ESO will be subscription based

[Abel]

Meaning ESO will have the same payment model as MMOs such as World of Warcraft and EVE online.

Matt Firor confirmed this in an interview with Gamestar.de.

Opinions?

[Musicman247]

Mobile link is hard to read on PC. Here's a PC version of the link: http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/the-elder ... 26853.html

[dzio]

I'm a bit worried that it will tank like other P2P MMOs that are mentioned in this article. I get that TES franchise already has a dedicated fanbase and that many of us have been with those games for over a decade (which also means that many are old enough to have more than a few bucks of disposable income), but I'm not sure how many of us can afford (and are willing to pay) 15$ every month. I know I can't. So I suppose this can only work if the quality of the game is so brilliantly high that it convinces people to dig deep in their pockets and also draws in new players, who haven't played single-player TES games.

[Musicman247]

They mention discounts, so those paying for console services like Xbox Live Gold and PSN+ will probably pay a little less per month than a PC player. This is the first time that I know of that consoles have gotten an MMORPG, so all bets are off whether this will work.

I think they're being cautious with this move. They start as a subscription model to see if it will work, and if it doesn't they can always move to FTP, which while not a great move for players has proven to be a successful model for many other games. I never saw this as being a "buy it once, play it forever" game, simply because running servers costs money, and while selling a million copies at $60 each is a good chunk of change, the developers and publishers would only see a portion of that, and I doubt it would be enough to keep servers and services going for five years, let alone ten or twenty (depending on how long people play).

[dzio]

I haven't thought about the console players. Is this true? There really aren't any MMORPGs you can play on Xbox or PS? If so, I think they actually have a good chance of financial success, unless the game sucks, which I think is not very likely.

[Karoneth]

I think subscription is a good plan for this game. FTP often does not end up less expensive for those who wish to enjoy the whole experience, and there probably will be plans as low of $10/month with discounts (annual plan, console plans etc). Can't really beat the value of hours of entertainment in a month.

[Musicman247]

No console games that I know of are MMO anything. Every online interaction is a small group of people playing in a specific map, like Co-op or multiplayer battles. There used to be a game planned that would be an MMOFPS, but I don't think it ever made it to launch. Marvel Universe online was scheduled to release on Xbox 360 but was cancelled.

Ah! I was wrong. DC Universe Online is a FTP MMORPG on the PS3 & PC and coming to the PS4.

[DarkEastwood]

This is kind of what I was looking for. I just wished it was a bit cheaper than $15 a month, since that'll really add up (I'm used to RuneScape's $5 a month). I'm very excited

[Musicman247]

I wonder how low the price will be if you buy a year in advance, since he says to expect discounts if you buy months in advance.

[Abel]

No console games that I know of are MMO anything. Every online interaction is a small group of people playing in a specific map, like Co-op or multiplayer battles. There used to be a game planned that would be an MMOFPS, but I don't think it ever made it to launch. Marvel Universe online was scheduled to release on Xbox 360 but was cancelled.

Ah! I was wrong. DC Universe Online is a FTP MMORPG on the PS3 & PC and coming to the PS4.

There was also Final Fantasy XI, which had a subscription fee, and turned out to be profitable. It was also released on Xbox 360, so a subscription fee + Live/Plus has been done before. Times have changed though and I'm curious to see how ESO will fare.

[Kerr]

I was hoping it would be buy to play so we could avoid this. Could still sell DLC and expansions on top of that if they really wanted. I've lost a lot of interest now. No way I'll keep up a constant subscription anyway, I'm not paying €180 a year. Might pay for a month at some point and try to play though the main questline as a Breton Spellsword. But that would probably be it. Then wait to see if they change the silly pricing structure.

[Avron the S'wit]

There was also Final Fantasy XI, which had a subscription fee, and turned out to be profitable.

I think one of the reasons FF XI was a bit successful was because they came from a strong single player franchise. The FF titles were notoriously well known back in my early gaming days; it wasn't a bad mood for them, and they're lucky the fan base was willing to support it.

Well, you do at least get 30 days free with purchase, the article says. I plan to play whatever the subscription fee will be, provided the game proves to be enjoyable. So far it looks like it will be rather fun, but who knows, maybe after the 30 days I say, "Hey, this isn't that fun anyway."

B2P was actually what I was expecting, but I'll take a P2P any day.

[Br3admax]

Didn't the devs say that it would eventually shift to FTP. Just wait it out.

[Musicman247]

Didn't the devs say that it would eventually shift to FTP. Just wait it out.

Not that I've ever seen.

[Br3admax]

I heard it here, though.

[deathm00n]

I'm against new games being subscription based, as it will probably will be free to play in a about a year because people keep going back to WoW and EVE and the servers will dry out. I will probably not touch it until it's free to play or buy to play. I don't have time to play excepts for weekends, and I use it play singleplayer games, it's a waste for me to pay for a full month and not play 1/3 of that time.

I'm sad...

[Dirty Spaceman]

Yeah, I had a feeling that this would be the model they used. As long as it's good enough to keep the fanbase interested as well as hook players of other MMOs, it's a sustainable plan. And the 'fresh content' that will roll out after launch sounds like it might make the subscription fee almost worth it. I'm probably going to get it, but whether I get it when it comes out for PC (if it's easy enough to run), wait and get it later on the Xbox One, or buy an X1 earlier than I intended in order to play ESO when it comes out, is still to be determined. I'll wait to see what its general reception is on launch before I decide.

[Gretnablue]

For some reason I thought this game was free if you use your own sever (single player), pay a fee if you want to use online features. Have no idea why I had that mind set but oh well.

As for the news itself, I don't know if I'll buy the game now which is a shame. The reason is once I go back to university in late september, I'll probably only have about between 5-7 hours a week if I'm lucky and paying for a game every month that I may not have to play that often is just not practical.

[DikaSmausha]

Yeah, I am not buying it now. I wasn't planning on playing it enough to pay each month.

[Musicman247]

Depending on initial cost it might still be worth it to buy it, since a month of playing is included with the purchase.

Edit: Something I noticed at the end -

Could you guarantee that PC and console versions will be released at the same day?
This is something else we'll talk more about early next year as we finalize our launch schedule.

Anybody else think that the game was coming out this year?

[Dirty Spaceman]

Could you guarantee that PC and console versions will be released at the same day?
This is something else we'll talk more about early next year as we finalize our launch schedule.

Anybody else think that the game was coming out this year?

I didn't; I'd read somewhere (I think it was an article I'd been linked to from here, in fact) that it would be coming out next spring. Disappointing, but hopefully it means that the game will only end up being better for it.

[ZeRoc]

Better than getting a Christmas rushed mess...

I don't know whether I'll pay for it or not, depends on if I get a job or go full time student.

[Avron the S'wit]

I believe that, in the earlier stages of announcement, it was slated to be available at the end of this year; but it got changed to 2014. I could be wrong, but I remember it being originally late 2013.

[Musicman247]

Yeah, I remember the pre-orders said December 2013. Of course that usually changes, but they don't usually put them out until the year it's going to launch, right?

[Alarra]

It says Spring 2014 on their Facebook page at this point. They gave the new date in the trailer when the consoles were announced.