14 DAY TRIAL // The Elder Scrolls Online development team hosted a questions and answers session meant to alleviate some of the confusion sparked by the announcement that the game would no longer require a monthly subscription fee starting this summer.
Many people predicted the business model shift, but still, the news created quite a disturbance in the force, or in Tamriel's arcane energies, so to say. There will still be an optional subscription available for those that want to enlist, offering a lot of benefits to premium members.
The development team at ZeniMax Online decided to answer some of the community's questions regarding the transition and the upcoming major patch, as well as the various balancing issues which would be addressed in the near future, in a dedicated AMA.
The developers pointed out that existing time cards would still be usable after the transition and would offer the equivalent amount of premium subscription time to a player's account.
Furthermore, players who maintained a subscription for the entirety of the game's existence, up until the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, will get a special exclusive reward, which is to be announced. In addition to this, the team is also preparing 3, 6, and 9 month subscriber loyalty rewards, to be disclosed soon.
Still a lot of details to be figured out
For the time being, DLC prices are not finalized, but the devs mentioned that they would most likely be around the price point of such content in similar games. Players who don't own DLC packs will be able to access the normal drops from that DLC through the Guild Store, from players who have access and are willing to make extra pocket change.
If you want to get more details on class balancing and various other issues such as controller support, and the ability to use a controller on PC or Mac, you can take a look at the whole thing on Reddit.
The devs talk about the Justice and Champion systems, about Collections, and about some combat animation and timing fixes, which are the most important bullet points of the upcoming 1.6 patch.
Among other things the development team is looking to add is a barbershop, enabling users to adjust their appearance. Sadly, there has been no word on PvP rebalancing yet.
The Elder Scrolls Online is heading to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One home consoles, dubbed The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, in June this year.
