General:Say All the Right Things with Player Response Options

Originally published April 23, 2025. The original article can be found here.

Check out developer insights on the new Player Response Options and the expanded roleplaying options they offer!

Already present in the free Seasons of the Worm Cult prologue quest, the new Player Response Options truly showcase their potential in the upcoming Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 1, going live alongside Update 46.

Crafting Speech

At the most basic level, Player Response options add another layer to the existing dialogue you’re familiar with in game, one that is more nuanced and emotionally charged.

“The Player Response Options provide a wider roleplaying choice for players,” says Project Narrative Director Bill Slavicsek. “In key situations during certain quests, we give you the option to respond to an NPC in a variety of ways. This will always lead to a different reaction from the NPC and sometimes might even alter the path or ending of a quest.”

A dramatic moment deserves attention

Players have always made choices in ESO, whether attempting to bribe officials, intimidate guards, or simply resolve a quest that requires choices. In this regard, the Player Response Options continue building on what exists—and aren’t even the first examples of their kind!

“We’ve experimented with changing up the player’s usually neutral voice over the years, specifically in tense or dramatic moments in a questline, but now we’ve made it an ongoing and visible part of the game.”

Player Response options in action

These options won’t always be available, but you’ll find them more often than past quests offered, and more clearly marked as to the intended tone. There are several such options available, including Kind, Grim, Merciful, Ruthless, Joker, and Flirty.

“You’ll always have our usual neutral tone response, but other options will now be available, most notably Kind and Grim,” explains Slavicsek. “Kind lets the player show support or compassion for an NPC, while Grim lets them reply with a darker, sterner response.”

Characters with Character

One of the great parts of the new Player Response Options is the characters you get to respond to, of course! Fan-favorite characters have had repeat appearances in many ESO stories over the game’s history, but this is the first time you’ll get to interact with them on this level. Or is it? In the case of some characters, the Player Response options codify and expand the groundwork that has already been laid by your interactions with them.

Razum-dar has a way with words—now, so do you!

“The secret is, we’ve experimented with this using recurring characters a lot over the years,” says Slavicsek. “When you got to flirt with Naryu or Darien or Jakarn, that was us testing the waters. When you got to get angry or sympathetic with Eveli Sharp-Arrow during the Orsinium main quest, that was us letting the player earn those variations from our usual neutral-voiced responses because of where we were at that point in the story.”

Your first taste of the new Player Response Options is already on live servers for you to try out via the new prologue quest, with a great deal more coming alongside Update 46 for the release of Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 1 and the Solstice zone.

Have a chat with Prince Azah in the new Prologue quest

If you’re the sort of player who likes to dig into your character’s motivations and get inside their head, this makes the new content better than ever before. Even if you’ve never been much of a roleplayer, you might find the options provided invite you to start thinking like one.

“For example, in the Prologue, you really get to test out the system when you encounter a wounded Worm Cultist and need to get some information out of them,” says Slavicsek. “Is your character the kind of hero that uses the carrot or the stick to get what they require? Now you can explore both of those options in this key moment in the story.”

Are you excited to try out the new Player Response Options? Will you be a benevolent hero with a merciful outlook, or a grim and ruthless sort who gets things done no matter the cost? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.