Chat is a system primarily used for communicating with other online players of Elder Scrolls Online. It also serves as a means of inputting commands to the game that affect the player character. Note that text-based chat is primarily only available on PC/Mac; PS4 and Xbox One players must use voice chat or a limited selection of 22 "Quick Chat" phrases instead.
Text Chat (PC/Mac)
Players can bring up a chat window by pressing the "Enter" key (Windows) or "Return" key (OS X). A box appears in the bottom left corner, which contains a log of what other players have recently said as well as a text field for the player to add to the conversation. A profanity filter is in place in order to prevent other players from reading offensive content.
Audience Scope
The scope of the audience that will receive the chat is specified by prefacing the chat message with one of the following commands. Any future chats will continue to use the same scope until a new chat is used.
Command
Audience
Audience Can be Anywhere
/s or /say
Players in the surrounding area (this is the default channel)
Players in the surrounding area; has a different display format to /say, used to roleplay character actions (e.g., /me waves would give a chat result of "[Name] waves")
Currently in beta, chat bubbles can be activated from the Interface Settings menu and display a text box above a player's head when they use the chat system. There are toggle options for displaying bubbles for each of the available audience scopes except for /zone and /guild, as well as the option to only see the chat bubbles of those players who are known to you, either through your Contacts list or Guild rosters[verification needed — is that what Known Players means?].
Special Commands
Several game commands, often referred to as slash commands, are activated by being typed into the chat box. These commands do not appear in the chat log of other players. Emotes are also activated using slash commands.
Command
Effect
/reloadui
Reloads the user interface and closes all open menus. Useful for when you are stuck on a menu or need to reload a plug-in. Does not kill you.
/stuck
For the cost of a regular teleport, characters can be teleported to the nearest wayshrine with this command. It is useful for getting out of places that a character cannot emerge from; for example, phasing into the ground by accident.
/logout
Logs the player out. This bypasses normal game restrictions for when a player is not permitted to log out (e.g. combat).
/quit
Quits the game. This bypasses normal game restrictions for when a player is not permitted to quit (e.g. combat).
/chatlog
Saves a copy of the character's chatlog to \Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\Logs\ChatLog.log (Windows)
Invite another player to your group (e.g., /invite PlayerName would invite PlayerName to your group, or /invite @AccountName to use the player's @AccountName)
The following can also be used to enter a different instance or "shard" of a zone (if the target is in that instance) in an attempt to reach an instance with a lower population.
/jumptofriend
Jump to the Wayshrine closest to a named friend. (e.g., /jumptofriend CharacterName or /jumptofriend @AccountName)
/jumptogroupmember
Jump to the Wayshrine closest to a named group member. (e.g., /jumptogroupmember CharacterName or /jumptogroupmember @AccountName)
/jumptoguildmember
Jump to the Wayshrine closest to a named guild member. (e.g., /jumptoguildmember CharacterName or /jumptoguildmember @AccountName)
/jumptoleader
Jump to the Wayshrine closest to the group leader.
Voice Chat (Consoles)
Using the built-in console systems, PS4 and Xbox One players can chat with other players in-game as long as they have the appropriate peripheral, such as a headset. There are a number of different chat channels that can be joined, each of which can be muted individually. You can choose to speak in any one channel at a time, or choose none to just listen to other players. You can listen concurrently to Area chat and any one other channel.
Emotes are commands that cause your character to perform an animation. They are simply aesthetic, and add an extra level to in-game socialization.
On PC and Mac, all emotes are activated by bringing up the chat window, then typing in the emote command and nothing else. These commands do not appear in the chat log of other players. On PS4 and Xbox, emotes must be selected through the "Social" menu, and up to eight emotes can be assigned to quick-slots accessed using D-pad Right.
Quick Chat
There are 22 premade phrases that can be selected and assigned to the emote quick-slots. When you use a Quick Chat phrase, it will appear as a text chat bubble, visible to those around you. A few phrases also have an accompanying emote. Quick Chat is available by default on consoles, and on PC with the Gamepad UI mode.
During the development of ESO, a community contest was held to choose an emote that would be added to the game. The winning entry was submitted by Trevor Baggett, for the /honor and /dishonor emotes (video). The winner received $75 store credit for the Bethesda Merchandise Store, a poster, a t-shirt, and an invite to a beta test, as well as the chance to work with a member of the animation team while creating the emotes.
The /dance emote defaults to the dance of your character's race. Some costumes and disguises will cause this to default to Breton instead.
Bugs
Two incomplete emotes, "Read letter" and "Read letter lookup", exist in the console UI. ?
