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Ossein Cage: I'm underwhelmed
Reginald_leBlem
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Before I talk about Ossein Cage, I'm going to talk about Sunspire.
Sunspire had a quest that tied in to the zone, and zone story.
Three of the four sets were meta on release
The bosses seemed like they were built with each role on mind
Godslayer is still a fantastic title, probably one of the best in the game.
Can be done in a reasonable amount of time, there’s some trash but not an unbearable amount and some of it is outright skippable if you aren't going for achievements
Meanwhile, Ossein Cage
Despite being in a cool new zone with 2 very different races cohabiting the story of the trial has nothing to do with it. Daedra are building a big ol box and we have to go save the fighters guild. Again. I've lost track of how many times I've had to save these guys. We could have had a fascinating addition to the lore, seen some of the racial tensions you get when high elves and Argonians are squished together on a tiny island and facing a worm cult crisis, but no. We get Daedric carpenters and incompetent fighters.
1 of the new sets looks situationally interesting, the others are not strong enough to be worth using over existing ones.
So much trash, with portal mechanics during the the trash
Secret bosses, but I don't know what their purpose is. They don't give buffs. I theorize that if you don't kill the secret bosses they join the next boss fight, but so far my groups are interested in farming stickerbook because they are completionists so I don't even know if that's true.
When we finally make it to the last boss, we get the special treat of Molag Kena and Lord Warden. Why???
The titles aren't even that good. Best one isn't for the trifecta (Misery's Master), or even completing the achievements(Cista Breaker), it's Indomitable, which is for completing the hardmode.
Overall, I find the trial at the bottom of my tier list. Hopefully next one is better.
Sunspire had a quest that tied in to the zone, and zone story.
Three of the four sets were meta on release
The bosses seemed like they were built with each role on mind
Godslayer is still a fantastic title, probably one of the best in the game.
Can be done in a reasonable amount of time, there’s some trash but not an unbearable amount and some of it is outright skippable if you aren't going for achievements
Meanwhile, Ossein Cage
Despite being in a cool new zone with 2 very different races cohabiting the story of the trial has nothing to do with it. Daedra are building a big ol box and we have to go save the fighters guild. Again. I've lost track of how many times I've had to save these guys. We could have had a fascinating addition to the lore, seen some of the racial tensions you get when high elves and Argonians are squished together on a tiny island and facing a worm cult crisis, but no. We get Daedric carpenters and incompetent fighters.
1 of the new sets looks situationally interesting, the others are not strong enough to be worth using over existing ones.
So much trash, with portal mechanics during the the trash
Secret bosses, but I don't know what their purpose is. They don't give buffs. I theorize that if you don't kill the secret bosses they join the next boss fight, but so far my groups are interested in farming stickerbook because they are completionists so I don't even know if that's true.
When we finally make it to the last boss, we get the special treat of Molag Kena and Lord Warden. Why???
The titles aren't even that good. Best one isn't for the trifecta (Misery's Master), or even completing the achievements(Cista Breaker), it's Indomitable, which is for completing the hardmode.
Overall, I find the trial at the bottom of my tier list. Hopefully next one is better.
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Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭Reginald_leBlem wrote: »1 of the new sets looks situationally interesting, the others are not strong enough to be worth using over existing ones.
I'd argue 2 are situational, and one will be the new meta for trash replacing AB.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »So much trash, with portal mechanics during the the trash
So, not the same old mechs then but something new?!Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Secret bosses, but I don't know what their purpose is. They don't give buffs. I theorize that if you don't kill the secret bosses they join the next boss fight, but so far my groups are interested in farming stickerbook because they are completionists so I don't even know if that's true.
Three mini-bosses with interesting fights, and group co-operation mechanics, that also means OC becomes the longest trial ZOS have ever given us; they also need defeating for the SR/ND/Tri achievements so it adds an extra layer of challenge.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »When we finally make it to the last boss, we get the special treat of Molag Kena and Lord Warden. Why???
