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Should ESO embrace the fact that timeline is moving forward?

Lyserus
Lyserus
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^This

I dislike the way ZOS is treating timeline now, they want to make the story make sense whichever order you are playing, but they are not doing a good job, and it's almost impossible for them to do so.

The problem with current way they are doing things:

1.Immersion will break anyway if you return to older zones. To provide full immersion, NPCs in older content need to add dialogue, for example if you first meet the dunmer silblings in clockwork city, they should recognize you in vanilla zones and coldharbour. But it's a complicated task and ZOS so far did not implement that, instead they are only trying to let the newest content make sense if you play it first. The immersion is not there once you finish the new content and go back to older content

2.NPCs can't truly die and your choices wouldn't matter. In the current way they are doing things, ZOS simply cannot let any important (re-appearing) NPCs die. The prime example being, since ZOS didn't make up their mind about timeline when they started vanilla, so even if you kill Sai Sahan he will return in Dragonhold with barely any explanation given. And the worst part is, you know none of the re-appearing NPCs will die, becuase then it wouldn't make sense if you meet them in older content and no explanations are given about how they returned. Not that I want any of them to die, but knowing 100% they won't certainly doesn't help getting me into the story (especially when they are like "this is where I die, love you goodbye but I gotta sacrifice myself" and I'm like "haha no you are not dying")

I think ZOS should keep making sure starting in any zone would make sense, but they need to let players (especially new ones) understand that older contents happened in the past. First Molag Bal, then Triad, then dragons. You are Vestige so time traveling is not something cannot be explained, as long as people are made aware of the timeline, they can accept why some dead characters return in older zones, or your old friend NPC doesn't recognize you at all in older zones etc

Should ESO embrace the fact that timeline is moving forward? 46 votes

Yes, time need to go forward, ESO world should go on ahead and older content should be viewed as "happened" in newer content
41%
Aimorazsetnerzb16_ESO2DalsinthusLadyNalcaryaFLuFFyxMuFFiNTheDominionsusmitdsAztriaslogarifmikMizaelKalik_GoldTelvanniWizardInval1dRaisinDjikuDosuulAuraKoimizumazeikeenGaiusOctavius 19 votes
Yes, but only if players are made aware of the timeline order, so they understand why some NPC won't recognize you, or return from death in older zones
28%
EarrindoYukon2112TwylaaHallothielLyserusAurieZeroXFFBodžihellhound223TatankowildmagicBrisa3467SipofMaim 13 votes
No, they should keep the way they are doing things now, providing explanations everytime a dead NPC reappear (even if illogical)
6%
mikemacondoomettenafensoriel 3 votes
No, also they should go back to old contents to provide better NPC interations if they met the player in newer contents
6%
AhPook_Is_HereButterbeansEquaton 3 votes
I don't care
10%
DefiltedDarsagaLedJackDonny_VitoRazzledazzle_dar 5 votes
Other
6%
Nestorrotaugen454Darkenarlol 3 votes
  • Kalik_Gold
    Kalik_Gold
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    Yes, time need to go forward, ESO world should go on ahead and older content should be viewed as "happened" in newer content
    Should move forward, if an older overland zone is repurposed for newer content. It won’t affect map growth (running out of land). They can keep the old zones also (for new players).

    They need some zones that are the opposite of how they treat DLC (for new players), with a tutorial and easy quests. These new timeline overland zones could be vet overland that a lot of people want due to overland being easy now.

    Main Character:
    Ras Kalik a Redguard Templar, the Vestige

    PvP Pure-class:
    Goliath of Hammerfell a Redguard Dragonknight
    Jux Blackheart a Redguard Nightblade
    Aurik Siet'ka a Redguard Necromancer
    Cacique the Sage of Ius a Redguard Warden
    Kaotik Von Dae'mon a Redguard* Sorcerer

    PvP: Subclassed or Specialty
    Movárth Piquine a Nord Vampiric Necromancer (Tank)
    Voa a Priest of Sep a Redguard* Necromancer (Healer)
    Tsar af-Bomba a Redguard Vampiric Nightblade (Bomber)
    Two-Big-Horns an Argonian Arcanist /Sorcerer
    Uri Ice-Heart the Twin a Nord Vampiric Warden (Ice-Theme)

    PvE:
    Cinan Tharn an Imperial Dragonknight (Tank)
    Herzog Zwei the Genesis an Akavari* Templar (Healer)
    Bates Vesuius of Dawnstar an Redguard** Dragonknight (Raid Damage) --- Name change needed

