I hope traditional sub system and discounted sub fees for long time players. But gotta say this genre is shifting toward optional sub and shop/dlc system. Also if devs needs money get it from optional vanity stuff shop, some stupid over priced mount is always a deal. Worked in WoW, and worked in Rift.

Oh dear god 0,50 cents a day.

If the developers did use "premium" in their interviews then ill guess they could mean f2p with limitations and an optional sub. This is what SWTOR has done.

I remember that The Secret World was hell bent in not changing their p2p model but had to because of the horrible overestimation of clients (players). TSW is great, turn off quest markers, turn off quest sparkles and its a completely different game.

Question is will TESO offer a lifetime account?

i think that's to be revealed

lol classy gaming. If they introduce hats into the game, then I might be able to pull this off

As for the discussion..... no one likes to pay out cash really. As long as they regularly update and support the game with content/ features then I wont mind paying my sub. Also game stores have never really bothered me, unless it was to buy ingame gold or equipment. Most stores though you basically buy skins or small things that don't give players any advantage.

if they want to make it a succes they better start over and make a REAL TES mmo not DaoC II with TES related names

I have nothing against DaoC it was a good game , but this is just a attmept to cash in on the MMO market by using a long time populair franchise ,
It will bring nothing new to the MMO market , just another generic fantasy world setting MMO and has absolutely nothing top do what makes us fans play TES games in the first place

would be great they see this and start over fans will wait for another year i m sure

Yes because they're going to completely restart work on the game after 5+ years and god only knows how much money has been put into it just because you say so?

Yeah good luck with that and let me know if it ever works out okay?

Skyrim has given me a solid year and a half of gaming. I've spent $105 dollars on it (60 initial plus $45 expansions.) I can still probably get another half year out of it with the DLCs.

If we have a $15 sub-fee for TESO, that will mean one year of play will cost $240 dollars. A year and a half will cost $330. Two years will cost $420.

That's a huge rip off. I get much better bang for my buck from Skyrim. This is what turns so many people off of MMOs. If developers want MMOs to go truly mainstream, they need to drop the subscription fees. That's the way the industry is moving and TESO must not get behind the curve.

A system like GW2 is the worst thing they could do. Devs should design the game around making the game fun and addicting. In the case of GW2, they designed the game around a cash shop. There are so many limitations on playing the game just due to the cash shop. There were restrictions on how you can play and how long you can "farm" and several other restrictions.

I prefer the subscription model. Because honestly if you can't afford 15 dollars a month you shouldn't be playing MMOs which are designed to waste time.

But it wouldn't hurt for them to have lower subscription costs. Something like what Netflix charges for their streaming service, $7.99 a month.

You should try the series "The Elder Scrolls."

Great sandbox games.

Stop shouting please.

I don't mind a hybrid model where you can play for free and pay to unlock features if you want them but also have the option of subscribing to get access to everything. The problem is that too many MMO developers' marketing departments try to make the cash shop sales their goal. They should be doing their best to push subscriptions. This is done by pricing the cash shop unlocks so that they collectively cost more than the subscription. They should make it where a customer could easily total up a month's cash shop releases to $16.50 and then see that if they subscribe, they would get it all for $15.00. Now for the dabblers who will only pick and choose the elements that they have a specific interest in, then the developers will get some money from them too. Better some than none. And for those who just want to play around in the game and are content with what it offers without a single but of added content, then that should be fine as well...

I think that the model that Funcom is now using for The Secret World is ideal. Buy the game and have access to everything that was released for it at the end of 2012, which is the core game and the first four content issues, with the 5th one included free if the game was purchased before January, as they were testing the deployment system for content patches. They have the option to subscribe, which will award $10.00 in bonus points (currency used for the cash shop) which is their guaranteed price for content packs. They've even stated that if a single content pack were released for $15.00 worth of bonus points for non subscribers, that for those who are subscribed it will never cost more than $10.00, so there is value in subscribing. It's what Funcom is after, but it makes the game accessible to anyone willing to buy the game. Also, they have said that over time, they will be bundling content packs in such a way that while the bundle may cost more than a single pack, it would be less than if you totalled up the full price of each of the included packs. And they have even gone so far as to say that eventually, the oldest content packs will be folded into the core game purchase.

Some have asked, why not just give subscribers the content instead of the points to buy it. They responded that while it is their plan to release content every month, they know that it is likely that some months will force them to run behind schedule, so rather than having subscribers go without anything for a month, they get the points so that when they deliver the content, then they can buy it... Or they can use the points on something else if they wish. They're setting it up where those who are subscribed can set the game to auto-purchase new content as it is released so it is not something they have to manually do every time. As long as they have the points available, if a monthly issue comes out, they get it.

I think that it's probably the best approach to Buy to Play that there is. The only thing you are required to pay for is what wasn't part of the game when you purchased it. And it is onlu content you pay to unlock. Players are not gated from ANYTHING. Funcom has placed the onus on themselves for being able to earn money. Players want new content. They are willing to pay for new content. But if Funcom does not release new content, they won't be making money off new content. To me it beats the hell out of paying $15 every month for several months that see no content come out. I believe that I should be paying for products, not access to the store. Funcom seems to feel the same way.

The importance is making sure that what subscribers get and what buy-as-you-go players get are essentially the same. The only difference between the two is how the developer collects the money and the cost-effectiveness of the methods. As it is now, TSW's subscription option is the more cost effective. And Joel Bylos, the team lead, has stated that the cash shop items will not be pay to win in nature. IF he can stick to his guns on that position, then their customers should be satisfied...

