Were you generally engaged as a player in the main story quest lines of Chapters / DLC content?

Tenthirty2 · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

I liked them how they are, engaging enough and gives you a hint at what you will need to build up to later.
Tho for example, facing a "real" dragon in overland Elsweyr? Yeeeeah, nothing in the story DLC quite prepares you for that LOL

If I could have any wish for improvement granted I spose I'd ask for MORE instancing in the Main zone story lines.
I know they can't do that everywhere throughout every chapter. But there were often certain scenes or areas that really should have been instanced.
Queen K's crowning ceremony for example. Really sucks to be trying to get into that celebration and immerse in the mood and suddenly you have the pants-on-head clown party jumping and sprinting around the room bcuz they can't sit still for longer than 3 seconds >.<

FrancisCrawford · October 2021

It varies wildly.

Wrothgar -- absolutely.
Imperial City -- I've never done more than a little in the main quest line.
Thieves Guild -- I thought the characters were really good. The problems weren't very epic, but it was fun anyway.
Dark Brotherhood -- I've never done more than a little in the main quest line.
Vvardenfell -- meh. Much too slow.
Clockwork City -- interesting place. Awkward pacing. And I literally couldn't see what was going on when the crow story went from comic to serious.
Summerset -- absolutely.
Murkmire -- started it, didn't like it, so haven't done it.
Elysweyr and more recent -- haven't tried them.

JJOtterBear · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

Yes, the game is good in its current state and the direction its going.

I have to point out that the forum is not representative of a majority of the playerbase. so trying to prove anything with a forum poll is already flawed.

katanagirl1 · October 2021

Neither of the poll options seem like the right choice for me.

The main (Coldharbour) storyline was good but in general the chapter stories are unsatisfying. Only Murkmire DLC and Markarth DLC were above average in my opinion.

The sidequests in the chapters, though - that is where the stories are usually very good. I enjoy those.

I don’t dislike the chapters because of the boss battles either. I’m a decent player (nearly 1700 cp now) with decent gear and they are not too easy or too difficult.

Not sure what I would say to make the chapter stories better. So far Dagon hasn’t been a boss in this chapter and though the story plot sounds like it was a huge pre-planned setup over many years, I am not sure I buy into Daedric entities operating like that.

There is always something about the chapter stories that when the plot is revealed, it just doesn’t make sense even in a fantasy setting. I could give examples for all of them.

ThePedge · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

They are not engaging at all but that's OK.

LashanW · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

I've got to say that I don't really get the whole "if the fights aren't hard, I can't appreciate the story" thing.

In the past, with games where I just couldn't get into the combat mechanics, I've turned the difficulty down so I could just plow through it, all for the sake of seeing where the story went.

Dragon Age Origins, for instance, was just so tedious to slog through those fights. (of course, it didn't help that my party turned out to be very non-meta - I had no AoE mages, and almost no AoE at all. Healer, Tank, two Rogues; Wynne, Shale, Leliana, and my PC.)

I couldn't get into the combat system in Dragon Age games at all, only Dragon Age Inquisition felt ok. In DA origins I just used cheat codes to get through the combat.

But what if you could get into the combat mechanics? That's my issue with ESO. Combat system is pretty great when you get into it, end game content in this game is very enjoyable for me. There's so many ways to build strong characters, with many different themes. But they are almost always overkill for overland and questing. Questing and overland seems to be designed around players who started playing yesterday and don't even remember the keybinds yet.

xgoku1 · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

The side quests are generally more fun/interesting than the main quests, but that's a common TES trope (except TES3 maybe)

I've never run into many issues of immersion breaking due to other players crowding the instance etc. because I don't play story content on launch. But yes, it's happened before and I've just worked around it by playing the content like a year after launch.

The biggest complaint I've heard from friends is that the quests fall flat when it comes to the actual confrontation parts, because they hype up bad guys so much and they die before they can finish their entire dialogues lol.

