Is there life after ESO Plus?

Lixiviant · February 2021

Welp, I've been a subscriber to ESO Plus since the beginning, but I've pretty much done as much as I can in the game and don't plan on renewing my subscription. For those of you who have cut the ties to the craft bag, DLC and the other perks, how the hell do you enjoy the game without the bennies? Need to know how to prepare to go off the "grid"

Danikat · February 2021

I only subscribe intermittently so it might be different for me, but here's how I make it work:

1) Make sure you like the dyes on your costumes, because you can't change them when you're not subscribed.

2) Buy any DLC you want to keep access to. You won't lose any progress you've made or skill lines unlocked etc. but you won't be able to go back to maps/dungeons you don't own or continue to progress the quests unless you buy the DLC.

3) You'll lose 1/2 your bank space so make sure you either clear it out in advance or have a plan for storing/getting rid of items until you've freed up the space.

4) Decide where and how you're going to store crafting materials. I don't keep much else on my account (equipment my characters are using is in their inventory, equipment they're not using gets deconstructed or sold) so I've got plenty of space. I also have a dedicated crafter who doesn't do much else besides manage my bank and guild store, so a lot of stuff (blacksmithing, woodworking, clothier and jeweler materials) go in his inventory. Alchemy, enchanting and provisioning materials go in the bank because they're the ones my other characters pick up most often and trait, style and housing materials go in a storage chest in my house because I don't need them as often.

It's probably not possible to store every single material this way, but then a lot of things (style materials especially) only drop rarely or in specific places so I don't get them often. Between that and occasional ESO+ free trials it's rare that I run out of space to store things. But if I'm concerned about space I'll look at what I've got and don't actually need (mid level materials are a common culprit for me because I have a lot of low/mid level alts) and then I sell the excess in my guild store or to an NPC merchant. Yes I might need it one day, but I got more than I need without trying so I'm sure I can get it again if I do need it.

You might need a different system, especially if you do crafting on all your characters, but I don't think there's one right way to do it, the important thing is to have a plan and take a few minutes every few days to put everything where it' supposed to be instead of ignoring it and letting it pile up in the bank/inventories until it seems too daunting to deal wih and you end up paying ZOS just to make the problem they created go away.

5) Remember it doesn't have to be all or nothing. If you want a crown store deal or decide it's the best way to buy crowns currently, or you just want to dye some costumes or whatever and don't mind paying for it you can get 30 days of ESO+, cancel the renewal as soon as it's active (you'll still get the full time you paid for) do whatever you wanted to do while you've got the subscription time and then go back to playing without it when it ends.

(I know there's a bunch of other ESO+ benefits, but to me they're irrelevant. I don't notice them when I do have it, I don't miss them when they're gone so I've never needed a plan to manage them.)

WiseSky · February 2021

Danikat wrote: »

I only subscribe intermittently so it might be different for me, but here's how I make it work:

1) Make sure you like the dyes on your costumes, because you can't change them when you're not subscribed.

2) Buy any DLC you want to keep access to. You won't lose any progress you've made or skill lines unlocked etc. but you won't be able to go back to maps/dungeons you don't own or continue to progress the quests unless you buy the DLC.

3) You'll lose 1/2 your bank space so make sure you either clear it out in advance or have a plan for storing/getting rid of items until you've freed up the space.

4) Decide where and how you're going to store crafting materials. I don't keep much else on my account (equipment my characters are using is in their inventory, equipment they're not using gets deconstructed or sold) so I've got plenty of space. I also have a dedicated crafter who doesn't do much else besides manage my bank and guild store, so a lot of stuff (blacksmithing, woodworking, clothier and jeweler materials) go in his inventory. Alchemy, enchanting and provisioning materials go in the bank because they're the ones my other characters pick up most often and trait, style and housing materials go in a storage chest in my house because I don't need them as often.

