Elder Scrolls Online questions

[Zenoth]

I haven't played MMORPGs since I've quit pretty much all the ones I was playing (well three of them total). My latest one was Tera, but I quit that one around summer of last year or so. I also tried Blade & Soul for a bit (about two months) but ultimately just plain stopped. I haven't tried Black Desert yet, but I've watched a number of recent "let's plays" and reviews (dating no longer than a month ago) and it seems... sort of "okay" 'ish (the graphics are good but I'm just referring to the game overall) ... but I dunno... there's something about it that just doesn't "click" with me. I keep procrastinating on the "probably should just try it out anyway" part. I guess that if it ever becomes F2P then I'll just give it a shot but for now... meh.

Anyways... to skip some thoughts here, the main gist is that I don't want to invest my life into an MMORPG again (I did that two times, the first being the worst and I don't want to experience that ever again; especially reflecting on it retrospectively). If I play another one it's gonna be very casually. I'll want to go in at my own pace, without that being a disadvantage compared to those playing it 5+ to 10+ hours a day and every day of the week.

So, the only "big enough" MMORPG I haven't tried yet is Elder Scrolls Online. I've watched some recent videos of that one too lately (no "reviews" yet but just some basic gameplays) and it seems to have a bit more 'quality content' than I was originally expecting. The Buy-to-Play model (like Guild Wars 2's, basically) doesn't bother me. I don't mind spending some $30 or so if I can get a couple of weeks worth of progression gameplay on one or two classes I'd like without necessarily even reaching the game's proper "end game" content. As I said I won't rush MMORPGs anymore, I'm completely done doing that, forever.

Getting to it...

So I'd like to ask any of you potential ESO players (or Ex ESO players) the following questions about the game:

1) How solo-friendly is it? Knowing myself, I'll just do stuff on my own until I'm practically "forced" to join a party, a raid or a guild to effectively progress. How 'far' can I go in ESO if doing everything I can on my own? And is there a point after which I will simply have the hardest time in the world if I'm not in an active guild to progress?

2) Reaching end-game won't be my priority. However, it's an MMO... and I'm obviously conscious that I'm actually sort of interested in playing ESO... and it's an MMO. So... no I'm not just going to stupidly ignore end-game completely as if it was cancer. I'll get to it (in due time) and once I do then I'll "try" it. So the question here is, basically, how is end-game overall in ESO? Is it... fun? It's subjective obviously but here I'm mostly referring to its longevity I guess. How long does Mr. Joe everyone take to "fully" gear up in that game? Is it very grindy or not that much? Just give me a general idea as to what to expect.

3) How does the loot work in groups? The one thing that pissed me off in Blade & Soul was how everyone in the party could (and of course always) bet actual in-game currency on the items that dropped from a boss (besides the 'guaranteed' items you'd always receive). So obviously the rich who really wanted 'x' item would get it, and the poor as usual sucked it real hard and chocked on it too. However, in Tera, it was simply the more typical RNG rolls that determined if you'd roll on it or not.

So, how is ESO's loot mechanic? RNG-based rolls? In-game currency betting wars? or does the loot just drops everywhere Diablo 2 style and the first one fast enough to pick it up gets it? Or do items drop on individual basis Diablo 3 style? Etc.

4) What is / how is the combat system? Fully dynamic and able to physically avoid hits from where it lands? Or is there "some" tag-targetting B&S style or Guild Wars 2 style? It's basically Skyrim's engine I've read so... I guess it's just playing like Skyrim's combat system, yeah?

5) Is there a trinity system? Or can all classes be any "roles" and everything they want like in GW2 or similarly so like in B&S or in other comparable non-trinity systems? I personally much prefer to have a trinity system (this one alone will probably determine if I buy it or not).

And that's about what I'd like to know for now, should be enough.

Thanks for your time everyone.

 

[Craig234]

You mentioned you've tried the various MMO's, but have you checked out Rift or LOTRO? I played ESO for about an hour so can't really say anything.