I don't really care about the difficulty all that much, but I would imagine a better approach would be to add mechanics to quest bosses so that you can't cheese them. Tying these mechanics to the lore of the quest would also add more RP value.

Off the top of my head, an example of this in-game would be the

boss fight with Kinlady Estre in Auridon

where the boss becomes invulnerable until all the summoned Daedra are dispatched.

Ashryn · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

Although I answered this way, it doesn't mean I don't love ESO and enjoy the stories, exploring & quests. However, they aren't immersive for me because (once you become a certain level) it doesn't really challenge you. The stories would also have to give you more freedom in your choices to truly immerse me...AND have consequences for those choices! Our characters seem pre-destined to be on a certain path no matter what and we are always treated liked we are a god; which isn't realistic or immersive.

Cirantille · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

I always like side quests better

Kiralyn2000 · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

LashanW wrote: »

But what if you could get into the combat mechanics? That's my issue with ESO. Combat system is pretty great when you get into it, end game content in this game is very enjoyable for me. There's so many ways to build strong characters, with many different themes. But they are almost always overkill for overland and questing. .

Well, for me "can get into the combat mechanics" isn't very deep. It's just "reasonably enjoy them". I'm not a min-maxer, I don't instinctively (or actively even) find great synergies that enhance my power, so my characters don't tend to get "op". So if I enjoy a game's mechanics, I'm fine going through it on Normal difficulty.

Unless a game absolutely requires stuff like that. Like Diablo-style ARPGs, where each difficulty is another run through the game and you have to play "hard" to keep leveling after "normal". Or games like D&D Online, where everything in quests is balanced around you having The Absolute Highest Skill Level Possible (i.e, if you're going to have Lockpick skill, it needs to be min-maxed out, or it's useless. Either plan to max out a skill, or don't waste a single point on it. So you need to plan out your character to the last detail, or just not bother beyond mid-level. Which is what I did, because I don't enjoy that kind of stuff.)

But yeah - I've never bothered with "endgame" activities in MMOs (no raiding, no vet dungeons, etc); I've never practiced rotations or used target dummies or measured my DPS. I just don't care that much. Sure, improving your character is part of these games, but I'm laid-back about it - oh, that weapon does a bit more? Cool. Not "hmm, okay try this combination of buffs & skills on my bar, now do a few runs on the dummy to see if that increased things..." Sounds tedious.

Nightowl_74 · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

Overall, I feel the storylines are engaging enough. I'm the kind of player who often explores as much as possible and completes many side quests before tackling the main ones, so I expect to steamroll a lot of fights unless a game forces me into them earlier in order to progress. I also like to save zone stories for a point in time that I feel like working solely on those without distractions, like teleporting in and out for daily crafting writs or other various errands.

Some stories have been more engaging than others. I particularly enjoyed Clockwork City, Summerset and the Dark Brotherhood dlc, but wasn't as into to other guild questlines. Coldharbour and restoring The Hollow City were also high points of engagement for me, which seems appropriate to that content.

Araneae6537 · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

I’m always intending to go through the main stories but I think the only one I’ve played through fully to completion is Orsinium. I always intend to but then I’m doing something else instead… In contrast, I played through SWTOR’s storylines repeatedly because it was part of developing my character and going through the stories in different ways. That is what I miss in most RPG’s. I realize certain outcomes must be, of course, but let me suspend my disbelief and have impact how each of my characters interacts with the world. I want NPCs to interact with me differently based on both my race (where appropriate) and most importantly, my previous interactions with them. At least with local stories and delves sometimes we do get some agency and choice and I especially liked several in Summerset in particular.

leeux · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

I stopped being interested in stories/expansions as soon as the nostalgia pandering started with Morrowind... haven't played any of the following ones at all, except a bit of Summerset main story, which was alright but I got bored with it after a while.

