When do you think ESO will go F2P?

ssewallb14_ESO

2017

lordrichter wrote: »

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

Zenimax said that they would rather shut the game down than go F2P, and I don't think enimax would lie about that.

They never actually said this, but I wish they would.

Edit: At least in no place that can be documented.

Someone early on said something along the lines of "ESO can't work with a f2p model. We will take down the servers before going f2p." That's probably what the parent is referring to. I can't seem to find that quote unforunately.

Mighty_oakk

2017

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Funkopotamus wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Never.
I've not seen a console game go from cost to free with an always online requirement in this generation unless it was given by Xbox gold deal or ps plus deal

Yeah I would keep riding a failing system to the ground in flames!!

It is not like another console MMO just released before ESO and still has a population that would make even the hermit ESO player cry.




PPPpppssssstt... "Guess what?................. That game was FREE.99"

If you're referring to the Xbox One game Neverwinter....they are touting accounts so in comparison it's less popular as TESO sold approx 1.5 mil copies on both consoles vs Neverwinters 2 mil accounts where one console could have 2 or more.

I have 4 cause why pay for bag space n stuff when it's free

Just putting it into perspective. TESO sales by copies vs Neverwinters accounts opened.

It's not 2 mil+ active accounts (logging in at least once a week)

Where do you get 1.5 million from?

Everything I have seen said about 750k physical. Digital console sales are about an extra 20%. Pc digital is about 50/50 not console since everyone trades in their games

NewBlacksmurf

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Funkopotamus wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Never.
I've not seen a console game go from cost to free with an always online requirement in this generation unless it was given by Xbox gold deal or ps plus deal

Yeah I would keep riding a failing system to the ground in flames!!

It is not like another console MMO just released before ESO and still has a population that would make even the hermit ESO player cry.




PPPpppssssstt... "Guess what?................. That game was FREE.99"

If you're referring to the Xbox One game Neverwinter....they are touting accounts so in comparison it's less popular as TESO sold approx 1.5 mil copies on both consoles vs Neverwinters 2 mil accounts where one console could have 2 or more.

I have 4 cause why pay for bag space n stuff when it's free

Just putting it into perspective. TESO sales by copies vs Neverwinters accounts opened.

It's not 2 mil+ active accounts (logging in at least once a week)

Where do you get 1.5 million from?

Everything I have seen said about 750k physical. Digital console sales are about an extra 20%. Pc digital is about 50/50 not console since everyone trades in their games

The first day according to Forbes each console was over 600k sales
And the queues we saw...ZOS confirmed the time in queue was wrong but the # in queue was accurate

Xbox one had upwards of 1.2 mil+ in queue while PS4 was over 2 mil on the first week

DaveMoeDee

I'm not sure what the point would be of F2P. Are they really going to get revenue from the free players that would offset the loss of interest from long time players as the quality of the experience tanks with the free game crowd? Since Cyrodiil is part of the base game, going free to play could make many loyal players upset as barriers to entry are lowered.

They don't need to continue to sell many base games every year if they make money on DLC.

Two years from now, I expect to see new players all getting ESO+ to play all the old DLC. If they keep prices at their current costs (like Bioware does with Dragon Age and Mass Effect DLC), new players 2 years from now likely won't want to buy the DLC individually. That could revive subscriptions

Elsonso

2018

ssewallb14_ESO wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

Zenimax said that they would rather shut the game down than go F2P, and I don't think enimax would lie about that.

They never actually said this, but I wish they would.

Edit: At least in no place that can be documented.

Someone early on said something along the lines of "ESO can't work with a f2p model. We will take down the servers before going f2p." That's probably what the parent is referring to. I can't seem to find that quote unforunately.

As I recall from January, this is the quote people are referring to when they say that ZOS would turn off the servers:

"Charging a flat monthly (or subscription) fee means that we will offer players the game we set out to make, and the one that fans want to play. Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make."

They obviously feel differently now, and just as obviously, we never got the game they set out to make.

As for the shutting down the servers quote, that is generally attributed to Naoki Yoshida over at FF XIV. I have never seen it, personally.

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

Where do you get 1.5 million from?

Everything I have seen said about 750k physical. Digital console sales are about an extra 20%. Pc digital is about 50/50 not console since everyone trades in their games

The 750k is a very old number from this time in 2014. It is undoubtedly much larger now.

Mighty_oakk

2017

lordrichter wrote: »

ssewallb14_ESO wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

Zenimax said that they would rather shut the game down than go F2P, and I don't think enimax would lie about that.

They never actually said this, but I wish they would.

Edit: At least in no place that can be documented.

Someone early on said something along the lines of "ESO can't work with a f2p model. We will take down the servers before going f2p." That's probably what the parent is referring to. I can't seem to find that quote unforunately.

As I recall from January, this is the quote people are referring to when they say that ZOS would turn off the servers:

"Charging a flat monthly (or subscription) fee means that we will offer players the game we set out to make, and the one that fans want to play. Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make."

