MMO "expansions" - in the future, will the base game include all old "chapters"?

DaveMoeDee · April 2017

I read a lot of people here talking about MMO expansions so I googled how they work with WoW. In particular, I was curious whether a person buying Legion who wanted to play all the old expansions needs to buy them all individually. Apparent, that is not the case. You can just buy Legion and the base game and get access to all the old expansions.

If people are using the example of expansions in other MMOs as the justification for the changed approach in ESO, does that mean that down the road, people will only need to buy the latest chapters separately?

If ZOS doesn't roll up the chapters into whatever is the newest chapter (like how they rolled up the base game into Morrowind), what MMO would their model be most like? I am expecting that they will roll all chapters into whatever the latest chapter is.

Tabbycat · April 2017

I would be surprised if they did. However, they probably would put older chapters on sale.

Kiralyn2000 · April 2017

Since they're not doing the "continuing story/level cap increase" thing with ESO (along with the 1Tamriel, everything is scaled, do it in any order), I suspect each "expansion" will be it's own independent purchase.

(i.e, with WoW, you needed Expansion 1 to give Lv70 cap + content to level & gear to 70; then Exp 2 to give lv80 cap + content to level & gear to 80; etc. They each build off the other. ESO, with 1Tamriel scaling, you can go anywhere in any order. And each region has it's own standalone story. So whatever expansion comes after Morrowind, likely won't need Morrowind to support it.)

...of course, depending on how Morrowind turns out, the "next expansion" could be something completely different. We don't have enough data points to tell.

ljb2k5_ESO · April 2017

Apples to oranges comparing with other MMO's like WoW. The issue is that ZOS explicitly stated all future DLC was included with ESO+ Membership, and people feel cheated. WoW never made such a claim regarding expansions. So plus members feel fairly justifyably ripped off because now ZOS is setting the precedent that ESO+ doesn't get all free future DLC by simply renaming any of it an "expansion". Its not about being cheap or whether Morrowind is worth it. It is about being cheated in a bait and switch as Plus members watch ZOS get steadily more greedy and Plus membership offers less and less value.

DaveMoeDee · April 2017

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

Since they're not doing the "continuing story/level cap increase" thing with ESO (along with the 1Tamriel, everything is scaled, do it in any order), I suspect each "expansion" will be it's own independent purchase.

(i.e, with WoW, you needed Expansion 1 to give Lv70 cap + content to level & gear to 70; then Exp 2 to give lv80 cap + content to level & gear to 80; etc. They each build off the other. ESO, with 1Tamriel scaling, you can go anywhere in any order. And each region has it's own standalone story. So whatever expansion comes after Morrowind, likely won't need Morrowind to support it.)

...of course, depending on how Morrowind turns out, the "next expansion" could be something completely different. We don't have enough data points to tell.

Makes Morrowind sound a lot more like a DLC than an expansion.

What do other MMOs do?

Code2501 · April 2017

If they are going to go this route and make 'expansions' that are not included in plus sub then I hope each 'expansion' actually has the same kind of long epic story that is the malog bal quest chain plus major game mechanics like spell crafting. If they are just a way to charge more for an Orsinuim style dlc with an extra class added on then tbey can keep their expansions.

DaveMoeDee · April 2017

ljb2k5_ESO wrote: »

Apples to oranges comparing with other MMO's like WoW. The issue is that ZOS explicitly stated all future DLC was included with ESO+ Membership, and people feel cheated. WoW never made such a claim regarding expansions. So plus members feel fairly justifyably ripped off because now ZOS is setting the precedent that ESO+ doesn't get all free future DLC by simply renaming any of it an "expansion". Its not about being cheap or whether Morrowind is worth it. It is about being cheated in a bait and switch as Plus members watch ZOS get steadily more greedy and Plus membership offers less and less value.

I agree that ZOS marketed ESO+ as meaning you would always have access to all content. "Crown store DLC" was a term they made up later to differentiate from expansion. It was a bait and switch. I disagree that it is due to "greed." It is due to reassessing what was working and their revenue streams. Companies maintaining margins isn't "greed." It is doing business.

And that is irrelevant to this thread.

idk · April 2017

Anything we can say would be mere speculation. At a minimum it would seem that bundles would be available at a reduced price and possibly sales on the anniversary of the release as they have done with the DLCs.

DaveMoeDee · April 2017

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

Anything we can say would be mere speculation. At a minimum it would seem that bundles would be available at a reduced price and possibly sales on the anniversary of the release as they have done with the DLCs.

I don't remember Thieves Guild being on sale during anniversary. I only remember the package with all the additional useless nonsense being on sale. Am I wrong about that? I hope so.

theher0not · April 2017

I think wow started giving out free expantions during MoP. Before that I think new players had to buy all expantions (they where ofcourse sold cheaper than the current one but still).

I remember seeing many posts about people wondering why Cata showed up as an owned expantion even though they hadn't bought it on FB and reddit (and one of my friends who had stopped playing in Wraith suddenly had cata).

ZoS might do that too, but I wouldn't expect it to happen before we have at lwast 3-4 expantions. But I do beleve that there is a chance that they will drop in price once a new one gets released.

Thorvarg · April 2017

Sometimes i wonder myself why noone asks here for the "meaning of life"

Someone should know it and if not, ZENIMAX is responsible.

Turelus · April 2017

Thorvarg wrote: »

Sometimes i wonder myself why noone asks here for the "meaning of life" Someone should know it and if not, ZENIMAX is responsible.

The meaning of life is to 100% the achievements and top all leaderboards on ESO whilst maintaining Emperorship.

DaveMoeDee · April 2017

theher0not wrote: »

I think wow started giving out free expantions during MoP. Before that I think new players had to buy all expantions (they where ofcourse sold cheaper than the current one but still).

I remember seeing many posts about people wondering why Cata showed up as an owned expantion even though they hadn't bought it on FB and reddit (and one of my friends who had stopped playing in Wraith suddenly had cata).

ZoS might do that too, but I wouldn't expect it to happen before we have at lwast 3-4 expantions. But I do beleve that there is a chance that they will drop in price once a new one gets released.

Thanks. This is an informative answer.

I'm sure it won't be long before we see Morrowind upgrades selling for $20 or less considering the number of resellers.