Main Story Is Bad...

Mashille · May 2015

I really love ESO but the main story is really quite generic and boring compared to some other quests in the game. Please do something about this as story is something that is really important in a game. It would be great if you could bring the Main Story content standard up to how you redesigned the Tutorial with some sort of partial cut-scenes (Such as the Forgemaster throwing the guy on the spike) because at the moment some of the quests are genuinely awful. Such as when you have to rescue Lyris.

It would greatly improves the feel of the game if you improved the story and the quality of the quests because story if very important in games as vast as this (Especially TES games) Also it would be great for you to be able to do Story missions with up to 4 other players where the quest scales with the number of people that join.

Thank you for reading.

nastuug · May 2015

I'm sure it will be dropping -- wait for it -- after console launch.

Mashille · May 2015

Ah, the infamous console launch, delaying content for ESO for over a year.

nastuug · May 2015

I would have loved for it to have been a troll comment, but that seems to be the official ZOS response on every damned content addition request for a while now.

MCMancub · May 2015

The thing is, as weird as this sounds, the main story isn't supposed to be the best or most exciting quest in the game. It's just the quest that sets the scene in an MMO. Why are you there? What's happening in the world? Who is this "Molag Bal" and why is he terrorizing all of Tamriel? Most of the main story is just you getting your group together. Then the part where you're with your group is largely skipped over. Suddenly you're at the end.

Because it's honestly just not that important in the overall setting.

MMOs that force the player to participate in the main story for long periods of time (I'm looking at you, GW2) grow tiresome after a while and can impact the way you view the game as a whole. Instead of having that main story set up your adventures early on and then rule in a "laissez faire" kind of way, everything you do is dictated by what's happening in the main story.

I loved the main story in ESO simply because it gave us tons of lore that was otherwise missing in The Elder Scrolls for this time period. As far as the gameplay goes, I don't really care. If I wanted my gameplay experience to be tailored around one central story, I'd play a single player game.

PBpsy · May 2015

It is at TES standard story quality.It is kind of lame but not why we are playing them.

Lava_Croft · May 2015

PBpsy wrote: »

It is at TES standard story quality.It is kind of lame but not why we are playing them.

"Story in a(n Elder Scrolls game) game is like a story in a *** movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."

Sausage · May 2015

Go ahead try to make 100 hour of compelling story. Gotta say I currently play Witcher 3 and boy, even it start to get boring. Most movie are only 1.5 hour for a reason. movie industry is afraid of making 3+ hour movies, because they think people might leave. I think the main problem is those damn side quests, they should just get rid off them, lots of side quest should be replaced by good action/sex, I really like Witcher 3 sex scenes. Interactivity is MMOs strenght though, too bad so underrated, and no-one does it, like how fun it would be player Bard was singing songs for new players, or some priest is spreading the faith of God, or how about a game of Texas Hold'em, while you're doing stories and killing monsters.

Raash · May 2015

I agree with you op. Main story was actually boring, not all parts tho but as a whole.
And why the hell did they need to bring in a muppet character along with it? Razum-dar is to eso what jar jar binks is to starwars... /puke

retyler3_ESO · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

Go ahead try to make 100 hour of compelling story. Gotta say I currently play Witcher 3 and boy, even it start to get boring. Most movie are only 1.5 hour for a reason. movie industry is afraid of making 3+ hour movies, because they think people might leave. I think the main problem is those damn side quests, they should just get rid off them, lots of side quest should be replaced by good action/sex, I really like Witcher 3 sex scenes. Interactivity is MMOs strenght though, too bad so underrated, and no-one does it, like how fun it would be player Bard was singing songs for new players, or some priest is spreading the faith of God, or how about a game of Texas Hold'em, while you're doing stories and killing monsters.

The reason the movies have been scaled down is because of the theatres. An hour and half movie at the theatre is able to have more showings than a two, three, or four hour movie, and therefore able to move more people through who will buy items from the concession stands.

I have found the story to be nice, but I am going through and doing the side quests and the main story for the faction as well, so this provides a nice distraction from the main story.

Sausage · May 2015

Come on, we all know to make compelling story even for 30 hour is nearly impossible. Thats the thing what some people doesnt undestand story is just one part of bigger picture.

retyler3_ESO · May 2015

Story is a huge factor I definitely agree with you on that, but if the story is good people will sit through a 4 hour movie, with intermission of course.

