I’m also amazed at the sheer number of skills I have now, thanks to the skyshards scattered all over the content for the two extra factions and the occasional ones you get from major questlines. I once fretted over whether I should take up Blacksmithing or Clothing in addition to my additional crafting skills for Alchemy and Provisioning, but now I have enough points to max out all four. I’ve also picked up dual-wielding as an additional combat skill to complement my usual two-handed and bow setup when I need more straight DPS, and I’ve even started toying with the crazy idea of making a Nightblade “mage.” (That, however, will take a full respec.) It’s doable. I may not be able to become a Dragonknight or Sorcerer, but I’m far less locked into my skills as I would be in, say, World of Warcraft.
Hunting skyshards feels fantastic for three major reasons. It provides you a significant, tangible benefit every time you find one (more skill points!). It encourages you to explore out-of-the-way corners or Tamriel, and see everything the world of ESO has to offer. And it’s a pleasant, low-impact example of peaceful end-game content, if you’re a player that prefers to explore the world instead of bashing your head against other players in PVP, or against highly-tuned bosses in endgame dungeons.
And that’s what keeps me going. I’ve said before that crafting is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Elder Scrolls Online, but I’ve lately found that crafting myself as I see fit is the chiefest pleasure of all. I’m hoping all that careful thought will pay off come Craglorn, along with the absurd amount of time I put into ZeniMax’s game over the last month. I just wish it came sooner. For people who don’t have the time to throw at this like I do, Veteran Rank 10 must seem like a myth. If ZeniMax isn’t careful, it’ll chase off too many of them regardless of the quality of content that waits at the end.