Benie's Games Blog

I have joined the thing I don’t really like about Skyrim (and one of the things that made me quit ESO last year); The Dark Brotherhood. However, with new tools (and a new start (well.. new to me)), it’s actually not that bad.
I also been doing the three questlines as I said in my last post. However, I have to report that it seems the Fighters and Mages Guild questlines are still level-based (of their individual levels), and aren’t part of One Tamriel. Aka, I can’t advance the Mages Guild questline until I find enough Lorebooks to push that skill to Level 3.

I did manage to complete the Fighter’s Guild until I was told I have to go to Skyrim to continue it (I think anyway). Went over my options and.. I decided to try out this questionable quest to ‘Kill an Innocent’ in the town of Anvil of the Gold Coast (which is somewhere on the West side of Tamriel, and the only way to get there is either by boat or Wayshrine). And even more disturbing is what the quest description was saying, of “getting their attention”. Wow. Fuck being the good guy (with literally no soul), huh?
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Made it to Anvil via the Wayshrine (tried to go there by boat, but I would have to travel North through Dominion lands to get there, and ain’t nobody got time ‘fo that (especially with the server going down at 4am for routine maintenance)!
Stalked my prey, a lone fisherman just trying to make some honest coin. No guards around, and then stabbed him with my daggers knowing a bounty would soon be on my head. Sure enough, there was. But again, no guards attempted to stop me and I was able to get to the next step, which was receiving a mysterious letter with a black hand.. for it was The Dark Brotherhood calling me.

I attempted to do this initial task of going to this estate on the Gold Coast to assassinate this lord. Got a new toy to play with, called the ‘Blade of Woe’. Simply sneak up to any unsuspecting hostile or neutral mob, hit X and insta-kill. If you do this without anyone watching, you will NOT get a bounty! 😀 So awesome.
However, I fucked up so.. so many times, mainly of the mob turning around at the last second, or getting stuck in an area and being spotted (got pissed off once by it) and wound up with a bounty of 1,320g. DAMN! This is by far, the most expensive bounty I ever racked up in this game.
Anyway, killed my target with the Blade of Woe (without fucking it up). I’m not going to lie, I had fun. Having the Blade of Woe is pretty awesome, and it’s an awesome way to deal with stealth quests.
Made it to the fence in Anvil (came very close from being seen by a guard on the docks, thankfully it wasn’t fully looking in my direction) and paid the bounty, yet was able to get every bit of it back with all the profitable shit I stole from that place (and then some). 🙂 Unfortunately I had also sold the thing I had that could’ve removed some of that bounty (I had done this sooner by complete accident, and didn’t realize ’till later).

I then went to a Sanctuary. As I’m going there, I asked Zone chat if the Morrowind DLC changed how this plays out (or if this was done at an earlier date). I’m pretty sure it started with a woman I met at the Windhelm docks, who then ported me to the front of this house and told me to sneak past all of these stealth-stopping mobs that I could not kill.
This however? Having to kill an innocent, the letter, going to a lighthouse, meeting one of the Speakers, then having an option to use the ‘back door’ of this same thing (which was MUCH easier on me)…yet they all said “nothing’s been changed” since the release of the DLC in 2015, and saying they didn’t know what I was talking about. The fuck?! As much as I tried to explain what I remember, they’re saying “your memory is wrong”.
Actually, you know what? Whatever. I don’t care, honestly. I got past what made me quit this game (and had fun). Isn’t that what really matters?

Moving on, I’m now at the Sanctuary and met the family. Apparently this will be my new home. I also got the official Dark Brotherhood outfit to do my evil deeds of “delivering ‘gifts'” as the Speaker put it in such a ‘kind’ way.
And now I have my first official contract as a recruit of The Dark Brotherhood, of locating the target and assassinating the guy in anyway I see fit (that the game (and my Dual Weld Daggers/Bow build) will allow of course), in a familiar-named town where I became the hero of in Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion; ‘Kavach’. To see this town 900 years ago (before the official single player game’s setting took place) will be quite cool.
And if I’m not wrong, also in this area is where I first met up with The Dark Brotherhood in my sleep (after killing a guard when I went on a GTH (Grand Theft Horse) spree.

Unfortunately this is going to have to wait ’till the next day, as the servers have done down for that maintenance I mentioned earlier. One thing to mention about the maintenance, is before it happened, it was doing it’s standard “The server will be going down in X minutes”, yet it also did it in three other languages (besides American English). Quite weird.

I’ve been leveling up my Warden, and he’s now my 3rd highest char (beating my two ‘attempts’ of trying to either re-learn my class), sitting at Level 27 now. Also been working on the main questline (and the Fighters/Mages Guild questlines).
Yet this wasn’t a thing before. Yesterday, I felt really tired IRL; like a feeling of fatigue. I couldn’t focus right. Thankfully the feeling went away in the evening hours.

That wasn’t the only thing. As much as I do love a bow, the fact the bear doesn’t hold aggro (as I said countless times) is making me reconsider going as an all melee class. Yet I didn’t feel like making yet another “am I going to be happy with this one?” class.
I saw a Sorcerer..dual welding as if they were a melee class, and that just made me feel “Wow..how in the FUCK is a ranged class doing Melee?” and started wondering if I could just buy a few daggers and make my primary build (the secondary has been my Bow build), using Dual Weld as well. Asked my guild, and got a few mixed reactions. One said the Warden doesn’t do decent DPS (in their opinion), with another said “it’s reasonable” and that I’ll still be using Stamina (which is what Medium armor is for).
I just went with my gut and did what I said, and surprisingly enough…it feels FUN (and kills most mobs pretty good)! Now I have a way to say “FUCK YOU” to any mob I choose with a flurry of daggers going into them when the bear fails to hold aggro. Infact, I’m starting to use these over my Bow. Though, it’s best to as that helps grind the Dual Weld skill up to preform more abilities.
This is fantastic. I don’t have to create a new char, and I still get what I want. It’s a win-win in my book.

