Will all future zones be available to everyone?

Frayton · February 14

Does this mean any new zones will be available to everyone? I'm assuming base-game means the Standard Edition with no DLCs.

Soarora · February 14

Yes.

Frayton · February 14

Thanks, and does that mean previous DLCs will be open to everyone too or do those still need to purchased?

PeacefulAnarchy · February 14

Frayton wrote: »

Thanks, and does that mean previous DLCs will be open to everyone too or do those still need to purchased?

It is unclear what their long term plan is. They are making some previous DLC available to everyone. Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood and Orsinium will be base game for everyone in March. (they are also making Morrowind and IC base game, instead of just free claimable in the crown store, and Warden available for everyone). Western Skyrim will be base game for everyone later in the year. I think a couple of dungeons are also becoming available to everyone later in the year.

It appears that the plan is to eventually make everything open to everyone, but they are slow rolling it so it's not clear how long it will be until that happens, or what conditions/rules they have internally for making it happen.

Danikat · February 14

Officially the plan is that all new zones (and quests) will be available to everyone no matter which version of the game they have or what they've bought previously.

What that means in practice though is unclear. Firstly no new zones have been announced yet. There's the Night Market, which is an "event zone", similar to a public dungeon, which will be coming with the first season but only available temporarily, like the Writing Fortress was. For the next few seasons after that they're planning some new quest lines, which presumably will take place in existing zones, and after that we don't know.

Secondly they've previously made some old zones available to everyone (Vvardenfell and the Imperial City are the ones I remember) and they're adding a few more alongside future seasons (but as a base game update, I don't think you'll need to use the season pass to get them) but we don't know if they're planning to continue that until eventually all the previous zones are available or if that's a one-off bonus.

SolarRune · February 16

Wasn't there the comment that season content would be available to all as part of that season, but if you purchased one of the paid for seasons passes you would be able to complete that content at your leisure and it wasn't bound to that particular season duration?

LunaFlora · February 16

SolarRune wrote: »

Wasn't there the comment that season content would be available to all as part of that season, but if you purchased one of the paid for seasons passes you would be able to complete that content at your leisure and it wasn't bound to that particular season duration?

Tamriel Tomes (the battle pass, there is no season pass) only have cosmetics and currencies like Outfit Styles, Furnishings, Personalities, Pets, and Seals.
edit addition: link to the Tamriel Tomes post
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69141

Seasons are free and all its content like Classes, Zones, Story Quests.

quoting myself from another recent thread:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/687395/confusion-after-watching-the-dev-interview-for-season-zero#latest

LunaFlora wrote: »

Warden class is becoming base game with update 49.
So one can imagine Necromancer and Arcanist will eventually go the same way, but it could take years of course.

And future classes should be free.
Quoting the Seasons post from the website:
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/69137

What’s in a Season?

While the specifics and scope will change with each new and distinct Season, you can expect each one to bring new rewards, adventures, and ways to play. Generally, a Season can contain the following kinds of features:

New gameplay content
- This could include a new zone, storyline or questline, class, skill line, or system.

- New base-game changes and improvements
Such as quality-of-life additions, balance changes, or performance updates.

- New Tamriel Tome
A new, battlepass-like experience with free rewards and optional bonus tracks for those who wish to unlock even more.

- New Rotation of Gold Coast Bazaar items
A new reward store in which anybody can spend a new, freely earned currency called Trade Bars.

Furthermore, all the above seasonal features are free for all base-game players, the only exception being the premium options available for a Season’s Tamriel Tome (more on that below).

SolarRune · February 16

Thankyou LunaFlora, interesting because I remember on the launch presentation there being the comment about if you purchased the battle pass it would mean you can do that at any time. If that's just cosmetics then it looks like I won't be battlepass buying, so you've made the game cheaper for me, thanks.

PeacefulAnarchy · February 16

SolarRune wrote: »

Thankyou LunaFlora, interesting because I remember on the launch presentation there being the comment about if you purchased the battle pass it would mean you can do that at any time. If that's just cosmetics then it looks like I won't be battlepass buying, so you've made the game cheaper for me, thanks.

You remember right, just misunderstood what doing it meant.
Content availibility is the same for everyone, but the battle pass, where you do weekly and season challenges for cosmetic and generic utility rewards (the kinds of rewards we've gotten as login rewards), is time limited. If you buy it then more of the same type of rewards are availible and you have no time limit to unlock them.

Frayton · February 16

Good to see ESO moving in the direction of successful major game titles where all future content is included with game purchase.

spartaxoxo · February 16

New content will be mostly free. There may still be things that require money but by and large new content will be free.

Frayton · February 16

spartaxoxo wrote: »

New content will be mostly free. There may still be things that require money but by and large new content will be free.

It sounds like systems that other games use where future DLC/expansion/zone/map releases aren't something you pay extra for, but they're included with the base game purchase and any additional new stuff, mostly cosmetic and bonuses, are in a paid battle pass. That sounds good - keep the maps of the game open to everyone while pay walling non-essentials.

Radiate77 · February 16

I would not be surprised if in the future ESO adopts the Free-to-Play model entirely.