On a scale of 1-10, what would you give the story of Solstice & why?

Cooperharley · June 16

Pixiepumpkin · June 16

1

• Subclassing reuses assets already sold to players and makes my once unqiue characters feel no longer unique.
• Trial uses assets already sold to players. I have already seen cold harbor. I wanted to see something new.
• Not a lot to do in the half zone we have now.
• Second zone behind the wall is most likely going to be cold harbor looking....not really excited anymore as I once was.
• Bugs bugs bugs and more bugs. I don't recall playing a new large update with this many bugs.
• The price we were asked to pay for, vs a bunch of reused content just leaves me feeling flat.

I do love the crab music box however. Its fun and the music is nice, but it's not worth $50 bucks.

I dunna. This is the first time I have not been exited to log in due to the game itself. I have my issues with moderation, I have my issues with monetization, but I have never really questioned the direction of the game nor the zones themselves. But I have played games before where they did the same stuff I am seeing here. Feels like the A team has been moved over to the new mmo they are working on, and have left a skeleton crew behind to conjure up some form of content.

I mean this update vs any previous chapter sold....its just not even remotely comparable in any favorable way whatsoever.

OHH...I did not read the "story" part. Sorry for my tirade.

The main story was kinda meh. I mean saving the fighters guild again and again....meh
The haunted mansion that everyone gloats about...told my wife about it, she was excited, she did the quest, told me NOT to get excited. I did the quest and....ya, not really seeing what all the hooplah was about (is that how you spell hooplah?!?)

I mean, its not memorable, for what its worth.

Syldras · June 16

Hard to rate as it's only half of a story. What I disliked were the plot holes and logic mistakes at the end, that the whole story seemed very artificial/constructed, and that there was no background lore about the "evil" characters at all - but who knows whether some aspects that seemed strange or unlogical now might be resolved in Part 2 of the story? Or maybe we still get more background lore about some of the characters then? This really makes me not want to judge the whole thing right now, because it's still too unclear.

If side quests also count (not sure whether you consider them "the story of Solstice"), I really enjoyed the Corelanya Manor quest (that could actually be my favorite side quest of the whole game), the one in Tainted Leel was also interesting, others, well, were mostly more trivial, and I really dislike the 2 Sanguine quests because they were extremely harmless and partially even completely contradictive to Sanguine lore.

Cooperharley · June 16

2

So even though I play on console, I've watched Gameolio Dan's playthrough as I like to watch the story often when it comes out so that I may engage in discussion about it around launch. That being said, I'm REALLY not a fan of these end of the world stories associated with daedric princes over and over and over again. There's always a betrayal twist, there's always a big, bad boss that dies too quickly at the end regardless of skill level, and the world is always saved.

The biggest improvement is simply dialogue RP choices. The actual dialogue though that is not in that form is the same old stuff unfortunately - like our character forgets everyone they meet, everything they've just done, etc. It's fine if that's an option to give us a reminder, but our characters are continually played off as fairly flat and not intelligent whatsoever.

After having played oblivion remastered and even skyrim again recently (single player RPGs) AND world of warcraft's most recent expansion (the war within), I'm really craving some quality story content in this game. The game is known for being more single player oriented and RPG-like with multiplayer elements tacked on. But, the quality of that story content has gone down again and again, year after year. Whoever writes the side quests does a phenomenal job.

I appreciate what the devs do, but man, we REALLY gotta switch it up and be more imaginative and expansive. Not trying to be rude, but it's been similar like this for years now.

Elvenheart · June 16

10

Personally, I’ve enjoyed it so far since it’s not actually reached the ending on the other side of the island yet, but perhaps my vote should not count because I also really enjoyed High Isle and many other people criticize that story.

In fact, looking back I can’t say there’s ever been a story I didn’t enjoy, but then I never spend time picking apart the plots and finding all the holes and whatnot, I just enjoy the story for what it is knowing it’s not going to be “War and Peace” and move on. 😊

Cooperharley · June 16

2

Elvenheart wrote: »

Personally, I’ve enjoyed it so far since it’s not actually reached the ending on the other side of the island yet, but perhaps my vote should not count because I also really enjoyed High Isle and many other people criticize that story.

In fact, looking back I can’t say there’s ever been a story I didn’t enjoy, but then I never spend time picking apart the plots and finding all the holes and whatnot, I just enjoy the story for what it is and move on. 😊

Glad you enjoyed it! Wish I did myself!

metheglyn · June 16

5

Though I have my issues with some of the logical loopholes and dialogue missteps, I would say the first half of the story is fairly middle-ground. There was at least one surprise for me in it, well one and a half surprises, but without knowing how those ultimately play out, hard to say how lasting the impact will be. I do think it being only half a story hampered it to some degree.

