How long did it take you to "wake up"?

Abigail

I've yet to be fully woke, and purposely. Oh, I research armors, weapons, skills, and such, but I much prefer putting my own twist on things. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but that's the fun of it (for me).

I've been playing RPGs and MMOs since the mid 90s and most often I was a perfectionist-crazed min/maxer. Something changed when I returned to ESO last summer -- most likely age and physical infirmity -- and I realized I was never going to be a good player again. It was depressing at first because I was always that healer who was in perpetual demand for dungeons and raids. But I got passed this and am now just enjoying doing my own thing, at my own pace.

Most days I'm in the game 8, 12, even more hours. I get on the class that suits my mood or physical capabilities of the day, do some quests, gather and grind, and often because I'm listening to an audio book, I'll do a bunch of dolmens. If I'm feeling good I'll go to a disused zone and solo dolmens and a world boss, or two. I can solo a few group dungeons, but most are out of my reach, but that's just the way it is.

This is turning into a tome, and I'm sorry, but my fingers are working pretty good today.

When I first returned to ESO I joined a really good guild with super helpful people -- perhaps too helpful. They got my first character quick leveled, helped me acquire meta-of-the-day gear, and promptly started me out in vet dungeons and trials. I did okay, but it wrung me out and was anything but fun. They got mad at me for not wanting to continue, failing to understand that as any kind of competent game player I've reached the end of my shelf life.

That's why I'm not fully woke, and I'm happier for it.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

TheYKcid wrote: »

Typically 5-10 minutes, depending on how badly I need to pee.

I'll see myself out...

Nature's Alarm Clock. Sometimes I think we would have died off as a species if we didnt have to get up to pee. Haha.

To the OP:

I had a similar experience. I bought ESO (my first MMO) because it was an elder scrolls game. I played it for about a year, only occasionally grouping for overland stuff, as a solo PVE player. My first toon was a DW/Bow Nightblade, but it was really a hybrid that didnt do much of anything all that well. haha. I remember the first time I heard someone talking about being able to pull 800 DPS (that was a lot back in the day), and I had no idea what that even meant.

That was when I went down the online rabbit hole of MMOs generally and what limited stuff there was on ESO at the time. I respeced my nightblade to magic with a front bar Resto staff (yes that was meta damage at one point), and practiced on mammoths until I hit 1k DPS. Been hooked ever since. Haha.

Gatviper

Protossyder wrote: »

And then (ca. September 2016) I woke up...

Funny you should mention that. I started pretty much as ESO launched, but was always playing on my Sorc from the start until 2016. Took a break after 4-5 months of game lauch, for almost a year, then came back somewhere Autumn 2015, still messing around with my Sorc. Noticed the dps was kinda meh in group dungeons, though he could solo Craglorn group delves (back then with damage shield being strong).
Around the beginning 2016 I wanted to break through, had a long lookup online and made a Magicka Nightblade based (back then) on Delta's build. Dps picked up noticeably, I found my new favourite character. Been playing on it ever since, though it changed quite a few gear / skill builds for personal preference and optimization. Even with all the recent nerfs going on, didn't really get any worse and still rocking. Works as a DD and Healer (with second gear setup) very smooth, Vet dungeons or not.

Cillion3117

M_Volsung wrote: »

I'd been playing for about a month before I realized that food buffs were a thing...

Wow. It took me several months to figure that out. But I'm just slow like that.

dem0n1k

Very cool thread... it took me on a bit of a nostalgia trip through my eso screenshots

ESO was (& is) my first MMORPG. My co-op buddy (Dethon) & I have played PC games together for years before that though.. we met during a LAN Quake competition. We both played Oblivion & Skyrim so we were pumped for ESO as we could finally play an elder scrolls game with co-op play!

For the first year & a half we just did overland questing... exploring the ESO world & really, really enjoying it.My buddy was a magSorc & I was a StamDK. Though really we were both hybrids & did not have a clue how to make a proper build. XD
LOL.. look at these awesome STATS!! (remember the old orange stats that warned you when you were getting near the cap?)


We did stuff like split the crafting load... I did blacksmith, alchemy, provisioning & my buddy did clothing, woodwork & enchanting. We walked everywhere like a pair of hobos coz neither of us could afford a horse & the reward senche didn't drop until later. Though I did eventually buy a horse... (good ol' Chomps the brown horse!)