Take a look at the classical theater. Plays tend to be 3 to 4 hours long with an intermission, and people don't have a problem sitting through those. I refuse to watch a movie at a theater that is under an hour and fifty minutes. I will simply wait for it to be available for digital download to rent or buy if I think it will entertain me enough.

Sausage · May 2015

4 hour is nothing if you think how many hundred of hour MMOs are supposed to offer entertainment.

PKMN12 · May 2015

no different then any of the other TES main stories.

retyler3_ESO · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

4 hour is nothing if you think how many hundred of hour MMOs are supposed to offer entertainment.

I wouldn't say a four movie is nothing I mean after all it is four hours, but I would not mind sitting through a four hour movie at all if the story is descent and I'm entertained.

But the attention span of people is dropping, so now most people would be unwilling to sit through a four hour movie, even though they would sit through a four hour play.

Robo_Hobo · May 2015

I think the reason is because the main story is required for players to reach veteran content. It has to be short and unobtrusive enough that the people who wouldn't read the dialogue/pay attention even if it were the most compelling and original masterpiece of all, don't have to sit through it for too long. It had to be compromised to reach the best balance between short and unobtrusive and interesting and compelling. Other quests didn't have to have those restrictions, but you can still see where the compromises come from even that - in such that you can do quests that are meant to be later in a series, prior to doing the ones before it if you skip.

As a lore/story interested, perhaps obsessed, player that's a shame to me, but, that's to be expected from a game aimed at multiple audiences. Gotta cut corners to appease the largest group, not cater to one specific one.

Still, all in all I don't think it was that bad - definitely not the best, but not bad per say in my opinion. I liked the ending especially the most. The worst I think is the tutorial, I think it could have had a lot of potential to be more epic, I mean, you're breaking out of Coldarbour as a soulless vestige, but it was kind of simple...you know? Understandably though the tutorial is even further restricted because some of the non-story interested players probably wouldn't have the patience to get through it if it were too much longer.

KerinKor · May 2015

Raash wrote: »

I agree with you op. Main story was actually boring, not all parts tho but as a whole.
And why the hell did they need to bring in a muppet character along with it? Razum-dar is to eso what jar jar binks is to starwars... /puke

I find Razum an entirely entertaining character, about the only one in the game who I look forward to encountering, most of the NPCs in the game are simply air-heads with horrible voice-acting .. with a very few exceptions .. the story itself is simply incredible (in the dictionary definition of the word) and the whole things ends pretty much in as "and in a leap he was free" moment.

But as @PBpsy I think was saying, TES games' main stories aren't generally the main feature, generally they provide the tramlines for the them-park aspects of them and in that respect ESO is entirely in-keeping.

newtinmpls · May 2015

Raash wrote: »

Razum-dar is to eso what jar jar binks is to starwars... /puke

I totally disagree. Raz is a delight.

Jar jar ... well I'd be blunt, but it would just be replaced by *****'s anyway.

Epona222 · May 2015

Razum-dar is not even part of the main quest.
I think some people are getting confused between main quest and faction quest.

Raash · May 2015

Epona222 wrote: »

Razum-dar is not even part of the main quest.
I think some people are getting confused between main quest and faction quest.

Indeed, almost a year has past since i plowed through those quests so I definatly mixed it up. Doesnt matter anyway since the stupid cat died so he wont trouble me again.

Robo_Hobo · May 2015

Raash wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

Razum-dar is not even part of the main quest.
I think some people are getting confused between main quest and faction quest.

Indeed, almost a year has past since i plowed through those quests so I definatly mixed it up. Doesnt matter anyway since the stupid cat died so he wont trouble me again.

Actually he gets out either way, you can find him later on and ask him how he escaped.

Mashille · May 2015

Many people seem to be talking about th length and lore of the story. That is not what this this about. The problem is that the main story quests are not petucularly good quests and don't have any interesting mechanics other than combat.

I like the story and the lore but the actual quests where the prophet teleports you off (which seems quite cheesy) the layouts of the areas and the things you have to do are fairly bad quality and should be improved.

MornaBaine · May 2015

I don't care how long or short the Main Story quests are....but spending time with the Fabled Five is nothing short of torture. ONE female character and she's a busty blonde and not the sharpest pencil in the pack. Each of the male characters is a tired stereotypical fantasy trope. And they abandon you at the end anyway. I was only sorry I couldn't sacrifice ALL of them.

