Official Discussion Thread, "Introducing The Shadows Over Morrowind Adventure"

ZOS_Kevin

This is the official discussion thread for, "2023 Global Reveal- Introducing The Shadows Over Morrowind Adventure"

"Get ready for a brand-new Elder Scrolls adventure as part of the Shadow Over Morrowind storyline, announced during the 2023 Global Reveal!"

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO

@ZOS_Kevin
I missed the stream, what's new for PVP this year?

Stinkyremy

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin
I missed the stream, what's new for PVP this year?

Looks like nothing at all.
They did mention something at the very end of the year that looks like it might possibly be at least a 2 man "endless dungeon" so that could be what we all kind of want, actual challenging content, but other than that, 2 dungeons in march, what looks like will be a good "dual area" chapter this summer, there is nothing new mentioned

Pelanora

Zos is really afraid of change, isn't it? Going back to Morrowind, of all things.

ArchMikem

So there HAS to be a reason for those rock formations to be that way. Either something happened there, or something IS there, most likely beneath the city.

The one thing I'm fully interested in, is any new Lore to uncover about the City being an ancient Chimer settlement and it's mythic origins.

Syldras

Pelanora wrote: »

Zos is really afraid of change, isn't it? Going back to Morrowind, of all things.

From the marketing perspective, it's probably not the worst choice after the last year's disaster, as it's a more or less secure way to lure people through nostalgia. TES3 Morrowind has a huge fanbase still today.

ArchMikem wrote: »

So there HAS to be a reason for those rock formations to be that way. Either something happened there, or something IS there, most likely beneath the city.
The one thing I'm fully interested in, is any new Lore to uncover about the City being an ancient Chimer settlement and it's mythic origins.

Necrom is built on older structures for sure (and probably has extensive catacombs?). What I find interesting is, that the lore has always described "a strange dark heat" being present in the city. Now, if we combine this with the Lovecraftian theme... This could get really interesting, if well-written.

Ratzkifal

Three years ago I would have been extremely excited about this reveal event. Now I am interested, but also highly concerned.

I am glad we are not getting the entirety of the Telvanni lands, because I just don't think ESO is ready for that, coming out of its most difficult years so far. What I find strange is that the zone was called Telvanni Peninsula when it does not in fact include the entire Telvanni Peninsula. They should seriously consider renaming it. Southern Telvanni Peninsula might be a bit of a mouthful. The way it was presented however was great and so far I have little reason to be concerned other than the current track record of the most recent releases and maybe the stated motivation of who appears to be main villain. Here's to Shadow over Innsmouth Morrowind benefitting from having the Q4 taken out of the yearly formula when it comes to the writing.
When it comes to the zone design, I am a little upset so many of the Morrowind assets seem to have simply been reused because apart from the shots of Necrom, it felt like I was watching Vvardenfell footage and not the new chapter content. You could say that makes it look consistent, but the old stuff just looks a bit "low res" by comparison. Maybe that's just me. The parts of Apocrypha looked way better. As for Necrom itself, on the one hand I think you were really successful in creating a blend of Aldmer and Dunmer architecture, which was also the stated intention. However, I am not sure I like the decision itself, as anyone living in Europe can attest that even though the buildings there are hundreds of years old, they don't look like they did hundreds of years ago. Ornaments are changed, removed and added over time. I'm not sure the Aldmer aesthetic would survive through that. But that's just as a side note. The thing that really bothered me about it is that in order to create the blended aesthetic, bright stone was used, to blend between the white stone of the Aldmer architecture and the yellow/brown Balmora concrete. Why wouldn't they use the black basalt of the surroundings? PLEASE tell me this has a proper explanation. It was so cool to see that the Dwemer used whatever stone can be found in the surrounding area for their buildings as that adds a sense of internally consistent logic to the world. Stone imports would have been incredibly difficult during a time when Morrowind was a mostly tribal society. So there better be a good reason for this or I will be a little upset over this as well. I'll pretend the houses are cut from these rib-cage stones until then, even if I can't image cutting perfectly good rib-cage stones into bricks to construct a house like any other when you could do what the Ashlanders/Redoran did with their giant crab shells...

