ZOS: When does the 6 month subscription return?

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO

criscal wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

criscal wrote: »

Well, as for myself I can say that I never made a demand that ZOS has to explain itself. I am just stating that only clear and authorized statements will stop any rumours. And killing the 6 months option is not a nicety - it's about avoiding a costly rollback of transactions in case it goes f2p. ZOS started the rumour mill by never publishing official player numbers. All the friends that didn't start playing yet stated that they are waiting for a year until it is f2p anyway in their opinion. And that was in April after the first reviews. Anyway, I will keep my subscription for now, as I still like this game a lot. The champion system might be even better than now, who knows.

Explain to me how there would be any rollback? LOTRO and all the other f2p games have a subscription option. So there would be no costly rollback. No refunding anything. You arent even making sense.

Ok, my thinking here was that f2p would not come together with a subscription, but with buying in-game stuff instead. In the case of not offering a subscription anymore, you would have to refund people for the rest of the time that they could not use the subscription for. I was not aware of that some f2p games still offered a subscription, which is counter-intuitive to me.
I am not a lawyer, but another thing is that changing the service to f2p might qualify for a special cancellation right in one or more countries that the service was sold in as well. This as well would trigger refunds.
Anyway, no comfortable explanation for the removal of that 6-months option has been offered yet. What's your best try? Being a less popular choice can't be the real explanation, as there is no extra overhead for that choice in the IT systems.

You are dreaming. There is no way they would go with a totally free game. There would be no refunds regardless they might compensate with in game currency but no refunds.

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO

sirston wrote: »

jamesharv2005ub17_ESO wrote: »

criscal wrote: »

Well, as for myself I can say that I never made a demand that ZOS has to explain itself. I am just stating that only clear and authorized statements will stop any rumours. And killing the 6 months option is not a nicety - it's about avoiding a costly rollback of transactions in case it goes f2p. ZOS started the rumor mill by never publishing official player numbers. All the friends that didn't start playing yet stated that they are waiting for a year until it is f2p anyway in their opinion. And that was in April after the first reviews. Anyway, I will keep my subscription for now, as I still like this game a lot. The champion system might be even better than now, who knows.

Explain to me how there would be any rollback? LOTRO and all the other f2p games have a subscription option. So there would be no costly rollback. No refunding anything. You arent even making sense.

you demand a refund for making something free, that you paid for... or people claim they didn't pay the 6 month option to there bank. Then the bank takes back the money (False Claim For Getting Money Back)

Nonsense. You paid for access and you still have access. The rest you are speaking of is defrauding the bank to get a refund you are not entitled to.

zaria

Nazon_Katts wrote: »

criscal wrote: »

The scenario I expect now is that the console start is less than 3-4 months away. Any f2p announcement before selling the console version would be bad news, so it is postponed to 2-3 months after console start. So the plan might look like that: cancel the 6 months subscription for more flexibility on business model, bring out the console version and cash in the development costs at least. The hardware is probably not going to be stocked up for console to hedge the investment. The Resources I.e.phases and helpdesk will be allocated mostly to console players. Pc players won't be able to tell anyway whether the lag is due to less resources or more players using the resources. The next step in the scenario depend on the player numbers after the first month of sales of the console version. If the numbers are unexpectedly high, there won't be f2p. If the numbers are low, the game will be f2p and more pets and hats will be sold.

Thinking of it, this would just explain nicely why we're continuously experiencing more lag with less players. PS4 and XBone are already running on "our" data centers and won't get their own.

Same as with their phasing system; a fantastic idea in theory, but apparently not that easy to implement in practice.

Yes, its hundred thousands of PS4 and One players playing ESO now
Honestly I start to wonder how many ESO players believe in chemtrails.

And megaserver is an good idea, why did Wildstar switched to it?

RSram

ZOS got rid of the 6 month subscription to make more money; its as simple as that. You got a better discount when you subscribed for 6 months than when you did for 90, 60 , one month. So those who had the 6 month subscription will now have to pay more to play after their subscription runs out.

