Main Storyline: A suggestion

[vettkinn]

Comrades, DDO needs to have a good "main storyline". I know that all quests have a story in them: The infiltrators from Sharn, Mummy man and his ambitions for godhood, the Xoriat Cult, etc. The most noticeable of these is the Stormreaver storyline, which is referenced a lot in the lower and mid levels and continues .

However, these storylines are actually too short and they hardly control the events in the game. If someone is to summarize the game's story for others, they would probably say:

People got stranded in some village and started killing fishmen, then kobolds, then orcs, then hobgoblins, then giants, then dragons, then demons, and they grind happily ever after and stuff

The devs (or the writers, if any) can either make an ubervillain or turn one of the current villains into an uber villain. If the current main storyline revolves around the Giants, Dragons and the Stormreaver, then it should get more "candy" such as cutscenes or movie clips like the intro.

[mediocresurgeon]

Hmm... doesn't Sor'Jek count as a BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy)? He's a recurring enemy, and I don't think we've seen the last of him... or the Truthful One (the most-anticipated raid boss to-date).

[Kriogen]

DDO has so called main storyline. It actually has more then one. Or maybe it's just one and i can't spot the connection.

It has something to do with the some sort of Prophecy. Something about acient invasion from outer space and how dragons and giants wanted to stop it, plan worked, but with side effects. Has alot to do with Velah reading some old books in Kundarak vaults, old titanic machines from that old war, Stormreaver, undead giants and undead dragons.

Im not sure about all, but "raids" and flaging for raids have a lot to do with main storyline.

Unfortunately this is not marked in quest journal. Story is there, just not "marked".

[rossiza]

Ok, Scene 1:

Your an adventurer, adventuring for loot and gold.

Fin.

Tada.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

You aren't paying enough attention. There is definately a main storyline. There are several threads that continue to weave and interweave starting at Korthos and moving all the way up to L20.

Not everything is connected to it, but if you are reading the quest stories its hard to miss.

Here is a quick outline, I'm missing several of the related sideplots:

The Necropolis storyline starts at low level (L6 I think) and takes you through to a L16(?) raid where you face off against the Black Abbot who is trying to achieve godhood.

At level 8-10 you will run the Tempist Spine raid, where you will face Sorjek, a pretender to the Storm Reaver who is bent on evil domination and whom you must kill.

At L8-12 you will run the Vault of the Night series which ends in fight where you kill a red dragon who insists she came to save Eberson

At L10-12 you will encounter the Giant Hold, where you will learn that you probably shouldn't have killed that red dragon as she really did come to save us. Her student, a blue dragon who comes to you in humanoid form, engages you to continue the fight that the Red Dragon started. During the quests you will encounter two chars you first met in the VON series and eventually face off against the real Storm Reaver, a hero from past stories who for some reason seems bent on destroying Stormreach.

At L14-16 you will enter the Vale of Twilight where you will discover that your kiling of the Black Abbot has actually provided an opportunity for an invasion force from the plane of Shavarath. You will face three raids to defeat this invasion, and you will only be able to banish two of the raid bosses to their home plane, not kill them.

Also at L14-16 another dragon will arrive in humanoid form and after hearing about your previous work against the Reaver they will recruit you and you will discover that the Storm Reaver has retreated to the Reavers Refuge where you will aid him in saving stormreach by facing off against a now more powerful Sorjek. You will see the Korthos white dragon make another appearance in this quest chain.

L16-20 you will take the battle to save Eberon to Shavarath itself. Two of the raid bosses from the invasion will appear again, along with new more powerful enemies

[vettkinn]

DDO has so called main storyline. It actually has more then one. Or maybe it's just one and i can't spot the connection.

It has something to do with the some sort of Prophecy. Something about acient invasion from outer space and how dragons and giants wanted to stop it, plan worked, but with side effects. Has alot to do with Velah reading some old books in Kundarak vaults, old titanic machines from that old war, Stormreaver, undead giants and undead dragons.

Im not sure about all, but "raids" and flaging for raids have a lot to do with main storyline.

Unfortunately this is not marked in quest journal. Story is there, just not "marked".

Indeed, I'm pretty sure that the main storyline made by the Turbine comrades is the Stormreaver one.

But I wonder, since (I think) Eberron is owned by Wizards of the Coast, I wonder if they need to have some sort of permission to add lore or change lore in the world. As opposed to WoW, Blizzard can do whatever they want with their game (kill Ilidan, then make Ilidan alive again, introduce aliens, spaceships, motorbikes, etc.).

[Talon_Moonshadow]

I don't think we need one main sorty line. I think we do already have a few good ones going on.

I do wish there was a consolidated source of the story lines that was viewable somewhere.

One of my complaints about the game is that I can do a quest and never know what the NPCs actually told us to do...especially the ones inside the quest.
Party leader talks to NPC and it all happens so fast that we never get to even read what is going on. Plus we miss the options that the party leader chooses in the dialog. Even if we did have time to read it.

I would love to see a place on the forums to read up on the story lines.....like when I'm somewhere I cannot actually get in game to play.

[Syrophir]

I don't think we need one main sorty line. I think we do already have a few good ones going on.

I do wish there was a consolidated source of the story lines that was viewable somewhere.

