Official Discussion Thread for "ESO Free Play Weekend – PlayStation 4 & PC/Mac"

ZOS_JessicaFolsom · November 2016

This is the official discussion thread for the blog article ESO Free Play Weekend – PlayStation 4 & PC/Mac. Experience adventure without limits in The Elder Scrolls Online during our Free Play Weekend on PlayStation 4 & PC/Mac. Check out all the need-to-know details including when you can begin playing and where to download.

Enodoc · November 2016

In case you're coming here without reading the article:

WHAT ABOUT XBOX ONE?
We haven't forgotten about all of you on Xbox One! We have an ESO Free Play Weekend in the works just for Xbox One players. Watch elderscrollsonline.com and Xbox Wire for details.

Elsonso · November 2016

Is there a non-Steam option for PC/Mac where the non-Steam ESO is installed? Can a prospective player create an account and then use my gaming rig that has stand-alone ESO installed, or does it have to be through Steam, with a Steam install?

Alp · November 2016

So as someone who bought eso ages before it was released on steam, will I be able to use the free weekend to officially get eso on steam and then use my current account there for free?

voreo · November 2016

So what of those with existing accounts?
Do we get crowns too? ;-;

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom

Enodoc · November 2016

voreo wrote: »

So what of those with existing accounts?
Do we get crowns too? ;-;

@voreo We already got our 500 free Crowns when we first started playing the game (or at the time TU launched, if you were here before that). And the Crowns sale will be for everyone, I assume.

Pandorii · November 2016

Enodoc wrote: »

voreo wrote: »

So what of those with existing accounts?
Do we get crowns too? ;-;

@voreo We already got our 500 free Crowns when we first started playing the game (or at the time TU launched, if you were here before that). And the Crowns sale will be for everyone, I assume.

not much a new player can do with 500 crowns...

Delpi · November 2016

Pandorii wrote: »

not much a new player can do with 500 crowns...

He can buy some colors for a costume... wait.... he must buy the costume first... so, no, nothing at all

Elsonso · November 2016

Pandorii wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

voreo wrote: »

So what of those with existing accounts?
Do we get crowns too? ;-;

@voreo We already got our 500 free Crowns when we first started playing the game (or at the time TU launched, if you were here before that). And the Crowns sale will be for everyone, I assume.

not much a new player can do with 500 crowns...

Fully intended. They could have put a mount in the store for 500, but my guess is that this is the first Crown purchase that many players make, and to do it they have to buy more Crowns.

SirAndy · November 2016

Enodoc · November 2016

Pandorii wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

voreo wrote: »

So what of those with existing accounts?
Do we get crowns too? ;-;

voreo We already got our 500 free Crowns when we first started playing the game (or at the time TU launched, if you were here before that). And the Crowns sale will be for everyone, I assume.

not much a new player can do with 500 crowns...

Other than the cheap cosmetics, the most likely thing a new player would buy with 500 Crowns is the Supply Crate or a couple of stacks of consumables.

Nickernator · November 2016

Alp wrote: »

So as someone who bought eso ages before it was released on steam, will I be able to use the free weekend to officially get eso on steam and then use my current account there for free?

Why would you? If you bought the game in 2014, you still own it now. No need to rebuy anything, all you need is to use the same account. I created mine in 2014, stopped playing late 2014. 4 weeks ago I returned, same account with all my stuff :P

Jarros · November 2016

Hi ZOS,

Glad to hear there's a Free Play weekend coming up, but the blog post and instructions for PC are really confusing and inaccurate.

The posting says:
"...you can begin downloading the game now on Steam so you're ready to team up with friends when the event begins on Wednesday, November 16 at 1:00PM EST/6:00PM GMT. Navigate to The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited product page on Steam, download and install it, and create your ESO account."

My friend went to follow these directions in order to start downoading today and there was NO "Play Game" or "download". Nothing but the "Add to Cart" at $29.99.

I submitted a ticket and was told "Does your friend already have an ESO account? If not they need to do that first before they will be allowed to download the game."

I will be directing my friend to follow the directions from the ticket. However, as you can see, these directions are completely different and super confusing.

Hope this can be cleared up. Hate to see other people trying to do the same thing and not getting anywhere. Thanks!

Alp · November 2016

Nickernator wrote: »

Alp wrote: »

So as someone who bought eso ages before it was released on steam, will I be able to use the free weekend to officially get eso on steam and then use my current account there for free?

Why would you? If you bought the game in 2014, you still own it now. No need to rebuy anything, all you need is to use the same account. I created mine in 2014, stopped playing late 2014. 4 weeks ago I returned, same account with all my stuff :P

I've been running the game through steam as a non-steam game since the release because I like their system but if I want it officially added to steam I need to rebuy it.

Seems when I try to login to the site with steam I just get this message: "Steam not linked. Please link your Steam account to your ESO account before attempting to log in. Get help"

But you need to do that to get the free weekend.. And when I log into my account I have no option to do anything with steam.

ZOS_GinaBruno · November 2016

Jarros wrote: »

Hi ZOS,

Glad to hear there's a Free Play weekend coming up, but the blog post and instructions for PC are really confusing and inaccurate.

