Tamrielic Skyshards: A Big Middle Finger

Dapper Dinosaur

Finally got them all. Got one dominion shard one day when I just so happened to be on during my alliance's scroll push. Couldn't get the next one for 3 days, and had to sit in the campaign for at least 6 hours across multiple sessions (when I wanted to do literally anything else) for my alliance to finally open the other gate so I could slip through.

Then I logged onto a dead campaign that enemy alliance owned, and rode all the way across cyrodiil to the third alliance's gates and got those two to finish off the cyrodiil shards. Took an hour for those two.

This dye had better be *** stupendous. The amount of work and time required for these 4 shards was absolutely ridiculous.

Massive_Stain

Yeah I understand, OP. I did all that back in 2015 and it took me quite a bit of time. And, I did it on a magsorc. Just relax and make a guest campaign specifically for that. Good luck

Asardes

I've done all those on 4 chars, and undoubtedly I will do it on subsequent ones as well. But I do stick in Cyro for a pretty long time on a given char once I start PvP-ing. That point is when I fully unlock the skill lines, around AR rank 13 if I'm not mistaken. I've taken all 4 enemy ones well before that. Simply stick to groups that go after enemy scrolls and you'll have no trouble getting them. Don't go solo if the gate happens to be open and the scroll already taken, since usually people gank at the shard then and they'll kill you and reset you to keep.

Slick_007

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

I just can't stand the fact that I am forced to not only PVP (which I hate in this game), but also that I have to completely depend on other players to even get the route open to me. If I could do it all myself, fine, but now I'm looking at spending hours being bored/frustrated being part of a zerg ball hoping they choose to attack the castles I need before I can even attempt to get the skyshard.

This is not good design, Zenimax.

no, its really bad design that you need other players to assist you in a multiplayer game. someone should be ashamed.

bhagwad

How do you change your team color, so you can get those lorebooks and skyshards?

nnargun

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

I just can't stand the fact that I am forced to not only PVP (which I hate in this game), but also that I have to completely depend on other players to even get the route open to me. If I could do it all myself, fine, but now I'm looking at spending hours being bored/frustrated being part of a zerg ball hoping they choose to attack the castles I need before I can even attempt to get the skyshard.

This is not good design, Zenimax.

So much whining because of a dye and an achievement being tricky to get by? Why don't you just move on if it causes you so much frustration? Basically you tried for half hour before you rage quit and decided to come here to suggest for it to be easier?

Katahdin

I mostly PvE, but do some PvP when I feel like it.

I've gotten all of the enemy gate skyshards on 13 characters with at least 4 characters in each alliance. It wasnt hard, it just took time, timing, reading the map and patience.

Taleof2Cities

I did my gated skyshards back when the buff campaigns were still going (Xarxes, Kastav, Almalexia) ... and had zero population in them.

r3turn2s3nd3r

bhagwad wrote: »

How do you change your team color, so you can get those lorebooks and skyshards?

If by change your 'team' color, you mean faction (red, yellow or blue) to another faction. Well sorry to be the one, but you cannot change. That is locked at character creation.

Dawnblade

Katahdin wrote: »

I mostly PvE, but do some PvP when I feel like it.

I've gotten all of the enemy gate skyshards on 13 characters with at least 4 characters in each alliance. It wasnt hard, it just took time, timing, reading the map and patience.

I think most people who complain about the method to obtain some aspect in this game are usually complaining about the time sink or time gates, not the difficulty.

Very very little of this game is difficult, but large portions are huge time sinks, some with time gates.

Horse training and research aren't hard in any way, but they sure are annoyingly time gated (no amount of effort or skill reduces the time gates).

Guild lines and AP skills aren't hard to get, but they require large amounts of time (though 'smart' effort can reduce the time required).

That individual players would have different levels of patience, especially with aspects of the game they don't find enjoyable and / or with the 'hurry up and wait' aspects, shouldn't be surprising.

Samadhi

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

...had to sit in the campaign for at least 6 hours across multiple sessions (when I wanted to do literally anything else) for my alliance to finally open the other gate so I could slip through.

