Official Discussion Thread for "ESO Welcomes Crown Crates"

RomansXXI

I would really like the ability to exchange stuff I don't want for crown gems. I don't see how a khajiit marking pack would do someone any good if they don't have a khajiit, or beards if they only have female characters. Same goes for costumes, pets and mounts that we may not want in the slightest, hence the reason for not purchasing them directly in the past.

Same goes for mounts, what if the apex mount you really wanted was the wolf but instead you got the guar, there should. Be an option to exchange for the desired mount type in all tiers or be refunded enough gems to purchase the correct one.

I will not be purchasing a single crate as my luck is pure hell and the chances of me getting a ton of bs I don't want is up there at 99%

MadLarkin

Just looked at the crown showcase for December. Is five days the normal amount of time to purchase limited time items? Because that's how long we'll have to get the Ice Wolf mount or pet. Five days just doesn't seem like a lot of time, especially for people with limited funds or real life responsibilities. Gee, I wonder if those items will end up in crown crates down the line...*gags*

You know, you could re-release time-limited items throughout the year on a rotational schedule of some kind. It would definitely bring in the spenders, people would know what they're buying, and it would still maintain some of that artificial scarcity they seem to want.

Zyrudin

NBrookus wrote: »

I'd go the other direction. <$15/month is very cheap for the sub. Movie night for me & hubbie costs more than both our subs. Instead, make an ESO Max subscription and add Crown Gems or extra crowns or a housing upgrade or similar.

100% agreement on your second point. Surprise is all well and good, but teasers would be great. Look at the excitement the random patch notes @ZOS_GinaBruno posts generates.

I understand and agree with your reasoning, but consider the psychological factors behind a player committing to a sub.
Players who really want the whole thing (the whole content, extra crowns to spend on the store and unlimited craft bag) would certainly have no problem paying more than now. However, even those players need to try things out and many others would perhaps be more psychologically attracted to committing to a cheaper sub to begin with, avoiding buyer's remorse after looking at the receipt. Others, for real life reasons, might only be able to afford a cheaper sub.

The thing is, if the modality option is there (could even be three-fold - ESO Plus Light - ESO Plus - ESO Plus Max) then more players are likely to subscribe.

Enodoc

MadLarkin wrote: »

Just looked at the crown showcase for December. Is five days the normal amount of time to purchase limited time items? Because that's how long we'll have to get the Ice Wolf mount or pet.

Yeah, five days is pretty standard for a limited time offer. Essentially it runs from the Crown Store update on the Thursday to the PC server maintenance on the Monday.

Pipin77

Eso plus - canceled! Thank you for warning about such smart innovations for the 10 days prior to the payment for 180 days.
I love this game, but do not intend to pay more for anything other than DLC.

RGD

Please veto this Crate idea. I get that ZOS has to generate revenue for the company, future projects and ESO upkeep and progression, but there's no need for these "Crown Crates."

I'm tired of games using this method to trick people into buying tons of RNG boxes to get one thing they want. I've always admired that ESO has only had cosmetic and consumable's in their store, as well as a very reasonably priced subscription. This is really not a direction I admire from ZOS. I imagine these cosmetic mounts and cool looking costumes don't require too much effort on ZOS' part, so why not release all of the themed ones for crowns? I'd willingly pay up to 4000 crowns for one of these super nice mounts I want, but no way in OBLIVION will I pay 4000+ crowns for the CHANCE at acquiring one of them.

ESO is like my safe haven away from all these games that are being infected with this CSGO RNG-case scam. CSGO had it, there's now games on early access that have it, Call of Duty has it, among others. Gears of War even started doing it in GoW4!

STOP. Just release these cosmetic for people to specifically pay for the ones they want and maybe they'll even buy the other cosmetics, too. At least you're paying your hard-earned money for SOMETHING, rather than the chance of getting something. If this persists and especially if the very low chance of anything worthwhile dropping persists, the ESO community won't be happy. The unbalanced PvP situation isn't giving people the urge to play a lot right now anyway, if you release these RNG crates on top of that... well.

If you're oblivionbent on releasing these crates, please for the love of Akatosh, lower the cost of crown gems for the better items, or heighten the amount of gems you get from duplicates and heighten the chance of getting better items. The current rates and chances of getting the cooler items is outrageous. I'd be completely fine with the crates if they were a little more generous, considering the game is a premium price game and has a subscription, it doesn't need to rely solely on Free-to-Play tactics.

phreatophile

Miaura wrote: »

Giving a monthly free crate (even if to subscribers only) would make it better.

lordrichter wrote: »

That was suggested back when they were on PTS.

They cannot do this. They depend upon people thinking that they will win something, and they want those 400 Crowns deducted from player reserves every time the player get cocky and tries to prove that Crown Crates have good stuff in them.

