Does anyone review the weekly endeavors?

FlopsyPrince

Surak73 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

Unachievable?... Come on: OK for trials and horrors, that's long at least, but I got the 15 players in less than 10 minutes just going with my healer in Cyro and firing with a ballista on sieging group from castle walls...

So you did it in less than 10 minutes. You are either great at PvP or at least found a large battle. None of those the times I have checked on EU, including just recently.

Vonnegut2506

I had never done Aetherian Archive before this week. I joined a pug in the group finder. From start to finish the entire thing took 26 minutes, and that is because the same person died twice falling off cliffs and we had to wait for them to run back. No explanation of any boss mechanic at all. The longest amount of time was trying to herd cats to stand on the 12 shiny spaces multiple times.

FlopsyPrince

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

I had never done Aetherian Archive before this week. I joined a pug in the group finder. From start to finish the entire thing took 26 minutes, and that is because the same person died twice falling off cliffs and we had to wait for them to run back. No explanation of any boss mechanic at all. The longest amount of time was trying to herd cats to stand on the 12 shiny spaces multiple times.

Maybe it is trivial, but most players do not see it that way. Color me skeptical.

Aurielle

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Surak73 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

Unachievable?... Come on: OK for trials and horrors, that's long at least, but I got the 15 players in less than 10 minutes just going with my healer in Cyro and firing with a ballista on sieging group from castle walls...

So you did it in less than 10 minutes. You are either great at PvP or at least found a large battle. None of those the times I have checked on EU, including just recently.

Then wait for the event, as I already suggested in one of the many multiple threads on this subject… There are definitely times when the campaigns are quieter, and I can see why you might have trouble doing the endeavor right now if you’re unfortunate enough to only have play time available during the very brief period of time when there are no zergs on Grey Host, but you will absolutely not struggle to find a zerg during the event… And as others have also suggested, you could even trade kills if you wanted with a friend or guild mate on another alliance (like people already do for the duelling endeavors).

Sigh, anyway, I think this will be my last reply on this subject. It’s exhausting trying to help people who have convinced themselves that this is all just too difficult, and it’s exhausting having to repeat the same advice that just ends up getting ignored. Complain away. I’m done trying to help. Hopefully the advice at least gets through to others who might be reading and open to taking advice.

FlopsyPrince

Aurielle wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Surak73 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

Unachievable?... Come on: OK for trials and horrors, that's long at least, but I got the 15 players in less than 10 minutes just going with my healer in Cyro and firing with a ballista on sieging group from castle walls...

So you did it in less than 10 minutes. You are either great at PvP or at least found a large battle. None of those the times I have checked on EU, including just recently.

Then wait for the event, as I already suggested in one of the many multiple threads on this subject… There are definitely times when the campaigns are quieter, and I can see why you might have trouble doing the endeavor right now if you’re unfortunate enough to only have play time available during the very brief period of time when there are no zergs on Grey Host, but you will absolutely not struggle to find a zerg during the event… And as others have also suggested, you could even trade kills if you wanted with a friend or guild mate on another alliance (like people already do for the duelling endeavors).

Sigh, anyway, I think this will be my last reply on this subject. It’s exhausting trying to help people who have convinced themselves that this is all just too difficult, and it’s exhausting having to repeat the same advice that just ends up getting ignored. Complain away. I’m done trying to help. Hopefully the advice at least gets through to others who might be reading and open to taking advice.

I will clearly have to wait for the event and see if that matters. I am not convinced it will. You really need a ball group collision for this method. I have gone on when AD is covering the map, but too few enemies are killed in that to meet the objective. I tried defending today a bit and that just wasted the cost of a meatbag trebuchet when someone nuked it getting inside without me noticing. Not a single kill! VERY SMALL attacking group too.

Turtle_Bot

To give some advice, with the PvP event coming this week, grab any bow/destro staff (or catapult) join a zerg (don't have to be in a group, just follow the large crowd and run to the nearest keep that has a big battle.

Lay down 1 ground based damage over time ability at a breached wall/door where enemies try and run inside and watch the endeavors be completed within literal seconds.