The Arcanist class sounds like a good addition to the game and something I've personally suggested to be added because it's an archetype that wasn't presently featured in the game yet. So far it looks promising and fun. The combo points will hopefully help the class to feel different from the rest. Although every class should have one core mechanic to make them stand out. I am happy about that, but I am also hoping the Arcanist isn't just a better version of Sorcerers, because to me there is no reason to play a Sorcerer for Daedric summoning anymore if the Arcanist can fullfill the cultist fantasy way better. It was never about the pets. That just makes the Sorcerer feel more unloved by comparison.

The 2-man arena/endless dungeon sounds like a great idea if it works how I hope it will work - endless waves of increasingly difficult enemies with the objective to survive as many waves as possible. That is just the kind of content the game was missing and if the rewards are good, then even better.

Although the master crafting station for all craftable sets in one isn't going to make a difference for any of my houses, I know a lot of guild halls will be very happy with this change. Please just... resist the urge to make us pay crowns for that, okay? People already spent crowns on their huge houses. Don't make them pay for the universal crafting stations too.

All in all, I'd say this year is already looking A LOT better than the last two (or three) years, now just don't drop the ball, okay?

Oh and revert the Jabs change from U35 and give Bosmer back their stealth bonus!

Ratzkifal

Syldras wrote: »

Pelanora wrote: »

Zos is really afraid of change, isn't it? Going back to Morrowind, of all things.

From the marketing perspective, it's probably not the worst choice after the last year's disaster, as it's a more or less secure way to lure people through nostalgia. TES3 Morrowind has a huge fanbase still today.

ArchMikem wrote: »

So there HAS to be a reason for those rock formations to be that way. Either something happened there, or something IS there, most likely beneath the city.
The one thing I'm fully interested in, is any new Lore to uncover about the City being an ancient Chimer settlement and it's mythic origins.

Necrom is built on older structures for sure (and probably has extensive catacombs?). What I find interesting is, that the lore has always described "a strange dark heat" being present in the city. Now, if we combine this with the Lovecraftian theme... This could get really interesting, if well-written.

Have you ever considered that these might not be ribs? Have you ever seen an octopus from below?
Sleep well in your Necrom player home~

Syldras

Ratzkifal wrote: »

Have you ever considered that these might not be ribs? Have you ever seen an octopus from below?
Sleep well in your Necrom player home~

Sounds cozy somehow.

FluffyBird

Ratzkifal wrote: »

All in all, I'd say this year is already looking A LOT better than the last two (or three) years

Picking good theme and zone means nothing if execution is going to be bland, formulaic and buggy

Syldras

FluffyBird wrote: »

Picking good theme and zone means nothing if execution is going to be bland, formulaic and buggy

Like last year? At least the theme is right this year (according to my personal taste). Of course I'm sceptical how it will turn out, as I agree with you: If it's buggy, characters awfully stereotypical, stories uninspired and quests badly written, even the most appealing scenery is worthless.

Danikat

So what's the difference between a 'year long story' and an 'adventure'? I thought ZOS said previously they were doing away with having all the DLCs and the chapter connected together and going for stand-alone releases telling their own stories, but it now looks like all they've done is remove the zone DLC from the series and give it a different name.

Syldras

Danikat wrote: »

So what's the difference between a 'year long story' and an 'adventure'? I thought ZOS said previously they were doing away with having all the DLCs and the chapter connected together and going for stand-alone releases telling their own stories, but it now looks like all they've done is remove the zone DLC from the series and give it a different name.

Not only that, they also shortened the summer chapter from 50 hours of content to 30. And removed one of the dungeon DLCs too. Plus the story DLC you mentioned.

We'll get an "endless dungeon" mode in winter, which might be interesting for some, but no true surrogate for the missing dungeons and story DLC, in my opinion.

Oh, and the zone story will be finished in one chapter, although the chapters of the upcoming years are supposed to be related to that story somehow. Like the story arc they had between Morrowind and Summerset.

Sarousse42

New adventure with everything 2 shotable, and where it'll be impossible to die, even against the main plot boss while afk-ing ?

No thanks, I'll pass.

Aztrias

Please don't let our Dunmer pc's be refered to as "outlanders" all the time, some race recognition would be much appriciated.

phantasmalD

Ratzkifal wrote: »

The thing that really bothered me about it is that in order to create the blended aesthetic, bright stone was used, to blend between the white stone of the Aldmer architecture and the yellow/brown Balmora concrete. Why wouldn't they use the black basalt of the surroundings? PLEASE tell me this has a proper explanation

It's one of the few things that prior lore established about Necrom.

