ESO Chronological Timeline Guide - Best Way to Play the Story

The Main Quest is what brought most of the players to the Elder Scrolls Online and which is the essential content of the base game. The imminent danger of Molag Bal achieving the plane meld and conquering all of Tamriel. Because, for whatever reason, some Daedric princes seek to conquer the realms of the mortals, and Molag Bal seems to be one of the most aggressive ones, at least at this point of time.

In order to start the Main Quest though you need to first have played through the starter island and reached the mainland. There, in the first city you will land, a hooded figure will come up to you and offer to speak to a so-called benefactor. She will have a normal quest symbol, as this is not a Zone Story quest, but will have a lasting impact on all of your gameplay.

If you want to play the game as it was meant to be, you should definitely accept the quest and follow it first before you start playing the rest of the zone. After you have played through the first part of this you will end up close to the place you started from, so this won't matter too much in the long run.

Just don't fall prey to Stuga. It's not the right time for her to enter the stage yet. She will just distract you and lead you astray. She will play a role at a later point in time.

In any of the three alliance starter cities - Davon's Watch, Vulkhel Guard and Daggerfall - you will find the Mages Guild. Here you will find a quest given to you by usually the first NPC you encounter. They will ask you if you are seeking membership. You will have to do this quest first in order to progress further in the Mages Guild. You want to do this along the main zone quests, as well as the main story quest, as this will offer you great benefits later on.

There's a lot of quest NPCs in the Mages Guild, but don't let yourself get distracted. Many of these will try to make you jump into the timeline of the questing at a much later time. The NPC you want to find is called Valaste. She will introduce you to the main quest of the Mages Guild. So, aside from getting more Mages Guild level which you especially need for a Magicka based character, you will also need the Mages Guild later on when you continue further down the road in the main story quest.

In any of the three alliance starter cities - Davon's Watch, Vulkhel Guard and Daggerfall - you will find the Fighters Guild. Talk to the NPC that will give you access to the Fighters Guild, just as you did with the Mages Guild. After you have accepted to become a part of it, talk to Sees-All-Colors. She will tell you that they have a special contract. Accept this and continue with this story arc. The Fighters Guild is equally important as the Mages Guild in progressing the game story-wise and will help get you access to other stories and other things.

This will give you a total of four story arcs you can follow: the Zone Story arcs, the Main Story arc, and the Mages Guild and Fighters Guild story arc, which are interwoven with the main story.