I also figured out just how the bear is losing aggro, which is quite obvious (and I believe I stated this before). It’s when the mob does its own special abilities to stun the bear. If I don’t attack the mob, it will continue to attack the bear instead of coming after me. I just have to watch for those cues.
Yet even that, sometimes the mob will still come after me. Even with my Clannfear and it’s 75% less health pool than the bear (seriously..the bear hasn’t died once since I unlocked it. It’s quite OP on that count), this happens.
I do need to respec my char (if I ever decide to ask on how to go about doing that), and free up a lot of skill points from the Animal Companions skill tree (and also to remove the two points of Magicka I put in, thinking I had to in the beginning). Though I’m almost 90% sure I had to go to Mournhold in Deshaan (which is perfect as that’s where I need to go to continue the three questlines I mentioned) to respec. I also believe it costs gold.

I’ve saved Vivec City (and possibly the entire island) from total devastation. I’ve also completed every single quest hub on the island, and done (well, nearly done) every Delve.
And now’s the time to tell you folks who are thinking of buying this DLC, straight from my fingers, if this thing is “worth it” from someone who dislikes every little itty bitty annoying thing in every game ever created (while people are still posting to a dead(to me) thread about this thing).
I didn’t expect an expansion (actually I did for that asking price, but..) and my hopes were not high (clearly).

-Atmosphere…
When I first arrived on the island (and having never played the original game), I was quite blown away. The tall mushrooms. The swamp to the East. Seeing the ominous sight of Red Mountain in the distance. The music. All real nice. It was a real pleasure running through the area.
The silt-striders are a nice touch too.
However, I can’t help but feel that some of what I’ve seen feels “oversaturated” and “fake”. Now I’m not talking about the world, but an image that shows up both of the login and loading screens, of seeing a dense forest of mushrooms and regular trees(with moss growing from them). I have not seen this anywhere on the island. Maybe I’m just blind, but it looks fake and deceiving in order to sell the product.
And the second, is the music. Started off pretty cool, but this..what feels like a ‘remastered’ version of the songs, sounds…well, “un-authentic”. The fact they keep playing the song, starts to feel like “this is what our budget went to”. I would rather them have the official OST playing (make it authentic, please. Not this ‘remastered’ stuff). Yet again, I still give praise to Zenimax’s art team. I feel they did the best job.

Oh, I almost forgot about this unused northern island just off the coast. I assume this is uncut unfinished content that stayed in the DLC, as attempting to swim there (the only option) becomes delicious food for the Slaughterfish (I even got an embarrassing ‘achievement’ called ‘Slaughtered’). I can almost imagine a wall of Slaughterfish that I ran into.
Hope they ate good.

-Main Questline opinions…
I assume this is where the claim the DLC is ’40 hours long’. If I had just focused on the questline and not the quest hubs, I would probably agree. Though it’s good, it also feels short’ish. However, none of it feels anti-logical.
Possibly the best part of the entire questline, is seeing the suspended asteroid hovering above the city (called a ‘moonlet’) hurdling towards me. I was seriously freaking out when I saw this happening right infront of me, and seeing the chaos in the city. I could feel a sense of urgency as I feverishly tried to get what I needed, feeling that there was a hidden time limit ticking down.
Yet after saving the city, I didn’t really feel satisfied. I actually wanted to see this thing crash into the building (and having to evacuate the island)). Though, I am glad to see where the moonlet came inches from my face… is now once again suspended (but now closer).
I feel the questing team did a cool job here. It really made me feel immersed.

-Side Quest opinions…
This is where the DLC started showing its ugly, unfinished “we did this for money, and didn’t bother to fix some things” (for me). But first, let’s talk about the positives.
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One I hope was going to be a good one were these two Argonian slaves, with the male wanted to be with the female, and the female having a plan to rise in House Telvani ranks high enough to rescue him. Yet then it just went.. “uhh.. what is even happening?” to me. Especially at the end (not revealing spoilers).
Another good one was this guy calling himself ‘The Scarlet Guard’, protector of the innocent and asskicker of the wicked. He’s seen as a vigilante.
But possibly the best (yet not so ‘facepalm’) was bringing back my good assaholic friend, Narsis Dren. As much as he’s an asshole (and a Narcissist.. hint is in his first name), he’s also pretty funny. My favorite will always be meeting him in a Nordic tomb (in the Wrothgar DLC) and him trying to figure out the Dragon Wars. Coolest part, is it’s an instanced single player-like scenario.
Also, his oh so hilarious “Aim for the knee!” comment when fighting a mob with a bow! Ohh god, yes. Fantastic (but highly overused) ‘arrow to the knee’ Skyrim reference.
This one, I feel they could’ve done more work on him. Plus the place was open to other players, which killed the immersion (of him saying there’s a mob here when there’s not). One time my char actually was..agreeing to him. That’s not right. But DAMN did it feel good when I had the option to push him into a well. 🙂

And now we get to the ugly stuff. Thankfully, I can’t say “the DLC is broken”, but I can say (again) that it’s unfinished in places.
Some NPCs either staring at my crotch or at the sky during conversations, some Dark Elves..sounding like Nords(just slightly though. Not like ones that are drunk from mead), one not in frame during a conversation, or some missing their voiceovers. Thankfully, only a few showed these issues.
….And then there were the forced thief sections. Just…WHY?! I fucking HATED this when it came to The Dark Brotherhood!!
At least, when it came to these, I knew why I fucked up. Though other times, I swear there’s an NPC purposely put there on a wall just to be close enough to turn around, see me and then give me a fucking 65g bounty. 😛 This is what made me snap and say “That’s IT! EVERYONE DIES!!!!”, laughing all the way watching my bounty grow and grow.
FUCK stealth missions (without lube)!! D:(

-Performance issues…?
I would say no. The DLC feels quite polished and optimized to handle most systems. I never, ever had an issue where the framerate was ‘shitting itself’.
Granted, I run games at 1024×768. Your mileage may vary.
However, I have noticed a few times where the game will ‘crash’ by freezing up and act like I was never logged in. When I see this is from interacting with like a vase or a door. I’m wondering if it’s one of the addons I’m using not being 100% compatible with the DLC (as that’s what Zenimax would blame and not themselves). Thankfully, I’ve never had this happen during combat.

