Should The Elder Scrolls Online be Free to Play? Why or Why not?

[Guest]

    I think it should not be Free to Play. Angry Joe says that we should support the developers and the Gaming Industry, so I choose to follow up on that. Another reason why I think that The Elder Scrolls Online shold not be a Free to Play video game is because Bethesda and Zenimax needs the money to keep the game going. Not only do the workers need to keep the game going, but they need to get paid, so if Elder Scrolls Online where a Free to Play game, how would anything get done? How could they keep their employees? They need the money so they can keep up with their financial funds.

Do you think that the Elder Scrolls Online should be a free to play? Why or Why not?

Sorry if I do not make any sense. I moved back home in America. That topic will posted in the General Discussion. I am tired, so I will watch 2 more Angry Joe Show reviews then go to bed.

--Poll Error Notice--

EDIT: The poll is being difficult. You will notice that there is two 'other' buttons on ever poll. Why are there two 'other' buttons? Because if you do not answer every question, you can not submit your vote. You can go on from there.

[Bltsandwich980 7]

I would say the same thing, but I dont agree with they imperial edition, I think that it will eventually go free to play

[LaserCake 2]

I think it should go F2P, because it seems like lower budget Skyrim, so i'm not ready to pay full price + monthly fee.

[Tyriel_Lannister 6]

I don't think it should be F2P for the same reasons you stated. However, I do think its really cheeky and money grabbing that an entire race costs and extra £15. I paid that extra money for the imperial edition because I wanted access to all the content.

I wish people would not compare TESO to Skyrim just because its an Elder Scrolls Franchise, it is nothing like Skyrim, it tries to be nothing like Skyrim, if your not buying the game because its nothing like Skyrim, then you should go out and buy/play Skyrim.

Personally for me this game is worth £8 ($15) a month and I cant wait to see how the Game develops and what other content will be added. Many people would go out and spend this amount of money on a single (1 day) visit to a fast food restaurant, have 1 less a month and you can have 30days in Tamriel...which is also less likely to clog your arteries!

Also you don't have to commit to a monthly fee, TESO allows the use of Game Time Codes so you don't have to pay £8 a month you can pay £8 every 3 or 6 months if you want. For me MMO's that allow the option to use GTC is essential because I become very busy and I don't want a direct debit paying for something I may not get to play one month.

[BoB Dolen 29]

I don't think it should go F2P but neither does it need a $15/m sub.

 

They need a new and different model before they are forced into the F2P option in about 1-2 years

[Arreyanne 199]

Personally, and i maybe wrong here, I didn't see the big influx of players on release day. Seems to me that over 90% of the player base started the game with pre-release, not a good show of growth. With today's MMO's mostly F2P in some variety, the only thing ESO has going for it is the franchise. The rag tag way the game is playable atm ( endless Cryodiil loading screens, Accounts that have lost all bank items and spaces, quest that may or may not work for you depending on the phase of moon at the time you start it and a few other things).

 

While I do agree that the game is just out, the entire game feels like a paid Alpha to me, which I would have gladly paid to join as I did with Firefall three years ago. Mind you I didn't pay 80 dollars for the privileged.

 

According to some articles Ive read on the internet, ya who can believe anything on the internet, Tera is the number one F2P game atm. None of the content is restricted, the limitations being 2 characters per server, 10 limit daily (which by the way was the number you could do when the game was P2P), and i dungeon run per day of the elite dungeons. What do subs get?

20 dailys

6 1hour 100% XP Boost per day NPC kills only

6 1hour 100% reputation Boost

a free gift per day that can contain a one day cosmetic outfit weapon skin or usable item improvement material

a travel book that allows you to port to any city on either continent

6 1Hour  100% gold bonus from monster drops

6 1 hour gold boost on quest turn ins

According to the article Tera is making more money in NA and EU on a monthly bases than it did with the P2P model. In Korea and Japan the game is barely at a break even point so the article says.

The cash store in Tera has items for cosmetic use, weapon skins of different variety, outfits that can be worn over ur armor so you dont spend in game nor real money with tokens to change your armor or weapon look. They release new outifts on a bi-monthly bases now, I personally spend 100 dollar or more a moth outfiting characters with new clothing and weapon skins. I never spent more than 15 dollars a month on the game when it P2P. Oh they also have a toon of mounts for sale.