Frankly, they have to do this. They will find that they have to provide some small thread of cover for people, some slightly plausible way that a player could get one of these electro-pebble mounts without having been provably a sucker.

If the only way to get crates is direct purchase for crowns, then crate exclusives may as well be branded:


It'll be a kick-me sign that indicates disposable income with little wisdom or just little wisdom. Speaking cynically, all they need to do is throw a crate or two in with ESO plus membership each month and that whole dynamic goes away, since it will be possible, not likely, but plausible that the player on the flashy mount got lucky.

I bought discount crowns last week when they were on sale at a cost of 0.436 Cents each (USD). The 15 crate for 5000 crowns bundle is 333.33 cr per crate. At the discount crown rate, the crates are $1.45 (USD) each. That's not actually that bad depending on the drop rates. Even with that low a cost, in a lot of circles, that electro-pebble mount is still a moped: fun to ride until your friends catch you on it.

ereboz

I won't be buying any crates,but unfortunately that won't stop thousands of people who will which will be a win for ZOS. I'm more upset about the cool new elk mount and frost crafting motif that are only available for cash,and will probably end up in crates eventually. Welcome crates, welcome freemium store BS.

spiffy_jim

ereboz wrote: »

I'm more upset about the cool new elk mount and frost crafting motif that are only available for cash,and will probably end up in crates eventually.

Wait... let me get this straight...

People are first upset that we're getting crates and that stuff isn't in the Crown Store.

When stuff IS in the Crown Store for us to buy, people get upset that it's not available in the game for free.

Sorry - I think the closest emoticon to a combination of *jaw drop* and *crazy* is

Recremen

spiffy_jim wrote: »

ereboz wrote: »

I'm more upset about the cool new elk mount and frost crafting motif that are only available for cash,and will probably end up in crates eventually.

Wait... let me get this straight...

People are first upset that we're getting crates and that stuff isn't in the Crown Store.

When stuff IS in the Crown Store for us to buy, people get upset that it's not available in the game for free.

Sorry - I think the closest emoticon to a combination of *jaw drop* and *crazy* is

Most people are more than happy to pay for these things in direct purchases, because we understand that the game is no longer using a subscription model and that DLC sales are unlikely to be profitable. I wouldn't stress too much over one dude complaining that it's not available in game. Gambling boxes are still evil, but the Crown Store is fine for most folks.

Abeille

spiffy_jim wrote: »

ereboz wrote: »

I'm more upset about the cool new elk mount and frost crafting motif that are only available for cash,and will probably end up in crates eventually.

Wait... let me get this straight...

People are first upset that we're getting crates and that stuff isn't in the Crown Store.

When stuff IS in the Crown Store for us to buy, people get upset that it's not available in the game for free.

Sorry - I think the closest emoticon to a combination of *jaw drop* and *crazy* is

Chill, it's just that one person.

Try finding anyone who agrees with them. I honestly doubt you will.
I am very happy to be able to buy the Ice Wolves (both mount and pet) and the Elk. And taking by the messages I received and the overall reception on the threads talking about the showcase, which are filled with people who are against the crates, I am not alone.

Cazzy

I'm very happy I can buy the new Store stuff. Very happy.

optyk2477_ESO

Ugh so, ESO has pretty much copied Star Trek Online's Seasonal Lockbox and Lobi Crystal(Crown Gems) system 1:1.

Obtaining a lockbox Starship can cost around $60-100 (unless you're one of the few to hit that 1% chance). Did not get the Starship you wanted? No problem; just take your Lobi Crystals, outright buy the Starship and sell off the rest.

Sound familiar?

Crown Gems are now setup to be the 'strongest currency' in ESO. It's how you put a paywall in front of another premium currency supported by impulse shopping tactics -aka 'exclusive items'. Such a shame.

This type of layered monetization, it's a bad sign. We can use all the tired arguments of "Dont buy them?", "It's only cosmetics!", "I wont spend a penny on them!" etc.. You're not the first to say that, as people have already attempted it in prior games years ago and it just does not work -The rabbit hole only gets deeper.

Best thing to do is move on and leave or deal with it. Players cant just threaten to not purchase something anymore, you have to barter your other currency: your personal time -which is priceless. I and 5 other friends sadly canceled our ESO Plus accounts and stopped playing months ago when we heard the news of these lockboxes. We know whats coming. But, to each their own.

Cant wait to see all the "Watch me open 100 Crown Crates!" videos on YouTube. Fun stuff. /s

I'll leave with a public quote from a developer (prior to his departure) on a game he worked on, that on introduced seasonal lockboxes and similar mechanics:

"This is, I think, is the inevitable result of a business strategy that sees customers as resources to mine rather than, well, customers."

TheForseti

Rosveen wrote: »

TheForseti wrote: »

Don't hate the player (ZOS), hate the game (monetary capitalism/profit motive).

I can do both just fine. "But everybody does it!" isn't an excuse.

