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Is this Bethesda testing the possibility of micro transactions early on?
nitefly
Member Posts: 340
I looked over Bethesda's Pre-order page and it struck me that it seems like they are offering real game-relevant advantages in their pre-order scheme. Their "Digital Imperial Edition" boasts an extra race apparently not otherwise available that can also belong to any Alliance and their normal Pre-order pack also includes the "Choose any Alliance for any Race" option.
To me this seems to be a test on the part of Bethesda to see which paywalls we the players are willing to shell out additional money to pass through. I'm not opposed to micro transactions at all but I find it strange that a subscription game offers extra content for extra money where it would be more the norm that all subscribers get equal options and equal content.
Comments
Because Collector's Editions never have exclusive content, and no game had ever before included a pre-order bonus, amirite?
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
Here we go again, beating the dead horse, Microtransactions have again and again been proven to not be a part of their plan on launch or the foreseeable future.
It almost certainly is.
If I had one major issue with ESO it would be the money soak pay model. The Imperial content is not game breaking, but for a sub game ALL content should be included in that sub with the exception of major expansions long after release.
After the pay model was released and the "extra" content was shown for the Imperial box, I lost interest. Fortunately for the publishers the beta weekends drew me in and I have purchased the game (standard not imperial). I refuse to spend a dime on extra content and I will drop the subscription like a brick if they pull DLC pay content after release. (eg. thief and assassin guilds anyone?)
They have me right now and I plan on getting my cash value out of the game, but this game is still on thin ice with me when it comes to long term play with subscription.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
Best regards
My_Nick isnt this.
An exclusive race for collectors which cross all factions... please enlighten me when a P2P game has done this on release. The horse I could see, morphing armor to a certain look... fine... an entire race? Now that takes some stones.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
Have you ever noticed that after you buy a standard edition of (name your game here), you have the option of upgrading it to a collector's edition for (usually the difference in price).
IMHO it's really no different than pretty much every collector's edition game does. The only difference being that having a race exclusive to the collector's edition is more significant bonus then most games have offered in the past.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
1. The collectors edition discussion has happened already, over a month ago.
2. Bethesda isnt making this game, Zenimax is.
Oh, the imperial racial passives make it the strongest overall race in the game. Have fun figuring out the reasoning behind that decision.
I would do a little research on the race before getting too worked up. There isn't much there I would call an advantage.
Pre-ordering allows you to play any race any alliance. I'm not sure what the issue would be for this. They are reward you for pre-ordering and supporting their product. This will not be available after launch as I understand it.
Vanity Pet, special looking mount, title, different apperance for armour, dye, whatever, all those things mean nothing in a game context, but when you get expanded or additional game choices and game possibilities for an increased fee it becomes something else in a game that also boasts a monthly subscription fee.
It is doubtful Zenimax made the decision about the 10th race being exclusive to collectors... that more than likely came from Bethesda Softworks the publisher to push collector edition sales and gauge interest in exclusive content.
As far as ESO having no interest in micro-transactions, sorry every business has interest in every possible way of increasing revenue without alienating their consumer base. I am 100% certain micro-transactions have been discussed and will continue to be discussed not only at Bethesda Softworks, but every MMO publishing company because it has become a mainstream standard in the industry. What ever we are told right now concerning any pay model is subject to change without notice... So I don't buy the "they have no interest in micro-transactions moving forward" argument.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
The only thing that will be an OPTIONAL service to pay for is going to be things like name changes and things of that nature. Please do your research. :[
At least for now.
How is this any different then only unlocking the ability to use new races included in expansions for WoW? You could not play the new races introduced in expansions unless you bought the expansions.
Not so nice guy!
Zenimax Media (Parent Company)
/
Bethesday Softworks (Publisher) Zenimax Online (Developer/Publisher)
Cooperative venture between the two companies.
After reading your post:
An expansion could also be defined as P2W
After you pay money for an expansion you have a definite advantage over someone who has not purchased the expansion.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
I did not say the race has an advantage. My point is that races/classes/areas for P2P MMOs up to this point have all been included in the basic purchase. This has the potential to be a paradigm shift in what content is released with a standard purchase of an MMO. If the market and consumer will bear it, you better believe more exclusive content which is normally considered part of the initial purchase will be broken out into "exclusive" DLC packs for additional cost.
That is already a growing trend with single player games... Why, looking at the gaming industry as a whole, would anyone think MMOs are immune to this shift to gouge players for additional money concerning content that up to this point was part of a standard purchase?
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
Expansions are extensive content releases after the initial development of a game. That is where the extra cost is derived and why most require a separate purchase. There is a fundamental difference between asking for additional payment for extra content at the release of a game and asking for additional payment for content after the fact.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
Fair enough I suppose accept that we are talking about a singular race..Not classes, or areas of the game. A very generic race I might add. I believe that they added the race for the sole purpose of appeasing the masses from the feedback they have been receiving form surveys after each beta. This only came about 4-5 months ago. I doubt it was planned and I doubt it was considered to be a cash grab by them. This could be a way to recoup the money they had to spend to develop the race, when it was un-playable prior to this year.
It's not remotely different. Good luck getting them to admit that though.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
Yeas of course plenty of games have:)
i think ink what OP was referring to was that this particular CE provides a very real ig advantage, whereas most other games CEs provide purely cosmetic items or physical items like soundtrack CDs and art books etc.