PTS Update 47 - Feedback Thread for The Writhing Wall Event

ZOS_Kevin

This is the official feedback thread for The Writhing Wall Event. We are testing a new event format and want to ensure the event runs through its phases and track content updating as expected. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• Are the event goals for The Writhing Wall clear? If not, what could make them more clear?
• Do you feel like your actions contributed to these goals?
• Do the Phase changes feel meaningfully different?
• Do the activities feel rewarding?
• How did the event feel? Did you have fun playing this event type?
• Did anything not function to your expectations?
• Do you have any other general feedback?
• Any other additional callouts.

Aliyavana

*Do you have any other general feedback?

Can we please have more NPCs wear the Stirk Fellowship motif? Feel it would increase the immersion of camaraderie of the factions that make it up.

LonePirate

It would be very convenient and a nice time saver if there was a wayshrine at or near the Stirk Fellowship Camp on Solstice. We're going to be visiting the place frequently so there is definitely a need or benefit for having one there.

The number of vitrified souls needed for the Charging the Lens quest needs to be reduced or the number of souls dropped from slain enemies needs to be increased. There is going to be some intense competition among the masses when this quest hits live and players are going to be standing around waiting for mobs to spawn in order to collect those souls.

erebus_79_ESO

Given that reward coffers give merchant "treasure"...a merchant npc in camp would be appreciated.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

My reward for doing the crafting repeatable was 20 refined Rubedite and a blue crafting recipe. This felt kind of underwhelming, I’m basically getting slightly less mats than I put into the quest.

erebus_79_ESO

Does the daily job quest progress the bar or the 4 specific achievements listed for the Writhing Wall event in the activity finder? The bar didn't move move after turning in a job quest(go get alliance materials and the crafting, neither moved the bar)...but it did when i completed Siege Battlemaster Batterer achievement. If I have to complete the Caltrops Skill Style and Haj Mota Hatchling parts to get past phase 1...I don't know how I feel about that....

erebus_79_ESO

LonePirate wrote: »

It would be very convenient and a nice time saver if there was a wayshrine at or near the Stirk Fellowship Camp on Solstice. We're going to be visiting the place frequently so there is definitely a need or benefit for having one there.

OMG definitely!!! Please!!!!

BoloBoffin

Are the repeatable quests going to be that repeatable? That dang armorer wants to burn through my mats like Molag Bal on Tamriel.

Maxxermax

What is about the wayshrine on Stirk? It is black and cannot be activated.

Koshka

I'm yet to try it on pts, but the idea reminds me of an old event where we needed to get Summerset explorer achieves in order to get the Psijic Villa. And even though most people understood that we were not going to fail no matter what, it was a fun experience. People were even making chars on other server just to grab the achievement, and it really felt like a community event.

BerylBones

New house???? Do we know what new house this is?

WhiteCoatSyndrome

BoloBoffin wrote: »

Are the repeatable quests going to be that repeatable? That dang armorer wants to burn through my mats like Molag Bal on Tamriel.

I ran out of quests from the blacksmith after doing seven of them. I will also note for anyone not on the PTS: only the first box was gold and the rest were blue (though the rewards were kind of iffy either way).

I also can’t tell if the non-camp siege repeatables aren’t incrementing the bar or if they’re just doing it by so slight of an amount it’s not visible. Or, third option, that it’s like Cyrodiil and it only updates the progress once every few minutes.

BerylBones

• I appreciate that most of the event contribution quests are pretty quick and easy.
• The quests that send us to alliance zones to gather a specific mob material are going to be ROUGH when we have a full server fighting for mobs to kill. Please expand the drop area so we don't have to run around for ages searching for these.
• See above point, but same for the vitrified souls
• Question: are the crafting quests supposed to have ALL crafting disciplines? Currently I've only seen Blacksmithing, Woodworking, and Clothing but the intro quest suggests at the very least alchemy and provisioning options as well.

Margravigne

Is there any way to have an NPC 'follower' ride pillion rather than run behind you?

I know it's done with companions if you have them out and a pillion mount active - it will override their selected/default mount - and maybe if you also have a companion active while you have a follower, your companion could just ride their usual mount instead of trying to ride pillion?

I don't know if it's possible, or if it's worth the time/effort to attempt, but it would be a lot more immersive.

And despite Darien probably wanting the exercise after so long existing as Light rather than in a physical form, it does make me feel a little guilty to make him run.

Also, watching this pack of goofballs attempt to all occupy the same saddle would be hilarious:

Margravigne

@BerylBones from what I can see, it's everything on an RNG basis:

BerylBones wrote: »

• Question: are the crafting quests supposed to have ALL crafting disciplines? Currently I've only seen Blacksmithing, Woodworking, and Clothing but the intro quest suggests at the very least alchemy and provisioning options as well.