Depending on how the second half goes, the score could go up or down.

I would like to see some more daring or risky story-telling that fits with the established world and lore.

Punches_Below_Belt · June 16

7

Of course I don’t know the complete story but my impression is that part two will be focused more on Argonians and Coldharbor. Which for me begs the question, was the sole point of the high elves in this part to keep it from being an “Argonian” chapter/season?

There is nothing in the story that in anyway necessitates the presence of the high elves in solstice. Nothing of interest is done with the two cultures interacting.

Nords… yes those Nords have a devoted quest hub at least.

The high elf contingent just seems like a strange, unnecessary addition dropped in for some external reason that has nothing to do with the story.

cyclonus11 · June 16

4

metheglyn wrote: »

I would like to see some more daring or risky story-telling that fits with the established world and lore.

This part. The first half felt somewhat watered down and milquetoast (A lot of very bland and cliche dialogue choices and plot devices), but that may be a way to prepare for the second half.

Now some of the side quests and stories were pretty fun. Loved Corelanya Manor (even though I had a bit of trouble with the puzzle) and the Sanguine stuff.

Elvenheart · June 16

10

Punches_Below_Belt wrote: »

Of course I don’t know the complete story but my impression is that part two will be focused more on Argonians and Coldharbor. Which for me begs the question, was the sole point of the high elves in this part to keep it from being an “Argonian” chapter/season?

There is nothing in the story that in anyway necessitates the presence of the high elves in solstice. Nothing of interest is done with the two cultures interacting.

Nords… yes those Nords have a devoted quest hub at least.

The high elf contingent just seems like a strange, unnecessary addition dropped in for some external reason that has nothing to do with the story.

In my personal opinion, the high elves being here were simply to capture some of the magic and nostalgia of Summerset with an island and the flora, just with a tropical vibe. I too can’t help but feeling they seem out of place, but I just go with the story. I do think the details about the Corelanya family and the explanation for them being there in the first place is pretty interesting. 🧝‍♂️ 🧝 🧝🏻‍♀️

Syldras · June 16

Considering the chapter's theme seems to be "heritage" (or something like that) - and considering Corelanya lore and the fact that this story is about the Worm Cult and its protagonists, in particularly some Altmer... I truly hope the lore will connect in Part 2. Otherwise it really seems arbitrary.

ArchMikem · June 16

4

Cooperharley wrote: »

. That being said, I'm REALLY not a fan of these end of the world stories associated with daedric princes over and over and over again. There's always a betrayal twist, there's always a big, bad boss that dies too quickly at the end regardless of skill level, and the world is always saved.

Im in the same boat. Getting really tired of ESO supposedly having a dozen end of the world threats happening within the same one or two game years.

The Thieve's Guild and Orsinium were some of my favorite questlines. Down to "Earth" mortal threats. End of the Region, more like. There are plenty of bad things that can happen that don't affect the entire continent or all of creation.

JimT722 · June 16

7

I thought it was fine. The main story was decent. it didn't blow me away. It was visually pleasing with cool locations. Some nice events near the end.

My only big complaint would be length. All the main and side quests didn't take long to complete. Some of the side quests were great. Like the manor. I think a lot of people enjoyed that one.

NotaDaedraWorshipper · June 16

Syldras wrote: »

If side quests also count (not sure whether you consider them "the story of Solstice"), I really enjoyed the Corelanya Manor quest (that could actually be my favorite side quest of the whole game), the one in Tainted Leel was also interesting, others, well, were mostly more trivial, and I really dislike the 2 Sanguine quests because they were extremely harmless and partially even completely contradictive to Sanguine lore.

Oh please, @Syldras tell me it isn't so. Didn't even know there was Sanguine quests and in the same sentence I find out they are likely bad.

Adaarye · June 16

1

The story would be fine for a $14.99 game purchased during a Steam sale.

I expect more depth and immersion from Bethesda/ZoS Devs.

This story has neither. I mean come on, I finished all of it in an evening and none of it was immersive. Very shallow story telling as if the whole thing was rushed and not well thought out at all.

As someone else said... Meh

tsaescishoeshiner · June 16

7

Overall? 7-8, I had a good time in Solstice and would have enjoyed playing through a full-sized zone with the same topics and events, but I want more character-driven stories.

