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Would this be a viable sub-hopping option?

Gidorick
Gidorick
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So I was considering the whole subscription model and the lack of future loyalty rewards and I was wondering if the following would actually be a viable subscription hopping plan.
  1. Unsubscribe to ESO once ESO:TU is released.
  2. Subscribe when new DLC content is released.
  3. Play through that content within 1 month.
  4. Unsubscribe after finished with content.
  5. Repeat steps 2-4.
If 3 DLC packs are released a year and they cost $30 each (pure conjecture), that would be $90 for the year to play the DLC packs, but sub-hopping would allow you to play the same DLC and only have to pay $45… that’s a 50% savings!

Would there be any downside to this sort of plan if my chief concern is playing content and I don’t care about the 10% bonuses/1500 crowns/owning DLC?
Edited by Gidorick on February 28, 2015 5:38PM
What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
That's right... Horse.
Click HERE to discuss.

Want more crazy ideas? Check out my Concept Repository!
  • firstdecan
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    This assumes that the new DLCs will be something you can play through, basically just another zone in the game. If ZoS manages to design something that is genuinely replayable, sub hopping may not be the best option for that DLC (if you enjoy it and want to play it more than a month).

    Other than that, your plan is sound. The only thing you've forgotten is the 1500 crowns you'll get for your 1 month sub. So if there's 3 DLCs a year, you can sub hop 2 of them and then buy the third with your accumulated crowns, thus spending only $30.00.
  • Ixtyr
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    So, this entire thing depends heavily on the cost of the DLC packs. If they're at or below $15 each, which I think they probably will be (small chance we might see some at $20 but we'll see), it frankly doesn't make sense to continue to subscribe. Just buy the packs when they come out and you have them forever.

    If you subscribe and the DLCs cost, say, $30 a pop, then subscribing has more of a value. That said, I still feel like it's very cheap of ZOS to not give subscribers lifetime access to DLC they play as a subscriber. If you're subbing during the life of that patch, you should have that DLC unlocked on your account in perpetuity (granted, that's assuming DLCs will be less than $20. If not....well I guess I can understand it a bit more). Starting a subscription after the patch is relevant shouldn't unlock that content, rather, you'd have to pay for past patches. That route would be more inclusive to players and it would encourage more people to stay subscribed, which, from my perspective, makes more sense to ZOS. The enemy of any business is uncertainty, and having regular, monthly subscribers providing consistent cash flows is a huge deal. I just think that the lack of real value in the subscription hurts them.

    ---
    Back to your question, though - if you don't care about the 10% buff or Crown allowance, and you're okay with losing access to DLCs after a month, subbing for short bursts will work for you. Again, that depends on pricing, though - if DLCs are $10, you should just buy it, if they're $15, just buy it, if they're $20, then subscribe. IF that's what you want.
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  • NotSo
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    Also keep in mind that there might be items that you can either only get from playing in those zones or by buying from other players. In the case where you want to get your own resources, it might be better to own it outright or continue the subscription.
    Gar'Sol the Wanderer VR14 Khajiit Sorcerer Spellblade
  • Gidorick
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    firstdecan wrote: »
    This assumes that the new DLCs will be something you can play through, basically just another zone in the game. If ZoS manages to design something that is genuinely replayable, sub hopping may not be the best option for that DLC (if you enjoy it and want to play it more than a month).

    Other than that, your plan is sound. The only thing you've forgotten is the 1500 crowns you'll get for your 1 month sub. So if there's 3 DLCs a year, you can sub hop 2 of them and then buy the third with your accumulated crowns, thus spending only $30.00.

    AH! I really like this idea... using the crowns given during the sub-periods to buy the DLCs... I guess I could buy DLCs I REALLY love.

    And yea, @Ixtyr is right, it REALLY depends on the cost of the DLC. I was thinking DLC would cost like $30 or $40... but if they follow DCUOs model they would be $10 A piece and release about 2-3 year. If THAT's the case... subscribing at all seems kind of like a waste of money to me...
    What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
    That's right... Horse.
    Click HERE to discuss.

