Both subscription and Free to Play with F2P limited to cash shop items like inventory and bank slots, character slot unlocks and what not and subscribers getting everything the game has to offer and receiving reward points to unlock those cash shop items with the reward points if they decide to go F2P in the future.

Just a Monthly subscription.

Just Buy game and play free. With cash shop.

Just a free to play game with cash shop.

Now we all know that just having cosmetics in the cash shop doesn't work. So if there is a cash shop there will be boost items and unlock items as well as cosmetic items. That's a given.

EDIT: Thanks

Dude....aren't there enough threads on this already?

Obviously noone here has played Guild Wars 2... that game has the Perfect Business Model for an MMO. Buy the game -> Play the game. Play a lot? Want more bank slots? Buy them. Don't play a lot, need a boost? Buy a boost. BUT All things purchaseable with in-game currency (costs you an arm and a leg with In-game currency). I can't explain all these intricaces here, but check it out. This is the System ESO needs. Otherwise I won't be playing it. I will never pay a subscription fee for a single game ever again. I wasted wayy to much money on (GUESS) and that was not even a really good game. After playing a game like Guild Wars 2 (which gets FREE CONTENT updates almost monthly and is a very fun game) I could never go back to paying a subscription fee for a single game.

TLDR: I won't buy ESO if it requires a sub fee.

RASPBERRY MARY, MOTHER OF JAMS

No.

I wont buy ESO if it runs a cash shop for gear/pots/xp boosters/soulgems.

I am not going to enter into a competitive pvp based game with that kind of atmosphere. I would be ok if they ran that stuff for the console versions of the game as that would seem the most likely market segment for it and I only play PC games. But I will not support the Asian Gaming Business Model at all. It does not hold any interest for me and does not foster the kind of gaming experience I am looking for.

Don't we have enough threads on this topic already? I think we all know this thread will probably turn into a B2P vs. P2P debate...

As far as the quality of content goes, I think a P2P model would be best. However, I'm not keen on paying a monthly sub myself and the idea of a restricted F2P game makes me ill. LOTRO's F2P system isn't bad, were you pay a small amount to permanetly unlock areas (I managed to unlock the entire game, zones, raids, skirmishes etc. for $75!), but all of the other implementations of it have disgusted me, *cough* SWTOR! B2P sounds like a good medium of the two, with everything unlocked upon purchase of the game and the option of buying in-store items such as cosmetics and boosts.

Yeah not to mention paying upwards of $50 a month for any payment model besides Subscription with no in game store. If there is an in game store pay to win items will be for sale in it including keys to open locked loot boxes and trust me we do not want that payment model because its at the very least $50 a month instead of $14.99 a month. Personally I would opt of the $14.99 a month or roughly 50 cents a day, what other form of entertainment can I possibly get that I like as much for 50 cents a day? Sure I can go buy all the Game of Thrones episodes on blueray and watch them for less but its a one time deal where playing an MMO is a daily thing that I enjoy as long as the game is good and I expect ESO to be very good.

The polls on this forum always lean heavily to P2P. I don't understand how 3 of these threads can pop up in one day.

P2P would be fine as long as they dont make you pay over $10 a month. They do not need to follow the standard MMO payment and they shouldnt, millions of players paying say $8 a month would be way more than enough. Then consider everyone of those players bought the game at $60 a piece, that could easily pay off the development costs and make a huge profit. Then you add in DLC and they are making lots of money. If they stick to $15 a month they are bleeding gamers dry, its just greedy in my opinion.

This will continue to happen until Zenimax announces the payment model for ESO....

And once they do announce it the posts will change slightly to things like....

Do you agree with Zenimax's decision to launch with (insert payment model here)...

hehe

No surprise that P2P is the most favored one here, like in every poll that has been conducted on this forum and every other one.

Yeah, I was just telling someone that after it is announced we'll see threads like this just turn into rage threads or even petitions to change it into whatever the opposite of the announced model is. This will not end until the game is out.

Well, one was actually a couple of days old, the other was a thread necro, and the OP of this one was the person that performed the necro on the dead one.

Nah man, it never ends. If ESO launches w/ a sub, under-performs and converts to the typical cash shop + sub option, people will complain even then.

I'm still sayin' sub.

you do know they announced there will be no expansions for that game right?Read into that what you will.

I'd go with...
1) Full priced game, normal sub and shop. <-- huge PR boost as everyone start to whine.. everyone expect B2P game. I wanna see them NOT playing this game, this is gonna be THE game of 2014.
2) Offer special discount for 1 year of 60 bucks only <-- PR boost, after all the wining... and I think they should be able to get enough people to the game for first year at least, Im sure IP and fantasy will hold. Devs get back their investement no brainer and dont need to add anykind of offensive shop in the future.
3) Drop game prices depending on how your population changes.
4) Add content 1-2 year and then drop off game price and sub, massive popoulation boost and relaunch for the game, all those players who've been on the edge about sub fee and all free players come to your game. Get money from a shop, I'd make more charity/donation shop tbh, you know your game is awesome after 1-2 year of lauch.

5) Piss off your competitors as your game is totally free and awesome.

6) Release ES6 to boost your population.

Regarding future content and design...

1) Id keep population on my mind 24/7.

2) Id add content to make the game more whole, new and old players play together. It should be absolutely perfect when you go free.

3) Good reward system for loyal players, for those who stick with you all this time, in-game and payment model.

Anything..Idc as long as it's a good game

If there is a cash shop with anything that is not pure vanity (basically if you can buy anything that actually effects gameplay in any way), I will not play this game. Absolute deal breaker no matter how much I love TES.

Also if the game is not subscription based, I will strongly consider not playing, unless it happens to get amazing reviews.

I want a subscription mode with access to all content, none of this exclusivity nonsense between dealers, no events that happen once that people miss out on, etc etc. I just want a full package game with a subscription thats fair.

It seems you never played a decend MMO, Guild Wars 2 is a bad game, that is nearly dead.