I was slightly ahead of my buddy in XP as I had a bit more time to play.. so I sent him this pic to taunt him that I got into Craglorn first LOL !


We tried PVP fairly early & quickly realised we had no idea what was going on & left with our tails between our legs Eventually I made a new character ( a stamblade) to PVP with & had some success in the old Blackwater Blade campaign. I guess this was the beginning of my awakening (late 2015). I convinced my buddy that if we spec'd right we could have fun in PVP & we both made new stamblades (both Khajiit, both stamblades & the char names were both a variation of Cheeter) We made them look very similar with the idea that we would cloak up & convince enemy players that they were only facing one enemy nightblade.. it didnt work though.. too damn hard to co-ordinate!


We had mad fun though!! Joined a PVP guild (that was very suspicious at first at allowing 2 players both called "Cheeter" to join LOL!!) & learnt the ropes of AvA gameplay. We ganked as a pair most of the time though... the cloak in this game is such an awesome ability... some of the most fun I have ever had in gaming.

From here I basically made a Stam & magicka version of every class. When One Tamriel rolled around we turned our attention to 4player dungeons to farm the set gear now that it was located in set places & no longer a random drop. More awesome fun times! We got 2 more local guys to join ESO for a 4 player group & got nearly all our characters to undaunted 9. We all cycled through the rolls of tank, healer & DPS & that kept it fresh... for a time. Eventually though I tired of the repetition of doing the same dungeons over & over... I had the gear I wanted & wanted to return to PVP. The 2 new players in our 4 man group did not want to PVP & the group broke up.

My buddy & I hit PVP with our vet characters, joined a vet PVP guild & more fun was had... played like this in various characters until the Morrowind patch. At this time my buddy (who was always a more competitive player than I) became annoyed that he could not reach his PVP potential because of out woeful Oceanic pings & general bad game performance & he quit ESO in a very final way... gave me all his stuff & uninstalled.

Since then I've just been slowly going back to sleep :P I don't care about gear or the meta anymore, I just don't care if I perform well in PVP or not. I just jump in PVP & have a bit of a bash. I't still fun & BGs were fun for a while.. but it's a bit sad it's not as fun as it used to be..but hey, that's how most things in life go I (of course) still play with my co-op buddy.. we play FarCry5 & The Division atm.. the Division is excellent.. gfx are SO GOOD!

Anyways.. that's my overly long story! Cheers if you read it! hahah

firedrgn

A while, but im woke now.

lagrue

ESO was my first ever MMO. I too didn't wake up for about a year or two.

I ran around on a Fire Mage, primarily specced for health, wearing heavy armor. I played the ENTIRE story this way, every single quest in the vanilla game including the SIlver and Gold campaigns. I also hadn't been using sets, because I didn't understand it was statistically better to do so. I would just slap on whatever had the highest def. rating.

When I finally did that, I started to get into dungeons - that's when I Realized something was seriously wrong with my character, I was underperforming, so I started researching. Took me a long time though.

I cringe looking back at the 100s of gold materials I put into Heavy Armor for a mage, lmao.

DemonDruaga

Well.. It was about when craglorn droped and we just grinded out and went for the Trials as a guild, the understanding of everything was just a natural byproduct. (failing at the horse jump in AA was our biggest fear )
So was light attack waving and certain ani cancel, before there really where guides. I/ we just simply needed to do it at some point, since even overland content could be really tough at some points.
Tough somehow I wish I could go to sleep again, the magic of exploring tamriel was just real back then.

Fur_like_snow

When i hit level 50 on my first character and my stats hit the dumpster. I felt so weak. I was in seek of answers. Honestly this probably was the point where I gave up on playing ESO “blind”.

Vapirko

Sometime after one Tamriel as I started playing not too long after launch and then quit for a while sometime before OT. After coming back it happened pretty quickly first for PvE then PvP. PvE was pretty easy to understand, just build and then rotation thanks to people like Alcast. PvP took a lot longer, a year or more before I really started to get it, and then longer still until it became more like second nature. All I really remember is not being able to complete a public dungeon when quest levels were still a thing, and then coming back and moving quickly to get dungeons, trials etc. Most significant was going from not being able to kill a damn thing on my own in PvP to suddenly having it click and a big part of that was the moment of realization that PvP rotations and combat are nothing like PvE.

