Witches' Festival Crown Store Items: An Issue With Timing

Gidorick · October 2015

Dear ZOS Creative Team (so... @ZOS_RichLambert ):

According to your Crown Store Showcase The Pumpkin Specter and Scarecrow polymorphs are summons for WItches' Festival. Firstly, I applaud you for finding a way to kind of justify this using lore. The description of the Witches' Festival is as follows:

"Today is the 13th of Frostfall, known throughout Tamriel as the Witches' Festival when the forces of sorcery and religion clash. The Mages Guild gets most of the business since weapons and items are evaluated for their mystic potential free of charge and magic spells are one half their usual price. Demonologists, conjurors, lamias, warlocks, and thaumaturgists meet in the wilderness outside (the city), and the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons. Most wise men choose not to wander this night. In Daggerfall, this is the Summoning Day for Mephala."

Only the most stubborn among us could scoff at the idea that these two polymorphs could never be summoned in the wilderness to frighten others. Well done.

Now for the issue... These polymorphs will be available October 22nd. Frostfall is the Tamrielic month of October. As stated above the Witches Festival is on the 13th. These polymorphs will COMPLETELY MISS the Witches' Festival. Are you actively trying to dismiss, ignore, and shrug off lore? The other items in the showcase are being released on October 8th... which is in time for the Witches' Festival.

Either the timing was blatantly and knowingly ignored, or just overlooked... I'm not sure which is worse. Way to go out of your way to prove to your playerbase that these are HALLOWEEN releases... and not for The Witches Festival... which they completely miss.

There is a really easy fix here. Release them on October 8th with the other items... Release them on October 8th and you are guaranteed to sell at least one more of each polymorph.

Another fix would be if there were Mobs of these two polymorphs that we could battle from like October 12th to Halloween.... that would make an in-game event AND it would satisfy these items being in game during the witches festival. Of course, I doubt that work has been done... and if it hasn't, there isn't enough time to make this happen at this point.

Makkir · October 2015

I really want to call you a nerd Gid, but I love your posts way too much.

Gidorick · October 2015

lol. I admit that I am @Makkir. I just hate to see that ZOS just doesn't seem to care about lore. As long as they can prostitute it out to sell their trinkets... all is well.

How hard would it have been to sell these from October 8th to make the portion of their player base that actually cares about these things happy? Seriously?

nimander99 · October 2015

Makkir wrote: »

I really want to call you a nerd Gid, but I love your posts way too much.

What's wrong with being called a nerd? I'm a total nerd for fantasy lore, and I love it!

Funkopotamus · October 2015

Yeah one thing that GW2 does very well are the seasonal festivities like Halloween and Christmas...

MMO's just seem.... more fun when devs make the effort to actually involve the community in activities like that.

Oh well.. Mybe they are busy throwing together more Gigidy Gigidy nerfs to surprise us with

Acrolas · October 2015

There's no way to sync game days and actual solar days. And, of course, that "the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons" bit.

The 15th would have been more ideal, but waiting an extra week isn't going to kill me.

Kuroinu · October 2015

Uh oh ZOS, BUSTED! Mr. Schick start sharpening that knife!

Ghrimn · October 2015

Yeah, I agree with you... It's like it wasn't enough for them to add Halloween stuff to the game under the pretext that it's Witches' Festival merchandise, they also had to completely miss the festival's date.

The scarecrow I can understand, some of them are already spooky, but a pumpkin? From all of Tamriel's Flora, the hedge wizards had to choose a pumpkin? From all the Venomous and Poisonous plants they had to choose one that is not? One that is edible? I mean that's not scary, I would bite the head of that thing before it could do anything. Enemies that are edible... it's a Nord's dream come true. Choose an Onion will you? At least they make you cry. Just a second Molag Bal, can't you see I'm busy fighting the most horrible monster in all of Tamriel? A Pumpkin!

TX12001rwb17_ESO · October 2015

I have an ingame clock that calculates time since the game was released, apprantley its not the 13th of frostfall infact its far from it.

Gidorick · October 2015

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I have an ingame clock that calculates time since the game was released, apprantley its not the 13th of frostfall infact its far from it.

That's pretty cool. I actually have a pretty robust concept that would make it so that each day in ESO is one day in tamriel, so there would be like 4 ESO years per 1 earth year.

