Just Started

SohoTango

Yes, I know I'm 10 years late to the party...

I am old enough to remember when ES3 came out; I waited until the GOTY was available and I bought it. I was obsessed with that game. Then I bought and played 4 and 5...and I was underwhelmed. Nothing replaced the immersive magic that was Morrowind. I hope you all can understand my suspicion that turning Elder Scrolls into an MMO would be a terrible idea. I didn't think there would be any way that anyone could pull it off.
But so far so good! This game brings back some of the things I LOVED about Morrowind, such as the rewards for exploring. I was thrilled when I discovered I can search all containers that are tucked away in corners and obscured by shadows - and find things.
Another thing I loved about Morrowind?
complete character customization : ES was doing that before anybody else was. I like to play myself in the game because it adds to the immersion for me. I am a woman, and I don't like to feel forced to play a "sexy" woman. My char (more or less, my representation of myself in the game universe) is decidedly unsexy by design. I love that ESO allows for char customization that doesn't require female chars to look idealized. I play the game to PLAY; not prance around looking pretty. I play for the substance, not for visuals. I want to get in the game; to immerse myself in the plot, storyline, political intrigue, and culture of another world. I love that ES3 let me create a char that didn't focus on sex appeal, and likewise for ESO.

So far, I feel comfortable playing. The controls feel so familiar and intuitive. I also like the combat system. I only have one more trepidation now - I fear I might get obsessed like I did with Morrowind, and start playing 12-14 hours a day. I literally missed work for Morrowind. I have to remember: game/life balance.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Welcome to Tamriel!

LanteanPegasus

Welcome back to Tamriel!

And if you value the immersive experience, try to play the game in chronological order. (regarding main/guild quests, zone quests and so on) They had to make concessions to it being an MMO, but if you keep the right order, the timeline will make more sense for some quests, and some NPCs you meet again will recognise you from before - if you already played the quest where you supposedly met them the first time.
(Plus, in my opinion, the writing in the older content of ESO was better than what we had in the last few years.)

Here is a very good guide to get the order right. (Just scroll to the faction you are in (Covenant/Dominion/Pact) to start, and follow it from there.)

This lists the main quests for zones and guilds. Of course, like in other TES games, you'll just find (and probably do) tons of sidequests along the way.
Happy adventuring!

Nerouyn

SohoTango wrote: »

My char (more or less, my representation of myself in the game universe) is decidedly unsexy by design.

You go girl!

SohoTango wrote: »

I play the game to PLAY; not prance around looking pretty.

I do both!

SohoTango wrote: »

I love that ES3 let me create a char that didn't focus on sex appeal, and likewise for ESO.

I haven't surveyed extensively but this is one of the few MMOs which doesn't hyper sexualise practically every female NPC.

I appreciate that.

ec250

Welcome back!

ESO is a great game from both a PVE and PVP perspective. Best game out at this time.

barney2525

I can't stick with a character I don't want to look at. Tried Orcs, Argonians, Dark Elves.

Never stick with them. Even try them with full face helmet.

Soraka

Welcome!

Tenthirty2

Welcome to ESO!

I recall the same feeling in ES3 that you describe, ESO has that too

Having come from the single player titles a few years ago to ESO I can offer a couple pointers.


ESO is huge, VERY huge, so feeling overwhelmed is totally normal.

While the game does explain some basics like combat, exploration, etc there is a lot that is left out and you will find yourself looking to the Net for answers. This is also unfortunately normal, but there are some great sites\resources out there.

These forums can also be a great source of information.
When creating threads try to stick to the sub forums that match your question\topic. So if you have questions about damage, skills, weaving and bar swapping, etc the Combat & Character Mechanics would be a good forum. Questions about building in your player homes, the Housing sub forum is a great place.

This General Discussion forum is mostly used for threads like this one! or other broad questions. (There can also be a lot of drama, try not to take any of it too seriously lol.)

Levels and advancement will seem to come pretty fast at first and you may feel like you don't know what is the "best option", this is OK.
Many ppl will have great advice and eventually you will figure out what works best for you. Don't worry too much about picking the "wrong" skill, race, etc either, that can all be changed. The only thing that cannot be changed is the character class you choose. Everything else can be changed usually for gold.

If you loved just randomly wandering to see what you could stumble across in other ES titles, ESO absolutely caters to that urge! Every zone has a main quest but there are TONS of side quests to be found just by wandering around, lots of fun!

Only other thing I would recommend starting as soon as you can is training your mount skills. Having a fast mount will make things much more bearable down the road. You can go to any stablemaster in a major zone city (Like Vivec CIty) and train your mount skill once per day for 250 gold.
Three separate mount "skills", Speed, Stamina (how long you can run full speed), and carry capacity (increases your characters inventory size). There are 60 points for each. So at 1 per day you are looking at 180 days to fully train a mount.
Training is also per character, but will apply to ANY mount you use.

ESO has a lot of monetization through the Crown Store, while there are many cool things, NONE of them are necessary for you to have a great time in game. Only thing I would recommend is subbing to ESO+, I played for about a month before I decided to sub and I've never regretted it.

Wishing you an awesome time in Tamriel, see you out there!

SohoTango

Thank you, everyone, for your kind replies!

barney2525 wrote: »

I can't stick with a character I don't want to look at. Tried Orcs, Argonians, Dark Elves.

Never stick with them. Even try them with full face helmet.

Dunmer made the list!? I am going to out myself as the dork that I am...I always thought the Dunmer are quite appealing to look at. I'm embarrassed to admit that I thought Eno Hlaalu was rather attractive. As an Imperial (i.e., my char), I had a bit of a love affair going on with him. Yes, I was a member of the Morag Tong and a devotee of black hands Mephala. I've consistently preferred the MT over the Nightblades; I respect Mephala and I have little regard for the Night Mother.

I play first person for the immersion, so I rarely consider the effect of looking at my char for long periods of time.

Danikat

Welcome to Elder Scrolls Online!

I had a very similar experience, although I only waited a year to get ESO and I didn't intentionally wait for the GOTY edition of Morrowind. I went to buy it the month before, then found out the 'limited edition' of Wind Waker with a bonus disc was genuinely limited (until then it was the only one I'd seen) so I bought that instead. When I went back after my next pay day to get Morrowind the GOTY edition had come out, so that was a very happy accident.

I think you'll find a lot to enjoy in ESO, and I agree with the people above who said to get the most out of it it's best to play the releases in chronological order, although within a zone the quests can generally be played in any order and (like in Morrowind) it's often worth just wandering off to see what you can find, you might be surprised by what you come across.

SohoTango

CORRECTION :

SohoTango wrote: »

I've consistently preferred the MT over the Nightblades; I respect Mephala and I have little regard for the Night Mother.

😂 Obviously, I meant the Dark Brotherhood, not 'nightblades'! I had these ESO classes on my mind and didn't bother to proofread before posting.