NinchiTV

I remember fondly when I was able to 1v1 and 1vx on magsorc very efficiently, granted they were supremely OP but i always played a altmer mage in elder scrolls games so w/e..I think it was around vet rank 6 or pvp rank LT is when I "woke up"

Trancestor

At around CP 200 i started getting "complaints" from people in dungeons saying my dps sucks, got tired of it and went on reddit to ask why this is happening, learned that rotations and the sets/weapons you use matter and soon enough became the best player ESO has known.

RavenSworn

Great thread, very insightful into the mindset of different players.

I had experience with mmos before, with what wow, tsw and wildstar taught me I wasn't coming in blind into this one. But I must admit, when I first tried out the beta and then onto launch, I just didn't think about animation cancels, stats and all that. I loved crafted sets though and I furiously work onto them traits and whatnot just so I can try out all the different effects those had.

Even from a wow perspective, the realisation for how the game should be played was delayed by the fact that when launch happened, a stamina nightblade was the lowest tier in term of levelling classes. Stacking resource Stat was not the way to go. Class abilities didn't have stamina variants. The bow, while it was fantastic at ganking (and I played like a huntard back in WoW) it was horrible at the start. There were veteran levels. The grind was bad. There were bosses in solo instances that just would bring you down even when you outlevel them by 3 levels. There were levels! Actual levelling curve that made sense in story progression but left a lot of players wanting.

But because of all the needed practice and I knew I couldn't do a group good by dps, I went tank. Changed my bosmer Stam blade to a tank. Crafted items for him, looked at sets list (fextralife didn't have the list yet, I think it was some other websites) and basically, I 'woke' up when I made my tank. I looked up in Google and youtube, joined guilds, created one, asked around. I became quite competent at it but only because I understand the mechanics of tanking from previous mmos.

But to go on vet trials and to be on leader boards... Those days were over when I was burnt out in WoW and tsw. I tried to be as casual as I can. You might say I am half awake though, I'm still living the dream and not yet top drawer. Perhaps I'll focus on it, perhaps I'll just stick to being casual.

Tldr: half awake. 😂

Hixtory

Protossyder wrote: »

When I started playing ESO in 2014 I had not the slightest idea of what I was doing and was completely overwhelmed.

My first and only char I have left from that time (I tended to delete chars that I felt were weak after reaching lvl 10 or so) was a dual wielding darkelf nightblade that was neither magicka nor stamina.

I thought the second bar was just an extension to use more skills, so I wondered why I couldn't equip the same weapons on both bars...
I got ripped apart in pvp (why the hell would I sneak, use healing skills, dodge roll or block?)
struggled with quest bosses and mob groups (I prepared myself mentally for the 3-enemy-groups)
had no idea about dungeons/trials/arenas and how to join them
didn't have a guild for a loooong time
and didn't even know that a forum existed
Well, in my defense: I had minor and major pauses and did not play consistently, but still...

And then (ca. September 2016) I woke up...

I started watching videos on yt about pvp (from Sypher I think) and created my main: a magicka DK . Then I realized that I needed sets from pve, so I ran dungeons for the first time and adapted to them first. So I discovered that you need some kind of rotation to actually deal some dps and over time I got really interested in going further into pve content, ran my first dlc dungeons, finally joined a guild (which I am still a member of to this day) and attended my first trial (boy, I was so excited!).
I came back to my nightblade and decided to give him some upgrades (he is my main DD now) I couldn't believe what a mess he was...
And I created more chars, got better, learned different playstyles and to this day I am still learning and improving.

In conclusion I couldn't have wished for a greater game experience in my first MMO, even if it was slow and frustrating sometimes.
I could've added a lot more details about my journey, but there is way too much to tell, so I tried to keep it short.

Was your path equally long or did you get into this game faster?

Damn I miss TheMadHessian, his videos were hilarious and informative. Cancer builds, and guess what...chemotherapy builds LOL

LOL video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RuPZ58CPgo

xxthir13enxx

https://youtu.be/qtLw_53C95M

AllegraLionheart

Ehhh, about 3 months in or so I got into a decent PVE guild and got help from buddies on builds. At about 6 months I found VV and got better at the PVP scene, but I still fall back into my "BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS--ohno nevermind" curiosity. I'm still learning the inner workings for each class, build, and major playstyle, but I'm a lot less green about it.

