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The (accidental?) genius design of the final Stonefall Mission and why ZOS should learn from it.

mann9753b16_ESO
mann9753b16_ESO
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So, I am using the word accidental here, because I have yet to see another quest that has the same feeling towards it.

In my eyes, the final quest of Stonefalls, to be more direct, the final Boss Battle, really showed how you can make an Epic scale fight in a single player Mission. It did basically everything right, from the buildup (though this was the weakest part it still payed up), to the atmosphere set up, the boss design and even the conclusion.
No other Quest stuck in my head like this one, even weeks after I did it, and I had a more epic feeling during this Battle than I had fighting Molag Bal himself. (I honestly had to look for a youtube video of the fight because I really dont remembered it).

Lets see what exactly this quest did right that for some reason no other Quest seem to get right...

1. The enemy is really hyped up before and doesnt Disapoint.

We hear about the Brothers of Strife all through the Main Quest of Stonefall, and we even see one in action, even though killing a ship full of NPCs doesnt feel this epic in a game where our Character can do the same, without much effort, it still kinda felt like these Brothers were a force on their own. So when we finaly meet this giant burning pile of bones, reaching out of a giant Lava Lake, it has a lot to live up to, and it does by some simle tricks, which come in the following points.

2. The Enemy is actually to strong for you alone.

Since this is ESO and we are used to just cutting through enemys like a warm knife through butter, we attack the enemy right away, but... well, it does nothing. Here is the simple trick, outside of the windows where we are supposed to attack him, he takes no damage at all. So, we attack, expecting to chunk a solid 5% of his Health bar with our first basic Spell, and... nope, his Health Bar doesnt move. Then we hear the mage calling us back to defend him, while he weakens the enemy. We are not powerfull enough to actually beat this enemy alone. In a game as easy as ESO, thats not easy to show, and its honestly the point where most bosses fall appart, because there is no real danger or challenge. There is also no real challenge or danger to this fight, but the mechanisc in this mission distract from that, as follows:

3. Multi Phase Boss fight that actually feels right.

It starts with us defending an NPC from Skeletons that emerge from the Lava, and even though, like everything in this game, there isnt actually a way to fail, the combination of the visually threatening enemys, the music that gives you the feeling that you fight with your back to the Wall, and the well times cries for help of the NPCs, we actually feel like we might fail here. Sure, I could use a Level 1 Sorc Pet only and have it solo all Skeletons and the NPC we have to protect still wouldnt die even if it takes me an hour, but the situation still feels like something is at stake here.
Then we get to the point where we can fight him, and yeah, like all other bosses, his Healt Bar melst like Ice Cream in a fire, but then... he just recovers all the damge we did to him, not once but two times. Here is to mention that this was also the perfect amount of resets, cause its enough to make us feel like we have no impact on this mighty enemy, without making it frustrating.

4. He actually deals some damage.

HIs first attack after the reset actually hurts. You take alot of damage from an attack that you most likely dont avoid the first time, because, why should you. BUt then suddenly, half your HP is gone, which makes the second time he casts this spell really something you look out for.

5. Beating him feels good.

Our Mage friend sacrifices himself so that we can beat this massive enemy, and even though now he just turns into the normal weak MOb like every other boss in the game, since he was unbeatable before, finaly being able to strike him down feels like an accomplishment. Not to forget that we just lost an NPC we followed all through Stonefalls, and who really grew on us. (And yes, I know, Ironic that I say this without mentioning his name once, but I am really bad with names), so its also revenge.



All these points together make the quest look bigger than it is. While its still the typical ESO no risk of failure design, it doesnt feel like that at all. You feel like you really beat a foe bigger than yourself in the end. Its a battle you will remember long after its gone.





Now lets compare that to the next Boss fight against Vox.

She has nothing like that, shes a typical tank and spank boss, who does no damage to us while going down like Neymar at the World cub after another player ran past him. Shes hyped up to wield this super powerfull weapon, but other than once SCRIPTED even where she knocks us down, we see nothing of this power. And in the end, shes down in seconds and you are left with the typical "Was that it?" feeling ESO gives you after most boss fights.

Now, how could this been improved?