Then I logged onto a dead campaign that enemy alliance owned, and rode all the way across cyrodiil to the third alliance's gates and got those two to finish off the cyrodiil shards. Took an hour for those two.

This dye had better be *** stupendous. The amount of work and time required for these 4 shards was absolutely ridiculous.

Nah, it is mediocre at best
fairly well balanced for how easy it is to get relative to better quality dyes

Works well enough with the icy colour scheme of my Frost Witch Warden's gears tho

Talrol

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

I just can't stand the fact that I am forced to not only PVP (which I hate in this game), but also that I have to completely depend on other players to even get the route open to me.

This is not good design, Zenimax.

Remember that I have to get undaunted mettle for PvP. So, not only am I required to PvE, but I’m also completely dependent on other players to get through pledges quickly.

Is that bad design too??

Actually in my opinion, yes it is. However, it is the way that Zenimax chooses to have the game function so it is what it is. I am a huge advocate for having PVP and PVE completely and totally separate with separate skills sets and gear, or completely and totally open world like the good old days where you get ganked getting that crafting node.

RDMyers65b14_ESO

It took me a long time to get all of the skyshards in Cyrodil, but in the end, I did and found a PVP guild that has become a family to me. For someone like me who suffers from severe social anxiety, it is amazing.

I will never likely get many of the PVE achievements and dyes.

nnargun

Dawnblade wrote: »

Katahdin wrote: »

I mostly PvE, but do some PvP when I feel like it.

I've gotten all of the enemy gate skyshards on 13 characters with at least 4 characters in each alliance. It wasnt hard, it just took time, timing, reading the map and patience.

I think most people who complain about the method to obtain some aspect in this game are usually complaining about the time sink or time gates, not the difficulty.

Very very little of this game is difficult, but large portions are huge time sinks, some with time gates.

Horse training and research aren't hard in any way, but they sure are annoyingly time gated (no amount of effort or skill reduces the time gates).

Guild lines and AP skills aren't hard to get, but they require large amounts of time (though 'smart' effort can reduce the time required).

That individual players would have different levels of patience, especially with aspects of the game they don't find enjoyable and / or with the 'hurry up and wait' aspects, shouldn't be surprising.

You have to get out of your comfort zone (from a PVE perspective) and spend considerable time, yes. So? Again, we are talking about what? 4 skyshards, a dye, and an achievement? Certainly nothing game changing. If you want to "complete"/100%/perfection you gotta do what it takes. All this complaining is just whining at its best. Why don't you guys appreciate that there is still something to achieve after thousands of hours in the game instead of crying about how time consuming it is to get the last handful of skyshards? This is so ridiculous it almost hurts. People will always find something to complain about, won't they?

I mean if you don't wanna go through the "hassle", don't. What's the matter?

kojou

I have the pesky "behind the gates" skyshards on a few characters. Basically I just check the campaigns every so often and if I see my alliance has a gate open I go get those. It doesn't happen often, so take advantage and get as many as you have time for when it does.

If you have a guild you can recruit a bunch of people that need the same, pick an off time in one of the less populated campaigns (Shor) and take the 3 keeps you need and quickly get the skyshards. You can quickly take a keep using a battering ram and 2 ballistas on the front door with about 4-6 players, but more will make it easier.

Mazbt

meh nvm.

DMBCML

Draxys wrote: »

Chill dog, not everything needs to be handed to you. It’s not like there’s a skill point shortage anyway.

Unfortunately, many of us are not into PvP. Those players will never be able to fully gain all the achievements. Our guild does events where they go to get skyshards, but not one time has this event happened at a time I can play since the beginning of this game.

I accepted a long time ago there will never be a time when I will do everything this game offers, and that's ok. But, it also drives my OCD nuts because I want to complete all the achievements and I know that will never happen.

There is more to do in this game than a person can hope to do in a lifetime. LOL... and that is why it's so fun.

SirAndy

DMBCML wrote: »

Unfortunately, many of us are not into PvP.

