Elder Scrolls Online - $15 monthly fees... Time to cancel my preorder.

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well this is lame...

So.... newest news out is that Elder Scrolls Online will require a $15 monthly fee... After purchasing the game you do get 1 month free after that you have to pay $15 a month.

This sucks... i was really looking forward to ESO but there is just no way i have to time to spend on that game alone to justify a $15 monthly fee.

Bethesda confirms business model for upcoming fantasy MMO game; monthly subscription will cost $14.99/€12.99/£8.99.
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gamespot

IGN

 
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Yep I cancelled my pre order and went ahead and put a Pre order on Knack.

So when PS4 launches Ill get KZ and Knack. Darn shame too. I was hoping it was a B2P system like GW2 and The Secret World. 

They should of announced the sub before taking pre orders on the game. Now people will be mass cancelling it. I wonder if people made a big enough stink about it they might change their minds?

 
I really expected this considering there is only a few MMOs that release as B2P.

It may eventually go B2P like Secret World did but I believe that ES has a strong enough fan base that the monthly fee will be around for a couple of years before that happens.

I personally am going to pick it up on PC and the fee doesn't bother me that much. As long as I can get some enjoyment from it every month.
 
Yeah, sorry guys, but if you want a quality MMO you pretty much have to have that subscription fee. There has yet to be a F2P or B2P MMO that didn't play like complete trash, or remain completely stagnant and void of content (e.g. GW2). Bethesda isn't trying to rob you blind, they've just concluded that they need a subscription to make a game worth playing.

Of course, Elder Scrolls Online is probably going to bomb regardless.

 
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For no reason in particular... I expected the game would be B2P and they would release you know... a $10-20 DLC every so often.... similar to skyrim.... and i'd be totally fine with that....

 
Don't get what these publishers are thinking with these new MMORPGs. Even something like Elder Scrolls can't justify $15 subs when the juggernauts like World of Warcraft, RuneScape, and even League of Legends rule supreme. (Yes the latter isn't subbed but it still has a huge grasp on this market) If you insist on subscriptions, better make em' cheap as the mainstays are too well established and gamers aren't suddenly going to switch games especially with hefty sub prices.

 
panzerfaust said:
Of course, Elder Scrolls Online is probably going to bomb regardless.
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Everyone I've talked to that has played it came away disappointed. It is going to bomb, even worse than SWTOR did and go F2P after a year. The retention rate of this game with a sub model is going to be 10-15% at best.

 
they are smart, they know they will make some extra money off the early adopters/fans of the series. When the profit stop, they will just turn it to f2p. isn't world of warcraft still charging a monthly  fee. lol

 
I don't get why they're charging full price for it.  Shouldn't the game just be a free download followed by a subscription fee or possibly if they want to charge $60 for the game give you half a year or a year free?

 
Jodou said:
Everyone I've talked to that has played it came away disappointed. It is going to bomb, even worse than SWTOR did and go F2P after a year. The retention rate of this game with a sub model is going to be 10-15% at best.
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It will all depend if Bethesda can fix all the problems before the game leaves Beta or if it will carry over to the release build.

YBX87 said:
they are smart, they know they will make some extra money off the early adopters/fans of the series. When the profit stop, they will just turn it to f2p. isn't world of warcraft still charging a monthly fee. lol
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Yes WOW, Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV all still charge a monthly fee to play. The first 2 have been going strong for 10 or so years witht the fee, and XIV may be successful if they really do fix all the problems Version 1.0 had with the ARR release (V. 2.0).

Blaster man said:
I don't get why they're charging full price for it. Shouldn't the game just be a free download followed by a subscription fee or possibly if they want to charge $60 for the game give you half a year or a year free?
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They know people will buy it at $60, same as WOW, SWTOR, Rift, Tera, TSW, etc. every game has fans that will buy it at launch for $60 no matter if it has a fee or not. Just look at WOW charging $40 for every expansion that gets released and people still line up to get it at midnight.
 