    PvE: Specialty
    Tyrus Septim an Imperial Sorcerer (Dungeon Damage)
    Tav'i at-Shinji a Redguard** Warden (Arenas)
    Lucky Hunch the Gambler - a Redguard Nightblade (Thief)

    Leveling...
    Styx of Akatosh a Goblin*** Arcanist --- Race change needed
    Zenovia at-Tura a Redguard** Lycan Sorcerer
    Yesi af-Kalik a Redguard Templar
    ======
    Passives of another race used:
    *Breton
    **Imperial
    ***Argonian




    __________________________Backstories:_________________________

    Ras Kalik the Vestige, a renown Redguard warrior; He has been blessed to save Tamriel from Molag Bal’s destructive Planemeld while reuniting the Five Companions. His further accomplishments after defeating Molag Bal, has been to stop the destruction of Morrowind, the Clockwork City, return order to the isle of Summerset and create a new king in Wrothgar and a queen in Elsywer. These events have made him a living legend and continue to lead him into new adventures throughout Tamriel, as well as into the hearts of many ladies including the Elf Queen, Aryenn. Over many years of adventurous travels, Ras Kalik had become a loner, until he re-visited his homeland of Alik'r.

    Alik'r and it's cities were overrun by the undead Ra-Netu and therefore he made an allegiance with Alik'r's own Ash'abah tribe. These Ash'abah with his help, cleansed the city of Sentinel in Alik'r desert and it's surrounding areas of the undead brought to life by the Withered Hand. After rescuing Sentinel from the undead zombies, King Fahara’jad’s personal bodyguard the Goliath of Hammerfell, who was given this name by Imperials in the region; was asked to assist the tribe after learning of the defeat of the Withered Hand to the Ash'abah. Kalik promised Goliath he would task him with fighting living enemies on the battlefield if he so desired. Goliath being a Yokudan warrior wields a massive sword in respect to the Ansei, a gift given by the Imperial, Cinan Tharn. Not many soldiers are able to wield double two handed weapons, but Goliath loves to get up and personal in a fight, so he also carries a giant maul, both weapons laced with magical flames.

    Jux Blackheart is a master thief that masquerades as a Bard at the Sisters of the Sands inn, with his younger sidekick Lucky Hunch for pilfering and gambling during this time. Jux was known to infiltrate any towns bank vault he came across and even delved into Ayelid ruins without detection. Kalik can vividly recall the night he met the famed thief. Jux found himself rummaging thru a slightly inebriated Kalik’s pocket for too long, on a full-mooned night and because of his greed and the glimmer of his golden armor in the moonlight. He lost his left pinky fingertip as a lesson! But in return, he gained a new friend, as it was his first time since a child being caught red-handed...

    Upon arrival back in the Alik'r after many moons of adventuring, Ras Kalik ventures to Bergama. Visiting The Winking Jackal, he runs into Jux Blackheart, who introduces him to the coin game Crowns vs Forebearers (Heads vs Tails) and Golden Dwemer (RBG).... Jux constantly takes gold from the unfortunate thru theft or gambling, his biggest gambling victim is actually his partner in crime known as Lucky Hunch the Gambler. Lucky doesn't mind losing any gold coins to Jux... as Jux saved him from Altmer slavers in Summerset, by stealing a key and sending him on a boat to the mainland years prior. Lucky spent years in slavery with Khajiits in Summerset and picked up the art of subterfuge, using illusion magic disguises and stealing there.

    Kaotik Von’Daemon an outcast, and a half-caste between a Breton mother and a Redguard father. Kaotik become a pariah due to his conjuration of Daedra pets. He was taught healing magic during his childhood years by his Breton mother. His father due to Redguard customs exiled him from the desert, sending him by wagon caravan to be a soldier in the war in Cyrodiil. He happened to meet Kalik while traveling from Alik'r, during this long caravan ride the caravan he was in was ambushed in Bangkorai by a group of bandits. Kalik by chance was also traveling thru this area on his Auridon Warhorse (which was bestowed to him by his friend, Darien Gautier). During this ambush, Kalik was able to rescue five hostages from the bandits. Kaotik was the first rescued, and Ras Kalik also recruited him to be in the Ash'abah tribe. These core Ash'abah tribesmen may never be seen together in travel as they partake in their own adventures but they always know what each other is doing; as they frequent a hideout in northern Bankorai. Their hideout an old Orc castle ruin, is kept watch by Nuzhimeh and she passes messages written between them, and frequently they also enjoy her company and her bed.

