Glass Motif in the Crown Store - Discussion - Counter Argument - Solutions

anitajoneb17_ESO

Tommy1979AtWar wrote: »

@anitajoneb17_ESO Slightly off topic but since grammar lessons are being given can I ask whether you're using "impact" as a noun or a verb?

I ask because it's dependand on how the word "affect" is being used, personally I feel that @Elloa using "affect" as a verb in this instance would be correct as it has by your own admission influenced your being able to aquire glass items for free from a guild mate whom purchased it in the crown store, whether you personally feel he was "tricked" to do so or not is irrelevant as his decision has still influenced. And whilst a master blacksmith whom has took such time and effort to gain the motif through RNG is unlikely to simply give away those crafted items for free it has resulted in a negative "effect"(noun) upon the market as the items have lost their implied rarity value.

Crafting is an important part of many peoples gameplay and not just for enjoyment, some rely heavily on their crafting skills not only to earn gold to purchase items from other players (helping the market grow) but also to support guilds and new members (helping the player base to grow and succeed).

In summation I still agree that the decision to sell the glass motif in the crown store so soon after its release in game along with such an obviously prenerfed RNG in order to push more CS sales was wrong of ZOS, it's left a bitter taste in many peoples mouths and further adversely effected their views of the company as a whole.
I still think the glass items look ridiculous and as though a toddler has attacked them with crayons no matter which colour is applied but hey if looking silly is what some people enjoy then I'll happily continue to judge them in silence

Furthermore... since English is not the native tongue of Elloa I think her grasp of its complexities are pretty damn good, certainly better than my French or Flemish so it's worth considering how many languages oneself has taken the time to learn and commit to before commenting on someone elses usage of terms within.

Where I am giving "grammar lessons" ? I had to check myself before to see if the verb "to affect" has the meaning of "to impact negatively" in english just like it has in french. Because, you see, my native language happens to be french, just like Elloa's ! (and just for your information, I master 3 languages on top of my native language, just like she does).

I wasn't correcting her vocabulary (which, by the way, is not a part of "grammar"), I was simply stating that the items in the crown store do have an effect on the economy but that this is not positive nor negative, it's neutral. I wasn't correcting her, I wasn't criticizing her, I wasn't commenting on her language skills, I simply disagreed with her.

And I disagree with you, too. How can you say "dedicated crafters who have the glass motif could support guilds and new members to grow and succeed" when it's only a cosmetic thing and when they can do it as well with something bought in the crown store ? It just makes no sense to me.

- Do I understand that people who were ready to do the long and improbable "double RNG" journey for the glass motif are frustrated because they wanted it to be a "special achievement" and to make gold ingame with it ? YES.

- Do I think ZOS' strategy to make it really, really hard to get ingame to drag people to the crown store is very obvious ? YES.

- Is that dishonest from ZOS ? NO.

- Does it have an impact on the economy ingame ? YES.

- Is this impact negative ? NO.

- Is this impact positive ? NO.

- Is it P2W ? NO.

- Is it a major issue ? NO.

- Is it an issue at all ? NO.

anitajoneb17_ESO

Iluvrien wrote: »

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

If there was no crown store, I'd still have to pay a sub. I'd probably do it and consider it OK, but since it's possible for me to get the same thing cheaper because some people like to buy stuff from the crown store, I prefer to look at the benefit for me rather at some imaginary negative impact for me ingame - because frankly, there are none).

And so because there is no negative impact for you, it is fine?

All well and good. On that basis as there is, for me, a negative impact and the only benefit is the entirely emphemeral* I will continue to look at this as a net loss and will continue to raise it as a point of concern on the forums and to ZOS through /feedback. Thanks.

If it impacts you negatively you're of course welcome to express your frustration and disagreement. There are some aspects of this game's design that I disagree with, too.

But Elloa's position is different, she thinks that ZOS is being dishonest and has "crossed a line". That's another topic entirely.

