The Elder Scrolls Online Won't Be F2P, Requires Monthly Subscription

"ZeniMax Online general director, Matt Firor, has confirmed that a monthly rate will need to be paid in order to play The Elder Scrolls Online. It had previously been speculated that the studio’s upcoming MMO would be F2P."

[sobotz]

I prefer buy2play like Guild Wars though

[MizTv]

Well looks like a pass for me then

[Anthotis]

Yep.

RIP Elder Scrolls Online

[mewhy32]

I agree RIP Elder Scrolls Online. I'll play the beta on my PS4 but after that I'm done.

[SatanSki]

Same here. Benn there done that. No way i'll pay subscription for this outdated crap.

[Mystogan]

Yep i pass. It looked decent though but I will never ever pay a monthly fee to play a game..NEVER!

Subscription based MMO's are so 2007.

[HammadTheBeast]

Lata Elder Scrolls.

[Bigpappy]

Elder Scrolls is my favorite series, but I am sorry. I am not paying monthly to play. I just don't do that.

[BallsEye]

Pass. No way it's worth the subscription when games like GW2 are B2P.

They will probably keep people paying for few months and then introduce f2p plans.

p2p won't work on consoles cause of PSN+ and XBL.

[KrisButtar]

Who says there are going to be behind the PS+ or XBL paywall.

Even with all the MMOs announced on the PS4 none have been behind a PS+ paywall yet

[Mystogan]

Its not about PS+ or Xgold. It's more about paying monthly to play a game. That doesn't work for me on console nor PC. I am never going to pay a monthly fee just to play a game. They can go f*ck themselves. The game looked good though.

[BallsEye]

@KrisButtar

It's not really about paywall. If i'd be paying few bucks a month for PSN+ or XBL I don't want to pay also MMO subscription. Sure I can play that MMO abd subscribe withought XBLG or PSN+ but then I can't play any other games except that mmo. So I'd rather spend my money on GOLD or PSN+.

[modesign]

i prefer free to play and free to own like planetside 2.

[SITH]

Only reason I play it. They make plenty enough money off in game purchases which 90% of them can be acquired from gameplay.

[SpadeX]

Not F2P but one-time payment just like Guild Wars 2, trust me, you don't wanna own a free MMO game like League of Legends.

[ATi_Elite]

I think going the SUb route is the best for ESO.

with the SUBscription route they better have balanced gameplay and a lot of updates.

F2P leads to a lot of generic gameplay in many MMORPG's

Sure Star Wars The Old Republic had a Subscription then went F2P but that game was Generic from the very start.

If ESO blows then it will be F2P in 8 months and maybe then will get enough gamers to survive.

I'm not interested in it cause it's Guild Wars 2 and Tera Online 4 Life!

[Eizhale]

Preorder cancelled, Will just keep playing Guild Wars 2...they did it right!

[zeal0us]

Oh well guess I'll be waiting till ends up biting them in the butt. Honestly they should just done B2P with optional subscription fee.

[Raf1k1]

Optional subscription fee will likely mean perks for those who subscribe which I'm not keen on. Either go for a full subscription model or a full B2P model.

I don't mind subscriptions for MMOs as long as it's worth it but I do prefer B2P games like Guild Wars 2.

edit: I've personally not seen anything about this game that makes me think it'll be worth subscribing to for more than a month.

[zeal0us]

Tera is F2P with optional subscription fee. The subscription perks were pretty good but most importantly they didn't make the player OP.

With the rise of new consoles I honestly don't this game will last long being P2P. Not only that but some of the hardcore TES players don't seem to find this MMO worthwhile.

[Raf1k1]

Yeh I have the same feeling about this game. It doesn't look like it'll stay subscription based for very long.

I think the game looks somewhat mediocre to be honest. I'm finding it difficult to like it.

I'll keep an eye on it though to see how it develops and probably try it if it goes F2P.

[ripper_roo]

Would have preferred buy-to-play.

With sub-based MMOs I usually play flat-out for a month and then abandon it altogether (WOW being the exception).

[Wizziokid]

As interested as I am in the game the stuff they have shown so far isn't good enough for me to pay monthly.

[spaceg0st]

Agreed. It looks too outdated for p2p.

[Excalibur]

I'll wait for the free version.

[zeal0us]

You will probably waiting 6-8months after it releases then but I'm pretty sure that PS4 you per-ordered will keep you busy.

[Excalibur]

Ok, I'm a patient man, I can wait.

[XtraTrstrL]

Seems like a stupid move in this new F2P and B2P MMO environment. The game has looked "alright" at best so far IMO. Everybody wants that WOW money I guess, not realizing those super lucrative days of P2P are long behind us now. It's gonna be near impossible to come out with a new P2P game that survives as such, let alone banks the type of profit of WOW.

