Do you feel the Fractured Glory skin embodies 10 years of adventures?

ApoAlaia

code65536 wrote: »

It's a nice gesture and a good idea.

But it feels thematically disconnected.

What do I mean by that? Well, it doesn't relate to anything that had happened over these years. It doesn't evoke memories or nostalgia. It doesn't symbolize any of the important moments. It's just a skin.

To be fair, I think it's a cool-looking skin, and I like the ZOS is responding to players who say that there should be more things that are earnable in-game, so they deserve credit for that. But a special achievement like this calls for something with more... care.

It's the equivalent of giving someone a gift card for their birthday instead of a more personal gift.

Could have been said louder, but not clearer.

I'm sure it would not be universally loved but personally I would have found both more thematically appropriate and pleasing to have something that as far as I know does not exist in this game.

A gate/portal that one can place in any house one owns that leads to an area akin to the Elegiac Replication in The Clockwork City, where interactable furniture summons the memories of the choices one made along one's journey.

EDIT: OK after reading this:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/658650/what-the-10-year-anniversary-skin-reminds-me-of#latest

It could be that I didn't get it because I'm an uncultured philistine.

You live, you learn.

moderatelyfatman

This all depends on whether my game crashes the moment after I install the skin.

Muizer

I'd rather have had a simple tent with a cooking pot and perhaps a rack for fish or game. Either as a house without furnishings or even better if we could pitch it in the zones themselves. I think that would sum up 10 years of adventuring quite well.

Danikat

I'm indifferent. I never use skins but I understand that ZOS considers them a big deal. I think all the trials, some vet dungeons and various other 'end game' activities have skins as their special rewards. I assume because you can only wear one at a time and (unless you choose to cover it with armour) it's very visible to other players so it's supposed to advertise what you've done, at least to other people who care enough to recognise them.

But also I like questing, it's one of the main things I've done since I started (although I'm a long way off completing all of them) and I like doing it for the stories and the lore. At no point did I think that one day in the future they'd add some item for completing all of them and that would finally make it worthwhile. It's a bonus item for doing something I was going to do anyway, so I don't think it's relevant to me. I don't need an extra reward to do the quests, so I don't care what it is.

I also don't think it's possible to find a single item that thousands or millions of people will like, so no matter what ZOS picked it was going to disappoint some people.

Djennku wrote: »

The 10-year skin is based off of the japanese tradition of kintsugi; repairing pottery and filling the cracks with gold or other valuable metal with the idea that even when broken, things still hold beauty.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi

I'd love to know the thinking behind that choice. "As a philosophy, [kintsugi] treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise."

Celebrating ESO's 10th anniversary with a reference to a technique for taking something broken beyond the ability to restore it to it's original state, so all you can do is acknowledge and celebrate the cracks and the visible repairs as part of it's new form is...a very honest approach.

Honestly that might be my favourite thing about this skin.

Desiato wrote: »

If I was a dev, I would never, ever read the forums.

It reminds me of the game I played while away from ESO. The owner of the studio who makes it advises the devs not to read the subreddit.

I've heard a lot of game studios employ Community Managers, as part of or in addition to the marketing team for exactly this reason. You can find people who have the right mindset to deal with all the nonsense (probably someone with a background in customer service), or at least someone who can be a bit more detatched because it's not their work that's being yelled at, and they can filter the feedback to pass it on without the unnecessary commentary. Probably also mixed with data from other sources as well to create a more accurate overall picture.

For example reporting not just what's said on the forum but social media, reddit, maybe other sites and data from in-game like how many more accounts are doing the required quests compared to before the announcement, and once it's released how many players have equipped the skin for more than a minute. (Time limit is to avoid 'false positives' from those who try it once then immediately remove it.)

Forum topics tend to be a bit of an echo-chamber, even if the forum is pretty varied over all. If I loved this skin and was excited to get it I'd probably not bother posting here because it's pretty discouraging to be the lone dissenting voice and everyone is entitled to their own opinion so I'm certainly not going to waste my time trying to convince them. Instead I'd go in-game and find the people (who I bet are there) working their way through the zone quests because they're excited about the new skin and I'd talk to them about it.

emilyhyoyeon

code65536 wrote: »

It's a nice gesture and a good idea.

But it feels thematically disconnected.

What do I mean by that? Well, it doesn't relate to anything that had happened over these years. It doesn't evoke memories or nostalgia. It doesn't symbolize any of the important moments. It's just a skin.

I agree with this and the OP.


I do basically all content but the real reason I play this game is because I love TES and roleplaying in its games. And yeah it completely misses the mark of something that jives well with RP questing.

And honestly I disagree that the concept would be difficult to represent in a reward. An adventurer's costume (or costume set? warrior adventurer, mage adventurer, rogue adventurer costume set?), adventurer's mount, adventurer's house, for example, all would've been way more fitting and those aren't far-fetched ideas. I thought of those immediately.

Shara_Wynn

I'd rather have had a sea elf polymorph, that not only looks like a sea elf, but looks like your character as a sea elf. Your facial and body features etc.

I just wish they would bring out more subtler skins, that don't override your facial and body tattoos and make your eyes glow.

