Dissapointed and not sure to continue

Amergin · March 31

I am dissapointed. I have been a player from the beginning. Have also an ESO subscription from the beginning. Bought all the DLC's,. And now they are free for all players. I do not see that the eso subscription will give me anything worthwhile and also I do not get anything back for the money I have spent it what others now get for free.
I Understand a game needs to change with time to still excist, and I do not say that the changes are bad, but I feel as a long time supporter of the game I now been cheated on. I do not know if i will be keep playing this because of this feeling. Maybe others can change my mind?

BradTheNord · March 31

Your mind seems to already have decided my friend

Cheers 🍻

AScarlato · March 31

A lot of the free content is really old at this point.

Even single player games run into a time where GOTY versions end up on sale for $2 when you might have paid $100+ for all the DLC at release.

You got all that content in advance after having paid for it, whereas those getting it for free are getting it when it's pretty played out.

agelonestar · March 31

I agree with @Amergin

I have played ESO since the very beginning. ZoS is making a big deal about a few updates and some new quests, calling them "new content" - the reality is, it's a fraction of what we used to expect. I should have seen this coming as last year was awful, but I'm really not sure any of the new stuff is for me at all.

I'm just so disappointed.

Pcgamer · March 31

OP i feel exactly the same way as you do. I've been subscribing since 2014 and yes i've invested lots of money on what were once expansions. I paid for solstice and now it's free. I do feel very cheated. There doesnt seem to be any compensation at this point in time.

Im hoping i enjoy the night market if it's not too hard. Right now im just coasting along waiting for changes that may either improve my game experience or completely destroy it. Im just hanging in there.

PeacefulAnarchy · March 31

Amergin wrote: »

I am dissapointed. I have been a player from the beginning. Have also an ESO subscription from the beginning. Bought all the DLC's,. And now they are free for all players. I do not see that the eso subscription will give me anything worthwhile and also I do not get anything back for the money I have spent it what others now get for free.
I Understand a game needs to change with time to still excist, and I do not say that the changes are bad, but I feel as a long time supporter of the game I now been cheated on. I do not know if i will be keep playing this because of this feeling. Maybe others can change my mind?

The question to ask yourself, is what are you getting out of the game. If you're enjoying it play, if not don't.
If you don't see value in eso+ then unsub and see. That seems like a different discussion, you can drop eso+ and still play.

Tandor · March 31

While I don't see anything in the supposedly new content that is of any obvious interest to me, I do consider there to be more than enough remaining value in the subscription to justify my continuing it, but probably not over my 3 existing accounts once all the new stuff is in place and I've had a chance to assess it fully. I haven't checked any of it out on the PTS as I gave that up at the time of the introduction of account-wide achievements when it became obvious that ZOS weren't interested in receiving or commenting on feedback as once changes are put on the PTS they're a done deal.

Meanwhile I've enjoyed not needing to log in every day for the rewards and Endeavours. I quickly did those Golden Pursuits that suited me and left the rest, and have been taking my first real break from the game since I started it at launch.

carthalis · March 31

I don't feel disappointed or cheated, these things happen across a lot of mmo's were content you may have once paid for is now free which is great if it might bring in more players.

But this will be the first year I've not paid for a chapter and I've bought all the chapters since Vvardenfell as I see nothing in the battle passes for this year that convinces me to buy them. I'll keep my ESO+ running as it's the only mmo I play these days and I enjoy what I do when I log in, and I will miss the chapter release.

ESO_player123 · March 31

I've been playing for 6 years. I preordered every Chapter because I wanted to play them as soon as they were released. I did not want to wait until they would go on deep sale or become part of ESO+ (and I had ESO+ for almost the whole time I have been playing).

So, it was my choice, I had access to them as soon as possible. It's natural that games/part of games become cheaper as time passes. I do no think people show up to request a compensation when a bunch of games they bought on release go on sale on, say, Steam.

Bottom line: while I do think that ESO+ is worth less now and they could have added the first paid tier of Battle pass to it, I do not share disappointment expressed in this thread.

Syldras · March 31

Pcgamer wrote: »

I paid for solstice and now it's free. I do feel very cheated. There doesnt seem to be any compensation at this point in time.

