Gifting ESO Plus

kevkj

Preamble: In light of the upcoming ESO+ exclusive release of two new dungeons and the somewhat recent release of two companions for 'free' to subscribers, I would like to request that ZOS provide a means for us to purchase ESO+ subscriptions for others. My post will not contain any whinging about the change in purchase model made in a transparent attempt to boost subscriber numbers. Rather, ZOS C Suite footwear will be extremely shiny after I am done and the forward statements for future quarterly reports can be more bullish than ever.

Player Problem: ESO is an always online game with a global population. The NA server for example serves players all over the Americas, at least the Eastern half of Asia and even is home to some Europeans. Players come from countries with wildly varying currencies. For us in North America itself, a month of ESO+ is comparable to a meal or an hour of wages while for others it is more comparable to an entire day's worth of wages.

ZOS Problem: How can ZOS extract ESO+ subscription money from players in these other countries? There's some degree of region pricing (at least through Steam), but for many it does not come close to making the cost analysis comparable to those in North America. Adjust it more sharply and there might be an increase in subscriber numbers, but at a reduced profit margin that would impact the annual employee bonus.

Solution: Allow ESO accounts to purchase ESO+ subscriptions for others. Currently non Steam/Console players can purchase a subscription through the website after logging in, I propose an option is added to send this subscription to another account. If this method is not possible for technical reasons, simply generate a code similar to those provided to Stream Team as giveaway prizes.

Player Upside: Now players like myself can entice our friends to play the game more, by subsidizing the cost of ESO+ for them. More people get to enjoy the benefits of ESO+. There will be more active players overall, particularly in non Chapter zones and DLC dungeons.

ZOS Upside: More active players for the marketing department, more subscribers and revenue for the finance department, the bitter pill of more ESO+ exclusives will go down easier because people with their belly full of a gifted subscription are less likely to complain.

Potential problems and their counterarguments:

• Region Pricing Abuse: Don't have region pricing. Set the gift/code cost as a fixed value for all accounts pegged to something like the US one.
• Credit Card Fraud: Gifts/codes are purchased through a storefront that is already handling chapter/crown purchases and the gifter/recipient are easily traceable. Additional restrictions to consider might be limiting the number of codes/gifts per month, and limiting the duration of these subscriptions to 30 day only requiring repeat and long term access to an account to do serious damage.

Sakiri

There's already regional pricing. I pay about ten bucks a month after exchange.

Heck most games are going that way. Blizzard did it too, I'm being charged for my US account in Swedish kronor.

Arunei

I honestly don't know why they haven't done this already. It would be a sure-fire way to get more income. Just let it be something we can gift in the Crown Store maybe, you purchase it as a gift and the person receives a code they can put in on their account page. Or just make it an option under the ESO+ screen for the store.

I'm pretty sure if a lot of other services allow you to gift a month subscription to others ESO could figure out how to do it too. Maybe there's just too much risk potential for them to want to try, or maybe they just don't care about making more money.

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