One of my complaints about the game is that I can do a quest and never know what the NPCs actually told us to do...especially the ones inside the quest.
Party leader talks to NPC and it all happens so fast that we never get to even read what is going on. Plus we miss the options that the party leader chooses in the dialog. Even if we did have time to read it.

I would love to see a place on the forums to read up on the story lines.....like when I'm somewhere I cannot actually get in game to play.

Agree.

I think it's not that people have to pay more attention maybe it's that sometimes it's almost too hard.
Quest log skips all sort of things especially what these NPC-chars say and if people have to suggest a main story then the current stories are too well hidden even it's definately not on purpose.
People can see the places pretty easily but not all parts of the story.

[Memnir]

The game has several main narratives going - not just one. They also weave into one another, build off each other, and intersect. Which, I prefer - as it gives the Devs flexibility on what narrative to advance and give us variety in terms of adversaries and objectives.

Also, were they to add just one main storyline, it would reach a natural ending - and then we'd be left without anything left to pursue as a "main" objective. We'd be left with either lame attempts to artificially extend the story that just ended via a "surprise twist" subplot- or a disappointing attempt at bringing the main bad guy back to keep things going.

As a DM, I try to create worlds that can sustain more than just one adventure's worth of plot - and the players in the game can continue on in that setting as long as interest remains. I'm glad Turbine did likewise.

Besides, the game has little enough "endgame" content as it is - it would be a shame to reach a literal "end of game".

[grodon9999]

Harry's story isn't over after ToD, he needs to make a comeback.

Expand on "In the Demon's den." More Amrath stuff in the Demon area would be awesome.

[MalakRevan]

At L10-12 you will encounter the Giant Hold, where you will learn that you probably shouldn't have killed that red dragon as she really did come to save us. Her student, a blue dragon who comes to you in humanoid form, engages you to continue the fight that the Red Dragon started. During the quests you will encounter two chars you first met in the VON series and eventually face off against the real Storm Reaver, a hero from past stories who for some reason seems bent on destroying Stormreach.

Nicely done tying everything in together +1 for that.

Question tho, what two characters do you run into in GH from the VoN series? Haven't noticed any that I have ran into before, unless I am just being blind and ignorant.

[vettkinn]

Also, were they to add just one main storyline, it would reach a natural ending - and then we'd be left without anything left to pursue as a "main" objective. We'd be left with either lame attempts to artificially extend the story that just ended via a "surprise twist" subplot- or a disappointing attempt at bringing the main bad guy back to keep things going.

Lol, sounds just like that other game. WoW, I mean.



Well, according to some posts in here, the longest chain / storyline apparently is the Stormreaver one. Turbine should make some ice candy out of that in the form of a cutscene / movie thingy (like the intro).

[AZgreentea]

I'm not really familiar with Ebberon compared to The Forgotten Realms, so I looked it up in Wikipedia. Wikipedia actually helped me see the overall plot in the game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Eberron

After I read that, I began to understand the significance between the story lines in all of the major quests. I looked back to things that NPC's had said and they all began to connect. For example, the Dragon in Misery's Peak orders the Illithid to release him (her?) because "this is not my role in the prophecy!". The important thing is to not just pay attention to the plot of the Quest, but catch all of the comments the NPC's and Monsters make when you see them in the quest.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Nicely done tying everything in together +1 for that.

Question tho, what two characters do you run into in GH from the VoN series? Haven't noticed any that I have ran into before, unless I am just being blind and ignorant.

In the Cruicible you run into a little kobold (the one you can convince to break out a floor) who was the gatekeeper in Von1. It's not a big roll, more of a guest appearance.

Hmm...now I'm blanking on the second, but I could have sworn there was another...

[Qzipoun]

In the Cruicible you run into a little kobold (the one you can convince to break out a floor) who was the gatekeeper in Von1. It's not a big roll, more of a guest appearance.

Hmm...now I'm blanking on the second, but I could have sworn there was another...

Grogan... Even if we killed him

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Grogan... Even if we killed him

Ah, thank you! I knew there was another lol.

And killing doesn't matter, haven't you noticed all those spirit binders around town? I imagine he just remembered to bind before we killed him and he rez'd out to a tavern somewhere.

[vettkinn]

In the Cruicible you run into a little kobold (the one you can convince to break out a floor) who was the gatekeeper in Von1. It's not a big roll, more of a guest appearance.

What? I don't remember this. I'll go check once I have the time.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

What? I don't remember this. I'll go check once I have the time.

The DM text even tells you he looks familiar when you meet him after the agility test.

[MalakRevan]

In the Cruicible you run into a little kobold (the one you can convince to break out a floor) who was the gatekeeper in Von1. It's not a big roll, more of a guest appearance.

Hmm...now I'm blanking on the second, but I could have sworn there was another...

Huh, never caught that before.....Thanks for the info. I love how all the quest storylines in DDO tie in together and also fit the lore of Eberron with the Draconic Prophecy and everything. Can't wait for more Dragonmarks and other Eberron goodies to be added.

[Waukeen]

The story lines in DDO simply non-linear with web connections and options of order of completion, and whether to complete at all. This is the essence of D&D.

It seems to me through the series of you latest "suggestions" Vettkin that you might be better served either watching a movie, playing through a Final Fantasy Title, or reading a fantasy novel. All of these will have the ranged one shot kills and linear story line progression that needs to be obvious for you.

Might I suggest FF VII?



Hey they look familiar too.