Danikat

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

I do basically all content but the real reason I play this game is because I love TES and roleplaying in its games. And yeah it completely misses the mark of something that jives well with RP questing.

And honestly I disagree that the concept would be difficult to represent in a reward. An adventurer's costume (or costume set? warrior adventurer, mage adventurer, rogue adventurer costume set?), adventurer's mount, adventurer's house, for example, all would've been way more fitting and those aren't far-fetched ideas. I thought of those immediately.

I agree those would fit the theme of questing, but I'm not sure they're better 10th anniversary rewards because they're all fairly redundant. All my questing characters already have both armour sets and a selection of costumes they can use, thematic mounts (aka mainly the horses bought for gold), and houses in areas of Tamriel they'd choose to live.

Of course players are all in different situations, there may well be people who really want something like a 'mage adventurer' costume and haven't found one that suits them yet, or just the right mount or whatever, but they'll each have different requirements (and different reasons the existing options don't work).

I suspect ZOS started from the position that a skin is a special reward (it's what they give for trial achievements, vet dungeons etc.) and then looked for a part of the game which reflects 10 years of releases and doesn't already award a skin to make that the requirement for getting it. I wouldn't be surprised if the skin was designed before the decision was made to make it a quest reward, or in isolation from that decision, with the artists only told it would be an anniversary reward so it needs to match the black and gold colour scheme and the shattered glass theme of Gold Road.

Araneae6537

It’s a bonus and I don’t expect all such to appeal to me — some like the house and houseguests very much do. I don’t care for skins like this that obliterate a character’s appearance and don’t look a part of Tamriel, but judging by how many such skins and polymorphs I see running around, many do. Hmm, and it may even look really good on an Argonian, as some of the tribes have unique looks, colors, and methods of body ornamentation. I’ll have to give it a try.

Trejgon

I don't mind skin for this achievement, even if this particular one does not fit my tastes... not exactly sure how this particular skin is supposed to tie in towards 10 years of ESO story (compressed to single year in-world). Like I hardly see connection between that skin any anything storywise in those 10 years...

BlueRaven

I feel a Maomer type skin may have been appropriate. That at least feels a bit better tied to the adventuring players would need to do to get the achievement.

RaddlemanNumber7

I believe I understand the philosophy of Kintsugi. I can think of nothing more appropriate than this skin to symbolise the Vestige's 10 year journey from the Wailing Prison to the here and now of ESO. I will be using this skin in my RP with that philosophy in mind.

Araneae6537

BlueRaven wrote: »

I feel a Maomer type skin may have been appropriate. That at least feels a bit better tied to the adventuring players would need to do to get the achievement.

There is a “Maormer” skin already. Unfortunately, it looks like some form of psoriasis rather than Maormer, but I suppose a proper Maormer skin would be too subtle for the taste of many…

alternatelder

Djennku wrote: »

The 10-year skin is based off of the japanese tradition of kintsugi; repairing pottery and filling the cracks with gold or other valuable metal with the idea that even when broken, things still hold beauty.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi

The other post theorizing this doesn't make it true, unless it was confirmed. I doubt I was the only one that never heard if this, and I don't think it makes the skin any better. It's still pretty ugly and doesn't represent, to me, 10 years of questing.

Yamenstein

CE_Nex wrote: »

Can't wait for the better and cooler version to come out in the crown store!

Basically this 🤣 ZoS has designed some amazing cosmetics. But they are all behind the gamble boxes. They aren’t going to reward us with anything that good for free. Really goes to show how they show their appreciation for 10 years of sticking with them. Not just that but you have to get through so much content to achieve this skin - off that’s going to be the case make it worth while! Players have you buy expansions to get it. It’s not base game available.

Feljax

To me it definitely misses the mark. A title and mount I think would've been much better. Something that you might want to show off while you're out adventuring. This skin, unfortunately is not something I, or apparently many others, would use.

Ezhh

I think it's just something very hard to do.

• Some people don't like or use skins, so whatever it looked like the skin wouldn't have worked for them.
• I see some would want a mount, but many complain about overly flashy mounts, yet if it wasn't flashy I'm sure a lot of people would not find it special.
• I see someone asking for an adventurer's costume/mount. But aren't there already thousands or ways to combine cosmetics and look like an adventurer? What does an adventurer's mount look like and would we all agree on the same look?
• A house was just given out, and not everyone cares about housing, plus you can't walk around showing it.

As for the skin itself: it at least looks less like a skin disease than some of them and like something decorative, but it doesn't feel very special or interesting to me. I don't know if I will use it at some point, but I don't see any immediate use for it. The only kind of skin I'd be very interested in would be ones that look more normal and have more subtle features (maormer fish is still my most used skin by a long way). But I see similar issues with any other type of reward they could have chosen.

Overall, I'm happy to see they are adding more in-game attainable cosmetics. It would be nicer if there were more and they weren't always such a slog to get though.

NoticeMeArkay

No.

xylena_lazarow

Anyone here watch Marvel's Loki? The skin looks exactly like the black marble with gold veins seen in the palace of He Who Remains. The aesthetic is likely based on kintsugi, a method of repairing broken pottery.

