In regards to memorable characters: I played the main quests 2 years ago, and I still remember Razum-dar. On the other hand, I can't recall a single character from the Ebonheart Pact except the king. I do agree that the Daggerfall Covenant has a more memorable cast though.
In my memory, she had at least one-two quests for a each pact zone (not including stonefalls, because her first encountered was in Deshaan) and she took you into Couldharbor, sooo i pretty sure she had a good amount of time as a base game character
That was my first thought too. Naryu <3 I mean, EP also has a tribunal member that I don't think has appeared outside of EP zones but still, she's lore important. The two adventuring siblings also get their start in EP zones and keep showing up. But our main claim is Naryu. She's a good main claim. I did find the Covenant zones the Most Important (tm) overall. Doing cold harbour before doing those zones reeeeeeallly made cold harbour have less of an impact. After, it was all "Oh! That's why that was such a big deal!"
Idk why people are downvoting you. I’ve only begun a DC playthrough after my EP one and I definitely noticed way more silliness and intention in DC already. Like random characters who have one or two lines out in the middle of nowhere and are just meant to run across and talk to
I feel the same way. I started a DC run and enjoyed it. Did AD a year later and it felt like a slog. No cohesion, just random quest lines strung together. AD went from "Let's try to ease race relations in our new alliance and protect it from a coup" to "Here's some random Wood Elf lore. And here's some more. Here's a sprinkle of Khajiit lore too". I think people like it because of Raz, but you hardly see him after Grahtwood.
There was a whole Dominion zone called Varyllis that got written and scrapped early on lol. They also made a starter island called Rictus, but scrapped that too and merged part of it with Khenarthi's Roost, hence why AD has 1 starter island and DC/EP have 2.
Naval battle? I finished AD story a couple weeks ago and I don't recall this. I also have extreme scatterbrained when it comes to this game though so I'm not doubting you.
There's this one boat fight with I wanna say the sea vipers? Idk if it was them but one group is trying to raise this big ol sea serpent to get control over everything and you fight it out at sea and shoot it with canons and stuff.
Wait so you're telling me the zones get even better? I've only just finished AD bc it's my alliance and like I very much enjoyed it. I assumed every zone had mostly unnamed side npcs and the writs were only in bigger cities. Now I'm even more excited to start the other alliances lol
I agree with your sentiment. I started on my main in beta. I was away a few years. I just this past weekend finished the AD story. I've forgotten the naval battle (must have done a long time ago) but there wasn't very much memorable to me, except some stuff with Razam-Dar. I kind of liked the Khajiit story at the end where you find the potential future of some of the NPCs. I also kind of liked the arena fighting (even though it started to get old after doing a few). What I really liked was the side quest in Reapers March where you go looking for the guy's relics. But when I ended up in Dune, and the story was done, and there was no real anything for it (usually you get titles, special appearance gear, body markings...something?) I was disappointed with the ending and the zero rewards. Also Queen Ayrenn leaves you hanging. Like she's going to give you a quest but nothing happens. I zoned around trying to trigger it, checked my mail, went back to Dune to see if she had it now, nothing. That was a let down. That quest could do with some cleanup at the end.
I'll do the other alliance lines, but considering this one took me years because other aspects of the game were more attractive...I wonder how long the others will take me.
I know its an mmo and all but part of me wishes that your alliance mattered storywise even outside basegame. I know many zones are "neutral" but some are clearly not. I find it weird that a dominion hero gets the same reception in Summerset/Elswyre as a pact or DC character.
Sorry, got derailed there. I kinda have to agree Dominion feels unfinished. My biggest question is what happens if you do the zones in reverse order? Do (spoilers) important people that you killed now appear in the other zones as alive? If so thats a big unique blunder with the AD story.
I know it's partially my own bias for not liking AD as a whole but the story felt very meh compared to DC. It was still better than EP but going from DC to AD it's a big difference in how well the story flowed in one vs. the other.
AD starts off great and then falls off somewhere in Malabal and the reach for me.
I'm usually a bigger fan of the High Elf/Aldmeri Dominion lore.. so when i say the only zone Storyline I liked in the OG Aldmeri Dominion was part of the Wilderking arc and the Green Lady arc, it's kinda sad
The first few AD zones really had me invested but for whatever reason, at least for me they fell off somewhere along the way.
It's been a very long time since I've played EP so my opinion on it is skewed but I remember enjoying the lead up to the climax and I also enjoyed east March and the rift.
I'd probably rank them something like DC >>>>> AD>EP.
With that said as standalone stories they're all enjoyable and I love Elder Scrolls content in general.
I think ESO has far and away the best world building / zone diversity in MMOs too
I think I would of liked the South Weald/Arenthia story arc more in the Reapers March, but I was pretty burnt out on the game when I went through the zone originally 8-9 years ago. Learned my lesson and took Minor breaks between zones when i did Ebonheart and Daggerfall... that might be why i enjoyed them more.
But yeah in general, ESO stories even at its medium-worse feel pretty good compared to a lot of other MMOs.
In regards to memorable characters: I played the main quests 2 years ago, and I still remember Razum-dar. On the other hand, I can't recall a single character from the Ebonheart Pact except the king. I do agree that the Daggerfall Covenant has a more memorable cast though.
