Returning to Elder Scrolls Online 10 years later

 True story: I was going to the Steam store to look at Valheim when Steam decided to recommend Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) to me.  Being the type that is easily distracted I clicked into ESO instead of Valheim.  I had thought ESO was "free" to get started with but when I got to the page I realized it had a $19.99 starting price tag.  That reminded me that I had received a copy of ESO for free in the Epic game store so I hit download.

 Before I could get started I had to get my account in order with Zenimax which reminded me just over 10 years ago I was playing in the beta for ESO!  How time flies!

 

 When I had played the beta and then launch I bounced off the game quickly.  So quickly that it didn't even make a blog post (that I can find anyways).  My recollection of my experience was that combat felt floaty and like you were ice skating; the rest of the game didn't stick with me at the time.  I also assume at the time I wasn't as open to moving away from tab target combat as I would be now.  My memory also tells me there were technical issues but its been a bit!  

 Also not game related but my oldest son was young at this time and when we were learning what it meant to be parents of a child on the autism spectrum so my blogging had really hit a minimum at this point and it was hard to invest significant time in any specific game let alone the dedication most MMOs of that time required.

 So am I going to actually play ESO again? Maybe.  Timing seems right as New World is at a stand still until the June announcement and I doubt the announcement dovetails with anything new to play (we have 40+ days left in Season 5).  I've already been playing other games unless my playing partner is online in New World.

 However, I am gone on vacation for a week and then a lengthy trip to Northern Tier for scouts so I'll be mostly offline myself for the rest of May and June/July.  But I think I'm going to get started... if I can get past analysis paralysis of "what character to start and play".