I was given a provisioning request but didn't know the recipe on that alt, so I abandoned it and was given an alchemy one next. It's seems we just have to do any six.

Margravigne

BoloBoffin wrote: »

Are the repeatable quests going to be that repeatable? That dang armorer wants to burn through my mats like Molag Bal on Tamriel.

You can abandon and repick the quests, they're on RNG so you won't get stuck on a provisioning one you don't have the recipe for, or a weapon/armor one you're low on mats with.

It could be a bit tedious for less well-stocked players (or ones with no craftbag) to rinse/repeat until you get one you can do, but it's doable.

And for players with a huge stockpile of mats they can't be bothered selling, it's a nice way to use a few up. I'm sure there will be a few people willing to help out by selling / giving away mats right there at the questgiver to people who need them in order to speed their server's progress, too.

GeneralEU

The drop rate for Quartermaster Nurwalne's quests needs to be increased, otherwise it will be difficult to collect 8 items for her quests. Especially since we are adding 10 other players to the equation.

It literally took me 40 minutes to complete the ‘Pact Elder Tallow’ quest! The drop rate is terrible, the spawn rate of the creatures needed for the quest is low, and adding players with the same goal will increase the collection time. In short, her quests will quickly be abandoned.

I would suggest reducing the amount needed to complete the task by half or increasing the drop rate. Otherwise, it will be torture.

erebus_79_ESO

All of these travel quests to kill things or collect materials is such a pain...no wayshrine at the base camp and running here and there. The drop rate is a little low, having to do at least 5 loops of clearing mobs. i know PTS isn't that populated but in live it's going to be rough competing for mobs to kill. The quest rewards keep giving me merchant treasure but there's no merchant npc to sell it to (not everyone bought a merchant from the crown store)

Freelancer_ESO

Are the event goals for The Writhing Wall clear? If not, what could make them more clear?

You can see the % going up on the PTS but, our individual contribution doesn't necessarily visually move the bar.

I'm unsure if adding an individual contribution bar in addition to the group bar would make things better or worse.

It might make things more confusing or it might make people see their own results a bit more.

Do the activities feel rewarding?

It feels like the rewards for Defending the Camps without the Quest are pretty bad when you are doing it solo or with a small number of non-optimized players as the time it takes dramatically outweighs the rewards. I would also note some of the Worm Champions are far harder than others with small groups.

The crafting pays alright on characters that already have the materials.

The kill things to get items pays fine when you actually know where to go for the items and other players aren't present.

How did the event feel? Did you have fun playing this event type?

For a regular event it's fine. As a part of the year long story you could be kinda paying for directly it's a little underwhelming due to scaling issues.

When you are fighting to defend the camps, you can die in a couple hits then when you go to do the other quests you slaughter everything.

Your allies generally speaking feel useless and the camp you are operating out of on Solstice feels kinda dumpy considering you are being backed by some of the more powerful factions in Tamriel.

Since your allies feel useless the crafting/material grind can feel like it's busy work.

Did anything not function to your expectations?

For hitting Phase 2 we hit 100% then we went above 100% then we got a Phase 2 starts in 15 minutes then we got Phase 2 starts at next update and then Phase 2 hit. I was kind of expecting some more action to occur when you had a specific timer.

Do the Phase changes feel meaningfully different?

You do have the new visual of the beam and you have more active sites to defend. I got a page of the new motif with the second phase but, I'm not sure if that was just luck or that they start getting rewarded in Phase 2. I don't recall Glishzor in Phase 1.

Margravigne

Are the event goals for The Writhing Wall clear?

• Skordo's map marker remaining when he has nothing for us to do can be a bit confusing.
• I still have no idea whether the SC Dailies are bugged (only Sunport is awarding the quest), or if there's some instruction missing from our Journal entry.
• The Map Markers are a bit mixed, I've been directed to find Raz on Solstice when he's 25m away from me on Stirk, for example.

If not, what could make them more clear?

• Change Skordo's map marker so that it disappears when he doesn't have anything for us to do
• Could the Map Markers be set so that anyone with the Season Pass be redirected to Solstice's Camp for everything, and away from Stirk? And leave Stirk's Map Markers only for people who don't have the Season Pass?
• Clean up the chaos of attempting to do the Wall's Prologue before either SOTWC pt1 or its Prologue by making them (or at least the Prologue) a hard requirement so there's a portal to Stirk available?

Do you feel like your actions contributed to these goals?
Individual contributions must be so small in comparison to the total target that we'd never see the bar move, but maybe a daily-updating table similar to Cyrodil's Leaderboard could show something for those wanting to grind out as much as they can?

