Yeah, at one minute till when it was still down = I went to their Facebook page to watch it, lol.









I saw one vampire turn into a raven and fly with a whole flock of ravens in that vid! Then they said they were changing up the abilities for vampires; so do you think we will be able to transform into ravens? I hope so! If so, Malan will be a vampire from the day the DLC drops, lol.

I am psyched for the pet bat. Lildereth loved her pet bats in Oblivion.

I am psyched for the vampire re-work and might make my first Imperial to try out the new skills. I wish we could make a dark-haired Altmer, darnit!

I am beside myself with delight over seeing Western Skyrim! Sorc Jerric is already trotting around on the preorder horse. It’s the most color-correct version of Kip to date. He may want to keep snow under his boots throughout 2020, lol.

As soon as I saw that horse I thought of Kip!!!

Midyear Mayhem (PvP) event runs from Jan 23 - Feb 4. More info here: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57605

YYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSS. Time to knock some other players' heads in, boys and girls!

Isn't the middle of the year in, well, the middle of the year? Not January?

Clark and Leveque are new enough not to have done it last year, so they get the benefit of that starter quest. I forget how much that gives you, but it may be enough AP with the log-in rewards to get Vigor without any actual PvP'ing.

SubRosa, I think this one is off schedule because they had some server/lag problems the last time they tried this due to overpopulating some of the Cyrodiil instances (Cyrodiil is the PvP zone in ESO). The event basically doubles the rate at which you can advance the skills associated with PvP. While most of those skills are not helpful to those of us that normally don't PvP, a couple can be useful. So quite a few non-PvPers look forward to the event so they can get the skills they want while getting as little PvP on themselves as possible.

The game is so large and with so much varied content that soloists (like Buffy), group runners and PvPers all have plenty to do and can happily ignore things that don't appeal to them. The purpose of the Midyear Mayhem is to encourage players to at least try PvP. Some end up enjoying it. They run a couple group dungeon events at times during the year as well, again, to encourage folks to try running in groups. Overall though, Buffy and I find the game quite solo friendly.

*

The youngest variant of Buffy is a bow/bow templar who is at the perfect level to go into Cyrodiil and open up a couple skills there. She did the quest (got some AP and a gift box), then started repairing walls/doors while monitoring zone chat (unusual for her). Sure enough, a group came up asking for more and she joined a medium size group that was capturing keeps and resources. It went pretty well and she made some good progress. Won't take much more at all to get what she wants from the event.

We did check the Impresario first and were actually relieved that she had absolutely nothing we want - so Buffy's just letting any event tix she gets overflow beyond her 12/12.

Jerric liked the boots and pants that the Impressario had, so he got them. I’ve already forgotten if they’re supposed to drop from any of the prize boxes.

I took Kalea-ko to the Battlegrounds earlier this evening. It was a lot of fun. She is quite scrappy. Have they already implemented queuing only solo for Battlegrounds?

My understanding from the official forums is that solo-only queuing for BGs is live only on PTS so ZoS can evaluate and adjust as necessary before going live on the main servers. The feedback so far on the PTS forum is generally recommending two queues: one for solo and one for premade groups.

YES!!! Thank you! It really bugs me that they kept the "Midyear" name on it when they moved it to January, Grrrrrr! That is NOT Lore-Calendar friendly!

Clark did enough BG's to get Vigor, and then quit. At double AP, that wasn't many. We considered staying on a bit for Caltrops, but decided not to. We might regret that later, but he does well enough without.

The miscellaneous extra rewards in the "boon boxes" weren't enough to change our minds, either, and he never did well enough to get decent rewards for the unworthy.

The bat pet!! Oh my gosh, I love it so much!

The banner emote is a big disappointment, however. It’s not the real Alliance banner, just a colored Zero Legion one. And anyone can use any of them regardless of Alliance. Boo.

The bat is very nice indeed and looks pretty well done.

The only pets that make Kitsune nervous about getting replaced, however, are the monarch butterfly and the various sylvan nyxads.


For anyone wondering about the bat, here is the ZoS announcement from mid January:

'For hitting 80,000 concurrent viewers during our Dark Heart of Skyrim global announcement stream, we're giving all ESO players the Long-Winged Bat pet. To qualify, simply log into the game and kill any enemy monster any time between January 16, 2020 at 12:00 AM EST and January 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST.

As long as you qualify, you’ll receive your Long-Winged Bat pet by the first week of February. It’ll be added to your Collections automatically.'

Reference link.

I was surprised the character just stands there holding it; doesn't raise it up or wave it in the wind, etc.

Like the bat , but Clark thinks there's something missing.

