You'll Pay A Monthly Fee To Play The Elder Scrolls Online

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You'll Pay A Monthly Fee To Play The Elder Scrolls Online

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Started 10 years ago by Anonymous
Latest reply from Anonymous

Anonymous
Unregistered

Putting an end to speculation that the massively multiplayer entry in Bethesda's award-winning role-playing franchise would be free-to-play, Zenimax Online's Matt Firor has confirmed The Elder Scrolls Online will follow a subscription-based business model.

The general manager of Zenimax online confirmed monthly subscriptions for the eagerly-anticipated game during a pre-Gamescom interview with German site Gamestar. Players will purchase the game, which comes with 30 days free, after which they'll pay a monthly fee of $14.99/€12.99/£8.99.

Why a subscription? Here's what Firor told Gamestar:

The Elder Scrolls games are all about allowing the player to go where they want, be who they want, and do what they want. We feel that putting pay gates between the player and content at any point in game ruins that feeling of freedom, and just having one small monthly fee for 100% access to the game fits the IP and the game much better than a system where you have to pay for features and access as you play. The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience: 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 that would probably add up to more than $14.99/month any way.

He could have just said "It's The Elder Scrolls" and been done with it. Kudos for going the extra mile, Mr. Firor.

The Elder Scrolls Online - Matt Firor: »We are going with the subscription model for ESO.« [Gamestar]

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Posted 10 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

I don't like the play for free games where you have to then pay for all the extra's. Every game I've played using this model where I've not purchased any extras has left me at a great disadvantage in game. for example, one post apocalyptic game I played where the theme was street gangs (can't remember what the game was called now), I managed to 'creep' up on another player and proceeded to empty a full mag of bullets from my default pistol into the back of the players head, he turned around and fired one bullet from his 'purchased' weapon and I was dead. He had 'purchased' armor and in game you could purchase a whole host of equipment to enhance your capabilities. The basic player with no enhancements had no armor and the most ineffective weapons. I played for almost an hour was killed countless times and never managed to kill any other player. It's been the same or similar with other free to play games I've played over the last few years since this model became popular. So.... I think the subscription model is a great idea.

The Elder Scrolls is one of my all time favorite games. I've had thousands of hours of pleasure playing all of the games over the last decade. I'll consider subscribing to the online version if I can find a couple of friends who would also be willing to play the game but also only if the developers put into play a decent anti hacking system as hackers are the bane of such games. (I'll miss pavid, he was really excited about this game)

Thanks for updating on the Online Elder Scrolls.

Posted 10 years ago #
thenameipicked
Member

This is one game I've debated getting for a long while (despite it not coming out yet). While money is a minor problem...the biggest reason stopping is that I don't want to spend large amounts of time playing (as I don't have large amounts of time), but at the same time...I would want to get my money's worth for the month.

Posted 10 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

If you don't already have Morrowind, Oblivion and/or Skyrim, I'd recommend playing them first and getting the original two for free from Bethesda s site. It's well worth spending a couple or more hundred hours playing those games with and without modifications before you opt for the online version.

Posted 10 years ago #
thenameipicked
Member

I have Skyrim and Oblivion. Assuming its really following the ES tradition like they say, then I'll enjoy it.

Posted 10 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Yes I agree. I do hope they do. Wonder if they are going to incorporate all the area's of the game world. that would be amazing.

Posted 10 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

Zounds! – Elder Scrolls Online To Be Subscription-Based

By Nathan Grayson on August 22nd, 2013 at 8:00 am.
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These are harsh lands, but I am confident that they will not monetize me. At least there is that.

Hello! Welcome to Bizarro Land. In this reality, I’m British, everyone else is American, my hair is flat and lacking in ambition, Jim hates both snazzy hats and robots, John is an adorable kitten, Adam is very mean and also 100 stories tall, Horace IS FINITE, and Alec is still on parental leave… for a brood of fire-puking spider demons (who strongly dislike repeating game titles over and over and over and Space Hulk). Also, two MMOs announced that they’re embracing the all-but-dead art that is the monthly subscription model in the same week. First it was Wildstar, and now it’s The Elder Scrolls Online. Head below for details while I stop John from spitting up on the rug again.

