PTS Update 45 - Feedback Thread for the Update 46 Prologue Quest

ZOS_Kevin · January 12

This is the official feedback thread for the Update 46 prologue quest, A Guild in Crisis. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)
Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
In what order did you investigate the sites?
If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
Do you have any other general feedback?

FabresFour · January 13

the quest don't appear to me on the crown store

Floognoodle · January 13

I acquired the quest through the NPC (which is my preference, though it didn't show up on the crown store regardless for me). I had no issues starting or completing the quests either, and noticed no bugs in either of them.

For the sites, I started with the Alik'r Desert. My character already played through all zone & guild stories so it was really nice to have so much continuity between events and characters - characters mentioning past appearances and accomplishments felt seamless and satisfying, especially when Skordo said things like "when we stopped the Planemeld".

Overall, I really enjoyed the two prologue quests and am very excited to see the certain new place mentioned. I think the parallels to the Planemeld storyline and focus on recurring characters made the story stronger and made everything feel more important and less standalone.

Freelancer_ESO · January 13

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)

I got it by traveling to Daggerfall. It was not accessible in the Crown Store.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?

No

In what order did you investigate the sites?

I started with Alik'r Desert.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?

Yeah I had.

Do you have any other general feedback?

I had a good time overall but, I think it at times made the world feel a bit too small and too dependent on the player and it might have echo'd the past a bit too much.

It was nice to see some familiar faces. It did feel like some other characters were getting to have a chance at holding the idiot ball rather than the Vestige holding a monopoly on it. I see Gabrielle still has issues identifying Daedra.

I enjoyed having more dialogue options to choose from even if I did probably take some of the more boring/basic ones.

Vanus looks more fashionable and far better than his old getup but, I would be careful about having too many characters look too modern.

James-Wayne · January 14

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)
I had to track down in town as crown store was not showing.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
No trouble was a flawless experience, QA been working hard this patch

In what order did you investigate the sites?
I did Eastmarch first thinking I could visit them all but nope never saw the other two as the story continued. Usually you force the player to go to all sites and I haven't replayed to see what happens at the other locations but knowing this info I felt cheated a little but Im ok if each location has a different experience because that is better story telling.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
Yes the base game for me is well and truly done and for me I would never be doing this quest on a new character but I did wonder how that would work if you haven't done base game. Like if you never followed the bad man for a drink and get your souled ripped out to start base quest how does it all connect.

Do you have any other general feedback?
I'll just say this is probably the best prologue quest I have played out of all quests. The zone teams are knocking it out the park lately in terms of world detail and interaction, story, designs etc super polished experienced, remains me of the quality of West Weald zones really well done.

I like how you get synergy buffs from NPCs pulls you into the world more but being so experienced as a player I didn't need it because enemies were dead before the synergy went off in most cases, I suspect if you're working on overland difficulty these features will make more sense on another playthrough when that is done, not that I will ever go back and replay but keep adding this interactive stuff.

This prologue quest got me pumped to see the zone story even if you plan on adding that story to the base zones by changing the dolmens which would be epic or going to that Argonian themed party jungle island. If the quality continues like this even if the content amount drops, I'm all for it, quality over quantity.

erebus_79_ESO · January 14

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)

Wasn't found in the Crown Store, found NPC to start the quest

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?

I had to search the forums for where to find the NPC. The help menu said it was fighter's guild related and I first went to the Vulkhel Guard Fighter's Guild. No NPC found...running around looking for a non-daily quest triangle on the compass...look on forums...oh, by the harbor...finally found NPC. (this was a toon that has completed all quests so any new quest should be easy to distinguish)

In what order did you investigate the sites?

Went to Malabal Tor to keep true to AD

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?

Yes

Do you have any other general feedback?

I really like the new direction and bringing back the Worm Cult antagonists. Upon reaching the surviving cultist on Malabal Tor and getting information (went to the dialogue to help after he told me the info)...I didn't even get to help or say to Skordo "help this guy" true to the quest. We just got the info and abandoned him and didn't help as promised.

