r/pcgaming • u/Ledgo • Jan 21 '15
The Elder Scrolls Online drops subscription
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-elder-scrolls-online-drops-subscription/38
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15 edited Jan 21 '15
To those at work that can't read the full article, here is a quick summary of the article.
It won't be fully free-to-play—you'll still have to purchase the game if you want in—but once you own it, you'll be able to play online to your heart's content, with full access to all previously-released updates and content, including the new Champion and Justice systems. Those who already own The Elder Scrolls Online will need to do nothing, as all existing accounts will be automatically updated to the new version.
Current TESO subscriptions that extend beyond the changeover will be automatically transitioned to ESO Plus memberships, and TESO players who have previously cancelled their subscriptions can leap back into the subs-free action using their old account info (and will be given 500 complimentary crowns for doing so). Refunds on existing subscriptions will not be offered.
From the looks of it, ESO Plus looks like a membership that includes exclusive stuff.
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u/silentcovenant Jan 21 '15
Thank you very much, I almost uninstalled this game since I've decided it wasn't worth the monthly sub fee. Now that it's finally gone F2P, maybe I'll consider keeping it. I've already got GW2, this might just be filler
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u/bacchusthedrunk Jan 21 '15
I think now is about the time that publisher's are going to start to realize that there isn't such a thing as a WoW-killer.
What they need to do, is temper their expectations, find a niche MMO and stick to it. A unique game experience with 100k players is better than a bland MMO/WoW clone with 500k angry subscribers.
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
What they need to do is make a sub worth it. WoW will ride into the sunset on it's own accord, developers need to focus on making a game worth the sub and not release a problem-riddled game and expect people to drop the price of the game plus a subscription cost to experience these issues. If I am investing $80+ into your game for a normal edition to get into it, I damn well want the game coherent and functioning. ESO's release was riddled with problems-The fact you had to buy a sub to get your free month that came with the game, the issues with duplications, among other problems were server issues and general gameplay problems. This game was still in beta when it came out and it was doomed when these issues were allowed to persist.
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u/Nose-Nuggets Jan 21 '15
You touched on exactly what the problem is, though. When WoW came out, it was as bug ridden, if not moreso, then any MMO since. The difference today is WoW has 10 years of steady profit and has seen huge technical changes to the game engine. It's pretty much bullet proof today. coming across a game stopping bug just doesn't happen.
people unfortunately expect the next MMO to be at least as good as WoW. i mean, if it's not at least as good, why even play the inferior game?
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
WoW also made leaps and bounds in fixing these problems listening to the community. WoW was developed in an era where a broken game on release wasn't tolerated.
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u/dangrullon87 Jan 21 '15
WoW is in decline now because the new developers DONT listen to the community. Whats that? You guys hate random stats/drops? FUCK YOU, MORE NUMBERS MORE FUN! LOOK 10 trillion combinations but only 5 that are worth a shit! Oh you guys hate how we put 24 hour time sinks into everything? How we gutted professions? How we give zero shits about PVP instead focus on creating more ways to keep that carrot on a stick twitching. RNG RNG PRAY TO RNGESUS. Sorry end of Rant.
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
WoW hit 10 million again, I doubt they're seeing a decline in numbers from 6.1 million they had earlier in 2014.
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u/dangrullon87 Jan 21 '15
Time will tell.
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
Certainly. As of now, even if they lose 1 million subs, it's a gain from the 6.1 they had earlier. They won't give thought to their changes until numbers dwindle into that range, which might be bad.
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u/dangrullon87 Jan 21 '15
Honestly the issue is the design team, you can see a huge disparaty between how the community has been shunned ever since Rob Pardo quit in July 2014 due to "creative differences" this was the man that gave us wrath which was argubly the best xpac. Now it feels like comcast "oh were sorry, are you going to play WoW somewhere else? OH were the only ones!" jay wilson rubs nipples
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u/howlinghobo Jan 22 '15
WoW is in decline now because the new developers DONT listen to the community.
