Cannot Continue With Main Quest - No Support Conclusion ?

Shadowshire · May 2020

Regarding Customer Service Ticket: # 200502-001689

On 2 May 2020, I used the "Ask For Help" feature of TESO Feedback concerning the fact that I have not been able to continue the Main Quest for one of my characters. My request, the Support reply, and my response to it are posted below. Support has not responded thus far to my reply to their request for more information.

Request For Help

After finishing the Main Quest "Castle of the Worm" I have not been contacted by The Prophet or by any other NPC to continue with the next Main Quest, which should be "The Tharn Speaks". I looked for Abnur Tharn in the Daggerfall Mages Guild. However, he is not as described by Online: The Tharn Speaks and offers only the Elsweyr Prologue quest. There is no Main Quest currently in the Journal, so I cannot ask for assistance for it specifically. How can I continue the Main Quest without a quest giver??

Bethesda Customer Support response on 05/02/2020 06:01 AM:

Question Subject: Customer Service Ticket
Question Reference # 200502-001689

Date Created: 05/02/2020 04:04 AM
Date Last Updated: 05/02/2020 06:01 AM
Product: ESO
Status: Customer Response Required

Greetings,
Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team!
In order to investigate this matter further we will need you to provide the following information:
What is the name of the quest you are experiencing issues with?

What quest objective are you experiencing this issue with?

What is the issue that you are experiencing with this quest?

Once you have responded with this information we can attempt to assist you further.
Thank you for your continued interest and support!
Kind Regards,
The Elder Scrolls Online Team

My reply to the response:

Note: my character, Ace Gokh, is a male Orc who began TESO in a cell in Coldharbour, from which The Prophet (an NPC) freed him. He is associated with the Daggerfall Covenant Alliance. Currently, The Prophet is in The Harborage in Glenumbra. Your questions sent in reply to my request for help are in bold font in this response:

What is the name of the quest you are experiencing issues with?
The name of the next quest in the Main Quest series is "The Tharn Speaks". However, currently, it is not recorded in my character's Quest Journal.

What quest objective are you experiencing this issue with?
My character (Ace Gokh) has not received the initiating instruction to find Abnur Tharn -- from whatever source it is given. That is why it is not recorded in his Quest Journal, of course.

What is the issue that you are experiencing with this quest?
Abnur Tharn is not waiting for Ace Gokh in the Mages Guild Hall in Daggerfall (Glenumbra). There would be a large white downward-pointing arrowhead above the NPC if he were there.

To quote the wiki created by Enodoc, a TESO Community Ambassador, Online: The Tharn Speaks :
"Upon completion of the last quest, you should get a quest telling you to go to the Mages Guild in your alliance's first major city (Vulkhel Guard, Daggerfall or Davon's Watch). Inside the guildhall, the quest will update; now you need to talk to Abnur Tharn. Tharn is dressed like a mage in blue and white robes. ...."

In sum, short, and fine: a character cannot begin a quest unless and until the quest is received (and accepted) from a "quest-giver", which is usually an NPC. (Although a quest can be given by an object such as a corpse, a document, a weapon, jewelry, etc., which the character finds and "examines".)

Thank-you for your time and effort in providing a resolution of this strange situation. In the course of playing four other characters during the past five-plus years, this is the first time that I have found my character unable to continue the Main Quest story-line because the character did not, and could not, obtain the next quest in the series.

This outcome seems to be produced by a flaw in the software which is revealed only under specific circumstances that I cannot identify.

Curiously, the add-on Destinations has a map pin pointing to the location just outside Daggerfall -- at the start of the path which leads to/from The Harborage -- where the quest-giver for the "The Tharn Speaks" should be encountered by my character. The pin is annotated with the quest name. However, as my character approaches, moves through, or stops at, that location, nothing happens.
When my character returns to The Harborage, The Prophet tells him the same thing that he said there after the end of "Castle of The Worm". Lyris Titanborn and Abnur Tharn are also present, and tell my character the same things that they said after "The Castle of the Worm".
The quest does not "update" as described by the wiki quoted above when my character enters the Mages Guild Hall in Daggerfall -- apparently because the quest is not recorded in his Quest Journal.

It does not seem likely to me that Support will respond any further, whether they have advised or will advise the developers of the problem.

What can I do in this situation?? Too much time, effort, and resources have been spent developing the character to simply delete the character and "start over"!

Langdon64 · May 2020

I may be wrong about this but there is a bug if you have the demon weapon quest for elsweyr in your quest log it prevents you from finishing the main quest. Try to abandon the demon weapon quest if its in your quest log.

Raisin · May 2020

I don't see any reason why support wouldn't keep helping you. Just gotta be patient and wait for their response.

idk · May 2020

@ZOS_BillE may be able to help you with the ticket.

However, CS response is slower now due to both Covid's impact on the group who performs the CS and the influx of more active players.

Good luck with your issue.

Shadowshire · May 2020

@ZOS_BillE

Langdon64 wrote: »

I may be wrong about this but there is a bug if you have the demon weapon quest for elsweyr in your quest log it prevents you from finishing the main quest. Try to abandon the demon weapon quest if its in your quest log.

Wow, thanks for the tip!! My character does have that quest. So I will abandon it, and let you know if it works.

UPDATE: after my character abandoned "The Demon Weapon" prologue quest, I reloaded the UI. Then my character traveled via a Wayshrine to the Wayshrine at Daggerfall.

Upon arrival, I heard a "Daedric" voice demand that I meet Abnur Tharn in the Daggerfall Mages Guild, immediately. The quest "The Tharn Speaks" was added to his Quest Journal, and a notice about the "update" was shown on the HUD.

So, Ace Gokh proceeded to the Daggerfall Mages Guild hall where he found Abnur Tharn. Now the current quest in the Main Quest chain is underway. Thank-you very, very much for your assistance! Personally, I doubt that the Support team has a clue, even if the bug has already been reported to the developers (or maybe not, who knows?).

See you around Tamriel!