-The new ‘Warden’ class…
The Warden, I wouldn’t say is underpowered. It does decent DPS. However, to call the class the ‘Warden’? Nah. Now, if you took away the shapeshifting powers of a Druid, then I would definitely call it as one. It uses nature-based abilities, much like a Druid does in WoW. However, it severely lacks any self-defensive crowd control abilities (which is why I had to go with a (mostly) bow build).
It’s a gamble to rely on the bear to stun enemies. Like all pets, it cannot be controlled (which completely removes any bond with my pets(and why I keep calling it a “stupid fucking bear” and wishing it would die in a fire to make it feel the anger I do)). WoW just does it MUCH..much better with the Hunter. Enough said.
This class is making me debate if it’s worth going as an all melee class (since pets are pathetic in holding aggro(they don’t act like a tank would)).

-How the base game main questline plays into this…?
Honestly, I haven’t gotten to this part (yet). I thought the actual main questline of the base game was ‘removed’ when you own this thing. However, when doing “Shard runs” with my guild Wednesday evening (aka going to a few PvE zones, doing Delves, killing bosses, and adsorbing Skyshards for XP and skill points), I got this quest to “Talk to the hooded man”. Pretty sure I already know the identity of said ‘hooded man’ (having completed the main quest twice(and nearly a 3rd time on my Stam Sorc)).
I’ll admit, I am curious to see how it’ll play out. Never meeting Lyris, and never having your soul taken by Mennamarco. I’ll be doing a separate thoughts post about this, once I’ve completed this (hopefully) alternately-written base game main questline.
I’m worried he’s going to say “Greetings, Vestige. I am The Prophet. I bring news that your soul was taken and you weren’t informed about it until now.” and then start the questline telling me about The Five Companions and stuff.

-VERDICT…
Overall, Morrowind isn’t a bad DLC, and I can see why a lot of people enjoy it. It’s definitely different from the first time I played this game (with it’s alternate beginning story).
As for the almighty, million dollar(or whatever currency you use) question, of “is this worth it”…… I say, not for $40. I say in the range of $25-$30 is more reasonable for what I’ve seen. Get it when it’s on sale (if you want it), like I did. But never buy full-price games(or DLCs), unless you’re absolutely 100% sure you’ll be happy with the product.

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EDIT: Now I said I was going to do a separate blog post about this ‘alternative’ base game main questline. Well, I was 100% wrong about the ‘hooded figure’. She told me to “meet her contact” in a house at Davon’s Watch. When you enter, you see a guy in a chair, tied up and gagged and apparently trying to say “BEHIND YOU!! IT’S A TRAP!!” You’re knocked out, and taken into an undisclosed area where you see Mennimarco stabbing people on a table with a magical soul-stealing dagger.
Soon, it’s your turn..and you get stabbed (in first person) and your soul taken from you, and then the opening of the main questline starts of being in a cell, being rescued by Lyris. No changes after this. So this is really cool. The player character is given a backstory of what happened before they lost their soul. Yet this almost feels like something out of Quake 4’s Stroggafication section. At least in here, I’m not seeing my legs getting sawed off… yet seeing the dagger go in (and not being able to defend myself) is going to be in my brain for quite some time. Thankfully they never showed the blood coming out of my heart.

Yet this opens so many questions. One being “why me?” …If I (as the char we play as) died the same way as the others, why pick me? Why am I different?… And why didn’t Lyris save me before I had my soul taken from me? Because LOLOLOL PLOTLINE?

I personally expected to be thrown in a pit of other people and then having my soul sucked out during some sort of mass-ritual, instead of getting “Stroggafied” by a soul-stealing dagger. I did feel out of place when arriving in Coldharbour, seeing Level 4’s here (and I’m Level 22) and managing to kill everything somewhat quickly. I also noticed my bear refusing to assist me. Apparently pets are scripted not to assist (unless you started without the Morrowind DLC). Logic, right? Thankfully, I didn’t really need the bear (as I said, they died quicker than normal).

Yesterday, Zenimax released a new Crown Store Showcase featuring the usual costumes and stuff for people who are bored with how many crowns they have collected. However, I’m starting to become curious how it’s related to the Nords of Skyrim; especially an inaccessible area of the continent known as ‘Falkreath’ (Southwest side of Skyrim).
They got clothing that their warriors use…but what’s really curious, is they have new housing in Skyrim also related to Falkreath (aka the home of the former Jarl of the area).

Now, what I say is just a theory… A GAME THEOR– (no, we’re not going there), that I feel this could be hinting at future DLC to expand upon Skyrim; mainly bringing Falkreath in. Oh MAN I hope they do, because that place is AMAZING!! Tall trees. Babbling brooks. The place I remember Lydia burning to death in a campfire while being sworn to be my pack mule. Beautiful.
Yet, if they do, what would you be able to do in it? What would it have differently that the rest of Skyrim doesn’t (for Multiplayer use)? They do state to “keep your eyes open for future updates”. And if the next update is also related to Skyrim? Then I think it’s a sure bet that DLC is coming.

We’ll just have to see. This could just simply be..well, this. Just more options for people to spend their crowns on, and not some hint at future DLC. Again, time will definitely tell what this is.

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EDIT: Thank you for your “kind” responses of saying I’m a retard and stuff, really nice. Apparently from what I heard from you folks, Falkreath is already in the base game (but as Craglorn, the “git gud” zone as everything requires a group). Yet while looking at the zone, I see nothing that looks like what I remember from Skyrim. Granted, I don’t remember any dragon mounds there (in that game), and there’s clearly none there as well.
So, perhaps the ones that called me a retard, should look again? There’s also this video of the guy who maintains the website that people go to for build advice, of him doing the ‘Falkreath Hold dungeon’ in the Public Test Server, done yesterday. This is a very interesting sign that my theory might hold weight.

