I want the original Start Back

TheShadowScout

Its true the new tutorials make the flow of the storyline a bit... awkward.

But everyone can just get through those, then ignore the new expansion regions they try to put you in and go visit the mysterious benefactor and get themselves coldharboured, picking up the original mainstory and following it properly... mainstory, cadwells, craglorn, orsinium, morrowind, CWC and summerset, with TG and DB thrown in as desired...

A_Silverius

People have been asking for this since Morrowind, we really need this to be an option please!

MasterSpatula

Without starting in the Wailing Prison, there's no in-game reason (that I know of) for your character to be effectively immortal.

For a game whose greatest strength is storytelling, that's just sloppy.

DrowElfMorwen

MrKitsaid above: "I had a level sixteen character. he had already been called "soulless" by several NPCs even though he had not been through the original quest, so he had no idea why people kept saying he had no soul. The game does expect that you have done "Soul Shriven in Couldharbour" whether you actually have or haven't."

This is the biggest flaw of not being able to, or forced to, start in Coldharbor. I too have been called Soulless and one of the quests I did required me to not have my soul--but technically, I haven't even died yet!

This brings us to two logical solutions or suggestions:

1) Offer the option on where we want to start as characters. Do not let us activate quests that require us to die and end up in Coldharbor until we do the Soulshriven quest. Lock dialogue that mentions us being soulless.

2) Force-start everyone in Coldharbor. It IS the most logical solution because it fits the story.

Iccotak

DrowElfMorwen wrote: »

MrKitsaid above: "I had a level sixteen character. he had already been called "soulless" by several NPCs even though he had not been through the original quest, so he had no idea why people kept saying he had no soul. The game does expect that you have done "Soul Shriven in Couldharbour" whether you actually have or haven't."

This is the biggest flaw of not being able to, or forced to, start in Coldharbor. I too have been called Soulless and one of the quests I did required me to not have my soul--but technically, I haven't even died yet!

Force-start everyone in Coldharbor. It IS the most logical solution because it fits the story.

Fixed it - jk

ESO should play like an Elder Scrolls game. Start in the base game and be free to go where you want from there.
Don't force the player into the latest expansion and push them away from the base game which is great btw.
Starting in the base game gives player direction and CONTEXT.

I did a post on this a while ago
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/487175/stop-making-a-new-tutorial-for-every-chapter

The base game accounts for most of the game - start them there

I miss this being the beginning - it leaves a fantastic strong impression
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fle96EAHlDg

Neoealth

Why did they remove it anyway? Seems really dumb to do so. It's the start of the game! The start of your characters story. If they wanted to keep the player making their 15th character happy by not forcing them through that content again immediately then just give us a box to tick at the start asking us where we would like to start.

Not making it a option from the start really annoyed me if I'm honest. Took me out of the game when i created later characters in a sense of less immersion and inconvenience of having to adjust your character's circumstances so he/she is now in the wailing caverns prison (played too much WoW folks)where they should be. Stupid stupid zos. So totally agree op. It peed me off as well.

Neoealth

.

Iccotak

Neoealth wrote: »

Why did they remove it anyway? Seems really dumb to do so. It's the start of the game! The start of your characters story. If they wanted to keep the player making their 15th character happy by not forcing them through that content again immediately then just give us a box to tick at the start asking us where we would like to start.

Not making it a option from the start really annoyed me if I'm honest. Took me out of the game when i created later characters in a sense of less immersion and inconvenience of having to adjust your character's circumstances so he/she is now in the wailing caverns prison (played too much WoW folks)where they should be. Stupid stupid zos. So totally agree op. It peed me off as well.

also player have the option to just skip the tutorial after playing it once
Any Vets making a new character can just skip and get right into the game - why do they need a new tutorial
And why would you drop players in new chapter with no direction for story flow?

Saelent

I think at least part of the reason must be that our local friendly blind dude states the date, but the expansions have taken that date a little bit along.
But I’d love a tick box to choose where to start, I always liked the Morrowind one.