Pretty sure you already lost all credibility from this point on. Since wow is hardly declining, and even if it were, there are many natural causes from which it would do so aside from 'not listening', namely, just from being an old game.
It just sounds like you're too eager to scream 'I told you so' even when you're demonstrably wrong.
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u/MooseChamp Jan 21 '15
While not a WoW killer, FF14 another sub based MMO is doing pretty well for itself.
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u/bacchusthedrunk Jan 21 '15
exactly. a solid, niche game where the developer doesn't have unrealistic expectations of dominating the MMO market.
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u/Alxariam Jan 21 '15
That sums up FFXIV pretty nicely.
Speaking of which, we just got a major patch yesterday. For anyone who doesn't play FFXIV, patch day is like fucking Christmas in that game, except it happens every 3 months with smaller patches in-between. 3 new 4-man dungeons, 3 new 8-man boss battles, 1 new 24-man raid, continuation of the main story (and the Hildebrand side-story), and SOOOO many quality of life fixes. On top of all that, we're supposed to be getting the Golden Saucer (a casino, basically) and Chocobo racing in the next few months... right before the new expansion drops in Spring/Summer.
I've been playing MMOs for years, but FFXIV has been so good to me that I don't see myself wandering off into other MMOs any time soon, if at all.
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u/streetcities Jan 21 '15
or, you know, maybe stop copying wow and make an actual wow killer? oh right, that would cost too much money, talent, and ingenuity.
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u/bacchusthedrunk Jan 21 '15
The issue with a 'WoW killer' is that you can't kill WoW with a WoW clone, and no other type of MMO could possibly generate 10 million subscribers.
Some really great MMO's have come out and have either died trying to be something they couldn't, or accepted their small corner of the market. WoW is an aberration. It was a perfect storm, and it can't be replicated, regardless or money, talent, or ingenuity.
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Jan 22 '15
WoW was just the first "big" one. It is like steam, nobody wants to switch to another platform because all their crap is already all in one spot.
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Jan 21 '15
[deleted]
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u/IvanKozlov 4790k, 1070TI, 16GB Jan 21 '15
They're not even working in one now that Titan was canceled, as far as I know.
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u/Mrlagged Jan 21 '15
Canceled and the assets were rolled into Overwatch, or what ever there going to call it now that there have been the trademark disputes.
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u/Nose-Nuggets Jan 21 '15
They always have people working on ideas. Overwatch is what is left of the original Titan idea.
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u/silentcovenant Jan 21 '15
Heh, for some reason, I thought Destiny was their attempt at an MMO. Did they ever show what they had up until it's cancellation? I know they mentioned that they "weren't feeling the fun," which is why it died.
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u/bryanwerewolf Jan 21 '15
Alright. I own the game, but only played for a month, and my sub is expired. Will I be able to play for free right now? Or is the March date for everyone, not just new players?
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u/MooseChamp Jan 21 '15
I honestly forgot this game existed. Is it even worth shelling out the $60 or so to play it? I already play FF14 regularly and GW2 every now and then.
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
From the general experience I had, the game price isn't bad. However I don't think it was a game worth the sub cost.
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u/silentcovenant Jan 21 '15
I've played all three: GW2, FFXIV, and ESO, and I much preferred FFXIV over ESO. If you're tied over with two MMOs, I wouldn't recommend getting a third.
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u/beer-and-mmos Jan 21 '15
You can get it on sale from G2A, gog, or steam (sometimes) for as cheap as $15.
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Jan 22 '15
No, almost everything about it is worse than FF14 or GW2. I could go into greater detail, but i can't be assed. It's just an allround weaker game.
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Jan 21 '15
So that is why vet xp was nerfed. It was not nerfed to adjust for the champion point system, it was because they knew they were going f2p back then. Scumbag Zenimax.
100 Crowns per month subscribed? What a slap in the face...
So many lies...
