The writing has become a bit too...family friendly

Nemesis7884

All the quests and the writing have become extremely ...family friendly... and its kinda breaking with immersion; also compared to the single player elder scrolls games which are darker and more realistic in tone... if the 2026 season will be centered around the dark brotherhood especially, it would really be nice if we get a few more darker quests with gritty realistic writing...

How do you feel about the softness of the writing? Do you feel different?

MrGarlic

I agree, but the game still does have animated beheadings which is definitely within the bounds of it's +16 'M' rating.

Some more adult content and themes would be welcome. I would like options to be more nasty to NPCs so my nefarious characters could stay in character.

I get a bit tired of helping people with their problems. I'm an adventurer, not a therapist.

Soarora

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

Nemesis7884

Soarora wrote: »

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

I mean more dark, realistic and gritty with adult not sexually explicit. Its just weird for me that you have themes like sllavery, necromancy, assassination but the dialogue sounds like a childrens show on saturday morning...

karthrag_inak

MrGarlic wrote: »

I agree, but the game still does have animated beheadings which is definitely within the bounds of it's +16 'M' rating.

Some more adult content and themes would be welcome. I would like options to be more nasty to NPCs so my nefarious characters could stay in character.

I get a bit tired of helping people with their problems. I'm an adventurer, not a therapist.

Where are animated beheading? Khajiit has no memory of these.

Soarora

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

I mean more dark, realistic and gritty with adult not sexually explicit. Its just weird for me that you have themes like sllavery, necromancy, assassination but the dialogue sounds like a childrens show on saturday morning...

Yeah, and vampires don’t get covered in blood after biting another player anymore . I’m all for more grit and realism, I just don’t trust ZOS ahaha.

Snamyap

Judging from the comments I read in Facebook groups about Baldur's Gate 3 most people simply can't handle playing evil. So ESO just sticks to what the majority wants.

Thysbe

I think so too - target audience is rather the crown store friendly casual community you don´t want to disturb with a too dark or disturbing writing or story.

just see: The new ESO add https://youtu.be/uKy2FnaAkSU?si=KEWT_SCGMj63c6iZ for reference. World annihilating slaughter is only used as a backdrop for a "my pet pal" story.

francesinhalover

MrGarlic wrote: »

I agree, but the game still does have animated beheadings which is definitely within the bounds of it's +16 'M' rating.

Some more adult content and themes would be welcome. I would like options to be more nasty to NPCs so my nefarious characters could stay in character.

I get a bit tired of helping people with their problems. I'm an adventurer, not a therapist.

Behea...what where?

Ngl i get the game being +16 but Im not sure where +18 comes from

Heren

Snamyap wrote: »

Judging from the comments I read in Facebook groups about Baldur's Gate 3 most people simply can't handle playing evil. So ESO just sticks to what the majority wants.

There is a massive difference between playing evil, and fighting evil - to extent the example of BG3, some elements will still be evil and dark not matter how you choose to interact with them.

And it's the same thing with ESO : as a player, you mostly have no choice but being nice - beside some mischief here and there, like racketting travelling khajiit merchants. The culmination of the base game is you fighting against Molag Bal to prevent his domination of Tamriel - you don't have the choice to side with him and being evil.

But still, we are shown a lot of dark and evil things in Coldharbour ( and sometime we have to make some hard choices ), even if these things are shown only ( mostly ) for you to stand against them and fight them. There can be evil in a game, without forcing ( or even allowing ) the player to be evil themself.

And maybe, for me at least, a game that offer you to stand up against evil things - and a game that to some extent show these evil things, not just say 'Hey, remember ( kidding, I'm gonna explain everything ad nauseam no matter if you remember or not ) the Worm Cult ? They're back and they're still doing naughty things, so, hu, go stop them please'.

When you play Western Skyrim, you are shown the direct consequences of harrowstorms - a temple full of pilgrims destroyed, them turned to bloodbeast, another small town mostly destroyed aswell; when you play the base game, there are multiple situations of towns invaded by daedra, inhabitants enslaved, slaughtered to fuel dark anchors, etc. When you play Oblivion, Kwatch is gone - all the people living there are dead. When you play Gold Road, you save people trapped in the Dawnwood while NPC tells you 'It's fine, these lands were mostly uninhabited, no casulaties.'

For me, as the op said, it's kinda breaking immersion. Why bother saving the world if the threat is not real ? How can I feel involved if no-ones dead ? And I don't think every games need that, but for one that are waving constant world ending threats and super bad guys, I don't know.

Maitsukas

Didn't Galen's and Sharp-as-Night's quests get a bit altered (in dialogue and found books) due to explicit references?

Gabriel_H

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

I mean more dark, realistic and gritty with adult not sexually explicit. Its just weird for me that you have themes like sllavery, necromancy, assassination but the dialogue sounds like a childrens show on saturday morning...

The inhabitants of Tamriel have simply become numb to the dystopian world they live in, where such things are commonplace.

colossalvoids

I'll just add my yes to the chore, it's been awhile already but the trend is still about softening and removing edges. Currently things like Path of Exile 2 or Elden Ring feels more like TES rather than Elder Scrolls of here and now, somehow.

