Last week, far and away the biggest MMORPG news was the fact that Elder Scrolls Online finally revealed its new cadence – and its new monetization plan. In a nutshell, the game is switching away from its chapter/DLC cadence (that part we knew) and replacing it with an annual content pass – on top of the existing subscription – and then organizing the content itself in seasons that may or may not line up with the pass. It’s not fully clear right now how that content will shake out after the year it’s released, nor how exactly the subscription will be further sweetened to make up for the content it just lost.
I thought it would be worth a gut check this week to see where the MOP writers and readers stand on the switchover. Obviously, lots of players are skeptical about the studio’s intent here, but others suspect it’s going to be roughly the same as it always was. Let’s put it into perspective: What do you think of ESO’s new content rollout and payment plans? Are you more or less likely to give it a go? And what do you think of the MMORPG’s future prospects?
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna.bsky.social, blog): I’m still in the mildly skeptical bin over here. I could tell from the press previews that the developers genuinely believe that they need the content shake-up, that they really, really want to fix so many things with the game that they were unable to do with the old rigid cadence when it was in a 1:1 quarterly lock. However, in my mind, basegame updates were what the subscription was meant to be paying for all along, so even if the price works out to roughly the same, it feels a lot worse.
I mentioned that bit about clarity in the intro because that was a sticking point for me after the press Q&As; I thought it was wild that the devs didn’t have clear answers for things like how the subscription will be buffed, how the team can justify asking people to effectively pay twice to unlock dungeon DLC they may not even want, and how content unlocks will work once new content is past content. It’s hard to make a clean judgment in the absence of that info, and I think it was a tactical error for ZOS to go public without having those answers ready. [Edit: A podcast listener pointed out to me that they did announce a furniture vault as part of the sub later, but that was not mentioned at the two press events, and the vibe online right now is not that excited for it.]
As a dabbler in the game, I was a lot more likely to wait for a chapter to go on sale and then pick it up, so I can’t see why I would pay $50 in January on the hope that the year delivers what I want. The thing I liked about ESO was that I could pick and choose what I wanted to pay for and access, and now some of those choices are gone, but I am still paying more. But it was always just a minor side game for me, so I am also not really up in arms about it. Maybe if it were a main MMO for me, I would be, but more likely, I’d just pay for it as if it were a $16-$19 monthly sub ($140+$50 or $180+$50, depending) and not think about it again.
But as someone who plays a lot of MMOs, I simply do not see why ESO is worth $190-$230 a year when it’s not putting out more content than Guild Wars 2, which charges $25 for a year of content and no sub. Should GW2 increase its price? Yes, it should, but either way, those are the kinds of comparisons I’m thinking about here.
Carlo Lacsina (@UltraMudkipEX, YouTube, Twitch): SUPER WEIRD AND CONFUSING! So there’s going to be a sub and a content pass, but it’s not technically DLC any more? That just feels super weird to me because “content is kind of IDK essential right? I don’t know, this all seems weird and scary, but at the same time I don’t play ESO, so I don’t have that much stake on the sitch as they say.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes.bsky.social, blog): I sort of wish this was presented in an apples to apples comparison instead of, by all accounts, as a marketing push/infomercial, but I digress. Knowing what we have now, it’s hard not to believe that this is starting to swing the pendulum towards the FOMO side of things, and even though I’m usually pretty well inoculated to the tactic (dozens of games, even ones I like, have tried and failed to grab me with this maneuvering), it still feels real bad that that’s where things appear to be headed.
This isn’t being helped by the lack of information on what sub benefits there will be at the time of this writing, especially in relation to the seasons pass/content pass/whatever the hell ZOS is doing on top. It’s all too vague and not showcasing what value there is in this move, and for someone who has always wanted to make this game a second home MMO, that’s deeply frustrating.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): I’m going to point to my “wait and see” badge that I wear a lot in this industry. I think it’s confusing smoke and mirrors that isn’t quite showing us why ZeniMax is shifting to do whatever it’s doing, and my feeling is that it’s going to be a lot harder of a sell than a simple, clear-cut expansion would be. The subclassing is cool as all of the beans in the world, but I can tell you that while previous years’ expansions served to pull me back into the game, right now… well, I’m waiting and seeing. I don’t feel that pull at all.
Sam Kash (@samkash@mastodon.social): I never got into ESO, but the sound of this isn’t great. Just the optics feel like desperation. Kind of like a sub on a sub. One thing I can say is that it doesn’t make me think that I need to log on and find out what I can do to make the system work for me. It seems like a way to take advantage of your already loyal supporters.
Tyler Edwards (blog):Â I think it’s too early to come to any firm conclusions one way or the other. I will repeat my earlier stated position that ESO’s development has been so stale for so long that I think almost any shake-up is welcome, so I guess I’d put myself in the “very cautious optimism” camp.
Again, we’ll need more details, but the FOMO concerns feel overblown to me. Limited time events and rewards have always been a part of the genre, and used intelligently I think they can be a positive, though of course over-doing it is definitely a problem.
Subclassing seems like a good feature, and I’m eager to hear more about the proposed optional overland difficulty increase. For the first time in years I’m considering a return to the game. Probably still not something I’m super likely to do if I’m being honest, but even entertaining the idea is more than I’ve done for some time.
Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!
