News broke that the rumours are true and the game is ditching subs

"Beginning June 9th, you can join your friends on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to play The Elder Scrolls Online – Tamriel Unlimited… with no game subscription fees!

Tamriel Unlimited is arriving on PC/Mac, too – beginning on Tuesday, March 17th. To celebrate the announcement, we've released The Confrontation, the final chapter in our thrilling series of cinematic trailers. Watch the stunning conclusion and get ready for Tamriel Unlimited!"

source

I think we all knew it was just a matter of time until it went free. I honestly thing only WoW and Eve can manage to keep up a monthly sub and even Blizzard are looking at copying Eve's method of allowing people pay in game currency for game time.

I might give it a shot if they put out a free trial on the consoles.

Tamriel Unlimited?

Called it! Though, given recent news and events, I don't think my prediction was necessarily all that special. Probably won't play it though given that the FFXIV expansion will most likely be out by then...

If they're just ditching the sub fee but you still have to purchase the game then it's technically buy to play like Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World. I'll probably revisit the game since my only exposure to it was during the beta tests.

Haven't tried it since beta. I'd give it a shot once it's subscription free.

I’ve gotten to the stage were I’m not going to pay a subscription for an MMO, I did dip my toe back into WOW for 3 months but had my fill and wouldn’t go back while its still a sub based game. Would be fun to see a another Dan or Jeff ‘30 Day Trial’.

I think FFXI and FFXV still require subs too. Anyway, this is a surprise to no one except only that it took 11 months for it to happen.

Good to see they didn't go F2P.

@nictel: ......Uhhh....

@lvl3bard: Purchasing the game and then playing for free is not what I call F2P. That is the Old Republic model where you can play for free but all the good stuff is behind the subscription wall.

I'll give it a shot without a subscription. I like the Elder Scrolls universe but not enough to shell out money on a monthly basis. And especially not for a MMO (I personally am not deeply invested into MMOs).

But the Quick Look GB did and all the changes and updates I'm sure that have gone into the game are enough to at least have me try it out.

I'm honestly surprised it lasted as long as it did as a pay to play. I might give it a shot on pc now that the sub is going away.

Yup, you're the only one who thought they'd drop the subscription. You're a true pioneer and visionary of this industry.

Well, I don't wanna brag, but as long as you recognize my greatness, I'm cool with it I guess.

They made it way longer than I expected but that just resulted in me completely forgetting that it exists. So that's a success in some way.

I didn't have much fun in the beta, but fuck it, I'll try it now.

It's a bad game. I can't imagine how annoying it would be when you have to buy everything piecemeal.

Don't waste your time.

What a surprise said nobody.

But does the whole "Tamriel unlimited" thing give anyone else the impression that they might be doing separate F2P and Subscription services? Sort of like how there was Trackmania Nations and Trackmania United Forever.

@thomasnash: That's pretty much what it says in the article:

Tamriel Unlimited also debuts ESO's new optional membership package, ESO Plus. With this premium membership service, players will be granted free access to all of the game's DLC game packs; bonuses to XP, gold, and crafting; and a monthly allotment of Crowns to purchase items from the Crown Store. What's the Crown Store, you ask? This is an all-new merchant store to ESO full of optional cosmetic and convenience items you can purchase for Crowns, a new currency allowing you to buy content directly from PlayStation Store. You'll be able to fully enjoy ESO without being a member, but we think you'll really enjoy the benefits if you have fun playing the game.Those that don't enroll in ESO Plus can still expect free patches that implement fixes and other improvements along with optional DLC offerings you can purchase to add more adventures to the already-enormous game.

Interested to see how it's handled. So far, it doesn't sound too bad at all. It's not the ideal f2p system, but some MMOs do it right. Some of them completely fuck it up.

I am shocked. SHOCKED.

Said nobody ever

If I see it for like ten bucks and I have a friend that wants to play, maybe.

Based on the FAQ Bethesda put up it sounds like this is just a name change to denote a major shake up in how the game is run, similar to how Square Enix re-launched FFXIV as "A Realm Reborn."

Also it entitles them to a new Metacritic/GameRankings page so the review average will reflect the new F2P version with all of the patches/content updates they've done.

I mean, we all saw this coming. I'll go back to it once the sub is dropped for sure though.

