Make Markarth free as well by the end of the year

FabresFour · April 7

It’s already been announced that ZeniMax plans to add Greymoor to the base game: it was right there on the roadmap at the start of the year. A really good call in my opinion, if the goal is to bring Skyrim into the base game experience (with the 15º anniversary), then The Reach simply can’t be ignored.

This isn’t “just another DLC with a different map.” It’s literally the conclusion of the Dark Heart of Skyrim storyline. Everything that starts in Greymoor only truly wraps up there. Without it, the story just feels cut in half. And there’s another point: Markarth and The Reach aren’t just any location. For anyone who’s played Skyrim, this region is iconic. It’s part of that nostalgia package people immediately associate with the game.

That’s why it feels odd to think about Skyrim being “free,” but without the conclusion of the very story arc ESO built around it. If the idea is to deliver a complete experience, then The Reach needs to come with it.

And honestly, from a player perspective, this would be a great move to bring people in. Imagine a new player jumping in and seeing multiple iconic regions available, with a full story from start to finish. Or even returning players who never bought the DLC suddenly having a reason to come back.

If Greymoor is going to be part of the base game for the 15º Skyrim anniversary, Markarth should be too.

LatentBuzzard · April 7

FabresFour wrote: »

That’s why it feels odd to think about Skyrim being “free,” but without the conclusion of the very story arc ESO built around it. If the idea is to deliver a complete experience, then The Reach needs to come with it.

ZOS won't be adding Greymoor for its story or experience, they'll be adding it to give people access to antiquities which will be needed for the seasonal antiquity.

LunaFlora · April 7

that would be awesome indeed.
Hopefully it happens in Season 3, if not 2

allochthons · April 7

I hope they add Markarth too. But I think the Antiquities logic is correct. But why not add Summerset and Jewelry and Psijic?

Blood_again · April 7

allochthons wrote: »

I hope they add Markarth too. But I think the Antiquities logic is correct. But why not add Summerset and Jewelry and Psijic?

Jewelry crafting and Psijic don't sell you any additional dlc.
However, when you get used to digging up some antiquities and get a lead to Elsweyr or Solstice next day, it can sell.

LootAllTheStuff · April 7

I thought the plan was to slow-roll the chapters into the base game with a handful each year? If that's the case, then Markarth would be a good opener for the following one (season 3?).

allochthons · April 7

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

I thought the plan was to slow-roll the chapters into the base game with a handful each year? If that's the case, then Markarth would be a good opener for the following one (season 3?).

Greymoor is confirmed for late 2026/early 2027, but other DLC/Chapters are unclear, but probably not. See the discussion from this comment and down.

Blood_again wrote: »

allochthons wrote: »

I hope they add Markarth too. But I think the Antiquities logic is correct. But why not add Summerset and Jewelry and Psijic?

Jewelry crafting and Psijic don't sell you any additional dlc.
However, when you get used to digging up some antiquities and get a lead to Elsweyr or Solstice next day, it can sell.

This has always confused me. I bought Summerset for my alt accounts (who don't have ESO+) in order to get access to jewelry. AFAIK, there are no announced plans to include Summerset in the base game. So how does "Jewelry crafting and Psijic don't sell you any additional dlc." work? Do you mean because Summerset is a chapter?
I'm honestly confused. Chapter vs DLC vs whatever, and how they're treated differently has always confused me. (To the point I'm probably not articulating this well at all.)

Let me try again.
Greymoor gives us antiquities, it's going to be included in the base game, thus losing ZoS a revenue stream.
Summerset gives us jewelry crafting and access to the Psijic skill line. Why wouldn't it be included in the base game too?

Destai · April 7

I'm confused why they're not moving all content to base game in one move. I feel like that would be so much easier for us as consumers and easier for them to communicate. Granted, I don't know what the technical roll out would look like, but the amount of staggered changes is a bit daunting. Buying the game has always been a confusing process, so the sooner the better.

ESO_player123 · April 7

allochthons wrote: »

Let me try again.
Greymoor gives us antiquities, it's going to be included in the base game, thus losing ZoS a revenue stream.
Summerset gives us jewelry crafting and access to the Psijic skill line. Why wouldn't it be included in the base game too?

As one of the posters above wrote, with free Greymore you can now scry and dig up antiquites. However, if you get a lead that can only be scryed/dug up in a DLC you do not have access to, you might want to buy that DLC -> more money for ZoS.

With jewelry and Psijic there is not incentive to buy other DLCs. It's all contained within the base game/Summerset.

AScarlato · April 7

I kind of wish after 5 years of sales they'd just move things into the base game. Like dungeons and stuff too, so people had a base offering of very old content. I also think dungeons should have been part of Chapters in the year they released and not a separate sale.

LootAllTheStuff · April 7

allochthons wrote: »

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

I thought the plan was to slow-roll the chapters into the base game with a handful each year? If that's the case, then Markarth would be a good opener for the following one (season 3?).

Greymoor is confirmed for late 2026/early 2027, but other DLC/Chapters are unclear, but probably not. See the discussion from this comment and down.

That was an informative read - thanks.

So, from ZOS' perspective, if they decide they want to use specific zone(s) for one of the new event types they are developing, then that story content gets rolled into the base game. Probably not the dungeons/trials from the same chapter though (unless someone is feeling extra generous).

PeacefulAnarchy · April 7

Destai wrote: »

I'm confused why they're not moving all content to base game in one move. I feel like that would be so much easier for us as consumers and easier for them to communicate. Granted, I don't know what the technical roll out would look like, but the amount of staggered changes is a bit daunting. Buying the game has always been a confusing process, so the sooner the better.

They're balancing ease of communication about content, which would be improved but they're already used to dealing with all the fragmented dlc, vs the value of drip feed, that they still get to make money on dlc purchases and the deluxe edition, and they get to announce a new free thing every quarter or two. It's recurring goodwill instead of one lump of bigger goodwill. It's worse for the game, but not really any worse than it's always been, and better for them.

allochthons · April 7

ESO_player123 wrote: »

As one of the posters above wrote, with free Greymore you can now scry and dig up antiquites. However, if you get a lead that can only be scryed/dug up in a DLC you do not have access to, you might want to buy that DLC -> more money for ZoS.

With jewelry and Psijic there is not incentive to buy other DLCs. It's all contained within the base game/Summerset.

I see. That should have clicked in my brain when @Blood_again explained it. Thanks.