Hot take - bring back the required subscription

Gray_howling_parrot

Probably gunna get a lot of flak, but . . .

I'd rather have a subscription-based ESO and *readily* earnable crown store items than the system we have now. Could even have it where it is now, but if you have ESO plus, then the stuff would be earnable (mounts and pets dropping from bosses in dungeons, from more achievements that are more readily accessible than godslayer such as challenger achievements and such).

Browiseth

there is nothing to suggest a mandatory subscription would at all change zos's approach to monetizing the crown store

Blinx

if they got the game quality back up to where they were around Summerset, I'd have no issue paying, but for what it has become, naw, they should pay us to continue beta testing this mess

currentl sub ends August 2nd, won't be renewing

MaraxusTheOrc

Never going to happen. Mandatory subscriptions are a business model of the past. WoW and FFXIV are fortunate in that their mandatory subscription has maintained a healthy population, but they still have cash shops now too, right?

Tandor

Blinx wrote: »

if they got the game quality back up to where they were around Summerset, I'd have no issue paying, but for what it has become, naw, they should pay us to continue beta testing this mess

currentl sub ends August 2nd, won't be renewing

But you'll still be playing?

I have always taken the view that if a game is worth playing, then it's worth paying for. Once a game ceases to be worth paying for, I stop playing it.

Jaimeh

I wouldn't want a mandatory sub for getting crate stuff, but if it meant getting better quality of content, then I'd consider it.

Blinx

Tandor wrote: »

But you'll still be playing?

I have always taken the view that if a game is worth playing, then it's worth paying for. Once a game ceases to be worth paying for, I stop playing it.

I will be on an ESO holiday, I have other games I play, this game is a chore without the craft bag, will prob check out the High Isle event tho, and not much else.

Drammanoth

I'm able to play WITHOUT craftbag. How? Here you go:

1)max out crafting
2)buy chests
3)label chests
4)ensure micro-management - what goes where
5)sell excess of items
6)wait for ESO+ weeks (be they once a year or more frequently)
7)take part in ESO+ giveaways
8)if you feel the need - and can afford - to collect leads, purchase a month of ESO+ and use it to maximum, eg. when you have a week off, are on holidays, whatever

spartaxoxo

I am subbed for a year, but I don't think they'll ever go back. It was part of what nearly killed the game the first time around. Nobody wants to pay for the same game each month, these are a thing of the past. Only a few games that are essentially grandfathered in can use this model.

Beyond that, there is no real reason to believe that the game would ever drop the cash shop.

FluffyBird

Drammanoth wrote: »

I'm able to play WITHOUT craftbag. How? Here you go:

1)max out crafting
2)buy chests
3)label chests
4)ensure micro-management - what goes where
5)sell excess of items
6)wait for ESO+ weeks (be they once a year or more frequently)
7)take part in ESO+ giveaways
8)if you feel the need - and can afford - to collect leads, purchase a month of ESO+ and use it to maximum, eg. when you have a week off, are on holidays, whatever

7 and 8 mean you play with getting access to the craft bag whenever you can.

By that logic my friend also plays without the craftbag, so, here comes the ultimate lifehack:
9) send all your crafting materials to your friend with a sub

Heartrage

No, that would kill a lot of the game playerbase and wouldn’t fix anything.

DigiAngel

My uninstall would be swift...and righteous.

shadyjane62

I have 250 useless days left. I wish I could give them to someone.

NettleCarrier

Drammanoth wrote: »

I'm able to play WITHOUT craftbag. How? Here you go:

1)max out crafting
2)buy chests
3)label chests
4)ensure micro-management - what goes where
5)sell excess of items
6)wait for ESO+ weeks (be they once a year or more frequently)
7)take part in ESO+ giveaways
8)if you feel the need - and can afford - to collect leads, purchase a month of ESO+ and use it to maximum, eg. when you have a week off, are on holidays, whatever

It's a good strategy for sure, but there's just more to ESO+ to me. If it were just the craft bag I'd play like you and just not hoard materials and take advantage of free weeks. For me it's the DLC access and the crowns that come with the sub, since I'd pick up a few things like assistants anyway, I might as well buy months worth of ESO+ and get crowns as a perk rather than spend the same money for crowns directly. Same deal with DLC, now I didn't do the math but I believe it would take close to the same amount of cash to buy all the DLCs as it does for 2 years of ESO+. For a new player it would almost be better to buy ESO+ for however long they think it'll take to clear the currently released DLCs and play through that content, in which case they might as well enjoy the other perks and use the bonus crowns to pick up whatever ones they liked the most or save them for future DLCs once their sub runs out.

Alchemical

I'd be surprised if outright DLC purchases actually even made up half of the profit of the Clown Crates though. They're never gonna go away. No amount of protesting when they were younger and even less fair stopped them, you're better off petitioning your law makers over loot boxes than ZoS.

And fwiw no mount in WoW is 'free' either. Their RNG and time gates mean that your mount actually costs $30 or $45 or however many months it takes you to grind it out for 'free' it's just a matter of perspective. It took me 3 years of doing Onyxia 10 times a week before I got that mount, that's $500+ worth of my time. I def think ESO needs MORE earnable stuff, but I will not bemoan the lack of "do boring dailies for 30 days without missing one to unlock the chance to earn a mount and pay $15 for the privilege to do so."

phairdon

No way. Crown crate items are not a good reason to reinstate failed mandatory subs.

