Storytime with Bastian in Normal Dungeons (and why we need a story mode)

Jusey1 · January 2022

Honestly, don't even need to change the difficulty of a dungeon. Just let companions do a few necessary things to make all dungeons solo-able.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · January 2022

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Paulytnz wrote: »

Solo-able Dungeons with companions via a new "Story Mode"?

Sure sign me on.

Yes. Please! Many dungeons wouldn't even need huge changes. Look at how much more atmospheric this dungeon is when you here the entire story! The crew adds flavor! Landel and his points about goblins are actually insightful points for TES lore. He's basically comparing goblins to cavemen that are gettting wiped out constantly due to racism and greed!

The additonal story absolutely makes this dungeon feel so much better. It even enhances mechanics! The skeevaton fight is much less annoying when you understand the narrative purpose it serves.

I dont know, I am not sure Bill Shakespeare himself could get me around to enjoying that mechanic. That Tzogvin farm hurt me to my soul. Haha.

I will admit, I am coming around to the concept of story mode. Not sure I would ever use it, but I dont see the harm and definitely seems people want it. I think it also might alleviate a lot of complaints about Group finder on these here forums.

spartaxoxo · January 2022

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Paulytnz wrote: »

Solo-able Dungeons with companions via a new "Story Mode"?

Sure sign me on.

Yes. Please! Many dungeons wouldn't even need huge changes. Look at how much more atmospheric this dungeon is when you here the entire story! The crew adds flavor! Landel and his points about goblins are actually insightful points for TES lore. He's basically comparing goblins to cavemen that are gettting wiped out constantly due to racism and greed!

The additonal story absolutely makes this dungeon feel so much better. It even enhances mechanics! The skeevaton fight is much less annoying when you understand the narrative purpose it serves.

I dont know, I am not sure Bill Shakespeare himself could get me around to enjoying that mechanic. That Tzogvin farm hurt me to my soul. Haha.

I will admit, I am coming around to the concept of story mode. Not sure I would ever use it, but I dont see the harm and definitely seems people want it. I think it also might alleviate a lot of complaints about Group finder on these here forums.

The complaints about group finder is a major reason to do it, IMO. I think one of the things causing all the tension is there is a fundamental difference in goals between people there to do the quest and people there to farm. And these playstyles actually are harmful to the other. Questing slows down farmers a lot which is painful when you've heard the same dialogue 100 times over and over, and are just trying to get things done as quickly as possible. And farming hurts questers because they literally are prevented them from achieving their goal of understanding at least the gist of the story, let alone being able to hear the whole thing.

If these two activities were separated, then story mode could be for doing the quest and hearing the story. And group finder could be for farming group loot.

spartaxoxo · March 2022

https://youtu.be/_egtZv-UUKI

Lair of Maarselok.

Apologies that this one is really choppy and even more transversal is also gone too. But, the video was really difficult at this length to upload and put together, so I really couldn't do more.

This dungeon is just so very long!

Bookslinger · March 2022

I'm new to ESO and have stayed away from dungeons (so probably shouldn't comment at all). Would be effective if in group finder players could specify "quest" or "farming"or (whatever reason you all run dungeons)? Would it make it more likely to at least group with players with similar goals?

Bethgael · March 2022

ADarklore wrote: »

It still amazes me that people keep saying "this is an MMO" when in reality, it has NEVER been a traditional MMO... in fact, when it tried, at launch, it was such a failure the game almost went under. Even Brian discussed how bad it was in the beginning and how it had no clear definition... and most of the players playing it were NOT MMO players but were Elder Scrolls players wanting "Skyrim with friends". So then came One Tamriel, and it was their plan to make it "Skyrim with friends". Even internally, Matt Firor stated in an interview they consider ESO to be an "online RPG with MMO elements".

So for people who keep saying, "this is an MMO"... it's clearly NOT.

I think the problem is not that ESO "isn't an MMO": it is.

It's the presumed definition of MMO that's at issue.

MMO simply means that multiple people can play it, online. There are lots of people who can play at once (ie, massive), as opposed to a "co-op multiplayer" which usually only a few people can play together at a time.

It doesn't mean "compulsory multiplayer" (nope, not even in a "traditional MMO'). Sure some people like to play that way, but when you have a "massive" player base, pretending that people don't want to solo content without grouping and/or the social aspect is... shortsighted. Extremist, if one wants.

Especially in a franchise which has been traditionally SP in nature and story, and in which missing out huge chunks of story is a detriment (like, an RPG, perhaps, in this MMORPG?)

spartaxoxo · March 2022

Bookslinger wrote: »

I'm new to ESO and have stayed away from dungeons (so probably shouldn't comment at all). Would be effective if in group finder players could specify "quest" or "farming"or (whatever reason you all run dungeons)? Would it make it more likely to at least group with players with similar goals?

