Little things the game could use

Iccotak · January 2016

This is for both Zenimax Online Studios and for the community
While I do love the game, and the progress it has made, there are still little details missing that could significantly help improve the player experience.

1. Retextured and Cultured Gear:
Many of the original racial motifs lack cultural designs on them . The Redguards and Orcs within this past year received an update that gave the clothing and armor more cultural history with designs and writing that gave them distinction.

We also see this with the new Ancient Orc motif

Other racial motifs could use an update as well

--For Example: The Nords

Since the game was set in Skyrim the Nordic armor and weaponry had cultural designs showing traits of the rough but educated society that had a deep sense of pride.
Nord armor from Skyrim

In the cinematic trailer we got a look at gear with cultural designs
Nord Armor from the Trailer

The armor we got in the game, while achieving the look of an armored barbarian, lacked character and looked silly becuase it was too big and overdid the amount of layers of metal it has, along with the boots, spikes and large horns.
Nord Armor from the Game

It is that saying "less is more" Please keep the armor size relativley realisitc.

I understand this is an MMO but it is set in Elder Scrolls

Although the armor from the trailer will be a costume available near the end of the month I feel like that the Racial motif should look similar to it in terms of cultural design and character. Now this problem does not only pertain to Nords, the Dark Elves as well as the Khajiit have it.

2. Music
An important thing that helps set the tone and atmosphere of a game is its soundtrack, and while the game does have a good soundtrack we hear it everywhere. If I hear the same music in the harsh frozen tundra of Skyrim that I hear in the hot deserts of Hammerfell then it will feel off. Having music that is made from each respective culture of that homeland will help immerse the player because it will feel new when they travel to the next area. Music helps a player return to places. Morrowind has a distinctive and unique soundtrack becuase it represents an entire people.

3. The Begining Island
In my opinion how the complaints of the player character arriving on an island was handled poorly. It makes no sense for the player to skip a whole area, arrive in a new place on the main continent and then go back to the other area that has lower level content because an NPC told them about it. If the player doesn't want to do the island they should simply have the option to leave, uncomplicated and it makes sense. Also it is better from a storytelling perspective that the location the Prpohet describes, when you wake up, is completely different than yours.

4. A Barbershop
Since this has been discussed already, multiple times, I will put this in the list to acknowledge that it is something that players have asked for a while.
There is a current forum that discusses ideas for it HERE http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/165626/the-barber-shop-is-being-worked-on-community-input-goes-here
if you are curious about it.

Thats all I can think of for now, I have yet to really play PvP so I do not have any thoughts on that.
What do you guys think? Are there any small little details that could help the game in the long run?

Gidorick · January 2016

I completely agree with the starter islands. I hated that decision back when they made it in beta. I don't know why they just didn't throw you on the island and have an NPC available to take you to the mainland right away.

Oh well... I don't think they'll change it.

Holycannoli · January 2016

IMO that NPC should only appear after you've taken a character through those starter island quests already. I actually feel they should be mandatory at least once, so the first character of a faction goes through them and subsequent ones don't have to.

Azzuria · January 2016

Agree with the racial armors and vociferously agree with the Barber Shop.

We need to be able to change Khajiit tails, too. Long, short, sleek, fluffy, etc.

Gidorick · January 2016

Azzuria wrote: »

Agree with the racial armors and vociferously agree with the Barber Shop.

We need to be able to change Khajiit tails, too. Long, short, sleek, fluffy, etc.

Oh we need MANY more options than that for Khajiit ... enough to make any of these:

jsvIUvI.jpg?1

Note the lack of tails on some... placement of ears... lack of fur...short snouts to the point of not having a snout.... Plantigrade and Digitigrade feet... so many options are needed!

Iccotak · January 2016

I actually forgot two points that I meant to say.

5. Variety of animals
Instead of reskined animals having different types of spider actually look different would be a nice touch.

In ESO the frostbite spider looks like a spider with different colors

In Skyrim the spider actually has a unique look for its species

6. Random encounters
Having random encounters in the wild would be awesome. Rather than players simply running into enemies, why not have enemies also run into you? It is what helps make an Elder Scroll Game feel like a living world

Abeille · January 2016

I agree with everything, especially with changing old armor.

I saw that you didn't mention Altmer light armor, which is the one that bothers me the most, so I will. The huge stitches make no sense for a race that cares so much about aesthetics and perfection. I've been complaining about that since beta, just as I've been complaining about the lack of black hair for Altmer and Nord (at least Nords have a very dark brown, although not a true black) and red hair for Khajiit and Imperial even though there are Altmer and Nord npcs with black hair and Khajiit and Imperial npcs with red hair.

xellink · January 2016

Iccotak wrote: »

6. Random encounters
Having random encounters in the wild would be awesome. Rather than players simply running into enemies, why not have enemies also run into you? It is what helps make an Elder Scroll Game feel like a living world

Agree with the rest apart from random encounters

Disagree with this because it is already hard enough to 'explore' tamriel.

