Planemelding CLOSED. Anchors still up. What the hell? [SPOILER]

Jarnhand · June 2014

Just keep in mind, a MMO will never be as smooth as a offline single player game when it comes to issues like this, simply cannot be done the same way.

steveb16_ESO46 · June 2014

Whenever you see something like this - 'a wizard did it'.

Anvos · June 2014

To be fair though we stopped the planemeld, no dragonfire was lit so there is nothing stopping deadric portals from being opened.

Not to mention I don't think we ever destroyed the main anchor above the Imperial City

fromtesonlineb16_ESO · June 2014

Anvos wrote: »

To be fair though we stopped the planemeld, no dragonfire was lit so there is nothing stopping deadric portals from being opened.

Not to mention I don't think we ever destroyed the main anchor above the Imperial City

But we destroyed the Great Shackle and the Planar Vortex so there's nothing to make it function.

JinShepard01 · June 2014

OP your topic name is already a spoiler lol..

That said, it is a bit wierd, the main guy Molag Bal was the one putting down the Anchors right? He be banished, Great Shackle destroyed.. so who is putting them down?

TO be fair the only way to make sense is to say we went back in time doing Cadwells stuff.. which is lame.

Raash · June 2014

Just one more thing to add to the "meh" list about this game and its features. They cant even get their precious phasing right, who would have guessed? Im chocked!

isengrimb16_ESO · June 2014

Again, if everyone was locked out of doing anchors in old zones via phasing, you'd see a lot more forum QQ about it than this.

What they DO do right with the phasing is the IMPORTANT stuff - you don't have to fight your way through that town you kicked the bandits out of forever and forever after, as in WoW (their phasing is limited, and they don't care if you placated the Yaungol, that town will still dogpile on your head as you ride past on the road, because in that game, the fighting is apparently the be-all end-all, as Bashiok basically admitted a few months ago re: flying. To hell with the story, and your actions while questing, you will always fight the same monsters you supposedly got rid of/subdued.

Want to break immersion, go play that. NOTHING you do there matters in hte end; their phasing doesn't do much to make anyone neutral rather than hostile (except for the Hozen, horde-side, and the whole point of the "story" is to make them friendly with the Horde.) Otherwise, the most I've noticed there is, oh, the statue is broken, and now instead of peaceful workers, there's sha to bug me now. OK, reminder, don't do that quest on alts. Otherwise, they might just move around an NPC. They can't even phase Vale of Eternal Blossoms for pre-90s; even newbies have to see its devastated state, and not what it was, even if they haven't done the relevant quests yet.

fromtesonlineb16_ESO · June 2014

More gratuitous WOW hate .. the first sentence was all you needed to post, the rest is just noise.

AinGeal · June 2014

fromtesonlineb16_ESO wrote: »

No, not instancing, phasing and this game uses it hugely.

As for your pipe dream, the game uses phasing hugely and large changes take place in the world as you progress .. of course, you're ignoring those because this one aspect allows you to hate on ZOS which is your main aim.

Yes, this one aspect is a non-sequitur as far as progression is concerned, however there's an Achievement for it and you can bet your life if ZOS has phased out the Anchors once you get to the point when they're not possible then there'd have been howls and QQing from 'completionists'.

Yes, it's an anachornism, one that affects every MMO and always will for practical reasons.

Also, just to point out, as I said as the start, there's a ton of phasing in this game making permanent changes to the world as you see it .. and there's massive QQing about it as it pretty much destroys random grouping on quest chains die to its effects.

Sorry but this game does not use proper "phasing" at all. Sure, there are times when I talk to an NPC as part of a quest causing the NPC to run off. I then see other people running up to the same location where the NPC used to be. That's fine. It's also rather rare. A big one is, after you complete a quest or quest chain, the NPCs don't do what they should. They should pack it up and call it a day. It's part of what makes a world a living breathing world. Combined with daily routines for the NPCs (something the TES games have) would make for a better game world. Sadly they took a leap backwards and went with static NPCs in a static world.

I recall, while working on Riften map completion, that I guess I didn't quite go in the order that was intended. Even though I had already finished the last quest and defeated the main bad guy for that map, I ended up doing a quest where that same bad guy was not dead...

You also missed the point of what I was saying about a game changing based on player input.

Single player game: Door closes and stays closed. Once you close all the doors, the game is beaten and there is nothing left to do.

MMO: Door closes for your character but is open for anyone else who hasn't done it yet.

What I'd like to see: Door closes for your character and everyone else but by doing so, you open up another door somewhere else that either you or someone else can close. For every door closed, a new one opens.

Anvos · June 2014

fromtesonlineb16_ESO wrote: »

Anvos wrote: »

To be fair though we stopped the planemeld, no dragonfire was lit so there is nothing stopping deadric portals from being opened.

