds in each case. Note that these must not necessarily be related to classes and stats. There could be a thing as "best score in Werewolf challenge" to unlock Saviour's Hide (an artifact of Hircine).

The artifacts are to be strong, unique, and have interesting properties that can award players with extra survivability and damage output not normally achivable. I most certainly never intended for artifacts to be guaranteed: win every 1v10 fight ever and solo Trials. Never!

TL;DR: Make players compete for temporary ownership of legendary artifacts

mb10

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

How can those artefacts be in the game with everyone running around in them if only one exists in Tamriel?

Jamini

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

If you read his proposal you would see he addressed that.

I'd be for the idea if a specific character could only hold the artifact once ever. You get it for a week, and then never again unless you made an alt. If you make it leaderboard based, even with a cooldown, the same person will get it every time their cooldown is up.

I would also honestly prefer that development time be spent into Spellcrafting and Jewlerycrafting.

Apherius

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

Even if wear the warlock ring would be less interresting that keep my 5th netch ( netch ring )

mb10

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

Jamini wrote: »

If you read his proposal you would see he addressed that.

I'd be for the idea if a specific character could only hold the artifact once ever. You get it for a week, and then never again unless you made an alt. If you make it leaderboard based, even with a cooldown, the same person will get it every time their cooldown is up.

I would also honestly prefer that development time be spent into Spellcrafting and Jewlerycrafting.

So one player in the whole game owns an item that no one else has for a whole week lol?

So in a year 52 people have this item and its not even 52 different people, its the 52 people who get the high scores hes talking about. He mentioned the 3 week gap and even if there was you a rule of you can only ever own it once, its 52 people in a year lol. Thousands of people play on each server and this idea makes zero sense.

Also from a lore perspective, for an artefact to be moving around that quickly between so many people just removes its "artefact" status and its practically no longer a mysterious/rare item. Some of these items for NPCs in game are myths/rumours they dont even believe they exist butnow suddenly someone new has one every week.

Issa no for me

Khenarthi

Would this be available only for top-of-leaderboard people, or could scrubs like me happen upon an artifact while questing and exploring, like in other TES titles?

Woodenplank

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

mb10 wrote: »

How can those artefacts be in the game with everyone running around in them if only one exists in Tamriel?

Did you even read the post?

mb10 wrote: »

So one player in the whole game owns an item that no one else has for a whole week lol?

So in a year 52 people have this item and its not even 52 different people, its the 52 people who get the high scores hes talking about. He mentioned the 3 week gap and even if there was you a rule of you can only ever own it once, its 52 people in a year lol. Thousands of people play on each server and this idea makes zero sense.

How many people in a year gain Emperorship? Any way - this is different. As there are many campaigns in Cyrod, there are also many artifacts (I've only named the small handful which I could think of off the top of my head, there are many other potential candidaets). So assuming a 3week interval, even if the same top 3 players hug each artifacts you're still getting (with the small number I came up with) 36 different players every 3 weeks. And again; that's with a small number (12) of such artifacts.

mb10 wrote: »

Also from a lore perspective, for an artefact to be moving around that quickly between so many people just removes its "artefact" status and its practically no longer a mysterious/rare item. Some of these items for NPCs in game are myths/rumours they dont even believe they exist but now suddenly someone new has one every week.

This does hold true for several artifacts yeah, but some are more common than others. Hell; Divath Fyr alone had a good bunch just lying around gathering dust. But I see your point.

mb10 wrote: »

Issa no for me

Which is fair enough.

Apherius wrote: »

Even if i prefer to keep my 5th bonus of netch instead of lost this bonus to gain less " lightning damage " .

It's "less lightning damage taken" if you mean the Phynaster ring?

Apherius

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

Woodenplank wrote: »

mb10 wrote: »

How can those artefacts be in the game with everyone running around in them if only one exists in Tamriel?

Did you even read the post?

If you only read the TL;DR it might've been misleading, but I pointed out that -only one player at a time- may posses any one artifact.

Apherius wrote: »

Even if i prefer to keep my 5th bonus of netch instead of lost this bonus to gain less " lightning damage " .

It's "less lightning damage taken" if you mean the Phynaster ring?

i mean " the Warlock ring " .