Nazon_Katts

zaria wrote: »

Nazon_Katts wrote: »

criscal wrote: »

The scenario I expect now is that the console start is less than 3-4 months away. Any f2p announcement before selling the console version would be bad news, so it is postponed to 2-3 months after console start. So the plan might look like that: cancel the 6 months subscription for more flexibility on business model, bring out the console version and cash in the development costs at least. The hardware is probably not going to be stocked up for console to hedge the investment. The Resources I.e.phases and helpdesk will be allocated mostly to console players. Pc players won't be able to tell anyway whether the lag is due to less resources or more players using the resources. The next step in the scenario depend on the player numbers after the first month of sales of the console version. If the numbers are unexpectedly high, there won't be f2p. If the numbers are low, the game will be f2p and more pets and hats will be sold.

Thinking of it, this would just explain nicely why we're continuously experiencing more lag with less players. PS4 and XBone are already running on "our" data centers and won't get their own.

Same as with their phasing system; a fantastic idea in theory, but apparently not that easy to implement in practice.

Yes, its hundred thousands of PS4 and One players playing ESO now
Honestly I start to wonder how many ESO players believe in chemtrails.

And megaserver is an good idea, why did Wildstar switched to it?

When it works. It doesn't even with a handful players.

Now add two different instances, all with their own server side calculation to be processed (which you can and must simulate for testing purposes, no need for thousands, not hundreds nor a single player even) to the load and you'll see more lag issues arise.

I really wonder where all the players went, that were capable of putting at least two and two together. Suppose they weren't as stubborn as me and wiser to just leave than to experience the mess that's going to continue to happen around here.

At times it seems, all that's left are the all too easily amused. Though, yet again this offers a nice explanation for why there aren't that many intelligent postings anymore. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

felinith66

6 months was too large of a gap. Have to keep the gap close. Or else the 1-month players will never reach the 6-month ones.

Karnus

I've always been a 6 month subscriber in every MMO with a 6 month option that I have played. I don't understand how it helps anything to take away that option, some theories seem plausible but in the end it's just taking away some player's favorite payment option.

Kevinmon

Because ZOS wants current players to stop playing faster so they can bring in new players that haven't learned about veteran ranks yet.

Elsonso

RSram wrote: »

ZOS got rid of the 6 month subscription to make more money; its as simple as that. You got a better discount when you subscribed for 6 months than when you did for 90, 60 , one month. So those who had the 6 month subscription will now have to pay more to play after their subscription runs out.

Yeah, I spent US$90 on my last 180 days of ESO play. I budgeted $160 on MMO game time for 2014. Originally, it was all intended for World of Warcraft. Thanks to the way subscriptions came due, and allowing subscriptions to lapse and limit overlapping time, I was able to stay under that budget and play both games this year.

In 2015, I am willing to spend $160 on ESO game time, WoW game time, or a combination of both. This means either two 180-day subscriptions, three 90-day subscriptions, five 60-day time cards, or ten 30-day subscriptions. ESO and WoW are interchangeable from a budget perspective, but not all combinations of these plans gives me a full year of paid game time.

I would pay ZOS $77.94 or $155.88 next week, if they would take my money. Not likely to happen. What is likely to happen, in order to maximize game time with expense, is to start with a 180-day WoW subscription, since they will take my money. This pushes any ESO decisions until after the middle of 2015 and we find out what ZOS is doing about subscriptions.

So, if ZOS offers a 180-day subscription before my time runs out in January, I will be with ESO until at least July 2015, if not longer.

How I now expect to be spending my money in 2015 is simple: two back-to-back 180-day subscriptions to WoW and the bulk of my MMO time spent in that game in 2015.

Whether ZOS drops the subscription model or not makes little difference to me in 2015, as it turns out.

If ZOS does not drop subscriptions, and still keeps with the 30, 60, 90-day game time options, I will probably stick with WoW, anyway. I would not have enough to spend time in both WoW and ESO without having a game time gap.

