ESO The Most Expensive Non-P2W MMORPG Around

Dracuhl

It is ridiculous the amount they try to make you pay to enjoy the game:
-Box price
-Expansions
-DLC (which are seperate from expansions instead of X.1, X.2 etc in similar games for some reason)
-A subscription ("Optional" but lets be real here, inventory management will be literal trash without it which is important for anyone not playing casually)
-Lootboxes [snip]
-Items that can only be obtained using a currency from buying lootboxes (Really bro? [snip])
-Mounts (You can get 4 basic horses with gold and then another like 4 from putting time and effort in the game compared to the hundreds compared to other games)
-Mount upgrades (You could do it in game. Itll take a long time because its super time gated and for some reason its per character. [snip])
-Houses (They offer a few for gold that are basic. You want that awesome looking vampire themed or daedric themed or whatever house? Better fork up well over $100)
-Furniture for the houses (Dont look at the cool target dummies just dont)
-Armor, weapon skins, costumes, single use dyes for the costume, jewelry, hair options, etc
-Sky Shard skips (Another thing that should be account wide [snip])
-Event tickets so when you have to consume that cool item to make a new item you can buy more tickets to get the original item back as well
-There is more but Ill need another few hours to list it all

Sure most of it is cosmetic. Some people dont care about them. There are many though who enjoy being able to show off accomplishments from the game with a mount or an armor set not to be reminded that you are poor useless broke trash in irl compared homie over here on a store armor set with a lootbox mount in a +$100 house that has all crafting tables and a bank and a store and a transmute station in it etc.

How many of yall keep coming back and then leaving again since beta after remembering that you cant afford to keep up with the game? [snip]

[edited for bashing]

Hlaaluna

Don’t pay for it if it isn’t worth it for you. Simple. If you already have the game you can play it for the rest of your life without spending another cent, or at least until the servers are taken down.

tmbrinks

Dracuhl wrote: »

Sure most of it is cosmetic. Some people dont care about them. There are many though who enjoy being able to show off accomplishments from the game with a mount or an armor set not to be reminded that you are poor useless broke trash in irl compared homie over here on a store armor set with a lootbox mount in a +$100 house that has all crafting tables and a bank and a store and a transmute station in it etc.

Huh, I have a house with all the crafting tables... the banker... the merchant... a transmute station. And while I did buy the banker and merchant with crowns, they were there ones I got with my sub. (And spending $12 a month for something I play 100 hours a month is an absolute deal).

The crafting tables and transmute stations can all be earned in game, or purchased with in-game gold.

I've also bought tons of cosmetics and houses from other players with gold earned in-game through allowed gold-for-crown transactions.

$200 a year for ESO+ and the Chapter... for well over 1000 hours of time in game per year. I think it's okay.

I've spent $500 to go to a World Series baseball game that lasted 3 hours.

Anony_Mouse

how does buying a bigger house make you win ESO?

Or do I win ESO by having a cool mount?



What is winning ESO btw?

TheSpunkyLobster

Anony_Mouse wrote: »

What is winning ESO btw?

Having a bigger house and the most epic super cool mount duh

Anony_Mouse

TheSpunkyLobster wrote: »

Having a bigger house and the most epic super cool mount duh

[snip] Why didnt I think of this?!

Oh yes, I was busy paying to win ESO

[edited for baiting]

TheSpunkyLobster

Anony_Mouse wrote: »

TheSpunkyLobster wrote: »

Having a bigger house and the most epic super cool mount duh

[snip] Why didnt I think of this?!

Oh yes, I was busy paying to win ESO

Mouse's shocking admission of secret pay2winning! Read our in depth coverage on pages 2,3,4,5,7 and 9!

[edited to remove quote]

MaraxusTheOrc

Yes, it’s heavily monetized. Yes, they toe that like of excess about as close as any western live service game.

I *absolutely* agree more mounts should be obtainable in game. Let crafters make a unique mount per crafting skill line. Have one for each guild. Even a dozen more mounts obtainable that way would really soften the perception of crown store mounts.

