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The Elder Scrolls fans seriously divided over surprise free release
Home>News
Published 12:47 29 Apr 2025 GMT+1

The Elder Scrolls fans seriously divided over surprise free release

Is this fair, or not?

Dan Lipscombe

Dan Lipscombe

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Featured Image Credit: Bethesda Softworks

Topics: The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda

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While everyone has been distracted by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, many players are still happily questing away on Elder Scrolls Online, the MMORPG based within the franchise.

It seems there has been a bit of a controversy in recent weeks as Bethesda has announced it will be making a premium service available to all players, even those not paying for the premium service.

The Elder Scrolls is grabbing plenty of headlines at the moment.

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Some time ago, a ‘scribing’ service was added to the Elder Scrolls game, which allows players to further personalise their character’s skills.

This was previously only available to those who paid for the Gold Road expansion.

After this announcement was made, many of those who paid for the service were outraged that it was becoming a freebie for all.

One player on the Steam forums asked, “What about the people who paid for it originally, though? Is anything getting added to the chapter for us? It's been less than a year and the new chapter is already getting depreciated.”

Others are claiming they only recently bought the chapter, and now a key part of it is being offered for free, they’re wondering what their money actually bought them.

One Reddit, one player notes, “I could understand being irked. Would be a nice gesture to gift those accounts some tangible something as a thanks.”

While another player wonders, “If you got exclusive access to something for several years, was that not a tangible service for the money you paid?”

This brings up the question - at what point is it okay for a company to give away the perks you paid for?

“They should get SOMETHING. That's not fair to them,” says one Redditor.

Though in reply, many are comparing it to other subscription services, like PlayStation Plus, with another user commenting, “Do you say the same thing for everyone who ever bought a game that ended up on PS+?”

Hopefully, Bethesda will reward those players in some way, but that might not be enough for some players who feel aggrieved.

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