TESO: Forlorn Crags

Adventures of Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Having defeated Molag Bal, I venture next to the vast expanse known as Craglorn where a lot of my crafted goods have been being sent. A new threat has arrived in this zone: Aliens Celestials. Namely the Celestial Serpent, who managed to corrupt the Celestial Mage and Celestial Warrior. A band known as the Star Gazers, asks that I help them put these things back in the sky where they belong.

Easier said than done though as this zone is intended for group content, excluding me from at least 70% of the area. Still, I do manage to cleanse the Warrior's Apex stone, and assist a time traveling soldier to destroy an ancient emperor who uses terracotta warriors.

I also slam the local Iron Orcs, who have a penchant for feeding victims to their troll pets. After slaying their entire leadership structure I mess with the Scaled Court's research in making new beasties (Mantikora) and atronarchs (six armed air elemental)! Ultimately I also save the Celestial Thief from the Serpent's grasp, forcing the Serpent celestial to withdraw.

Ugly beasties.

Alas the actual final fight against it is blocked behind a "Trial" gate (requires team) so I doubt I'll ever get to see that. Worth noting the ATITD Pilgrimage idea is alive here - in the form of visiting six delves within two hours. Pretty cool, and still easier than the ATITD version! 

Having done most of the available content (I don't have the DLCs) I think it's time I take a well earned break, and thanks to one merc band in this region being called the Greycloaks, I have a good idea of where I'm headed back to.

MMOs: TESO Level Scaling

[Added to my MMO Design folder.]

Years ago I did a post about the problem with levels in an MMO. Having now experienced the Elder Scrolls Online, I now get to see the other / another side to it and that is level scaling.

Much like in Skyrim, the bad guys always match your level - irrespective of map zone. This is a truer scaling than what Guild Wars 2 tried to do, where a level 70 who is "down leveled" in a lower level zone can still steamroll everything. Here's a quick Pro/Con tongue in cheek list for what TESO does:

Pros: You can now go in any direction immediately and not his "Foe Walls" to your quest progression. Wandering into a level 60 zone while level 5? No problem! Those enemies will hold their punches for you. Also, this means your friend who just joined the game can come into that uber, end of game quest with you. Nice!

Cons: Missed the tutorial happy cake dungeon (that doesn't exist - just my example) and are going back as a max level character? Expect those tutorial monsters to have a lot of new DPS heavy moves and hundreds more HP - enough to actually challenge you! Also, congrats - you just finished the game after 3 months? The guy next to you finished it in 1 day... while level 5.

I can understand why people both like and dislike the system, and while I don't mind it since I do prefer people to be able to immediately play together in games, I still think having no "over all" levels is the best approach.

By that I mean, don't attach Life or HP to levels, or if you must make it by the smallest of fractions. A new player gets 100hp. And end of game character might have 110 at most. Getting hit by a bus, or more likely stabbed with a sword, should still one shot either.

And don't even get me started about level based gear either. Blargh.

TESO: Molag Bal

Adventures of Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Beyond the torture chamber is the path up to Molag Bal's fortress, and by powering up the magic amulet via absorbing the life of the prophet, I gain a temporary boost of super saiyan strength - literally one shotting the armies of dremora that try get in my way. Even flights of demon dragons and thick fortress walls are no match as I blast my way up the mountain to the towering daedric prince trying to throw down meteors at me.

I like how my pet monkey is just casually following me at this part.

I get up to him and blast him down to a more manageable size, fight him in a more standard fashion and ultimately chop off both his arms! This forces Molag Bal to flee and Meridia is kind enough to restore my missing soul as a reward.

Winning pose!

With that victory, Lyris and Sai head off to the sunset together and Abnur, who is missing, is reported (by Meridia no less) to have taken the cheat amulet with him to Cyrodiil for his own use - though he won't be able to do anything with it for a few generations. Now re-souled I am free to do whatever I want, and I get a nice cauldron hat for my trouble. I suppose chasing Tharn into Cyrodiil is an idea, but that's all PvP land. Regardless, main quest complete!

Nameless: Unsealed

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The shaking was getting worse as Nessa followed Rhone's lizard forces down the spiraling stairs in what seemed to be the very heart of the volcano itself - a huge spacious cavern with bubbling lava, ravenously consuming the rocks falling onto its molten surface. Amidst the chaos, a battalion of Shadowstar soldiers fought against the Verini guards.

"Quickly!" hissed Rhone to her column of warriors. "We must return the seal to pacify the great fire god!"

With a primal roar the lizardman phalanx surged forward with Nessa and Ladel bringing up the rear. Past the melee, Nessa spotted the caped Shadowstar commander barking orders at his troops as he retreated further into the volcano. Tucked under his arm was an ancient circular stone, no doubt the seal of fire itself! Unwilling to let the artifact slip away, she signaled to Ladel and the two of them broke off from the main combat across some precarious looking stones slowly sinking into the caldera.

It was a dangerous shortcut, especially for the rotund Ladel, but one that paid off as they soon ran into the Commander and his two guards, both of whom where caught by surprise as Nessa ran one through with her sword while Ladel manhandled the second one, throwing the screaming man into the lava.

"Stay back," the commander began as he threatened to drop the seal into the magma. Nessa had anticipated this though and instinctively rolled past him - severing his extended arm and catching the artifact with her shield hand - which in itself was a dexterous feat since she only had three fingers on it. Ladel took the opportunity to bash the now one armed man, sending him reeling backwards and forcing him to jump to another rock.

