Any Way for Existing Customers to get the Whiterun Wolfhound?

Pupsy

emeraldbay wrote: »

So, I had this little idea. What if they did this on purpose? Well, first of all, why would they do that, right? Intentionally anger your existing customers in an attempt to lure in new ones? Perhaps that's not what they're trying to do at all.

Look at this. They've managed to get us all so worked up, and over what? A vanity pet that does nothing but follow you around and make noise. Even so, they were counting on two things:

1. They knew people wanted it. Dogs are among the most asked for pets, and they know that.
2. They knew people would want it even more if they couldn't get it. People always want what they can't have - this is no exception. By limiting access at first, they spur envy in players who already have the game.

Now, why is this good for them? Well, it isn't, unless...they intended to give it to everyone from the start. There's a logical sequence of events that we can assume here, most of which has already happened.

First, Zenimax releases a new limited-edition item that existing players have no hassle-free way to get (in this case, the wolfhound). Second, players get angry, flood forums and other social outlets begging for a way to get said item. Third, as if listening to the pleas of their valued customers, Zenimax decides to put said item up on the cash shop for everyone to buy. Of course, they would do this after the limited time offer is up, to be sure they can make as much money off of it as possible.

In only a couple of hours, they've already completed the first two steps. Now that we're all convinced that we're entitled to this item, they'll graciously give it to us, for a modest fee, of course.

Just some food for thought.

tl;dr

They'll give it to us later, after they squeeze as much money from steam as they can.

I completely agree. I feel like they really know how to push their fans now, especially on these forums. With all of the bugs and problems driving the not so serious customers away, we have the people who really want everything from this game. We all love this game and the idea behind it. They know they can get a quick buck out of us with silly stuff like this. That, or they are just lacking a marketing team.

poodlemasterb16_ESO

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

An honest question to all who are all worked up about this.

Why do you want a *** so bad? I only ask because as I stated before, I wouldn't mind one, but I guess I'm indifferent if I don't have it. I feel that way, because it does nothing for me... I can't send it to down to deposit mats in the bank, or deliver pots bak to me, etc. So there is no fuction to it.

As I said not bashing, just trying to better understand.

P.S. And I understand some are just dog lovers IRL, I am too. I love my RL dog, but I personal don't get the conection to a digital pet.

I have a mudcrab, little guar and a monkey. I don't want or need them they just take up space. My 2 sorcs never fly their pets anywhere but in a combat situation, they do not go to the bank. I would like a wolfhound, I had one once. It's a decent pet and several of my chars would enjoy it.

It would actually be hard to do it worse. The first decent pet for the game can only be acquired by a Steam sale that's on for the weekend. Those of us in the game who care now get to watch a stack of newbies with awesome pets parade around our towns. This will not go well, especially in dungeons. Ever seen me pull an entire dungeon? It's pretty funny ... well to me.

Snit

What a clusterpuppy.

Evergnar

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

An honest question to all who are all worked up about this.

Why do you want a *** so bad? I only ask because as I stated before, I wouldn't mind one, but I guess I'm indifferent if I don't have it. I feel that way, because it does nothing for me... I can't send it to down to deposit mats in the bank, or deliver pots bak to me, etc. So there is no fuction to it.

As I said not bashing, just trying to better understand.

P.S. And I understand some are just dog lovers IRL, I am too. I love my RL dog, but I personal don't get the conection to a digital pet.

It's a combination of things I think.

1. The dog is irrefutably better than the mudcrab
2. People like dogs more than crabs
3. Timing. Current subscribers have been through some pretty rough patches recently.
4. Jealousy. Current, loyal subscribers have been given nothing to date but a "Thanks for your patience" while the new kid on the block is getting all the toys.

The latter is always going to be an issue when promotional items are used to market the game. I have no problem with that but one way to keep current subscribers happy is to throw a bone their way once in awhile. No chew toy and the dog will start eating the furniture.

jj69chevub17_ESO

Turelus wrote: »

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

An honest question to all who are all worked up about this.

Why do you want a *** so bad? I only ask because as I stated before, I wouldn't mind one, but I guess I'm indifferent if I don't have it. I feel that way, because it does nothing for me... I can't send it to down to deposit mats in the bank, or deliver pots bak to me, etc. So there is no fuction to it.

As I said not bashing, just trying to better understand.

P.S. And I understand some are just dog lovers IRL, I am too. I love my RL dog, but I personal don't get the conection to a digital pet.

For me as I have said in other posts it's somewhat of the principle of the thing.
I paid £70 for an Imperial Edition of the game at release and since then have paid for three months of play (as individual payments) remaining loyal to the game through all of the issues it has faced.
Now that company I have shown faith and support in are giving away the same thing I paid for at 40% less (I'm actually find with the discount) but giving away an item which can only be obtained if you make this purchase. This means that someone buying the Imperial Edition on Steam will be getting the game at 40% less and be getting an added extra for buying the game late and not having been a long term supporter.

