Year Long Stories are killing your characters \\ Jan19, Empty promise

SammyKhajit

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

if Frri has to say one more line of “Roots, sundered and exposed to the sun, bla bla bla”, this one will be tempted to pull out an axe.

"Sharp blade...chop. chop. Feels...hurty."

You channeled Frri well.

TiaFrye

SammyKhajit wrote: »

This one also watched HotD. Very interesting contrasts between the two shows!

On the DNA, this one thinks that it’d be nice to bring back a story about the Elder Scrolls themselves. Lore experts can share insights here as Sammy is not familiar with what happened to the scrolls during this time.

Or maybe a guilds war where the Dark Brotherhood is at odds with the Mages/Fighters Guild and the vestige must pick a side. Depending on what you choose, there will be different outcomes (ie no win win, as there will be consequences to your decision).

I really liked the fact that HotD is very much about relationships and consequences, something that High Isle while promised to be a story about court and political games lacks big time. Showrunners took entire half a season to establish their characters and how they feel towards one another. With this kind of build up anything that happens later is so much more engaging than happening in Legacy's season epilogue.

So I am all about consequences, just bring them back in ESO.

TiaFrye

I also want to thank every one of you for while keeping the thread alive you're staying on topic and following the forum rules.
This kind of behavior shows that while being salty we are staying civil and just want to be heard while providing constructive criticism to the game we love!

SammyKhajit

TiaFrye wrote: »

I also want to thank every one of you for while keeping the thread alive you're staying on topic and following the forum rules.
This kind of behavior shows that while being salty we are staying civil and just want to be heard while providing constructive criticism to the game we love!

You are a very good and diplomatic facilitator for this thread, which helps a lot!

This one always believes in civilised dialogues and whilst some may find Sammy’s Khajiti speech and manner unusual, our differences are what makes the world go round 😊

Dragonlord573

Being able to join the villain for once would be great. Legit my entire time playing through High Isle I was wondering "why is the ascendant order evil? They're organized and act competently. They wanna overthrow the current factions and create a new order in Tamriel to reign in the chaos? Hell sign me up... Oh I can't."

Faulgor

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Being able to join the villain for once would be great. Legit my entire time playing through High Isle I was wondering "why is the ascendant order evil? They're organized and act competently. They wanna overthrow the current factions and create a new order in Tamriel to reign in the chaos? Hell sign me up... Oh I can't."

The Ascendant Order was so all over the place in their motivation. In the beginning they were still portrayed as a kind of democratic, anti-monarchist force, and that somehow went out the window because they had to be written as the bad guys so they went about killing indiscriminately.
But it bugged me so much how we were shoved to work for the nobility. It made absolutely no sense that we were playing the attack dog of the aristocracy while claiming to be the good guys.

Honestly, and I'm picking up something here from the Breton thread in the lore forum section, there are too many kingdoms in Tamriel as it is. This medieval/feudalist bent on political landscapes should be a defining trait for Breton culture, but it's bloody everywhere - and yet, somehow, everyone's still free to follow their dreams and live in cosmopolitan, multi-cultural (well, multi-species, because the culture is so uniform) metropolises. And wherever we go, we are supposed to think of the monarchs as the good guys, it's maddening. The world-building has become flat like a piece of paper.
Morrowind is a bit different due to the Great Houses and the Tribunal, but that's mostly legacy from TES3.

One culture that stands out are the Orc Strongholds, which is another reason why Orsinium ranks so high in my book.
Would I want to live in one? Not particularly, no. But it makes for much more interesting world building, besides, I wouldn't want to live under any of the kings and queens of Tamriel, either.

AvalonRanger

I agree both side of opinion.

Year long story keep killing memorial characters.( not all of them though..)
>>Yes, it is.

But, year long story keep maintain tension of my interest of adventuring...
>>Yes, it is.

Treselegant

SammyKhajit wrote: »

TiaFrye wrote: »

I also want to thank every one of you for while keeping the thread alive you're staying on topic and following the forum rules.
This kind of behavior shows that while being salty we are staying civil and just want to be heard while providing constructive criticism to the game we love!

You are a very good and diplomatic facilitator for this thread, which helps a lot!