Actually quite easy, let us fight her before she kills us. Let us damage her, but her mace has too much lifesteal to really take her out, and when we actually manage to get her to half health or so, he bashes us to the ground, immedialty pushing us in the red zone, showing how poerfull this weapon of hers really is, THEN have the scripted final blow that sucks us into the mace.
That way we actually see the power of this weapon, that was hyped up so long, and when we fight her after we freed the souls, it becomes clear that the power came from the Weapon and not her.

Damn, let us open the Spirit portals WHILE fighting her, watching her grow weaker and weaker with each escaping soul, have her lose mechanics the more we weaken the mace, until shes just an old priest wielding a weapon too big for her.

And just like that, just tweaking the mechanics of the boss fight, we would have another rewarding boss fight, that actually holds up to the hype we got before.



Another good example, though not as good as the final Stonefalls Quest is the fight against manimarco, who actually was really interesting, knocking us around, and having our companions, one by one leaving the fight to stop the portals.

What was missing here was the sense of danger, which could again, be solved without actually making the fight harder, by having the portals actually spawn dangerous ghosts, that really hurt us but cant kill us, then have the Prophet join the fight to heal us, like he did in the tutorial quest. Again tricking us into beliving that we are actually in danger.


Wow, that post turned out way longer that i planed it to be...

So for everyone who actually took the time to read it all, thank you very much, please let me know what you think about that.

Here, have a cute little Khajiit as a reward for staying with me^^


5OkpY89.jpg
  • Royaji
    Royaji
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    I'll just offer you another opinion on this fight.

    I had to struggle a bit to remember it to be fair. First thing that came to mind is being annoyed and bored. Half the time during that fight I had a feeling that some scripts have gone wrong and I have to reset the whole thing. Was it skeletons being an absolute push over and having atrociously long spawning time? Something along those lines. Definitely remember staying there with nothing at all to do waiting for the fight to continue, kinda kills all the mood. Can't say I remember anything doing noticeable damage in that fight either.

    Overall it was an extremly scripted fight. Is it fitting for a themepark MMO? Yeah. Is it fun? Obviously for you since you've created this post but I'm really struggling to find anything enjoyable about that extreme degree of putting things on rigid tracks.
  • VaranisArano
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    I also really enjoyed the final fight with the 2nd Brother of Strife, and a large part of that was that I was invested in the story. It built up fantastically.

    I beat the first brother, also a good mechanical fight, and thus knew that the 2nd one would be a doozy. But hey, there's no,way anyone would be stupid enough to wake the 2nd one after the 1st one caused shocks through the whole region, right?

    Oh Tanval Indoril, NO!

    After I chased the Grandmaster through the Dres jail, up to the mountain, then tried to stop the summins, failed, and had to fight the 2nd Brother of Strife, I was pumped. I knew what the stakes were - the Brother could do even more damage to Stonefalls than what I'd been shown. And the implications went beyond just the boss fight - even when the Brother of Strife was dead, I wanted to know what was going to happen to the Grandmaster, and to bring him to justice if I could.

    The fights thenselves were pretty good, but what made them more memorable for me than, say Faolchu which is another good mechanical fight, was that the story buult up to the fight by making me invest in the region and those characters.
  • mann9753b16_ESO
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    Royaji wrote: »
    I'll just offer you another opinion on this fight.

    I had to struggle a bit to remember it to be fair. First thing that came to mind is being annoyed and bored. Half the time during that fight I had a feeling that some scripts have gone wrong and I have to reset the whole thing. Was it skeletons being an absolute push over and having atrociously long spawning time? Something along those lines. Definitely remember staying there with nothing at all to do waiting for the fight to continue, kinda kills all the mood. Can't say I remember anything doing noticeable damage in that fight either.

    Overall it was an extremly scripted fight. Is it fitting for a themepark MMO? Yeah. Is it fun? Obviously for you since you've created this post but I'm really struggling to find anything enjoyable about that extreme degree of putting things on rigid tracks.

    Ok, thats a different point of view, thank you for that.

    But your problem could be solved pretty easy, by making the trigger for new Skeleton Spawns bound to the last living Skeleton.
  • Royaji
    Royaji
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    Royaji wrote: »
    I'll just offer you another opinion on this fight.