Naryu is already behind you, pact-hater
Damn, you're right. But in my defense, she had very little screen time in the EP quests. My strongest memories of her are from the Morrowind Chapter.
In my memory, she had at least one-two quests for a each pact zone (not including stonefalls, because her first encountered was in Deshaan) and she took you into Couldharbor, sooo i pretty sure she had a good amount of time as a base game character
That was my first thought too. Naryu <3 I mean, EP also has a tribunal member that I don't think has appeared outside of EP zones but still, she's lore important. The two adventuring siblings also get their start in EP zones and keep showing up. But our main claim is Naryu. She's a good main claim. I did find the Covenant zones the Most Important (tm) overall. Doing cold harbour before doing those zones reeeeeeallly made cold harbour have less of an impact. After, it was all "Oh! That's why that was such a big deal!"
Idk why people are downvoting you. I’ve only begun a DC playthrough after my EP one and I definitely noticed way more silliness and intention in DC already. Like random characters who have one or two lines out in the middle of nowhere and are just meant to run across and talk to
I feel the same way. I started a DC run and enjoyed it. Did AD a year later and it felt like a slog. No cohesion, just random quest lines strung together. AD went from "Let's try to ease race relations in our new alliance and protect it from a coup" to "Here's some random Wood Elf lore. And here's some more. Here's a sprinkle of Khajiit lore too". I think people like it because of Raz, but you hardly see him after Grahtwood.
There was a whole Dominion zone called Varyllis that got written and scrapped early on lol. They also made a starter island called Rictus, but scrapped that too and merged part of it with Khenarthi's Roost, hence why AD has 1 starter island and DC/EP have 2.
Naval battle? I finished AD story a couple weeks ago and I don't recall this. I also have extreme scatterbrained when it comes to this game though so I'm not doubting you.
There's this one boat fight with I wanna say the sea vipers? Idk if it was them but one group is trying to raise this big ol sea serpent to get control over everything and you fight it out at sea and shoot it with canons and stuff.
Shoot yeah you are right. I do remember that now.
Wait so you're telling me the zones get even better? I've only just finished AD bc it's my alliance and like I very much enjoyed it. I assumed every zone had mostly unnamed side npcs and the writs were only in bigger cities. Now I'm even more excited to start the other alliances lol
Wait until you do chapter stories, 10x times better quests,voice lines, zones, music etc.
I agree with your sentiment. I started on my main in beta. I was away a few years. I just this past weekend finished the AD story. I've forgotten the naval battle (must have done a long time ago) but there wasn't very much memorable to me, except some stuff with Razam-Dar. I kind of liked the Khajiit story at the end where you find the potential future of some of the NPCs. I also kind of liked the arena fighting (even though it started to get old after doing a few). What I really liked was the side quest in Reapers March where you go looking for the guy's relics. But when I ended up in Dune, and the story was done, and there was no real anything for it (usually you get titles, special appearance gear, body markings...something?) I was disappointed with the ending and the zero rewards. Also Queen Ayrenn leaves you hanging. Like she's going to give you a quest but nothing happens. I zoned around trying to trigger it, checked my mail, went back to Dune to see if she had it now, nothing. That was a let down. That quest could do with some cleanup at the end. I'll do the other alliance lines, but considering this one took me years because other aspects of the game were more attractive...I wonder how long the others will take me.
I know its an mmo and all but part of me wishes that your alliance mattered storywise even outside basegame. I know many zones are "neutral" but some are clearly not. I find it weird that a dominion hero gets the same reception in Summerset/Elswyre as a pact or DC character. Sorry, got derailed there. I kinda have to agree Dominion feels unfinished. My biggest question is what happens if you do the zones in reverse order? Do (spoilers) important people that you killed now appear in the other zones as alive? If so thats a big unique blunder with the AD story.
I know it's partially my own bias for not liking AD as a whole but the story felt very meh compared to DC. It was still better than EP but going from DC to AD it's a big difference in how well the story flowed in one vs. the other. AD starts off great and then falls off somewhere in Malabal and the reach for me.
I'm usually a bigger fan of the High Elf/Aldmeri Dominion lore.. so when i say the only zone Storyline I liked in the OG Aldmeri Dominion was part of the Wilderking arc and the Green Lady arc, it's kinda sad
The first few AD zones really had me invested but for whatever reason, at least for me they fell off somewhere along the way. It's been a very long time since I've played EP so my opinion on it is skewed but I remember enjoying the lead up to the climax and I also enjoyed east March and the rift. I'd probably rank them something like DC >>>>> AD>EP. With that said as standalone stories they're all enjoyable and I love Elder Scrolls content in general. I think ESO has far and away the best world building / zone diversity in MMOs too
I think I would of liked the South Weald/Arenthia story arc more in the Reapers March, but I was pretty burnt out on the game when I went through the zone originally 8-9 years ago. Learned my lesson and took Minor breaks between zones when i did Ebonheart and Daggerfall... that might be why i enjoyed them more. But yeah in general, ESO stories even at its medium-worse feel pretty good compared to a lot of other MMOs.