Have fun and good luck.

Hello @LMar‌ and welcome. I've linked some things below that may be helpful. Don't worry about all of it at once, just take what you need at any given time and leave the rest. The best advice is to do what seems fun in the game and be patient as you learn it.

Useful Material for New Player on the Forums

Some of my advice

For what it's worth, here is my most concise and basic advice to new players. I hope it helps. When you are ready, don't hesitate to try parts of the game that many new players (especially those new to MMORPGs) sometimes find confusing or intimidating such as Player vs. Player and Group Dungeons.

Terms

I'm not sure how familiar you are with MMORPGs, as many of us had little experience with them but loved The Elder Scrolls. If that describes you, these links will help with some common terms:

Can anyone explain these common terms?

Unofficial ESO Slang and Abbreviation Dictionary

Guides and Hints

Many people have written helpful things on the forums, like this guide on blocking/avoiding powerful attacks (for more tips like this check out the Adventurer's Handbook series).


Useful Material for New Player on Other Sites

Guides and Walk-Throughs

There is help if you get stuck in a quest thanks to sites like Dulfy.net.
Some people also have very useful videos for basic parts of the game and character builds, such as Deltia's Gaming (look under Guides on the top bar). Many players find websites like Tamriel Foundry helpful as well.

Twitch Streams

This is popular with ESO players and you can watch them discussing/ playing the game live or catch the recording. This can be fun and also inspire ideas. Here are a few to try to see what I mean:

http://www.twitch.tv/elloawendy/profile

http://www.twitch.tv/defatank/profile



Add-Ons

I would add that you might want to consider an add-on or two to see if they help. For example, class skill lines (Storm Calling, Daedric Summoning, Dark Magic since you are a sorcerer) and individual class abilities (i.e. Mage's Fury, Crystal Shard, etc) level up when you gain experience with them. This also works for weapon skill lines/abilities and for Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, etc abilities. So if you defeat something or unlock a chest, etc, with an ability on your active bar, that ability and its skill line gain experience. The same is true if you complete a quest.

By using something like Wykkyd's Outfitter you can have the game "remember" different arrangements of your skill bar and change them with a simple click. I keep one called "Leveling" that I switch to just for turning in quests. To install any add-on just download the file, and if you have Windows, most likely you will have a folder called The Elder Scrolls under Documents. This is where all customization happens and the storing of screenshots takes place. Open it, then the folder called Live, and drop the add-on file into the folder called AddOns.

Also, I haven't read how levelling works yet, but is it with usage like older Elder Scrolls systems or is it with experience gained through quests? During game I think I noticed a mixture of both? Or it could have been just experienced gained and thought it was from skill usage

LMar wrote: »

Thanks all and @tinythinker for all the details. I will eventually get through them all.
The only question I can think of right now is how do I check the in-game time? Do I have to install an add-on? And are add-ons generally safe or can they potentially harbour any malicious code?

LMar wrote: »

Also, I haven't read how levelling works yet, but is it with usage like older Elder Scrolls systems or is it with experience gained through quests? During game I think I noticed a mixture of both? Or it could have been just experienced gained and thought it was from skill usage

Maybe others can add something but for some quick replies to you question:

1. In-game time is old-school (looking at the sky). Real time (per your computer clock) is shown on the game map (type M).

2. I only get popular add-ons from the site I linked, and I don't use many.

3. You gain experience for most things:
-Defeat an enemy=xp.
-Unlock a chest with a lock pick = xp.
-Discover a new location (it will say in text on screen "You have discovered...") = xp.
-Complete a solo dungeon/group dungeon/group delve = xp.
-Complete a quest = xp.

Any skill on your active bar (and its overall skill line) also gains experience when these things happen. You also get experience for whatever armor type(s) you are wearing. It helps to wear at least one of each armor type while leveling in case you want to use a different type later. So even if you want to focus on light armor, then OK, wear 5 light and it will level faster, but toss on one medium and one heavy, too.

I can't speak for the NA server because I haven't logged on it in ages, but EU folks are indeed very friendly.

I advise you to join all guilds. It seems to be expected if you look at the levelling progression, and they have very useful skills - not only for the specific playstyle you'd think they represent. For example, Undaunted have the only ranged taunt in the game and Fighters' Silver Shards are invaluable against daedra when you're still low level and can easily get overpowered. Also, the questlines are pretty great! You can never get tired of Sheogorath's shenanigans.

Being the internet and involving gaming, there will always be rude people, but Rosveen is right, there are many great guilds on both servers that love to help people and their help can make the game much more fun.

We're getting to add-ons, huh? Alright then. My "let's make inventory management, crafting and trading less frustrating" list:
Advanced Filters
Inventory Item Borders
Awesome Guild Store
Guild Sales Assistant
Research Assistant
AI Research Grid
Sous Chef

LMar wrote: »

Hahah you guys are great. I like the idea of minimaps but I think I will try the vanilla UI and see if I eventually want some more functionality. I still need to actually learn how to play before changing everything!

That's probably best. While I think there are around 4 to 8 Addons that are great for functionality, they are not required to make the game run. Plus, you don't know what you want until you try the game stock first and then wonder what is missing or not from the UI.

LMar wrote: »

Great @Rosveen and @tinythinker thanks! I am on the EU server. I look forward to joining the Mages Guild.
I hope all people in the game are as welcoming and helpful as all of you guys/gals

The ESO community is really great and friendly in general. You have a nice mix of "min - maxer" players like Deltia, they know everything about the game, but are generaly helpfull and not elitist jerk. You have also a nice bunch of laid back players that just want to enjoy the game in a relaxed way. In the contrary of other games, those two sort of players seems to mix well.

I'm playing on the Daggerfall Covenant on the EU megaserver. Feel free to add me as friend if you have any questions!


PS. thanks @Tinythinker to have mentioned me. Its nice to see that some poeple appreciate my work for ESO (stream + youtube) A big hug for you! You made my day

Thank you all guys and thanks for the staff welcome @ZOS_JessicaFolsom‌ I've been playing the game and getting to grips with crafting and stuff. I have even started researching some things and did some enchanting as well. It is looking good so far! It's nice seeing kwama after so long as well heh.

If you want you can add me in the game as well, it would be great to see you. My
character name is Lord Marfinil (excuse the silly name!) (or should i supply the username?)

Nestor wrote: »

LMar wrote: »

If you want you can add me in the game as well, it would be great to see you. My
character name is Lord Marfinil (excuse the silly name!) (or should i supply the username?)

If you want to join a nice helpful PvE Guild, Lone Wolf Help is one way to go. All we care about is helping each other and having fun. Message me in game and I can invite you.

Hi @Nestor‌ and thanks for the invite. Looks like a guild I would be interested in. Is it on the NA or EU server (I am in the EU one) and does that make a difference?

Cool thanks for the advice