With portals and wayshrines providing instant travel around the map, a "portal-like" entrance that takes you down to Blackreach doesn't seem unreasonable. It just needs a bit more FX added so you don't feel like it's a single step.

But some rando Nord has portal magic in their basement hatch? This still doesn't make sense to me.

the events are 1000 years apart or so plenty of time for the ladder entrance to be destroyed/forgotten not sure why a ladder is an issue?

There were rumors of blackreach in skyrim so people had to have discovered it at some point perhaps several points before those events whos to say one of them didn't have a thing for ladders.

I'm hoping they use the vampires prodding around down there as some of the story behind how the falmer found their way into the main chamber en masse because it seems the dwemer automatons might have been keeping them at bay until then

this wasnt just a rando nord but a full on vampire clan, ancient vampires who probably knew full well where to go they probably traded with the dunmer who used to live down there and knew some shortcuts to get in. the inn might not have originally had the path but they could have made it with the knowledge that it was over a way to get in

ghastley wrote: »

With portals and wayshrines providing instant travel around the map, a "portal-like" entrance that takes you down to Blackreach doesn't seem unreasonable. It just needs a bit more FX added so you don't feel like it's a single step.

Salix_alba wrote: »

the events are 1000 years apart or so plenty of time for the ladder entrance to be destroyed/forgotten not sure why a ladder is an issue?

There were rumors of blackreach in skyrim so people had to have discovered it at some point perhaps several points before those events whos to say one of them didn't have a thing for ladders.

It is like you guys don't want cool epic stories, just some cheap shortcut because hey it is fantasy so yeah.. magic, they teleported there somehow coz magic. So if they would add something more interesting and unique, would that bother you?

For me it looks like they don't have enough budget or time to do this right, which is sad. Like the metal sconce you see in the palace. It does not have any embers. I'm fine with the old models,.. they are old. But new models should be much better. Some Elsweyr furnishings still have low res textures even now. Just look at what volunteers make for the Skywind and Skyblivion projects and you will wonder why you can't have the same passion and love for detail in a commercial game anymore?

It would be better if the owners of the inn found a passage to a cave with a dwemer elevator .. and by fixing that you get to Blackreach.

Think of the cool quests we had for Elsweyr! Grappling hook, puzzle cubes, Frostvault with its deadly technology and cool mechanics... you got to repair a collosal dwemer drill and in the end you sabotaged the final boss with skeevatrons. Not to mention that discovering the Dragonguard bases felt like a real adventure!

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

The basement hatch is not the entrance to Blackreach. The basement hatch, and the ladder beneath it get you into the basement.

You actually get to Blackreach by going along a secret passage, the entrance of which is...

hidden in a wardrobe in that basement. Read Lyris's dialogue. That makes it clear what is going on.


There's no telling how long that secret tunnel is. Speaking for myself I'm quite glad they didn't make us jog along for a few minutes looking at the bare rock walls of a narrow passage in order to get from that basement all the way down to Blackreach.

Based on this, I'd wager that the vampires had the hole dug out since they'd been in Blackreach already, and that wardrobe was placed there by the owner, but the vamps just hollowed it out after making the tunnel. The Nord most definitely didn't know that tunnel was there.

kojou wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

The basement hatch is not the entrance to Blackreach. The basement hatch, and the ladder beneath it get you into the basement.

You actually get to Blackreach by going along a secret passage, the entrance of which is...

hidden in a wardrobe in that basement. Read Lyris's dialogue. That makes it clear what is going on.


There's no telling how long that secret tunnel is. Speaking for myself I'm quite glad they didn't make us jog along for a few minutes looking at the bare rock walls of a narrow passage in order to get from that basement all the way down to Blackreach.

You also pass by Narnia along the way, but the story would be way too long if they showed that part.

It reminded me of Narnia too.

Keylun wrote: »

Would be cool if there was a pool of water beyond the bottom of the basement where we fall through and see all the layers of the earth and the depth of Blackreach.

Similar to crypt of hearts

yes! or a decently long dwemer elevator ride. And i did in fact read the dialogue, and I knew about the "secret" door. I'm still saying it's in someone's basement. Secondly, yes the vamps took that place over, but presumably they were not the true owners of that inn.