The best ways to do this are ground based DoTs that can be cast from range such as:

Class skills:
- Lightning splash/damage negate (sorc)
- Eruption/standard (DK)
- Winters revenge (warden)
- Spear shards (plar)
- Boneyard/colossus/siphon (necro)
- Unblinking eye (arcanist)
- Twisting path (NB)

Weapon skills:
- Endless hail/arrow spray (bow skill)
- Wall of elements (destro staff)
- Stampede (2 handed)
- Lacerate (dual wield)

Global/guild skills:
- Scalding Rune (mages guild)
- Trapping webs (undaunted)
- Caltrops (assault line in alliance war skills)

Items (siege):
Catapults (shout out to meatbag and oil catapults especially)

Some of these skills are a little bit more risky as you have to get close to the area you are placing them down at (wall/path/arrow spray/standard) or the enemy you are casting them on (stampede/lacerate). But all of them will result in you being counted towards getting the kill credit for the endeavor.

Catapults are also extremely good for this as they have long range and large AoE, just buy 1 from a vendor or guild trader and you don't even need to keep it, just fire it into the breach and watch the numbers roll in.

I still remember some of my first quests in PvP back when I first started PvPing, in the large battles with the kill 20 players quests, they would literally fill up within about 5-10 seconds if you laid 1 AoE DoT ability or fired a catapult near the breach where enemies would have to run in.
If casting any of these abilities once in a large keep battle can instantly (literally within seconds) fill up a kill 20 players quest with most not even putting you at any risk at all, I don't see how the kill 15 players endeavor is going to be an issue to complete, especially with the MYM event starting any time now all but guaranteeing large scale battles will be very easy to find.

peacenote

tmbrinks wrote: »

Yes, they obviously review them.

Midyear Mayhem starts this week, hence the theme.

Yea, this makes sense then.

As someone who is game for pretty much all content in ESO, I personally look at the endeavor choices as most-to-least time consuming. This happens to typically coincide with the generic "casual" vs. non casual debate, as usually the activity with the lowest barrier is the quickest option, so I'm all for a standard where one option is always possible for the "solo" player who only does PvE/overland. Because that option is almost always the quickest, and gives flexibility to everyone, even people who prefer group content, because your friends aren't always available when you are!

That said, I don’t think it is a huge deal if things are temporarily skewed to align with Events. Tons of people participate in them, so that makes the endeavors accessible but by a different logic than the "solo player" logic.

katanagirl1

Several times the difficulty of joining a group in Cyrodiil for the event has been mentioned and that is true. It used to be easier to do this when groups were 24 people, but now that it is only 12 not many people do run groups (in my faction at least) so it is harder to get in. Most of us just keep zone text chat up and follow the callouts and/or watch the map to coordinate.

Syldras

Aurielle wrote: »

I feel like if I don't care enough to respond, these loud voices may discourage other casual players from even trying to complete endeavors this week, and end up further entrenching misconceptions about different types of content in the game.

I understand. Although I'm not sure if there are many people who come here without a stable opinion. Most already seem to have one and no willingness even to think about it, so the risk of influencing them somehow seems minimal.

Also, I'm wondering if finding trials and PvP too difficult is really the main reason for many not to do it. As the topic of social anxiety came up several times, it's possibly more about interaction with others, including drama? In that case, forum drama would be another problem, I guess, only reinforcing the sentiment that interaction with other players will end unpleasantly.

I mean, I don't even have social phobia (or any phobias, or social-interaction-related problems), but when I come across some rude, overemotional forum posts, I too sometimes think "Gladly I'm playing on my own most of the time, so I don't have to waste my precious freetime with drama like this". It might sound harsh to some, I know. But why would I like to spend my evening with people yelling, hurling insults or ragequitting if I want to have a good time? I don't want to imagine how this feels for people who aren't just annoyed by this type of behavior, but who actually feel scared by it.

Aurielle wrote: »

People have just gotten so rude, unreasonable, and prone to spreading misinformation online in recent years. It has become so difficult to have a reasonable, rational conversation.

Has it ever been better here at the forum? Unfortunately, I'm not sure about that. Either way, I don't really care anymore, when it comes to "heated discussions". It's always the same, it's not getting better, I don't want to invest much time into it anymore, it's not my resposibility either. So I mostly ignore it when it starts again, focussing only on comments where a decent discussion seems possible.