The game’s first month will be entirely free, after which you’ll have to fork over $14.99/€12.99/£8.99 per month. But why would Zenimax do such a thing when free-to-play’s proven to be the whole genre’s single, fraying lifeline over the couple years? Well, I can’t help but admire the reasoning. Zenimax’s Matt Firor explained to GameStar:

“The Elder Scrolls games are all about allowing the player to go where they want, be who they want, and do what they want. We feel that putting pay gates between the player and content at any point in game ruins that feeling of freedom, and just having one small monthly fee for 100 percent access to the game fits the IP and the game much better than a system where you have to pay for features and access as you play.”

“Players will appreciate not having to worry about being ‘monetized’ in the middle of playing the game, which is definitely a problem that is cropping up more and more in online gaming these days. The fact that the word ‘monetized’ exists points to the heart of the issue for us: We don’t want the player to worry about which parts of the game to pay for – with our system, they get it all.”

I’m not entirely on board with The Elder Scrolls Online, but I can definitely appreciate this mentality. Will it actually lead to a successful, sustainable game? Given that it’s not called World of Warcraft, history says no. And when even Star Wars couldn’t Force Brand Ubiquity its way onto the scene, it doesn’t exactly bode well for, er, anybody else. At all. Ever. But who knows? Maybe people are getting sick of free-to-play. Maybe they’ll welcome a good old-fashioned one-time payment with open wallets. I suppose we’ll see when TESO launches early next year.

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Posted 10 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

The Elder Scrolls Online
Matt Firor: »We are going with the subscription model for ESO.«

The Elder Scrolls Online will carry a subscription fee. Matt Firor, General Manager of ZeniMax Online, has confirmed this information in an interview with GameStar, putting an end to speculations that Bethesda’s ambitious online role-playing game might feature a free-to-play model.

Von GameStar Redaktion |

Datum: 21.08.2013

It's a bold move by Zenimax Online. Recent subscription-based games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, Tera or Rift were unable to sustain their subscription base and have since been forced to adopt a hybrid free-to-play business model, fueling the wide-spread belief that the subscription-model was outdated. Bethesda clearly doesn't agree.

GameStar: A few days ago we had a poll on our website, asking our readers what upcoming MMO they crave the most. The vast majority (over 54 percent) voted for The Elder Scrolls Online. We bet that people are also eager to learn what payment model they can expect. Now would be a perfect time to disclose the details.

The Elder Scrolls Online : Matt Firor – Game Director, ZeniMax Online Studios Matt Firor – Game Director, ZeniMax Online Studios Matt Firor: We're thrilled that gamers are looking forward to diving into The Elder Scrolls Online and we've been working hard to deliver the game that fans want - one that's worthy of the Elder Scrolls name. Choosing the right business model is part of that. We are going with the subscription model for ESO.

We're building a game with the freedom to play - alone or with your friends - as much as you want. A game with meaningful and consistent content - one packed with hundreds of hours of gameplay that can be experienced right away and one that will be supported with premium customer support. Charging a flat monthly (or subscription) fee means that we will offer players the game we set out to make, and the one that fans want to play. Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make.

The Elder Scrolls Online offers unlimited play for the first 30 days with the purchase of the game. The choice is yours to play as much as you want; hundreds of hours of content, PvP, etc - is all there for you to experience with the base purchase of the game. If you want to continue playing for hundreds of hours more after that first month you'll pay a flat fee for continued, unlimited access to the game.

We'll talk about further discounts, etc. later, but for now, we are very happy to finally announce our model. It's very simple - you pay once per month after the first 30 days and the entire game is available to you.

Wow, that's a brave step. Why do you stick to the traditional model? Aren't you afraid that a subscription model won't be able to compete with free-to-play games, especially considering what happened to Star Wars: The Old Republic?