If ZOS said this would be a free item for Steam purchasers but all other Imperial Edition members needed to buy it via the store for £2 I wouldn't be angry.

It's always been my belief that promotional exclusives are fine if they're free as a part of the promotion but everyone else has to buy it as a stand alone add-on.

As I said in a previous post I feel their store should look like this.

Standard Edition Game £50
Imperial Edition Game £70
Imperial Edition Upgrade £20
Store Mount £10
Explorers Pack £5 (pre-orders received this free as a promotion)
Monkey Pet £2 (Beta players received this free as a promotion)
Guar Pet £2 (Guar plushy purchasers received this as a free promotion)
Whiterun Wolf Pet £2 (Steam promotional purchases received this as a free promotion)

Now under this system every single member of the Elder Scrolls Online player base has access to all the same content as others. The only difference being those who took part in promotions of any kind gain some of the content free rather than paying an additional fee for it.

What bothers me the most with ZOS actions here and with every other game which does promotional items is that they do it in a way which not everyone has access to all the games content, even if that content is a pet or a mount.

As I said before it boggles my mind they haven't thought of or done the above because of all the extra money they could make from it and the ability to market their game as "no exclusive content" which in the gaming world today is a pretty awesome claim to make.

I can totally agree with you on this

Artemiisia

k, now this kinda pisses me of, I want a pet like that, us the pre order got yeah pets but nothing like that. Even beta users got a good pet.

AelyinESO

@Zenimax,

We understood that Zenimax and Bethesda just made a Marketing Game releasing game in Steam Platform, such as STEAM Launch and etc.

But @Zenimax need to understand that us majority players are helping, trying and making this game better.

We played ESO BETA, pre-ordered Imperial Edition to play this game, and we like it! even with many complains, but it's embarrassment to us, that are playing this game before any one, such as STEAM and "Future" Console players, be "away" from new offers, new nice features just to "bring" more players to the game, like I said before I'm afraid, that we PC Players will be forgotten, and this information just affirm what I'm trying to say.

Looking at official ESO site we dont see any kind of information about "Steam Release", and now we know... of course @Zenimax and @Bethesda already knew about "what kinda of problem this could offer"

Well, I guess We need an official response from @Zenimax and not a rude answer from @ZoS Forums Admin.

I'm sad about it.

Kiwi

$119.95AUD on the official website store
$47.95 on steam

the more i look at the branch of the company in charge of marketing the less faith i have in anything they do

Gecko

poodlemasterb16_ESO wrote: »

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

An honest question to all who are all worked up about this.

Why do you want a *** so bad? I only ask because as I stated before, I wouldn't mind one, but I guess I'm indifferent if I don't have it. I feel that way, because it does nothing for me... I can't send it to down to deposit mats in the bank, or deliver pots bak to me, etc. So there is no fuction to it.

As I said not bashing, just trying to better understand.

P.S. And I understand some are just dog lovers IRL, I am too. I love my RL dog, but I personal don't get the conection to a digital pet.

I have a mudcrab, little guar and a monkey. I don't want or need them they just take up space. My 2 sorcs never fly their pets anywhere but in a combat situation, they do not go to the bank. I would like a wolfhound, I had one once. It's a decent pet and several of my chars would enjoy it.

It would actually be hard to do it worse. The first decent pet for the game can only be acquired by a Steam sale that's on for the weekend. Those of us in the game who care now get to watch a stack of newbies with awesome pets parade around our towns. This will not go well, especially in dungeons. Ever seen me pull an entire dungeon? It's pretty funny ... well to me.

haha. I know people who are planning on training mobs onto people who have the dog. Good luck new people. Nothing like having a v12 train you with groups while they are harvesting stuff just because you got a pet that Zeni did not offer to people who have stuck with the game since launch. Yes, this would be considered harassment and probably get them banned. Most of them simply would move on to something else and would not really care. They enjoy the game and see potential, but get a little tire of Zeni doing things like this, or leaving things broken for too long, or annoying impulse zergballs, etc.

Necronomicon

Wow, are you serious ZoS? Finally started to feel the Exodus made a crappy steam page with 50% off after 3 months to try and pull in more cash, now you wanna screw the original pre-orders?

jj69chevub17_ESO

poodlemasterb16_ESO wrote: »

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

An honest question to all who are all worked up about this.

Why do you want a *** so bad? I only ask because as I stated before, I wouldn't mind one, but I guess I'm indifferent if I don't have it. I feel that way, because it does nothing for me... I can't send it to down to deposit mats in the bank, or deliver pots bak to me, etc. So there is no fuction to it.

