» Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:43 pm I just heard that TESO is going to be monthly based subscription and I know there are other topics out there but I feel that this merits more space because it's something that requires it's own thread about instead of taking up 100 pages in another topic talking about the future and not the price or whatever that topic's about. I like to give out my own thoughts on this that are longer then a simple post 99 out of 200.
Now onto the topic at hand. Bethesda/Zenimax have made an incredibly bad decision regarding TESO going with a monthly subscription based model. Now you might be asking why am I saying that considering WOW's numbers and they have a subscription monthly based model. A couple things to point out and consider.
SWTOR was a subscription type model that tried to go straight after WOW and we all know the rest of that story, within their 1st year they switched to F2P.
Guild Wars 2 is B2P, which means you pay once and then done. IMHO this is what TESO should've been.
The new Everquest will not be a monthly subscription based model
The rise of the MOBA's (League of Legends, DOTA2, StarCraft 2) is also something to consider
TESO is technically a new IP
You also have TItan waiting in the mix that Blizzard is developing, I mean they can't expect WOW to last forever.
WOW's numbers have been decling down to 7.7 million from the high of around 12. There's a new expansion coming which may raise the numbers but it's too early to tell on that one.
Your hardcoe TES fans is another factor because these are the people who love TES, consider me personally as one of those people. Are they going to jump into an MMO when it has been singleplayer since day 1.
F2P's are on the rise, as more MMO's are switching to that type of model. If it's a good thing or a bad thing, I'll let you deal with that question.
I believe that this decision that Zenimax or Bethesda (I personally have no idea who made the decision as I'm typing this up on the fly) is going to be very bad for TESO and possibly the company themselves. The monthly subscription based model is a thing of the past, nobody's going to pay 15 dollars a month on PC when you can enjoy modded Skyrim which will be superior to the MMO for only $60. Yes Skyrim is single player and not multiplayer but still why are people going to pay a premium when they can get other things for a lesser value. There's also Guild Wars B2P model, you buy it once and then it's done. There's no monthly subscriptions with Guild Wars 2, they have other methods to get money but you don't have the baggage of monthly subscription based model.
Titan and the New Everquest are waiting in the mix as well and both of those titles will offer new ideas into the MMO sphere. I believe Blizzard has said that Titan will not be a monthly subscription based model. Guys this is really bad news for TESO, Elder Scrolls, Fallout and for Bethesda/Zenimax in general. This is going to cost them Hundreds of millions in losses, people don't like monthly subscription based models, not when there's better systems out there. As a die hard TES fan I would love to play this but I can't justify $15 a month, not when Skyrim offers my fix for a one time $60, when Guild Wars 2 is B2P, when their are so many F2P models out there, with Titan and the new Everquest waiting in the wings. This is going to be a nightmare for Bethesda/Zenimax and they will have to reverse course and go F2P/B2P otherwise this MMO will be a complete disaster. I want to be positive but I don't see it because Beth/Zenimax is going with an outdated price model and the game is a new IP, that means you need to sell people on the idea of TESO, I don't see how you can sell people on the idea of TESO when it's $15 a month, when others do it better for way less.