All that said…it’s still my MMO of choice. I think Destiny 2’s latest expansion cost $90 or $99 if you want it to include the new dungeons. If you want Madden 23 on both PS4/PS5, you gotta fork over for the biggest edition. Price creep is everywhere.

Anony_Mouse

MaraxusTheOrc wrote: »

Yes, it’s heavily monetized. Yes, they toe that like of excess about as close as any western live service game.

I *absolutely* agree more mounts should be obtainable in game. Let crafters make a unique mount per crafting skill line. Have one for each guild. Even a dozen more mounts obtainable that way would really soften the perception of crown store mounts.

All that said…it’s still my MMO of choice. I think Destiny 2’s latest expansion cost $90 or $99 if you want it to include the new dungeons. If you want Madden 23 on both PS4/PS5, you gotta fork over for the biggest edition. Price creep is everywhere.

now, a GUILD MOUNT instead of a tabard that breaks your cool winning outfit, is something i would absolutely pay to have

TheGreatBlackBear

I agree partially. ESO is a very expensive game and it it's arguably a worse game because it monetises things that should be free. I don't really have too much of a problem paying four houses and mounts and so on. But I take issue with the scandalous price for things like changing your appearance ( especially when you can end up in situations like this
- https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/615989/wasted-an-appearance-change-token-because-of-misleading-lighting-at-character-creator#latest) , an extra character slot, per character outfit slots, per character armoury slots, locking the ability to furnish larger houses semi decently behind ESO plus , locking dying of costumes behind ESO plus. Especially when you already have to spend crowns to buy costumes. [snip]

[edited for bashing]

Danikat

This only really applies if you want to have everything. Especially when you list both buying DLC and subscribing. If you always have ESO+ when you're playing why would you buy the DLC?

With cosmetic items it's even simpler - just buy the ones you like. For example this month I'm going to buy the Gray Yokudan Charger because I've been wanting it to come back for years, but I'm not going to get any of the other mounts in the crown store or the gem exclusive one because I don't like them. It doesn't matter if I don't have them, they work exactly the same as the mounts I do have and I can only use one at a time anyway.

I'm also curious about whether this is really true, even if someone did want absolutely everything they can buy. It would certainly be absurdly expensive to do in ESO but given the comments and complaints I've heard about other MMOs cash shops, upgrades and other in-game purchases I know we're not alone. If someone had the time and info I'd love to see a table comparing the cost of buying literally everything in different games.

Dragonlord573

Remember when ZOS said there wouldn't be a cash shop?
Remember when ZOS said there wouldn't be lootboxes?
Pepperidge Farms remembers.

tmbrinks

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Remember when ZOS said there wouldn't be a cash shop?
Remember when ZOS said there wouldn't be lootboxes?
Pepperidge Farms remembers.

Remember when ESO was subscription only?

I remember that too.

You can't have both

Danikat

Dragonlord573 wrote: »

Remember when ZOS said there wouldn't be a cash shop?
Remember when ZOS said there wouldn't be lootboxes?
Pepperidge Farms remembers.

I wonder how different it might have been if the game was in a better state at launch.

I suspect I wasn't the only one who played the betas or otherwise considered the game early on then decided it wasn't good enough to justify paying a subscription and only actually started playing it when they switched to buy-to-play, which of course was the same time they introduced the crown store.

Add on the fact that they announced plans for console versions before the game launched, so some people decided to wait for that, and then those didn't come until after they'd dropped the subscription and the numbers playing in that first year were probably a lot lower than they could have been. Maybe if they'd managed to get all 3 versions launching together in a decent state they'd have had enough players to keep the subscription model.

Admittedly this way works out better for me (and I actually spend less than I would on a subscription), but I do wonder how different the game might be if everything had gone to plan.

Tommy_The_Gun

Unpopular opinion: Despite its serious flaws, ESO business model is still superior to the one WoW has.

