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Oh, lordy, what a confusing conundrum (spoilers for new players)
SeaGtGruff
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EHHH! EHHH! EHHHHHHHHH! reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeng
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I know this has been discussed before, multiple times, and I'm not really trying to start yet another thread to rehash this topic for the umpteen-bajillionth time. Rather, this is simply an attempt to laugh a bit about the issue-- and not in a disparaging way, but just for some light-hearted levity (and mind-numbing verbosity).
To set the stage, I'll mention that my first-ever ESO character began on Vvardenfell, and has never left there-- except much later, to get certified in Jewelry crafting and then hightail it back to Vivec City-- because he suffers from serious build issues due to my not knowing what the heck I was doing when I was leveling him up.
My second character-- who is currently my main-- also began on Vvardenfell, but left at some point to (if I remember correctly) go turn in the results of his first crafting writs, because (if I remember correctly) back then the quest markers which showed where I was supposed to go to turn in my writs were pointing to the navigators over by the silt strider just outside of Vivec City, so I took a boat to the Daggerfall Covenant and ended up wandering through Glenumbra and Stormhaven doing quests as I encountered them, then taking a cart and ending up in Craglorn, then trekking across Craglorn on foot (because I was such a clueless newb that I didn't understand that I could travel around by wayshrines instead of just using them to revive for free after getting myself killed instead of having to spend a soul gem to revive on the spot, and because I was stubbornly insistent on discovering the game on my own and refused to ask for help in chat or turn to the UESP Wiki for help), on through Bangkorai, then back to Stormhaven-- and possibly back to Glenumbra-- all the while following the "exit by road" or "travel by boat" quest markers that kept pointing me to the next zone, before I was finally able to turn in my crafting writs in Wayrest or Daggerfall or wherever.
I'm not sure why the quest markers didn't just point to the crates in Vivec City, as they do nowadays-- unless they did, and the problem wasn't with the quest markers per se, but rather with the hints telling me to go to the turn-in location in my alliance's capital-- but in case it matters in terms of quirky game behavior that got modified by Update Something-or-Other, this was back after player housing had already been introduced, but before it got changed to where you no longer needed to go on a quest to hunt down the current tenant of the Saint Delyn Penthouse and serve her with an eviction notice so you could move in, which you weren't allowed to do until you'd obtained at least one item of furnishing to place in your new home. However, I do remember that as I leveled up my crafting skills and invested Skill Points into being able to craft gear out of the next type of material, the quest markers started pointing to the turn-in locations in other zones, such that I found myself having to go to Wayrest or Daggerfall to turn in some writs, but having to go to Shornhelm to turn in other writs. So if my memory isn't playing tricks on me (as it is so fond of doing), I'm fairly certain that there was definitely some weird craziness going on back then with the quest markers and where I was being told to turn in my writs depending on my specific level in each of the crafting skill lines.
Anyway, I was taking on quests as I encountered them, going from zone to zone out of proper order, and traipsing along merrily through certain zones heading in the opposite direction from the proper order, not to mention visiting the other alliances' zones and doing quests there. As a result, when I finally got around to playing through the Main Quest and was presented with Cadwell's Silver and Cadwell's Gold, I found that I'd already completed about 90% of those alliance quests. Nothing made much sense storywise, but I didn't know any better-- and to be honest, I didn't much care because I was having a blast running around discovering the game.
Several mule characters later, I decided that any new characters I create were going to play through the content in proper order. I've yet to actually play through all of the content in proper order on any of my characters, but I've got about five characters at various stages of progress in each of the three alliances on PC NA and PC EU. As one can imagine, I'm finding that things make a lot more sense when you play through the content in order, not just in terms of the overall storyline, but mainly in terms of the people you encounter and help out along the way, who you meet up with again in other zones later on in the storyline, and things like that.
By the way, I finally played through all of the Daggerfall Covenant quests, Mages Guild quests, Fighters Guild quests, and (I thought) the Main Quest on my PC EU main-- except that, when I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and drop 1 million gold to purchase the unfurnished Coldharbour Surreal Estate (because I want to own at least one player housing property in each zone as I play through it, if one is available), I discovered that I didn't meet the purchase requirements yet, since I hadn't actually completed the Main Quest yet, since that particular questline was broken due to Abnur Tharn being at the Mages Guild in Daggerfall waiting for me to proceed past the first step of the Northern Elsweyr prologue quest (which I had accepted purely for the sake of getting rid of the lady by the bridge leading into Daggerfall so I wouldn't have to listen to her telling me that she had a message for me), so I ended up having to abandon the Northern Elsweyr prologue quest so I could complete the Main Quest so I could buy the Coldharbour Surreal Estate. And not that it has anything to do with anything, but I've discovered that I actually really like the Coldharbour zone questline when it's done after having done one's home alliance's zone quests in proper order and the people you're helping out and meeting up with again have more of a meaningful connection to your character-- plus, the quests themselves are just so downright cool in comparison to the quests in the other zones.
