Blackwood isn't super impressive

MrDenimChicken · July 2021

Gotta say it. Morrowind impressed me (compared to the base game), and then Summerset impressed me. Elsewyr continued that high quality. Then Greymoor honestly wasn't super impressive. Blackreach looks nice but the stuff to do inside isn't amazing. It was fun to look at for the first few minutes but after that, empty.

Honestly I just did some quests and exploration in Blackwood, and then I logged into a character to do some dailies, and that character was in the south side of North Elsewyr. And BOOM I was like, holy moooooly Elsewyr is way more impressive than Blackwood visually.

Long story short, it seems like you guys aren't really upping your game Zenimax. Idk, maybe the crown crate stuff is more important now from a min/maxing profit/loss type of thing. But not gonna lie, you guys need to up your game.

ToxicOutrage · July 2021

I agree, I have been doing Morrowing questline on my other char the other day, and holy *, it basically has 3 very long independent quest lines ( vivec main quest, sun-in-shadow, balmora). All 3 are memorable and very fleshed out, compare that to the only other "city" questline in blackwood (Gideon) that I finished in less than an hour and forgot about it. Also notice how many interesting places markers there are in other chapters and in this one. I think it is 19 vs 9 in Blackwood.

Visually it also looks almost like a vanilla zone minus theme park. I would say it is the weakest chapter visually so far. Yes okay it is a swamp jadajada, but even Murkmire looks much better. They couldve added more enviromental effects like they did in Skyrim (fog) or at least do the chapter justice and add more trees.

Finally, take into account that they have been recycling mechanics & using the same recipe for years with dolmens, how do the manage ever year to make things worse? Dragons were better than Greystorms, Greystorms are better than Oblivion portals. Just how do manage to use the same thing over and over and not improve on it but make it worse???

And it is not like this chapter saved on lore & environment to add on mechanics, it did neither lol. This is why it is such a failure saleswise

Sylvermynx · July 2021

Ugh. I dislike MW (other than the nice crafting route in Vivec). Blackwood is so wonderful! The music is great, I love the quests, Water's Edge is the best house there's ever been.

A lot more, but of course, those who don't like it are going to be nasty, so.... I'm done here. Except to say it's the best chapter for me so far.

Andre_Noir · July 2021

The landscape is very good, I like it even if I dislike argonian and swamp theme. The main (in general) problem is the "year long sales plan". Downsides of Blackwood itself: bad "dolmens", lack of plans and stolen items

LeonAkando · July 2021

Blackwood's aesthetics are more grounded in Elder Scrolls aesthetics rather than some of the extravagant visuals of Summerset and Elsweyr.
That is fine.

While Summerset is my favorite chapter, Blackwood is pretty good once you get about halfway thru the story.
There's a great variety of settings.

One moment you're marching through the swamps, exploring natural features. Then you're sitting with imperial nobles drinking and eating with utmost finery. Then you're bashing cultist heads in stone argonian cities. Then you're transported to the deadlands and exploring planemelds.

It's all quite varied - keeps it feeling fresh. Definitely a step up from Murkmire. And that was a good DLC as well.

myskyrim26 · July 2021

At a first glance, Blackwood was NOT impressive to me. But when I started to explore it slowly, I was amazed how much LORE is hidden in it. Like... you turn a rock, and learn something new. Damn, I was waiting for years to learn more on Barsaebic Ayleids. And there's a lot of their story in Blackwood chapter. Not directly, no. Their story is for dedicated and patient explorers. Also, I always wanted to know why we don't see Keshu anywhere in Pact affairs. Now we know. Some traces of Lilmothiit - oh, my! I'm so grateful for it! Amazing lore of Leyawiin city, Gideon city and the whole region where 3 cultures have to live together. And all this not to mention Mehrunes Dagon story.

And now - wait... Lore it's not all we have... there are houses and furnirure! What an amazing fest one can create with all those dishes. And paintings?! I made a picture gallery at my Psijiic Villa. I need more and more masterpieces- and here they are.

What else? Those giant toads and bog dogs. I love them! I want to have them as pets, toads especially. Random NPCs - I love their quests.

And look - I'm only at my 4th story quest now. I have a lot more wonders to discover. I played all previous chapters, and I found Blackwood to be the best for now.

pleximus · July 2021

Blackwood is empty as empty can be. It just feels incredibly empty even if it might not be.

Would also be cool if they would change the npc behaviors by having them move around the map instead of having a fixed path.

Aristocles22 · July 2021

In many of the other zones, there was at least a good reason why the player was needed to handle the threat. Here, there seems to be no reason why the Ivory Brigade and the Black Fin Legion can't handle it. I guess Keshu isn't really all that she was said to be, even if her backstory is basically a bootleg version of Heita-Meen, IIRC. We know that both of their efforts will be in vain in the long run, what with no faction taking control of Tamriel, the Empire conquering (most of) Black Marsh, and the Argonians in Morrowind being returned to slavery in all areas.