[dcj0524]

Dang it. FFXIV was my most anticipated game but $13 a month? No thank you. So I placed all my cards on ELO. Ah. Monthly fee? Pass. I want to feed my console MMO hunger but I'll have to wait I suppose. My only hope now is Desting and The Division.

[spaceg0st]

Hopefully future companies will see the backlash and try and avoid the same model.

[Drummerdude41]

Annnnd Thats The Way The Cookie Crumbles!

[Supermax]

Even wow is moving away from a subscription model this was a dumb move be esol.

[Vladplaya]

I can tell right now, it will not last very long. It either better be fking amazing to justify pay to play, or it will got free to play in few months or so.

[Master-H]

Lame , subscriptions suck

[TheKingWilliamV]

No F2P means IDP

*I dont play :-)

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

I would have been fine with B2p, but if it's sub based...well that's just stupid. In this day and age only an idiot would pay a base fee+monthly.

[Chrono]

This may be good for the first few months but then people would get bored and stop paying every month. Then more people will quit because the player base is smaller.

[gigoran]

Wait, this is new? I've known this for weeks. It's been officially announced in Australian stores as being subscription based. I thought it was common knowledge.

[pompombrum]

So many people who hate monthly subscription fees yet are subscribed to Xbox live gold or PS+.. ironic really.

I'm happy it's sub based, to me that's making a bold statement claiming the product is of good enough quality. I for one will happily pay a monthly fee if that money is invested into quality updates.

[cellur111]

You don't have to pay monthly for those.

[Mystogan]

I pay monthly to play online. Not to play games I already payed for. That's just stupid.

[pompombrum]

You're contradicting yourself.. you pay monthly to play games online that you've already paid for. It's obviously different as that monthly fee is for loads of different games but you're still paying a monthly subscription to play your games no matter how you look at it.

[SatanSki]

Bold statement haha. Its rather "we will squeeze subsription fee out of our customers before going FTP" statement.

[Imalwaysright]

I'll just wait until they make it F2P.

[_LarZen_]

F2P is cancer for games.

[RedHawkX]

i agree f2p is bad it just has a bunch of people playing in the free areas all with the same free characters lol. its like a gaming ghetto in the game lol. broke ass gamers always trying to get free stuff or watch lets plays instead of buying games etc lol.

go watch a movie chumps

[Are_The_MaDNess]

haven't you guys played Dota 2 or even TF2 yet? not an MMO but F2P is a good deal if its done correctly. i cant see ESO doing so well when there is so many great F2P games that do F2P great aswell. why cant they opt out for a costume shop or something in ESO? and if they make you buy the box for all the gameplay futures it wouldn't be so bad either. they could make it so if you start F2P and dont buy the box you wont have unlimited character slots but you will still get to play the game all the way. if they want more slots they can buy the box or buy things in the shop to a fixed value to upgrade.

IMO ESO wont last long. with games like GW2 and Tera Online to name a few is good MMOs without a sub.

[pompombrum]

@are_the_madness

I disagree, if ESO proves to be good and worthy of the subscription fee ie: the end game is good enough to keep people coming back, it can thrive. There are many older MMO players out there who will happily pay a monthly fee and prefer this model. I'd also argue the ones prepared to pay the monthly fee are more likely to stick around if the game is worth it.. the f2pers imho are more likely to jump ship to the next thing.

[Are_The_MaDNess]

as a HUGE Elder Scrolls fan as i am i can say im looking forward to ESO, but with sooooo many games going F2P like:
ArcheAge (this is a must have MMO (this is going F2P in Korea and has a high chance to do so in NA & EU aswell once its out))
Everquest Next
Age of Wushu

and games that already is out with a good F2P model:
Tera Online
Neverwinter
Rift
Aion
RaiderZ
Dragon's Prophet
SWTOR

games are going away from Subs and going over to Free to Play. it will make more money for the devs in the long run and will have a larger player base no matter what.

with more and more games going away from Subs, how well do you think ESO really going to do?
id say that they have to much competition.
and in other ways ESO is in the old way of MMOs doing things. witch isnt really a good thing.
will be playing ESO myself when it comes out and i will play a character to the max level. but i dont think i will stay much longer than that.
rather play a game like ArchAge witch is player driven everything from Politics, Warfare, Crafting, Building, Market and other things. + its more physics based and not that stiff. like all the other MMOs

[progaor2013]

ill be skipping if destiny goes this route i might pay but im not paying for ff xiv and elder scrolls and destiny at same time that be stupid as hell,

im paying for ff xiv nowo n pc i want on ps4 so me and wife can play so im hopeing destiny is buy to play like guild wars

[KYU2130]

i was really looking forward to this. I will be passing now

[Nekroo91]

for what ive seen from this game its not worth a monthly subscription , they said its like a single player games as for that ill rather play a real elder scrolls as an MMO Final Fansaty XIV looked better and ps players can play with pc

[unluckynumber11]

I'll wait for the inevitable F2P, like I should have done with The Old Republic.

