I'm just the opposite. I play a game, most of the times, exclusively for a month, maybe 2, until I finish the game. Once I finish the game and if there are no DLC for it than I'll move on to another game. I still might go back and play the game I just put down a month later again, I might play it 2 months later, I might play it a year later. I can't play the same game for more than 2 months at a time otherwise I'll get bored of the game and never play it again. The ONLY exception to that is TES. When I play a TES game I play it exclusively for at minimum 2 months and then continue to play it on and off, while playing others, until I have done all I want with my character. Unfortunately the last 2 TES games haven't really give me the desire to pay new characters like Daggerfall and Morrowind did for me.

I just can't get excited over a game that costs so much, not when there are others that cost much less. The problem is that I would really like to try the game for my XBox One.

I do wonder though, and maybe someone can answer this for me. What happens if you build a character and then stop playing and stop paying the monthly fees. Do you lose your character or does it stay so you can pick it back up later on when you decide to play again and start paying the monthly fees again?

TERA was never a subscription quality game, so its not surprise it could not pull it off. It barely had any endgame content and its normal content was go generic I could cry. Not to mention the super tiny updates. I personally consider TERA's subscription to be a scum, as it was clear that the company had no intention on investing in the game. TERA was just a beautiful fa?ade meant to hook people on the beautiful graphics and combat while it was devoid of all substance.

In this world, you get what you pay for. If you don't want ESO to have massive updates that will keep players engaged for the long term, then F2P is the way to go. If you want ESO to have the content and updates that made WoW last for 9 years, then you need to pay per month. Nothing is free.

P.S. SWTOR was not successful because it didn't have working Raids. WoW was successful because it had working Raids by the time competition arrived. Good Raids slow down the consumption of content to allow developers time to create more content overall (new zones, quests, raids etc). I think its clear that the fate of ESO's subscription depends on the quality of its Raids (Adventure Zones).

To the OP, nope, not turned off by the cost, turned off by the game though. ^^ Looks nothing like what I want in a TES game, and doesn't look like anything special for an mmo either. That's why it's expensive to me. Waiting for f2p.

same

I cannot promise anything but for example in WoW your characters stay even if you don't play for five years. They want to keep them because it means old players might want to come back when they release more content. I believe it will be the same with ESO. I know what you mean by playing on and off after the first month or two, but I must say it is a bit different thing in MMO's. You will be getting more content every now and then and that's what keeps people paying. Those who go through the content faster, may stop paying for a couple of months, but can then easily come back to play again when there is something new and interesting for them. If you can afford it without going bankrupt, I really suggest you to buy the game and play for the first month. If it is as good a game as it seems from the beta and if the developers keep even HALF of their promises for future content, you are going to have things to do after many months, maybe years. And for that, the sub fee is nothing. But as I said, IF they can live up to their promises, or even part of them.

Probably don't have to worry, as most of these games keep a subscription option available when they switch to F2P.

So long as i get enough enjoyment for my money, then no i have no issues with it.

after you got game and stop paying sub, then later you just need tp pay 15$ - it will be waiting for you few years before account is deleted.

I hugely prefer a fixed cost for the whole experience to a free to play model where if you want to make use of everything the game has to offer you can easily end up spending ten times that in micro transactions.

No.

I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I spend $15 just on caffeine every 2 days or so. I'm more than happy to pay that monthly to make sure the game doesn't turn into a cesspool.

Devs,
if in time switching to F2P does become a serious consideration, please do one of the following:
1) dont. just shut it down. maybe give a "store credit"/refund for subscribers, (maybe a few dollars per month subscribed?) to be used for future TES games or paraphenalia. ... just to spite the vultures. if F2P happens the game is already dead, and everyone knows it. ... so instead, let it die with dignity and just end it.

2) learn from Anarchy Online. make a BIG, Really good expansion for the "conversion", then make it only F2P to either release level content, or that expansion. give the loyal players who had preordered/were subscribed when/before the announcement went out and/or bought Imperial, and/or had subscribed a certain number of months, the expansion for free, and move them to a "gold" subscription, or whatever at either full or reduced subscription price. ... those people getting at that rate, all content available openly...or something like that.
then, and heres the key... require buying the expansion, (or whatever) and then moving to subscription to access the rest of the game.
not microtransactions, or other things, but only making the initial taste of the game free.
what brought AO back from the dead, was offering a chance to thoroughly try the game, and want more... badly enough to pay the subscription.

now I'm not playing AO anymore. .... but I'm not playing WOW, EVE, EQ2, ATITD, Vanguard, or however many F2P-when-I-tried-it, or F2P-from-the-start games I've given a shot, either.