The problem with that is that it splits the queue of people wanting to do groups more than just offering a single player version, as it's highly likely that people would queue for the story verision whether they have the quest or not for a slower pace while still getting drops. Meanwhile a storymode without drops does split some people off, but not nearly to the same degree as they will likely only do it once.

Ulvich · March 2022

As long as it works I'm cool with it. Don't expect me to run with Bastian, though. I can't stand him.

spartaxoxo · March 2022

Ulvich wrote: »

As long as it works I'm cool with it. Don't expect me to run with Bastian, though. I can't stand him.

Haha. No problem with that. I named the thread this title because I use him in the dungeons to make it smoother.

spartaxoxo · August 2022

https://youtu.be/UecPQLGWVQk

Icereach coven added, unfortunately the other dungeon in this DLC pack will be skipped as I lost the footage and can't complete the quest a second time.

TheImperfect · August 2022

Story mode would be epic!

dmnqwk · August 2022

A tutorial mode for dungeons would not be a bad idea. (Naming it story mode isn't necessary because you can already enter solo for the story).

Allow a group to enter from 1 to 4 people (no additions) but those who are not leader do not get to interact with the story (only the leader does). Have it so everybody has to read it (After all, you know what you signed up for entering in the group) by taking over their screen when the leader clicks.

The difficulty is trival and the bosses health is based on group size (250k per member present). it would have indicators and instructions on how to cope with the mechanics (designed to actually let people know what's going on). Things such as 'HEAVY ATTACK INCOMING... HOLD BLOCK' or 'GET TO A YELLOW CIRCLE SO YOU DONT DIE HORRIBLY' flash up mechanics slowed down to allow people to actively learn them (the last 3 Tomb Raiders games did that quite nicely in between sniping people with a bow because why would you use a gun when there's a bow).

Obviously it wont happen because it's a lot of work for little to no reward but the important thing here is to ensure the system is there for the story only and not as a way to quickly zerg the places for loot drops to complete your stickerbook quicker (I mean, each dungeon needs to be up to 50 times to fill it (17 items per line, minus the 1 reward from the story completion) so anything which circumvents using the group finder for this doesn't help out the cause of people needing pledges and randoms completed.
Also I doubt ESO has the technical skills to adapt mob health or boss damage output based on group size like some other games effortlessly manage, but it's still nice to dream.

spartaxoxo · August 2022

Got a new video for Castle Thorn and Stone Garden. These were quite tough! Also, the last boss in Castle Thorn is bugged and doesn't accept a companion's taunt! Therefore, Isobel makes a surprise guest appearance.

Castle Thorn

https://youtu.be/LtiMvaeWoKY

Stone Garden

https://youtu.be/tdYFx6sJm3M

Drammanoth · August 2022

Ah... not gonna happen

I am all for this idea, because obvious reasons, but with the U 35 controversy (and the upcoming U 36, which I'm dreading to even think of), plus the new DLC, it is dubious they will ever do that.

WiseSky · August 2022

I really feel for those that cant solo dungeons, and the poor soul that comes to their first dungeon Pug and people Rush through just to the bosses...

kurbbie_s · August 2022

Paulytnz wrote: »

Solo-able Dungeons with companions via a new "Story Mode"?

Sure sign me on.

you can already solo dungeons with a companion. People literally just need to get better

spartaxoxo · August 2022

kurbbie_s wrote: »

Paulytnz wrote: »

Solo-able Dungeons with companions via a new "Story Mode"?

Sure sign me on.

you can already solo dungeons with a companion. People literally just need to get better

There are dungeons that cannot be soloed with a companion, no matter the skill level of the player, like Direfrost Keep. This is because you have to do stuff like stand on a pressure plate with someone else. Also, some of the dungeons require too high of a skill level for it to be realistic for the majority to solo.

Klingenlied · August 2022

That would be a massive waste of ressources. Story mode dungeons would likely be played once only - if at all - by most players. Besides, in all honesty? You need even more? Every year players get one massively big area in form of a expansion release and another big area in form of Q3 DLC release.
Besides, there are Arenas. In Arenas, the there is always a NPC talking to you about your Arena activity, even giving feedback to your performance.

Stuff that is important right now? State of the game overall - player power, accessibility, class balance.

And if there is something that I personally deem a million times more valuable then story mode dungeons? More Vet content, Vet overworld or the like.

