Prologue done right, well done Zos

alberichtano

Elsonso wrote: »

I actually abandoned the prologue quest about midway through. Suspension of disbelief threshold met, dialog was not holding my attention, quest organization and structure could have been better. I seem to think they have done better in the past, but this time, I just decided I had had enough.

We meet up with the standard quest giver next to a cart in an inland city. Naturally, this NPC is too close to a main road, but at least this time he is quiet. We get on the cart and end up on an island? I get that the cart is a magical portal, without the magic or portal, but at least have the quest barker in a port city, standing next to a dinghy, rather than a cart.

I get that this story, more than most stories, pays homage to the long-forgotten Three Banners War, but seriously, make the starting locations sensible to the story, not the Alliance capital. Starting in Mournhold makes no sense when we could have started in at Davon's Watch docs. Starting in Elden Root makes no sense when we could have started at the Auridon docks. Starting in Wayrest does make sense, if Jakarn is down by the docks, next to a boat instead of a cart. Of course, he is standing near the wayshrine, directly between the wayshrine and a city exit, next to a cart.

Carts are a frustrating static item found in cities and random locations. They are often placed in the way of travel, sans horse, and positioned so that the handles form a trap when going around them. In this case, the lack of a horse puzzles me, as it has in the past. Are we expecting Jakarn to pull us in the cart all the way to the island? Yeah... I know... it's a magical portal, minus the magic and portal part.

To put the starting location in perspective... the quests will run the player through delves and all over creation following little white markers, but the start of the quest has to be within sight of a wayshrine? Can we just get the quest objective behind the quest giver, please? Maybe have the lady tied up in the back of the cart and quest objective in a sack? Point is that the quest start does not need to be conveniently located right off the main path when we are going to be traipsing all over the place, anyway. Make the story quest start location make as much sense as the rest of the quest locations, please.

There were a lot of story-building dialog options, but I quickly realized that the amount of information being presented was smaller than the sum total of the dialog being spoken. I was afraid to skip dialog, for fear of missing something, but then nothing new was said. Finally, I got bored, apparently missed a huddle/checkpoint dialog, and decided that this was just more busy work, abandoned the quest, and went off and did something else.

On the positive side, I did appreciate the encounter with someone who did not think of Jakarn as highly as he thinks of himself. At least, for the part of the quest that I had completed prior to walking away.

I might go back and try again... I dunno.

Of course Jakarn pulled the carts! The dude can row from Auridon to Daggerfall as fast as it takes to teleport there, so...

HappyTheCamper

It was good. My only gripe was Jakarn’s dialogue sometimes. The “hey good lookin” when I walked up was great, but he said it again like 6 times in the first conversations alone. I did like going to Vvardenfell though (probably why they made it free!)

Mythgard1967

alberichtano wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I enjoyed the prologue as well - especially seeing several new costumes on the quest NPCs. Overall, well-done, despite the presence of the most annoying Jakarn who simply screams "Skip all my dialogue since I am so obnoxious!"

In the PTS, Sammy suggested they tone down the sleaze dialogue from Jakarn. Guess they ignored the feedback.

The prologue is very good and enjoyable although the Ascendant Order looks like a cult (thought they heard the feedback and won’t do cults??).

Yeah... selling toxic masculinity as "rogueish charm" is kind of out these day, and for good reason.

Also, what if my character is purposefully made to be really ugly?

Jakarn: "Hello gorgeous!"
Me: "STOP MOCKING ME!"

OK...one you made me snort my coffee with the "STOP MOCKING ME". and two.....I guess I figured he was deliberately obnoxious and THINKS he is roguishly charming...when in reality...he is just a jacknut. That seemed to be the point to me...I didnt get that he was actually supposed to be appealing...only that he THOUGHT he was....and we roll our eyes. If nothing else; it shows how unappealing it is by way of contrast!

wenchmore420b14_ESO

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

What surprised me was that he didn't seem to recognise me at all, and I didn't see anywhere to bring up our previous encounters and adventures. That was a bit jarring.

Agreed.
That was the first thing I noticed with the live prologue.
That's as far as I got.
I did the prologue on PTS a while back, and found the same repetitive and redundant dialogs that have become too common place in the newer chapters and how my character is treated as sort of a moron. (See other threads about our characters treated like a 5yo with "why are we here" type dialogue).
I will finish prologue eventually before June, but is the first time I have not been totally hyped with new quest.
Not their best IMO.
Just my 2 drakes...
Huzzah!

Vevvev

I actually felt something.

I came in expecting to blow through the whole thing, especially with Jakarn being the first NPC, but you know what.... I liked it. Even the final boss felt just about right. Durable enough where they didn't go down as easily as everything else, and the little invincibility phases didn't feel underwhelming.

Number_51

propertyOfUndefined wrote: »

My expectations were really low, but I must say… I quite enjoyed that! I don’t think I’ve been this excited for new story content since interacting with Tharn for the elsweyr prologue.

Love the plot so far! Jakarn and Lady Arabelle (please sell me those glasses!) were excellent! The tie-in to the Three Banners War also made it feel more “connected” than previous chapters. And best of all, the dialog didn’t make me feel like I was a 2-year-old being spoon-fed.

These glasses?