ESO B2P Announcement: 4 Things They Need to Get Right

spoqster · January 2015

I don't mind the transition. I'm ok with it. I will keep subscribed to ESO Plus, so not much will change for me.

The problems I see:

Character copy: I want to alternate between playing on XBox and Mac. I hope that will be possible. They should store the character on a central server so that it can be used on all systems.
Subscriber Reward: 100 Crowns for every month I have been subscribed is too little. I get 1500 crowns for every new month but only a total of 900 for the months I have already paid? This will cause an uproar. It might have been smarter to just hand over 5000 crowns to long term subs to prevent complaints and bad feelings.
User Interface: I hope they will use the new UI (looks good) also in Mac/PC version.
There are a few addons that offer functionality that is absolutely necessary functionality for anyone who is not just out for the Sunday afternoon stroll through Tamriel. If they don't include this functionality into the game for consoles, they will be trying to sell a car without wheels.

spoqster · January 2015

What do you guys think?

jcasini222ub17_ESO · January 2015

I agree on all points, and it was well stated. I'm waiting for the community to sink their teeth into that crown compensation. Although it is difficult to tell if 100 is a lot or a little without know how much things like a guar mount would cost. Although, my gut is saying 100 is too low.

Gidorick · January 2015

They've said there will be NO back and forth between the versions.... unlike FFXIV.

asteldian · January 2015

I think giving 5000 to long term subscribers makes sense - keep in mind a lot of them will quit anyway so it is fake money that won't get used for the most part.

OrphanHelgen · January 2015

spoqster wrote: »

[*] Subscriber Reward: 100 Crowns for every month I have been subscribed is too little. I get 1500 crowns for every new month but only a total of 900 for the months I have already paid? This will cause an uproar. It might have been smarter to just hand over 5000 crowns to long term subs to prevent complaints and bad feelings.

I have a question. Did I understand this right?
If you example have 2 month left of your subscription when this releases, will you the get 1500 x 2 = 3000 crowns?
If so, is it possible to subscribe for 6 months right before this releases, so you get 1500 x 6 crowns?

Edit: I did something wrong about the quote thing I see. I dont know how I did that.

spoqster · January 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

They've said there will be NO back and forth between the versions.... unlike FFXIV.

Well, they changed the CP giveaway from 30 to 70. Maybe there is technically possible, and then it may be subject to change.

Having XBox players play with PS4 players is ruled out by Microsoft/Sony. This is different. If they find a way to reliably decouple the character from the platform server it should be possible.

Homm · January 2015

spoqster wrote: »

What do you guys think?

About your ideas? Dunno, I immediately stopped caring about this game.
About the whole idiotic approach of ZOS? HAHAHAHAHAHA *** liars. "It will be P2P, sure". Just wait for F2P. Soon.

Gorthax · January 2015

spoqster wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

They've said there will be NO back and forth between the versions.... unlike FFXIV.

Well, they changed the CP giveaway from 30 to 70. Maybe there is technically possible, and then it may be subject to change.

Having XBox players play with PS4 players is ruled out by Microsoft/Sony. This is different. If they find a way to reliably decouple the character from the platform server it should be possible.

Not true, FFXI is a shining example. Ps2 players, ps3 players, xbox players AND pc players all play on the same server. Nuff said.

OrphanHelgen · January 2015

I post this again since I ruined the last one:

f you example have 2 month left of your subscription when this releases, will you the get 1500 x 2 = 3000 crowns?
If so, is it possible to subscribe for 6 months right before this releases, so you get 1500 x 6 crowns?

spoqster · January 2015

OrphanHelgen wrote: »

I post this again since I ruined the last one:

f you example have 2 month left of your subscription when this releases, will you the get 1500 x 2 = 3000 crowns?
If so, is it possible to subscribe for 6 months right before this releases, so you get 1500 x 6 crowns?