Main story: 6. It wasn't the most interesting part of the island but at least it was short and set the zone up. It explained why the mainlanders were there, suggested some intriguing mysteries for the second half, and introduced conflict for some sidequests. (I still prefer a questline like Dark Brotherhood/Thieves Guild/Murkmire/Scholarium). The issue is that the characters are not distinct or memorable to me, and the story is just "bad people are invading!" with very little nuance into anyone's motivations.

Sidequests: 7, there were some interesting scenarios and the filler quests at least had cool tidbits. I liked the lore of the zone and its people. Most quests explained a mystery about a piece of the island--the Daedric worship, the argonian culture, the Corelanya history, the presence of maormer and nords. What I feel Solstice could use more of are the character-driven multi-part quests like Balmora, impactful stories like Russafeld, or stories that reveal how the characters' world works like in Shimmerene.

I liked talking to all the characters again in Sunport, that was fun and enhanced my connection to the zone and its characters. Maybe some of these sidequest characters should have been part of the main plot, sort of how Necrom had us split into point-of-interest quests that introduced characters.

Corelanya Manor: 10/10, honestly good characters (other than a bit repetitive with all the punching talk), great tie-in with the history of the island, and just a story and characters that almost left me wanting more. I felt like there was a nice flow of action to narrative, where I wasn't just traveling and killing enemies in between dialogue, but being part of the story. If a few more quests in the zone had felt this good, it would have been a great zone.

Syldras · June 16

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Oh please, @Syldras tell me it isn't so. Didn't even know there was Sanguine quests and in the same sentence I find out they are likely bad.

Let me put it like this:

One quest was about a Sanguine festivity that someone else messed up, and the ending concluded basically with "Now that everything is as intended again, people can have fun and then go home again."

The other quest involved Dibella cultists "priests" we had to side with, the horrible things we saw was some people drinking a bit and dancing a bit (of course they had to be rescued from that), and in the end we got a moral lesson, like, "Don't drink, it's bad!" Not the only quest even that ended with a type of "Today I learned..." dialogue (Don't drink, treat your siblings well, protect the environment, etc).

NoSoup · June 16

5

So far I've only done the main story. The "Story" was a good progression but I thought we would have been teaming up with the old Hero's (cadwell, tharn, lyris, Sahan) and also found it quite short/quick.

MasterSpatula · June 17

7

I actually enjoyed the main quest. If they hadn't killed off my all-time favorite NPC, I might even have given it an 8. I acknowledge sacrifice and loss are parts of good storytelling. But couldn't they have picked literally anyone else?

I would have preferred it if House Corelanya were a little more... complex? The conflicts between its past and present all seem pretty resolved, only lingering on for the undead. Not that I ever want to see ZOS do another Really Obvious Traitor™, mind you, but a clan that used to be a family of necromancers seems ripe for Worm Cult infiltration.

I also would have liked more interaction with the Tideborn Argonians, to explore their culture and personalities. In particular, I would like to have seen more of the intersection between the two cultures and how each have adapted to each other.

But the quest itself was solid if short. The returning NPCs mostly all made sense. (I could quibble a bit with Skordo having left the DC behind for the Fighters Guild, but I'm fine with it, and at least his accent is correct again.) The mechanic of getting knocked off the boat was actually pretty cool and took me completely by surprise. The visuals of the zone, while plainly a reuse of old assets, were still pretty creative. There were moments I found genuinely creepy.

I do find it audacious that the Nords founded a settlement on a High Elf island and named it after Lorkhan. I wish someone had remarked on that.

All in all, it was solid. Do I feel it was actually worth half the price of a Season Pass? No. Is it still more than I expected? Yeah, yeah it is.

Parasaurolophus · June 17

2

I didn’t like it. The tone is very inconsistent. Overall, everything just feels too silly. There’s no sense of seriousness in what’s happening at all.

TheMajority · June 17

1

0/10 Sanguine got turned into a day at the family circus instead of a daedric price of debauchery

hedonism don't mean having a good time and the local faire then going home after gettin slightly drunk with your pals

the point is Sanguine will not let you stop

he ain't mr.nice guy

icapital · June 17

1

About as interesting as watching paint dry.

ArchMikem · June 17

4

Syldras wrote: »

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Oh please, @Syldras tell me it isn't so. Didn't even know there was Sanguine quests and in the same sentence I find out they are likely bad.

