Love Chapter High Isle

TheImperfect · September 2022

I didn't get around to posting before but I really love High Isle and Amenos. I particularly love the ambiance in Amenos, its a prison that I probably wouldn't try escape, except for the monsters. The whole zone and all the sunflowers makes me feel like crying with joy. I love Ember and her quest and really like Isobel and hers. Tales of Tribute is amazing, feels like a different game every time and very engaging and it's quest line is great too. The new furniture is so chunky and lush and I'm just very happy on the whole with everything so far this chapter. Just previewed some of the upcoming items and they look amazing too. Keeps me excited for life.

Tesman85 · September 2022

TheImperfect wrote: »

I didn't get around to posting before but I really love High Isle and Amenos. I particularly love the ambiance in Amenos, its a prison that I probably wouldn't try escape, except for the monsters. The whole zone and all the sunflowers makes me feel like crying with joy. I love Ember and her quest and really like Isobel and hers. Tales of Tribute is amazing, feels like a different game every time and very engaging and it's quest line is great too. The new furniture is so chunky and lush and I'm just very happy on the whole with everything so far this chapter. Just previewed some of the upcoming items and they look amazing too. Keeps me excited for life.

I love the chapter, too! The environment is indeed beautiful, I could readily see the High Isle being the resort for the rich and noble that is mentioned to be. The quests were very good, too, both the main line and the side ones. For instance, the Rigurt quest had me laughing harder than anything in some time.

As for Tales of Tribute, I haven't played it for a while since I burned myself out for it when grinding to the max level in it. But it's a very good game and the fact that I did grind it tells of how engaging it is. I'm going to take easier on it in the future, though.

Isobel is a great addition to the game, too. I already made a whole thread to praise her, so suffice it to say here that she's a very good complement to my magsorc, and lovable as a character.

It's not all perfect, however. There are too many bugs left in the chapter. For instance, some world bosses won't reset without relogging, and there were some small bugs with the ToT founders when I found them (missing dialogue after winning over them). ZoS should correct those as soon as possible, since this kind of lack of polish is a bit jarring in otherwise good product.

AcadianPaladin · September 2022

I was pleased to see a return to a more classic medieval fantasy theme/ambiance for this zone and agree that the zone itself and associated quests were quite enjoyable. Isobel and Ember are fine companions.

Tried the card game including the tutorial and half a dozen games. After giving it a reasonable try, I won't be playing it anymore since I don't enjoy it and there are so many things in ESO I do enjoy and prefer to spend my time doing.

Don't care about DLC WBs since they are too hard for me to solo (as a general rule) - so I ignore them (but love to hunt basic alliance zone WBs since I can solo most of them).

And don't care about DLC dungeons since I can't solo them and hate obtuse convoluted mechanics that seem to characterize DLC dungeons. So I ignore them as well.

AzuraFan · September 2022

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

Don't care about DLC WBs since they are too hard for me to solo (as a general rule) - so I ignore them (but love to hunt basic alliance zone WBs since I can solo most of them).

I can't solo them either, but there are usually other players that show up to do a boss, or someone asking in zone chat for more to help. I've managed to do all the 30/30 achievements for the bosses in all the DLCs without a problem.

FlopsyPrince · September 2022

AzuraFan wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

Don't care about DLC WBs since they are too hard for me to solo (as a general rule) - so I ignore them (but love to hunt basic alliance zone WBs since I can solo most of them).

I can't solo them either, but there are usually other players that show up to do a boss, or someone asking in zone chat for more to help. I've managed to do all the 30/30 achievements for the bosses in all the DLCs without a problem.

No one is around when I have tried in the past few weeks.

That is the problem with "challenging" expansion WBs. They are impossible for many after people get done "conquering" the zone.

How many do those fire spawn points in Blackwood now?

Dragons sometimes get attention in Elsweyr, but not that much.

Those only really work for a time, except during an event. Or for those who can solo them playing with their feet while watching streamed movies!

Tornaad · September 2022

I have been trying to get my wife into ESO for almost as long as I have been playing (I started in 2016) and now thanks to Tales of Tribute I can almost see that happening. And if it does, High Isle will be my all-time favorite expansion. Then again, I also just hope they release a mobile app version of ToT because my wife would just love that.

