This is to "recognise that some of the launch issues affected" the early experience of the MMO, cutting into the 30 days trial period. Firor also outlines what changes are ahead.
ZeniMax outline current and future updates for ESO, and that includes a justice system for when crimes are committed against NPCs such as stealing and killing.
"We recognize that some of the launch issues—especially black market botting and spam, de-synced quests, and the disappearing bank slot bug—affected the early gameplay experience of a number of players. Fixing these problems required us to take the megaservers offline, costing players time in the game," posted Matt Firor.
"In recognition of this experience and to show our gratitude to everyone who supported the launch, we are giving an additional five days of included game time to every ESO player who set up an active account prior to 8pm EDT Thursday May 1st and who are currently enjoying their 30 days of included game time."
The game director also touched on the reviews for The Elder Scrolls Online.
"ESO generates strong emotions in gamers—both positive and negative," he said. "While I obviously don’t agree with the more negative articles, the reviews are out there, and we read them to determine if there are legitimate complaints that we should address. We are gratified by the many positive fan comments—the love that those fans express for ESO motivates us to keep working to make this the best MMO ever."
"Some of the negativity in reviews comes from bugs. As you can see, we’re hard at work addressing them and will keep rolling out fixes. The important thing for you, the community, to know is that we’re looking at ALL the feedback (from critics and from players), we’re addressing any shortcomings, and we’ll continue to do so."
ZeniMax is currently battling legions of gold farmers and bots adversely impacting the world of ESO, and they've taken steps recently to curtail the black market activity. The first new Adventure Zone - Craglorn - is being introduced for Veteran Rank 1 and above players. Currently it and the latest game changes are being tested.