    Want more crazy ideas? Check out my Concept Repository!
  • jeevin
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    I feel I may just sub when/if new content is released for however long it takes me to play through. I've no interest in cash shop items so crowns are useless to me. Totally agree with Gidorick the part time sub looks like the best value.
  • Lionxoft
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    If DLC costs $30 a pop then ESO will fall hard on it's face. Take a look at their competition on the PS4 (One title soon to XB1 with ps4/pc crossplay) MMO crowd. They are selling DLC for $10 quarterly with bundle sales on older DLC packs to help people get caught up without breaking the bank.

    One more thing. Don't expect the option to purchase DLC with your monthly cash shop allotment to last either. ZO$ will put a stop to that fast enough because they will probably want to keep those as CC transactions to ensure the extra revenue forcing you to use your crowns on worthless items or let them just sit there.

    Buying the DLC or aka pay for what you want is the best option though as the crown store is filled with useless garbage at the moment. Just don't expect to be able to pay for DLC with crowns for very long.
    Edited by Lionxoft on March 1, 2015 4:38AM
  • Lionxoft
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    Gidorick wrote: »
    firstdecan wrote: »
    This assumes that the new DLCs will be something you can play through, basically just another zone in the game. If ZoS manages to design something that is genuinely replayable, sub hopping may not be the best option for that DLC (if you enjoy it and want to play it more than a month).

    Other than that, your plan is sound. The only thing you've forgotten is the 1500 crowns you'll get for your 1 month sub. So if there's 3 DLCs a year, you can sub hop 2 of them and then buy the third with your accumulated crowns, thus spending only $30.00.

    AH! I really like this idea... using the crowns given during the sub-periods to buy the DLCs... I guess I could buy DLCs I REALLY love.

    And yea, @Ixtyr is right, it REALLY depends on the cost of the DLC. I was thinking DLC would cost like $30 or $40... but if they follow DCUOs model they would be $10 A piece and release about 2-3 year. If THAT's the case... subscribing at all seems kind of like a waste of money to me...

    I highly expect ZOS to mimic DCUO's business model as it's a fairly successful console MMO. Hell, they are even porting DCUO to XB1 and offering PC/PS4 crossplay. With ZOS' dedication to the console players (PC players beta testing 4/1/14-3/16/15 and being slapped in the face for it) I find it more than plausible for them to continue to mimic their model to stay competitive.
  • Cogo
    Cogo
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    Gidorick wrote: »
    So I was considering the whole subscription model and the lack of future loyalty rewards and I was wondering if the following would actually be a viable subscription hopping plan.
    1. Unsubscribe to ESO once ESO:TU is released.
    2. Subscribe when new DLC content is released.
    3. Play through that content within 1 month.
    4. Unsubscribe after finished with content.
    5. Repeat steps 2-4.
    If 3 DLC packs are released a year and they cost $30 each (pure conjecture), that would be $90 for the year to play the DLC packs, but sub-hopping would allow you to play the same DLC and only have to pay $45… that’s a 50% savings!

    Would there be any downside to this sort of plan if my chief concern is playing content and I don’t care about the 10% bonuses/1500 crowns/owning DLC?

    This gives me a headache.

    Pay the huge subscription of 12 euro a month or whatever. Its a pizza and a few beers....

    Then you get everything and when you want to stop playing, you stop paying. Come back, pay sub again and get everything.

    My head hurts...
    Oghur Hatemachine, Guild leader of The Nephilim - EU Megaserver
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  • Lionxoft
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    Cogo wrote: »
    Gidorick wrote: »
    So I was considering the whole subscription model and the lack of future loyalty rewards and I was wondering if the following would actually be a viable subscription hopping plan.
    1. Unsubscribe to ESO once ESO:TU is released.
    2. Subscribe when new DLC content is released.
    3. Play through that content within 1 month.
    4. Unsubscribe after finished with content.
    5. Repeat steps 2-4.
    If 3 DLC packs are released a year and they cost $30 each (pure conjecture), that would be $90 for the year to play the DLC packs, but sub-hopping would allow you to play the same DLC and only have to pay $45… that’s a 50% savings!