 

[Zenoth]

You mentioned you've tried the various MMO's, but have you checked out Rift or LOTRO? I played ESO for about an hour so can't really say anything.

I've tried Rift about two years ago I think, but I didn't like it enough in the end. As for LOTRO I've just never been interested enough in it to try it.

 

[bguile]

I play it quite a bit, so feel free to ask any questions. Trying to answer your questions, but there is alot to cover.

1. Its very solo friendly. You need not join any guild at all, until you decide to do the vet level trials. The only exception to that is, you will end up joining a trading guild. There is no auction house, and if you want to sell loot, the only way to do it is through a trading guild. Or spam the zone chat, which is quite common. But starting out there really isn't any need to join one right away. It's pretty easy to get in one, and you will probably end up joining a guild one way or another. They are always recruiting. You can be in up to 5 at one time. ESO is very casual game, for the most part people are pretty laid back. Seems like in all the guilds I have been in, there may be 50 players online, but only half of them are trying to get a raid together or looking for group content. The rest are just questing solo and happy to do their own thing. Only the high end content (trials, vet dungeons) and pvp is an issue when it comes to elitism.

There is the main story, which is solo. Then there are the faction storylines, which can also be solo'd. In addition there a bunch of side quest in each zone which can also be done solo. The fighters guild quest line is solo, along with the mage guild quest line. In each zone there are several delves (basic little dungeons, which can be done solo), then one public dungeon which would require a group, but can be done solo later once you get more gear and levels. Finally there is the group dungeons, and you can simply use the party finder to a group together to do those. Basically you check your role (dps, tank, healer) and wait until you get assigned to a group. DPS takes a while though, checking as a tank or healer gets you in right away (so of course DPS checks as tanks and then never tanks...) Group dungeons are the absolute best and worst part of the game for me. It'd take to long to explain, but people usually rush right through them, even though they are some of the best content. They come in normal and vet versions. 1-50 is normal, and cp1 - cp 561 are for vet. Normals can be solo'd once your high enough level and decent gear, vet dungeons you better know the mechanics and you should be at least good at your role. This is even more true for trials.

2. End game content is tough. But there isn't alot of it. Basically a few vet level trials and some vet level dungeons. It's quite a grind also. The levels work like this: level 1-50 (can be done in a week), and after 50 you start working on champ points, which go to 561 (current cap, gonna hit 600 next dlc). That part takes forever. I've played for a long time and done most of the content in the game except vet level trials, and some vet level dungeons, and I rarely interact with my guild members. As for getting the top end gear, its a grind also.

3. People run dungeons/dolmens endlessly looking for loot and to grind levels. Certain set items only drop in certain dungeons. Loot is instanced, so once you kill the boss, everyone gets a set piece and some random stuff. Each items can drop with various traits, and only handful are useful.

4. Combat is pretty simple at first glance. You have 5 skills and an ult on your main weapon, and the same for your 2nd weapon. Common setup is to put buffs and aoe attacks on back skill bar, and main attack skills on your front skill bat and switch back and forth. Part of what determines how good you are is how well you can tie all 10 skills together. Some people simply use a handful of skills, others make use of all 10. Other than that is sorta like skyrim. Attack, block, dodge roll, etc.

5. Not sure what you mean by trinity system. There are 4 main classes. Nightblade, Dragon Knight, Templar, and Sorc. Then there are 3 main roles. DPS, Tank, Healer. Also each class can be divided into two categories, either stam focused, or magicka focused. Also racial passive play a part as well. Right now, either you focus entirely on Stamina for melee characters, or focus mainly on magic for magicka based builds. Hybrid builds that spread stat points across all three stats (health, stamina, and magika, are discouraged). For solo play/normal dungeons its fine, but for the vet dungeons and trials your gonna need to get the most out of your character, which means min/maxing. Nightblades are mostly DPS, though some builds can tank (with right gear). DK can tank and DPS, but you don't see many DK healers. Templars can do all three. Sorcs can do DPS, and healing, maybe some variations can do tanking. People try to make off the wall builds, and sometimes they work with correct gear and CP placement, but for most part people follow the meta. An orc sorc healer probably isn't going to work as well as a high elf sorc healer, just because of racial passive, but an Orc stam dragonknight is gonna be better than a high elf stam based dragon knight. With that in mind though, when you first start out, play what you want. You get eight character slots, so you can always re-roll another one once you get a better feel for the game. Also you can reset skill points and stat points, but not class or racial choices (you can do those to but it cost money). Just start a different character is cheaper.

