A very stupid question, really...

MrDaslaya333

TL;DR: If I have an ESO account but never bought the game, can I buy the game through Steam and use my current account?
For those who enjoy literature: So, I saw that ESO finally dropped its subscription base and wanted to immediately get the game now. I went to go and buy it through Steam, but the way that they give their warning for buying the game rather confuses me... so, here's the statistics:
- I have an Elder Scrolls Online account (I played the Beta a few times.)
- I have NOT purchased ESO before.
So, I guess the real question is if I buy ESO through Steam, can I still use my account that I used in the Beta? I know it might seem like a stupid question, but I just want to make sure that I'm not spending $60 and then I'm going to have to make a new email address or something. Any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Daslaya333

LameoveR

MrDaslaya333 wrote: »

So basically, if I buy ESO through Steam, I would have a "new" account and lose any items or rewards I would have received by participating in the Beta?

No.
You'll get a key to redeem in your account in ESO Account Management.

ZOS_MollyH

Greetings,

To clarify, you can only have one Game key per account. Since your beta account does not have a full game key on it, you could log into your account page at https://account.elderscrollsonline.com and apply the game key purchased through Steam to that account.

However, if you had an account with a full game key (for example if you purchased it through WalMart or Amazon previously) you would not be able to apply your Steam game key to that account or link it through Steam as a Steam game.

Kragorn

No, the Steam account is and always will be entirely separate from 'normal' ones. When Steam launched there were a lot of people wanting to link their existing account to Steam and ZOS wouldn't do it: whether it was ZOS or Valve that would let it happen I no longer recall.

eventide03b14a_ESO

Kragorn wrote: »

No, the Steam account is and always will be entirely separate from 'normal' ones. When Steam launched there were a lot of people wanting to link their existing account to Steam and ZOS wouldn't do it: whether it was ZOS or Valve that would let it happen I no longer recall.

Ah yes, "steamgate"; I am still a bit upset about this myself.

MrDaslaya333

Kragorn wrote: »

No, the Steam account is and always will be entirely separate from 'normal' ones. When Steam launched there were a lot of people wanting to link their existing account to Steam and ZOS wouldn't do it: whether it was ZOS or Valve that would let it happen I no longer recall.

So basically, if I buy ESO through Steam, I would have a "new" account and lose any items or rewards I would have received by participating in the Beta?

Nestor

MrDaslaya333 wrote: »

Kragorn wrote: »

No, the Steam account is and always will be entirely separate from 'normal' ones. When Steam launched there were a lot of people wanting to link their existing account to Steam and ZOS wouldn't do it: whether it was ZOS or Valve that would let it happen I no longer recall.

So basically, if I buy ESO through Steam, I would have a "new" account and lose any items or rewards I would have received by participating in the Beta?

You would still have access to the other account, just not through Steam. So, you could mail the items that you deem important to the Steam Account. As for Experience and Achievements, yes, you would lose those.

However having 16 character slots is cool too. I may buy a second copy just for that reason alone.

And you can add the game to Steam as a Non Steam game. Running the steam version of TESO does not gain you any benefits or differences so it really just a change to the launcher, and not even that if you think about it.

Glierhuin

LameoveR wrote: »

MrDaslaya333 wrote: »

So basically, if I buy ESO through Steam, I would have a "new" account and lose any items or rewards I would have received by participating in the Beta?

No.
You'll get a key to redeem in your account in ESO Account Management.

Quoted for correct answer. You don't have to create a new account. You can redeem the key from your steam version on your existing one. Given the existing account doesn't have a game code on it already. Only one full game code can be applied to one account at a time.

LameoveR

There is no "steam account". All accounts managed through this site.

CodexMMO

LameoveR wrote: »

MrDaslaya333 wrote: »

So basically, if I buy ESO through Steam, I would have a "new" account and lose any items or rewards I would have received by participating in the Beta?

No.
You'll get a key to redeem in your account in ESO Account Management.

This is how I bought it as well. I had an account pre-Steam. Then I bought it on Steam during the winter sale at a discount and redeemed the code on my ESO account. Everything works just fine. The ONLY downside so far is that I have to buy Crowns through the Steam store rather than the ESO store if I want Crowns. It adds several more steps to getting Crowns for the cash shop - which is actually good because it will keep me from spending very much real-world cash

Rosveen

Glierhuin wrote: »

LameoveR wrote: »

MrDaslaya333 wrote: »

So basically, if I buy ESO through Steam, I would have a "new" account and lose any items or rewards I would have received by participating in the Beta?

No.
You'll get a key to redeem in your account in ESO Account Management.

Quoted for correct answer. You don't have to create a new account. You can redeem the key from your steam version on your existing one. Given the existing account doesn't have a game code on it already. Only one full game code can be applied to one account at a time.

Yes. Also, if you already have a game key, I believe you can log into the Steam launcher with your old account and leave the new key unused - the downside is that you have to buy the game twice. People wanted to transfer to Steam for free, which isn't possible.