SilverIce58 wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

The basement hatch is not the entrance to Blackreach. The basement hatch, and the ladder beneath it get you into the basement.

You actually get to Blackreach by going along a secret passage, the entrance of which is...

hidden in a wardrobe in that basement. Read Lyris's dialogue. That makes it clear what is going on.


There's no telling how long that secret tunnel is. Speaking for myself I'm quite glad they didn't make us jog along for a few minutes looking at the bare rock walls of a narrow passage in order to get from that basement all the way down to Blackreach.

Based on this, I'd wager that the vampires had the hole dug out since they'd been in Blackreach already, and that wardrobe was placed there by the owner, but the vamps just hollowed it out after making the tunnel. The Nord most definitely didn't know that tunnel was there.

That... is a good explanation!

SilverIce58 wrote: »

StabbityDoom wrote: »

SilverIce58 wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

The basement hatch is not the entrance to Blackreach. The basement hatch, and the ladder beneath it get you into the basement.

You actually get to Blackreach by going along a secret passage, the entrance of which is...

hidden in a wardrobe in that basement. Read Lyris's dialogue. That makes it clear what is going on.


There's no telling how long that secret tunnel is. Speaking for myself I'm quite glad they didn't make us jog along for a few minutes looking at the bare rock walls of a narrow passage in order to get from that basement all the way down to Blackreach.

Based on this, I'd wager that the vampires had the hole dug out since they'd been in Blackreach already, and that wardrobe was placed there by the owner, but the vamps just hollowed it out after making the tunnel. The Nord most definitely didn't know that tunnel was there.

That... is a good explanation!

Thanks! Now if only they explained it in game like that. I don't remember if there was an explanation or not. Might have to do it again tonight.

I believe this would solve all my concerns. I like this.

Anotherone773 wrote: »

Did you know this game has boats that will take you to different ports? How many players do you think used those boats this year? Id say less than 1%. Which is about the same amount of players that will use anything but wayshrines outside of storymode to get to blackreach. Why waste the resources on it?

Why waste resources on the cinematics then? The prologue works like an interactive cinematic, you do those things once pe character, so in that line it is also a waste.

It seems to me that you do not care much about the depth of the story presented to us. We comment here because we also play the game for its stories, we are fans of the previous versions of the game, and especially TES lore and story-telling. For me, good story telling is not a waste of resources.

Yes you can take the boat, and you do that when you finish questing for your alliance or want to skip it and play something else. But that marks a transition in your character's storyline. If you care about that. Some players here do care, we do a bit of RP or more, so because TES is a MMORPG we enjoy having these details.

One of my favourite examples of such travels you mentioned, is when I started ESO, as DC character and spent most of my early levels on Stros M'kai gathering the crew to leave by ship. When everyone was there and the ship was ready for Bethnik, it felt like an acomplishment and even that was a one way trip, I still remember it today after 5 years, so that being said, it wasn't a waste of resources!

Anotherone773 wrote: »

Did you know this game has boats that will take you to different ports? How many players do you think used those boats this year? Id say less than 1%. Which is about the same amount of players that will use anything but wayshrines outside of storymode to get to blackreach. Why waste the resources on it?

But I like the boats. True, when I am just jetting around Tamriel with a bag full of resource-maps or hunting something at the guild kiosks, I use wayshrines. But I like to have the option, to use the boat when I am in "story-mode" as you put it. It is a story-based game isn't it?

I like that there is a quest and a cart that takes me to Belkarth for the first time. I love (with a capital L) the way you find Quen in the Outlaws Refuges and she takes you on that truely epic heist, only for the two of you to end up in Abah's Landing. The distress of finding all the inhabitants of Bleakrock before you can flee to the saver shores (again by boat). Or do you remember how you reach the Alik'r for the first time, finding the docks overrun by zombies?

First impressions matter, as the saying goes.

And while Stuga in her persistence is annoying, I like getting or finding a letter that directs me to a quest much, much better than having to pluck it from the interface. I am just thinking, I should have complained about this more in the forums, than to my friends, I suppose.

Funny MMO'ers

It is a movie reference. Guess which movie !