Subscriptions not really worth it come March?

NobleX35 · January 2015

Now obviously they just announced the change today (unfortunately), but based on the information provided, subscriptions don't really seem like a good option come March 17th. I mean you get:

1. 1500 crowns at the start of each 30-day membership period
- kinda decent maybe, but won't know until the store actually launches?

2. Access to all downloadable content for the duration of membership
- probably the only valuable thing on this list?

3. 10% bonus to experience point gain
- kinda useless IMO, especially once you hit level cap

4. 10% bonus to crafting research
- kinda decent for new players, but unnecessary now that most of my crafts are almost maxed out anyway

5. 10% bonus to crafting inspiration gain
- useless except for maybe enchanting

6. 10% bonus to gold acquisition
- decent, but not worth $15 a month for.

For $15 a month? Maybe it's just me, but most of that just doesn't seem like it would be worth $15 a month...I'll likely stay subbed for the first month, but if this is all a subscription will yield us, then I doubt I'll stay that way.

Thoughts?

timidobserver · January 2015

It depends on how much Crowns will cost. It might be worth it to remain subscribed for a while and let your crown allotments pool. After a while you should accrue enough crowns to unsub and buy most of the content and have plenty left over.

Morshire · January 2015

I guess the main thing to look at is how much they will be charging for DLC and how often. That is really what it will come down to when I personally consider it. In other games that have gone this way, I usually stay subbed for a time, earn the free "cash shop money" and then as it deteriorates, I buy what I want. That is usually the indication that I am done with the game, but reserve the right to go back. Of course, I have yet to go back, but always the planner.

WebBull · January 2015

Yeah, I agree. Not a lot of substance there. Also they should have at least something PvP related like 10% AP gain.

NobleX35 · January 2015

Morshire wrote: »

I guess the main thing to look at is how much they will be charging for DLC and how often. That is really what it will come down to when I personally consider it. In other games that have gone this way, I usually stay subbed for a time, earn the free "cash shop money" and then as it deteriorates, I buy what I want. That is usually the indication that I am done with the game, but reserve the right to go back. Of course, I have yet to go back, but always the planner.

Makes sense, though at the same time if DLC's are only $15-$20 and they release every 3 months, then you're paying 2-3 times the cost of the dlc by staying sub'd. Though I suppose if you stay sub'd for a year, you'd be pretty well off for any future dlc's.

WebBull wrote: »

Yeah, I agree. Not a lot of substance there. Also they should have at least something PvP related like 10% AP gain.

Agreed!

Hartagon · January 2015

I think those things are a nice bonus. If this B2P model were never announced and the game just went on as it has gone on since launch, you would be subscribed anyways and not getting any of those things.

The main selling point of it to me is access to all of the DLC. I have no idea how much it will cost, how much the crown packs will cost, etc... Every few months they add a new zone, some new dungeons, a new guild, etc... If you don't subscribe you gotta buy some crowns and then buy that content. If you just subscribe you are getting it included in addition to the above bonuses...

As I said earlier... If you just continue subscribing it will be as if nothing changed and you are only getting bonuses.

sean.plackerb14_ESO · January 2015

Like you said the 1500 crowns thing we wont know how good that is until we see the prices of some items in the cash shop. I think they said when 1.6 hit pts next week it will have crown shop, and when it first goes live it will be turned off until March. So hopefully we can get a idea how good that 1500 is come next week. As for the rest the number one perk is def not having to worry about buying new content/zones. The 10 percent boosts are a pretty minor thing IMO.

NobleX35 · January 2015

Hartagon wrote: »

I think those things are a nice bonus. If this B2P model were never announced and the game just went on as it has gone on since launch, you would be subscribed anyways and not getting any of those things.

The main selling point of it to me is access to all of the DLC. I have no idea how much it will cost, how much the crown packs will cost, etc... Every few months they add a new zone, some new dungeons, a new guild, etc... If you don't subscribe you gotta buy some crowns and then buy that content. If you just subscribe you are getting it included in addition to the above bonuses...

As I said earlier... If you just continue subscribing it will be as if nothing changed and you are only getting bonuses.

Which is what I plan to do at first for sure, but if those are the only bonuses and they don't change their model (again...), then I don't imagine staying subscribed for long because they just don't seem worth $15 a month.

Of course every cash-shop is never very intrusive at the beginning...

Dominoid · January 2015

I would imagine one crown is a penny. So 1500 crowns is $15 worth. So you get full value in crowns and then get all the boosters and DLC for "free". If you're not interested in the crown shop content (to be seen), then simply buying the DLC will probably be cheaper. But you're most likely getting full value in Crowns each month with everything else as a bonus.

wiz12268b14_ESO · January 2015

I would think crowns will be a 1 per 1 cent. So 1500 is basically youre 15 bucks all back. Makes sense since you get DLC access for free which is actually 'worse' than actually buying it outright. Even if the DLC is slightly more than 15 dollars per.

It will also come down to how people 'value' and 'worth' things they want.

