VRs account wide

Fuzzylumpkins · July 2014

After some thought about VRs and how badly they have played out, I would forgive many of the game's transgressions if they were simply made account wide, accessible once a character level caps.

Level 1-49 (level 50 is vr1) was amazing. The zones, adventure, character abilities and some of the main quest lines. In fact I would even make an alt or 2 to experience that once more.

Having felt forced to quest enemy alliance zones to cap VR pre Crag release really put me off all ES products but most of all ESO. I felt forced (as a player that enjoys being capped asap to endure top tier content) to experience the other zones on my AD character when I would have preferred a pure experience of creating an EP alt and then seeing their zones.

As of now I will never feel an allegiance in this game as a result of how the first month and a half forced top tier players to quest that way and even end up spending all of our time at top level in enemy lands. I still do not understand how it worked out that a room of developers agreed it would be great to pick a faction and at the end of the levelling process, spend all our time in enemy territory.

Back on topic, I would be more inclined to make alts and experience the game once more if after cap levelling a character, it adopted the highest VR on my account. Saving me 200+ hours of slogging through boring content in enemy realms once more and maybe feeling an allegiance to an alliance I started and ended questing in.

Interested in other players thoughts-
How did you feel to quest in your home zone to find out you were being abandoned to play in enemy territory from VR1-vr10 pre Craglorn release? And now that after VR12, there is nothing for you in your homeland?

Riptide · July 2014

I felt forced (as a player that enjoys being capped asap to endure top tier content) to experience the other zones on my AD character when I would have preferred a pure experience of creating an EP alt and then seeing their zones.

I think this is the operative bit. Human nature is such that where there is a number to strive for, we tend to feel "incomplete" until the max number is reached. It is illogical, particularly in the case of VR - since nothing is stopping a person from simply ignoring VR ranks and rolling an alt which jibes more with the lore from their perspective. But it is what it is. Where there is a level, there is a desire.

Personally I don't have much trouble with suspension of disbelief re: the other faction's content. I'm just not a role player, and on the scale of Really Glaring Plot Inconsistencies I think this ranks below shark jumping, if perhaps not far below. And I think it was a relatively brave attempt at innovation and making use of the content they had to work with. In a world where accountants and ROI rule, it was an innovative solution to get the game launched, in my opinion.

Where it hits its snag is the VR ranks themselves. Human nature is what it is. It would have been better, in my view, to leave off the levels bit of it. That way folks didn't feel compelled to work through them the way they do. Lots of other ways to very slightly increment the character than levels.

Anyway, enough rambling

Fuzzylumpkins · July 2014

Riptide wrote: »

Plot Inconsistencies I think this ranks below shark jumping, if perhaps not far below. And I think it was a relatively brave attempt at innovation and making use of the content they had to work with. In a world where accountants and ROI rule, it was an innovative solution to get the game launched, in my opinion.
Anyway, enough rambling

Not rambling and I appreciate how you have worked in "jumping the shark." But as for innovative I feel it was a lazy way for players to "feel" as if there was more content at hand than there actually is. There was plenty of time for players to obtain these VR levels by grouping and doing dungeons at cap level before future releases and content updates were implemented. It would have even been spread out better to have obtained them doing our individual content and then be given new lands to explore such as Crag, while still levelling VRs.

As for the need to be capped, many of us are not role players and do not feel the need to stay at weaker levels when there was content that was only playable at higher levels and many of us, me included, wrongly felt the higher content would yield better reward. It was wrong of us to presume high end content would yield powerful rewards instead of just items for salvage.

Knowing what I do now, I would have just completely ignored VR1-5 and VR6-10 in enemy territories and just waited for Craglorn. It was losing my identity as a member of my alliance that bothered me the most. It took away any drive I had to fight for anything in Cyrodil which has ultimately ended up being the actual end game. Even though it itself has been heavily exploited with title and scroll trades between factions.

traigusb14_ESO2 · July 2014

I seem to be in the minority here.