Kikazaru · July 2021

Blackwood has elements of Murkmire to it, and this probably contributed to why I find this zone to be less interesting than Morrowind or Summerset. Don't get me wrong, the devs did a fantastic job with the world design, but this type of biome doesn't appeal to me at all.

OtarTheMad · July 2021

I agree, this is also the first chapter where I have had issues sometimes completing the World Boss daily... sometimes the zone is emptier than The Reach which is odd for a new zone.

Iccotak · July 2021

Kikazaru wrote: »

Blackwood has elements of Murkmire to it, and this probably contributed to why I find this zone to be less interesting than Morrowind or Summerset. Don't get me wrong, the devs did a fantastic job with the world design, but this type of biome doesn't appeal to me at all.

Barely - Murkmire actually felt like a swamp.

Blackwood didn’t have a forest nor any tree dense swamp that one would expect from the outer rims of Black Marsh.

Visually it was bland with a capital B. Only cool places were
1. Main City
2. Public Dungeons
3. Delves

MajThorax · July 2021

Lowering the standards is expected in an aging mmo that attracts fewer new players while old ones move to other games. Sales take a hit every year.

Lugaldu · July 2021

Every region has its peculiarities and a different mood, which is exactly what I like. A stroll through Blackwood is almost meditative for me, it's subtle and calm.

SammyKhajit · July 2021

‘Sammy likes it. A lot of heart warming quests. After a year of losses and sadness, Blackwood with its various side quests that focus on friendships and connections have meant a lot for this old cat.

Kendaric · July 2021

I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Originally I had planned to get Blackwood only to get access to the companions, but I find myself doing the storyline now and having lots of fun doing it. Granted, I hated the pre-quest and I still don't like Eveli Sharp-Arrow (hated her ever since Wrothgar) but so far the story is pretty good and a lot better than Greymoor.

BlueRaven · July 2021

I feel Blackwood is ok, it’s “fine” in a passable sort of way.

There is nothing really bad about it, there is no one thing (outside of cp changes) that is really terrible. The zone looks interesting, although I don’t understand why there is not that many trees. The public dungeons have some nice eye candy, and the story is better then Greymoor (low bar, I know).

But it is also unremarkable, the story line is good, not great. The heavy “To Be Continued…” ending diminishes the narrative greatly.* There is hardly any furniture drops which diminishes any reason to continue adventuring, nor are any of the armor sets there that great. The portals (if you can find one) feel unrewarding compared to their effort, and seem to be purposely “anti-casual”.
Also, is it just me that feels like the area is small?

If I were grading this expansion, it would get a “C”. It’s passable, not memorable.

whitecrow · July 2021

It's a bit gloomy but I like the landscape. I have to say I enjoyed the "side" quests more than the main story.

Fennwitty · July 2021

Other than being way too dark at night (why do certain zones make up their own brightness settings?) it's fine.

They're still working remote and productivity is down -- imagine if they aimed even higher how many bugs we'd have.

Parasaurolophus · July 2021

God... Blackwood looks great. Guys, you haven't played any of the games in the series before. Not all of Tamriel looks bright and exotic. Moreover, the architecture for Leyawiin was modeled much better than for Summerset.

VaranisArano · July 2021

Having spent a fair bit of time traipsing through the swamps of Blackwood for potion ingredients in TES IV Oblivion, I'm not very impressed with ESO's take on the region.

It's basically TES IV's Blackwood, mashed up with some Argonian villages and xanmeers. It's not bad, per se, but after Elsweyr or even the recreation of Skyrim's terrain in Greymoor/Markarth, it really drives home just how much ZOS curtailed their efforts due to covid. The doomvaults are new, but they honestly don't look out of place next to the type of repetitive terrain that TES IV used to make their caves and Deadlands.

It doesn't help that I ran into my first Oblivion portal halfway through the zone story and was thoroughly underwhelmed.

*sees a portal*
"That's it?"

*runs through three sections of the deadlands with zero enemies to fight*
"That's it?"

Havocrel's boss fight was mildly interesting, at least., but I found the portal pretty underwhelming as a "public dungeon" design.

amm7sb14_ESO · July 2021

Blackwood is easily my least favorite chapter.

-I have 0 interest in another questline, as the overland questing is so mundane and boring that no amount of quality writing can ever motivate me to go through overland questing ever again.

-There is no new class or skill line.

-I have 0 interest what-so-ever in companions. I still do not have one, and don't intend to anytime soon.

-There is no world event like Harrowstorms / Dragons etc. to motivate me to explore the land.

Blackwood was basically a $40 trial for me, as there is no other content in the chapter that is worthwhile for me.

Malthorne · July 2021

LeonAkando wrote: »

It's all quite varied - keeps it feeling fresh. Definitely a step up from Murkmire. And that was a good DLC as well.

So this $40 chapter is a step up from a tiny DLC that failed so hard they gave it away for free? I quite liked murkmire actually, but dang that’s setting the bar low for a $40 product.

