Betheda: You'll Get Your Money's Worth in Elder Scrolls Online
You'll get you money's worth.
Bethesda's Pete Hines defends the Elder Scrolls Online subscription model in a recent interview, indicating that the $14.99 per month fee will be a "value proposition." He said the team feels pretty strongly about the support gamers will receive as well as what they will get with those dollars.
"We're also very confident in our ability to support it with content," he told GameSpot. "And not content of the magnitude of, it's a new month, here's a new sword or here's a funny hat -- but content that is real and significant and it feels like regular and consistent DLC releases."
Hines also noted that Elder Scrolls Online is built in a way that everyone playing needs the same content installed in order for players to interact with each other. There are no zones set aside for free players and no "premium" zones set aside for subscribers. Either gamers are all in, or they are not, he said.
"We're not trying to make a game that everybody who plays games will automatically buy," he said. "It is a certain kind of game. There's no shooter elements. There's no aliens. It is a massive, 'Go where you want, do what you want' game that we think offers the kind of experience that's worthy of a subscription."
"We're not going to make a lesser game that might be more palatable," he added. "We want to do the version that we think is the best game and the coolest experience. And that means putting a lot of people and a lot of content creators towards having stuff that comes out regularly; every four weeks, five weeks, six weeks. Big new stuff that you want to do."
The Elder Scrolls Online is scheduled to launch on PC and Mac in April. The game will also launch on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in June.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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Datcu Alexandru Putting aside the fact that i don't like the game, i have to say that even now i still think they have no hope of staying pay to play. i mean they are so confident in the game that they had to segregate an entire playable race to the imperial edition which btw segregates the player base in what they can play as and in what alliance. Kudos to the developers. you just let the marketing department bury your love child AND let them take a piss on the grave.Reply -
daekar I would like to believe that Bethesda can succeed where SWTOR failed, but I'll be shocked if they can - that game was fantastic. I would pay subscription fees without blinking, but apparently a lot of people won't. Don't understand why, but there it is. I hate the F2P model, and wish Bethesda the best of luck. If I weren't knee-deep in Mechwarrior Online, I might subscribe on principle!Reply -
Battledad Been playing the beta for a while now (including this weekend). hard to put a finger on it but it just doesn't "feel" right. Hit E to enter, R to pickup items, mouse moves the screen; chat is weak (and communication in an MMO is key); lots of bugs and glitches (that don't appear to be fixed thru betas) and it's not ready for prime time. We won't e subscribing.Reply -
bluestar2k11 Not many of you seem to have met FFXI which has been pay 2 play for 11 years and still has a fair player base, and charges 13$/month base, and an extra dollar per additional character after the first.And FFXIV which last I heard is still netting up players clamouring for it as a hit, which charges 15$/month.Both games coming from a company people don't seem to like.So the pay to play will fail argument, kind of fails.Reply -
bystander I personally would like the WoW experience from early vanilla and BC. I'm tired of the Solo play, cross server, automatic grouping experiences that most games have gone to. It seems that MMO's are designed for people to log on and just watch the action around them. The social aspect of the games have died due to many design choices, almost all of which WoW as done first.If they avoid the pitfalls that WoW has introduced into the MMO community, I'll join, pay or free.Reply