Is the sub reducing in value?

Jimbullbee85

Now that theres the option to buy all DLC content for 5500 crowns (about the original cost of the game) other than that 1500 crowns per month I'm starting to feel that the crafting bag is the only incentive to continue paying my subscription. Surely a subscription implies continuous exclusive content but I'm not seeing any unless I'm missing something. Many opportunities for discounted content have passed us by and the new Elk mount at 4500 crowns is yet another occasion that ZOS has dropped the ball. Especially seeing as it's not even been a month since the crown crates were released. Most subs would have blown all their crowns savings in pursuit of an atronach mount and probably had to buy more like myself. Please please please if you feel the same way I do make your voices heard. A lone consumer is always wrong but the customer is always right.

KriHavok

Actually, I believe that the option to subscribe is increasing in value. If I remember correctly, ZOS is adding further benefits with the housing update, where an ESO Plus subscriber can place more items in their homes, compared to those who are not subscribed. I like this, as it shows how ESO Plus is evolving with more perks, whilst the price remains the same.

There is still room for improvement, foremost, I would like to see ESO Plus continue to improve over time, the ability to dye Costumes, the Craft Bag, and these new housing boosts are a great start. In addition to this, I believe that ZOS should enhance the guild feature for subscribers, i.e. subscribers can join up to 10 guilds (from the 5 guild cap) and can lead up to 5 guilds (from the 1 guild cap), very little has been done to improve the guild system overall, which I think needs tending to alongside the opportunity for more subscriber bonuses.

Furthermore, I think that the Loyalty Program should make a return. They dropped it once the game went B2P, but the option to subscribe has always been present, so I'm not sure why they didn't continue with it. Regardless, I'd like to see exclusive pets, mounts, mementos, costumes, (housing furniture?), etc. be given out every 2-3 months as a token of appreciation from ZOS to those who have been subscribed for extensive periods of time.

Jimbullbee85

Not all the perks you speak of appeal to everyone. I won't be buying a house for instance because it is cosmetic only. There will be no storage. What's the point In a home if you can't lay your hat down and put your pj's on? The crafting bag release seems an age ago.

KriHavok

Not all the perks appeal to everyone, that is correct. So you have to make the choice to purchase ESO Plus, if what it consists of is appealing to you or not.

Cosmetic-only perks are a safe way to not go down the "pay to win" route, so those who subscribe don't have a large gameplay advantage over those who do not subscribe.

Basically, it's safe for the perks of ESO Plus to be either cosmetic or 'convenience' perks, which save time in doing things but in no means make you directly stronger than other players.

Jimbullbee85

KriHavok wrote: »

Not all the perks appeal to everyone, that is correct. So you have to make the choice to purchase ESO Plus, if what it consists of is appealing to you or not.

Cosmetic-only perks are a safe way to not go down the "pay to win" route, so those who subscribe don't have a large gameplay advantage over those who do not subscribe.

Basically, it's safe for the perks of ESO Plus to be either cosmetic or 'convenience' perks, which save time in doing things but in no means make you directly stronger than other players.

I'm not asking for a million tempering alloys. I'd be happy if they provide subs with a decent discount on their overpriced limited issue stuff or more exclusive perks. Home storage would stop me from moaning all together

CeaseSphire

There are things I won from the crates I really don't want cluttering up my collection and will never use. I feel we should all have the option to cash in anything for gems not just the consumables and duplicates. The gem exchange should be better as well. Currently, if we win something that we already have we don't even get half the gems the item is available for.

It still feels like I'm gambling, even if we are getting a little bit of something with each crate. I also feel this system distracts us from calculating the real price we are paying for these items.

Frankly, I rather just buy the items I want straight from the crown store.

KriHavok

Jimbullbee85 wrote: »

KriHavok wrote: »

Not all the perks appeal to everyone, that is correct. So you have to make the choice to purchase ESO Plus, if what it consists of is appealing to you or not.

Cosmetic-only perks are a safe way to not go down the "pay to win" route, so those who subscribe don't have a large gameplay advantage over those who do not subscribe.

Basically, it's safe for the perks of ESO Plus to be either cosmetic or 'convenience' perks, which save time in doing things but in no means make you directly stronger than other players.

I'm not asking for a million tempering alloys. I'd be happy if they provide subs with a decent discount on their overpriced limited issue stuff or more exclusive perks. Home storage would stop me from moaning all together

Unfortunately I only have 999,999 Tempering Alloys, sorry!

Having subscriber-only deals on Crown Store items sounds good. Perhaps ZOS could cycle price reductions on different items each month, or even offer their monthly limited-time item(s) for a reduced price, i.e. the Elk from this month would have a 33% discount at 3000 Crowns, instead of 4500 Crowns, but it depends on what ZOS is comfortable with giving us perks for.

