The Elder Scrolls Online Will Have Subscription Fees

[Sight Unseen]

I hope this is an old-school Runescape-style subscription method and not a Wow-type.

In Runescape you paid a monthly subscription (used to be $5, then was raised to like $7 or $8 a month) aaaandd that's all... The base game is free, there are no expansion packs, and every new update, however big or small, is included in your subscription fee. Add to this weekly or bi-weekly content updates and I was very happy to pay that subscription fee. Runescape also had a fairly large and substantial free-to-play mode that was actually completely free to play, with no micro-transaction bullshit or pay-walls, unless you wanted to upgrade to being a member, which was such a good value for your money that it was a no-brainer for anyone who liked the free-to-play mode. RS has kinda gone to shit recently though so that's unfortunate.

WoW on the other hand required you to first buy the game for a lump sum, then pay for a monthly subscription, then pay another lump sum whenever they feel like adding any substantial content to the game in the form of expansions. It always struck me as really money-grubbing and expensive just to play a game with substantially less variety and complexity than a much cheaper game like runescape.


So yeah, I hope TES:O is more like Runescape, where the game and expansions are "free" and come included in the subscription cost. I also may have outed myself as a (former)Runescape fan during this post. That probably won't end well..

 

[funksobeefy]

Im out, I saw what happened to the Star Wars game. I dont like subscription fees because it makes me feel like i have to play the game a certain amount to make it worth the money, instead of enjoying the game in my own time ant my own speed. I wont be buying this game

 

[rasputin0009]

I'm okay with a subscription, but $15 a month is too much for me. $10 or less is what I'm willing to pay. They really must know their target audience if they're asking that much.

 

[RobDaBank]

Well if it's $15 a month for unlimited use, I presume there will be a Free to Play option with limited use too? Kind of like how Runescape did things?

 

[masticina]

I am quite conflicted here. Yes I do understand their reasoning wanting to keep adding content and work out the bugs and all. And most important adding more content as things happen. But eeh yeah haven't MANY MMO's fallen from their P2P roots and gone F2P? [be that Free to play or Fee to Play or Pay 2 Win]

Eh. I do like the elder scrolls don't get me wrong. I hope the best for them but yeah.. it isn't the best start I fear. They better show something truly awesome.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

It's really funny that everyone kept expecting WildStar and Elder Scrolls Online to completely redefine the genre. They never intended to and they have even previously stated as much. It's fun to watch the people complaining about how Sub-based MMOs are dead. Most sub-based MMOs that flopped had nothing to do with the payment model, just that they were s**t.

As the devs have stated, "If you make the game worth it, they'll pay anyways."

 

[kael013]

[quote/]"The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience," said Matt Firor, general manager of ZeniMax Online. "Hundreds of hours of gameplay, tons of depth and features, professional customer support - and a commitment to have ongoing content at regular intervals after launch. This type of experience is best paired with a one-time fee per month, as opposed to many smaller payments." Firor also suggested that players will be "appreciate not having to worry about being 'monetized' in the middle of playing the game." [/quote]

1. 'Ongoing content at regular intervals' doesn't require a sub. SWTOR has regular content updates every few months (granted they're not all [i/]good[/i], but whatever) and it's F2P with a heavily used in-game store. GW2 has consistent updates and it's also F2P with an in-game store. So, sorry, no, this 'type of experience' isn't best paired with a one-time fee (nice trick with the wording here) per month.

2. If I have to pay $15 a month or else I lose some features, I call that being 'monetized in the middle of the game'. In that case you are loaning me parts of the game (maybe even essential parts) for a monthly rental.

[quote/]In turn, we're curious as to what our readers think. Are you up for a monthly fee, or will you be sticking to the Elder Scrolls offline?[/quote]

Well, I was going to get this game, but I'm in the middle of job hunting and play games while waiting for companies to call me for an interview. Therefore, I don't have the money for a monthly fee because I [i/]have no job[/i].

EDIT:L Wait a second, 'unlimited use'? Does that mean there's a F2P option with some limitations? I'd tolerate that.

 

[freaper]

I feel this is sort of relevant (you know which terms replace);

Spoiler

 

[Antari]

They are more than welcome to charge whatever they like. It doesn't mean I'm going to pay it. Whoever came up with the ideas to making this online and subscription based should be shot. Not just fired. And no I'm not saying they need to die. But some pain associated with this decision would be fitting.

 

[Yuuki]

Play a game without having to pay separate for bank space? Or anything extra? Yes please.

Enjoy having paid $90 over 6 months, or $180 over the course of a year.

 

[Maxtro]

One thing off the bat, I have no interest in playing with other people. I just want more Elder Scrolls. Frankly if I were to play ESO, I'd probably avoid other people 99% of the time and only interact while in dungeons.

With that thought, ESO would essentially be me buying Skyrim and then having to pay $15 a month to keep playing it.

 

[fix-the-spade]

so around £10 a month? i appreciate that they aren't going with a f2p model, but that's a pretty steep price point unless they do offers for like £7-8 for 3 months if you buy all at once

$180 a year or £140 once you add in VAT, because you will pay VAT on the subscription.

