I wouldnt be happy about that.
But do they have a reason to go f2p.
Existing model looks good, people play the game ZoS gets there money.
Games usualy change model when the old one fails like ESO when it was a subscription based game.
I do not want it to happen, but if it happens (which is a real possibility), I prefer it to have heavy restrictions on the free accounts to try to reduce the impact of bots and gold sellers. GW2 put severe restrictions on trading and communication on their free accounts after they went Free-to-Play.
Last year, ZOS hired a person specialized on Free-to-Play transition strategies, which is why we got the Crown Crates now (which are a transition strategy, and F2P + RNG Boxes are a business plan on themselves).
The first model change was (allegedly) so that ESO could release on consoles, due to a disagreement about how it should be done regarding to the existing XBox subscription. You don't have to take ZOS's word for it, though, but we can't really prove it was not the main reason.Yeah, so, GW2 kinda has limited zone access, but as you level on your free account you open more maps. Eventually, you have access to the entirety of the base game (so none of the maps that came with the Expansion Pack).I've always thought they may be able to get away with, for example, having a free account which has limited zone access or limited levelling capability. Something that essentially works as a trial/demo.andreasranasen wrote: »
GW2 is still very successful and still going strong! I'm excited!
This is actually the only way I can see such conversion working, with the worst way being simply dropping the box price like many other companies did.
GW2 has restrictions on its free accounts to heavily limit communication and trading, I imagine in an attempt of discouraging gold selling. It works to an extent, afaik (not as well was having a box price does, but oh well...).
Here, a list of the restrictions:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Account#Free_accounts
RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »Just an FYI
Pete Hines is a high ranking suit at Bethesda. He is the Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Zenimax/Bethesda(Probably Matts Boss). Last time Hines was present at an ESO live was when they announced dropping the sub and going B2P with Tamriel Unlimited.
Im not saying a F2P annoucement is happening, I don't know that. I just find it odd that such a high ranking Zenimax suit is going to be there. I hope for good things this time around.
RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »Honestly, its probably just Vardenfell, but maybe Battlegrounds will be part of it as a PVP update "Hype Hype"
vyndral13preub18_ESO wrote: »SantieClaws wrote: »Khajiit is a little puzzled by the timing yes.
As of next week khajiit will no longer have to sleep in the corner of The Rosy Lion by the fire - she will have her very own corner of The Rosy Lion to sleep in - with no fire.
Why overshadow this with the announcement of something new yes that we will probably not see for some time to come?
Why not wait until afterwards?
Yours with paws
Santie Claws
Because it is an expansion! It will have 10 new areas to explore! 9 new dungeons! 4 new trials! Battlegrounds! Spellcrafting! 15 new classes! And new pony! To be released for digital download 2 days after homeland!
I think i am getting the hang of this hype thing.
Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
Not much IMo as already said the game can be bought super cheap already. Maybe would get more people to try out the game, but from a bigger pcture just not much.
Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
FLuFFyxMuFFiN wrote: »Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
F2P means there is absolutely no cost to the base game. F2P games have a reputation of only focusing on cash shops since that is typically how they make their money so people fear that if ESO goes F2P then ZOS is only going to focus on the crown store instead of actual content which I believe is a pretty reasonable fear.
FLuFFyxMuFFiN wrote: »
Publius_Scipio wrote: »RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »Just an FYI
Pete Hines is a high ranking suit at Bethesda. He is the Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Zenimax/Bethesda(Probably Matts Boss). Last time Hines was present at an ESO live was when they announced dropping the sub and going B2P with Tamriel Unlimited.
Im not saying a F2P annoucement is happening, I don't know that. I just find it odd that such a high ranking Zenimax suit is going to be there. I hope for good things this time around.
What does F2P actually mean in terms of what eso would become? And why does it have heavy negative connotations?
To me when they removed the need to have a subscription it became f2p.
Publius_Scipio wrote: »RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »Just an FYI
Pete Hines is a high ranking suit at Bethesda. He is the Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Zenimax/Bethesda(Probably Matts Boss). Last time Hines was present at an ESO live was when they announced dropping the sub and going B2P with Tamriel Unlimited.