    I had to struggle a bit to remember it to be fair. First thing that came to mind is being annoyed and bored. Half the time during that fight I had a feeling that some scripts have gone wrong and I have to reset the whole thing. Was it skeletons being an absolute push over and having atrociously long spawning time? Something along those lines. Definitely remember staying there with nothing at all to do waiting for the fight to continue, kinda kills all the mood. Can't say I remember anything doing noticeable damage in that fight either.

    Overall it was an extremly scripted fight. Is it fitting for a themepark MMO? Yeah. Is it fun? Obviously for you since you've created this post but I'm really struggling to find anything enjoyable about that extreme degree of putting things on rigid tracks.

    Ok, thats a different point of view, thank you for that.

    But your problem could be solved pretty easy, by making the trigger for new Skeleton Spawns bound to the last living Skeleton.

    It still does not solve the fact that is is an extremly railroaded scripted fight though. I'm not a fan of such approach to content.
  • mann9753b16_ESO
    mann9753b16_ESO
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    Royaji wrote: »
    Royaji wrote: »
    I'll just offer you another opinion on this fight.

    I had to struggle a bit to remember it to be fair. First thing that came to mind is being annoyed and bored. Half the time during that fight I had a feeling that some scripts have gone wrong and I have to reset the whole thing. Was it skeletons being an absolute push over and having atrociously long spawning time? Something along those lines. Definitely remember staying there with nothing at all to do waiting for the fight to continue, kinda kills all the mood. Can't say I remember anything doing noticeable damage in that fight either.

    Overall it was an extremly scripted fight. Is it fitting for a themepark MMO? Yeah. Is it fun? Obviously for you since you've created this post but I'm really struggling to find anything enjoyable about that extreme degree of putting things on rigid tracks.

    Ok, thats a different point of view, thank you for that.

    But your problem could be solved pretty easy, by making the trigger for new Skeleton Spawns bound to the last living Skeleton.

    It still does not solve the fact that is is an extremly railroaded scripted fight though. I'm not a fan of such approach to content.

    What other Option would you suggest, that would work with ESOs "No risk of failure" policy?
  • Khumbu
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    There was never an overworld/solo boss fight in this game that made me sweat even back during launch except for that one (mild MSQ spoiler alert!) mission involving fighting Redguards in their tomb. And that was just annoyingly difficult. A bunch of rando npcs should not be harder than a Daedric Prince.

    Either way I’m glad you enjoyed that fight but I felt the same way as others - mow em down, wonder if it’s broken, forgot all about it afterwards. I may have even reset it once by accident on an alt because it took so long the skeleton spawns felt broken. Rivenspire is the biggest offender here. They clearly attempted a similar formula but the zone’s main story is disjointed and boring, and even at the climax it takes forrreeveeererr and leads to a wet fart.

    Solo boss fights were never the overworld’s strength and never felt satisfying, personally. The quests and stories thenselves though? Awesome. You’re accompanied by fun NPCs like Raz. There’s funny and dark moments. There were even a few where someone must have been cutting onions nearby. I 100% the overworld repeatedly because I enjoy the quests, but it was never for the bosses.
  • barney2525
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    This was cool reading. Just don't give away any spoilers.



  • Royaji
    Royaji
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    Royaji wrote: »
    Royaji wrote: »
    I'll just offer you another opinion on this fight.

    I had to struggle a bit to remember it to be fair. First thing that came to mind is being annoyed and bored. Half the time during that fight I had a feeling that some scripts have gone wrong and I have to reset the whole thing. Was it skeletons being an absolute push over and having atrociously long spawning time? Something along those lines. Definitely remember staying there with nothing at all to do waiting for the fight to continue, kinda kills all the mood. Can't say I remember anything doing noticeable damage in that fight either.

    Overall it was an extremly scripted fight. Is it fitting for a themepark MMO? Yeah. Is it fun? Obviously for you since you've created this post but I'm really struggling to find anything enjoyable about that extreme degree of putting things on rigid tracks.

    Ok, thats a different point of view, thank you for that.

    But your problem could be solved pretty easy, by making the trigger for new Skeleton Spawns bound to the last living Skeleton.