It's probably not possible to store every single material this way, but then a lot of things (style materials especially) only drop rarely or in specific places so I don't get them often. Between that and occasional ESO+ free trials it's rare that I run out of space to store things. But if I'm concerned about space I'll look at what I've got and don't actually need (mid level materials are a common culprit for me because I have a lot of low/mid level alts) and then I sell the excess in my guild store or to an NPC merchant. Yes I might need it one day, but I got more than I need without trying so I'm sure I can get it again if I do need it.

You might need a different system, especially if you do crafting on all your characters, but I don't think there's one right way to do it, the important thing is to have a plan and take a few minutes every few days to put everything where it' supposed to be instead of ignoring it and letting it pile up in the bank/inventories until it seems too daunting to deal wih and you end up paying ZOS just to make the problem they created go away.

5) Remember it doesn't have to be all or nothing. If you want a crown store deal or decide it's the best way to buy crowns currently, or you just want to dye some costumes or whatever and don't mind paying for it you can get 30 days of ESO+, cancel the renewal as soon as it's active (you'll still get the full time you paid for) do whatever you wanted to do while you've got the subscription time and then go back to playing without it when it ends.

(I know there's a bunch of other ESO+ benefits, but to me they're irrelevant. I don't notice them when I do have it, I don't miss them when they're gone so I've never needed a plan to manage them.)

Great info

Also get some addons if you are on pc.

Also make a guild and get 500 slots

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO · February 2021

Personal Assistant Mod to auto deposit mats when you open the bank. There are one or two more choices to do it i think, but i found PA to be the most lightweight.

EDIT: You also need the banker assistant.. but if you've been subbed for that long guessing you have enough crowns to get one.

Starlock · February 2021

Danikat offers some great advice. I went through the process of preparing to unsubscribe myself recently and did a lot of what they wrote up in their post. To their list I would add:

6) Get the houses you care about in good order. I did some overhaul and redesign of the main houses for my characters as best I could knowing that I would not really be able to change things after the furnishing limit dropped. Housing design is often something you just set up one time and then leave it alone for a long time, so the loss of furnishing spots really isn't a big deal if you get your designs in a place you are happy with.

In particular, remember to put out all of your storage furnishings in one of your houses! You will be using those a lot more now! As an aside, if you have not gotten all of those with writ vouchers, be sure to do so. That space will easily make up for all of the lost bank space. Also put out your merchant/banker if you have them, but if you do not have them they are super overpriced so I don't recommend buying them unless you don't know what to do with your sub crowns otherwise.

7) Remove skill points for hireling mails. All of that crap will now just be cluttering your inventory and if you've been a sub for a really long time, you frankly don't need the influx of crafting materials anyway. Just get rid of those passives so you don't have to deal with that unnecessary inventory management.

8) Remind yourself why the subscription isn't worth it and stick to your decision to cut the cord. Make a list of the reasons why you are refusing to support the game this way anymore. You may second-guess yourself, especially if you have become addicted. MMOs are addictive by design and be aware of this so you can create some controls for yourself to help you break that unhealthy cycle. Some people may need to quit playing entirely, but not being a sub will help moderate play time to something more healthy for others.

Silaf · February 2021

Zos should support both subscription model and buy to play model.
I don't like the eso+ model because i feel like if i don't play i'm wasting tings and the game become a job. I know many will disagree but i prefer a buy to play model.

If we have spent x amount of crown in the last 6 months furnishing in houses and craftbag should be included.

colossalvoids · February 2021

Well, now I store my useful gear in coffers and use bank mostly as a mats/survey dump, coffers with free space getting filled with those surveys and materials stacks with my warden parked at home near them and a banker to make it faster. Dlcs and char slots are maxed out so it's not a problem really, can use some as mules. I actually store all the writs on everyone besides my main, why not to use 210 slots per char just sitting here.

SirLeeMinion · February 2021

I generally sub a couple of months out of the year on my main account. I find I really enjoy playing without ESO+ for a number of reasons.

1) I can queue for a random dungeon and know I won't get something that's going to take an hour.