Hope that answers some questions, but I haven't even touched on housing, Champ point system, PvP, crown store, or DLC, and a bunch of other stuff.

Edited to add some more stuff
You will be disadvantaged playing casual versus someone who puts in more time. They will have better gear, more skills, more champion points, etc. No way around it. You will still be able to enjoy most of the content though.

As far as quests go, they are pretty bland, basic go bring me 5 of these, go kill that monster, etc. Hardly and dialogue choices, etc. Some stand out, but for the most part they are not particularly interesting. If you are into Elder scrolls lore, its pretty good though. Get to see Almalexia (and soon Vivec), interactions with a lot of the daedric princes, get to see a lot of areas of Tamriel that are mentioned in other Elder scrolls game. Keep in mind that ESO takes place before the events in other elder scrolls game. Whether or not these events will become canon I don't know.

 

[Zenoth]

I play it quite a bit, so feel free to ask any questions. Trying to answer your questions, but there is alot to cover.

1. Its very solo friendly. You need not join any guild at all, until you decide to do the vet level trials. The only exception to that is, you will end up joining a trading guild. There is no auction house, and if you want to sell loot, the only way to do it is through a trading guild. Or spam the zone chat, which is quite common. But starting out there really isn't any need to join one right away. It's pretty easy to get in one, and you will probably end up joining a guild one way or another. They are always recruiting. You can be in up to 5 at one time. ESO is very casual game, for the most part people are pretty laid back. Seems like in all the guilds I have been in, there may be 50 players online, but only half of them are trying to get a raid together or looking for group content. The rest are just questing solo and happy to do their own thing. Only the high end content (trials, vet dungeons) and pvp is an issue when it comes to elitism.

There is the main story, which is solo. Then there are the faction storylines, which can also be solo'd. In addition there a bunch of side quest in each zone which can also be done solo. The fighters guild quest line is solo, along with the mage guild quest line. In each zone there are several delves (basic little dungeons, which can be done solo), then one public dungeon which would require a group, but can be done solo later once you get more gear and levels. Finally there is the group dungeons, and you can simply use the party finder to a group together to do those. Basically you check your role (dps, tank, healer) and wait until you get assigned to a group. DPS takes a while though, checking as a tank or healer gets you in right away (so of course DPS checks as tanks and then never tanks...) Group dungeons are the absolute best and worst part of the game for me. It'd take to long to explain, but people usually rush right through them, even though they are some of the best content. They come in normal and vet versions. 1-50 is normal, and cp1 - cp 561 are for vet. Normals can be solo'd once your high enough level and decent gear, vet dungeons you better know the mechanics and you should be at least good at your role. This is even more true for trials.

2. End game content is tough. But there isn't alot of it. Basically a few vet level trials and some vet level dungeons. It's quite a grind also. The levels work like this: level 1-50 (can be done in a week), and after 50 you start working on champ points, which go to 561 (current cap, gonna hit 600 next dlc). That part takes forever. I've played for a long time and done most of the content in the game except vet level trials, and some vet level dungeons, and I rarely interact with my guild members. As for getting the top end gear, its a grind also.

3. People run dungeons/dolmens endlessly looking for loot and to grind levels. Certain set items only drop in certain dungeons. Loot is instanced, so once you kill the boss, everyone gets a set piece and some random stuff. Each items can drop with various traits, and only handful are useful.

