I find myself getting irritated at the drawn out dialogue between quest NPCs and me.

Lonestryder

Happy Friday, everyone!

As a huge fan of all things TES and an avid reader of literature, I'm ashamed to admit that I find myself just clicking through some of the quest dialogue to move things along. I came here to the forums to see if I'm the only one who is irritated by the inane questions my character is supposedly asking the quest NPCs, often in the midst of danger and chaos. 

I DO want to know the lore behind what I'm doing and some quick banter (supplemented by lore books, etc.) is fully expected. But man...sometimes my guy prattles on, asking question after question ad nauseum. While I don't want to miss any of the story, I'm sorry to say that I just can't sit there and go through all the dialogue options anymore. Oh, sure...perhaps at the beginning of a new chapter (when everything is shiny and new) I'm fresh and ready for some witty chatter, but I find I get irritated pretty quickly and in no time at all I'm clicking through dialogue again.

I wonder if I'm alone on this.

Thoughts?

Froil

I unfortunately have to say I feel the same. I love reading the dialogue, learning the lore of the world, the people, the zone, why I'm there doing what I'm doing, hearing about their problems or way of life; I love hearing the voice actors, new and old, and I do enjoy all the work they put in to the game and their character(s) but some times I just feel annoyed, like I'm slogging through my dialogue options, especially when it's something I already know from characters that I've already met, adventured with and/or helped, and the responses of the NPCs.

Alpheu5

I started questing again for the first time since Murkmire with Blackwood, and often found myself leaving mid-dialogue after the NPC explains what I must do because my dialogue options were basically:

• What am I supposed to do again?
• What's the McGuffin?
• What have you been up to since we last met?

KovalskyNestor

I was thinking about this once I started questing in Blackwood. I started to listen to every dialogue and I realized how much npcs talk and try to introduce us to the story. I like it, but dialogue drags on for so long that I don't get the point of the quest anymore. In previous games (except for morrowind), quests givers usually give you a short dialogue and introduction and later through the quest you get more information about what is going on.

Sometimes through dialogue I just want shorter sentances to read, rather than big essays. It makes me focus more on the plot. I know many will disagree, but this is what I always felt about most of eso quests. They were underwhelming with so much exposition.

SickleCider

I hate the way that your toon's responses are written for you. The tone is always wrong. I'd prefer if your options were more like:

1. Agree
2. Intimidate
3. Ask about the thing

opaj

I like asking things like "What have you been up to", and I think "Remind me what we were doing again" is a helpful and important thing to include when they split a story up across 4 updates throughout the year.

Questions like "Who is Azura?" (or, for some actual examples from Gates of Oblivion, "Who is Mehrunes Dagon?" or "What war?") do drive me a bit crazy. I try not to click on them unless it seems like I'll get some actual useful/new information, but sometimes I get on a dialogue thread and that's the only question available.

The funny thing is, it seems like they were intentionally avoiding such questions in Markarth. I mean, there were still instances of it, but I also saw evidence of someone doing a Find-and-Replace-All function on the dialogue to wipe out "What is"/"Who are" questions in the Reach... due to some suspicious capitalization errors, haha. I'm sad to see how many of these questions I've run into in Blackwood, and I've only done the prologue and part of the first quest so far.

Red_Feather

I was unhappy with blackwood zone story and quit it. I was just going from NPC to NPC and listening to dialogue for all the exposition. It was putting me to sleep.

TheImperfect

Nah I love it, love listening to them.

LoneStar2911

I’ve also gotten tired of how much NPCs talk.
Get to the point. Add some personality to it. Done. Don’t give us novels. But the time I go through all the dialogue options, I’ve forgotten what the heck the NPC really wanted.

kargen27

New content I listen to all the dialog first time through. I try to hit every NPC that will talk to me whether it is related to a quest or not. Found myself last night hoping my character wouldn't have any more questions when talking to a particularly slow talking Argonian. Was brutal but I suffered through.

After the first time through I tend to read the comments instead of listening.