They obviously feel differently now, and just as obviously, we never got the game they set out to make.

As for the shutting down the servers quote, that is generally attributed to Naoki Yoshida over at FF XIV. I have never seen it, personally.

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

Where do you get 1.5 million from?

Everything I have seen said about 750k physical. Digital console sales are about an extra 20%. Pc digital is about 50/50 not console since everyone trades in their games

The 750k is a very old number from this time in 2014. It is undoubtedly much larger now.

I was reffering to console sales. If you google 'forbes eso launch' it has the numbers

Mighty_oakk

2017

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Funkopotamus wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Never.
I've not seen a console game go from cost to free with an always online requirement in this generation unless it was given by Xbox gold deal or ps plus deal

Yeah I would keep riding a failing system to the ground in flames!!

It is not like another console MMO just released before ESO and still has a population that would make even the hermit ESO player cry.




PPPpppssssstt... "Guess what?................. That game was FREE.99"

If you're referring to the Xbox One game Neverwinter....they are touting accounts so in comparison it's less popular as TESO sold approx 1.5 mil copies on both consoles vs Neverwinters 2 mil accounts where one console could have 2 or more.

I have 4 cause why pay for bag space n stuff when it's free

Just putting it into perspective. TESO sales by copies vs Neverwinters accounts opened.

It's not 2 mil+ active accounts (logging in at least once a week)

Where do you get 1.5 million from?

Everything I have seen said about 750k physical. Digital console sales are about an extra 20%. Pc digital is about 50/50 not console since everyone trades in their games

The first day according to Forbes each console was over 600k sales
And the queues we saw...ZOS confirmed the time in queue was wrong but the # in queue was accurate

Xbox one had upwards of 1.2 mil+ in queue while PS4 was over 2 mil on the first week

If ya check any site whose sole purpose is tracking game sales they all list it as under 2 million both consoles combined physical + digital.

Elsonso

2018

Mighty_oakk wrote: »

If ya check any site whose sole purpose is tracking game sales they all list it as under 2 million both consoles combined physical + digital.

Just under 2 million. If you add into that the PC/Mac sales, you are definitely over 2 million and likely in the neighborhood of 3 million. That really isn't that shabby for 16 months.

snowmanflvb14_ESO

SlayerSyrena wrote: »

It's already Buy to Play. Having no need for a sub is free enough, imo.

PS. I love Imperial City and so do my friends and guildies.

Ace_of_Destiny wrote: »

snowmanflvb14_ESO wrote: »

poor survey as there was not choice for never.

I think not voting is a choice for "never".

Just like all the other polls where somebody always says "biased poll is biased"...not voting is always a choice....nobody is forced to actually pick one.

However, that skews the survey.

snowmanflvb14_ESO

Egonieser wrote: »

Unless a game has the numbers like WoW or at least half the numbers of WoW, it will not sustain itself in the long term, hence why you see many MMO's going from full-on Buy and Subscribe model to Buy to Play with a shop, then Free 2 Play with a full-on shop.
Sure, while the title is fresh the game gets a large influx of players and some stay for a while, some leave, but unless the game is "very" successful at maintaining those numbers, it will not be profitable anymore, especially when new content is to be developed, because new content costs money to both make and maintain as it gets more complex and expensive and gets progressively moreso with each and every expansion.

I've been playing MMO's since 2001, but the only game i can draw paralels here is LoTRO, the utterly bad decisionmaking and thus loss of players and change of payment models is almost identical, pinpoint identical. Same bad mechanic changes that alienated the playerbase, thus it resulted in forced payment model changes to make up for lost players. Only difference is, ESO is going downhill faster, at least LoTRO managed to sustain itself for a year and a half longer before going B2P and eventually, F2P. And a shop that was just "conveniences" (Yes it was true, it offered nothing more than ESO does now, just harmless fluff and cosmetics/pets/horses/potions etc) to outright P2W items, crucial advancement items, PvP enhancers and locked almost every single thing behind a paywall unless you subscribed and even then you needed to fork out for extras.
Even things like gold carry capacity was locked behind a paywall.

That is a traditional fate of a loved, self sustaining MMO going down the current MMO industry road. And ESO is heading down that road whether you like to admit it or not. Players just aren't interested for long stay, the game is badly designed for that, hence the loss of revenue and changes of business models.

You can agree or disagree but mark my words, it will happen soon enough as ESO is far from a thriving, growing community, but it is battling to keep whatever we have left - to stay.

Hmm so EQ still going since 1999 was not sustained nor was EQ2 let alone Eve?

tordr86b16_ESO

2018

They might have sold a few million copies, but that is not going to keep the servers alive. How many of those people who bought the game are still playing and are still subbed? That's another story.

