Late-breaking opinion forming!
Everyone I’ve talked to about ESO says its meh at best. All of these people are MMO players. To a non-MMO player (and especially TES fans), maybe what they will find is something good-enough to keep playing actively until they ‘finish’ the game, and by non-MMO player consumption rates, that will be over 3 months, just long enough for more stuff to be added and further extend the life of the game?
Not sure I believe it myself, but maybe that’s the path ESO needs to take to be a success?
Hardcore Casual 
If the succeed to introduce new players to the MMO genre then maybe they will create a solid community for long time. Because, your first MMO is always gonna last for long time..
also today I found an interview of Hines’s, that he talks about the subscription model…
“If your criteria for a game is absolutely under no circumstances can it have a subscription, well then we’re not on your list,” Hines conceded. “We accept that. That’s just part of – I mean your criteria could be like ‘no elves’ or ‘no games with swords’. It’s not up to us what your criteria is, we just assume that yeah, you’re not going to play it and so we’re talking to the other folks who are like ‘I want something cool or epic or different’ or whatever it is.”
Source: http://www.oxm.co.uk/68139/the-elder-scrolls-online-isnt-for-everybody-concedes-bethesda/
Source 2: http://www.oxm.co.uk/68692/features/elder-scrolls-online-interview-bethesda-talks-risks-rewards-and-compromises/
of course this is just words, but if they stay true and keep the sub model whatever it takes, then I see they will have success long term.
Can’t edit my post so…in my first paragraph, I forgot to say that I agree with you, because what I say is very similar what you said on your post…so my first paragraph is much like an agreement rather than a new opinion :)
Aren’t non-MMO players among the least likely to accept ongoing subscription fees, though? Back in the day when all MMOs were subscription the entire genre was routinely derided by mainstream gamers largely because of the sub model. With the TES fanbase being used to buying a box and then playing as long as they like with no further outlay, how are they likely to take to a continual payment scheme?
That’s assuming there really is a huge ESO fanbase out there which has never played an MMO before, of course. I have no idea if that’s really the case. I’d imagine there’s actually an awful lot of crossover between ESO players and MMO players.
single player gamers and especially console ones spend much much more money on titles than MMO players…when single player game price is around 50-60 bucks, I doubt most people will have a problem with 15 bucks a month for a game that will offer them 100X more time of entertainment than a single player title. This f2p nonsense is exclusive the to the new generation of “mmo players-tourists”
But won’t Elder Scrolls Online cost 50-60 bucks AND 15 bucks a month?
You make no F*cking sense most subbed MMOs you have to buy the box first which is usually 60 bucks when it first comes out. So therefore you logic is invalid!
Anecdotes aren’t data, but I definitely encountered a number of co-workers etc. who played Skyrim but who had never played MMOs.
I agree, though, that a sub is going to be a tough sell to a predominantly single-player gamer who has never paid one. Especially for Elder Scrolls fans who are accustomed to buying the box and then not only playing as much as they like, but also to getting all sorts of awesome improvements for free, through the magic of player-made mods.
Take SWTOR as a counter example. It looked pretty much the same: a very rich single player game wrapped into an MMO context. The usual people who burn through content were bored after a week. Joe Average took a while longer, might have even played through two or more class stories. But the dev team wasn’t given enough time to roll out the content that made people stay.
Absolutely that could happen.
That said I don’t get the same level of incompetence from ESO that I instantly got from SW:TOR (4th pillar and all that garbage).
But yes, gun to my head, ESO is more likely to go down like the Tortanic than be a success.
They said that 1-50 will last 150 hours(yes I know, swtor said something similar). And then you have the 50+ and the 50++ that will last another 150+150. And I guess this is not optional..in order to maximize your char and get all the skill points, you will need to do it. And of course you will have dungeons and the ongoing pvp in the middle which will matter a lot.
For example, in order to be able to share your stuff(crafting gear will be the top gear) you need to be in a guild and your guild need to control a Keep in the pvp area..
Also you have the Veteran Points system. Veteran Points don’t unlock until after level 50. VP can be acquired by doing quests at level 50(50+ and 50++), and doing PvP. You gain ranks in the VP system and gaining more ranks in the VP system will add small stat boosts to your character, and there will be certain items/disguises that are locked till you reach certain Veteran Rank. There hasn’t been a ton of information on the whole VP system, but this is the basics of it.
Well one can only hope for the best…at least it doesn’t have the hype of the swtor and it will attract less average joe than swtor
Thanks for these details John, I surprisingly know very little about what the overall compulsion hooks for this game are supposed to be.
I’m sure the information is accessible, but the marketing team tends to keep their biggest promotions super ambiguous (the ones im likely to see and read about), and I just don’t have the interest to dig deeper.
Pingback: My MMO Outlook for 2014 | The Ancient Gaming Noob