For a bit of background and for people to appreciate where I’m coming from I’m an older gamer. I have been playing games online and single player for over 3 decades. I now have a family and lead a very busy life, with family, work and home life taking most of my time, hence not having many opportunities day to day to play a massive online game such as this great new one.

I believe I’m in the same boat as a lot of people, yet here is my dilemma, I love games and I always will, I love the elder scrolls world and this game looks great, yet I cannot justify spending $15 a month on something I will not make use of, therefore missing out on some great experiences and the production company missing out on my money.

My suggestion and a new approach (an intelligent one for Zenimax’s in my opinion) is to ALONG with the monthly subscription option is to have a pay per hour option – hours bought in blocks to use at the players leisure.

For example - A $5 investment might buy you 10 hours of play time

A $10 investment might buy you 30 hours of play time

And so on and so forth….

As it stands now, I have purchased the imperial edition of the game, yet have begrudgingly forced myself to face the reality I will most likely not have the time to ever reach max level, perhaps go days or weeks without playing at all, or certainly not make the use of a $15 per month investment for something I will not make use of…. Yet I want to play it at my leisure, which without this system it’s impossible. So I am already considering selling or even giving away my key before I use it as it would be wasted on me.

The way I see it, I win and Zenimax/future production companies will also win by receiving some money from players like me buying blocks of time week to week or month to month rather than none. I FIRMLY believe that thousands of people would go for this approach rather than a “lock-in” monthly fee.

I know plenty of friends that would not pay a monthly subscription yet would be happy to invest in the time they do ACTUALLY play a game online.

Does anyone have thoughts on this? Surely this option would work well and increase the player base significantly. I know for one I would be playing for years to come when I can, whereas now, it would be not at all.

Cheers for reading J

/target dead horse

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Or they could have used the more and more popular B2P or F2P models, which actually work much better in today's market and would have been much healthier for this game's lifespan.

That being said...paying $10 for 30 hours of game time sounds absolutely awful. Just wait 6-9 months. TESO's sub fee will be gone by then.

I laughed out loud at that, and spit milk on my screen. Thanks for that.

As for the idea....no. That's awful, no offense.

15 bucks a month.

LOL

@OP. I was just thinking to myself how I need to feel more pathetic about my game time.

Hey. I had an idea like this already.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1485953-a-new-subscription-model/#entry23298498

How is B2P or F2P better?

In fact, you end up spending far more in the cash shop to unlock stuff. And in doing so you end up subsidizing the game for the people who play the free content then go on to the next game.

Well thought out. I have believed that this is what the future of video games will look like as generations who grew up gaming continue to do so at older and older ages. Its blindingly obvious in fact, and its just a matter of who and when will commit to doing it first. I am 27 and have played games since I can remember, and I as well have a busy life-style that has put gaming in the back seat. I still, however, love to play and still remain passionate about games. This is part of the reason I find it so hard to digest paying $79.99 to truly have the full game (all of the races) to then turn around and spend $180 a year to continue playing, when I know full well I wont utilize even a fraction of that paid time.

As I mentioned. It's not for everybody. and the Sub will still be available. For me $10 for 30 hours of game time beats $15 per month, every month when I don't use it and may only play 10 hours during that month. Simple math really.

I could be completely wrong, but iirc a very very low percentage if people buy excessively in free to play games, and they are exactly the people the game caters to. I think it was a ridiculous number less than 1%

I'll just wait for the subscription plans.

Maybe they'll offer a 12 month deal where I will only pay 9/month. Or a 6 month deal for 11/month. Or a 3 month deal for 13/month.

One can only hope at this point, and prepare for 15/month.

Exactly.

1) better for company cause they get more money

2) better for players cause they voluntarily choose what to spend money on

3) better for players and company because players they can come back to game whenever they want to, allowing freedom for players and more player numbers for company

This is why B2P and F2P are the most popular choices for online games today. Just take a look at most online games coming out now days and the models they use.

Indeed you did. And I see many people liked it. It seriously needs some thought and I think it would pay well for developers and work well for players.

And far worse for the integrity of the game, so you end up with a game like Rift which went from awesome to garbage in the span of one patch period where the cash shop started allowing players to buy their way past tiers of gear that legitimate players were working on clearing.

Cash shops are awful. No MMO in the current market has a cash shop without a sub fee where the integrity of the game wasn't the ultimate price being paid.

Then make it a non-P2W cash shop..... Simple.

*cough* gw2 *cough*

you must buy your emperor status :v

What? Do you have selective cognitive abilities that prevent you from seeing the cash to gold conversion through gems or other means?

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/76310-after-playing-gw2-i-decided-id-prefer-a-sub-fee-over-any-cash-shop/

GW2 svcks, and the cash shop is the biggest reason why.

I haven't seen an MMO yet that didn't become P2W because of a cash shop.

those "Commander" tags mean nothing but "hey guys follow meh!", nothing earned and nothing to show for it except the ability to save/farm gold. Might as well have painted those dorito chips gold on the map, because it might as well say Bling on it.

Not for me thanks, ￡9 a month is fine.

LOL Can I get the macro for that..LOL

Payment model is fine as is, I am waiting to see what 3 month 6 month 12 month plans will be..

LMAO!!!