User blog comment:Jimeee/Elder Scrolls Online will be subscription based/@comment-6681662-20130823032608/@comment-16276197-20130823042705

SWTOR had many issues which affected the size of its population; being subscription-based really wasn't the cause at all, but going F2P became a somewhat effective band-aid while not really addressing the underlying issues. The monthly subscription will cut out less people than the doomsayers seem to be estimating; if anything, people's choice in hardware will have more of an impact in whether or not they choose to cut themselves out.

F2P (aka cash shop) games have their own issues, which do just as much to turn away potential players as a subscription-based model does. For starters, income is far more volatile, and depends on the cash shop to survive, which in turn leads to development spending more time and resources bolstering the cash shop than developing the actual game.

Providing the development team is managed properly; a reliable source of income will lead to a better quality game overall, which is the underlying point Matt Firor was making.