Im not saying a F2P annoucement is happening, I don't know that. I just find it odd that such a high ranking Zenimax suit is going to be there. I hope for good things this time around.
What does F2P actually mean in terms of what eso would become? And why does it have heavy negative connotations?
To me when they removed the need to have a subscription it became f2p.
Currently, ESO is "buy to play". It means you have to buy the base game so you can play the game. It used to be "pay to play", which meant you needed "recurring payments" to be able to play.
Free to Play means you do not have an entry barrier anymore. The game doesn't have a box price anymore. People can create as many accounts they want with no harm to their bank account. This makes free to play games in general a perfect place for bots and gold sellers to thrive (and ESO already has a problem with it, a problem that I'm sure no one wants to become worse overnight).
Free to Play also usually come with strategies to make you feel compelled to spend money on the games in order to be able to compete with other players, or you will be at an disadvantage when against a paying player. It walks hand-to-hand with "Pay to Win".
Usually, free to play ends up being more expensive than buy to play and even than pay to play by a long shot. It makes a lot of money for the company, but "good for the company" doesn't necessarily mean "good for the game" and it certainly doesn't mean "good for the fans".
Publius_Scipio wrote: »Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
Not much IMo as already said the game can be bought super cheap already. Maybe would get more people to try out the game, but from a bigger pcture just not much.
Then why do people say f2p would be the end of eso? Or any mmo for that matter?
Publius_Scipio wrote: »Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
Not much IMo as already said the game can be bought super cheap already. Maybe would get more people to try out the game, but from a bigger pcture just not much.
Then why do people say f2p would be the end of eso? Or any mmo for that matter?
By iteself it means nothing, since esentially the game is one already.
F2Ps can be very succesfull business models, as League of Legends has largely proven.
IF that's what they are going to announce, which i highly doubt, it isn't cause for panicking.
Publius_Scipio wrote: »FLuFFyxMuFFiN wrote: »Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
F2P means there is absolutely no cost to the base game. F2P games have a reputation of only focusing on cash shops since that is typically how they make their money so people fear that if ESO goes F2P then ZOS is only going to focus on the crown store instead of actual content which I believe is a pretty reasonable fear.
So it would cease to get new elder scrolls lore rich content? It would become a fantasy mmo with a thin layer of elder scrolls spread on top?
ManwithBeard9 wrote: »So Pete Hines is flying into SanFran, Rich Lambert bought pants for the first time in his life, wtf is happening tomorrow.
FLuFFyxMuFFiN wrote: »Publius_Scipio wrote: »FLuFFyxMuFFiN wrote: »Publius_Scipio wrote: »Dammit! Can someone please explain wtf F2P would mean for ESO (if it were to happen)? And why does F2P carry heavy negative connotations with it? Isn't the game already f2p since Tamriel Unlimited?
F2P means there is absolutely no cost to the base game. F2P games have a reputation of only focusing on cash shops since that is typically how they make their money so people fear that if ESO goes F2P then ZOS is only going to focus on the crown store instead of actual content which I believe is a pretty reasonable fear.
So it would cease to get new elder scrolls lore rich content? It would become a fantasy mmo with a thin layer of elder scrolls spread on top?
Hard to say. If they only made the base game F2P they would probably be fine and use the money made from DLC to create more DLC but if a game is completely F2P they typically only worry about cash shop items. For example the first game that comes to mind when I hear F2P is Maplestory. It is completely F2P and has a cash shop.The cash shop has a ton of items you can buy but most of them expire after a certain amount of days and you have to purchase them again.
starlizard70ub17_ESO wrote: »FLuFFyxMuFFiN wrote: »
Wouldn't it just be $!@%&^@ if all this hype was just to announce a PvE version of Cryodiil and IC. This one doubts that would be the case, however one should prepare popcorn anyway.
andreasranasen wrote: »
ManwithBeard9 wrote: »So Pete Hines is flying into SanFran, Rich Lambert bought pants for the first time in his life, wtf is happening tomorrow.
Just for a bit of interest, if you save the announcement image that they sent in the email, it's called "TES-Volcano_twitch". That all but confirms it's Red Mountain.