Pledge of Mara - concept is great, application is worthless.

Rittings · February 2017

I really love the idea of marrying other characters in the game, and getting a boost to XP (albeit a small one) when wearing the ring. However, with all the set pieces and jewelry out there, getting married is practically pointless. It's not even an aesthetic thing since you, or anyone else, cannot tell you are married etc...

Here are a couple of ideas that MIGHT encourage more marriages in Tamriel (especially since this is Valentine's Day)...

1) Enable "House-sharing" for married couples that choose to purchase a home together.
2) Larger XP boost would be nice - and maybe double down on that if you do a dungeon with ANOTHER couple that are married.
3) Wearing the ring means breaking up a jewelry set - why not give the player a one time chance to select a set piece the ring will belong to (and watch those Pledges FLY off the Crown Store shelves if you did this and it was a legendary ring!!).
4) Allow the user to enable a "filter" that displays their spouses name under their nameplate in the world.
5) A married skill line? One whereby "guard" can be applied as a passive, or toggled etc...

Just a few ideas to make getting married in the game a little more appealing than just grinding up in Skyreach (which is practically it's only use currently).

Serjustin19 · February 2017

I married another Character. Once. Long ago. It was so lovely. But very next day. It was not to be. Since then. I haven't married another character. I'll probably never will. But I like your post OP. I agree.

Ragnork · February 2017

I have married my wife twice in game.
The first time I lost her when her account was locked for some reason that we never got to the bottom of (something to do with the way Steam and ZOS talked to one-another).
The second time we came to realise that it just wasn't working out and so our characters were terminated.
I keep the rings in the bank, sweet memories.

Given that the reward is somewhat minor outside of role play (in the game) there is no real need. If the ring were to mimic the offhand ring then maybe....

NewBlacksmurf · February 2017

Too much

Keep it simple

Mara scroll binds account 1 to account 2 and is no longer limited to per character.
If No.....
then keep it per character but show either way in the character screen under effects without any ring or jewelry

idk · February 2017

Mara was designed and intended to speed up the leveling process and works fine for that. It's rare that a lvl 20 character will be in set bonus jewelry. It would take longer to find it that to out level it.

LadyLavina · February 2017

If you didn't have to wear the ring to get the xp, there'd probably be a lot more weddings

Osteos · February 2017

All good ideas.

SolarCat02 · February 2017

I wish there was a way to denote married characters in-game without having to wear the ring. My husband and I have married characters and it would just be fun to denote them that way when doing veteran trials together, once we hit level 50 (hopefully this weekend).

I am at the CP cap and he is making good progress in that direction, so I am not asking for the xp boost to stay when not wearing the ring! It would just be fun flavor for us.

Argruna · February 2017

I still have my pledge sitting in the bank. I think it would be interesting to tie it to a non-combat pet. The pledges are meant for people that will be playing together a lot so maybe have like little floaty crystal pets that if they want the xp boost, both people need to have them out and be grouped? Then maybe tie in a dye color and a title like the Betrothed or something.

idk · February 2017

@SolarCat02

Essentially you could have made your characters appear as married by giving them last names in your name and of course making them the same last name.

Imryll · February 2017

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Mara was designed and intended to speed up the leveling process and works fine for that. It's rare that a lvl 20 character will be in set bonus jewelry. It would take longer to find it that to out level it.

Actually, this is no longer true given the overland sets in One Tamriel. I have a level 10 who is reluctant to give up a level 6 Elegant Ring because the set bonus outweighs the advantages of a slightly higher level piece of jewelry. Her rings are green but the set bonuses are still very attractive.

I also have had two rings of mara sitting in my bank since early 2014, which I can't quite bring myself to destroy.

AlMcFly · February 2017

"worthless" =/= "lacking practical functionality"

SolarCat02 · February 2017

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

@SolarCat02

Essentially you could have made your characters appear as married by giving them last names in your name and of course making them the same last name.

While this is true, we created these characters long before we actually obtained the Pledge of Mara. Yes, they were still low levels when we decided to do the Mara pledge, but neither of us wanted to give up 6 months of horse training just to have matching last names.

Rittings · February 2017

On the question of "outleveling" the ring - the ring of mara itself could act like food/potion types that actually are tied to YOUR level - and so can be worn as a level 1 with level 1 stats, and then when you reach CP 160 the values given are of CP160 value.

I agree, and concede, the XP boost isn't all that worrying - it's just the fact that as of right now, 1,000 crowns (the usual price) is $10 and it does nothing but give you a few seconds ceremony and a ring that just stands between you and a double stacked set bonus lol. You can't even enchant the ring, so you lose any benefits from wearing a non-set item too.