Seen lots of this kind of doom-and-gloom over Elder Scrolls and Wildstar having subscription fees, but no one seems concerned about Final Fantasy XIV. Is that because the Japanese fanbase is more willing to pay monthly fees, or is it the strength of the Final Fantasy brand name attracting fans who aren't typical MMO players, or what? Wondering what you guys think.

 
For me I think FFXIV will just be a fling for a month or two.  I really can't see playing it long-term, but it's a nice change of pace for now.  Problem I have with ESO is I can read between the lines and I know it's going to have the same problems SWTOR did.  You can't take a SP experience online and make it work well while expecting a monthly sub.  Doesn't help that all the gameplay I've seen really fails to grab me.

It looks like ESVI, not an MMO.

 
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Ryuukishi said:
Seen lots of this kind of doom-and-gloom over Elder Scrolls and Wildstar having subscription fees, but no one seems concerned about Final Fantasy XIV. Is that because the Japanese fanbase is more willing to pay monthly fees, or is it the strength of the Final Fantasy brand name attracting fans who aren't typical MMO players, or what? Wondering what you guys think.
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I'm assuming most of the people upset over subscription fees aren't MMO players, period. Oblivion and Skyrim were huge this gen and if anything, it's those fans of console WRPGs that are bothered by the idea of subscribing. Probably have never touched a subscription based MMO before, so the concept is pretty foreign and understandably offensive to them. They just want multiplayer Skyrim, and don't see what the big deal is.

On the other side, the existence of a monthly sub for FFXIV gets people excited, because it's known to be a better promise of quality. I'd wager that optimism is because you have a fairly large community of MMO vets from FFXI still lingering, so you have a more knowledgeable fanbase right off the bat. FFXIV has also gone through 4, fairly impressive betas so far and the director has been extremely transparent with the community in regards to what he's doing. It also looks pretty traditional, whereas ESO is trying something pretty bizarre and IMO unattractive. Not really a fair criticism, but that's what I got,

But I have criticisms of XIV as well, and if they aren't answered by the end-game I don't see that MMO taking off either. I'm going to truck through it for a month and see what it has to offer. It only costing $30 is certainly helpful.

edit: actually, I won't try to bs. I'm getting XIV because it's coming out tomorrow and I'm in the MMO mood. If ESO was nearby, I'd probably try to get myself hyped for it as well.

 
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I'm not worrying really, they have made money enough on TES and even if TES Online bombs completely, I'm 100% sure they can deal with it, and keep on making TES/Fallout games like they are doing atm.

 
Personally, I played WoW for a year.  After that year I've had no interesting in playing another MMO.  I'm just not interested in the playing or paying for games like that any longer.  I think a lot of people are this way.

 
Who really expected this to be B2P? So few games are, and they get all the more attention because of it. A company like Bethesda was never going to have ESO be B2P, but quite honestly I think this is going to be a bit of a letdown. They just don't have a lot of experience dealing with MMOs and I suspect the gameplay won't translate all that well.

 
I'm not a MMO guy, but I love the Elder Scrolls series and ESO was going to be my first stab at massive multiplay until I heard this. $60 upfront, plus $15 sub, plus they've stated there'll be microtransactions on top of all that. Are they just throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks? I'll definitely hold out until they figure out what the fuck this will evolve into.

 
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I'm looking forward to trying ESO. As someone who has played WoW for many years it does not turn me off for there to be a subscription fee. However, the idea of micro-transactions irks me a bit. With a subscription model, these "fun" items should be a standard part of the game.

The reason why WoW was able to get away with it was because these micro-transactions were added *after* the game was already well regarded as the bona fide example of what is an ultra-successful MMO. This did not happen overnight, and I have a feeling that ESO is being overly confident that having both micro-transactions and a subscription fee will go over well with the majority of gamers.