And yeah, it was a bit disappointing to not get any storage with housing. They said it didn't make the cut for what housing would be in the Homestead update, however, they also said they want to continue improving housing going forward, so perhaps they may implement it in the future, especially since the community has been asking for it.

Jimbullbee85

KriHavok wrote: »

Jimbullbee85 wrote: »

KriHavok wrote: »

Not all the perks appeal to everyone, that is correct. So you have to make the choice to purchase ESO Plus, if what it consists of is appealing to you or not.

Cosmetic-only perks are a safe way to not go down the "pay to win" route, so those who subscribe don't have a large gameplay advantage over those who do not subscribe.

Basically, it's safe for the perks of ESO Plus to be either cosmetic or 'convenience' perks, which save time in doing things but in no means make you directly stronger than other players.

I'm not asking for a million tempering alloys. I'd be happy if they provide subs with a decent discount on their overpriced limited issue stuff or more exclusive perks. Home storage would stop me from moaning all together

Unfortunately I only have 999,999 Tempering Alloys, sorry!

Having subscriber-only deals on Crown Store items sounds good. Perhaps ZOS could cycle price reductions on different items each month, or even offer their monthly limited-time item(s) for a reduced price, i.e. the Elk from this month would have a 33% discount at 3000 Crowns, instead of 4500 Crowns, but it depends on what ZOS is comfortable with giving us perks for.

And yeah, it was a bit disappointing to not get any storage with housing. They said it didn't make the cut for what housing would be in the Homestead update, however, they also said they want to continue improving housing going forward, so perhaps they may implement it in the future, especially since the community has been asking for it.

Hahaha that'll do me lol. When you free to meet up at mournhold?

I'm not a greedy person and I absolutely love the game. I just don't think that subs are getting enough for their commitment and I'm not entirely convinced that ZOS appreciates that. We'll just have to see what comes up in the future I suppose.

Stopnaggin

Yeah I sub, have to fight for my crowns every month, housing without storage is kinda out there. The only benefit is the craft bag, atm it's the only reason I stay subbed. The only dlc worth keeping a sub for would be Orsinium. And if you already bought it that's out the window.

1500 crowns a month, it's ok but with prices increasing on cs stuff it's falling off a bit. Example the Halloween motif for 2200 with 52 mimic stones, this on 2000 with only 5, but yeah we added a sale on mimic stones for 1800 crowns, effectively making it 3800 crowns for the same thing. Maybe if they offered a cs discount for subs or upped the crowns, even some kind of loyalty rewards. Stay subbed for 3 months here's 1000 crowns of 30% off anything in the crown store. Just my opinion though.

Ourorboros

The craft bag is the only real perk of subscribing. The thing is, it's a very powerful motivation, and zos keeps pushing the need for the craft bag with every update. My sub lapsed just as 1T hit. I'd been on the fence about my sub, so I let it go, and used my accumulated crowns to get the very reasonable DLC pack. So the only thing I really missed was the craft bag. It's pretty tough to live without the craft bag after you've had one. My inventory quickly filled with all the new set pieces, trying to get a few good full sets. Along with three new motifs and there assorted style mats. I tried to hold only the most valuable items, but it's still a challenge. I resubbed with the New Life Festival, thankfully. My bags would have been choked with more motifs, recipes, mudballs, fire oil, throwing daggers. I'm sure part of the reason we have some many style mats that require 10 of this to make one of that is to put additional storage pressure on players, and thus drive sub sales, just to get the craft bag. Game life is so much easier with the bag.

I wouldn't say no to extra perks for subbing. But after six weeks without a craft bag, I sort of resent the way zos keeps throwing more items into the game, forcing us to either sub for the craft bag, or play an ugly game of inventory management (and I know all about that, I've been here when we had much, much less bag space).

MythicEmperor

The subscription decreases in value every time ZO$ raises the prices of their mounts.

Mojmir

Crowns are less in value as mounts become more expensive. the crafting bag is probably the main reason for subbing.

Jimbullbee85

MythicEmperor wrote: »

The subscription decreases in value every time ZO$ raises the prices of their mounts.

Yup! I love the look of that Elk mount but no way I'm paying for it at that price. Wish I could filter out players riding them. The very sight of them boils my ***! If there's a time limit there should be a discount for subs.

