[Spoiler] Necrom Storyline: Whats’s next and how / when will the story continue?

LannStone · July 2023

Not guessing what next year might bring but going on the record to say I felt annoyed that the story broke off when it did. Necrom was great but should have been longer and wrapped up the whole story in one take, in my opinion.

TaSheen · July 2023

LannStone wrote: »

Not guessing what next year might bring but going on the record to say I felt annoyed that the story broke off when it did. Necrom was great but should have been longer and wrapped up the whole story in one take, in my opinion.

Yeah. I was never a fan of the "three dlc" story arcs. I LOVED the year long stories.... *sigh*

LunaFlora · July 2023

LittlePinkDot wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

Caution: This thread might contain spoilers of the Necrom storyline. If you didn’t play it yet or don’t want to read any spoilers, avoid this thread at all costs.

_______________

So, I just finished the Necrom storyline and I have to say this might be the best of all Chapter stories yet. The build up was a bit slow, but the climax in Apocrypha and the massive plot twist / revelation was well worth the wait. Plus, Hermaeus Mora is a super cool antagonist and might have just become my favorite Daedric Prince. Apocrypha is a visual feast as well.

As ZOS said they’re moving on from annual story arcs and they’re back to multi-year stories, I am a little worried about the continuation of this great storyline. Usually we had another zone and story DLC in the second half of the year to conclude storylines that were opened up in the Chapter, but this year ESO is skipping that part and there won’t be a new zone later this year.

What worries me a bit is exactly that: we‘re left with a massive plot twist / cliffhanger and now we have to wait one full year before the story continues? Most players, including myself, might have forgotten most of it by then.

And if they continue this story, where are we supposedly headed next? The huge revelation was the existence of yet another Daedric Prince, Ithelia, which is basically the antithesis to Hermaeus Mora. So where exactly will the story pick up? Are we again going to Apocrypha? Will Northern Telvanni Peninsula be the new Chapter zone? As much sense it would make to continue there, I hardly believe they’re giving us a carbon copy of this year‘s Chapter for the next year. Which leaves me worried as well. In Elsweyr we got the missing part later that year to conclude the Dragon saga, in High Isle we got Galen / Yffelon to do the same. They always felt like the natural continuation. But for Necrom?

What are your thoughts?
Where do you think we‘re headed next?
And where will Ithelia fit into the bigger picture?

I was thinking it might be the Northern portion of the Telvanni pensula.
Remember you find the note on the ship in in the harbour of Necrom that says Blight crown came from FireWatch.

As for Ithelia... Eso is before the Elderscrolls games, Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim... And Ithelia seems to not exist in those times... So I can only assume that we have to put Ithelia back wherever Hermaeus Mora sent her.

Jyggalag did not appear in Skyrim and the first we ever encountered him was in the Shivering isles dlc for Oblivion, the fourth big Elder Scrolls game.

though there is no ithelia to put back anywhere yet as the chapter story ended before torvesard got the third glyphic, which i assume either has her or has information about what happened to her

i don't believe her not appearing in previous games means that she simply doesn't exist after eso

fall0athboy · July 2023

Seraphayel wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

i think next chapter could be anywhere.

maybe the endless dungeon in update 40 will have some story as well

update 41's dungeons will likely continue the story as well

so we don't have to wait a full year

I don't know why I haven't thought about this before, but centering the endless dungeon around Hermaeus Mora / Apocrypha and the "new" Daedric Prince would fit perfectly. Ithela is the Dadric Prince of Paths, the Mistress of the Untraveled Road, the Unseen, the Fate-Changer. This basically gives already the perfect way to introduce the endless dungeon and make her the reason why they exist. Endless Paths, Untraveled Roads, all of that sounds fitting for an "endless dungeon runner". They could even wrap Mora's storyline up in that patch as well.

AzuraFan wrote: »

I really liked the story too. I guess it could be anywhere (including Apocrypha), and it will involve the T guy (forget his name) finding the last glyphic, perhaps?

Hopefully Leramil and Gadayn will be in it and their relationship will be blossoming.

That would also avoid the issue of visiting Apocrypha again in the next Chapter. ZOS has never done that afaik and it would be really weird. So the above solution would perfectly wrap up Necrom's storyline and also fit into the upcoming feature.

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Only one person that I found at the end mentions traveling and where they will go next and I am not even sure you get this option if you go another way on the quest but:
Dacia Caro mentions, if you choose to have her travel the world for a cure, that she is going to go to Winterhold. That's the only person that mentions any other zone unless I missed a quest.

That'd be sick honestly.

