Saw a trailer for the next DLC of TESO called Summerset. Now the isle is in the standard game kinda but only a small island other wise you're playing in Valenwood and Elsweyr if you're playing as the Aldmeri Dominion.

The lower half of the main island was originally going to be part of the base game but it ended up being cut. tbqh the old stuff is the only reason I'm excited for Summerset--continuation of the Triad arc aside--even if the art direction for the main island is a massive disappointment.

(There's a good chance NONE of it will come back, too, which is worse IMO. There seem to be some hints of it in what little we saw of Artaeum, so there's that.)

Kinda my feelings towards the Morrowind DLC, in some ways it feels like returning home only that someone has rearranged the furniture.

I sort of liked the look of the buildings and interiors. It felt like the logical graphic evolution of what we saw in TES III. The exteriors and monster designs were a little weird, though, and I wish we got to see more interiors than what we got.

==

(rambling ahead, I feel dizzy so I might come back and clear things up later)

Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little wary of the direction the game has taken in the past year or two. Since the Gold Coast DLC I've been wondering whether we still have the same team from the base game. Most of the voice actors seem to have moved on (sigh, good bye Steve Blum), the writing feels a little different, and One Tamriel somewhat shook up what I really liked about ESO compared to the main series of games: linear storytelling.

Like, on one hand I love that you can just go do whatever you want whenever you want (for those of you that weren't there for it, be thankful that you didn't have to grind to the Vet levels to even set foot on Craglorn), but on the other I wish they made it so the story recognized that? I mean, continuity between zones wasn't exactly perfect before (no spoilers, but some of the PC's reactions in Eastmarch were MASSIVELY stupid and maybe OOC after Shadowfen's events), but a few throwaway lines or altered quests would be nice.

Of course, it's been that way since before I started. For example, certain quests in the base game will not react to your race when they would probably turn out differently, particularly with races outside of the alliance (example: Khajiit in Stonefalls), a consequence of adding the Any Race Any Alliance upgrade without changing the game (and later, Cadwell's Silver/Gold, followed by One Tamriel, nothing having changed with either one)

I realize there probably isn't much money in it, but they should really overhaul the base game.

Then there's the character interactions themselves. The way the recent Chapters/DLC work, you can do them in any order in spite of having characters that show up elsewhere. For the most part, they seem to react to you having met them before, even if there are some issues with it (Orsinium characters will act as if you were with them in all encounters if you've only ever done one). This is probably a good counterpoint to my desire for continuity. There's a good chance that there will not be many meaningful changes between the dlc/chapters for recurring characters in the future, because if someone, say, died in a new DLC, how would they account for that if you didn't meet them in previous appearances? They don't seem to be willing to pretend like it hasn't happened yet in newer content, and they're not willing to lock the story into a certain linear path, so what we'll get is short, low-stakes cameos, and meaningful but one-shot characters that'll be forgotten by the next storyline.

There is some promise, though, even if the "timeline" is a bit disjointed. Naryu Virian's "story" seems to be progressing since the Gold Coast DLC, which is good in spite of me really hating the Sweetroll Killer quest because of the way the character interactions were written. Then there's (AVOIDING SPOILERS HERE) the promise of a plot thread left dangling SINCE THE GODDAMN BASE GAME IN SPITE OF ALL THE TEASING that'll finally be brought back up again in Summerset.

If they go the route they've been on, then I doubt there will be any meaningful payoff, especially for one particular character. There's the implication that Summerset will be a turning point in the story, so maybe I'm wrong. I hope i'm wrong.

The UESP's Summerset Interview with Matt & Rich

Dunno whether this belonged here or in the "Here Is the News Topic" but I thought it fit here better. I'm not done reading it (and I'll get to the rest later) but uh...I went from 100 to 0 real quick when they got to talking about Summerset's design and lore.


Uhh...okay I'm gonna hold you to that, but then


If this is actually something he said, then I want to kick Todd Bethesda Coward in the Teeth. Because if there's one thing the games have consistently shown is that the complete opposite is true.


First point about the poor farmers? Sure, that's true no matter where you go in Tamriel. But these are the Altmer. This is same nation that Tiber Septim had to use a goddang Giant Stompy Robot to conquer and the same nation that currently threatens the whole of Tamriel in the 4th Era. The same nation that apparently almost beat the Redguards during the Great War if it weren't for a Hero stopping them. (According to Legends, anyways, lmao) At the very least their capital should reflect their power and sophistication and not look like a fricking Breton City. Why would they come up with something that lines up to the high opinion that they hold of themselves and then throw it all away for something so goddamn terrible?

