As mentioned here http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1486563-will-the-elder-scrolls-online-be-your-first-mmo/ it may be a good idea try one or two other MMOs before playing ESO. But if you would rather not do this, here are a few tips about things to expect and look out for that are pretty standard in the MMO genre.

1. You will see lots of other people. Everywhere. Especially in the starting zones right after launch. This may be a distraction until you get used to it.

2. Certain quest objectives will be crowded. Sometimes many other people will be working on the same quest as you are. (more of an issue at launch) So it can sometimes be discouraging when you are trying to kill that 9th out of 10 bat and someone else beats you to it. Some games use "tagging" which makes this easier. Tagging means that as long as you do damage to the mob, you will still get credit for the kill even if someone else actually lands the killing blow. If crowded quest objectives are annoying, just be patient. Things will thin out as you progress in level.

3. The ignore/block option is your friend. You will come across people in your travels that annoy or offend you. Any MMO worth it's salt will have an ignore/block feature. This prevents you from being able to hear "read" anything this person says, and often times will also block this person from spamming you with group or guild invites.

4. Be prepared to see names that irritate you. Even if you aren't heavy into RP (role playing) you will often see names that you think are silly or ridiculous. Many MMOs have an option in the settings that allows you to hide name plates.

5. Learn to browse the UI (user interface) and hotkey settings. Most good MMOs have a very robust UI/hotkey menu that allows you to activate/change/turn off options in order to more customize the game to your playstyle.

6. Know your "role". If you intend to play in a group for dungeon content etc, you will be expected to fill a certain role. In a game with the "holy trinity", this role will either be Tank, Heals, or Damage/DPS. There may be flexibility here, depending on the game, but those are the three roles you will most often see. "Support" is another role that would be a combination of heals, damage, and buffs.

7. Let the tank pull. (if there is holy trinity) A great way to annoy people and make enemies in a group setting is to pull epic mobs as DPS or Heals. The tank is designed to hold agro and take massive amounts of damage. So pulling the mob as DPS usually means that the healer will have to work much harder to keep you alive, and the tank will have to work much harder to "peel" agro from you.

8. What goes around comes around. If you are friendly and helpful to other players, you will find that you will make friends very quickly. The same applies to being rude. If you are rude or mean to other players, you will find that you will be ignored/blocked very quickly.

9.You will often make more money selling items to other players than vendors. In ESO, that means using the Guild Store. Crafting materials and high quality items are usually in high demand by players that will pay well for such items. You can find more info on Guild Stores by doing a forum search here.

10. Don't be afraid to ask for help/advice. You will find that most players will be more than willing to help you. if it is your first time in a dungeon for example, it can be very helpful to yourself and your group to mention that you don't know the boss fight mechanics. More often than not, a group member will be happy to explain it. This also applies if you have learned the content and a group member asks for advice or instructions. Taking a few seconds to explain things will often help the group be successful.

11. Do not ask strangers for coin. Asking for help or advice is one thing, but asking strangers to give you money will get you a bad reputation very quickly and will make it difficult to get any kind of assistance in the future.

12. Have fun. Remember that the main objective is to be having fun. The overwhelming majority of the people you come across are also just looking to have fun People are people and there will always be a few bad apples. Don't let them discourage you, because they are the minority.

That is just a basic list of things to expect. Hopefully other members of this community with MMO experience can add more applicable tips to the list.

This might help as well:

PvP - Player vs Player

PvE - Player vs Environment

RP - Role Playing

LFG - Looking for Group

LFM - Looking for More

WTB - Want to Buy

WTS - Want to Sell

WTT - Want to Trade

OP - Overpowered

FTW- For the Win

Agro - Threat. The mob is focused on you

DPS - Damage Per Second

AOE - Area of Effect - Spells that damage all or more than one mob in a 360 degree or cone area. This can also apply to heals or buffs.

DOT - Damage Over Time - Spells that damage a mob over time, generally on a server "tic". This can also apply to "bleed" effects.

HOT - Heal over Time - Spells or abilities that heal you or an ally in "tics".

CC - Crowd Control - Mez/Sleep/Root - all forms of crowd control.

And a few that are generally used as insults. I advise not using these terms, as they tend to get you ignored/blocked. But just so you know what they mean.

Newb - New player

Nub - Same thing, but meant to be more harsh

Scrub - Bad player

Leeroy - An old WoW name that has become legendary and is used in every MMO now. It refers to a player named Leeroy Jinkins that wiped his party by yelling 'Leeeeeroy! and charing in to a boss fight before the group was ready.

Troll - Someone who intentionally incites an argument. Saying things in chat just to get a rise out of someone. It is a fishing metaphor - Toss the bait out and troll until you get a bite. Most everyone still envisions a troll under the bridge though

Great post.

You wrote all that now? wow nice

Should help some newbies i guess. It will be funny, because if you play eso as your first mmo, you will be suprised when you switch to another one if you've never played one.

And for the holy trinity, i dont think that will be a big part of this game, as everyone can switch between roles, but yeah.

^This

Good post, especially the being patient about the loads of people at the beginning, that was frustrating for me at first.