This one always believes in civilised dialogues and whilst some may find Sammy’s Khajiti speech and manner unusual, our differences are what makes the world go round 😊

Yes, threads do seem to benefit when they stay mostly on topic and don't have commenters passive aggressively bring up a disagreement from another thread! Perhaps we can continue to do that from now on.

TiaFrye

AvalonRanger wrote: »

I agree both side of opinion.

Year long story keep killing memorial characters.( not all of them though..)
>>Yes, it is.

But, year long story keep maintain tension of my interest of adventuring...
>>Yes, it is.

Imo, the real tension was when we didn't knew where we're going 4 times a year instead of one... Although I can see how people can decide wherever the theme of the year interest them or no to plan their schedule accordingly.

I mean some of us still expected some turnarounds after Dark Heart, but now it's safe to assume if something was not announced at the beginning of the year it will likely not happen even in Q4.

I just wish there were something exciting for everyone.

kind_hero

TiaFrye wrote: »

AvalonRanger wrote: »

I agree both side of opinion.

Year long story keep killing memorial characters.( not all of them though..)
>>Yes, it is.

But, year long story keep maintain tension of my interest of adventuring...
>>Yes, it is.

Imo, the real tension was when we didn't knew where we're going 4 times a year instead of one... Although I can see how people can decide wherever the theme of the year interest them or no to plan their schedule accordingly.

I mean some of us still expected some turnarounds after Dark Heart, but now it's safe to assume if something was not announced at the beginning of the year it will likely not happen even in Q4.

I just wish there were something exciting for everyone.

Regarding the tension of not knowing where we are going next, I can agree. However, I remember playing another MMO where expansions where not each year, and that was quite fine, I still had plenty to do. Thing is, the player base got used with frequent content releases. This causes a growing issue, postponing important quality updates, such as combat fixes, bug fixes, and stability or feature improvements.

I know this thread is about the quality of the story, but maybe this is related. I mean, since the devs "have to" deliver a new chapter with a new story each year, they don't have the time to come up with something really good (in terms of writing). The game has more and more systems each year.

Many people have voiced their opinion here on the forum, that maybe it's time to hold off a major chapter, for more stability updates. All the actual systems can get various updates, like gear, motifs, antiquities (mythics or furnishings), card decks, skins or mounts to keep us busy, while the team focuses on fixing the game. Quests are fine, I try to do every quest, but they are done pretty quick, and next you have all the other things to do.

I would really appreciate some overhauls, and a new chapter with a much more engaging and less forgettable story.
ESO has some cool NPCs that aren't developed enough (I am not counting chars that appear in other ES games). I hope to see these characters more developed, with much more in depth stories, not cartoon like plots.

TiaFrye

kind_hero wrote: »

TiaFrye wrote: »

AvalonRanger wrote: »

I agree both side of opinion.

Year long story keep killing memorial characters.( not all of them though..)
>>Yes, it is.

But, year long story keep maintain tension of my interest of adventuring...
>>Yes, it is.

Imo, the real tension was when we didn't knew where we're going 4 times a year instead of one... Although I can see how people can decide wherever the theme of the year interest them or no to plan their schedule accordingly.

I mean some of us still expected some turnarounds after Dark Heart, but now it's safe to assume if something was not announced at the beginning of the year it will likely not happen even in Q4.

I just wish there were something exciting for everyone.

Regarding the tension of not knowing where we are going next, I can agree. However, I remember playing another MMO where expansions where not each year, and that was quite fine, I still had plenty to do. Thing is, the player base got used with frequent content releases. This causes a growing issue, postponing important quality updates, such as combat fixes, bug fixes, and stability or feature improvements.

I know this thread is about the quality of the story, but maybe this is related. I mean, since the devs "have to" deliver a new chapter with a new story each year, they don't have the time to come up with something really good (in terms of writing). The game has more and more systems each year.

Many people have voiced their opinion here on the forum, that maybe it's time to hold off a major chapter, for more stability updates. All the actual systems can get various updates, like gear, motifs, antiquities (mythics or furnishings), card decks, skins or mounts to keep us busy, while the team focuses on fixing the game. Quests are fine, I try to do every quest, but they are done pretty quick, and next you have all the other things to do.

