Undecided, help me

[Darthstone]

Hello everyone. Pls someone help me to decide what game to play, i own both ESO and GW2.
What i love in GW2 is questing, combat and the world, i like ESO too but i find it too overwhelming with quests and what order to do. Combat is a bit weird and it seems there are more microtransactions within the game than GW2. How is population for each game? Dungeons?
Can someone give me pros and cons for each game so i can decide? My time is limited and i can play only one for now.

[Turtleswatter]

I've played both and I prefer ESO but GW2 is a good second for me. The reason I prefer ESO is it is a much more dynamic environment. The amount of people around you are all humming with energy; whereas GW2 I found to be a much more relaxed experience. You can interact with people more in ESO so if you find a boss too hard, put a call out in chat and people will come to help. I found GW2 a more solitary experience - but that's fine for some people.

For ESO I've attached an order to do the quests below:

https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/a3kvnc/eso_storyline_order_and_location_guide/

This is about a year old so someone may have a more up to date one but it will do for the main content for now.

One of the first bits of advice I will give you with ESO is learn to say no. To begin with there's lots of NPCs running after you asking for your help. Just pick one and do their quest. Ignore every other one. They'll still be at the same place panicking away months later waiting for you to be ready to do their bit of the plot.

You can play ESO by doing the questlines and I didn't find the combat that different from GW2. They both rely on bars with skills which augment your weapons depending on what class you choose.

ESO does have a vibrant cosmetic market; however most stuff or things that are good enough to satisfy that side of you are available in game or through rewards. The only thing that can be considered pay to win is ESO+ which gives you increased experience and unlimited storage, which early on can be a real asset. However I played for a year without ESO+ and it was really a bit like starting out in any ~RPG when you want to pick up way more than you have space for. However I would say that a basic new chapter of ESO is probably more expensive than similar in GW2. However the graphics and voice acting is worth it for me; but again, it might not matter for you.

Finally here is a complete beginner guide to ESO. There are others out there and some are suggested in other threads. This is very long but is time stamped and made for you to dip in and out of if you come across something you don't understand:

https://youtu.be/CEVHzHXTWpM

[Darthstone]

ESO world is a bit grim compared to GW2. Can i unlock cosmetics without paying money? I know in GW2 u can do that.

[Turtleswatter]

Originally posted by Darthstone:

ESO world is a bit grim compared to GW2. Can i unlock cosmetics without paying money? I know in GW2 u can do that.

Yes, but it's a bit random. You get cosmetics for visiting areas, completing quests, daily rewards, from loot boxes given free as a reward and for special events. But you don't get to choose what you want. However there is a crown exchange where someone uses crowns to buy what you need from the store and you give them in game gold. This seems to be very popular but you have to be careful as rarely people get scammed.

ESO is made up of many zones - exactly like GW2 - but the terrain and atmosphere range from idyllic seaside to dark imposing rocky crags. So it depends on what you've seen I suppose. I definitely wouldn't call it uniformly grim but sometimes it is very grim.

[CaptainR3x]

One thing that I wish to see in ESO from GW2 are their mount. ESO mount look like lifeless robot compared to GW2 ones

[Darthstone]

I will try to play them both until a certain level or map zone. Maybe something makes me decide.

[Darthstone]

Originally posted by CaptainR3x:

One thing that I wish to see in ESO from GW2 are their mount. ESO mount look like lifeless robot compared to GW2 ones

ESO mount is slow. I dont see why would use it, since riding a horse is as fast as running.

[Turtleswatter]

Originally posted by Darthstone:

Originally posted by CaptainR3x:

One thing that I wish to see in ESO from GW2 are their mount. ESO mount look like lifeless robot compared to GW2 ones

ESO mount is slow. I dont see why would use it, since riding a horse is as fast as running.

Oh yes, It does get faster as you upgrade it daily - but it's a long frustrating process.

[Darthstone]

How do i upgrade it?

[Turtleswatter]

Originally posted by Darthstone:

How do i upgrade it?

Every 20 hours you go to any stable and upgrade it for 250 gold. You can upgrade stamina; speed; or extra carry capacity. Most people start off with speed because it's so slow at the beginning.

You can also buy riding lessons in the crown store but I don't do that - I'm too tight, so I suffer when I start a new character.

[CaptainR3x]

Originally posted by Darthstone:

Originally posted by CaptainR3x:

One thing that I wish to see in ESO from GW2 are their mount. ESO mount look like lifeless robot compared to GW2 ones

ESO mount is slow. I dont see why would use it, since riding a horse is as fast as running.

You can go even faster by equiping the ring of the wild hunt and using the alliance wars speed boost, almost 2 times faster