Not sure what to do about "Phasing" and getting really discouraged

Jushara · June 2016

I've been trying to play this game with my boyfriend. We were really enjoying it together as something to do but it seems the farther we get into the game the harder it becomes to actually play together. Disappearing from each other's games, At one point we couldn't even trade in town because we were invisible to each-other. We tried the travel to play option, No go. Eventually we managed to trade in another part of the world but it was frustrating and immersion breaking. Later we got separated because we apparently each chose a different option on a quest and spent the next hour unable to see each-other. Taking our limited time gaming together and making it a hollow and awkward experience. Last night I tried just dropping all my quests and following him around so that we could at-least maybe stay synced up.. but that was a no go as well. Within no time he was off in another instance of the world, invisible to me.

It got so bad last night that I actually ended up canceling my ESO-Plus subscription out of frustration simply because the game seems to be actively screwing with us. The two of us just want to play together but unfortunately solo content disallows this apparently and two people isn't enough for group content. I'm feeling super discouraged and I don't even want to start up the game anymore at this point because what I fell in love with has quickly become a nightmare and a hassle just to squeeze a bit of enjoyment from a rock... I don't know if there is anything that can actually be done to prevent this other than the obvious of "take all the same quests and make exactly the same choices" but this seems counter intuitive and frankly like an embarrassment to the concept of an MMORPG.. So please, if anyone has any advice on keeping a small group together or actually finding content for us to do..Does it get better as time goes on? or am I just screwed

Rohamad_Ali · June 2016

It gets better after the initial quests . Try not to play ahead of one another .

Mojmir · June 2016

its just a phase your going through

starkerealm · June 2016

When you're running content with another player, you need to actually stick together. As in you really need to keep the characters together running the same quests. If you skip ahead, you're going to be "in the future."

Sometimes you'll also need to be making the same choices or the game will split you up. Usually this is self explanatory. If one of you decides to back a different character in The Cliffs of Madness, your characters will actually be working against one another (though it won't be PvP), and you won't be able to work together.

If you're running off and finishing a city without your boyfriend's character (Velyn Harbour comes to mind), then you're actually going to be in a different place. A city that's thrown off the invasion, as opposed to a city under siege.

If you're comparing notes on what you're doing, it's not a big problem (rarely you'll get split up momentarily when one advances to the next quest stage), but if you're running around and not coordinating your questing at all, then you'll start to see problems.

There are a lot of situations where you might need another player and can bring one in.

There are also cases where you'll be locked out, and they'll be in a forced solo zone. Mage's Guild, FIghter's Guild, and main quest intervals are almost all solo-only. Faction questlines and sidequests are almost always doable with a group. Also most thieves guild content is groupable (maybe all of it, I'm not sure), and most Dark Brotherhood content is. All of the Orsinium quests can be done in a group.

Prabooo · June 2016

someone's gotta tell their BF to lay off questin

cjhhickman39 · June 2016

Are you using the grouping tool when you start out ? This might help cut down on the problem if you try that also if you lose each other if you both warp into the nearest group dungeon you will phase back together

Wrecking_Blow_Spam · June 2016

Sounds as though you're not communicating to me via voice chat?
Communication solves a lot of issues in this game.
And I don't mean typing I mean verbally talking. Unless that breaks "immersion" but to each their own.

starkerealm · June 2016

EquinoxS wrote: »

Sounds as though you're not communicating to me via voice chat?
Communication solves a lot of issues in this game.
And I don't mean typing I mean verbally talking. Unless that breaks "immersion" but to each their own.

Yeah, my girlfriend and I talk constantly when we're on paired characters, in order to keep them together.

Danikat · June 2016

It seems to be you have to go for one extreme or the other in this game.

Either you play quests and most other PvE content solo or with whoever happens to be around at the time and only group up for designated group content or you start characters at the same time, play every single quest together and always make the same choices at the same time to stay in the same version of the map.

If you try to do anything in between you're highly likely to end up in different versions of the map due to quest phasing. E.g. if one of you has saved a city and the other hasn't you'll be in different versions, if one of you saved a guy who then hangs around the camp and the other let him die you'll be split up every time you went to that camp...and there's things like that everywhere.

Most couples I know who want to play together have dedicated characters they only play when they're together, and they make sure to always make the same choices when they do. Then the have one or more other characters so they can play when they're not both online as well.

Lolssi · June 2016

I love phasing. Feels like my actions matter, unlike in Skyrim.
But yeah can be hazzle when grouped but I wouldn't have it any other way.