I also heard something’s supposed to come by August 11th to the live servers. I doubt it’s this, however I’ve heard from multiple sources (aka my guild) that it has “a few dungeons”.

I now have my Warden to Level 10. Just did one hell of an emotional rollercoaster of a quest hub (that half of the time I didn’t even know what I was doing in it), that involved a Dark Elf female who keeps calling you “hero”.
I also learned that not all Dark Elves have signed up with the Ebonheart Pact, which makes them still allowed to treat Argonian (and even the cat people that I can’t possibly pronounce their name right) as slaves… even their own people can be slaves.
But that’s politics. One big mess, right?
(Refuses to say the real life mess in the non-General blog)

But that’s not the point of this post, it’s to go over my feelings so far of the Warden class (and if it feels I got my money’s worth). Now, um…let’s say I’m not sure how to explain in just one sentence.
*sigh* Ok. So remember how I mentioned how the Warden uses Magicka abilities? Well, the Morth options of the first two abilities of the ‘Animal Companions’ skill, can be changed to use Stamina instead of Magicka. Yet this.. in a sense, makes the bow..well.. useless (especially the one where I’m spamming spirit birds at my target)? Granted, this ability doesn’t really do that much damage alone. Yet in some situations, I can kill a single target just with the spirit birds.

But I think the biggest complaint, is the bear pet. Yes, the very thing I hoped would be better and feel ‘worth it’. First off, it seems to have a lot more health than the Clanfear (which is really good)…but, it also seems to have a hard time keeping aggro on it. And it seems to happen a lot more frequently with the spirit bird spamming. The mob just stops attacking the bear and then comes running at me, like the DPS is just so extreme I’m re-aggroing the mob (similar to the way WoW works with aggro). Yet unlike WoW, there isn’t a way to tell if you’re about to lose aggro (and even an addon can’t fix it as none exist for this purpose).
Simply.. not using the ability isn’t what’s going to fix it, as it happens even when I don’t use it (just not as frequent).

Also, the rest of the abilities use Magicka. I’m starting to become more and more convinced that this is a Melee (yet Magicka-based) class. I mean it’s good that I can turn some of them to use Stamina, but it also makes using a bow.. pointless.
Of course, and I keep forgetting this since the day I started playing, it’s how one plays the class which matters. Just like I saw in this video going over a 16 minute “blah blah” about how to prepare for endgame as a ‘double bow build’ for the Warden. It’s definitely possible to go as all bow. Hell, I don’t even have to put more points in the Animal Companions skill tree (and just put everything on Bow, like my Stam Sorc). I definitely have that right to do so, if I feel it suits my playstyle better.
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I’m just used to standing in one place and going ‘pew pew’ with my bow instead of moving around and blocking attacks. I just.. love the sound of the bow. It feels more natural to me to be a Ranged class. Though I will admit, being in the mob’s face and shoving daggers into my target, does feel more satisfying.
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I do (in ways, trying to ignore my ‘best judgement’) also want to use this as a ‘test’ to see if I truly want to put more points in, and this skill tree is better for my playstyle (and use my bow to replenish Stamina).

Though I will admit, there’s one spell I wish I could remove if it wasn’t also pretty useful to me (because my brain thinks “SPAM TO WIN!!” is the only way to kill a target). And that’s when you slam your fist in the ground, and then about 5 seconds later, you get an AOE attack infront of you.
The only reason I haven’t yet, is it seems good for multi-target issues (and also the DPS is pretty good for early game). I just need to train my brain not to spam the spell as it just drains all of my Stamina and makes me venerable to attacks.

Though I will replace it in a heartbeat if I could find something that will snare targets in place long enough for my pet to get over to them and aggro (like that one Sorcerer spell that I can’t think of its name at this time). I need something like that. I need more stun and snare Defensive abilities (to help me with crowd control).

Last night I haven’t really played much of the DLC, but I have learned a lot about it. Some good, and some bad. Let’s go over the list.
But before I do, I’ve learned the plot of the game. It’s pretty much what it said: meet the God, Lord Vivec and assist him with an affliction.

The Good;
-Morrowind as a whole..freakin’ breathtaking vistas. And the player homes aren’t that shabby either.
-The music in this DLC is the music in the original game, and it sounds so good (reminds me of the songs of the OST in Pandora).
-The two Delves I’ve been in so far are quite unique. They have their own theme (instead of (so far) not looking like reused assets) and aren’t like anything I’ve seen in this game.
-It actually has these legendary ‘silt striders’, called ‘Caravaners’ (that I’ve only heard from the lore of the game)! How I ‘found’ them was hearing a low growl behind me outside of Vivec City. Looked over and…HOLY FUCK! And they actually work just how I read, showing up at hubs!
-There are new enemies in this game, which I assume are native to the region.
-The main questline has been completely changed. There’s no more Prophet, no more Molag Bal, and no more Harborage. It (in a sense) feels like a continuation of the storyline. The only thing that ruins it, is my character not knowing what Daedra are.
-So far, the questing is pretty good.

The Bad;
-It seems they absolutely enjoy putting invisible walls almost everywhere (during some quests where it won’t allow you to hop off of a building).
-Of what I feel was ‘single player dailies’ (from what I understand right off the tin) seems to be The Undaunted in disguise (especially one telling me to do a….Group Boss).
-You can get started with both the Mages and Fighters Guilds right there in Vivec City (and getting the same Intimidate and Persuade passive perks for dealing with dialog). However I noticed a bug of both NPCs, where the voiceover stops after I tell them “I’m ready to join (X Guild)”. At least, I hope it’s a bug and not ‘working as intended’.
-The ‘Warden’ class, isn’t what I expected. It’s truly a Melee class instead of a Ranged class like the Sorcerer. I feel I’m going to require help until I get to the point I can unlock the bear pet to assist me, and test its abilities out (or at least help me practice an early game Ranged rotation that will work for me(for both Single and Multi-Target scenarios)).
-The ridiculous number of “I need you to sneak in” sections of a lot of questlines (and winding up with a bounty every. fucking. time (no matter how hard I attempt to be good at it). One time I ended up snapping and went on a murderous “fuck this: EVERYONE DIES!!!!” rampage, only to get my ass handed to me by a guard. At least it cleared my 451g bounty.
-An overuse of ‘parental’ invisible walls to prevent the player from hopping off of a building. They only hurt the immersion more than help the player ‘not hurt themself’ like an overprotective mother.

