The Elder Scrolls Online Will Have Microtransactions Too

[Strazdas]

oh, dont mind me, this is just me, scraching this game of the list of games i want to play, thats all.

A namechange costs them NOTHING, it literally costs them NOTHING to do it.

It seems a lot of people are gettign this wrong. A namechange requires:
1. somone to spends many hours coding in the program to change all names of chracter and associated quests/relationships/friendlists/whathave you without distrubting the regular work of the server even thouh this information may even be used during the change, for example by another player friendlist check.
2. you have to make a system where the new character name has to be checked agaisnt possible names to chose (no double naming or "fuck you" for a name).
3. you need to make a secure system for name change, because you are basically change the main database, on a whim of a player, while the database is in use.
4. you need to make a system that is at least somewhat hack proof and discourages chracter trading for real money, which namechange encourages.
5. you need a contingency plan to not have a situation where if ingame war breaks out everyone jtu changes names instantly and pvp becomes broken.

all of this costs money, not to mention the upkeep of that. and there are probably even more things a more specific person could give. so yes, namechange COSTS MONEY. if you think it is as simply as rewriting a single box you need to remember this is not a singleplayer game.

At the end of the day these "ignorant" parents are paying for their kids. They clearly know where the money is going and how much.
They check their bank accounts.
They check their bills.
The moment they see additional fees for something they have no interest in, then they will cut it in a heart beat.

I know we like to talk down about casuals on the Escapist.
However let's get real here.
These people aren't mindless lemmings.

I sincerely wish that what you say would be true. But it is not. there are people who are mindless lemmings, who dont check their bank accounts and instead sit and complain they got no money for 3 hours. they exist. a lot of them. i wish it would be different, i really wish, but its not.

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

You too can Where a Silly Costume And Or Hat, while Trying to Look Serious And Nord or Imperial or whatever you Happen to Wanna be- the More i hear about this game the Less i like it

 

[jurnag12]

So asking for money for specific parts of the game would be disruptive to the Elder Scrolls experience, which is why you're going with a subscription model...

But you're also using micro-transactions, anyway.

Goddamnit Bethesda, I play WoW and even I think this is bullsh*t.

 

[GAunderrated]

I set the over/under for going totally Free to Play w/ micros at 9 months. Who wants to bet some internet money?

I bet it does quite well for itself because exclusively console players don't necessarily know any better, or it may even be their first MMO so will seem amazeballs.

Depressing, but true. This game is being milked for everything it has because the unaware will buy it. It very obviously isn't going to get anywhere on PC, it has competition that is easily going to be a minimum of on par that doesn't require a sub.

It is literally the only reason i can think of for this. They're not planning on competing with the PC MMO market, that is simply too much of a challenge for their game. Instead they just want to be the first 'next gen' MMO on the xbone/ps4 and try to make money from being unopposed.

What we need is Arenanet to release Guild wars 2 on next gen consoles (they'd need separate servers from PC because of the update frequency, but ah well, considering most of the servers are still high-full populations a year after launch, more servers makes sense anyway)), just to smash this cash grab into the ground.

Console players don't know any better?



Geez. I can understand if you said casuals or something (and even then everyone is frugal about their money.) but you think CONSOLE players are so money stupid that we would put up with buying the game, paying the monthly fee, and putting up with micro-transactions?
I'm insulted.

Well it is a HUGE generalization so I would like to amend his statement to say "Console gamers 17 and under (and their parents who buy them games) don't know any better."

While not every console gamer pays for every stupid thing that is shoveled at them, you have to keep in mind that bad purchasing practicing among console gamers is why we have horrible DLC practices and Disk Locked Content. It was originally meant to extend great game content, but they eventually noticed that console gamers would buy any piece of DLC regardless of value, and decided to have $15 map packs and other atrocities.

I have no doubt that the adult console gamers can see through the scams but the younger gamers and the subsequent parents who buy for them don't and they are the real money makers.

Ignorance is bliss. And why make millions selling to intelligent people when you can make hundreds of billions selling to the uninformed?

