From what you have either seen in previews/dev videos... or maybe even gotten the chance to play, what are your feelings on the combat of ESO. I am making this poll because the combat is one of the things previews have really focused on and either loved or hated, for the most part the word "dull" has been thrown around along with the lack of force behind hitting enemies.

Combat is a huge part of the game! And the last thing we need is for it to be a dull chore, I personally agree with many of the reviews from beta about the combat.

Also if you wouldn't mind going into more detail on why you picked what you did, it would be greatly appreciated. Remember beta testers, you're under NDA... don't go overboard here.

Please don't break the user agreement for beta. Thank you.

I should note that my vote and what I'm going to say is based entirely off what I've seen and read. Because I'm not in the beta and don't intend on participating, I can't say anything based off experience. I think all of the videos show that combat has almost no weight to it at all, and even magic suffers from not making you feel as though you've made contact. But when I look at the archery I can actually feel the impact somewhat even if I'm not playing. This will differ on the console I plan on playing the game on, especially if the game supports the Shock in Dual Shock 4, but how much I have no idea. I doubt I'll fight in melee because of how weak it looks and the animations while fancy won't save it from my opinion on review day. But I'm going to approach combat with an open mind and I won't be disappointed, because I'm fully prepared for the averageness of it.

Do I think the game should be delayed until combat has weight? I voted yes but to be perfectly honest until I experience the game for myself I can't really say how bad the situation is. Control is essential in video gaming and I believe James Rolfe as the Angry Video Game Nerd said it best, "whats the most important thing about any video game? Well how about being able to ****ing play it?!". I also agree with another thing he said when it comes to control and that's that it's hard to explain, because you have to play to know how good or bad it is. If I don't feel in control why is this classed as a video game? If I ask this when in combat, I would gladly delay the game. After all, most of my time is going to be spent fighting in the game, so I can rightfully expect some fluency, though being online I can perfectly understand the limitations. Force Strategy Gaming also made it clear as to why in his video "Why combat in MMOs svcks".

I don't think Zenimax should listen to me when it comes to combat nor do I expect them to, because control is the hardest thing to adjust for everyone and each individual has a unique preference. As I say I'm not in the beta so I shouldn't judge too harshly, but if most of what I'm seeing from previewers and media is "OK" I honestly believe combat should be revisited in the drawing board.

Combat controls from what can be deciphered from reviews and press

They aren't new concept, even the "Soft Targeting". WASD .. 1-5/6 hotbar and Mouse Clicks. I'm playing Neverwinter (F2P off Steam) has similar controls. The only thing ESO might bring to the table is the "synergy" stuff, but again that just sounds like "debuffs" etc. No true "stealth" abilities, range limits, ability timers.

From having 4 different characters (all above lvl 10) in the beta, I can only say that if someone's only experienced melee or ranged their answer will be Very biased. Same thing goes for playing 1st person and 3rd person.

Real physics and collision would be nice, but I could live with that if it weren't for the theme park nature of the game.

I've been playing the beta, the combat is not a problem in the least. In fact, it's easily the "grand champion", as you put it, of the MMO's. When you hit an enemy in this game, it feels brutal, and I love how enemies fall and get hit back in the direction of the impact. So where this concern or criticism that the game lacks impact or what not is ridiculous.

The core of this Game is combat. As for all MMO's it is the most important thing. For Game where the core content is massive PVP fights and 20+ PVE raids, using the same system for MMO game as in previous singleplayer titles is fail.

1 second delay at the start of each fight plus dull animations will kill PVP content completely. No physic and collisions will cause all Players to run like headless chickens around swirling and spamming abilities without any tactics and positioning.

System which was great for singleplayer titles Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim completely does not fit the MMO game. Please note that the same system was used in 2004 RUNE game produced by Human Head Studio. Now we have 2014, 14 years ago they did exactly the same system. Only difference is we have active abilities. Is this what you expect from next-game MMO? Personally I expect whole lot more from combat system.

Whole system lack of smooth animations and dynamics. Example, Critical Charge, performing this skill looks like the characters simply teleports to the enemy. Teleport Strike sometimes does not teleport you directly to the enemy, the character stucks few meters away and is still able to do damage not matter if he is out of range. You can keep enemies in perma stun using Stonefist, you just need to have enough mana to spam ability. Imagine how it will work in PVP.

I’m very disappointed. And I know that it won’t be changed due to the Game comes live in next two months.

Yes yes. Spammed area of effect attacks. With the soft tab targeting - don't worry about aiming just point in their direction and shoot.

Just about every quest resolved with combat. What this means is a huge, giant, fairly good looking world that is constantly dragged down by these MMO restricted combat mechanics.

Even the most rudimentary of collision during combat would liven it up.