My partner and I played ESO extensively during 2014. We reached level 50 with two mains, level 30 with our alts, had a couple crafting alts scattered between 18 and 28, and multiple mules. We normally play together, as a team. We left long before the new post-50 champion system, the new zones, or One Tamriel existed. We're both very experienced gamers, going back in MMORPGs to EverQuest in 1999. We've played just about every major MMORPG out there, plus various minor ones. We are both PvE players (we NEVER touch PvP).

We returned on January 3rd, 2017, and it's been a constant struggle ever since. My initial hopes of finding a happy home in One Tamriel are getting dimmer by the day. After two weeks, here are some of the problems we've encountered. Suggestions or solutions would be most welcome.


(I) MELEE-DOMINATED, UNDOCUMENTED COMBAT ?

We have NO idea how we used to play the game. All our skill points and attributes were refunded, so all we have for clues is the skill lines we've unlocked. Obviously, we have no idea which second tier skills we used. This might be a blessing in disguise, except for point (b) below.

(a) HOPELESS RANGED CHARACTERS: It appears that our level 50s from 2014, one destruction/restoration staff, the other a bow user, were both sorcerers who used tank pets. Back in 2014 that made a dynamic duo, but in 2017 it appears ranged attacks are WAY out of fashion for PvE. Nobody uses archery, and staff sorcerers have gone out of fashion. Based on comments here, either or both characters would be unwelcome in groups or group-content guilds. Both will struggle with the high-end content. As best I can tell, the only reason to keep them around is for their crafting skills. (They do food and potions, which seems to retain some marginal utility). If I'm wrong, can you point me to even up to date, modern, one well-written, well-reasoned discussion of how such characters can become desirable to a group or guild?

(b) LACK OF "MODERN" COMBAT ANALYTICS: Our level 30 alts, one a dragonknight tank, the other a templar healer, seem to have more promise. The biggest problem is the lack of post-One-Tamriel weapon and skill analysis. It appears that most wikis and websites have nothing but outdated and over-generalized info from the ESO launch era. In the game, I've noticed that undocumented data (like minimum time between attacks, iframe durations, etc.) is still missing, and confusing descriptions are just as confusing. This makes me wonder if skill descriptions were updated when the skills changed! For someone working their way through the grind from level 20 to ch160, what is needed is a well-written analysis of each weapon and skill for each class. I can't find ANY website, ANYWHERE, with that. Actual links to actual sites would be appreciated. Please don't ask me to spend hours listening to egocentric youtube blather in hopes to getting a nugget or two of knowledge. Solid data, with charts, tables, and well written descriptions is worth an infinite number of youtube hours.

(c) SET PROGRESSION: It appears that champion-level characters, like our level-50s, need specific gear sets to do better. In fact, perhaps they need to go after a series of sets, whose difficulty of acquisition seems to escalate, and may require ownership of DLC. Are there any well-written websites about that, and if so, links please?


(II) A NEW CRAFT "REQUIRES" A NEW CHARACTER ?

It appears that the new One Tamriel system requires that you must start crafting by level 10ish. If you take up a new craft at level 30, or level 50, or beyond, it's nearly hopeless. Advancement through construction and research has been nerfed into the ground. I've tried to learn blacksmithing with my level 30 character by making iron weapons and armor. After a couple dozen items, I couldn't even tell if the skill bar advanced at all! How the only way to advance is via writs. Writs are always for items at the level of your character, so if you're level 30 or 50 starting a new craft, you need to make level 30 or 50 items - but are only level 5 in crafting! Worse, most of the raw materials that drop are for your character level, not your crafting skill level. So in addition to be unable to make level 30 or 50 items, you can't find much raw material for the items you can make!

I suppose the alternative is to become wealthy by theft, or some other money-making gimmick, and just buy the materials and items for the writs. But that means you must play some other subgamet to be a crafter.

There is also the problem of turning in writs. Finding WHERE to turn in a writ, when you're forgotten most of the zones, is a major problem. Today we spent a half hour searching for a level 50 provisioning writ turn-in, and no luck. Just getting authorized for writs was a nightmare, with people giving us all sorts of inaccurate and inappropriate information in chat (see below), and the map quest symbols leading us to random, useless zones all around the map.


(III) A HORMONE CRAZED ADOLESCENT CHAT-WORLD ?

In the zones I traveled through with my partner, such as Stonefalls or Glenumbra, zone chat seems like a step down from the low standards of WoW. Gratuitous insults, swearing because its cool, trolling, all with barely comprehensible grammar and misspelling, make it impossible to gain information or help other others. Every day, in every zone, I'm blocking a new crop of uglies just make the chat threads comprehensible. It reminds me to wannabe "cool kids" language in junior high and high school. Is the game now played mostly by the under-18 set? There is always juvenile chat, but the level seems larger here than in either FFXIV or GW2, for example.

I'm not looking for a chat cure (that's hopeless). But honestly, we don't want to devote serious time to a game populated by people acting like 12-year-olds.