Writhing fortress broken?

angrysam319

So I’ve taken the question from Skordo to enter the portal at the base of the wall. I’ve gone inside, spoken to Keshu and then….nothing. There’s nothing here. Not a single enemy. Just other players mindlessly running around wandering what to do.
The question tells me to ‘reach the soul spire’ but guess what, there’s nothing there either.
I don’t want to drone on at length about how disappointing this event has been, plenty have done that already but to enter phase 3 and be so utterly confused and lost is not what I was expecting!
Oh and should we be able to walk straight through the wall to the other side and have complete access at this point? Seems silly whilst the event is still ongoing??

Gwythyr

Same! On PS EU, we completed Phase 3 and unlocked rest of area but this quest must be bugged as it’s empty / can’t progress as there’s no enemies or crystals (Walks in Ash shouts destroy the crystal but there’s nothing there).

Hugie

Congrats, PS/Xbox - it's your guys' turn to beta test the new content for the rest of us.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom

Hey all, we're investigating this. Please stand by, and thank you for raising.

Carcamongus

angrysam319 wrote: »

So I’ve taken the question from Skordo to enter the portal at the base of the wall. I’ve gone inside, spoken to Keshu and then….nothing. There’s nothing here. Not a single enemy. Just other players mindlessly running around wandering what to do.
The question tells me to ‘reach the soul spire’ but guess what, there’s nothing there either.
I don’t want to drone on at length about how disappointing this event has been, plenty have done that already but to enter phase 3 and be so utterly confused and lost is not what I was expecting!
Oh and should we be able to walk straight through the wall to the other side and have complete access at this point? Seems silly whilst the event is still ongoing??

Lemons to lemonade: turn that empty fortress into a rave venue.

lillybit

I was in the middle of making my own post while this one came up. It didn't help if you were in the first (or only?) wave, the quest still doesn't get any further.

Was under the impression it would behave like a public dungeon while it lasted and respawn so everyone could get a go, it's shocking if only a handful of people in the whole server ever get to experience it

Gabriel_H

So you scared the Worm Cult away, you big burly adventurer you?!

Gabriel_H

lillybit wrote: »

I was in the middle of making my own post while this one came up. It didn't help if you were in the first (or only?) wave, the quest still doesn't get any further.

Was under the impression it would behave like a public dungeon while it lasted and respawn so everyone could get a go, it's shocking if only a handful of people in the whole server ever get to experience it

It'll be a PD that lasts a week.

Ingenon

Gabriel_H wrote: »

lillybit wrote: »

I was in the middle of making my own post while this one came up. It didn't help if you were in the first (or only?) wave, the quest still doesn't get any further.

Was under the impression it would behave like a public dungeon while it lasted and respawn so everyone could get a go, it's shocking if only a handful of people in the whole server ever get to experience it

It'll be a PD that lasts a week.

And when does the 7 day timer starts? I hope not today for PS, since multiple players have posted here and on Reddit r/elderscrollsonline that it is bugged.

allochthons

PS - EU it's started.
PS - NA it starts at 8 PM Eastern today, Nov 13th.
It says in the Writhing Wall section of the menu in game.

lostineternity

no testing? again? i'm not even surprised anymore

twisttop138

I wish I could say I'm surprised. I really really do. Once in a lifetime for sure, just not in a good way.

tom6143346

And everytime I think: that can’t go worse than that, it can 😁 and still here are guys screaming for crossplay. Be careful what you wish for bc even that simple event is everything but not bug free. Let’s hope at this point it’s really a once in a lifetime event

Estin

Every single phase of this event was littered with bugs. Why was it released in such a broken state? What is the point of the PTS if majors bugs for major systems are still pushed to live? This was the primary selling point of the content pass. I doubt anybody is going to consider buying the next one if this is the quality to be expected. What happened to releasing updates when they were ready instead of pushed out on a predetermined deadline date as promised by last years director's letter? Like someone said in another thread, this isn't exactly the best time to be showing signs of weakness given microsoft's extremely volatile climate.

iKillElves4Septims

sometimes the jokes write themselves

but zos somehow turn sometimes to always

magicians

ZOS_JessicaFolsom

lillybit wrote: »

Was under the impression it would behave like a public dungeon while it lasted and respawn so everyone could get a go, it's shocking if only a handful of people in the whole server ever get to experience it

What you expected is how it should be working. Everyone who has access to Solstice should be able to hop in and experience the Writhing Fortress for the week that it's up. We're continuing to investigate the issue and find a solution - we'll keep everyone updated tonight.