Kalathir

I still believe the Craft Bag should be implemented for everyone. I know people will say "But ZOS needs to make money!!!!!".
Sure. But not charging monthly for a fix to a bad gameplay mechanic. This is like paying monthly for a patch.
Others will say ¨But you can have mules and play the ¨Inventory minigame¨”. This is a game, so the main question, both the developer and the player, should ask is ¨Is it fun?”. If the answers is no, then it is a bad idea and should not be part of the game.
GW2 had craft bags since the beginning and it is still active. They can sell a thousand cosmetic items on the Store to make money, but fixes for boring gameplay mechanics should be free, otherwise they are just decreasing their player base, which does decrease the potential income of the game.

menedhyn

I've always felt a bit lukewarm about the player benefits that come with a subscription. If i'm being honest with myself, I can live without the crafting bag, despite the convenience it offers to my crafter character. I know i'm in the minority with this thought! As for experience gains, that doesn't appeal to me. I play slowly, at my own steady pace, and i'm in no rush to level up quickly. As for the 'free' crowns, i've always struggled to find things to spend them on, and some things I simply refuse to buy because I find the value to me to be poor. A pity that some of the things I do want to buy are either withdrawn or found in the crown crates, and i'm not playing that particular game.

Housing might be interesting, depending on the detail of how content will work and whether I think I can make it work with my characters. Costume dyeing is a real benefit for me, albeit I have limited costumes in my wardrobe.

I'm happy to sub to support the game, but the benefits to me, and the way I choose to play, are a bit underwhelming if truth be told. I would welcome something new or different.

Avidspark

Still feels worth it to me.

Stopnaggin

Kalathir wrote: »

I still believe the Craft Bag should be implemented for everyone. I know people will say "But ZOS needs to make money!!!!!".
Sure. But not charging monthly money for a fix to a bad gameplay mechanic-. This is like paying monthly for a patch.
Others will say ¨But you can have mules and play the ¨Inventory minigame¨”. This is a game, so the main question, both the developer and the player, should ask is ¨Is it fun?”. If the answers is no, then it is a bad idea and should not be part of the game.
GW2 has craft bags since the beginning and it is still active. They can sell a thousand cosmetic items on the Store to make money, but fixes for boring gameplay mechanics should be free, otherwise you are just decreasing you player base which does decrease the potential income of the game.

Ok then with that what is the real incentive to sub. I know myself and many others only keep our subs because of the bag itself. The crowns I get with the sub are nothing as I don't see any value in the cs anyway. Let's just say that 1 million people sub, throwing out numbers because none of us a privey to the actual numbers, 1 million subs even at a discount of 10 dollars a month, ten mil a month is no small number to be tossed out. Now I know numbers probably vary and subs on console are more because we don't get more than a 1 month option anymore. I would say 1 mil subs probably on the high side but just to keep math simple, they said they sold 7 million copies, some of those areally duplicate players but some of those also have more than 1 sub as well.

So let's cut that in half, still 5 mil a month, and the only thing they give up is a crafting bag, so with subs they are getting almost free money. There isn't anything else we get, same content, slight xp boost, not enough to notice and some extra gold. Not to mention if we unsub we lose dlc rights. So while they would probably gain a slight bump in initial revenue it wouldn't be a steady flow.

Would some still stay subbed, of course but I would bet 25% or more would probably drop it if the craft bag was available in the craft store. I know I would.

I'm not against adding space for players, I wish housing would have offered more. But like Amex membership has its privlages.

Jimbullbee85

Kalathir wrote: »

I still believe the Craft Bag should be implemented for everyone. I know people will say "But ZOS needs to make money!!!!!".
Sure. But not charging monthly for a fix to a bad gameplay mechanic. This is like paying monthly for a patch.
Others will say ¨But you can have mules and play the ¨Inventory minigame¨”. This is a game, so the main question, both the developer and the player, should ask is ¨Is it fun?”. If the answers is no, then it is a bad idea and should not be part of the game.
GW2 had craft bags since the beginning and it is still active. They can sell a thousand cosmetic items on the Store to make money, but fixes for boring gameplay mechanics should be free, otherwise they are just decreasing their player base, which does decrease the potential income of the game.

I'd agree. I think everyone should have access to things that make the game easier/convenient or its just a pay to win thing. I argued this from day one of release. Customisability and cosmetics should be the main perks of being a sub. Discounts on craft motives/mounts etc. 1500 crowns is not enough to keep up with everything that is available. I dont mind buying extra crowns but this Elk mount has really put me off. If subs are put off in buying the next best thing on sale then there's something wrong. I know many subs who love that mount but arent wiling to pay for it.

redspecter23

If it weren't for the craft bag, I'd have dropped my sub long ago. Prices in the crown store keep going up, but my monthly crowns stay the same so they are being devalued over time. I'd much rather buy them on sale with the money I would be spending on my sub but I just can't give up the bag.