http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/23/4650246/world-of-warcraft-would-be-in-bad-shape-without-embracing-the-casual

http://youtu.be/X2nl3eaTCUc?t=24m8s

World of Warcraft is eventually going F2P, I'm sure we all saw this coming. If WoW can't hold P2P, then how will TESO expect to? One of the most common P2P supporting phrases is "WoW was a success, it is P2P, so TESO must be a success if it's P2P." First of all, this isn't true. And second, P2P supporters will no longer be able to use this. However, I'm pretty sure TESO will go F2P/B2P before WoW goes F2P. TESO won't stay P2P for very long.

Well, how long was WoW p2p? As long as the content was there, and the story was there, the players were there.

Now it might be ESO's turn; if they can hold player's attention, it will work as p2p. If they can't then they won't.

WoW is free to play until level 20, btw.

Isn't this horse already dead?

Guess not. Alright guys pull out the bats this horse needs to be beat more.

On topic. if you actually read the article it says that they said it makes "sense" to go F2P, that doesn't mean they are going F2P.

F2P was mentioned in the same context as "casual" play. That pricing structure and game model fit very well together.

If Blizzard is going to focus on their next project and wind down WoW then F2P makes sense. I wouldn't bet money on their next venture being F2P if it is aimed at the hardcoe players, both raiders and PvP. Would expect to see monthly sub again.

The horse doesn't die. It's essential.

If it wouldn't make sense for them to stay P2P, then why would they stay P2P?

WoW isn't F2P until level 20, it's a trial to level 20.

If they make WoW F2P, one would expect their next project to be F2P as well. It wouldn't make sense for them to make any of their newer games P2P. It doesn't make sense for any new game to be P2P, which is why I question why ZOS is doing it.

Read the article:

They are making a ton of money now. No need for them to go F2P and possibly make less money then they are now.

All I'm seeing is that you saw an article that said, "WoW talks about F2P," and you seem to think that means they WILL go F2P. If you actually read the article they never state that they will. It just makes "sense" for them to do it at some point. And that point will be when they have no one playing the game anymore.

I Think youre failing to see Shasow how many years blizzard had WoW Running successfully as a P2P model, 9 to be exact. ESO will probably Have several years of success as a P2P model before we see any mention of it changing.

You can download it without paying. You don't need a credit card to play. You do have restrictions, but f2p games usually do have restrictions. https://us.battle.net/account/creation/wow/signup/ New to World of Warcraft? Try it now! It's free!

They call it a "Starter edition". However being able to download it for free, and play without being charged until level 20 sort of kind of sounds like free to play until level 20 to me.

If you want to continue past that, you do have to buy the game + expansions. If you want to play the full game, you apparently have to buy the five game licenses, and the game must be upgraded in order of their release; World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King. You can get the "Battle Chest" with the five games for $20, and buy Cataclysm [$10] and Mists of Pandaria [$40] separate. 20 + 10 + 40 = $70. You do get a month free when you start playing the "real game".

If they DO go F2P, we may actually see a lot of their subs coming to TESO...

If you already think ESO will go F2P "very soon", then why would you even care if WoW effects ESO? Just seems like the point of this thread is to simply continue to pout and show your dislike for P2P.

If the content is there, I could see players who don't want to deal with a f2p WoW moving to ESO. Might be a bit of adjustment to the setting, but I could see some players moving over.

I really don't see anyone leaving WoW for the sole reason of it being F2P (unless Blizzard messes it up), and especially not to join another P2P game.

Yeah it wouldn't make sense for them to rake in 150 million a month if they got to the 10 million threshold in their monthly subs, no sense at all. And they did this with WoW so its not like they don't know how to do it....

It won't work twice.

Of course it can work more then once, because if what you say is true ESO never would have been put into development in the first place, it never would have made it out of the Zenimax board room meeting, no chance at all if it could not be done again.

Why not? It has happened before - games releasing and then failing.

But most of that wasnt because of the payment model . there was something obviously wrong content wise that had players not interested.

I am not saying ESO can not fail, all I am saying is that it is possible for an MMO to achieve the numbers that WoW did in its glory days and keep those numbers for a very long time if they do things right....

Not if it's P2P.

There is no definitive answer as of right now. We wont be able to tell what going to happen until the game is launched. all the speculative doom sayign really just ends up in viscous circles.

Because of the game content itself, not the payment model.

Can you explain how the sole fact of a game having a P2P payment model means it can't have a WoW level of success? Success of a game is based off of the content and quality of the game, not the payment model.

This is exactly the reason why ESO succees, WoW is finally losing its grip, I basically saw it in Rift, SWTOR, and TSW, MMO genre is more active than never before. Gone are the days when MMOs like Warhammer, AoC, or Aion went to a few thousand player in less than month, lets not forget fails like Tabula Rasa or APB.