I just stopped playing quests after that. The fact that you have to do the dungeons mandatorily to see the whole story completely turned me off from the game.

wildbear247 · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

I mainly play this game for the unique big team battle action of Cyrodiil, although PvP in this game needs some love. To a lesser extent I also enjoy build crafting to run milder PvE content too (solo arenas & dungeons).

I absolutely love stories in both books & video games. Unfortunately I find ESO stories to be greatly lacking compared to what I can find in a single player game (e.g. Witcher 3, Plagues Tale Innocence, & now Half Life Alyx). This problem is exacerbated due to group content being a key part of some storylines...hard to get into the story of DLC dungeons when the group is trying to burn through it. Solo instancing would be cool if implemented, then afterwards dungeon speed runs with a group would be cool.

Indigogo · October 2021

Other (not playing it, would play if ..., etc.)

I only quest on my main to be a completionist, I haven't enjoyed doing it since they lured me into cyrodiil and turned me into a pvper.

What makes quests painful for me now is there are no real choices to be made.
I don't care about pages of dialogue when the end result is always the same.

Now, if we had to pick responses so that in the end I get cosmetic A rather than cosmetic B, which would mean I would forever never be able to get on that character.... THEN I might pay attention and become engaged.
If I choose to be the bad guy and get some mythic type item, but then no one in that town would ever interact with me again making me miss out on access to some temporary game wide aetherial well buff....
Idk.
I'm OK burning through the fights, when I do that stuff I do so for a break.
Just wish for meaningful choices that I very well may regret later, so I better pay attention.

TX12001rwb17_ESO · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

They are disappointing, I cannot even remember who the villain of Blackwood is and why he is supposed to be a threat to us, the Vestige who is permanently unkillable, who has defeated Molag Bal, Nocturnal's Champion, Dragons, Vampire Lords and more, my Vestige is a Blood Scion with Psijic Powers, Villains like this one are just insulting.

Sylvermynx · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

They are disappointing, I cannot even remember who the villain of Blackwood is and why he is supposed to be a threat to us, the Vestige who is permanently unkillable, who has defeated Molag Bal, Nocturnal's Champion, Dragons, Vampire Lords and more.

Eh, my vestige isn't unkillable.... I wish....

Saxhleel · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

I mean, depends. Oblivion's main questline which involved an Oblivion invasion was leagues better than ESO's main questline and Blackwood. So, here are my thoughts.

Main - Okay, though could be better and has plot holes like the fact that you defeated Molag Ballin in his own realm.

Ebonheart Pact - I actually liked this as you are holding a very unstable alliance together.

Daggerfall Covenant - I also liked the Covenant, especially the Vaermina and Montclair questlines.

First Aldmeri Dominion - It was kind of meh for me actually. Though Reaper's March was good. Though the entirety of Valenwood seems bland.

Wrothgar - Very good. May be the best questline.

Dark Brotherhood - Well, this questline is still unfinished for me even though I started it a month ago....

Vvardenfell - I liked it, though Morrowind's main quest was so much better.

Summerset - Darien made it so much worse. I can't seem to get rid of him. Otherwise it was okay.

Elsweyr - Haven't played

Greymoor - ehh....

Blackwood - I've played Oblivion so it must be as good as it. Right?

TX12001rwb17_ESO · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

Sylvermynx wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

They are disappointing, I cannot even remember who the villain of Blackwood is and why he is supposed to be a threat to us, the Vestige who is permanently unkillable, who has defeated Molag Bal, Nocturnal's Champion, Dragons, Vampire Lords and more.

Eh, my vestige isn't unkillable.... I wish....

So you do not comr back to life on the spot? why do you thi k the Vestige is able to revive?

Kiralyn2000 · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

They are disappointing, I cannot even remember who the villain of Blackwood is and why he is supposed to be a threat to us, the Vestige who is permanently unkillable, who has defeated Molag Bal, Nocturnal's Champion, Dragons, Vampire Lords and more.

Eh, my vestige isn't unkillable.... I wish....

