Was it easy to fine the UI for the Rumors System?

Mostly yes. Personal opinion is that it would work a bit better on its own tab in the Journal, but it's reasonably easy to find. It's a bit cramped right up there next to the quest arrow icon, so more spacing or a separate tab would be nicer than the current version.

Did you understand how the Rumor's System works?

Mostly yes. Running through the Rumor from the starter quest worked well as a tutorial and it was short enough to convey the concept without getting overly bogged down in details.

Is the messaging available when you are doing a Rumor clear enough?

Meh? It takes a bit of getting used to, but "no hand holding" is a very good descriptor. It would be helpful if the full text of the messages picked up were available in the journal as the synopses aren't exceptionally helpful. Thinking specifically on the one existing conspiracies Rumor, prepositions are important: "at," "near," "in," and the like all have different meanings and what was originally written sometimes gets lost in the translation. The actual map for Bergama would have been exceptionally helpful because "small hill with a protruding rock" describes about three fourths of Bergama (lots of protruding rocks, not so many small hills, and the one I needed wasn't actually IN Bergama).

For both of the quests which I did today, having a marker of some sort to indicate the end-point would have been great. Spent a lot of time running around Crosswych looking for a green marker like the previous stuff only there isn't one. Same thing with the Lion Guard at Bankorai Garrison. Bee-tee-dubs, is there some reason why High King Emeric and Queen Arzhela are still standing around outside the southern gate to the garrison? I helped them recapture the garrison several real-world weeks ago, and the rest of southern Bangkorai is clear of any quest markers, yet there they are, still urging me on to Hallin's Stand. Anyway, the only reason I was able to get that one completed was because sticky-fingered Khajiit wondered what in blazes a chest was doing outside the northern entrance to the fort. They actually spent quite a bit of time looking for a commander or officer to turn in the quest (generic Lion Guard are lousy conversationalists) before noticing the chest.

Did you enjoy engaging with the Rumors system?

That's an unqualified "yes" at this point. I think it's a well-conceived system with lots of room for addition/expansion. Neither of the two I have tackled so far (the first and last), were particularly difficult, but the character had done a lot of previous exploration and had unlocked wayshrines the whole way. Also as a result of that prior exploration, I had a reasonably good idea of where I should be looking for stuff, although finding it wasn't always intuitive and I'm pretty sure those protruding rocks in Bergama have put me on their own "potential stalker" watchlist.

Do you have any additional feedback on the system itself?

That first Rumor (the missing heirloom) sent me chasing a few red herrings. For example, the toon who did that one was Covenant and had already cleared everything in Glenumbra, so they already knew there is an NPC named Beriel in Camlorn. "Hmm... maybe following the trail of the thieves from point of theft north like the broadsheet said will turn up something?" That occupied quite a bit of time, although "estate" had me looking in all the wrong places and there is no place to be checking anyway. Got a couple of SMH moments out of that one.

Do you have any feedback on the addition of Rumors?

On the whole, and based solely on the two I did today, it's a pretty enjoyable system. Lots of exploration and running around required. There is not a lot of combat aside from overland trash between points of interest, so sweatlords probably need not apply. They're just little side jaunts where you have to think about the information you've been given and proceed from there, which I liked. Except for the upgrade gem for the Prowler's Talisman and one Unformed Planar Key, the rewards aren't anything to get excited about and I don't really see anyone doing this for the loot unless they're looking to sell keys. It's very creatively done and very reminiscent of the "live and die by your journal" instead of the current "follow the quest markers" system. Except for a couple of NPCs, there is no voiced dialogue to mess with; just an old-school quest system without the need for keeping a notepad and graph paper by the keyboard. 'Course I'm old enough to have lived through that and it might not sit well with younger folks, but you get a thumbs-up from me.

LonePirate wrote: »

For instance, the initial Rumor in Glenumbra gives a couple of options after finding the heirloom but they turn out to be dead ends or missing and all I could do was return it at the bank.

There is a drop-box in Crosswych per the quest info and it's actually there, but it takes some hunting to find it because it's unmarked and looks a lot like other environmental clutter.

I think the blue highlighting on the text should be removed it makes things too easy. It seems like the rumor system is based off the investigation mission system from the secret world. I like the concept because it reminds me of the secret world’s investigation missions. However, eso’s version is too easy, the difficulty of the investigation missions made them uniquely fun and it brought the community together in attempt to solve them.