And when I was finally able to accept Cadwell's Silver on my PC EU main, I was curious to see how it would start off, seeing as how I'd already been killed and sent off to Coldharbour. Would I just get dropped into the starter zone for the next alliance, or what? (As I recall, on my PC NA main I had made a special point to complete the missing Cadwell's Silver and Cadwell's Gold quests before actually accepting those quests from Cadwell, because I wasn't sure whether they were going to change my character's alliance-- so basically, as soon as I accepted them they were marked as completed in my journal, and I don't remember if they even took me to the other alliance zones, and if so, which zones I was taken to.) Lo and behold, I ended up waking up on the boat in Vulkhel Guard, and as soon as I spoke to the captain I was told that they fished me out of the water near Khenarthi's Roost, then brought me to Vulkhel Guard-- but, hey, I might want to take the other (itty bitty) boat all the way back to Khenarthi's Roost so I can talk with Razum-dar and see what he's hoping I'll help him out with. Wait, why didn't you just leave me in Khenarthi's Roost in the first place? And are you or are you not the captain of the same ship that's going to take me to Vulkhel Guard once I'm finished saving the day in Khenarthi's Roost? I'm not saying that you are, mind you; I'm just totally confused and wondering whether maybe you might be.
So my two newest characters-- one on each server-- have played through the new Greymoor tutorial (so they can get the skill point which would apparently otherwise be denied them if they were to skip the tutorial), have grabbed the Snowmelt Suite for free, immediately took the Solitude wayshrine to Davon's Watch, then immediately spoke with the lady who materialized as soon as they stepped away from the Davon's Watch wayshrine, ran off to find the house where the mysterious benefactor was bound and gagged, and got themselves killed by Mannimarco and sent off to Coldharbour. My new PC NA character is still parked in his cell in the Wailing Prison while I focus on my new PC EU character, who has just completed Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen, then headed off to Stonefalls to warn Davon's Watch about how the Daggerfall Covenant is making nefarious incursions into the Ebonheart Pact's territories. (Huh, so is this why Ebonheart Pact players hate Daggerfall Covenant players so much?)
Which finally (I promise!) brings me to the point of this wall of text.
As soon as I approach the outskirts of Davon's Watch (for the second time, but who's counting), I'm presented with a dozen or so quest markers and quest givers, most of whom are urgently trying their best to lure me into running off and doing some prologue quest or DLC zone quest-- Craglorn, Wrothgar, Vvardenfell, Clockwork City, Summerset, Murkmire, Northern Elsweyr, Western Skyrim, and any others I might have missed (does Southern Elsweyr have a prologue quest?). Plus, let's not forget the Battlegrounds quest marker, as well as the quest givers for the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood (once I visit the Davon's Watch Outlaws Refuge to fence and launder the stolen goods I picked up in Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen). It's extremely difficult to know which quest givers are safe to talk to, and which ones I should avoid at all costs for the time being.
And heading into Davon's Watch proper, what do I spy with my little eye but quest markers pointing to Abnur Tharn and Lyris Titanborn, who of course is either still a complete stranger to me and supposedly off somewhere I haven't been to yet in the employ of Mannimarco, or still trapped in Coldharbour because I haven't gone back there yet to save her-- and who was also in Solitude, although I didn't stick around long enough to find that out yet, since I was very careful to avoid talking to the guy who wanted to get me started on the quest which would have led me to meet up with her at the palace.
And before I got all hot and heavy into fighting the Daggerfall Covenant in Davon's Watch, I wanted to take the time to get certified in "all six" crafting lines so I could start doing daily writs, but take a quick side trip by fast traveling to my free room in Alinor so I could go get certified in Jewelry crafting (and thank goodness I already owned that housing so I could fast travel to it, to avoid having to travel by wayshrine to Shimmerene and trek westward across Summerset to reach Alinor-- although I suppose I could have taken a boat to the docks just north of Alinor, except how would I even be supposed to know about that possibility yet?) before heading back to Davon's Watch for my first day of crafting writs.