Disclaimer: I am not defending ESO monetisation. I think many things might as well be added as a rewards for just playing the game and $ income would be pretty much the same. What I will say though, is: compared to ESO - WoW is a pay-2-win mobile game lol.

Prof_Bawbag

The crown store is absolute trash, and has been for years. i only ever go into it if i happen to be gifting someone an item.

Take away the items that have sat in the crown store for years, next to nothing isn't a "limited time" item.

I'd say vote with your wallet, but it makes no difference if only 3 people don't buy things, so it will never change.

Hell, look at the amount of "I quit" posts around here. Some of the people throwing their toys outta the pram about U35 are the same people who staunchly defend 2 people having the same inane pony, with one potentially only paying chump change and the person next to him having had to fork out close to £600+ for the exact same item.

I don't mind that they began charging us for "Orsinium" type dlcs (shove some make-up on that pig and it's still a pig). That along with the subs are probably the only two things that actually go back into the game funding wise.

Hopefully more countries follow the likes of Belgium and loot crates will be nothing but a nasty memory.

DigiAngel

Oakensoul was clearly pay to win. I think everyone can agree on that now.

Nisekev

"Most of shop items are cosmetic" isn't a good excuse when most of the game is cosmetic.

Kingsindarkness

I paid $5.99 for the game, and I have more things to do right now than I can reasonably finish until next spring...

In anything it's how much you want to put into something.

Paralyse

How, exactly, do players propose that ZOS raises the revenue needed every year (presumably multiple millions of dollars) to keep the game running if they're supposed to just give everything to everyone for free?

The game is free to play (as in does not require a subscription), and with ESO+ if you save your monthly allotment of Crowns instead of getting "gotta-have-it-itis" you will have 24,000 Crowns per year for less than $200 -- slightly more than it would cost to buy that many Crowns outright, but you're also getting access to the DLC's and the incredibly useful craft bag with that, as well as unlocks on costume dying, etc.

If you don't support loot crates, don't buy them.
If you don't want to pay for ESO+, don't pay for it.
But if you want there to continue to be an ESO to play, someone, somewhere has to pay for it to exist.

I don't know when it became popular to think that you should be able to earn and unlock every possible thing in ESO and never have to spend a single dollar, but that's highly unrealistic thinking.

As an aside, the first online RPG I ever played (way back in 1992) was $50/month for 25 hours of game play per month. Each hour over 25 hours was $2.00 per hour. One month I played ~280 hours. My parents were a little angry when they got the credit card statement the next month, to say the least. The game did have an "unlimited" plan for the low price of something like $300/month, which was later dropped because no one was signing up for it.

SilverBride

I paid for the base game and expansions and a sub that includes all the DLCs plus crowns every month. I can count on one hand how many times I've purchased crowns and have never purchased crates. That is much cheaper than many other forms of entertainment and far from the most expensive non-P2W MMORPG.

Rohamad_Ali

Everyone said after subscriptions went optional the QoL would go down faster then a comet hitting a septic tank an no one was far off really. So we seen this coming knowing most content would be new decorations and store bought rewards. It happened in every mmo before here so why wouldn't it here?

People can minimalize there spending or even play for just the base game cost but you are correct, it's not the quality of life we had before an it stays in decline based upon profits.

Prof_Bawbag

Paralyse wrote: »

How, exactly, do players propose that ZOS raises the revenue needed every year (presumably multiple millions of dollars) to keep the game running if they're supposed to just give everything to everyone for free?

The game is free to play, and with ESO+ if you save your monthly allotment of Crowns instead of getting "gotta-have-it-itis" you will have 24,000 Crowns per year for less than $200 -- slightly more than it would cost to buy that many Crowns outright, but you're also getting access to the DLC's and the incredibly useful craft bag with that, as well as unlocks on costume dying, etc.

If you don't support loot crates, don't buy them.
If you don't want to pay for ESO+, don't pay for it.
But if you want there to continue to be an ESO to play, someone, somewhere has to pay for it to exist.

I don't know when it became popular to think that you should be able to earn and unlock every possible thing in ESO and never have to spend a single dollar, but that's highly unrealistic thinking.

