Earlier this week, we have learned that The Elder Scrolls Online will employ a standard subscription-model instead going free-to-play like other MMOs out there. Well, it seems on top of a monthly subscription, it looks like that the Elder Scrolls Online will also have microtransactions or cash shop that can be accessed in-game.
For a MMO game that decided to stick to a standard subscription-model, having a cash shop in-game is surely an odd move. One of the things players hate when it comes to a MMO game that employs subscription is a cash shop as it ruins the experience. As we see in games like Neverwinter, Rift, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, their cash shops are being critiqued as most of them offer certain items that are considered as “pay-to-win”.
In an interview from ESOHub with Matt Firor of Zenimax Online, he stated that “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.” He also mentioned that the items that will be available in the shop is not “part of the core game, anything included in the core game is included in the subscription price.”
There you have it folks. The items that will most likely be available are cosmetic items… Horse Armor maybe?