Yes, The Elder Scrolls Online has subscription fees

Ooh, how ovel! The Elder Scrolls Online may be a late-comer in the rush of fantasy MMORPGs but it's boldly sticking to the plans other also-rans have since abandoned, of launching with $15 monthly subscription fees. So I suppose now we know that, the question becomes: how long until it too goes free-to-play?

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Ooh, how novel! The Elder Scrolls Online may be a late-comer in the rush of fantasy MMORPGs but it's boldly sticking to the plans other also-rans have since abandoned, of launching with $15 monthly subscription fees. So I suppose now we know that, the question becomes: how long until it too goes free-to-play?

"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," ZeniMax Online general manager Matt Firor told Gamestar at Gamescom. "Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make."

It'll be the usual story: you get 30 days' time free in the box, then pay $15 per month to keep playing. Details on typical multi-month discounts will follow.

"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," Firor added.

"We don't want the player to worry about which parts of the game to pay for - with our system, they get it all."

Still, while F2P MMOs may be en vogue, subscriptions aren't dying. Let's not forget that World of Warcraft has millions of subscribers still, and NCsoft announced yesterday that WildStar will charge fees, though with the twist of letting players sell time cards to each other for in-game gold. Even if TES or WildStar do go free-to-play down the line, even a year of box sales and subscription fees recoups a big chunk of development costs.

The Elder Scrolls Online is headed to PC, Mac, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in spring 2014.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 21, 2013 7:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Yes, The Elder Scrolls Online has subscription fees.

    Ooh, how ovel! The Elder Scrolls Online may be a late-comer in the rush of fantasy MMORPGs but it's boldly sticking to the plans other also-rans have since abandoned, of launching with $15 monthly subscription fees. So I suppose now we know that, the question becomes: how long until it too goes free-to-play?

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 7:04 AM

      ovel?

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      August 21, 2013 7:14 AM

      I couldn't imagine paying a monthy fee to play a game; I've never purchased a DLC and feel that it is a bane on the consumer and often used in unscrupulous ways.

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 7:15 AM

        [deleted]

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          August 21, 2013 7:18 AM

          I hate all of you and hope the earth boils in a molten storm of death.

          • reply
            August 21, 2013 8:16 AM

            I guess your beef will be well done then too! HAHA... I'm friggin' hilarious

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            August 21, 2013 11:21 AM

            well this 6 month review is going poorly

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            August 21, 2013 11:36 PM

            Haha, I'd love to know what your reply would be if younger actually provoked.

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 7:16 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 7:16 AM

        Often? Can you list 2?

        • reply
          August 21, 2013 7:19 AM

          Every game that has on disc DLC content. Any DLC that is instantly released. Any DLC.

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            August 21, 2013 7:42 AM

            There are no good pieces of DLC? Some are just like expansion packs used to be. The GTA4 stuff comes to mind. Not all DLC is a ripoff.

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              August 21, 2013 7:53 AM

              Borderlands 2 - Tiny Tina DLC is some of the best every made

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            August 21, 2013 8:12 AM

            and you know this because ...... ?

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            August 21, 2013 8:22 AM

            Did you hate expansion packs, back in the day? Because those are just DLC packs in a physical form.

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            August 21, 2013 8:29 AM

            Fair enough, maybe I mis-read; I assumed you were saying subscriptions were used in unscrupulous ways. I will agree with you on some of the shadier aspects of DLC.

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        August 21, 2013 7:38 AM

        Most DLC is useless stuff, but some of it is great.
        My only real problem wtih DLC is by the time it comes out I don't give a shit about the game anymore.

        The worse thing though, that can burn in hell, is "free" mobile games that make you play money for stupid ass shit in-game. Those are the worst games, and the worst model ever invented.
        See Plants vs Zombies 2.

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        August 21, 2013 8:11 AM

        never played an mmo or bought DLC. no offense but your opinion sucks as it isnt based on experience

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        August 21, 2013 9:55 AM

        [deleted]

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          August 22, 2013 7:47 AM

          I have been on the shack for a long time. I have signed up for mercury. I have almost been here 10 years.