4. Combat is pretty simple at first glance. You have 5 skills and an ult on your main weapon, and the same for your 2nd weapon. Common setup is to put buffs and aoe attacks on back skill bar, and main attack skills on your front skill bat and switch back and forth. Part of what determines how good you are is how well you can tie all 10 skills together. Some people simply use a handful of skills, others make use of all 10. Other than that is sorta like skyrim. Attack, block, dodge roll, etc.

5. Not sure what you mean by trinity system. There are 4 main classes. Nightblade, Dragon Knight, Templar, and Sorc. Then there are 3 main roles. DPS, Tank, Healer. Also each class can be divided into two categories, either stam focused, or magicka focused. Also racial passive play a part as well. Right now, either you focus entirely on Stamina for melee characters, or focus mainly on magic for magicka based builds. Hybrid builds that spread stat points across all three stats (health, stamina, and magika, are discouraged). For solo play/normal dungeons its fine, but for the vet dungeons and trials your gonna need to get the most out of your character, which means min/maxing. Nightblades are mostly DPS, though some builds can tank (with right gear). DK can tank and DPS, but you don't see many DK healers. Templars can do all three. Sorcs can do DPS, and healing, maybe some variations can do tanking. People try to make off the wall builds, and sometimes they work with correct gear and CP placement, but for most part people follow the meta. An orc sorc healer probably isn't going to work as well as a high elf sorc healer, just because of racial passive, but an Orc stam dragonknight is gonna be better than a high elf stam based dragon knight. With that in mind though, when you first start out, play what you want. You get eight character slots, so you can always re-roll another one once you get a better feel for the game. Also you can reset skill points and stat points, but not class or racial choices (you can do those to but it cost money). Just start a different character is cheaper.

Hope that answers some questions, but I haven't even touched on housing, Champ point system, PvP, crown store, or DLC, and a bunch of other stuff.

Edited to add some more stuff
You will be disadvantaged playing casual versus someone who puts in more time. They will have better gear, more skills, more champion points, etc. No way around it. You will still be able to enjoy most of the content though.

As far as quests go, they are pretty bland, basic go bring me 5 of these, go kill that monster, etc. Hardly and dialogue choices, etc. Some stand out, but for the most part they are not particularly interesting. If you are into Elder scrolls lore, its pretty good though. Get to see Almalexia (and soon Vivec), interactions with a lot of the daedric princes, get to see a lot of areas of Tamriel that are mentioned in other Elder scrolls game. Keep in mind that ESO takes place before the events in other elder scrolls game. Whether or not these events will become canon I don't know.

Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer my questions, much appreciated. It helped a lot indeed.

I'll give it a try.

Side notes: The 'Trinity System' is the typical trio roles of MMORPGs, namely Healer / Tank / DPS. Some games, however, don't have that trinity system, and the classes available in those games can essentially do everything they want when they need to, which is something I'm not very fond of (examples: Blade & Soul, Guild Wars 2). Knowing that there is a trinity system in ESO is definitely a major positive in my book and because of that alone I think I'll give it a go. I'll play it for about two months as I usually do with MMOs before I decide if I stay or not.

 

[bguile]

Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer my questions, much appreciated. It helped a lot indeed.

I'll give it a try.

Side notes: The 'Trinity System' is the typical trio roles of MMORPGs, namely Healer / Tank / DPS. Some games, however, don't have that trinity system, and the classes available in those games can essentially do everything they want when they need to, which is something I'm not very fond of (examples: Blade & Soul, Guild Wars 2). Knowing that there is a trinity system in ESO is definitely a major positive in my book and because of that alone I think I'll give it a go. I'll play it for about two months as I usually do with MMOs before I decide if I stay or not.

I didn't know there was a term, its always been just dps, tank, and healer. I can expand on it a little further though. Also there is no voice chat in ESO. People use third party stuff like discord. I believe there is on console, but not on PC.