Let me put it like this:

The other quest involved Dibella cultists "priests" we had to side with, the horrible things we saw was some people drinking a bit and dancing a bit (of course they had to be rescued from that), and in the end we got a moral lesson, like, "Don't drink, it's bad!" Not the only quest even that ended with a type of "Today I learned..." dialogue (Don't drink, treat your siblings well, protect the environment, etc).

...considering I'm playing thru Skyrim right now and just recently met the boarding house Woman who's a Dibella worshipper, that Quest sounds 110% child friendly, compared to how she was "worshipping" her way around Riften.

Syldras · June 17

ArchMikem wrote: »

...considering I'm playing thru Skyrim right now and just recently met the boarding house Woman who's a Dibella worshipper, that Quest sounds 110% child friendly, compared to how she was "worshipping" her way around Riften.

Indeed. Everything was really harmless and I found the moral undertones (we couldn't even comment on in dialogue) very strange. There's generally a lot of morals this time (the quests ending with some "today I learned..." dialogue, as I mentioned; even the Corelanya Manor quest, that I enjoyed overall, had a bit of that), and while I don't even disagree with the statements made there, it just feels strange for a game intended for adults and that takes place in an imperfect world full of conflicts. Although what probably bothers me most is that it's spelled out so bluntly instead of letting the player come to their own conclusions, for themselves.

moderatelyfatman · June 17

Sorry but I need a lower value before I can vote.

HalfDragoness · June 17

5

So far it's been really mid. Like not bad, not good.
Some parts feel really cool and well written, other parts feel false heart felt and rushed.

opaj · June 17

I've played the zone quest and am still working through the side quests, so I'm hesitant to vote until I've done all of the content. Even then, I think the second half of the zone will have a big impact on how I feel about what I've experienced so far.

The side quests have ranged from good to great. I've enjoyed the momentum of the zone quest, but I'm frustrated that it seems to have been written for new players only, with almost no consideration given to long-time players who have been following the story. Too much of the dialogue is written with the assumption that the player character knows nothing about the situation, which is honestly a little galling when this is being billed as a "sequel" story.]

I do like elements of the narrative design, like finding the Stirk Fellowship camps in the wilderness, and some of the side quests remind me of the "gathering allies" mechanic we had in Coldharbour. I'm hoping the latter half of the zone takes more pages from that kind of design, and that the developers let our characters drop the idiot ball.

Finedaible · June 17

I cannot comment on the Solstice story since I don't own it. However, I'm wondering how this "season" format is any different from the chapter + DLC year-long format they previously used for stories. My criticism with the Elsweyr chapter + Southern Elsweyr DLC story continuity was that the cliff-hanger was sort of spoiled with the obviously delayed delivery with S. Elsweyr. I mean, it was pretty obvious where the story was gonna go so the delivery lost all its punch (or if you played it out of order).

Like others probably feel, Elder Scrolls just isn't Elder Scrolls without immersive, captivating stories. Lately it feels like ESO has been resorting to way too much comedy sketches and E rated content instead of taking itself seriously, and that's a big problem in my opinion.

NotaDaedraWorshipper · June 17

Syldras wrote: »

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Oh please, @Syldras tell me it isn't so. Didn't even know there was Sanguine quests and in the same sentence I find out they are likely bad.

Let me put it like this:

One quest was about a Sanguine festivity that someone else messed up, and the ending concluded basically with "Now that everything is as intended again, people can have fun and then go home again."

The other quest involved Dibella cultists "priests" we had to side with, the horrible things we saw was some people drinking a bit and dancing a bit (of course they had to be rescued from that), and in the end we got a moral lesson, like, "Don't drink, it's bad!" Not the only quest even that ended with a type of "Today I learned..." dialogue (Don't drink, treat your siblings well, protect the environment, etc).

It's almost impressive. When I didn't think their stories, quests and portayal could get worse than they already are, it seems they aim to surprise me. I'm nor surprised the only thing they can imagine with Sanguine is drinking, but even with that I couldn't imagine it would be this tame. Like this is not just tame and childfriendly anymore, it's starting get ridiculously preachy and soapboaxing with very purist ideas.

Reminds me, I remember in a discussion we had..I don't know some month ago, which I forgot to answer. But Sanguine, his portrayal and quests were discussed and how I'd write them. I can tell you, at this rate ZOS would faint, even if I kept it fitting for a game with ESO's rating! It's not like inspiration is lacking either, they could just look up things, such as celebrations, related to Bacchus/Dionysus who is part of the inspiration for Sanguine in the first place.