Edit : my comment wasn't easy to understand ,edited *

FrancisCrawford

I'm waiting for the Alcast build stream that includes the Eye and Hand of Vecna.

Oops, wrong universe ...

FrancisCrawford

Actually, a version of this idea is already in the game.

It's called the "Amulet of Kings".

Chrlynsch

PVP mechanism to help losing factions in Cyrodiil.

Bare with me.

Daedric Princes have shrines at the main gates you can pray to, gaining ap or completing quests while under that princes favor gains you chance to be "visited" (the more you do the greater the chance you have) and granted a quest for a Daedric artifact.

Because Daedric Princes like to mix things up these artifacts only last for about an hour. Though these Artifacts grant unique powerfull skills when using (think Werewolf bar), with a boost in stats as well.

If your faction is winning the war there is little chance you will ever have a chance to receive these items. Based on the gap in scores, there become more Daedric Princes involved in trying to overthrow the balance in Cyrodiil.

SanTii.92

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

Yes! love the idea.

Edit. I fully read your proposals and i'm not quite sure now. Yours ideas are way too overpowered, I just appreciate hard to get, maybe class specific, items that would enhence certain roles, or build without actually buffing stats drectly but through unique gameplay.

Woodenplank

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

SanTii.92 wrote: »

Yes! love the idea.

Edit. I fully read your proposals and i'm not quite sure now. Yours ideas are way too overpowered, I just appreciate hard to get, maybe class specific, items that would enhence certain roles, or build without actually buffing stats drectly but through unique gameplay.

People are reading waay too much into the item proposals. I'll just remove them, as they were simply there to give people an idea of the association of the artifacts, and how they might relate to certain builds.

I.E. Saviour's Hide would be werewolf oriented, and Goldbrand would have a fire-damage effect. That was the point.

Anne_Firehawk

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

RP plebs would cry about Immersion, so ain't gonna happen sadly.

Woodenplank

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

Anne_Firehawk wrote: »

RP plebs would cry about Immersion, so ain't gonna happen sadly.

How'd it ruin immersion exactly?

swippy

i've been trying to figure out how to propose something somewhat similar, but i think my ideas maybe stick closer to the lore and would definitely be more of a thrill for casual players. at first i felt ninja'd, but now i'm glad this thread's here, as seeing people's concerns will help me work out which details were good and which need tweaking for fairness.

so guys, please carry on. and now that the idea's out there i'm gonna have to write mine out soon.
(but on a keyboard. these short posts are fine for a tablet. that one won't be...)

TheShadowScout

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

I think the way Tamriel artifacts are handled in ESO is good enough - as storyline quest "props" like the wabbajack for example, or as one-blow-summons basis for an ultimate attack like the "Dawnbreaker" - but NOT as PvP "I win, suckers!" boost for those already good enough to win the darn thing in the first place!

What -would- be quite possible is having "lesser" versions of the true artifacts appear now and then. We have some of that already, with the "Savoirs Hide" armor set, yes? And there could be more - and it being cheap knockoffs of the daedric artifacts would also solve the "only one in the world" problems with such powerful items - that way everyone can have their very own if they really want to!

Personally I would much rather see "epic" weapons, in the form of "limited" crafting motivs. Like, play a long questline, and at the end get to choose one weapon type, then get a limited crafting thingie that allows you to craft one epic weapon of distinct style... something a little like the monster helmet sets for example...
But hey, that's me.

Uzmati

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

Woodenplank wrote: »

Anne_Firehawk wrote: »

RP plebs would cry about Immersion, so ain't gonna happen sadly.

How'd it ruin immersion exactly?

Think about everyone on your neighborhood having a Holy Grail. Every one of them.
The Holy Grail would stop being a myth, becoming a common item. Magical, but common.

Now think about every player wielding a Wabbajack. The only, unique, very Wabbajack.
That would be untenable.

Azicah

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

No, because it's a whole new aspect to consider to rebalance the game. I want it to be left out.

Ratzkifal

Well if it gets handled like the emperor ship in Cyrodiil, then I don't see a problem with it. To be honest I think it's harder to become emperor than to optain a daedric artifact in Tamriel. But keep these artifacts to the "game mode" they came from.

kargen27

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

The players who make the leader board probably don't need an artifact to dominate the majority of players. Congratulations you are the most powerful we have yet to encounter here have this and be even stronger.

