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Weekly Discord Discussion 1: Favourite TES Quest

    • 1467 posts
    May 27, 2019 1:16 AM EDT

    Weekly Discord Discussion - Test One

    As you may have seen, the Tamriel Vault has recently started our own Discord Server, which can be found by following that link. One of the new types of content that we've started over there were 'Weekly Discussions' which were basically just channels dedicated to a single topic that could be incredibly broad, or really specific. We've given them a week to generate discussion, then copied the comments into a sort of Log so that anyone who missed it can see what was discussed, maybe join in with their own thoughts on the topic or respond to what people said. 

    It's obviously more interactive if you join in on the next one (starting in a few hours) but it's something that we hope works really well. 

    The first topic was simply What is your Favourite Quest in a TES Game" with nothing else to break it down or force it into a box. 

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    Dragonborn2021

    The Weekly Discussion is something we're going to be testing out for...the week (yeah we're original like that). The idea is that this is a place to have a discussion on a single focused topic and then once the week is over, copy the log of our conversation on to the site and post it as a discussion.

    We wanted Discord to link back to the site, and figured that there are some things that Discord just does better than the site and having quick-moving conversations is definitely one of them. Let us know what you think of the idea, both now and at the end of the week :D

    The Discussion this week ties into the 25th Anniversary and is simply "What is your Favourite Quest in a TES Game?" It's short, sweet and not really all that simple once you start thinking about it. Your answer can be from a Lore, Character, Content, Combat or...really any perspective that you want as long as you love that quest!

    Paws

    Favourite singular quest? This is going to take a lot of thinking followed by more thought. It's at times like this I'm glad I've got a beard to stroke.

    Paws

    Very little thought needed. Oblivion's Pilgrimage quest from Knights of the Nine. This is the very first quest of the dlc which starts with hearing a rumour about a rabble-rouser in Anvil who calls himself the Prophet. Immediately upon arrival we're treated to some of the best and most detailed dialogue in the entire game, only rivalled by Mankar Camoran's monologue at Gaiar Alata. Besides the epic rant we get treated to and dialogue that changes depending upon what we've accomplished, the quest involves a pilgrimage to one of each of the Nine shrines dotted around Cyrodiil. If we're lucky we'll bump into Sir Roderick and his squire and his squire along the way as they, too are on the quest. For me it was my awakening to the game, really. I'd played before but it didn't click. That quest immersed me like nothing since and introduced the concept of rp within the game - because it really is an amble on a slow af horse across the entire goddam map, only really driven by my desire to learn more about what the Prophet was going on about. It couldn't be rushed, even by fast travelling it took ages to do so it invited freedom to pursue your own adventure and let go of my hand in a way the MQ didn't.

    Dragonborn2021

    OOoh, damn that's literally my least favourite quest from the Knights of the Nine DLC, sorry Phil but man I just struggle with that sort of quest most of the time.

    I'm going to need a bit more time to answer it, at the moment I'm debating between The Last Heist (Oblivion), Whodunit (Oblivion), The Final Quest with a name I can't remember from the Balmora Questline (ESO) and...oh shit I need to scour through The Shivering Isles to get names there.

    But man, the more I think about it the more it seems Oblivion is just my game really. Absolutely love a lot of quests in that game even if the Main Quest is arguably weaker than Morrowinds.

    Oh and, the final quest in Stonefalls just works for me purely as an awesome boss fight. Well really either of the two Brothers of Strife fights. I don't know why but fighting fire demons in Volcanoes is just far too awesome to pass on.

    Paws

    Hehehe I suppose that Pilgrimage quest is also one of the most boring in the entire game depending on perspective :D In terms of excitement, it's as fun as watching paint dry. But! For me it carries meaning because it was what got me into TES. I also really liked Morrowind's Pilgrimage too :smile_cat:

    You've listed some really good quests there, can't lie, and the final TG mission in Oblivion is a doozy. I don't even like stealthy gameplay but you can't beat oblivion's TG for cool.

    Ilani

    I like parts of the Knights quest. Finding the armor and revamping the keep. But everything else bugged me. I mean, we had a screaming preacher who turned out to be right, for one. I’m never on board with that. And I HATE the dialogue you get afterwards if you do any other quests in the game that require thievery. “You’re just a sinner like the rest of us.” Bleh. I think I did it once just to say I did.

    Favorite quest is Ultimate Heist, Oblivion. No contest, and I tried to find something in Skyrim to match it, but no way. I loved the stealth, the mystery. The adorable ending in Anvil, and the new guild. Unlike other quests, I didn’t get a “aw, it’s all over” bittersweet vibe. It just felt like a cool accomplishment.

    Tene-bro

    Oh boy. Can't claim a single quest as my favorite, that's for sure...

    Ultimate Heist was amazing, as was Whodunit (DB) and the Kvatch stuff. Nothing quite like storming Hell at level 3.

    Skyrim has its own epic DB quests (the last one was surprisingly impactful for me), and of course Sovngarde was an incredible experience

    ESO has the Greenshade and Reapers March quests, as well as a slew of minor ones I love. Especially the one with the aging Bosmer couple and the flowers (I damn near cried at that one)

    Paws

    @Ilani Definitely can't disagree about Oblivion's Thieves Guild, that last quest was just amazing. I felt maybe a slight annoyance with the Hieronymus Lex thing which got old for me quite quickly. Like, he wasn't a villain iirc but we set out to ruin his life just because he was (literally) the law. You know when you watch a wildlife documentary and find yourself routing for the animal the doc is about? If it's about cheetahs then you want the cheetah to win. But if it's about gazelleyou want the gazelle to escape. I felt like that with the Lex vs Fox thing.