Also, consider the fact that lower level players do have to travel to higher level zones to achieve certain skill or items, vampirism or werewolf for example. As the shrines are only available in high level areas, this will make it even harder from the already difficult task of converting lowbies. It also makes it harder for 'vampire RP guilds' to recruit as they have a smaller pool to get players from.

Secondly, this will affect fishing, gathering, etc the few non-combat activities that is too often interrupted.

We need more non-combat activities to make the game actually feel alive, like events and what not, not more swashbuckling action. Tamriel is already filled with bandits, werewolves, monsters of all sorts, insects, ghosts, cultists and undead, not only in dungeons, but some overflowing into the main roads as well. Its a surprise those wandering merchants walk around without armor without dying after so long.

TheShadowScout · January 2016

Iccotak wrote: »

1. Retextured and Cultured Gear:

Agreed, the game really could use some more adjustments to existing styles, just like the old redguard and orc got. Thier art department seems to have grown in skill since the initial build, as all the new stuff they are adding seems of a bit higher quality... something I would love see refitted to some of the old stuff as well.

As for costumes... well, personally I would much rather have only "non-combat costumes" for stuff like ball gowns and such, with all the "armor" visuals being done as crafting styles. Sadly, they went another way. But eh... we live in an imperfect world, huh?

Iccotak wrote: »

2. Music

More situational/cultutal music would be nifty, agreed. I'd love to have all the Hammerfell questing filled with "1001 nights" style music and listen to "elf-ish" (aka, cheerful celtic-ish) sounds in Auridion, while High Rock is filled with classic medieval music and Skyrim with viking-ish melodies, have haunting songs play in Dunmer lands and be greeted by strange sounds in Shadowfen... stuff like that. Not like there isn't enough in film and TV to gain inspiration from, right?

Especially with the bards... that the NPC bards sing almost the same songs everywhere sometimes feels a bit grating to me...

Iccotak wrote: »

3. The Begining Island

Complete agreement as well. We should be starting at the beginning isle, and be offered an -option- to take a boat to the mainland right away and skip it, not wake up on the mainland after the coldharbour escape and have an quest leading us to do the starter island instead.

Iccotak wrote: »

4. A Barbershop

...is coming. Not soon enough for many of ut, but its at least firmly promised!

Iccotak wrote: »

5. Variety of animals

Another point where I agree. Sure, palette shifts/reskins are a cheap way to make different "animals", but there really could be more to it. Including refits with some DLC.

Iccotak wrote: »

6. Random encounters

I can understand why they made the world less dynamic - most MMOs do, to keep down server load. Thus the "random encounters" in ESO are a bit more static... hotspots where something may happen (be it a silly summoner calling daedra he cannot send back on their own, or a "help me" bait for a highwayman ambush, or two duelling wizards, or such. We get a whole new set of those in Wrothgar BTW, again I wish there had been some refitting done for other regions as well, widening the option range...)
Widely wandering monsters would be both more of an vexation for many players, and more drain on server resources to keep track of, so I doubt they were all that viable.

Personally I'd much rather have some sort of "morale check" for mobs. And have the three scruffy bandits in the first region think better then to attack the veteran dragonknight clad in full plate armor carrying an axe dripping with the blood of more monsters then they could ever hope to see without their pants browning... but alas, right now they probably nudge each other, take a look at their worn leathers and rusty irton swords salvaged from some battlefield and tell each other "we can take 'im" becore they are turned into a stain on the road by said player, who then feels annoyed at the delay in their journey to the fishing spot or something...

Same with all the mobs fighting to the death. It'd be cool if they ran away (or at least tried to - hey, we ought to be realistic, right?) when they noticed the fight turning against them, badly...

Oh, well. Who knows, in time, we might actually get some of those things we are talking about here. After all, it would make sense for them to improve all aspects of their game, not just pack all improvements into DLCs, to keep more people playing more ESO (if only to see the improvements).
And they do it too. I did notice some quests getting improved from when I first did them. Some hotspots moved. Some progressions streamlined. The armor upgrades have been mentioned. They refitted the coldharbour tutorial as well. So... precedence exists, who knows what else they might improve as time goes by and ESO evolves?

Iccotak · January 2016

I can see what you guys mean for random encounters.

7. Introduction Cinematic
I understand that they wanted to do something different with the "Tamriel Unlimited" Re-Boot, but the original introducing cinematic was a part of the main quest story line.
It served as part of the narrative with the prophet narration, seeing the ritual that put you in Coldharbour, seeing the secondary villain Mannimarco, and having an in-game engine cinematic was awesome.

Original Intro

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V3mFpsML0P8

What I propose is that when you log into the game for the first time it has the twenty minute long cinematic, cause it's epic and why not.

20 min Cinematic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uuHWWC9xxmk

When you make a new character it plays the original intro and will only play it again if you DON'T choose to skip the Coldharbour intro tutorial.

When you choose the "play Cinematic" option on the left you will have two options.
-The 20 min movie
-The in-game engine Introduction