In developing their new MMO, it seems as though Bethesda is following in the footsteps of World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and others. Not by adding kung-fu pandas or space travel, don't get ahead of me now. It's been confirmed that real world currency is set to play a role in The Elder Scrolls Online - the dreaded microtransaction.
AusGamers got a hold of Matt Firor, director on The Elder Scrolls Online, who said, "there won't be anything like bonus points, but we will have a shop to buy kind of fun stuff and services too like name changes and things like that." Fun stuff...OK, seems tolerable, not like the company will be offering some absurd kind of weapon or armor that renders actually playing the game pointless, right? Right.
As Firor put it, the items offered in this shop will not be "part of the core game, anything included in the core game is included in the subscription price." Good, that kind of puts a stop to any concept of pay-to-win, something I think we've all seen far too much of lately. I wouldn't be surprised if some high powered items managed to poke their way through, but based on Firor's statements, the store will more than likely be chock full of items that are more cosmetic than anything (but don't hold me to that).
It's understandable for a developer to try and squeeze as much money as possible out of a game, but given Bethesda and Zenimax's decision to charge a monthly rate for The Elder Scrolls Online, anything that would have gamers throw in more money will likely prove to be an unpopular decision, no matter how increasingly prevalent microtransactions are becoming. We'll keep you posted as more information about the shop comes to light.
The Elder Scrolls Online takes place 1000 years before the events of Skyrim, when Daedra and their creatures were considerably more numerous, and free to roam about the lands later reserved for more humanoid races.
A number of other races, creatures, and settings from previous Elder Scrolls games are set to factor into The Elder Scrolls Online in one way or another. The game is set for a release in the spring of 2014 for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Sorry, but there won't be any cross-play.
