Goblin Mudball (new player-based subgame)

goatlyonesub17_ESO

A new kind of PvP interaction has begun. It's called "Goblin Mudball." To play, proceed as follows:

Create a new character (a very short Bosmer nightblade is best) and name him "The Mudball Goblin"

Soon after entering into ESO, teleport or travel to Stonefalls.

Locate the giver of the "A Goblin's Affection" quest.

Do the quest, but be sure to retain possession of the Shadowsilk Gem.

Wear the Shadowsilk Gem and, while you are on Throwing Duty or Making An Escape, don't take it off.

Note 1: You may remove the Shadowsilk Gem when you are enroute to your hiding place, or to a new hiding place in the unlikely event that you escape from your old one after being discovered.

Note 2: It is advised to turn off attacking innocents, as this will prevent you accidentally launching mud balls at NPCs (including guards). Remember, every mud ball you throw carries a risk of being traced back to you and giving away your position. Successful splats on players generate karma points and a predatory sense of well-being. Splats on NPC's don't.

Your hiding place should ideally have a clear view of player high-traffic areas while offering you concealment, in both line-of-sight and camouflage. Some hiding places will be better in the day, and some will be better during the night. You can make use of rocks, trees, bushes, ditches, animals, dead animals, bridge abutments, castle crenelations... the list goes on and on. Your hiding place should also, ideally, have a ready escape route, such as a nearby wayshrine.

While in your hiding place, throw mud balls at players in such a way that they are unlikely to notice which way the mudball came from. In other words, if they are looking straight at your position, don't throw any mudballs until they go somewhere else, or at least start moving away from you. Players who stop and stay in place, without consulting an NPC or reading a map, may be watching to discover the Mudball Radiant Point (you).

It often helps to use the Third Person Camera view (V) while throwing mudballs at players. This feature enables you to target them without being seen by them.

Fast-moving targets are more easily splatted on approach than while receding. And splatting an approaching player is one of the few occasions in which a moderate amount of lag works in your favor, as the targeting takes place on your end, whereas the impact occurs at a place determined (after lag is factored in) on the server end. This helps The Mudball Goblin remain undetected.

Sooner or later, however, a player is going to spot the sneaky Mudball Goblin and try to dispatch him with extreme prejudice. The rules that govern this interaction are as follows:

If the offended player manages to swing his weapons at you in such a way that you'd have taken damage in an actual PvP fight, then you are morally obliged to "die" by logging out of the game with that character and not play as The Mudball Goblin for the rest of that calendar day. New day, new goblin.

If The Mudball Goblin is able to outrun his pursuer, or teleport away, or escape by jumping off a cliff (provided that the fall does not quite kill him), then he can continue to play as The Mudball Goblin.

Necessary gear:
A mudball pouch
A Shadowsilk Gem

Recommended gear:
Fiord's Legacy (5)
Coward's Gear (5)
A fast mount

Amusing things to zone chat to intrigue, provoke, and frustrate players:
The Mudball Goblin: "The mudballs are especially disgusting today."
The Mudball Goblin: "Whomever is throwing all of these mudballs?"
The Mudball Goblin: "[NPC], over there by the well, is throwing mudballs at people."
The Mudball Goblin: "[Player], over there by the well, is throwing mudballs at people."
The Mudball Goblin: "WTS mudballs"
The Mudball Goblin: "I will dye your clothes mudball brown."

FurySevenSix

I'm still pretty new to ESO, but is this a suggestion for something to be added or something that's currently possible?
Because it sounds kinda fun TBH.

TelvanniWizard

Lol . Won't do it because of time lack, but seems awesome!

goatlyonesub17_ESO

Okay, I've been playing Goblin Mudball for several days now, and I've stuff to RePorT about it.

First, some players are irritated by a barrage of an excessive number of mudballs in a short span of time, so don't pick on anybody especially. The IDEA behind Goblin Mudball is to put a little frustration on your player victims as they scurry around trying to find where you are hiding, so they can get all gratified and such when they chase you away while pelting you with revenge mudballs. But let's not take it so far that players actually get annoyed.

Second, I've noticed a definite advantage in the use of protective coloration. I have had players hunting for me go right by me, within one-arm weapon distance, without noticing me. However, the official Mudball Goblin outfit, which you put on by equipping the Shadowsilk Gem, is sufficiently camouflagy only when you're hiding among silvery rocks. Otherwise, if your hiding spot is inside shrubbery, next to healthy wood, or near dingy rocks, then the official Mudball Goblin outfit won't blend in, and someone will see you quick. So I'm going to drop the requirement to use the Shadowsilk Gem. Just name your character The Mudball Goblin, and that will be enough.