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/171830/day-length-adjustment-holiday-implementation-concept

This would mean that the Witches Festival would happen multiple times per year, not just once.

There are multiple ways to make this sort of thing "OK" with us lore-immersionists.

Recremen · October 2015

I think they know when it's supposed to be, but are constricted by other iRL marketing concerns. Specifically, while there is reason in the lore for these to exist, it's very clear that it falls under Halloween marketing. The strategy for many of their items has been very short (and ostensibly lucrative) sales, intended to force impulse buying. Since people may be more likely to buy with the real-life holiday in mind, they're probably pushing the sale itself back to hit that Halloween sweet spot. Not really my favorite tactic, but there you have it.

The only other option would be to extend the sale, but they seem incredibly reluctant to keep things in the crown store, favoring artificial scarcity instead.

Gidorick · October 2015

I am not opposed to these being sold "through Halloween"... I get the need for items for the holiday. I'm not unreasonable. I just ask that they sell them for 2 weeks longer and start on October 8th and sell through Nov 2nd... like the rest of the items.

They would still be limited. They are actually selling the Mind-Shriven Skin from October 8th to Nov 2nd... just sell the other two polymorphs that are being advertised as being for and being justified with the Witches' Festival during that period as well.

That's all I'm asking.

NewBlacksmurf · October 2015

Hmmmm nice catch there Gid

$$$$$ or maybe it's a all platforms influence IDK

Kuroinu · October 2015

So much for in-game events. More crown store nonsense(I know, I know, development needs funding). /yawn

Gidorick · October 2015

@NewBlacksmurf... they are selling the Mind Shriven polymorph from October 8th to November 2nd.... in time for the Witches Festival. This is nothing but making them more limited for the sake of making them limited Halloween items.

If they sold these two polymorphs from October 8th to November 2nd I would not only not be complaining but I would buy them... Azura preserve me, I kind of love that Pumpkin Polymorph.

Gidorick · October 2015

Riko_Futatabi wrote: »

So much for in-game events. More crown store nonsense(I know, I know, development needs funding). /yawn

One would HOPE that a bunch of monsters spawn on Frostfall the 13th all across Tamriel for us to fight. That would be fitting the lore.

Thymos · October 2015

How many days happen in-game during a single day of real time?

So what month are we supposed to be on?

Gidorick · October 2015

Since we don't have an established calendar in ESO (something I suggested we have HERE) I'm just going by the real-world calendar. If ZOS wanted to establish an ESO calendar that made Frostfall the 13th fall on a different day than October 13th, I would welcome that. Of course, that would mean that other holidays would be out of sync as well....

Kuroinu · October 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Riko_Futatabi wrote: »

So much for in-game events. More crown store nonsense(I know, I know, development needs funding). /yawn

One would HOPE that a bunch of monsters spawn on Frostfall the 13th all across Tamriel for us to fight. That would be fitting the lore.

It really would be great, but I hate to express my dissatisfaction with how they miss the little details all too often. It's usually those that matter the most, because everyone expects the big details to be done. Too much lack of creativity when it comes to the little things!

Thymos · October 2015

Perhaps they should avoid holiday themed events, and go with something like what SWTOR did with the Rakghoul event. I really enjoyed that event, as it was implanted on already existing areas and was just around for a short period of time, so the rewards could only be earned for a few weeks then you'd have to wait another year.

ESO could have any number of causes for events like this. Such as a specific warlord is amassing an army, as he has discovered a Daedric Artifact, such as Masque of Clavicus Vile. It is up to anyone who has power and ability to stop him. However stopping him could involve several trials, which can be daily repeatables.

Gidorick · October 2015

Thymos wrote: »

Perhaps they should avoid holiday themed events, and go with something like what SWTOR did with the Rakghoul event. I really enjoyed that event, as it was implanted on already existing areas and was just around for a short period of time, so the rewards could only be earned for a few weeks then you'd have to wait another year.

ESO could have any number of causes for events like this. Such as a specific warlord is amassing an army, as he has discovered a Daedric Artifact, such as Masque of Clavicus Vile. It is up to anyone who has power and ability to stop him. However stopping him could involve several trials, which can be daily repeatables.

This would be great!