In other news, the PTS has new craftable sets, which is unusual for the first quarter of a new season. New crafting locations normally come with the Chapter and Zone DLC, which are second and fourth. That is because they need new locations to place them. However, Update 25 is adding some in Cyrodiil,

Critical Riposte – Located in Vlasterus

Unchained Aggressor – Located in Bruma

Dauntless Combatant – Located in Cropsford.

There are three more sets, presumably dropped, so not an issue for stations. It's not clear if this means even more crafted sets this year than the regular six, or whether the Zone DLC won't have any.

Laurie had better get on with her Master writs, so we can get some more stations for the guildhall.

Urgh, I hope they won't have more sets than usual this year = I cleared out the 12 slots; and it was totally noticeable to me. Any more and the place will start looking like a stripped down (and dark) table warehouse.

My suggestion to Zenimax would be a purchase-able (via the Crown Store) Basement that attaches to a Player house = one that is nothing but a huge, perfectly flat room for housing tables = and then make the tables not take up slots against your inventory. (since they obviously don't plan to revamp the Crafting Sets system to use fewer tables).

Thank you so much for the heads up on the new sets! I didn't know about them at all!

Okay, to save everyone from having to search for details on the upcoming sets:


Critical Riposte – Located in Vlasterus

https://eso-sets.com/set/critical-riposte



Unchained Aggressor – Located in Bruma

https://eso-sets.com/set/unchained-aggressor




Dauntless Combatant – Located in Cropsford.

https://eso-sets.com/set/dauntless-combatant


I was really excited at the prospect of being able to craft PvP sets; and actually am still excited over the Critical Riposte set. That will be great in places like Battlegrounds and Non-CP campaigns.

On the other hand though = the other two sets' 5 piece bonuses are a waste. The 21 second cool down on both of them is unworkable in any PvP situation I've ever been in. Not just that, but:

Unchained Aggressor = The 9 seconds of Berserk sounds good; but it only occurs after a break free = and then has that 21 second cool down = at which time you again have to wait for the next break free!

And on the Dauntless set = that whole set is almost completely useless; you can get good armor and enchant it for the boost to Stam/Mag/Health = the 5 piece bonus on it is useless. Break free at no cost to your stam (which is minimal anyway) = but instead you become weak and winded? How is that even a bonus? And you have to wait 21 seconds for all that to happen again = then once again wait till you are breaking free ... that Dev just wasted his own time with that Dauntless set.

The Murkmire Celebration kicks off next Thursday, February 20 at 10AM EST, and will run until Tuesday, March 3 at 10AM EST. During the event, you can earn bonus rewards, Event Tickets, and more as you complete activities within the zone.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57695

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The Patching Overhaul is a massive part of the Update 25 base-game patch (arriving February 24 for PC/Mac and March 10 for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One) that completely overhauls how the ESO game client is downloaded, patched, and stored on local hard drives.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57719

Thank you, Acadian! Murkmire is largely undiscovered for Jerric's crew. I'm looking forward to exploring it.

So I'm still confused on something because ZOS has worded strangely. With Update 25, will the client itself redownload the whole game or do we actively uninstall what we have and then reinstall? ZOS's explanation in its article at first suggests the latter but then the former. Really wish they would make it clear...

It will download as usual, but it will be the whole client being replaced, so BIG!

Already happened on PTS.

Just back up your game files today, leave the launcher on overnight, and cross your fingers it's done by noon EST tomorrow. Then there's the game file repair to run, which I always do after every update . . .

Back up the whole game files or just the save files in the "My Documents" folder? And how do you run the "game file repair?"

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Started game launcher early this morning which automatically started installing patch/update no problem. Completed after about an hour and gave me 'Play' option. Hit play. Went to log in screen and informed me servers had not been turned back on yet - no surprise at all. Still a couple more hours here before the servers are scheduled to come back up. In the meantime, I read the patch notes on the official forum - no surprises and most of the changes are behind the scenes (no big nerfs/buffs).

So far so good.

Oh, and the only advance precautions I took was to take a screenshot of my addons menu page.

Is it soup yet? Is it soup yet? Is it soup yet?







I'M IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got in the game fine. Everything but addons seems totally fine. None of my addons worked initially. Enabled 'allow out of date addons' and they all came up. Only one has a problem, most certainly due to being out of date. The modder is active on ESOUI so I expect it will get updated soon.

Edit: Wow, modder has already updated the one addon (Fancy Action Bar) so Buffy is a happy elf!

The Murkmire event is helping us gather the zone-specific materials that Laurie needs for crafting the furniture. The Hackwing Plumage count has gone from zero up to the twenties, so there's a good chance Spreads can have some more furnishings at her home.

