Argh my eyes!

katanagirl1 · July 4

spartaxoxo wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Lol, I don’t quite get the attraction either. My character must have been the only female character who just wanted to be friends with Darien after all of the adventures they had together. I also seem to be the only one who saw an unfulfilled romance between him and Gabrielle and would have felt it was inappropriate at the very least, given what happened.

I did seen an unfilled romance between them. But, to me, it seemed like Darien wasn't serious about anyone while Gabrielle was in love with him. He had a little crush on her but he didn't really explore it. He always seemed to be leaning towards getting serious with the Vestige instead.
Because he sensed a connection about something deeper between the two of them. The Vestige having been created by Nirn as it's protector and him being created by Meridia to protect her interests on Nirn. So neither quite fully human but not inhuman either. Something immortal and not fully understandable. He always asked the Vestige the deeper questions about who he was, what he wanted for his future, etc. And for him, that culminated in him sacrificing himself for the Vestige on Summerset.

But, he didn't really think that hard about romance because he was in constant danger where he couldn't actually be with anyone romantically or let himself make that kind of choice.

I interpreted the way he acted on Solstice as immense survivor's guilt and also mourning the loss of what could have been not necessarily what actually happened.

The Vestige helps him through everything without being overly judgemental and that cements for him he had made the right choice with the Vestige all long. Since the Vestige and him had a thing for each other long before anyone was under any danger or duress deciding to continue their romance wasn't inappropriate.

Funny but I never saw it that way. I just saw it as a deep friendship, not a romance. Sometimes that can be more valuable. We all interpret these things differently though since we are unique individuals. I’m glad you got the ending you were looking for in this case. So did I.

spartaxoxo · July 4

katanagirl1 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Lol, I don’t quite get the attraction either. My character must have been the only female character who just wanted to be friends with Darien after all of the adventures they had together. I also seem to be the only one who saw an unfulfilled romance between him and Gabrielle and would have felt it was inappropriate at the very least, given what happened.

I did seen an unfilled romance between them. But, to me, it seemed like Darien wasn't serious about anyone while Gabrielle was in love with him. He had a little crush on her but he didn't really explore it. He always seemed to be leaning towards getting serious with the Vestige instead.
Because he sensed a connection about something deeper between the two of them. The Vestige having been created by Nirn as it's protector and him being created by Meridia to protect her interests on Nirn. So neither quite fully human but not inhuman either. Something immortal and not fully understandable. He always asked the Vestige the deeper questions about who he was, what he wanted for his future, etc. And for him, that culminated in him sacrificing himself for the Vestige on Summerset.

But, he didn't really think that hard about romance because he was in constant danger where he couldn't actually be with anyone romantically or let himself make that kind of choice.

I interpreted the way he acted on Solstice as immense survivor's guilt and also mourning the loss of what could have been not necessarily what actually happened.

The Vestige helps him through everything without being overly judgemental and that cements for him he had made the right choice with the Vestige all long. Since the Vestige and him had a thing for each other long before anyone was under any danger or duress deciding to continue their romance wasn't inappropriate.

Funny but I never saw it that way. I just saw it as a deep friendship, not a romance. Sometimes that can be more valuable. We all interpret these things differently though since we are unique individuals. I’m glad you got the ending you were looking for in this case. So did I.

I'm glad you got the ending you wanted as well! 🙂 I'm glad that the devs seemed to put a lot of thought and care into the ending of Solstice with Darien and that they took into account the various ways their players would likely interpret their relationship with Darien and gave a good ending for them. It made the various choices and interpretations actually feel impactful. And also let multiple people have their happy ending. For me, Solstice was actually their best new story in years.

I wouldn't put it quite on the same level as the series high points but I certainly enjoyed it far more than West Weald, Necrom, High Isle, or Blackwood.

ETA
Fixed autocorrect error

AScarlato · July 4

spartaxoxo wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Lol, I don’t quite get the attraction either. My character must have been the only female character who just wanted to be friends with Darien after all of the adventures they had together. I also seem to be the only one who saw an unfulfilled romance between him and Gabrielle and would have felt it was inappropriate at the very least, given what happened.

I did seen an unfilled romance between them. But, to me, it seemed like Darien wasn't serious about anyone while Gabrielle was in love with him. He had a little crush on her but he didn't really explore it. He always seemed to be leaning towards getting serious with the Vestige instead.
Because he sensed a connection about something deeper between the two of them. The Vestige having been created by Nirn as it's protector and him being created by Meridia to protect her interests on Nirn. So neither quite fully human but not inhuman either. Something immortal and not fully understandable. He always asked the Vestige the deeper questions about who he was, what he wanted for his future, etc. And for him, that culminated in him sacrificing himself for the Vestige on Summerset.

