UESPWiki:Podcast/3 08

News

UESP:

We passed 4000 followers!

ESO:

Ayleid Crown Crates!

SO MANY PRETTY THINGS
Radiant Apex mounts are now available for purchase with Crown gems. A LOT of Crown gems.
1200 for the Wolf, 1600 for the Horse and 2500 for the Senche.
Remember, you get 4-5 Crown gems per Ouroboros free crate from Twitch drops!
Jester’s Festival
Aaaaaaaand it’s over already
That was fun though!
Jubilee Event!
Seventh anniversary of ESO (initial release 4th April 2014).
Happy birthday to the two UESP PC Guilds, which were founded in Early Access on 31st March 2014!
The Anniversary Jubilee event begins Thursday, April 1 at 10AM EDT, and will run until Tuesday, April 13 at 10AM EDT.


Blackwood preview event!
Wow that was short! Just a 20 minute long pre-recorded stream.
Lots of cool things! More later in the show!
ESO Live!
Gina and Jessica were joined by Jason Barnes, Zone Lead for Blackwood and Bill Slavicsek, Lead Writer.
Announced a patch on Monday for all platforms, will fix the friends list and guild roster bugs!
The Blackwood Prologue Quest is now live.



Dates for future ESO Lives have been announced - 16th April for a Companions Deep Dive.



Blackwood on PTS 19th April.

Next Gen Console updates!
ESO Console Enhanced Edition arrives June 8th with the Blackwood Chapter, for Xbox Series X and S and Playstation 5.
It will have improvements to graphics, textures, and lighting - and is FREE to anyone who owns ESO on Xbox One or PS4.
It has two new modes: Fidelity Mode (4k 30fps) and Performance Mode (1440p 60fps).


Free to play event!
ESO is currently having a Free Play Event until April 13 at 10am EDT / 2pm GMT. You can try out ESO on PC/Mac, PS4 or Xbox One without purchasing. 
If you try ESO for free and then purchase it, you can continue with the same account without losing any of your progress.


There is also a Crown Sale. Usual discounts:
40% off 21,000 Crowns.
35% off 14,000 Crowns.
30% off 5,500 Crowns.
25% off 3,000 Crowns.
20% off 1,500 Crowns.
Until April 14 on PS4, April 15 on PC/Mac/Stadia, and April 16 on Xbox.
ESO Standard Edition and Greymoor are also on sale, up to 60% off ESO and up to 67% off Greymoor. Dates as above.

Crown Store Showcase!

Breton Hero, Elven Hero, Nord Hero costumes return from April 5th to 13th. ESO Plus members get a discount on these items.
Three Music Boxes: Y'ffre in Every Leaf (AD), Sands of the Alik'r (DC), Hinterlands (EP) are all returning from April 5th to 13th. ESO Plus members get a discount on these items.
Music Box, Farewell to Nenalata will be available from April 8 to April 15.
Varlaisvea Ayleid Ruins house will be available until April 15.
Remember all limited-time offers finish at 10am EDT / 2pm GMT on the last day to avoid disappointment.
The Aetherial Well is now available for 3000 Crowns.
LYRANTH IS A HOUSE GUEST!! OMG WTF BBQ. 2500 Crowns.


Legends:


Blades:

The Blades Easter Hunt is on! In collaboration with GGs, the UESP is holding the event until Monday 11AM EDT. Participants are competing to create Blades creature images, earning points for the images! For precise details and rules, join the Discord:  

Call to Arms:


Other:


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Scholarly Pursuits
I will ask our guests what they have been working on in the world of TES! This can be game play, wiki work, discord things, anything relevant to UESP/TES that you’ve been working on the past couple weeks / when you were last on the show.

Pylawn
I built another new keyboard
I think I have a problem, lol
This one is an aluminum Drop CTRL low profile
Kailh Box Brown Switches (again)
Lubed and clipped stabilizers
Stupidfish Keyboard Foam (This stuff is amazing)
Thank you LotusofDoom for the most epic delivery services
HKGaming Pudding PBT Keycaps
Pro tip for people  on those lol
Had like no Internet for a week so not much ESO
Had a wild April Fools day stream
Blindfolds, one handed, no UIs
It was a lot of fun

Doc
Did a bit of the Jester’s festival..enough to get my tix and get the final event piece(shard I think?) in order to get my skin. BTW That skin is FIRE when combined with the Spiderkith eyes you can get in the new Ayleid crates...My Argonian looks HOTTT. ;)
Also did the new quest a few times...I liked the pranks one. It was cute.
Have been spending ALOT of time working on my Stone Eagle Aerie house...it’s coming along very nicely, and I can’t wait to show everyone once I’m done!
The parsing quest for my Magcro has been concluded! I hit 91k...and I’m satisfied. Now on to my Magblade! 
The Ayleid Well addition is AMAZING and worth every crown IMO. If you’re big into parsing or have a guild home, it is absolute 100% worth it!
Been doing SO MANY DAILIES during the Jubilee event
Obviously crafting dailies, but I’ve also been running Reach dailies for the Furnishing plans...I’ve had hardly any luck! =(
Let’s talk about the crazy maintenance we had on Tuesday for console peeps. 13 hours for playstation users...around 11hrs for Xbox...not really sure what it was for...nothing was fixed(at least on ps4’s end) SUPER WEIRD.

baratron
I liked the new quests in the Jester’s Festival, although I only ever got the same one for the Prankster’s Carnival in Stonefalls. (Klumbert). Supposedly there are at least three.

