14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was launched, fans of the universe that Bethesda created have been wondering how long it would take for it to be used as the basis for an MMO experience that would use the all the races and the provinces that players have explored or read about.
When Oblivion was launched in 2006, World of Warcraft was a rising star in the MMO world and the idea that someone could offer a comparable experience for no monthly subscription was still foreign to the gaming world.
Now, half a year after the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, ZeniMax announced that its Online studio, which was created in 2007, was working on a full Elder Scrolls MMO, set to be launched during next year.
The details of the experience seem pretty impressive and surely there’s more to reveal before the game is actually launched, but one questions looms large over the entire idea of online Elder Scrolls: can Bethesda and ZeniMax charge players for each month they spend in their upcoming MMO?
Consider Skyrim: on launch, a fan would spend 60 dollars or Euro on it and would then have the opportunity to languish for upwards of 150 hours in a finely-crafted open world with multiple cities, cool characters and some impressive quest design.
Then mods, patches, re-plays and all other replayability elements kick in to add even more value.
The Elder Scrolls Online would have to convince the same fan that over the course of 4 months he would get a similar or better game experience and then hope that a hooked player continues to pay his monthly subscription.
Of course, Bethesda and ZeniMax always have the options of adopting free-to-play, allowing most gamers to explore the world without paying and relying on their solid fan base to offer real world money in order to get access to enhancements, either cosmetic or gameplay related.
It remains to be seen whether Elder Scrolls Online will be one of the last members of the subscription aristocracy, or whether it will be a leading title for the free-to-play meritocracy.