    Would there be any downside to this sort of plan if my chief concern is playing content and I don’t care about the 10% bonuses/1500 crowns/owning DLC?

    This gives me a headache.

    Pay the huge subscription of 12 euro a month or whatever. Its a pizza and a few beers....

    Then you get everything and when you want to stop playing, you stop paying. Come back, pay sub again and get everything.

    My head hurts...

    Or just pay for the DLC packs that interest you and never pay a sub fee again. $167 per year in discounted sub costs vs maybe $40 worth of DLC pack purchases AND you get to access them until the game is extinct.

    If there's only one DLC pack per year that I want to purchase then imagine how many pizzas I can buy per year to eat with my friends or family just from those savings? Although, I doubt that ZO$ will be able to churn out more than one *quality* DLC per quarter and sustain that rate past this year. They haven't been able to give us a quality update under a sub model for months.
    Edited by Lionxoft on March 1, 2015 9:50AM
  • Gidorick
    Gidorick
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    Lionxoft wrote: »
    Cogo wrote: »
    Gidorick wrote: »
    So I was considering the whole subscription model and the lack of future loyalty rewards and I was wondering if the following would actually be a viable subscription hopping plan.
    1. Unsubscribe to ESO once ESO:TU is released.
    2. Subscribe when new DLC content is released.
    3. Play through that content within 1 month.
    4. Unsubscribe after finished with content.
    5. Repeat steps 2-4.
    If 3 DLC packs are released a year and they cost $30 each (pure conjecture), that would be $90 for the year to play the DLC packs, but sub-hopping would allow you to play the same DLC and only have to pay $45… that’s a 50% savings!

    Would there be any downside to this sort of plan if my chief concern is playing content and I don’t care about the 10% bonuses/1500 crowns/owning DLC?

    This gives me a headache.

    Pay the huge subscription of 12 euro a month or whatever. Its a pizza and a few beers....

    Then you get everything and when you want to stop playing, you stop paying. Come back, pay sub again and get everything.

    My head hurts...

    Or just pay for the DLC packs that interest you and never pay a sub fee again. $167 per year in discounted sub costs vs maybe $40 worth of DLC pack purchases AND you get to access them until the game is extinct.

    If there's only one DLC pack per year that I want to purchase then imagine how many pizzas I can buy per year to eat with my friends or family just from those savings? Although, I doubt that ZO$ will be able to churn out more than one *quality* DLC per quarter and sustain it past this year. They haven't been able to give us a quality update under a sub model for months.

    Good point. Maybe something magical has happened at ZOS that will enable them to churn out quality, functional DLC content more regularly after ESO:TU goes live!
    What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
    That's right... Horse.
    Click HERE to discuss.

    Want more crazy ideas? Check out my Concept Repository!
  • jeevin
    jeevin
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    Lionxoft wrote: »
    Cogo wrote: »
    Gidorick wrote: »
    So I was considering the whole subscription model and the lack of future loyalty rewards and I was wondering if the following would actually be a viable subscription hopping plan.
    1. Unsubscribe to ESO once ESO:TU is released.
    2. Subscribe when new DLC content is released.
    3. Play through that content within 1 month.
    4. Unsubscribe after finished with content.
    5. Repeat steps 2-4.
    If 3 DLC packs are released a year and they cost $30 each (pure conjecture), that would be $90 for the year to play the DLC packs, but sub-hopping would allow you to play the same DLC and only have to pay $45… that’s a 50% savings!

    Would there be any downside to this sort of plan if my chief concern is playing content and I don’t care about the 10% bonuses/1500 crowns/owning DLC?

    This gives me a headache.