I still will try it out. I hope in paying a subscription fee the game will make enough that they will be able to provide consistent content. But like anything I pay* a fee for, if I don't feel the fee is worth it, I won't pay for it any longer. Simple as that.

 
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matrix9280 said:
Sad? Why? The best thing that can happen is for this game to fail. That way the company can stop wasting resources on MMO garbage and focus on what they do best. Single player role-playing games.
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This is a Zenimax joint, Bethesda is probably steaming along just fine on their own games regardless of ESO.

 
I enjoy Guild Wars 2 from time to time, I do not like paying sub fees. Might just be me but f2p or not, all mmos have seemed pretty similar to me. I cancelled my preorder as well and will wait for the f2p model...hopefully they will release some sort of 3 day free trial just so people can see what it's all about. Similar to what other sub based mmos are doing.
 
jle7385 said:
I enjoy Guild Wars 2 from time to time, I do not like paying sub fees. Might just be me but f2p or not, all mmos have seemed pretty similar to me. I cancelled my preorder as well and will wait for the f2p model...hopefully they will release some sort of 3 day free trial just so people can see what it's all about. Similar to what other sub based mmos are doing.
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After ESO bombs and has numbers way, way lower than they expect you can bet your ass there are going to be free weekends and trials, etc. to try and lure people in. That being said, I just don't get a good feeling about the game as a whole. Feels like it may be a bit of a sellout type of deal here, just trying to cash in on the MMO market with an established name and banking on name recognition and franchise loyalty. I'm not seeing that being successful for them.

 
I don't really get the complaints about spending enough time to pay $15 a month. How much time do you spend with a $60 game? If you buy a $60 game do you play only that one game for 4 months straight? 

 
Considering it's an MMO, I think people should EXPECT fees unless otherwise specifically noted (Guild Wars 2, for example). But I suspect a bigger turnoff to people will be the multitude of micro-transactions. People don't like those, and they're implementing them from the start which is not going to blow over well.

 
whoknows said:
I don't really get the complaints about spending enough time to pay $15 a month. How much time do you spend with a $60 game? If you buy a $60 game do you play only that one game for 4 months straight?
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I think it's more about freedom of choice and variety of what you want to play and when. I've subbed to a couple mmos for a couple months here and there and always felt like I "had" to play that game over something else since I was paying more than the initial cost. I'm sure I'm not alone in that aspect..nonetheless, I'll wait for a free weekend or something before a I get stuck with a disc that has 0 trade in value.
 
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I can play my copy of [game name] over the next 10 years+ whenever I want, no limitations. And I only paid $10-$20 for it, not $60.

 
Kazaganthi said:
I can play my copy of [game name] over the next 10 years+ whenever I want, no limitations. And I only paid $10-$20 for it, not $60.
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You get what you paid for. Your game will basically be the same no matter what. A good MMORPG with support will continue to expand.

 
62t said:
You get what you paid for. Your game will basically be the same no matter what. A good MMORPG with support will continue to expand.
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Pretty much.

I don't understand the need to spend 10000000 hours on it just because you paid $13 for the month for it. Yeah, if you buy a non mmo game you can play it whenever you want, but I'm not in the camp that'll buy a $20 game and throw it in the backlog and probably never play it since that seems like a bigger waste of money IMO.

But hey, if you get $20 of use out of it sitting on a shelf collecting dust them more power to you.

 
62t said:
You get what you paid for. Your game will basically be the same no matter what. A good MMORPG with support will continue to expand.
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Yeah, and it costs you $180 a year for that support. Or $45 per 3 months if they even do updates on a 3 month schedule. If they do? Minor tweaks at a time with expansions spread way out (that you have to pay an extra $20-$40 for usually). If you really really like a non-MMO game, almost all have DLC options now if you want to spend that $5-$15 extra. Not to mention all the B2P or F2P MMO games on the market.

You have no one else to blame but yourself with your own backlog. If you want to add a never ending MMO on the top go for it. But some people do actually play and finish games.

 
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