Two words spring to mind when faced with that fee, the second is OFF and the first can't be said in polite company.

With that kind of money on the line all I can see is a repeat of The Old Republic.

 

[Pandaman1911]

Look at this picture:

Do those sound like the words of a man that has any respect what so ever for the franchise he is working with?

These people have nothing to do with the original franchise and they have the fucking balls to say that what they are making is the "real" version.

I could list the near endless betrayals of the story and lore that this game does, and I could spend hours explaining how all these changes are only being made because the people making the game are lazy and have no creative spirit and because a generic boring fantasy world is easier to market to the drooling masses.

But it's all moot, the only thing that matters is that these people don't respect or care about the franchise they're working with.

Sorry to go all fanboy on you here, but it just annoys me a tiny little bit when something I really care about is handed to a bunch of hacks that clearly don't.

Jesus Shittington Christ, are you serious? Did this man seriously say that? God damn, as if the Warp in the West wasn't bad enough. Lore in TES games (and how do you say that, anyway? The The Elder Scrolls games? Or The Elder Scrolls Games? Because it's not Elder Scrolls, it's THE Elder Scrolls. Shit, whatever.) is a good chunk of the game, and is really what makes the world feel somewhat alive. I'd listen to the Hlaalu recruiter talk about the history of the houses for ages, listen to Garothmuk gro-Muzgub in Suran talk about the different kinds and styles of armor and weapons, from designs to materials they were made from... and I distinctly remember sitting around in the Balmora bookseller for hours on end, reading all the books there were available. And this man wants to tell me that all I experienced was just a "fanciful portrayal"? Just because everyone's not all scowling and serious, and because everything in the world isn't a sordid and grim affair, doesn't mean it's "fanciful" or a "fable". Gritty does not equal realistic, god damn it. But, hey. The majority of the players think I'm in the wrong, I guess. S'wits.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

It's been shown for years that any given MMO makes more money when F2P than with this subscription-fee bullshit, but nope! Everyone releasing a new AAA MMO just HAS to squeeze blood from a stone. I give it three months before F2P is announced. No more than six.

The reason I hate the subscription fee model: It's completely irrespective of how much time you find to play. I have a job, I go to school. If a month goes by that I play one or two hours, or don't get to play at all, well, I'm still out $15 for having had the option to play. Meanwhile for something like GW2, I can plop down some money, and get my money's worth at my own pace.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Shit that's a lot of money. Even if it was the only game I played, that would be too much; and I'm a TES fan. One of the great things about a TES game is that you get so much game for the usual price. I don't know how wow&eve get away with it but I doubt the usual TES gamers will be willing to pay so much every month.

 

[Something Amyss]

God dammit Bethesda!

You're competing with GW2, a game which offer more updates and more content every month than any other MMO, doesn't have a sub at all, and is by all accounts is doing pretty well for itself.

If you want to shoot yourself in the foot with a .50 cal, at least do it with a less potentially interesting MMO.

I don't know how you think GW2 could compete with TESO. TESO has professional customer support.

How do you compete with that.

 

[RJ 17]

I imagine this will be just another "mediocre at best" MMO. Like TOR it'll probably start with a pretty big opening fanbase just because of the popularity of TES but begin bleeding subscriptions profusely after the first few weeks. But that's only for the PC gamers, I predict that for the next-gen console gamers it's going to be an absolute flop. They'll already be paying their subscriptions to MS and Sony and aren't likely going to want to pony up for another subscription on top of that one.

To be honest though, I never had high hopes for this game even when it was announced. Other than the names of places and races, I doubt it'll have much grip on the TES setting/world as it needs in order to remain viable. More likely it'll basically just be a generic medieval-fantasy MMO slapped onto a TES template. To me TES was, is, and always will be best served as single player.

 

[babinro]

At best I only had a mild interest in this game. I loved Oblivion and felt Skyrim was dated and boring since it really didn't push the genre (much like how Borderland 1 & 2 are essentially identical).

Making it a subscription model completely eliminates any chance of my trying the game. I hate feeling 'forced' to play a game to justify the monthly subscription. I'd much rather there be a 'playtime' subscription model. $15.00 buys you 150 hours of gameplay for example. This way I can play around my schedule rather than theirs.

 

[Ickabod]

Nail, meet coffin.

 

[OCAdam]

I was interested in this game. Key word on was. Honestly all I wanted out of something like this was merely co-op play in a TES (or Fallout for that matter) game. Good thing I've already scrounged up enough money for GTA5 instead as my co-op type game with my friends. Oh well, just gotta hope the rest of the games I am looking forwards to don't look to screw up towards the end. Simply put, I can get enough money to buy a game every few months, not support micro-transactions on a monthly basis.

Thinking about it some more, that model basically is saying it wants me to pay for the equivalent of a whole new game every 4 months. I usually do buy a new game every 4 months. Thing is, I doubt they'll add even 1/4 a whole game's worth of content in 4 months. Not exactly worth the money in my eyes.