WhiteCoatSyndrome · January 15

How did you initially acquire the quest?
Talked to Prince Ahaz in Vulkel Guard.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
Minor, but I noticed the tutorial popup popped on the second quest in the chain in addition to the first. That was a bit odd given that I was guaranteed to have gotten a tutorial quest prior, and I already saw it on the first quest.

In what order did you investigate the sites?
I went to Eastmarch.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
Yes. I admit to being curious if a certain event will impact the base Fighter’s Guild storyline.

Do you have any other general feedback?
Please stop with the MANDATORY ’let’s stop and talk about everything we’ve learned so far!’ The first occurrence is only one measly step in the first quest! There isn’t anything worth summarizing at this point! And did I mention it was mandatory? At least make it optional!

ssewallb14_ESO · January 15

Why has Skordo been hanging out in the Bronx?

WhiteCoatSyndrome · January 15

erebus_79_ESO wrote: »

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
I had to search the forums for where to find the NPC. The help menu said it was fighter's guild related and I first went to the Vulkhel Guard Fighter's Guild. No NPC found...running around looking for a non-daily quest triangle on the compass...look on forums...oh, by the harbor...finally found NPC. (this was a toon that has completed all quests so any new quest should be easy to distinguish)

Second this. I actually ported over to Daggerfall to ensure he was showing up before returning to Vulkel Guard to accept the quest.

Avran_Sylt · January 15

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)
Wasn't in store, so talked with the NPC.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
On a copied Character that completed the Story, and the Fighter's Guild questline, no trouble to start the quest, apart from mistaking Prince Azah's location to be in the Fighter's Guild, when he's actually near the ports.

On a copied level 50 character who hasn't started the Main Questline at all, nor has the Fighter's Guild skilline even unlocked, I was also able to start the quest.

On a freshly created level 3 character who skipped the prologue, and hasn't started the Fighter's Guild or main story at all, Prince Azah was nowhere to be found. At what point does that quest become available?

In what order did you investigate the sites?
I went to Eastmartch first. After which I was immediately sent to Rivenspire. Were we supposed to go through all three locations searching for Merric?

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
One character had the Base game main story and completed the Fighter's Guild Questline completed. Dialogue seemed natural.

The character that hasn't started the Main Questline or even interacted with the Fighter's Guild (didn't have the skillline unlocked) received less personal dialogue, (but upon first interaction with Skordo the Knife (Malabal Tor) he treated the character like they knew them already, and my character had dialogue as though I knew them already). Dialogue about the Planemeld spoke as though you were not involved.

Do you have any other general feedback?

On a ported character (Main quest completed, Cadwell's Silver completed, but not Cadwell's Gold), I noticed that Prince Azah is present in all listed starting zones (Vulkhel Guard, Davon's Watch, Daggerfall).

Not sure if intended he spawns in all three locations or if he's only supposed to only be in your starting alliance zone.

For whatever reason some (but not all) Soul Gems in the Worm Nest are Tagged for Thieving, I had found three soul gems in the first few rooms of the Worm Nest that were marked as me stealing them. (all the rest afterward were not marked as stealing)

It would be nice if the Soul Reapers dropped empty soul gems when destroying them? Both during the quest, and the overland Reaper Strikes. Given that Soul Gems also now have a use in scribing with the anchorite scripts.

ZOS_JasonBarnes · January 15

Hey everyone!

Thank you all for your valuable feedback so far. We appreciate it and hope you're enjoying the Prologue Quest.

As you likely have noticed, the Prologue Quest isn't available on the Crown Store at the moment, but you can find it in-game through Prince Azah in the world itself. We'll be addressing this in the next PTS patch to ensure it's accessible via the Quest Starter section in the Crown Store.

