New Wailing Prison Discussion 1.6 PTS Feedback!

WatchYourSixx · January 2015

I've decided to make this thread for people to post their feedback on the new Wailing Prison in 1.6. This is only for the Wailing Prison. I have not found any other threads about the Wailing Prison Changes that were a lengthy collection of many people's feedback on this. If there is, please direct me to it.

With that being said, Lets dive in.

So my experience with the new tutorial in as much detail as I can provide. Not everyone's is the same. I went into the tutorial with the mindset of just starting out as never playing before.

I entered the prison confused, why I was put here, how I got here. Brand new players would get the cinematic right before or after character creation.. I can't remember. That would clear that up a little bit. Anyways, I thought the initial sense of direction was clear. In my opinion the opening "cell" was much larger than previous elder scrolls games. I was disappointed the campfire did not damage me. Anyways, after I left the initial cell, I knew exactly where to go. Lyris made me loot a 2h and this is where I think the first problem comes in. I absolutely HATE 2h swords.

Anyways, I then spent my next few minutes paying more attention to "where can I find another weapon?" In that time, during the fighting and learning to play with the "ques" I was confused why I would be frozen as the screen seemed to close in on me. Pressing the "ques" made such confusion go away, but still confusing the first time nonetheless. I really loved the scene where the guy throws a soul shriven to his death. I enjoyed the sneaking aspect of the sentinel as well. Really interesting, I even allowed my self to get caught. I'll have to agree with what I heard someone else say though, there should be a consequence for being spotted. I enjoy Cadwell's songs he plays, even if they are lyrically horrifying. I did happen to catch a few other players running through, and I do not know if it was instanced specifically or something but it seemed I only saw someone when it was not part of me critically helping Lyris or the Prophet. Oh I almost forgot, the feral shriven in the cages!!!! There are a few that lunge out at you. I think they should do damage when they do that if you are within range! That would add to the more immersive factor. These are the cages you see on your way to the exit after talking to Cadwell. I was also very thankful the lockpick scene would not prevent you from progressing if you broke all of your lockpicks. I broke them intentionally to check this. The next part was probably my favorite, because of how it played out. I went into the next room and was told to follow the light. I see a skeleton shooting a bow, and I think "man, maybe he will drop a bow." I kill him, and was slightly disappointed to find no bow. HOWEVER, I found a bow on the ground next to him with a pile of arrows. That was the most useful I have ever found picking up a weapon in the world. Later I found a pyromancer, and killed him. Then I found a inferno staff leaning against a wall. I thought that was VERY well done. The rest was kinda interesting, however, it killed me when the Bone guy was summoned and his feet slid across the ground as he approached me.

Overall I really enjoyed the new tutorial. I think it helps new players adjust to the combat ques, and get a feel for the controls. New players however, should be directed towards the starter islands. Make it possible to travel out, but I think as a new player, they should know "Hey, there are actually starter islands."

Anyways, I hope this helps. Feel free to comment on how you experienced things and what you did or did not like about the new tutorial! Keep the topic ONLY on the new Wailing Prison though. Thanks!

Terminus · January 2015

I agree with absolutely every suggestion that was described in this...
...massive wall of text.

Cody · January 2015

interesting

kimboh · January 2015

The new improvements to the wailing prison are excellent, with one exception... 2H sword $:\$

I rolled a Mage not a Warrior, why am I given a sword?

I can see that the tutorial on interrupting and exploiting works better with a melee weapon rather than a staff, but I much preferred the original version where I could choose a weapon from a selection.

Jennifur_Vultee · January 2015

Overall I liked the new wailing prison but I have a few things I think were better before...

No choice of weapons now in the escape...I don't agree with the one size fits all 2 handed sword. It was better when you passed through the armory and grabbed something off the racks the original way it was at launch or even grabbed something off the tables in the revised version.

The undercroft...dumbing down the tutorial much? The tutorial keeps getting simpler and simpler as time goes by. What was wrong with the maze of tunnels to explore and look for gear before climbing the ladder to free the Prophet? Now its like "Ok now don't deviate from this straight path, this way kids to the exit! No dawdling." It feels more like you're just being herded through to the next bit.

I still think after the escape from the Wailing Prison you should be dropped on Khenarthi's Roost as the starting point with the option to leave from there to Auridon.