By the way, the best colors seem to be Motif Master Brown, Wolf Fur Brown, Obsidian Black, and Thalmor Black, and the best outfit that I've tested is the Priest of the Green Robe with the Clever Man Wizard Hat (dyed in one or more of the aforementioned colors).

Night operations tend to be more successful than daytime operations. However, if you blend well with your background and can find a place in the shadow, especially if it is out of the line of sight in the first-person view, while letting you target a high traffic area in the third-person view, then you can do well in the daytime also.

Third, I've found some good hiding spots. But sooner or later, you're going to be found in any hiding spot. What usually reveals where The Mudball Goblin is hiding is when you throw a mudball at someone who is searching for you, and he happens to be looking in your direction when you launch a mudball at him. The best times to splat somebody are:

1. When he first appears at a wayshrine
2. Immediately after he logs in
3. As he is mounting his horse or whatever
4. When he is running in some direction other than straight at you

Beware: Players on the hunt for the Mudball Goblin will start/stop in order to better estimate the direction from which the mudball came, should they be hit with one at that moment.

Beware: Some players have spells that can make you or your weapons glow with one color of eerie light or another. Or give off bright spell smoke. This can cause you to be quickly discovered despite protective coloration, and in this case it is necessary to have some solid concealment between you and the hunter.

Fourth, when someone finds you and starts flailing or flaming away with his weapons, be sure to concede defeat gracefully, which in this case means running away with as much cute cowardice as you can, being sure to "hop" every time you get pelted with a revenge mudball.

Good Hiding Spot #1. Inside the Cart to Wrothgar in Daggerfall, with the Mudball Goblin hiding with his nose pointed into the right front corner of the cart. You hit players as they go along the roads between the Battlegrounds tents and the Daggerfall Wayshrine. When you get discovered, you have the option of escaping by using the cart to visit Orsinium.

Good Hiding Spot #2. In Daggerfall, in the non-functional stable just below the main crafting building, behind the black horse and some barrels, with the Mudball Goblin hiding with his nose pointed toward the bridge leading toward the woodworking place. You hit players as they go along the road from the plaza where the bank is toward the bridge (or vice versa).

Good Hiding Spot #3. In Ebonhart, near the wayshrine, there is a tattery old tree-looking thing. You can hide in a place near the bottom of the tree. From the wayshrine, you will be out of line-of-sight, with a solid mass of tree root between yourself and the wayshrine, and there's some cover toward the temple too (but not as much). You can hit players in third person about 3/4 of the way around.

Good Hiding Spot #4. In Ebonhart, there's a rock just inside the landward gate that sticks way up. You can hide on a ledge just below the topmost bit and be relatively hard to see. You can hit players as they pass on the road just below your position, and sometimes you can reach them on the parallel road beyond. You can also hit players as they are going to or from the landward gate.

Good Hiding Spot #5. In Davon's Watch, you can hide just outside the gate nearest the stables, on the ledge just to the side of the entrance, with your nose smack under the parapet top. Your hat will be visible, but players might regard it as a tree root or something. Alternatively (5b) you can hide very nearby on top of a tree root and likewise be very hard to notice. You hit players going in or out of the city entrance. You can also hit players as they jump over the fence between the fountain and the Davon's Watch Wayshrine.

Good Hiding Spot #6. In Davon's Watch, you can hide in the fountain pool with your nose crammed into the tall bit of exterior wall on the side of the pool that is toward the stables. You'll be in the water, and it is likely that your personal details (name, title, health bar) won't light up if a player should look in your direction. You can hit players as they travel anywhere between the fence, which players jump over on their way to the wayshrine, and the stables.

What's really funny is when you splat somebody with a mudball, and the person you hit thinks that another player did the throwing, and it starts a mudball fight between them, while you laugh and laugh and laugh.

Also, when two players are dueling, you can usually splat them both with mudballs over and over again. They're too busy to look for you. However, other, uninvolved players might trace those mudballs backward and find you.

When your hiding place seems to be secure, you might consider making clever Mudball Goblin comments in says or in zone chat, regarding the composition or the smell of your mudballs, or regarding how well you are hiding, or what a diabolically clever fellow you are. Don't react angrily when someone calls you a nasty name. Mudball Goblins are a cut above the common herd. The dirtiness comes from our hands, never from our mouths.