Tarrocan

yeah i like to start in Khenarthi's Roost for the god sake

Khodiac

i feel you , but what i hate the most is zos dont even give any *** about our opinion

keto3000

RE: What Order Should I Do ESO's Story Arcs?

This is the best thread on this topic so far (by @VaranisArano ) :

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/413807/what-order-should-i-do-esos-story-arcs-a-guide/p1

dagrdagaz_5912

Well, after starting in Morrowind and leaving it to do stuff in Daggerfall i accidentally talked to that hooded figure there and ended up in a Coldharbour mission i could NOT skip or quit.
Furious i was about that.

After that i despised the main story line so much i didnt though it for almost a year.
And the only reason i picked it up again was to unlock Coldharbour zone.

Another kind of bad experience with changed starter missions....

AcadianPaladin

I've commented on and endorsed lots of similar threads asking for a start option since they first started the alternate starts. We already have an option to skip the tutorial if we've done it before; we just want an option to start in the Wailing Prision instead of the 'Start of the Month'.

As an experienced player, I'm tired of rushing through the 'Start of the Month', then instantly porting to my house, taking a shower to wash the undesired start off, then seeking the 'real' start to the game.

If I was a new player, I would simply be totally confused and asking what order to try and play this confusing game in. At that point, @VaranisArano would kindly post a wonderful guide that tries to add some logic and order to what order to play in when the 'Start of the Month' starts you in some silly place. https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/413807/what-order-should-i-do-esos-story-arcs-a-guide/p1

Hluill

MasterSpatula wrote: »

Without starting in the Wailing Prison, there's no in-game reason (that I know of) for your character to be effectively immortal.

For a game whose greatest strength is storytelling, that's just sloppy.

I completely agree.

I like games, like the base ESO, that give some lore to explain the mechanics of respawning and fast travel and some other abilities. I know this is a fantasy game and not bound by science, but it's nice to know some of the underlying principles of the game world.

But hey, I like immersion...

Khrogo

I’ve been trying to escape from The Wailing Prison since launch. Thinking about setting up a progression group so I can finally get to experience the game after all these years.

On a more serious note, I think The Wailing Prison is an excellent starting point and a great introduction to the game’s lore. It is far more atmospheric than the other options IMHO.

Sahidom

I think the original post has a valid point. Why does there have to be a new "starting land" when new content is released? You should at least introduce the main story that leads you into all these new lands and stories. These extra "starting lands" need to tied into the transition quests that introduces the new lands than be the new "starting land" when you create a character. I get that request. Plus, players can always op-out and skip any of the main story and travel the nearest wayshrine: Why is it a forced quest you can't remove from the quest log?

Iccotak

I think I have a compromise

Create one tutorial that is unrelated to any of the stories. It shows the player the controls, gives basic lore for things like the War & Skyshards, and gives player freedom when it is over.
Perhaps you start out as a prisoner in a bandit keep and you are rescued by the Allaince you chose - this gives an Alliance specific storyline.

When the player enters the Coldharbour story (by meeting the stranger) they get the original introduction, with the original cutscene because it was boss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fle96EAHlDg

The tutorials for previous expansions are reworked into introductory quests for the Expansion zones & story. Each one with their corresponding cutscenes.
-Taking a ship to Morrowind lands the player in the slave trade area.
-Talk to adventurers about a treasure hunt in Summerset - this lands you captured by the Sea Sload.
-Entering Elsweyr lands the player into the introduction quest that has the player take down a dragon with the horn

When clicking on the fast travel to a chapter zone for the first time with a new character a Vet is given the option to skip the introduction quest of that chapter and get straight to the Zone

How does that all sound?

stevenyaub16_ESO

As a returning player from back from launch, this new system is TERRIBLE compared to the original.

The game just throws too many quests and DLC in your face as soon as you start, it's hard to distinguish which is part of what story.

The whole starting experience needs to be redesigned to pace things out for new players (different zones give out different DLC starter quests for example).

If I wasn't already in the know about these things, I would have stopped playing.

