The Elder Scrolls Online - $14.99 Sub Fee

Aaaaand following the Wildstar bombshell just two days ago. ZeniMax Online announced today the Elder Scrolls Online will have a box price (assume $59.99) and require a monthly fee of $14.99.

Why? That is the question... well thankfully they answered this question. Here are some quotes:

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

"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."

"F2P, B2P, etc. are valid, proven business models - but subscription is the one that fits ESO the best, given our commitment to freedom of gameplay, quality and long-term content delivery."

I don't like these answers at all, sub fee does NOT match the IP at all... what are The Elder Scrolls players use too? Paying one fee for a HUGE game of unlimited play and then buying post game add-ons/expansions. They keep harping on freedom and no pay walls but a sub fee is the ultimate pay wall and not freedom at all... you don't pay, you don't play.

Supposedly this will allow them to do almost monthly content updates:

"We are already working on content that will roll out to players after ESO's launch. New quest lines, skills, zones, dungeons -are already in the pipeline. These things, in addition to our end-game content, PvP, and extraordinary customer service, are all part of making sure we're delivering on that premium service - and that the player feels like they are getting their money's worth. We won't know the exact schedule until after ESO launches, but our target right now is to have new content available every four to six weeks."

It better be free updates!

I don't know, what do you guys think? I'm pretty disappointed, I don't buy the PR quality stuff at all, you don't need to charge a box fee plus monthly fee to make a good MMO.

Source

 

I'm gonna go play the new Guild Wars 2 content... that was completely free, with no monthly fee... maybe buy some stuff in the shop as well... I'm not bitter at all.

 

Unable to handle game start? You got to play it?

 

Ahh ok, I don't think my computer will be able to run it either :/

 

A lot of people agree, it's gonna be interesting to see how it does. I'm kinda baffled by people saying this is the return of P2P, we had new P2P just last year... and the year before and the year before etc, they never stopped releasing new P2P games and yet we have less P2P games than ever because they keep failing. I don't know why these games are so stuck on $14.99 a month... why not at least lower the sub, very few games are worth $180 a year.

 

Indeed, that very well could happen. I want to believe ESO will be different, it'll be great and can carry that sub fee well but the track record all around isn't there. ZeniMax Online is who? How many tried and true studios have failed at this, how many big IPs... D&D, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings etc. It's very hard to bet the sub fee will last.

 

It all comes down to this, I really wish someone would really give it a shot though:

WWE Money In The Bank 2011 Official Theme Song - "Money Money Money" by Jim Johnston HD - YouTube

It appears to me while $5 a month is indeed less than $15 a lower sub might draw in more people... maybe not enough to overtake that original $15 in opening months but $5 might have a longer tail and would probably have bigger box sales. I don't know, they pay people big bucks who have access to all kinds of data to figure all this out so it would seem they have all determined it wouldn't work.

I think for now we are stuck with it, I'd love to say this next wave of MMO will be the nail but that's been said the last 3 years now so I wouldn't bet on it. It does appear the MMO industry and even the entire Games industry is become a lot more open to F2P though so if ESO and to a lesser extent WildStar bomb big time it could definitely really put this to bed.

 

Indeed, it's a two way street. F2P isn't always that great either. I think F2P games in general have greatly increased in quality but the P2W aspect still exists in many F2P games. That's why I like the B2P model, it's a nice mix of P2P and F2P.