Summerset Intro Quest

Ostacia

Could someone explain to me why my High Elf characters are being talked to by Vanus as if they are Outsiders? It's a little thing, but it bugs me and it seems I've done quests where the race of my characters is mentioned in the quest text, so there's obviously something in the coding (?) that makes NPCs respond according to PCs' races. Right?

Radinyn

In both Morrowinds you were called outsider even as a Dunmer, that's just how it goes.

Ostacia

Oh. Well, I guess it isn't as weird as I thought, thanks.

Kendaric

It's not the only weird thing in that quest... you can actually use a reply that states you were on Arteum and have met the Ritemaster. That feels .... weird and awkward.

lihentian

not all high elf were born on summerset.. just like not all dunmer are born in morrowind. actually even if you were a dunmer but not a member of the five house, you will always be seen as an outsider to the land.

Rosveen

Kendaric wrote: »

It's not the only weird thing in that quest... you can actually use a reply that states you were on Arteum and have met the Ritemaster. That feels .... weird and awkward.

I was standing there racking my brain, trying to remember when and where it could have happened. What is that option all about?

Kendaric

Rosveen wrote: »

Kendaric wrote: »

It's not the only weird thing in that quest... you can actually use a reply that states you were on Arteum and have met the Ritemaster. That feels .... weird and awkward.

I was standing there racking my brain, trying to remember when and where it could have happened. What is that option all about?

Didn't use it either, but I will do it with one of my disposable alts. My assumption is that the option exists for characters who started out on Summerset and it shows up due to a bugged variable.

Seraphayel

lihentian wrote: »

not all high elf were born on summerset.. just like not all dunmer are born in morrowind. actually even if you were a dunmer but not a member of the five house, you will always be seen as an outsider to the land.

It just shows how poorly ZOS cares for a meaningful and coherent story. This is just laziness and nothing else.

Chaos2088

Think it is just easier if the dialog is the same through any interaction with any character + race for the devs to put in.......what ya gunna do??

Ostacia

I'm not a coder but it seems it'd be a fairly simple and straightforward thing, ie. If High Elf, then -Outsider.

LickingHistSap

Seraphayel wrote: »

lihentian wrote: »

not all high elf were born on summerset.. just like not all dunmer are born in morrowind. actually even if you were a dunmer but not a member of the five house, you will always be seen as an outsider to the land.

It just shows how poorly ZOS cares for a meaningful and coherent story. This is just laziness and nothing else.

You don't have an option to choose where your character is from, and I'd imagine any papers you have proving you're a resident of Summerset were lost during the whole 'dying and losing your body' ordeal in Coldharbour. You AREN'T a resident of Summerset right now, meaning you wouldn't be allowed in.

Kova

I'm surprised no one cares that Vanus is alive. He died in the Great Battle at the end of the main story.

VaranisArano

Kova wrote: »

I'm surprised no one cares that Vanus is alive. He died in the Great Battle at the end of the main story.

No he didn't.

The Ayleid king did.

Vanus Galerion canonically dies in battle with Mannimarco at a later date.

Ostacia

I'm not a coder but it seems it'd be a fairly simple and straightforward thing, ie. If High Elf, then -Outsider.

VaranisArano wrote: »

Kova wrote: »

I'm surprised no one cares that Vanus is alive. He died in the Great Battle at the end of the main story.

No he didn't. The Ayleid king did.

Vanus Galerion canonically dies in battle with Mannimarco at a later date.

*covers eyes* Ahhhhh I didn't want to know that!

VaranisArano

Wintergreen wrote: »

I'm not a coder but it seems it'd be a fairly simple and straightforward thing, ie. If High Elf, then -Outsider.

VaranisArano wrote: »

Kova wrote: »

I'm surprised no one cares that Vanus is alive. He died in the Great Battle at the end of the main story.

No he didn't.

*covers eyes* Ahhhhh I didn't want to know that!

@Wintergreen I spoilered my comment, but you'll have to adjust the comment in your post if you don't want the spoiler to show there either. I'm sorry I didn't spoiler it to begin with, but since the person I responded to didn't I figured I was fine. My bad.

Ostacia

No worries, plus hey! I learned how to create a hidden spoiler quote thingy.

poor guy!

nightstrike

Kendaric wrote: »

It's not the only weird thing in that quest... you can actually use a reply that states you were on Arteum and have met the Ritemaster. That feels .... weird and awkward.