Might be fun to have something like the thieves troves very rare in each zone. When you open the thing you must fight a mini boss. Win the battle and you get to use the artifact so long as you are in that zone and stay alive. In zone would include all the dungeons, delves and trials found inside that zone. Log out and it goes away.

In Cyradiil such an artifact most likely would be found by a player doing PvE or running outside the large groups. Could be enough a boost to keep them alive or at least have a slight advantage over others that might cross their path. Shouldn't be so strong though that a top player would be able to easily dominate all should they stumble across it.

S1ipperyJim

mb10 wrote: »

How can those artefacts be in the game with everyone running around in them if only one exists in Tamriel?

How can every player in the game defeat Molag Bal, or multiple players be emperor of Cyrodiil at the same time etc etc etc.

Woodenplank

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

Uzmati wrote: »

Woodenplank wrote: »

Anne_Firehawk wrote: »

RP plebs would cry about Immersion, so ain't gonna happen sadly.

How'd it ruin immersion exactly?

Now think about every player wielding a Wabbajack. The only, unique, very Wabbajack.
That would be untenable.

But I expressly mentioned that only one player (-at a time) would get to carry any one artifact. So one person, per week, for the entire server, gets to carry (for instance) the Wabbajack.

[quote="TheShadowScout;c-4471382"but NOT as PvP "I win, suckers!" boost for those already good enough to win the darn thing in the first place![/quote]

Is that not exactly what Emperorship is? Handing extra power to whomever is the top-performer already?

kargen27 wrote: »

Win the battle and you get to use the artifact so long as you are in that zone and stay alive. In zone would include all the dungeons, delves and trials found inside that zone. .

The issue with this model is that only Only four or five zones would actually be revelant, as most dungeons and easily run through without artifacts (I.e. only artifacts related to Craglorn and so would be used).

TO CLARIFY - I never intended for the artifacts to be "auto-win" powerful; I didn't even mean for them to be more powerful than, say, Emperorship. I'll update the OP with this.

The artifacts are to be strong, unique, and have interesting properties that can award players with extra survivability and damage output not normally achivable. I most certainly never intended for artifacts to be guaranteed: win every 1v10 fight ever and solo Trials. Never!

Chrlynsch

Chrlynsch wrote: »

PVP mechanism to help losing factions in Cyrodiil.

Bare with me.

Daedric Princes have shrines at the main gates you can pray to, gaining ap or completing quests while under that prince's favor gains you chance to be "visited" (the more you do the greater the chance you have) and granted a quest for a Daedric artifact.

Because Daedric Princes like to mix things up these artifacts only last for about an hour. Though these Artifacts grant unique powerfull skills when using (think Werewolf bar), with a boost in stats as well.

If your faction is winning the war there is little chance you will ever have a chance to receive these items. Based on the gap in scores, there become more Daedric Princes involved in trying to overthrow the balance in Cyrodiil.

To expand on my original idea, this mechanism would hopefully help stimulate an underpopulated or single faction dominated campaigns, giving underdogs tools to turn the tide.

Currently the gap is only widened based on how dominate an alliance is. Imo opposite of how buffs should be, But beside the point.

Imagine you are worked back to your gates, your vastly outnumbered not even able to take a resource without a raid showing up to wipe all presence off the map. Then you hear it, a voice, a booming voice, a voice you have heard many times before, offering you a chance to turn the tide of the war. Molag Bal wants his Mace back, he tasks you to go to the Crackwood Cave and recover it from their chieftain, in return he grants you the opportunity to use his power against your enemies.

You sneak past the line of gate campers, and recover Molag Bal's Mace right where the Prince said it was, its weightless in your hands, though you feel it draining your very soul, you have 1 hour.

You make your way swiftly back to your enemy controlled home keep rallying all those that you see and know behind you. The guards are the first to feel the vampiric drain of the mace, they don't last a second. With a powerful swing you hit the front door of the keep with the strength of a ram. There is a chance this time.

Nyghthowler

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

I voted no because I feel their are much more important issues for the devs to be focusing on. Once they fix some of the core game play **** ups systems, then what ever...