And I still need to join the Fighters Guild and Mages Guild, not to mention go looking for the Ebonheart Pact's version of the Harborage (which I'm curious to see, since I've only ever been inside the Daggerfall Covenant's version), so I can continue with the Main Quest and get started on the Fighters Guild and Mages Guild questlines and work through those three questlines in close parallel with the alliance zone quests.
As my sister would say, "What a hot mess that is!"
But I'm not complaining, mind you, nor am I threatening to hold my breath and jump up and down making loud stomping noises with my eyes squeezed tightly shut until ZOS "fixes" things. I'm actually having a grand old time playing through the content in proper order-- despite my desire to hurry back to Western Skyrim (which I guess I need to go back to anyway so I can get the Antiquities skill line, which I neglected to do while I was in Solitude the first time; plus, I need to pick up the Psijic skill line at some point so I can start harvesting Psijic nodes on my new character, except I don't want to do that yet because it will force me to run around visiting zones I'd rather not visit yet if I can possibly avoid it)-- all the while laughing good-naturedly about how difficult it is to safely navigate through the pitfalls and minefields of bewildering quest markers and quest givers who are trying their best to lead me astray. It's sort of like a game within a game, where the goal is to figure out what to do and what not to do, and in what order to do or not do it in.
If you made it through this wall of text, I hope you were at least mildly amused. And if you weren't-- well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to give you those many minutes of your life back, because I did try to warn you!
This is a special alert from the Elder Scrolls Online Forums Special Alerts Bureau. The Elder Scrolls Online Forums Special Alerts Bureau has issued a Severe Wall of Text Alert. A wall of text has been sighted moving your way. The Elder Scrolls Online Forums denizens are urged to be on the lookout for this wall of text and to take appropriate cautionary measures as they deem fit. This Severe Wall of Text Alert is in effect from now until the end of this post, which has not yet been determined. We now resume our regularly-scheduled content, already in progress. That is all.
I know this has been discussed before, multiple times, and I'm not really trying to start yet another thread to rehash this topic for the umpteen-bajillionth time. Rather, this is simply an attempt to laugh a bit about the issue-- and not in a disparaging way, but just for some light-hearted levity (and mind-numbing verbosity).
To set the stage, I'll mention that my first-ever ESO character began on Vvardenfell, and has never left there-- except much later, to get certified in Jewelry crafting and then hightail it back to Vivec City-- because he suffers from serious build issues due to my not knowing what the heck I was doing when I was leveling him up.
My second character-- who is currently my main-- also began on Vvardenfell, but left at some point to (if I remember correctly) go turn in the results of his first crafting writs, because (if I remember correctly) back then the quest markers which showed where I was supposed to go to turn in my writs were pointing to the navigators over by the silt strider just outside of Vivec City, so I took a boat to the Daggerfall Covenant and ended up wandering through Glenumbra and Stormhaven doing quests as I encountered them, then taking a cart and ending up in Craglorn, then trekking across Craglorn on foot (because I was such a clueless newb that I didn't understand that I could travel around by wayshrines instead of just using them to revive for free after getting myself killed instead of having to spend a soul gem to revive on the spot, and because I was stubbornly insistent on discovering the game on my own and refused to ask for help in chat or turn to the UESP Wiki for help), on through Bangkorai, then back to Stormhaven-- and possibly back to Glenumbra-- all the while following the "exit by road" or "travel by boat" quest markers that kept pointing me to the next zone, before I was finally able to turn in my crafting writs in Wayrest or Daggerfall or wherever.
I'm not sure why the quest markers didn't just point to the crates in Vivec City, as they do nowadays-- unless they did, and the problem wasn't with the quest markers per se, but rather with the hints telling me to go to the turn-in location in my alliance's capital-- but in case it matters in terms of quirky game behavior that got modified by Update Something-or-Other, this was back after player housing had already been introduced, but before it got changed to where you no longer needed to go on a quest to hunt down the current tenant of the Saint Delyn Penthouse and serve her with an eviction notice so you could move in, which you weren't allowed to do until you'd obtained at least one item of furnishing to place in your new home. However, I do remember that as I leveled up my crafting skills and invested Skill Points into being able to craft gear out of the next type of material, the quest markers started pointing to the turn-in locations in other zones, such that I found myself having to go to Wayrest or Daggerfall to turn in some writs, but having to go to Shornhelm to turn in other writs. So if my memory isn't playing tricks on me (as it is so fond of doing), I'm fairly certain that there was definitely some weird craziness going on back then with the quest markers and where I was being told to turn in my writs depending on my specific level in each of the crafting skill lines.