Necrom
"The City of the Dead", Necrom perpetuates a religious tradition that predates the Tribunal cult. From across Morrowind, Dark Elves of every clan bring their dead in solemn processions that can last for months. From the mainland, Necrom, with its lofty walls and white towers, appears to be an immense necropolis, an impression that is strengthened by the constant traffic of corpses across the causeway into the city, a traffic which never ceases, day or night. In fact, the city teems with life: a vast and complex heirarchy [sic] of priests and attendants whose sole duty is to prepare the dead for the afterlife and deposit their bodies with the appropriate ritual into the catacombs which honeycomb the rock beneath the city.

~Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition

Syldras wrote: »

Danikat wrote: »

So what's the difference between a 'year long story' and an 'adventure'? I thought ZOS said previously they were doing away with having all the DLCs and the chapter connected together and going for stand-alone releases telling their own stories, but it now looks like all they've done is remove the zone DLC from the series and give it a different name.

Not only that, they also shortened the summer chapter from 50 hours of content to 30. And removed one of the dungeon DLCs too. Plus the story DLC you mentioned.

Pretty sure it's always been 30 hours? I can't remember a single instance of official marketing use '50 hours of content', it's been '30 hours' since Vvardenfell.

Araneae6537

The forbidden knowledge that could destroy worlds:

There is no spoon.

The enemy daedra even pulled an Agent Smith in the trailer!

shadyjane62

Araneae6537 wrote: »

The forbidden knowledge that could destroy worlds:

There is no spoon.

The enemy daedra even pulled an Agent Smith in the trailer!

At this point, I would root for the Agent.

ArchMikem

Syldras wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

So there HAS to be a reason for those rock formations to be that way. Either something happened there, or something IS there, most likely beneath the city.
The one thing I'm fully interested in, is any new Lore to uncover about the City being an ancient Chimer settlement and it's mythic origins.

Necrom is built on older structures for sure (and probably has extensive catacombs?). What I find interesting is, that the lore has always described "a strange dark heat" being present in the city. Now, if we combine this with the Lovecraftian theme... This could get really interesting, if well-written.

Ahh, an ancient Sith Temple buried underneath the Jedi Temple on Coruscant type of deal.

Ratzkifal

phantasmalD wrote: »

Ratzkifal wrote: »

The thing that really bothered me about it is that in order to create the blended aesthetic, bright stone was used, to blend between the white stone of the Aldmer architecture and the yellow/brown Balmora concrete. Why wouldn't they use the black basalt of the surroundings? PLEASE tell me this has a proper explanation

It's one of the few things that prior lore established about Necrom.

Necrom
"The City of the Dead", Necrom perpetuates a religious tradition that predates the Tribunal cult. From across Morrowind, Dark Elves of every clan bring their dead in solemn processions that can last for months. From the mainland, Necrom, with its lofty walls and white towers, appears to be an immense necropolis, an impression that is strengthened by the constant traffic of corpses across the causeway into the city, a traffic which never ceases, day or night. In fact, the city teems with life: a vast and complex heirarchy [sic] of priests and attendants whose sole duty is to prepare the dead for the afterlife and deposit their bodies with the appropriate ritual into the catacombs which honeycomb the rock beneath the city.

~Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition

Oh, good catch. Funny how that works. Usually I'm mad at ZOS for not taking the Pocket Guide more literally and here I am very confused about why it's accurate this time. But now I am even more intrigued as to why these towers are white.

Syldras

phantasmalD wrote: »

Pretty sure it's always been 30 hours? I can't remember a single instance of official marketing use '50 hours of content', it's been '30 hours' since Vvardenfell.

I'm quite sure the number was higher originally. I just saw they already said 30 for High Isle, but that was already shortened compared to the older chapters (I'll look for the old announcement posts later). It also shows in quest numbers. Now the Q2 chapters only had around 45-50 quests in the past few years, while formerly it were 60 at least, in case of Morrowind even almost 80.

ArchMikem wrote: »

Ahh, an ancient Sith Temple buried underneath the Jedi Temple on Coruscant type of deal.

I never cared for Star Wars, so I don't have a clue about that. I thought more of Lovecraft stories like The Nameless City or even At The Mountains Of Madness (with a different geography, of course). Or, more precise: Some buried ancient evil in the ruins underneath Necrom. We'll see.