But, he didn't really think that hard about romance because he was in constant danger where he couldn't actually be with anyone romantically or let himself make that kind of choice.

I interpreted the way he acted on Solstice as immense survivor's guilt and also mourning the loss of what could have been not necessarily what actually happened.

The Vestige helps him through everything without being overly judgemental and that cements for him he had made the right choice with the Vestige all long. Since the Vestige and him had a thing for each other long before anyone was under any danger or duress deciding to continue their romance wasn't inappropriate.

Funny but I never saw it that way. I just saw it as a deep friendship, not a romance. Sometimes that can be more valuable. We all interpret these things differently though since we are unique individuals. I’m glad you got the ending you were looking for in this case. So did I.

I'm glad you got the ending you wanted as well! 🙂 I'm glad that the devs seemed to put a lot of thought and care into the ending of Solstice with Darien and that they took into account the various ways their players would likely interpret their relationship with Darien and gave a good ending for them. It made the various choices and interpretations actually feel impactful. And also let multiple people have their happy ending. For me, Solstice was actually their best new story in years.

I wanted put it quite on the same level as the series high points but I certainly enjoyed it far more than West Weald, Necrom, High Isle, or Blackwood.

I agree with this, and Gabrielle seems like the perfect love interest for him when the Vestige is not interested.

I think at some point they should stop killing and bringing back characters, as much as I love Gabrielle. She is one of my favorites so I wouldn't be sad if she did return. That said, I'm not sure I trust the writers to write the drama involved in having her return when Darien is with the Vestige but it would be interesting to see how they tried to address that.

The terrible person I am would have Gabrielle return and then also be romancable by the Vestige then see the drama unfold.

BretonMage · July 4

I'm a long way from finishing Solstice but all this is extremely intriguing. My character has always seen him as no more than a good friend, and so long as they keep the way open for companion romance, I'll be happy.

Soarora · July 5

katanagirl1 wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Lol, I don’t quite get the attraction either. My character must have been the only female character who just wanted to be friends with Darien after all of the adventures they had together. I also seem to be the only one who saw an unfulfilled romance between him and Gabrielle and would have felt it was inappropriate at the very least, given what happened.

I did seen an unfilled romance between them. But, to me, it seemed like Darien wasn't serious about anyone while Gabrielle was in love with him. He had a little crush on her but he didn't really explore it. He always seemed to be leaning towards getting serious with the Vestige instead.
Because he sensed a connection about something deeper between the two of them. The Vestige having been created by Nirn as it's protector and him being created by Meridia to protect her interests on Nirn. So neither quite fully human but not inhuman either. Something immortal and not fully understandable. He always asked the Vestige the deeper questions about who he was, what he wanted for his future, etc. And for him, that culminated in him sacrificing himself for the Vestige on Summerset.

But, he didn't really think that hard about romance because he was in constant danger where he couldn't actually be with anyone romantically or let himself make that kind of choice.

I interpreted the way he acted on Solstice as immense survivor's guilt and also mourning the loss of what could have been not necessarily what actually happened.

The Vestige helps him through everything without being overly judgemental and that cements for him he had made the right choice with the Vestige all long. Since the Vestige and him had a thing for each other long before anyone was under any danger or duress deciding to continue their romance wasn't inappropriate.

Funny but I never saw it that way. I just saw it as a deep friendship, not a romance. Sometimes that can be more valuable. We all interpret these things differently though since we are unique individuals. I’m glad you got the ending you were looking for in this case. So did I.

What is true love if not a deep friendship with a romantic overcoat? That said, I don’t think romance is a necessary aspect of deep friendship, people who are attracted to each other’s gender aren’t destined to fall in love. I could see it being a compelling switch from Darien’s flirtatious nature to seeking nothing more than a friend.

I’m just a hopeless romantic and like Darien personally, which is why I go the romance route. But I hope it remains an *optional* path and it’d be awesome if we could *optionally* be in a relationship with other popular options (not that I care about… Nayru…? Something like that… but I am a Fennorian enjoyer). I don’t think fanservice is inherently poorly done.

spartaxoxo · July 5

AScarlato wrote: »

The terrible person I am would have Gabrielle return and then also be romancable by the Vestige then see the drama unfold.