AzuraFan · September 2022

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Dragons sometimes get attention in Elsweyr, but not that much.

Dragons get tons of attention in Elsweyr. I needed to finish that achievement where you have to kill so many iron atronachs etc. while fighting a dragon. I was able to do it easily by going into Northern Elsweyr every once in a while and killing dragons for half an hour or so. Not alone lol. With other players. Maybe it's the times you play, because I see requests for help with WBs all the time.

AcadianPaladin · September 2022

DLC WBs are a simple game for me. Kill them all with tons of help when the zone is brand new. Then just pass them by after that as too hard to solo and too inconvenient to coordinate & wait around for help. Basic alliance original game WBs are a totally different story. I love fighting them. If no one is around, I know I can still solo most of them so hunting them is never a waste of time.

SeaGtGruff · September 2022

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I was pleased to see a return to a more classic medieval fantasy theme/ambiance for this zone and agree that the zone itself and associated quests were quite enjoyable. Isobel and Ember are fine companions.

Tried the card game including the tutorial and half a dozen games. After giving it a reasonable try, I won't be playing it anymore since I don't enjoy it and there are so many things in ESO I do enjoy and prefer to spend my time doing.

Don't care about DLC WBs since they are too hard for me to solo (as a general rule) - so I ignore them (but love to hunt basic alliance zone WBs since I can solo most of them).

And don't care about DLC dungeons since I can't solo them and hate obtuse convoluted mechanics that seem to characterize DLC dungeons. So I ignore them as well.

I didn't really expect to like the card game, but as soon as I played it on the PTS, I knew I'd be playing it often; it's now one of my "must do" daily activities, along with crafting writs and endeavors.

As far as DLC WBs, I've always found them to be beyond my ability to solo, although during the past year or two I've finally gotten to where I can solo all of the WBs in Vvardenfell and Northern Elsweyr, as well as some of the WBs in other DLC zones. A lot of it has to do with learning their mechanics and developing strategies for handling them, but I've also made a few gear and skill bar changes-- not to mention earning more CP-- and I'm sure that's also helped.

I know what you mean about DLC dungeons. I'd say that, as a general rule, the newer DLC dungeons-- and DLC WBs-- have been designed to be more challenging, presumably due to power creep and trying to keep OP vets engaged with the content.

FlopsyPrince · September 2022

AzuraFan wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Dragons sometimes get attention in Elsweyr, but not that much.

Dragons get tons of attention in Elsweyr. I needed to finish that achievement where you have to kill so many iron atronachs etc. while fighting a dragon. I was able to do it easily by going into Northern Elsweyr every once in a while and killing dragons for half an hour or so. Not alone lol. With other players. Maybe it's the times you play, because I see requests for help with WBs all the time.

Must be a different crowd when you are on. I rarely see dragons in combat when I am in the zone.

FlopsyPrince · September 2022

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I was pleased to see a return to a more classic medieval fantasy theme/ambiance for this zone and agree that the zone itself and associated quests were quite enjoyable. Isobel and Ember are fine companions.

Tried the card game including the tutorial and half a dozen games. After giving it a reasonable try, I won't be playing it anymore since I don't enjoy it and there are so many things in ESO I do enjoy and prefer to spend my time doing.

Don't care about DLC WBs since they are too hard for me to solo (as a general rule) - so I ignore them (but love to hunt basic alliance zone WBs since I can solo most of them).

And don't care about DLC dungeons since I can't solo them and hate obtuse convoluted mechanics that seem to characterize DLC dungeons. So I ignore them as well.

I didn't really expect to like the card game, but as soon as I played it on the PTS, I knew I'd be playing it often; it's now one of my "must do" daily activities, along with crafting writs and endeavors.

As far as DLC WBs, I've always found them to be beyond my ability to solo, although during the past year or two I've finally gotten to where I can solo all of the WBs in Vvardenfell and Northern Elsweyr, as well as some of the WBs in other DLC zones. A lot of it has to do with learning their mechanics and developing strategies for handling them, but I've also made a few gear and skill bar changes-- not to mention earning more CP-- and I'm sure that's also helped.

I know what you mean about DLC dungeons. I'd say that, as a general rule, the newer DLC dungeons-- and DLC WBs-- have been designed to be more challenging, presumably due to power creep and trying to keep OP vets engaged with the content.