As to the whole argument of not wanting to play with "kiddies", then I say you shouldn't play an MMO at all then. Because subscription fees will not keep them out. And this idea of "Let's pay $25 a month" will only discourage advlt players who are already juggling their recreational dollars as it is. After uncle sam takes his cut out of my paycheck, and I pay my bills, and I pay for life's necessities like FOOD (which in case you haven't noticed is costing more and more) and keeping the gas tank filled, I really am not left with much in terms of recreational funds that I get to spend on just me. As much as I love gaming, I am sorry, but choosing between going out on a date or paying a mandatory MMO subscription, even though the latter may be cheaper, the former will be my choice every time. Because guess what? I'd rather kiss a real girlfriend tha virtual kiss some guy's super-model-looking avatar... I love games, but real life is more important... Sorry. But if you have no life outside your MMOs, then by all means, petition a developer to have premium priced servers that require a higher price point just to play with others willing to pay that much. There are Jerks willing to pay that much too. So you won't escape them.

That's a very generous definition of a "sandbox".
But I don't like those categories anyway, so what do I care.

In all fairness, TES is not really a true sandbox game. It is themepark disguised as a sandbox. When you complete all the quests with all the guilds and have explored all the dungeons, it's either wander around in the world hoping that mobs will respawn this session so there's something to kill again. Mods made by the community give PC players a constant flow of choices and Bethesda releases DLC expansions that add new things to do. But XBox 360 users can only rely in the DLC for extended play. And PS3 players? I don't know if they have gotten any of Skyrim's DLC contenty yet. So if you were to buy Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim, did not buy any of the official DLCs or Expansions, and never downloaded a single mod, How long would you be able to play those games (without startin a new character) before you are bored out of your mind?

the only true sandbox TES games were Arena and Daggerfall, because they used procedurally generated random quests designed to keep you engaged potentially indefinitely. Now if TES VI manages to do that, then it would be awesome. But Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim are very much Themepark games in and of themselves...

But MMO, MMO me love you long time... long time... MMO #1... wait... did you just say kissing a guy's super-model avatar? ...

Yes its the same thing when people want in game marriages, because unless you get your virtual mate on the phone it could quite likely be some "dirty old man" you are about to tie the knot with and that could leave you in a bit of a situation indeed....heh

Of course there are a lot of threads on SWTOR forums wanting same gender romances in the game so maybe I don't get it...

$9.95 per month.
$24.95 for 3 months.
No cash shop.

They could have houses and NPC marriage like Skyrim....

Didn't EQ do this? And Perhaps WoW one time years ago? Of of those games I was a part of did, that's about all I can remember.

heheh... Yeah... I remember playing LotRO and meeting this other player who needed help with some quests. The character was an attractive female avatar. I group up with the character and we both had voice chat. It was disconcerting looking at a petite female character and hearing the voice of an Asian male. He wasn't trying to engage in a virtual romance and neither was I. He just was playing a female character. You don't really know who is on the other end of the avatar you are interacting with. Some people get into virtual relationships through MMOs. I don't but some do. I prefer the real thing where who I am looking at in front of me IS the person I am involved with.

But this is about how I wish to be able to choose how to spend my recreational funds. If it is subscription-based, I'll likely be on and off with a few months in between months I am subscribed. My life is more than just MMOs.

Urgh, the "everybody's doing it" argument always drives me spare. And for the last time, single player games and MMOs are different. Seriously, apples and oranges here. If Skyrim's fine for you, then play that. If however you want Skyrim with social elements, then you've got to accept that it'll cost more. Server access doesn't come cheap.

I'll support a subscription model if the flow of content is as consistant and regular as they charge my credit card. Otherwise, I will only subscribe after they release new content. When I've completed it, I will unsubscribe. Regardless of their business model, the consistancy and regularity of my spending WILL coincide with the consistancy and regularity of ZOS's delivery of PLAYABLE content. Not costumes in a cash shop or other vanity items. I want to play a game, not play dress-up...

Oh come on Hefe!

Let my mini-Alduin battle your mini-Dovahkiin in some epic pet battle, its gonna be so immersive ... wait ....maybe not.
What about Jarl Ulfrics floating throne? ... no, not that either
.... canol worker suit and sunglasses?.. hmm no, haters would call it GW2 clone

yea you might be right and we are better off with no cash shops

This would be a valid argument if like a single player game once an MMO shipped most of the costs associated with went away with it. However that is simply not the case. From the moment the game goes live, there is lots on maintenance, lots of customer service, and hopefully lots of time being poured into new content.

In the single player world you pay every time new content is released. In an MMO world you don't Xpacs are usually paid content, however quite often a great deal of content is released in between. Depending on how many content patches between each Xpac your ripoff might not be so much of a rip off.

Yeah, I got that part.

I'm reaching a comfortable time in my life (40s, no kids) where having a $15 a month hobby isn't an issue, but I FULLY understand where you are coming from.

Subscription based games are FINE, the problem with the industry now is that the companies that FUND the developers want to see profits now now now, so the developers are rushed - reducing
the quality of the game. What happens then? Well, people see that it is not worth subscribing, the game get's bad rep which causes people not to pick up the game. The company then loses money,
and their funders sees this and starts to cut back on said funding which in turn, forces the developers to turn their game into free to play with a cash shop to recuperate.

I believe TESO has a great chance of succeeding because it's under the umbrella of the same company.