Because it's part of the sequel to the base game quest, and IC is an extension of that base game. Plus it's hilarious Lord Warden got demoted to Low Warden.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »The titles aren't even that good. Best one isn't for the trifecta (Misery's Master), or even completing the achievements(Cista Breaker), it's Indomitable, which is for completing the hardmode.
They focussed mechs and group-play over treats.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Overall, I find the trial at the bottom of my tier list. Hopefully next one is better.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. For me the trial is technically well put together, they have given what are seemingly easy mechs but that require tight group co-ordination and understanding. On vet they are interesting, on HM they are going to push groups to co-ordinate more than any other trial.
Edit: TyposEdited by Gabriel_H on June 14, 2025 12:37PM8 -
Nemesis7884✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭The first boss is too grindy....remove 1 or 2 of the flesh shaper...
Imo the worst trial for me is still sanities edge but OC isnt very high up the list either....too long, too grindy....the whole point of secret bosses is so you can skipp them for a short version....here its between long and super long and the secret bosses are more fun.
Im also reeeeally wondering what that new mmo from zos is that has been in development for yeeeeears and we know nothing about, not even the theme or ip. The only in dev mmo that peaks my interest is GW 3...Edited by Nemesis7884 on June 14, 2025 1:17PM7 -
Reginald_leBlem✭✭✭✭✭
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The portals aren't new. They are the same portals we saw in Vatashran Hollows except instead of getting kicked back to the beginning after time runs out we get a ramping dot reset by a synergy. Mini bosses are pretty much the same. Kill adds, hit synergy, rinse and repeat. And maybe our group is just used to working together because it doesn't seem like it takes that much coordination to handle. I'm not sure I'd enjoy a pug group with it, but it doesn't seem nearly as demanding as other portal mechanics we've seen... because we've been doing portals since Cloudrest and they are not new. Adding portals to trash doesn’t suddenly make them some brilliant never seen before innovation.
Anyways, glad you like it. I don't, it's uninspired and repetitive.
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Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Reginald_leBlem wrote: »it's uninspired and repetitive.
This pretty much sums it up. Wife and I got into a group finder pug. We ran the trial, completed the trial and were completely underwhelmed. I don't see myself doing it again.
Seems to me that the ESO dev team have been moved over to the new MMO project. I feel like there is very little time/money investment into ESO right now, my reasoning being the reused skills from classes to make sub classing, a small zone that offers very little content, the lack of a CGI game trailer, the minimal amount of new furnishing items being released, the reuse of Summerset assets. It just screams to me that what is being developed is a hodge podge from what has already been developed, that very little "new" assets are being made.
Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
"Class identity isn’t just about power or efficiency. It’s about symbolic clarity, mechanical cohesion, and a shared visual and tactical language between players." - sans-culottes8 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
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Reginald_leBlem✭✭✭✭✭
✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
Well they have released the whole trial and it's bleh.12 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
And if the current content was doubled, it would still be less than any previous chapter by a large margin."Class identity isn’t just about power or efficiency. It’s about symbolic clarity, mechanical cohesion, and a shared visual and tactical language between players." - sans-culottes9 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
And if the current content was doubled, it would still be less than any previous chapter by a large margin.
It's about the same amount of content as High Isle and Morrowind (the latters map is bigger, but a large chunk of it is inaccessible)
Edit: That's presuming that the 2nd half will just be the 2nd half of the island and not also some Coldharbour stuffEdited by Gabriel_H on June 14, 2025 2:05PM4 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Well they have released the whole trial and it's bleh.
In your opinion.5 -
Major_Mangle✭✭✭✭✭ZOS should ditch the trial format they've been doing since Elsweyr. "3 bosses 3 HM" is repetitive and boring, everything feels reskinned. Lucent citadel was a small breath of fresh air from a design PoV with the section where you had to carry the ball back, but still felt somewhat reskinned with it's design as a whole.
