Official Discussion Thread for "Announcing the ESO Plus Bonus Event!"

Acrolas · July 2017

Turelus wrote: »

Can't we just believe this is a nice thing with good intentions, for once?

Maybe if our marketing director took some time out to build some rapport with the community.
The silence makes everything feel predatory in some way.
Especially when you write "marketing genius" on your Facebook profile summary. That just means you like to manipulate people without being challenged. I know. I wasn't born yesterday.

SugaComa · July 2017

Recremen wrote: »

This is to be frank a completely terrible idea and I was extremely disappointed to hear about it. When I heard that more ESO+ benefits were being looked into to make up for the difference between the originally-advertised benefits and the current delivery, I was excited. There were a lot of great ideas, chief among them various ideas regarding a restyling system for weapons and armor. This, however, is not the kind of service I was looking for.

The opportunity to engage in gambling is not an appropriate benefit. We already have the opportunity to buy gambling boxes with the crowns we get from subbing, so extra gambling boxes is nothing new or interesting. An alternative, I suppose, would be to give more crowns during this month to subscribers so that we could spend them as we wish, but I'm not dumb, it seems pretty obvious what this is about. This is nothing more than an attempt at getting people more hooked and invested into the gambling box system. It was only approved because the belief is that if people get a few "free" ones now for subscribing they'll buy much, much more later as they try to get the gambling prizes they invariably didn't receive the first time.

I won't be opening these gambling boxes just as I did not open the one I got as part of the Morrowind collector's edition package. I absolutely, categorically, unilaterally refuse to participate in any part of the gambling box system, "free" or not. It's a blight on the game, it brings out the worst kind of attitudes in people, and it exploits players in a scheme that I truly and dearly hope is made illegal one day.

Just open them ... You've got greater will power than they assume you to have , you can open them with out falling foul of a gambling addiction

Unless you already have one in which case don't you open them crates

DaveMoeDee · July 2017

lpfan678 wrote: »

Why are earned crates being given on the 17th? Why not just give them when you log in?

Decreased chance of an exploit.

This is a common thing to do. ES:L did the same thing for the free packs they gave out when they launched on Steam.

DaveMoeDee · July 2017

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right @ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

I hate the am/pm crap when midnight is involved.

Regardless, obviously it will be 24 hour periods. They just want you to know the cutoff.

ManwithBeard9 · July 2017

Turelus wrote: »

ManwithBeard9 wrote: »

Must have been hemorrhaging subs with the Morrowind chapter announcement.

Can't we just believe this is a nice thing with good intentions, for once?

Hey, I dont blame them. It is a business. They gotta make money. I'm just pointing out a likely root cause to drive up at least short term subs.

Enodoc · July 2017

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right @ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

@HansK No, 12:00am EDT is 06:00 CEST. So each "day" for CEST is 06:00 to 05:59.

LonePirate · July 2017

lpfan678 wrote: »

Why are earned crates being given on the 17th? Why not just give them when you log in?

The 17th is probably the day the nix hound fix is deployed as that day is a Monday (update day).

HansK · July 2017

Enodoc wrote: »

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right @ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

@HansK No, 12:00am EDT is 06:00 CEST. So each "day" for CEST is 06:00 to 05:59.

I think that is what it should be (and probably is). But this am/pm thingy makes no sense to most of the world. 12.00am should be 0.00pm , in which case it's still a 12 hour span.

CavalryPK · July 2017

yes!!! all the crafting mats that I have in my inventory will travel to the crafting bag.!!!

Rohamad_Ali · July 2017

Can we get a free bottle of skooma instead ?

Enodoc · July 2017

HansK wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

HansK No, 12:00am EDT is 06:00 CEST. So each "day" for CEST is 06:00 to 05:59.

I think that is what it should be (and probably is). But this am/pm thingy makes no sense to most of the world. 12.00am should be 0.00pm , in which case it's still a 12 hour span.

There are no zero hours in the 12-hour clock. 12:00am is midnight, 12:00pm is midday.

HansK · July 2017

Enodoc wrote: »

HansK wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

HansK No, 12:00am EDT is 06:00 CEST. So each "day" for CEST is 06:00 to 05:59.

I think that is what it should be (and probably is). But this am/pm thingy makes no sense to most of the world. 12.00am should be 0.00pm , in which case it's still a 12 hour span.

There are no zero hours in the 12-hour clock. 12:00am is midnight, 12:00pm is midday.

That's what I mean with makes no sense. Midday is 12.00PM and one hour later it's 01.00PM. Silly.

