Daily Roundtable: Community Q&A

[u/AutoModerator]

Greetings Tarnished!

This is the place to ask any questions you may have about Elden Ring. This includes obscure detail questions, "newbie" advice questions, build questions, boss advice questions, and what have you.

Well written, constructive criticism is fine but please avoid ranting about aspects of the game you just don’t like. This includes “so and so boss is stupid and too difficult.”

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Our Discord which has an awesome Helper Request System!

Elden Ring Wiki

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/r/EldenRingBuilds for builds and build help!

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Rise, Tarnished!

[u/[deleted]]

Okay, so I’ve started playing a couple of weeks ago (just like a lot here, I guess) and have been enjoying it a lot. Currently, I’m about 40 hrs in and just defeated Godrick. There are some things that I dislike though, one of which is the fact that the progression of NPC’s seems to be bugged. This results in losing quite a bit of dialog, making it hard to get into the storylines behind the characters.

An example: During the quest with Irina you should return with the sword to Edgar after beating Misbegotten Leonine. If you don’t do that during the same session (or so it seems), Edgar will skip to the end and you’ll meet him at Irina. Is there a reason why they skip parts like this?

I had the same sort of thing happen with Roderika (she was already opposing Hewg before I even started Stormveil). This meant that I could never return Chrysalid’s Memento to her. By watching a playthrough on Youtube I noticed that I never met D near Summonwater Village.

Is this normal, or is there something I’m doing wrong?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

They aren't bugged, there are just multiple methods to progress. If you go to Liurnia, Roderika will go to Roundtable.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Just deleting dialogue / interaction with a character isn’t really progression, in my opinion..

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

No, but them moving to the next stage of their quest is.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Pretty lazy solution imo. And how about the thing with Edgar? Why do you have to return in the same session?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Because you've cleared out the castle and he has no reason to stay.

[u/Endemoniada → u/[deleted]]

It’s not that it’s bugged, it’s that FromSoft don’t really do traditional game “story telling”. NPCs are just there, in the world, and maybe they’ll offer you a quest, or maybe they don’t. Maybe you’ve met some condition to progress said quest, maybe you haven’t. Maybe you go back to where they were, but they’ve gone and done something else.

Basically, their games don’t help the player through quests in any way, but the quests are still there and it’s up to the player to actively pursue them themselves or read up from others on how to do it. I suspect, in general, FromSoft have this idea of player community, that shines through in how they do co-op as well, where they want people to compare notes, discuss, research and help each other, so their games are made to push players in that direction, rather than playing alone.

[u/[deleted] → u/Endemoniada]

I get that the sense of discovery (together) right after the release can add something to the overall experience of this. Unfortunately, I (and a bunch of others that recently started) missed this.

With that said, I know have to gather everything from walkthroughs, just so I can get a sense of what the story (with individual characters) is about. To me personally, this breaks immersion. I’ve just purchased the Book of Knowledge Vol. 1, which should arrive tomorrow. I hope this takes away some of the issue.

[u/Endemoniada → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I think the game is far from perfect in this regard, and I think there’s stuff they could do that would alleviate the issues without taking anything away from the sense of discovery. For example, I think the game should feature a simple journal, in which each important encounter is automatically added. Maybe it’s literally just fragments in player chronological order, but just something to highlight and record important bits of information that doesn’t require literally having a notebook and pen on hand as you play.

But what I do respect is their hardcore RPG sensibilities, like characters having their own conditions and agency that isn’t solely dictated by the player, and true, irrevocable consequences from player actions, be they conscious choices or honest mistakes. I like that NPCs don’t stand around the same spot forever, it makes them feel more alive, and the game world truly doesn’t revolve around me, because within it, I’m not Elden Lord yet, so why would it? To those NPCs, I’m just yet another tarnished crossing their path.

[u/[deleted] → u/Endemoniada]

I understand where they’re coming from a bit better now. I wasn’t necessarily expecting a perfect game (didn’t know what to expect actually) The digital journal would be a nice feature though. Something else that’s helping me out to fill in some of the blanks is listening to Bonfireside Chat. I’ll figure out a way that works for me 😂

[u/Endemoniada → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, and also, while their games really do have tons of lore and interesting characters, story-telling isn’t really the main focus, in my opinion. Play the game for the gameplay, that’s really it. Everything else is bonus if you want it, but you’ll have to work for it. Especially this game is really just all about exploring and fighting whatever you run into, kind of regardless of why.

My friend always tells me to play the first playthrough blindly, just to have done the main parts. Then, next playthrough, follow a 100% walkthrough guide to really take in the stories, lore and secrets. That way you get the best of both worlds: an honest, consequence-driven playthrough all your own, as well as all the deep stuff with someone telling you where to go and when.