Just can't get how people want stuff even easier. You can pretty much solo every dungeon on normal easily and a lot on vet as well. There is heavy attack builds helping players to achieve 60k dps - triple of what the op boasts with telling us he is already is plenty good with being better then those people at 5 or 10k dps. If a player without any kind of disability does struggle with achieving more then 20k dps, very likely there is some serious lack in understanding of game mechanics or executing any form of efficient rotation that includes light attack weaving.
@ the OP: you create all those Videos. You take the time to make this post and do some rather shameless self-advertisting. Why did you not just look up a strong solo build? Check on people that regularly solo dungeon content? Once you break certain dps and survivability thresholds, most of the games content will be incredibly easy, including solo dungeons.

spartaxoxo · August 2022

Klingenlied wrote: »

That would be a massive waste of ressources. Story mode dungeons would likely be played once only - if at all - by most players. Besides, in all honesty? You need even more? Every year players get one massively big area in form of a expansion release and another big area in form of Q3 DLC release.
Besides, there are Arenas. In Arenas, the there is always a NPC talking to you about your Arena activity, even giving feedback to your performance.

Stuff that is important right now? State of the game overall - player power, accessibility, class balance.

And if there is something that I personally deem a million times more valuable then story mode dungeons? More Vet content, Vet overworld or the like.

Just can't get how people want stuff even easier. You can pretty much solo every dungeon on normal easily and a lot on vet as well. There is heavy attack builds helping players to achieve 60k dps - triple of what the op boasts with telling us he is already is plenty good with being better then those people at 5 or 10k dps. If a player without any kind of disability does struggle with achieving more then 20k dps, very likely there is some serious lack in understanding of game mechanics or executing any form of efficient rotation that includes light attack weaving.
@ the OP: you create all those Videos. You take the time to make this post and do some rather shameless self-advertisting. Why did you not just look up a strong solo build? Check on people that regularly solo dungeon content? Once you break certain dps and survivability thresholds, most of the games content will be incredibly easy, including solo dungeons.

No. It wouldn't be a massive waste of resources, it just wouldn't benefit vet players (except in the case of the dungeons it's literally impossible to solo). But, there's thread after thread after thread from the average player experiencing immense frustration because of "Fank tanks, rushers, etc." They want to hear the story, those other groups want to farm. They have goals that aren't just incompatible, but actively harmful to each other's play experience. It makes sense to separate these groups and many MMOs have done this, which increases the enjoyment of the game for the majority of players.

I don't have only 20k dps, that particular character did in the opening post....a year ago.

As for the self-advertising. You'll notice that those videos are UNLISTED meaning that the only people who can view them are the ones who read this thread, or players who shared them among themselves. My actual gameplay is purposefully nearly entirely deleted from the videos as well, the video is centered around the dialogue of the dungeons. Why would I limit my views in such a crippling way if I was advertising, LOL? You obviously made that claim without actually even glancing at the videos. It would take literally 4 seconds to determine I am not a YouTuber.

Just a lot of false information about me in this post.

As for difficulty options for veteran overland, I am a supporter of that too. For the exact same reason that I'm supporter of this. Because giving people difficulty options in a game where the gameplay experience is so drastically different at different levels of damage makes a lot of sense and ensures everyone who plays can enjoy themselves. But your insistence that only the vet players should have options to enjoy the story from the parts of this game that don't already cater to them is duly noted.

Necrotech_Master · August 2022

spartaxoxo wrote: »

kurbbie_s wrote: »

Paulytnz wrote: »

Solo-able Dungeons with companions via a new "Story Mode"?

Sure sign me on.

you can already solo dungeons with a companion. People literally just need to get better

There are dungeons that cannot be soloed with a companion, no matter the skill level of the player, like Direfrost Keep. This is because you have to do stuff like stand on a pressure plate with someone else. Also, some of the dungeons require too high of a skill level for it to be realistic for the majority to solo.

direfrost keep can certainly be soloed as there are ways to bypass that (use long range aoe to hit the troll on the other side of the door and then use a gap closer, yeah its kind of "buggy" to do something like this but means its still possible)

ICP is one i havent tried soloing, but i think the only way to get between the levers fast enough would be a NB with shadow image

when the new dungeons came out i was able to solo them as a tank with a dps companion, i would have to say there is a LOT of stuff that will easily kill companions in the 2 newest dungeons

a tank companion on the final boss of earthen root enclave will likely not work period unless you have a full time healer with barrier for when the boss does the conal breath attack (which hits a companion for upwards of like 11-12k PER HIT on the later ticks)

i havent tried the graven deep with a tank companion, but a dps companion will again spend much of the time dead without any healing support (or possibly even with healing support because of some of the mechanics)

renne · August 2022

Jusey1 wrote: »

Honestly, don't even need to change the difficulty of a dungeon. Just let companions do a few necessary things to make all dungeons solo-able.

I'm honestly, still kind of surprised they didn't make it that you can order the companions to stay/wait/etc. That would be too functionally useful I guess.