Before the Altmer's haughtiness and close-mindedness made sense, since they were the most magically advanced culture on Tamriel and were literally connected to their island through Magicka pulled directly from the Planets and stars. Now they're just insufferable fops with no redeeming qualities to their culture. Even if all of this was justified, did they have to go with the most painfully European architecture? Is that what we're doing now? Turning all of Tamriel into Europe? And here I thought Zenimax was above this, given their track record with the game so far.

Like, idk, these are the same assholes that misled everyone on the undead dragon in the Dragon Bones DLC dungeons (one of them claimed that the Dragon didn't get a soul from Alduin in spite of the DLC making no such claim), so maybe I really should wait and see what Summerset has before I judge, but uh

I'm not liking the implication that this is 100% what Bethesda wanted. Especially after the alleged quote from Todd Howard.

I'm still looking forward to the continuation of the story, but consider my interest in Summerset itself dead.

Yeah, I don't think this guy should be allowed to talk about the lore. (I'm pretty sure it's the same dolt that caused a huge misunderstanding for Dragon Bones)

I don't want centaurs, I want nymphs.

Already have nymphs (Bosmer). Hee!

For some reason I imagined the Fable series' Nymphs and suddenly thought of children-based monsters. Already in the games but they're unkillable. :v

Indeed people would notice Mr. Howard. The fans noticed that Skyrim’s magicka gameplay, either by happenstance or design, was severely limited. This quote is very scary, especially when you look at Skyrim’s magicka gameplay. Now, maybe Khajiit is just being an alarmist, but is Bethesda signaling that they are trying to get rid of magicka in TES going forward and turn future TES titles into a low fantasy hack and slash/hiking simulator?

That's...pretty disappointing what Firor had to say in that interview. While he has a point about the lore's malleability, at some point a line has to be drawn. You can't just do whatever you want just because of the interpretative aspects of lore. And I'm someone who supported the change in Cyrodiil's environment from how it was described initially.

From what I have seen of Summerset, I am also fairly disappointed. I was hoping for more distinctly Altmer architecture. Give me some crystal and coral structures, for Arkay's sake. There's very little of that, from what I have seen. Crystal Tower's design isn't particularly impressive to me either, to be honest. Granted, I haven't really looked into all of the promotional stuff for Summerset and it is going to be a long while before I play it (or the Morrowind expansion, for that matter). But still, can't say I'm a big fan of some decisions.

Speaking of centaurs, though, I really do want to see some more old-school TES monsters make a comeback. Give me some lizard men PLEASE, Zenimax.

I have some more thoughts, but that'll have to wait for later.

Heh, I hope Summerset is like a big beautiful Auridon. Pink trees, relaxing sunsets by the beach, beautiful music. . . .

In the end I don't think Matt Firor is someone they should be consulting about this sort of thing (see: the Centaur part) and I'll still be holding out hope that Summerset is like the rest of ESO where the quest lore is a lot better than what even Skyrim had, but holy wow.
I would have preferred Auridon's style architecture over this, as pretty as it is. At least it's consistent to elven motifs and architecture, whereas this is, as I keep repeating, suited better for High Rock.

And again, don't get me wrong, I think it's absolutely stunning. What little I got to see of the island from the streams and previews looks fantastic, it's just not Altmeri.

So, I've got some questions for the ESO vets here.

Need some advice for a noobie.... Trying to decipher classes and skills at UESP is frustrating, since I'm not too familiar with the game. What is the best class/skill combo to go with for a 2h, medium or heavy armor build?

I'm either going with that setup, or a tank.

None. It seems the game doesn't actually want anyone to play 2-handed.

• Sword+board, with bow for range, makes you a tank, and dictates the class, armour etc. from there.
• DPS gets channeled two ways - dual-wield melee, or pure mage.
• Healer builds still confuse me, and others need to chime in, but they're using magic most of the time.

I've been playing Unna Bear-Rider as 2-handed, and she gets no support from the level-up advisor, which keeps telling her she needs dual-wield and bow skills. I switched her from heavy to medium armour, as only tanks benefit from heavy, and all the tank skills are in the sword+board skill line. I'm still looking for the best mix of damage skills for a 2-hander, but it's going to fall well short of what other styles can do.

But don't worry - at level 43 (I think), you get scrolls to let you re-spec the character you like into one the game likes.