For now, here's a detailed list of where you can pick up the quest to get started:

Vulkhel Guard Docks - Auridon (AD)
Daggerfall Farm Stables (North of the Mages Guild) - Glenumbra (DC)
Davon's Watch, near Artisan's Row and the Stables - Stonefalls (EP)

We hope this helps you on your journey!

ginkys · January 15

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)
I tracked down the npc - though I was only able to find him because of this thread.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
Other than finding the quest starter - no I had no problems with this quest.

In what order did you investigate the sites?
I went to Malabal Tor - I imagine each site is different and I like that idea. If it's true.
If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
I completed the base game main story yes.

Do you have any other general feedback?
I did really like this quest - it did not feel like a slog to get through and when it goes live I will be happy to replay it. I am also interested into what the rest of the story will be. One thing is that the responses tied to emotions were very black and white and lacked nuance like some of the other angry/happy etc responses I have encountered in other quests on the live server before this update. I did not feel like they really fit how my character would respond for the most part.

As others have probably mentioned all of the combat was really easy but I am saying that on a high level toon.

ghastley · January 16

I created a new character, and was unable to start the quest. I assume there is an undocumented level requirement, or other pre-requisite, that a new character will not have. I played to level 11 and joined both Fighters and Mages Guilds, without finding Azah at any of the locations.

Aliyavana · January 16

chessalavakia_ESO wrote: »

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)

I got it by traveling to Daggerfall. It was not accessible in the Crown Store.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?

No

In what order did you investigate the sites?

I started with Alik'r Desert.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?

Yeah I had.

Do you have any other general feedback?

I had a good time overall but, I think it at times made the world feel a bit too small and too dependent on the player and it might have echo'd the past a bit too much.

It was nice to see some familiar faces. It did feel like some other characters were getting to have a chance at holding the idiot ball rather than the Vestige holding a monopoly on it. I see Gabrielle still has issues identifying Daedra.

I enjoyed having more dialogue options to choose from even if I did probably take some of the more boring/basic ones.

Vanus looks more fashionable and far better than his old getup but, I would be careful about having too many characters look too modern.

Yeah, Gabrielle literally participated on the assault on Coldharbour. She shoulda encountered a Harvester by now to identify it.

Margravigne · January 16

Typo in the displayed text for these lines, (extra word), the first 'not' isn't in the audio; "...generous act not I've not experienced..."

Margravigne · January 16

How did you initially acquire the quest?
Directly from the prince, first time in Daggerfall, second in Vulkhel Guard, will try Davon's Watch next.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
No, he's easy enough to find, (but the Crown Store option would be helpful).
No glitches, only one typo spotted as already posted, everything functioned and all quest stages progressed without issue.
There is a second, unnamed portal on Stirk I noticed when taking the Rivenspire one off the Island after completing the quest, but that's the only thing I've noticed as odd so far.

In what order did you investigate the sites?
I started with Alik'r Desert, on second character I took the Malabal Tor option, but there's no in-quest option to move on to either of the other sites once you've spoken with Skordo and found the lead to Shornhelm, so I'll go to Eastmarch on my third run and then check the other locations before moving on to Rivenspire.
I found the two sites so far to be identical in terms of characters involved and dialogue, some variation based on loaction would have been a nice touch, especially since Prince Azah has said it's impossible for Merric to have been in all three locations, but if you complete this on multiple toons and choose a different location each time, you'll see Skordo in each one, as well as traces of Merric, and the Magister and her assitant, and even the same defeated cultist who gives you the lead.
I'd like to see a tweak to the script to account for that in some way that makes sense, like having a different mage/cultist combo in each location, and some method Merric had used to travel so quickly between locations explained. Skordo says he's following up on a report, so the original sightings could have been other, unnamed scouts anyway.
I also found that it didn't matter which alliance my character was with, the quest could be picked up in any of the three main centres by any character, no matter their racial or selected alignment.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
Yes, on both so far. First had completed Cadwell's Gold and both Guilds' quests, second had only done the main quest up to post-planemeld, but not defeated Molag Bal yet, or either of the guild quests, although had joined both guilds. No noticeable changes to dialogue between them other than with selected responses (such as not having met/worked with Merric).
I'll use one who hasn't completed any of this next time to see what changes in the dialogue.