You don't have to do this on your home campaign. Just find a guest campaign where a faction other than the shyshards you're missing is dominating the map and you can ride right through the open gates and get those skyshards.

It'll take you longer to ride across the map than it will take you to pick them up.

It's really not at all that difficult ...

logarifmik

Got it easily on my main char, and don't see why something should be changed. Just participate in PvP for some time, and when gates are open take your chances and simultaneously help your alliance to get the scroll. It's not a bad design, it's one of the competitive features, which, as far as I can see on the forum, some people want to erase from the game entirely. Sad.

nnargun

DMBCML wrote: »

Draxys wrote: »

Chill dog, not everything needs to be handed to you. It’s not like there’s a skill point shortage anyway.

Unfortunately, many of us are not into PvP. Those players will never be able to fully gain all the achievements. Our guild does events where they go to get skyshards, but not one time has this event happened at a time I can play since the beginning of this game.

I accepted a long time ago there will never be a time when I will do everything this game offers, and that's ok. But, it also drives my OCD nuts because I want to complete all the achievements and I know that will never happen.

There is more to do in this game than a person can hope to do in a lifetime. LOL... and that is why it's so fun.

That's exactly how I feel it should be though. You play 100% of the game's content, you have a chance on completion (achievement wise or whatever). You play only part of the game, well then you don't. No?

Dapper Dinosaur

Apparently nobody has a problem with all of the skyshards in the game being obtainable by simple travel except for a group of 4, which are SIMPLY NOT ACCESSIBLE AND BLOCKING COMPLETION unless your alliance (or the other enemy of the target) opens a particular gate and you can ride across the HUGE Cyrodiil region to the gate before it closes, pass through (have fun if you're not a nightblade), and get to the shard(s).

People bringing up the Undaunted line are completely missing the point. There is literally nothing in the Undaunted skill line that PVPers should be interested in except for a couple passives that make practically no difference, and have no achievements tied to them that anyone cares about. It's not comparable to having an achievement as MASSIVE as the skyshard achievement locked behind these artificial and by definition team-dependent locations. Even if they did have a point by comparing this to the undaunted, you literally can solo just about every dungeon on normal to get undaunted exp, and can do Ulgrog's daily quest to get some as well. You do not need to depend on other players creating a very short-term opening for you to have a chance at completing your task, and each attempt takes 30+ minutes due to, again, cyrodiil's size.

Make no mistake, I am fine with riding around a zone as ridiculously oversized as Cyrodiil, and have, for all the other shards. It's just these 4 that are stupid and have no place blocking a PVE achievement.

Denyiir

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

Apparently nobody has a problem with all of the skyshards in the game being obtainable by simple travel except for a group of 4, which are SIMPLY NOT ACCESSIBLE AND BLOCKING COMPLETION unless your alliance (or the other enemy of the target) opens a particular gate and you can ride across the HUGE Cyrodiil region to the gate before it closes, pass through (have fun if you're not a nightblade), and get to the shard(s).

People bringing up the Undaunted line are completely missing the point. There is literally nothing in the Undaunted skill line that PVPers should be interested in except for a couple passives that make practically no difference, and have no achievements tied to them that anyone cares about. It's not comparable to having an achievement as MASSIVE as the skyshard achievement locked behind these artificial and by definition team-dependent locations. Even if they did have a point by comparing this to the undaunted, you literally can solo just about every dungeon on normal to get undaunted exp, and can do Ulgrog's daily quest to get some as well. You do not need to depend on other players creating a very short-term opening for you to have a chance at completing your task, and each attempt takes 30+ minutes due to, again, cyrodiil's size.

Make no mistake, I am fine with riding around a zone as ridiculously oversized as Cyrodiil, and have, for all the other shards. It's just these 4 that are stupid and have no place blocking a PVE achievement.