Plus, I just hate that there's no "evil" option for our characters. Like the tutorial, we need to have an option to skip the Main Story quests on our alts.

Raash · May 2015

Robo_Hobo wrote: »

Raash wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

Razum-dar is not even part of the main quest.
I think some people are getting confused between main quest and faction quest.

Indeed, almost a year has past since i plowed through those quests so I definatly mixed it up. Doesnt matter anyway since the stupid cat died so he wont trouble me again.

Actually he gets out either way, you can find him later on and ask him how he escaped.

In my book he died and that npc you refer to is nothing but a bug.

SorataArisugawa · May 2015

Robo_Hobo wrote: »

Raash wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

Razum-dar is not even part of the main quest.
I think some people are getting confused between main quest and faction quest.

Indeed, almost a year has past since i plowed through those quests so I definatly mixed it up. Doesnt matter anyway since the stupid cat died so he wont trouble me again.

Actually he gets out either way, you can find him later on and ask him how he escaped.

completely of topic
I decided, that he has to go with me out of the ruin. He was so pissed after that. And I listend to him and got really confused and angry. Just like a friend who doesn't acknowledge what you have done for him. Never felt something like this in a video game. Quite a achievement for a game.

anitajoneb17_ESO · May 2015

Sausage wrote: »

Come on, we all know to make compelling story even for 30 hour is nearly impossible. Thats the thing what some people doesnt undestand story is just one part of bigger picture.

"We all know..." "Everybody knows..." => come on, try and write your own arguments in an... argumented way !

As to making a 30 hour-long story compelling being impossible, I wonder how JRR Martin, JK Rowling or even Aaron Spelling or David Chase did it !!

rynth · May 2015

This is not a single player game that is driven by a story it's an mom. The story is there but it's not as in depth and the game play is not wrapped around the story. The outline of a story has to be vague and open to all character types and races so a story revolving around one character or class is not there. This is not Star Wars the old republic where your core story line revolves around the class. Even in the old republic after the main game all added in content did not tell everyone around a story.

AlienSlof · May 2015

I'm sure a quest was removed from the main story too - I seem to remember there was a quest where the Prophet sent Vestige out spying, finding a vampire working for Bal. That might have just been in beta, I'm not sure. It's a long time since I did that one. I just know I haven't seen that quest recently.

Robo_Hobo · May 2015

Raash wrote: »

Robo_Hobo wrote: »

Raash wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

Razum-dar is not even part of the main quest.
I think some people are getting confused between main quest and faction quest.

Indeed, almost a year has past since i plowed through those quests so I definatly mixed it up. Doesnt matter anyway since the stupid cat died so he wont trouble me again.

Actually he gets out either way, you can find him later on and ask him how he escaped.

In my book he died and that npc you refer to is nothing but a bug.

You sure? Did you do the quest where he dies before or after the finale of the reaper's March quest where you help either Shazah or Kali walk the two moons path in Dune?

It's his spawn there that has that dialogue, beginning with the player saying "Raz, you're alive!' to which he explains how he still got out. Also at one stage in an earlier quest before he returns you had the option of telling queen Ayrenn that he died.

Sausage · May 2015

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

Sausage wrote: »

Come on, we all know to make compelling story even for 30 hour is nearly impossible. Thats the thing what some people doesnt undestand story is just one part of bigger picture.

"We all know..." "Everybody knows..." => come on, try and write your own arguments in an... argumented way !

As to making a 30 hour-long story compelling being impossible, I wonder how JRR Martin, JK Rowling or even Aaron Spelling or David Chase did it !!

So please enlight me, oh wise one? Ive played 51 days of ESO and story plays very minor role in it. Instead of focusing on story, I'd focus on history and lore of the world, and of course on the present time, what goes forward as the game gets older.

Enodoc · May 2015

AlienSlof wrote: »

I'm sure a quest was removed from the main story too - I seem to remember there was a quest where the Prophet sent Vestige out spying, finding a vampire working for Bal. That might have just been in beta, I'm not sure. It's a long time since I did that one. I just know I haven't seen that quest recently.

It's still there, it's the Level 15 quest (Chasing Shadows).