I mean that basically seals the deal as it does every year when an NPC tells us we're (s)he's headed next - that's always foreshadowing we're we go the next year. I'm not too excited about yet another Skyrim Chapter, but Winterhold as a location is great.

But it doesn't seal the deal: We still haven't been to Skingrad yet and that's been hinted since the end of Greymoor.

OtarTheMad · July 2023

fall0athboy wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

i think next chapter could be anywhere.

maybe the endless dungeon in update 40 will have some story as well

update 41's dungeons will likely continue the story as well

so we don't have to wait a full year

I don't know why I haven't thought about this before, but centering the endless dungeon around Hermaeus Mora / Apocrypha and the "new" Daedric Prince would fit perfectly. Ithela is the Dadric Prince of Paths, the Mistress of the Untraveled Road, the Unseen, the Fate-Changer. This basically gives already the perfect way to introduce the endless dungeon and make her the reason why they exist. Endless Paths, Untraveled Roads, all of that sounds fitting for an "endless dungeon runner". They could even wrap Mora's storyline up in that patch as well.

AzuraFan wrote: »

I really liked the story too. I guess it could be anywhere (including Apocrypha), and it will involve the T guy (forget his name) finding the last glyphic, perhaps?

Hopefully Leramil and Gadayn will be in it and their relationship will be blossoming.

That would also avoid the issue of visiting Apocrypha again in the next Chapter. ZOS has never done that afaik and it would be really weird. So the above solution would perfectly wrap up Necrom's storyline and also fit into the upcoming feature.

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Only one person that I found at the end mentions traveling and where they will go next and I am not even sure you get this option if you go another way on the quest but:
Dacia Caro mentions, if you choose to have her travel the world for a cure, that she is going to go to Winterhold. That's the only person that mentions any other zone unless I missed a quest.

That'd be sick honestly.

I mean that basically seals the deal as it does every year when an NPC tells us we're (s)he's headed next - that's always foreshadowing we're we go the next year. I'm not too excited about yet another Skyrim Chapter, but Winterhold as a location is great.

But it doesn't seal the deal: We still haven't been to Skingrad yet and that's been hinted since the end of Greymoor.

I think some of the hints given in quests or the celebration at the end are throw aways to stir up discussions and attention. Happens every year really where we all look at location names being dropped and if that is where we go the next year. I must admit it’s smart because I love it.

I think Winterhold would be a great choice because those of us who played Skyrim loved the mystery behind what Winterhold looked like before it was swallowed up. I mean if the city once went all the way up to where Winterhold Jail was, well that’d be a big city and pretty awesome. That event alone means that area is wide open, ZOS could make the city and area surrounding it pretty big and unique and it’s all justified because it was swept away in the 4th era.

Syldras · July 2023

LannStone wrote: »

Not guessing what next year might bring but going on the record to say I felt annoyed that the story broke off when it did. Necrom was great but should have been longer and wrapped up the whole story in one take, in my opinion.

And the story doesn't even continue in November's Q4 DLC like it did the last few years, but next summer... I have been wondering, btw, whether the next summer chapter really will be as big as the last one, or only something like the usual winter story dlc moved to the next year to, well, reduce content and development costs. Basically splitting what had been one year's story content between two years.

HappyTheCamper · July 2023

10th Anniversary needs to be Skingrad/Imperial-themed since Cyrodiil is so central and Imperials are a neural race. You could even honor it by making Imperials free to purchase!

Skingrad is slightly nostalgic from Oblivion, but it’s not as on-the-nose as a Skyrim theme. Meridia needs to be brought in as the main villain, and a return of Darien would be perfect as well.

PvP could be shaken up as well with a proper Cyrodiil chapter, but we know that won’t happen…

WhiteCoatSyndrome · July 2023

Seraphayel wrote: »

As ZOS said they’re moving on from annual story arcs and they’re back to multi-year stories, I am a little worried about the continuation of this great storyline. Usually we had another zone and story DLC in the second half of the year to conclude storylines that were opened up in the Chapter, but this year ESO is skipping that part and there won’t be a new zone later this year.

What worries me a bit is exactly that: we‘re left with a massive plot twist / cliffhanger and now we have to wait one full year before the story continues? Most players, including myself, might have forgotten most of it by then.

I don’t recall there being a lot of issues remembering the storyline the last time they did this (Orsinium -> Vvardenfell -> Clockwork City -> Summerset). But if you find yourself forgetting, that sounds like a perfect reason to run through it again on an alt.

My concern is that when they get to the finale - whenever and whereever that ends up being - they drop the ball like they did in Summerset.