Interesting, I've been reading that about 2h'ers elsewhere, which is a shame. (I love that style.)

Sounds like I will be tanking, since I prefer to solo and will do a lot of exploring!

Hi Kane!

I have had a lot of fun with Elke, my stam-sorc. She uses two-handed and bow. Good all around for solo play.

That's encouraging! Thanks Gritsy.

Do y'all play on PC or are there some consolers here?

I get the impression that most, if not all, play on PC, but some also have a console. Pretty sure Grits has both.

And since you can play eight characters without purchasing extra slots, most of us have at least one character that goes against the grain, just for the times when you want to be completely different.

I made several characters early on, tried a few builds, and re-spec'ed (or not) later. My opinion is that the build you need to use for solo play while learning the game won't be the end-game spec the level-up advisor etc. recommend. It will have a broader mix of skills, as you need to fulfil all the roles for the solo parts.

But then you find your DPS build has skills that taunt when you don't want to, and have to swap them out, or become a tank. Or you need to swap from having a high pool of an attribute to an ability to regenerate it, so the points can go into a different one. More likely, is that you won't have enough slots of equipment or skills to get the combination effects, and will have to simplify. There are a lot of things that get boosts "when 5 heavy pieces worn" or "per guild skill slotted" making the specialist builds mandatory.

So build what you want to play to start with, and expect to change later. Since ZOS regularly make "balance changes" you might chance on the new must-have build.

PC here. Khajiit has a PS4 but rarely turns it on these days.

Works for me! I think since I will be doing a lot of exploring and solo playing, I will start with a tank. I played RF Online for years and enjoyed tanking in that game, too, so I like the familiarity.

Reason I was asking about the platforms, is 'cause I just bought the PC version yesterday. My PS4 hard drive was too full for the most recent update, and getting it for the PC instead frees up 95gb of space on the console. I figured most were PC'ers, though!

Maybe I'll see some of ya out there. I plan on starting in Stros M'kai as a Redguard with the name Rakaand or Sekh. (Hopefully they are available!)

The reason I play on PC is this.

I got accustomed to playing on three monitors with Oblivion, and just love the peripheral vision letting me see attacks from the side, or materials to gather that are off-path. Skyrim SE piled on the FX, and strains the video cards if I don't turn things down a bit, but ESO worked fine without twiddling anything.

P.S. you'll see that view soon, or at least the middle part. Stros M'kai -> Betnikh -> Glenumbra doesn't take long.

That is a killer viewing setup!

Just added Summerset DLC to my TESO collection for the PS4. So many backlogged quest so much time to do it in.

Ended up finding a link to this and felt like sharing. That armor kicked dust into my third eye. But pretty much everything did tbh

So this is the excuse they're using for the rectons done since Murkmire was retooled from its Adventure Zone days. Fair enough, I'm used to this by now. I will never get over Summerset tho. One of the downsides of a franchise that spans decades I suppose.

Ah right, this is the source.

Is there a lore reason why Meridia would frown upon one of her followers summoning a Winged Twilight and a Clanfear or scamp?

I'd say no problem.

Daedra Lords do not consider daedra to be exclusive one Daedra Lord. Mehrunes Dagon's minions include winged twilights. . . but so too is the realm of Azura patrolled by winged twilights. Sheogorath uses seducers and golden saints. . . but so too is the realm of Meridia patrolled, in part, by seducers.

Based on that, I'd submit that Daedra Lords view the various daedra as tools and feel free to use them as they see fit to suit their purposes.

Meridia is considered to be a champion of both light and life. Therefore, the primary things her followers should eshew are darkness and undead.

A fair question might be what about the sorcerer skill branch of Dark Magic? I don't really see much 'dark' about the skills there and would not worry about that either.

So honestly a Templar healer would be ideal for a follower of Meridia, what with all the “light magic” and what not. Or perhaps a dark Sorc could be seen as a product of the light?

AFAIK, there isn't anything about them that she'd object to. So long as it's nothing related to necromancy, undead or otherwise tampering with life energies, she's probably okay with it. After all, Meridia's described as having "heroes of many hues" under her service or referred to as "The Greedy Woman" in the Illiac Bay. (Umarril the Unfeathered was one of her champions)

As for Sorcerer abilities, I think at least one of the Stormcalling skills mentions Meridia's power, so a lightning Sorc would probably be the most, uh, "Meridia" of the 3 skill lines.

And wouldn’t you know, we are in need of a lightning spellcaster on our crew!

