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Elder Scrolls Online (most likely) going FTP in six months

Teletraan1

Banned
Serious question but why do developers even try to have it at pay to play? Don't they realize that unless they are WoW that it will never work? No matter how good or bad the game is?

All it does is just make the good look worse for having this kind of history like SWTOR.

This game should not have tried it. I would imagine that FFXIV: ARR is doing ok with its subscription model so there is room for it other than wow. What I don't get is why do they always seem to want you to pay too much. I wouldn't mind paying $5-10 a month for some of these games but the WoW price of $15 a month can gtfo. Even ARR I only got the basic sub that was like $11.

I got this game on PC for really cheap and found it to be ok. It had some interesting side quests that were better than 98% of the DA:I sidequests. I just couldn't see myself paying an expensive monthly sub for the game past my free month.
 

Seiniyta

Member
Time for WildStar to follow.

I don't think Wildstar will go free to play any time soon. I'd wager they're more likely to go the Guild Wars 2 route. The new content drop doesn't have any indication of changes that would lead to F2P.

Sure, Wildstar isn't doing fantastic population wise, but if it's substainable for them and Ncsoft is willingly to play the long term game. I rather not have F2P. I did ask them on the forum and this is what they replied on that matter:


DapperDonatelli said:
I'll tell you what I know. I met with the muckety mucks at NCSOFT going on two months ago and they assured me that they were in it for the long haul. They see WildStar as a franchise that has heaps O' potential. It's been a bit bumpy but we've doubled down on bug fixing and are making sure that the game is accessible so that when we do another big push next year that we've got all the issues worked out.

https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/119890-the-future-of-wildstar/?p=1247949

They could go that way, but nothing so far is indicating they want to head that way.

ESO has way more subscribers then Wildstar (750k for ESO?) but I imagine ESO was way more expensive. Marketing etc. So I wonder if ESO is financially suffering harder because of that.
 

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
If they do B2P then I'll definitely give it a go, I didn't mind what I played of the beta but just not enough to buy/subscribe to it. Maybe something will happen along with the console release next year.
 

Mononoke

Banned
"The official ZeniMax response on the French forums is simply that players indicated they preferred the shorter billing options, so the six-month option was removed."

Ahahahahaha how stupid do they think people are?

Yeesh.

It still blows my mind that anyone thought this would be a good idea to give this insane budget to this.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
It is actually a really, really good MMO, and they did quite well with the Elder Scrolls aspect. However, it did have its downfalls like any typical MMO launch that hurt its potential in securing a solid amount of subscribers. That isn't to say it doesn't have a stable playerbase, quite the opposite, but its potential was never truly succeeded after launch.

I will say though that the developers are still very passionate about the game, continually updating it with a vast amount of content and more to come. They are adding in stealing from anything or anyone, a guard system, more raids and more areas of Tamriel to explore. The timed trial dungeons/raids are also pretty cool, and are probably the best PvE content I've ever done.

Elder Scrolls Online going free-to-play won't be a bad thing, they'll just sell small things like costumes and the fabled horse armour. I would prefer them to take the Guild Wars 2 route as that would be a far better option, they still get box money and can supplement the whales of gaming with the extra DLC options.
 
Crazy how little I heard people talk about this game even a few weeks after it coming out, especially seeing as it said 'Elder Scrolls' on the box.

Never tried it myself.
 

mnannola

Member
Is there any kind of justice / prison system implemented yet? Not being able to steal was a deal breaker for me.

EDIT: Looks like it is coming soon: The Road Ahead

That sounds pretty cool, I'll check the game out when it hits F2P.
 

Philippo

Member
I hope it debuts as F2P on consoles, in that case i can't wait to try it myself with some friends.

If anything, i remember some positive impressions on the game, mostly on the quest/exploration side of things.
 

Valkrai

Member
this is all people actually wanted... was it too much to expect a game that somewhat resembled elder scrolls? hehe

but seriously all i want is skyrim with 2-4 player co op. thats it. ESO never had to be made imo.

I would really like this despite just recently playing Skyrim for the first time. The concept of ESO is really cool but the execution (at launch) was really poor.
 
They had so much hype because of Skyrim yet they did not deliver. I don't even think I will pick this up if it ever comes to console.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
You know, this game was actually really good at one thing: offering the ability to explore previously unexplorable areas of Tamriel. It was great for fans of ES lore.
 

lazygecko

Member
I would prefer if this used a well executed F2P model. I'm already subscribed to WoW but I also want to play TESO as it scratches a lot of itches WoW doesn't. The depth of the character customization is arguably better than (unmodded) Skyrim and gives you flexibility rarely seen in MMORPGs today. Do you want to be a sneaky holy cleric assassin? Sure thing. Heavily armored tank archer? Go right ahead.
 
Q

Queen of Hunting

Unconfirmed Member
i always prefer the model of buy the game and play then expansions down line (ala guild wars)
 

Hawk269

Member
I loved playing the game, but have not played it in a while due to my work schedule over the last 2 months. They did announce a while back that PC players can migrate their character and items/money from the PC version to one of the console versions when they come out. Me and my Wife played the game pretty often prior to October and we are looking forward to playing it on the consoles.

If it goes FTP it may be more successful on console due to console users already paying to play on-line. I just hope the console versions come out soon.
 

Codiox

Member
This game was dead on arrival. I can't believe they didn't test this themselves and said "yeah a pretty good deal, only full price and monthly subscription."
 

Hawk269

Member
I can't say I'm shocked. Has the game gotten any better since launch?

A hell of a lot better. There were some really odd things at launch, but since then they have done a pretty good job at improving things. For me it is Skyrim on-line, which is what I love about it.
 

Rockondevil

Member
I hope so. Elder Scrolls is my favourite series but couldn't justify a monthly subscription for a game so never got around to playing it. I'd at least like to give it a try and see if it's any good.
From the start I was curious how they'd do it on consoles because I can't see anyone wanting to pay a subscription on there, but this makes sense now.
 

120v

Member
i'm not too familiar with the F2P model (not big on MMOs) but as somebody who's enjoying this game i hope it isn't true, unless the microtransactions are purely cosmetic or whatever

i think it's a great game, tons and tons of content, solo game more or less feels like legit Elder Scrolls... not sure why so many are flustered about plopping down $15 a month for this... even though the entry price is admittedly steep (I got it during steam sale).
 
I didn't even know this game came out. The beta earlier this year was a snoozefest. Horrible waste of money and time to even do this game.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
Meh game is meh, no reason to play this considering there's so many other mmos out there.

That's like saying don't go playing Dragon Age: Inquisition because there are more open-world RPG's out there. It definitely isn't "meh" but it did/does have its problems like any MMO has these days, not sure why you would completely write it off just because of said issues.
 

Elixist

Member
yay the sooner the better, i'd like to at least hit lvl cap. i like the world/ graphics alot and the combats pretty cool too. wonder what full price buyers will receive.
 
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