The posting says:
"...you can begin downloading the game now on Steam so you're ready to team up with friends when the event begins on Wednesday, November 16 at 1:00PM EST/6:00PM GMT. Navigate to The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited product page on Steam, download and install it, and create your ESO account."

My friend went to follow these directions in order to start downoading today and there was NO "Play Game" or "download". Nothing but the "Add to Cart" at $29.99.

I submitted a ticket and was told "Does your friend already have an ESO account? If not they need to do that first before they will be allowed to download the game."

I will be directing my friend to follow the directions from the ticket. However, as you can see, these directions are completely different and super confusing.

Hope this can be cleared up. Hate to see other people trying to do the same thing and not getting anywhere. Thanks!

Sorry for the confusion! You'll be able to start downloading ESO on Steam for the Free Play Weekend tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/16) at 1:00pm EST.

Digiman · November 2016

@ZOS_GinaBruno is the copy for free or do we have to pay for it in full after the weekend?

Can't seem to find it free on Steam either. I live in Australia so I am assuming different time zones.

OMA · November 2016

Is this a precursor to going Free to play in the future?

scorpiodog · November 2016

kkordasb14_ESO wrote: »

Is this a precursor to going Free to play in the future?

Not necessarily. WOW has had a free introduction for a long time, but still requires a subscription if you want to play higher than level 20. Another game I know offers free weekends once or twice a year and it's still in Alpha.

scorpiodog · November 2016

I hope it is not possible to create numerous free accounts, buy crown experience scrolls (for example), and then mail/trade that scroll to a paid account?

voreo · November 2016

scorpiodog wrote: »

I hope it is not possible to create numerous free accounts, buy crown experience scrolls (for example), and then mail/trade that scroll to a paid account?

I dont think free accounts have mail access?

Enodoc · November 2016

kkordasb14_ESO wrote: »

Is this a precursor to going Free to play in the future?

Probably not. They've done free weekends before.

scorpiodog wrote: »

I hope it is not possible to create numerous free accounts, buy crown experience scrolls (for example), and then mail/trade that scroll to a paid account?

Crown Store items aren't tradeable.

Rune_Relic · November 2016

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Broadband speed = 2mb/s
Download size = 73GB
Download + game time window = 4 days = 96 hours.
20000000 * 3600 / (8*1024*1024*1024) = 0.838 GByte/hour download speed
73 / 0.838 = 87 hour download
96 - 87 = 9 hour playtime if the download goes ok without any hitches.
[and no one else wants to use the internet for 4 days]

Could you get the team to think about increasing the windows size one day and start a day earlier.
96 hours is not enough time for many people in the UK.
I know the US has no problem with network speeds but many countries do.
Bandwidth varies greatly between areas.

I assume you want the download to be viable for as many people as possible.

Ruggsy9 · November 2016

store has game listed at full price. No free download available.

Elsonso · November 2016

Ruggsy9 wrote: »

store has game listed at full price. No free download available.

Wednesday, 11 am Eastern Standard Time. Or so I recall reading, here on the forum.

Enodoc · November 2016

Ruggsy9 wrote: »

store has game listed at full price. No free download available.

PSN store? Looking here I can see "Try Free Demo"; could that be it?

prncesslea · November 2016

I would be a returning player. I am willing to try the game again with my current account. I want to play for free the next few days in an effort to determine whether I feel it's worth getting a subscription for again. All of the information I have read indicates that I can do that however I am unable to find a link that will allow me to do that.

wayfarerx · November 2016

prncesslea wrote: »

I would be a returning player. I am willing to try the game again with my current account. I want to play for free the next few days in an effort to determine whether I feel it's worth getting a subscription for again. All of the information I have read indicates that I can do that however I am unable to find a link that will allow me to do that.

If you already bought the game then you can play for free whenever you like, the subscription has been optional for quite awhile now. Just log in with your old account info and have at it.

Sarnni · November 2016

Is someone required to have a steam account to participate in the free weekend? @ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_GinaBruno

Someone else posted this question earlier and no one has responded. I have a friend trying to login without steam, but is unable to do so, so far.

Xyraxus · November 2016

The PlayStation store has the game listed as 10($9.89us) bucks. The only free option is the Demo. Is this Sony being Sony or am I just not understanding the seemingly simple instructions?

Abeille · November 2016

Hey @ZOS_JessicaFolsom , great news! I was wondering, will there be any chat restrictions this time, or will free accounts be able to use all of the channels? I think last time they couldn't use zone chat, but it's been a while so I might be mistaken.

Enodoc · November 2016

Xyraxus wrote: »

The PlayStation store has the game listed as 10($9.89us) bucks. The only free option is the Demo. Is this Sony being Sony or am I just not understanding the seemingly simple instructions?

I don't know how Sony is handling the free weekend, but maybe the demo itself is what you need? @leepalmer95 You're the first PS4 player I thought of - has there always been a "Try Free Demo" option available on the PSN store, or is that new for the free weekend?