    It still does not solve the fact that is is an extremly railroaded scripted fight though. I'm not a fan of such approach to content.

    What other Option would you suggest, that would work with ESOs "No risk of failure" policy?

    I don't think this policy you are talking about is a good option. But if it has to be there, I'd rather deal with those 2 minutes fights I can one-shot, forget about and just skip through all zones in 3 evenings than spend 15 minutes in a scripted purgatory which is equally as uneventful and boring as a one-shot.
  • mann9753b16_ESO
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    Royaji wrote: »

    I don't think this policy you are talking about is a good option.

    Well, thats nothing we can change. ZOS has made clear that they have no intent of actually making the overworld any challenging or even making it possible to fail, so that noone gets sad...

    I dont get it either, but that seems to be the way things are these days...

    Theres a reason so many people are totaly hyped for Classic WoW, because it reminds us of a time where companies were not afraid to let their players learn by failure, and not just let them breeze to childsplay level content with a big "you are awesome" sign hanging in the air...

  • VaranisArano
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    Royaji wrote: »

    I don't think this policy you are talking about is a good option.

    Well, thats nothing we can change. ZOS has made clear that they have no intent of actually making the overworld any challenging or even making it possible to fail, so that noone gets sad...

    I dont get it either, but that seems to be the way things are these days...

    Theres a reason so many people are totaly hyped for Classic WoW, because it reminds us of a time where companies were not afraid to let their players learn by failure, and not just let them breeze to childsplay level content with a big "you are awesome" sign hanging in the air...

    The biggest problem I have with going back to play old ESO fights is that now I know how to play.

    The first time I fought the Brothers of Strife, I was level 15, no CP, on a MagDK with most of my attributes in health, using sword & board, and without a health buff, basically surviving by spamming Burning Embers...
  • leeux
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    Magistrix Vox used to be much more dangerous in the past, she used to be able to use that Hammer she wields to absorb power and IIRC she also had some invuln phases and you had to run around the arena avoiding stuff and killing adds... the problem now is that you can kill her in 3 or 4 hits and that fight is done before any the mechanics trigger, and you can't see any of them anymore (or they were removed, IDK.)
    Edited by leeux on May 31, 2019 9:22PM
    PC/NA - Proud old member of the Antique Ordinatus Populus

    My chars
    Liana Amnell (AD mSorc L50+, ex EP) =x= Lehnnan Klennett (AD mTemplar L50+ Healer/Support ) =x= Ethim Amnell (AD mDK L50+, ex DC)
    Leinwyn Valaene (AD mSorc L50+) =x= Levus Artorias (AD mDK-for-now L50+) =x= Madril Ulessen (AD mNB L50+) =x= Lyra Amnis (AD not-Stamplar-yet L50+)
    I only PvP on AD chars

    ~~ «And blossoms anew beneath tomorrow's sun >>»
    ~~ «I am forever swimming around, amidst this ocean world we call home... >>»
    ~~ "Let strength be granted so the world might be mended... so the world might be mended."
    ~~ "Slash the silver chain that binds thee to life"
    ~~ Our cries will shrill, the air will moan and crash into the dawn. >>
    ~~ The sands of time were eroded by the river of constant change >>
  • mann9753b16_ESO
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    And honestly, in big contrast to a good quest boss we have the final boss of the Eastmarch Questline...

    All that buildup and then you reach him, hit him like 4 times aaaaaannnnd... he surrenders...

    And no, this wasnt me with endgame Gear, 800 CP and pro build, that was my level 40 Necromancer with outdated gear, half of it broken, because why should I waste money to repare it, its not like i need it...
    Edited by mann9753b16_ESO on June 2, 2019 7:31AM
  • TheShadowScout
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    Personally I -love- involved bossfightts where you cannot just plow them under with the weight of your CP and endgame gear. Or even a halfway decent character. The final stonefalls fight was a good one in this regard, yeah, exactly through that scripted first stage to set it up... Molag Bal is the same, with the "power of the divines" setup to -make- an "impossible" opponent beatable, fluff-wise.

    And yes, some bosses really need a bit more "oomph" behind them, to make their fights more enjoyable. And not just more HP, but... more mechanics! Vox for example would do well with running to each soul well at 50% HP and healing up to full while involvnerable and spawning ghostly or daedric adds. The orc Thane could also use a mechanic like that, use all those spirits.