I would really appreciate some overhauls, and a new chapter with a much more engaging and less forgettable story.
ESO has some cool NPCs that aren't developed enough (I am not counting chars that appear in other ES games). I hope to see these characters more developed, with much more in depth stories, not cartoon like plots.

I think we all, who are playing for the story and who are playing for the gameplay could use a break, as well as ZoS. I remember Daedric War arc being planned for quite a while, and to think that base game was in development since Oblivion? Devs barely have time to breathe in between releases now it seems.

But considering company leaning with its whole body on new players now, because they bring money even from old ass crown store items, I really doubt that higher-ups will sacrifice quarter releases to the quality. I also think that sometimes players demand too much, like a new class each year, though they are got used to things like that. So it's understandable. Sometimes it feels like the game could've lived without drastic changes for half a year at least. But... Well.

netch_a_sketch

I love ESO and its stories with all my heart but I found myself skipping dialogue and rushing through the entirity of Galen's main quest and most side quests because it was just so boring. The High Isle chapter has not felt like an Elder Scrolls game at all and had none of the charm or magic that makes TES games feel like what they are.

Everything was so tired and monotonous. Not enough time or reason to gain any kind of attachment to the characters. These druids, or this guy who lives in the castle.

The highlight of Firesong's quests were probably the quest with Raz, which was pitifully short. And seeing Zaji at the end of the main quest and having us return to Lady Arabelle (one of the very few interesting characters from this chapter)

Anethum

tbh, was dissapointed of almost every story being told in eso.
it feels like tv series based on famous book or movie, with nice VFX but lost it's storylines and heroes acted by random ones for a small price

TiaFrye

netch_a_sketch wrote: »

I love ESO and its stories with all my heart but I found myself skipping dialogue and rushing through the entirity of Galen's main quest and most side quests because it was just so boring. The High Isle chapter has not felt like an Elder Scrolls game at all and had none of the charm or magic that makes TES games feel like what they are.

Everything was so tired and monotonous. Not enough time or reason to gain any kind of attachment to the characters. These druids, or this guy who lives in the castle.

The highlight of Firesong's quests were probably the quest with Raz, which was pitifully short. And seeing Zaji at the end of the main quest and having us return to Lady Arabelle (one of the very few interesting characters from this chapter)

Well, that sums up why we're here pretty much. Urge to skip, having hard time caring about new cast.

Lady Arabelle is fine but I found her to be too dismissive anyway. My first encounter with her ended with me being enraged at the end of HI prologue: being the person who saved Emeric from his deepest insecurities turned nightmare should've given player a permission to be beside Emeric after people tried to kill him but it's all staged as you're not important whatsoever. I know it was a cheap excuse not to show the king ahead of time but it is just that - cheap excuse, and badly executed one.

Anethum wrote: »

tbh, was dissapointed of almost every story being told in eso.
it feels like tv series based on famous book or movie, with nice VFX but lost it's storylines and heroes acted by random ones for a small price

You said "almost" so which did you like?

lusshtgarel

That's your opinion. I would disagree. I like the year-long stories because the characters come back and don't fall into Oblivion. I'm always curious whom we're going to see again in the next chapter.

TiaFrye

lusshtgarel wrote: »

That's your opinion. I would disagree. I like the year-long stories because the characters come back and don't fall into Oblivion. I'm always curious whom we're going to see again in the next chapter.

I love when characters are returning I'm just not crazy about HOW they are returning now. If character's return means that it will make them a grotesque version of themselves, then what's good about that? I hate to see my friends from base game dying as much as the other person, but writing was better back when some of them did die, because of writing with consequences and progression characters stayed true to themselves. Last two years both promo-returns of Eveli and Jakarn left a lot to be desired.

All in all I think we can stay away from killing everyone while giving a story some time to evolve and to be told with continuation like it was before YLS.

SammyKhajit

There was something about Eveli’s character that’s really bothered Sammy: in Blackwood, she gets upset with the Vestige if they belong to the Dark Brotherhood. Fine, her ethics and game choices have consequences all that.

But in the final fight where she brought along all her cousins and many of them seemed to have been killed, at no point did she express sorrow or even just acknowledgment they have been killed.

It feels incongruous with what the writing team wants her to be.

SerafinaWaterstar

Have to add something positive.