 

Do i think the community got worse after F2P not really. It's not a pay to win game so that crowd didn't show its ugly head.

 

ESO with the right items in a cash shop would make more money in honest opinion

[Fuego 12]

 Why do all MMos use the same p2p structure? 15 per month etc? Why not 10$ a month?

[LordOfPit 12]

Personally, I hope ZENIMAX planned things (i.e. dev and HW budgets) so that they can keep ESO alive and continue developing it on the basis of a stable (more or less) subscription base of around 200,000 players. If each player picks the cheapest subscription option, roughly $78 every 6 months, ZENIMAX would make around $31 million per year on subscription fees alone. I realize that these are low figures but I sure hope ZENIMAX can sustain ESO with these numbers.

 

The reason I don't wish ESO to become F2P is the F2P model itself which works to reduce the activities players can participate in and items players can own without paying — perhaps more than $15 per month — unpredictable fees that continuously increase with time and number of characters created.

 

It's no secret that F2P games can and do make more money than they would with a subscription model but after playing some F2P games (those that were once subscription-based and turned F2P or some that were created as F2P games from the get-go) I have to say they make me feel like there's a cut-off line that the devs reach after they've focused on the game itself and once past that line they start creating cash-store items and inflate their game with systems meant to convince players to open their wallet and spend more than the usual $15 per month.

[Eleglas 128]

Maybe I'm just an elitist but the game is already crowded enough. I've never gone into a public dungeon without at least 1 other person there killing everything, which ruins my immersion. And if it does go F2P the masses will decend from on high.

[Guest Ioldanach]

I read an article that pointed out that mostly the 3 games that are p2p right now are EVE (which has always been as I remember....), WoW (for some reason...I won't upset the fans of it though...) and The Elder Scrolls Online. That was pretty much it out of the tops that are fairly popular but...there are games more popular that make money f2p or they would not be running them. There are the cheesy novelty ones but I recently upgraded my computer and have a whole new experience, just played a bit of planetside, which has many store options and great ideas like the ability of the player to create objects and if they sell them in the store...you get a cut, though I bet a small one, what an interesting idea! This idea goes along directly with the modding community for other Elder Scrolls games, if they were to release some reference meshes or sizes etc...file format and limitations on texturing etc...the Elder Scrolls community is more than capable of doing such a thing AND it would quiet the ones that cry foul at the inability to mod the game, a little...sure it would be limited, but not a bad idea. The franchise has enough supporters I think to support this f2p with a p2p option for say more char slots and maybe a few other little things. Many games that do not go f2p end up dying, the only exceptions that I know of without research are the ones referenced in the article I read, and I have experience with both of those, and quit both because they never went f2p. I am sure the future of the game will become evident soon, and I was going to grab it right up, but...with bugs, and other things I read about I think just like a piece of hardware, like a shiny new PS4...I will wait for them to iron those bugs out and see where the subscriber base lies. Remember that many are playing on free time and who knows who will resub, if not enough they will have to restructure it within a few months likely, to keep it profitable. Just a few thoughts, the thread asked...

[Rain 458]

It's difficult to say if it should go F2P or not but then again...Skull Crusher PvP seems to be it's only saving grace at the moment. And if you think about it, it is the same concept as Planetside 2 style PvP which is F2P.

 

So my answer, if the raiding and non-PvP aspects can get ramped up and an evolving Skull Crusher experience is put into works...then the game will be worth the subscription IMO. However, if they stick with Skull Crusher being the strong point then it should go F2P because everything else is just an alternate way to gear and level up. 

[Jackschmit 77]

Maybe I'm just an elitist but the game is already crowded enough. I've never gone into a public dungeon without at least 1 other person there killing everything, which ruins my immersion. And if it does go F2P the masses will decend from on high.

agreed, there's already more people around me there I care for because we're all crammed into 1 mega server, I don't want F2P players to crowd it even more. Also if it did go F2P, I would be worried about them putting all their development into Cash shops in game (like SWTOR). Finally, there is also a big problem with gold spammers, it would bet X10 times worse if the game was F2P because they keep keep generating new accounts for free.

