Suggesting a form of content lock to aid chronological storytelling

tohopka_eso · May 2019

There's another game I log in from time to time that has this and I hate it. Can't explore if you haven't done that one quest to unlock zone. I much prefer freedom of choice. Say one night I want to go skyshard hunting but can't do a zone being locked.

Enodoc · May 2019

Uviryth wrote: »

Plus, why do I still need an Addon to distinguish Mainquests (as in Chains that advance a Sotryline) from Sidequests?

You don't need an add-on for that? The Zone Guide does exactly that, it tells you which quests are the ones that advance the storyline. Besides, I don't think there is any add-on that does that anyway.

logarifmik · May 2019

Riejael wrote: »

logarifmik wrote: »

This whole situation with the story in TESO needs a good explanation.

Why? You all don't realize that not every player is here for the story. I've already made the argument that there needs to be a way to avoid the story more than we can already can. Not every new player is a clueless newbie that gets 'overwhelmed'. Veteran MMO players can and do handle playing ESO just fine (I'd dare say some of them handle it better than most 'vets' who have been playing for years).

There should be NOTHING stopping a player who comes to ESO and just wants to do endgame content with friends or for those who simply want to do the challenging stuff right off the bat. Not have to sit through hundreds of lines of voiced dialogue just because some writer for the game feels slighted. They've got to go from 1-50, that's more than a big enough tutorial for anyone.

Hell my group I run with has completed most of Elsewyr and none of us could tell you any lore about it other than there's dragons killing cats supposedly.

A very interesting approach. I only hope it'll never become a driving force for the majority of this community. Putting my disgust aside, I should point out, that I'm not speaking about any mechanics, which will force players to dive into the story. What I'm saying is about the narrative of the game, in other words how the story is told. If you want to leaf through the book, be my guest, I don't mind it.

No offense, but you should really consider to read more, comrade. Such a simple sense eludes you.

Uviryth · May 2019

Riejael wrote: »

logarifmik wrote: »

This whole situation with the story in TESO needs a good explanation.

Why? You all don't realize that not every player is here for the story. I've already made the argument that there needs to be a way to avoid the story more than we can already can. Not every new player is a clueless newbie that gets 'overwhelmed'. Veteran MMO players can and do handle playing ESO just fine (I'd dare say some of them handle it better than most 'vets' who have been playing for years).

There should be NOTHING stopping a player who comes to ESO and just wants to do endgame content with friends or for those who simply want to do the challenging stuff right off the bat. Not have to sit through hundreds of lines of voiced dialogue just because some writer for the game feels slighted. They've got to go from 1-50, that's more than a big enough tutorial for anyone.

Hell my group I run with has completed most of Elsewyr and none of us could tell you any lore about it other than there's dragons killing cats supposedly.

Maybe you should consider other games/genres? PUB:G or Apex Legends seems perfect for you guys.

Uviryth · May 2019

Enodoc wrote: »

Uviryth wrote: »

Plus, why do I still need an Addon to distinguish Mainquests (as in Chains that advance a Sotryline) from Sidequests?

You don't need an add-on for that? The Zone Guide does exactly that, it tells you which quests are the ones that advance the storyline. Besides, I don't think there is any add-on that does that anyway.

Destinations does. And the Zoneguide isnt exactly clear. Its more of a completionlist.

BretonMage · May 2019

ArchMikem wrote: »

If not an addon to the Zone Guide then how about just a Main Quest lock? The zones themselves can be available to explore and quests associated with delves, and the world are open but the main questlines would have prerequisites

I like this idea. Main Quest and Faction Story Quests should have a defined progression, but all zones, delves and side quests remain open and free to explore at all times.

It should be easy to explore all regions as desired, but right now, doing so really messes with the storylines. I was horribly spoiled once about Prince Naemon when I visited Marbruk before finishing the story in Auridon. These occurrences make a game feel unpolished, tbh.

jainiadral · May 2019

Enodoc wrote: »

Wildbloom wrote: »

It's not a terrible idea, but I don't think it should be mandatory at all. An in-game guide that shows you where to start any of the main stories that the game has told through multiple content-releases that suggests where to start the different ones would be amazing.