Do you have any other general feedback?
Personally I love that we're revisiting/paying homage to the original main quest, and catching up with two 'old friends'. For those who have completed the main and guild quests, and run into Gabrielle in Anvil and Solitude over the years / Skordo in Wrothgar and Elsweyr it's heavy on the nostalgia. Seeing what's going on with Prince Azah and the guilds now = likewise.
What I can't understand is how you're seeing both Skordo and Gabrielle together, and talking about old times with them, and there isn't a single reference to Darien, despite his absence being a topic with them each time you've previously run into either of them. Is there something going on there we don't know about yet?

Margravigne · January 17

Attempting to intentionally break / mess with things, and so far:
I took a template character to start investigating the quest in Sentinel, then after meeting up with Skordo but before following Merric's trail or finding the defeated cultist, I travelled to Malabal Tor to see what would happen. Skordo spawned in as already following me (initial dialogue did not repeat, icon was above his head) when I got to the site where the cultist would have been (so within the area where he would have been active if I'd 'met' him here), but he has the Sentinel dialogue (per screenshot) and the cultist is nowhere to be seen:

Next I went back to Sentinel and checked the Inn and the beach, no sign of the Magister or the cultist yet, so we can't skip stages and pick up the quest by accidentally discovering them before we're meant to.
I then followed the quest markers to find Merric's trap and campsite, and went back to Malabal Tor once the marker for the cultist was active in Alikir.
Still no cultist on the Malabal Tor beach, so although Skordo will spawn into the other areas, the others don't appear to, and all of Skordo's dialogue is set to the location where you first encountered him.

DoofusMax · January 18

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for the Update 46 prologue quest, A Guild in Crisis. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:
How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?

In what order did you investigate the sites?

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?

Do you have any other general feedback?

I picked up the quest from the Prince Azah in Vulkhel Guard. The Prologue quest was not available in the Crown Store on PTS.
It took some hunting to find Azah. I was expecting him at or near the guildhall based on what was in the patch notes, but after finding his location in Daggerfall, I just searched Vulkhel Guard until I found him. Completion went fine, but although another quest lined up as the active one (Circus of Cheerful Slaughter, as it turned out), no marker pointed to the portal back to Shornhelm.
Alik'r first. Azah's comment about there being no reason for Merric to go to Alik'r made me think that this would be the least fruitful of the three options. I'll have to try it again on some different toons to see whether either of the other two produce similar starts.
I started the quest on a character who had not finished the Fighters Guild story. The next quest for that toon was "Prismatic Core," so Sees-All-Colors was alive, well, above suspicion, and Merric was just another guildmate. Prince Azah's references to Merric as the guildmaster would not have jived with this character's experience of the guild story.
Skordo's dialogue sort of comports with this character's previous encounter (Main Quest in Coldharbour, but no contact with him in Rivenspire or High Isle). It's been a while since any of my toons have dealt with Skordo and it may be faulty memory, but I think the voice actor is different. Sort of the same thing for Vanus Galerion, who is almost certainly a different voice actor, but bonus points for finally letting me call him a twit.
As far as general feedback goes and when it comes to the overall quality of the story, can you say "cringe"? Voice acting was over-the-top, bordering on camp, and very reminiscent of the old Batman TV show, which I watched it as first-run instead of syndicated. If that was the intended vibe, then you mostly got it, but remember that the TV show was primarily aimed at kids and was a bit of tongue-in-cheek for any adults in the audience. This experience was kind of painful to sit through.
for one oddball bit, lots of placed soul gems to snag, but there were some in Worm areas that were marked as "Steal," which is kind of uncommon for lootables in a delve environment

Margravigne · January 18

Do you have any other general feedback?
Apologies, these are in addition to my previous notes, and are mostly gripes about things that initially felt a bit off, but after several playthroughs are now downright annoying;