Realised that for some reason that one if my characters who has done nearly all zones (except DC) had not completed Shadowfen. So went back in.

Have to report that there is a quest where you meet Lyranth. And what do I find?

To my utter delight, she had totally new dialogue and spoke to me knowing that I had completed Deadlands etc. Was so happy!

A small thing, but it made all the difference.

Kesstryl

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Have to add something positive.

Realised that for some reason that one if my characters who has done nearly all zones (except DC) had not completed Shadowfen. So went back in.

Have to report that there is a quest where you meet Lyranth. And what do I find?

To my utter delight, she had totally new dialogue and spoke to me knowing that I had completed Deadlands etc. Was so happy!

A small thing, but it made all the difference.

I've mentioned that once scene on these forums also! I loved that she recognized my Blackwood born alt when he made his way to Shadowfen! I'd like to see more things like this put in, that participating in zone quests, DLC, or Chapter quests progress your relationship with returning NPCs and you get acknowledged in subsequent quests in other zones, DLC, and Chapters. That Lyranth dialogue was such a pleasant surprise, and somewhat detailed too! Pay the writers and voice actors to put in more stuff like this!

TiaFrye

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Have to add something positive.

Realised that for some reason that one if my characters who has done nearly all zones (except DC) had not completed Shadowfen. So went back in.

Have to report that there is a quest where you meet Lyranth. And what do I find?

To my utter delight, she had totally new dialogue and spoke to me knowing that I had completed Deadlands etc. Was so happy!

A small thing, but it made all the difference.

Oh, that's very good news! Last time something like that happen it was Blackfeather court in Stonefalls after CWC and it was so small it barely changed anything. Knowing that at least Lyranth had a bit of dialogue for out of order progression pleases me greatly.

RedBranch

The year-long format limits creativity. It’s also time to move the main story line forward. Too many unfinished stories.

TiaFrye

RedBranch wrote: »

The year-long format limits creativity. It’s also time to move the main story line forward. Too many unfinished stories.

I wholeheartedly agree. There's too many unfinished stories and they deserved at least an ending.

emilyhyoyeon

TiaFrye wrote: »

lusshtgarel wrote: »

That's your opinion. I would disagree. I like the year-long stories because the characters come back and don't fall into Oblivion. I'm always curious whom we're going to see again in the next chapter.

I love when characters are returning I'm just not crazy about HOW they are returning now. If character's return means that it will make them a grotesque version of themselves, then what's good about that? I hate to see my friends from base game dying as much as the other person, but writing was better back when some of them did die, because of writing with consequences and progression characters stayed true to themselves. Last two years both promo-returns of Eveli and Jakarn left a lot to be desired.

All in all I think we can stay away from killing everyone while giving a story some time to evolve and to be told with continuation like it was before YLS.

On the topic of returning characters I agree with the main problem being how they return, but I've said before a couple times in topics where this comes up, that what irks me personally the most about returning characters is that it makes the world feel so much smaller.

The game being a game already has limitations in how it can present the TES world; for example, if Mournhold were ''real'' it would have way more than a population of 200 or so however many NPCs there are of people. Because game portrayals (of a huge whole fantasy world that encompasses an entire planet and other realms of existence in lore) are inherently so limited, things that give the illusion of the world being as big as it ''should be'' are important to me, one of those things being unique NPCs for each story.

Of course I would rather have returning NPCs brought back well as opposed to brought back poorly, but would rather they be brought back very sparingly, at the very least brought back only in minor stories and not reused in main conflicts.

TiaFrye

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

TiaFrye wrote: »

lusshtgarel wrote: »

That's your opinion. I would disagree. I like the year-long stories because the characters come back and don't fall into Oblivion. I'm always curious whom we're going to see again in the next chapter.

I love when characters are returning I'm just not crazy about HOW they are returning now. If character's return means that it will make them a grotesque version of themselves, then what's good about that? I hate to see my friends from base game dying as much as the other person, but writing was better back when some of them did die, because of writing with consequences and progression characters stayed true to themselves. Last two years both promo-returns of Eveli and Jakarn left a lot to be desired.

All in all I think we can stay away from killing everyone while giving a story some time to evolve and to be told with continuation like it was before YLS.