I would be 100% on board with them making the next Chapter somewhere off Nirn entirely - Peryite’s realm? Battlespire? - but I doubt they’ll do it for the 10th Anniversary. Maybe Ithelia’s realm for the finale, but she has to bust out and make her presence felt first.

Dark_Lord_Kuro · July 2023

The storyline is called shadow over morrowind isnt it? That would indicate another morrowind zone, maybe the nothern penninsula or at least a zone near morrowind such as skyrim, cyrodiil or blackmarch

Other than that i saw 2 region being mentionned and another player told me of a 3rd.

-An npc sait she will go to winterhold next.
-The second one is likely a typo but in the quest for sharp as night where we go thio windhelm, while the voice over said windhelm, the text was whiterun.
-a player told me a npc plan to travel to the realm of boethia but i avent founfd that npc or didnt read that part.

Winterhold would be the perfect opportunity to add the remaining staff weapon skill line. Conjuration could be centered around atronach(non perm sommon), illusion could be cc based with touul such as fear, agro, etc the alteration would be buff based with stuff like resistance and shield. And bonus point to staff for using already existing model, meaning wuch easier for the motif problem

LunaFlora · July 2023

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

The storyline is called shadow over morrowind isnt it? That would indicate another morrowind zone, maybe the nothern penninsula or at least a zone near morrowind such as skyrim, cyrodiil or blackmarch

Other than that i saw 2 region being mentionned and another player told me of a 3rd.

-An npc sait she will go to winterhold next.
-The second one is likely a typo but in the quest for sharp as night where we go thio windhelm, while the voice over said windhelm, the text was whiterun.
-a player told me a npc plan to travel to the realm of boethia but i avent founfd that npc or didnt read that part.

Winterhold would be the perfect opportunity to add the remaining staff weapon skill line. Conjuration could be centered around atronach(non perm sommon), illusion could be cc based with touul such as fear, agro, etc the alteration would be buff based with stuff like resistance and shield. And bonus point to staff for using already existing model, meaning wuch easier for the motif problem

shadow over Morrowind is just this year
we haven't been given a name for the multi year story.

characters saying where they are going next does not guarantee we will also go there next.

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

Syldras · July 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

shadow over Morrowind is just this year
we haven't been given a name for the multi year story.

In the announcement streams they stated that it's indeed the name of the whole story arc. Of course it could be a mistake, and it's an unusual decision to make several years only about Morrowind, but it's the way they announced it.

TaSheen · July 2023

I'm just not happy about this at all. Yes, I'm only one person. But I didn't play through the previous "3 year story arc" because that just doesn't appeal to me, never did.

So this is what will happen. I will play everything but the zone MQs. Because I don't care about that sort of "mega-story" arc....

I want to go back to the year long story setup. Yeah. Not happening. And I'm not happy about it at all.

LunaFlora · July 2023

Syldras wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

shadow over Morrowind is just this year
we haven't been given a name for the multi year story.

In the announcement streams they stated that it's indeed the name of the whole story arc. Of course it could be a mistake, and it's an unusual decision to make several years only about Morrowind, but it's the way they announced it.

well if it really is only Morrowind and nowhere else on tamriel that's pretty boring

Supreme_Atromancer · July 2023

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

OtarTheMad · July 2023

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Supreme_Atromancer · July 2023

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Haha yeah, the books are weird. I spent longer than I'd like to admit looking into the portal and squinting trying to make something of it. It could be cut content, but I mean, its really the ideal sort of "Striking Locale", really- some place you that's really interesting to explore, and probably has a story you have to try to understand by exploring it. There's a story there somewhere between the book and the portal. I guess the author ended up entering it? I don't know what else.

If it *were* FoR, maybe the mountain is the one from which Umbriel is pulled? I don't know, reaching at straws here. But I also have to add that I had a theory years ago now that FoR would make a fantastic daedric plane in which to set Falinesti, if ZOS were so inclined. Like, maybe Rhajiin made some terrible deal with the God of Bargains, and now the city is lost in the forests of Viles realm. The Bosmer are in sore need of content, after all, and the mystery of the Wandering City needs a resolution.

Supreme_Atromancer · July 2023

My REALLY wild, crackpot theory, dreamed up while halucinating on nearly lethal doses of COPIUM:

I've been thinking about Matt Firor's letter to the community last year. The talk about new people being overwhelmed by the sheer number of zones, and about what appears to be a desire to capitalise on their older zones, going forward. In my mind that could mean simply cutting back on the pace at which things get developed, period. It could also possibly mean that the world artists are free-er to work on non-new-zone-proliferating things.