    The other men rescued were a Dunmer banker, an Imperial mercenary and two other soldiers, an Imperial and a Breton Knight, stating proudly he was an Akavir descendent. One of the Imperials, Cinan, claimed to be related to Abnur Tharn the Battlemage of the Imperial Elder Council (One of Ras Kalik's mentors in the Five Companions). Cinan Tharn was really Abnur's drunkard treasure hunting illegitimate son. He was caught smuggling artifacts out of the Ayleid ruins in Cyrodiil and the elder of the two Imperials was Tyrus Septim a retired Imperial navy battle-mage (now a Lycan mercenary living in the city of Rimmen) and guard to the Tharn family. As much as Abnur Tharn hated his half-sister Euraxia, he dislikes his bas†ard son Cinan more. Tyrus now a ruffian and privateer had been paid by Abnur Tharn to watch over Cinan as much as possible. Cinan Tharn a drunkard, loves to drink at least a quarter barrel of Nord mead before he raids various delves and dungeons for relics to sell on the black market. Cinan also plans to one day, run an illegal gambling ring... which he thinks will net him more gold for his wares.

    The Dunmer captive shackled to the Imperials looked familiar to Kalik from his time in Morrowind.... and he recognized him as Tythis Andromo a House Telvanni slave-owner and banker from Vvardenfell. During a rough interrogation to Tythis, Ras Kalik learnt why the bandits accosted him. The racist Dunmer was providing slaves as soldiers for the Three Banner War. The bandits were trying to negotiate a lucrative ransom for Andromo and the Imperials.... Kalik did not need any of this gold and he could never set Tythis free as he did with the two Imperial soldiers. His past involvement with slavery and war crimes, made Kalik's blood boil. He chose not to execute Tythis, as he figured the worse punishment for this former rich and opulent slave owner, is to now be an imprisoned servant for Ras Kalik and the tribe.

    Herzog Zwei the Genesis a reknown Imperial/Akavirri battle-mage. His roots going back to Akavir through his mother’s bloodline. (His mother is descended from the Akaviri, through Versidue-Shae, and his Imperial father met her in Hakoshae, while traveling) Herzog earned the nickname "the Genesis" from his father as a child, as he was his mother's first born child, and last, as she tragically died in child-birth.

    Herzog was seeking to purchase an artifact from Cinan Tharn, before their capture and was meeting Tyrus while in Rimmen, who introduced him to Cinan. This artifact being the Ayelid artifact; the sword Sinweaver. After their rescue and the exchange of gold to Cinan for the sword he decided to slip away before Ras Kalik could question who he was, and why the Akavir descendant really wanted that sword. Herzog was headed to Nagastani — An Ayleid ruin in eastern Cyrodiil. He had read in scrolls that the Sword would give him magical powers to meet his mothers spirit, if he performed an Ayleid ritual at an old shrine hidden there. Equipped with the artifact sword, he was off to start his own adventure but Ras Kalik, did indeed notice the sword however and instead sent a letter to Jux Blackheart (whom also was interested in Ayleid treasures), to attempt to find Herzog and acquire the sword. (*Azani Blackheart in Elder Scroll's Oblivion is Jux's descendant some 747 years later)

    And so the Redguard, Imperial and Akaviri men parted ways ... While Ras Kalik went off to Elsweyr to encounter the latest threat to Tamriel, with Abnur Tharn and Sai Sahan - - DRAGONS!! Little did Ras Kalik know a few people were awaiting him in Senchal besides Sai. A necromancer survived his attack on the Withered Hand, while in Alik'r. The necromancer known as Auriek Siet'ka is also following him to the land of the Khajiits and Cacique the Sage of Ius a Shaman mystic who has become attuned spiritually with Tu'whacca (a Redguard God) and Ius (the Animal God), after being burned severely by the escaped dragons in Elsywer, is awaiting his arrival also. Aurik is a soldier of the Daggerfall Covenant that was introduced to necromancy while in the military, even though this magicka art is not spoken of openly by most of the Military leaders. He came to Alik'r and worked with the Withered Hand before Ras Kalik intervened on their plans. After the defeat of the Withered Hand, he aligned with the Worm Cult, and is constantly adapting and perfecting his necromantic arts.

