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The Elder Scrolls Online is a long-running MMORPG by ZeniMax Online Studios that will celebrate its Tenth Anniversary later this year. The title perfectly encapsulates the essence of Tamriel and the fantastic world of Nirn with its rich and varied lore. This world is intricately crafted by the developers to align with the shared universe of other games in the franchise. However, the game is cannibalized by its monetization practices.
With loot crates more prominently advertised than new DLCs and updates, gamers might wonder — is The Elder Scrolls Online pay-to-win in 2024? This article will address such questions and what newcomers and returning players can expect from the title's perceived decline in terms of monetization.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
The Elder Scrolls Online: State of monetization in 2024
While purchasing the base game of The Elder Scrolls Online is enough for players to start their journey in this high-fantasy world, without the expansions, you will miss out on core gameplay systems like Jewelry Crafting, Antiquities, numerous new classes, and skill lines. Expansions are a staple in the MMORPG genre, where major features are added over time with expansions.
Unlike games like Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online does not follow a monthly subscription model. At first glance, that's a commendable choice. However, beneath the surface, there's a more sinister approach to monetization.
The title has a two to four-month patch cycle, where it receives a major update with a diverse range of content and gameplay systems, such as dungeons, arenas, trials, Transmute Station, and more. While a few of these updates are free for all players, most of them require a separate purchase of a DLC.
So, while purchasing the game with all its chapters will provide you with a lot of content, many expansions have a continued storyline that unfolds over the entire year, necessitating these DLC updates. With over nine years' worth of DLCs — which will continue to increase over time — purchasing everything available can cost an arm and a leg.
Creating problems and selling solutions
The ESO Plus subscription solves the issue of these accumulating DLCs by providing access to all of them. So, while you don't need a subscription to play the game, it can make your experience less frustrating. However, this trend of creating problems and selling solutions doesn't end here.
In addition to all DLCs in The Elder Scrolls Online, you will receive unlimited storage for crafting materials, double Bank space, increased Gold and Experience gain, and many other pay-for-convenience features with ESO Plus.
In The Elder Scrolls Online, you have limited storage space. However, there is an endless amount of crafting materials vital to many aspects of gameplay. The problem arises when all your inventory space, including your Bank storage and chests, is filled with these materials.
The access to the Craft Bag with ESO Plus, which provides unlimited storage for all these materials, is just another deceptive way of creating a problem and selling a solution.
Besides this subscription, you can purchase levels for entire skill lines, Skyshards, riding lessons, inventory space, Assistants, and so much more in the Crown Store.
The Elder Scrolls Online in 2024: From pay for convenience to gambling galore
Crates are a loot box type mechanic in The Elder Scrolls Online, where you can obtain numerous rewards like mounts, skins, armor motifs, weapon styles, and more. The Radiant Apex mounts is the ultimate prize with an abysmally low acquirance rate.
Besides this system being a gambler's haven, the major issue with these mounts and other rewards is that you can't acquire anything even remotely close to the quality, design, and flashiness of these rewards by just playing the game. Even the rarest mounts from the hardest trials in the game are not as visually appealing as the Radiant Apex mounts.
The Endeavor system does allow you to earn a new type of currency, with which you can purchase these loot crate rewards. However, it's not realistically viable for most players, as you require six months of daily logins to acquire a single Radiant Apex mount.
In an MMORPG like The Elder Scrolls Online, where rare skins and mounts reward your achievements, it's extremely demotivating to access better alternatives just by paying money. Not to mention, the exploitative nature of the loot crate system feeding into a gambling addiction cannot be defended.
So, The Elder Scrolls Online is, in fact, pay-to-win in 2024. While you cannot acquire character power from the cash shop, you can practically purchase everything else, along with better mounts, skins, weapon styles, and armor motifs. The sinister approach to ESO Plus and the constant trend of creating problems to sell a solution is a deceptive monetization practice.