So you do not comr back to life on the spot? why do you thi k the Vestige is able to revive?

Of course, if you're looking for that "ironman/hardcore/rogue-like" perma-death thing, MMOs in general will let you down.

(and most single-player RPGs, as well, since they usually expect you to reload a save and try again, not just delete & restart if you die. Sure, some people play TES that way, but it's a pretty niche playstyle.)

Sylvermynx · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

Sylvermynx wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

They are disappointing, I cannot even remember who the villain of Blackwood is and why he is supposed to be a threat to us, the Vestige who is permanently unkillable, who has defeated Molag Bal, Nocturnal's Champion, Dragons, Vampire Lords and more.

Eh, my vestige isn't unkillable.... I wish....

Of course I can revive. That's not the point. I'd like to not die over and over to three or more mobs, and "mini bosses".

TX12001rwb17_ESO · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

They are disappointing, I cannot even remember who the villain of Blackwood is and why he is supposed to be a threat to us, the Vestige who is permanently unkillable, who has defeated Molag Bal, Nocturnal's Champion, Dragons, Vampire Lords and more.

Eh, my vestige isn't unkillable.... I wish....

So you do not comr back to life on the spot? why do you thi k the Vestige is able to revive?

Of course, if you're looking for that "ironman/hardcore/rogue-like" perma-death thing, MMOs in general will let you down.

(and most single-player RPGs, as well, since they usually expect you to reload a save and try again, not just delete & restart if you die. Sure, some people play TES that way, but it's a pretty niche playstyle.)

I'm not talking about that, there is a lore reason for why the Vestige can revive on the spot, , your ability to revive whenever your killed is not just a game mechanic, much like a Daedra death is only a minor inconvenience for the Vestige.

UGotBenched91 · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

Quest lines are usually great but the final boss fight is disappointing. The quest builds it up like this (insert NPC here) is Tamriel's biggest threat and you take the boss down in mere seconds like it's nothing. It's an underwhelming experience.

Grianasteri · October 2021

The boss encounters were/are largely a joke, by the time you get to them.

The story lines, from memory, were entertaining and engaging when I was doing them (years ago now). I spent a couple of years mainly engaged in story completion across all the zones.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

I haven't really taken any of the main questlines seriously since Morrowind. I think my main quester is somewhere in Clockwork City still. The quests are just too much of a face-roll from a combat perspective, and unlike a lot of other modern games these days, the stories simply aren't engaging enough.

If you want to make a game story mode (they have), the cutscenes better be on point (they aren't because they don't exist).

Franchise408 · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

Overland stories and questing are not engaging for me. The difficulty is non-existent to the point of being tedious, I don't think the quests are typically very well designed, and the character and story can be okay at times but not enough to make up for the poor solo questing gameplay. I've actually given up on questing in this game and refuse to do it until there is some sort of change. I haven't played the Blackwood story or gotten my companion, and have no plans to. As it stands, if there are no changes to overland questing, I may have purchased my last chapter, as the content is no longer for me.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Quest lines are usually great but the final boss fight is disappointing. The quest builds it up like this (insert NPC here) is Tamriel's biggest threat and you take the boss down in mere seconds like it's nothing. It's an underwhelming experience.

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I haven't really taken any of the main questlines seriously since Morrowind. I think my main quester is somewhere in Clockwork City still. The quests are just too much of a face-roll from a combat perspective, and unlike a lot of other modern games these days, the stories simply aren't engaging enough.

If you want to make a game story mode (they have), the cutscenes better be on point (they aren't because they don't exist).

Hi Oreyn,

We have a bit of a problem in ESO at the moment as the newest additions feel a bit 'lazy'.
- The questing atmosphere feels the same to me (lacks engagement/straight line/poorly animated/executed)
- PvP is busted
- PvE raiding groups are hard to start or enter (particular classes/lack of groups/people)

There needs to be some sort of redemptive content lined up. I truly hope so. They need to step up to the plate (our producer)

Bit off subject, I realise, but I'm a bit scared seeing the replies along with the current context in other areas of the game.

