Why are respecs not free?

bowmanz607

I am curious to see what people think about why ZOS does not allow free respecs of skills, attributes, and champ points? Although i know that it is not a crazy absurd amount to do this it can add up quickly. I mean this week alone i have respecced 4 or 5 times. I use a different build for pve and pvp. not to mention, depending on the day I may play a different role in my groups in pve/pvp which requires respeccing. this quickly adds up to anywhere from 10k-50k gold a week just b/c i want to respec my toon to adapt to my role and area of play that day. I am not even close to being a rich man in this game. in fact, i barely scrap by. The only reason i can see ZoS charging is b/c they seel respecs in the crown store now. However, they still charged before the crown store. It would seem to me that game that preaches versatility and "play as you want" would make it easier for the player to do so. So again i ask, why are respecs not free? is there some legitimate reason for this? what am i missing?

PBpsy

mersion

UrQuan

It's a gold sink. Without gold sinks the economy in an MMO goes to rapid inflation, making it effectively impossible for new players to buy anything from other players because it's all priced way too high for them. There aren't very many gold sinks in ESO, so ones like this need to remain in the game.

Zorrashi

Because it is a major gold sink, I imagine.

BobOfTibia

Money sinks. Basic MMO.

At some point you will stop needing Armor.

At some point you will max out your horse.

At some point you will no longer scavenge for or buy motifs.

At some point, you just won't have anything to spend your money on.

But you could always try new combinations.

And so you pay for a reset.

Money sink.

It has nothing to do with Crowns.

Most MMOs make you pay.

Just another way to get rid of all that access gold around.

Or we'll watch it inflate like the american dollar.

SirAndy

UrQuan wrote: »

It's a gold sink. Without gold sinks the economy in an MMO goes to rapid inflation, making it effectively impossible for new players to buy anything from other players because it's all priced way too high for them. There aren't very many gold sinks in ESO, so ones like this need to remain in the game.

Caesar Tantalia

if you need respecs that often, I would suggest you develop different toons instead of respeccing each time.

As to the cost itself - it used to be alot more but I believe the cost is needed as one of the few (minor) gold sinks + to make you commit to something.

THEDKEXPERIENCE

1) Gold sink.
2) If you're going to change roles that often make PVP gear and PVE gear. If you've respec'd 5 times in the 3 weeks since console dropped you're going to be a poor person very soon. Maybe next time you respec you may want to try a hybrid build.

bowmanz607

i see. but what about gear that is priced at anywhere from 100k-200k for the top stuff? what about the new potion? is it not possible to keep players spending money by maintaining a steady flow of new gear and what not? i mean i feel like for players like me who only have at most 75k at any given time ends up spending money on respecin (and my potion habit) all the tie that i am never getting the money for highend gear i want such as shadow walker or ravagers etc. whereas, a respec for a lot of players is chump change and the money spent on it is nothing to them. would there be a more effective way of doing this?

Elijah_Crow

Get more skill points. It's not like there are a lack of them.

I'm betting you are playing on console and have a limited number to work with. How many do you have?

With over 300 skill points there isn't a need to respec over and over as you can have several skill setups to play different roles as long as you aren't trying to switch from magicka to stamina builds over and over.

SirAndy

bowmanz607 wrote: »

i see. but what about gear that is priced at anywhere from 100k-200k for the top stuff?

Never bought a single piece of gear in 2 years of playing this game. I'm sure i'm not alone with that.

On the other hand, i do respec my chars fairly frequently ...

bowmanz607

as far as developing a new toon. i have always been a one character player in every game i play. i just do not feel i should have to spend my limited time playing this game grinding another toon. and yes i do have pve/pvp gear but there are some skills that are better for pve and other better for pvp. not to mention when i pvp i like to go stam build b/c dw/bow has been my number one setup since beta. when i pve i use magika cause i can get higher dps with my magika build then my stam in pve cause i can not afford the top stam gear.

Xendyn

bowmanz607 wrote: »

i see. but what about gear that is priced at anywhere from 100k-200k for the top stuff? what about the new potion? is it not possible to keep players spending money by maintaining a steady flow of new gear and what not? i mean i feel like for players like me who only have at most 75k at any given time ends up spending money on respecin (and my potion habit) all the tie that i am never getting the money for highend gear i want such as shadow walker or ravagers etc. whereas, a respec for a lot of players is chump change and the money spent on it is nothing to them. would there be a more effective way of doing this?

It's not about players spending money. It's about taking the money Out of the game. With a gold sink the money is out of the economy, gone forever. Respec, Riding Skill are minor ones. The most effective one is the Trade Kiosk bids. We actually need more of that, like housing or something. Too many people sitting on millions now.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

BigM

Every MMO I know only allows first respect free after that you have to pay. I sure hope to GOD ZoS is not listening to the wrong things people are complaining about.

bowmanz607

Elijah_Crow wrote: »

Get more skill points. It's not like there are a lack of them.

I'm betting you are playing on console and have a limited number to work with. How many do you have?

With over 300 skill points there isn't a need to respec over and over as you can have several skill setups to play different roles as long as you aren't trying to switch from magicka to stamina builds over and over.

i am not on console. been on pc since beta. plenty of skill points. the problem is not so much respeccing all my skills but my morphs, attributes, and champ points. like i said i know it is not a crazy amount but still.

and yes i could grind each peice of gear but i dont play enough to get a whole set. not to mention if i was doing that my limited time playing would be spent grinding rather than actually playing. I hate grinding

wolfydog

Did you play through the other factions or just grind to level up?