*Gasps in Telenovela*

I would be down for that type of drama too lol 😆 But, I also do enjoy the occasional trashy romance novel or show lol.

tomofhyrule · July 5

I'm not one for superficial romance in my games. Honestly I more favor deepfriendships... but let's face it - Elder Scrolls games aren't really where I'd go if I'm looking for good character relationships. If I wanted that, I'd talk to Bioware (at least the Bioware from 10+ years ago; new Bioware is... uhh...)

As for Darien, I do have one character who would romance him, but she also is basically taking the place of Gabrielle in my story, so it tracks.

But yeah, my biggest issue is more that it's yet another character whose personality was reduced to a single off-hand joke that was made once. I don't think Darien got done as dirty as some of the other characters, but it was really hard for me to take Solstice seriously when he came back again. Like, does anyone stay dead in this game? If death for NPCs is as cheap as it is for players, where are the emotional stakes?

I have much more fun writing and planning stories for my characters, but I'm at a bit of a block right now since I desperately need a new Class to get my next one off the ground.

Soarora · July 5

tomofhyrule wrote: »

But yeah, my biggest issue is more that it's yet another character whose personality was reduced to a single off-hand joke that was made once. I don't think Darien got done as dirty as some of the other characters, but it was really hard for me to take Solstice seriously when he came back again. Like, does anyone stay dead in this game? If death for NPCs is as cheap as it is for players, where are the emotional stakes?

I do normally agree that the resurrections ZOS writes are horrible. However, I’ve always thought Darien would come back. Though I still haven’t finished Solstice, so if I don’t like the plot more than my headcanon (invading the Colored Rooms and taking him back by force) then I’ll stick to my headcanon. He’s not a mortal, so bringing him back gives us more lore on what he is (demiprince? cyborg? We’re lacking in lore in regard to these things).

Sephyr · July 5

This is how Darien looks when he reads through this thread.

(SORRY, I HAD TO)

Heydan_Seegil · July 5

I take no issue. People apparently value it.

When I was younger, around the same year ESO released, I wrote an art history paper for the MoMA in Ft. Worth Texas. They have classes there and I was working there. I claimed a new movement within art was forming that I dubbed, "Delusionalism", which is art which gains value once the viewer abstracts or deludes themselves into believing a fictional environment has a tangible value or is real enough to fool oneself into believe the art is real. Basically paintings, sculptures, and stuff like that inside video games. Not the art of the game itself but the artwork in the game which is used to immerse the player or again delude them into believe the art has actual value ergo they would be willing to spend actual money buying it or sacrifice hours of their time to obtain it. I used examples from ESO because it was really the only game putting actual art into a video game but there are other examples like Pokémon. Anyway, they liked the paper but said it was too long. See the thing about visuals is they just want to look at pretty pictures. So anything longer than a caption is just to much. Haha!

Buy the painting. Who knows a house guest might like it.

Nemesis7884 · July 5

Who would play Darien in a movie?

spartaxoxo · July 5

Heydan_Seegil wrote: »

Not the art of the game itself but the artwork in the game which is used to immerse the player or again delude them into believe the art has actual value ergo they would be willing to spend actual money buying it or sacrifice hours of their time to obtain it.

Which psychologist did you consult for that paper? Because I doubt most people are delusional enough to think it's real. Generally speaking, people just buy it because it makes their game more fun and they enjoy the art from everyone that I have met. But I have never done psyche exams on others either.

One of the big conversations around gaming is actually how valueless and temporary it all is. And there are various attempts to preserve games because people generally treat them as ephemeral art.

SilverBride · July 5

This fictional environment has real value to me in the form of the entertainment it provides and the friends I've made along the way.

BretonMage · July 5

Soarora wrote: »

I don’t think fanservice is inherently poorly done.

I am very leery about fan service for several reasons. In general, it detracts resources from truly creative or, at least, lore-enriching content. Also, from a profit-seeking company, it almost always services the biggest or most visible group of fans, with the result that unconventional (and arguably more interesting) stories never see the light of day.

And for ESO in particular, I just haven't enjoyed their style of fan service to date. They seem to have a tendency to focus on only a handful of the most broadly appealing characters or character traits. Returning characters seem to mostly fall within the goofy camp (Sheo, Rigurt, Cadwell, Zaji, Laurent/Stibbons) or the flirty camp (Darien, Naryu, Raz, Jakarn). Or they've taken a few popular characters and reused them ad nauseam. So I don't know, I just don't see how their fanservice romances can ever be anything other than just broadly appealing, accessible stuff. Profitable, maybe, just not very interesting.

spartaxoxo · July 5

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

Who would play Darien in a movie?