It feels weird to have Prince Azah, as the quest-giver, offer us a choice of locations to search that end up being mutually exclusive, but aren't locked to our character's alliance. (Previously when given a choice between locations, it's for where we start and we still end up completing the others, such as with the Necrom prologue "Eye of Fate" when Leramil offers us three portals to 'choose' from).
Each option in this quest however has you meet exactly the same people, with no difference based on their location. Having us meet a different magister (with or without an assistant in tow) and interrogate a different cultist would provide better immersion for players who repeat the quest on their alts. As it is, anyone doing so could end up confused or disappointed, or see it as lazy writing, or an unwillingness to pay for a few extra lines of dialogue to be voiced.
It would make more sense to either allow us to search all three locations with Skordo and find nothing or only minor hints in the first two, then hit paydirt on the third, OR to only offer us the location relevant to our character's faction, with uniquely named/voiced interactions for each.
Prince Azah does say he'll follow up on the other reports, but not everyone is going to stick around and hear that before taking Wimi. Giving him a line when we next see him, so he can tell us he followed up on them and they were dead ends would be another way to resolve the situation.
Also, since Skordo is the scout we meet at all three locations, it would make better context to have Prince Azah's line regarding this changed from "...the guild scout..." to "...a guild member/scout..." or some other way to imply it's not whoever sent the initial report that we'll be meeting, since Skordo couldn't have been in all three places at once any more than Merric could have.

The repeated references to the three Alliances "coming together to stop the planemeld" are a little irritating given that the ONLY thing the three rulers eventually agreed to on Stirk was to allow the Fighters' and Mages' Guilds free passage to go to Coldharbour and do the job for them. They didn't contribute anything to that battle themselves, so why are they taking or being given any credit for being involved?

(Maybe change her "just like last time" to something like "let's hope they're more willing to help than last time"?)

(More accurately "Just as the guilds and heroes... ...we must do so again with the addition of the alliances to stop..."?)

("...specter again! They were defeated soundly...")

(Typical Aldmeri taking credit for something they didn't actually do... so this one's lore-friendly at least)

Aside from sounding different audio-wise, Skordo's had a personalality change; he seems very easily discouraged, and has multiple speeches blaming himself for things or complaining about the situation.
At first it was odd, then it got worrying and a bit tedious. He's had the odd self-deprecating line in the past (when caged in Shornhelm or injured on the wrecked ship in Wrothgar) etc, but he was sarcastic and dourly funny, not gloomy.
His reactions in the prologue quest are overly self-critical and pessimistic, and unless this can be toned down prior to release, some explanation should be provided to show why he seems to be suffering a severe depressive episode.
Currently, it feels like he's being used to drive the "oh, no! we're doomed!" aspect of the emotional reactions when he used to be a lot more entertaining.
The other characters are much closer in personality to their previous appearances, while allowing for some growth (Gabrielle sounds as though she's done some emotional growing up, which is an improvement over how she was in Glenumbra).
Prince Azah's reactions are measured to the circumstances, and overall quite balanced, while Vanus is as arrogant and punchable as ever. I'm thrilled to be able to tell him he's a twit.

The whistle our character gives to alert the others after finding the entrance to the Worm Cult nest is a nice touch.

Two soulgems marked as "Steal" in the delve:

First one is the very first soulgem we see:

Second one is the gem on the left of the pair hanging on the wall (the one on the right is freely lootable):

And there's a corpse on a table later on which seems to be missing its textures:

ImmortalElf13 · January 18

I agree with @Margravigne above. The alliances barely did anything beyond reluctantly agreeing to send the guilds. Give the Guilds the credit they deserve.

Skordo when you first meet up with him sounds like he's been living in the Bronx. It gets better as the quest goes on but it's really jarring. The "woe is me, I can't do anything right" attitude is out-of-character too. Even when things go wrong Skordo is sarcastic and a little angry at whoever put him in that situation, not miserable and depressed.

