ESO Rift Quest Writing: Then vs Now

It’s been a blast revisiting The Elder Scrolls Online for Choose My Adventure. Thanks to everyone who voted me into Tamriel this past month. This week I dove deeper into the Rift—the zone where my in-game house is parked—and what I found was a gorgeous contrast between launch-era content and the sharper writing of recent expansions.

The Rift originally was a level 38–43 zone, but One Tamriel’s level smoothing erased that gate, letting me ignore Coldharbor’s main quest and just explore. This temperate forest of pine trees and dramatic skyboxes is exactly the kind of fantasy setting I’d want to live in—basically the best parts of Skyrim in one zone. I prefer walking over mounting, so I happily roamed to every black-arrow quest marker that popped up, taking more screenshots of trees than any reasonable person should.

Quest Writing: Then vs. Now

The side quests in the Rift felt bland compared to newer zones like Summerset. I dealt with a plot against a town leader, freed souls heading to Sovengarde, and encountered the ever-present Worm Cult. The most interesting quest involved a merchant’s stolen silks, which ended with a cute twist and a satisfying resolution. The remaining quests followed a similarly generic pattern. It really drove home how much the writing has improved—Summerset’s storytelling felt night and day compared to this vanilla-era content.

A Little Agency Goes a Long Way

Despite the dated side stories, ESO’s themepark elements feel less forced than in other MMOs. I created a second character—a Nightblade Werewolf—without the Skills Advisor, and I’ve loved the extra freedom. I may not be meta-optimized, but the balance of agency and structure keeps me hooked.

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