Is it free, though? I thought it just became accessible through ESOplus, like every chapter the year after its release?

CalamityCat · March 31

I honestly don't regret spending on ESO, because I love the game and want to support the people who make it. Also, with few exceptions the expansions etc I've acquired have all been worth the money. Even when I nearly quit after subclassing arrived, I still didn't regret paying into the game. I still enjoyed all those hours. ESO is still my favourite MMO and probably always will be.

I also think that when expansions have been around for as long as some have, it isn't unreasonable to open them up to everyone. I've seen other games do something similar. It can be really difficult for new players to know what game edition to buy, or what they need to access specific content. Or when some content is given away, those players who weren't around miss it.

I don't think all the old content will be just thrown into the base game at once either, so it feels more like a continuation of past giveaways of older DLCs. I'm also not sure what positive it really adds to the game if ZOS were to keep charging for those DLCs long after their release.

Ardaghion · March 31

I started on Xbox back in 2017, then quit the Xbox to switch to PC years later; all that time I've subscribed to ESO+. I lost access to a lot of things, like crowns, chapters, DLC, etc due to the platform switch. I don't think I was ever entitled to have the content from the Xbox transferred over the PC. I'm certainly not asking for any compensation seeing as I played for years and got my enjoyment out of the content at the time.

I haven't played since last fall and let my ESO+ lapse. Looking at my collections, I have all story content with the exception of Solstice. So, I'm pretty sure that wasn't added to the base game. A later season will roll Greymoor into the base game.

I also checked my mules and they don't have Solstice either, they do have access to the story content that was announced to be part of the base game, it's just four zones, including one that was free for years. They don't have access to quite a few DLC that could be bought with crowns.

Is ESO+ still worth it now? I think so, I did pay for DLC over time with the crowns that ESO+ gave me so the sub doesn't give me those for "free" anymore. The cost of the crowns, if you had to buy them, is a significant portion of the sub. If you don't need the crowns I guess you could get gold with them.

Unless I'm mistaken, and that's very possible at my age, ESO+ gives you access to the highest tier of the battlepass for no extra charge. That would normally be $29.99 USD per month if I recall the infographic I saw.

AScarlato · March 31

Ardaghion wrote: »

Unless I'm mistaken, and that's very possible at my age, ESO+ gives you access to the highest tier of the battlepass for no extra charge. That would normally be $29.99 USD per month if I recall the infographic I saw.

A year of ESO plus gets you one Battlepass.

PeacefulAnarchy · March 31

Ardaghion wrote: »

.

Unless I'm mistaken, and that's very possible at my age, ESO+ gives you access to the highest tier of the battlepass for no extra charge. That would normally be $29.99 USD per month if I recall the infographic I saw.

You are kind of mistaken. You get a token for every month of eso+ since jan 1. For 12 tokens you can redeem 1 battle pass. They last 3 months so about 4 per year. So you get 1 of every 4 battle passes if subbed continuously.

Danikat · March 31

Syldras wrote: »

Pcgamer wrote: »

I paid for solstice and now it's free. I do feel very cheated. There doesnt seem to be any compensation at this point in time.

Is it free, though? I thought it just became accessible through ESOplus, like every chapter the year after its release?

You're right, Solstice isn't free yet. It's in the crown store for 3,500 crowns (same as previous chapters when they were renamed DLC) and it's included with ESO+ but it's not free.

It probably will be at some point because ZOS have said eventually all the past DLC and chapters will be, but so far I think it's only the first 4 DLCs and Vvardenfell which are included in the base game.

Radiate77 · March 31

I own every DLC purchased directly from the ingame store with Crowns, and while I would love some kind of rebate… I don’t expect one.

When it comes to a social game, and playing it with friends, is it not best to tear down any barriers between us?

Ardaghion · March 31

AScarlato wrote: »

Ardaghion wrote: »

Unless I'm mistaken, and that's very possible at my age, ESO+ gives you access to the highest tier of the battlepass for no extra charge. That would normally be $29.99 USD per month if I recall the infographic I saw.

