First, I'd like to start by saying that I think the basis of a good MMO should be a real sense of community. I'm turned off by most modern MMOs because they emphasize solo play, and even with dungeon groups you enter a queue and wait around to be matched with a random set of players. I don't know if ESO will be like this, but I pray it's not. Making friends and enemies is what makes the traditional MMO so fun imo, and I feel that instance queues that match us up randomly is a terrible feature that detracts from the sense of community. Another thing that bothers me greatly is that in games like WoW, communication is not allowed between the teams. Your enemies are just as important to the community as your friends, and inability to speak to them results in a watered down gaming experience.

I've also been reading some worrisome things concerning the PvP in this game; namely that it will be limited to one area of the map and everything is sort of instanced. I'm no hardcoe PKer but I've always played on the hardcoe pvp servers because, again, limiting the ways you can interact with one another is often a great way to ruin a game. Playing on the hardcoe pvp servers in other games allowed me to have some very unique experiences, like roleplaying a pacifist in a "dog eat dog" environment. From what I read there won't be separate servers (just one big one), so the possibility of a server that allows true world pvp everywhere is out of the question. I'm hoping the pvp area is where most of the game takes place, at least high level.

When I first heard about this game a long time ago, I got really excited thinking I would be able to finally play a decent MMO with player-made custom classes. The more I read about it though, the less likely this seems. From what I can gather, there are basically 12 classes (3 sub-classes for each of the 4 classes) that can only really be customized by choice of armor and weapon. This is a far cry from what I envisioned, as I first thought I'd finally be able to play the priest/bard class I've always dreamed about. Basically a class nearly useless in solo play, but highly sought after for groups.

Anyway, some questions and the TL/DR:

1. Are there dungeon queues, and the like? What else can be said for the sense of community in this game?

2. Is communication between teams limited? If so, how?

3. How limited is PvP? Is the PvP area where all of the high level content is, or at least a good portion of it?

4. How exactly will players be able to customize their characters beyond choosing from 12 subclasses and picking armor/weapon combinations?

5. Will playing a pure healer be viable? What about (my dream class) of a class whose first priority is to heal, second is to improve the effectiveness of allies, and third is to deal melee damage (very weak dps, but uses dual weild or bow)?

I hope that ESO is the game for me, but it's starting to sound like just one more hand-holding experience that shuns community while focusing on solo play and faceless allies/enemies. Please tell me I'm wrong.

1 - There is a LFG, which I might add, is VERY much needed in any MMO these days, truth is most people don't want to wait around for group members and want to get straight into the action, me included, now this doesn't necessarily mean communication will be eliminated, that entirely depends on the challenge of the dungeon, hopefully they will be challenging, then communication will be key.

2 - Not entirely sure, my guess would be you won't be able to communicate with other faction members, but I do not know for sure.

3 - PvP is only in Cyrodiil, it's one HUGE zone, around 3 times the size of another province, outside of Cyrodiil there is no PvP. (I hope duelling will be added at some stage).

4 - The classes aren't really classes per se, you can pick any class you want and still be able to tank, dps or heal effectively, I suggest going to Tamriel Foundry to read over the skill lines, there you can go crazy and create your own character, you can easily create the bard/priest character you are interested in. Myself, I am looking at a Sorcerer wearing Heavy armour, wielding Sword & Board, using the Dark Magic skill line for shields.

5 - A pure healer is definitely viable, try going Templar, then wielding a restoration staff, then you can have a second set up where you can switch to bow or duel wield.

Hope this helps.

12 subclasses? Not the case. Just 4 classes, with 3 skill lines each. Those contribute only about 12-14% of your total available skills, I believe.

1. instanced dungeons will be 4-man affairs, aside from the public ones. There is however a dungeon finder tool.

2. Still not exactly clear if they'll allow cross-faction communication. That one's stil up in the air I think.

3. Cyrodiil is indeed where all the PVP stuff happens, but there will also be plenty of PvE stuff to get into. Exploration, 50+ areas, Adventure Zones, etc.

4. Racial, world skills (vamp/werewolf), a 'soul magic' tree that's tied to the main story, NPC guilds such as Undaunted, and the Mages/Fighters Guilds, a couple of skill trees you can get from participating in the alliance war - the list goes on. Yes, your class and equipment will be the meat and potatoes of your build, but there are still plenty of other options to be discovered in the world.

