Companions up for purchase, really?

Nharimlur_Finor

DenverRalphy wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I don't know what percentage of players are Non-ESO+ players, so dunno how big of an issue this really is.

But too, you can aways just purchase one month of ESO+, unlock the companions, the let the subscription expire. It'll put a few crowns in your wallet too.

Dunno that they'd be giftable, so dunno if you can buy them for gold from a Crown seller.

Except the companions won't be accessible if the player ever lets eso+ expire, most likely anyway.

Not according to this statement...
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8182574/#Comment_8182574

My experience is:
You have to unlock any required companion, on each character that you need that companion to accompany.
The development of each unlocked companion continues and is retained across all characters.
I could NOT unlock Azander using FREE ESO-PLUS. Whilst I had access to the Zone; I did not have access to ARCANIST class.
I have not tried to unlock Azander with paid ESO Plus, so I still don't know If not having Arcanist Class unlocked will allow it.

I deleted all my characters after unlocking four companions.
I haven't used ESO Plus since starting the new characters, so some of this might be lies.

zaria

LaintalAy wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I don't know what percentage of players are Non-ESO+ players, so dunno how big of an issue this really is.

But too, you can aways just purchase one month of ESO+, unlock the companions, the let the subscription expire. It'll put a few crowns in your wallet too.

Dunno that they'd be giftable, so dunno if you can buy them for gold from a Crown seller.

Except the companions won't be accessible if the player ever lets eso+ expire, most likely anyway.

Not according to this statement...
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8182574/#Comment_8182574

My experience is:
You have to unlock any required companion, on each character that you need that companion to accompany.
The development of each unlocked companion continues and is retained across all characters.
I could NOT unlock Azander using FREE ESO-PLUS. Whilst I had access to the Zone; I did not have access to ARCANIST class.
I have not tried to unlock Azander with paid ESO Plus, so I still don't know If not having Arcanist Class unlocked will allow it.

I deleted all my characters after unlocking four companions.
I haven't used ESO Plus since starting the new characters, so some of this might be lies.

Ok so looks like these companions require ESO+ or an purchase.
But if ESO+ ends you keep the companions you unlocked.

Trier_Sero

Glad that I cancelled my sub on both accounts. I was planning to buy Gold Road on my other account during the chapter event, but now I'll think twice before buying it when it's on 70% discount. And no pre-orders anymore, for sure.

loosej

I know that if you split hairs and look at all the technicalities of what has and hasn't been said, zos hasn't told us any lies about this beforehand. But vaguely announcing that they'll just arrive later, without telling us that this time they're not included in our yearly chapter purchase, is definitely misleading. And I'm not buying that this was an "unfortunate" miscommunication, which will likely be the excuse. Every official statement coming out of that company has been written by marketeers and approved by lawyers. They may not have done anything illegal, but it's about as scummy as it can legally get.

JemadarofCaerSalis

quinancia wrote: »

The companions are free. If you don't ESO+ just wait for the free week and claim them. They have already said that once claimed you can keep them.

Finally free companions for base game players. What is not to like?

Just want to say that I sort of doubt that Free ESO+ will be able to claim the companions. I don't think that has been confirmed or denied yet.

However, free ESO+ cannot claim the companions from the other areas, even though they can access those areas.

(if this has been confirmed to be doable, I would love to see it. I just haven't seen it, just that regular ESO+ will be able to keep the companions once they unlock them)

BetweenMidgets

quinancia wrote: »

The companions are free. If you don't ESO+ just wait for the free week and claim them. They have already said that once claimed you can keep them.

Finally free companions for base game players. What is not to like?

Just so it can be definitively stated, since most people don't seem to realize this fact:

Companions are NOT available during the ESO+ Free Trial. You must own the content or have a paid ESO+ Membership. I am 100% certain on this front.
The quest CANNOT be obtained or started, and if attempted it directs you to purchasing options in the clown store.

JustLovely

Erickson9610 wrote: »

I don't understand why people believe they're owed these Companions. If anything, ZOS making them free for ESO+ members is compensation enough — ZOS really didn't have to do that.

As another poster pointed out, nothing that comes with ESO+ is free. This is a marketing slight of hand. If you have to buy item X in order to get item Y, then item Y is not free.

What ZOS has done this year by separating the companions out of the chapter release is a new policy that was not transparent for obvious reasons. One of those obvious reasons was because they had always planned to charge extra for the companions starting this year and they knew nobody would think that was a fair or legitimate change of policy.

If ZOS wants to be fair and rectify this debacle they will make the companions available to everyone who purchased Gold Road. It really is that simple.