    @Tene-bro Never liked the DB quests, just never clicked. Or maybe they did and i'm still scarred about LeChance's fate :stuck_out_tongue: Good call on the gay wood elves. That's a wonderful little quest. Man, Greenshade has loads of good quests now I think about it.

    Dragonborn2021

    I think the closest thing to a quest that could make my list from Skyrim is... Maybe Sanguine's quest or the Aetherium quest. The first one is still sorta hilarious and I love the idea of gertig blackout drunk with a Daedric Prince and everything involved in it. The Aetherium quest is one of the few that I think is a decent quest as long as you do it the 'right' wat and hunt down all the ruins,  figure out all the puzzles and just do it yourself.

    But yeah, I can't really think of any I like more and I'd take 80% of Oblivions quests over both of them

    Speaking of Oblivion, I forgot yo mention the Blackwood Company quests, I thought they were excellent and kinda fascinating.

    Tene-bro

    TBH, Daedric quests in Skyrim are my fav, generally speaking

    Ilani

    I agree about Lex!! And Blackwood Company was fun. Yeah, Skyrim really phoned it in as far as quest lines. But if you have a discussion about favorite places in TES games, mine are all in Skyrim.

    Ilani

    Oh, and I forgot about Lucien. I don’t know why I liked that guy so much, but he was so intriguing.

    Ilani

    And that was just another lovely level of depth to the oblivion quests, re Lex. The gray fox doesn’t want him destroyed; he wants him in Anvil not to get him out of the way, but to look after the countess. Just adorable. No, it’s not as great for lex, career wise, but it’s not horrible.

    Dragonborn2021

    I think the best thing about the Thieves Guild in Oblivion is just how well it handles progression. The whole fence goods to rank up in the guild is a perfect in-game justification for adding a sense of progression to the quests.

    Admittedly its easy as shit to fence that much and I'd prefer a far higher level but its something that they pulled off really well in Oblivion. Honestly don't think they nailed it in Morrowind or Skyrim or the rest of Oblivion really.

    A-POCKY-HAH

    I actually enjoyed the start of the Mages Guild questline in Oblivion where you go to the guild Hall in each county to earn the guildmasters' recommendation for you to enter the Arcane University.

    It makes you feel like you're actually working your way into joining that exclusive society rather than the "cast a spell; BOOM! you're in!" treatment Skyrim gave us.

    Also, there was this one ESO quest in Suran that I enjoyed playing through. It involved trying to help a Dunmer father reconcile with his children. It was quite touching really.

    Dragonborn2021

    Oh shit yeah the Mages Guild is nice, a lot of the quests you need to do in order to get the recommendations are fairly fascinating as well. From the ring in a well to the seer's amulet and all that.

    Just some really good quests to start you off, shame it was sort of the peak in my opinion, never really thought the guild was that well written

    Ilani

    So many different personalities, too. Ugh, I’m going to have to play Oblivion again soon. Wow, it’ll be a real hardship to listen to Sean Bean’s voice. :heart_eyes:

    A-POCKY-HAH

    When you realize a character is voiced by Sean Bean, there's a high chance that they're going to die.

    Dragonborn2021

    Oh, there's also the...shit can't remember the name at the moment but the quest in Oblivion where you jump into the Painted World (I mean, it pales in comparison to the Painted World in DS1 but you know...), just a fun little quest with a pretty crazy artifact that's kinda fascinating.

    Urgh, and I have an insane amount of love for the Arena, everything about it is just weirdly fun and silly for an Arena that tries to take itself so seriously (and I love that you could bet on fights and how randomly tacked on that felt).

    Ilani

    I love the painted world! Except for the trolls. But that enchanted paintbrush is amazing.

    Dragonborn2021

    That's entirely fair, those trolls were incredibly annoying about 1000% of the time. Really trolls were just dicks in Oblivion

    Tene-bro

    And in Skyrim

    And ESO

    Golden Fool

    But the paint thinner or whatever the unique poison was made things easier

    Dragonborn2021

    Eh I have no real issue with them on Skyrim, or at least haven't for years. ESO though, yeah that's fair, complete dicks there

    Ilani

    They’re great in Skyrim for leveling. I let one chase me across the Rift for a long time to level destruction since they just don’t fucking die.

    Dragonborn2021

    Since it's been a few days since anyone responded to the Weekly Discussion I'm going to consider that it's probably over. I'll be closing it in roughly 24 hours but I'd love to get people's thoughts on how it worked as a concept, and if there was anything you'd change about it.

    Feel free to drop your thoughts here or in the General Chat (or hit me up with a PM or whatever if you want to send a scathing reply :P).

    Ilani

    I like it. Of course.

    Dragonborn2021

    Just realized that I don't know how to close the discussion properly...so I'm just gonna leave it up until we finish the BETA and I can post this stuff :stuck_out_tongue:

    Tene-bro

    Oh dear :P

    Dragonborn2021

    Its fine, see I can cut all the parts of me being lame out of the final version :P (I did not in fact...cut out the parts of me being lame. They have stayed and I feel lame for doing so)