Those passives from undaunted make more difference in pvp than your f*** dye in pve lmao

Also insult game dev in caps at the end of the post and think people will take you serious

nnargun

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

Apparently nobody has a problem with all of the skyshards in the game being obtainable by simple travel except for a group of 4, which are SIMPLY NOT ACCESSIBLE AND BLOCKING COMPLETION unless your alliance (or the other enemy of the target) opens a particular gate and you can ride across the HUGE Cyrodiil region to the gate before it closes, pass through (have fun if you're not a nightblade), and get to the shard(s).

People bringing up the Undaunted line are completely missing the point. There is literally nothing in the Undaunted skill line that PVPers should be interested in except for a couple passives that make practically no difference, and have no achievements tied to them that anyone cares about. It's not comparable to having an achievement as MASSIVE as the skyshard achievement locked behind these artificial and by definition team-dependent locations. Even if they did have a point by comparing this to the undaunted, you literally can solo just about every dungeon on normal to get undaunted exp, and can do Ulgrog's daily quest to get some as well. You do not need to depend on other players creating a very short-term opening for you to have a chance at completing your task, and each attempt takes 30+ minutes due to, again, cyrodiil's size.

Make no mistake, I am fine with riding around a zone as ridiculously oversized as Cyrodiil, and have, for all the other shards. It's just these 4 that are stupid and have no place blocking a PVE achievement.

And the whining continues. You call it a MASSIVE (yes, with caps) achievement and yet you wanna do nothing for it that goes beyond "simple travel" as you say.

Runs

I don't see the reason for hate.


You do not need a group to get these.

You do not need to pvp.

You just need to occasionally enter to check the maps, to make sure a gate is open. It doesn't even need to be your faction that opens the gate, it can be the other opposing faction that does so. When you find a gate is open that you need the 'shard from, mount up and ride through make sure you have some self heals to heal through the guards as you run past if you don't want to be seen killing them alone.

Yeah it may take some time doing it this way but if you absolutely don't want to group and/or pvp, then that's the way to do it.

Dapper Dinosaur

And the whining continues. You call it a MASSIVE (yes, with caps) achievement and yet you wanna do nothing for it that goes beyond "simple travel" as you say.

You know what I meant by massive. Massive in terms of the amount of time and distance you need to go across all regions to collect all of the skyshards. Not a single other region of the game has skyshards locked behind PVP time-and-strength-sensitive, unbypassable gates.

Dubhliam

This is intended.

Learn what it takes to get there before raging at Zenimax.

Samadhi

DMBCML wrote: »

...
I accepted a long time ago there will never be a time when I will do everything this game offers, and that's ok. But, it also drives my OCD nuts because I want to complete all the achievements and I know that will never happen.
...

Out of interest, which wing does your obsessive compulsive tendencies reach out to disorder territory
do you find completionism in gaming gets in your way of living your daily life which is why the achievements cause issue?

Have never really dealt with completionist symptoms, so it is difficult for me to relate
moreso suffer from intrusive thoughts; particularly of doing violence to myself/others doing violence to me
it is where the overlap with the PTSD comes in

it is virtually impossible for me to function in public spaces/around groups of people
my mind also constantly runs on numerology, so draw particular associations with certain numbers of people representing ill-omen

worked out with my counselor that group content in ESO would be a great place to work on CBT/ERT
it is a comparatively comfortable environment (gaming with ESO lore which has built decades of familiarity in my life)
at importance to myself, it is easy to flee if my attacks overwhelm me
and PvP groups run on variable numbers, which leaves my mind distracted but not hinged on terror of an ominous number of group members
and then Group Dungeons are done as a group of four, with four numerologically representing the strong basis to build foundation upon
and in game terms they are typically done quite quickly
Trials done in groups of 12 are very difficult for me; 12 is an unhinged number on its own, but it also 'reduces' in numerology to 3
3 is considered unhinged and a creative/generative energy -- this perpetually unnerves me as it leaves me on edge expecting challenge

when these obsessive thoughts get overwhelming, break into my compulsive actions
am a cleaner -- wash my hands constantly, and to the point of being cracked and bleeding even with proper application of lotion
will simply get up and leave in the middle of writing a post, running a trial, dealing with a customer
and wash...and wash...and wash
until the 'dirt' goes away

it makes daily life hell, but also overwhelms any personal desire for completion of things
is completionism the opposite? Total fixation on each task until perfect completion no matter how trivial the task is?
have met people in group therapy that are unable to work because they can't get out the door in time due to so many rituals
but it is a bit different area for me; my leaving rituals focus on checking for fire hazards over and over

nnargun

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

And the whining continues. You call it a MASSIVE (yes, with caps) achievement and yet you wanna do nothing for it that goes beyond "simple travel" as you say.