BetweenMidgets

JustLovely wrote: »

What ZOS has done this year by separating the companions out of the chapter release is a new policy that was not transparent for obvious reasons. One of those obvious reasons was because they had always planned to charge extra for the companions starting this year and they knew nobody would think that was a fair or legitimate change of policy.

And to add on to this, the reason everyone believed they were still included in the chapter release is because this has been the case with the past 3 expansions. If there was a change to the formula, ZoS should have stated this.

For the folks (specifically the necrotech guy who has responded in this thread a ton) that don't understand why people believed companions were included, it seems to be that you're being willfully ignorant. Until yesterday, the past 3 chapter releases have included companions as part of it. It was perfectly reasonable for people to assume the same for this chapter unless told otherwise. We understand, they never EXPRESSLY stated companions were part of Gold Road, but they also didn't EXPRESSLY STATE they wouldn't be.
They didn't give people the full scope (or any clear communication. Shocking, I know.) of plan, because they didn't want to deal with what is happening right now. Better to get the money and apologize later seems to be the current theme.

OtarTheMad

BetweenMidgets wrote: »

quinancia wrote: »

The companions are free. If you don't ESO+ just wait for the free week and claim them. They have already said that once claimed you can keep them.

Finally free companions for base game players. What is not to like?

Just so it can be definitively stated, since most people don't seem to realize this fact:

Companions are NOT available during the ESO+ Free Trial. You must own the content or have a paid ESO+ Membership. I am 100% certain on this front.
The quest CANNOT be obtained or started, and if attempted it directs you to purchasing options in the clown store.

While that is probably true, this time is a little different as it seems that you have to get them in the crown store to even unlock an introductory quest. We will see.

Companions in the past were part of a chapter which isn’t free for ESO+ members. So far the only comment by ZOS on this was Kevin saying if your membership lapsed you still kept them but that doesn’t really speak about free trials.

JustLovely

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Rkindaleft wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

I don't understand why people believe they're owed these Companions. If anything, ZOS making them free for ESO+ members is compensation enough — ZOS really didn't have to do that.

Nobody thinks they’re “owed” anything. People think that removing content that’s always been included in a chapter since their release to then put it back in the crown store as its own separate purchase is dumb.

Why is the chapter the same price if it has had a significant decrease in the amount of content compared to the previous ones?

I see what you're saying but at the same time companions, in my opinion, don't add a ton of value to a chapter. ZOS said it themselves that they moved them this year to polish them up a bit, so it might be a one-time thing. If they discounted West Weald chapter due to lack of Companions, instead of being $40 maybe it'd be $38.50.

Plus, for those who do not have ESO+ I think you can just wait until a Free ESO+ Event and you'll be able to land them for free too so essentially everyone gets them free.

How do we know ZOS is still planning to ever again have a free eso+ option? I mean, it's something they've always done in the past. But then again, companions have always been included with the chapter purchases in the past.

Destai

WitchyKiki wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

I'm not the biggest companion fan, I've only ever really used the Argonian guy for some fishing, but this really disappointed me. When companions first came out, I was concerned it'd be another monetized feature eventually. We enjoyed several expansions where it was a feature of the Chapter. We're currently in a climate where people feel releases have diminishing value, and this just reinforces that sentiment. And their language was really safe when they said it was coming in Q4. I was under the impression it was just delayed and was going to be a Chapter feature. To find this out, feels like a bait and switch.

Yes, I realize, it's apart of ESO Plus. That's great. But, I just think there's better ways to add more value to ESO Plus. And really that's not the core issue. The core issue is here the feature list we get with releases is now going to be treated a la carte in the store. Why should I buy a chapter day one? You're going to put it up for sale months after, the motifs aren't there day one, and now the companions aren't there anymore.

Theres still value in pre-ordering and buying the chapters on day one. For instance, they give pre-order incentives you wont get if you purchase at a later date. And some of us do enjoy engaging the new quest zones as soon as they release. I don't play the PTS, so to me pre-ordering still has value.

Yeah that was my rationale this time around. I think I cancelled my preorder twice after seeing some of the PTS feedback and various event fiascos earlier this year. The pet or mount, can't remember, doesn't get used that much. The treasure maps get tossed out, so for me personally, the value is really diminished with this kind of thing. Ultimately, it came down to getting the new zones/stories as they're released. It was nice to rush through and get the stickerbook, but even then, that's something that could've waited until the inevitable zone event. There is value still, you're right, but definitely not as strong, at least for me.

OtarTheMad

JustLovely wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

Rkindaleft wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

I don't understand why people believe they're owed these Companions. If anything, ZOS making them free for ESO+ members is compensation enough — ZOS really didn't have to do that.

Nobody thinks they’re “owed” anything. People think that removing content that’s always been included in a chapter since their release to then put it back in the crown store as its own separate purchase is dumb.