5. Looks like your dream's come true. With weapon swapping, you can be rocking healy goodness one minute, then when needed, you can switch to a second weapon, complete with its own separate 6-slot hotbar (5 actives, 1 ultimate). And yes, healing is going to be completely necessary and viable.

TL:DR: as requested, I'm happy to report that you are indeed wrong. Go to http://tamrielfoundry.com/ and click on 'game info', I think you *might* just be pleasantly surprised.

I think you should be able to pull of that "class". ZOS has said in the past that if you want to play as a purist to a particular role, a la holy trinity, you can do that. I'm not entirely sure what and if there are spells to which you can increase your allies effectiveness, I assume so but I haven't looked into a lot about what each particular class brings to the table so I can't confirm that. We know there is a healing staff skill tree that you can progress into and when you're not in need of it you can quickly switch over to what ever alternative weapon you have set up, like a battle axe or two one handed maces if you so wish.

I just got this quote from a dev in the Q&A:

Looks like I won't be playing

Such a shame.

I think this part is still up for debate, because it wasn't like this until recently according to previous interviews.

But hey, welcome to faction warfare? Bye then, if that's all it takes.

I'm surprised that's all it takes for you to decline a game, oh well.

If it wasn't going to be that, it was probably going to be something. Not every game is for everyone. :/

Player interaction is the most important aspect of any MMO, imo. I had tons of fun making frenemies in other faction PvP games, and if that is not allowed then I won't be playing. No need to act scornfully toward me for it; I'm not here telling you guys how to play

Yeh I guess, I get the feeling a few people are just looking for reasons not to play the game though :S

Nobody's scorning, bro. Just lamenting. Good luck to you in your search for that perfect game.

Yeah, totally. We've seen a lot of those types around here. Not everyone is like that, though. I'd give anyone the benefit of the doubt if they didn't smash through the doors shouting "this game sux" or "f2p in a year", like this guy didn't. He's looking for something specific, and doesn't think he'll find it here.

from my experience talking between enemies is not good idea, mostly insulting especially when one is dead and second makes emotes on him.

Honestly, I agree with the OP on this. I prefer communication between enemies. Its the most pure form of interaction, because if your enemy tries to grief you, you can cut them down. The occasional show of true civility between enemies is rewarding also. I'm sad they went this route, but I'm not as set on it as this guy is.

A lot of my enjoyment in past MMOs came from roleplaying with my enemies. Eliminating this interaction entirely to deal with people throwing around insults is kinda like chopping your hand off to treat a papercut imo.

Nice that quote makes me smile. That's what I was wanting to happen.

It would be interesting to see at least, anyone played an MMO that allowed enemy communication?

well, you got me, may be there is something like say message, I still do not see much reason people talking to enemies, but played that game and nothing really bad happened, so.

Teams PvP in EverQuest allowed communication. I was on elf team, and roleplayed a lot about how they (other pvp teams) were destroying the environment and stuff

I did, just from time to time people start to insult - usually from cheaters, but sometimes gets harder. (nothing related to RP)

Some of my oldest and best friends in my 20 years of MMOing were gained through fighting against each other. Sometimes you either have such a great fight, that you just click and decide to become allies, or something hilarious happens, or any number of things. Its just a great social interaction when everyone's heads are in the right place.

edit: That's not to say that there isn't a lot of terrible interaction that can happen, too. I'm just saying its possible for good to come out of fighting other than just grief.

For me it's not even griefing the dude that you just killed. I can do that through emotes /rude rofl chicken sitting and standing repeatedly on their head and many many more. It's implementing a system IN GAME that allows x-realming its gonna happen outside the game through vent/TS of course. I just don't think they need to make it even easier with a system for it IN GAME.

I know not everyone feels this way and that's fine this is just my view.

Yeh I can imagine a lot of grief and insulting if that was the case.

@OP, ah I never played Everquest, all the MMOs I Played had no enemy communication, the pvp seemed to be fine still, but I can imagine it being a bit limiting for RP.

Funny thing is, you end up catching way more verbal static from your own team than enemy players more often than not. And there's nothing you can do about it since they're on your "team". Far worse situation, imho.

Very true, I seem to recall Swtors pvp community being extremely foul to team mates who have just started pvping.