Ratzkifal wrote: »

But now I am even more intrigued as to why these towers are white.

I hope they'll have a lore explanation for that.

phantasmalD

I'm not going to look up all the chapter announcements, but here's Vvardenfell's.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/25911

This June, the next Chapter in The Elder Scrolls Online will begin. Return to the iconic island of Vvardenfell for over 30 hours of adventure in a brand new location, with a new class, a new PvP mode, a new Trial, and so much more.

If you can find any official post using 50 or any other number then @me.

Syldras

phantasmalD wrote: »

I'm not going to look up all the chapter announcements, but here's Vvardenfell's.
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/25911

This June, the next Chapter in The Elder Scrolls Online will begin. Return to the iconic island of Vvardenfell for over 30 hours of adventure in a brand new location, with a new class, a new PvP mode, a new Trial, and so much more.

If you can find any official post using 50 or any other number then @me.

You're right. I'm sure I read 50 somewhere, but it must have been a review then, nothing official. Makes me wonder now though, as the number of quests has decreased. Are the quests longer now?

phantasmalD

Some of them definitely feel longer. Like High Isle's first quest felt like it'd never end.

Main Stories I think are still the same length, 7-8 quest (although the final one is always a wrap-up quest).

The thing that really got cut are complicated, tiered side stories (like Sun-in-Shadows or Naryu in Vvvardenfell).
We now have companions instead, to fulfill that position.

ajkb78

Aztrias wrote: »

Please don't let our Dunmer pc's be refered to as "outlanders" all the time, some race recognition would be much appriciated.

That's been a thing since Summerset at least. Try interacting with the altmer around Summerset as different race characters... Unless they really take a massive backwards step, ZoS have that covered.

ajkb78

phantasmalD wrote: »

Some of them definitely feel longer. Like High Isle's first quest felt like it'd never end.

Main Stories I think are still the same length, 7-8 quest (although the final one is always a wrap-up quest).

The thing that really got cut are complicated, tiered side stories (like Sun-in-Shadows or Naryu in Vvvardenfell).
We now have companions instead, to fulfill that position.

Hopefully we get more of that back. Because if you look at "Vvardenfell + CWC + Summerset" as one long year-and-a-bit story arc, the "side quest" with Naryu really turned out to be the second intro to the main quest. It was great, and I agree that the number and complexity of side quests could do with improvement. It's become a bit formulaic: for the last few years there's always been like 3 out of 4 of (a Raz quest), (a Rigurt quest), (a Stibbons quest) and a (the cowardly and vain dark elf charlatan adventurer that comes across a bit like Gilderoy Lockhart, can't remember his name) quest, plus a handful of others. Side quest arcs would be great to see again, especially if they turn out to be intros to non-side-quests later on.

Syldras

ajkb78 wrote: »

That's been a thing since Summerset at least. Try interacting with the altmer around Summerset as different race characters... Unless they really take a massive backwards step, ZoS have that covered.

I know there were different dialogues for Dunmer in Morrowind and Altmer in Summerset, but I'm not sure if they showed that amount of care after that anymore. Although it would have made sense, necromancers had maybe 1 or 2 extra lines of dialogue in Elsweyr, the same for vampires in Greymoor. Don't know if Khajiit and Nord had different dialogue, but at least I never came across mentions of that (while I've seen the Altmer and Dunmer example being mentioned several times in the forums and elsewhere - Reddit, UESP,...).

ZOS_Kevin

Hi Everyone! Thanks for all of your feedback and questions. We are still working through reading these on top of PTS comments. However, to clean up the pinned threads a bit, we are going to move this thread to the news section of the forum. However, we have our one-stop shop still pinned both the general section and most recent section for easy access to these threads. Thanks all.

Araneae6537

I do hope that the Telvanni and other Dunmer have a complex portrayal. Many in the Morrowind chapter seemed laughably evil, although may have been more interesting— a shame we couldn’t get involved in the machinations ourselves but could only be someone’s pawn!

I also hope that the player character isn’t forced into comments against slavery, NOT because my characters wouldn’t be against it (well, maybe my necro vampire assassin wouldn’t care) and obviously I am against it, but in the game world, which is what we’re talking about here, you can freely choose to murder and assassinate, so it makes no sense to force a hard line at slavery. Plus, doing the right thing means nothing when there is no other choice, which I thought was really awesome about the Mages’ Guild questline.