Having all three locations being the right one is a little weird feeling. No matter what location I pick, I'm amazingly right! None of us are that lucky. Since the ultimate destination is Rivenspire no matter where you start it's clear you need to be able to access locations in Covenant Territory so why just start there?

I plan on playing through it again and I'll see if I can spot anything else.

DoofusMax · January 18

Decided to see how this works with a new character. The only things they have done with this toon are to run through the Navigators to discover a wayshrine in each alliance zone (and visit the Hollow City since I own the Coldharbour house), joined the Fighters/Mages/Antiquarians, and maybe knocked out one round of guild dailies. "Soul-Shriven in Coldharbour" is the only thing in their journal and they have not yet encountered the Hooded Figure other than maybe a very brief "ignore the NPC who you did not initiate dialogue with." While they have joined the Fighters Guild, Bera Moorsmith is trying to give them "Anchors from the Harbour," so an as-yet unnamed "lizard of few words" is the Guildmaster and is waiting for them in the guildhall in Davon's Watch (even though they were in Davon's Watch and in front of the guildhall - a very old and unaddressed dialogue "feature" which is not due to the update).

I found Azah in reasonably short order in Davon's Watch. Since I'd already found him in Daggerfall and Vulkhel Guard, I didn't bother and just went with the toon's alliance-zone for the start, including heading for Windhelm (prior use of Navigators made Gimi superfluous).

Skordo did not have any dialogue to indicate that we'd already met, but his whole exposition refers to a Worm Cult and someone named Mannimarco the toon has not encountered, a Planemeld they don't know anything about, an agreement of the Alliances which is still in the future, a resolution of the Planemeld crisis that is even farther into the future, and a current Guildmaster who will turn out to be very short-lived, not a lizard of few words, and miraculously alive again after taking Bera up on her mission to speak to the original lizard of few words. These are all major continuity problems. I think the only way of addressing them outside of rewriting and rerecording is going to be to somehow gate the prologue behind completing both the Main Quest and the Fighters Guild story. There are some bits of Skordo's personal backstory exposition which will make sense to someone who isn't Covenant and hasn't done the "Shornhelm Divided" portion of the zone story, but they don't need to be there for someone who is and has. Of course anyone who had done that mission will fire the "has met Skordo" trigger, which will lead to different dialogue.

On a somewhat less serious note, every time I talk to Skordo I expect to hear about his adventures in some unknown plane called "Jersey."

I spoke to the same Magister in Windhelm that I spoke to in Alik'r on a different toon, got the same dialogue, and left it at that point under the assumption that the rest will play out much like it did the first time.

I generally take the attitude that it's your story, you should tell it how you want, and I'll enjoy it (or not) on that basis, but those continuity issues in the writing are pretty glaring.

Myreth · January 19

How did you initially acquire the quest?

NPC in Daggerfall as the Crown Store option wasn't available.

-Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?

Aside from the missing Crown Store prologue starter, no.

In what order did you investigate the sites?

Started with Alik'ir and as mentioned, that led straight to the next part of the quest.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?

Yes.

-Do you have any other general feedback?

I love that this story is finally moving the timeline forward and building on some real continuity with characters and events that people (me, at least) are invested in. The "stories all have to be their own little microcosms that always return to the status quo because they have to work in any order" was always my biggest complaint. It looks like the approach is assuming that past events have all happened, the PC's involvement in them is acknowledged where applicable, and it's treated as though someone else took point on them when the PC hasn't completed the quest. Which makes sense to me, but I think people could use an unambiguous heads-up about this in case they want to catch up on the Planemeld/guild/other? questlines before heading into a story that builds on them.
I also really appreciate the inclusion of the new roleplaying dialogue options. I do agree that they in a lot of cases seemed a bit over-the-top, but I also get that it's tough to come up with options that work for all different types of player characters. That said, it would be nice to see a few subtler options.
I have to wonder if there's going to be some Tamriel-wide event that goes along with this when it's released, as it's a little jarring and hard to buy into when the characters are talking about a bigger-than-the-Planemeld crisis with guild murders and soul reapers popping up all over the place when none of that appears outside of specific prologue locations.
It doesn't bug me all that much, but like others I'm not sure I see the purpose of the location choice in the beginning when the same events play out in all three.
Agree that Skordo seems OOC even considering the events that are ramping up.

