Elder Scrolls Online Beta

[Tbone]

Well I wouldn't consider those AAA titles

The term ""Triple A Title" is basically a bullshit term.  It means so many different things to so many different people that it's worthless.  When people use it what it comes across to me as a subjective term that they trot out to make a point they really don't understand.

Sorry Strod.  Use something like "top subscribed games" or "top selling" or "most expensive to produce" or "fastest growing" or "longest lived" to make better points.

I think the gaming market is a lot like many other markets now.  They give you a taste for cheap/free and if you really enjoy it they ask you to sub for the premium features.  Many folks call this the "Freemium" model, while gamers use FTP to label it.  From my perspective it's the future's model, not only in gaming but in many other markets.

I'm a lot less likely to commit my resources (time, money, effort) to something I haven't experienced and enjoyed.  From market trends a lot of people think this way about a lot of things.  That's what makes the FTP or Freemium models work.

From a economist perspective, the relative decrease in the consumer's income has reduced demand for the non-freemium models in the MMO market.  Many gamers have found poor substitutes for large scale, well designed MMOs.  This also has lowered demand, and therefore also reduced the consumer surplus in the models.  As the demand is relatively inelastic at launch, the original purchase of the game generally includes the first month's fee, although companies camouflage this as a free month, which it truly isn't.

However, from the firm (ie Zenimax Online), they have a higher production cost, at least according to them, and I'm making an assumption (as all economists must to model situations) that they project a budget which out ways at least an initial freemium model.

I feel as most subscription based games will be following SWTOR's example, by starting out as a Sub Base with a free to play "freemium transistion" model in place for a point down the line where start up costs are no longer carried by the firm but rather the consumer via the voluntary subscription.  For this example, Bioware's claim that SWTOR would be solvent at 500k subscribers, only exists after the sales of the two million subscribers at launch.

If I went a tad overboard, I found it interesting and just got out of my Econ classes.

You're right, and therein lies the issue. Starting with a high cost for the game ($60) and a premium subscription has become a red flag to savvy MMO gamers that a company is trying to make their profit quickly out the gate knowing that a lot of players will drop off after the first few months. The company waits for the numbers to drop and then turns to fremium to get them back.

The red flag is that there isn't really enough content to justify the premium subscription. The game is built to provide most of the interesting content up front with a lot of the "premium" features missing in the backend.  By the time players reach the later levels/end game, the game has already got their $120 or so from you.

In terms of thinking of INVESTMENTS, as that's essentially what MMO players do is invest in a game, it's a poor investment to waste time and money into a game that isn't going to provide any value after the initial leveling grind.

F2P, or "freemium", works on the opposite model of creating a low entry bar to hook more players into their game and providing enough content and social atmosphere to keep those players around for a long time. Once a player is hooked, they'll gladly spend cash for various things as there isn't any other cost associated with the game. To go with this model, the gaming company has to be confident enough that their product will be able to hook a large player base.

For ESO, it's obvious that they are hoping to use their franchise name to get a large amount of customers to invest blindly up front (SWTOR had the same idea - Star Wars + Bioware). This will allow them to make their money back quickly. Once players drop off, which they know they will, they switch to f2p to get them back and start developing content for the long haul.

As a gamer, this means if you were smart, you'd wait for f2p. I think ESO is right in that enough people are obsessed that they are going to buy into it, but the reason it's a hot topic is because we're at the point now with MMOs that everyone KNOWS that they will go F2P as soon as that initial surge goes away, and so it leaves a bitter taste to those who know the game plan.

Honestly I can't blame ESO. They're right in that they can make that kind of money up front. It just makes me worried about where their focus is on the long term. I think it has the opportunity to be a good game and a good MMO, but if that will come into fruition before or after the f2p switch. It's also a risk for an MMO to start with a high sub as you run the risk of under-populating your servers to the point of no return. SWTOR is a good example where even going F2P hasn't given them the player activity that they possibly could have maintained by starting F2P.

[Strod]

Well the good thing about opinions is you can think they are bullshit, even mine and i don't have to care. 

I don't have to change my verbiage to make better points to you, because at the end of the day I don't care about making those points.

The game will have a Sub fee, in the furture maybe a FTP side model.

If you are going to play this on Xbox, good luck as you may have to also pay the 5$ gold fee on top of the game. They are trying to work that out, but who knows if they will actually get it.

[Mharz]

Well the good thing about opinions is you can think they are bullshit, even mine and i don't have to care. 

I don't have to change my verbiage to make better points to you, because at the end of the day I don't care about making those points.

Oh you care.. you know you care..   So do I.. that's why I can't have a friend using BS verbage.. =p

[Strod]

Oh Mharz, what would I do without you.

I am cured!

[Avzeke (Khr0n1k)]

New stress test this Tuesday.

[Tbone]

Damn, Gmail has been auto-filtering out my emails, so I already missed a 6-hour non-stress test last Friday! I've been invited to the one on Tuesday as well.

[Tbone]

I have an invite for this entire weekend. Anyone else?

[Okinyo]

I have an invite for this weekend as well. I won't be able to login until Saturday night. I'll be in Memphis on business.

[Tbone]

My IGN is Tbown. I spent too much time customizing my character...lol

[Anamodiel]

I have to work tomorrow, and then I'm on a two week trip for work. :/