    After his journey to Rimmen, Kalik heads south to Senchal, in the southern regions of Elyswer. This new adventure will also put him on a path to meet a strange Redguard man. The stranger which was infected with an untreated Peyrite disease and also was the exiled from the Order of the New Moon cult, due to his sickness. He originally joined the cult to worship Laatvulon, the green dragon, mistakenly thinking it was the Daedric prince Peyrite. This confused and suffering cultist is known as Tsar al-Bomba and he is on a path to spread the disease. He was originally infected in Orccrest while recruiting members there. Can Ras Kalik and the shaman Cacique cure this poor soul, only time will tell. Little does Tsar al-Bomba know, that his infection is tied to Vampirism, and eventually the desire for blood will take over his mind. Senchal also offers Kalik his latest love interest... Aeliah. Whom he fondly led thru battles with the Dragonguard.

    After the trek thru the heat, tropical and desert climate of Northern and Southern Elyswer, Ras Kalik heads north to the cold mountain range of Skyrim. His companion friend Lyris beckons for him with a letter sent by crow...

    Movárth Piquine - a former vampire hunter (now infected), within the Fighter's Guild (and a secretive necromancer) was in Skyrim working with the Morthaal Guard. On a patrol mission he was caught in Frewien's ice curse outside of Morthaal with the frozen undead. Movárth's vampiric infection kept him from becoming an undead minion to the curse. He was able to use necromantic ice-magic to encase himself safely until he was freed with Freiwen, when the Vestige Ras Kalik broke the curse.

    Uri Ice-Heart - brother of Urfon Ice-Heart. The twin sons of Atli and Oljourn Ice-Heart. The Ice-Heart family are originally from Markarth but now reside on the Jerall Mountain range near Cyrodiil, with their younger sister Araki. The twins had joined the Winterborn Reachmen while living in Markarth. Urfon pushed west to Orsinium with the Winterborn Clan, leaving his family behind. Uri stayed behind with his parents and sister to live in the family cabin for safety, avoiding the Vampire plague infiltrating the Reach. After news reaches him and he hears of Urfon's death... Uri leaves and heads home and is seeking vengeance. Meanwhile, his sister has also moved on to Windhelm to join the Fighter's guild. He will visit his sister, once before going to seek vengeance and she will craft him armor mixed with ice, called Stalhrim armor. Uri fearing death, after his brother's passing, falls victim to the convincing talk of Movárth at a Nordic tavern, and will also becomes a vampire.

    {time moves forward through the hour-glass}
    PS5/NA - Ras Kalik a Redguard Templar - Daggerfall Covenant
  • Darkenarlol
    Darkenarlol
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    Other
    that's why shifting starting zones is a bad move


    i would prefer some annoying Stuga-like NPC

    (or even a quest starter placed in the crown store

    same as they do to chapter/dlc prequest)

    as a new chapter's quest starter to forced

    starting location change anyday


    but...looks like guys at ZOS thinks that it is bad for

    their marketing tricks, which is absolutely their right =)



    i think that some kind of chronology tree tutorial

    can be usefull for new players intrested

    in immersive first time questing so they can

    progress the story in it's actual timeline


    all that immersion stuff breaks with cadwell's silver anyway
  • nafensoriel
    nafensoriel
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    No, they should keep the way they are doing things now, providing explanations everytime a dead NPC reappear (even if illogical)
    If you moved time "forward" as you suggest the entire world would need to be redone every time a content drop happened.

    Do you want the ZOS art team chained to their desks? You'd need a slave labor force to do that. It's entirely unrealistic to redraw the map every year. Heck, it's very unrealistic to redraw the map every few years.

    The zones in ESO are actually temporally progressive. 1T made them accessible at any time but from a story perspective, they are intended to be temporal progressive. This is to give gravitas to player choices and actions as they progress in the main storylines. The downside to what you are suggesting is that you narrow that gravitas into obscurity. Grand timelines of years are far more impactful to immersion than short weeks.
  • AcadianPaladin
    AcadianPaladin
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    All I want is the OPTION to start a new character off in the original proper Wailing Prision tutorial instead of forcing a new character into the newest flavor of the month zone. I'm an experienced player who can hold my nose through the flavor of the month tutorial then instantly port to a home, wash the new stuff off and go find the hooded stranger to start the game the way I want - but that is a lot of aggravating workaround for something that should be a simple option in the game when you start a new character.