[Arreyanne 199]

I hear all this talk about gold Spammers being rapent in F2P games I have three subscriptions to Tera which ios F2P and very rarely see gold spam in that game.

 

And yes three subscription 2 founders and 1 collectors edition. And I could get the 8 character slots without paying a sub however I like the game and wish to support it also spend a 100 dollars a month on average on outifts from the store. If ESO went the same route as Tera F2P and not that BS ToR did whats the difference?

 

I get to choose if I want to subscribe and support something that may or mayniot develop into a better or worse game

[Avarice85 20]

I think it should be a Pay once thing. Like GW2. 

Cosmetic Microtransactions to support the game. 

There just isn't anything THAT good about the game to justify 15$ a month on top of a AAA retail price. 

The game still needs a lot of work. But even with all the polish and lipstick the game will get over the next year. There's nothing that makes me go "Oh my GAWD i need this game every month of my life!! " 

[smuniz83 5]

I think ESO should not be F2P. I believe you get what you pay for and F2P games don't seem to offer as much. Especially those games that were originally sub games and went F2P; you see the quality of content go down. I believe if ESO has enough supporters that Zenimax will be able to offer great content for the players every month. I'm enjoying the game so far and while there are many bugs out there at least it's not to the point where servers crashed for weeks and it's unplayable. Plus if they can be ahead of the game every month knowing what content to bring out then I think they'll be set.

[Silverfox 83]

Hm. Tough question.

 

One hand F2P would allow more players to join the battles across tameriel and more players means more characters for the Angry Army to conquer.

 

On the other hand a subscription fee does lend itself to more frequent content updates, at least it implies such.

 

At the very least it should not try to balance both as we've seen neither can trully coexist with Pay to Win players always able to supercede Free to Players.

[dax01 19]

A subscription is a great kid filter IMO and nothing more annoying to find yourself random grouping with a 13 yrs old.

No, it should remain subscription.

[The_Vegan_Zombie 10]

Subscriptions usually bring promise of more content at a regular basis. That being said, Rift and SWTOR and GW2 prove that subscriptions don't mean anything of my previous statment, with TONS of content released all the time.

 

 

The success of this game completely depends on the intervals of time that content will be released in.
For me, this game has 5 months before completely new content must exist. This does not include Thieve's Guild, Dark Brotherhood, The Adventure Zone or Player Housing as it was all in production before release.

I am looking for completely new content. If, within 5 months, I am pulling my sub and not subbing until it goes free to play, which it will, because I am positive that most of the people playing feel the same way as me.

[rairoken16 81]

I can say that ESO should not go F2P. P2P is a method that supports development of content for the game on a regular basis and it keeps some unwanted players out of the game. The problem I have is that the game right now does not justify 15 dollars a month with an initial paymente of 60, 80 if you want ALL the content with the Imperial Edition (major bullshit right there). My opinion? Go the B2P model with a cosmetic cash shop, or reduce the $15/month to $10/month. They must start fixing ALOT of things so they can keep the suscription model.

[Tripsbro 7]

I think No, why? Because in my experience with F2P games, they hit your bank account more per month than a monthly sub game. Also, its proven with monthly sub games that content updates are more frequent, along with Expansions. Good examples are EQ1, EQ2, WoW, DAoC. The content those games had added to them were huge. Even after EQ and EQ2 went free to play they still had a Sub platform which allowed for more expansion content. 

Following Guildwars2, I know they do content events, but one thing that it misses is the addition of classes, races, big continent additions. I do enjoy guildwars and I love how it was one of the games to pioneer the 6 button(? Been a bit since I played) hot bar that takes that messy SWtOR/WoW/EQ2/insert game here multitude of hotbars/abilities you have when in reality your only pressing like 4 buttons and its a cluster bag of crap on your screen. 

Also, just because things that are in the ES games, Like a bounty system, ability to murder guards, housing, ETC, that are not in ESO does not mean they will not be implemented as the game continues. 