1.5) On a related note, I can invite guildies to a random and confidently say "LFM RND, any role, any level" knowing it will go smoothly.

2) Because storage is worse, I'm not even tempted to run writs, farm materials, or spend a bunch on housing. I just play the game and don't do anything gold-farming related. This doesn't seem like much, but consciously deciding to never grind gold has immensely improved my game time.

3) I can spend money to endorse changes I like or withhold it when the design team makes decisions I detest. I'm sure ZOS don't notice, but it gives me great satisfaction

4) The downside is that it would actually be cheaper for me to sub. Time is money and inventory management takes real time. For this last reason, if they ever stop forcing eso+ members to get random DLC, I'll likely sub more.

If you do drop eso+ and continue to grind materials and gold anyway:
There's great advice above, to which I'll add: an extra account on sale is half a month's sub. Mail your materials to that account On the extra account. name a character Wood Materials, Runes, etc... and use inventory manager or some other add-on to store the materials

Gylzyn · May 2021

There is some great advice in this thread.

One question I can't find the answer to. If I stop my sub for ESO+ and take a bit of a break from the game (I might play less frequently or pop on occasionally for writs/rewards/a random dungeon/a few dailies) and then decide to re-sub later, do I get to keep all of the progress made in DLCs, achievements and all of the additional space (craft bag, furnishings) will revert back to the double? In other words, when I re-sub do I return more-or-less to the position I am at now?

Danikat · May 2021

Gylzyn wrote: »

There is some great advice in this thread.

One question I can't find the answer to. If I stop my sub for ESO+ and take a bit of a break from the game (I might play less frequently or pop on occasionally for writs/rewards/a random dungeon/a few dailies) and then decide to re-sub later, do I get to keep all of the progress made in DLCs, achievements and all of the additional space (craft bag, furnishings) will revert back to the double? In other words, when I re-sub do I return more-or-less to the position I am at now?

Yes, you'll keep or get back everything you have now.

If you cancel the subscription nothing changes until the time you've paid for runs out. When that happens you lose access to any DLC content you don't own, and any characters in those maps will be moved out (they go to their alliance's starter city if I remember correctly) but you keep the progress you've made. Quests you haven't finished will still be in the journal, achievements you've completed will still be completed, items you've obtained are kept and skill lines will still be unlocked, you just can't make any more progress on them. (You can also keep using the Blade of Woe from the Dark Brotherhood DLC.)

You will lose the double bank and furnishing space and the ability to add things to the crafting bag for as long as you don't have an active subscription. As soon as you subscribe again it will all go back, there's no delay on it and no need to unlock it or anything like that, it's either on or off.

All the items in your bank, furnishings in your houses and materials in the craft bag will stay. You won't be able to put anything else into the bank until you empty enough space to be below the new limit (or buy more bank space if you haven't already reached the maximum). You won't be able to add new furnishings either if you're over the limit, but you can move the ones you have, set paths for pets and guests and things like that, you just have to be careful not to remove them and can't take them between areas which are seperated by a door or teleporter or anything. New materials you pick up will go in your inventory, and when you craft it will take them from the crafting bag so the ones you use will gradually run out, but unless you use them (or manually remove them) they'll just stay there.

Surragard · May 2021

DLC goes on sale during events for those zones so you can wait and pick them up then for when you are not subbed. The crafting bag is tough. Crafting alts and spending lots of play time managing inventory sucks which is why ESO plus is successful. I find that if I know I am going to play I end up subbing back up for a month because with limited play time (I have kids now!) I just don't want to waste time managing inventory.

Curtdogg47 · May 2021

The lack of a craft bag really makes it tough! Honestly that is a big part of why I sub!

