Is Elder Scrolls online a good start for a beginner mmorpg player? [lvl 1]

I've played lots of mmorpgs, but not recently. I am currently playing Skyrim, but I don't see why you would need to play it first. (Also, it's a probably more of a commitment, at least initially, to play Skyrim because modding it can be time consuming.)

Found you a link that looks helpful and positive

I'm still trying to download it to play for the free weekend. I still haven't finished Skyrim either, I bought it and have started a couple times but haven't gotten past the like...first mission.

I have played ESO without having played the other Elder Scrolls games and it doesn't feel like I missed out much on the lore. This game takes place a thousand years before the events of Skyrim anyway.

As for being beginner-friendly... this is not my first MMORPG, in fact it's around the 20th(?) or so and I can't really be much help on that one as there might be some things that aren't greatly explained for newcomers that I didn't notice as I already know everything I should be doing.

It is overall a great game with rich lore and memorable characters and perhaps the only MMORPG I have played that I actually enjoy the sidequests :P

I got it during the summer sales. Tried for a while, wanted to build an archer, archery is awful, graphics were not that detailed (unlike the screenshots and the E3 trailers), decided to refund, got the awesome Ori And The Blind Forest with the same price instead.
I might buy it again sometime later once they stop releasing content and get a complete version. Having a MMO right now isn't at the top of my priorities.

However the game seems pretty user friendly for a MMO. The UI is clear, there are not two thousand menu screens, crafting is pretty straightforward and gameplay, for what i saw, is as basic as it can get - just go there, kill stuff, craft shit, repeat.

You should try Guild Wars 2, the free version (which is already one of the best free versions for a MMO) and level a bit. It has that mixture between grinding and "casualing", it's very dinamic and it's really pretty. I have played it a lot and really enjoyed it,

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It's a good game, as pointed out before you can play this without playing the other games. But as all MMORPGS the fun disappeares at later levels and the grinding takes over. The game is rather simple tho, I got to level 50 without dying once...

I felt that, compared to the average MMORPG, there was a crapton to read and a majority of non-combat (or low combat) story missions, which is great if you're playing solo and you get a very detailed picture of the game world, but definitely bad for pacing in a group (most of the time I was either idling waiting for everyone to read, or delaying the group in case I missed something and had to re-read a paragraph).

If you're planning on playing it alone most of the time, you'll be ok, but it's not really great as a coop experience :/

I'm lame in MMORPGs, so it's just a bump (:

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You could try Runescape, for a low investment free MMORPG game.
I used to play it as a kid. Was fun, I occasionally pop back in once in a few years due to nostalgia.

Depends on your needs, probably. I hear a lot of people calling it the most single-player MMORPG out there.

At any rate, if you are worried about lore and stuff, then you should not. The Elder Scroll series is wildly inconsistent with itself, with every new iteration adding to the list of retcons, self-contradictions, and lore rewrites. On the plus side, this carried the positive of zero back knowledge being needed to play any of them. And from a certain angle, they are pretty fun. (The angle being skipping all dialogues when possible and hitting up the internet mod repositories, starting with the fan bugfix megapacks.)

On top of all this, ESO was not created by the people who worked on the TES series anyway, it was just the parent company trying to cash in on fantasy MMOs (as usual, about half a decade after the zenith of their popularity, but hey, it took Konami 15 years to realise zombie games exist and they even started their own pachinko business when that thing started to wind down, so Zenimax is still light speed compared to them).

Don't support a lawsuit troll company with your money even if you think their games are good.
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/RHNCp/bethesda-threatens-second-hand-sellers-with-lawsuit

I haven't played any MMOs before, but if I did, I would probably choose this one due to the fact that I have been in the "game world" since Arena!

I hope you have fun no matter which one you end up choosing (if you end up choosing one, that is!).

One of the best MMORPGs on the market in my eyes (and i played MMORPGs nonstop since 2001), unfortunately i played all content up to half a year ago to excess, and so i stopped playing it, because i knew everything about this game at that moment and achieved almost everything. It offers many months if not years of content. You can play 70-80% of the content solo, for a few regions and the dungeons you will need a group of 4-5 people, some raids require 12 people, but you can find those via chat easily. But this is not a Skyrim-Online, do not expect that. This is an online game in the same universe, that has sometimes similar quests, but often it's very own style and the gameplay of the characters is very different, but good.

I've been playing MMORPGs for almost 20 years and can tell you....all of the major MMORPGs are beginner friendly
...without any exceptions!