The Neutral;
-I’m confused on how the quest flow goes, but I think it’s similar to how Wrothgar does it (aka, go to where it tells you but you can do optional quest hubs on the way there).
-A few map addons (like ‘Quest Map’) don’t work in the DLC, however ones like ‘SkyShards’ do.
-Vivec City isn’t that massive, but the fact buildings are double-deckered ontop of eachother, it takes awhile to navigate.

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With that wrapped up, I got my response (as expected) of if I’m able to renew my subscription before it expires. And just like the first time I had to contact them (because of the ‘granny2.dll missing’ issue), the person completely and utterly confused my question with something else, thinking I “wanted my Crowns earlier”.
I explained my question yet again, and instead of seeing “I’m sorry for misunderstanding your question”, I was told no it’s not possible, stating “the system won’t allow you”.
Ok. I’m convinced Zenimax is being ran by HAL9000 now. “I’m sorry, Benie..but I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” So I asked for a more ‘transparent answer’ (and also wondering where in the hell has my $15/mo for the past year, been going to??). I feel it’s being pocketed, instead of making systems better for all of us.

And their response to that, was just precious. Not only did they ‘solve’ my issue (by closing it and refusing to respond anymore), they claim their customer support team “is not included into the decision making of how and why the billing system is designed the way it is.” Oh. Wow. So, I have no way to contact their billing support? Was..this not their billing support?
On top of that, the person tells me to either “make a feedback ticket” or “post in the forums”. No, and DEFINITELY no. Even going as far as suggesting to pay for a subscription that lasts longer.. SURE! That’s what you guys want!
I doubt at this time I’m ever going to get my answers, just like any another AAA company… it’s impossible to get a non-bullshit answer. Zenimax has too big of a fucking ego that they feel I don’t deserve to be given a straight answer (even though I was once a paying customer, it means nothing to them).

So what am I going to do about this? Am I going to just allow my existing ESO+ subscription to expire and not re-establish, or am I going to just accept their ‘answer’ and do it when it expires? I haven’t decided. The way I acted above, you would assume I would be once again be claiming I would delete my chars and never play the game again…but again, it would only hurt myself and not the company. They don’t care if I continue it or not.
I also learned the subscription ends on the 6th, not the 4th. Which gives me time to level up. I could just say “I just don’t care anymore… take my fucking money and choke on it!!” like I did with Morrowind. But look what happened when I did. I get these amazing vistas that look like it took a really, really long time to develop. Yet I can’t say I’m “happy with my purchase”…not yet anyway. But at least I finally understand the point that it wasn’t included with ESO+, which is..good. It’s not like the other DLCs. It’s not just a landmass full of quests (like Wrothgar), but completely overhauling the new player experience. I really do appreciate that; it’s not what I expected it to be.
I don’t often compare ‘price’ to ‘quality’ when it comes to video games, as I tend to steer away from the bad ones that were slapped together in five minutes through Unity and trying to profit upon it.

Meh. I hate to say it, but Zenimax, even though they do questionable things…they still produce a high quality product. Morrowind alone, kind of feels like a lot of money was put into it. It’s not their fault I never got informed of Morrowind not being included with ESO+, and they make up for it with a very pleasing atmosphere (even though I never played the original game that people claim is ‘the best’ in the entire Elder Scrolls series). Personally I found Skyrim awesome (because dragons of course), and it felt like the best $60 investment I made in a long time.

So..there you go. Depending if anything changes in the near future, I will (on the 6th) re-establish my ESO+ subscription. Zenimax’s servers don’t suck that bad to warrant an investigation on where player financing is going (at least, by the majority of players).
If something happens that causes 80% of the loyal fanbase to leave (I’m talking PvP/BG/Trade Barons..the people that put a lot of hours (and money) into the game) because they can’t stand the bullshit (of whatever), then I’ll finally have something against Zenimax.
But until then, as before, I hope they choke on it. 😛

Since the day I came back to ESO and discovered that this Morrowind ‘expansion’ wasn’t covered by ESO+, I was downright furious! And now…now…I can see why.
This…thing, I can also see why it says it was a ‘chapter upgrade’. It is, it really is. And it’s.. nice.

The old main questline? This thing throws it away..for an even better one. Instead of in Coldharbour, being all dead and stuff, having no soul, and having Lyris rescue you? You’re now on a boat heading to the heart of Morrowind. You’re soon captured by slavers, then rescued by someone you may’ve met in Deshaan. This..this is all new. Even after completing it, you’re taken to the large island where the DLC is to quest normally. This is mainly an alternate start for new players (and returning ones willing to roll an alt). I wonder how this is going to affect the rest of the zones of the base game of Tamriel. Because at this time, it might feel like the Dolmens are brand new.

As for the Warden class, I’m…I’m not sure about it. It feels like the Hunter from WoW during the vanilla years (of when Magicka was used to power abilities). Also unlike the Sorcerer, you won’t receive a pet from the start. This isn’t until you get to Level 12 of the ‘Animal Companions’ skill and being able to unlock the Ultimate ability (which is the bear). This is..bad. This is going to have mobs in my face, with a bow. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to play like this, except keep backing up and pelting the target with arrows until it dies.
Also the skills of the Animal Companions skill, they all require you to move while casting. It will take time to come up with a build that I like.

As I said yesterday, I had my doubts the Morrowind ‘expansion’ continued the main storyline. And it seems my doubts have finally been realized. This thing does NOT continue the storyline…it doesn’t even fucking affect the main game. HOW IN THE FUCK IS IT LABELED A ‘CHAPTER’ THEN?!?!
How are they even able to get away with this? Plus, hardly any of these ‘benefits’ for having ESO+ are useful to me (though that’s not exactly their fault). I don’t give a FUCK about the ‘double bank space’! I hardly if ever use my bank. I’m not a crafter, nor do I want to be.