Ysne58 · January 2015

I also think we should have a choice of weapons, including the resto staff.

Shadesofkin · January 2015

Other than lack of choice for weapons and having to scour the wailing prison to find myself two daggers, I absolutely loved the new tutorial zone.

Grunim · January 2015

I didn't mind not having an initial choice in weapon because I quickly acquired other weapons as I looted things.

It was educational and more fun to make a stealth attack with the sentinel. A great lesson that anyone can make stealth attacks.

I was glad to see a lock to pick with a very long timer and there was also a 100% chance to force the lock if need be. Great addition, especially with lock picking becoming even more important under the Justice System.

I liked the reduction in the amount of urns you see in the final part of the prison. There are still enough urns to loot to get useful stuff, but now you aren't practically tripping over them. Or if there aren't fewer urns, they were placed in more interesting ways.

The Prison had an even richer ambiance then I previously remember. I noticed screams and glowing eyes from the walls and I was glad I ran through the tutorial despite having done the old version dozens of times before.

Casdha · January 2015

As i stated elsewhere, I thought this version fits much better with the story being told.

I think they should go back to exiting to the starting islands if for no other reason than the fact that all of the lines are recorded for the prophet by the original actor (Michael Gambon) and not what sounds to be the voice of Molag Bal (Malcom McDowell) standing in for the Prophet, in the redirected to larger city version.

Enodoc · January 2015

Here's what I posted in the Feedback Thread:

The new Wailing Prison is pretty good. However I do not like the fact that everyone is forced to use a greatsword at the start; it would be much better if there was one of each type of weapon available. I enjoyed the changes to the fighting tutorial and the fact that stealth is now introduced for the Sentinels, and lockpicking for the Undercroft door. However, there is nothing telling you how to use the lockpick. The Undercroft itself is a bit boring now that it is mostly linear and devoid of most traps. That previously presented a good challenge, and I think the multiple routes to the exit were more fun to explore. There also appears to be less loot available within the Undercroft and the subsequent areas, meaning players will have less of a start into the economy.

I agree with the suggestion that you should end up out of Coldharbour on the Starter Islands rather than in the city, and I also much preferred the Prophet's dialogue that accompanied it; both because it is correctly voiced by Gambon and because it was generally a more entertaining conversation.

Sharee · January 2015

I do not mind the starter 2H sword, as it is fitting for the scenario: You are an escaped prisoner desperately fighting his way to freedom - you are not picky, you will use whatever weapon happens to be at hand.

If i had a criticism, it is the overabundance of
a) lockpicks (i had 47 by the time i finished, i think they should be more
rare/valuable)
b) cooking ingredients. There were so many, and such a wide variety, that i had my inventory 9/10 filled just with them. New players are going to hate this, and you will get a lot of "my inventory is too small!" complaints.

I think there should be fewer containers overall, and of the rest a bigger part should be containers that drop equipment. Other than that, i liked the changes.

NukeAllTheThings · January 2015

Sharee wrote: »

b) cooking ingredients. There were so many, and such a wide variety, that i had my inventory 9/10 filled just with them. New players are going to hate this, and you will get a lot of "my inventory is too small!" complaints.

The cure for that will be in the cash shop

Ssalaar · February 2015

I actually HATED the new streamlined version on the wailing prison. You break out of the prison and there was nothing to fear. All the extra NPC's were taken out. Not sure if this was done on purpose like the Deer in the PvP area but it seemed to be for breaking out of prison there was no worry of getting caught. The first time I played I was actually sneaking around as I was afraid that I was going to be put back in. It wasn't a canned "here how the controls work" demo.

I was a little upset you couldn't get loss in the catacombs sewers. to me, it lost the Adventure feel of trying to escape. I certainly didn't like the new Graphics sequence where the prophet was held prisoner. The current style (>1.5) makes more sense.

I agree with prior people about mandatory starter islands, If they are making this canned "here is how you play ESO" then it should be mandatory for the starter islands. (of course the game crashed twice in the PTS on me so I didn't see if I got the starter island or the beginning city. I guess my skyshard was not powerful enough)

Overall, I am disappointed in the changes of the wailing prison. I enjoyed the original potluck in Beta of get what you want. Then disappointed with the one or two choices for weapon in release and now extremely disappointed in the "dumbed down" intro. To me , they went in the totally opposite direction from trying to make it more Skyrim like out of the gate.