A couple of years ago, one developer was asked about the idea of a base-game refresh. The response at the time was that's something they'd of course love to do, (and the discussion meandered around all the base-game world-design pain points), but in an attempt to put their audience in the shoes of a developer, they posed the question of how you go about redoing old stuff on the same release cadence in which we're getting all this new shiny stuff (which, after all, everyone wants). Fast Forward to 2023, and Matt Firor's letter would seem to be the perfect response to that question.

Obvs., I know nothing about how new players engage the game, but if most of them start with the base game world, and if we long-term players are to be funnelled back into the older zones (to any degree), would it be important to make those zones look and feel as good as the new zones do? If the idea was primarily to channel people from base game zones into newer ones, it might be less of a priority to improve them. But if people were intended to spend significant time there, the question bares re-examination. IF those zones were to be considered relevant and important, and a place to spend some amount of time, it feels like it would be ideal to hold those zones to the same design standards that all the newer zones have. Address the pain points, make them look and fit better into the post-launch design.

Going back to the "we want new stuff" problem, you still have to ask how this would fit in with the marketable release cadence that is theoretically marketable. After all, you don't want to take away the base game zones just so you can resell them to people.

I've been thinking that some of the most enigmatic cities in Tamriel are still yet to be explored. Big Lore places like Winterhold and Falinesti are spoken about in the community in terms of how mysterious they are, and people love to speculate how they might look. They are amongst the most anticipated future locations.

If these legendary, *particularly* special cities themselves are the major attraction (as opposed to the lands), I think that these could be worked, alongside refreshed older zones, as an opt in. I think that in these examples, its the cities, themselves would be the selling points. If those cities served new functionality, had more features, and more reasons to be in them than traditional ones, they would become very desirable to have. They could be appended to existing zones (the refreshed examples). And by having the city related to a part of the base game being refreshed, assets could be developed to serve both.

As an example of how I think this could work, and given some weight with some of the recent speculation about where we might be going- the basegame zones Eastmarch and The Rift could be refreshed using the same standards that have been used in designing post-launch zones. The zones could be combined to a new "Eastern Skyrim", and re-worked to more closely resemble the region they were meant to represent- with The Rift existing on a plataeu with a proper Aspen forest, that in turn winds down the steep, wooded hillslope to the volcanic tundra and flanking snowy pine forests of Eastmarch. Have Bonestrewn Pothole remodelled into the Crest it was meant to be, and return Windhelm to the dark, brooding stone foundation city we see in TES5. This is the zone new players see. Its the zone we're funnelled back to, to grind our antiquities, dailies, endeavors, whatever. But additionally, for those who purchase it, there's a path off to the North Wast that will take us to Winterhold City, with all the cool stuff, new functionality and reasons to be there.

If a base-game refresh were to happen incrementally over the next several seasons, I feel like a similar pattern could be done for other base game areas. Falinesti Returned in a much needed Grahtwood and Greenshade refreshed zone could be a future-year's Winterhold/E.Skyrim, for instance.

A few things- I'm wordy, so I don't expect a lot of people to read it all lol. I also know that some people are opposed to a refresh. Constructive responses are welcome, but I know my idea is kinda wacky, "gah" responses just make me feel crap. I know that a kneejerk response is that this might feel like a rip-off, (compared to how the game is marketed now), and those are valid points, but I think that would be an issue with a process that Matt's "over-abundance of zones" comment suggests we are already moving towards; this post is only about *the how* might they do what they already said they're gonna do. And finally, I'm absolutely just cherry-picking evidence from the things that have stuck in my mind over the last couple of years, and speculation strung together from that seems like there's good reason to think I don't have the full picture by a long shot buuuuuut, its just fun to speculate.

TinyDragon · July 2023

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Haha yeah, the books are weird. I spent longer than I'd like to admit looking into the portal and squinting trying to make something of it. It could be cut content, but I mean, its really the ideal sort of "Striking Locale", really- some place you that's really interesting to explore, and probably has a story you have to try to understand by exploring it. There's a story there somewhere between the book and the portal. I guess the author ended up entering it? I don't know what else.

If it *were* FoR, maybe the mountain is the one from which Umbriel is pulled? I don't know, reaching at straws here. But I also have to add that I had a theory years ago now that FoR would make a fantastic daedric plane in which to set Falinesti, if ZOS were so inclined. Like, maybe Rhajiin made some terrible deal with the God of Bargains, and now the city is lost in the forests of Viles realm. The Bosmer are in sore need of content, after all, and the mystery of the Wandering City needs a resolution.