On the topic of returning characters I agree with the main problem being how they return, but I've said before a couple times in topics where this comes up, that what irks me personally the most about returning characters is that it makes the world feel so much smaller.

The game being a game already has limitations in how it can present the TES world; for example, if Mournhold were ''real'' it would have way more than a population of 200 or so however many NPCs there are of people. Because game portrayals (of a huge whole fantasy world that encompasses an entire planet and other realms of existence in lore) are inherently so limited, things that give the illusion of the world being as big as it ''should be'' are important to me, one of those things being unique NPCs for each story.

Of course I would rather have returning NPCs brought back well as opposed to brought back poorly, but would rather they be brought back very sparingly, at the very least brought back only in minor stories and not reused in main conflicts.

Would love that honestly, BUT the recurring characters are the only thing that keeps LYS casts from breaking for now. In stories where there's no recurring lead it's hard not to get annoyed by a big portion of new characters who boss you around and act like you're a noname when it's 8 years of stories behind your back. New characters are the only people who keep pats on the back coming.

Again, there's too little time and too little development in year long stories, and that's depressing. One time gem of a character can appear, with rich backstory and all that but most characters are forgettable and unlikable. They make it hard to enjoy story they're trying to play out in front of you.

Destai

Faulgor wrote: »

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Being able to join the villain for once would be great. Legit my entire time playing through High Isle I was wondering "why is the ascendant order evil? They're organized and act competently. They wanna overthrow the current factions and create a new order in Tamriel to reign in the chaos? Hell sign me up... Oh I can't."

The Ascendant Order was so all over the place in their motivation. In the beginning they were still portrayed as a kind of democratic, anti-monarchist force, and that somehow went out the window because they had to be written as the bad guys so they went about killing indiscriminately.
But it bugged me so much how we were shoved to work for the nobility. It made absolutely no sense that we were playing the attack dog of the aristocracy while claiming to be the good guys.

Honestly, and I'm picking up something here from the Breton thread in the lore forum section, there are too many kingdoms in Tamriel as it is. This medieval/feudalist bent on political landscapes should be a defining trait for Breton culture, but it's bloody everywhere - and yet, somehow, everyone's still free to follow their dreams and live in cosmopolitan, multi-cultural (well, multi-species, because the culture is so uniform) metropolises. And wherever we go, we are supposed to think of the monarchs as the good guys, it's maddening. The world-building has become flat like a piece of paper.
Morrowind is a bit different due to the Great Houses and the Tribunal, but that's mostly legacy from TES3.

One culture that stands out are the Orc Strongholds, which is another reason why Orsinium ranks so high in my book.
Would I want to live in one? Not particularly, no. But it makes for much more interesting world building, besides, I wouldn't want to live under any of the kings and queens of Tamriel, either.

I was talking on Reddit about this briefly but, I think it'd have been more interesting to give the ruling class of High Isle some grey areas. Like the Direnni were once a factor in their state, those with more Elven blood enjoyed a higher standard of living, and the Ascendant Order would be a radical opposition to that oppression.

I love the themes of this year and the artwork, which is always stellar, but the writing seemed like a collage of too many ideas. We got druids, knights, and somehow sea elves, but I don't think all those story elements come together neatly.

RandomUser123

Compliment sandwich:

Everything looks good.
Please raise the writing level above that of a Netflix series based on a remake of an old movie that people watch hoping it's going to bring back fond memories of their beloved thing only to be disappointed by a squad of red shirt guys that nobody remembers the names of.
Thanks for giving it to us for free.

TiaFrye

Destai wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Being able to join the villain for once would be great. Legit my entire time playing through High Isle I was wondering "why is the ascendant order evil? They're organized and act competently. They wanna overthrow the current factions and create a new order in Tamriel to reign in the chaos? Hell sign me up... Oh I can't."

The Ascendant Order was so all over the place in their motivation. In the beginning they were still portrayed as a kind of democratic, anti-monarchist force, and that somehow went out the window because they had to be written as the bad guys so they went about killing indiscriminately.
But it bugged me so much how we were shoved to work for the nobility. It made absolutely no sense that we were playing the attack dog of the aristocracy while claiming to be the good guys.