OtarTheMad · July 2021

VaranisArano wrote: »

Having spent a fair bit of time traipsing through the swamps of Blackwood for potion ingredients in TES IV Oblivion, I'm not very impressed with ESO's take on the region.

It's basically TES IV's Blackwood, mashed up with some Argonian villages and xanmeers. It's not bad, per se, but after Elsweyr or even the recreation of Skyrim's terrain in Greymoor/Markarth, it really drives home just how much ZOS curtailed their efforts due to covid. The doomvaults are new, but they honestly don't look out of place next to the type of repetitive terrain that TES IV used to make their caves and Deadlands.

It doesn't help that I ran into my first Oblivion portal halfway through the zone story and was thoroughly underwhelmed.

*sees a portal*
"That's it?"

*runs through three sections of the deadlands with zero enemies to fight*
"That's it?"

Havocrel's boss fight was mildly interesting, at least., but I found the portal pretty underwhelming as a "public dungeon" design.

To be fair the portals are so much more fun when you are either the first one in it or the only one to enter it.

I've gone in a few where I know a group just went through cause all mobs are dead, kind of sucks.

FluffWit · July 2021

It's the first dlc that was done entirely by people working remotely and it shows. Which is understandable and I'm fine with it.

But I'm not fine with some of the awful glitches that have gotten through patch certification in Q1 and Q2 this year. The scrolling inventory glitch from Q2, the input lag glitch from Q1 and to a lesser extent the various voice chat bugs we have on console right now.

Eevee_42 · July 2021

Blackwood looks really low effort and uninspired. This is by far the worst designed chapter zone, even moreso than Greymoor.

Yamenstein · July 2021

I like the art and design, the lore and the quests. Biggest let down is anything besides those. I feel like there were no gameplay additions at all. I.e., the companion system sucks! It's not worth being in a chapter release. Biggest issue for me has always been any combat gameplay content that is released, always feels tacked on. Thats why the addition of new skill lines is the best, it allows you to customise your character more, make them more unique, give you new skills to experiment with, and have you visually casting new animations. Just stick with those. Introduce multiple new skill lines, be able to only use one at a time due to story/lore constraints and call it a day (similar to how you can't be a WW and vamp at same time)

whitecrow · July 2021

I find everything about the portals tedious and often try to sneak past the mobs. You can even sneak past the general boss and the titan boss.

Even Havocrel is tedious. He taunts you to fight over and over, but spends 99% of the time behind a shield.

I'm basically only doing them until I get the achievement.

Snowstrider · July 2021

For me it is 6/10 chapter
Just okay but way too overpriced when you look at what you get and compare it to what you get from more proper expansions in other MMOs for the same or even cheaper price

LittlePinkDot · July 2021

OtarTheMad wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Having spent a fair bit of time traipsing through the swamps of Blackwood for potion ingredients in TES IV Oblivion, I'm not very impressed with ESO's take on the region.

It's basically TES IV's Blackwood, mashed up with some Argonian villages and xanmeers. It's not bad, per se, but after Elsweyr or even the recreation of Skyrim's terrain in Greymoor/Markarth, it really drives home just how much ZOS curtailed their efforts due to covid. The doomvaults are new, but they honestly don't look out of place next to the type of repetitive terrain that TES IV used to make their caves and Deadlands.

It doesn't help that I ran into my first Oblivion portal halfway through the zone story and was thoroughly underwhelmed.

*sees a portal*
"That's it?"

*runs through three sections of the deadlands with zero enemies to fight*
"That's it?"

Havocrel's boss fight was mildly interesting, at least., but I found the portal pretty underwhelming as a "public dungeon" design.

To be fair the portals are so much more fun when you are either the first one in it or the only one to enter it.

I've gone in a few where I know a group just went through cause all mobs are dead, kind of sucks.

That sounds like finding an open portal to the secret cow level in Diablo 2 only to be disappointed because other people already killed everything.

ArchMikem · July 2021

This is the first Chapter for me that's been just a big chunk of general "Meh". I didn't really like Greymoor's storyline but the location was hella nostalgic and beautifully created, even if it was scaled back so to include Blackreach.

I'd never played Oblivion (actually like, one hour, before the sheer age of the game made me unable to stand it), so I only have imaginings of Blackwood, and I think that fed into a higher expectation than what was going to be given, so it ended up being a let down. In the end though, ZOS got their money from me, so oh well.

And since I know the Q4 Adventure Zone is going to be entirely in the Deadlands, this may very well be the first piece of PvE content coming that I won't purchase immediately. I'm so very over anything Oblivion by this point. I'd love some mundane Mortal treachery like Hew's Bane or the Gold Coast.

Destai · July 2021

Definitely felt underwhelmed by this expansion. Nothing struck me as bad but nothing struck me as great either. It just exists. And the pace of the content makes it feel like a q4 dlc. Hopefully the q4 dlc is noteworthy.