I don't see the point of attaching niche cosmetics like this to a longevity achievement. Unless someone particularly loves the look, it'll just be forgotten buried in their inventory, while a handful of newer players who do love it will be super disappointed they'll probably never get it. Isn't this sort of thing what Titles are for?

ivelbob

I don't think any one reward could embody 10 years of adventures.
Whatever one item was attached to this achievement would end up being picked apart on the forums by the players who didn't feel it resonated with them. That's just a game community. Every person has their own subjective tastes.

In the end, someone at ZOS had to pick a direction for this item, knowing that there would be lovers and haters.
But I do want to express my appreciation for incorporating something with real-world meaning like 'Kintsugi'

TDVM

I guess not. You could make the original shell with visual effects and give a nice and cool arms pack and/or assistant NPC "adventurer" like a merchant/banker or others. If it's just one shell it's not worth it to go through all the quests, there are plenty of such unnecessary shells in the game.

furiouslog

I don't feel that it embodies it as much as enskinnies it. Wakka wakka wakka!

agelonestar

It's an odd question.

Can anything really "embody" ten years of gameplay?

That said, it's a really nice looking skin and I'm pleased that the hours I've logged count towards something. It's pretty hard to knock such a nice-looking freebie.

furiouslog

For those looking for a theme, I suggest linking the skin to the Japanese art of Kintsugi, wherein broken pottery is mended using a lacquer mixed with gold dust. The intent is to preserve the broken original by making the breakage part of the item's story, while also making it new and beautiful. In the same way, this skin represents ESO itself, which through lead turnover, design changes, new features, broken features, patch patch patch, truly represents ESO in all ways possible: a game that keeps breaking and getting repaired, and after all of that, is more beautiful now than it has ever been.ANd with that uplifting notion, I leave you with this haiku:

Skin of black and gold
You confound our players
Folks should lighten up

Grizzbeorn

furiouslog wrote: »

For those looking for a theme, I suggest linking the skin to the Japanese art of Kintsugi, wherein broken pottery is mended using a lacquer mixed with gold dust. The intent is to preserve the broken original by making the breakage part of the item's story, while also making it new and beautiful. In the same way, this skin represents ESO itself, which through lead turnover, design changes, new features, broken features, patch patch patch, truly represents ESO in all ways possible: a game that keeps breaking and getting repaired, and after all of that, is more beautiful now than it has ever been.ANd with that uplifting notion, I leave you with this haiku:

Skin of black and gold
You confound our players
Folks should lighten up

No, we get the Kintsugi thing.
(and I think it has more to do with (for the devs' part) our characters having their souls stolen, then going through the process of being made whole again, than it does the technical aspects of the game, being touted here by some players.)

Irrespective of all that, the skin still has the same generic kind of look that so many other skins in the game have.
Nothing about it looks "special."

flizomica

I think having a reward for those achievements is really cool, but I don't like the look of the skin and won't be using it. It looks like a Walmart version of the Blood-Forged skin, which is always available in the Crown Store.



I also agree with the sentiment that the skin's visuals are kinda random and disconnected from anything relating to ESO's stories. I would have expected something related to Molag Bal and the main questline in general, like this year's quarterly event ticket rewards. I also think a mount would have been a cooler reward because there are so many earnable skins in game already (and many that look better than this one) and relatively few mounts in comparison.

Theist_VII

Desiato wrote: »

furiouslog wrote: »

Folks should lighten up

[Snip]

[Snip]

Trifectas take less time yet have more thoughtful rewards, they changed the trifecta title for Sanity’s Edge during the PTS cycle because Mind Master didn’t have the same bite that something like Dream Master does, and then decided to give a Ram as a mount, with the title.

Master of the Mind, an achievement that takes significantly less time than what’s required for the Fractured Glory skin.

A skin. No title. No mount. No house.

[Edited quote and for removed content]

I_killed_Vivec

The only good thing about it is that I've already done the quests.

Otherwise... you save the world many, many times over... and you get a skin? Wot, so you can look like someone you haven't been for the last ten years while you roamed the land defeating all these horrors, providing aid wherever it was needed, turning your back on none?

I'd have preferred something small, insignificant even, whose value was purely in what it represented. A small, bland medal maybe. An unostentatious way of showing what you've done, so you don't have to shout about it but people who know will recognize your achievements.

And something that wouldn't completely destroy the look of my characters who I've had with me for the last ten plus years.

Failing that, how about some kind of aura so that when I meet people in some tinpot, no-mark duchy on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere I'm recognized as a hero and not dismissed as "mercenary".

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Djennku wrote: »

The 10-year skin is based off of the japanese tradition of kintsugi; repairing pottery and filling the cracks with gold or other valuable metal with the idea that even when broken, things still hold beauty.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi

Are they calling us broken and/or pots?

Artim_X

I was excited till I saw it... Although I understand the logic of it, it's just another skin that I subjectively don't like.

Danikat

BTW for all the people saying the 10th anniversary reward should have been a house: they gave us one of them too. According to ZOS Sword-Singer’s Redoubt being one of the login rewards is also part of the 10th anniversary celebrations: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/65941