SerafinaWaterstar

Did it in the first mad rush on my main.

Thought I’d have a try on a different character - got quest from Skordo. Entered Fortress - and nothing. No enemies, nothing.

Follow quest to Reach Soul Spire but once inside you can’t destroy the thing so what is going on?

Please don’t tell me you can only do this once on one account.

Or that you made it so badly that once it’s been done on that server, it can’t be done again?

I really hope ZOS have a long session planned for ‘lessons learned’ from this event…….

Eurymachos

Ingenon wrote: »

And when does the 7 day timer starts? I hope not today for PS, since multiple players have posted here and on Reddit r/elderscrollsonline that it is bugged.

My understanding is that the seven day timer starts when the dungeon is first completed, so you should be safe.

Ngā mihi,
Eurymachos

twisttop138

You ever see the cable episode of South Park? Where they actually enjoy the myriad of issues. Sometimes when the game is just broken from tons of stuff that should've never made it to live, I think, do they actually like it like this? I know the answer is no but it happens so often that you gotta wonder.

ZOS_JessicaFolsom

We wanted to provide an update now that we have identified the issue. Once a Writhing Fortress instance is complete, it is staying up and allowing players in even after it has been completed. Investigations are ongoing tonight into a possible fix.

Danikat

This is why I'm surprised they skipped Phase 2 ahead (in spite of player feedback) then added the timer delay for Phase 3. If it's ONLY PSEU that's broken (or the fix is easy to push to all platforms) they may have only signed themselves up for a Thursday evening/Friday of rushed bug fixing. If it affects all the servers (or worse there's different bugs on each) then my condolences to the people who will have to spend all weekend fixing bugs. I hope you didn't have any important plans.

ajkb78

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom I'm glad you've found the issue. However since it started right at the start of prime time in Europe and has thus taken out a whole evening's play I hope you will restart the 7 day event timer from when it gets fixed - especially important as this is a once-and-done event! Some of us don't get to play all day every day and after all the build-up I would like to make the most of it - losing an evening is likely 1/7th of the whole event lost for me, or well over 10%.

Danikat

ajkb78 wrote: »

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom I'm glad you've found the issue. However since it started right at the start of prime time in Europe and has thus taken out a whole evening's play I hope you will restart the 7 day event timer from when it gets fixed - especially important as this is a once-and-done event! Some of us don't get to play all day every day and after all the build-up I would like to make the most of it - losing an evening is likely 1/7th of the whole event lost for me, or well over 10%.

Agreed.

This doesn't affect me personally because I don't have the content pass, but using myself as an example (and assuming I'm not some wild outlier for having plans on a Friday and Saturday): the next time I could play this will probably be Sunday morning.

It's 11:21pm here now, I need to go to bed after posting this, and tomorrow I'll be at work all day then out all evening. I'll be lucky to be home before midnight (depends on trains, so I'll be lucky to get home at all). I have to be out again at 11am tomorrow and need the time in between to sleep and shower and eat and all those other real-life things, and again I'll be back late. Not as late, probably around 10pm but too late to realistically hop into a group and start a new dungeon, especially since most people on EU servers will be logging off around then. On Sunday morning, around mid-morning once another round of real-life stuff is done, I should be able to play.

All those plans were made back when we expected Phase 2 to end sometime next week, which was the case right up until yesterday.

Obviously I wouldn't expect the game to work around my timetable, but it does mean losing a whole evening (even if it's technically just a few hours) is taking out a significant chunk of the already limited time I can play.

It would be really helpful for anyone in a similar situation if ZOS could recognise that even if this is fixed within a few hours of Phase 3 starting those few hours were both prime time and the end of the day for Europe and so effectively 1/7 of the event was lost. Extending the timer to allow another evening at the end would be a big help.

Bobby_Digital81

It's crazy there is no testing or bug fixing before content is released. Just release the content according to the deadline and the players can beta test and report any feedback on bugs/glitches through the forums and fix them in the upcoming weeks and months.