Would also prefer ZOS to get rid of trifectas as well and instead add a 3rd difficulty tier that is significantly harder, but just completing it gives you the best rewards (similar to WoW and their mythical tier).Edited by Major_Mangle on June 14, 2025 3:05PMPs4 EU 2016-2020
PC/EU: 2020 -3 -
Nemesis7884✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Major_Mangle wrote: »ZOS should ditch the trial format they've been doing since Elsweyr. "3 bosses 3 HM" is repetitive and boring, everything feels reskinned. Lucent citadel was a small breath of fresh air from a design PoV with the section where you had to carry the ball back, but still felt somewhat reskinned with it's design as a whole.
Would also prefer ZOS to get rid of trifectas as well and instead add a 3rd difficulty tier that is significantly harder, but just completing it gives you the best rewards (similar to WoW and their mythical tier).
I dont think it makes commercial sense to focus more effort on content 1% of players will actually do vs the other way around11 -
Reginald_leBlem✭✭✭✭✭
✭Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Well they have released the whole trial and it's bleh.
In your opinion.
It is my opinion. So far your only argument to change my mind is 1) It's long and 2) hardmode requires coordination.
I don't find either point compelling, especially since ALL dlc hardmodes require a high level of coordination.8 -
Renato90085✭✭✭✭✭The only one dlc trial all 4 set is useless
Hope one day we can got a trial like vdsr again,all set still is meta4 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
And if the current content was doubled, it would still be less than any previous chapter by a large margin.
It's about the same amount of content as High Isle and Morrowind (the latters map is bigger, but a large chunk of it is inaccessible)
Edit: That's presuming that the 2nd half will just be the 2nd half of the island and not also some Coldharbour stuff
Incorrect.
Morrowind came with Clockwork City later on. High Isle came with "I forget the zone name" later on. Both offered massive amounts of content regardless of the map size.
The current thing has very little content, even if it were doubled, as I stated.
We used to get a large chapter with new cool things like new classes and a DLC later on. Now we get half of a chapter and the second half will take place of the DLC we would otherwise normally get.
Edited by Pixiepumpkin on June 14, 2025 6:39PM"Class identity isn’t just about power or efficiency. It’s about symbolic clarity, mechanical cohesion, and a shared visual and tactical language between players." - sans-culottes7 -
Renato90085✭✭✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
And if the current content was doubled, it would still be less than any previous chapter by a large margin.
It's about the same amount of content as High Isle and Morrowind (the latters map is bigger, but a large chunk of it is inaccessible)
Edit: That's presuming that the 2nd half will just be the 2nd half of the island and not also some Coldharbour stuff
Incorrect.
Morrowind came with Clockwork City later on. High Isle came with "I forget the zone name" later on. Both offered massive amounts of content regardless of the map size.
The current thing has very little content, even if it were doubled, as I stated.
We used to get a large chapter with new cool things like new classes and a DLC later on. Now we get half of a chapter and the second half will take place of the DLC.
Galen4 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Renato90085 wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Pixiepumpkin wrote: »Compare "Seasons of the Worm Cult" to any previous chapter and the amount of content made. If I am wrong, then something is not adding up.
They've only released half the content for SotWC
And if the current content was doubled, it would still be less than any previous chapter by a large margin.
It's about the same amount of content as High Isle and Morrowind (the latters map is bigger, but a large chunk of it is inaccessible)
Edit: That's presuming that the 2nd half will just be the 2nd half of the island and not also some Coldharbour stuff
Incorrect.
Morrowind came with Clockwork City later on. High Isle came with "I forget the zone name" later on. Both offered massive amounts of content regardless of the map size.
The current thing has very little content, even if it were doubled, as I stated.
We used to get a large chapter with new cool things like new classes and a DLC later on. Now we get half of a chapter and the second half will take place of the DLC.