As an aside, the first online RPG I ever played (way back in 1992) was $50/month for 25 hours of game play per month. Each hour over 25 hours was $2.00 per hour. One month I played ~280 hours. My parents were a little angry when they got the credit card statement the next month, to say the least. The game did have an "unlimited" plan for the low price of something like $300/month, which was later dropped because no one was signing up for it.

No, the game isn't free to play. Please show us where we can get the base game completely free of charge legitimately, then I'll agree with you. It may be cheap, but it's no more than you'd expect for a base game that has been out for so long.

Hence, why they have play for free "events". This F2P stuff is one of the biggest fallacies that gets repeatedly spouted on here and on Reddit. The game has never been free to own. ESO requires a fee to join, a F2P game doesn't.

Paralyse

I mean that you can play it without needing a subscription. Edited my original post to clarify.

MostValuedPlayer

Paralyse wrote: »

I mean that you can play it without needing a subscription. Edited my original post to clarify.

I think the word you're looking for is buy to play lmao

Dracuhl

Anony_Mouse wrote: »

TheSpunkyLobster wrote: »

Having a bigger house and the most epic super cool mount duh

[snip] Why didnt I think of this?!

Oh yes, I was busy paying to win ESO

[snip]

Nisekev wrote: »

"Most of shop items are cosmetic" isn't a good excuse when most of the game is cosmetic.

Exactly this.

Paralyse wrote: »

How, exactly, do players propose that ZOS raises the revenue needed every year (presumably multiple millions of dollars) to keep the game running if they're supposed to just give everything to everyone for free?

but you're also getting access to the DLC's and the incredibly useful craft bag with that

I don't know when it became popular to think that you should be able to earn and unlock every possible thing in ESO and never have to spend a single dollar, but that's highly unrealistic thinking.

Probably the same way capitalist propose that we afford to live with inflation every year while our paycheck doesnt keep up with it. "Itll work itself out."

SWTOR is a f2p MMORPG that has the craft bag unlocked for everyone regardless if you are/were subscribed or not. It is a problem that they created to sell you the solution for and you see it as a benefit.

I was unaware that it became popular to begin with. I dont think most are asking for that. I think most are asking for more than 4 reskinned horses and 4 mounts earnable through gameplay. Nobody is saying dont monetize at all but they are way over the line where it should be considered acceptable. They can toss out mounts fast af for the crown store. Make one earnable themed around the trial or expansion and one racial mount that you can buy instead of every stable everywhere selling horses.

[edited for baiting & to remove quote]

Troodon80

Box price and subscription pricing is highly debatable. Perhaps it depends where you are in the world. In my case, for example, FFXIV costs around £7.69 / 10.99 € per month (for 180 day billing). For 12 months, that's £92.28 / €131.88. Updates are free, but chapters are not (until they get included in the base Standard price).

To compare, without looking at the cash shop:


If we include things like Skyshard and Guild skips, I would be remiss not the point out that FFXIV also has Hero's Journey skips for chapters and jobs.

The difference being, that for a higher annual price, you get more cosmetics included as standard -- that being, earnable in-game. While ESO has a lower annual pricing, it relies more on the cash shop. You cannot have your cake and eat it. If we wanted more "free" earnable items, then base pricing (or annual pricing) must go up. FFXIV offers a slightly more modular pricing system with retainers (which by itself is already a massive inconvenience since it's not just one big shared bank, it's like ESO's storage containers rather than just additional bank slots). If you're starting out, you probably won't have any additional retainers, but once you get more jobs levelled and you start doing any sort of end game content, even down to crafting, then you'll want those extra retainers (I tend to stick to 2 additional paid retainers).

Once you include cash shop, then generally ESO is more predatory with FOMO. Which one could argue that, without a mandatory subscription model, it needs to be in order to make money. Contrast that to FFXIV, where there is no in-game cash shop and the cash shop is completely external to the game.

However, the topic is misleading in that regard. Comparing just base game with subscription, ESO is quite a bit cheaper than FFXIV, just as an example, and definitely not "Most Expensive."