Yes those are the three main roles, and for dungeons and trials it is the usual standard.

A dungeon consists of four players, usually two DPS, a tank, and a healer.
A trial consists of 12 players, and I believe the usual composition is tank, off tank, two healers, and eight dps (based off Aetherian Archive trial). Other trials may use a different composition.
You can also form groups of up to twenty players, but that is for world event stuff, like dolmens, world bosses, pvp, and I don't think there is a set definition there, just whoever wants in.

Healers heal pretty much, and do group buffs. I don't play them so I don't know a lot about them.

Tanks...tank, group stuff, and do buffs. There are no AOE taunts in ESO. so the tanks usually pick up the heavy hitters and bosses, and interrupt boss attacks if they can. You can't tank everything (also some bosses can't be taunted). They also try to group trash mobs using CC skills so the DPS can do AOE attacks. In addition they should be doing some party buffs. Good tanks can do all these things, other tanks just do the basics. Tanks focus on health, and survive ability mainly. Positioning is also part of the tanks job, like pulling the boss to certain areas, pointing them away from the group, etc.

DPS do damage and rez fallen party members. Some DPS are really really good and don't even need the rest of the group, they can burn stuff so fast. Some DPS are really really bad, and do nothing but cast one or two skills and then do heavy attacks. Most are in between. A lot of this is gear, CP level and experience. There is no set number for DPS, but on average DPS should be doing minimum around 10K for normal dungeons, 15-20K for vet dungeons and normal trials, and 25K and up for dlc dungeons and vet trials. I've seen higher and lower numbers thrown around on the forums, so they are not set in stone. Teamwork and knowing the mechanics is important too, not just raw numbers. You can do a vet dungeon with 10K dps, it will just take a lot longer. DPS is based off a single boss damage, not trash mobs. You can find your DPS via third party add-ons like combat metrics. There a quite a few 3rd Party addon's and ZOS is ok with their use. I would recommend you look into them.

For normal dungeons any level above 10 can do them. For vet dungeons, usually people prefer you to be CP level 300+, especially for the harder ones. But that is not always the case, as I usually see level 100 and level 200 folks in them and its rarely a problem.

I should also mention the champion point system. When the game came out, it was level 1-50, then you could earn up to level 16 Veteran Rank (which is equivalent to CP level 160, which is the current max level on gear). Eventually the did away with this and went to champion point system. They are similar to BA ranks in BL2. Basically a way to round out your character. For example you can invest points that mitigate damage, or increase spell damage, or melee damage, increase magic regen, etc. They have been increasing the cap with each dlc, currently it is 561, but I believe it will go up to 600 with housing dlc release. The nice thing is that you can take these champion points and apply them to a new char, whereas before you had to grind each char to vr160 (if you had multiple char's and had the desire to max them all out that it). This is becoming a problem, since a maxed out champion point DPS with the right gear can solo much of the normal content in the game. Trials, and some vet dungeons no, but most normal dungeons, world bosses, public dungeons, etc they can all do solo.

Next, There is a side quest involving the unduanted. At level 45 you can start accepting unduanted pledges, which is basically to run two base game dungeons, and one dlc dungeon per day. Doing a normal dungeon rewards one key, doing a vet dungeon on hard mode rewards two keys. Killing the final boss on vet drops a monster helm, which varies based on the final boss. The keys unlock chests, which drop random shoulders for the monster helm. These are some of the best gear in the game. So you beat Selene's Web on vet and you get her helm, then you go to the chest but get Valkyn skoria shoulder. So people keep re-running the undauted pledges over and over to get the shoulders and helm in the traits they want (infused, sharpened, divines are all in demand, but prosperous and training is what keeps dropping). These items are not trade-able outside of the group you completed the dungeon with (you have 2 hours to trade them then they are bound).