Tommy1979AtWar

@anitajoneb17_ESO First of all it depends whether you view "grammar" in a broader more generic sense or more of a specific sense from a linguistical point of view, where as you're more specific, I'm more generic so I use the word to encompass both the written and spoken word so lets agree to disagree on that because I'm sure you've heard the saying about opinions and everone having one
I agree with many of your points in fact but the point I was raising regarding CS motifs against earned motifs and their crafters was that buyers of the CS motif are far more likely to just give those crafted items away or sell very cheaply rather than sell at a price more befitting their implied rarity value which in turn would negatively effect the market.

By your own admission you're hoping to have a set crafted for you by your guildmate for free so that has had a negative effect on the economy because had you been buying from a crafter whom was charging for the work then that gold would have no doubt gone from your pocket to the crafter and from their pocket to another crafter or trader and so on and so forth.

I believe the points raised regarding dishonesty are correct because ZOS could have put it in the CS at the same time IC came out and it wouldn't have caused such a furore, releasing it 3 weeks into the work and time people have already put into gaining the motif was a slap in the face to many as their time and effort was rendered worthless.
I was looking forward to earning the motif in order to sell glass items to the less discerning eye but immediately viewed it as a pointless exercise given that the RNG was obviously going to be prenerfed.

It also leaves a precedent for ZOS to use the same tactics again in the future... people whom bought this cosmetic item for such a ridiculous amount have basically said "Hey ZOS, I'm stupid enough to buy this crappy looking cosmetic item so how about a few items which give me an unfair advantage next time, maybe a few OP abilities for my bar or weapons you can't craft ingame... I'll pay double!!"

It would be interesting to see which side of the fence people jump to if that were to happen.

Tors

I got the glass motif within a week, and that week I spent most of my spare time with the kids in the garden. it is hardy difficult or onerous....


You guys are really taking the term "instant gratification" to a new level.


The item in quesion is easy to get, just you need to put at least some effort into it.

Gedroth

Katahdin wrote: »

This is my first post on the forums. I had to log in and reply to this.

My tolerance for grind for the sake of grind is almost non existent. I work hard all day/week at my job to earn my paycheck and I play the game to get a few hours of escape from real life. Before you call me casual, I dont consider myself to be. I put plenty of hours into the game. I dont want to spend that time grinding a double RNG to MAYBE get one or two pieces a month if I am lucky. I also dont want to spend all my time grinding 100,000+ in gold for each piece of armor or weapon. I want to play the game the way I want to play it and that means I dont want to grind.

I agree Katahdin. I like to earn my own way in-game. However, I don't do PVP which makes the grind not even possible. I'm not going to pay millions to get the motif and mats. I was close to purchasing the motif but the mats are still impossibly expensive. I'm going to have to wait until mats are available for PVE. I really hate that Z has put this style behind a PVP wall. Gives me real concern about the future. I love this game and buy stuff in the Crown store to support the game but this one is too much.

anitajoneb17_ESO

Tommy1979AtWar wrote: »

I agree with many of your points in fact but the point I was raising regarding CS motifs against earned motifs and their crafters was that buyers of the CS motif are far more likely to just give those crafted items away or sell very cheaply rather than sell at a price more befitting their implied rarity value which in turn would negatively effect the market.

By your own admission you're hoping to have a set crafted for you by your guildmate for free so that has had a negative effect on the economy because had you been buying from a crafter whom was charging for the work then that gold would have no doubt gone from your pocket to the crafter and from their pocket to another crafter or trader and so on and so forth.

Actually no, I wouldn't have bought it for gold, I would simply have chosen another style. But yes, obviously, the style being available in the Crown Store changes its rarity and makes it less valuable/tradeable for glass crafters. Where I disagree with you is when you say that this change is negative for the economy. No ! This change is only negative for people who intended to sell crafted glass items, not for the economy as such ! The economy doesn't care : buyers will spend their gold on something else and crafters will make money with something else, that's all. The economy will adjust.