Strictly locking content simply to guide players towards the proper story goes against what this game encourages, but I see no reason not to guide them in the right order instead. There's a difference between "enforce" and "suggest".

I agree that this is the way to do it. Supplement the new Zone Guide with a "Story Guide", which would list all the zone stories relevant to a larger overarching story in one place - currently, those would be the Planemeld (covering the Alliance Zones, the Main Quest, and the Imperial City), the Daedric War (covering Vvardenfell, Clockwork City, and Summerset), the new Season of the Dragon, and "Other" (Craglorn, Wrothgar, Hew's Bane, Gold Coast, Murkmire). The Prologue Quests could be added in here too, as they are by definition relevant to the story of the zone that they precede, but don't fit anywhere else.

This I'd love. I still haven't run the full story from beginning thru the DLCs in order yet-- I will one day, I promise

The biggest problem I'd have with story lock is simple: some of the story quest minibosses are really hard before level 50. I personally got stuck in the DC storyline in that one Stormhaven quest where the boss is a wispmother at about level 25 or so. My story sequence was totally messed up, but I was able to keep playing and leveling my toon.

If I'd been locked, I'd have never been able to finish leveling, finish the main story, and continue on to simpler zones. Same with the Mages' Guild story-- some of the end bosses were pretty tough, even at CP 100-ish. Getting locked into a dead end is a good way to sabotage player retention.

srfrogg23 · May 2019

ArchMikem wrote: »

I shouldve realized writing OP that locking entire zones would be much more controversial than maybe locking just the quests, or just putting the order in the zone guide so players can be informed.

There are hundreds of "content locked" MMOs out there. Locking the leveling content in ESO removes a unique feature and, quite frankly, takes it back to the boring pre-1T days.

Yes. The Zone Guide is a better place for providing players with a storyline content roadmap. Locking the content would just be stupid.

KhajiitFelix · May 2019

YES

Riejael · May 2019

Uviryth wrote: »

Riejael wrote: »

logarifmik wrote: »

This whole situation with the story in TESO needs a good explanation.

Why? You all don't realize that not every player is here for the story. I've already made the argument that there needs to be a way to avoid the story more than we can already can. Not every new player is a clueless newbie that gets 'overwhelmed'. Veteran MMO players can and do handle playing ESO just fine (I'd dare say some of them handle it better than most 'vets' who have been playing for years).

There should be NOTHING stopping a player who comes to ESO and just wants to do endgame content with friends or for those who simply want to do the challenging stuff right off the bat. Not have to sit through hundreds of lines of voiced dialogue just because some writer for the game feels slighted. They've got to go from 1-50, that's more than a big enough tutorial for anyone.

Hell my group I run with has completed most of Elsewyr and none of us could tell you any lore about it other than there's dragons killing cats supposedly.

Maybe you should consider other games/genres? PUB:G or Apex Legends seems perfect for you guys.

For the first person shooter genre (which makes this an apples to oranges comparison), Planetside 2 is the superior game by far.

The combat system of ESO is very fun to play. The character customization of abilities and builds also has potential to be very good as well. The game is fine for our purposes currently, we just prefer that it was more multiplayer oriented.

I come from an era of gaming when the story was mostly kept to the manuals. Where games were games and not stories to be read of movies to be watched. To put it shortly, if I want to read a story, I have over a hundred books on a bookshelf of books ranging from purchased last year, to 200 years ago passed down by the family. And if I want to watch a movie, I've got Netflix and a local movie theater with matinee prices of $4.

Enodoc · May 2019

Uviryth wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

Uviryth wrote: »

Plus, why do I still need an Addon to distinguish Mainquests (as in Chains that advance a Sotryline) from Sidequests?

You don't need an add-on for that? The Zone Guide does exactly that, it tells you which quests are the ones that advance the storyline. Besides, I don't think there is any add-on that does that anyway.

Destinations does. And the Zoneguide isnt exactly clear. Its more of a completionlist.