In any case have a few guesses as to where this might be going, and quibbles aside, I think it's got some good Potential and am curious to see how it shakes out.

DoofusMax · January 20

Third time's the charm? Third time through with a Covenant toon who had completed the Main Quest, the Fighter's Guild story, and the Mage's Guild story. All of the dialogue matches up with what they'd have experienced up to that point, although Skordo is still very reticent about his adventures in that plane of Jersey. Went with the Malabal Tor start since it was the one that hadn't been done. The toon has Cadwell's for the Dominion story in his journal, but hasn't started on it, so lots of quest starts tried to interject themselves both in and around Vulkwasten and on the way to the camp where we get pointed to Rivenspire. Note to self: remember all the Scamps the next time there's a "kill x daedra" endeavor or daily.

Wimi still superfluous, but it would make life a bit easier for a toon who was not as well-traveled as the one I used

Rather than story elements already raised, there are some technical things to look at, more or less in sequence from the start of the prologue.

When first reaching Gabrielle behind the Mages Guild in Shornhelm, she and Skordo are talking over each other. Once we get to the bit where we're supposed to fill in Gabrielle, it smooths out with only one at a time talking.
Some of the mages start their "thank you for rescuing me" comments before they are actually rescued
Unless you go intentionally stand on them, some of the Magic Traps don't/won't trigger (not that standing on glowy circles should be on anyone's bucket list)
Gabrielle's interest in the device seems to trigger a bit later than I'd expect and seemed to start when I tried to talk to her instead of being on a timer (x-seconds after <trigger>) or after examining the device myself. Since part of her animations have her looking off to her right, that would look a bit more appropriate if her stopping mark were directly south (or north) of the device rather than its current location SE of it.
Found a "Letter from the Fighters Guild" in the Shornhelm guildhall after completing "A Guild in Crisis" and starting "Justice for the Fallen." It was probably there all along and I suspect this was what should have started the quest rather than searching out Prince Azah based on the patch notes. Still nothing available from the Crown Store prologues, but also no PTS updates since U45 went up on Monday.
A bit of design inconsistency after starting "Justice for the Fallen": for both area transitions in "A Guild in Crisis," the player is offered Wimi as a means of fast-travel to advance to the quest's next stage, probably under the assumption that they may not know a nearby fast-travel point. The player seems to be on their own for getting from Shornhelm to the coast near Northpoint. Although Skordo and Vanus are able to fast-travel and are at the Nest when the player arrives, they do not offer a lift.
This probably needs to go on the "of course Vanus is a twit" list, but isn't telling the player to yank out the device's core and then finding it interesting that this does not produce a fatal explosion just a bit much, even for Vanus?
Maybe I missed something, but I believe I gave Skordo's sword to Vanus. If so, why does Skordo have it back in Shornhelm? I certainly didn't give it to him and Vanus never had contact with the real Skordo after entering the Nest.
After traveling to Stirk, the portal from Rivenspire does not dissipate, but there is a separate portal to Rivesnspire after the prologue is finished. I don't know if the game has problems with two-way portals, but the one from Rivenspire probably needs to go away once the quest is finished if it's going to be one-way portals.

Margravigne · January 21

Found another dialogue audio/onscreen text discrepancy:
Second 'and' isn't in the audio - "And we need to go and help him! Sure, Merric..."

WhiteCoatSyndrome · January 22

Played through a second time on my Arcanist (who did the Soulshriven in Coldharbour prologue and joined the Fighter’s Guild and nothing else), and I’m going to echo the issues with being repeatedly told that Merric is the Guild Master when he’s not on this character.