I agree, arguments ad populum are certainly fallacious. I'm simply saying their desire to make money off of these crates (which they most certainly will) greatly outweighs their concern for community backlash, and we have profit motive to thank for that. We can all complain all we want, but our voices are just blowing in the wind as far as ZOS is concerned.

rosendoichinoveb17_ESO

Financially speaking this is a very smart move from ZOS. Taking into consideration that about 1% of the players make up for most of the crown purchases (a.k.a ingame pruchase addicts), ZOS will profit a lot from them with those crown crates.

The majority of players (myself included) would not even consider spending ~50$ for a very rate (financially speaking) mount. Yes, we will be pissed off by the way they are exploiting the system. However, this is why there are DLCs and monthly crown deals with semi-decently looking content, so that we can be somewhat distracted of the crown crate system.

It does not matter how much we wine, they wont adjust the drops, crown jems exchange rates, or any other thing that will make them loose profit from that 1% of ingame purchase addicts.

sirston

Man. Im so happy that they waste their time dicking with cosmetic stuff. They could be doing so many other things then playing CS:GO simulator it's like will you ever knaschteg read your forums for once? im really starting to believe you don't want to be a company anymore.

Mercutio

rosendoichinoveb17_ESO wrote: »

Financially speaking this is a very smart move from ZOS. Taking into consideration that about 1% of the players make up for most of the crown purchases (a.k.a ingame pruchase addicts), ZOS will profit a lot from them with those crown crates.

The majority of players (myself included) would not even consider spending ~50$ for a very rate (financially speaking) mount. Yes, we will be pissed off by the way they are exploiting the system. However, this is why there are DLCs and monthly crown deals with semi-decently looking content, so that we can be somewhat distracted of the crown crate system.

It does not matter how much we wine, they wont adjust the drops, crown jems exchange rates, or any other thing that will make them loose profit from that 1% of ingame purchase addicts.

Sadly I think your pragmatic argument is most likely correct. Protesting, in and of itself, will do little if any good.

However I believe that a compromise could be made that would also prove financially beneficial to them. It is there that I lay my hope.

Namely, a once-a-year weekend sale of every item that has been introduced prior (excluding items released within the last six months). I firmly believe that this would be an annual windfall for them and would win back the community good will that will surely be lost when customers start seeing desirable cosmetics that they have no realistic chance of obtaining.

There is a middle ground to be found, but Zeni has to meet us there. I truly hope they are considering this proposal or something similar.

Skorol007

wanna make money zos? put the sharpened maelstrom inferno staff in in those boxes

Esquire1980g_ESO

Skorol007 wrote: »

wanna make money zos? put the sharpened maelstrom inferno staff in in those boxes

You know there will be a time.

STO (Cryptic) said the exact same things about their lockboxes and now? P2W is touted there as something great while devs come to the PVP forums and state "we could take PVP out of the game and no1 would even notice".

TheValkyn

I'm a part of ESO. I did not welcome these crates.

Toorlokviing

MissBizz wrote: »

Toorlokviing wrote: »

if i buy any of these crown crates..im going to get so many dupes due to having bought almost all the retired crown store items. i know everyone likes to flame something they dont like but i know i will at least spend 5k crowns on these just to see what i get.

@Toorlokviing in the pts version (which is sounds like will be the same items for the first season) only 33% of items were past items... So even if you owned a ton of crown store stuff your chances weren't exactly stellar. Especially because some of the past items were in the tier just below apex.. so they were pretty rare.

Go for it, just thought I'd let ya know about that. When they were first announced (before pts) I thought the same thing.

exactly ill see how it goes...i wasnt here for pts but one did not have to run on pts to see all the backlash on the topic. is the black dire wolf in there by chance? i missed out on that due to housitting for someone who abhores video games lol. i even had the crowns for that month but to no avail...i could not get that mount . like i said though...only 5k of my crowns toward that to see what i get. if its promising i might spend my other half on crates.

timidobserver

phreatophile wrote: »

Miaura wrote: »

Giving a monthly free crate (even if to subscribers only) would make it better.

lordrichter wrote: »

That was suggested back when they were on PTS.

They cannot do this. They depend upon people thinking that they will win something, and they want those 400 Crowns deducted from player reserves every time the player get cocky and tries to prove that Crown Crates have good stuff in them.

Frankly, they have to do this. They will find that they have to provide some small thread of cover for people, some slightly plausible way that a player could get one of these electro-pebble mounts without having been provably a sucker.

If the only way to get crates is direct purchase for crowns, then crate exclusives may as well be branded:


It'll be a kick-me sign that indicates disposable income with little wisdom or just little wisdom. Speaking cynically, all they need to do is throw a crate or two in with ESO plus membership each month and that whole dynamic goes away, since it will be possible, not likely, but plausible that the player on the flashy mount got lucky.