I just believe a monthly sub system is healthier for the games advancement and a lot easier on ones wallet. Plus, 14.99 a month is not a lot of money I spend damn near 300 a month on gas for my truck, not to mention a mortgage, truck payments, Bike payments, power and utility bills while living in the highest housing economy in Alberta, and insurance. To say 14.99 a month is steep is a sign you shouldn't be playing a game, or a sign you need a better job. Hell I need a better job, unfortunately I love serving my country, even if the pay is crap......at least I get to blow stuff up and work on tanks....hehehehe tanks

 

EDIT: Oh and bringing the sub cost down per month is counter productive, the less the monthly sub is means less money to invest into fixing bugs, and getting content to the players to keep the game alive, because now your cutting the budget and must let employess go so now you have less manpower to fix those bugs everyone is complaining about. And bugs take time to fix, ever try sifting through thousands of pages of code? I saw my brother do it once, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[Tikay 0]

Sure, some F2P games may earn more than they did when they were P2P, but that's because people feel the need to look different than others (or look expensive), TERA/Vindictus is a good example of such.

 

Going f2p is worth for the company, but not to individual players imo.
If you don't buy stuff, you'll look like crap compared to those who do, you won't stand out.
I'm not trying to say that that is a bad thing, but I rather play a game, see someone wearing cool stuff and be able to get it myself without the need to pay money because of that choice.

I totally fall in that category aswell. If I can pay a bit to make my char look cooler, I will, my characters on GW2, Vindictus, Rift, etc can attest to that.

But do I want ESO to go f2p? No, f2p mmos turn out more expensive to me than p2p mmos.

I like to give money to a game because I enjoy it, not because I want to gain something in that game.

And I like it when everyone is equal, you don't get some privelege because you want to put up money, making it so that everyone pays his share for the game always felt better, but that could just be me.

 

P2p'd a game for 8 years, and even though I don't play it anymore, I still shudder at the thought of it going f2p.

[BoB Dolen 29]

EDIT: Oh and bringing the sub cost down per month is counter productive, the less the monthly sub is means less money to invest into fixing bugs, and getting content to the players to keep the game alive, because now your cutting the budget and must let employess go so now you have less manpower to fix those bugs everyone is complaining about. And bugs take time to fix, ever try sifting through thousands of pages of code? I saw my brother do it once, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

 

It is only less if your sub numbers would be the same/less as with 15/m which is doubtful.

 

Also can people please leave the terrible "poor" argument at the door.

 

[saalle 7]

It should be Free To Play.This game dont have quality to competite with some of current MMO's and wont stand a chance against future MMO's such as EQ Next.I myself are HUGE ESO fan but there is no chance im buying this game even if they spare us of monthly subscription.I have GW2 that i like more then ESO so what whould drag me to play ESO and give money on it?This is how many people think and its the reason why ESO wont have huge amount of players with this paymant model.Im sticking with GW2 for now.

[Sheldor 1]

It should remain a subscription based game or drop the sub and go buy to play like GW2 but NEVER go F2P. F2P games feel sketchy and dirty like trying to buy a used car. I would rather pay 15 a month for a game that promises regular patches or new content. 

[Raythe 4]

Honestly? The problem with a game being a sub every month, even though time and again it's been proven a lot of games make far more money on a F2P or micro transaction model, there are immediately more expectations in terms of how fast content is released and the quality of the content when it's released. Half the reason I dropped ESO so quickly is because for me, I didn't find enough in ESO to keep me wanting to play beyond the first month. It just felt sort of bland. Now if this was a free game I could feel like I could load up at my leisure, I'd probably slowly work through the content when I had nothing else to play. I have a limited amount of time to game, I'm not going to commit to a blank sub in hopes the game content is worth the price every month. A F2P or micro transaction I am picking and choosing what I'm buying, so the value of my time and money is more clear. There are too many MMO's out there now that don't cost a thing and offer a more enjoyable experience for free for ESO to play like it does. Not that the game is buggy or bad really, it's just plain boring. It's like a full course meal that you realize had no flavor to it whatsoever. Sure it can fill you up, but that doesn't make it something you'd want to eat all the time.