You know what I meant by massive. Massive in terms of the amount of time and distance you need to go across all regions to collect all of the skyshards. Not a single other region of the game has skyshards locked behind PVP time-and-strength-sensitive, unbypassable gates.

What are you trying to tell me? Because nearly 400 skyshards are not locked behind gates in PVP the last 4 cannot be either? Would you accept if half of the skyshards were locked behind PVP instead of only a very small fraction?

Dapper Dinosaur

nnargun wrote: »

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

And the whining continues. You call it a MASSIVE (yes, with caps) achievement and yet you wanna do nothing for it that goes beyond "simple travel" as you say.

You know what I meant by massive. Massive in terms of the amount of time and distance you need to go across all regions to collect all of the skyshards. Not a single other region of the game has skyshards locked behind PVP time-and-strength-sensitive, unbypassable gates.

What are you trying to tell me? Because nearly 400 skyshards are not locked behind gates in PVP the last 4 cannot be either? Would you accept if half of the skyshards were locked behind PVP instead of only a very small fraction?

There should be NO skyshards locked behind a mechanic that makes them LITERALLY inaccessible without the contributions of 20-200 other players (guesstimated numbers based on how long it can take to capture a castle chain long enough and in the right places to open the gates) targetting the specific map locations you need them to target while you are online. This wouldn't be a problem if Zenimax hadn't cut 6+ campaigns, back in those days each alliance tended to all have one they owned completely, and if I had known about these skyshards then I certainly would have grabbed them.

Samadhi

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

Apparently nobody has a problem with all of the skyshards in the game being obtainable by simple travel except for a group of 4, which are SIMPLY NOT ACCESSIBLE AND BLOCKING COMPLETION unless your alliance (or the other enemy of the target) opens a particular gate and you can ride across the HUGE Cyrodiil region to the gate before it closes, pass through (have fun if you're not a nightblade), and get to the shard(s).
...

Which are part of regular gameplay in Cyrodiil,
so they are 4 shards accessible through regular gameplay

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

...
People bringing up the Undaunted line are completely missing the point. There is literally nothing in the Undaunted skill line that PVPers should be interested in except for a couple passives that make practically no difference, ...

To you
For me, have survived combat with less than 500 hp
Undaunted passive saved my life
and got me a tally on my Close Call Kill --> Ten Under Five count for PvP achievements

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

... and have no achievements tied to them that anyone cares about. ...

Personally still do not have Akatosh's Scales Gold dye from completing the dungeon speed challenges
Gold is way more nice to have as a colour than wierd off-blue-teal

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

...
...It's not comparable to having an achievement as MASSIVE as the skyshard achievement locked behind these artificial and by definition team-dependent locations. Even if they did have a point by comparing this to the undaunted, you literally can solo just about every dungeon on normal to get undaunted exp, and can do Ulgrog's daily quest to get some as well. ...

Unfortunately, have been unable to solo the Vet Speed Run achievements for the Dye
Was born in Manitoba, 'our' football team's colours are Blue and Gold
have been coping with Transliminal Violet as a substitute in the meanwhile

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

...You do not need to depend on other players creating a very short-term opening for you to have a chance at completing your task, and each attempt takes 30+ minutes due to, again, cyrodiil's size.
...

You have me there, Cyrodiil may well be larger than the combined size of the vet dungeon maps

Dapper Dinosaur wrote: »

...
Make no mistake, I am fine with riding around a zone as ridiculously oversized as Cyrodiil, and have, for all the other shards. It's just these 4 that are stupid and have no place blocking a PVE achievement.

It is a PvA achievement