FlopsyPrince

General note:

Saying "You can do Trials much shorter in Craglorn and here is how" is much better than saying" I can do 4 at 20 minutes each!

I will bet most players like myself cannot do them that fast, however easy they are.

Same with finding a group in Cyrodiil. I know, I tried multiple times. Not enough are playing during those times.

Noting things may be doable is better than just saying "you are wrong, it is not hard".

MidniteOwl1913

Aurielle wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Surak73 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

Unachievable?... Come on: OK for trials and horrors, that's long at least, but I got the 15 players in less than 10 minutes just going with my healer in Cyro and firing with a ballista on sieging group from castle walls...

So you did it in less than 10 minutes. You are either great at PvP or at least found a large battle. None of those the times I have checked on EU, including just recently.

Then wait for the event, as I already suggested in one of the many multiple threads on this subject… There are definitely times when the campaigns are quieter, and I can see why you might have trouble doing the endeavor right now if you’re unfortunate enough to only have play time available during the very brief period of time when there are no zergs on Grey Host, but you will absolutely not struggle to find a zerg during the event… And as others have also suggested, you could even trade kills if you wanted with a friend or guild mate on another alliance (like people already do for the duelling endeavors).

Sigh, anyway, I think this will be my last reply on this subject. It’s exhausting trying to help people who have convinced themselves that this is all just too difficult, and it’s exhausting having to repeat the same advice that just ends up getting ignored. Complain away. I’m done trying to help. Hopefully the advice at least gets through to others who might be reading and open to taking advice.

Well you have convinced me to at least normal trials a try. :-) I'm still nervous about it, and in the end might not be for me but I think I should try it once before I give up on it.

biminirwb17_ESO

I had completed the kill 15 weekly in cyrodiil before I looked at the new days endeavours. So I agree it was a poor choice.

Aurielle

Syldras wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

I feel like if I don't care enough to respond, these loud voices may discourage other casual players from even trying to complete endeavors this week, and end up further entrenching misconceptions about different types of content in the game.

I understand. Although I'm not sure if there are many people who come here without a stable opinion. Most already seem to have one and no willingness even to think about it, so the risk of influencing them somehow seems minimal.

Also, I'm wondering if finding trials and PvP too difficult is really the main reason for many not to do it. As the topic of social anxiety came up several times, it's possibly more about interaction with others, including drama? In that case, forum drama would be another problem, I guess, only reinforcing the sentiment that interaction with other players will end unpleasantly.

I mean, I don't even have social phobia (or any phobias, or social-interaction-related problems), but when I come across some rude, overemotional forum posts, I too sometimes think "Gladly I'm playing on my own most of the time, so I don't have to waste my precious freetime with drama like this". It might sound harsh to some, I know. But why would I like to spend my evening with people yelling, hurling insults or ragequitting if I want to have a good time? I don't want to imagine how this feels for people who aren't just annoyed by this type of behavior, but who actually feel scared by it.

Aurielle wrote: »

People have just gotten so rude, unreasonable, and prone to spreading misinformation online in recent years. It has become so difficult to have a reasonable, rational conversation.

Has it ever been better here at the forum? Unfortunately, I'm not sure about that. Either way, I don't really care anymore, when it comes to "heated discussions". It's always the same, it's not getting better, I don't want to invest much time into it anymore, it's not my resposibility either. So I mostly ignore it when it starts again, focussing only on comments where a decent discussion seems possible.

I agree with the vast majority of the points you’ve made here. I had to step away from this subject yesterday, because it finally sunk in that it just wasn’t worth my effort anymore. Almost every single piece of helpful advice I gave was glossed over or shot down. It became very apparent that some people are just not prepared to budge on their opinions on this subject. Though, on the bright side, at least one person seemed to appreciate the detailed explanation I gave of how to find and passively engage in fights in Cyrodiil, and at least one person (edit: two people!) seemed interested/semi-interested in trying out normal AA. So there’s that, at least! I hope those people got their seals.

