Ourorboros wrote: »

All this speculation would go away if ZOS would just release a statement about why they removed the 6 month sub ( and not some lame excuse that it's not popular ). This issue has led to several forum threads with view counts among the highest ever, and has now spread to the internet gaming community. The official silence on this is making things worse. Why would they not make some statement if they have no F2P or B2P plans. I don't think this will go away soon unless ZOS makes a statement.

What can they say that will assuage peoples fears?

They could say something like " The 6 month option was the reason for over 50% of calls to our CS lines, as people usually wanted a refund after only 3 months.", then people will argue that means the game is dying.

They could say " 6 month was unpopular and only accounted for 1% of recurring subscriptions" and people will respond with how people don't play the game long before choosing to leave.

They could say " 6 month was popular, but we make more money in the long run with 1 month and 3 months, as they are more per month." and people will call them out as either being greedy or the game is dying because they need the money.

Who knows? Most mmos that go f2p still keep long subscriptions an option (LotRO and SWTOR still have 6 month options, LotRO still has 1 year option) so I find the "ESO going F2P because of the removal of 6 month option" argument to be suspect.

Ourorboros wrote: »

TequilaFire wrote: »

What I find amazing is all those sites that owe their existence to games go to such lengths to help spread unconfirmed rumors that hurt games.
Click bait. imo

Looked to me like all those articles are just doing their job. They reported our forum discussions, and, yes, in some cases did the same speculation we have been doing about the motive for losing the 6 month sub. All of this noise could be settled, if ZOS just responded. It's their silence, however, which is speaking volumes.

Yes, they reported the forum focus, the press lives of bad or sensational news so this is something they would like to publish as it generates clicks.

However switching to free to play before the console release does not make sense, Why would they not want all the console sales. They can go F2P later if they want to but this will be far later after most of the console subs has quit.

As for responding to this, well its holiday and after all the QQ after they posted the 30CP comment I would not say anything without running it trough multiple layers of review.

As long as cash shop doesn't sell pay to win items that give you an advantage over players, why would anyone get upset if the game goes B2P or F2P?

Rescorla_ESO wrote: »

As long as cash shop doesn't sell pay to win items that give you an advantage over players, why would anyone get upset if the game goes B2P or F2P?

F2P almost always means there will be pay to win items in the store. In addition to that, F2P also dramatically changes the dynamic of the player base.

B2P isn't terrible, but I would still rather not see it myself. After trying many many F2P and B2P games, I still prefer a subscription game where you don't have to pull out the credit card in order to get something someone else has. ESO has a small cash shop, but it's pretty harmless atm.

I see a lot of interesting comments here...I will address a few
1. wow has been losing subs for years and its not f2p....Wow still has over4 mill subs and eso is closer to 250-500k. Don't compare the two.
2. Even if zos did respond about the 6 month sub would anyone believe them? Set aside the champ point retract and look at other instances such as the steam dog exclusive pet that was shortly thereafter available if you bought the nord plush and there are others as well but im not here to bash research yourself.
3. Zen is making a console game and weather you want to believe it or not your testing it while they finalize the financial agreements with xbox live and ps plus to remove the cost of subs for the players.
4. But zen said pc and console wont play together.. TRUE, however that's for the benefit of bringing in new players so they wont feel a huge disadvantage from pc players items and gold,But in the interest of selling more console games once purchased you can pay to transfer your account to console.
5. Fact is most ppl judge the eso success from the pre-order and initial launch sales. That was 8 months ago and they don't have nearly the original player base. Hide in your world or simply post for zen to release the sub numbers...GL
6. The fact is they are here for money not for the individual player and removing subs at console launch will give the a shot at another huge box sale and then moving to a cash store will for a short time bring in far more money than the current subs.