He mentioned that it was an obvious prediction. Don't be a cock for no reason.

@jesus_phish: Yo don't forget about FFXIV. Still a sub game still going strong and growing at that.

Way too little and way too late

Good. I hate when my Tamriel is limited.

Doesn't change the fact that their will be a premium option. Which, of course, you can't blame them. But all it does is butcher the game for free players. Unless you're having the time of your life I guarantee it'll be quite a butchered experience as a free player.

ARE YOU PREMIUM? HERE'S YOUR FREE SUPER MOUNT, DOUBLE EXPERIENCE, THE ABILITY TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE INSTANTLY, AND DAILY FREE REWARDS.

I wish devs would just stick to making their MMO's even experiences so everyone can enjoy the game to the fullest. If they wanna make money, sell cosmetic shit for fucks sake.

I genuinely thought this had died off by now.

I think I will stick to RIFT just to me an overall better game experience than the little I played of TESO

There aren't too many mods out for it, so I'll try it on the PS4 this summer. Might be a decent distraction before Fallout 4 comes out.

I think some people are a little confused. It is not free 2 play as you still have to pay $60 USD for the game. There is just not a subscription required (There is still a subscription option called something like ESOplus that gives you the new currency "crowns" every month). You get all the current content and the only things you can buy with microtransactions are "crowns" used for cosmetic only items. No extra powerful armor of weapons can be bought with microtransactions. Also expansions will be available for purchase.

Source: The ESO livestream today where they took questions and clarified the announcement.

I will pick this up for the PS4 for sure.

That's what I don't get though ... that's the free-to-play model with an initial outlay for... what exactly? The Old Republic is straight free to play with expansions you can purchase. This is the same, but what exactly am I buying? Maybe I'm just looking at this all wrong ... it does confuse me though.

I played a little of the beta and thought it seemed fine. Bought it during some steam sale too, but never actually got around to installing or activating any subscription. Maybe should sub for a month or so, so I can get whatever rewards they give for pre-f2p-players.

@pandabear: I don't know if this model has been tried before with MMO's, but the only comparison I can think of is Destiny which is kind of an MMO. You just pay for the game and you have all the content in it. But will then have to pay for any expansions that comes after it. A real free 2 play game will not have the upfront fee and will earn it's money with micro transactions often making the best gear pay for only hence the "play to win" saying.

In their live stream today they were very careful never to say "free 2 play". You could look at it as buying a regular game where you pay 60 bucks and get all the content minus future expansions.

@pandabear: You're buying convenience and cosmetic items. 10% more XP. I imagine things like re-spec potions, gold/xp/whatever game rep or currency boosters, bags, stuff like that. Guild Wars had costume slots where you could put costume items (Lots purchased) into those slots and it'd override the look of your current gear. I'm sure they'll add in lock boxes. Like Sheogorath's Crazy Box of Crazy stuff! I think they also mentioned additional areas to adventure in and stuff, too.

Old Republic isn't really no strings attached free to play. There are so many disadvantages to not being a sub that by the time you're off the first starter planet, you're fighting an uphill battle. If you want to play another class to see the story, if you're not a subscriber, you'll need the patient of a saint to level up those alt characters.

Exactly this. The closest analogy is probably Blizzard games like Diablo with funny money cosmetic transactions included; $60 bucks for the base game, followed by periodic expansions you have to pay for.

The closest MMO comparison is probably LOTRO; you get a base game followed by needing to spend real money to buy funny money that you use to purchase additional content (seriously, how are we not passed having fake currencies with dumb names yet? Don't charge me 50 "crowns/platinum/turbine points," or whatever, just say it's $2.00). A subscription just gets you some small buffs and an allowance of funny money per month.

Hmmm... well I think I am looking at it wrong then. I mean if it has enough content to justify a $60 purchase then the rest is just like ongoing DLC...

I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and grab this when it comes out.

Are you talking about if MMOs have done the Buy to Play thing (purchase game and don't worry about any sub fee)? Guild Wars 2 did that from the beginning of it's release and The Secret World went from a Pay to Play model to a Buy to Play model.

I'll pass, game might be free to play but they bumped the price for it right back up to $60 bones as if this game is a new release again.

For everyone confused about what this new economic model entails... It's just Guild Wars. You pay for the base game and expansions, but no monthly fee.