A mini lore rant on chapters

Hallothiel

None of the stories in ESO are about ‘the end of the world’ really; they are about preventing the world turning to what is considered the ‘dark’ side.

LotR, Star Wars, Battle of Thermopylae (300) and even the ridiculousness of Braveheart are all about preventing the world turning to the bad.

(Also Star Wars is a classic example of the Hero’s Journey that is the basis of a lot of myths & stories that resonate.)

Elsonso

Hallothiel wrote: »

None of the stories in ESO are about ‘the end of the world’ really; they are about preventing the world turning to what is considered the ‘dark’ side.

Splitting that hair with a very fine razor there...

Hallothiel

lordrichter wrote: »

Hallothiel wrote: »

None of the stories in ESO are about ‘the end of the world’ really; they are about preventing the world turning to what is considered the ‘dark’ side.

Splitting that hair with a very fine razor there...

Possibly. 😉

But there is a difference between fighting a perceived change that could be considered ‘bad’ and the annihilation of all life.

Kuramas9tails

That's life.

The base of any story is a situation in which the character has to face and overcome. One of the most powerful situations is power itself. Becoming the leader of a group, taking control of an area, invading for land or an item. People need purpose. People strive for purpose. I guess dragons do too.

The point I am making is that for any good storyline, there's always going to be a minimum of two sides and when you are the main character/hero, you will always be going up against the "bad/evil". You expect them to have an entire DLC where you literally have no purpose and just help citizens like chasing a hoarver from their field or help them find a lost item in a delve?

Sure, it's repetitive and your actions don't have as much consequences or variety of outcomes but other options will be more shallow and have less of an impact emotionally. You know the short funny clips that end a story from the start before it officially ends? Like the Lion King clip where Rafiki throws cub Simba off pride rock and it ends the story there. If that was how it really went, it would have no impact. Someone used a variety of examples in another comment so lets go with that:

LOTR: Imagine if the ring was destroyed at the beginning. Done.
Saving Private Ryan: Imagine Private Ryan was literally just stationed in California. Done.
Gladiator: His family wasn't killed. Done.

I think you get the point. There's always conflict. A character is never built on flat ground. Experience, troubles, life, is what shapes a character. It helps us build up emotional connections.

SeaGtGruff

It's the end of Tamriel as we know it. It's the end of Tamriel as we know it. It's the end of Tamriel as we know it-- and I feel fine.

Anything set before The Elder Scrolls: Arena can be conveniently explained away by Arena's opening screens: "petty wars and border conflicts," "life and death were different sides of the same coin tossed every day," and "the people of the known world began calling the land of their sorrow, the Arena."

Okay, so Daedric invasions aren't exactly "petty wars." But it isn't much of a stretch to suppose that all of these never-ending Daedric invasions, necromantic insurrections, draconic incursions, and so on, might lead the people to throw up their hands and complain, "It's the same old thing, every freaking day, week after week, month after month, year after year-- it's like we're being held hostage in some kind of Arena where we're forced against our will to fight for our very lives every single day, over and over and over and over and over again!"

grannas211

I got that song “It’s the end of the world as we know it” whatever it’s called in my head now.

ArchMikem

Hallothiel wrote: »

Is heretical to admit that on reflection, and playing through it again, I don’t think Orsinium is as fabulous a everyone else 😬

Everyone has that Rose tinted glasses when looking back at ESO's first "real" content expansion after Craglorn. I just rushed through the main questline on a character for the third time and I thought it was pretty laborious and or dullish, even though my first time through was much more enticing and enjoyable.

But that's going to be typical for all content. The first run is fun. The second, third, fourth etc runs get tedious.

barney2525

NoodleESO wrote: »

barney2525 wrote: »

NoodleESO wrote: »

I just wanted to point out that the chapter story lines are getting out of control, and how many times are you gonna sing us the same song?

Base Game: Molag Bal invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Morrowind: Daedric princes try to steal Tribunal power and a mini invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Summerset: Nocturnal invasion, Sload invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Elsweyr: A super dragon named Kaalgrontiid has ascended to GODHOOD and has an army of dragons "This could mean the end of the world!"

And all the information about this time was just never written down? People of Tamriel lost it and forgot about it? (Lore wise)

I really don't think this is a sustainable theme for chapters anymore (the whole end of the world thing) Why don't we have alliance quest lines and war stories? As a pvper I'd definitely get more attached to characters on the same alliance as me. And I hate to point it out for the millionth time but its also what the game was based off of in the first place, I have no idea how we went from alliance war to super dragons.

Every hero/super hero story has to have end-of-the-world consequences, or else its not heroic. "I killed the mouse that was getting into the trash" just doesn't cut it as something your Heroic character should be bragging about.

And your Character IS supposed to be the Hero/Heroine in this Epic story.

Why would anyone complain about an epic story that has dire and far reaching consequences should you fail?

If you want to play Pong, go play Pong.