It's a bug. I tried it, and the response basically assumes that you already went to Summerset. The quest will likely stick around after Summerset is released. This is similar to the Morrowind intro quest with Alessio Guillion, The Missing Prophecy, where if you already finished the Vvardenfell quests, Azura's dialogue at the end will change, hinting that Clavicus Vile's actions on the island were "only the beginning".

Yo_Donno

Wintergreen wrote: »

I'm not a coder but it seems it'd be a fairly simple and straightforward thing, ie. If High Elf, then -Outsider.

yeah. But then they'd have to write and record ALL new audio just for high elf characters. Same thing with dunmers in morrowind. Can you imagine if they had to record 2 versions of EVERY SINGLE QUEST... one where they said "outsider" and one where they knew you were a dunmer?

nightstrike

They could just record that one word and build the audio on the fly. Many games do this.

Kova

VaranisArano wrote: »

Kova wrote: »

I'm surprised no one cares that Vanus is alive. He died in the Great Battle at the end of the main story.

No he didn't.

The Ayleid king did.

Vanus Galerion canonically dies in battle with Mannimarco at a later date.

Thank You! I had read the Great Battle so many times and misunderstood the time frame.

Marto

nightstrike wrote: »

Kendaric wrote: »

It's not the only weird thing in that quest... you can actually use a reply that states you were on Arteum and have met the Ritemaster. That feels .... weird and awkward.

It's a bug. I tried it, and the response basically assumes that you already went to Summerset. The quest will likely stick around after Summerset is released. This is similar to the Morrowind intro quest with Alessio Guillion, The Missing Prophecy, where if you already finished the Vvardenfell quests, Azura's dialogue at the end will change, hinting that Clavicus Vile's actions on the island were "only the beginning".

It wouldn't be the first time these prologue quests are bugged. Remember the naked breton in every city in Tamriel?

It probably has something to do with these quests being introduced without any server reboots. The devs just flip a switch remotely and the quest NPC appears. Convenient, but hardly reliable.

josiahva

You expect good writing from a video game? Really? The writing in ESO is only marginally less bad than other games...I dont think they hire actual writers...just designers who glance over the available lore, if they did the quests might be more than a variant on the tried and true fetch quests.

nightstrike

josiahva wrote: »

You expect good writing from a video game? Really? The writing in ESO is only marginally less bad than other games...I dont think they hire actual writers...just designers who glance over the available lore, if they did the quests might be more than a variant on the tried and true fetch quests.

The Memory Stone had decent writing.

gnarlyvandal

Chaos2088 wrote: »

Think it is just easier if the dialog is the same through any interaction with any character + race for the devs to put in.......what ya gunna do??

I have some coding experience, albeit not in a game as advanced as ESO, but it’s pretty simple to add a variable ‘altmer’ which could elicit a different response from the npc.

My guess is that it’ll probably add to the demand on the server. People complain about the lag added with proc sets, can imagine it’d do a similar thing

Edit: should’ve just played the main story a bit more... the dialogue does change, and they mention that ‘wayward’ altmer are still outsiders

kichwas

lihentian wrote: »

not all high elf were born on summerset.. just like not all dunmer are born in morrowind. actually even if you were a dunmer but not a member of the five house, you will always be seen as an outsider to the land.

This.

If you quest on Summerset for a while as an Altmer - the locals actually comment on this point. They note that while you might be an Altmer, you're a lesser Altmer for not being from the 'homeland'. Basically think of a British Noble addressing an American Frontier-person in the 1800s... you're character is the American 'backwards idiot from the colonies' from their point of view.

psychotrip

kichwas wrote: »

lihentian wrote: »

not all high elf were born on summerset.. just like not all dunmer are born in morrowind. actually even if you were a dunmer but not a member of the five house, you will always be seen as an outsider to the land.

This.

If you quest on Summerset for a while as an Altmer - the locals actually comment on this point. They note that while you might be an Altmer, you're a lesser Altmer for not being from the 'homeland'. Basically think of a British Noble addressing an American Frontier-person in the 1800s... you're character is the American 'backwards idiot from the colonies' from their point of view.

Be nice if we could choose whether or not we’re from our own homeland in dialogue though...this is a role-playing game. I hate feeling like an outsider literally everywhere I go no matter what.

AgmarTheUnrestful

Unfortunately, the only thing that constitutes a game as an RPG anymore is choice of skills/abilities/perks. Skyrim even did away with classes! The thinking used to be that a game wasn't an RPG without class selection (since many great fantasy video-game franchises were directly inspired by Dungeons & Dragons), but now, with pen-and-paper D&D practically dead, and people crying for more innovation, uniqueness, and novelty in their games...