Subscription VS. Free

[just_matos]

Is this game unplayable for non-subscribers or is it fair enough to play free?
Could I get by just fine playing free? I know some games make life tedious and miserable for free players. I wanna get into it but I'm not really a fan of paying subscription to games.

[Wolfstorm]

Fair enough. You can do all the content in the same way.

Unless you are talking about subscriptions for PvP hacking tools, which are used by PvP guilds.

[just_matos]

Originally posted by Wolfstorm:

Fair enough. You can do all the content in the same way.

Unless you are talking about subscriptions for PvP hacking tools, which are used by PvP guilds.

My plan is to play mainly PvE with a friend, maybe PvP later. So what are the reasons people subscribe? is it pretty much just PvP related? I currently don't know anything about the game, in case my questions are dumb lol

[Vyrtualis]

You can play just fine without ESO+, but you'll have to buy DLCs and Chapters separately if you want to play that content. You'll also have to deal with a bit more inventory management without the Crafting Bag, but its easy enough with addons and a couple mule characters.

[Elecks.]

Sub is required to play DLCs, ( unless you want to buy them one by one ;) ) Also you get some monthly crowns to spend in the store for outfits, dyes or mounts. But i bought it mainly for the crafting bag ( i think most people do tbh) this will allow to store your crafting materials i a separate tab. allowing you to carry more armor, weapons, potions, and ofcourse stolen goods aka gold :D

[Shifty Mario]

You can get by free. You just need to grind for storage first.

The real benefit to subscription is the crafting bag and DLCs if you don't have them. Crafting bag eases inventory so much when starting. It removes the need for mules and the constant loading from switching. Only when you have a decent amount of storage from inventory, bank, and house will the crafting bag not be as impactful.

[Don't Look At Me!]

Originally posted by Shifty Mario:

You can get by free. You just need to grind for storage first.

The real benefit to subscription is the crafting bag and DLCs if you don't have them. Crafting bag eases inventory so much when starting. It removes the need for mules and the constant loading from switching. Only when you have a decent amount of storage from inventory, bank, and house will the crafting bag not be as impactful.

The subscription fee is worth it for the craft bag alone IMO

[KryptiiK]

Like everyone else is saying. Crafting Bag. I am a free player and i am good at character inventory management along with the shared bank between charaters to manage my crafting mats but the crafting bag admittedly would make it easier but still not needed. The DLC and Chapter imo would be a better argument to the sub price on content size alone that i "feel" like im missing out on. again it 1000000% FAIR to have it as a sub price vs pay for what content you want when you want :) i just havnt needed or run out of content yet :P ALSO would like to note that no one ive talked to in game in zone or guild chat have said that eso+ is needed in any way

[Wendersnaven]

+1 You can totally manage without the Sub. You can enjoy and win the game with the best equipment. The time the crafting bag saves is worth its price, even at the lowest of wages.

I have mules for when I'm not subscribed. There are several mods to help things along, but Bank Manager is a big one to make storage easy after runs.

Two quick things- If you get the Bank and Merchant characters, you'll be more than self sufficient after you set up your routine and storage. Also, Zenimax will give free ESO+ subs here and there throughout the year. This moves all the storage items into the big crafting bag and helps you maintain inventory if you aren't normally subscribed.

[codemane]

hacks in pvp lmao dude. l2p

[Mreisse]

I'm a free player, and primarily a crafter, with a focus on solo play/questing/exploration. (I figure I'll try the harder PvE when I'm at least 160cp so the drops are useful).

You can absolutely play without sub. Base game is hours and hours of content so you can always get the dlc/sub later when you're bored with base areas.

Honestly, I would try it without sub for a week or so, see how you feel about inventory management.

If you aren't interested in crafting then you can ignore harvesting mats, which reduces the inventory mini game. If you do want to craft, then farming mats before you max bags and bank is a lot of busy work with mules and inventory shuffling. It can be done if you're not in a rush! You have to be disciplined about selling everything you're not using, organizing what is carried where, and only spend gold in inventory upgrades (horse training, pack merchant, bank) until you hit max. There's lots of fencing and daily writs in your future to make the gold to do that. You can't be an ESO millionaire any time soon.

I can confirm that getting to max inventory really makes life easier even without craft bag, and there's the periodic free ESO+ trial that is so great for clearing your bags a bit.

However, if you are planning to buy crowns anyway, I recommend just sub for 1 month because the crowns+benefits are actually good value.

Edit to add: If you plan to buy dlc individually either because you want to unsubscribe eventually, or never play to sub at all, I recommend wait for the release anniversaries where you get 30-75% off the crown price.

[just_matos]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated.

[Killiberke]

Originally posted by Mreisse:

I'm a free player, and primarily a crafter, with a focus on solo play/questing/exploration.

Same. I have 1800hrs of playtime. Almost Grand Master Crafter (still missing motifs).

Never subbed (matter of principle). It's very doable.

Inventory isn't that big of an issue when you have a bunch of mules maxed out on inventory (including horse carrying capacity). Well it isn't if you organize in a smart way.

Twice a year you can try out ESO+ for free and that dumps all your mats in a crafting bag. Nice.

Wait for crowns to go on sale. Then buy crowns.
Wait for DLC to go on sale. Then buy DLC with those crowns.
If you do the maths, def cheaper than subbing.
And you actually own* the DLC instead of renting it.

* don't hassle me with "You don't own ♥♥♥♥, license etc blah blah"

Originally posted by Wolfstorm:

Unless you are talking about subscriptions for PvP hacking tools, which are used by PvP guilds.

Why do you have to bang on about this in almost every post you make? Jeez.

[737]

I played for more than one thousand hours with no sub. The only thing worth in my opinion is the craft bag. The crowns you get are also nice. You can definitely enjoy the game with no sub, even though at one point, you will eventually want to get it, specially if you have characters with crafting skills.

[Gwumpy Fwog]

Originally posted by Killiberke:

Originally posted by Mreisse:

I'm a free player, and primarily a crafter, with a focus on solo play/questing/exploration.

Same. I have 1800hrs of playtime. Almost Grand Master Crafter (still missing motifs).

Never subbed (matter of principle). It's very doable.

Inventory isn't that big of an issue when you have a bunch of mules maxed out on inventory (including horse carrying capacity). Well it isn't if you organize in a smart way.

Twice a year you can try out ESO+ for free and that dumps all your mats in a crafting bag. Nice.

Wait for crowns to go on sale. Then buy crowns.
Wait for DLC to go on sale. Then buy DLC with those crowns.
If you do the maths, def cheaper than subbing.
And you actually own* the DLC instead of renting it.

* don't hassle me with "You don't own ♥♥♥♥, license etc blah blah"

Originally posted by Wolfstorm:

Unless you are talking about subscriptions for PvP hacking tools, which are used by PvP guilds.

Why do you have to bang on about this in almost every post you make? Jeez.

or ya know... just buy DLC with gold with groups like TCE

[Wolfstorm]

Originally posted by Just_matos:

Originally posted by Wolfstorm:

Fair enough. You can do all the content in the same way.

Unless you are talking about subscriptions for PvP hacking tools, which are used by PvP guilds.

My plan is to play mainly PvE with a friend, maybe PvP later. So what are the reasons people subscribe? is it pretty much just PvP related? I currently don't know anything about the game, in case my questions are dumb lol

They subscribe because of the crafting bag. The inventory space is very limited. But you can work around that.