I did start a 2nd account and am taking a new character through all the content in the same order I did my very first character. With that one I am listening to all the dialog again. Some of the stories I had forgotten.

ADarklore

Well, would would be even better, is if the dialogue option that you already selected would disappear so you weren't endlessly repeating the same questions. 'Sometimes' they do disappear, but very rarely... usually you ask, and then have the option to ask the same question again, and again.

Shantu

It wouldn't be annoying if it were even minimally interesting. Too boring.

Grandchamp1989

I'm with you OP...

Mostly I just find it overwhelming the amount of filler dialogue that exist.

So much dialogue that doesn't move the quest along or bond you to a character.. So much repeat dialogue that constantly tells you what you're doing instead of moving the plot along.
Yes I know we're trying to catch "insert badguy" you keep telling me what we're doing mate.. But I know what we're doing.. I've been doing it for 1½ hour now, while you keep sending me to 3 different places, and still we're no closer to catching him...

It's the weirdest dialogue sometimes.. When your friend comes over you don't say "Hi mate, glad you're here! Let me tell you about how you got into your car and traveled for 15 minutes to meet me, got out of your car and now you're here - should we watch television? Great! Before we can watch television you must first do 15 push ups, for no good reason, and say hi to my neigbours cat"

And yet that's the constant dialogue..

"Hi again traveler, great you're here! I got another lead on *insert badguy* who were responsible for.."
You don't say...

morrowjen

There were a few npcs in Blackwood that had enormous pauses in their speeches for no apparent reason. Not pauses for effect, just slow speakers that took their time between sentences. That encouraged me to blow through dialogue that I'd normally listen to. Normally, I will listen to good or interesting dialogue but some encounters the dialogue is not only unimportant but the NPC just drags on or pauses for too long. That hadn't been something I remember in other chapters.

Nisekev

I'm having the same feeling. It's just too boring and all their words feel like meaningless fluff that adds nothing to the story. I enjoy reading Daggerfall's randomly generated quests more than those.

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe

The game's writing has taken a notable fall the last few chapters in all thing including quality, pacing, character development, and content itself.

Bradyfjord

Sadly, the Vestige is written as a moron. Most npc's are too.

I do enjoy the game though. I just click though dialogue asap.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

Alpheu5 wrote: »

I started questing again for the first time since Murkmire with Blackwood, and often found myself leaving mid-dialogue after the NPC explains what I must do because my dialogue options were basically:

• What am I supposed to do again?
  
• What's the McGuffin?
• What have you been up to since we last met?

I love that reference (McGuffin)!

Xanikk

The only thing that really bothers me about the dialog is how ignorant my character is about absolutely everything. I am a dunmer but apparently she doesn't know who the tribunal are and I am forced to ask about it during one quest. It grinds me gears how stupid we are.

francesinhalover

Lonestryder wrote: »

Happy Friday, everyone!

As a huge fan of all things TES and an avid reader of literature, I'm ashamed to admit that I find myself just clicking through some of the quest dialogue to move things along. I came here to the forums to see if I'm the only one who is irritated by the inane questions my character is supposedly asking the quest NPCs, often in the midst of danger and chaos. 

I DO want to know the lore behind what I'm doing and some quick banter (supplemented by lore books, etc.) is fully expected. But man...sometimes my guy prattles on, asking question after question ad nauseum. While I don't want to miss any of the story, I'm sorry to say that I just can't sit there and go through all the dialogue options anymore. Oh, sure...perhaps at the beginning of a new chapter (when everything is shiny and new) I'm fresh and ready for some witty chatter, but I find I get irritated pretty quickly and in no time at all I'm clicking through dialogue again.

I wonder if I'm alone on this.

Thoughts?

i only ask important questions tbh. i usually exit conversations once i get the quest accepted.

Vevvev

Add in after the checkpoint in the dialog the NPC goes over everything they just talked about instead of like, "Now go!" Also gets annoying. Feel like I'm getting talked down to at times like I'm a stupid kid that has to follow waypoints to find things. Back in my day we didn't have waypoints, and don't get me started on those puzzle cubes introduced in The Reach and now in Blackwood to. That's not a puzzle at all and you just move a cube until it glows red. No combination to try and get right just press the button again and again...

xuvvy

I love all kinds of RPG games and especially those with a great story, characters and a lot of dialogue...

