Came across this cool explanation of all the diverging lore with different players doing different things in different ES games, and why it's acceptable canon given the "dragon-break", or "meta-lore", one might call it.

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com…omment_2723879

Aye I have written a few stories on Nexus for Skyrim that involved Dragon Breaks (The Unraveling where I tied in stories from over a dozen different authors who write about Skyrim; plus it is mentioned in a few of Grim's stories). It is a very nice lore feature that allows for not just ESO and MMO lore but also why different single player protagonists can all exist.

On a side note this thread is renewing my interest in ESO somewhat. I stopped a while back as not big on the free to play thing. But perhaps it will be worth a revisit at some point.

Well to get the expansions you have to pay for them….

I bought the Imperial City expansion and got my ass handed to me on a couple of tries in PvP, and haven't been back since. I've learned what skills to slot and pots and such, but need to get my potion crafting skills up b4 I can make them. It's a lot of trouble to play the expansions against PvP optimized builds while I'm still enjoying PvE (despite the cookie cutter quests, there are some unique ones along the way that are cool). I like it when I can actually solve a quest with a puzzle or a dialogue skill rather than killing. But that's very rare…

Surprised to see so many people enjoying this, after all the bashing it received at release ;)

I've got a 19 Nightblade and a 11 Templar. Regular not veteran. I find the quests a cut above the usual MMO fare or at least they mask it better. The active combat is a blast particularly if you're solo and a bit underpowered because it can be a challenge. My Nightblade is an Archer / Siphon / dual weilder and pretty squishy and falls into that category. My Templar is 1H+Shield with Aedric Spear and a wreaking ball of violence. I'm not sure I really enjoy the combat as much primarily because of the chaos unleashed with the Aedric Spear. I think the tactics of my Nightblade is more fun.

I can't say I enjoy the crafting system much. The woodworking line is unpopular so everything is fairly affordable so buying improvement stacks is doable. The Blacksmithing system is the opposite. Just trying to make a single superior item is incredibly expensive. The Farming alternative is a rediculous time sink compared to LOTRO where if you decide to farm at least you know your time will be productive. Not so in ESO. The chances of refining or deconstructing yielding what you need is painfully small considering the time it takes to even yield the materials from a farming run. So without a Guild or Alt benefactor you are basically a slave to the AH and poor as a result. I resent that about as much as I resent all the low level characters running around on mounts clearly gifted via alts or guilds. Enchanting is the worst of the lot in terms of farming and progressing in my opinion. Very hard to progress even with writs.

The good thing about the crafting system is that the best items are on par with anything you can find doing any of the content.

When you take that into account, I think it's quite appropriate that it's hard work to make the best items.

For the purposes of doing the PvE content - green or blue items are quite sufficient, so you don't actually need better items until you reach cap, and then only if you want to optimise it.

I really enjoy the crafting system myself, and I think it's a refreshing alternative to the mindless busywork of most modern MMOs.

I'm going to have to play this one day, as the guys posting in this thread typically like the same games I do. The online thing bugs me though. Is there a way to make the other online folks invisible? If there are 80 people in the area you're playing are all the collectible items gone for your character?

You're forgetting that there are people who typically like tzhe same games you do - and still refuse to even touch this.

No you have to accept that other people are in the world.

But they've made sure the negative consequences of what other people do are very limited.

As in, you generally won't have a problem accomplishing quest goals because of other people.

Yeah, mostly. There's the occaisional quest where you have to kill or collect items that have short respawn timers and you might have to search around more or wait a bit if others are doing the same quest. Also chests and resource nodes and other loot are shared and respawn after a bit. It's why I prefer to play on week nights when the servers are light. But shared kills have the same loot for all. It's fairly reasonable.

You guys need to find some friends to play with.

MMOs tend to be a lot more fun like that.

I'm 95% solo but you need other players to take down Dark Anchors at level or visit public dungeons etc. Grouping can be literal or passive. Sometimes I accept the group request or just join the public goal and leave once it's done. If I play for 4 hours I maybe say 2 sentences to the zone. It's nice to get questions answered real time. Rarely do I get annoyed that others are around. There is way more content than you need to level so moving on is no issue. It's a pretty solo focused game.

I like the challenge of trying to take down anchors and public group dungeons on my own. Of course I am always over leveled for each area since I have to explore every inch before moving on.

EDIT:

Re: crafting, it seems fine to me but I have no other MMO to compare to since this is my first. It's similar to the other Elder Scrolls but more involved with traits and quality improvements. Honestly, haven't experimented with equipment improvement yet, just rune quality. Haven't had a need to improve my equipment. But I do like that the best equipment for my level is usually stuff I've crafted except for the occasional dropped set items that give you boni with multiple items equipped. I don't dare try to improve them since they are so rare and I don't feel like buying them again, but I may enchant them. I sell much more stuff than I buy. Have about 700k gold now.

I have 6K between my two. :(. How did you get 700K? What was the main source?

Selling perfect roe in trading guilds for the impatient gamers ;) It goes for about 12k now. I also like to do all the fishing achievements. Fishing is nice when you just want to relax. :) Plus it's fun as a group since it increases the chance for rares and it gives you someone to talk to while you wait for bites. Form of gambling I suppose…

Second source is selling all my redundant gear and extra unrefined mats. Since my equipment skills are maxed I don't need inspiration items. Those sell for about 250 gold each. Set items about the same (or less). Materials vary…

Also a little comes from stealing blue and green items and fencing them. Some people like to grind bigger towns, steal everything, exit and log back in and repeat. Example is Rawl'kha. There's a reason it's so busy. :) Not my style.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the daily writs gross 3600 gold if you do all 6. That helps a lot.

That's quite a bit of gold ;)

I feel bad for luring Thrasher into the net of MMOs….

I've been meaning to dip my toes in the pond for quite a while.

Need for an Elder's Scrolls fix threw me in. But your input helped. Thanks!

A few more observations:

1. I switched to a heavy armor Templar and can honestly say survivability of this class is 3 fold greater than my medium armor Nightblade who is laughably squishy. I tried to keep the Nightblade as a bow and Siphon build but it isn't nearly as viable. I'm sort of dismayed at how this game favors tanks. I watch players die frequently trying to take on mobs with sorcerers or medium armor Stamina builds that are cake for me now with the Templar. I can solo public dungeons and took out a troll 5 levels higher last night.

2. I'm increasingly convinced that crafting is horribly flawed, too expensive and favors being "mentored" with cash and materials from higher level alts or friends. I farm and deconstruct frequently but find myself constantly buying components to support superior crafting. And I never see Legendary component yields. And the price of a mount makes this all the more painful. 2 characters at level 20 now and only half the requirements in gold for a damn horse.

3. The lack of public auction is stupid in my opinion. Having to join a guild just to sell sh*t is a pointless requirement. Forced socialization? Unless I'm missing something I can't sell anything without joining a guild. So much for a pure solo build unless being poor is ok with you. I'm happy to be wrong on this point BTW….

That's typical of themepark MMOs, crafting is designed as a money sink.

Yeah, having to join guilds to sell sucks, quite frankly. I can try to get you invited to a few if you'd like.