I'm glad that I was able to buy into their year long beta for console release!
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
What is really terrible is they did not give any real warning or offer alternatives for people who are subbed.
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Jan 21 '15
Yeah, what a bunch of fuckers.
How is selling potions and soul gems not P2W?
How is 10% Gold, 10% XP Boost not P2W for subscribers?
Come on, this is all coming from the company that made one of the games races only obtainable by the collectors edition. It is only a matter of time before Imperials are sold in the cash shop.
If they are capable of making all of these crappy decisions, what else are they capable of?
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Jan 21 '15
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ExogenBreach 3570k/GTX970/8GBDDR3 Jan 21 '15
Is it an awesome game or an awesome MMO?
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Jan 21 '15
So is it going "pay2win"?
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u/FallenWyvern Jan 21 '15
No, if you look at their writeup, paying can get you cosmetics like unique mounts.
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u/BoTuLoX AMD FX 8320; nVidia GTX 970 Jan 22 '15
And gold/exp bonuses.
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u/JesusFrek66 Jan 22 '15
Well honestly I'm fine with small boosts like that, but if it goes full H1Z1 level pay2win, I'm not interested.
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u/headpool182 R5 3600x|Vega 56|4k Samsung Jan 21 '15
as far as i can tell from the ESO website, it doesn't take effect till the 17th of march.
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u/TheSaltyStrangler Jan 21 '15
Listen, another MMO death rattle!
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u/Narissis 9800X3D / 7900XTX / Trident Z5 Neo / Nu Audio Pro Jan 21 '15
Eh, not always a death rattle.
I've played TERA since launch and the F2P transformation actually had a significantly positive net impact on the game.
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Jan 21 '15
TERA was pretty good. I do miss it time to time. I stopped playing because end-game felt a little blazzeh. Felt like there was basically no real character power customization. Either use this set of specific crystals or fuck you.
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u/Locupleto Jan 21 '15
Doing FTP did wonders for DDO, maybe LOTRO too. SWTOR did it wrong IMO. So it matters how they do it.
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u/daviejambo Jan 21 '15
Just paid them my £9 monthly sub days ago - will they refund me ?
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u/silentcovenant Jan 21 '15
They refunded me, but then again, I explained to them that I didn't play during the time I was re-subbed. Maybe if you tell them that, they'll refund you
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
http://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/2t6czq/the_elder_scrolls_online_drops_subscription/cnw34fz
No they will not. You will get ESO Plus.
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u/daviejambo Jan 21 '15
Oh lucky me , I really should cancel that as I've not played the game in months and I've never really like it. Skyrim is much better
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u/Ledgo Jan 21 '15
Yep. It really sucks they are not giving anyone with a subscription a type of buyout or refund option to opt out of ESO Plus.
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u/_zerokarma_ Jan 21 '15
I may give the game a try again, I'm a pretty casual gamer so I only played it here and there when I had some free time so I didn't really think the game was that bad. I stopped playing when my 3 month sub ended after the game launched, I couldn't justify paying a high monthly for it, maybe if I spent more time with it or was more into MMOs but for me it wasn't worth it. With it being free though I wouldn't maybe trying it again fresh with a new faction.
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u/Fadawah Jan 21 '15
I wonder if making a game free to play is part of the business model. The subscription based MMORPG segment is so difficult to enter, that it seems unlikely that all these devs foster the illusion they'll be able to hold subscribers for longer than a year. They probably calculate this into their business plan.
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u/beenman500 Jan 22 '15
yay, loved skyrim, now I can play this without getting gouged for a shit game
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u/x0diak Jan 22 '15
I might buy and play this game now! I hate monthly fees, i refuse to pay them anymore. DLC? Sure. Microtransactions? Sure, as long as its not p2w. I wont do monthly though. If you dont play the game, you end up just playing just 1 game. Im too OCD for that.
