Hey all.

I may have missed something, obviously, but this is a user experience feedback, more than a bug report.

The feedback

As far as I've tested, I'm under the impression that Padus can't be elected Ashkhan right now, because Hibdun will always have an issue with this.

First issue : Hibdun just won't accept

I have a high Personality character, and I've brought him to 100/100 disposition before trying to persuade him to elect Padus, but it seems that he won't change his mind. Frenzying him or taunting him doesn't work as killing a member of the tribe simply renders becoming the Obainat Nerevarine impossible.

Deactivating him with the console won't work either : the Wise-woman still considers a vote is missing, as far as I understand.

Second issue : It's "easy" to soft-lock Hibdun into not even speaking to us

Because he is the quest-giver for "Poison the well" quest, if we fail this quest (or just take the goofy route by drinking the poison e.g.), he enters in a state where we can't even interact with him. Thus, we can't persuade him to elect Padus.

Admittedly, if playing RP, one shouldn't frustrate a member of the tribe, and it would be understandable that failing his quest would have an impact on our relationship with the Obainat and our ability to steer the election.

I'd argue that it's still slightly anti-gameplay (I don't have the right words), to create this kind of possibility to soft-lock quests.

(I would also argue that there is more : The "poison the well" quest description can easily be misunderstood. Indeed, when following the directions to the pool one must poison, we first encounter a bigger pool than the actual target. It also kind of forms a pool, and it also has a small waterfall just a bit upstream from it. It actually corresponds to the description, but it's not the right one. The player has to pass this first pool and find the little one, that's closer to the Hlaalu settlement. This create a higher potential for frustration by the player, who may be persuaded he has the right "small waterfall" and "pool", ending in drinking the poison (like I did), and thus, also creates a higher chance of softlocking the possibility of electing Padus).

 

I'm willing to discuss this topic if I didn't grasp something about quest design, but I wanted to share my experience !

It is my first post and I'm willing to accept if my views simply are not the views of the dev team, but I'm generally interrested in game design, in terms of UX, and that's the kind of things that I tend to notice when playing. This one is the first example, I may come with more :)
That being said, I think you've generally done a better job than the original Morrowind at UX, in terms of quest scripting and user guidance, I'm just pointing out things that maybe could be improved.

I take this opportunity to further congratulate the team for the quality of TR. I am truly amazed by the work that's been done, and it feels like it was hidden from sight and that I've discovered a gem. Kudos to you.