The Elder Scrolls Online Review (frogprincess_q4)
This is only my alt account. I've been playing for ten years now and I've had many breaks, but it's still the game I play. I have spent a lot of time and money if you added all that time up, but I always felt like it was decent value for what I got out of it.
There's a lot of content now. Overwhelming amounts of content, for new players, probably, but even if you only buy the most basic version you will have hundreds of hours playtime, if it's your cup of tea. No game is everyone's cup of tea, but I've gotten several friends addicted to ESO (sorry about that, friends).
Buyer beware that while the entry point can be very cheap if you just buy the base game on sale, if you're weak to the lure of cosmetic items and loot boxes, you can easily go real life broke trying to buy them all. I feel like the game has gotten more and more grindy over the years with dailies being added for every DLC and event, I rarely have time to play any of the actual content if I let FOMO push me into doing dailies (usually I only do them when there is an event and special rewards tied to them).
You don't need to pay for the monthly subscription, but the convenience and value of the sub is really quite significant. Unless you're very tight financially it's worth it, IMO.