OldStygian · August 2022

Haven't read the whole thread but probably my biggest wish for the game is for all the dungeons to have solo and story difficulties in addition to group and vet. Solo would be on par with the base game dungeons so they're doable but not a cake walk (or mbe on par with public dungeons). Story mode would be akin to a delve.

Kingsindarkness · August 2022

I'm fairly convinced the game is heading in this direction anyway....I mean why create the most expensive to develop content in the game just so a miniscule amount of people can participate?

The company I think is just slowly transitioning to this. First the combat changes has to be finished and update 35 was just part one of that I think...part 2 will be content Down-Tuning, after that I suspect some up-tuning of companions then they can move to things like story mode.

All in all it should be good for the game.

ZOS_Suserial · August 2022

Greetings,

We understand that people will not always agree and have their own opinions they want to express, but we also want the forums to be a constructive platform for ESO and its community. It’s all right to disagree or even debate with each other, but provoking conflict, baiting, inciting, mocking, antagonizing, trolling, etc. Is never acceptable in the official The Elder Scrolls Online community. This is a friendly reminder to remain on topic and civil when posting.

Thank you for your understand

spartaxoxo · September 2022

The Cauldron

https://youtu.be/204ON9gDVZY

Black Drake Villa

https://youtu.be/VbIPUCSPTMw

The final bosses on both of these took me a few tries, but it was fun. I like BDV for being a bit shorter than some other DLC Dungeons.

spartaxoxo · November 2022

Here's Red Petal Bastian and Dread Cellar.

I really gotta say that Dread Cellar has a really good and tragic tale. It's a shame so many people won't get to experience it in full, because it's really good. If I had to recommend only one story to watch out of all these, I'd recommend Dread Cellar.

Dread Cellar

https://youtu.be/P4TTP5Ta9pA

Red Petal Bastian

https://youtu.be/22rcunqJrpw

Necrotech_Master · November 2022

i usually solo the dungeons on a tankier character with ember as a dps

red petal bastion was a super pain to solo because of the first boss, spent like 90% of my time in goat form lol, was able to stay alive due to leeching plate lol

black drake villa was annoying to solo as well because on the last boss the companion just stands in the fire aoe and dies constantly

Kingsindarkness · November 2022

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i usually solo the dungeons on a tankier character with ember as a dps

red petal bastion was a super pain to solo because of the first boss, spent like 90% of my time in goat form lol, was able to stay alive due to leeching plate lol

black drake villa was annoying to solo as well because on the last boss the companion just stands in the fire aoe and dies constantly

That's a pain...it's almost as bad as when Mirri decides she is the Tank (even though you have her set up to heal) and wants to Kite everything.

Still...I think that having a four-man dungeon set up so two people and their companions can run it with lesser rewards/XP also a solo story mode version would be extremely popular.

Necrotech_Master · November 2022

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i usually solo the dungeons on a tankier character with ember as a dps

red petal bastion was a super pain to solo because of the first boss, spent like 90% of my time in goat form lol, was able to stay alive due to leeching plate lol

black drake villa was annoying to solo as well because on the last boss the companion just stands in the fire aoe and dies constantly

That's a pain...it's almost as bad as when Mirri decides she is the Tank (even though you have her set up to heal) and wants to Kite everything.

Still...I think that having a four-man dungeon set up so two people and their companions can run it with lesser rewards/XP also a solo story mode version would be extremely popular.

usually if i have a ranged companion, its to help my tank, because i want them to stay as far away from me as possible for best chance to stay alive lol, so i normally have things taunted and good way to practice keeping taunt up when the boss decides to run off lol

but some of these aoe mechanics that require being in a certain position companions just do not do well (black drake villa fire aoes, earthen root enclave first boss with hiding behind the stones, or even the final boss of vaults of madness when your supposed to be inside the bubble), they usually just straight up die in most of these cases

ive also had problems with companions on the first boss of coral aerie when you have to swim and jump on the ledges, the companions dont "jump down" and will just die

one dungeon that a tank companion with a dps worked surprisingly well for me was unhallowed grave, you do need to use the companion commands to get the kiln boss to move to the right circles but outside of that there was no obvious mechanics that would outright kill them

spartaxoxo · November 2022

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

ive also had problems with companions on the first boss of coral aerie when you have to swim and jump on the ledges, the companions dont "jump down" and will just die

Heavy attack as soon as you get up the ledge, and as soon as you get down, and they will join you. It may be best to swap to a sword and board if you're using an ice staff. I'm guessing if they are in range to do a ranged attack, they won't. But I know for sure they will if they need to be in melee range to target what you just told them to target with the heavy, they will relocate to you. I actually had Bastian tank for most of the bosses the first time I did normal Coral Aerie (with a group) because the tank left.