IMHO

You make a good point although, at this point in ESO, how can you call your own character a hero? Most of the time you will be assisted by someone highly overpowered (Abnur), a Demi god/god, or alliance leader. Its almost like you're having your hand held and just following the quest marker.

so no it may not be "I killed a mouse" but its definitely "I killed it by clicking my mouse"
Thats hardly heroic

Milking a subject will just devalue it even more. A good example is in Elsweyr (no spoilers here) when Cadwell says "look after Honor for me he's a good steed" (You know the part) My god did I cry like a baby. A Hero must be capable of making tough decisions, and dealing with hardships/sacrifices, not just the savior. But then they (ZOS) undo any meaning full action.

edit: added (ZOS) in last sentence for clarity

Abner is not the lead in the story. He is the director. He is not doing the hard work of actually killing the monsters. He is pointing out the monsters so you can kill them. He even tells you not to expect much help from him because he is 'saving himself' for what he would consider a 'real challenge'.

Abner is the Queen - sending Conan out to defeat the monsters and all other challenges, to bring back the trophy. The Queen is not the heroine. Conan is the hero.

Also, never a good idea to mix what is happening in a fantasy game with real life. The character in the game would say 'I killed a mouse'. That is In Game. Clicking on your mouse is a Real Life action. Its comparing apples with oranges. Always a bad idea.

Don't confuse the 'who' that is the Hero/Heroine. It is Not you, the player. It is the Character you direct. I know a lot of people get this confused. They say " I " did that!. No, the Character did that. The Character got the rewards for being successful. Your name was not even mentioned. It's just like None of the actors who have portrayed Batman, or Superman, or Conan have ever been confused with those characters. Superman saved the world. Henry Cavill didn't.

I know the part? Well, I ... would... know the part... IF I had actually completed the Elsweyr story... which I haven't.... because I have doing other things and this is a BIG game.... but it is on my list of things to do..... so I actually have no idea what you are talking about there. I do stop in to Elsweyr occasionally to take care of treasure maps and whack the occasional dragon, but haven't sat down and done the story yet.

IMHO

Danel_Vadan

Morrowind>CwC>Summerset is one story, tho

Dusk_Coven

NoodleESO wrote: »

I just wanted to point out that the chapter story lines are getting out of control, and how many times are you gonna sing us the same song?

Base Game: Molag Bal invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Morrowind: Daedric princes try to steal Tribunal power and a mini invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Summerset: Nocturnal invasion, Sload invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Elsweyr: A super dragon named Kaalgrontiid has ascended to GODHOOD and has an army of dragons "This could mean the end of the world!"

Sounds like the sequence of Star Trek movies while Kirk was at the helm.
Later on things scaled down to just one solar system or something similarly inconsequential.

McMasterx

lordrichter wrote: »

Elder Scrolls does seem to tell stories at the time the world is ending. Or, at least the local part of it. Dagoth Ur, Mehrunes Dagon, Alduin, Molag Bal... no one seems to want to leave poor Tamriel alone.

It is a problem wider then just Elder Scrolls. I think most players won't get out of bed for anything less than the end of the world, these days. Besides, when saving the world, few notice that the story is very thin.

Arena was mostly just about a Tharn wanting to take control of the empire than a world ender. And Daggerfall had, admittedly, the possibility of a world ending scenario ending. But it was mostly just political intrigue in the Illiac Bay region.

Not until Morrowind (or Battlespire) did we really start seeing End-of-the-World adventures get into the ElderScrolls.

Starlock

It’s a genre problem.

That said, I would very much welcome a departure from it. I've seen too many otherwise good fantasy/sci-fi games ruined by couching themselves in the "save the world" garbage. My favorite stories in the genre tend to be those that don't tell that story.

hakan

i agree on the hero. everytime kings/queens sit and we do everything. those hero titles are worth nothing.

but there are also a lot of good side quests still.

in this game tho, the most used theme is betreyal. but what do you expect? war is everywhere.

Huyen

NoodleESO wrote: »

I just wanted to point out that the chapter story lines are getting out of control, and how many times are you gonna sing us the same song?

Base Game: Molag Bal invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Morrowind: Daedric princes try to steal Tribunal power and a mini invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Summerset: Nocturnal invasion, Sload invasion "This could mean the end of the world!"
Elsweyr: A super dragon named Kaalgrontiid has ascended to GODHOOD and has an army of dragons "This could mean the end of the world!"

And all the information about this time was just never written down? People of Tamriel lost it and forgot about it? (Lore wise)

I really don't think this is a sustainable theme for chapters anymore (the whole end of the world thing) Why don't we have alliance quest lines and war stories? As a pvper I'd definitely get more attached to characters on the same alliance as me. And I hate to point it out for the millionth time but its also what the game was based off of in the first place, I have no idea how we went from alliance war to super dragons.

#Itstheendoftheworld #again #andagain

I agree, its getting pretty old. Every single game these days has the same storyline in it: Bad guy plans to destroy the world, you (the hero) has to defeat the bad guy, by going through some tedious trials along the way.

Ysbriel

Well, the Daedra do want to reclaim what was once fully theirs and everybody wants to rule Tamriel.
besides every single topic has been gone over already and will still be recurring topics everywhere not just on this game.

Reistr_the_Unbroken

I still have yet to see Sanguine in ESO.

Bet he wouldn’t try to end the world.

Ysbriel

Reistr_the_Unbroken wrote: »

I still have yet to see Sanguine in ESO.

Bet he wouldn’t try to end the world.

There is a delve that hes at

edit: i don’t remember if he is actually there because i did the quest long ago but its a quest related to him.