Casual play its fine you can go first person. You don't ever have to go 3rd person its just a lot of visual indicators are easier to see that way. Late game content just kind of leans towards it. I'd have cared more, but first person combat with the hotbar doesn't feel as immersive as the single player games.

Exploring is pretty cool the world is massive. There are a ton of quests and I enjoyed the quests more than I do in other MMOs. They play to a strength of the ES series.