Well played by the Dev’s! 🤣🤣🤣

gariondavey · May 2021

Lixiviant wrote: »

Welp, I've been a subscriber to ESO Plus since the beginning, but I've pretty much done as much as I can in the game and don't plan on renewing my subscription. For those of you who have cut the ties to the craft bag, DLC and the other perks, how the hell do you enjoy the game without the bennies? Need to know how to prepare to go off the "grid"

I only have ever done eso+ free trials. It is totally doable without eso+.
Get all the storage boxes in game - store gear and crown items in here.
Get your own guild bank - store extra crafting materials and siege weapons, non bound stuff, etc in here.
Keep your own own bank solely for 1 stack of each kind of crafting material. When it gets over 1 stack, take the completed out and put it in your personal guild bank.
Every time an eso+ trial happens, put everything in the craft bag.
Max all character bag space, horse space, and get the 2 storage pets.
Buy all dlc with gold.
I do writs on all my characters, have all hirlings, etc.
It can be done! Pretty easily, too.

Haven't spent a penny more on this game than initial gold version (40 Canadian at the time), summerset (included morrowind, 40), elsweyr (40), greymoor (40) and Blackwood (40).
Only game I've played last almost 4 years. I like to save money yet still maximize my gaming experience!

francesinhalover · May 2021

Lixiviant wrote: »

Welp, I've been a subscriber to ESO Plus since the beginning, but I've pretty much done as much as I can in the game and don't plan on renewing my subscription. For those of you who have cut the ties to the craft bag, DLC and the other perks, how the hell do you enjoy the game without the bennies? Need to know how to prepare to go off the "grid"

hm... mules exist to store items...

i havent used eso plus in years.

base game has lots of quests.

Kalontas · June 2021

I was wondering what happens to the stuff in your craft bag when the sub runs out. Does it get dumped out on the first character you log onto? Does it stay there but inaccessible? Does it go to the bank or somewhere else?

Danikat · June 2021

Kalontas wrote: »

I was wondering what happens to the stuff in your craft bag when the sub runs out. Does it get dumped out on the first character you log onto? Does it stay there but inaccessible? Does it go to the bank or somewhere else?

It stays in the craft bag and is still accessible, you just can't put anything else in there.

If you pick up new crafting materials they go into the characters inventory. When you craft the materials are pulled from the craft bag first, so things you use frequently will slowly run out in the crafting bag and build up in your inventory or bank (once the crafting bag doesn't have any more of that material the game will automatically use the ones in your inventory and bank). But if you don't use them they just stay in the craft bag.

You can also manually remove things, but then you can't put them back so it's only worth doing if you're going to sell them.

Kalik_Gold · June 2021

Bought all DLCs crowns for gold.
Fake guild for craft item storage (dump when free eso+ week, same for costume dyes etc)

After a while you get used to it.

Sailor_Palutena · June 2021

Danikat wrote: »

I only subscribe intermittently so it might be different for me, but here's how I make it work:

4) Decide where and how you're going to store crafting materials. I don't keep much else on my account (equipment my characters are using is in their inventory, equipment they're not using gets deconstructed or sold) so I've got plenty of space. I also have a dedicated crafter who doesn't do much else besides manage my bank and guild store, so a lot of stuff (blacksmithing, woodworking, clothier and jeweler materials) go in his inventory. Alchemy, enchanting and provisioning materials go in the bank because they're the ones my other characters pick up most often and trait, style and housing materials go in a storage chest in my house because I don't need them as often.

It's probably not possible to store every single material this way, but then a lot of things (style materials especially) only drop rarely or in specific places so I don't get them often. Between that and occasional ESO+ free trials it's rare that I run out of space to store things. But if I'm concerned about space I'll look at what I've got and don't actually need (mid level materials are a common culprit for me because I have a lot of low/mid level alts) and then I sell the excess in my guild store or to an NPC merchant. Yes I might need it one day, but I got more than I need without trying so I'm sure I can get it again if I do need it.

Just to clarify, your CRAFT BAG never disappear (once you have it at least once). You just can't add anymore else, but can still use whatever was in there before your subscription ends. I keep leaving my crafting materials on my alts and re-subscribe from time to time, renewing space.

Lixiviant · June 2021

Couldn't do it. Lasted a couple of months and resubbed for 6 months. Boy, does it feel good!