I'm just playing a bit ESO again,and I can tell you it is totally solid,it does not do much wrong but it is not outstanding either.
Its a door opening and loading screen simulator ...Quests Quests and Quests that's almost all you do for hundreds of hours
and ...No matter what someone says or you read, they are no different from those in other games they are just "voiced"
the quests are not better they just feel different
What you have experienced so far in the "free weekend" is exactly what you will do to the end, exaggeratedly said

My biggest criticisms of the game ..is the Combat! It doesnt feel smooth and there is no impact behind the skills
especially in melee combat ..animations are boring and sometimes not really visualized so that you do not really notice what you are doing right now. That you can spam all the skills permanently and that skills are bound to weapon types ...makes the combat a total clusterfuck!

Characters and models are all pretty similar and also very ugly compared to other games, graphically, the game also does not convince, you will just realize that it was made for consoles. Fashion in ESO is also not good if u like character customisation -> Wrong game

Depends on what you are looking for and like. If you havent played MMORPGs anyway,it doesnt really matter what you choose

Do you want a lot of content for little money, where you can do anything you want without spending a lot of time in a game?
Play Guild Wars 2.... It is even though I do not like to use that word the "best" F2P / B2P game right now (but it's the most casual of all)
Base game is free and offers you several 1000 hours of content (just a few not so strong restrictions as F2P user) not a single
game offers that much for free - if u want all plan in 30-40€$ total for the 2 Expansions

If you are more into the story and atmosphere of the game
Take a look at Secret world legends it makes a lot of things wrong (especially everything that was changed with the reboot)
But as far as story and world design are concerned, and the resulting atmosphere.. and Quest design...
no other MMORPG can keep up with that.....completely underrated game... also everything is free and also fully voiced
But everything precedes that you have a certain interest in the horror genre or better said lovecraft
It is not really well polished either If you take World of Warcraft as a benchmark ...
Then WoW would be a diamond and SWL only amber but still in its liquid form ^^

If middleearth is something that interests you take a look at LotRO
it is the only one of the larger MMORPGs which still offers the most old school mmorpg experience

If you enjoyed ESO until now then just play it...it is a solid game
Because you have not played any other MMORPG before, you dont notice the mistakes or what other games do better anyway
For entry into the MMORPG genre ESO is definitely not a bad start
Play for a while if you know what you like in the genre then you might choose a more suitable game but first enjoy what ESO offers you

I personally did not enjoy ESO as the Elder Scrolls series was my favorite growing up and I still find myself watching hour long Elder Scrolls Lore Videos on youtube. (Can give suggestions on VG yubtubs if anyone wants, just mention what you like to some degree)
In it's defense it is a good game but I already have issues with MMORPGS and with the exception of a handful of games I just do not like any of them. The gameplay is too repetitive and quickly gets boring, and they rely on you socializing for a part of enjoyment. I am antisocial and enjoy tactical. I will stick to single player games that are more catered towards the individual than "You are the chosen one" when there are 15 people standing next to me talking to the same NPC for the same fetch quest. It completely ruins immersion for me but I'm picky, I love isometric but have issues with third-person, first person is always my preferred, I'll take the smaller FOV for immersion sake 90% of the time. I'm sure there are some amazing ones out there and I may read through this thread to see if any interest me and give the genre a chance again because I CAN get into them but it's rare. WOW definitely took 4 months of my life from me in high school so don't take my negativity above as me not being open-minded. I love trying different genres and at least attempting to enjoy them. Good luck I hope you get some cool recommendations and for beginners ESO is a good starting point IMO.

I wouldn't say it is, unless you like to play a single player MMO. It takes it's aspect from every other generic MMO out there and slaps the Elder Scrolls name on it in hopes people will fall for the hype. And the DLC's are too over priced anyway.

I played in the closed betas and was not impressed. I only have it because I for it on an HB monthly and felt like trying it one more time. Still was not impressed.

I'm not into mmorpg anymowe but nice you had a fun time

Just, be careful and don't let an MMO to consume your life.

• signed, man who lost a decade to UO

my biggest pet peev. no true full world auction house/market place. only way to sell stuff easy is to get in a guild and even then you can only sell to other guild members. which i find to be a super weird feature. so when i do play ESO my bags are almost always full cuz i cant find a good guild.

I have almost 2000 hours of gameplay, I have never played any other elder scrolls but I have played other mmos and I assure you that this is the best mmorpg today and it is a fair game with its players, great community unlike many other mmos that I have played, super recommend! I am not fluent in English but can help in the beginning if it starts. In doubt, my name is @willferraz, there is my id;)

bump

Bump

Just go with WoW.