As I said not bashing, just trying to better understand.

P.S. And I understand some are just dog lovers IRL, I am too. I love my RL dog, but I personal don't get the conection to a digital pet.

My 2 sorcs never fly their pets anywhere but in a combat situation, they do not go to the bank.

For this I thank you

Tannakaobi

Turelus wrote: »

Standard Edition Game £50
Imperial Edition Game £70
Imperial Edition Upgrade £20
Store Mount £10
Explorers Pack £5 (pre-orders received this free as a promotion)
Monkey Pet £2 (Beta players received this free as a promotion)
Guar Pet £2 (Guar plushy purchasers received this as a free promotion)
Whiterun Wolf Pet £2 (Steam promotional purchases received this as a free promotion)

Imperial character £10?

I'd pay a tenner for an Imp. I'd even go so far as pay the £20 for the Imp and the Dog....

Not a Crab though!

dannymcgr81b14_ESO

I think the lesson to be learned is "Do not buy ZOS items when they first come out". People who bought the heroes guide early lost out on free time. People who bought the Imperial edition early lose out on a wolfhound. No more pre-orders. From now on I will just wait a few months before getting anything they offer.

Longman

gimme the dog! now!

Amsel_McKay

WHAT A JOKE!!! I should have waited! I have put up with losing all my bank 3 times, losing chars to stat losses. PVP lag issues, a missing PVP server and all this would have not happened if I waited to buy it on steam?

mumok

emeraldbay wrote: »

So, I had this little idea. What if they did this on purpose? Well, first of all, why would they do that, right? Intentionally anger your existing customers in an attempt to lure in new ones? Perhaps that's not what they're trying to do at all.

Look at this. They've managed to get us all so worked up, and over what? A vanity pet that does nothing but follow you around and make noise. Even so, they were counting on two things:

1. They knew people wanted it. Dogs are among the most asked for pets, and they know that.
2. They knew people would want it even more if they couldn't get it. People always want what they can't have - this is no exception. By limiting access at first, they spur envy in players who already have the game.

Now, why is this good for them? Well, it isn't, unless...they intended to give it to everyone from the start. There's a logical sequence of events that we can assume here, most of which has already happened.

First, Zenimax releases a new limited-edition item that existing players have no hassle-free way to get (in this case, the wolfhound). Second, players get angry, flood forums and other social outlets begging for a way to get said item. Third, as if listening to the pleas of their valued customers, Zenimax decides to put said item up on the cash shop for everyone to buy. Of course, they would do this after the limited time offer is up, to be sure they can make as much money off of it as possible.

In only a couple of hours, they've already completed the first two steps. Now that we're all convinced that we're entitled to this item, they'll graciously give it to us, for a modest fee, of course.

Just some food for thought.

tl;dr

They'll give it to us later, after they squeeze as much money from steam as they can.

This would not surprise me one bit and part of me thinks this is dead on. But does ZOS really need any more negative publicity out there? That seems to be all you can find about the game. If this is true it sounds like a very stupid move in the long run.

This is very disappointing to me. Not because I necessarily want that mangy dog but because there has to be something said for loyalty. The whole concept seems to be a slap in the face and the sign of a very disturbing trend. That quite frankly I don't think ZOS has the decision making capability to change any time soon.

I will be watching closely to see how ZOS responds to their Existing customer base.

Andferne

Puppy! =D
Wait.. I can't have the puppy.. ='(

Seriously though this is *** poor, and this thread should be evidence enough that it was a bad move on your part. We would really appreciate it if you would give your already paying and loyal customers a chance to get the vanity pet.

Turelus

Tannakaobi wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

Standard Edition Game £50
Imperial Edition Game £70
Imperial Edition Upgrade £20
Store Mount £10
Explorers Pack £5 (pre-orders received this free as a promotion)
Monkey Pet £2 (Beta players received this free as a promotion)
Guar Pet £2 (Guar plushy purchasers received this as a free promotion)
Whiterun Wolf Pet £2 (Steam promotional purchases received this as a free promotion)

Imperial character £10?

I'd pay a tenner for an Imp. I'd even go so far as pay the £20 for the Imp and the Dog....

Not a Crab though!

@Tannakaobi if the Imperial Upgrade was only £10 then the Imperial Edition would need to be lowered to £60, otherwise it would be cheaper for players to purchase a standard and upgrade than to just buy the Imperial Edition.

Also other than the Explorers Pack and Pets all prices listed there are the current UK prices on the ZOS store (give or take a penny for the .99p thing).

Snit

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

No need to be snarkey about it

You're right -- my apologies.