Also there is gear specific to each dungeon, which always has a chance to drop. For example viper set drops in Fungal grotto, but so does three other sets, plus the traits, so the chance of you getting a sharpened vipers sword is pretty low when everything is factored in. So people keep re-running the dungeons over and over. And lots of them want to do this as quickly as possible.

So back to the trinity system, group dungeons, and why this may matter to you. If you enter a group dungeon via the group finder just starting the game (i believe you have to be level 10), don't be surprised to find your self grouped with one or two high level people. Some high cp level dps may just flash through the dungeon because they just want the loot/or doing the pledge for that day. Or they have queued as a tank to get placed in a dungeon faster, but then only do basic tank stuff. It's insanely frustrating if its your first time there and you want to do the quest, as folks skip right through it, and race off to the next boss. Or your role is a tank, but the DPS is racing ahead and killing stuff before you can even taunt anything. That said, Group dungeons, if done right is the best part of the game to me, if everyone is doing their part and works together, and shares the loot after. And that is still the norm, but the CP and gear grind is shifting the role of tanks (and healers to a lesser extant) in normal dungeons, as you can do them with 4 DPS, or 3 DPS and a healer, etc. I can solo most normal dungeons as a dps, but try to work with a group when I am in one, though if your looting every single container and reading every single book people will lose patience quick. Anyway, in Vet dungeons and trials though, the roles still holds their place. Also, usually if you announce your doing the quest, people will slow down for you, or if you have a question on a mechanic people will explain it to you. By the time you are seriously thinking of running vet dungeons and trials though, is probably the time you want to start looking for a guild that does those things, which are a dime a dozen.

 

[Zenoth]

Thanks for all that info, it's appreciated.

I started yesterday, rolled a Dark Elf Sorc. I think I'm going to focus on the 'storm' tree and summoning as well (I had a summoner in Oblivion, it's basically that same character).

I asked in the zone chat at the beginning for Attribute points recommendations (for the points distribution), most people said just go with full Magicka, because apparently 'all rounders' don't perform as well later on (people distributing their points in a bit of everything). So it's just one extreme. I guess that if I was to make a proper 'tank' I'd go full Health, and if I made a melee DPS I'd go with full Stamina, etc. You have any thoughts on that? But anyway I already started with Magicka as it is, I might just go that route for now.

It's fun so far though, genuinely do like the game. But it's very early so I'll keep on going for at least a month to have a better opinion of the game. I had a good laugh at the beginning though on the first island, some guy (I suppose he was a Thief or something along the lines) apparently tried to steal something from a merchant in the bazaar / market place and had I think two guards running after him, he was level 5 or 6 I think, didn't stand a chance. I saw him try again later and failed again. I was curious and asked him if he actually wanted to get his resources and/or gear that way and he replied that he wasn't sure if it's viable since he was also relatively new to the game and just wanted to go for it for fun. So just out of curiosity, are Thieves able to gear up by simply being... thieves? There has to be a limit on how much wealth they can acquire that way in an MMO environment, otherwise everyone would just do that I assume. But still, it's a nice touch that you'd have a class in an MMORPG that is actually able to really steal items from merchants, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before in other MMOs.

And, new questions, now that I'm playing it:

1) Is resource gathering worth my time?

I've been picking up flowers and insects, chopping wood and extracting minerals as I'm venturing and exploring around the island. I saw the various professions and work tables at the market, where I can level up with the Blacksmith, there's also the alchemy table, clothing, etc. I already started to Refine some raw materials I gathered but I'll put a stop to that until I'm 100% sure if it's at the very least worth doing for trading purposes, or if it's actually worth doing for gearing as well.

Essentially, is taking my time just hunting raw resources around worth doing in and of itself or are most players just not bothering with that after a certain point?

2) Related to the above, how is crafting in general (outside of actually going out and gathering resources)? Are the items we can craft as good as, if not better than items that would drop in dungeons? Is the amount of time, grinding and money it costs to craft something not worth doing in the end?

3) Are all classes viable? Or are there known "weak" classes and/or builds that should be avoided at all costs because they'd be a pain to play with later on?