Anyway, I was taking on quests as I encountered them, going from zone to zone out of proper order, and traipsing along merrily through certain zones heading in the opposite direction from the proper order, not to mention visiting the other alliances' zones and doing quests there. As a result, when I finally got around to playing through the Main Quest and was presented with Cadwell's Silver and Cadwell's Gold, I found that I'd already completed about 90% of those alliance quests. Nothing made much sense storywise, but I didn't know any better-- and to be honest, I didn't much care because I was having a blast running around discovering the game.
Several mule characters later, I decided that any new characters I create were going to play through the content in proper order. I've yet to actually play through all of the content in proper order on any of my characters, but I've got about five characters at various stages of progress in each of the three alliances on PC NA and PC EU. As one can imagine, I'm finding that things make a lot more sense when you play through the content in order, not just in terms of the overall storyline, but mainly in terms of the people you encounter and help out along the way, who you meet up with again in other zones later on in the storyline, and things like that.
By the way, I finally played through all of the Daggerfall Covenant quests, Mages Guild quests, Fighters Guild quests, and (I thought) the Main Quest on my PC EU main-- except that, when I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and drop 1 million gold to purchase the unfurnished Coldharbour Surreal Estate (because I want to own at least one player housing property in each zone as I play through it, if one is available), I discovered that I didn't meet the purchase requirements yet, since I hadn't actually completed the Main Quest yet, since that particular questline was broken due to Abnur Tharn being at the Mages Guild in Daggerfall waiting for me to proceed past the first step of the Northern Elsweyr prologue quest (which I had accepted purely for the sake of getting rid of the lady by the bridge leading into Daggerfall so I wouldn't have to listen to her telling me that she had a message for me), so I ended up having to abandon the Northern Elsweyr prologue quest so I could complete the Main Quest so I could buy the Coldharbour Surreal Estate. And not that it has anything to do with anything, but I've discovered that I actually really like the Coldharbour zone questline when it's done after having done one's home alliance's zone quests in proper order and the people you're helping out and meeting up with again have more of a meaningful connection to your character-- plus, the quests themselves are just so downright cool in comparison to the quests in the other zones.
And when I was finally able to accept Cadwell's Silver on my PC EU main, I was curious to see how it would start off, seeing as how I'd already been killed and sent off to Coldharbour. Would I just get dropped into the starter zone for the next alliance, or what? (As I recall, on my PC NA main I had made a special point to complete the missing Cadwell's Silver and Cadwell's Gold quests before actually accepting those quests from Cadwell, because I wasn't sure whether they were going to change my character's alliance-- so basically, as soon as I accepted them they were marked as completed in my journal, and I don't remember if they even took me to the other alliance zones, and if so, which zones I was taken to.) Lo and behold, I ended up waking up on the boat in Vulkhel Guard, and as soon as I spoke to the captain I was told that they fished me out of the water near Khenarthi's Roost, then brought me to Vulkhel Guard-- but, hey, I might want to take the other (itty bitty) boat all the way back to Khenarthi's Roost so I can talk with Razum-dar and see what he's hoping I'll help him out with. Wait, why didn't you just leave me in Khenarthi's Roost in the first place? And are you or are you not the captain of the same ship that's going to take me to Vulkhel Guard once I'm finished saving the day in Khenarthi's Roost? I'm not saying that you are, mind you; I'm just totally confused and wondering whether maybe you might be.
So my two newest characters-- one on each server-- have played through the new Greymoor tutorial (so they can get the skill point which would apparently otherwise be denied them if they were to skip the tutorial), have grabbed the Snowmelt Suite for free, immediately took the Solitude wayshrine to Davon's Watch, then immediately spoke with the lady who materialized as soon as they stepped away from the Davon's Watch wayshrine, ran off to find the house where the mysterious benefactor was bound and gagged, and got themselves killed by Mannimarco and sent off to Coldharbour. My new PC NA character is still parked in his cell in the Wailing Prison while I focus on my new PC EU character, who has just completed Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen, then headed off to Stonefalls to warn Davon's Watch about how the Daggerfall Covenant is making nefarious incursions into the Ebonheart Pact's territories. (Huh, so is this why Ebonheart Pact players hate Daggerfall Covenant players so much?)
Which finally (I promise!) brings me to the point of this wall of text.