I realize ZOS is trying to help with fixing issues but seems like it's a reoccurring thing which each update. Paying for finished content seems reasonable.

Eurymachos

Eurymachos wrote: »

Ingenon wrote: »

And when does the 7 day timer starts? I hope not today for PS, since multiple players have posted here and on Reddit r/elderscrollsonline that it is bugged.

My understanding is that the seven day timer starts when the dungeon is first completed, so you should be safe.

Ngā mihi,
Eurymachos

Since this issue only occurs when an instance has been completed, the seven day must already be running. If ZOS doesn't get this fixed quickly, the timer will have to be extended.

Ngā mihi,
Eurymachos

Bobby_Digital81

twisttop138 wrote: »

You ever see the cable episode of South Park? Where they actually enjoy the myriad of issues. Sometimes when the game is just broken from tons of stuff that should've never made it to live, I think, do they actually like it like this? I know the answer is no but it happens so often that you gotta wonder.

Agreed. Maybe it's job security or something?

Ingenon

Bobby_Digital81 wrote: »

twisttop138 wrote: »

You ever see the cable episode of South Park? Where they actually enjoy the myriad of issues. Sometimes when the game is just broken from tons of stuff that should've never made it to live, I think, do they actually like it like this? I know the answer is no but it happens so often that you gotta wonder.

Agreed. Maybe it's job security or something?

I am thinking more the opposite of job security. Sadly.

Danikat

Bobby_Digital81 wrote: »

It's crazy there is no testing or bug fixing before content is released. Just release the content according to the deadline and the players can beta test and report any feedback on bugs/glitches through the forums and fix them in the upcoming weeks and months.

I realize ZOS is trying to help with fixing issues but seems like it's a reoccurring thing which each update. Paying for finished content seems reasonable.

To be fair it was on the PTS. But that's only PC so if this is a console specific bug it wouldn't have been picked up. Also I don't know if the PTS attracts enough people to pick up things like one group entering the dungeon after another group has completed it but hasn't left to spot that it's not resetting.

This is another reason it would be good to extend Phase 3 though - it gives them enough time to fix it (and make sure the fix doesn't cause extra problems) without players feeling like they're being peanalised for being first to finish Phase 2.

Bobby_Digital81

Danikat wrote: »

Bobby_Digital81 wrote: »

It's crazy there is no testing or bug fixing before content is released. Just release the content according to the deadline and the players can beta test and report any feedback on bugs/glitches through the forums and fix them in the upcoming weeks and months.

I realize ZOS is trying to help with fixing issues but seems like it's a reoccurring thing which each update. Paying for finished content seems reasonable.

To be fair it was on the PTS. But that's only PC so if this is a console specific bug it wouldn't have been picked up. Also I don't know if the PTS attracts enough people to pick up things like one group entering the dungeon after another group has completed it but hasn't left to spot that it's not resetting.

This is another reason it would be good to extend Phase 3 though - it gives them enough time to fix it (and make sure the fix doesn't cause extra problems) without players feeling like they're being peanalised for being first to finish Phase 2.

They shouldn't be releasing content with issues that have been known during the testing phase. Just push the updates so the players can report on them and fix them weeks/months later seems like a good plan.

tomofhyrule

This was on PTS… but with the caveat that PTS was only while phase 3 was up. We were not able to test U48 in phase 1, U48 in phase 2, or U48 after the wall.

To say nothing of the fact that very few regulars did PTS this round in the first place since there were so few combat changes, and the testers were unable to get enough people to get through the Writhing Fortress for the first few days. There’s no way PTS would have been able to test if the instances did properly reset.

Ingenon

tomofhyrule wrote: »

This was on PTS… but with the caveat that PTS was only while phase 3 was up. We were not able to test U48 in phase 1, U48 in phase 2, or U48 after the wall.

To say nothing of the fact that very few regulars did PTS this round in the first place since there were so few combat changes, and the testers were unable to get enough people to get through the Writhing Fortress for the first few days. There’s no way PTS would have been able to test if the instances did properly reset.

Thanks! With your details I can see how the instance reset bug may have been in the code all along and was not caught during PTS testing.