This is continuing the discussion started http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1491663-why-i-think-1499-isnt-expensive-at-all/. The thread got locked because the payment discussion was ordered to be focused on this thread only.

Just to correct a couple points the OP have:

pre-ordered Skyrim costed 35€, in my case 1300 hours and still unlimited access in the game without paying more.

TESO prize is correct but 2 hours every night? Seriously? 1-2 hours every second day sounds more likely. Also you pay even for days when you won't log in, you have no access without paying more all the time, the game has larger landmass than Skyrim but in all other terms it doesn't reach the same quality. That said TESO is clearly over-prized.

I find it amusing that suddenly a game being subscription based is some sort of protection against it becoming a cesspool. As if people who pay subscriptions are somehow better or nicer people. Of course it must be true because WoW was never a cesspool was it.... Or WAR, SWTOR, Rift, LOTRO.... Oh never mind. They can all be played for free now anyway (except WoW perhaps). There are reasons why a subscription model might be better than a free to play model but maintaining some sort of standard among the player base ain't one of them. Nor is it some guarantee of quality or regular updates. But whatever, if they had crafted something new and different I might consider paying a subscription but for the game I've been playing during Beta I could go and play half a dozen other games and barely notice a difference.

All mmo's since EQ have cost 14.99 a month, and that was 15 years ago.

I don't get why people think that's expensive, when every MMO charges that as a monthly subscription, and has since 1999.

Zero inflation on a price for something in 15 years is pretty amazing.

I always assumed monthly subscription rates would rise over the years.

/shrug

I'm more than happy to pay it, considering that the product is not just the game that you buy but ACCESS to it on the server hosted, run, updated, and managed by the game maker.

You expect them to do that for free?
What world are you living in?

yes because you

So the 60 dollars you pay for the game right of the start is free money?????

Your assuming that the costs of setting up and maintaining an MMO haven't come down (relatively speaking) as the technology has matured or that the massive increase in players shouldn't of made the product far cheaper per person due to economies of scale. Also the effect of competition which has gone from 1 or 2 MMOs to dozens and dozens many of which use different payment models. rather than being surprised that the cost hasn't gone up we should in fact be surprised it hasn't come down further. Except of course it has in many games. Just not ESO or a handful of other "AAA" games trying to cash in on what investors still think is a viable replicable business model rather than a freak occurrence that is not going to be seen again in the same form (aka WoW).

Yes and the rich shall inherit the earth wait did I read that right??????

I wasn't specifically talking about the community when I used the term "cesspool". There are other elements of the game that can erode, turning the game into a less than premium experience. We all know that virtually any game can have a toxic community, regardless of the payment model.

Well if we had gaming welfare i doubt ESO would be covered.

i dont like the animation system in the characters, they move a bit cheesy... It reminds me more, fallout 3 and oblivion instead of skyrim (the way the characters move), they slide a bit... I only wonder, how is going to work in pvp, or big raids...

can the animation system being improved? I know that ESO was started before skyrim production! And skyrim uses a newer version of the engine (?).. But I would love to see some improvements in the characters animation and feel.... to be more realistic, feel the weight of your character when u move, jump, etc...

I am not sure about the price. They can charge you whatever they want, the point being, is it the ideal price? Anyway, I am rendering some yesterday videos for my utube (character creator), I may render some from ingame and show you what I mean. It is beta, so the game will be less bug free and may have some improvements, but it will take some time till bethesda stop hearing complaints - combined with the 60$

when you buy the game for 60, it gives you 1 month or 2?

No. I'm quite aroused by it actually.

Also if you buy the game for 60 dollars its not free I paid for it.I don't beleive the extra so called content is worth 180 dollars a year just to fix the bugs that shouldn't be there to start with.I paid 60 dollars for skyrim and it sat on the shelf for over a year because of all the bugs.I shouldn't complain though because the 60 dollars I spent on it didn't egsist because im free to play?

Nope, if it's good, it's worth paying for. If it's bad, i don't have to worry about how much it costs.

So what about the 60bucks I spent to buy it in the first place?Welfare no.