ESO needs an ingame Bestiary

WeerW3ir

I think it would be a really great idea and time to add a Bestiary into the game.
After all those years, different zones, areas, lands, and types of enemies. a little textbook with descriptions, sketches, etc. would add lot of immersion into the game.
Imagine that you need to farm something for an achievement. But sadly from head you cannot recall where the enemy is or which drops the item you seek for, and well, you cannot make yourself to google it. You just open the Bestiary in the game. You see a cute sketch. and some interesting but immersive info about the enemies. And where was seen them last time.

jainiadral

Yes. We need Bestiary!

Heck yes! One of my favorite parts of RPGs, including online versions, is unlocking and browsing bestiaries. I love finding out new things about monsters and critters in fantasy/sci fi worlds

Itacira

Short of having it in the vanilla game, it should be doable on PC with add ons !

bluebird

Yes. We need Bestiary!

Yeah! The ESO physical lorebooks (Tales of Tamriel) were awesome, and they have a special place on my shelf! Wish we got even more cool lore, both ingame and in print! In addition to the beastiary that would show the creatures we fought, ESO could add an 'Adventurer's Journal' tab to our Quest Journal, in which we could see the quests we did and the decisions we made. More Elder Scrolls lore please!

LMar

Yes. We need Bestiary!

It would be a nice touch. There are some ingame books that offer what you need. Often ES games don't have word of god lore but rather ingame versions. If you open your lore library (press J and then the icon next to the quest tab on the top right) you have access to the books you've read and if you found those beastiary books you can read them again ( obv not for all creatures)

Dusk_Coven

Needs to be account-wide. So on whatever toon you're on, you can link it to tell the nubs in your trial how to defeat the boss.

Ratzkifal

Yes. We need Bestiary!

Actually, this could also be a way to make leveling the mage's guild more interesting. In addition to collecting lore books, you get a homework to take notes on the wildlife for a more complete record (basically the plot of Pokemon). And every new animal or magical being you encounter adds a little bit of progress on the guild skill. Then it wouldn't be so much worse to grind than the fighter's guild. Especially on console. It should be accountwide too probably, just so it's actually useful to read up on.

ArchMikem

Yeah, but actually no.

I mean, its not a NEED, but would be neat.

TheShadowScout

Yeah, but actually no.

Yeah, not a 'need', but...
...it -would- make a nifty addition... a sub-section of the journal, unlock entries by defeating every version of that "beast" (so, one of every spider, including the occasional dwelve boss, for the "spider" entry, etc.)

DarknDarker

Yes. We need Bestiary!

Not quite need, but it'd be pretty cool to have.

Ragged_Claw

Yes. We need Bestiary!

This is a lovely idea actually. With each new zone we get more creatures (and plants) and I love the idea of being able to look them up and check out what they drop (e.g rawhide, foul hide, daedra husk carapace etc). It would be really helpful for that 'evil achievement' too since it's not always clear what creature will drop what, or where to find them. Plus I just really like books.

Burgererer

No. We do not!

I only said no because its not necessarily a need imo. But would be cool. If you had made a "want" vote, i wouldve picked it.

Red_Feather

Yes. We need Bestiary!

Oh I would love in creatures had strengths and weaknesses and we had to research and make builds to be very effective. Reminds me of the Witcher games. That werewolf boss in Witcher 3 required so much preparing and research to beat, but it was so easy once I knew it's weaknesses.

Androconium

Yeah, but actually no.

Need?

r34lian

Yes. We need Bestiary!

Witcher 3 was de best

coletas

No. We do not!

Yeah, we Will read the bestiary while we cant play

craybest

Yes. We need Bestiary!

yes please! I'd absolutely love this. to see some good art of the enemies with some bit of backstory to it.

LukosCreyden

Yeah, but actually no.

Poll options are a bit weird.

I chose "yes but actually no" because I don't think we NEED a bestiary per se, but would certainly love to see one added. Collecting data on all the monsters in Tamriel and beyond sounds like a great bit of side content, whilst also providing some excellent data.

anitajoneb17_ESO

No. We do not!

No, because all the info in the game is provided by books or NPCs, from a subjective, ingame point of view.
A bestiary would require an objective, out-of-game POV which does not belong to the Elder Scrolls "philosophy".

Nemesis7884

No. We do not!

i feel the work is better spent elsweyr (LUL) since there are various sites already dedicated to this

uesp, fextralife and elderscrolls.fandom to name a few

TheHsN

Yes. We need Bestiary!

yes

LennoxPoodle

Yeah, but actually no.

Yes, but not as some kind of menu codex option. If implemented it should be lorebooks (in a separate category to more easily find them.

WeerW3ir

Yes. We need Bestiary!

LennoxPoodle wrote: »

Yes, but not as some kind of menu codex option. If implemented it should be lorebooks (in a separate category to more easily find them.

Why not as menu?

Red_Feather

Yes. We need Bestiary!

One thing I really love about some rpgs, like dragon's dogma, is how enemies have unique weaknesses. Like Saurian are more easily frozen than other enemies. Or how goblins trip and fall when blinded. Or how starting the cast of exequy on a chimera will make it literally freak out because it casts that spell too and knows it's an insta kill.

bluebird

Yes. We need Bestiary!

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

No, because all the info in the game is provided by books or NPCs, from a subjective, ingame point of view.
A bestiary would require an objective, out-of-game POV which does not belong to the Elder Scrolls "philosophy".

How exactly would it not fit into the game? We already have ingame lorebooks that talk about ESO's creatures. Books on Dwemer Automatons, books on Daedra, books about Werewolves and Nereid... OP's Beastiary idea would simply expand these and catalogue the creatures and add a sketch/painting next to the lore entry. It's perfectly immersive.