Recremen · July 2017

Turelus wrote: »

Recremen wrote: »

This is to be frank a completely terrible idea and I was extremely disappointed to hear about it. When I heard that more ESO+ benefits were being looked into to make up for the difference between the originally-advertised benefits and the current delivery, I was excited. There were a lot of great ideas, chief among them various ideas regarding a restyling system for weapons and armor. This, however, is not the kind of service I was looking for.

Transmog system (as it's better known) is in the works and will be coming to ESO at a later day, this may or may not still be an ESO+ feature (I personally hope not).

Just because this event is happening doesn't mean it's the final benefit ESO+ will get and we won't have any more again. I would imagine ZOS wants to continue to have ESO+ feel rewarding for those who purchase it.

Think of this as just a nice extra you didn't have to do anything for, whilst also offering players who are on the fence about ESO+ a chance to try all the features (or even just take advantage of extra house item slots) for a while.

I'm totally fine with the ESO+ trial, I think that's great! My criticism is 100% related to the gambling boxes, which does not seem to be a "free" thing as much as it is intended to encourage further purchasing of gambling boxes. As I originally stated, they could just give more crowns this month to ESO+ members if they were interested in giving free things. They aren't, though, they are interested in promoting the gambling boxes and fully intend to get a return on their investment. I don't mind a company making money, I mind them doing so exploitatively, and I mind the cultural and financial ramifications that this sort of market has on the economy as a whole.

And yes, I know they're working on a "transmog" system (I know that's also a popular term but I'm pretty sure that's a WoW branded term) and I am confident that they want to improve ESO+ and keep it desirable, I am expressing that a bunch of promotional gambling boxes is a terrible way to go about it. It's completely insincere and a bad way to keep ESO+ rewarding.

Recremen · July 2017

SugaComa wrote: »

Recremen wrote: »

This is to be frank a completely terrible idea and I was extremely disappointed to hear about it. When I heard that more ESO+ benefits were being looked into to make up for the difference between the originally-advertised benefits and the current delivery, I was excited. There were a lot of great ideas, chief among them various ideas regarding a restyling system for weapons and armor. This, however, is not the kind of service I was looking for.

The opportunity to engage in gambling is not an appropriate benefit. We already have the opportunity to buy gambling boxes with the crowns we get from subbing, so extra gambling boxes is nothing new or interesting. An alternative, I suppose, would be to give more crowns during this month to subscribers so that we could spend them as we wish, but I'm not dumb, it seems pretty obvious what this is about. This is nothing more than an attempt at getting people more hooked and invested into the gambling box system. It was only approved because the belief is that if people get a few "free" ones now for subscribing they'll buy much, much more later as they try to get the gambling prizes they invariably didn't receive the first time.

I won't be opening these gambling boxes just as I did not open the one I got as part of the Morrowind collector's edition package. I absolutely, categorically, unilaterally refuse to participate in any part of the gambling box system, "free" or not. It's a blight on the game, it brings out the worst kind of attitudes in people, and it exploits players in a scheme that I truly and dearly hope is made illegal one day.

Just open them ... You've got greater will power than they assume you to have , you can open them with out falling foul of a gambling addiction

Unless you already have one in which case don't you open them crates

@SugaComa

I am refusing to open them not because I personally have any kind of gambling problem, but for a few other reasons. I am definitely concerned about people with gambling problems being exposed to this sort of thing, but I also find the gambling boxes repulsive at their very core. It's not just addicts who are being exploited, it is every person who buys them. The system itself exploits people by not letting you actually buy the goods and services you desire. The actual desirable items are the mounts, costumes, etc., not the garbage potions and poisons that are guaranteed to come. Thus, you need to gamble to get them, and no matter how much you spend you're never guaranteed to get the drop you want.

Why, then, if it so abundantly clear that the system is centered around gambling, does the company get to circumvent all the relevant national and international gambling laws? They are running a casino out of each of our computers and don't have any of the same regulatory oversights, public backlash, or child protections in place that one would expect from an establishment of ill-repute. It's pants-on-head backwards and the legislation against this practice simply hasn't caught up with the times and the modern methods.

So no, I won't be opening the gambling boxes or using any items found in them except, unfortunately, the ones I already bought back when they were originally sold at a fixed cost in the proper crown store. I will absolutely not use any item that can be exclusively obtained via gambling, and I will not promote the gambling by being seen riding one of the gambling-exclusive mounts or wearing a gambling-exclusive costume or adornment. For me, it is 100% abstinence or a complete failure.

xXMichonneXx · July 2017

Docmandu wrote: »

Instead of luring more customers, how about responding to your actual current customers regarding the daily cyrodiil server crashes. Maybe put some effort into actually trying to keep your current customers.