As for the whole social anxiety thing… I’m no stranger to anxiety myself (I have PTSD secondary to working in modern North American health care, yay). So I know all too well that anxiety can be irrational. But if someone is too afraid to participate in an easy normal trial because someone in the trial might make a comment about their DPS or gear, I have to wonder what on earth are they doing engaging in full blown forum PVP? If I had social anxiety so severe that I could not participate in group content in a video game, I definitely wouldn’t be starting stubborn arguments with people on the forums! People are way more volatile and opinionated in the forums than they are in game. I think a lot of this just boils down to “I hate that type of content because I have convinced myself it is too hard and too time consuming, and that all the people who engage in it are too elitist and mean. I’m not going to participate it, I’m not changing my mind on it, so give me some other way to get the reward.”

But again, I know anxiety can be irrational, so perhaps it is in fact the primary driver here. If that is indeed the case, then I empathize. All I can say is if you do fall into that category, there are so many kind and helpful people in these forums who would gladly help you out (and have already offered to do so).

Aurielle

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Surak73 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

Unachievable?... Come on: OK for trials and horrors, that's long at least, but I got the 15 players in less than 10 minutes just going with my healer in Cyro and firing with a ballista on sieging group from castle walls...

So you did it in less than 10 minutes. You are either great at PvP or at least found a large battle. None of those the times I have checked on EU, including just recently.

Then wait for the event, as I already suggested in one of the many multiple threads on this subject… There are definitely times when the campaigns are quieter, and I can see why you might have trouble doing the endeavor right now if you’re unfortunate enough to only have play time available during the very brief period of time when there are no zergs on Grey Host, but you will absolutely not struggle to find a zerg during the event… And as others have also suggested, you could even trade kills if you wanted with a friend or guild mate on another alliance (like people already do for the duelling endeavors).

Sigh, anyway, I think this will be my last reply on this subject. It’s exhausting trying to help people who have convinced themselves that this is all just too difficult, and it’s exhausting having to repeat the same advice that just ends up getting ignored. Complain away. I’m done trying to help. Hopefully the advice at least gets through to others who might be reading and open to taking advice.

Well you have convinced me to at least normal trials a try. :-) I'm still nervous about it, and in the end might not be for me but I think I should try it once before I give up on it.

Just saw this — that’s great! I hope it goes well. I was nervous the first time I did a normal trial pug (nAA) as well, but it was actually really fun and opened me up to doing more trials. There was so much interesting content and bosses that I had been missing out on prior to that point, because I was afraid I’d mess up.

xiphactinus

Yes I reviewed the endeavours and they were great thanks.

CalamityCat

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

This once again assumes a group to run with. Yeah, zergs in Cyrodiil can do well, but they are not always available.

Not at all. Unless I plan on being in IC or Cyro for a while, I don't usually group. I'll just do quests solo or join in with any battles I fancy. I did a lot of scout quests as a newbie, with the other quests ready if I did join battles and got some kills. Then if it's going well and seems busy enough, I might group and stick around.

FlopsyPrince

CalamityCat wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

This once again assumes a group to run with. Yeah, zergs in Cyrodiil can do well, but they are not always available.

Not at all. Unless I plan on being in IC or Cyro for a while, I don't usually group. I'll just do quests solo or join in with any battles I fancy. I did a lot of scout quests as a newbie, with the other quests ready if I did join battles and got some kills. Then if it's going well and seems busy enough, I might group and stick around.

That is how I play there, when I do risk it. Mostly quests, maybe following a few late night "conquer the whole thing" groups. Little PvP in the latter though, more conquering.

I got them done on PC and PS5 EU today by taking a late lunch here in Texas.

Necrotech_Master

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

General note:

Saying "You can do Trials much shorter in Craglorn and here is how" is much better than saying" I can do 4 at 20 minutes each!

I will bet most players like myself cannot do them that fast, however easy they are.

Same with finding a group in Cyrodiil. I know, I tried multiple times. Not enough are playing during those times.

