Sometime last year, I decided to jump into my first true massive multiplayer online game, or MMO for short. The closest thing I have played to an MMO is an RPG, or role-playing game. It essentially has the same elements minus the multiplayer element: a large open world with many quests and locations to discover. Elder Scrolls Online has all of those elements, but obviously includes the multiplayer part, that is enjoyable and fun for the new player.  

In the first six months of playing, I had played the game mindlessly not really knowing how I should be playing. For the most part, I found myself exclusively sticking to completing solo quests across the numerous zones that the game has to offer, completely avoiding any group content. When I did try some of the group content, Dungeons, as they’re called, I felt ill-prepared and unwelcomed by groups of veterans who weren’t willing to help me. There were also times where I spent multiple hours trying to get through a single dungeon, which really lowered my enjoyment of the game. At one point, I had stopped playing it completely. Then I picked it up for another month and quickly fell out of it again. After taking a break for a month, I jumped back in with a new approach.

I learned that completing all the solo content first is best for a player like myself who isn’t entirely familiar with the game. The solo quests, which can be found at almost all non-group locations in a zone, contain a lot of story and lore to them (they’re generally more enjoyable if you’re well-versed in Elder Scrolls Lore). Some quests are one-time quests while others can be a series of quests. All of these quests, including the solo dungeons, are relatively easy.

I’ve also focused myself on completing radiant solo quests or repeating quests, in the multiplayer (PVP; player vs. player) zone. This may seem to defeat the purpose of being in a PVP zone; in actuality, these radiant quests give a lot of experience and high-level rewards; useful for someone leveling up. I also found it best to avoid any part of the PVP aspects simply because I would always get destroyed by other players whenever I encountered them. Like the other group content in the other zones, I think it’s best for new players, or players of low level, to avoid PVP as a whole until one reaches a really high level or gets really good gear.

Since ESO is the type of game that doesn’t really have an ending (since more and more content is released all the time), this is really all I have to say. So far, my experience as of late has been enjoyable and I predict that I’ll enjoy it much more once I get deeper into the game. There is still loads of content of which I have not explored yet, including the downloaded content, or DLC, which adds even more zones, quests, and activities to do. If you’re well versed in MMOs or are looking to jump in for the first time like I did, ESO is the perfect game as it is incredibly solo friendly and rather intuitive for a new player.