The Elder Scrolls games are all about allowing the player to go where they want, be who they want, and do what they want. We feel that putting pay gates between the player and content at any point in game ruins that feeling of freedom, and just having one small monthly fee for 100% access to the game fits the IP and the game much better than a system where you have to pay for features and access as you play. The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience: 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 that would probably add up to more than $14.99/month any way.

And it's important to state that our decision to go with subscriptions is not a referendum on online game revenue models. F2P, B2P, etc. are valid, proven business models - but subscription is the one that fits ESO the best, given our commitment to freedom of gameplay, quality and long-term content delivery. Plus, players will appreciate not having to worry about being "monetized" in the middle of playing the game, which is definitely a problem that is cropping up more and more in online gaming these days. The fact that the word "monetized" exists points to the heart of the issue for us: We don't want the player to worry about which parts of the game to pay for - with our system, they get it all.

The Elder Scrolls Online : The Elder Scrolls Online will not jump onto the free-to-play train. The Elder Scrolls Online will not jump onto the free-to-play train.

In this context: How often do you plan to update the game with fresh content?

We are already working on content that will roll out to players after ESO's launch. New quest lines, skills, zones, dungeons -are already in the pipeline. These things, in addition to our end-game content, PvP, and extraordinary customer service, are all part of making sure we're delivering on that premium service - and that the player feels like they are getting their money's worth. We won't know the exact schedule until after ESO launches, but our target right now is to have new content available every four to six weeks.

Since you've been so forthcoming, could you also reveal the available subscriptions? How much will a month of ESO cost?

We'll go into details on this later, but the basic monthly charge will be $14.99/€12.99/£8.99 and expect some discounts if you buy multiple months at a time. We'll also support game time cards as well as a variety of payment methods.

You announced at E3 that The Elder Scrolls Online will also be released for the upcoming next gen consoles. Will the port have any influence on the PC experience?

As a lifelong PC developer and gamer, I am very excited by the fact that the next-gen consoles are so powerful and so PC-like. Gone are the days when you had to make sacrifices porting a game like ESO to consoles - now, with the XB1 and the PS4, really the only differences you can expect between the PC and console versions is playing with a controller and player-to-player communication (no keyboard). Graphics, engine, content, etc., are all the same.

You also announced that the open beta will be exclusive for the PS4 for a while. Do you already have a date for the pc beta?

We'll talk more about the console beta schedule early next year. But yes, until then we're concentrating on our PC beta. We already have tens of thousands of players in the PC beta, and will have many more over the course of late summer and fall.

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.

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found via RPGWatch

Posted 10 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Does anyone know whether there's a release date, or beta access?

I'm so bogged down with things to sort due in part to our impending house move and moving into the landlord business that I don't have time to search for answers at the moment.

Posted 10 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

The Elder Scrolls Online will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2014.

August 21, 2013

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of Bethesda’s most popular video games, and the success of the game has increased expectations of what fans expect from future Elder Scrolls titles. On Aug. 21, Nick Konkle, Lead Gameplay Designer at Zenimax Online Studios, discussed with Examiner Skyrim’s success and the impact it had on the studio and The Elder Scrolls Online.

In 2011, Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. The title saw rapid success with total sales exceeding 10 million copies worldwide. This high level of success, however, put pressure on the Elder Scrolls Online team.

“Yeah honestly [we felt the pressure.] Oblivion had done well and had obviously been big enough to launch our venture because that was all that was out at first,” Konkle shared.

Although Skyrim’s success added new pressure to the development team, Konkle continued to say that the team saw the sales of Skyrim climb and recognized the title’s popularity.

“When we saw the sales numbers of Skyrim racking up, we thought ‘wow this is so popular.’”

Skyrim’s success led the team to recognize that there could be a big audience of people interested in The Elder Scrolls Online.

“I think that was the most striking thing, was how many people potentially want or are interested in the game we are making and the expectations they have for our game.”

The Elder Scrolls Online will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2014.

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Posted 10 years ago #

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