Watched all the things and live tweeted when I could!
MANY DAILIES in Jubilee Event. MANY Imperial Champion and Jephrine Paladin Style Pages. Ask me in-game for free stuff!
Ran a very messy but ultimately useful Veteran Maw of Lorkhaj training run (turned out that a lot of us had forgotten a lot of mechanics).
Ran a very sexy NAKED STONEFIST run on PC-EU.
Got a bunch of achievements with my Unnamed Dungeon Group on EU.

Topic: Blackwood Preview

What have we learned so far?

Companions

Relatively little information so far. 
Companions begin at Level 1. They are obtainable through quests and have further story quests of their own.
They level up in combat with you.
As they level up, they will gain more ability slots. However, they will attempt to use abilities in the order that you slot them.
Their friendliness with you can go up or down based on your actions (e.g. Justice - some don’t approve of thieving).
Their costumes and mounts will be customisable based on items that you own.
We’ve seen the first two Companions to be added (with a disclaimer that their appearances may change before release). The male is Imperial (I think), the female is Dunmer.
Interestingly the male Companion appears to be a Dragonknight - we don't yet know whether his class is fixed or can be chosen by players.
You can assign them to be Damage Dealers, Healers, or Tanks.
You can use them in all content except for Solo Arenas and PvP. They are able to be used in Trials (so no more scrabbling around to find 12 warm bodies for Aetherian Archive).
More information expected in ESO Live on 16th April.

Blackwood

You will be able to run from Northern Elsweyr straight into Blackwood through a gate! The other side of the zone is connected to Shadowfen. 
The theme they’ve been working to is "familiar, but different".

Leyawiin will be the hub city for the Blackwood chapter, featuring the bank and crafting stations. 
More of the city is usable than in TES IV since it isn't flooded yet, and there is a dock outside the city on the River Niben.
The Chapel of Zenithar and Castle Leyawiin are the main features of Leyawiin.
Leyawiin buildings are still coloured though not as brightly as in TES IV. 
The city is run by a council of Legates - one Argonian, one Imperial and one Khajiit.
Castle Leyawiin features a statue of Sai Sahan who single-handedly saved the city from Emperor Leovic. Bill wanted him to have a longer beard but the Art Department said no.
There’s another statue of Sai in the marketplace.
There is a player house near the Castle - Jason claims it has "two bathrooms" (that might be an April Fool).
The Ivory Brigade are the defenders of Leyawiin.
Captain Rian Liore wears the Ivory Brigade motif. He needs your help for the Main Quest. 

The city of Gideon is built on top of Ayleid ruins. 
It looks Imperial, but is run by Argonians. 
There are more Argonians playing vossa-satl for your frog music needs.
Gideon is a safe haven but surrounding areas are not.

In TES IV, Border Watch is a tiered forest town. In ESO, it's a fortress trying to prevent the Three Banners War from spilling down from the north.
The White Stallion Inn has been taken over by dogs and you CAN pet them! (or dance with them).
Undertow Cavern is a delve familiar from TES IV, where it is flooded. Here it is occupied by minotaurs and goblins.
Veyond Ruins brings back Revus Demnevanni.
There's also a shrine to Nocturnal, and she will remember if you've dealt with her before.
Other familiar locations include Arpenia, Deepscorn Hollow and Bloodrun Cave.
There is a ruined castle, Castle Giovesse, from the Lorebook 2920, with restless ghosts.
There are Argonian villages called Stone Wastes and Farmer's Nook.
Zenithar's Abbey is a new area and Public Dungeon. His Anvil will be important in the story, according to Bill.
New enemies include Bog Dogs and Death Hoppers. It is very important to Bill that you understand the Death Hopper is a Frog, not a Toad. There will be a Bog Dog puppy pet.
There is a new Trial called Rockgrove. A future ESOLive with Finn will show it in detail. 

Returning Characters!

We will be meeting Lady Laurent and Stibbons again, and the House of Reveries from Summerset.

Daedric Stuffs

Oblivion Portals will appear at random on the map and will take you to an island, of similar size to a Public Dungeon. Different islands will have different Daedric enemies, cultists, and champion mini-bosses.
Oblivion Portals will stay open in Blackwood for a short amount of time. Players who go through the same portal SHOULD (subject to change from PTS feedback) enter on the same island whether they are grouped or not. The aim is to get to the tower in the middle.
There are (at least) two new Daedric enemies. The Ruinach is a four-armed monster which looks like a small Mehrunes Dagon. There is also the Havocrel which we saw during Jason’s tour of the Oblivion Portal (but we’re not sure which actual enemy it is).
Thanks to Bill for confirming the name & spelling via Twitter.
Doomvaults are placed around Blackwood and "may or may not have something to do with Leovic's secret". They are bigger on the inside than the outside, "connective tubes between Nirn and planes of Oblivion." They are places where the Longhouse Emperors hid weapons.