It's Official: The Elder Scrolls Online is Going Buy-to-Play

[Steven Bogos]

It's Official: The Elder Scrolls Online is Going Buy-to-Play

Come March 17, you won't need an active subscription to play The Elder Scrolls Online - you'll just need to purchase the base game.

Well, it looks like those The Elder Scrolls Online [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139475-The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-Pulled-From-More-Australian-Retailers] is going buy-to-play on March 17, and will be launching on PS4 and Xbox One on June 9 (where it will also not require a monthly subscription). Players will be able to subscribe instead to an "ESO Plus" service, providing exclusive in-game bonuses, a monthly allotment of crowns (premium currency) to use in the store, and access to all DLC game packs.

The buy-to-play rumors have been circling the game ever since Bethesda pulled the game from its shelves [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139272-Elder-Scrolls-Online-May-Be-Going-Free-to-Play]. However, it is not entirely "free", as players will still need to purchase the base game to play.

The new F2P version of the game, re-branded as The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, will be supported with special, optional downloadable content available for purchase, and an in-game Crown Store for convenience and customization items. Regular updates and new gameplay will be offered to all players free of additional charges.

Xbox One and PS4 owners will still need an active subscription to Xbox Live Gold/PlayStation Plus to play the game. If you're a PC player who has an active subscription past March 17, the remaining subscription time will automatically transition to ESO Plus membership. Additionally, if you add any unused game time cards past the March 17 cutoff date, they will also simply transition to ESO Plus game time. No refunds will be offered for existing subscriptions.

"Our fans are our biggest inspiration, and we've listened to their feedback on the entertainment experience they want," said Matt Firor, Game Director of The Elder Scrolls Online. "We know that Elder Scrolls fans want choice when it comes to how they play and how they pay, and that is what they will get. We have made numerous changes to the game over the past year, and are confident this is a game that Elder Scrolls fans will love to play."

If you're still confused by the change, Bethesda will be running a Twitch Stream [http://www.twitch.tv/zenimaxonlinestudios] at 12 PM ET today that should hopefully answer all your questions.

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[Starke]

So it looks like even The Elder Scrolls isn't immune to the typical non-World of Warcraft MMO life cycle of launch -> server mergers -> free-to-play -> death. Hopefully there's a bigger gap between the last two steps this time.

Yes, tell me again about the server mergers that ESO's gone through.

 

[Sanunes]

I don't think going Free to Play means death, many games have made the transition and did better then when they were subscription based the two ones I have experience with are The Old Republic and Star Trek Online. I am not the biggest fan of the feeling I get from The Old Republic for I feel like I am being punished by their free to play model, but Star Trek Online did it better, I am just not a big fan of how they implemented the newest level of ships.

 

[suitepee7]

I'll have to see how much content they lock off to see if it's worth it. If it's anything like GW2, then I might actually be tempted to get this. If it is anything like SW:TOR then... maybe not (obviously that one has no initial purchase, but they gutted F2P so much it might as well be sub only still)

 

[Alexander Kirby]

So if the base game still needs to be purchased I don't understand why EB Games were taking it off their shelves.

 

[Starke]

So if the base game still needs to be purchased I don't understand why EB Games were taking it off their shelves.

By the same logic, how can the "removing the six month sub means imminent F2P!" be the case, when the subscription system will still be in place.

Effectively the game is just moving the subscription to the optional pile, like Secret World... if the business model follows that game's lead, this won't be a bad deal... unless of course, they also follow TSW's example and replace "new content" with "grind horde mode if you want to advance the main story."

If nothing else, here's fingers crossed they'll finally let us buy new character slots.

 

[JenSeven]

Well, that happened quicker than I expected.
But then again, I expected this game to fail from the start anyway.
They wanted to cash in on the Skyrim hype and gave the Skyrim players a game that wasn't at all like Skyrim.
So yeah, expected but quicker than expected.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

"Well that's surprising!" - Said absolutely no one. I think the only reason this lasted as long as it did (which is not very long, really) is because of the ES license.

It still needs a purchase to play though. So it seems like it went the way of The Secret World, as far as I can tell. I doubt I'd ever try to play this game again though. I tried out the closed beta last year and... I hated it.

Oh well. This seems like it will be a good business move since I'm sure there were a lot of people interested in the game but held off because of the subscription.

 

[Starke]

I tried out the closed beta last year and... I hated it.

Might be worth taking another look at it now. Even the open beta was kind of a mess. The current state of the game is actually a lot of fun.

 

[Matt K]

Not a huge surprise. For the past year the box copies at Target (and a few other retailers) have been on half off sales almost every other week. That kind of consistent low discount seemed to imply that people really weren't picking up copies.

 

[Briantb]

Honestly don't think I'll play it even with the F2P, I enjoy single player to much. Come to think of it I played Skyrim 200+ hours and still haven't completed the main story. -_-

 

[silasbufu]

Yes!! In this case count me in to give it a chance!

 

[Jaeger_CDN]

So correct me if I'm wrong, they are moving to a model similar to guild wars?

If they do, I may give it a shot since I hate subscription style games due to them always being priced in US currency I refuse to pay the exchange

 

[EvilRoy]

Anyone play this a fair amount? I was interested back in the day when it was released, but life intervened and pushed it out of my mind. I'm curious to know how it compares in terms of combat and exploration to Skyrim and how the whole multiplay deal actually works. Like, are there raids or group quests, is there a hub town or multiple cities with stuff to do and so on.

 

[shadowxvii]

Can somebody explains to me the logic behind a 60$ game being called Free-to-Play ?

 

[Sight Unseen]

Well fuck. I guess Zenimax is as stupid as the people that have been shouting the game down since day one...

 

[CardinalPiggles]

A little too late for me. I just recently started playing WoW. Maybe when I get bored of it I'll have a look at ESO again.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Anyone play this a fair amount? I was interested back in the day when it was released, but life intervened and pushed it out of my mind. I'm curious to know how it compares in terms of combat and exploration to Skyrim and how the whole multiplay deal actually works. Like, are there raids or group quests, is there a hub town or multiple cities with stuff to do and so on.

Send me any questions you may have in a pm and I'd be happy to answer as best I can I have a fair amount of experience with the game (~400 hours) so I should be able to answer a lot of questions, though I haven't actually gotten to endgame yet.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

Come March 17, you won't need an active subscription to play The Elder Scrolls Online - you'll just need to purchase the base game.

wait did they change the definition of Free to Play again while i wasnt looking? its "free" with a purchase?