Why do Quest NPCs have "This is what you just did" dialogue.

ArchMikem · June 2021

Been meaning to ask this for some time. I keep being reminded cause the writers keep doing this with every Questline.

At the end of every major Quest the NPC will start listing off a summary of everything that's happened previously, or really everything you JUST did, like the player is expected to have forgotten immediately and needs a reminder. It's gotten pretty annoying. My attention span isn't that short.

PrinceShroob · June 2021

These dialogues facilitate completing the quests with breaks in between, because you had to go to bed or go to work or some other reason. I can't tell you how many times I've considered restarting games because I took a break from playing them and couldn't remember what I was doing and what had happened.

Additionally, these dialogues can help remind you and focus your attention if you recently did the quest but were called away before you could start the next one (say your dungeon queued popped or friends wanted to do something).

Fennwitty · June 2021

As long as it's kept as a separate, optional dialog option then it's really 'best practices' nowadays to include summaries.

This game has how many thousands of quests?

Sure if you do a zone story straight through, it's unnecessary information. But if you start a zone story one one character, then go do a different zone and get sidetracked on new quests and storylines for months or years, when you finally go back to the started zone you may have very little recollection of what the heck was going on.

FluffWit · June 2021

Apparently Davons Watch would have been overrun if I wasn't there.

After 5 years my memories a little hazy but I'll take every Dunmer everywhere word for it.

ArchMikem · June 2021

Fennwitty wrote: »

But if you start a zone story one one character, then go do a different zone and get sidetracked on new quests and storylines for months or years, when you finally go back to the started zone you may have very little recollection of what the heck was going on.

Can't really understand why anyone would start a major Questline and then just get sidetracked for a long period of time. If you begin a story you want to see it through, don't you? Even if you have to break for the night, or a couple days for work/school, you couldn't have forgotten what you were doing already.

Greasytengu · June 2021

I just love it when a dominion guard tells me that Ayrenn is a traitor and Estre should have had the throne.

alanmatillab16_ESO · June 2021

It even happened to Gandalf when he took a break: "I have no memory of this place"

Minyassa · June 2021

Some of us players are over 50, lol. xD

Flamebait · June 2021

ArchMikem wrote: »

Fennwitty wrote: »

But if you start a zone story one one character, then go do a different zone and get sidetracked on new quests and storylines for months or years, when you finally go back to the started zone you may have very little recollection of what the heck was going on.

Can't really understand why anyone would start a major Questline and then just get sidetracked for a long period of time. If you begin a story you want to see it through, don't you? Even if you have to break for the night, or a couple days for work/school, you couldn't have forgotten what you were doing already.

Why? Perhaps it wasn't an overly compelling questline, or something in real life came up and the person was away for a month or two. Maybe the person simply doesn't care about immersion and forgot what they were doing when they got sidetracked. All reasonable and possible answers so it's nice to have a choice to be reminded what they were doing.

colossalvoids · June 2021

I'd also prefer if those lines were some non mandatory stuff or would dynamically appear if you were offline for X amount of time tbh. But players already are treated in dialogues like idiots so it wouldn't change much there, wish there was a switch for "yeah, I'm already a lore nerd" so you won't be asking who is mehrunes dagon being hero of tamriel/nirn for years.

Rossmann · June 2021

In %95 of quests, there is no story value that need a precise reading or digesting, so you skip and skip conversations. It's getting annoying after a while you get reminded all the times about what happened, because basicly you just don't care. You don't need to afterall, there are no cons if you miss a dialogue or an option, game gives you all the info you need all the time, as if you are dumb.

So, i understand OP.

VaranisArano · June 2021

Because sometimes it's been weeks before you return to the questline.

*waves in Northern Elsweyr*

It's a little more annoying when it's on been 10 minutes, though. But the game can't really tell that, and so they give the summary dialogue.