Nemesis7884

Snamyap wrote: »

Judging from the comments I read in Facebook groups about Baldur's Gate 3 most people simply can't handle playing evil. So ESO just sticks to what the majority wants.

Those are completely different things, actions being morally good vs the writi g being gritty... Geralt / Witcher is also morally good but the world and writting is still gritty and realistic

Elsonso

Snamyap wrote: »

Judging from the comments I read in Facebook groups about Baldur's Gate 3 most people simply can't handle playing evil. So ESO just sticks to what the majority wants.

Possibly. There is a larger social trend in that direction and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. There are too many weak protagonists and happy feel-good endings where even the bad people are misunderstood or there is a grey area around whether they are actually bad people. A reluctance to impose judgement. This seems to be on the rise.

In the game, a lot of the stuff we do does not seem very heroic, but I understand that one cannot expect every part of a game to be an adrenalin rush. It would be exhausting to play for a long duration. We also don't seem to have a strong archetype, meaning that we seem to accept whatever is going on and whatever needs to be done as defined by the writing team. We are sort of along for the ride*, unless we want to just leave quests, and maybe even achievements and skill points, behind.

* To be expected in a theme park game. It's not like we can get out and chat with the Johnny Depp animatronic half way through the Pirates ride.

Ragnarok0130

Soarora wrote: »

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

I mean more dark, realistic and gritty with adult not sexually explicit. Its just weird for me that you have themes like sllavery, necromancy, assassination but the dialogue sounds like a childrens show on saturday morning...

Yeah, and vampires don’t get covered in blood after biting another player anymore . I’m all for more grit and realism, I just don’t trust ZOS ahaha.

Yeah but that was always strange since a good vampire wouldn’t looks like a butcher when feeding.

Gabriel_H

Ragnarok0130 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

I mean more dark, realistic and gritty with adult not sexually explicit. Its just weird for me that you have themes like sllavery, necromancy, assassination but the dialogue sounds like a childrens show on saturday morning...

Yeah, and vampires don’t get covered in blood after biting another player anymore . I’m all for more grit and realism, I just don’t trust ZOS ahaha.

Yeah but that was always strange since a good vampire wouldn’t looks like a butcher when feeding.

Just because they are monsters, doesn't mean they don't have table manners.

DenverRalphy

Ragnarok0130 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

I like dark, realistic writing. But I’d be careful asking for more adult themes given what happened with High Isle and it’s endless dubious consent with sexuality.

I mean more dark, realistic and gritty with adult not sexually explicit. Its just weird for me that you have themes like sllavery, necromancy, assassination but the dialogue sounds like a childrens show on saturday morning...

Yeah, and vampires don’t get covered in blood after biting another player anymore . I’m all for more grit and realism, I just don’t trust ZOS ahaha.

Yeah but that was always strange since a good vampire wouldn’t looks like a butcher when feeding.

Is there a clean and presentable way to pounce and feed on a victim's neck?

whitecrow

I think a few more minor rude words in the dialogue would add flavor. The only recent occurrence I can think of is when Ember said that something caused someone to *** himself.

tsaescishoeshiner

I didn't notice Solstice or West Weald feeling family friendly or anything, but the main quest wasn't emotionally impactful and the takeaway was "be a nice hero". I'm curious where the sense of it being family friendly comes from, as I haven't heard that. As far as if it's a trend, Sharp-as-Night's story wasn't too long ago, and it definitely handles very heavy and adult topics in its current form.

Technically, there were major character losses and sacrifices in Solstice. Although they don't come with a strong sense of loss or tragedy, and the characters don't pull me into their emotional state and difficult positions. The stakes are technically high (save the world) without being grounded in a sense of the characters' perspective and the complicated times they're living through, the tough choices to make and adaptations they've had to endure.

So potentially I think it's a shallow character issue.

That said, I just did the Russafeld quest in Summerset, and in contrast, the quest brings up matters of murder, loss, marriage, abuse of power, and the dark motives simmering under the surface. All in a side quest! The characters don't just tell us "I'm sad", we see the impact the events of the quest have on them. And that's not even a quest about saving the whole continent. Without being gritty, it was heavy and grounded and impactful, because of the characters. (If anything, there were just a few lines about heavy topics that could be cleaned up, without losing their impact and relevance.)

Anyway, I'm curious what contributed to a sense of things being family friendly. Based on the discussion here so far, one theory is that it's a bit of confirmation bias going on, as if people feel "everything is so family friendly now" and they're now seeing examples everywhere because they're thinking about it more. I feel like Solstice was mostly neutral, neither too gritty or family friendly, but the NPCs don't really convey the stakes at hand and just act like heroes, so maybe that's it.

Northwold

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I didn't notice Solstice or West Weald feeling family friendly or anything, but the main quest wasn't emotionally impactful and the takeaway was "be a nice hero". I'm curious where the sense of it being family friendly comes from, as I haven't heard that. As far as if it's a trend, Sharp-as-Night's story wasn't too long ago, and it definitely handles very heavy and adult topics in its current form.