Do the Phase changes feel meaningfully different?
There are definite changes, but either I've missed the explanation from an NPC/Journal update or they're left for us to discover? So far I've noticed:

• Two SC incursions running concurrently
• Camp Crafting Dailies jumped from 6 to 12 EDIT: This may have been a glitch, I'm back to 6 again for the past two days.
• Changes and improvements to the Camps (the tents look a bit fancier, will they eventually open?)

Do the activities feel rewarding?

• The hunting quests definitely aren't, they take forever and will only get worse with increased competition for already far-too-finite resources, the drop rates need to increase.
• The crafting ones are a great way to burn through mats for those of us sitting on piles we haven't bothered selling, and will hopefully increase their values for a bit.
• Gathering the vitrified souls is well calibrated for time/item/reward.

How did the event feel?
Other than Day 1 when there were people running the SC incursions regularly, it's pretty deserted. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Live, because that'll make a big difference to the feel of it.

Did you have fun playing this event type?
Yes, but it would be more fun with more people, so I had to get creative (see spoiler).

Did anything not function to your expectations?

• The Fissure Ruins delve being stuck midway was a surprise, I'd hoped we'd be able to complete the things we started and have the 'End of Phase 2 Restriction' take effect between quests, or is it just bugged?
• Siege Camp Defender Dailies - they're either bugged or we're missing info, but I've only achieved one, at Sunport Camp.

Do you have any other general feedback?

• I had a laugh at a couple of the Treasure items we receive, especially the 'Reliquary of the Worm King' one.
• Anyone begining the 'Through the Wall' quest during Phase 2 of the event will have Mirmal point out the 'empty' arch while it's very much completed and beaming light at the Wall.

There's also a glitch I've been having fun with which can duplicate Darien:

• Going past his 'out of bounds' line will leave a stationary copy at his last position, and he'll spawn back once you return to his zone, but the copy (or copies) will remain until you die or log out.
• If he's following you while you pick up Daily Quests, each quest you accept will spawn a duplicate who will also follow you, until you die or cross his out-of-bounds.
  The mobile duplicates are very limited in scope and can't be exploited in combat because they do zero damage - it's more of a funny thing than potentially game breaking - but I probably should officially let you know.

Any other additional callouts:

• EDIT: Nevermind about my previous comment re: his idle lines were louder/echoing...
  Having more than 1 Darien fire them in chorus had an amplifying effect.
• EDIT: It would be nice to have Mannimarco address/recognise the Vestige (if the Main Quest has been completed) in the Fissure Ruins, he does seem to briefly in the COlored Rooms, but this is a far more personal setting, so it feels odd that he doesn't.
  
• The SC Bonfires are sometimes blue when deserted, or orange during an incursion as noted in Bugs.
• The books on the bookshelves in the Fissure Ruin Ritual Room change each time I go in there.

I'm going to dump my wishlist here, and I will offer any bribe necessary for some of these:

• Pillion riding for followers if we have a suitable mount active - our Companion to ride their selected/default mount if we have one following at the same time.
• Since Darien has an idle line for the Main Camp, it would be nice if he was also given a brief interaction with Skordo, (if not there then somewhere, please? Ignoring him in the Colored Rooms was harsh.)
• If the relevant Side Quest is completed, and the NPC is in Sunport, having an idle line from Darien in reaction to the Vestige interacting with each if he's following would be great, especially the Goat/Sanguine, or High Priest Eraamine.
• A line allowing us to call Darien out for feeling guilty about Gabrielle's sacrifice, when he'd done almost exactly the same thing in the Crystal Tower to the Vestige. He needs to be told that's a bit ironic.

CaptainRele

Can the NPCs in the central siege camp hub have their outfits adjusted? The mix of mages and fighters guild-esque motifs is really disorienting because it looks like every slot is chosen at random.

Also there's two male npcs (rolf lead-feet is one of them) in the Lizardly Four-Fabric Skirt Set costume but with other random fighters/mages guild motifs in the head/arms/feet slots. I only saw this update in week 2. They are slaying, but it should probably be changed.

CaptainRele

CaptainRele wrote: »

Also there's two male npcs (rolf lead-feet is one of them) in the Lizardly Four-Fabric Skirt Set costume but with other random fighters/mages guild motifs in the head/arms/feet slots. I only saw this update in week 2. They are slaying, but it should probably be changed.

rolf for those curious

Margravigne

CaptainRele wrote: »

CaptainRele wrote: »

Also there's two male npcs (rolf lead-feet is one of them) in the Lizardly Four-Fabric Skirt Set costume but with other random fighters/mages guild motifs in the head/arms/feet slots. I only saw this update in week 2. They are slaying, but it should probably be changed.

rolf for those curious

And Rolf again, this is a good look on him. The Robe he had a while back looked way too heavy for this heat.