[jessupj]

I'll be waiting for the F2P version as well. I'll have plenty of games to play while I wait.

I really hope Destiny isn't subscription based.

[unluckynumber11]

Destiny isn't subscription based, Bungie has said as much. Just need to buy the game and have an internet connection.

[Deividas]

Likewise. How do these guys not realize that the p2p business model is pretty much on its last legs and dying?...their numbers are going to suffer and when they realize that, the game will go f2p and then watch the numbers skyrocket. Love elder scrolls but i will not touch a p2p game.

[gamertk421]

Sounds fine to me.

[TacoTaru]

I'm glad it will sub based. It will keep the some of the whiny little kiddys away. $15 a month is pretty much nothing for the amount of entertainment you get.

[Are_The_MaDNess]

they should listen to Gabe (valve) and Free to Play is ALWAYS make your money back if done correctly

[shadowmist13]

Hate this,you go and buy the game,and then you still need a subscription to play it,that sucks.

[modesign]

bethesda is introducing the pay to play broken games, playstation exclusive.

[CaptainCamper]

Lol called it ages ago:

http://camelotpost.com/2013...

Was no way it was going down any other route.

[ajax17]

More reason to wait for Fallout 4

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

Now not only will you have to pay for a buggy game, but you'll also have to pay monthly fees for a buggy game.

[Saryk]

Assumptions. But if I was betting, I wouldn't bet against you. I would just wait for 3-6 months. The game will be cheaper and the bugs worked out and you get better insight (reviews)!

[Saryk]

I prefer sub based MMOs to F2P. So far F2P is either missing features or P2W. I subbed for 6 months for SWTOR and I like it. If this is a good game, then I’ll do the same!

[H0RSE]

As evident from the overwhelming attitude in the comments, One thing subscription-based games are good at is weeding out the non-dedicated playerbase. It helps to build a more tightly knit, like-minded community, but also works to alienate many others. It's sort of a double-edged sword, but I see it more as a positive than a negative.

[aliengmr]

That, it most certainly does not do.

There is a case to made for subscriptions, but that is not it.

Communities are the same no matter how you pay.

[H0RSE]

Well, in a f2p game, there is no paying, hence where my argument lies. See, a lot of people were stoked for ESO - until it was announced that it will have a subscription model, then a huge chunk of those interested, immediately lost interest - this is where the separation in community takes place.

F2P games come with no sense of obligation, since there is no investment on behalf of the player, thus players of all types tend to flock to this business model. It can attract anyone from those who play sub-based games, to those who never really tried MMO's before.

A subscription based game has the player investing his own money in order to access the title, thus it tends to invoke a sense of obligation to play the game. As evident from the comments, this business model is not for everyone. Many of those in favor of a f2p model, wouldn't even entertain the idea of paying a monthly fee for a game, and thus they tend to attract a certain crowd of people.

So after the smokes clears from the announcement that ESO is sub-based, we are left with those not phased by the news, and thus, a like-minded community remains.

[RedHawkX]

in games i want a fair and equal playing field for all and you dont get that in f2p. f2p is basically turning gaming into real life where if you dont have money you will be the lower class and those who have a lot of money will be the 1 percent. this should not be in video games. in video games it suppose to be everyone starts from scratch and only the skilled and or dedicated or smart can win.

[spaceg0st]

That's too bad, just lost Interest on this one

[SITH]

F2P games I play

Planetside 2
Star Trek Online
War Thunder
And in a couple of years, Star Citizen.

[NirvanaInChains]

Wow proves otherwise that people will still pay subs for a good game. If blizzard made a next gen wow2 im pretty sure majority of wow/MMO players would gladly pay subs for it. If people are not willing to build the community of the game there interested in than the game will just be sub par like very other f2p game.

[Vip3r]

Pass thank you. I don't like pay monthly games. Skyrim is still providing me with more than enough entertainment not to mention I've still to complete the main story in Oblivion.

[cunnilumpkin]

give it 5 months

it'll be free to play, the monthly fee will be gone

I will probably buy it a month after launch for $20, play the free month and wait till they get rid of the sub fee