ProfessorKittyhawk

Yeeeeeeah. We need to streamline and simplify things. As mentioned above its confusing AF to start a new chapter in a new tutorial and then have no idea how the other content lines up chronologically. And having recently made an alt account and seeing how things are without ESO plus and then with it, all the extra quest givers present for the dlc's and the prologue quests for the chapters and dlc are all terribly confusing for a new player. If someone is wanting to come in an experience the stories and chapters and all in order, you need an elaborate flow chart to help break it down and understand it.

I appreciate the open ended nature and the ability to do new content without completing previous content, but I also feel in some way it's a detriment. I felt overwhelmed by FFXIV after learning how much content I had to slog through to play the new release. ESO takes things to the opposite end of the spectrum by having too much to do all at once with no guide or direction.

Monte_Cristo

It would be nice if there was an option to choose which of the (currently) 4 starts you want to start at. Put it after the skip tutorial option.

Iccotak

ProfessorKittyhawk wrote: »

ESO takes things to the opposite end of the spectrum by having too much to do all at once with no guide or direction.

Destiny recently made this mistake and it is a notably a horrible beginner player experience

JamieAubrey

So if I create a new character and NEVER do the Wailing Prison does that mean I still have my soul ?

tennyoelf

When I started this game back before the Summerset expansion I was placed in the Morrowind beginning and the lack of story direction pretty much had me almost quitting the game. My character was adrift and had no idea why my character was doing the things she was doing. It was until I decided to google the story and do some research I realized I had to do the “real” beginning in the wailing prison. Once I did that, I was then hooked on the game and knew where and why I need to go places.

So yes, please, bring back the wailing prison start, and if it’s choose your start, make sure each beginning has a description with the wailing prison having “true beginning” or “very start” somewhere in there. I’ve talked to one other friend of a friend who tried ESO but was too lost story wise to get into the game so they deleted their account.

rpa

JamieAubrey wrote: »

So if I create a new character and NEVER do the Wailing Prison does that mean I still have my soul ?

Yes. You can't do the main quest without losing your soul. If you finish the main quest, you'll have your soul back at end and also have completed soul magic skill line. (Not that it's required.)

Not doing the main quest, minor annoyance is that Hooded Figure slaps an unabandonable quest in your quest log.

(If I remember right.)

tahol10069

I agree with OP. This coul've been adressed with letting the player choose after character creation what to do: Either start from the original game or start from the lates expansion. Hooded figure could still be there in case of player changing their mind if they chose the second option.

This shouldn't be that much of a challenge, but what do I know, I'm not a programmer.

ZOS also tends to be annoyingly stubborn when they have decided something, no matter how it doesn't make sense, so no reason to expect this to change like ever.

FierceSam

And you can have it. Just go talk to the hooded figure and Bob’s your uncle. Absolutely no one is stopping you from doing it.

However, I don’t think that there is one new player who’s come to ESO to fight dragons who wants to spend days playing through years old content with no tutorials just so they can follow the ‘original’ storyline. They want to get straight out there and fight dragons. But I might be wrong.

I do think ZOS should do 2 things though

1. Give players the choice and make it very clear what the original timeline through all the content is.

2. Really ramp up the in game tutorials. The one in Elsweyr is easily the most comprehensive, but that’s not saying much. It’s brief, easily forgotten and you can’t return to it. It’s ineffectiveness can be judged by seeing how many players of all levels have no idea of how to recognise enemy tells, block, bash, interrupt or dodge even years into their gameplay. The Fighters and Mages guilds should be used to place tutorials where players can learn and work on their abilities as they level, reinforcing effective gameplay.

CynicK

Yes let us choose the tutorial, I would love to start a new toon with it, and let us shuffle songs or chose which one play.

LadySinflower

The problem with offering new players a choice of which start to do is that new players (I mean actual new players starting the game for the first time) have no clue about any of the game content. If you ask "do you want to start with the original storyline or the storyline of the newest chapter," they really won't know what to do. A huge explanation of both options would have to be provided. I remember how confused I was about everything when starting out my first character. If you had asked me to choose a starting point I don't know what I would have done. The idea in principle is ok but the execution might be hard for new players to grasp.

Veles

Yes, Prison start is the best. Only need change tutorial and let us all start there.