Hmm, interesting. There's no indication on the Destinations info page that it does that, so I didn't realise.

I have to disagree on your suggestion that the zone guide isn't clear though - in my view,

for storyline quests and

for side quests is pretty clear.

ArchMikem · May 2019

Riejael wrote: »

Uviryth wrote: »

Riejael wrote: »

logarifmik wrote: »

This whole situation with the story in TESO needs a good explanation.

Why? You all don't realize that not every player is here for the story. I've already made the argument that there needs to be a way to avoid the story more than we can already can. Not every new player is a clueless newbie that gets 'overwhelmed'. Veteran MMO players can and do handle playing ESO just fine (I'd dare say some of them handle it better than most 'vets' who have been playing for years).

There should be NOTHING stopping a player who comes to ESO and just wants to do endgame content with friends or for those who simply want to do the challenging stuff right off the bat. Not have to sit through hundreds of lines of voiced dialogue just because some writer for the game feels slighted. They've got to go from 1-50, that's more than a big enough tutorial for anyone.

Hell my group I run with has completed most of Elsewyr and none of us could tell you any lore about it other than there's dragons killing cats supposedly.

Maybe you should consider other games/genres? PUB:G or Apex Legends seems perfect for you guys.

For the first person shooter genre (which makes this an apples to oranges comparison), Planetside 2 is the superior game by far.

The combat system of ESO is very fun to play. The character customization of abilities and builds also has potential to be very good as well. The game is fine for our purposes currently, we just prefer that it was more multiplayer oriented.

I come from an era of gaming when the story was mostly kept to the manuals. Where games were games and not stories to be read of movies to be watched. To put it shortly, if I want to read a story, I have over a hundred books on a bookshelf of books ranging from purchased last year, to 200 years ago passed down by the family. And if I want to watch a movie, I've got Netflix and a local movie theater with matinee prices of $4.

...you're a confusing special kind of person. You seem to actually care about stories and narratives, just not at all in the video game medium. Every time I've come across someone who cares only about competing with other players or achievements or just using the game as an e-peen measuring stick, they'd very quickly bash the idea of a good story both in and out of cyber space, cause who cares right? All that matters is winning and baggin' fools.

I myself view video games as books since they're just much easier to experience a story now for me. Back in Highschool I used to spend every lunch hour in the Library, but now over the years actual reading has become too lengthy and tiring. A funny little thing I came up with is, "If a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm reading at 60 pictures a second."

Also have a 👍 for Planetside 2. The Suits should cut you a bonus check.

Cundu_Ertur · May 2019

I would have liked the option to not see main story questline quests until I hit that point in the story, just because it's annoying to run into a cute lady assassin in some town and have her talk about me as if she's known me when we've never met. The funky quest icon that was recently put in does help with avoiding that.

cameronmccrwb17_ESO wrote: »

I don't need my new characters being told zone X urgently needs your attention right now every time I enter it.

Do you have an idea how long I've been looking for you?

Do you have an idea how long I've been looking for you?

Do you have an idea how long I've been looking for you?

Do you have an idea how long I've been looking for you?

Do you have an idea how long I've been looking for you?

A_Silverius · May 2019

Great idea, but instead of a content lock I'd suggest a "Content Advisor" which guides you through the intended questlines.

Imza · May 2019

how about adding a guide page to where Cadwells silver and gold is...

It could list all the story in progression and possibly tell you what you've done?

EDIT:
There should also be a hooded figure outside each of the tutorial areas to help new users to understand the story progression and who could give you a pointer to that page

Riejael · May 2019

ArchMikem wrote: »

...you're a confusing special kind of person. You seem to actually care about stories and narratives, just not at all in the video game medium.

You actually understand and know the meaning between the lines. You're right, I do know and care about the lore and story of the games I play. For example, I could tell you the relationships between the pantheon in Everquest, despite there not being much about it in the actual games. Or the actual Legend of Zelda from the game series of the name. Many people think they know all the lore of the Zelda games, but few actually know the actual Legend the games are named after. Another bit of story never actually mentioned -IN- any of the games.