I feel it is necessary to include a foreword to the following piece, as it is imperative that the reader receives this as an opinionated article. Many aspects of The Elder Scrolls Online are hotly debated on a daily basis, and that certainly isn’t going to change anytime soon. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with any number of the following points, I encourage you to respond as such in the comments. I look forward to reading your ideas, predictions and opinions.
[promo title=”The Subscription Fee”][/promo]
Let’s start off with the most prominent complaint regarding The Elder Scrolls Online. In order to play the game, you will need to pay $60 for the actual software. After one free month of gameplay, you will be expected to pay $15 per month in order to retain access to the video game. This subscription model is most famously (or infamously, depending on your viewpoint) used in the world’s most popular MMORPG World of Warcraft.
So, the MMO giant World of Warcraft is able to require a subscription fee and maintain its status as most popular? For the average gamer complaining about The Elder Scrolls Online, that almost has to be baffling. Regardless of how you feel about the World of Warcraft, you can’t really deny that the model has failed the game. In fact, subscriptions were on the rise as 2013 ended, with the total number clocking in at around 7.8 million. This is admittedly lower than its peak number (12 million near the end of 2010), but it remains to be very impressive.
The “problem” that many people are taking issue with is that MMORPGs have gone through a sort-of evolution over the past few years. Many are being released as free-to-play, while others that dared to start with a subscription fee (such as Lord of the Rings Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic) have dropped the model due to a lower player-base. Naturally, both Lord of the Rings Online and The Old Republic still offer an option to subscribe to a monthly fee in order to obtain special benefits in-game. This allows the player to decide whether or not the game is worth the continuous payment.
A few days ago, Bethesda’s vice president of PR, Pete Hines, defended the monthly fee for Elder Scrolls Online by calling it a “value proposition.” By this, he means that Zenimax (the development team behind ESO) will be fully dedicated to providing swift and meaningful content additions to the game. Hines had the following to say regarding their decision to include a subscription model:
“We feel pretty strongly about the support we’re going to have for the game and what you’re going to get for those dollars. We’re also very confident in our ability to support it with content. 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.”
Personally, I believe it’s also of note that a lot of the complaining is being done by console gamers. The decision to include Elder Scrolls Online on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One is nothing less than exciting, and I think it’s wonderful that we’re finally going to see some quality MMOs on consoles. However, the average console gamer isn’t exactly used to the idea of paying monthly for a video game. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of understanding in terms of how MMOs operate or if there is some underlying sense of entitlement working its evil magic, but they’ve certainly been vocal about it. While there are still plenty of PC gamers complaining about the fee (these are the people who are familiar with MMO fees, but they are also familiar with the aforementioned evolution of the genre), console gamers do have a legitimate reason to worry.
At least, some think they do. To play multiplayer games, one must subscribe to Sony’s PlayStation Plus or Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Gold service. However, Sony has chosen to be lenient on this rule for free-to-play games and MMOs in that PlayStation Plus is not required. Microsoft, on the other hand, still requires the consumer to subscribe to Xbox LIVE Gold in order to play any game online, including Elder Scrolls Online. This means that Xbox One users will be required to pay significantly more in order to access the MMO.
While that’s something I can’t entirely defend, I will say this: if you own a next-gen console this early in their lifespans, you probably are subscribed to either PlayStation Plus or Xbox LIVE Gold. While it may seem easy to complain that you would have to pay for both Plus or Gold and the subscription fee for an MMO, it really isn’t as logical as you might think. They’re completely separate entities, after all. You aren’t helping Zenimax create a better game experience by subscribing to Plus or Gold. Unfortunately, the most I can say to console gamers disagreeing with the practice is “think about it for a few minutes” instead of hopping on the bandwagon of hate. As for everyone else, it’s far more practical to wait and see if Zenimax will stand by their promise of delivering incredible content on a speedy basis instead of crucifying them before the game has even released. Even with the evolution of the MMO, World of Warcraft is still proving that the model can work. There’s nothing wrong with giving a new game a fair chance.