"Go," said Ladel to Nessa. "I've got this." The big man then jumped after the commander, who now had drawn a knife to defend himself.

Knowing the battle would be meaningless if the volcano erupted, Nessa ran back to Rhone's forces who despite heavy casualties were actually winning the fight. Finding the lizard captain at an opportune time, Nessa pushed the stone to her. "Rhone, use it quickly!" she urged.

But the captain's gaze lingered on something behind her... the huge stone pillars that once supported the city of Verini were crumbling into the boiling lava, soon followed by chunks of the city proper itself along with hapless citizens. "It's too late," she said sadly as she watched the destruction all around her. "It's too late."

"All forces retreat!" ordered a teary eyed Rhone. Nessa took one last glance back at Ladel, who was still fighting the commander, just as a huge slab of stone crushed them both into the burning sea.

TESO: Writhing Worms

Adventures of Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

With all the alliance zones mostly done now (still missing some group content and a few bits and pieces) I return to the Prophet's cave to find he and Lyris haven't done a damn thing since I last saw them ages ago. Since my GFX settings are better now, I reattempt that rescue mission they wanted to do... to rescue Abnur Tharn, and then a Redguard sword master named Sai Sahan, and then a magic deus ex machina amulet to use against Molag Bal.

Wouldn't be a magic duel without at least one beam contest.

Naturally the worm cult leader, Mannimarco tries and fails to stop us at each step of the way - ultimately fighting for real to try take the amulet for himself because he wants to replace Molag Bal. He really shouldn't have said that because after I beat him down, Molag Bal's giant hand comes through a gate and whisks Mannimarco away to Coldharbour.

His mistake was not taking the amulet instead, because we follow close behind and sneak through the very same torture chamber where Mannimarco and other familiar villains are getting their comeuppance, a few of whom are of the Tharn bloodline (not that Abnur minds since they are all douche bags like that). Most of the prisoners beg to be freed from their torment, but I ignore all of them because that's what they all deserve.

Nameless: It's not Luck

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Dariya quietly led her team deep within the pale, purple city constructed with alien architecture avoiding the many "infected" denizens within. While most seemed to be wearing the husks of miners there were others dressed far differently, from lands much farther across the seas.

Her son and the two dwarves were rightfully terrified of these worm folk, whom Dariya had only read about in rare, old tomes from long lost cities. The plan was simple: steal the magic crystal and escape. She was somewhat surprised at their progress through the city, as each patrol passed them by without a glance.

The crystal itself was also easy to spot, magically rotating above a dry fountain in an open plaza. Reaching the plaza undetected was another matter however, and Dariya just prayed their luck would hold out.

She only realized when they were within the last hundred meters that it wasn't luck. It was a trap. Dozens upon dozens of the worm folk were waiting for them, and even more blocked the way they came. The floor where they stood was covered with arm sized tentacle worms, wriggling their way towards the party.

"I don't suppose we could parley..." asked Dmitri in a trembling, hushed tone. His mother shook her head. "Don't forget why we are here. The plan remains the same. We'll make an opening, you two grab the artifact."

"Ta hell with that! I ain't dying for that piece of shite!" exclaimed Arslan as he charged toward the exit.

Before they could say anything more, the crowd surged forward. Throwing fire and lightning, Dmitri and Dariya cleared the path to the fountain while Buster charged in with grit teeth, hacking the stragglers that got in his way.

Dariya was so focused on covering Buster that she was surprised when she was suddenly showered with blood and turned to see the decapitated body of her son collapse to the ground. A crack of lightning from her fingertips made his assailant explode into giblets, but also knocked her to the ground.

There, beside Dmitri's head, she was consumed by fear as she witnessed the sea of worms closing in on her. In the distance she could see them already on Arslan who was being held down into their wake. Not willing to experience that, she gathered all her magic and uttered one final spell, detonating herself in a magnificent explosion of fire and blood.

TESO: The Last March

Adventures of Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Reaper's March is a breath of fresh air after the stifling forests of Malabal Tor. Apart from the Imperials assaulting this zone (led by Tharns no less) there's also an evil khajiit spirit called the Dark Mane (also conjured by a Tharn) raising scary looking Khajiit warriors wherever it goes. The main quest involves assisting a pair of twin sisters in stopping this threat, which is great.

Capoeira esquivas are useful here too!

Unfortunately that "threat" occupies only maybe 1/3rd of the region, with the rest occupied by local bandits, gamblers, an arena and skooma peddlers. I do get to free Barbas (the talking dog) from a prison of his master, Clavicus Vile, though. There is also an awesome side quest at a scary mansion with a massive cavern underneath occupied by Imperials who are looking for the Oghma Infinitum. Hermaeus Mora tells me they cannot have it.

Quite a literal army of bad dudes in the tunnels.

Finally I'm at a level where I can solo handle the group of 8 or so mobs here, and manage to take down the boss too. For all my work, Mora appears and snatches the Infinitum at the last moment - rephrasing that "no mortal" can have it. I manage to retain a single page, still enough to make most people insane.

After beating back the Tharns and destroying the Dark Mane, Queen Ayrenn seems more agreeable to an alliance or at least a cease fire with the Pact but I don't know. She looks, talks and smells like a Thalmor scum. Odds that she will keep her word are next to nil.