Galen
Thank you, it was skipping my mind."Class identity isn’t just about power or efficiency. It’s about symbolic clarity, mechanical cohesion, and a shared visual and tactical language between players." - sans-culottes0 -
sarahthes✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭The second boss is the hardest fight in the entire game (on HM) designed by an endgame raider for endgame raiders. It is brilliant.
The difficulty change between vet and HM on that fight is quite pronounced.2 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »This pretty much sums it up. Wife and I got into a group finder pug. We ran the trial, completed the trial and were completely underwhelmed. I don't see myself doing it again.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Well they have released the whole trial and it's bleh.
In your opinion.
It is my opinion. So far your only argument to change my mind is 1) It's long and 2) hardmode requires coordination.
I don't find either point compelling, especially since ALL dlc hardmodes require a high level of coordination.
And your only argument is you don't like it because it isn't anything new, which simply is not the case.1 -
Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »This pretty much sums it up. Wife and I got into a group finder pug. We ran the trial, completed the trial and were completely underwhelmed. I don't see myself doing it again.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Well they have released the whole trial and it's bleh.
In your opinion.
It is my opinion. So far your only argument to change my mind is 1) It's long and 2) hardmode requires coordination.
I don't find either point compelling, especially since ALL dlc hardmodes require a high level of coordination.
And your only argument is you don't like it because it isn't anything new, which simply is not the case.
No, I said it was uninspiring and repetitive, which in my opinion as a paying customer, it is."Class identity isn’t just about power or efficiency. It’s about symbolic clarity, mechanical cohesion, and a shared visual and tactical language between players." - sans-culottes3 -
Gabriel_H✭✭✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »No, I said it was uninspiring and repetitive, which in my opinion as a paying customer, it is.
I refer you to my original point. Unless your favourite trial is HRC they are all repetitive and pretty much the same in every MMO. Kill trash, kill boss. So, what would make it less repetitve for you? Less portals? Less trash? Less mechs? Offering criticism without a solution is repetitive, is it not?
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Pixiepumpkin✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »No, I said it was uninspiring and repetitive, which in my opinion as a paying customer, it is.
I refer you to my original point. Unless your favourite trial is HRC they are all repetitive and pretty much the same in every MMO. Kill trash, kill boss. So, what would make it less repetitve for you? Less portals? Less trash? Less mechs? Offering criticism without a solution is repetitive, is it not?
The zone/art/graphics. Been there, seen it. It's old, flat.
My bet is the other size of the soul wall is cold harbor, boring, old, uninspiring.
Nothing in U46 is memorable and it's driving people away."Class identity isn’t just about power or efficiency. It’s about symbolic clarity, mechanical cohesion, and a shared visual and tactical language between players." - sans-culottes7 -
BananaBender✭✭✭✭✭It was very underwhelming to see that there is only one new enemy in the entire trial, which is the Channeler, everything else is just a reused old model maybe with some new colors splashed on there. The minibosses themselves are just copy-pasted dungeon bosses... I really wish that a new trial would actually bring in something new and not just have the same stuff we've already seen before.3 -
sarahthes✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭BananaBender wrote: »It was very underwhelming to see that there is only one new enemy in the entire trial, which is the Channeler, everything else is just a reused old model maybe with some new colors splashed on there. The minibosses themselves are just copy-pasted dungeon bosses... I really wish that a new trial would actually bring in something new and not just have the same stuff we've already seen before.
Have you done the HM?0 -
Reginald_leBlem✭✭✭✭✭
✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »This pretty much sums it up. Wife and I got into a group finder pug. We ran the trial, completed the trial and were completely underwhelmed. I don't see myself doing it again.Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Reginald_leBlem wrote: »Well they have released the whole trial and it's bleh.
In your opinion.
It is my opinion. So far your only argument to change my mind is 1) It's long and 2) hardmode requires coordination.
I don't find either point compelling, especially since ALL dlc hardmodes require a high level of coordination.