Natjur

Crap, buying the Imperial version on steam, you get a new key and you can't merge it with your current account. There is no way to get the dog on your current account.

Maverick827

The only way this isn't pure incompetence on Zenimax's part is if this is just a timing issue. They planned to announce new pets tomorrow at Quake Con and Steam jumped the gun with this promotion.

jj69chevub17_ESO

Snit wrote: »

jj69chevub17_ESO wrote: »

No need to be snarkey about it

You're right -- my apologies.

Apologies accepted

Tannakaobi

Turelus wrote: »

Tannakaobi wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

Standard Edition Game £50
Imperial Edition Game £70
Imperial Edition Upgrade £20
Store Mount £10
Explorers Pack £5 (pre-orders received this free as a promotion)
Monkey Pet £2 (Beta players received this free as a promotion)
Guar Pet £2 (Guar plushy purchasers received this as a free promotion)
Whiterun Wolf Pet £2 (Steam promotional purchases received this as a free promotion)

Imperial character £10?

I'd pay a tenner for an Imp. I'd even go so far as pay the £20 for the Imp and the Dog....

Not a Crab though!

@Tannakaobi if the Imperial Upgrade was only £10 then the Imperial Edition would need to be lowered to £60, otherwise it would be cheaper for players to purchase a standard and upgrade than to just buy the Imperial Edition.

Also other than the Explorers Pack and Pets all prices listed there are the current UK prices on the ZOS store (give or take a penny for the .99p thing).

Nah, I was talking about the race to play, as in just that. No, crab/dog, no mount, etc.. Like the horse.

I was half serious actually. I've been thinking about upgrading to an imperial addition. But is it worth £20? I'm not interested in the other stuff. Now they mention the Dog, that would certainly tip the balance, but as far as I know that's not an option for me anyway.

DaFatCookie

It makes me sad that I'll never get the dog I payed $100 for the retail version of imperial edition since it came with a molag bal statue and book but I wouldn't pay extra on steam why cant people who already have imperial edition get the pet by in game mail and or a steam key to get the extras since we already paid for the game

Welid

I want that Dog if I don't get it I am going on hunger strike!

Laura

I don't usually jump on these histaria trains but you can't do this Zeni. Rift tried to do this once and it really cost them and they ended up having to give them out.

Punish loyalty reward decent. This is a new low.


We paid to test your game now we get the shaft. This is not something I will be a part of, I don't care how stupid the pet is.

Evergnar

DaFatCookie wrote: »

It makes me sad that I'll never get the dog I payed $100 for the retail version of imperial edition since it came with a molag bal statue and book but I wouldn't pay extra on steam why cant people who already have imperial edition get the pet by in game mail and or a steam key to get the extras since we already paid for the game

Hey, but that statue is life size

eventide03b14a_ESO

ZOS_AmeliaR wrote: »

The wolfhound vanity pet is a limited-time bonus available only to those who buy the Imperial Edition of The Elder Scrolls Online through Steam.

Oh we definitely understand that it's only for those that buy the game on Steam. What we want to know is why you can't just give it to those of us that already own the game and have been putting up with bugs, severe downtime to fix the bugs that doesn't fix the bugs and only creates new bugs. @ZOS_AmeliaR‌ if you won't let us transfer our accounts to steam at least give us a vanity pet that literally costs you nothing.

emeraldbay

I wonder if they'll sink this thread. Surely they wouldn't dare lock it, but it's getting quite the attention, isn't it? 7 pages and almost 4k views in just under 3.5 hours.

Sylvyr

To all of you complaining,

I highly recommend taking some basic business and macro/micro economic classes. It's the environment we live in and everyone should have a basic understanding. I'm not saying this to toot my horn or anything but it's like moving to a Spanish speaking country and not knowing Spanish! Business and Corp practices and methods are all around us yet it seems like no one gets it.

This is incentive for new buyers and its value is that it is "exclusive" (Worded as - "limited-time bonus available only to those who buy the Imperial Edition of The Elder Scrolls Online through Steam") which translates to "we're going to upset all the early adopters just for you and this is what will make you special from them because you missed the cool boat they came in on". Makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective.

Marketing is all about increasing sales, not necessarily profitability although that is the desired result, and not necessarily good customer service.

Business exist from profitability. That is the blood that pumps in their veins. upsetting some customers over a pet is small time compared to potential income they want (or need). Them caring about including us, bah, we're already locked in, seriously, who's going to quit over a pet? And they gain by being able to offer exclusivity(!) to a next gen buyer. Yay!

Businesses need $ to survive. Not social or moral pleasantries, those are usually a secondary goal (if at all). And if dismissing "loyal" customers yields minimal to no repercussions and brings in additional revenue you better believe profit will come first. Remember that.