Someone on the ESO forum today was complaining that half the guild vendors are charging prices above average.

When was Lake Woebegone added as a DLC?

I quite enjoyed this <4 min vid showing what a bit of creativity can achieve using the in game emotes and dances -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue...p;v=2a6z0N4vpBw

Lol, wow that’s pretty impressive!

Totally right!

Here’s some info provided by a Dremora from ESO’s lore. We can assume it is true for other Daedra types as we’ve seen before.

“Though the Dremora find their greatest glory in the service of mighty Molag Bal, not all Dremora are able enough to belong to our ranks, and must find places elsewhere. Less-fortunate Dremora can be found in the service of Mehrunes Dagon, of Vaermina, of Clavicus Vile, and some poor Caitiffs and Churls even serve Peryite. All members of a given clan serve the same Prince, and preserve (to the best of their ability) the standard Dremora hierarchies."

Heh and after Khajiit asked that question he just decided to make another Hircine devotee
Khajiit loves Hircine!

Buffy's been hot and cold with Hircine:

Oblivion -
Hircine: "Kill a unicorn and bring me its horn."
Buffy: "Not now, not ever."

Skyrim -
Hircine: "Kill a werewolf who shredded an eight year old girl and bring me his pelt."
Buffy: "With pleasure."

ESO -
Hircine: "Defeat my Briarheart Reachman champion and I'll return this grotto to the Glenmoril Wyrd."
Buffy: "Sure. The Wyrd are better stewards of this land."

Heh, Hircine is pretty easy to please. As long as it’s sporting, he really doesn’t care what you do
Although, he did seem fairly well pissed off at the end of the Bloodmoon expansion for TES3.

Yeah Hircine has his two shades. But after digging some bit of lore he’s just as terrible as Molag Bal(turning maidens into deer and uh doing stuff before hunting them) in some aspects and not so terrible in others, like granting boons.

Bah! Your puny mortal conceptions of good and evil. Hircine, like other Daedra, are beyond such things! Hircine is what it is his nature to be; he simply is.

That's the impression I get, too. He won't ask you if you want to be hunted, but if you weren't capable of escaping, it would be much sport, would it? Fighting back is another matter, and if you win ...

Volrina Quarra!!!! Interesting!

Never used the word “evil”. Just said it was terrible.

Okie dokie

I'm calling it now: the conclusion of the Elsweyr "saga" will reveal why the Interregnum period was forgotten, and it won't be fun for anyone involved.

But they can't end the Interregnum in game; because the whole game is living in it (in the present)...right?

Well, they won't have to end it, but I can totally see some sort of cosmic event that will ensure the events will be lost to time for some reason. I can't imagine how the game plays will be changed by anything that happens, but story wise? Totally.

On the plus side, I've finally been getting curious about ES: Online. Where do I start? I'm not seeing anything on Steam. I already have my first character idea thought up. And am looking forward to exploring some new lands (sort of). My gaming computer has specs that are just above recommended, so I'm good there.

However you purchase, you'll have a huge download of the client. Direct purchase from ZOS is probably the simplest, as you're using a PC.

I'd avoid Steam, as that just doubles up your signon problems every time you use it. There have been times when everyone could play except the Steam users. I can't think of any benefit of Steam in this case.

Make your character(s) carefully, as MMO's have a lot of grind in character build-up, that you won't want to repeat.

In particular, class can't be changed, and the ESO classes can be very misleading. If you want to create a tank, you'll want a Dragonknight, if you want a healer, then choose Templar, and the others will be damage-dealers. The classes provide magical abilities and the weapon skills lines generally stamina abilities, so with the possible exception of a magicka sorcerer using staves, you'd expect to use some of each. That would be a mistake, as the successful builds pick either magicka or stamina and stay there. There are stamsorcs, and magblades, who aren't the classic spellswords at all.

A pure bow character is possible, especially as you don't just use one for ranged attacks. Perversely, you can use a one-handed weapon skill to do a ranged attack, and then close in with your bow! The distinction between multi-target and single-target is perhaps more useful. And for extra confusion, your armour may do more damage than your weapon.

On the other hand, you can roll eight characters before buying new slots, so you can try multiple classes (the only thing you can't change) without re-starting. Whether the extras are separate characters, or as in Acadian's game, multiple aspects of the same one, is up to you. The many "once per day" restrictions are generally applicable to the character, not the account, so each of your characters can get a riding lesson, do crafting writs and research, etc. if you have enough play time to run them in parallel.