Why is the chapter the same price if it has had a significant decrease in the amount of content compared to the previous ones?

I see what you're saying but at the same time companions, in my opinion, don't add a ton of value to a chapter. ZOS said it themselves that they moved them this year to polish them up a bit, so it might be a one-time thing. If they discounted West Weald chapter due to lack of Companions, instead of being $40 maybe it'd be $38.50.

Plus, for those who do not have ESO+ I think you can just wait until a Free ESO+ Event and you'll be able to land them for free too so essentially everyone gets them free.

How do we know ZOS is still planning to ever again have a free eso+ option? I mean, it's something they've always done in the past. But then again, companions have always been included with the chapter purchases in the past.

That’s why I said it “might be” because you just never know either way. Maybe Scribing took up a lot of time and they delayed them this once or maybe it’s the way it’ll be until they change it again. We can guess until our heads explode but that seems weird.

Necrotech_Master

LaintalAy wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I don't know what percentage of players are Non-ESO+ players, so dunno how big of an issue this really is.

But too, you can aways just purchase one month of ESO+, unlock the companions, the let the subscription expire. It'll put a few crowns in your wallet too.

Dunno that they'd be giftable, so dunno if you can buy them for gold from a Crown seller.

Except the companions won't be accessible if the player ever lets eso+ expire, most likely anyway.

Not according to this statement...
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8182574/#Comment_8182574

My experience is:
You have to unlock any required companion, on each character that you need that companion to accompany.
The development of each unlocked companion continues and is retained across all characters.
I could NOT unlock Azander using FREE ESO-PLUS. Whilst I had access to the Zone; I did not have access to ARCANIST class.
I have not tried to unlock Azander with paid ESO Plus, so I still don't know If not having Arcanist Class unlocked will allow it.

I deleted all my characters after unlocking four companions.
I haven't used ESO Plus since starting the new characters, so some of this might be lies.

having or not having the arcanist class has nothing to do with being able to unlock a companion, they are entirely separate features

companions have historically been excluded from the "free eso+" which is why you could not unlock azander, if you bought the chapter, then this caveat would not apply as you owned the content, but if you do not own the chapter, you basically cannot access the companion "for free" through the eso+ free trial period even though you can access the zone and other related content

new character classes are also historically not included with eso+ in general, they had to be bought either as a single purchase, or when they were included with the chapter (so in either case they require being bought to access)

ESO_player123

While I agree that it IS a shift in how they introduce new companions I think it was wrong to assume that they will be free for those who purchased the Gold Road. I read what was included in the chapter and made a decision about buying it based on that. My first thought was "Will the new companions be a separate purchase, free for all (welcome but unlikely), or included with ESO+".

Elsonso

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

GuuMoonRyoung wrote: »

It will happen sooner than later if people continue to indulge ZOS with the kind of nonsense they are pulling with this companion addition.

The game will persist longer than ZOS will be updating it. I expect that, eventually, they will wander off and make the game that follows the one they are working on but haven't announced yet. They are probably already thinking about that game.

That is almost certainly not true. The cost of running the servers and such for a game like this is significant and when they decide to stop working on it they will stop running the servers. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.

I would hesitate to say anything is certain. It is much cheaper to run the servers without a development team. They really only need a live services team to monitor the servers. If the cash shop and ESO Plus are providing enough revenue to pay for the servers and the team that keeps them running, I expect they could run the game for a while. Maintenance mode.

If the can consolidate hardware by merging NA and EU, or even merging PC with XBox, it is even more favorable to keeping the game running.

Meanwhile, about the companions, I find myself wondering if the fact that they are only available in the store will get them to finally drop the *** tour of 4 dungeons and delves to unlock them on every character.

Dragonredux

I'm more worried what's the crown cost for Companions. It's already an undercooked feature since its inception in desperate need of buffs. It'll probably more than $10 and that's actually a scam.

Elsonso

Dragonredux wrote: »

I'm more worried what's the crown cost for Companions. It's already an undercooked feature since its inception in desperate need of buffs. It'll probably more than $10 and that's actually a scam.

A companion, even two companions, does not equal one dungeon or zone DLC, but I expect them to think they do and charge accordingly. Edit: Houseguests can cost as much as a full quarterly DLC, and they have like 10 lines of dialog. I can't imagine how many zeros they will need to add to that for companions.

LalMirchi

I doubt that the free ESO+ Free Trial will include the new companions so the cost for a person without ESO+ would be at minimum $15 (one months subscription).

CatoUnchained

Dragonredux wrote: »

I'm more worried what's the crown cost for Companions. It's already an undercooked feature since its inception in desperate need of buffs. It'll probably more than $10 and that's actually a scam.