I feel like quitting, deleting my chars, and never looking back. But it won’t fucking help. It won’t make them scared of me. It won’t…reverse their decision. So why don’t I just…close my eyes, grit my teeth, and just..fucking accept it? It’s only a one-time fee. I would never have to worry about it again.
The fact they call it a ‘chapter upgrade’ when it’s clearly a DLC, is what has me the most furious. How.. in the FUCK can they live with themselves, LYING to their subscribers?!?! They PROMISED all content would be covered in ESO+! And yet, it seems the game is doing just fine, with people still supporting it with ESO+ (and having this overpriced DLC). Am I just supposed to ignore the fact it says ‘chapter upgrade’ when I mouseover the wayshrine? WHAT THE FUCK is a ‘chapter’ to them!? A ‘chapter’ DOES NOT FUCKING MEAN ‘DLC’!!! A ‘chapter’ is the continuation of the storyline (be it a book/video game/whatever)! Fucking LOOK IT UP on the Wikipedia, Zenimax!!
Here, guys.. let me show you what the correct term of what a ‘chapter’ means on the Wiki. Read, and GIVE FUCKING REFUNDS TO THE PEOPLE YOU LIED TO!!!

At least…let’s see a written apology. No corporate “we apologize for any inconvenience” or “we care for you” bullshit. I want it straight from your blackish, cold hearts. But it seems they feel they don’t have to offer one, as people will just buy the thing anyway (for being big fans of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind), feeling the expansion is worth it to them. They don’t see themselves being cheated or lied to. They feel they’re getting their money’s worth.
I’m not talking about people like myself. I’m talking about the trade barons, or people that like the crafting aspect (as Zenimax gives them benefits for sticking with ESO+ (aka the crafting bag and this ‘double bank space’ thing)). I have no need for any of this stuff. Of course, that’s not their fault and I don’t blame them. And then there’s also the fans of the Trials and BGs. They’re all set. They’re happy with their purchase. Some even feel this is “normal”, that this is the same as WoW. As I said in my first reaction blog post of this, at least Blizzard never told us our subscription would cover all expansions.

So where does this lead me, as a lonely, pathetic soloer? Well, back at square one of course. I just wanted Zenimax to be honest, and not greedy assholes like every other AAA gaming company. At least rewrite their claim that ESO+ will give you all content (which is a blatant lie).
I don’t know what I’m going to do. Deleting my chars, would harm me and not the company. They wouldn’t care. And that not caring just re-infuriates me. Have they NO SOUL?! NO KINDNESS?! Not even willing to reduce the price 50% off for ESO+ subscribers?!?! It literally is square one, of where I was debating on getting the game (and found it at Green Man Gaming). Yet I swore I would never go back since they refuse to give me my money back for having a Steam key. Plus, I dearly doubt they would have the Morrowind upgrade on their website. They would have the full version, which is $60 (and also $100 for the collectors edition). Not even WoD’s collector edition was that much!! I hate to say it, but at least Blizzard had sense when it came to that!

Well.. actually they do have it. Shock. 29% off too. Not a major savings, but still a savings. However I can’t seem to find if this is a download, or a retail copy. I can only assume it’s a download. Though I really do enjoy reading the comments (I bet they’re paid, especially one that says “it’s worth the price”).
Also, how it claims “an ESO subscription isn’t required to play”. Yeah, that’ll trick anyone into buying it, not knowing about ESO+ is supposed to– bleh. I feel I’ve beaten that horse enough.

Let me just say, I hope when they take my $40? They FUCKING CHOKE ON IT!! D:(
I don’t know why I’m such a glutton for punishment. Oh wait, I do. Because I actually like this game, despite the changes to questing and the endgame (to where.
I also hear there’s an upcoming DLC that will be included in ESO+, and it’ll be changes to combat and gear acquiring; something similar to the ‘stat squish’ Blizzard did in WoD. Though I expect more than just base game changes to be considered a DLC. That feels like a major patch to me. Hopefully they’ll add more to warrant it as a DLC.

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EDIT: It’s done. I paid $28.49 for the Morrowind DLC (I assume Green Man Gaming pays the rest to the company that sounds like the name of one of those annoying drug commercials (“ask your doctor if Zenimax is right for you”), which is fine by me). I barely by the skin of my teeth, had the money to afford it (not sure why my balance is so low this month). This was also during a special event of the second guild I’m a part of, of doing Undaunted dailies. Was quite fun. We were literally raiding soloable Delves. I even got to a few zones I’ve never been to, and look really interesting.
But now I have access to the Warden class. Can’t wait to start trying out this new thing. And I think I’m going to get the wolf mount for him (as that should fit with the nature theme of the class). And if it goes wrong and I don’t like the class, then I got my Stam Sorc (thanks to the group, I got more than enough in Daedric Summoning to have the second pet).
I…also asked (not in the forum as I ‘banned’ myself from it after what happened earlier today) if I decide to redo my ESO+ subscription, if I would be charged on August 4th (when it ends) or be charged right then and there. I shall know by tomorrow.
..Look, all I really care about is the 10% char XP (and the 1.5k free Crowns every month).

Eventually I’ll check where the money went (which is the large island in the middle of Morrowind).

