No Integration?

[Cocytus]

Evening. First post.

I downloaded TR for the first time two days ago, having only just replaced my laptop's optic drive after about six months, so no Morrowind available period. Now that it's back, I've gotten several dozen mods to help improve my game experience. (Whether this will all come crashing down around my ears like a clumsily stacked house of cards remains to be seen.) One of the most recent ones was Tamriel Rebuilt, and I must say I'm impressed, by the scope if nothing else.

However, one thing does bug me about it; it is almost entirely segregated from the main game. I had expected to, at the very least, see a couple east-coast Vvardenfel ports offer transport to the mainland, but ultimately the only reason I got there at all was because I was fed up with it and just swam there from Tel Mora, wandering the countryside for a few minutes before stumbling over Firewatch.

Either way, I was at least satisfied with having finally reached civilization. As I always do, I hit the smithies first. (After dealing with a nasty case of Astral Vapors, that is.) I noticed several new items for sale, and I was giddy as could be. I began boat-hopping about the country looking for more, when suddenly a bit of Fridge Logic dawned; why haven't I seen any of this back in Vvardenfel?

With Bloodmoon and Tribunal, this made sense. Adamantine simply didn't occcur on the island, it was too warm for Stalhrim, and bears, wolves, and goblins weren't native. With the exception of a few outlanders who brought it with them, you couldn't expect to find that sort of stuff in Vvardenfel.

But those weren't the items that bothered me. It was stuff that expanded on material already present in Vvardenfel that broke immersion. Why wouldn't you be able to find Chitin Longswords, or Nordic Iron Pauldrons, or Bonemold open-faced helms? Why wouldn't the Telvanni guards on Vvardenfel wear the same Mole Crab stuff the mainlanders did? It's called a uniform for a reason.

So, my question I suppose is; why are the leveled lists not modified to include these new items? Finding them only in one isolated area breaks immersion, badly.

[Thrignar Fraxix]

Official reason: It is our policy not to touch the original games. This is to minimize conflicts, among other reasons I can't recall off hand.

In game reason: Vvardenfel is backwoods hick land. There are naturally going to be differences because of this. I don't know if you have noticed this, but the mainland versions of factions are also seperate. You get a few ranks if you are the grand master, but not a free pass. This is both to allow you to play the questlines, and because if you are the mayor of a town of 500 people, you don't have the experience to lea the entire country.

[Cocytus]

I think I'll run with the first one. It sounds less Hand Wave-y. (Sorry, I speak TVTropes. If it's annoying I'll try to stop. ) And yes, I did notice that. It made sense to an extent. (Perhaps automatically gaining a certain number of ranks in a faction based on your record in Vvardenfel. Alternatively, each territory having it's own version of each faction.) After all, whats-his-face, the stupid bald guy, was explicitly the Archmage of the Vvardenfel District Mages Guild.

On the other hand, the complete inability to get to the mainland remains an issue.

[Thrignar Fraxix]

There are addons, some of which are made by TR related people, that add travel between the mainland and Vvardenfel. I don't know which ones they are though. Someone will see this and know though. I can't imagine a helpful response will take long to pop up.

[Cocytus]

Given the scope of the project, I'm honestly suprised I haven't found any already. I half-expected Mythic Mods to have an entire page devoted to you guys on their Theme/Specialty lists.

[Haplo]

Future iterations will likely include some different types of travel too and from the mainland, but that will likely be the extent of our involvement with the original content (aside from some other, necessary, modifications).

[gro-Dhal]

So, my question I suppose is; why are the leveled lists not modified to include these new items? Finding them only in one isolated area breaks immersion, badly.

There's a third-party mod that does this, i've forgotten the name of it.

[Why]

How about BC's Tamriel Rebuilt Census and Excise Travel Links?

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21156

[Cocytus]

How about BC's Tamriel Rebuilt Census and Excise Travel Links?

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21156

Much obliged. *downloads*

[Katze]

Using the intervention spells on the east coast of Vvardenfell will also get you there with a minimum of fuss.

[Dragon32]

So, my question I suppose is; why are the leveled lists not modified to include these new items? Finding them only in one isolated area breaks immersion, badly.

There's a third-party mod that does this, i've forgotten the name of it.

TR Equipment on Vvardenfell by Arthmodeus, get it from the [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=19956]Mods for Telvannis[/url] thread.

[greendogo]

I can understand your feelings about immersion breaking decisions on behalf of the team. However, they are all extremely logical parts of the overall plan. In order to maximize popularity of the TR mods, it would make sense that you wouldn't want it to interfere with your other favorite mods.

Given the qualities of the Morrowind community, it will only be a matter of time until the smattering of TR-related mods turn into hundreds. The Morrowind community is creative and has many hard working and dedicated modders. I, for one, fully expect there to be multiple Vvardenfell-Mainland integration mods. TR is just too good not to be a major thrust of others' creative energies.

[Kiteflyer61]

IMO, there will be a whole slew of TR based mods after the next release. Going to a single mainland file will make updating with future releases a breeze. Then all the currently available space that has already been released will be a much more "stable" (unchanging) place. Modders will then have a whole lot of room to put new things, without worrying that the next TR update will render their work unusable.

I'm looking forward to the next release as much for the new, stable landmass to build on, as I am for the new content.
I, personally, plan to do a lot of TR dependent mods in the near future.