Gidorick · October 2015

Riko_Futatabi wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Riko_Futatabi wrote: »

So much for in-game events. More crown store nonsense(I know, I know, development needs funding). /yawn

One would HOPE that a bunch of monsters spawn on Frostfall the 13th all across Tamriel for us to fight. That would be fitting the lore.

It really would be great, but I hate to express my dissatisfaction with how they miss the little details all too often. It's usually those that matter the most, because everyone expects the big details to be done. Too much lack of creativity when it comes to the little things!

I have held on hope that the little details would be addressed with time but things like this make me think the opposite is more likely the case.

Blackhorne · October 2015

...and the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons.

So they are summoned on the 13th of Frostfall, and you just happen to run into them later. Problem solved.

Gidorick · October 2015

Blackhorne wrote: »

...and the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons.

So they are summoned on the 13th of Frostfall, and you just happen to run into them later. Problem solved.

As I said previously in the thread... if they make these creatures killable NPCs on the 13th the problem is solved, I agree.

Otherwise, no... it is not. I am only willing to go so far with flimsy justifications for this sort of thing.

If they are summoned on the 13th of frost fall... why do I go 8 days without seeing them? Why do they suddenly pop up 8 days later in great quantity?

I really don't think I'm being unreasonable in asking that ZOS respect the lore. I'll go as far as accepting these creatures existence as summoned creatures.

AhPook_Is_Here · October 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Dear ZOS Creative Team (so... @ZOS_RichLambert ):

According to your Crown Store Showcase The Pumpkin Specter and Scarecrow polymorphs are summons for WItches' Festival. Firstly, I applaud you for finding a way to kind of justify this using lore. The description of the Witches' Festival is as follows:

"Today is the 13th of Frostfall, known throughout Tamriel as the Witches' Festival when the forces of sorcery and religion clash. The Mages Guild gets most of the business since weapons and items are evaluated for their mystic potential free of charge and magic spells are one half their usual price. Demonologists, conjurors, lamias, warlocks, and thaumaturgists meet in the wilderness outside (the city), and the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons. Most wise men choose not to wander this night. In Daggerfall, this is the Summoning Day for Mephala."

Only the most stubborn among us could scoff at the idea that these two polymorphs could never be summoned in the wilderness to frighten others. Well done.

Now for the issue... These polymorphs will be available October 22nd. Frostfall is the Tamrielic month of October. As stated above the Witches Festival is on the 13th. These polymorphs will COMPLETELY MISS the Witches' Festival. Are you actively trying to dismiss, ignore, and shrug off lore? The other items in the showcase are being released on October 8th... which is in time for the Witches' Festival.

Either the timing was blatantly and knowingly ignored, or just overlooked... I'm not sure which is worse. Way to go out of your way to prove to your playerbase that these are HALLOWEEN releases... and not for The Witches Festival... which they completely miss.

There is a really easy fix here. Release them on October 8th with the other items... Release them on October 8th and you are guaranteed to sell at least one more of each polymorph.

Another fix would be if there were Mobs of these two polymorphs that we could battle from like October 12th to Halloween.... that would make an in-game event AND it would satisfy these items being in game during the witches festival. Of course, I doubt that work has been done... and if it hasn't, there isn't enough time to make this happen at this point.

Why do you think there is a day to day correlation between the calendar of Tamriel and our Christian calendar? There is no reason to think that the 31st of October can't be the 13th of Frostfall. There isn't an in-game calendar anyway, so just announce in your RP channel on the 31st of October the arrival of the 13th of Frostfall.

What I found most interesting about this post though was it makes one wonder why Breton's can't by the "Mephala's panties" polymorph, an essential component in the summoning ritual. The ladies can wear them proudly all year and the guys can hold them in their hands and display them as prizes.

Gidorick · October 2015

@AhPook_Is_Here

Gidorick wrote: »

Since we don't have an established calendar in ESO (something I suggested we have HERE) I'm just going by the real-world calendar. If ZOS wanted to establish an ESO calendar that made Frostfall the 13th fall on a different day than October 13th, I would welcome that. Of course, that would mean that other holidays would be out of sync as well....

Again... I'm only willing to go so far with this "I'll find any way to justify this" method of acceptance. ZOS must show a modicum of giving-a-damn to get my money.