Do not assume parents or anyone 17 and under are so stupid that they can't see the greed in this model. In fact, how about we bring that age group down to 9, because that is the only age I can think of where a kid isn't really aware of financials outside of how much the game costs.

Parents are familiar with subscription based models. Whether they are gamers or not. They see it in magazines, they see it on TV, and they may even see it in other services likes sports.

Parents are aware that they are paying $60.00 for a game. It is coming out of their pocket after all.
They are also aware of DLC. Again, they are paying for that.
At most, they will buy the game at the box price. However once they find out that they have to keep a monthly fee to play the game, a good portion of them will either return the games themselves for a full refund, or demand their kids to return the game for them.

At the end of the day these "ignorant" parents are paying for their kids. They clearly know where the money is going and how much.
They check their bank accounts.
They check their bills.
The moment they see additional fees for something they have no interest in, then they will cut it in a heart beat.

I know we like to talk down about casuals on the Escapist.
However let's get real here.
These people aren't mindless lemmings.

No offense man but you sound incredibly naive. They can obviously see that the model is greedy, they just lack any care beyond their own temporary satisfaction. Majority of 17 and under do not think outside of their immediate satisfaction, hence why they are the target of so many exploitative models.

The fact that you think parents actually are paying that much attention to their children's gaming habits clearly shows that you have not worked in any sort of gaming retail to see the truth. Lots of parents do not check their bank accounts, do not properly balance their checkbooks, or know what they are purchasing for their children besides a game for xx.xx amount of dollars so they get what they want.

I did not even attack casuals in my post at all as it is a useless and stereotypical term so why did you assume we were talking down to casuals? From here it sounds like you have insecurity issues if you have to project that hard.

I find it oddly hypocritical you took such offense to my generalization that all 17 and under children don't know any better then you go off and generalize that all escapist users talk down to casuals.

Many people are mindless lemmings. It's not the nice thing to say but experience has proven it time and time again when you see the majority of mindless media the average person consumes. Also since you are prone to projecting wild accusations I will state that my previous statement was directed at all media and not gaming alone.

Hope that helps. I apologize if I seem hostile at all but it is a personal pet peeve of mine when people just throw out strawman arguments after dismissing another person's opinion.

 

[Simple Bluff]

...gaming retail to see the truth. Lots of parents do not check their bank accounts, do not properly balance their checkbooks, or know what they are purchasing for their children besides a game for xx.xx amount of dollars so they get what they want.

How can you make that conclusion just by working in retail? Do you follow them home and listen to their conversations with creditors?

Goddamnit Bethesda, I play WoW and even I think this is bullsh*t.

I don't mean to be pedantic, but Bethesda isn't making this.

 

[Dragonbums]

No offense man but you sound incredibly naive.

My parents know jack squat about videogames, and yet they know enough when to put their foot down on a game purchase. Yet alone one that will not only cost them $60.00, but they will have to pay a $15.00 fee every month.

Majority of 17 and under do not think outside of their immediate satisfaction

I was just seventeen a few months ago. You'd be surprised how many 17 year olds are on the Escapist, or rather- on gaming sites in general. If the amount of people dissatisfied with this model is anything to go by, I can assure you that there are quite a few 17 year olds, who aren't that stupid.

The fact that you think parents actually are paying that much attention to their children's gaming habits clearly shows that you have not worked in any sort of gaming retail to see the truth. Lots of parents do not check their bank accounts, do not properly balance their checkbooks, or know what they are purchasing for their children besides a game for xx.xx amount of dollars so they get what they want.

I did not even attack casuals in my post at all as it is a useless and stereotypical term so why did you assume we were talking down to casuals? From here it sounds like you have insecurity issues if you have to project that hard.

I was speaking in general, and I never said you were attacking them. I'm pretty sure you are very aware of what most Escapist users mean when they talk about casuals in videogames, and if I'm not mistaken, it's the Wii Fit kind of casuals we are talking about here. On that note, I most certainly do not have insecurity issues.
I am however finding it increasingly annoying that our perception of "casuals" is that they are financially stupid and are so stupid, that they would fall for such a preposterous model like this. Or rather, the console gamers, as the OP originally said.

