Bethesda has announced it is dropping the subscription fee for the multiplayer fantasy game The Elder Scrolls Online, and revealed the UK will get PS4 and Xbox One editions of the game on 9 June, 2015.
Currently UK gamers pay £10 a month on top of the upfront cost of the game. This allows access to the multiplayer server, as well as regular and sizeable content updates that introduce new activities in the game.
Instead, the game will now only come with an upfront cost. After that, gaming is free of any charge. Additional fees will come from the addition of "convenience" and "customisation" options, which have terrified fans of the game -- fears of "pay to win" strategies, all too familiar in the mobile- and multiplayer-gaming world, are just one of a number of concerns.
While non-subscribing players will have to pay ad hoc for major additional content packs, those who sign up to a new ESO Plus package will get all downloadable content packs as they become available. But they will also gain exclusive bonuses, such as "crowns" (read: new in-game currency) to spend on the aforementioned convenience and customisation options. They will also get 10 percent additional XP (essential for making characters stronger in fights, against other players too), 10 percent additional gold for spending on existing items such as weapons, and other perks.
While Bethesda describes the perks available for purchase using this new virtual currency (akin to gems and crystals in popular free-to-play mobile games), as "completely optional and ... meant to enhance your game play experience", there is an obvious and unavoidable advantage to players that do pay: they'll be able to be far stronger and better equipped to play against gamers not willing (or able) to pay, or not able to play as regularly.
The move has angered fans of the game. Some of the game's most vocal fans have announced the news alienates them entirely, as it threatens the universal balance of rules governing everyone in the game world. One of the most popular podcasts devoted to the game,
Tales of Tamriel, has declared itself closed upon the news.
On the game's forums, one user wrote: "I refuse to pay a sub for a game that offers advantages on a cash store." Another explained: "I fear what [the new business model] will do to the community in the game. It is [incredibly] difficult to maintain a loyal dedicated player base in this model... In all games I have seen that had a good community, they lost it after they went [free-to-play]."
Another slightly more optimistic user wrote: "If it stays cosmetics only, that will be OK with me. I won't like it, but I can get over it; but if these shops start selling gear, expect me to make a huge goodbye post on the forums. I am trying as hard as I can to stay with this game, as I still believe it can be great in the long run."
The game's director Matt Firor is, naturally, confident this is the correct decision to ensure the game remains a viable business. "Our fans are our biggest inspiration, and we've listened to their feedback on the entertainment experience they want," he said in a press release. "We know that Elder Scrolls fans want choice when it comes to how they play and how they pay, and that is what they will get. We have made numerous changes to the game over the past year, and are confident this is a game that Elder Scrolls fans will love to play."
This is in stark contrast to what Frior said in 2013: "Charging a flat monthly (or subscription) fee means that we will offer players the game we set out to make, and the one that fans want to play. Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make."
So, expect sacrifices?
Maybe. But maybe not. It's important to bear several things in mind: firstly, the game is not free-to-play, as it costs money upfront, meaning short-term freeloaders are not likely to flood the online world, nor is Bethesda lacking income from any player; secondly, on a livestream, the developers have assured fans that no items will be available for sale that are more powerful than those available for players to craft themselves, such as health potions; and thirdly, until the game's new mechanics launch there's no definitive consensus on how the changes will affect the game.
As a dedicated player and subscriber to the game, with about 500 hours of playtime under his belt thus far, I do not see enough reason to "ragequit" as many have done. But I do see significant reasons for considerable concern. As I've learned from the game itself however, being in a dungeon with your enemy doesn't mean you can't survive a battleaxe to the face.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK