[Chad Holloway]

I say these things in regards to the OFFICIAL Forums.... (when they are opened, not this, the temp official forum)

Official Forums should be fully opened to the people that have bought ESO and have a current subscription open.

The ability to read the posts should be open to the general public.

If you have bought the game but do not have your sub active, you should not have access to post comments.

If you want to post comments, but have not bought and subscribed to ESO, you should not have the same access as someone who has; there are a number of other forums available on the web to do that.

[Nancy RIP]

Anyone should be able to read and search the forums. Once the game is released there will be other sources of information too, like the uesp.

People who actually own the game should be able to post. Forum account tied to their game key. If you constantly troll, flame-bait, attack/insult other posters then you should be banned. NOT FROM THE GAME, but from the forums. If your key is banned on the forum, you can't post. It would cut down on the posters who say "you can't ban me, I'll make an alt". For the single player games forums I think the current "record holder" has tried around 35+ accounts. Its a moderator pastime to hunt returnees; I don't know whether they think we're losing our minds running around hunting them down or our feelings are hurt or its something special to make alts and brag, or what they get out of doing that, really. The pms can be rather amusing at times. And some of them never realize that their posting style is generally what gives them away.

People who want to suspend their sub for a while and belong to a guild usually have access to guild chat.

Anyone who constantly causes problems and disrupts other people's games need other sanctions. I hope Zenimax has rules in place that they will enforce.

[Grace Francis]

Perhaps a one-to-two month period to allow you to post after you cancel your subscription would be appropriate then?

[Rebecca Dosch]

I don't think that's necessary. If someone knows they're suspending their account and want to keep up with in-game friends, they will have many other places to do that besides the official forums.

[Alba Casas]

As an example....

If you join a gym and pay for 3 months membership, then don't continue with you membership, do you have the rights to use the gyms equipment just because you originally joined the gym?

You still have a card in your wallet that says you are a member of the gym; but you have not paid your fees? Should you be allowed to have full use of the gyms facilities?

My opinion is... No

[Scarlet Devil]

I find the whole thing #$@ wow and swtor do that and what they earn? Nothing... If a person wants to read about the game, they can... so you earn nothing by restricting the forums to those who pay only. And you buy the game, those who bought the game 60$, they dont have the right to log into forums and type? Its totally... dragonian...

Forums is not a game feature... lol

U lock the forums, ONLY WHEN you have reasons to do it.. You afraid of something. Skyrim sold 20m copies, but they have open forums... They didnt afraid of anything. Not to speak about many different communities, those who play the game and love it, will not log into bethesda forums after... but in eg. Nexus forums, or other community forums...

[Antony Holdsworth]

World of Warcraft remains the most financially successful MMORPG to date, and the way they run their forums is exactly what is being proposed here. No one would be restricted from viewing forums. You just wouldn't be able to post without an active account. Which significantly cuts down on trolling.

[Quick Draw]

Instead of subscribers , they should allow everyone who bought the game. So even if i will go to somewhere and i wont be able to subs for next month , i should instead be able to chat on forums

[pinar]

Signed. They could add one area where non sub's can ask questions, rest sub locked.

[Ron]

i think the generally proposed method is fine. Subscribers can post, everyone else can read. Leaving the game for a while? You're free to read. The longer you're gone and the more updates you miss the less input you should have on the forums anyway in my opinion. Your information will be outdated. When you come back from your hiatus, you can be completely in the know, having read the forums while you were gone. Nothing more is needed.

[Motionsharp]

I will be very surprised if they aren't subscriber only.

[Izzy Coleman]

Anyone with an active ESO account, paid up subscription or not, should have write access to any forums.

The game itself is already an exclusive party, subscribers only. The forums should allow to anyone with an interest in the game.

[tiffany Royal]

Definitely only game owners and current subscribers should be able to post! Don't want to pay anymore and just want to [censored]? Take it somewhere else.

[Ells]

I will be very surprised if they aren't subscriber only.

[Lilit Ager]

I hope it`s not pay only forums, but at least it would not be like swtor. As I still resent the forum wipe, lost a few rp`s that day, and that section died. Though it could be open as long as you owned a copy of the game, would be fine, though if you troll and no sub, you lose that right.

[Wanda Maximoff]

@lordrichter you haven't given a reason as to why everyone with an interest in the game should be able to post and if this were to happen, what would stop trolls and griefers etc etc posting or spamming other than a ban from the forums.

[Alyesha Neufeld]

but their is no gains... If I pay and I have active account and lots of complaints, everybody is going to learn about it... There is no gains from it.

In the other hand, when u dont pay sub and ur locked out from writing... They send u away with such methods. Your not going to pay for just a forum...

Anyway, they can do whatever they want... (if there is no in game content, they may lock the forums , as one).

[quinnnn]

Exactly

There are 34636463472734 fan sites for this, if you don't have an active account, you shouldn't have the right to post on something you may or may not know, it don't help to have post that are ignorant to the current game mechanics from people that don't even play, owning the game is really nothing if you don't play it.

[Felix Walde]

Why?

They'll be able to read them, but what possible use would they have for discussing a game they don't have?

[James Smart]

I like this idea. +1, OP.

[Christie Mitchell]

They could have a forum for people with no current subscription and the rest could be for subscribers only. Just make it all accessible/readable to everyone.

[I love YOu]

If you have lots of complaints, feel free to voice them. But when you give up your subscription, you should voice them elsewhere, because at that point, it's going to become trolling.

And how does this send people away from the game? Are you not going to buy a game because you're locked from posting in forums about a game you don't have?

[Gemma Flanagan]

For the most part, anyone with an active ESO account in the forums is either an existing customer, a past customer that has retained interest in the game, or a potential future customer. Trolls may have active accounts, in many cases they may even have subscriptions, but over time, trolls without subscriptions will stop coming back.

But really, what I am most concerned about is the idea that inactive subscribers should be eliminated. There will be lots of people with an active and ongoing interest in ESO and the ESO community that are between subscriptions, for whatever reason. Allowing them to be active in the community, and the forums, is the best way to get a subscription out of them. Banning them from participating in the forums is just as likely to cause resentment as it is to cause subscription.

I certainly do not expect every player to maintain end-to-end subscriptions. I know many WoW players who drop out for a month or two and then come back. You want these people to come back and you want these people to feel welcome to come back.

[MatthewJontully]

Maybe allow posting for up to a month after unsubbing?

[Jennifer Rose]

The idea that trolls will ever stop coming back if they're allowed in without a subscription is laughable. Just look at zone chat on beta.

You reference WoW, and it's an excellent point. In WoW, when you drop you subscription for a month, you lose your forum posting privileges. You can still access and read all forums, but you can only post in the Customer Support forum. People who are temporarily taking their subscription down generally intend to return, so there's no need to keep them "on the hook" by having them in the forums. They're already aware of their return date.