Speak English in world/general chats. Don't make fun of people in other languages. This is not elitism, is just a form of everyone communicate and understand each other. Of course you can speak with your friends/guild/etc in your native language but in public chats it must be english. By the way english is not my first language but I recognize it as a tool of communication. If spanish, french, japanese, etc, were THE universal language I would be preaching same for them. I just find much easier you work on your english, people understand and help you more, a lot of people fail to get help because they can't/refuse to explain themselves in english.

I, Lord Magicka, would like to see this thread STICKIED.

I was never able to get into Skyrim as much as the other ES games and I think the reason was because I played LOTRO. I got so used to having other real people being a sort of unpredictable NPC around me that l could not get used to the way programmed characters behaved in predictable ways again. Or maybe it was because Skyrim constantly crashed on me ...

Makes me with these forums had a "like" button for posts.

Great OP and I hope you keep updating it as more things come to mind

After having played MMOs for so long now I find single player games to be lonely, I want someone to talk to while I play and roam the world.

Here are my tips for newbs:

1) if someone doesn't want to talk to you or interact with you, don't take it personally. They might be rushing to finish something so they can log off and go to bed, they might be following multiple conversations in guild and private chat and not have time to talk to you, or they might be rushing to catch up with other party members so the party can begin the dungeon.

2) Get ready to play before you join a group for an activity. Don't be the guy that holds things up at the last minute because you are out of healing potions, need to empty your pack at the merchants or put stuff in the bank, have to go train first, or need to nuke some cold pizza before you can play.

3) If you have not done the dungeon before, tell the party and ask if there is anything special you need to know.

Thanks guys. I will try to add more useful tips. Please feel free to add a few yourself as well

I am a veteran mmo player. If you are new to mmo's, contact me ingame and i will help you out for only 50 silver j/k

Anyway, let's all make this game noob friendly. This topic is a very good start. Ingame, be patient and helpfull with other players. The community is what makes and breaks a game. Harsch language and belittling other players might scare them away. This is never healthy for a mmo.

Ok how about:

Loot often has different colours that dictate the quality or rarity of the item. It's common in MMOs that grey items are 'vendor trash' and serve no purpose other that to sell to NPC vendors, and that white items are 'standard' items that are sometimes an improvement on your current gear.

It's advisable for new players not to go too gun-ho when buying things with gold, as gold is normally considerably more valuable as a new player going forwards than new equipment that you will outlevel.

Great Post - STICKY Please Mod

And +1 on the making this a friendly MMO for the noobs. We were all noobs once. Be prepared to show folks the ropes. I will happily hand out freshly made bows to people coming into the first areas.

But please remember to challenge inappropriate behavior

Remind people to use the trade channel for trade or they will be blocked. If they reoffend - block.

I also encourage a no tolerance to Gold Sellers & Trolls. Report as abuse with screenshot showing chat text and then block the tw*t

Biggest tip I can give to new players is..

Don't let people get you down or get under your skin. One of the greatest strengths of MMOs is also it's greatest weakness, people. As in real life you will meet people that make you want to scream in rage but there are also friends to be made, and enjoyable moments to be had. Take it easy and always remember...it's just a game.

great post, I remember logging into Ultima Online for the day and having less than a clue and getting destroyed, pummelled, killed and destroyed trying to get vendor tash out of a dungeon. Then I started a bard and just needed my newbie lute to provocate things to kill each other and finish them off with a cheap bow. Then came EQ (and others) where the bard was constantly broken, ignored, weird and always fun

Not sure about pulls, tanking, slows, etc in this game. Looking forward to seeing it flesh out.

When things are under the power of CC, please don't attack, or damage them. This include AOE spells and DOTS. "%T is Mezzed, You break it, you tank it" I loved my bard in UO but really had a blast in EQ (fading Memories such an abusable talent!)

AOE - Area of Effect - Spells that damage all or more than one mob in a 360 degree or cone area

DOT - Damage Over Time - Spells that damage a mob over time, generally on a server "tic"

CC - Crowd Control

Mez/Sleep/Root - all forms of crowd control.

Ive added a few important suggestions based on your feedback. Thank you

Thanks for this post. Some good tips in here, it will also be my first MMO.

Bump for a very constructive and helpful post. It is nice to help new players enjoy what I have for many years. This will help them benfit from what others have learned and help them adapt quickly. I hope this helps some of the people new to MMORPGs and that they to get enjoy memorable experiences and friends like I have!

I will definitly be back to contribute some more knowdlege when I have more time on my hands.

Awsome. Hope you enjoy the experience. Happy to help

My advice. Think hard about a good, original name. You may be stuck with that name for years. A name you find funny now might not be so amusing if you are still playing in 4 years time. People will judge you to a certain extent on your name if it is silly or rude or insulting. Choose a name you could live with if it were your real name.

Last, but not least, don't let the game "affect you IRL". I have simply lost count of all the times I have heard screaming, yelling, and the sound of chairs being thrown in the background of Vent/TS because of something that happened ingame. Relax it's only a game.

Lovely tips everyone!

thank you for this post. i will try to remember this when i start playing.