ThePrinceOfBargains

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

This is about as unnecessary as it gets. Leave that stuff for the main games.

kargen27

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

Woodenplank wrote: »

Uzmati wrote: »

Woodenplank wrote: »

Anne_Firehawk wrote: »

RP plebs would cry about Immersion, so ain't gonna happen sadly.

How'd it ruin immersion exactly?

Now think about every player wielding a Wabbajack. The only, unique, very Wabbajack.
That would be untenable.

But I expressly mentioned that only one player (-at a time) would get to carry any one artifact. So one person, per week, for the entire server, gets to carry (for instance) the Wabbajack.

[quote="TheShadowScout;c-4471382"but NOT as PvP "I win, suckers!" boost for those already good enough to win the darn thing in the first place!

Is that not exactly what Emperorship is? Handing extra power to whomever is the top-performer already?

kargen27 wrote: »

Win the battle and you get to use the artifact so long as you are in that zone and stay alive. In zone would include all the dungeons, delves and trials found inside that zone. .

The issue with this model is that only Only four or five zones would actually be revelant, as most dungeons and easily run through without artifacts (I.e. only artifacts related to Craglorn and so would be used).

TO CLARIFY - I never intended for the artifacts to be "auto-win" powerful; I didn't even mean for them to be more powerful than, say, Emperorship. I'll update the OP with this.

The artifacts are to be strong, unique, and have interesting properties that can award players with extra survivability and damage output not normally achivable. I most certainly never intended for artifacts to be guaranteed: win every 1v10 fight ever and solo Trials. Never![/quote]

You are thinking much more narrow than I am. Could be an artifact that provides more speed making gathering mats quicker. Could be luck that provides a better drop from a Dolman. Maybe something that charms NPCs allowing you to sell for 10% more. It shouldn't be limited to just a bonus for fighting.

My main point though was getting an artifact should not depend on getting on a leader board. An artifact should be something every player has at least a chance of grabbing.

TheShadowScout

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

Woodenplank wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

but NOT as PvP "I win, suckers!" boost for those already good enough to win the darn thing in the first place!

Is that not exactly what Emperorship is? Handing extra power to whomever is the top-performer already?

Ah, but the emperorship is easily lost while offline when some other alliance grabs the keep ring, right? And takes a lot of work to get in the first place... and most importantly, doesn't matter outside of that -one- campaign.

If there were "artifacts" that only were usable in one place... and lost pretty much as soon as you log out... and take the same amount of effort to gain... well, that would make them useless enough to be viable.
I still think they are best kept to plot devices for storyline missions in an MMO.

And like I mentioned, find some other way to get super-special (but not "unique articfact") weapons for those who have to compensate something...
(I personally like the idea of expanding the monster sets... rework them to drop a special trophy instead of items, and then have a undaunted craftsmaster who can turn a certain amount of that trophy plus some other items into a helmet, shoulder or weapon of your choice... meaning you not just have to run the dungeons for the trophies, you also need to find the other item that allows making such things, which would be found elsewhere... might be you can win the helmet thing in PvP, and the shoulder thing through achievement hunting, and the weapon thing from numerous different questings... something liike that anyhow...)

Gnortranermara

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

Dawnbreaker provides a perfect model for what artifacts *should* be in ESO. Every "Ultimate" should be associated with an artifact of some sort. The Elder Scrolls universe has always had Magicka, Stamina, and Health. "Ultimate" is a lore-breaking resource totally out-of-place in this universe. It should be Favor instead and be used to power Daedric or Aedric Artifact abilities.

MythicEmperor

No! It would be unbalanced and ruin the game for others.

ZOS should continue to implement new, lesser artifacts (boss and quest drops w/ unique descriptions), but never should I see a thousand players running around with the same Daedric artifact. An enchanted weapon made in the Daedric style? Fine. A unique and powerful gift from a Daedric Prince itself? No.

Enslaved

Yes! This would be an interesting addition to the gameplay.

This would be very interesting but only in one condition - these are pure title related items that have no other value but one tied to achievements.
For example, you are suddenly the best on the mNB leaderboards in vMA. You get a title related to this and a 7 days of unique transmog, and a permanent memento. Also, you can go to achievement related vendor and buy replica of one of daedric artifacts, with custom animations upon activation and similar.