Am I exploiting ESO by swimming to dump aggro? It always works...

Centigrade

I caught myself doing it a lot while crafting and exploring. It's part of most MMO structures, I get it---but it's an immersion breaker for me that I'll try to avoid (for love of the game & Tamriel ). 

TheLizardbones

It depends on what the developers say about it.  You are, however, breaking the rules of these forums by posting the same thing in multiple sub-forums.

 

Centigrade

My apologies---I wanted to move the question, but couldn't figure out...multi quote I think it is? anyhow, I'll edit that one to be blank, thanks for the heads up.

Natjur

As swimming allows the mob to 'reset' (runs back and full heals) then no, its not cheating.

But there are a few spots (jumping between two bits of land over water) that 'tricks' the mobs, so they do not reset, but they go on a long run and this allows you to easy kill/kite them but then again theses same mobs are easy to kill anyway.

 

If you got a group/world boss to bug this way and allowed you to solo them, then maybe. But there are builds that can solo world bosses anyway.

 

Sephros

Dont see the harm. unless somehow yoy have found a way to split mobs that arent supposed to be split

gwei1984

As long as you dont find a spot, where you can kill mobs without them having a chance to get you, youre fine.

Blazer6992

I think I used to do that in SWG.

 

Dibdabs

It's not really that different to just running away far enough.  I used to run into the water in WoW, back in the day 

 

Jumping off a cliff sometimes shook off pursuit too, and I do that in this game too.

DKLond

Since there's no advantage involved, there's no exploit.

In most MMOs, mobs start "evading" when they can no longer deal damage to you. This is the standard anti-exploit mechanic. In ESO - they simply run back and reset.

There's no way to pick locks or do anything similar while enemies are attacking you, so I don't really see how this could ever be an exploit.

WW4BW

  It is clear that you are exploiting a weakness in the game. There is no sensible argument to the contrary.

  But if its ok to do that or if its something that should get you banned is another matter.

  Escaping combat and resetting the mob is one thing. And that I think everyone can agree is the norm for games.. a few games dont have it, but most do.

 At the other end of the spectrum; if you can keep attacking the mob without the mob retaliating, that is certainly banable in some games. Personally I prefer it if they allow the exploit until they fix it so it wont work.. 

mithrillion

Originally posted by WW4BW

  It is clear that you are exploiting a weakness in the game. There is no sensible argument to the contrary.

  But if its ok to do that or if its something that should get you banned is another matter.

  Escaping combat and resetting the mob is one thing. And that I think everyone can agree is the norm for games.. a few games dont have it, but most do.

 At the other end of the spectrum; if you can keep attacking the mob without the mob retaliating, that is certainly banable in some games. Personally I prefer it if they allow the exploit until they fix it so it wont work.. 

Well from a normal MMO perspective, making a mob stuck while still attacking it is clearly an exploit. However utilizing these tricks is actually quite common in the Elder Scrolls series. Usually these things are quite situational, not easy to pull it off every single time, and need some deep understanding of the mechanics. Remember people soloing giants at level 1 in Skyrim? Unless high value loot is concerned, I don't think these tricks need to be discouraged. In many MMOs people are advised not to use their imagination every possible way to defeat something, which is kind of anti-Elder Scrolls.

thark

It's no exploit aslong as the mobs runs back and resets.

If you could use the water in an exploitable matter to make you unkillable and yet get the kills over and over again it would be an exploit however..

Now It's just a safe haven for you ...just like a healing potion or simply running away, it grants you no experience since the monsters are still alive. 

 

Nitth

Whats the worst thing they can do?

Rusque

Originally posted by WW4BW

  It is clear that you are exploiting a weakness in the game. There is no sensible argument to the contrary.

  But if its ok to do that or if its something that should get you banned is another matter.

  Escaping combat and resetting the mob is one thing. And that I think everyone can agree is the norm for games.. a few games dont have it, but most do.

 At the other end of the spectrum; if you can keep attacking the mob without the mob retaliating, that is certainly banable in some games. Personally I prefer it if they allow the exploit until they fix it so it wont work.. 

No, ZOS brought back an old mechanic that only went away about 5 years ago (at least this is my assumption). For any old school RPGers (and PnP) it's an homage to the ring wraiths in LOTR. They don't cross water (or at least elvish water):

 

My father[Tolkein] nowhere explained the Ringwraiths' fear of water. In the account just cited it is made a chief motive in Sauron's assault on Osgiliath, and it reappears in detailed notes on the movement of the Black Riders in the Shire: thus of the Rider (who was in fact Khamûl of Dol Guldur) seen on the far side of Bucklebury Ferry just after the Hobbits had crossed (The Fellowship of the Ring I 5) it is said that "he was well aware that the Ring had crossed the river; but the river was a barrier to his sense of its movement and that the Nazgûl would not touch the "Elvish" waters of Baranduin. But it is not made clear how they crossed other rivers that lay in their path, such as the Greyflood, where there was only "a dangerous ford formed by the ruins of the bridge". My father did indeed note that the idea was difficult to sustain.

So it kind of became a thing and run into the water to drop aggro was a staple for a while. Eventually people who didn't get the reference said it's a weird mechanic and as new generations of game developers replaced the old ones the original source material kind of faded from memory.

I do hope it's an intentional addition and not a bug, it's one of those small things that I remember from the good ol' days and am happy to see back.

uidLuc1d

I didn't know you could do this... I am now going to use the hell out of this while farming mats.

Xssiv

If I was chasing someone and they jumped into a river or lake to swim away, I would probably stop and go back to what I was doing.

 

Seems fairly realistic to me.  

Kyleran

Running from npc's?  As a Dragon Knight I fight my way through them rather than run around or away from them.  Heck, I go out of my way to kill them if they are anywhere near me while gathering.

Rusque

Originally posted by DMKano

Mobs are already ridiculously easy to kill - so sort of pointless if you ask me.

 

You're assumption is that everyone:

a) is as good as you - I don't mean this sarcastically, people generally tend to see themselves as a baseline and have a difficult time understanding that others don't experience things in the same manner that they do.

b) knows how to build their character - it's very easy to make a gimpy character in ESO and resource management is a big component of combat.

askdaboss

Argonians are OP. I actually invested 1 point in swim speed (really). Allows me to go in and out faster.

You should always stay near a patch of water in PvE and PvP. It keeps your scales moist too.

Cougan

I went for swim speed too. Feels badass swimming across a river at same speed as someone crossing a bridge.

 

Also you spy that resource across the river. Who will get there first - you or a nord! I can imagine them going "Curse you Argonians!"