Feedback: Antiquities Interface looks like a cheap mobile game.

luen79rwb17_ESO

I totally foresee a new "convinience" item akin to expand the available charges in that mini-game.... I can almost bet on that.

ArcVelarian

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

wouldnt be amazed if they are planning to bring out some mobile app for the game ^^

please dont give them ideas...

gepe87

These new mecanics reminds me one game released in 2006:

Jaraal

It’s a step towards turn based combat.


F4.

Miss.

F3.

Hit! You sunk my battlemage!

Darkhorse1975

I really enjoyed following the fun hype stuff ZOS did this winter when they mailed actual maps to content creators and the community came together to study the maps and other clues to scry where we were going for the next chapter. It would be so cool if they had things like that as part of the antiquities system! Perhaps each quarter, the community receives hints and clues IRL and in-game and would involves most of the various main activities players focus on, such as raids, crafting lore, Cyrodiil, etc. I could see it take place throughout each quarter, where towards the end of the quarter, there are enough clues for the community to figure out what/where the antiquity is and then we all earn it. A system somewhat similar to how we collect Indrik feathers could be included and at the end of the quarter, all the players that were taking part in the search would earn the antiquity (similar to how we combine the feathers to get the new Indrik each quarter).It would be so fun following the community hype as players/content creators debated the clues in streams, social media and in-game. Even this antiquities interface we see in the recent streams could be an aspect of the clues for players that like mini-games, but other players that don't care for mini-games weren't required to take part in this aspect to earn the antiquity (Sort of like how non-trials/lore/quest seekers don't have to take part in the dungeons added in dungeon DLCs to advance the story line). The same type of hype we had during the Summerfall/Dragon Rise events could perhaps fuel the search for the antiquity each quarter.The official streams ZOS periodically does, such as ESO Live/dungeon runs/etc, could be opportunities to drop clues to us players when devs/players team up for a streamed dungeon run or have a Lore Master present story lore about the antiquity during a segments of ESO Live. LOL, okay, enough dreaming, I'm going to go log in to ESO now!

Mettaricana

Looks horrible like the textures belong in a beta oblivion or a poor mans nintendo ds knockoff

FierceSam

I really enjoyed the introduction of the grappling hook, it felt like it fit perfectly into the game

I like the concept behind Antiquities, but it needs to be implemented in an ESO way, in particular design wise. Neither of the two designs screams ESO at me. To be honest neither of them even whispers ESO. The scrying tool looks like some spaceship dashboard, while the digging tool looks like it was poached from Plants vs Zombies. Hopefully these are ‘early concept’ versions, which is highly possible as you’d develop the functionality before the look and feel and we’re still at least a couple of weeks from the beginning of PTS testing.

The fact is that right now Antiquities doesn’t feel compelling. It seems like a cheap, time consuming way to replace treasure maps, which for me are fundamentally valueless outside a few specific areas. If I’m going through all that faffing just to get some green epaulets, I won’t be getting involved. If it ends up looking the way it does now, I’ll be disappointed.

And I agree with all the posters saying I don’t want any element of this process to show up on the Crown Store.

Granicus

If you check out their company website you’ll see they’ve been working on a mobile app(s). They’ve had positions open to work on mobile apps. My first thought was that they have likely been pulling people off of fixing ESO to develop mobile apps (just my assumption, no info to back this up). Their site mentions an upcoming mobile app regarding Commander Keen.

I’m wondering if this mini-game is one of the things they’ve been working on. And it also adds credence that they’ve been moving more toward a priority on micro-transactions/in app purchases. A mobile app to complement certain ESO functions might be useful. But this feels more like “the search for more money” in spite of focusing on fixing the many issues ESO has to date, IMO.

I agree with others, no interest in using what seems to be planned here. Though a moot point for me as I have no interest in buying Greymoor either.

kryda

If your first reaction when you saw this wasn't WTF, then you sir or madam are in the minority.

Mancombe_Nosehair

Oh my goodness, that looks hideous.

Thanks for the link to the video.

FierceSam

kryda wrote: »

If your first reaction when you saw this wasn't WTF, then you sir or madam are in the minority.

That wasn’t my first reaction at all.

I was interested to see what they were doing, not looking to overreact to my own agenda

Elsonso

FierceSam wrote: »

kryda wrote: »

If your first reaction when you saw this wasn't WTF, then you sir or madam are in the minority.

That wasn’t my first reaction at all.