Monte_Cristo

Tandor wrote: »

Blinx wrote: »

if they got the game quality back up to where they were around Summerset, I'd have no issue paying, but for what it has become, naw, they should pay us to continue beta testing this mess

currentl sub ends August 2nd, won't be renewing

But you'll still be playing?

I have always taken the view that if a game is worth playing, then it's worth paying for. Once a game ceases to be worth paying for, I stop playing it.

Yes. Us non subs pay for the DLC and chapters we want. Just not $180 a year, plus $60 for a chapter. Despite what some people seem to think, non subs aren't playing for free. We still bought the game.

Tandor

Monte_Cristo wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Blinx wrote: »

if they got the game quality back up to where they were around Summerset, I'd have no issue paying, but for what it has become, naw, they should pay us to continue beta testing this mess

currentl sub ends August 2nd, won't be renewing

But you'll still be playing?

I have always taken the view that if a game is worth playing, then it's worth paying for. Once a game ceases to be worth paying for, I stop playing it.

Yes. Us non subs pay for the DLC and chapters we want. Just not $180 a year, plus $60 for a chapter. Despite what some people seem to think, non subs aren't playing for free. We still bought the game.

That's fine, that's all part of the business model, but a lot of people when cancelling their ESO+ do so because they're not willing to continue paying to play the game, as in the case I quoted.

FeedbackOnly

No thanks

TmzOS

Monte_Cristo wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Blinx wrote: »

if they got the game quality back up to where they were around Summerset, I'd have no issue paying, but for what it has become, naw, they should pay us to continue beta testing this mess

currentl sub ends August 2nd, won't be renewing

But you'll still be playing?

I have always taken the view that if a game is worth playing, then it's worth paying for. Once a game ceases to be worth paying for, I stop playing it.

Yes. Us non subs pay for the DLC and chapters we want. Just not $180 a year, plus $60 for a chapter. Despite what some people seem to think, non subs aren't playing for free. We still bought the game.

^this

The game is buy-to-play and even being confuse to understand many small possible purchases, it's better this way due to be more flexible for the consumer.

I only pay for what I'm interested... some ESO+ users haven't bought HI chapter, but I already got it (CE version). I've done my part as consumer/player.

Faded

Too late. Way too late.

And somebody at Zenimax clearly loves microtransactions. If you're hoping a mandatory sub would stem the tide of limited time gem-only apex whatevers and crown store respec scrolls, I don't see it happening here. It has nothing to do with the unreliability of ESO plus subs as a revenue stream.

Kiralyn2000

Jaustink wrote: »

Probably gunna get a lot of flak, but . . .

I'd rather have a subscription-based ESO and *readily* earnable crown store items than the system we have now. Could even have it where it is now, but if you have ESO plus, then the stuff would be earnable (mounts and pets dropping from bosses in dungeons, from more achievements that are more readily accessible than godslayer such as challenger achievements and such).

Question - back when the sub was required, what all nifty stuff was their to earn from content & achieves? (honestly curious)


Also, remember that required-sub games these days still have cash shops. They'd still stuff the crown store full of things that could only be gotten that way. (and they'd either get rid of the 'free' crowns with sub, or they'd price everything in the crown store on the assumption that every single player is getting 1650/month. So increase the prices of everything new by 50% to make up for that.)

---
personally, required sub would get me to leave. As a "b2p" game that doesn't require a sub, I can come and go whenever. When I get bored or annoyed with the game (or some other game grabs my attention), I pull away. And then an event or content drop happens and I get pulled back in. With required sub, it would go the way my WoW playing went - I played for the first 3-4 expansions, got fed up with it, and left... never been back since.

Meanwhile, my f2p/b2p games keep getting traffic periodically. Because it's easy to come back. I don't have to make the decision to spend money, and then feel I have to play "seriously" that next month because I've spent money subbing and have to get the most out of it.

Ratzkifal

Step one: alienate customers through rapid large scale balance changes with no apparent method to them
Step two: return to a failed business model
Step three: go to social media and write dismissive comments on community opinions then tell players to leave if they don't like the direction the game is taking
Step four: find a new job because Microsoft just fired you for ruining their investment

Is it crazy that I can actually see that happening?

pklemming

GW you buy the expansion, but there is no sub. FF there is a sub, but there is zero push on microtransactions.

Requiring ESO to have a sub, whilst still gouging with the crown store would firmly finish those coffin nails.

I disagree with a lot of the Crown store options to purchase, but that is for a different post, even though it leaves an extremely bad taste in my mouth.

WinterHeart626

Jaustink wrote: »

Probably gunna get a lot of flak, but . . .

I'd rather have a subscription-based ESO and *readily* earnable crown store items than the system we have now. Could even have it where it is now, but if you have ESO plus, then the stuff would be earnable (mounts and pets dropping from bosses in dungeons, from more achievements that are more readily accessible than godslayer such as challenger achievements and such).

Technically console players already “pay” a “subscription”, I’m an Xbox player, you can’t play eso unless you are subbed to their subscription service.
The bonus to that is- access to library of other games.
So, what? You want to force a double subscription on consoles?

rpa

I'd prefer subscription model if the game also had subscription service quality. With no double dipping.

Jamie_Aubrey

Nooo thank you, I'm not giving ZOS any more money unless I get my old account back and both ain't happening