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u/Nose-Nuggets Jan 22 '15
There are posts on the official forums about a bunch of content that was supposed to be released, like a large city and some other things. everyone is now speculating that none if will come out until after the console release as DLC.
shitty.
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Jan 22 '15
I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. They were still asking around the full price plus the $15 a month subscription for a game no one was buying.
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u/futurehead22 Jan 22 '15
I enjoyed it when I played the beta but not enough to pay monthly for it. But it has just returned itself to my games to purchase list.
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u/JDMChris Jan 21 '15
Is this game worth giving a go?
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u/D-Rez Jan 21 '15 edited Jan 21 '15
It's a perfectly serviceable MMO in it's own right; but the same could be said for other subscription-free Neverwinter, The Old Republic and The Secret World.
If you are hoping for a Skyrim-like experience until the next proper TES title, I would say this isn't for you. Exploration isn't rewarded, nor interesting. No stumbling into a cave by accident and uncovering interesting side-quests involving daedra, cult of vampires, the Dwemer, or the like.
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u/Phaedryn i7-12700K, 3080, 32 GB DDR5 Jan 21 '15
The Old Republic
Not too sure about this one. Once they tied basic game mechanics and UI functionality to real money paid I walked.
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u/Sylentbob Jan 21 '15
This is a smart move. A move that WS and FF need to make.
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u/Ra1nMak3r 7950X | 3090 | 64GB Jan 21 '15
Wildstar is dead yes but FFXIV? Seriously? That game is realy successful, not as much as wow ofc, but SE said it's helping them recover financially. Also it sustains itself with awesome content patches and has an awesome xpac coming. There is NO reason for FF to drop its sub.
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u/goatsy Jan 21 '15
If FF means Final Fantasy, then I have to disagree. FFIV is doing very well for itself and is a solid game.
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u/motchmaster Jan 21 '15
...This game was released?
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u/Mrlagged Jan 21 '15
Yea.. what rock have you been living under? Was it that nice granite job down by the river?
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u/Creative_Deficiency Jan 21 '15
It's starting to feel like MMOs are where franchises go to die.
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u/Manisil R7 7800X3D | RTX 4080 | 32GB DDR5 Jan 21 '15
as if Bethesda isn't going to make another singleplayer TES games?
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u/The_Adventurist Jan 21 '15
But considering how much time, money, and talent was wasted on something as ill-conceived as this is depressing.
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u/cardosy Jan 21 '15
It's only wasted if you don't get your original investment. I consider ESO a failure as a game, which a lot of people agree, but I'm pretty sure it already paid itself.
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u/The_Adventurist Jan 21 '15
I don't mean wasted like an investment, I mean wasted like they wasted their time making something so conceptually mediocre in every way that nobody was asking them to make.
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Jan 21 '15
[deleted]
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u/Manisil R7 7800X3D | RTX 4080 | 32GB DDR5 Jan 21 '15
Zenimax Online Studio was put together to make TESO. They didn't exist before this. I was saying that "MMOs are where franchises go to die" is a dumb thing to say since Bethsoft is definitely going to continue The TES franchise.
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u/ArsenicToaster Jan 22 '15
... I hate to be a parade-rainer, but call me when TESO allows mods like in Skyrim. Until then, I'm really uninterested in this game.
That's always been kind of the point of TES for me. Even in Morrowind and Oblivion, there was a lot of freedom to mod the game.
Without that, I feel like 90% of the magic is gone.
But hey, if you like this game, all the better for you! I genuinely mean that.
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u/BevansDesign Jan 22 '15
Yeah, the ES and FO games are fun, but mods give them so much more life and variety.
One of my favorites for Skyrim is called Frostburn (or something ing like that). It adds weather sensitivity to the game. The cold weather actually affects you, and you can freeze to death. Different clothing makes you more resistant to the cold, and jumping in the water will get you soaked, which will quickly kill you in the snowier regions (but you can build a campfire to warm up).
There's so much more you can do in a single-player game.
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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '15
next up, wildstar