I was interested to see what they were doing, not looking to overreact to my own agenda

Ahhh... so after you looked at it objectively, you said WTF!

Purgatorium

I agree ...I too was disappointed when I saw the video about the antiquities mini game, I though it was "unoriginal" ...it reminded me of the mini games of another popular mmorpg. It almost looks like it was rushed with no thought of consistency to the ESO theme.

These mini games really seem out of place in the ESO world. Assembling pieces of torn map versus playing a bejeweled like game would be a better approach to find antiquity locations, also it would mesh better with the ESO theme. This is also true for digging for the antiquities ...I personally would rather to have my character physically dig a location or remove random stones to prospect for the treasure than play a pop up mini game.

Starlock

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

These mini games really seem out of place in the ESO world. Assembling pieces of torn map versus playing a bejeweled like game would be a better approach to find antiquity locations, also it would mesh better with the ESO theme. This is also true for digging for the antiquities ...I personally would rather to have my character physically dig a location or remove random stones to prospect for the treasure than play a pop up mini game.

That may be what it looks like to other players who are observing you while playing the minigame. If so, working that animation in to the interface somehow would be an improvement - it would be a bit similar to the crafting interface in that we see our characters doing work while they are crafting. Much more immersive.

Tigertron

max_only wrote: »

Couldn’t y’all just reskin a Myst or Riven puzzle and call it a day?

Not really joking.

You had a dungeon with an audio puzzle in Vvardenfell and that was super clever. The simple puzzles in CWC were better because they were in the game itself. I don’t know how to express it but minesweeper was the last thing I was expecting.

I was the same. When they announced it I was picturing an instanced area where you solve puzzles based (hopefully) on lore. And maybe have to research said lore to solve them. Or even other puzzles like logic puzzles but interactive with my character .

We get minesweeper.

No thanks. Not interested.

Jaraal

kryda wrote: »

It looks like a high school student created the interface. No overreaction. No agenda. Pure facts.

Based upon their performance history, it’s hardly surprising that the interface is minimal and austere.

Faulgor

max_only wrote: »

Couldn’t y’all just reskin a Myst or Riven puzzle and call it a day?

Not really joking.

You had a dungeon with an audio puzzle in Vvardenfell and that was super clever. The simple puzzles in CWC were better because they were in the game itself. I don’t know how to express it but minesweeper was the last thing I was expecting.

Ooh I loved Riven.

I have no idea how to add compelling mini games, though. I just see a problem that this is apparently this chapter's big feature ...

wolfbone

Sporvan wrote: »

I was very disappointed with the preview of the antiquities interface. It looks like candy crush or tetris or something. Utterly unimpressive and jarring compared to the rest of ESO.

If they could find a way to integrate the "mini" game better with the actual ESO 3rd person camera or force the camera into a first person view of an item that you look at on the ground while the rest of the world is within camera shot it would be infinitely better.

Something more akin to a Cartography Station to try find the location, same zoom kinda effect as crafting stations, and when you arrive at a dig site instead let us set up an Excavation Station to perform the dig.

I want to feel like I'm still playing within ESO - not snap to another screen of an interface that feels out of place.

The interface needs serious work and I hope they revise it.

EDIT: Saw this in another thread, but perhaps reconsider how the Antiquities system plays out completely. Look at how wonderfully you executed Thieves Guild Heists and Dark Brotherhood sacraments... what about making interact with the actual ESO world for this system. Give us a random ruin that changes depending on your skill tree, I want to avoid booby traps, I want to feel like I'm actually doing the excavating without it being a Candy Crush game.

you do realise that none of it is final? all that you see is just test versions and they are in no way the final version

Sporvan

wolfbone wrote: »

you do realise that none of it is final? all that you see is just test versions and they are in no way the final version

Of course I do - every single preview video has had that disclaimer.

However, that also makes it imperative that we give feedback immediately in order to avoid a potentially disastrous interface.

Lady_Linux

Suffice it to say i will be waiting for the 7 dollar sale before buying greymoor

DaveMoeDee

Ashtaris wrote: »

The problem is with Greymoor just around the corner, whatever interface they decided on is already set in stone. They are way past the design stage where they can make any major UI changes and still meet their June 2nd deadline. So I’m afraid we are stuck with it. I think I want time to play with it on the PTS before I totally trash it.

Major changes can still happen as we don't know how much development has been done that isn't part of what is revealed. There can be branches that they have been working on for a month that are still not part of the release build when they showed a preview.

