(Apologies for the Rant)

Free updates are important for ZOS to retain their large player base. They need the player base because that forms their market for sellable in-game items (crown store). Without retaining a large playerbase the F2P model dies.

Paid updates (DLCs) are important for ZOS to retain their large subscriber base and as things to sell to their F2P players. Without paid content there is nothing to buy, which means no money, which means no game. The minor exception to this is some in-game incentives which are provided to subscribers as a means of easing the pain of pre-paying for content.

Historically ESO needs both F2P and subscription players to flourish. Without both ... things were not so good.

These two pillars are, and have been, the basis of the business model that was presented to the community. Both free and paid for content are necessary. Without free content you lose F2P players, without paid content you lose subscribers.

There was an implicit promise about what subscribes gained - some would argue it's very explicit - for their regular fee. This includes 4 DLCs a year. Not only has this not eventuated but the quality of the actual content that was delivered has been questioned by many.

It doesn't matter who is right or wrong about feeling this way for the purposes of this discussion. What I want to talk about are the consequences of a community who seem torn both ways and what the outcomes of the changes to ESO might mean for us all.

That's where we've been. And now we have Morrowind.

A new type of content that doesn't fit into the old model. An Expansion or, apparently, a Chapter. As far as business models go it's accurate to describe it as everyone has to pay.

If Morrowind is absolutely awesome then all this frustration will blow over because, quite obviously, subscribers are willing to pay for content. Oh sure, they might squirm that they have to pay more now, but they'll mostly pay. They also might unsubscribe afterwards because they don't know why they'd bother paying for comparatively boring DLCs but, if Morrowind is great and everyone thinks it's worth the money, then maybe ZOS thinks this is a worthwhile exchange - Yes, they lose some subscribers, but they make everyone else pay $40 once every year or two. Financially who knows how that'll end up but the game will probably still be healthy.

But what happens if Morrowind is not absolutely awesome? I believe that things start to get worrying.

Many subscribers now unsubscribe because they don't feel they get content their subscription should be paying for. And they have to pay additional money for what they once thought they would get naturally over the course of a year. That's not even necessarily an emotional decision, it's just about buying the things you want to play - that's the new mindset. And those who do continue to subscribe either do it for a bag or do it short term for specific goals. People like me who like a 6 month sub become rare, and that's less reliable income.

Conversly the F2P players are not really playing a F2P game anymore, they're playing a $40/year game now. And they slow down buying the DLC content because, well, it's crap compared with the Expansions. ZOS needs to keep it crap too ... otherwise they don't have differentiation for their not-so-stunning expansions. And expansions, I mean chapters, that's the thing you pay for and not $15 for a couple of dungeons.

My point here is that if you like the sound of Morrowind (I do) and even if you think the price is good for what you get (I don't) then, as a player who cares about the game, this should be worrying you. It's in everyones interests to push ZOS to add content to Morrowind, to make it better, to make it comparable with what other games offer for their expansions. What we need is something that's vastly superior, game changing even, to the existing DLC. If Morrowind succedes because it's awesome then we all win. If it is mediocre then we're left with a mess of a future where DLC vs Chapter/Expansion Quality is all over the place.

So right now is a good time to make a stand and tell ZOS what you think is needed for a paid expansion.

There is already a lot of rumbling that the soul has gone out of the game with things like the crown crates and a housing solution that feels like it was stolen from SWOTOR.

And speaking of that game brings me to the idea of Chapters.

I read the 2017 preview and it goes to great lengths to talk about Chapters and how this is different from an expansion and it makes the whole thing sound like a new idea. Well, go play some SWOTOR if you want to see how Chapters work out.

And really thats the huge arse problem I have right now. ESO feels more and more like SWOTOR every day.

Now that game is doing ok from a player base point of view, it's picked itself up. But you know what?

I don't want to play SWOTOR in a fantasy setting.

I want to play in the ****ing Elder Scrolls universe!

I highly encourage everyone to talk about this, to rage about it, and to demand more from ZOS than just a slow, inevitable, port to SWOTOR with it's crates and housing and chapters. We should be asking for something different, wonderful and exciting from devs. If you want the game to be good, and your passionate enough to rant and rave on the forums, then don't go asking for Morrowind to be Free with your Subscription, that's not going to help. Go and demand ZOS make a absolutely amazing Morrowind that makes other people playing other games jealous they're not here because of the innovation and new ideas that they're implementing and not because we're turning into a SWOTOR gambling machine clone.

It's kind of a shame really because you'd hope that this is what the devs want.