A year of ESO plus gets you one Battlepass.

PeacefulAnarchy wrote: »

Ardaghion wrote: »

.

Unless I'm mistaken, and that's very possible at my age, ESO+ gives you access to the highest tier of the battlepass for no extra charge. That would normally be $29.99 USD per month if I recall the infographic I saw.

You are kind of mistaken. You get a token for every month of eso+ since jan 1. For 12 tokens you can redeem 1 battle pass. They last 3 months so about 4 per year. So you get 1 of every 4 battle passes if subbed continuously.

Thanks, I guess I didn't fully read the article explaining the finer details. I barely have the money to resub ESO+,I wouldn't be able to buy another $90 worth of premium battle pass on top of that. Too bad, it would have been nicer to include the premium without the bonuses tier for ESO+ subs.

Although, looking at what the battlepass does give, I really don't care that much. I'm not really into the collectibles or cosmetics, I find most of them gaudy and way too flashy. Although I do wish I could get the Acorn Warder hat and a Nedic Perena Armor outfit I once had on the Xbox, I really liked the combo on my sorc.

SundarahFr3akinrican · March 31

How could you possibly complain about other people getting things for free. Bad take imo. You got to use all this stuff for those 12 years others couldnt if they played for free. Think of the other players and also the health of the game as a whole.

mdjessup4906 · March 31

Ive bought almost every chapter and have been subbed for about a year now and I dont care if others have it easier and cheaper than me now. I cant even imagine why I would.

SeaGtGruff · March 31

I have also purchased all of the DLC content and chapter expansions, in addition to being an ESO Plus subscriber, and I don't mind that other players will be able to access DLCs and former chapters for free. Personally, I don't have any plans to drop my subscription or quit playing the game over this.

Amergin · April 2

I thank you all for your reactions. Sometimes that is needed to put things in perspective. i will be playing the game as for now and see what the seasons will bring.

Vaqual · April 2

SundarahFr3akinrican wrote: »

How could you possibly complain about other people getting things for free. Bad take imo. You got to use all this stuff for those 12 years others couldnt if they played for free. Think of the other players and also the health of the game as a whole.

It might set a precedent for those people who were willing to pay for content. I think it is a legitimate concern if customers aren't treated by equal standards. If they manage to stay afloat with the current system a hard cut may have been the best choice, but if they should ever return to an add-on based model, like GW2 did after trying out their "Living-World Season 1", they might find that some bridges have been burned. By no means should content become inaccessible, exclusive or unaffordable, but there are probably quite a few players who bought DLCs up until very recently. I can fully understand that they would not be thrilled. I am however also not sure about the exact rules now, what is free and what isn't. I think there was a similar issue with a mount that was given out for free last year while still being sold for Crowns, but of course that was a quite particular and limited issue.

"Don't be mad if others get stuff for free" is in my eyes not a very productive stance to have, ideally ZOS needs all their paying customers to feel respected. It is more complicated than just envy and gatekeeping.

Bguk · April 2

Vaqual wrote: »

SundarahFr3akinrican wrote: »

How could you possibly complain about other people getting things for free. Bad take imo. You got to use all this stuff for those 12 years others couldnt if they played for free. Think of the other players and also the health of the game as a whole.

It might set a precedent for those people who were willing to pay for content. I think it is a legitimate concern if customers aren't treated by equal standards. If they manage to stay afloat with the current system a hard cut may have been the best choice, but if they should ever return to an add-on based model, like GW2 did after trying out their "Living-World Season 1", they might find that some bridges have been burned. By no means should content become inaccessible, exclusive or unaffordable, but there are probably quite a few players who bought DLCs up until very recently. I can fully understand that they would not be thrilled. I am however also not sure about the exact rules now, what is free and what isn't. I think there was a similar issue with a mount that was given out for free last year while still being sold for Crowns, but of course that was a quite particular and limited issue.

"Don't be mad if others get stuff for free" is in my eyes not a very productive stance to have, ideally ZOS needs all their paying customers to feel respected. It is more complicated than just envy and gatekeeping.

