Of course there are. With the game's impending PS4 release, I'm curious about a few things.

First off, how is the game world? I wouldn't expect BGS levels of detail, but is there fun to be had exploring? How large is the world?

Also, do you need to buy the Imperial Edition to play any race with any faction, or will a preorder suffice?

Thanks.

Pre-order will be enough. There's a case to be made for creating an Imperial crafter because they know their own racial style natively, saving you some gold on the motif book - rare motifs will probably have similarly high prices as on PC when the game launched. But it's pure cosmetics and useful mostly if you plan on crafting for other players.

The world is large, don't worry about this aspect. However, it's more gated than the single player games because each zone has a level range, so while you can sneak into a 37+ zone at level 15 and go sightseeing, don't expect to do any quests. Your level-appropriate zone is big enough to keep you occupied, though, and there are some really atmospheric places to see.

Exploration is pretty good. Not Skyrim level, but still. You can find quests off the road, in random delves, there are a few unmarked ones too. Hidden crafting stations, treasure chests, lore books and skyshards. I actually had the most fun in Cyrodiil despite having zero desire to PvP; it's the largest, most sparesely populated zone, some say it feels empty, but it was nice riding out in the open without tripping over bandits, zombies and what have you every five steps. Just make sure you bring a fast horse... It's even a bit too huge if you try to walk.

It has a lot of quests and they are interesting and lore-appropriate. Dialogue is good. The game world is large and varied. It has a decent crafting system.

But for me, I got bored of it quite quickly. The combat system just doesn't have enough variety or interesting things to occupy me. It boils down to using your best two or three attacks over and over until you run out of stamina and use standard weapon attacks.

I have yet to find a purpose for playing it with other people and the game doesn't really seem geared for multiplayer anyway. Chatting with others is difficult and convoluted. You have this tiny chat screen and I can never seem to be able to figure out who is saying what. It is nigh impossible to find someone to do a group dungeon with, unless they happen to be standing at the entrance as you come along. I have not figured out how to trade with other players yet but I see no reason to anyway. I know there is no auction house.

PvP is geared towards max levels and I just get roflstomped even attempting to do a solo mission.

I'd say sample the local quest (not the guild quest, those you want to be rightly level or else they kick your butt) cause sometimes they're not as tough as it appears. I'm in an area that had Lv.20 enemies and I'm around Lv.15 and even the quest where in the red but the quest I did was mind-numbingly easy yet a quest involving Harpies was suppose to be easy and those foul beast can kill you in one hit. Basically sample the local cuisine and if its to much---level grind and come back to it when you're ready.

Are you still playing, Merari? I'd be up for some group play if you're interested. I haven't had any issues with the social side, tbh. The transition from single player games was quite easy. You can enable chat bubbles if it would help? And there's an addon to mark your friends and guildmates in chat. You can trade with people directly by targetting their character and opening the interaction wheel or by sending items in a COD mail, or through guild stores.

You're right in saying that ESO isn't the most group-friendly game, though. Not that it's inconvenient, but questing is easy enough you can level up entirely solo. Only Craglorn, Cyrodiil and of course group dungeons and trials encourage grouping. Maybe it's a good thing for fans of the single player games? I'd love some dynamic world events, though.

Btw, consoles won't have text support in general chat at launch. It's a controversial decision and I think it's going to affect the reviews, but we'll see. I'm really interested in seeing how the trading system will perform without an easy to use trade channel (or hijacked /zone, as the case may be).

Too bad you're on PS4, I plan on getting this for the Xbox One. I've tried some Neverwinter to warm me up to MMORPG on console so anything that's a step up from that will be just fine by me. I'm not expecting it to live up to the Elder Scrolls name, I see it simply as ESO, it's own thing involving the world and races that I know and love. It seems that many of the people upset with the game were expecting an Elder Scrolls multiplayer game which isn't what it is.

Yes, I still play. I'm level 40 now.

I play as a Dunmer sorceror and have just got to the Rift area. There are still group dungeons of lower areas I haven't done yet. if you have an Ebonheart Pact character I'd like to do some group things.

Some great info, thanks guys. I have a feeling that voice chat will ease some of the game's social problems, besides the fact that I already have a dedicated group to play with.

How does grouping up work? Can you use it while exploring to keep your people together, and how many players can group together at once?