ESO will be subscription based

[Will Zurmacht]

Most MMO watchers are jaded enough to understand what will happen when a major title is released with a subscription model in today's industry. Will be interesting to see how long the cash shop can extend the period of sub exclusivity, though. New MMO philosophy: add ALL the revenue streams!

[Linkuya]

I don't know about you chaps, but I'm looking forward to this game because of the subscription based model.

That usually means it's not 'pay to win' like most free MMOs are..... right?

[Believe]

No it's not.

It's more "Buy the game and enjoy! Until we release an expansion pack, then you have to pay for it all over again! Oh, and also there will be a small monthly fee"

I just hope they don't go all EQ2 on it and make the expansion packs cost as much, or more than the game itself.

I'm still undecided whether I will get it or not, and I'm not particularly worried about the payment scheme, as long as it's not ridiculously over-priced.

[Dirty Spaceman]

They didn't say anything about expansion packs in the article though, just timed bonus content that would be covered as part of the subscription fee. So if we're lucky, that might be all there is to it.

[Believe]

Here's hoping, but I'm way too cynical to believe that there won't be dollar-signs in their eyes before too long.

Still as long as things aren't too overpriced I'll be ok with it.

[Linkuya]

Me too, I'll get it for PC. I don't think they'll screw us over.

[Karkat Vantas]

It all depends on the publisher/developers moral sense, which is hard to tell. Bethesda, as in the distribution and legal side to it has always been a bit of a dick, and might as well charge for each major expansion like WoW. Or they might not be, and release every expansion for free like EVE.

Either way, I'm still pining that a subscription based model was a better choice that free to play.

[Pieter the mage]

I bet few months after the games release it'll be free.

[Linkuya]

What makes you say that?

[Pieter the mage]

^ Because most MMORPG's do that these days for example look at TOR and DCUO. And usually they do better after they become free.

[Mr.Argonian]

Wasn't it mentioned that certain areas were left empty in the game for use in future expansions? I swear I read that somewhere.

[MARS]

Late to the party, but:

I'll try it. If I have the money. Avron, we're so totally gonna wreck all the kids.

[hollywoodb1]

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.

I simply despise "Free to Play, with options to buy extra goodies" games and believe THAT method to be silly, especially for the Elder Scrolls universe. It makes games dreadfully unbalanced when you have people who still pay 10-20 bucks a month, if not MORE on in-game bonuses and perks that would take you hours and hours to get, if you could even get them at ALL. It would completely ruin this game. And trust me, I can't afford 15 bucks a month either, but I'll toss 30-40 bucks towards a good game every few months if I know it will be balanced and worth the time and effort I put towards playing it, knowing there isn't some other guy who can simply outspend me to beat me.

[Avron the S'wit]

I agree. If a game is fair and balanced, I'm willing to pay for it more than a game where people buy the right to win instead of everyone else. A minor shop for cosmetic items is fine to me...unless there's a fashion show, but methinks the Divines and Princes have better things to host. Like potential doomsdays and that.

Avron, we're so totally gonna wreck all the kids.

Mars and Avron: dominating Tamriel since 2013. Sounds good to me!

[Kerr]

People are assuming that all free to play or even buy to play multiplayer games are pay to win. They are wrong. Free to Play and Buy to Play can both work. The payment model they have is a hellish hybrid of all 3 payment types. You have to pay €60 first off to buy it, pay another €13 a month and then there are microtransactions for things like name changes on top of that.

[Yaije]

Wasn't it mentioned that certain areas were left empty in the game for use in future expansions? I swear I read that somewhere.

I remember something like that as well. Think I saw that about the same time as I saw a basic map outlining the playable areas color coded by faction. Tan areas being left out or whatever until future use.

[scribbane]

My rationale is this: I try to buy games on a dollar to hour ratio. For every dollar I spend, I hope to get 1 hour of enjoyment. This means I should be expecting to play 15 hours a month after the first month, though potentially less with bulk plans. If I know anything about ES games, its that they certainly have longevity and plenty of play time for me, so I think I can swing 3-4 hours each week and recoup my spending. It's a new system to me, having to pay monthly solely for a game, but its an IP I love so I think it will probably be worth it.