    Pay the huge subscription of 12 euro a month or whatever. Its a pizza and a few beers....

    Then you get everything and when you want to stop playing, you stop paying. Come back, pay sub again and get everything.

    My head hurts...

    Or just pay for the DLC packs that interest you and never pay a sub fee again. $167 per year in discounted sub costs vs maybe $40 worth of DLC pack purchases AND you get to access them until the game is extinct.

    If there's only one DLC pack per year that I want to purchase then imagine how many pizzas I can buy per year to eat with my friends or family just from those savings? Although, I doubt that ZO$ will be able to churn out more than one *quality* DLC per quarter and sustain that rate past this year. They haven't been able to give us a quality update under a sub model for months.

    It would be easier to make informed decisions if we had the expected price and release schedule. But we know Zos will just keep hushed to string as many players along as possible. That's how they've operated so far.
  • Rosveen
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    $30-$40? Which DLC in the last year was worth $30 to you? Half of Craglorn?
  • Audigy
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    DLC´s in games are usually mechanics, else nobody would sub or buy them. Sure a new map with some quests sounds nice at first, but its nothing you would pay a lot of money for.

    Therefore DLC´s are usually key game mechanics such as housing, barber shops, dye systems, new professions, pvp & pve access such as dungeons or Bgs, new race & class, spell crafting ...

    That said, right now it seems more reasonable to just buy the DLC and never sub. Keep in mind, if you sub then you still don't own the DLC, you can only use it for the time being. As soon you unsub, all is gone.
    Edited by Audigy on March 1, 2015 9:58AM
  • Danikat
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    I don't think there's enough information available right now to know if this is a good strategy.

    As other people have said it depends on the cost of DLC, how frequently it's released, whether it's something you can just play through and then leave or something you'll want to return to, whether there are exclusive items that you'll want more than 1 of (or may need multiple attempts to get) etc.

    I could definitely see this being a good strategy in a year or two when there have been several releases: sub for a month and try a few out, use the crowns to buy the one you like, unsub until you want another new zone, repeat ad infinium.

    Having said that I think the smart approach for ZoS would be to make DLC something you can, and will want to, keep playing rather than play through once and then move on. That way subscribers may find it's better to just keep up their subscription and dirty freeloaders like myself will be compelled to buy them.
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  • Gidorick
    Gidorick
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    Audigy wrote: »
    DLC´s in games are usually mechanics, else nobody would sub or buy them. Sure a new map with some quests sounds nice at first, but its nothing you would pay a lot of money for.

    Therefore DLC´s are usually key game mechanics such as housing, barber shops, dye systems, new professions, pvp & pve access such as dungeons or Bgs, new race & class, spell crafting ...

    That said, right now it seems more reasonable to just buy the DLC and never sub. Keep in mind, if you sub then you still don't own the DLC, you can only use it for the time being. As soon you unsub, all is gone.

    ugh... I was hoping the mechanics would be behind the free releases and new areas would be the pay-DLC. But, you're probably right. :disappointed:
    What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
    That's right... Horse.
    Click HERE to discuss.

    Want more crazy ideas? Check out my Concept Repository!
  • jeevin
    jeevin
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    Gidorick wrote: »
    Audigy wrote: »
    DLC´s in games are usually mechanics, else nobody would sub or buy them. Sure a new map with some quests sounds nice at first, but its nothing you would pay a lot of money for.

    Therefore DLC´s are usually key game mechanics such as housing, barber shops, dye systems, new professions, pvp & pve access such as dungeons or Bgs, new race & class, spell crafting ...

    That said, right now it seems more reasonable to just buy the DLC and never sub. Keep in mind, if you sub then you still don't own the DLC, you can only use it for the time being. As soon you unsub, all is gone.

    ugh... I was hoping the mechanics would be behind the free releases and new areas would be the pay-DLC. But, you're probably right. :disappointed:

    In the end Zos will do whatever it takes to get that initial ROI. If it takes putting things behind the pay wall, well, that's what they'll do.
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