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Forums - Gaming - Elder Scrolls Online Xbox One/PS4 Locks Out People Who Buy Used or Rent

JRPGfan on 14 May 2015

Its fine for a game like this to have it honestly.

Same with games like Guildwars 2, where you buy the game, and then afterwards its just free forever as long as servers are up.

Its still a million times cheaper than the monthly pay mmo subscriptions in the long run.

 

That said Ive only heard bad things about  Elder Scrolls Online. 

Id rather pay to play FF14, than start playing a MMO like Elder Scrolls Online.

 

The gameplay makes or breaks a mmo, and its a long costly (time wise) investment, and just dont see Elder Scrolls Online being worth that.



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sabvre42 on 14 May 2015
Dusk said:
sabvre42 said:


I was never a fan of the XB1, but I agree with killing used games - especially ones like this case.

 

There is no subscription, but the game is entirely online. If they allowed used copies to work, they would bankrupt themselves.

They have a projected cost (estimated play time) per player which could not be controlled if unlimited resales were possible. In a period of 5 years, the single game could be resold 2-12+ times. That's both server space and guaranteed service for all those people that contributed NOTHING for the said service.

Additionally, the price is going to drop. How can they justify unlimited server time to an unknown number of players for unknown number of years for 10-30?

Then they should probably choose a better online model more suited for the console environment. 

This could very easily be done on an offline game as well. There is, and likely from now on, will always be an online factor to every game even if there is no direct online player component so this kind of thing is likely just a sign of the times from Zenimax and Bethesda. Hopefully others don't follow suit.

 

That's exactly it. Offline games do not carry the implied contract of service. While I think the used game industry is always bad, at least at that point it's more of a single transaction good, rather than a service contract.

 

The console environment is evolving. It's the whole reason MMORPGS are even landing on consoles.



kitler53 on 14 May 2015

and i thought we had moved past the "online pass" non-sense from last gen.


i don't see anything "wrong" with this business model but it is also a dumb business model. i was pissed beyond belief that time i bought rock band and my code to download a set of songs had already been used. i called EA and was told to fuck off.



daredevil.shark on 14 May 2015

Just like last Gen.



Dusk on 14 May 2015
SlayerRondo said:
Pre-owned games ensure that more people play the game and have more money to spend on games.

While I understand why Bethesda would do this I believe that they could have achieved more success while building on their reputation by allowing the sale of pre-owned copies of the game.

If they want to see more revenue they should focus on releasing expansion packs and the like, not defending against the few and far between second hand sales.

This has been a semi normal practice for a while now with MMO's. At least some. There has been a few different ways it has been handled. 1 is that a game is only shipped with a few codes to play, so it could be sold to another and an unused code could be used (they are tied to the installation disc). In others when a new computer attempts to log in there is an initial fee like 20 bucks that need to be paid in order to log on. And it's reasons like this that the free to play model started as well. Then it doesn't matter who plays the game if they want to progress in the game it pretty much becomes essential to purchase things through the ingame shop with a form of payment. 

 





Gotta figure out how to set these up lol.

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Dusk on 14 May 2015
kitler53 said:
and i thought we had moved past the "online pass" non-sense from last gen.


i don't see anything "wrong" with this business model but it is also a dumb business model. i was pissed beyond belief that time i bought rock band and my code to download a set of songs had already been used. i called EA and was told to fuck off.

And that's why micro transactions have come into play. 





Gotta figure out how to set these up lol.

Dusk on 14 May 2015

Honestly, the used market is bad for those developing the games. Just support the devs. I'm not saying I agree with this, but it is the developers that suffer when people buy used games.



Gotta figure out how to set these up lol.

sabvre42 on 14 May 2015
Ka-pi96 said:
sabvre42 said:
Ka-pi96 said:

Except the existance of MMOs with no subscription but also no initial fee to pay debunks that entirely.

If they can make money without actually selling a single copy then why can't Zenimax?

That's sort of a strawman. Pay to win games are not the same thing. Do you really believe pay to win and subscriptions are the only doable model? Or is because you are being cheap and can't tolerate the developer getting proceeds from EVERY sale?

How are they not the same? Elder Scrolls online is also pay to win, except with an initial fee added for some reason. So if it's already pay to win how is different?

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/02/13/heres-whats-in-the-new-elder-scrolls-online-cash-shop

That doesn't sound very pay to win. Did you actually read the article? Potions (which are weaker than player crafted ones) and vanity items.... 



The_BlackHeart__ on 14 May 2015

Great, another excuse for not buying the game. Thank you Zenimax you are the best financial advisor I've had in years.



sabvre42 on 14 May 2015
Ka-pi96 said:
sabvre42 said:

That doesn't sound very pay to win. Did you actually read the article? Potions (which are weaker than player crafted ones) and vanity items.... 

Hey, pay to win was your wording and that's usually all that's ever in any other free to play MMOs as well. So if Elder Scrolls Online isn't pay to win then neither are they and so the comparison works still.


No. Most free to play games nickel and dime you on new content that is paywalled. Take for example:

DDO - New classes, new areas, ability boosts, respecs, etc
Warframe - New Classes, New Guns, ability to double the power of your stuff without insane grinding, etc