Joosef_Kivikilpi

That moment you're grouping with three of your childhood friends in PVP, you're running a hybrid split 32/32 attribute archer in Briarheart, getting kills skillfully in PVP with only purple gear, while all your pure-buddies are wiping constantly and you're having to revive them from stealth, using up all your limited gold crafting material for them to make them better since you're a crafter... and you just say screw it and stop taking care of them, take care of yourself, give yourself proper sets and weapon upgrades, discover Iceheart set, make a whole Ice Mage theme from it, make your very first gold Ice Staff, PVP with it and pown kids with sub-optimal non-meta sets.... while at the same time not committing to a pure build because you're terrified of the power you'll have the capacity of wielding which will then slowly corrupt you into an elitist if not held in check.

That was my woke moment... back in 2016 I believe. haha! Still haven't gone straight powerhouse builds or meta-races, but gee willickers, I tried Necropotence + Ancient Grace + Max Magicka build on my Mage Blade just to test the power, as well as when I was leveling Vampire (which I detest their OPness), and two-shotting Stamina Sorcerers with Swallow Soul in duels was just too much for me. I had to stop. hahaha

Protossyder

Trancestor wrote: »

At around CP 200 i started getting "complaints" from people in dungeons saying my dps sucks, got tired of it and went on reddit to ask why this is happening, learned that rotations and the sets/weapons you use matter and soon enough became the best player ESO has known.

When I ran dungeons for the first time I used snb on my frontbar and expected to have high damage (because I saw pvp mag dk videos... and i thought: slaughtering players => slaughtering dumb npcs even better) boi ^^

Jeremy

Latios wrote: »

When Maelstrom Arena was released. I felt like a very powerful templar tank, could do anything(ICP was very hard at that time and I didn't have trouble clearing it), but got destroyed by vMA. Then, I made a DPS setup, started searching how to optimize my build, and been playing that way since.

That's just because tanks such in vMA. That place has a only DD's welcome sign over its door.

Mayrael

I had to upgrade my rig to play ESO, by the time I've done it I already knew what I want to choose, what are my options etc. etc. It's my usual approach because not every MMO was/is as flexible as ESO in terms of respecs, so I prefer to be prepared. Ofcourse I had to learn a lot, especially when it goes to PvP, but since PvP is always my primary targetit took me few months to became an average player.

El_Borracho

Probably after 6 months or so. Started playing June 2017 when Morrowind came out. Only had played Skyrim before that. Ran around with a magic-stamina DK with a greatsword and heavy armor. Thought I was pretty awesome as the overland content was dying in droves. Then ran into some dolmens and delves and things got tough. Didn't think much of it at the time as I wasn't interested in PVP or PVE endgame stuff.

After a while, I watched some other players annihilate the adds and realized I was doing something wrong. Found these boards, alcast, Tamriel Foundry, and other sites and realized I had created a soup sandwich of a character. Kind of funny to think about that now.

RogueShark

I started playing a few months before Morrowind. Made an Argonian NB, didn't level it past 20-something, rerolled as a Khajiit sorc. I ran him as stam and was a terrible DPS because I didn't know about animation cancelling, or optimal weapons/builds, skills, etc. I played for a few months. Remade my khajiit as a warden after Morrowind, leveled him to CP, then kind of lost interest in the game and stopped playing. On a bored whim, I started playing again a few months ago.

I went back to my catsorc and, despite the race and class, became a healer. I've cleared vMoL and multiple vet DLC dungeon challenges with him as healer. When I came back this time, I took a lot more time to "research" and learn how all my abilities worked, what the best enchantments and weapon/armor traits are (and WHY), etc. I'd say it took my break and return to really 'wake up' and really get everything to click.
I've still gone back and forth between my warden and sorc, but I can never seem to stick with my warden. I've tried, feel like the healing and utility is superior, but... I just love my li'l electric cat too much.

ookami007

Zzzzzz

whitecrow

Gods, probably a year or more. I had never played a MMO before, unless you count three failed months of Everquest over fifteen years ago. I loved Skyrim and started out thinking this was going to be TES6 (I now know that's not the case, of course!) I solo played for a long time. Before anyone asks, why play an MMO if you're going to solo, I guess I thought of that aspect as optional/social. So I played the story quests out on my own, unless someone else happened to be in the area.