I think you are right. But you can't buy 6 months subscriptions currently.

spoqster · January 2015

Gorthax wrote: »

spoqster wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

They've said there will be NO back and forth between the versions.... unlike FFXIV.

Well, they changed the CP giveaway from 30 to 70. Maybe there is technically possible, and then it may be subject to change.

Having XBox players play with PS4 players is ruled out by Microsoft/Sony. This is different. If they find a way to reliably decouple the character from the platform server it should be possible.

Not true, FFXI is a shining example. Ps2 players, ps3 players, xbox players AND pc players all play on the same server. Nuff said.

Oh. Didn't know. Fifa is not cross platform.

Korah_Eaglecry · January 2015

spoqster wrote: »

I don't mind the transition. I'm ok with it. I will keep subscribed to ESO Plus, so not much will change for me.

The problems I see:
Character copy: I want to alternate between playing on XBox and Mac. I hope that will be possible. They should store the character on a central server so that it can be used on all systems.

Subscriber Reward: 100 Crowns for every month I have been subscribed is too little. I get 1500 crowns for every new month but only a total of 900 for the months I have already paid? This will cause an uproar. It might have been smarter to just hand over 5000 crowns to long term subs to prevent complaints and bad feelings.

User Interface: I hope they will use the new UI (looks good) also in Mac/PC version.

There are a few addons that offer functionality that is absolutely necessary functionality for anyone who is not just out for the Sunday afternoon stroll through Tamriel. If they don't include this functionality into the game for consoles, they will be trying to sell a car without wheels.

You should be glad their giving you anything for your past subbed months. Other games wouldnt be generous about it at all.

You paid for access under the current system. Now that the game is going B2P youre going to be paying for the benefit of having Crown Points every month, Boosts and Renting the DLCs.

The new UI seems to be a Console thing. As its UI required it be slightly different due to the difference in accessibility. Dont expect much if any of that UI to transition to PC.

I honestly dont know what you mean about add-ons being necessary. I play my PC ESO in its vanilla state with no Add-Ons. I dont feel gimped whatso ever without them.

Dominoid · January 2015

asteldian wrote: »

I think giving 5000 to long term subscribers makes sense - keep in mind a lot of them will quit anyway so it is fake money that won't get used for the most part.

I get the instant reaction emotions. What I don't get is the -

"I have an already bought game that I can continue to play at no additional cost to me. I know what will teach them, I won't play that game for free!"

MrGhosty · January 2015

Won't know if more crowns are the answer until we can get a look at the cash store, beyond that any sort of crown benefit seems ill fitting as a means of rewarding those who stuck it out with this game.

Don't get me wrong I'll gladly accept whatever crowns they give me, but it would be nice to be given something that only those of us who have been subbed before the change have access to. I don't want anything game breaking or imbalanced but something that recognizes those of us who stuck it out through good and bad would be nice.

Some ideas:

Priority queueing when entering Cyrodiil
Custom title
Unique costume only available for original subscribers
Permanent discount in the crown store
First DLC zone for free to be kept even if sub runs out without buying it
etc etc

It seems like when other games have drastically changed their payment model those who were caught in that were compensated drastically. This isn't a tiny dollar amount that has been invested into the game, and while I have enjoyed my time I have no guarantees I will continue to do so. At least with a fancy title I can sit around in zone chat telling all the youngin's what it was like in my time when we had to quest uphill both ways.

In all seriousness, I feel we need something with a bit more bang as a thank you for all of the time we've spent subbed.

spoqster · January 2015

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

spoqster wrote: »

I don't mind the transition. I'm ok with it. I will keep subscribed to ESO Plus, so not much will change for me.

The problems I see:
Character copy: I want to alternate between playing on XBox and Mac. I hope that will be possible. They should store the character on a central server so that it can be used on all systems.