Lettigall · October 2015

Don't use logic simple accept fact that ZOS decided to cash grab from Halloween, all that BS about Witches Festival is to shut up everyone who thinks that RL holidays don't have place in Elder scrolls! Christmas, Valentines day and every other rl holiday ZOS decided to market from will be masked as tamrielic holiday!

AhPook_Is_Here · October 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

@AhPook_Is_Here

Gidorick wrote: »

Since we don't have an established calendar in ESO (something I suggested we have HERE) I'm just going by the real-world calendar. If ZOS wanted to establish an ESO calendar that made Frostfall the 13th fall on a different day than October 13th, I would welcome that. Of course, that would mean that other holidays would be out of sync as well....

Again... I'm only willing to go so far with this "I'll find any way to justify this" method of acceptance. ZOS must show a modicum of giving-a-damn to get my money.

If they gave a damn they would have already given us Mephala's panties. We can discard that controversy.

Korah_Eaglecry · October 2015

The in-game time isnt lined up with the real world is it? Considering how many times a day/night cycle happens in game. Its kind of impossible to state that October 13th in Game is the same day as October 13th in real life?

I mean. Maybe stop nitpicking?

Gidorick · October 2015

Korah_Eaglecry wrote: »

The in-game time isnt lined up with the real world is it? Considering how many times a day/night cycle happens in game. Its kind of impossible to state that October 13th in Game is the same day as October 13th in real life?

I mean. Maybe stop nitpicking?

If ZOS wanted to establish a calendar I'd be all for that.

Gidorick wrote: »

Since we don't have an established calendar in ESO (something I suggested we have HERE) I'm just going by the real-world calendar. If ZOS wanted to establish an ESO calendar that made Frostfall the 13th fall on a different day than October 13th, I would welcome that. Of course, that would mean that other holidays would be out of sync as well....

As for the nit-picking. I don't see it as a nit-pick. I see it as an unwillingness to just accept ZOS' reconstitution of a Tamerilic holiday as a real-world holiday. I'm willing to go only so far in the acceptance of the bending of lore. Asking that the Witches Festival observance take place on the DAY of the witches festival isn't too much to ask.

I would prefer that one day in Tamriel=one day and that each earth year has multiple ESO years. That would mean the Witches' Festival would occur multiple times per year. I would completely welcome this... but this would need to be established. As I have said many times before in many other threads, I'm not willing to just conjure up fan-fic caliber explanations for ZOS' actions. While I do enjoy the conjecture... I would like more official explanations.

Especially if they want me to buy these holiday items.

Blackhorne · October 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Blackhorne wrote: »

...and the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons.

So they are summoned on the 13th of Frostfall, and you just happen to run into them later. Problem solved.

As I said previously in the thread... if they make these creatures killable NPCs on the 13th the problem is solved, I agree.

Otherwise, no... it is not. I am only willing to go so far with flimsy justifications for this sort of thing.

If they are summoned on the 13th of frost fall... why do I go 8 days without seeing them? Why do they suddenly pop up 8 days later in great quantity?

I really don't think I'm being unreasonable in asking that ZOS respect the lore. I'll go as far as accepting these creatures existence as summoned creatures.

I was trying to avoid the patently obvious assumption you're making, but here it is:
It is not possible to line up the calendars in the way you're attempting. They're defined differently, time flows differently, the ESO:TU calendar is not fully defined, no correlation point has been identified.

Your obsession with October 13, 2015 has absolutely no bearing on the flexibility of the ESO:TU calendar. Any diurnal period in-game could be 13th Frostfall. Why not the first such period which happens to correlate with October 22, 2015?

And here's the final kicker: the choice is not yours to make. Nor is it mine. The only entity in a position to define when 13th Frostfall is is ZOS. Based on the evidence, they've chosen to make it correlate with October 22, 2015. There's no reason why that could not be the case, so your argument that it should be October 13 has no merit.

You further undermine your argument by allowing them to show up before your arbitrary cut-off date, on October 8th. If 13th Frostfall has not happened, how is it that you suddenly start seeing them on what you define as 8th Frostfall?

Going 8 days without seeing something which exists (even something very common) is not unheard of. I have an oak tree outside my house in which squirrels live. Yet I sometimes go for a week or more without seeing those squirrels.

Seeing something 5 days before it can exist is much more unreasonable.