MMO customers across the board aren't treated by equal standards. Early adopters will have a benefit of enjoying paid content earlier than others, not having to wait for content to potentially become free. The early adopters do not have a wait time.

I agree that there may have been some customers who may have bought DLC pretty recent to content going live. The customer can then seek a possible refund. This happened recently with the outfit slots. There were refunds provided to those who purchased the slots.

Syldras · April 2

Vaqual wrote: »

I am however also not sure about the exact rules now, what is free and what isn't.

Vvardenfell (released in 2017) was added to the base game for free a few years ago. Right now, Orsinium (Wrothgar), Dark Brotherhood (Gold Coast), Thieves Guild (Hew's Bane) and Imperial City became free. Those are the dlcs of 2015/2016.

At the end of 2026, Greymoor (Western Skyrim) will also be added to the base game for free, probably because they'll need the zone for the build-up of a new storyline in 2027. Also, new zones added from this year on will generally be free additions to the game, for everyone, without any purchase options.

All other chapters/dlc have not become free (yet), except for the usual procedure of becoming a part of ESO+ one year after release (which has been the case for many years now).

Ardaghion · April 2

Syldras wrote: »

Vaqual wrote: »

I am however also not sure about the exact rules now, what is free and what isn't.

Vvardenfell (released in 2017) was added to the base game for free a few years ago. Right now, Orsinium (Wrothgar), Dark Brotherhood (Gold Coast), Thieves Guild (Hew's Bane) and Imperial City became free. Those are the dlcs of 2015/2016.

At the end of 2026, Greymoor (Western Skyrim) will also be added to the base game for free, probably because they'll need the zone for the build-up of a new storyline in 2027. Also, new zones added from this year on will generally be free additions to the game, for everyone, without any purchase options.

All other chapters/dlc have not become free (yet), except for the usual procedure of becoming a part of ESO+ one year after release (which has been the case for many years now).

Imperial City had been free in the Crown Store for quite a few years, also as an FYI, Orsinium and Clockwork City were given away as daily login rewards back in 2024. I wasn't playing at the time so I missed out on those.

I bought all the existing PVE DLC that I didn't own, at some point, with Crowns. I bought Gold Road as a chapter for me and my mules back when that collection went on sale. That collection included Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr, Greymoor, Blackwood, High Isle and Necrom. The only thing I'm missing right now is Solstice. I didn't buy any dungeon DLC.

Just for a complete list my mules are missing Solstice, Firesong, The Deadlands, Markarth, Dragonhold, Murkmire, and Clockwork City. Since the mules have the Gold Road collection the only chapter missing for them is Solstice, the other items are DLC and have to be bought with Crowns. I suppose they might be made available at some point with in-game currency like seals or trade bars but there's no mention of them yet.

So, it can be rather confusing depending on what base or deluxe game you bought. Checking the collections section of the game menu will show you what you are missing but if you have ESO+ you'll see DLC that you only own as long as you keep the sub. They do list which items are owned due to ESO+

LootAllTheStuff · April 2

Amergin wrote: »

I am dissapointed. I have been a player from the beginning. Have also an ESO subscription from the beginning. Bought all the DLC's,. And now they are free for all players. I do not see that the eso subscription will give me anything worthwhile and also I do not get anything back for the money I have spent it what others now get for free.
I Understand a game needs to change with time to still excist, and I do not say that the changes are bad, but I feel as a long time supporter of the game I now been cheated on. I do not know if i will be keep playing this because of this feeling. Maybe others can change my mind?

You've been able to play all the content you've paid for since you got it, though - that has to have been worth something. If you took the hours played and divided by the cost, how much did you spend per hour and did you enjoy it enough to think it worth the money? If so, you've already benefitted plenty.

Right now, we're still waiting for Wrothgar (Fall 2026), and it isn't clear to me if that's the entire package or just the story content. It's likely going to take a few years before all the existing content is rolled into the base game; meanwhile, you're still getting to play that now whereas those with only the base game will have to wait or pay.

I believe the term in economics is "opportunity cost"?

AScarlato · April 2

Another point I wanted to make for early adopters is there is also a benefit to playing content when it's new. It's easier to group for world bosses and zone events, which in newer expansions have been harder to do on your own.