As soon as I approach the outskirts of Davon's Watch (for the second time, but who's counting), I'm presented with a dozen or so quest markers and quest givers, most of whom are urgently trying their best to lure me into running off and doing some prologue quest or DLC zone quest-- Craglorn, Wrothgar, Vvardenfell, Clockwork City, Summerset, Murkmire, Northern Elsweyr, Western Skyrim, and any others I might have missed (does Southern Elsweyr have a prologue quest?). Plus, let's not forget the Battlegrounds quest marker, as well as the quest givers for the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood (once I visit the Davon's Watch Outlaws Refuge to fence and launder the stolen goods I picked up in Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen). It's extremely difficult to know which quest givers are safe to talk to, and which ones I should avoid at all costs for the time being.
And heading into Davon's Watch proper, what do I spy with my little eye but quest markers pointing to Abnur Tharn and Lyris Titanborn, who of course is either still a complete stranger to me and supposedly off somewhere I haven't been to yet in the employ of Mannimarco, or still trapped in Coldharbour because I haven't gone back there yet to save her-- and who was also in Solitude, although I didn't stick around long enough to find that out yet, since I was very careful to avoid talking to the guy who wanted to get me started on the quest which would have led me to meet up with her at the palace.
And before I got all hot and heavy into fighting the Daggerfall Covenant in Davon's Watch, I wanted to take the time to get certified in "all six" crafting lines so I could start doing daily writs, but take a quick side trip by fast traveling to my free room in Alinor so I could go get certified in Jewelry crafting (and thank goodness I already owned that housing so I could fast travel to it, to avoid having to travel by wayshrine to Shimmerene and trek westward across Summerset to reach Alinor-- although I suppose I could have taken a boat to the docks just north of Alinor, except how would I even be supposed to know about that possibility yet?) before heading back to Davon's Watch for my first day of crafting writs.
And I still need to join the Fighters Guild and Mages Guild, not to mention go looking for the Ebonheart Pact's version of the Harborage (which I'm curious to see, since I've only ever been inside the Daggerfall Covenant's version), so I can continue with the Main Quest and get started on the Fighters Guild and Mages Guild questlines and work through those three questlines in close parallel with the alliance zone quests.
As my sister would say, "What a hot mess that is!"
But I'm not complaining, mind you, nor am I threatening to hold my breath and jump up and down making loud stomping noises with my eyes squeezed tightly shut until ZOS "fixes" things. I'm actually having a grand old time playing through the content in proper order-- despite my desire to hurry back to Western Skyrim (which I guess I need to go back to anyway so I can get the Antiquities skill line, which I neglected to do while I was in Solitude the first time; plus, I need to pick up the Psijic skill line at some point so I can start harvesting Psijic nodes on my new character, except I don't want to do that yet because it will force me to run around visiting zones I'd rather not visit yet if I can possibly avoid it)-- all the while laughing good-naturedly about how difficult it is to safely navigate through the pitfalls and minefields of bewildering quest markers and quest givers who are trying their best to lead me astray. It's sort of like a game within a game, where the goal is to figure out what to do and what not to do, and in what order to do or not do it in.
If you made it through this wall of text, I hope you were at least mildly amused. And if you weren't-- well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to give you those many minutes of your life back, because I did try to warn you!
I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!
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mavfin✭✭✭✭I have noticed all of that. My main character has all the pre-quests done, and still hasn't done EP, but has done DC, AD, Coldharbour, Orsinium, and is currently working on Morrowind.
I have all the other pieces, but I have not gone past the pre-quests for those, except for Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild, which have been done to the 'do dailies for a bit' stage, if I remember correctly.
My alt, level 16, sees all these DLC starters and pre-quests. If I didn't know what they were, it could be *very* confusing, such as for a new player.
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NoodleESO✭✭✭✭✭I scrolled and all I saw wasSeaGtGruff wrote: »
As my sister would say, "What a hot mess that is!"
I need not read the rest of the post.3 -
ProfessorKittyhawk✭✭✭✭✭
✭In some interview with with Rich apparently someone asked about being able to choose our start zones and he said it's "something he's interested in." Take it with a grain of salt since it was a transcription of an interview but might be a small glimmer of hope.0 -
Khenarthi✭✭✭✭✭
✭Every time I make a new character, I pick up every prologue quest so that I don't get too overwhelmed with quest markers. Then I do those quests before questing through the zones, methodically, in the right order, but I have the advantage of playing for the last 6 years, having explored the zones as they originally became available.