Erorah

Unfortunately, without anyone to group with on the PTS (it is absolutely empty every time I am on) and thus, I cannot complete an incursion. I have not seen any other way to advance the Crossing the Wall quest otherwise. I am only told to aid the Fellowship's efforts.
I have completed several rounds of crafting and gathering, etc.. Nothing else has advance the quest so I can only assume it is the incursion (Protecting the Besieged)

Rkindaleft

Feedback from the first day or two that I forgot about.

I have not tested this event myself, but I watched my partner do one of the quests in Week 1.

I am in agreement that the drop rate and drop locations should be increased when it happens on live. PTS is already not very populated and there was already some competition with mob killing (on day 1, no idea about now.) This obviously isn't a problem on PTS but will just be annoying with 30x the players.

I know this isn't considered a "traditional" event (so it doesn't grant event tickets and the like) but we've already had events like the Murkmire one or Anniversary last year where people were locked out of drops because 30+ people were sitting at a single world boss or people were just sitting around waiting for mobs to spawn.

FabresFour

So far, I've been positively surprised by what I've seen from the Writhing Wall event. While it does share some familiar structures with previous events — such as collecting items, fighting enemy mobs, and completing crafting tasks — there's something about the way it's been presented that has managed to capture my attention in a deeper way. It’s drawn me further into the atmosphere of Solstice and its story.

What strikes me is how, despite relying on well-known mechanics, the event feels more integrated into the world around it. The simple fact that other players need to work together with me to make things progress brings a strong sense of urgency and purpose. There’s a synergy at play here — almost as if we’re truly pushing back against a real threat, not just ticking off boxes in another temporary activity. The way goals are shared and how progress seems to rely on the collective effort of all participants creates a type of engagement that isn’t always easy to achieve. It made me think: maybe this is exactly what a good event should deliver — the feeling that we’re all in this together, facing something bigger than ourselves, something that demands coordination and involvement. And in that sense, I found myself thinking, “this feels right,” you know? It feels natural, aligned with what a MMORPG need to convey.

That said, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by the siege camps. The concept is great, and I really appreciate that they’re tied directly to the main storyline of the event. Having specific locations on the map that hold narrative significance helps reinforce immersion and adds weight to the actions we take during the event. However, the actual execution left a lot to be desired.

What bothered me the most was the feeling that these camps are, in practice, completely empty. Arriving at them outside of the active event windows only to find lifeless, deserted spaces — no NPCs, no activity — is disheartening. And these are supposed to be siege camps — places that, by definition, should be bustling with soldiers, movement, and preparation. I expected to see patrols at least. Instead, we’re met with what feels like a cardboard set waiting to be brought to life only when the game decides “something is happening now.”

This lack of life breaks immersion. I can’t help but compare it to other memorable world events in the game, like the dragon attacks, and how those managed to create real atmosphere. Part of what made them impactful was the way NPCs were caught in the conflict — dying, retreating, reacting with fear. It gave a genuine sense that the world was under siege and that our presence was part of a desperate push to hold the line. With the siege camps, sadly, I haven’t felt anything close to that. There’s a lack of dynamism.

My hope is that this changes by the time the event fully launches. It would be great to see these camps actually functioning, with NPCs occupying the space and carrying on with their duties even outside of combat windows. To see them get surprised by Worm Cult attacks, fall in battle, or retreat under pressure. That kind of interaction wouldn’t just increase the sense of urgency — it would strengthen the idea that something real is at stake. After all, a good event isn’t just about its rewards — it needs to make the world feel more alive, more dangerous, and more worth fighting for.


(the empty siege camp)

LunaFlora

Margravigne wrote: »

CaptainRele wrote: »

CaptainRele wrote: »

Also there's two male npcs (rolf lead-feet is one of them) in the Lizardly Four-Fabric Skirt Set costume but with other random fighters/mages guild motifs in the head/arms/feet slots. I only saw this update in week 2. They are slaying, but it should probably be changed.

rolf for those curious

And Rolf again, this is a good look on him. The Robe he had a while back looked way too heavy for this heat.

Rolf looks so awesome

Sadras

Excuse me for this being late - I'm only just joining in on PTS with the update and picking up the quest. I thought I'd post anyway, hope this is the correct thread still:
I am on a character copied from the live server that has done the part 1 story.
At the very first dialogue with Skordo on Stirk, we are forced to ask him who is fighting back, and he explains who the fellowship is. This should be optional or just left out; we're continuing the story of part 1 after all.
Later in the same dialogue, I can ask how the fellowship is doing and his dialogue is suitably familiar, so it catches itself, but the beginning is jarring, as if my character was all new to this.