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 9:55 AM

        I can't see why people are giving you such a hard time about this sentiment. Monthly fees suck and DLC is rarely worth getting.

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      August 21, 2013 7:16 AM

      I'm sure they will take this route to get as much as they can and then transition to free to play later.

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      August 21, 2013 7:30 AM

      > "Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make."

      So, you either HAVE to pay us for a game you really don't need to play (but we feel that you must play), or you get no game. Brilliant.

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 7:32 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 7:43 AM

        [deleted]

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        August 21, 2013 8:04 AM

        didn't the SWTOR devs say essentially the same thing?

        • reply
          August 21, 2013 8:15 AM

          For about 2 months after release until that first quarterly financial statement.

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        August 21, 2013 8:20 AM

        Not sure how you came to that conclusion. They obviously don't want to add any F2P features to the game. Personally i am quite happy with that decision. Any sort of cash shop breaks immersion for me. I love guild wars2, but when i see ppl exchanging money for gold, or buying dyes (cuz the drop rate is horrible) it reminds me i'm just playing a video game which is the opposite of what an MMORPG is suppose to do.

        Overall i don't think payment models make or break a game like this. If the game is good, it will be successful regardless of wether it has a sub or not.

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 7:33 AM

      Some games work really well F2P, but they ahve to be designed for it. Designing your game for a subscription and then transitioning later always feels 'off' :( Some games never have to go F2P. FFXI is still a sub model and is going strong.. FFXIV will be sub as well.

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        August 21, 2013 8:03 AM

        The issue with TESO is that they are taking a very non-MMO series, forcing it into the genre with bland graphics and gameplay and then charging a monthly fee. They should have converted it to F2P 18 months ago so it could be designed appropriately.

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      August 21, 2013 7:50 AM

      As someone prior stated didn't Bethesda learn anything from SW:TOR???

      No one wanted an Elder Scrolls MMORPG to begin with and to add in a monthly script fee?

      I'll gladly stick to replaying Morrowind / Oblivion / Skyrim thank you very much.

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        August 21, 2013 8:27 AM

        Yeah I'm not sure how they ever interpreted "we want co-op" as "we want a MMORPG".

        Elder Scrolls VI is already in the works, and by the time they realize nobody wants to play their MMO + subs it'll be too late for that game. ES VII is our co-op hope.

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      August 21, 2013 8:02 AM

      subscription fees keep the pleebs out of my MMOs. there, i said it.

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 8:04 AM

        they really don't

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 8:17 AM

        Barrens chat disagrees with you.

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          August 21, 2013 8:48 AM

          ^^^ this on so many levels it's ridiculous.

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            August 21, 2013 11:55 AM

            i miss Barrens chat. had a LOT of fun in there during CB

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        August 21, 2013 8:21 AM

        No, not really.

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        August 21, 2013 8:22 AM

        I agree to an extent. Every sub based mmo i have played has had great communities, except WoW. But that game is just so huge and is its own thing that i don't think it really counts in the argument. Meanwhile F2P mmo communities are painful :(

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        August 21, 2013 8:30 AM

        I'd agree if you could only pay by credit card. I swear, once gametime cards became available in stores, the amount of retarded idiots multiplied tenfold. Sure, there were always parents who pay their stupid kid's account on their credit card, but it didn't seem as prevalent as it does with gametime cards.

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        August 21, 2013 8:45 AM

        THERE I SAID IT

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 12:42 PM

        I left WOW because of how the people acted. With FTP if people act like idiots at least I know I'm not paying a monthly for them to waste my time.

      • reply
        August 21, 2013 3:10 PM

        I'm actually more likely to give it a try now that I know it's subscription based.

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 8:24 AM

      Why is it a black/white choice? Go the GW2 route or something else.

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      August 21, 2013 8:36 AM

      I think subscription-based games can still work, but I feel like they have to have a very low or free cost to actually starting with the game. If I can play the game for three months for the cost of actually buying a standard single player game, then I don't mind doing so, and if it hooks me in that time and I keep playing, then great.

      But I'd strongly recommend keeping the monthly fee under $10.