    Another mechanic I would love to see is one where you have to figure out something to make an protected boss beatable... like so many of the minigames (or more like microgames)...

    ...for example, you could have an boss with an elemental shield, and four pillars with elements, pick the right one to buff yourself up to get past the shield, which changes every 20% HP...

    ...or you could have a boss powered/healed by minions hiding to the side, on balconies or in doorways... needing you to track down and defeat those first to make the boss vulvnerable... while evading the boss... or maybe the old "koschei" shtick, a boss that cannot be damaged... until you figure out its not the boss you need to attack, its whatever the boss hid their life in! Like the innocent looking pet chicken in the corner or whatnot.

    ...or you could have a boss that halfway through the fight casts a spell that completely changes the battle in some way... possibly by adapting to your attacks so far; so when attacked with ranged weapons, could cast a permanent fog that makes it impossible to target from more then five meters away, or when attacked with melee, a swamp that reduces movement and disables gap closers...

    ...or you could have more bosses that have specific weaknesses like Falchou... especially ones which are less storyline-sticks-your-nose-right-in-it obvious, but take a bit of figuring out yourself. Like a permanently invisible ranged opponent in a multi-room area, and you can go into a water filled room to spot their approximate location from where they displace the water to attack...

    Heck, I especially want a "mirror fight" someday, where you fight a copy of yourself... that mirrors EVERY attack, and ALL the damage either way. Then wait and see who figures out that you can win by stopping to fight and sheating your weapons... (its a classic!)
  • mann9753b16_ESO
    mann9753b16_ESO
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    Personally I -love- involved bossfightts where you cannot just plow them under with the weight of your CP and endgame gear. Or even a halfway decent character. The final stonefalls fight was a good one in this regard, yeah, exactly through that scripted first stage to set it up... Molag Bal is the same, with the "power of the divines" setup to -make- an "impossible" opponent beatable, fluff-wise.

    And yes, some bosses really need a bit more "oomph" behind them, to make their fights more enjoyable. And not just more HP, but... more mechanics! Vox for example would do well with running to each soul well at 50% HP and healing up to full while involvnerable and spawning ghostly or daedric adds. The orc Thane could also use a mechanic like that, use all those spirits.

    Another mechanic I would love to see is one where you have to figure out something to make an protected boss beatable... like so many of the minigames (or more like microgames)...

    ...for example, you could have an boss with an elemental shield, and four pillars with elements, pick the right one to buff yourself up to get past the shield, which changes every 20% HP...

    ...or you could have a boss powered/healed by minions hiding to the side, on balconies or in doorways... needing you to track down and defeat those first to make the boss vulvnerable... while evading the boss... or maybe the old "koschei" shtick, a boss that cannot be damaged... until you figure out its not the boss you need to attack, its whatever the boss hid their life in! Like the innocent looking pet chicken in the corner or whatnot.

    ...or you could have a boss that halfway through the fight casts a spell that completely changes the battle in some way... possibly by adapting to your attacks so far; so when attacked with ranged weapons, could cast a permanent fog that makes it impossible to target from more then five meters away, or when attacked with melee, a swamp that reduces movement and disables gap closers...

    ...or you could have more bosses that have specific weaknesses like Falchou... especially ones which are less storyline-sticks-your-nose-right-in-it obvious, but take a bit of figuring out yourself. Like a permanently invisible ranged opponent in a multi-room area, and you can go into a water filled room to spot their approximate location from where they displace the water to attack...

    Heck, I especially want a "mirror fight" someday, where you fight a copy of yourself... that mirrors EVERY attack, and ALL the damage either way. Then wait and see who figures out that you can win by stopping to fight and sheating your weapons... (its a classic!)



    That would be awesome...

    Honestly, I would love to see each of your ideas in this game, but i doubt it will eveer happen, because ZOS would be afraid that this is "too challenging" for the casual crowd...

    Remember when Classic WoW was the hight of Casual gameplay? Good timers, back then companies still trusted players to not be... well... as capable as a new born kitten...
    Edited by mann9753b16_ESO on June 2, 2019 9:07AM
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