Example: 'The feral, beastlike Daedra like the Clannfear and the Daedroth appear in the service of many different Daedric Powers, and may represent common creatures existing like wild animals in the wildernesses of Oblivion. Other savage, semi-intelligent creatures like Scamps and Spider Daedra may also be found in the realms of various Daedra Lords. The case of the Elemental Atronachs, on the other hand, is less certain. Flame and Frost Atronachs, for example, appear to be highly intelligent, but not all varieties of Elemental Atronachs seem to be social or to have the power of speech.. ' - Varieties of Daedra, Part 2.

There would be nothing un-immersive about splitting that info into individual expanded entries, adding an image and maybe some extra info, e.g. 'Note: some Scamps may be found wearing Blighted Iron Collars etched in runes, ascribing it as the property of one of the innumerably Dremora Kynreeves.' (Scamps drop the Blighted Iron Collar trophy and that's already the lore description on the item).

Danikat

Yes. We need Bestiary!

I don't think it's actually needed, but it would be a really nice thing to have, both because it would be useful and because it would be fun to have.

I really enjoy unlocking entries in games like Dragon Age, and then going through reading them all periodically.

anitajoneb17_ESO

No. We do not!

bluebird wrote: »

There would be nothing un-immersive about splitting that info into individual expanded entries, adding an image and maybe some extra info, e.g. 'Note: some Scamps may be found wearing Blighted Iron Collars etched in runes, ascribing it as the property of one of the innumerably Dremora Kynreeves.' (Scamps drop the Blighted Iron Collar trophy and that's already the lore description on the item).

My remark has nothing to do with immersion. It has to do with the subjective points of view of the various sources in the game(s). Example : the dreugh is considered an intelligent specie by some races in the game(s), and as absolute beasts by other races.

Besides, I you want something like this, you can always do it yourself by reading the books, taking screenshots of the creatures, etc. And if you don't want to do that yourself, dozens of fansites have done it already - and very well.

bluebird

Yes. We need Bestiary!

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

bluebird wrote: »

There would be nothing un-immersive about splitting that info into individual expanded entries, adding an image and maybe some extra info, e.g. 'Note: some Scamps may be found wearing Blighted Iron Collars etched in runes, ascribing it as the property of one of the innumerably Dremora Kynreeves.' (Scamps drop the Blighted Iron Collar trophy and that's already the lore description on the item).

My remark has nothing to do with immersion. It has to do with the subjective points of view of the various sources in the game(s). Example : the dreugh is considered an intelligent specie by some races in the game(s), and as absolute beasts by other races.

Besides, I you want something like this, you can always do it yourself by reading the books, taking screenshots of the creatures, etc. And if you don't want to do that yourself, dozens of fansites have done it already - and very well.

You said that a Beastiary would require an 'out-of-game POV' and would go against Elder Scrolls philosphy but that's not the case. They could totally write the Beastiary entries from an immersive ingame POV as there are already examples of this in the lorebooks. As for your Dreugh example, it would work just fine :

'The Dreugh are a Tamrielic race of powerful aquatic creatures observed primarily in Morrowind, the Illiac Bay, the Abecean Sea, Black Marsh and Cyrodiil. They are often hunted for their wax and hide. Once common throughout Vvardenfell, Ebonheart, and the surrounding waters, they have been driven into isolated pockets in more recent times. There is some doubt on whether they shouldn't be classified along with Argonians, for their semi-aquatic nature and "troglophiliac" humanoid form.

According to legend, the Dreugh devolved from a much more intelligent and civilized race due to conflict with the Dunmer, and powerful, tyrannic Dreugh kingdoms are reported by Mankar Camoran in his Mythic Dawn Commentaries, even going as far as to state they once ruled the world. That notion is explored in Vivec's lessons, where it is stated that, "when the dreughs ruled the world, the Daedroth Prince Molag Bal had been their chief.

Additionally, tales of civilized Land Dreugh colonies (purported to have built stone cairn houses and structures) exist, which affirm that the species raised mudcrabs for sustenance, but no evidence of such behavior exists today.'

That's from the Dreugh Wiki entry, and none of that lore would have to be from an out-of-game POV, it would all fit in the game seamlessly. Plenty of lore entries ingame are already written by writer characters such as Phrastus of Elinhir or Lady Cinnabar of Taneth. Saying that creating an ingame beastiary is unnecessary is different from saying that it couldn't be done because it can't have an ingame PoV.

anitajoneb17_ESO

No. We do not!

@bluebird : but this wiki entry is an "out-of-game" PoV !

On the other hand, Phraste & Lady Cinnabar are both ingame, subjective PoV and counterweight each other by never agreeing on anything - albeit none of them can actually be objectively proven right nor wrong.

Now if your "bestiary" has to recap all different PoV found ingame , like, for instance "according to A, dreughs are intelligent being, according to B, they''re beasts" - then no no no. It would be boring and tedious and useless. Why repeat what's in the books, especially since you can access any book anytime via eidetic memory, and there's even a full text search function ? Just read the books !! It's much more fun than reading "encyclopedic" articles that would purposedly and rightfully refuse to choose between any given option, and it allows readers to have their own interpretation of things, beings and events.

I agree that "impossible" and "unnecessary" are two different things but in this case it's both - in my opinion - and interlinked.

Royaji

Yeah, but actually no.

Is it not a bad idea? Sure. Is it worth the development time? In my opinion no.

Also I have a feeling that a book like that might be pretty depressing to see since ESO doesn't actually have a massive variety of enemies. Lots of them are just reused in different places.

Smasherx74

Yeah, but actually no.

No stop proposing things that belong in single player games. You're going to make ZOS waste their time on this crap instead of fixing the existing server performance problems.