I loved reading about your adventures as a fresh player. Sometimes I wish I could forget all I know about ESO's quests and start again...PC-EU0 -
MartiniDaniels✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Ha, I had similar experience with my first character, though I was lured into Summerset pre-quest which takes you around Auridon, Bangkorai and Glenumbra too...
So my bit of incoherent nostalgic bubbling
1. start at Bleakrock - did all quests, it was kinda boringTL;DR here it is map, my initial exploration trip fully on foot and on quest boats/carts, and it was time when I enjoyed overland most of all. After I got info about shortcuts (wayshrines, guild teleports etc) it was never that interesting...
2. went naturally to Bal Foyen and greatly rejoiced it's views and relatively open world
3. went further to Stonefalls and was smitten by it's size... start making quests in it.
4. and some point was lured into mage's guild for that prequel Summerset quest
5. got to Bangkorai via quest boat and after doing quest, found active dolmen, farmed it a bit and get out of there because it was swampy and irritating at that area
6. got to Glenumbra with another quest boat. I loved zone and explored it a lot, camped at Aldcroft, and was running back and forth between dolmen and WW world boss with other scrubs.
7. got to Auridon via quest boat and made some quests there + crafted my first armor set nearby, that one which removed speed penalty in stealth because mobs irritated the hell of me, how pointlessly easy they were even then
8. lurked around the island moving between dolmens to do them with other noobs.. found public dungeon. Hell, died first time >< challenge accepted, I figured out I need to stick to some high level guy to get those bosses killed. Gathered full set of Veiled Heritance, it was boosting damage quite a lot!
9. took boat back to Stonefalls to continue main quest...
10. main quest told me to go to Deshaan.. that was quite a journey and which I really enjoyed
11. In Mournhold I was lured by Stargazers to Craglorn (before I got to that main quest daedric ruin)
12. In Craglorn my backside was handed to me by those group instances... well, I managed open world ones with some kiting, but when I got to Shada's Tear... oh my.. so I moved to Bangkorai because it was the only way out of there
13. Got to sandy part... such an atmosphere... I did half of the zone trying to understand how to get to Evermore - without luck. Also found Hunding's rage crafting station... that set looked so great in comparison to all conditional sets I got from drops before. I decided I need to learn 6 traits ASAP... I just need to get to the city... here I gave up to play without hints and googled for a way to Evermore
14. In Evermore I found outfit station and finally my character (dunmer female nightblade) got nice look, before that I was travelling in some random pieces of god knows what
15. I moved across huge Bridge to Wayrest, trying to found a boat to got back to Stonefalls... found Seducer set station... it looked nice and I was able to craft it, unlike Hundings. Also I found group dungeon WS1 and tried to solo it.. ha-ha, I remember I got to boss with many rats and those rats overwhelmed me..
Then anniversary event landed, I started making alts to grab that XP bonus, joined some guild and from that point exploration was screwed, because guildmates showed me how to tp to player and explained that wayshrines are teleports ><
My conclusion - devs are absolutely right by allowing newbies to jump on any DLC prologue/main quest because it:
- creates feeling of global and endless game
- prologue quests and DLC quests are generally much better then quests of base game overland
- most importantly - such free travelling provides true elder scroll experience. Elder scrolls were never about understanding main story, TES is about free travelling and enjoying atmosphere, exploration, various of unknown story threads.. and let's admit making quest by quest in one zone... is really boring. While some quests are good, majority are just repetitive fillers... but when you travel between various zones, taking best DLC quest starters just to be lured half-way from them by another quests - that is awesome, especially when you know nothing about the game.
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ArchMikem✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭That grand adventure you fell into all because you wanted to turn in some writs. That was lovely. I empathize with the part where you walked into Stormhaven then found a cart in Wayrest that dropped your poor soul in Craglorn. Same exact experience for me, except this was back before champion points, where zones were leveled and craglorn was full of Vet 14 mobs in high numbers. Questing that zone by yourself was suicide.CP2,000 Master Explorer - AvA One Star General - Console Peasant - Khajiiti Aficionado - The Clan
Quest Objective: OMG Go Talk To That Kitty!0 -
VaranisArano✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭In my experience as a player who did all of the Pact zones first, yes, that's exactly why many EP players tend to dislike the Covenant. And if you haven't done Shadowfen, that's a large part of why we dislike AD.