    One reason I like starting in the Wailing Prison is that all my characters play the game in what I consider to be the most logical order. Basic alliance, silver, gold, dlc/chapter in order of release. For those who want to jump right into the newest content, I've no problem with that being an option as well - with the caveat that they may encounter some chrono-concerns.
    Edited by AcadianPaladin on October 9, 2019 12:23PM
    PC NA(no Steam), PvE, mostly solo
  • Hallothiel
    Hallothiel
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    Yes, but only if players are made aware of the timeline order, so they understand why some NPC won't recognize you, or return from death in older zones
    Wanted to chose more than one option.

    Time should move forward, npcs in old zones should recognise you if you have met them in ‘new’ zones, explanations should be given about ‘deaths’, and there should def be a way to clearly delineate the ‘right’ order for quests.
  • Donny_Vito
    Donny_Vito
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    I don't care
    I honestly don't care at this point anymore. If you can believe in the whole magic, deadra, etc... then you can easily believe that different zones represent different time periods. It's like we're okay accepting some of these weird magical ideas, but others we are not.

  • Nestor
    Nestor
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    Other
    Realizing how much work and then rework each year it would take for timeline continuity, the most efficacious way to handle the timeline is to let the player choose where to start.

    1. Original Alliance zone content is easier than new DLC. This is where new players should spend their first few hours at least.
    2. Experienced players can at least RP in their heads the Timeline differences if they choose to jump into new content first.
    3. The most glaring hiccups are reoccurring NPCs. Fixing the existing storylines may or may not be neccessary. But at least new occurrences could have a branch. Simply have the dialog we use either have a reference to a previous meeting or not. A single NPC response can handle things from there.
    4. This leaves the Sai Sirhan/Darien Gauterier inconsistencies. Maybe just don't have these in the future.
    Edited by Nestor on October 9, 2019 1:00PM
    Enjoy the game, life is what you really want to be worried about.

    PakKat "Everything was going well, until I died"
    Gary Gravestink "I am glad you died, I needed the help"

  • Lyserus
    Lyserus
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    Yes, but only if players are made aware of the timeline order, so they understand why some NPC won't recognize you, or return from death in older zones
    If you moved time "forward" as you suggest the entire world would need to be redone every time a content drop happened.

    Do you want the ZOS art team chained to their desks? You'd need a slave labor force to do that. It's entirely unrealistic to redraw the map every year. Heck, it's very unrealistic to redraw the map every few years.

    The zones in ESO are actually temporally progressive. 1T made them accessible at any time but from a story perspective, they are intended to be temporal progressive. This is to give gravitas to player choices and actions as they progress in the main storylines. The downside to what you are suggesting is that you narrow that gravitas into obscurity. Grand timelines of years are far more impactful to immersion than short weeks.

    What are you even talking about?

    All this is saying that say the vanilla zone is in 2E580, wrothgar happened in 2E582 etc. The zone and NPCs in that zone are stuck in that time in that zone, they will not aware of the new things that happened, unless ZOS specifically designed diaglogues for them

    No rework is needed unless ZOS desire to.

    Player need to be made aware of the timeline is all
    Edited by Lyserus on October 9, 2019 12:59PM
  • logarifmik
    logarifmik
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    Yes, time need to go forward, ESO world should go on ahead and older content should be viewed as "happened" in newer content
    As I said many times before current approach to the story telling is "fractured but whole". It's a mess, in other words. Something definitely needs to be done with it.

    I think it would be easy enough to implement two things: 1) allow player to choose the starting location, 2) make in-game guide of some sort through the timeline.

    Though, personally I'd prefer to see something they've done with last DLC. You can't proceed with it if the Elsweyr chapter is not finished yet.

    Also, it would be neat if even more NPCs from other alliance will recognize your allegiance. There is at least one good example in Anequina, a wood elf, which'll mock you if you're not from the Dominion. Like, people from hostile territory only tolerate you, because you're Vestige and helping authorities. It will not save you from occasional conflicts with some of them here and there, though. But that's a lot of work to do.
    EU PC: @logarifmik | Languages: Русский, English
    Dimitri Frernis | Breton Sorcerer | Damage Dealer | Daggerfall Covenant
    Scales-of-Ice | Argonian Warden | Tank / Healer | Daggerfall Covenant
  • AhPook_Is_Here
    AhPook_Is_Here
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    No, also they should go back to old contents to provide better NPC interations if they met the player in newer contents
    First this is Sheogorath's realm. Things don't have to make sense, I don't think time actually moves forward, each day is the same day, like groundhog day. The same people walk the same streets on the same paths, maybe you kill them, maybe you are just too tired to kill them again for their collectibles. Being a psychotic killer and hero is hard work and often full of personal conflicts, and being damned to the shivering isles and given a false hero narrative to live eternity out with while we loop through the same timeless day over and over and over is a dull hell.