Agreed. Fix all of the stuff. I couldn't care less about anymore new content or promotions.

Smaxx · July 2017

HansK wrote: »

That's what I mean with makes no sense. Midday is 12.00PM and one hour later it's 01.00PM. Silly.

That's why most would use 11.59 AM rather than 12.00 PM, because then it's certain which time you meant.

MissBizz · July 2017

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right @ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

She means midnight EST to 1 minute before Midnight. It's right. 12am EDT = 06:00 CEST, 11:59pm = 05:59

You have 24 hours to log on each day.

So in CEST you have from 06:00 to 05:59 the next day to log in. @HansK

Kuramas9tails · July 2017

xXMichonneXx wrote: »

Docmandu wrote: »

Instead of luring more customers, how about responding to your actual current customers regarding the daily cyrodiil server crashes. Maybe put some effort into actually trying to keep your current customers.

Agreed. Fix all of the stuff. I couldn't care less about anymore new content or promotions.

You do know there's different departments in charge of different aspects of the game right? Marketing, developing, design, ect. and each one has a budget, goal and timeline. Just because they are doing a promotion does not mean they do not have another team working on the very issues you are complaining about.

You are complaining to the marketing team about a development problem. It's ok though. I work on a marketing team and snicker when people complain to me about a development issue. I just give them the link or address to the correct department and carry on with what I am paid to do: marketing.

ChuckyPayne · July 2017

My wife will be very happy if she finds this out. She always says it would be good if ESO+ would give 1 crown crate / month

.

Rosveen · July 2017

Turelus wrote: »

ManwithBeard9 wrote: »

Must have been hemorrhaging subs with the Morrowind chapter announcement.

Can't we just believe this is a nice thing with good intentions, for once?

Sure. Encouraging people to subscribe certainly isn't an evil intention - just as long as we're aware this is the real purpose of this event, not some gift to current subscribers because they love you so much. That said, I think this move is good for everyone involved.

MisterJimothy · July 2017

Man, y'all complain about the weirdest stuff. Free boxes for subs (how in the world is this being confused for an 'ESO+' benefit is beyond me), and basically a free trial for the DLC for those who don't have it. They get to look around to see if maybe they might want it, or confirm they really don't want it.

But y'all missed the true sinister nature of this event...

Among the benefits is crack the crafting bag. All these non-subs are going to get a sweet taste of that crack bag. They'll love it. They'll put everything in it. They can finally play Elder Scrolls Online after months/years of Inventory Management Online. And for five glorious days, they'll ride that crack crafting bag high.

Then, cruel mean ZOS is gonna cut them off cold turkey. They'll enter withdrawal. They won't even be able to function without the crack bag. Ahhh, but ZOS will come in as a savior. They have a cure for their woes. It's called ESO+. For just $15/mo, ZOS can help your recovery with things like DLC access, XP and gold gains, and, of course, crack the crafting bag.

All those poor souls out there suffering from their week-long binge on crack the crafting bag will be forced to pay, because they're addicted.

Complain about ZOS all you want, but their marketing team are geniuses.

Recremen · July 2017

MisterJimothy wrote: »

Man, y'all complain about the weirdest stuff. Free boxes for subs (how in the world is this being confused for an 'ESO+' benefit is beyond me), and basically a free trial for the DLC for those who don't have it. They get to look around to see if maybe they might want it, or confirm they really don't want it.

But y'all missed the true sinister nature of this event...

Among the benefits is crack the crafting bag. All these non-subs are going to get a sweet taste of that crack bag. They'll love it. They'll put everything in it. They can finally play Elder Scrolls Online after months/years of Inventory Management Online. And for five glorious days, they'll ride that crack crafting bag high.

Then, cruel mean ZOS is gonna cut them off cold turkey. They'll enter withdrawal. They won't even be able to function without the crack bag. Ahhh, but ZOS will come in as a savior. They have a cure for their woes. It's called ESO+. For just $15/mo, ZOS can help your recovery with things like DLC access, XP and gold gains, and, of course, crack the crafting bag.

All those poor souls out there suffering from their week-long binge on crack the crafting bag will be forced to pay, because they're addicted.

Complain about ZOS all you want, but their marketing team are geniuses.