This image seems like a new asset, and they don't make those for no reason usually! I think it's a solid clue, but for where, I'm not sure!

Could it be somewhere in Cyrodiil? I went looking at it, and it's green planes with red flowers, and a mountain right. I'm not sure of anywhere with such a large mountain

Dark_Lord_Kuro · July 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

The storyline is called shadow over morrowind isnt it? That would indicate another morrowind zone, maybe the nothern penninsula or at least a zone near morrowind such as skyrim, cyrodiil or blackmarch

Other than that i saw 2 region being mentionned and another player told me of a 3rd.

-An npc sait she will go to winterhold next.
-The second one is likely a typo but in the quest for sharp as night where we go thio windhelm, while the voice over said windhelm, the text was whiterun.
-a player told me a npc plan to travel to the realm of boethia but i avent founfd that npc or didnt read that part.

Winterhold would be the perfect opportunity to add the remaining staff weapon skill line. Conjuration could be centered around atronach(non perm sommon), illusion could be cc based with touul such as fear, agro, etc the alteration would be buff based with stuff like resistance and shield. And bonus point to staff for using already existing model, meaning wuch easier for the motif problem

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

No but we did go to cyrodill tough

Seraphayel · July 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

The storyline is called shadow over morrowind isnt it? That would indicate another morrowind zone, maybe the nothern penninsula or at least a zone near morrowind such as skyrim, cyrodiil or blackmarch

Other than that i saw 2 region being mentionned and another player told me of a 3rd.

-An npc sait she will go to winterhold next.
-The second one is likely a typo but in the quest for sharp as night where we go thio windhelm, while the voice over said windhelm, the text was whiterun.
-a player told me a npc plan to travel to the realm of boethia but i avent founfd that npc or didnt read that part.

Winterhold would be the perfect opportunity to add the remaining staff weapon skill line. Conjuration could be centered around atronach(non perm sommon), illusion could be cc based with touul such as fear, agro, etc the alteration would be buff based with stuff like resistance and shield. And bonus point to staff for using already existing model, meaning wuch easier for the motif problem

shadow over Morrowind is just this year
we haven't been given a name for the multi year story.

characters saying where they are going next does not guarantee we will also go there next.

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

There‘s always a hint from an NPC or something else for the upcoming year that‘s right. We had this basically for every Chapter since the very beginning with Morrowind back in 2017. Why would it be different this time? It‘s a neat mystery to unravel. And yes, alluding to wrong locations is, too.

Shadow over Morrowind as a the name for the multi-year arc makes little sense in my opinion. I am 100% certain we‘re not going to Northern Telvanni Peninsula next year. They never did back to back Chapters in the exact same place and it would just feel lazy.

But there‘s more to Morrowind…. on the western side of Vvardenfell. And that‘s where Solstheim, Blacklight and even Winterhold would fit into the entire narrative.

By the way: a base game refresh makes little to no sense. It‘s way too much work, would achieve not much and for new players each Chapter is already treated as a tutorial or entry into the series. It‘s just a lot of wasted work overall. It‘s way easier to just create new Chapters for the next decade. I‘m not saying that I’m against it, I would love if the story somehow moves on with Molag Bal and the Three Banner War, but ZOS is usually very lazy when it comes to things like these and the Chapters itself are not particularly content-rich or special either.

LunaFlora · July 2023

Seraphayel wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

The storyline is called shadow over morrowind isnt it? That would indicate another morrowind zone, maybe the nothern penninsula or at least a zone near morrowind such as skyrim, cyrodiil or blackmarch

Other than that i saw 2 region being mentionned and another player told me of a 3rd.

-An npc sait she will go to winterhold next.
-The second one is likely a typo but in the quest for sharp as night where we go thio windhelm, while the voice over said windhelm, the text was whiterun.
-a player told me a npc plan to travel to the realm of boethia but i avent founfd that npc or didnt read that part.

Winterhold would be the perfect opportunity to add the remaining staff weapon skill line. Conjuration could be centered around atronach(non perm sommon), illusion could be cc based with touul such as fear, agro, etc the alteration would be buff based with stuff like resistance and shield. And bonus point to staff for using already existing model, meaning wuch easier for the motif problem

shadow over Morrowind is just this year
we haven't been given a name for the multi year story.

characters saying where they are going next does not guarantee we will also go there next.

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

There‘s always a hint from an NPC or something else for the upcoming year that‘s right. We had this basically for every Chapter since the very beginning with Morrowind back in 2017. Why would it be different this time? It‘s a neat mystery to unravel. And yes, alluding to wrong locations is, too.

