In an effort to bring a little more life to the forums, as was talked about in the live chatroom this week and briefly on OLR, I thought I'd make some posts encouraging further discussion on some of the topics that came up on the show.



The first one I'd like to bring up, since this was a big one on Horde House this week is the topic of Elder Scrolls Online going "free to play" or more rather losing the subscription fees.

It's interesting to me how so many MMO's we've seen in the past, oh let's say 4 years or so, come out with a premium cost for the game and a subscription fee on top of that, which end up throwing it out the window and either go box to play (the "guild wars" model i.e. Elder Scrolls, The Secret World) or totally free to play (Star Trek Online, Age Of Conan, DC Universe, Star Wars the Old Republic).

Very very few games have managed to perservere and be able to "get away" with charging subscription fees. Obviously there is the big behemoth in the room, World of Warcraft, and then there's the Final Fantasy MMOs 11 & 14. Outside of that, there's more than you might realize... Ultima Online, EVE, Asheron's Call are some that still charge sub fees, but the amount of Free to Play & Freemium far out way the subscription games (Check out wikipedia for a pretty comprehensive list)

So for those of you that pay sub fees for an MMO, WHY? For those that don't pay sub fees, WHY NOT? I'm curious what makes a game worthy of your subscription fees.

I'm having a hard time putting a finger on why I never gave Elder Scrolls Online a fair chance. I think it came out at a bad time. I was super into FFXIV: Realm Reborn as well as checking out what was going on with WoW. Paying a 3rd sub fee just wasn't going to happen. Plus, I heard some pretty mixed reviews on the game. Now that it'll be one price to check out though, I'm willing to give it a fair shot. I'm kinda over WoW at this point, and I expect there will be a bit of a lull in FFXIV before the Heavensward expansion.

Anyhow just curious on what you all think about this and how you feel about sub fees.

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I hate sub fees, hate hate hate! But I resubbed to WoW because I love the game and I just had to see the new content. I only pay 30 days at a time though, never recurring, so I have the option to start and stop when I want. It's worth it because I am having a blast, but I think a sub model is so outdated and a ripoff when $60 games like Skyrim, Dragon Age and Diablo give you hundreds of hours of content for one price and maybe add on some dlc to pay for later. If WoW just charged subs to do stupid end game crap like raiding or whatever, I'd be the happiest gamer ever because I just like to level and quest and stuff, and I think paying for the expansion should cover that cost at least.

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I don't mind subscriptions fees if i can afford them at the times being a struggling college student money doesnt come easy. So free to play games like star wars who also have a subscription for better in game content i usually stand behind so if i can pay for a months subscription and get something in game but still be able to play when a month is short i really like.

I never have paid a subscription fee for a game, because I never really got into MMO's. MMO's are the type of genre I am trying to stay away from: addictive games that suck up countless hours of your life, but don't feel rewarding in the end. That leave you feeling: what have I been doing with my life?

I try to focus on narrative driven games, that feel rewarding after completion, like reading a good book or watching a good movie does. Games such as The Last of Us, The Witcher 3, LA Noire, etc.

So for me it's not really about the money, although $15 a month (WOW) is pretty high if you think how many games $15 gets you on a Steam sale.