@MisterJimothy

It's not a weird thing to be upset about and we're not confusing this for an ESO+ benefit. ZOS made this thread about how to improve ESO+ after the backlash regarding the changed DLC schedule. One of the ideas someone came up with was to give "one free gambling box per month". This is a terrible idea for many reasons, but it was definitely suggested. Now, five months later, ESO+ members are being given a shot at getting five gambling boxes. It's not a stretch of the imagination that these things are related, it's an exercise in basic inference.

As for the ESO+ free trial, I'm pretty sure zero people have criticized that. I think it's great they're doing it! And the crafting bag is a complete non-issue since you know exactly what you're getting and you're paying for it. There's no surprise, there's no gamble, it's a simple exchange of cash for services. I suppose if we really wanted to analyze how it might be exploitative, we could discuss how if they're encouraging people to subscribe anyway then they might as well go back to a subscription model and ditch the cash shop altogether, but that's neither here nor there. The free trial is, at least in terms of deplorable gaming industry ethical standards, just fine.

Elsonso · July 2017

MisterJimothy wrote: »

Man, y'all complain about the weirdest stuff. Free boxes for subs (how in the world is this being confused for an 'ESO+' benefit is beyond me)

Well, for starters, you only get it if you have ESO Plus. Seems to be a benefit, even if just an event.

Acrolas wrote: »

Maybe if our marketing director took some time out to build some rapport with the community.

I fail to see how this is going to help anything.

ShedsHisTail · July 2017

Recremen wrote: »

This is to be frank a completely terrible idea and I was extremely disappointed to hear about it. When I heard that more ESO+ benefits were being looked into to make up for the difference between the originally-advertised benefits and the current delivery, I was excited. There were a lot of great ideas, chief among them various ideas regarding a restyling system for weapons and armor. This, however, is not the kind of service I was looking for.

The opportunity to engage in gambling is not an appropriate benefit. We already have the opportunity to buy gambling boxes with the crowns we get from subbing, so extra gambling boxes is nothing new or interesting. An alternative, I suppose, would be to give more crowns during this month to subscribers so that we could spend them as we wish, but I'm not dumb, it seems pretty obvious what this is about. This is nothing more than an attempt at getting people more hooked and invested into the gambling box system. It was only approved because the belief is that if people get a few "free" ones now for subscribing they'll buy much, much more later as they try to get the gambling prizes they invariably didn't receive the first time.

I won't be opening these gambling boxes just as I did not open the one I got as part of the Morrowind collector's edition package. I absolutely, categorically, unilaterally refuse to participate in any part of the gambling box system, "free" or not. It's a blight on the game, it brings out the worst kind of attitudes in people, and it exploits players in a scheme that I truly and dearly hope is made illegal one day.

It's not gambling if you're not risking anything.
You'd be paying the monthly price anyway, so it's not like you've offered any additional ante to "gamble" here.

All this is is a promotion for both ESO+ and the Crown Crates. They are hoping non-subs will experience the benefits and maybe a few will decide they are worth the price; and they are hoping that people already subbed will get some cool stuff from their -free- crates and be thus have incentive to buy more crates in the future.

This is a promotion, this isn't going to take the place of the "good things to come" we've heard hinted at.

I mean, sure, you could say that it's exploitative of people who cannot resist the urge to gamble, but opening a few crown crates which you got -for free- is not gambling.

ShedsHisTail · July 2017

HansK wrote: »

OK, let's see if I get this right @ZOS_JessicaFolsom . You write

"To participate, simply log into the game with an active ESO Plus membership between 12:00am EDT and 11:59pm EDT (Eastern)"

As I am in Europe I'm on CEST. As I read this, it means I'll have to log-in between 18.00 CEST and 06.00 CEST the following morning. Logging in during the day doesn't count towards a free crate, only logging in during the evening and night. Or is this some typo and does logging in during the full 24 hours of a day suffice?

The separation between 12:00AM and 11:59PM is a total of one minute. THat does not change regardless of timezone.
You would have to log on between 18.00CEST and 17.59CEST... I guess.

Recremen · July 2017

ShedsHisTail wrote: »

Recremen wrote: »

This is to be frank a completely terrible idea and I was extremely disappointed to hear about it. When I heard that more ESO+ benefits were being looked into to make up for the difference between the originally-advertised benefits and the current delivery, I was excited. There were a lot of great ideas, chief among them various ideas regarding a restyling system for weapons and armor. This, however, is not the kind of service I was looking for.

