Livestream for Update 44 happening now...

Syldras · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not cool given they were pulled from the chapter. Everyone who bought Gold Road should get them. Also, that means you lose them if you cancel sub, I suppose.

I've tolerated a lot of content reductions during the last few years, but this is truly disappointing. Even if I still have ESO+, I guess I won't even bother interacting with the new companions if I lose access anyway if I cancel some day. Yes, I know I could buy them from the subscription crowns, but as they have been part of the chapter before, I'm absolutely not willing to do that.

I'm really wondering if ZOS could not imagine before how much annoyance that would cause with many players? They're certainly not gaining popularity with this.

spartaxoxo · September 10

One of the meet-ups will have an ESO tavern, so that should be fun for those who can attend live.

Fata1moose · September 10

Charging for companions after the chapter was very clearly a dlc zone repurposed sure is a choice. Give us less and less, charge more and more.

AzuraFan · September 10

10th anniversary meetups:

Sept: Italy, San Diego - both full
Oct: Australia (Melbourne, Sydney), Spain, Poland

AzuraFan · September 10

Finally, a nod to Elder Scrolls Castle, which recently launched.

AzuraFan · September 10

Syldras wrote: »

I've tolerated a lot of content reductions during the last few years, but this is truly disappointing. Even if I still have ESO+, I guess I won't even bother interacting with the new companions if I lose access anyway if I cancel some day. Yes, I know I could buy them from the subscription crowns, but as they have been part of the chapter before, I'm absolutely not willing to do that.

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

spartaxoxo · September 10

Elder Scrolls: Castle is a new mobile game launch. ESO online will have a pet egg looking thingy that you can get as partnership with this new mobile game. You'll manage a castle. I haven't played Fall Out Shelter but it's giving me those vibes.

Available for download now. You can get the little egg from the crown store on Sept 16th.

AzuraFan · September 10

That's it! Keep an eye out for the PTS patch notes on Monday, which will have all the details.

spartaxoxo · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

That's it! Keep an eye out for the PTS patch notes on Monday, which will have all the details.

Thanks for making this thread! It was fun watching it as a group.

AzuraFan · September 10

spartaxoxo wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

That's it! Keep an eye out for the PTS patch notes on Monday, which will have all the details.

Thanks for making this thread! It was fun watching it as a group.

Thanks for pitching in!

disky · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

This kind of thinking is exactly why companies get away with it. They know people will be unhappy but they'll still pay.

AzuraFan · September 10

disky wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

This kind of thinking is exactly why companies get away with it. They know people will be unhappy but they'll still pay.

You're right, but I'll still buy them. I wonder if they come with quests to get them. If not, I'll be disappointed.

jaws343 · September 10

To date, they have never released a free companion. It has always relied on purchase of a chapter. And since they have pretty much demonetized the majority of their updates, going from 4 that cost money/subscription to 2, this really isn't all that surprising that these would be a sole breakout costing addition.

Syldras · September 10

I mean I'd be fine if they introduced a bunch of extra companions to buy in the crown store, or announced that they would sell extras every now and then from now on. But if there's only 2 this year that originally would have been free, it's a different matter...

Necrotech_Master · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

disky wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

This kind of thinking is exactly why companies get away with it. They know people will be unhappy but they'll still pay.

You're right, but I'll still buy them. I wonder if they come with quests to get them. If not, I'll be disappointed.

im sure they will likely still have some personal companion quests, as the companion is the quest starter for those and they can make you go to any existing area

i dont see why you would lose a bought item if you dropped eso+ though, that literally doesnt happen for any other paid for content

you would lose access to say mirri if you did not buy blackwood and only accessed it with eso+, but if you bought blackwood you would never lose access to mirri

if these new companions were crown only, you wouldnt ever lose them if you bought them

AzuraFan · September 10

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i dont see why you would lose a bought item if you dropped eso+ though, that literally doesnt happen for any other paid for ...

I understand that I won't lose them if I buy them with crowns. What I'm saying is that it's not much of an ESO+ benefit if you go through the trouble of levelling them up, but then lose them if you unsub (assuming you haven't bought them with crowns).

And as I said earlier, given that they were pulled from Gold Road, anyone who bought Gold Road should get them for free, period. Especially since they still charged AAA price for Gold Road, a smaller zone with less content.

spartaxoxo · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i dont see why you would lose a bought item if you dropped eso+ though, that literally doesnt happen for any other paid for ...

I understand that I won't lose them if I buy them with crowns. What I'm saying is that it's not much of an ESO+ benefit if you go through the trouble of levelling them up, but then lose them if you unsub (assuming you haven't bought them with crowns).

And as I said earlier, given that they were pulled from Gold Road, anyone who bought Gold Road should get them for free, period. Especially since they still charged AAA price for Gold Road, a smaller zone with less content.

Eh. It's like all the other DLC in that regard. ESO+ lets you rent content rather than own it. Not an issue for people who won't play unsubbed. But as someone who used to let my sub lapse on purpose, and may still do so in the future, I most definitely feel the difference and have been buying those DLC for years. That's why I actually appreciated those times they gave some away for free.

majulook · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

If you get them with ESO+ they will not go away if you unsub.
They are not automatically free you have to go get them from the Crown store, unlike ESO+ making the DLC's available to play automatically only for the duration of the sub...