So now you know, play if you want or don't but stop expecting Zos to tell you the endgame plans

SIN-X wrote: »

I see a lot of interesting comments here...I will address a few
1. wow has been losing subs for years and its not f2p....Wow still has over4 mill subs and eso is closer to 250-500k. Don't compare the two.
2. Even if zos did respond about the 6 month sub would anyone believe them? Set aside the champ point retract and look at other instances such as the steam dog exclusive pet that was shortly thereafter available if you bought the nord plush and there are others as well but im not here to bash research yourself.
3. Zen is making a console game and weather you want to believe it or not your testing it while they finalize the financial agreements with xbox live and ps plus to remove the cost of subs for the players.
4. But zen said pc and console wont play together.. TRUE, however that's for the benefit of bringing in new players so they wont feel a huge disadvantage from pc players items and gold,But in the interest of selling more console games once purchased you can pay to transfer your account to console.
5. Fact is most ppl judge the eso success from the pre-order and initial launch sales. That was 8 months ago and they don't have nearly the original player base. Hide in your world or simply post for zen to release the sub numbers...GL
6. The fact is they are here for money not for the individual player and removing subs at console launch will give the a shot at another huge box sale and then moving to a cash store will for a short time bring in far more money than the current subs.

So now you know my opinion, play if you want or don't but stop expecting Zos to tell you the endgame plans

They have actually. Countless times they have been asked if they intend to go F2P, and countless times they have said no. Obviously things change and developers are notorious for changing their tune. But for now we have rumors and fact. The fact is that zos has repeatedly said they have zero plans to go F2P.

Perhaps they could make more money doing it. But right now they said they want no part of it and the majority of the ESO player base agrees with them. A few people would stick around if they switched, but a huge amount of people would drop ESO like a rotten bag of potatoes if it switched to F2P. Including myself.

It isn't like it was a few years ago when F2P games were all the rage because people were tired of paying subs. There is a GIGANTIC amount of people that have "been there and done that" and want no part of a F2P game.

I hope its just a PR tactics, make veryone feels like its going F2P and tell on next ESO Live its not true and we love Your community so we can't do this too them.

But i know how real world works... , if this really happend there is no safe MMO and i think never will be for me.

@Darlgon‌

There was official info on French forum section that was removed - only hope is someone hacked Staff account and talk crap

Hope it does not go F2P!

JKorr wrote: »

Ourorboros wrote: »

All this speculation would go away if ZOS would just release a statement about why they removed the 6 month sub ( and not some lame excuse that it's not popular ). This issue has led to several forum threads with view counts among the highest ever, and has now spread to the internet gaming community. The official silence on this is making things worse. Why would they not make some statement if they have no F2P or B2P plans. I don't think this will go away soon unless ZOS makes a statement.

And if they make a statement there will be an immediate flood of "THEY ARE LYING AGAIN!!!" no matter what the content of their announcement is.

So I've been told already. By this logic, it's better to have rampant rumor mongering than to be forthcoming with players and address their concerns. Aside from nut jobs, I think the reaction is likely to be based on what kind of response is given. The one response from ZOS so far (it's not a popular option) has taken a lot of flack because it is flimsy, and there is precedence for this action being followed by going F2P. Since this topic is generating massive attention, it's hard to imagine ZOS is not aware of it at highest levels. And, yes, any response is likely to be greeted with skepticism, but continuing to remain mute is not helping. Honestly, they've put themselves in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

Bloodystab wrote: »

There was official info on French forum section that was removed - only hope is someone hacked Staff account and talk crap

It has not been removed.

Bonjour à tous,

Nous avons constaté que les joueurs préféraient les abonnements de 30 et 90 jours, l'équipe The Elder Scrolls Online a donc pris la décision de supprimer l'abonnement de 180 jours.
Les abonnements de 30 et 90 jours sont toujours disponibles.

danno816_ESO wrote: »

What can they say that will assuage peoples fears?

They could say: "We have restored the option to select 6-month subscriptions."

This would shut down this source of speculation pretty quickly. I am sure, however, that a few people would disbelieve that the 180-subscription was actually returned and assume it is nothing but a PR ploy.