With the storyline around Elsweyr and the dragons, Zenimax aims to introduce a new type of storytelling into the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online.
The Season of the Dragon already shows the direction the journey is taking. The entire year of 2019 will focus on this theme. This is reminiscent of the Living Story from Guild Wars 2, which is also told in seasons with interconnected episodes.
A large, cohesive story
What is different compared to 2018? With the Elsweyr storyline, the developers of ESO will tell a cohesive story throughout the entire year. All DLCs released by the end of 2019 will revolve around this theme. This theme focuses on:
- The land of Elsweyr
- The people of Khajiit
- The necromancers
- The dragons
Zenimax wants to provide you with a storytelling method similar to that found in Netflix series. When you watch a season of a series there, it usually has a continuous theme, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery. The first season of the series revolves around the war against the Klingons. The soon-to-start second season will take up a new theme.
And just like in a Netflix series, the zone guide in Elsweyr will remember where you left off in the story when you log out and will lead you back to the current story quest immediately when you log back in.
How has it been so far? In the past year 2018, the ESO DLCs released were:
- Dragonbone
- Wolfhunter
- Murkmire
- In between, the addon Summerset was released
Thematically, there was basically no connection between the stories of the expansions. As a player, you essentially jumped from one small or sometimes larger story to the next. It lacked the feeling of pursuing an epic story.
2019 brings a long, cohesive story
What does the new narrative structure bring? Zenimax has the opportunity to tell a more epic and longer story through the “season”, which can be developed more profoundly. The threat will not be resolved relatively quickly.
Additionally, this storytelling method keeps players engaged longer, as the tension builds throughout the year leading up to the grand finale.
Is there still much to discover on the side? Despite the focus on a cohesive storyline, you will still find much more in Elsweyr and the DLCs this year. Because aside from the main quests, there’s, of course, plenty to explore and experience.
In order not to disrupt the immersion and exploration of the world, even in 2019, there is not expected to be the introduction of a minimap in ESO, as Kai Schober from Zenimax explained in the live stream.
Whether this type of storytelling will also be maintained in ESO in 2020 is something Zenimax has not revealed in our interview yet. However, it’s an exciting innovation for the MMORPG that many players have wished for.