NON- ESO+ the new companions are purchased with Crowns (which is basically real money).

Possibly If you do not have ESO+ just get them during one of the times ESO+ is available as a free trial.

TaSheen · September 10

I saw a brief mention somewhere of cross play. Anyone know anything about that? I wasn't home for the stream....

AzuraFan · September 10

majulook wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

If you get them with ESO+ they will not go away if you unsub. If you have ESO+ you get them free as a ESO + benefit. Otherwise the new companions are purchased with Crowns (which is basicly real money).

If you do not have ESO+ just get them during one of the times ESO+ is available as a free trial.

I have ESO+, but now I'm confused since you're saying if I unsub I would still get to use the companions, but someone else is saying I'd lose access to them.

AzuraFan · September 10

TaSheen wrote: »

I saw a brief mention somewhere of cross play. Anyone know anything about that? I wasn't home for the stream....

They didn't mention cross play.

WitchyKiki · September 10

majulook wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

If you get them with ESO+ they will not go away if you unsub. If you have ESO+ you get them free as a ESO + benefit. Otherwise the new companions are purchased with Crowns (which is basicly real money).

If you do not have ESO+ just get them during one of the times ESO+ is available as a free trial.

Was this specified on the live? I don't recall them mentioning this.

AzuraFan · September 10

WitchyKiki wrote: »

Was this specified on the live? I don't recall them mentioning this.

On live, they said that you get the companions with ESO+, otherwise you have to buy them from the crown store. I think you lose access to them if you have ESO+ and unsub, just like you would lose access to DLCs and dungeons you don't own. I know I lost access to them when I unsubbed for a while.

Necrotech_Master · September 10

AzuraFan wrote: »

majulook wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

If you get them with ESO+ they will not go away if you unsub. If you have ESO+ you get them free as a ESO + benefit. Otherwise the new companions are purchased with Crowns (which is basicly real money).

If you do not have ESO+ just get them during one of the times ESO+ is available as a free trial.

I have ESO+, but now I'm confused since you're saying if I unsub I would still get to use the companions, but someone else is saying I'd lose access to them.

if the companions are say offered as a free bonus for eso+, it will be like every other deal in eso, if you claim it in the crown store its permanently accessible

it might be one of those things where it costs like 5000 crowns, but has an eso+ price of free

regardless, if you "purchased" it (either free as eso+ bonus or with crowns) you wont lose access to it ever

i think theres confusion going on with the free eso+ weekends, because those free eso+ trials dont get access to companions even though they now have access to the chapter DLC the companion was part of

Ingenon · September 10

On UESP Online:Companions it says 'If you have access to the respective chapter or DLC (except if you only have access due to an ESO Plus free trial), you can meet a Companion during the first quest of their questline."

So I think that you cannot unlock the new companions during an ESO Plus free trial.

I do not know if you get to keep access to a companion you unlocked because you have ESO Plus, and then you unsub.

AzuraFan · September 10

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

if the companions are say offered as a free bonus for eso+, it will be like every other deal in eso, if you claim it in the crown store its permanently accessible

Okay, I guess then it depends on how they're offered. If we can claim them for free, then yeah, unsubbing won't matter. But if they're part of the subscription, like DLCs, then we would lose access.

So that's a question, then. Do ESO+ subscribers get to claim the companions, and therefore own them, or are the companions part of the subscription, in which case we're only renting them?

disky · September 10

jaws343 wrote: »

To date, they have never released a free companion. It has always relied on purchase of a chapter. And since they have pretty much demonetized the majority of their updates, going from 4 that cost money/subscription to 2, this really isn't all that surprising that these would be a sole breakout costing addition.

I'll say this, since I've stopped buying the (digital collector's edition) chapters on day one and I'm no longer subscribing to ESO+, I'm saving a lot of money, which might help to subsidize a purchase of one of their companions. I won't be doing that anytime soon, but maybe if they're on deep discount one day.

If they ever address overland challenge, that is.

majulook · September 10

WitchyKiki wrote: »

majulook wrote: »

AzuraFan wrote: »

Yeah, not much of an ESO+ benefit if you lose them if you unsub. Because of that, I'll probably grit my teeth and buy them, but I'm NOT happy about it.

If you get them with ESO+ they will not go away if you unsub. If you have ESO+ you get them free as a ESO + benefit. Otherwise the new companions are purchased with Crowns (which is basicly real money).

If you do not have ESO+ just get them during one of the times ESO+ is available as a free trial.

Was this specified on the live? I don't recall them mentioning this.

If you get any of the ESO+ monthly free items Paintings, mini-statues, Priestess of Mara costume, and such. they do not go away when you unsub.

hiyde · September 10

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Kevin

For those that obtain the new companions via ESO+, will access to them be removed if the subscription lapses?

I thought Gina said something along the lines of ESO+ people would still have to go into the Crown Store to obtain these, which makes it a "FREE" item purchase for ESO+. Logic would dictate the companions would remain in the mix even after a sub lapses?

AzuraFan · September 10

hiyde wrote: »

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Kevin

For those that obtain the new companions via ESO+, will access to them be removed if the subscription lapses?

I thought Gina said something along the lines of ESO+ people would still have to go into the Crown Store to obtain these, which makes it a "FREE" item purchase. Logic would dictate the companions would remain in the mix even after a sub lapses?

I think you might be right, but it would be nice to get confirmation.