The true cost of the elder scrolls online

Zemimax’s upcoming 2014 title, The Elder Scrolls Online, has attracted a good deal of attention in the wake of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s on-going success. The recent decision to charge a subscription fee to play TESO has, however, received a mixed response.

[Aztec_MC]

$230/year to play TESO.

The Elder Scrolls Series R.I.P. 2013.

[JackOfAllBlades]

Just ESO, then they'll go back to single player RPG like it should be

[Lord_Sloth]

IMO there's nothing wrong with co-op play without altering the series as it was. They let you drag along an AI partner anyways. Why they went with an MMO to test the waters I have no idea.

Something like trading items or AI Pawns like in Dogma would have been a much better test run.

[DARK WITNESS]

Well if there is one thing that we should have learned it's that consumers can make a difference when they vote with their money.

What made them think it would be a good idea, who knows... but when it tanks like a Whale being dropped out of a hot air-balloon, maybe they will change their ideas behind how they should make money from this game.

The idea of an MMO game was nothing bad but charging that much on consoles.. MONTHLY ?

Bad idea !

[BABY-JEDI]

It's going to be a lonely world out there. Probably all horses will have horse armour
; P

[3-4-5]

To be honest though, part of that cost also allows you to play other games as well.

But yea WHAT were they thinking ?

IT's decisions like this that lets you know a "money" guy was brought in to "make things happen", and this is what usually happens.

They create a business model that makes sense for them, and nobody else.

[thehitman]

Pretty sure they didnt bring in a "money" guy. This model is just 1 of the standard models for MMOs where there is no cash shop but they charge to play. Tera did this Rift this this WoW still does this and many other MMOs. A lot of them turn F2P afterwards when they create some type of cash shop they can substain the game with.

[AsheXII]

You dont need Psn plus to play P2P MMO's. If the game and presistent content is good im sure dedicated fans will appreciate it. Its an investment.

[orakle44]

Well said, i dont think people understand that you dont need ps+ to play this, so if any of you have ever played WoW its like that. 15$ a month is peanuts as long as the content is there, and its constantly being patched/updated.

MMO's are a time sink, you can easly put in a minimum of 20+ hours a week not even thinking twice, so for all that time put in, 15$ a month is waaaaaaaay cheaper then buying a regular game that you beat after 12 hours (the last of us, which i loved).

[gamingfriend]

How much lmao sod that

[andrewer]

all of my money

[CaptainCamper]

That's not even the stupid part. They also decided to put in an item mall? Way to show your lack of experience in the MMO industry Zenimax.

ESO will be free-to-play within 18 months of launch and change to a new item mall with exp boosts, mounts, etc. Rinse and repeat.

[HammadTheBeast]

Wait wtf-

It has a subscription fee, AND micro transactions? What new bullshit is this?

[CaptainCamper]

Yeah. It was announced like the day after. I've got an article up on it if you're interested:

http://n4g.com/news/1341602...

They did say it would just be "Fun" stuff, which I assume is cosmetics and the likes. But still, charging a subscription fee and still restricting content...That's a bold move lol

[BlingBlaine]

Just too much money, skipping eso, nuff said

[Excalibur]

As I said in another topic like this one

The monthly subscription was a deal breaker for me, I canceled my pre-order for it.

I'll bet if more people did the same there wouldn't be a monthly subscription by the time it came out, vote with your wallet

[lastofgen]

the cost is insane. smh..

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Where do they get the nerve to try and charge this much? I mean, from the gameplay i've seen it looks like absolute shit.

[310dodo]

why did Bethesda/Zenimax decide on an MMO?

why not put that $$$ in your single player games?
I absolutely worship Bethesda gems FallOut3/Skyrim/Oblivion etc...

but they are buggy as hell.
why not put $$ towards your real cash cows?
single player Open World masterpieces