I was considering playing this game for pvp only, really. What is it like for a night blade? Can you level by doing strictly pvp, and what level can you start pvp? Does gear make or break pvp? How time consuming is this game exactly?
Q. I was considering playing this game for pvp only, really. What is it like for a night blade?
A. Nightblade is a very strong choice for solo play. They're very slippery with the use of stealth and porting with Shade. Magicka Nightblade has had a fall from grace over the last 6 months or so due to continued nerfs(thanks to PvE), but probably my all time favorite specialization in ESO. Stamina Nightblade is extremely strong and very hard to take down. They can make use of several different weapon setups(2h/Bow, 2h/DW, 2h/SnB) and all three of them are very good with their own unique playstyle.
Q. Can you level by doing strictly pvp, and what level can you start pvp?
A. Yes you can level pretty much strictly through PvP starting at level 10. However, it's a much slower process then doing quests/dungeons/grinding. You'll also have to take a break at some point and farm skyshards.(skyshards unlock talent points so you can get all of your passives/actives.
Q. Does gear make or break pvp?
A. When you're leveling, gear sets don't really matter that much as you outgrow the items fairly quickly. However once you hit max gear rank (level 50 CP160), you're going to want to have a look around YouTube and other sources and find a good build for whatever content you're taking part in. If you don't do this, you won't be even remotely competitive.
Q. How time consuming is this game exactly?
A. It requires more time investment than WoW in the beginning. You pretty much have to grind until you're ~600cp before you'll be competitive in PvE or CP enabled PvP environments, but the game slows down in pace after that. You can also do BGs which has CP disabled but the games can be quite cancer sometimes. The best advise I can give you is just take it slow in the beginning and enjoy what the game has to offer. The story and visuals are far more immersive then what WoW has to offer (imo). The crafting system is far different then WoWs as well and suggest you watch a video on it and start leveling those as soon as you start playing.
If you're serious about giving this game a solid try, do yourself a favor and watch some videos on the combat system and how to manipulate it before starting out. I quit the game on probably 4 different occasions due to how clunky the combat felt before I stumbled across a video explaining how the combat system worked and how you can manipulate some animations. Once you get the hang of that, the gameplay smooths out a lot and is far more enjoyable.
Here's a video to explain weaving.
Here's a video to explain animation canceling(basically the same thing, just more advanced).