HatchetHaro wrote: »

Shadow_Viper_vX wrote: »

If you don't like it, don't buy it

It's that simple kids

Stop Crying...

That's not even relevant to the conversation.

But it is. U mad?

@Troneon Knocks it out of the park with the short version. For anyone new to this whole argument, here is the long answer (with citations). Hopefully this will demonstrate that is NOT the cost of Morowind, its about morality and principle. It's a bit of a read, but it's worth it. Allow me to explain.

DLC vs Expansion:
Morrowind is slightly larger (in landmass) than previous DLCs and about 1.5x as long of a storyline as Wrothgar (30hrs vs 20). So its about 1.5x the size of Wrothgar. People would't mind paying even twice the Wrothgar price in crowns (6000 vs 3000) for Morrowind and subscribers wouldn't mind waiting two quarters (with no DLC) for its release instead of the usual 4 DLCs per year they were expecting because that's what they were told to expect.

But for subscribers, it stings a little bit that ZOS is changing their business model again, (and not really admitting they have changed anything) while also playing fast and loose with the definition of DLC vs "chapter." If you compare the substantial difference between morrowind and previous expansions like wrothgar, they look pretty similar. Both add landmass and new gameplay styles (like Maelstrom, trials, etc) and only differ in size so the semantics argument of "Expansion vs DLC" isn't that compelling. Also, the warden isn't a completely new concept, it was a class cut out of early beta in 2013.

Change in Business Model
So it feels to a lot of subscribers that something they already pay for, (and monetarily helped develop) is being stripped out of the business model and sold back to them as something different (bundled with a few other things ZOS had lying around), when it really isn't that much different. Here is an example:

If I was a magazine company, and I sold you a yearly subscription that gave you 12 magazines per year at $40 per year, then for the next year, still charged $40 but only delivered 10 magazines, but also produced a double sized "Booklet" with a holographic cover that I sold separately for $20, you would feel a bit ripped off. Explaining that the "Booklet" isn't a magazine because its twice the size and has a fancy holographic cover wouldn't be a compelling explanation. Better I just admit I changed the business model and selling 12 magazines for $40 just didn't cut it for me so I would rather you pay $60 per year for the same amount of content just bundled differently.

The real reason people are upset
Most subscribers are die-hard fans of this game and would appreciate the honesty and gladly shell out the extra money for Morrowind if ZOS just admitted they made a mistake and needed to change the model again. But instead, they pretend nothing has changed and we are given semantic word acrobatics and an unnecessary physical release of morrowind complete with a silly statue just to dance around the fact that this is really a DLC which literally means "Downloadable Content." Very few people buy physical game copies anymore. Making Morrowind a physical distribution seems like a completely bizarre business move unless you realize that ZOS already told subscribers they would have access to ALL DLC. Oops. Better crank out a special addition with a shiny statue. Shiny objects will distract them, won't they?

Back when "Tamriel Unlimited" Launched, Pete Hines said something to the effect of "Just subscribe and you won't EVER have to worry about purchasing new content. Subscriber's will be taken care of." If you don't believe me, you can watch it HERE. That's what subscribers were expecting for the foreseeable future so it is no surprise people are a little upset that this was changed with very little communication, sympathy, or appreciation for current subscribers and what they have done to help fund the game.

Now lets get some preemptive arguments out of the way:

• Yes, ZOS can change their mind or business model at any time. They are not legally obligated to deliver anything they promise. Unlike almost every other industry that is held to external standards of ethics and quality from Movie Theaters to Vegas Casinos, the videogame industry is still in the regulatory wild west and can anything it wants to its customers - even unregulated gambling. But should they still voluntarily follow some ethical guidelines? I think so. This argument is a moral argument, not a legal one.
• Yes, Zenimax is a business and business's are designed to make money. Since we don't know their financial situation, this is irrelevant as this has NOTHING to do with the amount of money their are charging and everything to do with ZOS not sticking to their word and their PERCEIVED promises.
• Yes, other MMOs do offer DLC and charge extra for expansions but the expansions are usually so much bigger and game changing than morrowind will be and usually continue the main storyline which AFAIK, morrowind will not.

So the issue that many subscribers have is three fold.

• ZOS isn't admitting (in a straightforward way) that they changed their business model again, and they are breaking their promise to subscribers (of delivering 1 DLC every quarter) and pulling Morrowind out of that subscription model by using a semantic technicality.
• ZOS isn't admitting that the Value of a subscription is decreasing as they have changed from 4 DLCs/year to 3DLCs and 1 "bigger DLC you have to buy separately" per year.
• Also the cost of items in the crown store (motifs) and mounts have kept creeping up although ZOS has said originally, (when Tamriel Unlimited came out) that subscribers would have more than enough of a crown stipend to fully enjoy the crown store. On top of that, there are now exclusive items you cant even get with crowns unless you gamble, which is just more price creep.

TL;DR: The bottom line is that the value of being a subscriber was slowly decreasing and Morrowind being published somewhat arbitrarily outside of the subscription model is a final straw for some that is getting them to re-evaluate the benefits of subscribing.

Just remember that ESO subscription money helped fund the Morrowind DLC.