Eh, I'd say that's pretty good in context. Bethesda has, for the most part, put out very successful games. Bugs and Bethesda are pretty synonymous though, and that this is on the less buggy side is something to quell hot takes of "Bugfield" before people even touch it. And I think the embargo restricts deeper comments on the game, so these may he the only comments we get for a few more days.
I play a LOT of ESO; I have three nights a week that I group with others to do PvP in Cyrodiil. Beyond that, I help out with a large trials Discord that runs ~3-5 trials a week, depending on schedules. I can sign up for those as needed.
Even with only doing PvP 3 nights a week, we generally only run ~2-3 hours, and there are enough people that if someone misses, it isn't a big deal, and a sub can usually be pulled into the role. If not? We just deal with it. People have lives, they're gonna miss. I routinely take breaks from the scheduled stuff, because I don't like having things planned out. With football and basketball season coming up, I'll likely step away for a bit to do other things I like.
ESO is nice, in that once you're at level cap, you're done doing that grind. New sets aren't too hard to get once you get sorted, and non-meta builds are viable through most end-game content. Being in the large trials discords makes it really easy to slot in when I want. Additionally, the Discords themselves makes it easy to stay connected without the commitment of the game required.
As for friends that don't play, anytime I'm playing Rocket League or CoD or whatever other games, I'll send something in the group chat to see if others wanna join. Most the time I don't get any takers, but putting the invite out there is enough. It's hard to stay connected through the years, an invite at least let's friends know you are thinking of them in the moment.
Was going to be BG3 on PS5 until I had the horrible realization it isn't out until September.
So I guess it's still ESO with some Rocket League mashed in sometimes. I did finally clear vCR+3 on Saturday. Only hardmodes I'm missing now is Dreadsail, Rock Grove, and the new one, Sanity's Edge, but that's more just cause I haven't tried much.
Still Elder Scrolls Online. Tried to pug the new hard mode last night in an old instance, wouldn't recommend. Did ball group stuff in Cyro Friday night.
If anyone has any questions I run this magazine over on kbin! Its lacking content, but that partially cause no one is there to discuss with. I post PvP clips just to get stuff out there but would love further discussion. I do endgame PvE (no perfectas because I'm not a fan of longterm progs) and run with one of the (arguably) best ball groups on Xbox/NA in Cyrodiil.
I can't speak on that specific timeline, but CP has had a pretty large makeover recently. You still only have 4 slottable abilities, but quite a few have moved to passive status. Unsure if the ones you reference specifically are though, green tree is usually a throwaway tree for me.
You can do probably 60-70% of the game just with base version. You won't be hamstrung by missing meta sets or content. Even then, DLC sets that can be crafted can still be obtained by having someone else craft the for you, or by having access to tables via a guildmate (like 95% sure it works that way, if not, you just need the 3rd party crafter). You'll obviously miss the new zones, dungeons, trials, and skill lines, but you'll still get over a hundred of hours of content.
You can absolutely play this casually. The base game stuff is pretty easy in comparison to how it was, with power creep and such, but it's, at worst, a good, long introduction to the game systems to better gauge your future interest.