And on that front, we got a Scuttlebloom at last. We'll keep trying for another, but the "not having one" state is over. Voriplasm fragments plus tickets available mean we should get the pet, too, and that will become another furnishing.

Now all we need is the plans, and some plants for the yard. Way too many of the ones she wants were only available in discontinued furnishing packs from the drown store. Still, there's a decent number of generic jungle things from the housing vendors for now.

E.T.A. I just wish that other Crafting Motifs would drop, and not always Dead-Water Legs. Just got a fourth, or was it fifth?

Further Edit: Got a second Scuttlebloom, and splurged some Crowns on the Shadow and Stone pack. So now Leveque has a Voriplasm dummy in his basement, and Spreads has a decently Murkmire-like home, with a Mimic Hist and a bunch of jungle plants from the vendors added to the stone stele etc. from the pack.

Crafting Motif pages are now more likely to be duplicates than new, but I expect the market flood just after the event closes, and people know their final haul. We'll be looking to fill in our Dead-water and Elder Argonian gaps then.

The main piece we haven't used is the throne. I'll have to review it in non-standard orientations, to see if I can make anything from it.

Next event is the Jester Festival Mar 26 - Apr 2.

Details here: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57835

That should be a cat on the throne in that one pic. As Winston Churchill once said: "Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs, pigs treat us as equals."

Oooh, pig jokes. Don't wrestle with a pig; you get dirty and the pig likes it.

That pig is the future wife of one of the Jester Kings, lol.

I see the Anniversary event starts immediately after the Jester-fest closes.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/57851

The nice thing this time is we get the cake (and any from previous years) available as furnishings.

Nice! Thanks, ghastley!

!Muy bien! Thanks, ghast-meister. With that extra double XP time frame, I should hit CP810 before the end of it all

Crowns are on sale!

I heard Didius Julianus bought one.

Is everyone getting the free new motifs in Southern Elsweyr? The chest is right in front of the "Daily" guy nearest the wayshrine in the Dragonguard. I think we can get one per day; does anyone know?

Yes, Buffy is doing a Dirge Trupter daily quest in S Elsweyr. They are simple quests that send you back to basic alliance zones and sometimes yield a Dragonguard motif page and almost always yield a ration of the mat to make Dragonguard. In front of his counter is a slightly glowing loot chest that you can access once a day. You have to be well into or perhaps complete the Dragonguard questline with Sai Sahan, Z'aji and his crew I think.

Acadian is right, you have to complete the main Dragonguard quest line to get access to that chest. Doing the dailies too are also worthwhile, for a while Do Rah was doing both of them. He's stopped for now, but would easily pick it up again if we needed the furnishing mats or more dragon's alchemy mats. And yes, the New Moon Priest pages started dropping on the 22nd (yesterday).

I know you have to be at least far enough along in the questline to get the Dailies; but = not sure if there isn't some other criteria I don't know about too; because Misa couldn't open the chest; and Pia was able to open it.

Misa and Pia have both completed the main questline for Southern Elsweyr; the only difference between them is that Misa has only done 26 Dailies; and Pia has done the 30 Dailies and has gotten that "Dailies Achievement." (So I wondered if it was like Summerset Isles where you had to do 30 Dailies to get that waterfall for your housing).

Does anyone know? Or maybe only one character per account can access the chest? Anyone know what the details are for accessing that chest?

No, I don't know the details so I did some digging and found some info that may be helpful - maybe not. Lol.

There is an achievement (Dragonguard Operative) is described as such: 'Complete 30 Dragonguard Quests, including Daily Quests from Dirge Truptor or Chizbari the Chipper, to restore the ancient order and unlock additional services at the Dragonguard Sanctum.'

Perhaps one of those 'services' is access to that box once a day? That sounds consistent with your count of 26 vs 30. Another possibility might be (as you mentioned) perhaps you can only access the box once daily per account.

In Buffy's case (the healing templar), she's completed the whole questline, has loads of dailies (+30) and is the only version of Buffy who's done S Elsweyr so I can't really test things out to confirm exactly what triggers access to the box or its limitations.

I'll find out as soon as Misa gets to 30 Dailies. Here is what I found on the subject:



http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Dragonguard_Sanctum

Ahah, I think you found the answer, mALX. Looks like 30 dailies completed to unlock that dragonguard box.

and it's once daily per account, Acadian guessed right

Aha; that is what everyone was wondering about yesterday! Thank you!!!!

Hey; I think that new "Mournhold Packrat" just gave me 5 extra inventory slots per character!