I am thinking of taking the ESO plunge.

So I've been considering taking the ESO plunge.  

I know some of the reviews and such from time of launch last year, etc., and those had me stay away.

For those that are active in ESO can you give me some insights as what to expect?

I've played Morrowind, Oblivion, and some Skyrim, so I do enjoy the Elder Scrolls franchise.  I know the Online MMO is not to be compared to these but I would really appreciate your collective thoughts, what you enjoy, what you dislike, what has improved, etc.

Thanks to all in advance.

I am finding ESO to be more like GW2 than like skyrim.

I have played ESO for 1 month and I have been playing GW2 for only 2 weeks so bear with me. In GW2, there just seems to be more stuff going on everywhere. Prizes and awards and bonuses everywhere. 

ESO less of that. 

I fond both to have some stunning graphical scenery. I find both to be slow in the walking dept. In ESO, you can buy a horse for 17,000 gold. I played for a month and I have banked about 5K so far. 

The 4 player dungeon raids were quite challenging and fun. 

I haven't figured out the GW2 skill system yet, but I liked Elder Scrolls skill system better. 

For PvP, I have only tried Gw2 keg game and I thought it was a hoot and fun. In ESO, I wandered to the PvP area and it was quite exciting to see a 30 versus 30 battle going on trying to control a particular land mark. It was an epic battle where I could wade in and help out, healing. I was really impressed. 

Leveling seems on par with one another. Guilds seem decent in both cases too.

Glitch wise, they seem even to me also.

ESO is a themepark MMO.  The combat works for the most part (I find weaving to be a cheap system, but they have left it in, so it is as it is.  *Honestly Zenimax would have removed it, but animation looks seem more important than gameplay without this, which means they have to balance around a pointless set of light attacks set into every encounter.*)  It does have action elements, but is probably best described as a hybrid like most MMOs that claim action combat.

The overall experience is one you will most likely enjoy if you enjoy themepark MMOs.  If not, then you likely will not enjoy it.  Do expect to solo a lot of content.  Do expect to see a less over-sparkly world.  Do expect to deal with many of the same things in other themepark MMOs.  Do give reading the text a try... as it is far better than in the majority of themepark MMOs, and is probably one of the strong points since release.

If you have specific questions, then asking them would be a good idea.  Otherwise, you really won't form a solid opinion without giving it a try.

I played both last night.

ESO load times much longer.  Content download was slower rate too.

Though I cannot say which I like more, I enjoy them evenly at this point.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I've experienced themepark MMOs before and this doesn't bother me.  I do play EVE Online and that's about as far away from a themepark MMO as you can get.

I've played SW:TOR,  it's really for my son, but I have played a few toons.  We no longer sub that account.  I played WoW from late 2007 until early 2009, I play LotRO, but not very much (I'm mainly there as I'm a Tolkien fan, and I RP with some friends within the lore there, not really there for the game itself).

I've never gotten too much into PvP in the themepark style games.  Wasn't overly impressed with it in WoW (a bunch of people spamming skills and jumping around and crap), I did try some WvW in GW2 and I rather liked that.  I've naturally done quite a bit of PvP in EVE.

My specific questions at this point would be:

1.  Is ESO mainly played for the PvP content?  Would this be considered the draw of the game?

2.  I had heard that in the solo aspect of questing that if you group with other players you or they can be locked out of instances and such if you'd not selected the same choices in earlier quests.  Is this the case, or can others at least tag along and be there to help? 

1.  ESO has some balance toward the content.  The PvP content is mostly in Cyrodil, which works like a gigantic battleground that is somewhat persistant (every so many days it resets for the campaign you select.)  The PvE content available includes a few trials (12 person raids) and a lot of 4 person content.  The stories are generally better than those in most MMOs, so if you enjoy reading a little it is somewhat rewarding.  I'm not sure any one area is really the big draw of the game *as with most themepark MMO games, people all enjoy their own areas of interest.*

2.  There are very few quests with phasing issues, and mostly they are the group public dungeon questlines.  There are a fair number of areas that phase out in the world, but if you are playing together through content it should not be an issue.
     They have made many improvements to the storyline quests, including a system to help those having issue with the storyline quests overall.  These are required to be completed solo.
     In many cases others can tag along and help.  We do clears of zone areas like public dungeons, dolmen, and zone 'world bosses' (more like a lesser dungeon boss in this case,) fairly regularly.
     Basically, there is some content locked away if a person has completed it, but much of the world is there for you to enjoy together.

I play ESO for both the AvA and the PvE - the game has a totally different feel/look to it than GW2 which I also play for both.   It is a darker world and more intricate - at least to me.   I confess I do the quests solo although I have grouped for them but I prefer to take my time, read all the text and consume the dialogue.  It is quite well done.   With my play style it suits me to go it alone for most of them and they are doable alone which I think was the intent of the developers to give it that ES feel for those loyal fans. 

If you wish to do them in a group then coordinate and pick the choices - if someone in the group wishes to pick different choices - then that is what alts are for later on ;)   I can state this with the knowledge that it will work and also this is exactly how I played for 2 years in LOTR with a group of friends who did every quest together as a "fellowship" but also had alts that traveled the world most of the time on different paths.

But, yes - if you have not taken the same path - you may not walk together - sorry (maybe in the future).

I will say this... just my opinion of course - ESO is more of a challenge than GW2, which is why I prefer it, and this opinion stands for both PvE and AvA/WvW.   Others opinions may vary... I still enjoy GW2 - but in a different way - mainly since the family can organize so much more there I get the family to run with more - and running with the family is very, very important to me.  I just need to get TS to work for me :(

First - yes, you can have an alt in one faction and your main in EP - but the events for the family still occur in EP since that is where most of us are located.

As far as I know the issue with someone in the group completing your quest and you missing the dialogue is still there... it was there in LOTR also - at least a few years ago.  Another reason I don't like to do PUG's for quest and if you are in a group with friends you need to coordinate and establish the rules  up front so people wait.

RP'ing is always an issue  and that is why people do it in the taverns and secluded areas since the world has jerks in it - then the pixelated world does too - so they tend to ruin the experience.   I remember RP'ing in WOW when it first came out and the "kids" when /shout things or /say just to troll us - then there were those that would just /say "what the hell you doing"... "this is a game not real"   I ususally get onto RP servers when a game has them (and jerks still abound) but in this case - well... 

Safe journey...