It has been confirmed via Gamestar that The Elder Scrolls Online will, indeed, require a monthly subscription.
“Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren’t willing to make,” ZeniMax Studios Game Director Matt Firor stated. He went on to state that he believes free-to-play is not the way to go for The Elder Scrolls Online.
I definitely agree with him. I think ccompanies need to begin veering away from the free-to-play model, as its word association, alone, is troublesome. I, for one, associate free-to-play with low in quality, and we've seen a number of games hindered by their free-to-play model.
Elder Scrolls Online will require the typical $14.99/month to play the game.