And your only argument is you don't like it because it isn't anything new, which simply is not the case.
I said it's boring because 1) Story is non-existent 2) Doesn’t tie in to the new zone or conflicts 3) Same local and design all the way through, and it's just freaking Coldharbour again 4) Endless, endless trash in an already long trial and 5) Nothing worth farming2 -
Reginald_leBlem✭✭✭✭✭
✭BananaBender wrote: »It was very underwhelming to see that there is only one new enemy in the entire trial, which is the Channeler, everything else is just a reused old model maybe with some new colors splashed on there. The minibosses themselves are just copy-pasted dungeon bosses... I really wish that a new trial would actually bring in something new and not just have the same stuff we've already seen before.
Have you done the HM?
The second boss hm I've only done a couple of pulls on and neither serious, the dragons seem interesting but I can't tell if they are actually meaningful for the fight or just there to be big and kill people with feedback like Assembly General. Do they actually do anything interesting on the hardmode?
The Pokémon battle at the end is always fun to see, fair is fair and I'll give it that.
I also find the chain mechanic at the final boss clever, how you can use it to kill the weapon.0 -
sarahthes✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭Reginald_leBlem wrote: »BananaBender wrote: »It was very underwhelming to see that there is only one new enemy in the entire trial, which is the Channeler, everything else is just a reused old model maybe with some new colors splashed on there. The minibosses themselves are just copy-pasted dungeon bosses... I really wish that a new trial would actually bring in something new and not just have the same stuff we've already seen before.
Have you done the HM?
The second boss hm I've only done a couple of pulls on and neither serious, the dragons seem interesting but I can't tell if they are actually meaningful for the fight or just there to be big and kill people with feedback like Assembly General. Do they actually do anything interesting on the hardmode?
The Pokémon battle at the end is always fun to see, fair is fair and I'll give it that.
I also find the chain mechanic at the final boss clever, how you can use it to kill the weapon.
The course of the fight also dictates the dragon fight and if either dragon dies too soon it's a group fight. Many of the mid fight mechanics are about stopping either wizard's minnions from damaging a dragon too much.
They do breathe fire at the group during execute!3 -
Adaarye✭✭✭✭Major_Mangle wrote: »ZOS should ditch the trial format they've been doing since Elsweyr. "3 bosses 3 HM" is repetitive and boring, everything feels reskinned. Lucent citadel was a small breath of fresh air from a design PoV with the section where you had to carry the ball back, but still felt somewhat reskinned with it's design as a whole.
Would also prefer ZOS to get rid of trifectas as well and instead add a 3rd difficulty tier that is significantly harder, but just completing it gives you the best rewards (similar to WoW and their mythical tier).
So much in this release is reskinned, repurposed, and repeated, all under the guise of being a season.
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Adaarye✭✭✭✭Pixiepumpkin wrote: »The zone/art/graphics. Been there, seen it. It's old, flat.
Yep. Same. Underwhelmed doesn't even begin. Compared to Gold Road .. Oh wait. There is no comparison..Pixiepumpkin wrote: »My bet is the other size of the soul wall is cold harbor, boring, old, uninspiring.
Say it ain't so! 0 -
BananaBender✭✭✭✭✭BananaBender wrote: »It was very underwhelming to see that there is only one new enemy in the entire trial, which is the Channeler, everything else is just a reused old model maybe with some new colors splashed on there. The minibosses themselves are just copy-pasted dungeon bosses... I really wish that a new trial would actually bring in something new and not just have the same stuff we've already seen before.
Have you done the HM?
Yes, yet I can't think of any other new models in the trial apart from the Channelers. The second boss has a lot of mechanics, some newer than others, but apart from that the whole trial doesn't really have that much new stuff in it.
Have I forgotten about something completely new that is introduced in the trial?
The trifecta mount might be the most underwhelming thing after the PB one...2