Heartrage

I don’t agree with everything that Zos sell but Eso+ plus new chapters are fine to me. I play hundreds of hours every year, on a per hour basis, it ends up being pretty cheap compared to other hobbies/activities.

Tandor

Paralyse wrote: »

How, exactly, do players propose that ZOS raises the revenue needed every year (presumably multiple millions of dollars) to keep the game running if they're supposed to just give everything to everyone for free?

The game is free to play (as in does not require a subscription), and with ESO+ if you save your monthly allotment of Crowns instead of getting "gotta-have-it-itis" you will have 24,000 Crowns per year for less than $200 -- slightly more than it would cost to buy that many Crowns outright, but you're also getting access to the DLC's and the incredibly useful craft bag with that, as well as unlocks on costume dying, etc.

If you don't support loot crates, don't buy them.
If you don't want to pay for ESO+, don't pay for it.
But if you want there to continue to be an ESO to play, someone, somewhere has to pay for it to exist.

I don't know when it became popular to think that you should be able to earn and unlock every possible thing in ESO and never have to spend a single dollar, but that's highly unrealistic thinking.

As an aside, the first online RPG I ever played (way back in 1992) was $50/month for 25 hours of game play per month. Each hour over 25 hours was $2.00 per hour. One month I played ~280 hours. My parents were a little angry when they got the credit card statement the next month, to say the least. The game did have an "unlimited" plan for the low price of something like $300/month, which was later dropped because no one was signing up for it.

It happened in the genre generally when Free to Play came along. There is a clump (chump might be a more fitting collective noun) of gamers who think Free to Play should mean just that. Buy to Play? Same thing except they'll pay a bargain price for a game when it's on sale and then the Free to Play expectations apply thereafter. Naturally they don't want to pay a subscription for a game they spend thousands of hours on, but they don't want things (that is, the things they want) to be monetised either. "Highly unrealistic thinking" doesn't quite cover it!

psychotrip

TheGreatBlackBear wrote: »

[snip]

I mean...yeah? Thats exactly what it is. Thats how live service games are designed these days, some worse than others.

[snip]
[edited for bashing & to remove quote]

TheGreatBlackBear

Troodon80 wrote: »

Box price and subscription pricing is highly debatable. Perhaps it depends where you are in the world. In my case, for example, FFXIV costs around £7.69 / 10.99 € per month (for 180 day billing). For 12 months, that's £92.28 / €131.88. Updates are free, but chapters are not (until they get included in the base Standard price).

To compare, without looking at the cash shop:


If we include things like Skyshard and Guild skips, I would be remiss not the point out that FFXIV also has Hero's Journey skips for chapters and jobs.

The difference being, that for a higher annual price, you get more cosmetics included as standard -- that being, earnable in-game. While ESO has a lower annual pricing, it relies more on the cash shop. You cannot have your cake and eat it. If we wanted more "free" earnable items, then base pricing (or annual pricing) must go up. FFXIV offers a slightly more modular pricing system with retainers (which by itself is already a massive inconvenience since it's not just one big shared bank, it's like ESO's storage containers rather than just additional bank slots). If you're starting out, you probably won't have any additional retainers, but once you get more jobs levelled and you start doing any sort of end game content, even down to crafting, then you'll want those extra retainers (I tend to stick to 2 additional paid retainers).

Once you include cash shop, then generally ESO is more predatory with FOMO. Which one could argue that, without a mandatory subscription model, it needs to be in order to make money. Contrast that to FFXIV, where there is no in-game cash shop and the cash shop is completely external to the game.

However, the topic is misleading in that regard. Comparing just base game with subscription, ESO is quite a bit cheaper than FFXIV, just as an example, and definitely not "Most Expensive."

Also, on Playstation and Xbox you also have to pay for Gold/Gamepass/PS+ to play ESO so such expense exists for FFXIV on console. So in reality for many people the cost of playing ESO is like $130 more than what you quoted per year.