In my view it's a scam to expect people to buy the companions if we already purchased Gold Road.

Wolfkeks

I'm wondering how many crowns the companions will cost compared to a story dlc we have gotten in the past.

Stafford197

So now we are directly removing content out of Chapters to then resell later in the year? There is absolutely no way I can support such a dishonest move.

Seems this is the future of ESO.

Erickson9610

Stafford197 wrote: »

So now we are directly removing content out of Chapters to then resell later in the year? There is absolutely no way I can support such a dishonest move.

Seems this is the future of ESO.

This could just be a one time thing. It's too early to assume this is the standard going forward.

ZOS_Icy

Greetings,

We have recently removed some unnecessary back and forth from this thread. This is a reminder to keep the discussion civil and constructive. Please keep our Community Rules in mind moving forward.

Thank you for your understanding.

BXR_Lonestar

I'm actually glad that these companions are up for sale. I'm not happy that they basically come free with ESO Plus.

[snip] But if they ARE going to do something like this, then they are doing it the right way because they are letting people who DO support this kind of stuff pay for it, and at least giving those who don't want it to bypass it (if they don't have plus...).

[snip]
[edited for baiting]

TaSheen

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

I'm actually glad that these companions are up for sale. I'm not happy that they basically come free with ESO Plus.

[snip] But if they ARE going to do something like this, then they are doing it the right way because they are letting people who DO support this kind of stuff pay for it, and at least giving those who don't want it to bypass it (if they don't have plus...).

[snip]

You can still ignore the companions - just don't pick them up in the crown store. Unless there's something we don't know, they aren't going to automatically wind up in your account just because you have eso +.

[edited to remove quote]

AzuraFan

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

I'm actually glad that these companions are up for sale. I'm not happy that they basically come free with ESO Plus.

ESO+ subscribers have to claim them from the crown store, so you can bypass them by not claiming them.

(shhh about what I didn't correct. Let them bypass both)

Skullstachio

If you still support zenimax, then you absolutely get what you deserve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCmVSsjnnUs

LPapirius

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Stafford197 wrote: »

So now we are directly removing content out of Chapters to then resell later in the year? There is absolutely no way I can support such a dishonest move.

Seems this is the future of ESO.

This could just be a one time thing. It's too early to assume this is the standard going forward.

No, it's not too early to know this is the standard going forward. Just ask anyone who logs on to ESO for Cyrodiil PvP. We've been seeing this trend for more than 5 years now. It's just that it's finally hitting PvE over the last year plus now so more people are noticing.

Erickson9610

LPapirius wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Stafford197 wrote: »

So now we are directly removing content out of Chapters to then resell later in the year? There is absolutely no way I can support such a dishonest move.

Seems this is the future of ESO.

This could just be a one time thing. It's too early to assume this is the standard going forward.

No, it's not too early to know this is the standard going forward. Just ask anyone who logs on to ESO for Cyrodiil PvP. We've been seeing this trend for more than 5 years now. It's just that it's finally hitting PvE over the last year plus now so more people are noticing.

This is the first occurrence of this happening. Plus, we were told that Companions were moved to Q4 because of the massive undertaking that was the Scribing system. ZOS probably decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try something different with the system since it was no longer being included in the Gold Road Chapter.

I'll change my mind if this trend continues into next year. But, it's unlikely to happen again next year because we received Scribing (the product of a much-requested feature from 10 years ago) for the 10th year anniversary — the 11th year will surely not be as special.

LPapirius

Erickson9610 wrote: »

LPapirius wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

Stafford197 wrote: »

So now we are directly removing content out of Chapters to then resell later in the year? There is absolutely no way I can support such a dishonest move.

Seems this is the future of ESO.

This could just be a one time thing. It's too early to assume this is the standard going forward.

No, it's not too early to know this is the standard going forward. Just ask anyone who logs on to ESO for Cyrodiil PvP. We've been seeing this trend for more than 5 years now. It's just that it's finally hitting PvE over the last year plus now so more people are noticing.

This is the first occurrence of this happening. Plus, we were told that Companions were moved to Q4 because of the massive undertaking that was the Scribing system. ZOS probably decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try something different with the system since it was no longer being included in the Gold Road Chapter.

I'll change my mind if this trend continues into next year. But, it's unlikely to happen again next year because we received Scribing (the product of a much-requested feature from 10 years ago) for the 10th year anniversary — the 11th year will surely not be as special.

No, it's not the first time this has happened. Over the last 5 years ZOS has reduced the pop cap in cyrodiil from 300/faction to 75/faction without any kind of announcements what so ever. This pay the same to get less has been the trend for a very long time now.