Fake puzzles in quests

DinoZavr · October 2021

@VaranisArano PERFECTION !!!

Ragged_Claw · October 2021

I love puzzles, but it seems like most people don't want them in an MMO and having ones like these recent puzzles seems utterly pointless. Perhaps it could be like some games where, after a few minutes, if the player hasn't solved it, they get the option to 'skip it' (perhaps by more immersive means like a ghostly NPC appearing and giving you the solution). This way we could be thrown some meatier challenges, but without holding players up if they cba

Or something along the lines of the Jindosh door puzzle in Dishonored 2, where you could either sit for hours solving the puzzle or do something else to circumvent it.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo · October 2021

alanmatillab16_ESO wrote: »

What is the point of making intricately designed puzzles when all that will happen is most players will look the solution up online anyway if they cannot figure it out in the first 5 seconds.

Yeah, but we don't all systematically look it up now do we?
Those who pressed 'awesome' or 'agree', you are looking it up aren't you!!

tomofhyrule · October 2021

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I guess I’m alright with just rotating the puzzle cube until it works.

I seem to remember one or more puzzles in Markarth where you were supposed to do something with constellations, and the game seemed to expect me to know what they looked like and I had no reference for them.

I really would have liked that one...if it had worked.

We had to find the three plates, and then Arana gave that whole "Oh, it's like the Serpent constellation so we know exactly where the fourth would be!" Except it wasn't anything at all like the constellation.

And it could have been somewhat fixed by just moving the bottom plaque to Bthardamz instead so it did make something like the right shape. But as is, it's nowhere near what it should look like.

I get why most 'puzzles' are trivial, and it's because most people want to speedrun through the quests. I even remember a few years back when I was watching my then-roommate playing Fallout 3 and he just spammed the dialogue, and so I was explaining to him why he was attacking certain people. Some gamers just don't care about the why.

I did just do the logic puzzle one in Bangkorai though: "A Grave Matter" in Evermore, and that was awesome. As soon as I saw it was a logic puzzle, I pulled out a notepad and worked out the password for myself... and then I continued on the quest and found out you didn't even need to work it out, she just asked a few obvious questions. Ah well, it was still a few minutes of fun.

At least it's not like TES:III where the NPCs would say things like "Oh, it's north past a few rocks" and leave you to find it yourself when the cave you want is actually somewhere to the southwest.

Hurbster · October 2021

Now, did I hit the Orrery 5 times or 6?

Danikat · October 2021

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

I love puzzles, but it seems like most people don't want them in an MMO and having ones like these recent puzzles seems utterly pointless. Perhaps it could be like some games where, after a few minutes, if the player hasn't solved it, they get the option to 'skip it' (perhaps by more immersive means like a ghostly NPC appearing and giving you the solution). This way we could be thrown some meatier challenges, but without holding players up if they cba Or something along the lines of the Jindosh door puzzle in Dishonored 2, where you could either sit for hours solving the puzzle or do something else to circumvent it.

They did something like that on Stros M'kai, when you're going through the dwarven ruins you're given the choice of two bridges - one covered in traps you'll have to avoid and one with enemies to fight. Both are fairly trivial, even when the game first came out you could run right through the traps and even a brand new character could handle the small number of dwarven spiders you have to fight, but it's the right idea.

I'd like to see more of that, partially because it would enable them to include more interesting puzzles and also because it would allow more replayability, I'd want to do it twice to try both ways.

Gleitfrosch · October 2021

OP is not the only one who is annoyed of the new "puzzles". But they fit the story and dialogue quality in the new dlcs

Gleitfrosch · October 2021

I guess the Markath constellation ridfle is inaccurate because it is not required to be accurate. The game solves it for you, it is just for the show.

[snip]
[edited for bashing]

katanagirl1 · October 2021

tomofhyrule wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I guess I’m alright with just rotating the puzzle cube until it works.

I seem to remember one or more puzzles in Markarth where you were supposed to do something with constellations, and the game seemed to expect me to know what they looked like and I had no reference for them.

I really would have liked that one...if it had worked.

We had to find the three plates, and then Arana gave that whole "Oh, it's like the Serpent constellation so we know exactly where the fourth would be!" Except it wasn't anything at all like the constellation.

And it could have been somewhat fixed by just moving the bottom plaque to Bthardamz instead so it did make something like the right shape. But as is, it's nowhere near what it should look like.

I get why most 'puzzles' are trivial, and it's because most people want to speedrun through the quests. I even remember a few years back when I was watching my then-roommate playing Fallout 3 and he just spammed the dialogue, and so I was explaining to him why he was attacking certain people. Some gamers just don't care about the why.

I did just do the logic puzzle one in Bangkorai though: "A Grave Matter" in Evermore, and that was awesome. As soon as I saw it was a logic puzzle, I pulled out a notepad and worked out the password for myself... and then I continued on the quest and found out you didn't even need to work it out, she just asked a few obvious questions. Ah well, it was still a few minutes of fun.

At least it's not like TES:III where the NPCs would say things like "Oh, it's north past a few rocks" and leave you to find it yourself when the cave you want is actually somewhere to the southwest.

Well that’s very informative and I appreciate your post, but how am I supposed to know what the Serpent constellation looks like without googling it? Maybe something earlier showed it to me but I don’t have photographic memory for instant recall later.

Footnote: I really like puzzles but I expect the game to provide the clues

InaMoonlight · October 2021

I like the puzzles, I just wish they were real, so its not just a matter of turn the knob till it lights up, leave the solution in a book nearby for those who want that, but make the puzzles proper

prof-dracko · October 2021

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

I, for one, do NOT miss the rotating puzzles of ESO5:Skyrim where there are 3 rotating totems, each having several possible positions, and you have to try every possible combination until you finally hit upon the correct one. There are a few locations that have clues in the room which help you narrow down the number of possible combinations to just a few, but there are other locations with no such clues.

It's nice that ESO has mostly avoided those sorts of tedious puzzles, although I agree that the trend toward "it's impossible to get it wrong" puzzles is less than ideal.

There are literally no such puzzles in Skyrim that don't have clues. Every single one has either the answer spelled out very blatantly or requires some minor sleuth work.

TheImperfect · October 2021

There's a good one in a tomb in Vvardenfell. 4 items match 4 ancestors and you need to read the book to figure out how they match and place them on the correct pedestals. Still pretty simples but I enjoyed it.

phaneub17_ESO · October 2021

There is this one Argonian block puzzle in base game that I never quite figured out what exactly I'm supposed to be doing so I would randomly hit a block until it would let me move on. Most of the time I got it in a five moves or less, but one time it took me about 15 minutes trying to unlock it. It's part of the zone storyline quests, I don't remember where, maybe Shadowfen? I haven't done it in years, I just remember it sucking.