Noting things may be doable is better than just saying "you are wrong, it is not hard".

normal trials certainly can be done that fast (or faster depending on the trial)

asylum and cloudrest are generally the 2 fastest trials, asylum is literally only 3 bosses with no adds in between that your group can kill separately or together (its even faster together)

ive been a part of vet trial groups clearing the crag trials in under 20 minutes with hard modes

and you say "I will bet most players like myself cannot do them that fast, however easy they are.", first of all, you are not doing trials by yourself, you would be part of a group, it would have to be a completely very "new player" group to probably take more than 30 min on a normal aetherian archive or hel ra citadel

on PCNA i was periodically checking the groupfinder over the past few days and there were several listings for "endeavor runs" or "gear runs" for normal trials, any of which would have probably taken less than 30 min to complete

FlopsyPrince

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

and you say "I will bet most players like myself cannot do them that fast, however easy they are.", first of all, you are not doing trials by yourself, you would be part of a group, it would have to be a completely very "new player" group to probably take more than 30 min on a normal aetherian archive or hel ra citadel

I have enough experience with really rough pug dungeon groups that I remain skeptical.

Though I don't think I have run a single Trial in ESO. I did a few in other games, very few, but none here yet.

LunaFlora

just because i have seen normal AA being recommended for a first normal trial in this and the other thread.

Aetherian Archive is not the trial i would recommend to people to try unless you also mention the White Light Flash that occurs at the portals.
they're just like the Flash caused by Hardmode Scrolls in the base game and imperial city dungeons.


a few times during the trial there are 12 portal stones to stand on for going to the next area.
if you are sensitive to light be sure to either choose a different trial or cover your eyes when you step onto the portal stones.

Necrotech_Master

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

and you say "I will bet most players like myself cannot do them that fast, however easy they are.", first of all, you are not doing trials by yourself, you would be part of a group, it would have to be a completely very "new player" group to probably take more than 30 min on a normal aetherian archive or hel ra citadel

I have enough experience with really rough pug dungeon groups that I remain skeptical.

Though I don't think I have run a single Trial in ESO. I did a few in other games, very few, but none here yet.

well you cant queue for trials, its very likely the person who is hosting it in the groupfinder already knows the trial well, and people would have to willingly join it after that

the only time it takes longer than 20-30 min is when it is a true learning run and really explaining mechanics before each fight (unless as i said, you happened to join a very inexperienced group as a whole without anyone knowledgeable in the mechanics)

a normal asylum run even killing each boss separately can still take under 15 minutes, i would probably say asylum is the easiest trial (no potential blockers like the pads or doors with AA or HRC, basically only 3 real bosses that can be fought separately to make the fight even easier)

Lumsdenml

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

This week:

- Kill 15 Players in Cyrodiil
- Defeat 7 Patrolling Horrors
- Complete 7 Trials


No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

I have never run a Trial in ESO. Finding a group going after Patrolling Horrors is difficult and they are hard for many to solo. And that ignores the threat of being ganked.

I am fodder in Cyrodiil, not a player killer.

Yeah, I know some of you can solo all of these playing with your feet and your eyes closed, but many and likely most of us cannot!

Endeavors already don't make much, don't put an unneeded wall around them!

This is during MYM so there will be a lot of people in Cyrodiil that are not normally there. This means there are a bunch of people who are not hardened vets. Get a group of people together and this shouldn't be hard. Grab a build guide, do a little research, put together a build and have fun!

Vonnegut2506

LunaFlora wrote: »

just because i have seen normal AA being recommended for a first normal trial in this and the other thread.

Aetherian Archive is not the trial i would recommend to people to try unless you also mention the White Light Flash that occurs at the portals.
they're just like the Flash caused by Hardmode Scrolls in the base game and imperial city dungeons.


a few times during the trial there are 12 portal stones to stand on for going to the next area.
if you are sensitive to light be sure to either choose a different trial or cover your eyes when you step onto the portal stones.

Don't know if it's the easiest or not, but it was open in group finder when I decided to see how long it actually took to do a Craglorn trial since I had never tried one before. I can say that it was much easier than any vet dungeon I have tried and actually easier than some of the DLC normal dungeons. If you don't think you can do a trial, try one of the Craglorn trials. I'm pretty sure it will change your mind about trial difficulty.

Bekkael

Yep, weekly endeavors completely suck this week. Usually, I just pick the least onerous to complete and get it done, like taking a dose of nasty medicine. But I feel a game I play for fun shouldn't have me doing something I dread, so I'm skipping it, screw it.

Besides, Dragon's Dogma 2 comes out next month.