The opportunity to engage in gambling is not an appropriate benefit. We already have the opportunity to buy gambling boxes with the crowns we get from subbing, so extra gambling boxes is nothing new or interesting. An alternative, I suppose, would be to give more crowns during this month to subscribers so that we could spend them as we wish, but I'm not dumb, it seems pretty obvious what this is about. This is nothing more than an attempt at getting people more hooked and invested into the gambling box system. It was only approved because the belief is that if people get a few "free" ones now for subscribing they'll buy much, much more later as they try to get the gambling prizes they invariably didn't receive the first time.

I won't be opening these gambling boxes just as I did not open the one I got as part of the Morrowind collector's edition package. I absolutely, categorically, unilaterally refuse to participate in any part of the gambling box system, "free" or not. It's a blight on the game, it brings out the worst kind of attitudes in people, and it exploits players in a scheme that I truly and dearly hope is made illegal one day.

It's not gambling if you're not risking anything.
You'd be paying the monthly price anyway, so it's not like you've offered any additional ante to "gamble" here.

All this is is a promotion for both ESO+ and the Crown Crates. They are hoping non-subs will experience the benefits and maybe a few will decide they are worth the price; and they are hoping that people already subbed will get some cool stuff from their -free- crates and be thus have incentive to buy more crates in the future.

This is a promotion, this isn't going to take the place of the "good things to come" we've heard hinted at.

I mean, sure, you could say that it's exploitative of people who cannot resist the urge to gamble, but opening a few crown crates which you got -for free- is not gambling.

@ShedsHisTail

There are several reasons that I feel it still qualifies as gambling. First, as I stated in another thread, it is very clear that this is seen as a one-off replacement for the lost ESO+ content as it was originally advertized.

It's not a weird thing to be upset about and we're not confusing this for an ESO+ benefit. ZOS made this thread about how to improve ESO+ after the backlash regarding the changed DLC schedule. One of the ideas someone came up with was to give "one free gambling box per month". This is a terrible idea for many reasons, but it was definitely suggested. Now, five months later, ESO+ members are being given a shot at getting five gambling boxes. It's not a stretch of the imagination that these things are related, it's an exercise in basic inference.

Assuming this logic holds, there is every bit as much risk involved as if you had bought the gambling boxes separately, and it is in fact worse because it is being used to replace content that was originally promised, even though this is not what we signed up for and was never a part of our thought process when deciding if the price was worth it. I'm not a cynic and do believe them that there's more on the way, like a restyling system, but they need at least one new, robust system every year to replace the lost DLC access between its replacement on the schedule by expansions and the less-ambitious (but still obviously very cool) dungeon packs. What we have right now is basically an opt-in writeoff for the missing DLC for Q2 2017.

Second, and I'm glad you mentioned promotion, because if I use any items/wear and costumes/ride any mounts that can only be found in the gambling boxes, I am effectively promoting gambling in the game by using my character's body as free adspace. I'm not opposed to doing that for things bought normally on the crown store, but I'm not going to encourage others to gamble by adding to the net exposure they experience.

Goddess_Althena · July 2017

They say that if you purchase a subscription after the event you will get the free Crown crates if you'd logged in during the event. Is there a timeframe for that purchase or could I purchase a sub months later and still be awarded the Crown crates?

esotoon · July 2017

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_GinaBruno

Please can you confirm what happens after this event is over with regards to players who do not subscribe to ESO+.

Will items put in the crafting bags during this event remain in a crafting bag until they are removed, or will they be put back into the players bank space/mailed back to them?

Will items put into the double bank space remain in the bank until they are removed, or will they be mailed back to the player?

Will costumes that have been dyed retain their colours?

Miaura · July 2017

esotoon wrote: »

@ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_GinaBruno

Please can you confirm what happens after this event is over with regards to players who do not subscribe to ESO+.

Will items put in the crafting bags during this event remain in a crafting bag until they are removed, or will they be put back into the players bank space/mailed back to them?

Will items put into the double bank space remain in the bank until they are removed, or will they be mailed back to the player?

Will costumes that have been dyed retain their colours?

If it works like normally subbing and then unsubbing, yes, you will keep everything. Pretty sure they would have said if it did not work like normal.

newtinmpls · July 2017

Insomnia rex wrote: »

Awesome! Now i don't have to destroy the next thousand fish, but can instead put them in my craft bag fish collection. Count wise my craft bag is likely >90% fish

I bow to your fishing dedication!