Honestly, and I'm picking up something here from the Breton thread in the lore forum section, there are too many kingdoms in Tamriel as it is. This medieval/feudalist bent on political landscapes should be a defining trait for Breton culture, but it's bloody everywhere - and yet, somehow, everyone's still free to follow their dreams and live in cosmopolitan, multi-cultural (well, multi-species, because the culture is so uniform) metropolises. And wherever we go, we are supposed to think of the monarchs as the good guys, it's maddening. The world-building has become flat like a piece of paper.
Morrowind is a bit different due to the Great Houses and the Tribunal, but that's mostly legacy from TES3.

One culture that stands out are the Orc Strongholds, which is another reason why Orsinium ranks so high in my book.
Would I want to live in one? Not particularly, no. But it makes for much more interesting world building, besides, I wouldn't want to live under any of the kings and queens of Tamriel, either.

I was talking on Reddit about this briefly but, I think it'd have been more interesting to give the ruling class of High Isle some grey areas. Like the Direnni were once a factor in their state, those with more Elven blood enjoyed a higher standard of living, and the Ascendant Order would be a radical opposition to that oppression.

I love the themes of this year and the artwork, which is always stellar, but the writing seemed like a collage of too many ideas. We got druids, knights, and somehow sea elves, but I don't think all those story elements come together neatly.

The fact that the Order was promoted to be acting in the interest of small folks and ended up to be just some random baddies broke my heart. I was rooting for the Lord so much before the chapter came out. It's honestly very depressing to remember what I have waited from the chapter and being crushed by bad writing of that part.

Lord's identity and reasons are anticlimactic.

RandomUser123 wrote: »

Compliment sandwich:

Everything looks good.
Please raise the writing level above that of a Netflix series based on a remake of an old movie that people watch hoping it's going to bring back fond memories of their beloved thing only to be disappointed by a squad of red shirt guys that nobody remembers the names of.
Thanks for giving it to us for free.

It's actually scary how accurate that example is to our situation. That's why I wish some of the previous MQ authors return at least once in a while because no offence to others it's just... if they're a new face they should play old basegame to understand what made a lot of people stay for the story back then.

Faulgor

Destai wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Being able to join the villain for once would be great. Legit my entire time playing through High Isle I was wondering "why is the ascendant order evil? They're organized and act competently. They wanna overthrow the current factions and create a new order in Tamriel to reign in the chaos? Hell sign me up... Oh I can't."

The Ascendant Order was so all over the place in their motivation. In the beginning they were still portrayed as a kind of democratic, anti-monarchist force, and that somehow went out the window because they had to be written as the bad guys so they went about killing indiscriminately.
But it bugged me so much how we were shoved to work for the nobility. It made absolutely no sense that we were playing the attack dog of the aristocracy while claiming to be the good guys.

Honestly, and I'm picking up something here from the Breton thread in the lore forum section, there are too many kingdoms in Tamriel as it is. This medieval/feudalist bent on political landscapes should be a defining trait for Breton culture, but it's bloody everywhere - and yet, somehow, everyone's still free to follow their dreams and live in cosmopolitan, multi-cultural (well, multi-species, because the culture is so uniform) metropolises. And wherever we go, we are supposed to think of the monarchs as the good guys, it's maddening. The world-building has become flat like a piece of paper.
Morrowind is a bit different due to the Great Houses and the Tribunal, but that's mostly legacy from TES3.

One culture that stands out are the Orc Strongholds, which is another reason why Orsinium ranks so high in my book.
Would I want to live in one? Not particularly, no. But it makes for much more interesting world building, besides, I wouldn't want to live under any of the kings and queens of Tamriel, either.

I was talking on Reddit about this briefly but, I think it'd have been more interesting to give the ruling class of High Isle some grey areas. Like the Direnni were once a factor in their state, those with more Elven blood enjoyed a higher standard of living, and the Ascendant Order would be a radical opposition to that oppression.

I love the themes of this year and the artwork, which is always stellar, but the writing seemed like a collage of too many ideas. We got druids, knights, and somehow sea elves, but I don't think all those story elements come together neatly.