I suspect the masses will want the DLCS a lot more than they will want cosmetics, maybe even mounts.

But in the end I suspect after a few months thee will be the inevitable "DLC packages" offered where you'll be able to buy all available released DLCs or a common group of DLCs for a reduced amount. I also suspect they have a dozen (at least 10) DLCs in the can, and they basically look like solo dungeons or at best solo maps about the size of the noob areas with a limited amount of content.

Spottswoode · January 2015

F2P/B2P system perks are heavily designed to attract new players. So now we can all look forward to endless cosmetic sh*t being developed instead of new content.

On the bright side, you'll now be able to purchase bank space with real money.

JoffyToffy69 · January 2015

It is a little odd that claiming these bonuses aren't great (I agree with your points) yet a huge concern about the f2p was that it becomes p2w.
I think this is a nice even(ish) ground for now.
If sub bonuses were "better" then it would be p2w, which as subscription based is usually against.

Hartagon · January 2015

wiz12268b14_ESO wrote: »

I would think crowns will be a 1 per 1 cent. So 1500 is basically youre 15 bucks all back. Makes sense since you get DLC access for free which is actually 'worse' than actually buying it outright. Even if the DLC is slightly more than 15 dollars per.

It will also come down to how people 'value' and 'worth' things they want.

I suspect the masses will want the DLCS a lot more than they will want cosmetics, maybe even mounts.

But in the end I suspect after a few months thee will be the inevitable "DLC packages" offered where you'll be able to buy all available released DLCs or a common group of DLCs for a reduced amount. I also suspect they have a dozen (at least 10) DLCs in the can, and they basically look like solo dungeons or at best solo maps about the size of the noob areas with a limited amount of content.

Well they already revealed an entire new zone and the city of Orsinium in their twitch stream earlier.

While there will inevitably smaller content such as individual dungeons and what not... It is hardly meaningless content.

And as I said earlier... If this announcement never happened and things remained as they were... You would be subscribed anyways and this is the content that would be added.

All this new model is meant to do is give them more money. They are a business. That is why they exist. This model is so 10 months from now when the thieves guild or something like that comes out... A bunch of guys who never subscribed will be all "coooooooool" and drop $20 on the thieves guild. That is $20 they wouldn't have otherwise gotten while people like you and me that would have been subscribed anyways are getting it included in the subscription.

It also adds incentive to subscribe to the game a year from now, two years from now, etc... When there are a dozen DLC packs added and someone comes back... They can buy 12 different packs for crowns or they can subscribe for $15 and get all of them.

Lord_Kreegan · January 2015

Are all the DLCs going to be level-appropriate for all your characters?

Probably not. Keep that in mind. It's unlikely that you're going to play content packs you've out-leveled. And some of the packs will certainly be for lower levels since new players coming into the game as B2P players aren't going to be buying high-level content packs initially (potentially not at all if they're not enamored with the game).

So, keep perspective on what you're getting with a sub. Unless you're intending to start new characters (I'm maxed out), some of the DLC that will be automatically available to you as a subscriber will have no value to you.

If you're going to sub, have a better reason than that (IMHO).

HippieTheGreat · January 2015

Here is my question. Update 6 will be sometime in Feb. B2P launched 3/17. Console launch is 6/9. Are we going to see nothing until after console launch in terms of the updates? Remember that 4-6 week cycle that was promised and they were proud of? Does that even apply anymore? That will determine if I will sub up for this or not.

Hartagon · January 2015

Lord_Kreegan wrote: »

Are all the DLCs going to be level-appropriate for all your characters?

Probably not. Keep that in mind. It's unlikely that you're going to play content packs you've out-leveled. And some of the packs will certainly be for lower levels since new players coming into the game as B2P players aren't going to be buying high-level content packs initially (potentially not at all if they're not enamored with the game).

So, keep perspective on what you're getting with a sub. Unless you're intending to start new characters (I'm maxed out), some of the DLC that will be automatically available to you as a subscriber will have no value to you.

If you're going to sub, have a better reason than that (IMHO).

Well all of the solo instances scale to your level now... Dungeons scale to your level...

Other than entire new zones almost all of the content in this game scales to your level...

Rosveen · January 2015

Hartagon wrote: »

Lord_Kreegan wrote: »

Are all the DLCs going to be level-appropriate for all your characters?

Probably not. Keep that in mind. It's unlikely that you're going to play content packs you've out-leveled. And some of the packs will certainly be for lower levels since new players coming into the game as B2P players aren't going to be buying high-level content packs initially (potentially not at all if they're not enamored with the game).

So, keep perspective on what you're getting with a sub. Unless you're intending to start new characters (I'm maxed out), some of the DLC that will be automatically available to you as a subscriber will have no value to you.

If you're going to sub, have a better reason than that (IMHO).

Well all of the solo instances scale to your level now... Dungeons scale to your level...

Other than entire new zones almost all of the content in this game scales to your level...

Only instanced content, which most definitely isn't "almost all content." I'm looking forward to seeing how they approach this scaling issue.