Other areas of the economy are also changing all the time depending on the evolutions in the game. I for instance sell plants. They did not sell at all these past few weeks because people dropped the potion-intensive activities (Trials, VDSA, leaderboard activities in general) to go farm their new gear in the sewers - for which they don't use potion. Plants' business is starting again now because people are getting properly geared and start practicing the new dungeons for which they use LOTS of potions.

What did I do instead ? Went farming Kutas and Reporas ! Since people were all getting new gear, they also needed new enchants... Price of Kuta on PC/EU has doubled these last two weeks and even then, there is a hard shortage on Kutas.
All this is CHANGE. Not DAMAGE. The economy is changing, not breaking. You're free to adapt or not, but the economy is what it is.

Tommy1979AtWar wrote: »

Releasing it 3 weeks into the work and time people have already put into gaining the motif was a slap in the face to many as their time and effort was rendered worthless.

Gaining the glass motif is not "work and time". It's patience. It consists in doing three crafting writs a day which take 5 minutes each (potentially an hour of farming mats if you don't buy them). It's not effort. You cannot do more than 3 writs/day character anyway. You cannot speed up the process with more time, more work or any kind of grinding.

Tommy1979AtWar wrote: »

It also leaves a precedent for ZOS to use the same tactics again in the future... people whom bought this cosmetic item for such a ridiculous amount have basically said "Hey ZOS, I'm stupid enough to buy this crappy looking cosmetic item so how about a few items which give me an unfair advantage next time, maybe a few OP abilities for my bar or weapons you can't craft ingame... I'll pay double!!"

Actually the mechanisms in place are rather the opposite. Concretely, very concretely speaking, THE MORE people buy useless/purely cosmetic stuff, THE LESS ZOS will have to resort to more useful items flirting with the P2W thin line to cover the costs of running the game's infrastructure.

If people would buy less cosmetic stuff, THEN ZOS would have to place useful items in the CS, such as powerful weapons.

So let's just be happy that people are buying all this CS stuff.

Tommy1979AtWar

@anitajoneb17_ESO

Opinions... we all have them

anitajoneb17_ESO

Tommy1979AtWar wrote: »

@anitajoneb17_ESO

Opinions... we all have them

Except that I wasn't discussing opinions but facts ;-)

PsychoKRATOS1

Gedroth wrote: »

Katahdin wrote: »

This is my first post on the forums. I had to log in and reply to this.

My tolerance for grind for the sake of grind is almost non existent. I work hard all day/week at my job to earn my paycheck and I play the game to get a few hours of escape from real life. Before you call me casual, I dont consider myself to be. I put plenty of hours into the game. I dont want to spend that time grinding a double RNG to MAYBE get one or two pieces a month if I am lucky. I also dont want to spend all my time grinding 100,000+ in gold for each piece of armor or weapon. I want to play the game the way I want to play it and that means I dont want to grind.

I agree Katahdin. I like to earn my own way in-game. However, I don't do PVP which makes the grind not even possible. I'm not going to pay millions to get the motif and mats. I was close to purchasing the motif but the mats are still impossibly expensive. I'm going to have to wait until mats are available for PVE. I really hate that Z has put this style behind a PVP wall. Gives me real concern about the future. I love this game and buy stuff in the Crown store to support the game but this one is too much.

Malachite parts are obtainable through heavy sacks, chests (unlock and treasure) and other rng containers.
I think tel var stones are the only things stuck behind a "pvp" wall. But even then... If your alliance are dominating, the arena district makes for a nice steady tel var farm for the charcoal of remorse (you buy from the TV gen trader) and if you're of sufficient vr level -de-constructible items from the arena chest

The xivkyn motif however is my least favourite item to farm. Idk if the arena district drops pages but ik it drops malachite.

Kuroinu

On another note, but still relevant to this thread. It's most likely that the new Akaviri Motif will mimic the Glass Motif grind with chapters/fragments via daily quests only. I hope there's more than the daily quests though, but we'll see.

For Orsinium, Ancient Orc is the equivalent of what Xivkyn is for Imperial City in that you can farm this more openly in game, I prefer this method and wish they stuck to it for all motifs. But the pattern is there if you can see it.