I bought discount crowns last week when they were on sale at a cost of 0.436 Cents each (USD). The 15 crate for 5000 crowns bundle is 333.33 cr per crate. At the discount crown rate, the crates are $1.45 (USD) each. That's not actually that bad depending on the drop rates. Even with that low a cost, in a lot of circles, that electro-pebble mount is still a moped: fun to ride until your friends catch you on it.

I agree. If they don't come up with a non-brain dead way to obtain them, the people that purchase them will just be pitied and ridiculed by anyone that sees them riding their crown crate mount around.

shadoza

timidobserver wrote: »

phreatophile wrote: »

Miaura wrote: »

Giving a monthly free crate (even if to subscribers only) would make it better.

lordrichter wrote: »

That was suggested back when they were on PTS.

They cannot do this. They depend upon people thinking that they will win something, and they want those 400 Crowns deducted from player reserves every time the player get cocky and tries to prove that Crown Crates have good stuff in them.

Frankly, they have to do this. They will find that they have to provide some small thread of cover for people, some slightly plausible way that a player could get one of these electro-pebble mounts without having been provably a sucker.

If the only way to get crates is direct purchase for crowns, then crate exclusives may as well be branded:


It'll be a kick-me sign that indicates disposable income with little wisdom or just little wisdom. Speaking cynically, all they need to do is throw a crate or two in with ESO plus membership each month and that whole dynamic goes away, since it will be possible, not likely, but plausible that the player on the flashy mount got lucky.

I bought discount crowns last week when they were on sale at a cost of 0.436 Cents each (USD). The 15 crate for 5000 crowns bundle is 333.33 cr per crate. At the discount crown rate, the crates are $1.45 (USD) each. That's not actually that bad depending on the drop rates. Even with that low a cost, in a lot of circles, that electro-pebble mount is still a moped: fun to ride until your friends catch you on it.

I agree. If they don't come up with a non-brain dead way to obtain them, the people that purchase them will just be pitied and ridiculed by anyone that sees them riding their crown crate mount around.

I disagree...to a point. Maybe some players will think to throw insults, but the player riding a Crown Crate mount will either ignore or report (depending the trouble caused) and move on thinking the troubled player is jealous. Only the player holding on to the anger will suffer as I see it.

OMA

Crates appear to cost the same as on PTS, nothing changed. Disappointed!

optyk2477_ESO

timidobserver wrote: »

I agree. If they don't come up with a non-brain dead way to obtain them, the people that purchase them will just be pitied and ridiculed by anyone that sees them riding their crown crate mount around.

You are quite wrong on that one. Experience and history proves it.

Guess you've not heard about a little game called Star Citizen. Anyways, that same exact shame mentality was attempted with Star Trek Online: "You paid how much for that ship!? lolz". Few months later, everyone -yes, everyone- is buying/selling/trading lockbox content. You're now pitied if you do not own at least 1 lockbox ship and its related gear.

Conspicuous Consumption + Envy = easy money.

Kendaric

shadoza wrote: »

I disagree...to a point. Maybe some players will think to throw insults, but the player riding a Crown Crate mount will either ignore or report (depending the trouble caused) and move on thinking the troubled player is jealous. Only the player holding on to the anger will suffer as I see it.

Don't worry, we're above using petty nsults in game. But I'll still not think highly of anyone who rides on a scam crate mount and I'll certainly pity them, for fools and their money are easily parted.

Bryanonymous

The outrage is too funny. Just don't buy them. I know I'm not.

Zinaroth

Xabien wrote: »

Mx13 wrote: »

Xabien wrote: »

Maotti wrote: »

Then it is really settled, Thursday is the day ESO as we know it dies.

Shameful indeed.

Second time that's happened for some of us. First came after they went back on "we'd rather switch the server off than move away from sub model"

They never said that tho.

CBA to dig up the original interview, think it was from 2014 iirc, but Paul Sage said he'd switch the servers off before making the switch, made a big song and dance about their stance and their ethics.

Here's another interview which was easier to find, he makes similar overtures in this: http://gamingbolt.com/the-elder-scrolls-online-interview-business-model-is-what-the-business-model-is

Paul Sage doesn't work at Zenimax anymore though. Now we probably know the reason.

Abeille

Esquire1980g_ESO wrote: »

Skorol007 wrote: »

wanna make money zos? put the sharpened maelstrom inferno staff in in those boxes

You know there will be a time.

STO (Cryptic) said the exact same things about their lockboxes and now? P2W is touted there as something great while devs come to the PVP forums and state "we could take PVP out of the game and no1 would even notice".

And you know what people will say if it happens, right?

"It's just convenience! You can still get it in game like always!"

Pathfinder

Lol, you really expect me to throw real money at the ESO RNG? I'll buy a crown crate as soon as my Sharpend Spinner Sword drops.