'The Elder Scrolls Online' Will Have a Subscription Fee

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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The Elder Scrolls Online will be going against the conventional wisdom of other MMO franchises. Charging a monthly subscription to play is going to be a real challenge for ZeniMax to garner longtime customer support.

I think this is a very, very risky move by ZeniMax. Star Wars: The Old Republic was not a bad game and had a massive brand name behind it. Even so, it couldn’t manage to sustain itself on subscriptions alone, so you have to wonder what chance Elder Scrolls Online has.
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The reason the Star Wars game didn't work with a subscription was that people consumed all of the content in a few weeks. Super casual games don't work with subscriptions because they are too easy so people can quickly move on.
 
The Old Republic might not be the best comparison though, because as much as there was a huge built in audience for the game, that same fan base had been previously burned BADLY by Star War Galaxies and I know many SW fans who weren't even willing to give it a chance.

As fas as Elder Scrolls Online goes, I was thinking of trying this but I dunno... it's been a long time since any MMO really seemed all that enticing to me.

On the plus side a subscription vs. a pay-to-play model might be more fun if they avoid letting people use their credit cards to buy their way to the top and force them to actually, you know, play the damn game instead...
 
Doesn't shock me. TES is a big enough name to attempt a subscription fee. The F2P thing really came about as an attempt for smaller mmos to have a shot against WoW. If you look at the recent mmos that have tried to have subs, they all basically have a major brand in the title (Star Wars, Final Fantasy, etc).
 
If they keep the monthly fee reasonable at 10/month I might be convinced to play for a bit, but the subscription model for games kind of went by the wayside
 
I would not mind subs much if they were around $5 per month, just not into paying $15 for a game I may get to play a few times a month, not worth it.
 
Would rather have had Cyrodiil or Morrowind as DLC for Skyrim and mods to help polish it up. Not really interested in an MMO.
 
I have dinked around in the beta and the game is fun but worth a subscription? not to me.
 
I'd pay a sub if that means there's no additional paid DLC. I won't pay for a WoW-style system where you have to pay for a sub AND they make all of the best cosmetic items require additional payment. I said goodbye to Blizzard back when they started pulling that crap.
 
On SW:TOR - the problem with that game wasn't the fact that it was a paid subscription. The problem was that they made WAAYYYY too many servers at launch, and the population was spread too thin. By the time they did anything about it, too many people like myself had already left out of frustration from trying to find groups. Going F2P was just a move of desperation that was too little too late.
 
The day every MMO goes F2P is the day the genre is dead to me. Nothing ruins my desire to play more than to get nickel and dimed to death every time I want to do something. Want to go in this dungeon? That'll be 5 dollars. We noticed you died, we can resurrect you here for 3 dollars! Even worse is when actual items or the ability to craft items is severely gated or impossible without spending cash. I've hit the 'cap' at what you can do through normal gameplay in F2P MMO's several times, only to realize I've got to drop hundreds dollars to remain viable in the end game.

F2P MMO's are hardly "free" or "cheap". They end up costing far more than subscription based MMO's by the time you purchase all the content.

Oh, and I want to punch whoever came up with purchasable "raffle tickets" or "locked mystery chests" in the face. These things have been a plague to F2P for as long as I can remember. Even worse is when exclusive end game items that are unobtainable any other way are given out by them (of course at like a 1% drop rate).
 
Not even a choice.
I can get a decent upgrade and other games for the price of that for a year.
This has to be a joke.

If it was £5 a month I might give it a try.
Less than £3 a month I'd play it.
 
SWTOR was terrible, as are all the games that have resorted to F2P. There's a reason they go that route, people won't pay a sub for mediocre shit long-term.
 
And since I can't edit news posts, if you want to see the best next-gen sub model, look at EVE's plex system (and Wildstar with the CREDD). Just say no to F2P
 
They should start at $5.99 a month and see how that works out. I see this going F2P pretty quickly.
 
Drugs are bad, mmmkay?
I still do not understand how WoW stays afloat with this business model.
 
I won't play it. They could be successful if they had the upfront cost of $50, then do legitimate expansions. Or, they could do a cheap subscription, I'm talking $5 max with no in game purchases.

I have no problem with DLC if they do it like they used to do expansion packs. Where you pay $50 for a game at launch, then every 6-12 months for the next few years an expansion pack is launched where it adds another 24 hours of game play for only $25. But, I realize these days are gone.

Hofy said:
Drugs are bad, mmmkay?
I still do not understand how WoW stays afloat with this business model.
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Dedicated idiots and addicted children.
 
WOOT i HATE free2play shit its all pay2win

im 100% cool with paying per month like WoW and EVE
 
Super-D said:
On SW:TOR - the problem with that game wasn't the fact that it was a paid subscription. The problem was that they made WAAYYYY too many servers at launch, and the population was spread too thin. By the time they did anything about it, too many people like myself had already left out of frustration from trying to find groups. Going F2P was just a move of desperation that was too little too late.
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that and the game was just WoW with a Star Wars front end
my gf plays it still be shes in the RP thing so eh what ever i got board in a month

i have played FFXI WoW and EVE i have no issue with paying per month TES should do ok if they pull it off i have not yet got in the beta if some one wants to give me there beta account id love to see what things look like

F2P is what has kept me away from Neverwinter online
 
Drakenfeng said:
The day every MMO goes F2P is the day the genre is dead to me. Nothing ruins my desire to play more than to get nickel and dimed to death every time I want to do something. Want to go in this dungeon? That'll be 5 dollars. We noticed you died, we can resurrect you here for 3 dollars! Even worse is when actual items or the ability to craft items is severely gated or impossible without spending cash. I've hit the 'cap' at what you can do through normal gameplay in F2P MMO's several times, only to realize I've got to drop hundreds dollars to remain viable in the end game.

