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[Column] Elder Scrolls Online: What Will DLC Be Like?
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
With a month to go before The Elder Scrolls Online morphs into a buy to play game under the mouthful of a new title The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, there is now more info on how things will work after the switch. When the switch was announced, and the buy to play option with future DLC (included for subscribers or available for purchase) made known, there were still some pressing questions left with regards to just what this might entail. There are other games out there with hybrid models that sell content updates like The Secret World or The Lord of the Rings Online, but details were scarce until now.
Read more of Christina Gonzalez's Elder Scrolls Online: What Will DLC Be Like?
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Whatever their plans for DLC will be, nothing will be seen until a couple of months after console launch. They've stated that 1.6 will carry through until then, letting these major changes breathe a bit, and letting the console launch frenzy settle down. So, expect the first batch of DLC in early fall.
That's 6-7 months from now. I don't see a point in getting your feathers in a ruffle wondering about speculative impacts on the gaming experience when there is a half year or more to get through.
I dont know why people would need PS+ since you are not playing the game on PSN servers. Most likely you wont since Final Fantasy XIV does not require PS+, so I am assuming this wont either.
They announced that you need PS+ to play the game.
Check it out here.
More concerned with the returning b2p experience than DLC's at this point. I still don't see this turning into my main game and will start anew since only played a couple weeks at launch, so will be quite some time before DLC's become an issue for decision making. Although, I do see the last of the Justice system being gated behind a pay wall happening in the fall. Just enough of a teaser to get one to buy the rest of the system, but they have to win me over on what they currently offer for that to happen.
I still feel I'm owed a CE's worth of entertainment out of them, and if I don't get a warm fuzzy from that, I doubt they will be getting anymore funds from this consumer.
Yes, you need PS+, but I would be surprised if there are too many people that have a PS$ and don't pay for the online experience. Other than the bullshit with Lizardsquad and their wannabe butttard friends the PS+ service runs pretty well, and a decent value I picked up a couple one year subscription cards last year when they were on sale for $35 each.
Not so nice guy!
Not so nice guy!
The only DLC we know is coming for sure is Wrothgar the new post-50 zone that is supposed to be for solo play that will also have a "level bolster" similar to Cyrodiil's that allows players of any level to go there and get temporarily leveled to the correct level for the zone.
They have also said that this is how they intend to release all DLC: i.e. not level-locked... obviously they want anyone to buy it and use it regardless of level. This zone was announced at Quakecon last year and there are a couple of videos around. I also suspect this one is probably ready to roll whenever they decide it makes marketing sense for them to release the 1st DLC... I suppose it could be done together with the console release if they think they won't get too much flak for releasing a DLC at the same time as the console version.
They also announced another "Adventure Zone" like Craglorn at that Quakecon called Murkmire but I haven't heard much about that one recently - also will be DLC.
There is also speculation that the Imperial City in Cyrodiil will be DLC... although I'm having a hard time seeing how they can make it not part of the core game since in order to qualify for entry to the city, your alliance will have to control several PVP objectives: I can't see people who don't have access to it if it's DLC being too thrilled to fight for the objectives required to enter if the can't get in... or those who don't PVP buying it at all.
The other big thing coming is Spellcrafting which will allow you to "learn" new spell combinations through finding certain items, probably after you complete the Mages Guilld's quest line. The spells you learn this way will be slottable in your skill bars and usable like any other skills. I can see how the could also gate this as DLC by making the drops required happen only in DLC zones.
There is an article at Duffy's from last year that talks about all this:
http://dulfy.net/2014/07/18/eso-quakecon-the-future-of-eso-panel-notes/
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
ESO has seen Z E R O ava feature development.
WHY ?
IMO they always planned to make you pay for a major AVA DLC (assuming you un-subscribed like me )
That and I don't think most Elder Scrolls fans were PvP people. I think there's more roleplayers than PvPers lol.
You can do that. Subbing will give you access to all the DLC but you'll lose it once you stop subbing unless you bought the DLC with crowns.
Also it's affirmative that you need PSN+ / XBox Live to play the game.
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I wouldn't be surprised if they don't even have a subscription option on consoles and simply sell all the DLC. With a conversion like this the subscription option is largely to try and keep their current players content and not affect their experience much.
Console players will not miss the subscription if they never had it.
Until they announce any DLC and how much it is we can't say. However if the game had launched with this model then by the time 1.6 launches you will have paid c. $165 or about $25 a patch.
And between now and 1.7 if you stay subscribed that will be another $45 - and as we have already been told not to expect any DLC until after the console launch - so if its another 2 months that's another $30. No way will they be able to charge $75 (or more) for 1.7.
So if you sub you are, imo, basically just spending $15 a month in the cash shop. Maybe in a few years time it might be different.
nothing wrong with that. It would have been a problem if the game stayed subscription only and also had PS+ requirement. They dropped the subscription to the game so PS+ is now required. Just like every single PS4/XBOX1 game that you have to purchase a box for, you also need PS+ to play them online.
FFXIV doesnt require PS+ because its subscription only. EDIT: now i dont know how they (Zenimax) would do in case you want to subscribe on console, maybe you dont need PS+ if you subscribe to the game? it would suck if that is not the case.
Right now ESO gets my $15 a month that I allocate for online gaming. For as long as I have content to play Ill keep on paying.
After 3 months now I am about half way through available content on 4 alts playing about 20 hours a week. I am a pretty casual player and play through all of the quests in each zone and I don't skip through the voice acting which I have really enjoyed.
The horizontal progression will give me more to do but I expect some time before the next 6 months Ill have peaked. Those in my guild who are already VR14 have expressed skepticism that 1.6 will offer more than a few months of added "content" to play through.
My hope is that the console release becomes such a windfall for Zenimax they are motivated to accelerate their timetable for DLC and/or publish some type of roadmap that will keep players excited.
Del Cabon
A US Army ('Just Cause') Vet and MMORPG Native formerly of Trinsic, Norath and Dereth. Currently playing LOTRO.
I don't get why people don't want to sub for PS+ or Xbox Gold. It's like... 50-60$ per YEAR and gives free games and specials during the whole year... It's not just about ESO lol. I'd pay for PS+ even with no online games at all in my library.
I love GW2 B2P system, where everything is free and if something like LS needs gems (free if you logged when it released, need gems if you not) you can buy them with ingame currency (gold).
I was away from GW2 for a long period, missing 5 out of 8 LS episodes. It took me about 10 days of playing to buy gems with gold and unlock the missing ones. Playing some more days i also unlocked Deluxe edition for my acc and now i m saving gold to open more character slots.
This is how i see the right B2P system. A great cash shop that offers everything with gems / crowns and you can buy those either with real money or ingame currency.
All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1
Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2
Just because people who play FFXIV don't have to pay Sony doesn't mean that Sony are not being paid; I would be surprised if Sony provided their services for free! Much more likely that Square Enix did a deal with Sony involving money and/or promoting the PlayStation.