PTS Update 30 - Feedback Thread for Blackwood Zone & Quests

KingArthasMenethil

Do you have any other general feedback?
I feel there should be some Imperial (Culturally Nibenese) NPCs refer to being in a cult of Reman, Shezarr or Morihaus as even now they have nothing worship related outside of like two books (Shezarr is still like never said in the TES games) after TES4 failed the Imperials.

crazepdx

During the quest "the rising winds" after obtaining the binding word scroll, Meer-Ta is not targetable to speak to. This the quest cannot progress.

Dovahkiin02191973

Completed first two Blackwood Main Questlines and I blew through it like candy. The NPCs and monsters do very little to no damage to my character. Daedroth is a prime example. I was up against 2 or 3 of those they do absolutely no damage to my character. They take a lot to kill but if doing no damage are way to easy. Also the Boss character that looks like a miniature Mehrunes Dagon (don't remember his name) does zero damage. The NPCs in the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary do very little and are easy to kill. Don't know if this was done on purpose but it was a nice change to being dead all the time. Also you just can't get away from the Hooded Figure. Upon completion of the second Blackwood MQ she appears in Blackwood. I think that might be a sign that the game is about to get too hard for a low level character and it is time to leave Blackwood and go do something else.

Imryll

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Do you have any other general feedback?

There's no separate section for the new tutorial, so I'll leave my feedback here.

1. There didn't seem to be anything hinting that the armoury room is there, other than the door interact itself. The quest markers point away from the armoury, to a different door. Too easy for new players to miss it completely. Getting armour and armour skills is important.
   
2. My character emerged from the tutorial with Skyshards showing 0/3. Assuming this is not a bug, what is the interaction with the skyshards in the tutorial supposed to teach a new player about how they are supposed interact with skyshards, and the reward they receive, in the rest of the game? Nothing it seems.
   
3. 
   I chose to port out from the new tutorial to Stros M'Kai, arriving on the docks. This points the new player at the quest giver Captain Kaleen. The hooded figure is nowhere to be seen. If the new player takes Kaleen's quests, and follows that questline from Stros to Betnikh, and then goes on to Daggerfall, they will at last meet the hooded figure. If the player then does the Soul Shriven in Coldharbour quest, as I did, this will drop them right back where they started in Stros M'Kai. What a confusing mess.

The armory contained weapons and armor when I first visited it. However, it was far too easy to miss. Firstly the Direnni guide suggested that we sneak past the golem planted directly in front of it. Only curiosity caused me to ignore her advice and try to open the door behind it. Imagine my surprise when I found myself engaged with the lock interface while the golem pounded on me. Not at all smoothe. And no mention of needing to unlock the door by my guide.

Unfortunately, while in the armory my character chose a Lightning Staff from which to learn the Destruction Staff ability. Once outside I tried to use it, but found that it did resto staff damage and taught the Resto Staff skill. I then tried to go back to get the Fire Staff I had also seen (by that time I was outside the building), but the armory was then empty, except for one pair of pants. Items should be correctly labelled and either you should be unable to reenter the building or the items you left in the armory should still be there.

I also found the Skyshard interaction to be misleading at best. Surely, the Direnni have a relic tucked away that could have served the same purpose without teaching players that the purpose of skyshards is to recharge items.

I also think that it would make much more sense to send new players to where they would meet the Hooded figure--and to explain that going there would be where they'd go to start the base quest of the main game.

Blacksilver

Do you have any other general feedback?

1. Completed several parts of the main quest storyline. So far I found it to be an interesting storyline. The one thing I find very annoying though is that a lot of the people one talks to progress with the questline keep repeating each other’s text. For example, you end one quest with Councilor Ludovicus in Leyawiin, turn around to get the next one from Eveli, and instead of simply continuing with the storyline she repeats just about everything the councilor just told you. In some cases, this recapping goes so far as to tell the player everything he/she has done in the storyline so far. And this repetitiveness is not just done once but constantly.

Maybe it’s just me, but as someone actually reading the quest text this gets highly annoying and seriously takes away from enjoying the storyline. Nobody above the age of a first-grader should need that much repetition to know what to.