That being said, I can't imagine a drastic change unless they had another alternative candidate that they were developing in parallel in case the first choice felt unsatisfying. We probably are stuck with this.

Cireous

I actually think the scrying one looks pretty good, but would prefer it less polished and more run-down appearing, like the ruins it likely came from. The digery one, though; it needs a lot of work. I think the gritty/almost realistic aesthetic of ESO should be followed more closely, here, for both profession interfaces.

Matchimus

Please ZOS don't make me grind through playing that for a skill to minimise impact of proposed nerfs.

SmukkeHeks

It gave me the same blah feeling as the new music. I’m not going to play mini games, I haven’t even got a game for my phone so I’m not the target for this.

Wonder who is. Which segment is it zos are targeting with this? How did they come up with the idea? Is it more or less just a copy of other present mmos?

And the name. Antiquities. It’s misleading, I thought we were going on a continent wide treasure hunt? Like archeologists?

fierackas

OMFG, do they realise their player base is not 12 years old? If I wanted to play that crap I'd go into my loft and find my old ZX Spectrum!!!

thissocalledflower

The S-crying Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOgv-UuTgac

RefLiberty

wolfbone wrote: »

Sporvan wrote: »

I was very disappointed with the preview of the antiquities interface. It looks like candy crush or tetris or something. Utterly unimpressive and jarring compared to the rest of ESO.

If they could find a way to integrate the "mini" game better with the actual ESO 3rd person camera or force the camera into a first person view of an item that you look at on the ground while the rest of the world is within camera shot it would be infinitely better.

Something more akin to a Cartography Station to try find the location, same zoom kinda effect as crafting stations, and when you arrive at a dig site instead let us set up an Excavation Station to perform the dig.

I want to feel like I'm still playing within ESO - not snap to another screen of an interface that feels out of place.

The interface needs serious work and I hope they revise it.

EDIT: Saw this in another thread, but perhaps reconsider how the Antiquities system plays out completely. Look at how wonderfully you executed Thieves Guild Heists and Dark Brotherhood sacraments... what about making interact with the actual ESO world for this system. Give us a random ruin that changes depending on your skill tree, I want to avoid booby traps, I want to feel like I'm actually doing the excavating without it being a Candy Crush game.

you do realise that none of it is final? all that you see is just test versions and they are in no way the final version

05/18 is chapter release so I don't think it will change much.

Thannazzar

Zatox wrote: »

Expectations:


Reality:

Even if spellcrafting won't be introduced the whole "finding sections of a tablet and making rubbings' to expose a location or item is far superior an In game activity than what's been revealed for archeology from the streamers.

If essentially what is being introduced is a 2 stage treasure hunt then we should be:

A) hunting clues from talking to random mystics librarians and nafarious NPCs and by researching in locations, ie I heard that a book about this was kept by the owners of x delve.

B ) These activities provide written clues to the locations of secret rooms where there are tablets to take rubbings which narrow down a dig location.

thissocalledflower

The new eso for her model should follow some sage advice from Ellen:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCyw3prIWhc

Elsonso

wolfbone wrote: »

Sporvan wrote: »

I was very disappointed with the preview of the antiquities interface. It looks like candy crush or tetris or something. Utterly unimpressive and jarring compared to the rest of ESO.

If they could find a way to integrate the "mini" game better with the actual ESO 3rd person camera or force the camera into a first person view of an item that you look at on the ground while the rest of the world is within camera shot it would be infinitely better.

Something more akin to a Cartography Station to try find the location, same zoom kinda effect as crafting stations, and when you arrive at a dig site instead let us set up an Excavation Station to perform the dig.

I want to feel like I'm still playing within ESO - not snap to another screen of an interface that feels out of place.

The interface needs serious work and I hope they revise it.

EDIT: Saw this in another thread, but perhaps reconsider how the Antiquities system plays out completely. Look at how wonderfully you executed Thieves Guild Heists and Dark Brotherhood sacraments... what about making interact with the actual ESO world for this system. Give us a random ruin that changes depending on your skill tree, I want to avoid booby traps, I want to feel like I'm actually doing the excavating without it being a Candy Crush game.

you do realise that none of it is final? all that you see is just test versions and they are in no way the final version

No, it is not the final version, but it is really close to it. At this stage, primary game play development is complete. It is an accurate representation of what they would like the game play to be. What is likely to change is cosmetic and the final tuning.