The pact zones just do a much better job of focusing on the three banners war than the other two do.2 -
Everest_Lionheart✭✭✭✭✭
✭I came into the game in Elsweyr. Met Cadwell and Tharn on my adventures not knowing who they were. They seemed dumbfounded at time that I couldn’t remember them. Bumped into Razum-Dar on a side quest who eventually told me he works for Queen Ayrenn. I’m like who TF is Queen Ayrenn? Anyway after clearing all of Elsweyr I was like where to next, than was like let’s get in a random transport in Rimmen some quest marker is bound to appear. Before I get in the transport I see another marker in town, turns out is the Elsweyr prologue quest, accept it thinking I will do it later.
Ended up in Grahtwood. Saw a real quest marker and took it thinking it would lead me somewhere. But first what’s this lady talking about a mysterious benefactor? She’s just a regular black marker so I’ll do that whenever I guess. Back to the fancy looking quest marker. Complete that and now I’m looking at 3 loacations all over grahtwood for the next quest. Looks complicated so I decide to look up some things.
End up wayshrining to Hews bane because thieves guild just sounds too cool. Complete news bane and start dark brotherhood because assassins are also cool. Realize about halfway through DB story line that I’ve lost the plot. Back to the internet to look up ESO main quest. Turns out that mysterious hooded figure quest is the main quest, back to grahtwood, can’t find this quest anywhere, look it up again. Oh have to go to Auridon and Vulkhel Guard. Wayshrine there. Get approached instantly about Orsinium followed by Auridon zone quest line. Wait what where’s the damn hooded figure? Ok I accept your quests now go away I’m looking for a boat. Finally find boat and start MQ.
MQ is stupidly easy because I’m way over leveled by this point. Fun to face roll everything between quest markers though so there’s that. By now I’ve got a MQ reference on my phone so I can see when and where the next quest markers will pop up. Eventually main quest stops and IDK why. In and out of the harbourage after finishing Auridon, Grahtwood, Greenshade, Malab Tor...
So I decide to look up main quest line bugged and see some stuff online about The Demon Weapon which causes Abnar Tharn to bug out because he can’t be in both instances at once. Abandon that quest and MQ back on track. I’ve already finished fighters guild and Sheogorath quest lines. Speaking of Uncle Sheo I’m realizing how out of context some of the dialogue was during his crazy quest in Elsweyr, how did I know who Sheogorath was before I ever met him? Weird...
So by the time I hit Coldharbor I’m now around 150 CP, not max geared but I’m literally tearing the place to shreds. It too easy but I’ve finally completed the MQ. From there off to Orsinium where I play through the MQ and not much of the side stuff. I plan to flesh all that out later. Realize I didn’t have jewelry crafting available yet. Quick run to Summerset for that, literally in the zone for 15 minutes and gone. Finish AD quest line, the whole mane business is so well written what an end to a great story arc just a shame I didn’t play it all in a row.
After that to Vvardenfell because I’ve managed to grab another prologue quest. Fell in love with Vvardenfell right away and finished the zone, everything done and done, how freaking cool is Vvardenfell?
From there Cadwell’s silver. Pact up first, some good stuff Stonefalls and Eastmarch just totally cool. Shadowfen, not so much. The Rift, anti climatic and kind of a mosh mosh after Eastmarch. Did I mention how great Eastmarch was? My Favourite Regular zone so far in the game.
Start Cadwell’s gold. Covenant story line. Very quest heavy with lots to do. Literally can’t walk 200ft without another quest marker. Almost overwhelming but can’t stop playing the side quests because I am addicted. Decided to start another character around the same time my first hit Stormhaven. So been putting more time there than my main now. Just getting into Rivenspire with my main now.
Looking at 2 more alt’s also because I want to learn tanking and healing to be a more complete player and understand the roles better so I can be a better DPS on my main and first alt.
Still have so many things to do and flesh out. Have PVPd occasionally and fun with a few groups in dungeons but I’m mostly a solo player for now which is why I want to learn the other roles. Preordered Greymoor too and still haven’t done the prologue quest to see what it’s about. I’m on console so I’ve still got time. So next up maybe finish Cadwell’s in the next week so I can jump straight to Greymoor where I may Create a fresh Nord Tank.0 -
SeaGtGruff✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Thanks, everyone, for the comments! I'm just going to respond to a few, but that doesn't mean I didn't read and appreciate all of them.I scrolled and all I saw wasSeaGtGruff wrote: »
As my sister would say, "What a hot mess that is!"
I need not read the rest of the post.
