Plot Hole in High Isle Prologue Quest

Supreme_Atromancer

AzuraFan wrote: »

I think in a perfect world, consistency would be a priority. But with games, if it gets in the way of fun (like involving tedious travel), then it has to go in that instance.

Yes, absolutely. There's the distinction between immersive and realistic. We could install toilets across Tamriel and require brushing your teeth twice a day and while its more realistic, its not immersive in anything but boredom. I also agree there are some aspects of immersion that just aren't very likely in this sort of format.

The rowboat thing was likely an oversight. I guess, for me, I wonder how people who are very concerned about consistency can enjoy make believe worlds in games, books, movies, etc. There's always going to be something that's inconsistent or silly and requires a gigantic suspension of belief (or disbelief - never sure which one that's supposed to be).

Its actually a really interesting question about how suspension of disbelief is even a thing, or why its important in story-telling in the first place. The story-teller, be it in a movie, book or game like this needs you to be invested in it, because if you aren't, there are no stakes to care about. So part of that, you have to believe on some level that Bruce Willis will fall off the rope ladder dangling from the helicopter and plummet to his death on the streets of Manhattan below. We all know this isn't real, but we can still fool ourselves into being so involved in the stimulus, that we feel, temporarily like it is. But there's some point that the action is so unrealistic and unlikely, or the plot holes so glaring that a threshold is reached and the amount of effort or time spent suspending disbelief is too much and then you get people ripping the writers to shreds and they all want their money back.

I don't know what that threshold is, except to say that the less its approached, the better. And it feels like there would be a certain point where so little effort is put into the believability of the story that maintaining suspension of disbelief becomes so much of a chore that I, too, would no longer be able to keep up the effort of engaging the story on that level. Because its an MMO, and because of all the other compromises, its already quite close for me (and for MANY others its already the opinion that ESO storytelling or immersion is a joke because of these things)- and its why its even more important that the writers put in the effort to do it well, and more important that people express these things on the forums so that the writers can understand what's important, what doesn't work, and what they could improve on. If no one does this, the feedback is essentially that it doesn't matter, and the writers don't need to think much about it, that integrity of story-telling and immersion can be eaten away and compromised by other demands in the game design space.

I can understand the alternative way to look at it- its just spinning a yarn, and the little details don't really matter. Or that at the end of the day, mechanics and grind and getting on with the end-game are the important things, but for me, I can definitely get those things (arguably a lot more satisfyingly) in other media.