[..xX Vin Xx..]

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.

[:)Colleenn]

there is a very good reason MMOs dont let you talk to your enemies, you'll be spammed by an entire guild and all their grandmothers for ganking a guy.

I hope there is a sense of community in ESO but i dont think i've ever felt that outside of a guild. I really dont think que features take away from that because without that u just see LFG/LF2M... spammed all over the map. Hell you see a ton of that even with those features. Honestly i dont know how the developers can create a sense of kinship/community with players. Perhaps create complex raids that give each participant a piece of an artifact and when the group reunites all holders of artifact pieces get a special boost/perk. Would encourage ppl to try to stick 2geather.

[Alyce Argabright]

Templar is the only class which can wield any weapon he want while being a healer. BUT he is obviously able to heal, buff up alliance mates and deal a little damage as the known skliloverview on tamrielfoundry.com says. So, you can theoretically play that role you mentioned ... But with that class only.

Every other healing abilities are only accessable by wielding a Restoration Staff.

PvP is limited by three factions. You have teammates and your enemies which also restrict your communication at least in PvP: Communication is just able in your team. There might be /emotes which your enemies might see.

There is just one huge zone which is designed for the intended PvP content along with keep sieges. This zone is the only PvP zone.

[Spencey!]

I am going to focus entirely on your questions about the classes.

Categorising them as 3 Sub-Classes for 4 Classes is by no means accurate. They are simply skill trees. You can take as many or as few abilties as you like from each tree, and you can skip any abilties you don't like. If you take abilities from one tree, you are not prohibited from taking abilities from other trees. The abilities you learn are simply building blocks for the combinations you put together.

You can, if you like, put together an active bar of 1 weapon skill, 1 armor skill and 1 skill from each of your class trees. You can choose all 5 abilities from a class tree. Or all 5 from a weapon tree. The number of combinations you can put together is larger than any one person could practically implement. It really is a 'build your own class' situation, although admittedly each class has a particular flavour.

It would certainly be possible to build the character you are describing, in some method.

If you wanted to heal while using DW Weapons, you're going to have to select Templar, but that's fine as that is the most support focused class.

Given that you want to heal, you'll want to get some abilties from the Restoring Light line, probably Rushed Ceremony and Healing Ritual for single target and AoE heals.

You'll probably also want to get the ability Solar Flare from the Dawn's Wrath line which debuffs enemies making them take more damage (presumably from your allies) and Spear Shards from the Aedric Spear line, which creates intractable objects for your allies to use and gain a damage buff.

That leaves you with 1 ability, which you could go for pretty much anything with, possibly another Restoring Light ability or potentially something from a Guild or PVP line. Or you could get a DW weapon skill to be able to hit people better.

Alternatively, you could do a similar setup with a Dragonknight, although it does require a little weapon swapping.

Start with a Restoration Staff, and take a couple of healing spells from that. Add on Molten Weapons (for a party wide +damage buff) and Obsidian Shield (for a party wide damage reduction shield) and potentially Ash Field (AoE snare and enemy hit reduction - similar to buffing everyone's dodge) from the Earthen Heart line.

Then, if you find yourself wanting to use DW weapons, you can weapon switch over to them. You wouldn't be able to have a DW+Bow+healing Dragon Knight but a Resto Staff does do much of what a Bow does in other games (ie: gives you a ranged basic attack).

That's just two ways I can think of to do a buff centric healer who uses twin swords on weekends. I am sure there will be more as more skill information is released.