Shadow over Morrowind as a the name for the multi-year arc makes little sense in my opinion. I am 100% certain we‘re not going to Northern Telvanni Peninsula next year. They never did back to back Chapters in the exact same place and it would just feel lazy.

But there‘s more to Morrowind…. on the western side of Vvardenfell. And that‘s where Solstheim, Blacklight and even Winterhold would fit into the entire narrative.

By the way: a base game refresh makes little to no sense. It‘s way too much work, would achieve not much and for new players each Chapter is already treated as a tutorial or entry into the series. It‘s just a lot of wasted work overall. It‘s way easier to just create new Chapters for the next decade. I‘m not saying that I’m against it, I would love if the story somehow moves on with Molag Bal and the Three Banner War, but ZOS is usually very lazy when it comes to things like these and the Chapters itself are not particularly content-rich or special either.

solstheim isn't apart of Morrowind until the fourth era and Winterhold is always Skyrim. I'd love to go to those places, but if the multi year story is Shadow over Morrowind then why anywhere else but Morrowind?

Supreme_Atromancer · July 2023

Seraphayel wrote: »

By the way: a base game refresh makes little to no sense. It‘s way too much work, would achieve not much and for new players each Chapter is already treated as a tutorial or entry into the series. It‘s just a lot of wasted work overall. It‘s way easier to just create new Chapters for the next decade. I‘m not saying that I’m against it, I would love if the story somehow moves on with Molag Bal and the Three Banner War, but ZOS is usually very lazy when it comes to things like these and the Chapters itself are not particularly content-rich or special either.

Yeah, I'm not even convinced I'm right either lol. Like I said, probably just the Copium speaking... I'm honestly a big fan of their more recent work- like, its all really stunning, you couldn't want for better. Say what you want about combat, crown store w/e, everyone agrees the world artists nail it. Every time. I wonder at the state of the old zones, how they got them wrong and how they just don't fit, how good they *could* have been done given their post-launch higher standard. I don't even think its anything to do with laziness; probably just big workloads. Its nice to dream.

My money is still on Winterhold (based on the scant evidence), but think Colovia is a distinct possibility. Just can't see them doing Firewatch so soon after TP.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · July 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

characters saying where they are going next does not guarantee we will also go there next.

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

On this note, IIRC one of the NPCs in High Isle mentioned visiting Hammerfell and we haven’t gone back there either (yet, at least).

LunaFlora · July 2023

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

characters saying where they are going next does not guarantee we will also go there next.

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

On this note, IIRC one of the NPCs in High Isle mentioned visiting Hammerfell and we haven’t gone back there either (yet, at least).

yea Lady Laurent, who also mentioned the Telvanni Peninsula

SilverBride · July 2023

I enjoyed every story quest chain in the game until this one. I found the Necrom story to be confusing and tedious and I did not enjoy a single thing about it.

I'm not looking forward to any more of this story.

OtarTheMad · July 2023

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Haha yeah, the books are weird. I spent longer than I'd like to admit looking into the portal and squinting trying to make something of it. It could be cut content, but I mean, its really the ideal sort of "Striking Locale", really- some place you that's really interesting to explore, and probably has a story you have to try to understand by exploring it. There's a story there somewhere between the book and the portal. I guess the author ended up entering it? I don't know what else.

If it *were* FoR, maybe the mountain is the one from which Umbriel is pulled? I don't know, reaching at straws here. But I also have to add that I had a theory years ago now that FoR would make a fantastic daedric plane in which to set Falinesti, if ZOS were so inclined. Like, maybe Rhajiin made some terrible deal with the God of Bargains, and now the city is lost in the forests of Viles realm. The Bosmer are in sore need of content, after all, and the mystery of the Wandering City needs a resolution.

The issue with Falinesti, and I would love to go there, is that it already has a return date in TES History. My other big question about doing Bosmer next year is- Are the Bosmer a big enough draw for a 10th Anniversary chapter? I think the answer would be no.

From the UESP Falinesti lore page:

By the late Second Era, Falinesti had returned and continued its cycle across Valenwood. In 2E 830, heirs of the Camoran Dynasty vied for control of the throne and it came down to two claimants

The portal could have a very simple answer... it is a dormant portal that should lead to Ithelia's Daedric Realm. We only have a little of it unlocked because we haven't finished the story yet. It could also be the Throat of the World mountain with the distortion from the portal hiding the snow.

SilverIce58 · July 2023

.