Congratulations! You found the succint summary that was hidden in plain sight within the wall of text! And the best part is, that summary describes both the topic of the wall of text as well as the wall of text itself! Your prizes are all those many minutes of your life that you didn't lose, as well as the sanity that you kept!Every time I make a new character, I pick up every prologue quest so that I don't get too overwhelmed with quest markers. Then I do those quests before questing through the zones,
I used to accept them-- just to get rid of them-- but not do them until later, except that's what broke the Main Quest on my PC EU main. So now I just ignore them or, if I accept one by mistake, I abandon it as soon as I see that it's a prologue quest.I loved reading about your adventures as a fresh player. Sometimes I wish I could forget all I know about ESO's quests and start again...
Playing ESO for the first time was magical, especially after I shelved my first character, created a new character, and then let myself get lured away from Vvardenfell. Everything was so fresh and unknown, seen through eyes that had never seen it all before. Even Vvardenfell-- which I was very familiar with from Morrowind-- was different enough to be new and interesting.MartiniDaniels wrote: »My conclusion - devs are absolutely right by allowing newbies to jump on any DLC prologue/main quest because it:
- creates feeling of global and endless game
- prologue quests and DLC quests are generally much better then quests of base game overland
- most importantly - such free travelling provides true elder scroll experience. Elder scrolls were never about understanding main story, TES is about free travelling and enjoying atmosphere, exploration, various of unknown story threads.. and let's admit making quest by quest in one zone... is really boring. While some quests are good, majority are just repetitive fillers... but when you travel between various zones, taking best DLC quest starters just to be lured half-way from them by another quests - that is awesome, especially when you know nothing about the game.
I like to avoid the Main Quest when playing the solo games, and just wander freely doing quests and exploring, or hanging out in a particular town and getting cozy with it before moving on, or focusing on a guild or faction at a time, depending on how the mood strikes me when I start another new character in each game. I try to save the Main Quest for last, because it feels like continuing to play the game after the Main Quest is over is just dragging things out unnecessarily.
The main advantage of doing the quests in order in ESO is that you run into the same people further on, and the pieces just fit together better and make more sense if you do the quests in order. But that can also make everything feel too scripted and orchestrated, rather than wild and free. As long as you don't care about certain things being "bass ackwards" if you don't stick to the intended order, it's usually a lot more fun to just run around and do whatever quest or delve or boss you feel like.That grand adventure you fell into all because you wanted to turn in some writs. That was lovely. I empathize with the part where you walked into Stormhaven then found a cart in Wayrest that dropped your poor soul in Craglorn. Same exact experience for me, except this was back before champion points, where zones were leveled and craglorn was full of Vet 14 mobs in high numbers. Questing that zone by yourself was suicide.
The Quest to Turn in My Writs was crazy, because I swear there were no quest markers over the crates in Vivec City to tell me to turn in my writs there. And later, when my levels were all uneven in the different crafting lines, I swear I had to turn in some of my writs in Daggerfall, some in Wayrest, and some in Shornhelm.
As for Craglorn, it took me all of 5 minutes to realize that it was far beyond me; even the wasps were too much to deal with. I wanted to get out of there right away, but I also felt like I wanted to explore it and at least discover stuff on the map-- and the quest marker that was telling me where to go next to turn in my writs was way off at the western edge of the map, where the wall between Craglorn and Bangkorai is, so I had a long way to go!I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!1 -
bearbelly✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Dude, you really need to upgrade your Wall-Of-Text Alert criteria.
That post, while lengthy, had entirely too much formatting (e.g., actual paragraphs separated by more than adequate space) which rendered it far too easy to read.
Henceforth, the alert was actually highly misleading, which in typical alert situations could cause extreme cases of clarity and as a direct result, comprehension.
I do not think you would intentionally want to be responsible for THAT, when accurate warnings of Walls-Of-Text are so very important.0 -
Kiralyn2000✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭re: crafting writ turn-ins
Back before One Tamriel, when you had to progress through the five leveled zones of your Alliance and then Coldharbor, the tiers of crafting turn-ins followed the same progression - as you leveled up your crafting skills, you had to turn them in to higher-level zones. And yeah, when you had different crafts at different tiers, it was really annoying.
Then 1T came, and let us go anywhere... but they didn't change the required locations for the writ turn-ins until much later.
(and yes, it would be very nice for new - heck, even for veteran - players, if you could designate which "major questline" you wanted to follow, and it would give you some direction on which direction is the right way to go. I can only imagine how chaotic it must be for a new player who has no idea that there's an original "main quest" - as well as an parallel storyline through the five zones of their Alliance - let alone how to actually follow it. There's such a thing as too much freedom.)0