Yet they do not do that. How many vet players are killing them regularly after a very short time frame?

FlopsyPrince · September 2022

Zuboko wrote: »

I have been trying to get my wife into ESO for almost as long as I have been playing (I started in 2016) and now thanks to Tales of Tribute I can almost see that happening. And if it does, High Isle will be my all-time favorite expansion. Then again, I also just hope they release a mobile app version of ToT because my wife would just love that.

How much of the rest of the game will she want if she is only here for the card game?

Carcamongus · September 2022

TheImperfect wrote: »

I didn't get around to posting before but I really love High Isle and Amenos. I particularly love the ambiance in Amenos, its a prison that I probably wouldn't try escape, except for the monsters. The whole zone and all the sunflowers makes me feel like crying with joy. I love Ember and her quest and really like Isobel and hers. Tales of Tribute is amazing, feels like a different game every time and very engaging and it's quest line is great too. The new furniture is so chunky and lush and I'm just very happy on the whole with everything so far this chapter. Just previewed some of the upcoming items and they look amazing too. Keeps me excited for life.

The new zone is indeed beautiful and richly detailed. At long last the Bretons got furniture that doesn't look boring. Watching the ships sail by in Gonfalon Bay or even while out in the wilderness is awesome. So many beautiful additions, such as the gorgeous sunflower fields, the little birdhouses and the cautious hermit crabs.

U35 has caused much gloom, so it's important to remember the game's good aspects.

SpacemanSpiff1 · September 2022

High Isle is one of the chapters to come out, imo.

Gaebriel0410 · September 2022

High Isle is my favourite chapter to date, and I think they've knocked it out of the park so far. The Firesong preview stream looked great as well.

The Arthurian knights and forests vibe is what attracted me to Bretons in the first place, so I am happy to see how much they expanded on it. I kind of knew it was gonna be good when I watched one of the pre-release interviews where one of their writers (I think) mentioned he loved those tales himself. And honestly it shows in all the little details.

TaSheen · September 2022

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Dragons sometimes get attention in Elsweyr, but not that much.

Dragons get tons of attention in Elsweyr. I needed to finish that achievement where you have to kill so many iron atronachs etc. while fighting a dragon. I was able to do it easily by going into Northern Elsweyr every once in a while and killing dragons for half an hour or so. Not alone lol. With other players. Maybe it's the times you play, because I see requests for help with WBs all the time.

Must be a different crowd when you are on. I rarely see dragons in combat when I am in the zone.

I'd have to agree with @AzuraFan - I actually spend a fair amount of time in both Elsweyr zones, and it's very seldom I see a dragon no one's fighting. If I'm not in a real hurry, I'll jump in (and die really fast as usual). Sometimes I'll just stand around wherever I am (not in the battle area) to watch as they soar. So lovely!

This is actually on both PC NA and EU - early off-peak for me NA (so around 5 pm or so Eastern) and very much on-peak EU (usually between 7 and 10 pm in EU).

Ashryn · September 2022

I, too, like the High Isle chapter and its quests. Certainly 5 steps up from Blackwood quests! However, I really detest the new tendency to have the majority of homes locked and off-limits and containers in Delves not lootable. To me, that is plain laziness in creation! It also would be nice if the zone 'monsters' wouldn't just be re-skins, but I do love the new World Bosses in the zone!

Gaebriel0410 · September 2022

Yeah I agree, the containers in delves not being lootable is kinda weird. Though oddly the small barrels are! It was the same in one of the previous chapters. The random house accessibility has been improved though, or at least that's what it seems like.

What I really like about the world bosses especially this chapter, is that some do similar mechanics to dungeon bosses, the faun boss glowy line of instakill indriks comes to mind. I think things like that make players familiar with recognizing boss mechanics later in vet dungeons, which can only be a good thing imo.

whitecrow · September 2022

I do love the environment but the main quest feels like the same old. The companion quests are nice.

I only played the initial card games during the "quest," had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and probably won't be playing again.

SeaGtGruff · September 2022

TaSheen wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Dragons sometimes get attention in Elsweyr, but not that much.