Elloa

@Anitajoneb Just answering in a friendly way (to ensure you I've not taken what you said about me in the wrong way ^^) that I still very much disagree with you.
I've the feeling you are arguing for the sake of arguing. If doing Crafting writs with several character and farm materials or gold to have a chance to get the Glass Motif is not effort, what do you consider as effort? Being patient is showing effort.

As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material. Do you really consider than crafting and trading are not a "real" part of the game, do you disregard completely players that focus on crafting and trading, and pride themselves to be capable of crafting rare style that they can sell back later. Are those players not important enough for us to consider them? Don't they deserve to also have their "end game"?

I know many players that are quite disheartened to have spent so much time and in game gold to aquiere the Glass motif and that now, they ar not able to make the money invested back as players are not interested into buying their services as crafters. What seems to you to not "affect" or "impact" others is just your own opinion. it's not because you do not care personally, that its the case for everyone.

Atleast, we know that for the next motif, it will be pointless to hurry, invest time and gold to obtain the part of the Akaviri style, as it will probably sold in the Crown Store few time after.

Note: sorry I'm too tired to argue properly. Must have plenty of bad spelling, grammar and poor choice of wording.

PsychoKRATOS1

Elloa wrote: »

@Anitajoneb Just answering in a friendly way (to ensure you I've not taken what you said about me in the wrong way ^^) that I still very much disagree with you.
I've the feeling you are arguing for the sake of arguing. If doing Crafting writs with several character and farm materials or gold to have a chance to get the Glass Motif is not effort, what do you consider as effort? Being patient is showing effort.

As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material. Do you really consider than crafting and trading are not a "real" part of the game, do you disregard completely players that focus on crafting and trading, and pride themselves to be capable of crafting rare style that they can sell back later. Are those players not important enough for us to consider them? Don't they deserve to also have their "end game"?

I know many players that are quite disheartened to have spent so much time and in game gold to aquiere the Glass motif and that now, they ar not able to make the money invested back as players are not interested into buying their services as crafters. What seems to you to not "affect" or "impact" others is just your own opinion. it's not because you do not care personally, that its the case for everyone.

Atleast, we know that for the next motif, it will be pointless to hurry, invest time and gold to obtain the part of the Akaviri style, as it will probably sold in the Crown Store few time after.

Note: sorry I'm too tired to argue properly. Must have plenty of bad spelling, grammar and poor choice of wording.

I think the crunch is going to be the crafting mats like dwemer or daedra hearts/ancient elf. Can't get it yourself until VR6 areas or cadwells gold. What surprises me is the fact they're selling malachite as well as the motifs.

But... 140k gold for a motif shard or page is ridiculous. I could not afford anything to do with the new dlc. I had just bought 34 nirnhoned items for researching.

dday3six

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Enodoc

dday3six wrote: »

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Item stats vs cosmetic are not the only factors to consider. Costumes, for example, are only cosmetic, but crafting mats and motifs have an additional economic factor on top of the cosmetic one. While malachite does not affect an item's stats, it does affect the economy.

dday3six

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Item stats vs cosmetic are not the only factors to consider. Costumes, for example, are only cosmetic, but crafting mats and motifs have an additional economic factor on top of the cosmetic one. While malachite does not affect an item's stats, it does affect the economy.

Even with economic factors, one cannot say it's not a cosmetic item. Clearly it is, and that was my point. My statements weren't meant to disregard economic factors, but to correct an apparent disregard of the item's cosmetic nature.

I feel this is an important distinction because it ties to the economic factors. Motifs are items of choice due to being cosmetic, rather than items of necessity.

Cadbury

dday3six wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Item stats vs cosmetic are not the only factors to consider. Costumes, for example, are only cosmetic, but crafting mats and motifs have an additional economic factor on top of the cosmetic one. While malachite does not affect an item's stats, it does affect the economy.

