The Elder Scrolls Online Subscription Fee Editorials

We have rounded up a couple of editorials on The Elder Scrolls Online’s subscription-based model, which has been announced at this year’s Gamescom and, so far, seems to have gathered mostly negative feedback.

USGamer wonders if the game can live with that subscription fee:

The problem is others have tried to climb that Mt. Olympus only to get smacked back down to Earth. The list of MMOs that have gone free-to-play stretches on into the void: Everquest, Everquest II, Lord of the Rings Online, DC Universe Online, Rift, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, The Secret World, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Tera. I’ve played and enjoyed most of them, I admit. The problem is when it came time for me to start paying monthly, it never happened.

During the launch of most of these titles, I was subscribed to World of Warcraft, so that’s part of the problem. I was once a raider, but those days are long gone. I don’t play WoW everyday or even every week, but it’s comfort food: I like it there when I need it. When I run my monthly budget – games journalists don’t make a ton! – certain fixed monthly charges are just always there: Phone bill, Netflix, Spotify, and World of Warcraft. I’ve subbed to Rift, Champions Online, The Secret World, and Star Wars: The Old Republic for a month or two, but nothing has particularly captured my complete attention and their $15 charge wasn’t completely off my radar like WoW’s is.

The free-to-play shift has allowed me to get in a nice MMO groove, bouncing from game to game. World of Warcraft is my comfort food, but that’s backed up by Guild Wars 2, The Secret World, Defiance, and Rift. They went free-to-play (either at launch or after the fact), and I was no longer shackled by the fear of not getting my money’s worth. I play them whenever I feel like it. I enjoy all four MMOs for different reasons (I actually can’t pinpoint why I enjoy Defiance, but character looks like R.Kelly, so that’s awesome.) And a number of them have my money through various means: bank bags, cosmetic items, additional character slots, and pets.

While Polygon more openly argues that the decision is self-defeating and will only harm the title:

Undoubtedly, ZeniMax will offer full-year packages at discounts, and may even support discounts for players willing to play for long hours and pay with in-game currency (this has not been announced). But the response from forums and from Twitter makes it clear that consumers view the price of the subscription as a big ask.

ZeniMax argues that the fee will allow the company to give players everything possible to enjoy the world, without asking for extra money along the way besides, of course, the monthly fee for expansions or for leveling boosts.

It is entirely reasonable for the game’s director, Matt Firor, to make the creative decision never to place a pay gate in front of the player, and to give everyone not just the fraction of players who choose to purchase expansions new content as it is delivered. He wants to create a fantasy, not a cash mill. Bravo, although this reasoning is somewhat undermined by stories emerging today that a microtransaction store is also being considered.

None of this takes away the fact that $15 for a subscription, in 2013, is a lot of money. Many entertainment companies, such as movie providers and console manufacturers, are making use of subscription models, but very few of them are willing to break the $10-a-month mark. PlayStation Plus’s upcoming month-to-month plan will cost $9.99, and the service offers an array of discounts and free games. Netflix costs $7.99 a month.

Somehow, we don’t worry too much about these costs because the monthly tariff feels trivial; it’s often compared to the price of a few cups of coffee. It may be that The Elder Scrolls Online is well worth $15 a month, but that is not at all the same as saying that people will pay the fee. Pricing, as any marketer will tell you, is 99 percent psychology.