My main complaint about ESO is literally just the subscription. It's probably because I'm not a huge MMO player, but if I buy a monthly subscription to a game, then I'm going to feel pressured to play it. While ESO looks and feels like a good game from my minimal experience with the beta a few months back, it doesn't feel like a "revolutionary" game. Huge, genre changing MMOs like EverQuest Next, Archeage, and Black Desert Online are right around the corner, and they're all going to be free to play, so if I were to stick to one that required me to pay a subscription, then I'd probably want it to be as new as either of those three MMOs.
Of course, that's just the opinion of somebody who isn't into MMOs. I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore ES fan either though, I prefer having a linear story and gameplay experience but many people would disagree with my preferences.
I'm most likely biased in this regard. I know that people, these days, really hate subscription for multiple different reasons - I'm most likely just used to them because I've been on subscription based games for 13+ years. That being said, with the dozens upon dozens of online games that I've played I find that you get what you pay for, particularly when it comes to the community. Sure there's a-holes in any online game that you play, but there's more in free-to-play games I've generally found. Furthermore, I despise the Pay-to-Win scheme that most F2P games institute, there are a few that don't institute such things - such as Path of Exile - but for the most part I could just pay to get wherever I wanted in these F2P games.
Additionally, over the past 8+ years or so all we've been hearing is how "revolutionary" the next MMO is going to be - and that beat of the drum is getting mighty monotonous to tell you the truth. Huge RvR battles! Housing! Player-created worlds! Action-based combat! - All been done before - no revolutionary idea makes an MMO worth playing - and honestly I've come to find that one with a great community can make all the difference in the world.
Warhammer Online, Aion, TERA, The Secret World, WildStar, EverQuest Next, etc etc. have all either have been or are stating that they're the next REVOLUTIONARY game with amazing NEVER BEFORE SEEN ideas - and I find that just silly - not to say that the games haven't been great, but it's been awhile since I've seen a never before seen idea in an MMO - most of the ideas have been taken from 1990's Text-Based MUDs. I'm not looking for the next revolutionary thing, I'll leave that thing to the day-dreamers - I just want a solid, community-based environment to play in - which is, in essence, the point of an MMO.
Either way, at the end of the day if you don't like the game that's your opinion - I'm not trying to get on here and preach mine :P
You bring up a lot of valid points, I remember trying out WoW private servers a few years back before paying for a subscription for a few months and it basically summed up the problem about the community perfectly. If something is free, then chances are it will end up having a less dedicated community simply because people aren't really encouraged to keep coming back. I think subscription based MMOs also end up having more major content, WoW has a ton of expansion packs and I don't think Blizzard is even done developing them all.
I'm curious of the route ESO ends up going though, it seems like only the most established MMO franchises like WoW and Final Fantasy can survive with a subscription, and nothing else.
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I'm most likely biased in this regard. I know that people, these days, really hate subscription for multiple different reasons - I'm most likely just used to them because I've been on subscription based games for 13+ years. That being said, with the dozens upon dozens of online games that I've played I find that you get what you pay for, particularly when it comes to the community. Sure there's a-holes in any online game that you play, but there's more in free-to-play games I've generally found. Furthermore, I despise the Pay-to-Win scheme that most F2P games institute, there are a few that don't institute such things - such as Path of Exile - but for the most part I could just pay to get wherever I wanted in these F2P games.
Additionally, over the past 8+ years or so all we've been hearing is how "revolutionary" the next MMO is going to be - and that beat of the drum is getting mighty monotonous to tell you the truth. Huge RvR battles! Housing! Player-created worlds! Action-based combat! - All been done before - no revolutionary idea makes an MMO worth playing - and honestly I've come to find that one with a great community can make all the difference in the world.
Warhammer Online, Aion, TERA, The Secret World, WildStar, EverQuest Next, etc etc. have all either have been or are stating that they're the next REVOLUTIONARY game with amazing NEVER BEFORE SEEN ideas - and I find that just silly - not to say that the games haven't been great, but it's been awhile since I've seen a never before seen idea in an MMO - most of the ideas have been taken from 1990's Text-Based MUDs. I'm not looking for the next revolutionary thing, I'll leave that thing to the day-dreamers - I just want a solid, community-based environment to play in - which is, in essence, the point of an MMO.
Either way, at the end of the day if you don't like the game that's your opinion - I'm not trying to get on here and preach mine :P
I'm curious of the route ESO ends up going though, it seems like only the most established MMO franchises like WoW and Final Fantasy can survive with a subscription, and nothing else.