Subscriber Reward: 100 Crowns for every month I have been subscribed is too little. I get 1500 crowns for every new month but only a total of 900 for the months I have already paid? This will cause an uproar. It might have been smarter to just hand over 5000 crowns to long term subs to prevent complaints and bad feelings.

User Interface: I hope they will use the new UI (looks good) also in Mac/PC version.

There are a few addons that offer functionality that is absolutely necessary functionality for anyone who is not just out for the Sunday afternoon stroll through Tamriel. If they don't include this functionality into the game for consoles, they will be trying to sell a car without wheels.

You should be glad their giving you anything for your past subbed months. Other games wouldnt be generous about it at all.

You paid for access under the current system. Now that the game is going B2P youre going to be paying for the benefit of having Crown Points every month, Boosts and Renting the DLCs.

The new UI seems to be a Console thing. As its UI required it be slightly different due to the difference in accessibility. Dont expect much if any of that UI to transition to PC.

I honestly dont know what you mean about add-ons being necessary. I play my PC ESO in its vanilla state with no Add-Ons. I dont feel gimped whatso ever without them.

I don't think their solution is unfair. But I think overcompensating existing players would be a small price to pay to keep the community content.

I think the current UI is old-fashioned and the new one looks quite good. Also a new UI will offer the chance to fix some of the shortcomings. I hope they did that.

There are ongoing discussions about the necessity for addons, but I have yet to meet someone who has beaten vet Dragonstar Arena without them. And I couldn't imagine doing any kind of useful trading without Shopkeeper or DataDaedra.

Bouvin · January 2015

I've been playing since Beta 2.

Started playing minutes after the servers went up early on Early Access day 1.

And all I get for my loyalty is 1/2 a months worth of Crown Points.

That show EXACTLY how little they appreciate their fan base.

UrQuan · January 2015

spoqster wrote: »

Character copy: I want to alternate between playing on XBox and Mac. I hope that will be possible. They should store the character on a central server so that it can be used on all systems.

This would be nice. I know they've already said that you won't be able to freely switch back and forth, and that the consoles would each have their own server, but I hope this is something that they can still change their minds on.

I mean, from a technical perspective it shouldn't be too difficult to have a DB with all character info that gets updated on logout. On logging in on one server, that server would send a message to the DB to retrieve the character info, and at the same time send a "locked by Xbox server" flag to the central DB, so that the same character can't be on multiple servers at the same time (if it could be then you'd end up with corrupt data). The flag is removed on logout with the same message that send the updated character info.

In theory that should be fairly easy.

Edit: I should note that I'm saying this as someone who has no personal stake in it, as I am highly unlikely to ever want to play on a console. I like my PC, and I'll stay on it. I still think this would be a good thing for a lot of players, and I'd like to see it for their benefit.

spoqster · January 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

spoqster wrote: »

Character copy: I want to alternate between playing on XBox and Mac. I hope that will be possible. They should store the character on a central server so that it can be used on all systems.

This would be nice. I know they've already said that you won't be able to freely switch back and forth, and that the consoles would each have their own server, but I hope this is something that they can still change their minds on.

I mean, from a technical perspective it shouldn't be too difficult to have a DB with all character info that gets updated on logout. On logging in on one server, that server would send a message to the DB to retrieve the character info, and at the same time send a "locked by Xbox server" flag to the central DB, so that the same character can't be on multiple servers at the same time (if it could be then you'd end up with corrupt data). The flag is removed on logout with the same message that send the updated character info.

In theory that should be fairly easy.

Yes.

theweakminded · January 2015

Bouvin wrote: »

I've been playing since Beta 2.

Started playing minutes after the servers went up early on Early Access day 1.

And all I get for my loyalty is 1/2 a months worth of Crown Points.

That show EXACTLY how little they appreciate their fan base.

I doubt it has to do with hating their fan base, but if they gave long time subscribers the full amount of crowns they would have, you have a massive initial inflation that they need to worry about. This is still months away, stop freaking out like a 3yr old that just saw a dead cat.