Dragons get tons of attention in Elsweyr. I needed to finish that achievement where you have to kill so many iron atronachs etc. while fighting a dragon. I was able to do it easily by going into Northern Elsweyr every once in a while and killing dragons for half an hour or so. Not alone lol. With other players. Maybe it's the times you play, because I see requests for help with WBs all the time.

Must be a different crowd when you are on. I rarely see dragons in combat when I am in the zone.

I'd have to agree with @AzuraFan - I actually spend a fair amount of time in both Elsweyr zones, and it's very seldom I see a dragon no one's fighting. If I'm not in a real hurry, I'll jump in (and die really fast as usual). Sometimes I'll just stand around wherever I am (not in the battle area) to watch as they soar. So lovely!

This is actually on both PC NA and EU - early off-peak for me NA (so around 5 pm or so Eastern) and very much on-peak EU (usually between 7 and 10 pm in EU).

I think time of day has a lot to do with this, because if it's a time when the majority of a server's population is active then you'll see dragons being fought; but if it's a time when fewer players are active on that server then it can be more difficult to attract players into a dragon fight.

If I don't see any dragons in combat, I'll take one on solo and try to stay alive long enough for other players to notice, and keep rezzing and trying again until a few other players show up-- if I'm lucky. But if it isn't an active time of day, there might not be enough players in the zone who are interested in fighting dragons.

FlopsyPrince · September 2022

I want to be able to permanently stop the card game barker. The intro text line takes far too long to silence her that way.

Kingsindarkness · September 2022

High Isle is beautiful...but the story is the most boring yet.

It was like being duct taped to chair and forced to watch Critical Role...

SerafinaWaterstar · September 2022

Think the zone is beautiful, and the main story is so much better than the last 2 years.

Card game is fun too.

But will probably be shot down for saying anything positive about this game right now 🙄

Kingsindarkness · September 2022

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Think the zone is beautiful, and the main story is so much better than the last 2 years.

Card game is fun too.

But will probably be shot down for saying anything positive about this game right now 🙄

Don't see why your opinion isn't as valid as anyone else's...

I just wish the story and acting wasn't so over the top, after all the game is rated M, I would love to be invested in the characters and not cringe when they speak or be forced to do this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbJ51AJuR7E

robwolf666 · September 2022

But... why is the sky so blurry? When I looked up at the moons and stars I had to check whether I remembered to put my glasses on.

Iron_Warrior · September 2022

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

High Isle is beautiful...but the story is the most boring yet.

It was like being duct taped to chair and forced to watch Critical Role...

Agreed, the zone itself looked pretty but story was just...

most hated part of the story for me was lady Arabelle, i was controlling myself sooo much to not skip her dialouges. To me it felt like they tried a little too hard to make her "cool". My dear this, my dear that. She couldn't just shut up, everytime she had to go on and on to make a simple point. I thought lyranth and "little mortal" were annoying but lady "my dear" Arabelle takes the crown

Tesman85 · September 2022

Iron_Warrior wrote: »

Kingsindarkness wrote: »

High Isle is beautiful...but the story is the most boring yet.

It was like being duct taped to chair and forced to watch Critical Role...

Agreed, the zone itself looked pretty but story was just...

most hated part of the story for me was lady Arabelle, i was controlling myself sooo much to not skip her dialouges. To me it felt like they tried a little too hard to make her "cool". My dear this, my dear that. She couldn't just shut up, everytime she had to go on and on to make a simple point. I thought lyranth and "little mortal" were annoying but lady "my dear" Arabelle takes the crown

I agree to a point. I tolerated Lady Arabelle and she was even kind of sympathetic at times, but her style of speaking should have been more toned down. Now that I think of it, ZoS has an unfortunate habit of making the exposition dispenser characters in later storylines quite condescending or otherwise annoying. Lyranth, Eveli (at times, mostly she's OK), Lady Arabelle, Abnur Tharn and maybe some others are like that. It's a poor choice because off-putting the player doesn't exactly foster engagement with the content. It would be OK if Lyranth and Abnur would be condescending a-holes because they are established to be not-so-nice, but there are too many such NPCs at the moment.

Blinx · September 2022

My take on it, is that it's mediocre, while I find the zone very nice looking, the zone story quests are quite bland, and Jakarn seems very low key compared to previous dealings with him.
I do spend more time here than I ever did, or will in Blackwood tho. but that's not saying much, I absolutely disliked that zone.