David Corenswet or Robbie Amell

David

Robbie

anadandy · July 5

Ha, yes! Robbie Amell has the perfect level of snark for Darien.

tomofhyrule · July 5

Soarora wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

But yeah, my biggest issue is more that it's yet another character whose personality was reduced to a single off-hand joke that was made once. I don't think Darien got done as dirty as some of the other characters, but it was really hard for me to take Solstice seriously when he came back again. Like, does anyone stay dead in this game? If death for NPCs is as cheap as it is for players, where are the emotional stakes?

I do normally agree that the resurrections ZOS writes are horrible. However, I’ve always thought Darien would come back. Though I still haven’t finished Solstice, so if I don’t like the plot more than my headcanon (invading the Colored Rooms and taking him back by force) then I’ll stick to my headcanon. He’s not a mortal, so bringing him back gives us more lore on what he is (demiprince? cyborg? We’re lacking in lore in regard to these things).

Part of what annoyed me most about Darien was that a story involving Meridia as a villain and going to rescue him was right there, and yet ZOS decided "hey, let's just do a 1:1 retelling of the Main Quest!"

Sidenote: I'm also not a fan of how the TES series lorebooks are very clear about how Daedric Princes can't be nicely boxed into "good" and "evil," and yet every game is like "these Princes are the good guys and you want to help them, and those are the bad guys who all want to murder puppies. Oh, and then we're reducing all categories of mental illness to just be jokes about cheese, because that's so funny!"

Elvenheart · July 5

Soarora wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

But yeah, my biggest issue is more that it's yet another character whose personality was reduced to a single off-hand joke that was made once. I don't think Darien got done as dirty as some of the other characters, but it was really hard for me to take Solstice seriously when he came back again. Like, does anyone stay dead in this game? If death for NPCs is as cheap as it is for players, where are the emotional stakes?

I do normally agree that the resurrections ZOS writes are horrible. However, I’ve always thought Darien would come back. Though I still haven’t finished Solstice, so if I don’t like the plot more than my headcanon (invading the Colored Rooms and taking him back by force) then I’ll stick to my headcanon. He’s not a mortal, so bringing him back gives us more lore on what he is (demiprince? cyborg? We’re lacking in lore in regard to these things).

I can’t help but really hope that at some point they bring Gabrielle back. I really liked her.

Apollosipod · July 5

Elvenheart wrote: »

Soarora wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

But yeah, my biggest issue is more that it's yet another character whose personality was reduced to a single off-hand joke that was made once. I don't think Darien got done as dirty as some of the other characters, but it was really hard for me to take Solstice seriously when he came back again. Like, does anyone stay dead in this game? If death for NPCs is as cheap as it is for players, where are the emotional stakes?

I do normally agree that the resurrections ZOS writes are horrible. However, I’ve always thought Darien would come back. Though I still haven’t finished Solstice, so if I don’t like the plot more than my headcanon (invading the Colored Rooms and taking him back by force) then I’ll stick to my headcanon. He’s not a mortal, so bringing him back gives us more lore on what he is (demiprince? cyborg? We’re lacking in lore in regard to these things).

I can’t help but really hope that at some point they bring Gabrielle back. I really liked her.

The problem with that (and the same thing with Darien) is that ZOS has accidentally allowed the vast world of Tamriel to consist of the same small group of people who keep coming back from the dead. Every time they bring one back from the dead it lessens the weight of any narrative they tell. It becomes tedious, repetitive, and every new story after that will just read the same steps: bad guy appears, mcguffin artifact must be found/is found, old and dead ally returns from death and/or Daedric plane, team comes back together to overcome world-ending threat with the power of friendship.

16BitForestCat · July 6

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

You get an 'awesome' for the "Are You Being Served?" reference. Man, haven't seen that show in a long time.

Elvenheart wrote: »

I was trying to figure out where that was from, the name sounded so familiar! 😂

Then you two understand why I couldn't post a single one of the jokes running through my head about Mrs. Slocombe and her unending love for her p—uhhhhhhhh...puddy tat.

Not unless I wanted the mods to woefully misinterpret the humor and shut this entire thread down.

I'll just continue being amused at the amount of Alfiq nudity we've gotten in ESO, when their more humanoid counterparts are running around "naked" in black underwear.