Sadly that has become the standard design of ESO's content, going all the way back to Elsweyr I want to say. Even Morrowind felt thematically unfocused, introducing a Frost-Druid class in a volcano zone, revolving around Clavicus Vile cultists and Ashlanders. And Summerset mostly revolved around the Daedric War arc with Psijics and Sload sprinkled in, but surprsingly little High Elven stuff.
Elsweyr: Dragons, Imperials, Necromancers, Khajiit
Greymoor: Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, Blackreach, Nords
Blackwood: Imperials, Argonians, Daedra, some cultists? I don't remember that year too well
High Isle: Alliances, Bretons, Good Druids, Sea Elves, Bad Druids, Volcanos?

It all feels so unfocused. You also always have multiple baddie factions working together for some reason. I wish they would just pick one theme for once and actually explore it more deeply.

TiaFrye

Faulgor wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Being able to join the villain for once would be great. Legit my entire time playing through High Isle I was wondering "why is the ascendant order evil? They're organized and act competently. They wanna overthrow the current factions and create a new order in Tamriel to reign in the chaos? Hell sign me up... Oh I can't."

The Ascendant Order was so all over the place in their motivation. In the beginning they were still portrayed as a kind of democratic, anti-monarchist force, and that somehow went out the window because they had to be written as the bad guys so they went about killing indiscriminately.
But it bugged me so much how we were shoved to work for the nobility. It made absolutely no sense that we were playing the attack dog of the aristocracy while claiming to be the good guys.

Honestly, and I'm picking up something here from the Breton thread in the lore forum section, there are too many kingdoms in Tamriel as it is. This medieval/feudalist bent on political landscapes should be a defining trait for Breton culture, but it's bloody everywhere - and yet, somehow, everyone's still free to follow their dreams and live in cosmopolitan, multi-cultural (well, multi-species, because the culture is so uniform) metropolises. And wherever we go, we are supposed to think of the monarchs as the good guys, it's maddening. The world-building has become flat like a piece of paper.
Morrowind is a bit different due to the Great Houses and the Tribunal, but that's mostly legacy from TES3.

One culture that stands out are the Orc Strongholds, which is another reason why Orsinium ranks so high in my book.
Would I want to live in one? Not particularly, no. But it makes for much more interesting world building, besides, I wouldn't want to live under any of the kings and queens of Tamriel, either.

I was talking on Reddit about this briefly but, I think it'd have been more interesting to give the ruling class of High Isle some grey areas. Like the Direnni were once a factor in their state, those with more Elven blood enjoyed a higher standard of living, and the Ascendant Order would be a radical opposition to that oppression.

I love the themes of this year and the artwork, which is always stellar, but the writing seemed like a collage of too many ideas. We got druids, knights, and somehow sea elves, but I don't think all those story elements come together neatly.

Sadly that has become the standard design of ESO's content, going all the way back to Elsweyr I want to say. Even Morrowind felt thematically unfocused, introducing a Frost-Druid class in a volcano zone, revolving around Clavicus Vile cultists and Ashlanders. And Summerset mostly revolved around the Daedric War arc with Psijics and Sload sprinkled in, but surprsingly little High Elven stuff.
Elsweyr: Dragons, Imperials, Necromancers, Khajiit
Greymoor: Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, Blackreach, Nords
Blackwood: Imperials, Argonians, Daedra, some cultists? I don't remember that year too well
High Isle: Alliances, Bretons, Good Druids, Sea Elves, Bad Druids, Volcanos?

It all feels so unfocused. You also always have multiple baddie factions working together for some reason. I wish they would just pick one theme for once and actually explore it more deeply.

I agree that even before YLS the main theme being overshadowed by MQ and other stuff was the case but hey, if something was really out of place it could probably get a feature in next dlc. But now...
If something will not be featured it's likely be for the whole year and them trying to pack it all tightly just doesn't work for some stuff.

I'm okay with maormer but I was not convinced enough that their presence is absolutely necessary and that they have a good reason to be allied with the big bad. But I suppose that's on him. Shame, really.

SammyKhajit

Although the Druids’ stories and lores were all very interesting and enjoyable to learn, this one was expecting a bit more mix-up of the Breton-Druid cultures, where you might have some Druid advisors in the Monard royalty, or families where there are members who identify as both or try to live with the dual identities, and the challenges or conflicts that arise.

Stefan was a case in point where he had Druid mentors and embraced both cultures. Was expecting a bit more of these integration. That would have made the YLS more nuanced and complex.