[LGAllastair]

Subscription based is simply the best model out there for an MMO with such a rich lore and player base like this. It ensures a steady flow of revenue so Zenimax can plan better on post launch content and deliver things to us in a polished state. We need them to keep the content coming and that 1st year of an MMO is vital for it to establish itself in the market. I think they are doing the right thing.

When it comes to costs really $15,00 a month is not much, if you go out on a evening you spend 2-3 times that at least, considering that you're paying that for entertainment you will have available to you every day of the month at any time you can play + constant updates and the support service in case you run into any issues, I think it is reasonable.

[MasterRokon]

I generally stay away from MMO's cause they all follow the same method. If its overly grinding, but in the since that quest are hunt 30 blah blah blah, or you need this level to access this quest chain, so go grind your levels, or if the main quest are just in general fetch/grinding quest, then its most likely i will ignore this game, Originally if it was going to be a B2P, then I would of jumped in when it first came out, to get hands on experience with it, rather than just videos and reviews. But i keep anything thats an X payment to a minimun, unless its a basic need, i wont put up with X payments.

[LGAllastair]

I generally stay away from MMO's cause they all follow the same method. If its overly grinding, but in the since that quest are hunt 30 blah blah blah, or you need this level to access this quest chain, so go grind your levels, or if the main quest are just in general fetch/grinding quest, then its most likely i will ignore this game, Originally if it was going to be a B2P, then I would of jumped in when it first came out, to get hands on experience with it, rather than just videos and reviews. But i keep anything thats an X payment to a minimun, unless its a basic need, i wont put up with X payments.

Each person plays games for different reasons, from an MMO player perspective I don't mind when quests are "boring" like that because questing will be such a short time of my game time. I'll do it till I get to 50, possibly a little more after 50 for the 50+ and 50++ content, but I am not even sure I'll take part in that because I'll be busy doing PvP. I would of course prefer to have in depth quests, and I have heard this game has them, but if it doesn't the gaming experience to me won't be ruined because I see question only as a means to an end, I'll quest for the first couple months and then likely will do it again only when an expansion comes out after 1+ years.

[NyarlathotepJr]

It just occurred to me that - for me - TESO is like relationships. You pony up for a first date, usually hoping to impress in some manner. After that you see how it goes. In my case, it is like the latest in a series of GF who worked out well until we drifted apart, she moved, or whatever. Good memories.

Now I officially have a "thing" for this kind of GF, and so will do anything to hang on to the relationship. Yeah, this could get pretty pathetic ... Oh Todd, how could you?

We will see.

[Skrofler]

This didn't change anything for me. I was absolutely certain about subs from the start.
Still reassuring news though. I absolutely loathe "free"-to-play. It's more honest to have a single price tag and let players be on equal footing.

[Timberwolf012]

I just barely started reading up about TESO so here's a quick thought:

I have no clue just how much money goes into continued development to support an MMO of the caliber they are trying to make but my first thought when I saw the price point of $15/month was that it was too high. I have never really been an MMO player before but I have read that most stay under the $10 mark. Compared to other entertainment options it is definitely higher than most.

If this game is as good as we are all hoping it is than there's no doubt we will get a return on the investment. However for me personally it is somewhat of a turnoff. I was planning on waiting to buy either a PS4 or XBOX One (haven't decided yet) until spring of next year and almost solely for TESO because at this point none of the other launch titles peak my interest. Now there is almost no rush for me because of just how much money I would have to pay up front to be able to play TESO on the console of my choosing.

[Musicman247]

WoW charges $15/mo. for its service, so the price point is not without precedence. I know I'll be buying the game and playing it for at least the included month. If after that time I still enjoy it I'll pay for extra months.

[Yaije]

only one subscription based game I know of has stayed below $10. Runescape (i think... haven't checked in months).