2. Totally agree that there should be more wayshrines.

HumbleThaumaturge

Thank you so much for bringing back Eveli Sharp-Arrow. She is my favorite character in all Tamriel. Hope to see more of her in the future.

HumbleThaumaturge

Quest step "Find Councilor Jirich" with step hint "Follow the Cry for Help." Had some problems with this quest step. Does "Follow Cry for Help" mean I should have heard (on my trusty HD 650 headphones) an NPC voice actor crying for help? I did not hear any such cry. There is a Quest-circle, but it is around the entrance to the Outlaw Refuge, and the Councilor Jirich was (when eventually located) outside of this circle. Adding to the confusion, visually, there was a Quest-marker (such as we see on doors) that seemed to be below the hatch-entrance to the Outlaw Refuge. It was not on the entrance hatch, so I assumed I wasn't supposed to enter the Outlaw Refuge (but I did, just to make sure). The location of Jirich did eventually show on the Compass, so I found him quickly after that.
- Is there supposed to be an audio of Jirich crying for help?
- Should the quest circle include the location of Jirich?

HumbleThaumaturge

Cireous wrote: »

Why so gloomy Blackwood? Needs more sunshine, makes me sad.

Great job on the Blackwood landscape and flora! Great Zone design. I have to agree on the sunshine comment: Blackwood is almost completely overcast with dark clouds. It is such a great zone . . . I'd rather have few clouds, or white clouds, and lots more sunshine. Turn up the lights so we can enjoy the beauty of the zone.

tuibitsi

For the trip to Fort Blueblood the first time it routed me through the mage's guild in Leyawiin then to Water's Edge then back out of Leyawiin again. Prior to that, I 'd been in Water's Edge, so if spawn point is important as a factor, there ya go!

I also noticed that a lot of the zone is eerily quiet. In Elsweyr, even running around in the more desolate parts, you'd still hear a random fell runner squawk from time to time or something, just a bit more ambient noise there. For that matter, can those giant demons in Oblivion make lots of noise? If they were a bit more boisterous they'd be soooo much scarier. Remember Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island's last boss, giant baby bowser? The booming of its steps and roars made such a cutesy game horrifying, so imagine if actual demons in a hellworld are making noises and scarin ya?

HumbleThaumaturge

HumbleThaumaturge wrote: »

Quest step "Find Councilor Jirich" with step hint "Follow the Cry for Help." Had some problems with this quest step. Does "Follow Cry for Help" mean I should have heard (on my trusty HD 650 headphones) an NPC voice actor crying for help? I did not hear any such cry. There is a Quest-circle, but it is around the entrance to the Outlaw Refuge, and the Councilor Jirich was (when eventually located) outside of this circle. Adding to the confusion, visually, there was a Quest-marker (such as we see on doors) that seemed to be below the hatch-entrance to the Outlaw Refuge. It was not on the entrance hatch, so I assumed I wasn't supposed to enter the Outlaw Refuge (but I did, just to make sure). The location of Jirich did eventually show on the Compass, so I found him quickly after that.
- Is there supposed to be an audio of Jirich crying for help?
- Should the quest circle include the location of Jirich?

This quest ("A Deadly Secret") did not work the first time I tried it, but it worked just fine when I tried again on a different character. The first time I tried this quest (described above), I did not hear a cry for help and a quest circle appeared over the entrance to the Outlaw Refuge, delaying completion of the quest step. This time, as I approached the area of the quest marker (riding my trusty Imperial horse), the location of Councilor Jirich was clearly marked on the Compass, and I heard the "cry for help" on audio track ("Someone, anyone, help me!"), and there wasn't a confusing quest circle over the Outlaw Refuge. So, either it got fixed . . . or the quest sometimes works, and some times doesn't.

OutLaw_Nynx

They increased the amount of wayshrines. Could someone post what the map looks like now?

phantasmalD

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

They increased the amount of wayshrines. Could someone post what the map looks like now?

New wayhrines are at Doomvault Vulpinaz, Blackwood Crossroads, Hutan-Tzel and Vulnalk.
Pretty much the exact places that we suggested and daily objectives are now decently covered.
The area around Glenbridge is still kind of out of range, but this is already a massive improvement, so thank you ZoS.


