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[Interview] Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited - Freedom to Play & Pay The Way You Want
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Next month, Elder Scrolls Online officially adopts a hybrid revenue system that will include the moniker "Tamriel Unlimited". We caught up to the ESO team to ask a few questions about the upcoming changes and what it means for players.
Read more of Ryan Getchell's Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited - Freedom to Play & Pay The Way You Want. We also have a French and German version available, linked within.
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Comments
Is there only one page for the interview?
When I go to page two and then three, I get French and German respectively.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
Ah, the business model rebranding.
"Freedom to play and pay how you want! Because before we said fuck you and told you that you needed to sub to pay, but that didn't work out so well for us : /"
Though I'm not complaining, I'll probably pick up a box on sale at some point.
Or they can just buy it as DLC like every other console game. The game has over 600 hours of content in it. How much do you want for $60?
I bought FarCry4 for $60 great game..guess what had to pay for DLC, or pay for the season pass to get the new stuff...nothing new about this model.
Not so nice guy!
Subs are optional and complaints about the archaic internet connection surtax Sony and MS have should be directed at them.
XBL and PSN had some justification on the basis of maintenance of free servers back in the days when multi-player B2P -- mostly FPS -- actually really meant you could pay once and play forever. But once everything started having DLCs and "Season Passes" it just became a sort of value added tax that only still exists because people are willing to pay it.
Sony's is especially obnoxious because they only just added it as a requirement whereas once upon a time it was one of the core differences between the XB and PS systems. It's only there because it's extra profits that they saw MS could get away with so they just jumped on the gravy train.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
1500 per 30days
While I'm not familiar with all other "token" allowances in hybrid payment MMO's, you are receiving 1500 crowns per month for a $14.99 membership. Presumably crowns cost 1¢ each, so you are getting a full allotment of crowns for your monthly membership. Compare that to say LOTRO where you get 500 Turbine Points a month and 500 Turbine Points cost "only" $7.99.
Here is a link to all the "Plus" benefits.
Game cards or subs are the same: 1500 crowns per month bought all up-front. Eg., you buy 3 months with cards or sub for 3 months, you get 4500 Crowns. And going by the one thing available in the Crown Store that we have a cash comparison for: the Imperial Edition upgrade that costs $20 or 2100 crowns, 1500 crowns is $14.28 worth of crowns.
I believe they're also getting rid of the compulsory recurring nature of subs bought with CCs. Recurring subs will be an option now with any method of payment.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
There is nothing accurate in this post. You can not buy in-game currency. Crowns are account bound and anything bought with crowns is account bound. You cannot transfer anything bought with real money/crowns into in-game gold. Period.
Game time cards are for 60-days. You would get 3000 crowns when entering the code for that card. There are not 1500, 3000, 4500 PER MONTH crown allotments. There are 30, 60 and 90-day plus memberships available. You get on the day of purchase or subscription 1500, 3000 or 4500 depending on what you buy, but it all averages out to 1500 per 30 day period.
Although they haven't announced it yet, I believe you get 100 "free" crowns as a bulk bonus when you buy 2000 crowns for $20. That why the Imperial Edition is 2100 crowns. $20 = $20.
No. Also crowns and items bought with crowns are account bound. No chance for a crowns to in-game gold "scheme" here.
I doubt it. Those schemes are usually only seen in games where the developer sells you gold through an intermediary currency that you then trade to players for gold... as in EVE, Wildstar and most F2P games.
To their credit, they're staying 100% away from any cash > gold conversion schemes... at least to start.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Makes sense. Still... the 1500 / month crown allotment and all the +10% bonuses you get with a sub is quite generous compared to what you get for subs in other freemium games that typically hold ~ half of the sub fee back and give you an allotment of store currency roughly equal to half the sub cost in currency. Once you also get access to all DLC by subbing, subs are going to look very attractive.
It's an unusual approach to B2P + cash shop MMOs. Most of the other ones clearly want to steer you toward buying cash shop currency. ESO wants to steer you toward subbing.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I totally agree. Once there are 3-4 DLC's available the "Do I sub or not?" is very heavy in the sub column.
Popular misconception it seems. I was there at the time LOTRO went F2P. They were always very aggressive with their shop -- even at the start -- with their downgrading of character slots, bag slots, etc. for the free players and selling it back to you in the cash shop.
ESO has done zero nerfing of no sub accounts.
Edit: to replace free with no sub in the last line... for those that find that meaningful
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED