Elder Scrolls Online - 30 Days Free Subscription

[fungus]

IIRC, EQ2 and WoW (both sub games at release) did not ask my credit card details 30 days after release.

I have played several subscription based mmorpgs and none of them required you to sign-up with payment information to get your free 30 days. This includes Ultima Online, all SOE games, Rift, Aion, and LOTRO. (This was before they went F2P) ESO is the first game I have heard of that has this policy.

PS. I have actually never given billing information to any mmorpg but have bought a couple game time cards before.

EDIT: Forgot to ask what games have required (besides ESO) billing information to get your free month?

Certainly not true for WoW and Rift - both required credit card info. Didn't play EQ2 or Aion. Not sure about LOTRO or DDO as then went f2p so far ago. Would have to check physical box when I am at home for easter.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

I also wouldn't be happy if I read 30 days free and find out it's actually: 60 days for a price of 30 days.

Unless players punish false advertising here and now by ignoring the game completely, the fraud of sticking "free" onto something that is not free will continue in other games.

Were they free or included in the released product price?

I dont think it is legal to sell a game without at least a few number of days of play available. So they had to include one month of play in the released product.

Since they simply bar people from playing the game from day one, charging them for playing the game they've just bought (players pay for the first 30 days), they keep doing the same for the 30 days after the first pre paid 30 days.
It is then normal as they stick to the norm they set at release.

 

[Hastar]

Every MMO I have played since EQ has done this and I have played many. This is common practice and you will not see a change. Just cancel your sub before the next billing period. This is a stupid story and I am stupid to even respond to it. Man the hate for this game is funny.

 

[Maylander]

Yep, Hastar is correct. Pretty much every subscription MMO has done this. I don't like it at all, but it's very unlikely to change.

 

[joxer]

EDIT: Forgot to ask what games have required (besides ESO) billing information to get your free month?

Never seen any honestly. Just those scamsites with "get first ebook for free among 234653462384436 titles". Or watch a tv episode for free. Or something. But the rest of the sentence is erased, like first give us something we can use to squeeze your balls later.

To be (politically?) correct, I'll add also that this is just a false advertising scam, it's not a real fraud that can turn your life upside down. An example needed, right?
There is a certain site with possible identity theft scam that sells game keys.
After you buy something on that site, not only they ask for your credit card data but also you need to send them a selfie and scanned ID card. Even in the case you use paypal, you have to give away the data from your card linked to paypal. Also if your paypal e-mail address is different from the one you used to register there, you have to sent also your paypal e-mail address.
And you don't know this is required until you make the first purchase.
I can write more about this and what happened to me exactly if someone is interested, but in another thread as here it's a bit offtopic, but still an example that it could have been a lot worse.

But as I've said above, the only way to make online companies to stop with that practice is to refuse to give the required card/account data. Not just yell or wail on forums and still enter your data.

Every MMO I have played since EQ has done this and I have played many. This is common practice and you will not see a change. Just cancel your sub before the next billing period. This is a stupid story and I am stupid to even respond to it. Man the hate for this game is funny.

I don't remember any MMO asking this from me, so… In my case it's far from common. Perhaps we played different MMOs.

And you should not call hate for false advertising as a hate for a game. Noone said that the game sux here. Spits, from some of us, went only on the business model.

 

[Maylander]

I don't remember any MMO asking this from me, so… In my case it's far from common. Perhaps we played different MMOs.

And you should not call hate for false advertising as a hate for a game. Noone said that the game sux here. Spits, from some of us, went only on the business model.

Pretty sure the major ones all did it before they launched trial campaigns. World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Age of Conan and so on. Not sure about Lord of the Rings Online, but I think they did it too.

Of course, those MMOs are so old now that they all either have trial accounts or F2P, which means you can try the game without entering subscription information. However, that wasn't the case when the games were actually released.

 

[azarhal]

Yep, Hastar is correct. Pretty much every subscription MMO has done this. I don't like it at all, but it's very unlikely to change.

Since DAoC, requiring the CC info before your 30 "free" box days are done haven't been the norm. You didn't had to do it for WoW, SWTOR nor FFXIV 2.0 (I know about DAoC, SWTOR and FFXIV I played these games at release well past headstart, WoW I know because this debate is raging on another forums). I'm sure there are plenty of others who didn't require it as well.

You will need a sub past those 30 days though.

 

[Maylander]

Since DAoC, requiring the CC info before your 30 "free" box days are done haven't been the norm. You didn't had to do it for WoW, SWTOR nor FFXIV 2.0 (I know about DAoC, SWTOR and FFXIV I played these games at release well past headstart, WoW I know because this debate is raging on another forums). I'm sure there are plenty of others who didn't require it as well.

You will need a sub past those 30 days though.

That's complete nonsense. A quick search on the SWTOR forums reveals threads from its launch, like this:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=121766&page=2

As is pointed out near the bottom: You can use pre-paid cards instead of card information, but that's about it. Maybe that's what you did to get around it, because they all require some form of subscription information. This has been the norm for well over a decade now.

 

[fungus]

Since DAoC, requiring the CC info before your 30 "free" box days are done haven't been the norm. You didn't had to do it for WoW, SWTOR nor FFXIV 2.0 (I know about DAoC, SWTOR and FFXIV I played these games at release well past headstart, WoW I know because this debate is raging on another forums). I'm sure there are plenty of others who didn't require it as well.

You will need a sub past those 30 days though.

Both WoW and SWTOR required credit card info or gamecard, at least at release. Been there, done that.

 

[DArtagnan]

Even if this was so, what exactly is the problem with having to enter your subscription info sooner rather than later? You can still cancel it immediately?

I'm struggling to understand how this could rationally be an issue, except if you've bought the game intending to play only the 30 free days and you don't actually have a valid credit card.

 

[jhwisner]

For credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal, there is no charge made until after the included 30 days of game time has expired.

Am I missing something that I don't understand the complaints? I've had to provide billing information to create accounts and actually use the included game time for every non-free MMO I've ever played. Even many of the free ones have required me to add billing information to my account to be able to activate and use in-game store credit I had received from other sources.

With the ones I did not enjoy I've just always made sure to cancel my subscription before the included/prepaid time expired.

 

[pibbur who]

Both WoW and SWTOR required credit card info or gamecard, at least at release. Been there, done that.

One good thing with SWTOR (considering it's an EA title): They sent me a warning whenever my next payment was due.

pibbur who can't think of anything to say. Which would disturb him if he thought that in general he writes things deep and meaningful. Which he doesn't. So there! Silly pibbur.

 

[DArtagnan]

pibbur who can't think of anything to say. Which would disturb him if he thought that in general he writes things deep and meaningful. Which he doesn't. So there! Silly pibbur.

I suspect you have more to say of that nature than most, you just don't

 

[wolfing]

All subscription MMOs since like EQ1 (maybe UO too but I didn't play that one) have used the same system and now it's a big deal?
You don't pay for the 2nd 30 days, you just put the CC info and, if you don't cancel during the first 30 days, only then you pay for the next month.

 

[azarhal]

That's complete nonsense. A quick search on the SWTOR forums reveals threads from its launch, like this:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=121766&page=2

As is pointed out near the bottom: You can use pre-paid cards instead of card information, but that's about it. Maybe that's what you did to get around it, because they all require some form of subscription information. This has been the norm for well over a decade now.

Never used a timecard in my entire life and I didn't enter my CC info before the month of January to kept playing SWTOR and I had the 7 day head start.

As for WoW, I have seen multiple confirmation from people that even if the game asked you for sub information, you didn't have to fill it to continue playing with your 30 free box days. Not reading the fine prints is different from the game requiring you do to something before you can use a product.

 

[fungus]

Never used a timecard in my entire life and I didn't enter my CC info before the month of January to kept playing SWTOR and I had the 7 day head start.

As for WoW, I have seen multiple confirmation from people that even if the game asked you for sub information, you didn't have to fill it to continue playing with your 30 free box days. Not reading the fine prints is different from the game requiring you do to something before you can use a product.

I don't know where you get your information from, but it is untrue. You had to setup subscription to play World of Warcraft, fine print or not, because it wouldn't finish registration otherwise. Granted, it may have changed over time, but that was true for at least few years.

 

[DArtagnan]

Things likely changed with WoW because of Battle.net migration and the F2P-to-20 model.

 

[Maylander]

Yeah, we're obviously talking about MMOs at launch here. The first year or so after launch. The model changes over time, with trial accounts, F2P model and so on.

 

[joxer]

Guys, wait please.

A MMO is launched with huge letters that it's a subscription model. You know it, you pay, cancel if and when you don't want to play more. Anyone sees any problem here? No. You know everything from the start.

A MMO is launched with a sticker "subscription, 30 days free". What do you know from this? What is suggested with it? What is not said but should be said? Is there a problem? Yes, there is a bloody big problem.
And honestly, I will not write my pet was naughty, but will say that Zenimax made a BULLSHIT move. If it's true. I dunno if it's true or not, maybe forum member Domein is a liar and Zenimax provided a full info that couldn't be misunderstood.

 

[fungus]

Guys, wait please.

A MMO is launched with huge letters that it's a subscription model. You know it, you pay, cancel if and when you don't want to play more. Anyone sees any problem here? No. You know everything from the start.

A MMO is launched with a sticker "subscription, 30 days free". What do you know from this? What is suggested with it? What is not said but should be said? Is there a problem? Yes, there is a bloody big problem.
And honestly, I will not write my pet was naughty, but will say that Zenimax made a BULLSHIT move. If it's true. I dunno if it's true or not, maybe forum member Domein is a liar.

That you will have 30 days free. Doesn't mean you don;t have to register - only that you don't have to pay before those 30 days are over. So requirement to create a subscription is fine, as long as they only charge you after 30 days and you can cancel before that.
Yeah, it may be counterintuitive. But it's not false advertising.
Unless they actually charge you - the newsbit is unclear about that.