Red_Feather · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are engaging enough for me.

In the blackwood story, encountering that contracts guy from thieves guild and them recognizing my character because I was in thieves guild was a cool thing that kept it interesting.

Hurbster · October 2021

Red_Feather wrote: »

In the blackwood story, encountering that contracts guy from thieves guild and them recognizing my character because I was in thieves guild was a cool thing that kept it interesting.

And that's countered by the bit where your character blurts out they are in the Dark Brotherhood...

Oreyn_Bearclaw · October 2021

Main story quest lines and the final boss encounters are not engaging enough for me.

Youyouz06 wrote: »

UGotBenched91 wrote: »

Quest lines are usually great but the final boss fight is disappointing. The quest builds it up like this (insert NPC here) is Tamriel's biggest threat and you take the boss down in mere seconds like it's nothing. It's an underwhelming experience.

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I haven't really taken any of the main questlines seriously since Morrowind. I think my main quester is somewhere in Clockwork City still. The quests are just too much of a face-roll from a combat perspective, and unlike a lot of other modern games these days, the stories simply aren't engaging enough.

If you want to make a game story mode (they have), the cutscenes better be on point (they aren't because they don't exist).

Hi Oreyn,

We have a bit of a problem in ESO at the moment as the newest additions feel a bit 'lazy'.
- The questing atmosphere feels the same to me (lacks engagement/straight line/poorly animated/executed)
- PvP is busted
- PvE raiding groups are hard to start or enter (particular classes/lack of groups/people)

There needs to be some sort of redemptive content lined up. I truly hope so. They need to step up to the plate (our producer)

Bit off subject, I realise, but I'm a bit scared seeing the replies along with the current context in other areas of the game.

For nearly 5 years after ESO launched, I simply didnt play any other games. Over the last 18 months or so, I have tried a handful of others while taking a few fairly long breaks from ESO.

I like ESO combat in theory, but in practice, there is a lot to be desired. Overland content is a joke in terms of difficulty, full stop. PVP is great when it works, but it hasnt worked well in years. I work a full time job, so primetime is when I can play (that is why its called primetime). I recently got back into a more competitive raid group working on trifectas, which has been fun, but it is also stressful. Only way I was getting into a good group these days was on a class I am frankly not great at and it's been a bit of a struggle (it is getting better), but that alone is not enough to keep my interest long term. I pretty much only log in for raids. One of my Trifectas disbanded after ZOS randomly broke VAS, content that is several years old.

Some comments about a few of the games I have tried: I look at games like Witcher 3(about halfway through it now), and while I don't think the combat is as polished as it could be, it is challenging. The cutscenes feel like a Hollywood movie. The world is vast and challenging to explore. Your decisions matter. Just started Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which is freaking beautiful. Combat is a joke, but that's okay because the puzzles and story telling (again cutscenes) are top notch and make me want to keep playing. Played Far Cry 5, very good story, average combat for a shooter, amazing visuals. Played Jedi Fallen order, great story, great combat, decent puzzles/exploration.

I realize that it's very hard to compare an MMO to a single player title like the few I listed above, but these chapters cost what these games do. In my experience, outside of the new dungeons (which get easier every update), and the annual trial, combat is simply non existent. The exploration is great, but a lot of new titles are surpassing the visuals. We still don't have HDR on PC, and from what I hear, the console implementation leaves a lot to be desired. The puzzle element is basically non-existent (not that every game needs to be a puzzle game). The stories themselves, are mostly fetch quests, with audio dialogue. It's simply dated at this point and not engaging when I compare it to the alternatives. The stories and choices add nothing to your character or their journey. A text transcript of the dialogue would be nearly as engaging.

This will certainly be my last MMO, and outside of raid times, I really don't see myself playing it all that much in the future, which is a shame.