Technically, there were major character losses and sacrifices in Solstice. Although they don't come with a strong sense of loss or tragedy, and the characters don't pull me into their emotional state and difficult positions. The stakes are technically high (save the world) without being grounded in a sense of the characters' perspective and the complicated times they're living through, the tough choices to make and adaptations they've had to endure.

So potentially I think it's a shallow character issue.

That said, I just did the Russafeld quest in Summerset, and in contrast, the quest brings up matters of murder, loss, marriage, abuse of power, and the dark motives simmering under the surface. All in a side quest! The characters don't just tell us "I'm sad", we see the impact the events of the quest have on them. And that's not even a quest about saving the whole continent. Without being gritty, it was heavy and grounded and impactful, because of the characters. (If anything, there were just a few lines about heavy topics that could be cleaned up, without losing their impact and relevance.)

Anyway, I'm curious what contributed to a sense of things being family friendly. Based on the discussion here so far, one theory is that it's a bit of confirmation bias going on, as if people feel "everything is so family friendly now" and they're now seeing examples everywhere because they're thinking about it more. I feel like Solstice was mostly neutral, neither too gritty or family friendly, but the NPCs don't really convey the stakes at hand and just act like heroes, so maybe that's it.

Honestly, I think if you compare, say, Thieves Guild (revenge, hatred, choosing the wrong priorities in life, get out of my way you waste of space) and eg High Isle main quest "be nice to green things my lovely hero and stop the baddie" it's pretty hard to miss.

I've mentioned before that some of the shift may not be wholly attributable to writing but also to voice direction. But, come on, Princess Svana? A character you're meant to like who instead makes you wish there were whole new skill lines devoted purely to her slow torture.

Soarora

Maitsukas wrote: »

Didn't Galen's and Sharp-as-Night's quests get a bit altered (in dialogue and found books) due to explicit references?

The only things I recall being altered are two people being afraid that Sea Elf pirates are going to Have Advances on them and Sharp’s ex boyfriend’s makeup/demeanor was considered too insulting to gay people because it was stereotypical?

TheMajority

Soarora wrote: »

Maitsukas wrote: »

Didn't Galen's and Sharp-as-Night's quests get a bit altered (in dialogue and found books) due to explicit references?

The only things I recall being altered are two people being afraid that Sea Elf pirates are going to Have Advances on them and Sharp’s ex boyfriend’s makeup/demeanor was considered too insulting to gay people because it was stereotypical?

Sharp does not have an ex or a boyfriend....that's not a "boyfriend"....

ArchMikem

My physical copy of Tamriel Unlimited says,

Mature 17+
Blood and Gore
Sexual Themes
Use of Alcohol
Violence

I agree it feels like the writing is moving away from this rating.

Desiato

Even disney is more edgy in 2025.

What I actually dislike is it feels the IP has become thoroughly moralized. In now classic Bethesda games before ESO, I recall feeling there were no truly good factions, just degrees of bad within moral ambiguity.

Soarora

TheMajority wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Maitsukas wrote: »

Didn't Galen's and Sharp-as-Night's quests get a bit altered (in dialogue and found books) due to explicit references?

The only things I recall being altered are two people being afraid that Sea Elf pirates are going to Have Advances on them and Sharp’s ex boyfriend’s makeup/demeanor was considered too insulting to gay people because it was stereotypical?

Sharp does not have an ex or a boyfriend....that's not a "boyfriend"....

I thought his whole thing was being obsessive over Sharp and making him be in a one-sided relationship? Abusive relationships still are relationships. I don’t recall details though, I’m not sure how much of his quests Ive completed myself, so I may be reciting someone else’s interpretation that could be more baseless than I thought.

spartaxoxo

Soarora wrote: »

TheMajority wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

Maitsukas wrote: »

Didn't Galen's and Sharp-as-Night's quests get a bit altered (in dialogue and found books) due to explicit references?

The only things I recall being altered are two people being afraid that Sea Elf pirates are going to Have Advances on them and Sharp’s ex boyfriend’s makeup/demeanor was considered too insulting to gay people because it was stereotypical?

Sharp does not have an ex or a boyfriend....that's not a "boyfriend"....

I thought his whole thing was being obsessive over Sharp and making him be in a one-sided relationship? Abusive relationships still are relationships. I don’t recall details though, I’m not sure how much of his quests Ive completed myself, so I may be reciting someone else’s interpretation that could be more baseless than I thought.

Sharp was his slave. They toned down the non-consent undertones.

spartaxoxo

They seem to be relegating this stuff to side quests while keeping the main quest lines to a broader audience. It feels very Marvel/Disney these days with the main quests. Solstice hasn't dropped yet on console so idk about that one.

mrreow

It’s like McDonald’s of writing. Easy to consume, familiar, causes no bigger emotions.

Some people would sooner starve than go to mc to their lunch though

karthrag_inak

<hrrrumph> khajiit still wants to know where these beheadings are occurring.

metheglyn

karthrag_inak wrote: »

<hrrrumph> khajiit still wants to know where these beheadings are occurring.

The only place I can think of is the kill-cam when you use the Blade of Woe, but honestly I've never seen one there.