Today has been a long day, with hardships, the lowest form of humiliation, yet also a pretty cool change to the main questline.
We start off our adventure by going to Wrothgar (just to see if I could do it as a Level 11). It is there when I saw just how.. fragile I am by dying..a LOT. Especially during the one where I have to stop everyone from healing this twisted, corrupted tree that grows..hearts (eww). It seemed like I was just ‘doing it wrong’ so much, to the point I had possibly the most humiliating thing happen in an MMORPG. After the people I was with managed to complete the quest, I was waiting for someone to hopefully rez me (after the 5th FAIL to assist)……… and I got my corpse double-teabagged. No fucks given, and they just ran off laughing..at least if I wasn’t still dead, I would see it.
I haven’t seen a teabag since the days of Halo (never played the series, but I’ve seen videos), and to be a victim of one, I could see why it just felt more than an insult.
(And yes, I’m serious. I’m not overreacting this time)

It took me…..I don’t know how long until I finally had the courage to redeem myself. And redeem myself I did. I found a high spot that not a lot of enemies can reach me (but in return my Clanfear won’t reach them) and I was able to pick off almost everyone within a 30 yard radius (while others did their work). I rather be seen as an ‘archer’ instead of someone that enjoys having mobs in their face, and it paid off. I was able to do it again, and DAMN did it feel good to restore my personal honor. I also managed to assist with doing a boss battle without dying! This helped, but it’s going to take weeks to erase that image from my mind.

Back in Orsinium, I kept seeing more and more people with the bear pet. It started to make me both angered and upset at the same time. Trying to ‘teach Zenimax a lesson’ in betraying (and lying) to their subscribers (by ending mine), felt like all I was doing was..’punishing’ myself. I even see people still having an ESO+ account (as a Warden) and that just made it worse. The thoughts in my mind were just eating at me, and I knew of only one way to make the thoughts finally stop; make a forum post and ask “is Morrowind worth it”..but more like, is the Warden worth the $40.
The responses have been overall good so far, with some saying “depends on you”, others say the quests are pretty good and so is the zone, with one saying that they didn’t try hard enough to make certain areas like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Finally, one saying that they feel the price is a bit too steep.

There’s also my original post that got updated, with a few people who are not sure how I never knew Morrowind didn’t come with ESO+. I more than explained the reason in a response (as detailed as possible). Also at this time, I saw it was getting closer and closer to getting on Wurm…..but I decided to say “fuck it” and kept playing ESO. I’m going back to my ‘not coming on unless I have to fund my deed’ thing. Fed up with everything in that game. I want ESO to pull me back into its game and play a fun, true MMORPG again (as it did in 2015/16).
Swapped out a few addons for others I seem to re-remember having (that are quite helpful) and went back to Davon’s Watch to start working on the main questline again. And I’ve been noticing something…strange with it. It never hit me at first, but it surely did after acquiring the ring to access the Amulet of Kings…at Level 17 (which would had been something like Level 35 normally).
When I defeated Mannamarco..as a Level 18 (died six times until I tried pelting him with light attacks to regen Stamina while hitting him with Draining Shot to keep my Health up (and also focusing on adds when they showed up)), I KNEW something was up! Also, holy hell I’m so glad I did that thing! I thought there was just no way. His attacks were always on me and not on my pet. I guess this is to show that you’re getting revenge on the one that took your soul.
Anyway, it’s clear this ‘One Tamriel’ thing has affected the questline. What does that mean? It’s JUST like Skyrim’s single player questline (that can be worked on at anytime). There was never a requirement to defeat Alduin at Level 50, and now the same has come to this!! This, is possibly the greatest thing that has ever happened to the history of MMORPGs. This also means, I can quest in Skyrim (as a Level 4) if I desired to! 😀 NO MORE “I’m not Level 48 and I must scream” anymore! This is better than what Blizzard did for Legion!
Mobs are always leveled to you. There’s no longer a ‘zone level requirement’ when it comes to leveling up!

….However, this is also a bad thing. How so? Because the Dolmens will still be there when Molag Bal is defeated. Sure, they where there before, but at least you had reached max level by then and..well….meh. I don’t know how to end it without a ‘meh’. I guess you could say after you defeat the main questline, Molag Bal’s Doppelganger takes over? I..guess that’ll have to work.

But also, I feel this ‘One Tamriel’ thing is silly. I mean, it wouldn’t if I had bought the game this year. But now with the fact I’ve gotten used to zone level requirements… I hate to say this, but certain freedoms just can’t be granted, in order to keep the flow in check (and I’m not even a purist).
This is an MMORPG, not a single player game. Yet, I feel the game doesn’t even know what it is anymore. It’s been stripped of its former self. I mean sure, the main ‘single player’ questline alone did feel like “why is this a level requirement? This feels silly”…yet it was also a ‘necessary evil’ to make sure the player plays through the game. Taking that away, feels like it’s taken it’s purpose away.

Wow. I feel like all the fun I had for this game just got..zapped out of me by my own words. This is the real reason I quit last year (that and I didn’t enjoy getting my ass handed to me in The Dark Brotherhood). Yes I get the main questline is supposed to set the theme of the game, but it’s going to end just like every other single player game; a sense of emptiness. This is where WoW shined for me. It had set goals to work up towards. Zones were level-based, and every expansion brought more leveling and a new main boss. With ESO? There’s only one main boss (outside of the Morrowind ‘expansion’). Hell, I don’t even know if this thing continues the main questline. If it does, then that’s good. That to me will be worth the asking price. But if it’s just another zone and feels like a DLC that does nothing for the base game (that would interest me), then..there you go.
This is the question I should had originally asked in that thread. This is the ‘make or break’ to me. The final straw, etc. And I have my doubts. I personally feel, as I originally said, this is an overpriced DLC of Zenimax prying on people who played The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, and milking them for everything they’re worth (without them even knowing).
The fact I started in Oblivion, I’m immune to this. Now if they did this for Skyrim and expanded the entire continent (and made the story based on the era of the first Dragon Wars(and seeing Alduin in his prime))? Then I would be jumping on the bandwagon!! 😀 I wouldn’t care if I was getting milked. And it seems the same thing could be said for this (which is why people are defending Zenimax).