Once content is old, you can sometimes find yourself without any help, even after begging in zone chat, and just having to move along or wait for timing to align with friends or others.

After Solstice released I had a hard time getting people for bosses in Apocrypha and Necrom at times, which was frustrating. Same with the incursions in Gold Road.

Rev Rielle · April 3

There are a number of misconceptions in this thread which, I feel, have perhaps led to some of the disappointment and confusion. When we purchase something in an MMO, it is not truly ours in the same sense as a physical object, like a piece of clothing. We are not buying something to possess forever; rather, we are buying access to enjoy that content on their servers for a limited time (until those servers eventually shut down, as they inevitably will). We are not purchasing a physical thing, but access to a service being provided.

Let’s also not confuse our purchases of access to game services with something more grandiose, such as being a “supporter” or the like. We are no more a supporter of a game company than I am a supporter of one of my favourite clothing brands when I buy one of their items. Yes, in our own small way our purchases contribute to their success (they are businesses, after all) but that does not grant us any expectation of special treatment or circumstances. Some gaming companies (not necessarily ZeniMax) may try to encourage that perception - that your purchases make you somehow a 'special' part of the community - through clever wording and emotive language, but it is worth keeping the distinction in mind. Don't be fooled by moon-sugar coated words.

And we certainly are not investors in any material or monetary sense when we purchase access to in-game content. If anything, we are investing in our own immediate enjoyment; the opportunity to access and experience the content for as long as it remains available. That is the real value of the purchase. The time we have spent enjoying ourselves in-game cannot be taken away from us later, regardless of how freely available that content may become in the future.

*****

As for the content released today itself: yes, on the surface it may appear a little sparse. However, as the developers have said multiple times over the past few months, they are no longer confined by their previous model of releasing content only at specific points throughout the year. They now have the freedom to release updates as they are completed. This change in cadence will likely take some getting used to.

Under the old model, many of the recent additions - such as the Dragonknight and Two-Handed weapon refreshes, various quality-of-life improvements, the sunsetting of Daily Endeavours, and so on - would likely have been bundled together and released at the same time. As a result, it may be more sensible going forward not to view any single update entirely in isolation, but rather to consider it more holistically within the broader cadence of updates: both those already released over the previous months, and those planned for the ones ahead. And as the recent Seasons Direct highlight; there really does seem to be something for everyone in the works.

Palumtra · April 3

While there are some points the Ingredient Bag alone with the monthly crowns (+ deals in the store) makes it already worth it in my books, but to each their own.

Also old content becoming "free" or very cheap is nothing new in MMOs.

spartaxoxo · April 3

It's the nature of live service games to change. I don't feel cheated because I got the content I wanted, when I wanted, and at its biggest hype period. I got flawless conquer before subclassing and without Oakensoul. I beat vet maelstrom before they added perfected weapons even. No price reduction can change that experience. It was fun and challenging and briefly gave me very minor bragging rights (okay nobody actually cares LMAO 🤣). I had my turn and made the most of it. It's someone else's turn to make their own memories in Wrothgar. I wish them luck and hope they have a blast. Their fun takes nothing from mine.

I want this game to continue to innovate and expand. That naturally means old stuff gotta come down in price and they have to shake up the way they do things from time to time so the game doesn't stagnate. It is what it is.

moderatelyfatman · April 3

Amergin wrote: »

I am dissapointed. I have been a player from the beginning. Have also an ESO subscription from the beginning. Bought all the DLC's,. And now they are free for all players. I do not see that the eso subscription will give me anything worthwhile and also I do not get anything back for the money I have spent it what others now get for free.
I Understand a game needs to change with time to still excist, and I do not say that the changes are bad, but I feel as a long time supporter of the game I now been cheated on. I do not know if i will be keep playing this because of this feeling. Maybe others can change my mind?

If Chapters had been selling well, we'd still have chapters.
If last year's season had sold well, we'd get the same this year.
If ZOS thought that they could get way more ESO+ subscribers by putting all of this on ESO+; they would have.

To be honest, I think ESO is heading towards become a F2P game where players just pay for whatever goodies that interest them.