Not all MMOs I've played were like that, but sometimes you do end up with the inevitable 'OP' class(es) and the 'Don't Bother' class(es) due to balancing issues (that's on the developers part of course, but it does happen from time to time). I do remember very clearly when - for example - the Gunner class in Tera was quite literally over-powered, to a point where it was (on paper at least) almost futile to roll on any other classes. The same happened prior to that with the Reaper class, and later on it was the Brawler's turn (all of those balance issues came and went as months passed and different patches were released that desperately tried, or didn't try, to do something about one or two classes but left the rest in the dust for months).

For now I'm going with the summoner route as I mentioned, but it's only based on the fact that I simply like to summon stuff. It may be fun, but how viable is it in the game?

Anyways, thanks again for your time and your advice.

 

[bguile]

Thanks for all that info, it's appreciated.

I started yesterday, rolled a Dark Elf Sorc. I think I'm going to focus on the 'storm' tree and summoning as well (I had a summoner in Oblivion, it's basically that same character).

I asked in the zone chat at the beginning for Attribute points recommendations (for the points distribution), most people said just go with full Magicka, because apparently 'all rounders' don't perform as well later on (people distributing their points in a bit of everything). So it's just one extreme. I guess that if I was to make a proper 'tank' I'd go full Health, and if I made a melee DPS I'd go with full Stamina, etc. You have any thoughts on that? But anyway I already started with Magicka as it is, I might just go that route for now.

It's fun so far though, genuinely do like the game. But it's very early so I'll keep on going for at least a month to have a better opinion of the game. I had a good laugh at the beginning though on the first island, some guy (I suppose he was a Thief or something along the lines) apparently tried to steal something from a merchant in the bazaar / market place and had I think two guards running after him, he was level 5 or 6 I think, didn't stand a chance. I saw him try again later and failed again. I was curious and asked him if he actually wanted to get his resources and/or gear that way and he replied that he wasn't sure if it's viable since he was also relatively new to the game and just wanted to go for it for fun. So just out of curiosity, are Thieves able to gear up by simply being... thieves? There has to be a limit on how much wealth they can acquire that way in an MMO environment, otherwise everyone would just do that I assume. But still, it's a nice touch that you'd have a class in an MMORPG that is actually able to really steal items from merchants, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before in other MMOs.

And, new questions, now that I'm playing it:

1) Is resource gathering worth my time?

I've been picking up flowers and insects, chopping wood and extracting minerals as I'm venturing and exploring around the island. I saw the various professions and work tables at the market, where I can level up with the Blacksmith, there's also the alchemy table, clothing, etc. I already started to Refine some raw materials I gathered but I'll put a stop to that until I'm 100% sure if it's at the very least worth doing for trading purposes, or if it's actually worth doing for gearing as well.

Essentially, is taking my time just hunting raw resources around worth doing in and of itself or are most players just not bothering with that after a certain point?

2) Related to the above, how is crafting in general (outside of actually going out and gathering resources)? Are the items we can craft as good as, if not better than items that would drop in dungeons? Is the amount of time, grinding and money it costs to craft something not worth doing in the end?

3) Are all classes viable? Or are there known "weak" classes and/or builds that should be avoided at all costs because they'd be a pain to play with later on?

Not all MMOs I've played were like that, but sometimes you do end up with the inevitable 'OP' class(es) and the 'Don't Bother' class(es) due to balancing issues (that's on the developers part of course, but it does happen from time to time). I do remember very clearly when - for example - the Gunner class in Tera was quite literally over-powered, to a point where it was (on paper at least) almost futile to roll on any other classes. The same happened prior to that with the Reaper class, and later on it was the Brawler's turn (all of those balance issues came and went as months passed and different patches were released that desperately tried, or didn't try, to do something about one or two classes but left the rest in the dust for months).

For now I'm going with the summoner route as I mentioned, but it's only based on the fact that I simply like to summon stuff. It may be fun, but how viable is it in the game?