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Haha yeah, the books are weird. I spent longer than I'd like to admit looking into the portal and squinting trying to make something of it. It could be cut content, but I mean, its really the ideal sort of "Striking Locale", really- some place you that's really interesting to explore, and probably has a story you have to try to understand by exploring it. There's a story there somewhere between the book and the portal. I guess the author ended up entering it? I don't know what else.

If it *were* FoR, maybe the mountain is the one from which Umbriel is pulled? I don't know, reaching at straws here. But I also have to add that I had a theory years ago now that FoR would make a fantastic daedric plane in which to set Falinesti, if ZOS were so inclined. Like, maybe Rhajiin made some terrible deal with the God of Bargains, and now the city is lost in the forests of Viles realm. The Bosmer are in sore need of content, after all, and the mystery of the Wandering City needs a resolution.

The issue with Falinesti, and I would love to go there, is that it already has a return date in TES History. My other big question about doing Bosmer next year is- Are the Bosmer a big enough draw for a 10th Anniversary chapter? I think the answer would be no.

From the UESP Falinesti lore page:

By the late Second Era, Falinesti had returned and continued its cycle across Valenwood. In 2E 830, heirs of the Camoran Dynasty vied for control of the throne and it came down to two claimants

The portal could have a very simple answer... it is a dormant portal that should lead to Ithelia's Daedric Realm. We only have a little of it unlocked because we haven't finished the story yet. It could also be the Throat of the World mountain with the distortion from the portal hiding the snow.

What if we visit Falinesti in an Oblivion realm? That way it still has a return date, but we can still explore it somewhat. Just gotta make some Imga now to go with the city.

OtarTheMad · July 2023

SilverIce58 wrote: »

.

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Haha yeah, the books are weird. I spent longer than I'd like to admit looking into the portal and squinting trying to make something of it. It could be cut content, but I mean, its really the ideal sort of "Striking Locale", really- some place you that's really interesting to explore, and probably has a story you have to try to understand by exploring it. There's a story there somewhere between the book and the portal. I guess the author ended up entering it? I don't know what else.

If it *were* FoR, maybe the mountain is the one from which Umbriel is pulled? I don't know, reaching at straws here. But I also have to add that I had a theory years ago now that FoR would make a fantastic daedric plane in which to set Falinesti, if ZOS were so inclined. Like, maybe Rhajiin made some terrible deal with the God of Bargains, and now the city is lost in the forests of Viles realm. The Bosmer are in sore need of content, after all, and the mystery of the Wandering City needs a resolution.

The issue with Falinesti, and I would love to go there, is that it already has a return date in TES History. My other big question about doing Bosmer next year is- Are the Bosmer a big enough draw for a 10th Anniversary chapter? I think the answer would be no.

From the UESP Falinesti lore page:

By the late Second Era, Falinesti had returned and continued its cycle across Valenwood. In 2E 830, heirs of the Camoran Dynasty vied for control of the throne and it came down to two claimants

The portal could have a very simple answer... it is a dormant portal that should lead to Ithelia's Daedric Realm. We only have a little of it unlocked because we haven't finished the story yet. It could also be the Throat of the World mountain with the distortion from the portal hiding the snow.

What if we visit Falinesti in an Oblivion realm? That way it still has a return date, but we can still explore it somewhat. Just gotta make some Imga now to go with the city.

That could definitely work because you could even "save" the city but because Oblivion realms operate outside of time, the city could pop back into Tamriel much later in history. I'd love to see the Imga too but like I said I am not sure Bosmer is the pick for the 10th anniversary. If ZOS doesn't go big on this milestone, they missed BIG because not many games get this kind of milestone... you gotta take advantage and go heavy on content, marketing, etc. Just in my opinion, that means either Skyrim or Hammerfell.

LittlePinkDot · July 2023

SilverIce58 wrote: »

.

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

While exploring Apocrypha, I came across a little abandoned mage laboratory "Study of the Lost Cipher", one of the zones Striking Locales.

Inside it is a portal into a land with an open, shrubby field, and a prominent mountain in the background.

I have no idea what land this vista represents. The palette is unfamiliar, and the mountain not recognisable.

It looks rather verdant, not foresty. And definitely not snowy or ashy. Which knocks out all my first guesses.

Is this nothing? Did I miss a clue somewhere?

ETA: My wacky theory is Fields of Regret... its not quite the same as what you can see in Redguard or ESO's Summerset, but its a big open field, and it would be funny if it also possessed a "Mountain of Regret"... The lorebook inside (I can't remember the details) was something about a bunch of siblings making wishes, and it gives the sense that they were a bit monkey-pawy.