F2P MMO's are hardly "free" or "cheap". They end up costing far more than subscription based MMO's by the time you purchase all the content.

Oh, and I want to punch whoever came up with purchasable "raffle tickets" or "locked mystery chests" in the face. These things have been a plague to F2P for as long as I can remember. Even worse is when exclusive end game items that are unobtainable any other way are given out by them (of course at like a 1% drop rate).
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This.

FTP is a crap. If you can't afford the fees you need to stop gaming and use that time locating a better job.
 
Games have to make their money somehow... At least with a subscription, you usually get a game where you are on equal footing with the other players. If someone has better gear than you, it's because they earned it, not because they went to the Pay2Win in-game store and spent $200 more than you did.

If you're playing a "F2P" game, and you aren't spending tons of money, you're just canon fodder for their real customers.
 
Drakenfeng said:
The day every MMO goes F2P is the day the genre is dead to me. Nothing ruins my desire to play more than to get nickel and dimed to death every time I want to do something. Want to go in this dungeon? That'll be 5 dollars. We noticed you died, we can resurrect you here for 3 dollars! Even worse is when actual items or the ability to craft items is severely gated or impossible without spending cash. I've hit the 'cap' at what you can do through normal gameplay in F2P MMO's several times, only to realize I've got to drop hundreds dollars to remain viable in the end game.

F2P MMO's are hardly "free" or "cheap". They end up costing far more than subscription based MMO's by the time you purchase all the content.

Oh, and I want to punch whoever came up with purchasable "raffle tickets" or "locked mystery chests" in the face. These things have been a plague to F2P for as long as I can remember. Even worse is when exclusive end game items that are unobtainable any other way are given out by them (of course at like a 1% drop rate).
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I couldn't agree with this post more. The MMMOs that I have enjoyed enough to play for any significant chunk of time have all been subscription based and did not allow someone to buy their way to high status. All rewards, ranks, etc. should be earned. That way if you run into somebody that is a high rank or has good gear, the respect has been earned. I don't even want to play a game where a person can buy their way to elite status just because their mommy and daddy have a big bank account.
 
Elios said:
WOOT i HATE free2play shit its all pay2win

im 100% cool with paying per month like WoW and EVE
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Indeed. I had 7 years of WoW and paying for it on a monthly basis is part of why it stayed quality. I have yet to see a F2P game that even comes close to the content WoW provided in that time period.

Elder Scrolls has incredible potential and I really hope that they deliver on the promise.
 
Godmachine said:
Indeed. I had 7 years of WoW and paying for it on a monthly basis is part of why it stayed quality. I have yet to see a F2P game that even comes close to the content WoW provided in that time period.

Elder Scrolls has incredible potential and I really hope that they deliver on the promise.
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EVE is as close to Free2Play as id like to get
the Plex system works well
if you have extra time you can play for free
if you have less time and the money to burn you can pay for your account and sell extra plex for in game money
and since you can lose things permanently in EVE it works out
 
Godmachine said:
Indeed. I had 7 years of WoW and paying for it on a monthly basis is part of why it stayed quality. I have yet to see a F2P game that even comes close to the content WoW provided in that time period.

Elder Scrolls has incredible potential and I really hope that they deliver on the promise.
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Frankly I don't see the potential. First Person view is a gimmick. In fact itll be more of a disadvantage to use it ESPECIALLY in pvp that people will enter it nearly for a "Hey thats cool" response, its a joke.

You press buttons rapidly to use skills, it is the exact same tired system that wow used and everything since then save for a few have tried to replicate. This game will not last long before it goes F2P. Theyre betting on the name sake of the game, not trying to be innovative and original adding mechanics that make anyone whos played any other mmo want to switch
 
I welcome the subscription fee MMO with open arms. The long string of Free-To-Play Pay To Win Micro-transactions just sickens me. I thought it was a nice concept but most of them were pretty annoying and the content turned to casual to no longer interest me after you hit a spot whwere you want more you start forking out money anyways.

Now if it were $9.99 a month, that's reasonable, reduced price if you pay in 3/6/12 month chunks. The reason why I would like subs be implemented is that. Another good concept would be you buy the MMO for example $49.95 that comes with the main game/account and a 1 year subscription, and to renew your subscription it's another $49.95... sorta renewing your license to continue playing the game.

Now as for how they keep up the content and add expansions to keep it interesting that all up to the game company.

I no longer Touch F2P PtW MMOs or Multi-player FPSers.
 
Pay $15 a month for an Elder Scrolls game? No. An Elder Scrolls game with no mods? Hell no. For an Elder Scrolls game with no mods, and WoW-style gameplay model? I'd rather chew on razor blades.
 
I don't get why people fall for the F2P crap. In the end it winds up costing exponentially more to play, unless you want to play a character with garbage items that eventually gets creamed by even level mobs.
 
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