ArchMikem wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Oh please, @Syldras tell me it isn't so. Didn't even know there was Sanguine quests and in the same sentence I find out they are likely bad.

Let me put it like this:

The other quest involved Dibella cultists "priests" we had to side with, the horrible things we saw was some people drinking a bit and dancing a bit (of course they had to be rescued from that), and in the end we got a moral lesson, like, "Don't drink, it's bad!" Not the only quest even that ended with a type of "Today I learned..." dialogue (Don't drink, treat your siblings well, protect the environment, etc).

...considering I'm playing thru Skyrim right now and just recently met the boarding house Woman who's a Dibella worshipper, that Quest sounds 110% child friendly, compared to how she was "worshipping" her way around Riften.

Well, she says she's a servant of Dibella. But I've always been of the theory that she is not. Of course she might be in denial and try persuade herself she is, but nothing she does really fit Dibella's doctrine, some even oppose it. There's no love in what she do, she tries make married men commit adultery etc, so her words of being Dibellan has always wrung empty to me, with the one hearing them is Sanguine.

TX12001rwb17_ESO · June 17

3

The main issue I have with the story is most of it revolves around rescuing the fighter's guild? if these people cannot defend themselves than they should not even be in the fighter's guild.

Secondly the Island itself is nonsensical, why are High Elves and Argonians living together? they could of made them Maormer instead of Altmer, did they never think to do that? it would have been far more interesting and make much more sense given the location of Solstice to have Sea Elves instead of High Elves.

Thirdly the Worm Cult should be a complete joke at this point, to put it simple the Vestige beat Mannimarco when they were still an inexperienced adventurer, since then they have ventured across all of Tamriel and realms beyond that the likes of Mannimarco likely does not even know exists, they have joined the Psjic Order, beaten Daedric Gods, the Worm Cult would be a non-factor now, they should of disbanded are realizing Mannimarco was not the invincible Necromancer they thought he was.

And finally, the wall dividing Solstice is kind of pointless, Solstice is an island and not even a large one at that, does no one think to just sail to the other side of the island, what even is the point of it?

Syldras · June 17

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

It's almost impressive. When I didn't think their stories, quests and portayal could get worse than they already are, it seems they aim to surprise me. I'm nor surprised the only thing they can imagine with Sanguine is drinking, but even with that I couldn't imagine it would be this tame. Like this is not just tame and childfriendly anymore, it's starting get ridiculously preachy and soapboaxing with very purist ideas.

There's indeed something that feels lecturing in a lot of the writing; and when at some point I did find it weird to come across something like that repeatedly and kept my eyes open for such messages consciously, it became even more obvious.

Generally speaking, from my point of view, writers shouldn't concentrate on nice messages, no matter how good they might be, but their first goal should be contributing to the lore of the fictional world they're writing about in a meaningful and lore-friendly way.

Well, and then we can discuss about the how of course. It's not like classical literature, to take that as an example, is void of things one could learn from it. No, there are a lot of things to take from it, also from fiction. But the big difference is that the reader would come to conclusions through observation and thinking, and the moral isn't just spelled out in an in-your-face way. That's what bothers me most; the way it feels like the messages are presented in such an obvious way, as if the players were thought of as not capable of understanding them otherwise; as if we were kids that need very clear and direct lessons and instructions. I don't find that suitable considering the adult audience of this game.

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

Reminds me, I remember in a discussion we had..I don't know some month ago, which I forgot to answer. But Sanguine, his portrayal and quests were discussed and how I'd write them. I can tell you, at this rate ZOS would faint, even if I kept it fitting for a game with ESO's rating! It's not like inspiration is lacking either, they could just look up things, such as celebrations, related to Bacchus/Dionysus who is part of the inspiration for Sanguine in the first place.

Yes. I also did a review of that quest and uttered a few ideas how I would have done it in another thread, but I'm not sure whether I should link or quote it here, as the whole thread does include a few spoilers (and lots of weird jokes and roleplay, but anyway).

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

And finally, the wall dividing Solstice is kind of pointless, Solstice is an island and not even a large one at that, does no one think to just sail to the other side of the island, what even is the point of it?

It's just not possible because of the horrible storms and the dense fog that surrounds the island, that npcs talk about all the time, but we never see.

The Elder Scrolls Online

On a scale of 1-10, what would you give the story of Solstice & why?

On a scale of 1-10, what would you give the story of Solstice & why? 177 votes