Wow, I ranted about this thing again when it wasn’t even the correct blog post title? How silly of me. Let’s get back to the point here, of this ‘One Tamriel’ thing. Yes, it has its perks of being able to quest anywhere. Yet I feel it breaks the flow of the zone questline. In this game, there’s two questlines; main questline (sets up the main bad guy and the reason you are you), and zone questline(quests based around the story of a specific zone). Most zone questlines manage to ark themselves into the next zone to get the player to venture further, yet to allow the player to quest anywhere, breaks that ark (and makes quests as..well, side quests).
I don’t mind questing. But I don’t like questing for no endgame purpose. Mass Effect Andromeda IMO did a pretty good job wrapping the game up for me, giving a few final missions to really end it. This is a proper endgame; one that didn’t make me feel ’empty’ and wanting more. ESO’s endgame.. well, there is no endgame in an MMORPG.

Anyway, as Sai Sahan said, “we deserve a rest”. And since it’s nearly…good LORD 6 in the morning?! I do as well (IRL). Yesterday has been a LONG day.

I keep asking a question everytime I’m feeling the pinch of armor (or my build isn’t ‘up to snuff’) of “did I come back at a bad time”. Having to make my own armor doesn’t feel ‘natural’ to me, and I just wish the nice past that I had would come back. I think this feeling is possibly worse than Wurm (if you can believe that).
Speaking of Wurm, today’s evening (around 10pm) is when I head back on and get ready to do the Rift. I want a second shoulder pad (if I get one). Just want a matching set; one shoulder pad without the matching pair feels wrong.

And back to ESO. I feel like I stepped into something that really feels shitty to me. Two of the main things that have been bugging me since my return to this game, have resurfaced. Now a Level 17 of my new Destro Sorc, and I’m getting a really bad itch of wanting to hold a bow on my hands. Knowing I would have to go through the same hell as I did when I made this char, I asked the guild what race would work for a bow-only class. Had a pretty good argument over it, but it boiled down to being a Wood Elf (yes, another Elf, and another perfectly generic name for him ‘Benie Thewoodelf’..really wish there was a Randomize Name option). Decided to do the full Coldharbour intro (in order to hopefully get my hands on a bow). I’m seeing other players running around that aren’t using the default 2H Sword (and I still have no bow). After.. good lord, nearly a half an hour of running, searching through containers, and killing things… I finally got my hands on a Maple Bow! HOT damn! No more 2H weapon for me.
Did the start island again, hearing that awesome, calming Skyrim music of remembering sitting on that dragon mound just outside of Kynesgrove (1,000 years ago).
Made it through the second starting area of taking care of the Covenant forces. Haven’t died yet (or even come close), so far. Finally I was on my own, reaching Davon’s Watch. And then I saw the crafting areas and…my heart sank again. Yes I knew I had to gather leather scraps (and refine them into leather for crafting), but I knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as gathering flowers (for I would have to hunt animals and hope RNG allows a drop).

I also knew I had another issue on my hands, and that was how in the hell do I build around something that mainly uses Magic abilities. I eventually got the balls to ask in the guild, and was immediately asked if I checked ‘3rd party website here’. I felt “UGH! FUCK! FINE!! I’ll check the damn thing and SHOW you that it’s not helpful for me!” But the website is down (and still is as I type this). It’s loading forever, then eventually throws a ‘503 Bad Gateway’ as the error. I asked what are my other options, but I got interrupted by someone sending a mass invite into a PvP party (didn’t know what it was until I clicked Accept). Left the thing and asked again, and then more debates happening….these ones not as nice as before (with one calling ‘bs’ on how I wanted to only use a bow).
Another one said that if I want a ‘Hunter-like WoW’ build, to go as a Warden (saying it comes with a battle bear that will assist me)…yeeeeeaaa–no. That’s not happening. 😛 If the devs reverse their decision and allow the ‘expansion’ to be included in ESO+, then I will consider reestablishing my subscription. The conversation stopped after that, but I asked again of how to build my character…then one says I have to ‘theorycraft’. WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS THIS SO FUCKING DIFFICULT?!

If I had another game I was interested in, I would not even had bothered coming back to this one. Glad I stopped the subscription (just wish I did it months ago).
It just..doesn’t feel the same as I remembered. It is the same game, but it’s not the same Guilds I had back then.

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EDIT: Finally I got possibly the simplest answer I could ever have(since coming back). “You want to use a bow, then put everything on bow.” Aka, completely ignore the ‘Sorcerer’ part of this class (but only use it for pets). That..solves it! Now all I need to do is just work on a good Bow build (as a Sorc), and put Attribute points in Stamina instead of Magicka. This is perfect!! FINALLY things are going my way!
…And then it stopped when it went to gear again. I’m confused on what I should do about this. Here’s the problem. I’ve been so used to Wurm that I forgot how gear works in an MMORPG. I forgot that you can gear up by just from drops out in the field and from quest rewards. This is the complete opposite in Wurm. And because of this, I feel like I have to grind skills to get anywhere (which isn’t fun). Yet not knowing if I really have to do this is what’s been driving me up the wall.

See, my mind’s set that I have to make my own gear instead of buying it (from what I was told). Leather scraps don’t drop from plants, they drop from animals (which makes it worse as RNG isn’t always kind (and the kill may or may not have loot in it)).
But just like with plants, it’s clear I cannot rely alone on crafting armor for myself (as I will always out-gear it). Currently Level 9 of this new char. I feel like by the time I gather enough leather scrap, I’m going to be Level 14 from all the XP of the kills (which requires MORE scrap)!!
Yet on the other side of this coin, I feel if I don’t focus on it (until like say Level 48), I’m going to be paying for it by grinding my ass off gathering leather scrap to level it up!!
WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO?! I don’t know, and I’m scared to ask this Guild (as I feel they’re getting annoyed with me of the first thing). Should I even bother dealing with it this early (only to have this gear replaced in a level or two)? I just wanna quest, not play this god damn game of gathering materials forever!

Now it wouldn’t matter that much if ESO had flying mounts, that I can just swoop down, grab what I need and head to the next node. But I feel that’ll never happen (and I couldn’t fathom the number of purists that’ll be bitching about it).
So why not just say “fuck it” and rely on what RNG gives me until I’ve completed the main questline? After then, THEN is when I gotta worry about gear (because I’ll be Champ status by then).
Just…go with it. Go with the river, as the Argonian say. Go with what worked in the past.