Even with economic factors, one cannot say it's not a cosmetic item. Clearly it is, and that was my point. My statements weren't meant to disregard economic factors, but to correct an apparent disregard of the item's cosmetic nature.

I feel this is an important distinction because it ties to the economic factors. Motifs are items of choice due to being cosmetic, rather than items of necessity.

Quote for truth

Enodoc

dday3six wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Item stats vs cosmetic are not the only factors to consider. Costumes, for example, are only cosmetic, but crafting mats and motifs have an additional economic factor on top of the cosmetic one. While malachite does not affect an item's stats, it does affect the economy.

Even with economic factors, one cannot say it's not a cosmetic item. Clearly it is, and that was my point. My statements weren't meant to disregard economic factors, but to correct an apparent disregard of the item's cosmetic nature.

I feel this is an important distinction because it ties to the economic factors. Motifs are items of choice due to being cosmetic, rather than items of necessity.

For some people, maybe. But for other people, motifs are items of choice because they can sell them to people who want the cosmetics. Thus for those people, they are economic rather than cosmetic.

Cadbury

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Item stats vs cosmetic are not the only factors to consider. Costumes, for example, are only cosmetic, but crafting mats and motifs have an additional economic factor on top of the cosmetic one. While malachite does not affect an item's stats, it does affect the economy.

Even with economic factors, one cannot say it's not a cosmetic item. Clearly it is, and that was my point. My statements weren't meant to disregard economic factors, but to correct an apparent disregard of the item's cosmetic nature.

I feel this is an important distinction because it ties to the economic factors. Motifs are items of choice due to being cosmetic, rather than items of necessity.

For some people, maybe. But for other people, motifs are items of choice because they can sell them to people who want the cosmetics. Thus for those people, they are economic rather than cosmetic.

Not the only way to make money. Just sayin'

Iluvrien

Cadbury wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

dday3six wrote: »

Elloa wrote: »

...As I said earlier, the glass motif is not a Cosmetic item. The Malachite shard are not cosmetic. Its a crafting material...

Malachite does not increase the stats of items. It's a crafting mat, but it only serves a cosmetic purpose.

Item stats vs cosmetic are not the only factors to consider. Costumes, for example, are only cosmetic, but crafting mats and motifs have an additional economic factor on top of the cosmetic one. While malachite does not affect an item's stats, it does affect the economy.

Even with economic factors, one cannot say it's not a cosmetic item. Clearly it is, and that was my point. My statements weren't meant to disregard economic factors, but to correct an apparent disregard of the item's cosmetic nature.

I feel this is an important distinction because it ties to the economic factors. Motifs are items of choice due to being cosmetic, rather than items of necessity.

For some people, maybe. But for other people, motifs are items of choice because they can sell them to people who want the cosmetics. Thus for those people, they are economic rather than cosmetic.

Not the only way to make money. Just sayin'

True. You could just encourage people to give up crafting entirely by devaluing the newer, and often more sought-after, items in favour of getting players to take part in exciting activities such as endless grinding.... oh, wait....

Cadbury

Iluvrien wrote: »

Hyperbole....

Hmmm,you don't say.

Edit:
Look, I can understand that you and some others on this issue have an agenda. I expect that; it's human nature after all. I tend to look at it from a more pragmatic angle. I see nothing wrong with what they did. People who want to buy it will buy it. The economy isn't going to collapse over a single motif.

Iluvrien

Cadbury wrote: »

Iluvrien wrote: »

Hyperbole....

Hmmm,you don't say.

No. Humour based on extending ZOS's current behaviour to its logical conclusion. Good strawman though, I like the bandana!

Enodoc referred to a point made, and indeed illustrated, in this thread as well as others. Your words implied a lack of importance due to it being only a single avenue with regards to accruing gold. I responded in the fashion described above. I specifically used the phrase "encourage people to" rather than "force/require people to" for this reason.

Thus, not hyperbole. Observation, classification, extension with a touch of wry humour. Nothing more. Thanks for your helpful input though.