Maybe they could actually sell "Set Piece" enchantments that allow the Rings of Mara in current circulation a chance to be "enchanted" with that set, and all it's bonuses.

I thought about this too... what about a "Honeymoon" period? Give a small bonus to stats, XP or something similar for a set time AFTER you get married too.

There are so many things they could do with this part of the game that would set them ahead of other MMOs.

Sinolai · February 2017

SolarCat02 wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

@SolarCat02

Essentially you could have made your characters appear as married by giving them last names in your name and of course making them the same last name.

While this is true, we created these characters long before we actually obtained the Pledge of Mara. Yes, they were still low levels when we decided to do the Mara pledge, but neither of us wanted to give up 6 months of horse training just to have matching last names.

there is a name change service token. If you feel rich you can use it.

DMuehlhausen · February 2017

The idea is to get to VR levels at the time at that point you would take the ring off anyway. Same thing now it's to help get you to max level.

It's a feature that isn't really viable anymore cause what it was suppose to help is no longer really in the game.

AdamBourke · February 2017

Just make the Ring of Mara wearable at the same time as the other rings?

I mean, it would go on a different finger IRL, right?

Rex-Umbra · February 2017

House sharing and no need to wear the useless ring would make me happy.

Tasear · February 2017

Dear ZOS couples are mad,

This is the third post this week. So all I ask is when you do make the old rings retroactive. Either way, I believe you will work things out.

Liofa · February 2017

I second house sharing . Would be awesome . Definitely needed .

Lark82 · February 2017

Liofa wrote: »

I second house sharing . Would be awesome . Definitely needed .

It would be amazing and makes perfect sense.

misfitmanic · February 2017

Argruna wrote: »

I still have my pledge sitting in the bank. I think it would be interesting to tie it to a non-combat pet. The pledges are meant for people that will be playing together a lot so maybe have like little floaty crystal pets that if they want the xp boost, both people need to have them out and be grouped? Then maybe tie in a dye color and a title like the Betrothed or something.

Just let me marry an assistant! Problem solved

SolarCat02 · February 2017

Sinolai wrote: »

SolarCat02 wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

@SolarCat02

Essentially you could have made your characters appear as married by giving them last names in your name and of course making them the same last name.

While this is true, we created these characters long before we actually obtained the Pledge of Mara. Yes, they were still low levels when we decided to do the Mara pledge, but neither of us wanted to give up 6 months of horse training just to have matching last names.

there is a name change service token. If you feel rich you can use it.

No... His is named after a movie character. Mine is lore friendly for a Breton.

I just said "It would be nice."
There is no need to try to solve my "problem" - I don't care enough to spend real life money on the thing. It would just be NICE.

It would also be nice to have a freezer full of Thin Mints in my basement, but I have no intentions of buying a $300 freezer and stocking it with $1,000 worth of cookies. I will just content myself with the half-of-a-box we currently have at home.

It would just be nice. It's not the end of the world, and we both decided the current in-game solutions aren't really worth the money or hassle. We would not get that much enjoyment out of it to make it worth the cost and whatever.

SunnyBunny · February 2017

Maybe something that would work would be use the rings to buy a house together - like a down payment or something like that.

Maybe to be able to actually see the ring - like when you change your view or something to be able to see it on your finger or as an earring or like around the neck. Just saying might be a good idea. (Although I realize that last sounds like a kink thing - lol)

TBONE_OG · February 2017

Guys, it's pretty simple. Need to treat the Mara ring like a guild tabard. Add a "ring 3" option to the inventory menu that only works with Mara rings. That way you don't break up sets when wanting to wear your ring while leveling with your spouse.

Done.

idk · February 2017

Imryll wrote: »

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Mara was designed and intended to speed up the leveling process and works fine for that. It's rare that a lvl 20 character will be in set bonus jewelry. It would take longer to find it that to out level it.

Actually, this is no longer true given the overland sets in One Tamriel. I have a level 10 who is reluctant to give up a level 6 Elegant Ring because the set bonus outweighs the advantages of a slightly higher level piece of jewelry. Her rings are green but the set bonuses are still very attractive.

I also have had two rings of mara sitting in my bank since early 2014, which I can't quite bring myself to destroy.

In the time it would take to acquire the 5 PC set the character could have been level 15 or 20 Instead your only at lvl 10.

Osteos · February 2017

Having the rings allow you to co-own a house would be great They need something because right now they are pretty worthless.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · February 2017

The rings shouldnt take up a jewelry slot, perhaps the costume slot would make more sense, or perhaps just make a new spot for it. I also like the idea of co-owning houses and stuff like that. You would have to be careful about giving any combat buffs. I dont want raids to have to consist of 6 married couples. There is already enough bickering. haha