    The first time I saw the truth in it was when I killed Rakkhat for the fifth time in a day and he was still saying the same thing like we'd never bumped into each other before, like I hadn't already killed him four times that day. I thought maybe it was his pride, he didn't want to acknowledge his perpetual defeat, but then I realized he didn't even know the truth of it. This left me despondent so I decided to murder a few innocents as that always cheers me up, and as I was conversing with him a bit later over a stack of his own corpses I realized he didn't even see the stack of his own bodies at his feet and was happy to have a very civil conversation with me about a few bits of local trivia. I wondered what crime he had committed against the divines to earn this fate. Murdered forever by a killer who can't kill anyone. Chase the cheese little mouse, chase the cheese and find the end to the circular maze.
    Edited by AhPook_Is_Here on October 9, 2019 1:50PM
    “Whatever.”
    -Unknown American
  • Razzledazzle_dar
    Razzledazzle_dar
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    I don't care
    Just play content in chronological order of RELEASE
    AD PC/NA
  • rotaugen454
    rotaugen454
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    There is simply no way to do a continuous storyline in a way that makes sense other than to go by release date. Being able to go anywhere messes it all up. New players will have no idea to play by release date so it won’t make sense to them.
    "Get off my lawn!"
  • mikemacon
    mikemacon
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    No, they should keep the way they are doing things now, providing explanations everytime a dead NPC reappear (even if illogical)
    So, to recap:

    Y’all are screaming at the devs (sometimes literally) that they aren’t fixing things fast enough, aren’t adding new {{PVP/PVE}} content enough, are “recycling” content too much...and now y’all want them to also spend ever-dwindling man-hours (and payments to voice talents to rework dialog) to go back and make the older content consistent with newer content.

    ::turns and stares into camera, while munching on popcorn::
  • mikemacon
    mikemacon
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    No, they should keep the way they are doing things now, providing explanations everytime a dead NPC reappear (even if illogical)
    Not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but this isn’t a single-player TES game.

    There are going to be inevitable compromises.
  • nafensoriel
    nafensoriel
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    No, they should keep the way they are doing things now, providing explanations everytime a dead NPC reappear (even if illogical)
    Lyserus wrote: »
    If you moved time "forward" as you suggest the entire world would need to be redone every time a content drop happened.

    Do you want the ZOS art team chained to their desks? You'd need a slave labor force to do that. It's entirely unrealistic to redraw the map every year. Heck, it's very unrealistic to redraw the map every few years.

    The zones in ESO are actually temporally progressive. 1T made them accessible at any time but from a story perspective, they are intended to be temporal progressive. This is to give gravitas to player choices and actions as they progress in the main storylines. The downside to what you are suggesting is that you narrow that gravitas into obscurity. Grand timelines of years are far more impactful to immersion than short weeks.

    What are you even talking about?

    All this is saying that say the vanilla zone is in 2E580, wrothgar happened in 2E582 etc. The zone and NPCs in that zone are stuck in that time in that zone, they will not aware of the new things that happened, unless ZOS specifically designed diaglogues for them

    No rework is needed unless ZOS desire to.

    Player need to be made aware of the timeline is all

    Quantify how you tell what year it is in real life for me.
    Translate that to a video game.
    I bet you'll get a mix of visual queues from the world around you.

    If you just want "state the timeline in-text" that's pointless. It has no gravitas or meaning. It's useless fluff for fluff's sake.

    If you want to show exactly where you are IN a timeline.. that requires WORLD elements to SHOW you that timeline.. which possibly requires art and world changes(say you want to show anchors gone after finishing coldharbor for example).

    If you just want to show the temporal positioning of each zone.. well arguably that's pointless as the amount of narration and visual explaining for someone not invested in ESO lore would really take to long. Does someone from the 1950s care that its 1950? The same thing will be true about players. History only matters when it has become history. We play always from the current present. We make history in ESO thus really have no player-driven need to know the exact minutia of our point in the storyline.

    Sorry if that confuses you. I can't look at one issue and not see the 10 sub-issues that will crop up because of it. I just don't feel that temporal markers as suggested in the OP really matter and an obsession about them can complicate future storytelling opportunities. Take that opinion and do what you will with it.
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