Cadbury

Iluvrien wrote: »

Cadbury wrote: »

Iluvrien wrote: »

Hyperbole....

Hmmm,you don't say.

No. Humour based on extending ZOS's current behaviour to its logical conclusion. Good strawman though, I like the bandana!

Enodoc referred to a point made, and indeed illustrated, in this thread as well as others. Your words implied a lack of importance due to it being only a single avenue with regards to accruing gold. I responded in the fashion described above. I specifically used the phrase "encourage people to" rather than "force/require people to" for this reason.

Thus, not hyperbole. Observation, classification, extension with a touch of wry humour. Nothing more. Thanks for your helpful input though.

Guess we'll just agree to disagree. Keep fighting that good fight.

As for me, I'll just.....

PsychoKRATOS1

If they were to make nirncrux a CS item. Could you imagine the rage? Especially on consoles, see items selling for 12 to 30k per and since the new guys want to get that 9 trait armour, they buy the item just to research.
It isn't difficult to obtain things from a drop entirely determined by an RNG - it is luck, pure and simple. It takes patience, in some cases where it could take someone 1 day, it could take another person a couple of weeks.

So those people who put exceptionally less effort into procuring the motif will also be up in arms.

But it is a kick in the teeth for those people who put the time into getting the item through the game.
And it will reduce the amount these craters £make$ since they've now severely reduced the rarity.

However saying that.... at least I'm not hearing "selling glass motif pages 50/100/150/250k each" 250k.. pennies to some. Gotta make it first. How else would a sole crafter make that kinda cash.

Alucardo

Just wanted to update briefly, and say now that the Akiviri style is going to PVP soon, I'm really starting to understand where Elloa is coming from (to those who can't grasp why she's so upset). Glass armour gave dedicated crafters a chance to obtain something really rare and special, just like the Akiviri motifs will be to PVPers. If that style was sent to the crown store for anyone to get just by paying cash, I'd be well miffed. It loses its rarity status completely and will make getting it through PVP completely obsolete and less special.
They haven't said this will happen, but it's a decent comparison

anitajoneb17_ESO

Alucardo wrote: »

Just wanted to update briefly, and say now that the Akiviri style is going to PVP soon, I'm really starting to understand where Elloa is coming from (to those who can't grasp why she's so upset). Glass armour gave dedicated crafters a chance to obtain something really rare and special, just like the Akiviri motifs will be to PVPers. If that style was sent to the crown store for anyone to get just by paying cash, I'd be well miffed. It loses its rarity status completely and will make getting it through PVP completely obsolete and less special.
They haven't said this will happen, but it's a decent comparison

We had understood that already : it deprives them from being / having "something special". I can understand the frustration behind that. But it doesn't make ZOS "dishonest" like Elloa says.

Of course the Akaviri style will be in the CS ! How could it be different, since every single style so far has been in the CS (except Xivkyn but it will be placed there, it's official) ? The only question is when. People should be very much aware of this right now in order not to feel cheated when the time comes.

On a side note, it doesn't require "work", nor to be a dedicated crafter to acquire the glass motif. Only time. And not playing time or online time, just time. Because you cannot do more than 1 writ a day/craft/toon so the amount of "work" or "effort" you can put into the glass motif is very limited. People weren't putting effort for the glass motif, just hope.

The Akaviri style is different, you can really "work for it", since there's virtually no limit as to how much AP you can make in a day and to how many style books you can buy with this AP.

DRXHarbinger

It's been said already that the new motif will be bought with AP instead hasn't it? so surely if you hate the last minute grind just keep your AP from now and surely then you'll have a few million to buy it, who really repairs the keeps anyway, you get tons of AP in IC arena district.

Plus still to this day, Glass looks crap, plus shop around more, the all powerful Tamriel traders may be flogging the motifs for 100's000 of gold but others are selling it from anything 10k to 50k for helms and chests,

The most popular trader isn't always the best choice, every trader has glass for sale at the moment, the only item that seems expensive is the Xivkyn chests and helms which are over 100K.