I find it oddly hypocritical you took such offense to my generalization that all 17 and under children don't know any better then you go off and generalize that all escapist users talk down to casuals.

If you can find me a couple of posts here on the Escapist that didn't talk about casuals as complete idiots (like buying into this TESO payment model.) Then I will happily rectify my statement.

Many people are mindless lemmings. It's not the nice thing to say but experience has proven it time and time again when you see the majority of mindless media the average person consumes. Also since you are prone to projecting wild accusations I will state that my previous statement was directed at all media and not gaming alone.

People are mindless lemmings. However when it comes to money, only the most obsessed and financially irresponsible would spend that much money on a video game. People no matter how dumb with media, tend to be a little bit smarter with their money.

Hope that helps. I apologize if I seem hostile at all but it is a personal pet peeve of mine when people just throw out strawman arguments after dismissing another person's opinion.

My main anger was at the OP anyway for insinuating that the average console gamer will be dumb enough to go through with the TESO money scheme and once again taint PC gamers like we are some blight to the gaming industry.
I didn't mean to direct it at you. My comments were more of a "general" comeback as opposed to anything actually directed at you.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

So instead of Subscription or Free To Play it's Buy to Subscribe for Fees?

Lovely, not that I was budgeting £140-ish out to play this game for a year to begin with, but now my wallet is actively dodging my hand until I close anything mentioning Elder Scrolls Online, weird that.

More like Buy for fees and subscription, or BFS for short.

Hey, you know what else BFS stands for? Bull F****** S***

 

[darron13]

SO what you're saying, Zenimax, is that you don't want my money.

 

[Neta]

No.

Microtransactions OR monthly subscription fees, not both. That's just taking the piss.

 

[Nazulu]

And they've lost me. Just like that. I don't care for all these micro-transaction excuses, because no matter how you look at it, paying to just change your name is bull, and I was never a fan of the other types either. I can let it slide easier when you're not paying so much, but this, this is just taking advantage of these gamers again.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

You know, guys, give him credit. He IS right. We do want the next Elder Scrolls game.

Tell me when they stop fiddling around with this MMO thing and start working on it.

 

[unstabLized]

Wow.. Yeah no.. Subscription only? Fine. Microtransaction only? Maybe. BOTH? Hell no. That's pure greed. Totally killed my interest now, thank you.

 

[Grabehn]

"The subscription will give the player the full experience" And now we present to you... MICROTRANSACTIONS! - Really? I mean, I lost interest with the subcription because I can't really afford those, but now this? Now not even if I had the money would I pay into it.

 

[jurnag12]

I don't mean to be pedantic, but Bethesda isn't making this.

My apologies. I just went by the Newspost itself, which only mentions Bethesda by name, so I assumed that they were also the developers.

So, to reiterate my prior post:

Goddamnit ZeniMax, I play WoW and even I think this is bullsh*t.

 

[DirgeNovak]

OK. That's it. They can go fuck themselves now.
You can't have your cake and eat it too, Zenimax. Pick one: $15 a month or nickel and diming. Not both.

 

[prpshrt]

I honestly believe that they might be digging their own grave. While people are loyal to the elder scrolls games, most people have paid at most like $80-$90 (if they bought each dlc when it came out or lower if they bought a legendary edition) for a full game that they can customize, mod, and more importantly own. These same people will not be very happy with the elder scrolls online. I played the beta and got bored out of my mind after 20 minutes. It was also very irritating that my wifi was choppy at the moment and lag from internet isn't something I'm used to playing an elder scrolls game. Good luck bethesda.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Enough of this shit. Monetize your game in some way, not every way.

It's not free to download. It's subscription based. It's got microtransactions. At best you can have two of these, not all three.

As a matter of fact, microtransactions should probably be limited to F2P games and should never, ever, rear their head in a subscription based game.