If ZOS does drop subscriptions, not much changes. I would play ESO for free, occasionally, until they decide to charge me for something. Some expansion or P2W item that I felt was a necessary upgrade to the free experience would effectively end my play in ESO. WoW would be my main game and ESO would be, at best, a distraction when I got bored. I could continue to post in here for free, though.

Why not just do the Dance of F2P Joy at the idea of a Free ESO and save myself $160? Simple. I am a firm believer that There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch and that there is a form of payment, somewhere, by someone, in order to get this free thing going and keep it going. That makes anyone who works it so they don't have to pay anything a leech. I am also a believer in the premise that you get what you pay for. In any case, I am not certain that I could afford what a Free ESO might cost me. It will likely be easier, and cheaper, just to fork over the $160 to Blizzard.

criscal

Nazon_Katts wrote: »

zaria wrote: »

Nazon_Katts wrote: »

criscal wrote: »

The scenario I expect now is that the console start is less than 3-4 months away. Any f2p announcement before selling the console version would be bad news, so it is postponed to 2-3 months after console start. So the plan might look like that: cancel the 6 months subscription for more flexibility on business model, bring out the console version and cash in the development costs at least. The hardware is probably not going to be stocked up for console to hedge the investment. The Resources I.e.phases and helpdesk will be allocated mostly to console players. Pc players won't be able to tell anyway whether the lag is due to less resources or more players using the resources. The next step in the scenario depend on the player numbers after the first month of sales of the console version. If the numbers are unexpectedly high, there won't be f2p. If the numbers are low, the game will be f2p and more pets and hats will be sold.

Thinking of it, this would just explain nicely why we're continuously experiencing more lag with less players. PS4 and XBone are already running on "our" data centers and won't get their own.

Same as with their phasing system; a fantastic idea in theory, but apparently not that easy to implement in practice.

Yes, its hundred thousands of PS4 and One players playing ESO now
Honestly I start to wonder how many ESO players believe in chemtrails.

And megaserver is an good idea, why did Wildstar switched to it?

When it works. It doesn't even with a handful players.

Now add two different instances, all with their own server side calculation to be processed (which you can and must simulate for testing purposes, no need for thousands, not hundreds nor a single player even) to the load and you'll see more lag issues arise.

I really wonder where all the players went, that were capable of putting at least two and two together. Suppose they weren't as stubborn as me and wiser to just leave than to experience the mess that's going to continue to happen around here.

At times it seems, all that's left are the all too easily amused. Though, yet again this offers a nice explanation for why there aren't that many intelligent postings anymore. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Well, mega server is a nice idea for load balancing. If it works out you can continuously adapt the hardware running. What I liked too in the beginning was the international flair with many languages flying . Another nice side-effect of the mega server is for ZOS that it is even harder to estimate the actual number of players. Technically speaking I wonder whether they can instantiate whole zones on the fly for more flexibility. At least the load screen takes long enough at times .

Chuggernaut

Bethesda's latest MMORPG, The Elder Scrolls Online, will still require a Gold subscription on top of the developer's own monthly fees. For the time being, at least; Microsoft has "about six months" to consider changing its policies, as the game was recently delayed for consoles. The developer was in talks with Microsoft back in August to cut the extra fees for The Elder Scrolls Online, which won't be enforced by Sony via PlayStation Plus for PS4.

Here's the Link

rendolpheb16_ESO

You know what guys. I'm pretty sure that ESO is coming F2P because when I resub couples day back, I saw a falling star in the sky.

That is a sign this game will be F2P and this is pretty obvious. Nothing to compare to this new theory about the 6 month subscription change which is totally ridiculous.

Lynnessa

While we're making guesses, here's mine: it didn't sell well, or it has something to do with console release.

Elsonso

I really do not care why they took it away, so long as they bring it back in the next couple of weeks.

TGiordano92

plz don't goto f2p/b2p.......... cash shops suck

Voodoo

got rid of the lowest used and cheepest sub to make more money.