My character is a hero. Remember the part in the main story when you get everyone to work together to go to Coldharbor? My guy wants to save the world from Daedra, not worry about borders and the collapsed empire. Molag Bal was in the middle of that as well.

I never hated the other factions. That was politics. I disliked monsters, necromancers bandits.. and some pirates.

In PVP I'm trying to put the Empire back together. I don't hate the other people. And since they don't stay dead, it isn't personal or malicious butchery.

When Caldwell offered for me to be a hero for everyone. Well I'd have to do that. Imagine how awful the world would be if I didn't help out those other 2 factions.. all the dead people, all the zombies...

Metaphysically, I HaVE to do all three. If I don't then Molag Bal wins in the other 2 factions.

When you play Coldharbor, not just the NPCs of your faction know you. You saved everyone, everywhere... you just didn't know it yet.

DungeonGrind · July 2014

traigusb14_ESO2 wrote: »

I seem to be in the minority here.

My character is a hero. Remember the part in the main story when you get everyone to work together to go to Coldharbor? My guy wants to save the world from Daedra, not worry about borders and the collapsed empire. Molag Bal was in the middle of that as well.

I never hated the other factions. That was politics. I disliked monsters, necromancers bandits.. and some pirates.

In PVP I'm trying to put the Empire back together. I don't hate the other people. And since they don't stay dead, it isn't personal or malicious butchery.

When Caldwell offered for me to be a hero for everyone. Well I'd have to do that. Imagine how awful the world would be if I didn't help out those other 2 factions.. all the dead people, all the zombies...

Metaphysically, I HaVE to do all three. If I don't then Molag Bal wins in the other 2 factions.

When you play Coldharbor, not just the NPCs of your faction know you. You saved everyone, everywhere... you just didn't know it yet.

Makes sense to me.

Fuzzylumpkins · July 2014

@ trai, you are def a minority and I did read all of your post, I just do not see how that is relevant to account wide VRs concerning the majority it would benefit that do enjoy or like trying different races. Esp those players that may have picked a class/race initially that has been heavily reworked (ok nerfed to the ground.)

Elad13 · July 2014

i have to say this was a BIG leap in my disappointment....I was leveling 3 toons 1 in each faction....I was really enjoying that i had my main about 10 lvls ahead of the others...i would log in every day and pick which toon i wanted to play...my main would craft some gear for them and they would happily go off to explore another persona/faction and i did not feel so confined or even cheated in any way....then the worst thing happened...i hit VET.....what?? I had to go back and play through other factions anyway??? It really killed alot of fun i was having....I then said screw this...what fun is it to be "forced" to play along? I then went to crag and did anom runs....it was actually fun with a big group of people all working and fighting to gain exp...to get great loot to finally be able to raise my crafting levels.....the game actually was fun..for a while.....then they killed the anoms....and it was back to the story line i had played with my other toons.....BORING!!!! To make matters worse it so happened that 2 of my toons were at same quest....I had not played any of my lower characters in weeks and decided that vet was so bring maybe i would play my low levels (33) i did the quest...bet the boss and was like that is easy...i switched to my VET and tried doing same quest...same amount of mobs/monsters....and yet in VET i got ran over and could not complete the quest....I finally made it to the boss and well its pointless to even try.
This whole forced to play other factions really killed the loyalty feeling you normally get....so OP i totally agree and think it was one of the worst gaming decisions of the year.....surely TESO will win some awards for....worst catagories...

crislevin · July 2014

I partially agree. I don't think they should skip leveling process for all alts once main reached certain level.

Most people, when creating alt, uses different classes, skipping leveling process will make it very difficult to master the skills properly.

However, I do think that, after one character finished all VR main quests (Cadwell's silver and gold), all alt should have access to all zones in three factions. The level of zones can scale to characters, e.g., level 1-50 characters will be loaded in standard zones. VR characters will be loaded into VR zones if they are not home faction zones.

Its quite tedious to repeat the same quest every time leveling an alt.

Redlag · July 2014

I'm with you OP. They could slow down the leveling 1-50. Give us more character slots. I would make alts on each alliance, easily. Buying time with this stunt though is really questionable as a business strategy.