...so I don't usually have problems with reading long lines of text or listening to them, but ESO's dialogue seems to be very and needlessly drawn out as if to create substance and drama where there isn't or should be none. Sometimes characters will have these unnatural overly dramatic monologues that almost make me cringe, and I when that happens (albeit rarely) I just feel like it could've been a few words there or a single line and it would've been much better.

I also feel like 60% of the dialogue feels like it should end when you click on the answer, maybe followed by a single line, but sometimes there's a whole extra paragraph of monologue that adds nothing of substance, essentially repeats what was already said or what is already known and that really feels annoying. And this is coming from someone who enjoys rich lore, great stories and expansive dialogue.

bmnoble

Maybe its because I watch a lot of stuff with subtitles I tend to find that I have read the dialogue before the quest NPC is even halfway through reading it and click through to just get it over with a lot of the time.

That said if it's my first time doing the quest I will listen if I like the voice of the NPC if not I read and skip.

On alts I just rush through the dialogue and follow the quest markers double check the journal if I forgot something or the markers are bugged.

Belegnole

I try, I really try not to just click through so I can move on. But I still still find myself clicking at a rate where I couldn't read what's flashing on the screen of I tried.

What I think is needed, is someone who can actually write a story. Someone who is also educated in screen writing as well probably would help. Just as others have said, the options or conversational choices we have often feel useless as if nothing we do matters. It also makes you feel as if you don't have any choices at all really.

If done skillfully different verbal choices could be given, even if they end up at the same point. For example give the choice to say nope, not doing that instead of goodbye. While it amounts to the same thing the feeling from a players perspective is different.

Lisa

It depends on the story. Sadly, Murkmire's story failed to catch my interest and I have no idea what the main story is, at all, and I am currently running it a second time. Other zone stories I speed read through the dialog, so I have a general idea of what was going on. Usually, if it's a returning NPC, I will listen and ask every question. It really is a matter of personal interest.

AzuraFan

I mentioned this in another thread that asked what bothers us about ESO. The original zones didn't have this problem. I noticed it in a big way with Summerset and it has continued after that. Like I said in the other thread, sometimes it takes me ten minutes to listen to the dialogue and two minutes to actually do the quest task.

I've noticed a bit of an improvement with Blackwood, but I'd prefer the level of dialogue in the original zones. Tell me what I need to do, maybe a couple of other background questions with quick-ish answers, and that's it. I don't need to know what every NPC has been doing before I met them and what their philosophy of life is. Sometimes the dialogue feels like filler that's there to hide how thin a quest actually is.

shadyjane62

I don't ever put the sound on. I know I miss a lot but so be it. I read much faster than they talk.

Wolf_Eye

AzuraFan wrote: »

I mentioned this in another thread that asked what bothers us about ESO. The original zones didn't have this problem. I noticed it in a big way with Summerset and it has continued after that. Like I said in the other thread, sometimes it takes me ten minutes to listen to the dialogue and two minutes to actually do the quest task.

I've noticed a bit of an improvement with Blackwood, but I'd prefer the level of dialogue in the original zones. Tell me what I need to do, maybe a couple of other background questions with quick-ish answers, and that's it. I don't need to know what every NPC has been doing before I met them and what their philosophy of life is. Sometimes the dialogue feels like filler that's there to hide how thin a quest actually is.

But....I want to know what the NPC was doing before meeting them, especially if we already have an established relationship. I want to know what they've been up to. Catching up on friends is a normal thing to do and it would feel weird to not have it there.

It's fine if you don't like it, you don't have to click on it, but do we really need to be getting rid of optional dialogue?

Wolf_Eye

You don't even have to listen to the dialogue if you don't want to. The quest log will always give you the most important information about what you have to do.

The dialogue is just there for those of us who like talking to NPCs and DO want to treat it as a novel.