I have so many skill points I don't know what to do with. I never have to respec because I have almost everything. At most I respec my morphs from time to time.

But yes a gold sink mainly.

bowmanz607

BigM wrote: »

Every MMO I know only allows first respect free after that you have to pay. I sure hope to GOD ZoS is not listening to the wrong things people are complaining about.

i understand now. it makes since. I just wasnt sure what the reason was. this is my firat MMO experience so there are some nuances i dont understand.

and yes i would love to see guild housing!!

BigM

bowmanz607 wrote: »

BigM wrote: »

Every MMO I know only allows first respect free after that you have to pay. I sure hope to GOD ZoS is not listening to the wrong things people are complaining about.

i understand now. it makes since. I just wasnt sure what the reason was. this is my firat MMO experience so there are some nuances i dont understand.

and yes i would love to see guild housing!!

I also would love to see housing not just guild housing but we are years away from that if the game even gets to that point.

So depressed how long we waited for a patch and we get a bug fix.

eventide03b14a_ESO

Why should they be?

Elijah_Crow

You can buy respecs from the crown store for your convienance. I'm perfectly fine with your convienance funding game development.

Seriously though, it sounds like you have just not found a play style that just "works" for you. Can't expect to be able to do anything in the game with one character.

Respecs are there so you don't make a mistake and permently screw up your character and allows you to test and adjust your build over time. My advice is to find a build which works with the roles you want to play and stick with it.

Xendyn

eventide03b14a_ESO wrote: »

Why should they be?

Easy there, he just didn't understand gold sinks. He does now, done deal.

Caesar Tantalia

and there are a couple of more goldsinks comming (imho)

barbershop
respect racial passives


but like others said - they need huge goldsinks relatively soon (such as housing, guild halls, ...)

Danikat

I think it's a combination of a gold sink (which as other people said MMOs need) and a way of discouraging people from constantly switching builds to match what they're doing.

Switching for PvP and PvE is one thing, but if it was free you could customise your build for each dungeon or (if they removed the requirement to go to a shrine too) each boss. This way people have to compromise a bit more, which reduces the probability of highly specialised gimmick builds ruining balance.

Having said that this is why I have two Templars - one specced as a damage dealer and one as a healer. I'm cheap and enjoy levelling so I'd rather level 2 than keep switching.

UrQuan

bowmanz607 wrote: »

BigM wrote: »

Every MMO I know only allows first respect free after that you have to pay. I sure hope to GOD ZoS is not listening to the wrong things people are complaining about.

i understand now. it makes since. I just wasnt sure what the reason was. this is my firat MMO experience so there are some nuances i dont understand.

and yes i would love to see guild housing!!

It's my first MMO too, and I didn't understand why gold sinks were necessary either until someone explained it to me. There's nothing wrong with you asking the question - that's how you learn!

Danikat

Ultima Online was my first MMO and early on that was a great example of why gold sinks are necessary.

Gold wasn't as easy to get in that game as in ESO but there was very little you needed to spend it on so most player transactions would cost thousands or millions of gold. About 3 million for a placed house (since space to place houses was hard to come by on populated servers).

New players were looking at weeks or months of farming before they could buy even the most basic items. In many cases it was actually cheaper and easier to level up the necessary skills and make it yourself, which was kind of crazy given that was supposed to be a long-term goal for people who wanted to focus on crafting.

I assume it's better now, although I quit in about 2001 and I've not followed the game closely since then.

Lionxoft

It's to deflate some of the gold that the spammers injected into the economy near launch and also the normal accrual from playing the game EG: vendor trash sales, loot and rewards.

Sithisvoid

Because ppl will pay 7$ for it in the crown store.

Blud

Because crown shop scrolls.

KanedaSyndrome

Because game choices should have consequences in order to have meaning. You could argue that more things in ESO should have consequences, but at least this little thing does have some

Sandmanninja

bowmanz607 wrote: »

I am curious to see what people think about why ZOS does not allow free respecs of skills, attributes, and champ points? Although i know that it is not a crazy absurd amount to do this it can add up quickly. I mean this week alone i have respecced 4 or 5 times. I use a different build for pve and pvp. not to mention, depending on the day I may play a different role in my groups in pve/pvp which requires respeccing. this quickly adds up to anywhere from 10k-50k gold a week just b/c i want to respec my toon to adapt to my role and area of play that day. I am not even close to being a rich man in this game. in fact, i barely scrap by. The only reason i can see ZoS charging is b/c they seel respecs in the crown store now. However, they still charged before the crown store. It would seem to me that game that preaches versatility and "play as you want" would make it easier for the player to do so. So again i ask, why are respecs not free? is there some legitimate reason for this? what am i missing?

I'm not aware of any game offering free respecs. You would respec all day if there were.

Some games (such as WoW) offer a 2nd spec, allowing you to fine tune your character for two distinct roles - say healer and dps. Dual Spec did not always exist in WoW.

Theoretically, with enough Champion Points, you COULD have 'two specs', with a billion passives to be ultimate in any role. If I had hundreds of CPs, I could focus on Heavy Armor for Tanking as well as Cloth Armor for Healing.

That's my take on it.