The rumors are a good start to adding that type puzzle solving to eso, it just needs more refinement. If the devs are not familiar the secret world they should look into it for puzzle inspiration.

LonePirate wrote: »

I tried another one - the one dealing with a tale told by/on a bridge near Riften. Perhaps I leaned too heavily on the word “near” but none of the bridges near Riften advanced the rumor. If the bridge was in Riften or somewhere else in The Rift but not near Riften, I have not found it yet. Perhaps the text of this rumor should be changed to “in The Rift” instead of “near Riften” assuming the rumor isn’t bugged.

Look around outside Riften and see if you can spot some bridges...

General feedback for the Azrashul's Legacy rumor.

Initial clue to finding the rumor and collecting the first piece went smoothly enough, although the toon hadn't yet done much in Reaper's March outside of guild dailies, Rawl'kha traders, Zerith-var, and stuff. The third piece wasn't too hard to find other than wading through some dro-m'athra to get to it. The second piece is proving to be a bit of a beast as there doesn't seem to be anything at or around the location and I'm pretty sure that the Daedroth didn't swallow it as I've killed and gutted him a couple or three times while searching high and low for it. It's either not there or it's hidden really well. The turn-in location might be problematic as it's another area which requires quest clearing before it's fully open, but the drop box coule be in the "always accessible" part of the area.

General feedback for the Bumps in the Night rumor along with a couple of other bits.

Found the start pretty easily. The character who did this had already completed Rivenspire, including Fell's Run. All the rumor locations were accessible, so I checked on a character who had not even started Rivenspire and found all three locations accessible. The rest flowed reasonably simply from those and turn-in was not an issue. It's a nice rumor.

A couple of side-observations are worth considering. First, it is possible to find the source of the problem without visiting the other two locations. I would strongly recommend making that third location inaccessible until the other two are done. The story being told will make more sense if that happens.

Second, the rumor cannot be started until the Beriel Heirloom rumor has been completed. That's fine as a design decision and not a problem in and of itself, but all the other rumors show as being available for starting from the outset. If the Beriel Heirloom is being used as the tutorial, then don't show other rumors in the Rumors UI until the tutorial is completed. It will prevent a lot of player confusion and "why won't this work?" questions.

Third, the Gem of Deception is one of the quest rewards for completing the Beriel Heirloom rumor. It's grayed out when collected if the Talisman has already been upgraded with that gem, but it would probably be better to not have it showing as a reward drop at all. I figured that it wasn't really there after posting about the upgrade counter, but still checked in with the Talisman Expert to verify after not seeing it in inventory. Maybe expect some "where did it go?" questions and/or complaints about "A Padon Edict? That's it?" if left as-is.

LonePirate wrote: »

I tried another one - the one dealing with a tale told by/on a bridge near Riften. Perhaps I leaned too heavily on the word “near” but none of the bridges near Riften advanced the rumor. If the bridge was in Riften or somewhere else in The Rift but not near Riften, I have not found it yet. Perhaps the text of this rumor should be changed to “in The Rift” instead of “near Riften” assuming the rumor isn’t bugged.

To ditto @CyberDiva, it's there and yes, it's on a bridge near Riften. Note to devs, however, is that it lacks the glowy bits that characterize Rumor stuff. The eagle-eyed will be able to find it in short order however.

EDIT to add general feedback on the Mysterious Dreamer rumor. The only part of this one which has the glowy bits is the turn-in, which makes it different from the other Rumors I've pursued so far. That out of the way, it proceeded smoothly from pick-up through the intervening steps to the turn-in. It was an interestingly told story, too, and I had a good time with it. I'm of mixed mind on the glowy bits. On the one hand, those will forestall a lot of "I can't find it" and the like. But on the other hand, the whole point seems to be to encourage players to be thorough, pay attention to everything in the environment, and use our noggins. I think the decision to add those to the turn-in points is probably well taken, so the question is whether to have all intervening bits glow or just the end and maybe start points. The intervening legwork is the major activity and can probably survive without the glow. Pros and cons to both approaches, neither will satisfy everyone, and each will dissatisfy someone. Those decisions are well above my paygrade, though.