I acknowledge that this is a fantastic game. I also wish to point out that I'm a big fan of ESO. I strongly believe in the potential of this game, and I really love the general idea of having the ES franchise approach the MMO scene.

I'm a gamer in general, I play all genres. Be it FPS, PC, RTS, RPG, and all types of MMO. I believe there are strength and weaknesses that each genre possess, and there are also different stand points when you assess a different genre. Now, I'm not going to touch on whether this is a MMO or a single player. I'm going to assess this as simply an online game that has constant updates which you can either play alone or with others. It's essentially a just a game. A product with service.

Let's look at the product. Ignore all reviews and look at the product.
It's a game that costs you money when you make your first purchase with 30 days game time.
Is it aesthetically pleasing? Above average.
Is it what you desire? Assuming you bought the game, yes, it's interesting.
Is it functional? Generally yes, we'll come back to this later.
Is it fun? Generally yes, I had tonnes of fun. But let's leave it as a yes as of now.
Is it worth the money as a product? This is controversial. I'd say yes, but you may have a different opinion.

To me, it's a great product. A constantly evolving product that is shaped by it's services. You must pay $15 every month to upkeep this product and keep it functional for you, the $15 will also account for updates and fixes. So let's take a look at it's services.

Maintenance & Fixes
Are the maintenances frequent and professional?
While the maintenance is frequent. It is definitely not professional. Think of this as a job, or your homework.

What's the deadline whenever there is a maintenance?
There isn't a deadline and they could have it done in any amount of time. Vague promises are made and none fulfilled.

Is it a quality piece of work when the patch is provided?
There is constant omission of pending issues, with problems that existed since beta unable to be resolved to this date. New problematic issues surface with the launch of each and every patch. Features that were previously functional may be rendered dysfunctional post patch.

Does it satisfy the objective and theme of the work assigned?
Whilst the theme of the game may vary with consumers, the objective is to keep it functional and provide general fun and stress relieve. With the recent patches, the game declines in functionality with reports of performance drops and game breaking bugs. If general fun is assessed by the number of subscription termination and loss of population, the statistics and surrounding phenomenons show that the game has failed to achieve it's objective of securing the targeted population.

Consider it an amendment to your company sales contract, does it state the amendments clearly?
Amendments or patch notes are never accurate, the patch notes require updates that adds notes omitted. To consumers, patch notes may be a list of amendments, to seller, patch notes is a list of objectives. Seller is clearly unable to set or achieve target objectives in providing said patches.

Functionality vs Content
With each patch, the product loses some of it's functionality and regain/gain new & old features. Ignoring the fact that the product of which you paid for upon first purchase will lose functionality should you terminate your monthly payment, it is unacceptable that the monthly payment contributes to the loss of functionality in said product.

Assuming you bought a car, it is supposed to have a lifespan of 5 years. You send the car to a routine maintenance and upgrade. Should your car lose it's exhaust system or overheat during that five years of intended general usage? It's unacceptable if that happens, same goes to the game.

Content update is totally controversial. Some desire horizontal content that grants more comfort during general usage, some desire vertical content that gives user the ability to go further. Think about it this way, of the $15 that you have paid, deduct the amount you pay for the customer service and taxes, deduct the amount attributable to server upkeep, you may be left with 50% of the amount which is $7.50. Does the new content justify $7.50? That is totally up to you.

Please do not include any amount to the fixes, as these fixes are supposed to be paid for upon purchase. Think of it this way, you bought a new car, the car comes with a broken radio, are you supposed to pay for the fixes? I don't think so. You brought the car to the place you bought, they fix the radio and broke the electronics, are you supposed to be responsible? I don't think so too.

Customer Service
ESO provides customer service which includes ticketing system and a forum.

Ticketing
This will always have mixed review as it differs from the person-in-charge (PIC).
Here are my notes regarding, the general idea of ticketing is to allow consumers to submit problems found within the product, of which will be assessed and resolved by a PIC. Have this been achieved? For me, yes.

As ESO is a multi-user product, the ticketing will also allow users to report other users that has performed a task that will affect or potentially affect the gameplay of other users. Has this been achieved? For me, I was lucky to be assigned to a great PIC once and the offender was given a fair warning. Regarding botters, there was no reply or status update or confirmation of said report is proven legitimate. From what I heard, the exploiters in PVP are still roaming freely.

The customers are also allowed to provide feedbacks and suggestions regarding said products. Has your feedback been reflected in the patch notes? I've written several feedbacks regarding patch prioritisation, to fix before add, yet it appears that it has fallen to deaf ears.

Forums
(I will merely ask questions and provide no answers due to the Code of Conduct stating that discuss of forum moderation is unacceptable. Please refrain from posting your reply to these questions and reserve your answers. Discussion regarding forum moderation is not permitted)

1. Do you like the forum provided with the intention to let consumers discuss the product?

2. Are you able to fully express your feelings regarding said product on said forum?
Is your post which was intended to be discussed with other users achieving it's target objective?

3. Is your feedback on the forums truly reflect in the product's evolution?

4. Has the personnel in charge provided reasonable care and feedback to your posted issue? Have they been able to comprehend your problems regarding said product and provide necessary feedbacks?

I will leave that to you. once again, please do not post discuss forum moderation in this thread or it will be removed.

After you have read this, I assume you know that I am no longer comparing the product (ESO) to any MMORPG or RPG, nor am I saying that the product should go F2P. This is not even about innovation that has declined in recent years of gaming industry and the decreasing amount of new IP (intellectual property).

This is merely a product and service assessment of which you should do yourself and determine if this product is worth your time and money. Is ESO giving you more entertainment than you paid for? Or has it been frustrating and failed in it's role to bring you fun? Quality wise, does it satisfy you?

If you are a student, it's merely a teacher marking the papers. Has ESO passed the test? Has this student been listening to you? Do you think this student will pass the test in future attempts?

Personally, I love the product and am disappointed at the services. The product is well worth it's price, the services are supposed to, but it really doesn't as of now.