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        August 21, 2013 9:30 AM

        I don't mind subscription fees, but 15$/month is way too much.

        When you consider a full normal game is 60$, then you should get the equivalent of a brand new game for 5$/month after a year (5$*12month=60$/year). So at 15$, I fully expect the content of 3 Skyrim a year or I'll just pass...

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        August 21, 2013 9:33 AM

        This is kinda where I'm at. I've seen me and most of my friends jump into a new mmo and run with it for a while. That great for an initial purchase and a few months while it's the new hottest. But, that new stage is a lot shorter than it was back in the WoW and especially EQ days. I think that's where the rails came off on SWTOR. You're just not going to keep paying a high-ish monthly fee for something you play ever other weekend or so.

        The MBA in me would want to look at a business model where your month fee dropped over time. Initial game purchase would be like $50-60, but came with 90 days. Then you have a 6 or 12 mo period of $15/mo that you had to sign up for to keep playing. But, after that it drops to $12 for another 6 or 12 mo period and then down to $10 again and finally to $8. $7 if you'll buy a full year.

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          August 21, 2013 12:36 PM

          That's an interesting idea. Unfortunately, it's complex enough to where it would be difficult to communicate the value of it to the consumer. But, that would be an interesting way to reward long-standing accounts. The one issue I see is that the loyal customers who are going to stick around that long are going to make up the bulk of your revenue by then, and having decreased their monthly fee, you're hurting yourself more than you would have otherwise. Then again, if more people stayed longer, it might work out.

          I think that a $10/month model would hit a sweet spot of sorts, seeming more palatable to people than $15.

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 9:33 AM

      LOL as if this thing couldn't have been more doomed

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 9:58 AM

      I would rather pay a subscription for a RPG/MMO and know I am getting access to everything instead of constantly butting heads on a pay wall. That said a subscription isn't necessarily appropriate for every type of game either.

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 10:04 AM

      $180 for a bland followup to Skyrim. No thanks.

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 10:54 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 11:20 AM

      : (

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      August 21, 2013 11:25 AM

      pump the fans, then reel in the F2Pers

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      August 21, 2013 11:36 AM

      What a waste of an elder scrolls game. I just keep thinking of all the time and budget that went into this. I could have some truly gigantic skyrim expansions or another fallout 3 spin off like new Vegas to bide the time until fallout 4. Zenimax has su@@ch a bad track record for greenlighting projects.

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      August 21, 2013 11:38 AM

      This MMO is dooooooomed. More doomed than anything from SOE.

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      August 21, 2013 12:37 PM

      Another MMO I wont be playing. Hope EverQuest next is FTP.

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        August 21, 2013 3:01 PM

        have you not watch or read anything from EQ Next? They only keep REPEATING the fact that is FTP in every article and video lol.

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      August 21, 2013 1:04 PM

      I'm almost at the point with F2P games where I'm ready to start paying subs. I don't mind F2P, but too many of them seem to think that it's OK to completely suck the soul out of any potential fun the game may have offered.

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      August 21, 2013 3:03 PM

      I pay a subscription to a free game called world of tanks. It cost about 15 bucks a month to premium and I don't mind paying it. I've paid for WOW I've paid for EQ and many old MMOs subs aren't a deal breaker.


      The fact that this game looks like shit and looks like its not fun is the deal breaker for me.

    • reply
      August 21, 2013 11:11 PM

      Why does it have to be $15. How about a $10 or $5? Or even charge a $5 and then have cosmetic micro transactions or something? I would think there would be more choices than just $15 sub that everyone uses as a standard.

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      August 22, 2013 1:56 PM

      I think this monthly fee idea will last only a short time. They missed the boat for that.

    • reply
      August 24, 2013 3:09 AM

      Free-to-play = sux-to-play most of the time sadly. Least with a monthly sub there's a better chance it will end up being a quality game. ESO should be a good way to just bide some time until the real mmog comes, EQ Next. ;p

    • reply
      October 18, 2013 2:16 PM

      Come onnnn, 15 dollars? I'm really curious to see if this is 49.99 or 59.99. I wonder how full-price they're going to go.

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