Not to mention I don't think we ever destroyed the main anchor above the Imperial City

But we destroyed the Great Shackle and the Planar Vortex so there's nothing to make it function.

Yes we stopped him from using them to initiate and carry out a planmeld, but we did nothing that would prohibit them as being used as deadric portals to try and take over nirn the hard way.

xaraan · June 2014

Kind of a two sided thing. It does break immersion a bit, but at the same time, if you missed any anchors you wanted to complete, it would suck that they never come back. (Same if you just wanted to do them to do them even after they'd be completed).

altemriel · October 2015

stmalkb14 wrote: »

Ok guys, I thought this game will be serious about phasing but what do I see. I destroyed Planemelding mechanism with assistance of the Last Aleyid king. He died in the process as you can remember. What do we see when teleporting to one of the wayshrines in Coldharbour? Right, the Last Aleyid king standing alive and telling us to prepare for battle.

Ok, maybe it's just one thing, maybe ZOS missed this one. We destroyed Planemelding and killed Molag Bal later. We go to see free and saved Tamriel finally without these useless and annoying anchors spoiling the view. And what do we see? Right, we see anchors that keep falling all over.

Zenimax, are you serious? Is that laziness or something else is just not working here? Or maybe it's just me being too concerned about things that are beyond my comprehension?

Oh this is great news for me now, to the contrary of your complain. I just wanted to post a question here, if when I defeat Molag Bal, if the Dark Anchors will stop to appear from the sky, because I really love them and I would wanna fight there even after Molag Bal "dead". So good to know, thank you

!!

UltimaJoe777 · October 2015

What you took care of in Coldharbour was just the big gun. Molag Bal can still use his small guns even after that, and he does. Even after defeat, a Daedric Prince is not gone for good. All you really do is get your Soul back, and slow Molag Bal down. This does not in any way though stop his plans...

One could argue that doing this would stop all attempts at the planemeld, but let's keep in mind we don't ever actually progress through the timeline in any TES game, we simply play it out.

None of these answers work? Then how about the fact that there are achievements at stake that could be permanently missable if the anchors did stop dropping in your faction's area just because you stopped the planemeld, not to mention the fact you would be unable to assist other players at said anchor if you wanted to because you would be placed in seperate instances due to the progression. The only anchors you would be able to destroy are those in Vet Rank zones because you are playing a "what if" scenario.

altemriel · October 2015

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

What you took care of in Coldharbour was just the big gun. Molag Bal can still use his small guns even after that, and he does. Even after defeat, a Daedric Prince is not gone for good. All you really do is get your Soul back, and slow Molag Bal down. This does not in any way though stop his plans...

One could argue that doing this would stop all attempts at the planemeld, but let's keep in mind we don't ever actually progress through the timeline in any TES game, we simply play it out.

None of these answers work? Then how about the fact that there are achievements at stake that could be permanently missable if the anchors did stop dropping in your faction's area just because you stopped the planemeld, not to mention the fact you would be unable to assist other players at said anchor if you wanted to because you would be placed in seperate instances due to the progression. The only anchors you would be able to destroy are those in Vet Rank zones because you are playing a "what if" scenario.

yes, it was even written on one of the loading screens for Coldharbor, the daedric princes or daedras could not be killed in a mortal sense of word, they "die", but reanimate after some time, as they are materialized "spiritual" entities, not real flesh and bones mortals. And Molag Bal is a daedric prince, a god-like being, so he can not be killed in a ultimate sense of that word.

which is good, as I love the dark anchors and Molag Bal can even appear in some later DLC quests, that would be great!

F7sus4 · October 2015

isengrimb16_ESO wrote: »

Technically, you're just supposed to progress on, not go backwards through the zones. You see the the anchors for the same reason Illidan is still alive in Burning Crusade content - it's an MMO, and some things will persist (and it probably wasn't worth phasing out anchors for people who want to go back from Coldharbour - plus, some people might complain about NOT seeing them and being able to do them any more, especially if they're going back to pick up ones they might have missed the first time around just for completions' sake.)

On one side, agree. On the other one, they were somehow able to do "instanced" ruined cities before you did all the quests inside and save them. The downside is that if you group up with a person who hasn't done the city yet, you won't be able to meet inside, as for that person the city is still in ruins, while for you it's already rebuild. Not the most elegant solution, but at least is gives you impression of taking actions that have permanent effect in the world. What I mean, is that they could do the same thing to anchors (after defeating Molag Bal) and other stuff that is not supposed to be there.

Jura23 · October 2015

Molag Bal lost and planemeld failed. That's true. But it doesn't mean he will stop being ass and throwing some more anchors down here. That's how I look at it.

Robo_Hobo · October 2015

As others have said, it's an MMO thing, instancing would be possible but it would restrict group-play and also put people permanently out of being able to get certain achievements (albeit some cases of that still persist despite this). There's people already who don't like having to solo the main storyline as it is, and others who don't like being put in a different instance in the few remaining quests that do have choices that make an impact (in-fact, some of those actually had those choices removed because of the people who wanted to group-quest, because before if they chose different choices, the impact would result in them going to different instances because of the changes).

Such is the reason a lot of quests don't have much impact on the game world as well.

It's unfortunate, and I agree I'd much have loved if it did go the instancing route and actually, truly stop the dark anchors, but it's just something we gotta live with and look past. In Oblivion, when you stop the Oblivion Crisis, gates actually do stop spawning, so it's not an Elder-Scrolls thing, it's just cause this is an MMO.

EDIT: Although that is kind of strange with the Ayleid king standing nearby a Coldharbour wayshrine, I'd have thought at least that one would have moved. You did do the quests in the correct order right? It is possible to do the last quest without actually doing the prior ones, if you skip ahead. At least from what I hear.

SmilingHangman · October 2015

Well it's not just Molag Bal alone who is opening those anchors. It's those local little pesky cultists (who neither see the big picture, nor do they know or care, I think) that drag a sacrifice to the dolmen and still try to gain favors from the daedric Prince. And while the dragonfires aren't lit, they are free to do so.

UltimaJoe777 · October 2015

SmilingHangman wrote: »

Well it's not just Molag Bal alone who is opening those anchors. It's those local little pesky cultists (who neither see the big picture, nor do they know or care, I think) that drag a sacrifice to the dolmen and still try to gain favors from the daedric Prince. And while the dragonfires aren't lit, they are free to do so.

That is what opens the gateway. Molag Bal and his minions are who send the anchors.

SmilingHangman · October 2015

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

SmilingHangman wrote: »

Well it's not just Molag Bal alone who is opening those anchors. It's those local little pesky cultists (who neither see the big picture, nor do they know or care, I think) that drag a sacrifice to the dolmen and still try to gain favors from the daedric Prince. And while the dragonfires aren't lit, they are free to do so.

That is what opens the gateway. Molag Bal and his minions are who send the anchors.

Yes, I agree that Molly's hand is necessary for the anchors to drop (and he still has one, as far as I remember; he probably has a great stash of chains and other required paraphernalia hidden in some corner of Coldharbour too). Yet the initiative from the Nirn's side is also needed, if I am not mistaken.

As for the Worm Cult, poor fellows live in a world with no organised mass media coverage on things, so I can easily imagine a discussion in some distant less popular tavern that goes pretty much like this:

- Did you hear? They say that some people launched an attack on our Prince and actually defeated him!
- Seriously? That's it! I quit this ridiculous cult!
- Cool! Don't let the door hit you on your way out. Can I have your robes and staff then?
- Speaking of robes, who designed those? They should be sacrificed!
- They were, don't worry. Back on topic, if you really believe that someone can defeat a daedric Prince, maybe our cult would be better off without such whiners as yourself. Bard! Sing us "The Planemeld is nigh" on more time!
- I'm not whining! It's just that there was no official news from Mannimarco for a long time. It is as if he doesn't care about our community anymore! And those guys that worship Sanguine can have all the drinks they want!
- Bah! Drinks! That's all you think about! We, on the other hand, are on a mission to help our Lord drag all of the Nirn into his realm!
- But do dolmens even work now?
- What, do I hear doubt now? That's it! Let's pack it up guys, I know this dolmen not too far away. We will prove our doubting member that no rumors can harm the Worm Cult's faith in Molag Bal's power!

Bard:
- Um... Guys, are you leaving? How about paying up for singing your song like ten times in a row?

Cultist look at each other:
- Looks like we found our volunteer for the sacrifice! Put her in a bag!
- But is she innocent enough to be sacrificed? I mean... She is a bard and all...
- Enough with the technicalities! Let's just leave before the bartender notices.

While handling the bard:
- Hey, you know what would be cool? If we all drank the invisibility potions at the same time, and appear at the dolmen like from nowhere! Poof! That would scare any passersby!
- Good idea! Share some with the rest of the group!
- Ok, but it's my last batch...

While sneaking out of the tavern:
- ...I just hope that no idiots will show up to ruin our gathering...

siddique · October 2015

Molag Bal is a Daedric prince, he is immortal. You cannot kill him. Even in the final battle, he vanishes before his health goes to zero.

Which means, despite the fact that you destroyed his planemeld, he will keep on throwing his little anchors all the time. He is still alive and well.

As he says himself, "Nothing you can do will end this."

Umad_BrO · October 2015

Obviously you missed out on the Mammoths falling from the sky..