FlopsyPrince

Lumsdenml wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

This week:

- Kill 15 Players in Cyrodiil
- Defeat 7 Patrolling Horrors
- Complete 7 Trials


No option for normal players. Please always have SOMETHING that most of us can do, not unachievable goals!

I have never run a Trial in ESO. Finding a group going after Patrolling Horrors is difficult and they are hard for many to solo. And that ignores the threat of being ganked.

I am fodder in Cyrodiil, not a player killer.

Yeah, I know some of you can solo all of these playing with your feet and your eyes closed, but many and likely most of us cannot!

Endeavors already don't make much, don't put an unneeded wall around them!

This is during MYM so there will be a lot of people in Cyrodiil that are not normally there. This means there are a bunch of people who are not hardened vets. Get a group of people together and this shouldn't be hard. Grab a build guide, do a little research, put together a build and have fun!

Only partially. Most of the week, or at least a big part of it, happens before MYM starts.

I find that I can sometimes miss weekly ones if I don't knock them out early.

FeedbackOnly

It's 4 trials

FeedbackOnly

Cloudrest takes 10 mins and asylum probably less to finish as a trial

How reward is like 100k and mol 250k

Michaelkeir

Like most, I really didn’t care for pvp when I started playing this game. Hated it even.

Until I had to go there for skyshards because I wanted the achievement for it so I waited until a Midyear Mayhem event. I discovered it could be fun running around in ball groups taking over keeps.

My advice to anyone who wants the weekly done.
- Go to Cyrodiil.
- Type LFG in chat.
- Get picked up and slot a range weapon. (Your build and defense’s are irrelevant as you’ll probably be in a group of about 20 other people or more.
- Follow the group and attack at range. So long as you get a hit or 2 in, you’ll get credit for the kill.
- 15-20 minutes of this (or less if it’s a big battle) and you are done.
It’s so easy my 9 year old son who mainly plays crafting/puzzle/SpongBob games did it by just using Snipe from the top of a keep on an account I created for him.

LunaFlora

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

just because i have seen normal AA being recommended for a first normal trial in this and the other thread.

Aetherian Archive is not the trial i would recommend to people to try unless you also mention the White Light Flash that occurs at the portals.
they're just like the Flash caused by Hardmode Scrolls in the base game and imperial city dungeons.


a few times during the trial there are 12 portal stones to stand on for going to the next area.
if you are sensitive to light be sure to either choose a different trial or cover your eyes when you step onto the portal stones.

Don't know if it's the easiest or not, but it was open in group finder when I decided to see how long it actually took to do a Craglorn trial since I had never tried one before. I can say that it was much easier than any vet dungeon I have tried and actually easier than some of the DLC normal dungeons. If you don't think you can do a trial, try one of the Craglorn trials. I'm pretty sure it will change your mind about trial difficulty.

i have done every trial in the game.

AA is fine in terms of difficulty to me, but as i no longer go there due to the portal flash i thought it was helpful to tell people about it in case they've never been there before.

Amottica

CalamityCat wrote: »

I think you can look at these endeavors as a negative, or as the opportunity to try some different content. Normal trials are certainly within the reach of "normal" players. This is an ideal week to at least try one or two trials, rather than avoiding content you might end up enjoying. Same with PvP.

I wasn't keen on trials and thought they'd be too hard for me. Then my partner dragged me into one without warning lol. I hadn't read a guide or anything beforehand, so I didn't know the mechanics or what to expect. I think I died once. It really wasn't hard. There are friendly guilds who do dungeons and trials in a more fun/casual way.

The first PvP event that I did was while I was a newbie, maybe level 35. Clueless about PvP in ESO. I got too nervous when I was attacked to fight properly! I don't love being in groups with strangers either. But I stuck with it and often did quests solo in Cyrodiil when it was quiet. Now I'm a less newbie healer in a PvP guild and it's a really good laugh on raid nights. It honestly doesn't take long for a group you're in to kill 15 people! There are friendly, supportive guilds and random players who will help if you ask.

I still find Imperial City hard. But again, if you run with a group when fewer people are around, you can do what you need and be finished for the week.

I agree. Especially about normal trials being within reach. Granted, it is a choice but considering that I have cleared Normal AA with a group that was not wearing any armor the trials should be accessible to the most casual of groups.