I have to admit that place is weird. For me, as soon as I enter the Study the portal to my left has one book floating around and another standing still. The thing in front lit up green but there is a similar spot on my right and nothing there.. no books, no open portal. It's almost like we are supposed to find some way to unlock this and maybe even use the portal but idk how.

Haha yeah, the books are weird. I spent longer than I'd like to admit looking into the portal and squinting trying to make something of it. It could be cut content, but I mean, its really the ideal sort of "Striking Locale", really- some place you that's really interesting to explore, and probably has a story you have to try to understand by exploring it. There's a story there somewhere between the book and the portal. I guess the author ended up entering it? I don't know what else.

If it *were* FoR, maybe the mountain is the one from which Umbriel is pulled? I don't know, reaching at straws here. But I also have to add that I had a theory years ago now that FoR would make a fantastic daedric plane in which to set Falinesti, if ZOS were so inclined. Like, maybe Rhajiin made some terrible deal with the God of Bargains, and now the city is lost in the forests of Viles realm. The Bosmer are in sore need of content, after all, and the mystery of the Wandering City needs a resolution.

The issue with Falinesti, and I would love to go there, is that it already has a return date in TES History. My other big question about doing Bosmer next year is- Are the Bosmer a big enough draw for a 10th Anniversary chapter? I think the answer would be no.

From the UESP Falinesti lore page:

By the late Second Era, Falinesti had returned and continued its cycle across Valenwood. In 2E 830, heirs of the Camoran Dynasty vied for control of the throne and it came down to two claimants

The portal could have a very simple answer... it is a dormant portal that should lead to Ithelia's Daedric Realm. We only have a little of it unlocked because we haven't finished the story yet. It could also be the Throat of the World mountain with the distortion from the portal hiding the snow.

What if we visit Falinesti in an Oblivion realm? That way it still has a return date, but we can still explore it somewhat. Just gotta make some Imga now to go with the city.

Where did Fallinesti disappear to in the first place?
Through a daedric realm sounds cool assuming we have no idea where Fallinesti disappeared to.

TinyDragon · July 2023

LunaFlora wrote: »

Seraphayel wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

The storyline is called shadow over morrowind isnt it? That would indicate another morrowind zone, maybe the nothern penninsula or at least a zone near morrowind such as skyrim, cyrodiil or blackmarch

Other than that i saw 2 region being mentionned and another player told me of a 3rd.

-An npc sait she will go to winterhold next.
-The second one is likely a typo but in the quest for sharp as night where we go thio windhelm, while the voice over said windhelm, the text was whiterun.
-a player told me a npc plan to travel to the realm of boethia but i avent founfd that npc or didnt read that part.

Winterhold would be the perfect opportunity to add the remaining staff weapon skill line. Conjuration could be centered around atronach(non perm sommon), illusion could be cc based with touul such as fear, agro, etc the alteration would be buff based with stuff like resistance and shield. And bonus point to staff for using already existing model, meaning wuch easier for the motif problem

shadow over Morrowind is just this year
we haven't been given a name for the multi year story.

characters saying where they are going next does not guarantee we will also go there next.

for example Lyris said she would go to Skingrad in Markarth in 2020, we have not gone there yet.

There‘s always a hint from an NPC or something else for the upcoming year that‘s right. We had this basically for every Chapter since the very beginning with Morrowind back in 2017. Why would it be different this time? It‘s a neat mystery to unravel. And yes, alluding to wrong locations is, too.

Shadow over Morrowind as a the name for the multi-year arc makes little sense in my opinion. I am 100% certain we‘re not going to Northern Telvanni Peninsula next year. They never did back to back Chapters in the exact same place and it would just feel lazy.

But there‘s more to Morrowind…. on the western side of Vvardenfell. And that‘s where Solstheim, Blacklight and even Winterhold would fit into the entire narrative.

By the way: a base game refresh makes little to no sense. It‘s way too much work, would achieve not much and for new players each Chapter is already treated as a tutorial or entry into the series. It‘s just a lot of wasted work overall. It‘s way easier to just create new Chapters for the next decade. I‘m not saying that I’m against it, I would love if the story somehow moves on with Molag Bal and the Three Banner War, but ZOS is usually very lazy when it comes to things like these and the Chapters itself are not particularly content-rich or special either.

solstheim isn't apart of Morrowind until the fourth era and Winterhold is always Skyrim. I'd love to go to those places, but if the multi year story is Shadow over Morrowind then why anywhere else but Morrowind?

The chapter name is Shadow over Morrowind. It's said to be the start of a multi year story. But that doesn't mean the multi year story is called SoM, I haven't seen that made explicit anywhere.

The next chapter could be a continuation with a completely new chapter name.