END OF STORY

ers101284b14_ESO

The only way to settle this is to make a biased poll. Take the poll numbers, make rough estimates and argue about how much of the population actually uses the forums. Then give up and throw around more wild speculations.

Elsonso

There are so many polls on the forum, it is waste to create a new one. I think we can pick one with the results we like and then change the question and use that.

Gidorick

zaria wrote: »

Yes, its hundred thousands of PS4 and One players playing ESO now
Honestly I start to wonder how many ESO players believe in chemtrails.

And megaserver is an good idea, why did Wildstar switched to it?

Please let's not call the Xbox One just "One"...

Sindala

XbOne ?

HeroOfNone

I do prefer the 6 month subscription model and hope they bring it back, but I'm pretty set till September at the moment.

As for the fear that this will go F2P, where do you get your information that it would stick around for that? The maintenance cost for the mega server still has to be maintained and Zenimax Online is a fledgling company. It's not like perfect world, Blizzard, Sony Online, trion, or others that have generated so many games that they can afford to keep the servers up based on other games. That have sunset their games into maintenance and nondevelopment. If ESO were to become F2P or a cash shop model a lot more changes would have to occur to keep lights on while developing it.

It mighat sound a bit nihilistic, but ESO would likely go the way of Warhammer online, which others said for years would go F2P, but after 5 years, losing the renewal of licensing, and slowing down development, the game finally closed it's servers.

Still, it was 5 years before that occured with a low moving updates. ESO on the other hand has a high response from its fan base, constant updates, and has been getting better reviews when people return. I think if you want to see things really push forward and to see subscription prices drop, folks need to start challenging the poor reviews saying it's not worth the subscription because of BS they heard about angry beta reviews and crap that this will be F2P tomorrow because folks are secretly hoping to play something outside their budget.

Eh, enough soap boxing from me.

WebBull

What I find odd is that forum Mods direct us to this thread from similar threads but then there is no Mods commenting on the 6 month subscription in this thread. If it was an oversight, they would have clarified it by now. They haven't.

As much as I hate it, I think they are setting this game up for F2P .

RazielSR

WebBull wrote: »

What I find odd is that forum Mods direct us to this thread from similar threads but then there is no Mods commenting on the 6 month subscription in this thread. If it was an oversight, they would have clarified it by now. They haven't.

As much as I hate it, I think they are setting this game up for F2P .

In fact, seems that they wanna know reactions from people and they are just lurking around here to see what would happen or what will happen. You know...like somekind of "experiment"

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but this what happens when ZOS does not say a word. It would be so easy to say something!

Elsonso

The French don't like the 6 month subscriptions. It is unclear what the German and English speaking people think of them.

MornaBaine

From the thread ZOS closed:

ZOS_MichelleAZOS_MichelleA admin
3:51PM Staff Post
"Hello there, folks. We have a thread for discussion of the 180-day subscription option, available here: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/143763/zos-when-does-the-6-month-subscription-return/p1.

In order to ensure that discussion is consolidated, please continue the conversation in the existing thread. Thank you for your understanding. "

Um... no Michelle I don't actually understand. Multiple threads on the same subject are rife on the forums and don't get shut down and "consolidated." My guess is the title of this one was deemed "friendlier" than the other one.

But what I REALLY don't understand is why you or anyone at ZOS is taking the time to do this but NOT making the effort to answer player questions regarding why the 6 month sub was removed. The French answer was a non-answer and whoever wrote it ought to be embarrassed.

Is the game going free to play with the console release or not? Just answer the question, okay?

Elsonso

MornaBaine wrote: »

From the thread ZOS closed:

@‌ZOS_MichelleA admin
3:51PM Staff Post
"Hello there, folks. We have a thread for discussion of the 180-day subscription option, available here: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/143763/zos-when-does-the-6-month-subscription-return/p1.