RE: Ayleid Wells - I think they could do with having their own special icon, Blackwood is now filled with Ayleid Ruin icons which is kind of awkward imo.
UESP has been using this unofficial icon to mark Ayleid wells for a few years now, something along this line would be great to officially mark them.

Jaddman

I know this is not directly related to Blackwood but please ZOS, make this one simple change on Northern Elsweyr map.

This is such a minor change, but one I would greatly appreciate for the sake of consistency.

Elsonso

Jaddman wrote: »

I know this is not directly related to Blackwood but please ZOS, make this one simple change on Northern Elsweyr map.

This is such a minor change, but one I would greatly appreciate for the sake of consistency.

Yeah. It took me a while to figure out where the secret passage was between Elsweyr and Blackwood.

OutLaw_Nynx

phantasmalD wrote: »

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

They increased the amount of wayshrines. Could someone post what the map looks like now?

New wayhrines are at Doomvault Vulpinaz, Blackwood Crossroads, Hutan-Tzel and Vulnalk.
Pretty much the exact places that we suggested and daily objectives are now decently covered.
The area around Glenbridge is still kind of out of range, but this is already a massive improvement, so thank you ZoS.


RE: Ayleid Wells - I think they could do with having their own special icon, Blackwood is now filled with Ayleid Ruin icons which is kind of awkward imo.
UESP has been using this unofficial icon to mark Ayleid wells for a few years now, something along this line would be great to officially mark them.

Thanks for showing me @phantasmalD

Cabot

Looks like someone stole a wayshrine.

Narvuntien

It was in the patch notes that they haven't placed the wayshrines yet.

It is looking quite a bit prettier now with the autumn colour and a bit more pop from the flowers but honestly I'd really like much greater tree density particularly in the central north part of the map that should be "niben forest" more critters is nice but it really needs more trees.

Cabot

Okay...I want one of these...

Also, there are dragons flying around Daggerfall again.

ajkb78

There is at least one inconsistent fishing hole by the bridge at Fort Borderwatch. It's a river fishing hole, but salt water must extend much further up this waterway because the fishing holes around Bravil and Bay Bridge in Cyrodiil are salt water, but being located further up this waterway the only way that's possible is if the entire waterway is salty all the way from the Topal Bay up to Bravil.

I thought you'd avoided that trap because the fishing holes further downstream are indeed salt water but at some point they change to river type.

Aliyavana

Now that we have gotten more wayshrines for Blackwood (and Greymoor before) thanks to feedback, can we have more wayshrines in Northern Elsweyr near the two southern dragons? Currently, Northern Elsweyr dragons are dead content because of the dragons be inconvenient.

crazepdx

I was doing surfing and excavation today and I was getting the gem screen and excavation screen for purple or gold level items when I was only doing the base level leads in blackwood. I haven't tried any other zones. Anyone else getting this?

OutLaw_Nynx

Aliyavana wrote: »

Now that we have gotten more wayshrines for Blackwood (and Greymoor before) thanks to feedback, can we have more wayshrines in Northern Elsweyr near the two southern dragons? Currently, Northern Elsweyr dragons are dead content because of the dragons be inconvenient.

I wish they’d do it. I don’t farm dragons there for that very reason

OutLaw_Nynx

Added four additional Wayshrines to the zone of Blackwood.

Sorry for the double post. I’m loving the fact they are adding more. Could someone post an updated map whenever they get a chance?

Edit:

Just read up on this thread that in the previous patch notes that it stated they hadn’t added the wayshrines yet.

Aliyavana

northern elsweyr still needs more wayshrines. in two seperate pts patches you added more to blackwood, why not the same to nothern elsweyr? dragons are dead content aside from the northern dragon.

Elsonso

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

Added four additional Wayshrines to the zone of Blackwood.

Sorry for the double post. I’m loving the fact they are adding more. Could someone post an updated map whenever they get a chance?

Edit:

Just read up on this thread that in the previous patch notes that it stated they hadn’t added the wayshrines yet.

They should be in zone as of today.

axan22

Have the Tutorial been fixed yet? meaning the portals lead to the old tutorials so players have a clue what they are doing?

eg Greymoor start in the cart cinematic then get dumped at the end of the old tutorial with no idea what to do or where to go or what you missed?

inchdixprb19_ESO

Zenithars abbey, group event. Am I missing something to trigger the boss fight here as the minotaur that is named in the achievement offers no challenge, has about half the health of the other bosses and does not spawn a host of adds or any particularly damaging effect. OR is the group event what actually takes place in the "black market" area ??

HumbleThaumaturge

HumbleThaumaturge wrote: »

Based on Raddleman's post, I created a new character and completed the tutorial quest ("The Gates of Adamant") a second time. As Raddleman stated, there is, indeed, an armory with armor pieces for the new player. I totally missed it during my first time through the tutorial. You see, the tutorial itself leads the player to bypass the Armory. The NPC (Norianwe) tells us "One of the stray Golems. We might want to sneak past it." Then a screen-prompt appears instructing us to "Press X to Sneak." Well, gee, my first time through the tutorial . . . when Norianwe suggests sneaking, I snuck (sneaked?)! Because I followed her lead, I totally missed the armory.

Okay, learning when and how to sneak are VERY important and absolutely must be included in the game's tutorial. However, learning about armor is, perhaps, more important. I would like to see the tutorial modified so the new player is forced to enter the armory. It has a lock on the door, so the player would need some picks. I got several from urns and pots, but perhaps the NPC could give the new player a few picks? Inside the armory, there is a collection of light, medium, and heavy armor, although the waist pieces (sash, belt, and girdle) seem to be missing.

[5/17/2021 after maintenance] I just ran the new Tutorial for a third time (v7.0.4). While the Tutorial still prompts us to Sneak past the hostile guarding the Armory, armor pieces have now been added along our path, in at least three different locations that I spotted, maybe there are more I didn't spot. Thanks to ZOS for adding the armor pieces to the Tutorial environment. Very nice solution that did not require making any changes to the Tutorial in the area of the Armory. Good job.

Contraptions

@ZOS_GinaBruno Thanks so much for addressing our feedback regarding the lack of wayshrines in Blackwood. The next issue I would like to bring up is the lack of wayshrines in Northern Elsweyr. I understand that zone has been out for two years now, but with the upcoming Pan Elsweyr Celebration I think this is a good time to address it.

The main pain point is lack of access to the two southernmost dragon spawn areas, and to a smaller extent access to delves and WBs. Although Elsweyr is relatively small, the presence of a lot of cliffs/mountains means that players often have to take long way round those obstacles, making the area hard to navigate.

I have attached a map showing possible wayshrine locations. The two red circles are the general dragon spawn areas, which I think are more crucial. The orange circles are meant to improve access to certain quest hubs/delves and WBs. Please consider this, thank you.

tomofhyrule

Contraptions wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno Thanks so much for addressing our feedback regarding the lack of wayshrines in Blackwood. The next issue I would like to bring up is the lack of wayshrines in Northern Elsweyr. I understand that zone has been out for two years now, but with the upcoming Pan Elsweyr Celebration I think this is a good time to address it.

The main pain point is lack of access to the two southernmost dragon spawn areas, and to a smaller extent access to delves and WBs. Although Elsweyr is relatively small, the presence of a lot of cliffs/mountains means that players often have to take long way round those obstacles, making the area hard to navigate.

I have attached a map showing possible wayshrine locations. The two red circles are the general dragon spawn areas, which I think are more crucial. The orange circles are meant to improve access to certain quest hubs/delves and WBs. Please consider this, thank you.

NElsweyr 100% needs more wayshrines.

The biggest problem is that the chapter zones are comparable in size to the basegame zones, and we've got anywhere from 9 (Greenshade) to 14 (Stonefalls) in the base zones. The larger zones after release had 11 (Craglorn), 10 (Wrothgar), 15 (Vvardenfell), 13 (Summerset, not including Artaeum), 11 (WSkyrim, not including Blackreach), and 7 for NElsweyr.

Remember when WSkyrim got a couple more soon after release because 9 was too few and they were too far from the harrowstorms? Well NElsweyr is bigger than WSkyrim, less traversable due to cliffs, and has two fewer wayshrines in the first place. We got 4 extra to add to Blackwood's 8 as well, and those zones are comparable. A zone the size of NElsweyr should probably have closer to 11-12 wayshrines.