Went to the Alik’r this run, and after interrogating the cultist and riding away, Skordo gave the dialogue he’s supposed to use when arriving at the camp.

Additionally, if the player just follows the quest arrow and nothing else, there’s a plot hole where I’m telling Skordo that the Magister’s assistant mentioned seeing the Magister leave while also seeing the Magister collapse, when I never actually spoke with the assistant (no quest requirement to do so).

Margravigne · January 28

I've played through this quest several times, mostly starting in Alik'r but also once each at the other two, and so far the only time this line has fired has been in Eastmarch.

No matter which direction I approach from, Skordo has not given this line in Alik'r.

FabresFour · January 30

While playing The Elder Scrolls Online on the PTS, I noticed something interesting in the new prologue quest created by Zenimax. The quest itself is quite fun, but what caught my attention the most was a curious detail: it suggests the passage of time within the game.

This doesn't mean we now have a defined calendar or specific dates being mentioned, but the characters refer to the Planemeld as something that happened a long time ago. This simple change in dialogue raises an intriguing question: is time finally advancing in ESO?

So far, the game's timeline has been somewhat stagnant. Significant events occur, but the world and its inhabitants rarely acknowledge the passing years in a concrete way. If this new quest truly indicates a time jump, we might see a clearer evolution of the world and its stories in future expansions. Otherwise, this detail might end up feeling like a strange inconsistency within the game’s universe.

Are we on the brink of a new time-phase for The Elder Scrolls Online? Or is this just an isolated detail in the dialogue?

FabresFour · January 30

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

Played through a second time on my Arcanist (who did the Soulshriven in Coldharbour prologue and joined the Fighter’s Guild and nothing else), and I’m going to echo the issues with being repeatedly told that Merric is the Guild Master when he’s not on this character.

Went to the Alik’r this run, and after interrogating the cultist and riding away, Skordo gave the dialogue he’s supposed to use when arriving at the camp.

Additionally, if the player just follows the quest arrow and nothing else, there’s a plot hole where I’m telling Skordo that the Magister’s assistant mentioned seeing the Magister leave while also seeing the Magister collapse, when I never actually spoke with the assistant (no quest requirement to do so).

That's the point I made above. If Merric is the Guildmaster during this quest, and if he dies during this quest, then he cannot appear in the Fighter’s Guild quest from the base game. In other words, this quest can ONLY take place AFTER the end of the Fighter’s Guild. SO? They need to establish a timeline in the game, add a warning, or explicitly state that this quest happens after the Planemeld and Fighter’s Guild events. Otherwise, it creates a major inconsistency.

RaddlemanNumber7 · February 6

How did you initially acquire the quest? (ie: was it through the Crown Store or from the NPC)
Crown Store.

Did you have any trouble starting or completing the quest?
No

In what order did you investigate the sites?
Started in Eastmarch with an EP character, then followed the quest markers.

If you played on a copied character, did you already have the base game main story completed on that character?
A copied character that's completed the base game, Cadwell's gold and the guild questlines, as well all chapters & DLC zones up to Gold Road.

Do you have any other general feedback?
The returning characters are a problem...

My character is sent into Shornhelm fighters guild to report Merric's death. There is a living instance of Merric just down the stairs in the basement of that building. Why, out of all the buildings in Tamriel, did the devs choose this building for reporting Merric's death?

Prince Azah does not acknowledge that he has met my character before, despite everything my character did for him in the Alik'r main questline.

There are generally too few chances to catch up with the other returning characters. Is Gabriel over Darian? How did Skordo's relationship with that Alfiq play out? My character would be dying to ask these things, and more.

The transportation horse is simply nonsensical. Better not to have it at all, and let the character use their own abilities to move from zone to zone.

Margravigne · April 11

It had to be the same building... I ran my toon into the Shornhelm FG basement several times during the prologue quest on PCNA live today to see if he'd disappear at any point, and caught this screenshot while Skordo was being told about his death.

He looks okay for a dead guy.