In order to ensure that discussion is consolidated, please continue the conversation in the existing thread. Thank you for your understanding. "

Um... no Michelle I don't actually understand. Multiple threads on the same subject are rife on the forums and don't get shut down and "consolidated." My guess is the title of this one was deemed "friendlier" than the other one.

But what I REALLY don't understand why why you or anyone at ZOS is taking the time to do this but NOT making the effort to answer player questions regarding why the 6 month sub was removed. The French answer was a non-answer and whoever wrote it ought to be embarrassed.

Is the game going free to play with the console release or not? Just answer the question, okay?

I am actually more interested in when they plan to offer this again, not why they got rid of it. If it is just because no one used it, then it should be relatively simple for some manager/executive type to decide to offer it again.

WebBull

lordrichter wrote: »

MornaBaine wrote: »

From the thread ZOS closed:

@‌ZOS_MichelleA admin
3:51PM Staff Post
"Hello there, folks. We have a thread for discussion of the 180-day subscription option, available here: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/143763/zos-when-does-the-6-month-subscription-return/p1.

In order to ensure that discussion is consolidated, please continue the conversation in the existing thread. Thank you for your understanding. "

Um... no Michelle I don't actually understand. Multiple threads on the same subject are rife on the forums and don't get shut down and "consolidated." My guess is the title of this one was deemed "friendlier" than the other one.

But what I REALLY don't understand why why you or anyone at ZOS is taking the time to do this but NOT making the effort to answer player questions regarding why the 6 month sub was removed. The French answer was a non-answer and whoever wrote it ought to be embarrassed.

Is the game going free to play with the console release or not? Just answer the question, okay?

I am actually more interested in when they plan to offer this again, not why they got rid of it. If it is just because no one used it, then it should be relatively simple for some manager/executive type to decide to offer it again.

I think you missed the point. Many are starting to think the the 6 mo sub will never be offered again because the game is going to F2P. ZOS has done nothing to disperse this rumor. Same thing happened in Warhammer.

Elsonso

WebBull wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

MornaBaine wrote: »

From the thread ZOS closed:

@‌ZOS_MichelleA admin
3:51PM Staff Post
"Hello there, folks. We have a thread for discussion of the 180-day subscription option, available here: http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/143763/zos-when-does-the-6-month-subscription-return/p1.

In order to ensure that discussion is consolidated, please continue the conversation in the existing thread. Thank you for your understanding. "

Um... no Michelle I don't actually understand. Multiple threads on the same subject are rife on the forums and don't get shut down and "consolidated." My guess is the title of this one was deemed "friendlier" than the other one.

But what I REALLY don't understand why why you or anyone at ZOS is taking the time to do this but NOT making the effort to answer player questions regarding why the 6 month sub was removed. The French answer was a non-answer and whoever wrote it ought to be embarrassed.

Is the game going free to play with the console release or not? Just answer the question, okay?

I am actually more interested in when they plan to offer this again, not why they got rid of it. If it is just because no one used it, then it should be relatively simple for some manager/executive type to decide to offer it again.

I think you missed the point. Many are starting to think the the 6 mo sub will never be offered again because the game is going to F2P. ZOS has done nothing to disperse this rumor. Same thing happened in Warhammer.

I have not missed any points....

Ourorboros

I posted earlier, but I guess it bears repeating. ZOS is clearly aware of our concerns over removal of the 6 month option. If the decision to remove was simply administrative, there is no good reason not to respond and explain this. The decision not to respond implies that information that ZOS thinks will be viewed negatively is not being disclosed. Of course, that is only my opinion, but from living and working in a corporate world, that's typical corporate mentality. Whatever they are withholding is likely to be a bitter pill to swallow.

Elsonso

The decision not to respond implies that information that ZOS thinks will be viewed negatively is not being disclosed.

I agree.

They don't need to make any statements. They don't need to explain why they removed the 180-day subscription option. If they want to shut down the talk of F2P doom, all they have to do is start accepting 180-day subscriptions. Simple.

(Redacted statements that may be interpreted incorrectly)