There are TWO "Golden Pursuits" after the update, and the one for returning players is better

HumbleThaumaturge

[See Update below)

Maybe this already got explained, but there seem to be two different "Golden Pursuits" after the Update.

On the PC test server (PC), my EU characters ran through the "Golden Pursuit" that started with the "Hero's Return" quest. After the Update, my characters on both the NA PC server and the EU PC server got a different "Golden Pursuit" sequence, the one that leads to the Chicken pet reward. (Alas, not another house.) In contrast, some players got the "Hero's Return" quest and the associated "Golden Pursuit" sequence. To tease me, as I was looking at the "Golden Pursuit" list (the one that leads to the Chicken), I got a half-page pop-up for the "Hero's Return" quest. However, the "Enter Hero's Return" option was grayed out, so I could not enter the quest. A friend logged on after the Update and got the "Hero's Return" quest (just as I did on the PTS) with the window banner that states "Welcome Back to the Elder Scrolls Online." So, is that the "Golden Pursuit" one gets if one has not played in some time?

Personally, I would have preferred the "Golden Pursuit" that starts with the "Hero's Return" quest (the one I played on the test server). No offense, but the "Golden Pursuit" rewards for that sequence are more useful than the Chicken pet.

Update:
A friend has been running the "Welcome Back to the Elder Scrolls Online" Golden Pursuits. I'm told that the entire Golden Pursuit for the Chicken reward (that I got) is also included as part of the Golden Pursuits for returning players (as "Midyear Celebrations" Golden Pursuit). But if one triggers the returning-player Golden Pursuits, one also gets: (1) "A Heroic Return"; (2) "Ride Out to Adventure"; (3) "Spells and Swords"; (4) "Crafting Tomorrow"; and (5) "Better Together" Golden Pursuits, in addition to (6) the "Midyear Celebration Golden Pursuit for the Chicken. Gosh! Those returning players get a whole lot of handy rewards for all these extra Golden Pursuits! While I only got this Chicken?!

Sturmfaenger

And the pet is cuter^^

The Hero's Return was on PTS as a test for everyone, and will be greeting returning players that have not played ESO for a time (I don't know exactly how long, but less than a year). For them, the rewards shall help to find their way back into the game.
So in order to experience that pursuit, all you need to do is not play ESO for a longer time ;-)

kargen27

Sturmfaenger wrote: »

And the pet is cuter^^

The Hero's Return was on PTS as a test for everyone, and will be greeting returning players that have not played ESO for a time (I don't know exactly how long, but less than a year). For them, the rewards shall help to find their way back into the game.
So in order to experience that pursuit, all you need to do is not play ESO for a longer time ;-)

I'm going to bring my EU character out of retirement for this. I started an EU character for the first event where we got some major reward if the game population reached (was it killing a billion dragons?) anyway a bunch of guildmates all created EU characters so we could contribute more to whatever event was happening. And now I get to play it again.