PinoZino

tordr86b16_ESO wrote: »

They might have sold a few million copies, but that is not going to keep the servers alive. How many of those people who bought the game are still playing and are still subbed? That's another story.

They probably have a deal with Sony and Mickeysoft and receive a share of the PS+ and Live Gold membership fees.
Plus they are making money with their Crown store.

If they are creaming the market, it could be possible that in a couple of years the game itself will be free or at least very cheap. But these freeloaders will still have to pay for the DLC's and other goodies.

Chieve

It won't. ..

iTzStevey

2017

Shortly after it goes pay to win,which wont be long.

Tankqull

guessing next year - as they lack a schedule for further content(after orsinium) i feel the game is allready in the idle mode...

Elsonso

2018

tordr86b16_ESO wrote: »

They might have sold a few million copies, but that is not going to keep the servers alive. How many of those people who bought the game are still playing and are still subbed? That's another story.

That gets into active population numbers, and with the megaserver, and so many of them, we have no easy way to tell. However, like midwives and pregnancy gender predictions, that will not stop people from trying. The short hairs on the guars this season seem thicker, so I am going to say that the game population is doing OK. Not only that, but have you noticed the little scorpions in Craglorn? Yeah, me too. I think that means ESO Plus is doing well.

Merlin13KAGL

I give it less than a year, if it's still afloat at that point in time.

JD2013

People on this forum be like ...

Merlin13KAGL

JD2013 wrote: »

People on this forum be like ...

Maybe, but when you've been standing on the tracks as long as some of us have, it's kinda hard to convince yourself it's not a train at the other end of the tunnel...

JD2013

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

People on this forum be like ...

Maybe, but when you've been standing on the tracks as long as some of us have, it's kinda hard to convince yourself it's not a train at the other end of the tunnel...

I've been here since Beta. Still enjoy the game. Have now put as many hours into it as I did Skyrim, Oblivion, Morrowind, Daggerfall and Arena (And that was a LOT) If I didn't still enjoy it, I would not be here. Simple as.

PinoZino

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

People on this forum be like ...

Maybe, but when you've been standing on the tracks as long as some of us have, it's kinda hard to convince yourself it's not a train at the other end of the tunnel...

How many people are playing the game? 2 or 3 million? Something like that?

And how many depressive frustrated 'involved' people are here ranting every day that the game is ***, that ZOS is worse than the devil, that the game will be terminated in 1 or 2 year? A few dozen? And it are always the same few dozen. lol

Meanwhile the millions of other players don't care, will never visit this forum and just play.

firstdecan

PinoZino wrote: »

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

People on this forum be like ...

Maybe, but when you've been standing on the tracks as long as some of us have, it's kinda hard to convince yourself it's not a train at the other end of the tunnel...

How many people are playing the game? 2 or 3 million? Something like that?

And how many depressive frustrated 'involved' people are here ranting every day that the game is ***, that ZOS is worse than the devil, that the game will be terminated in 1 or 2 year? A few dozen? And it are always the same few dozen. lol

Meanwhile the millions of other players don't care, will never visit this forum and just play.

There can't be *that* many people playing the game, PvP numbers are too low. You only get one pop locked server per region-platform. Even if PvP is just 10% of the player population, that's 120,000 players at most during peak hours. There's still the casual population that isn't on all the time, but there would have to be 30 casuals offline for every person playing during peak hours to get those numbers (and casuals would tend to play during peak hours).

At one point ZoS had released the total number of hours played on ESO. I did some quick and dirty math on it (assumed even distribution of playtime and population across zones) and it came down to something like less than 20,000 people playing on any given region-server at a time. It was kind of depressing. (I tried to find the link, I'm not going to search all day for it).

LiquidZ

They may lower the price someday. Probably not by much. I see no reason for them to go F2P again.

nimander99

You know, I will say this... Guild Wars 2 has set a precedent for b2p going f2p so if ESO comes out with an expansion, a full expansion, I could see the base game going f2p with a very limited account i.e cant chat constantly, no posting in forums, can't use guild stores etc...

As I used to say when I was selling crack, just give em a taste and they'll keep comin back

BigM

eventide03b14a_ESO wrote: »

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

Zenimax said that they would rather shut the game down than go F2P, and I don't think enimax would lie about that.

[snip] They also said it would never be B2P.

I don't believe they ever said that? You have a link where they did? Majority of us were shocked when they said B2P.

[edited to remove quote]

RizaHawkeye

tordr86b16_ESO wrote: »

MikeB wrote: »

It already is...

B2P and F2P are two different things entirely.

Not when you can buy the Imperial edition for about $20 bucks like I did ...

The line between playing for free for 10 levels and playing the entire damn game for less than you spend eating out is long gone, baby ...

Edit: If it's not free to play, then it's parked right next to it, checking it out ...

newtinmpls

On a Monday....

RizaHawkeye

newtinmpls wrote: »

On a Monday....

^^^ This person knows.