Anyways, thanks again for your time and your advice.

Storm Tree is good, and so is the curse tree. Pets are not done very well in ESO. For starting out they are fine, but later on there are better skills to use.

For Attributes, min maxing is the current route most people go. Magicka goes full magick, stam goes full stam. Tanks are sorta the exception, as they put enough points into health to reach (usually 30k I think), and the rest in stamina usually. Specialized PvP builds might spread some points around too, but I don't do enough to comment on it. For now don't worry about it. You can always respec skill points and stat points at the alliance capital (for a gold fee). If you find yourself dying alot, go ahead and put points in health, if not stay magic.

Running around stealing stuff is an ok way to make money. You wouldn't steal your items per se, you just steal a bunch of stuff, sell it off at an outlaw location, and use that money to buy the gear you want. I've heard you can make decent money doing it, though its not really for me, so I could be wrong. There is a limit on how many stolen items you can sell per day, but it can be increased via points in legerdemain tree. There is no theives guild in the game per se, it was released as a DLC, and its more story related, though there are some skills and quests in that DLC which will help you be a better thief. If you accidentally steal something, make sure you escape into water. Guards won't follow in water.

1. For now resource gathering is worth your time. I'd focus on wood, cloth, and ores. There are daily quests involving crafting, and they are to make certain items. Doing so is a good way to level your crafting. Deconning blue and purple items is also a good way. I don't know if you subscribed, but subscribers get unlimited crafting bags, meaning they can hold as much as that stuff as they can find. If you don't you will fill up your inv pretty quickly. I don't really have time to go into the in's and outs of crafting right now, but its worth it starting out, if you have the time. Since you are just playing casual you may want to skip it though, and just enjoy the game.


2. So there isn't alot of top end gear that can be crafted. Julianos, Hundings Rage, and few others are pretty good, the rest are ok. Most of the best gear is found in dungeons though. That said, housing just came out today, and I suspect its really going to give crafters something to finally do. It might also drive the prices of materials through the roof. It's too early to tell since its just been one day though.

3. In theory all classes are ok, but in reality some fall short. ZOS is endlessly messing with skills trying to balance things out. But this is with end game in mind. For normal play do want you want. Like you mentioned, classes rise and fall in this game same others. Once DK ruled supreme. Now they are just pretty good, and in a good spot. Same with templars. Magic based nightblades need some love, and the

Here is my take on it, and it could be totally wrong.
The following is based off conjecture I read on the forums, so take with a grain of salt.
1. Mag sorc > mag dk and mag templars > mag blades. Magicka nightblade's are not in a good spot at the moment. The other three are fine.
2. Stam sorc > Stam dk and Stam blade > stam templar. I could be way off on this, since I run a magicka dk, so I'm not up on stam builds. Stam builds are slightly weaker then their magic based counter parts, or that is at least the perception.

You can make a bad build if you really wanted, like a nord sorc, with most points in health, who only uses two handed swords. If you follow the guides, and use common sense, you should be fine. That said, a pet build is considered a 'bad build' in end game. Pets steal party buffs, aggro things, and don't always do what you tell them. Plus their damage is not as good as other sorc skills. That and you have to double bar them, which I find annoying. And that stupid Antronach does nothing. Negate or overload are way better ults.

BUT for now just play how you want and ignore the rest of the crap. If you want to be summoner go for it. For now just do quests, and take in the sights, and get a feel for the game. Tamrial is a big place, and there are lots of zones to explore, and lots of things to do and see. If your bored with quests, Go ahead and jump into PvP once you hit level 14 if you want, just to see it. Or try some group content. Or just go fishing. See what other folks are doing, and the builds they are running and later on once you get a better feel of the game go ahead an roll one of those. If you find pets are slowing you down, you can always use different skills in the sorc line, so your good there.

Finally, get a mount as soon as possible. They help alot. For armor, wear light heavy and medium starting out to level them.