I had no idea what I should be doing for a while. I created a nightblade, because that idea appealed to me the most, but wore heavy armor and a shield, rationalizing that since I was a novice player, I needed the extra protection. I used whatever gear came along if it seemed better than what I had. I used staves for a while. I'm not sure if I understood the set bonuses but I do remember not realizing that sets were tied to a particular zone; I thought they were completely random.

I didn't understand what guilds were; I thought they were for groups of friends who knew each other outside of the game, and I didn't have any friends who played. Then finally after I and another player helped each other out with a confusing part of Coldharbour, she invited me to her guild. Some time later got into a couple other guilds of friendly people who liked to help others.

I also made a good friend (met in a PUG group!) who guided me on what gear I should be using, where to put skill points, and how to maximize my effectiveness.

So I guess I am finally awake, or awake enough at least!

Raudgrani

I was mainly questing/doing simple solo content first 2-3 months of the game. Exploring the whole of Tamriel (as it was back then) solo, and loved it.
One day while I was deconstructing things in Riften, I got randomly invited to a guild and I accepted. At Saturdays these did dolmens/world bosses, trials and such; and I got to know a few people.

Among them a younger Dutch guy, who knew very much about the game. He was into PVP a lot, and he helped me build a PVP templar tank. Together we went into Cyrodiil, and with me as bait, he killed dozens upon dozens of enemies when we went there. Kind of fun, in a way.

Later on, one of my characters got infected by a werewolf "the PVE way". I noticed, and started "googling" werewolf for ESO. Came across a build by Alcast, with Black Rose, Selene and Viper - I had some help to farm Tel-Var for Black rose, get Viper jewelry and daggers, and then a Selene helmet too. I had a blast "blasting" in Cyrodiil with that build, so it kind of got me interested, and I started "theory crafting" a lot, and just couldn't stop making new characters.

Something like that.

Slack

Protossyder wrote: »

mague wrote: »

I am still doing what i like. I use those skills i like and where i think they work for *me*. I tried a few metas but they suck for me. Armor sets i slightly adjust when i feel i can go for a bit more damage/heal or if i need a bit more survivability. But thats it.

in PvP you can play whatever you want, you are the one dying in the end

And your teammates

siddique

Haha I remember when I joined my first real guild on PC. It was called, hmm, Majestic Twelve I think. I was so happy the first time someone crafted me a gold armor set.

My first character was a StamDK and he remained my main until I left and recently came back on PS4 and now I'm learning how to build a pet MagSorc.

You gotta love this game and the memories it creates. I go back to when I was a teenager playing Morrowind whenever I goto Vvardenfel now

Iselin

For me it happen quite early in late summer 2014 when I started having a hard time soloing VR delves and public dungeons after having breezed through them in 1-50 content.

That's when it hit me that everything in ESO PvE except for the odd boss or two was about AOEing down packs.So I adjusted my mostly single target Magsorc build to be AOE heavy with a splash of CC (loved Volcanic Rune back then.) Still works today.

Protossyder

Slack wrote: »

Protossyder wrote: »

mague wrote: »

I am still doing what i like. I use those skills i like and where i think they work for *me*. I tried a few metas but they suck for me. Armor sets i slightly adjust when i feel i can go for a bit more damage/heal or if i need a bit more survivability. But thats it.

in PvP you can play whatever you want, you are the one dying in the end

And your teammates

Maybe I chose the wrong words. There is more variety when creating your setup than in PvE. You have to find the right balance between sustain/survivability and damage output that suits your playstyle and class.
But yes, when smallscaling or zerging/raiding (or whatever it's called) you are also responsible for your mates lifes.

ArchMikem

I didnt start putting 2 and 2 together until i was Veteran Lvl 3ish in Cadwell's Silver, Alik'r.

I was trying to farm the Zombies outside Sentinel for a reason that escapes me, i think it was me overhearing you could get rare purple drops. (I know right?) This high level comes up to me, asks about my character, and begins to give me a lecture on build and skill advice. It was after that guy that i finally paid attention to the fact that light armor and staves was best for magic attacks. This happened ill assume sometime in 2016, and i got ESO the prior Summer.