ESO Microtransactions turning into Macrotransactions

Stormahawk

I noticed a trend over the last half year with microtransactions in the crown store turning into "macrotransaction." Cheaper mounts, costume packs, and pets have been cycling out of the crown store and are getting replaced with more expensive ones.

For example, in a few days we will only have two costume packs left on the store (there used to be 6 or more). Costume packs let you get 3 themed costumes for just 700 crowns. The last couple of new individual costumes have been going for 1000 crowns or more in comparison.

Guar mounts (1300 crowns) have been cycling out too. We will be losing the hist guar (1500 crowns) in a few days. There used to be four guars for 1300 crowns, now there is just one, making it the cheapest non-horse crown mount in the game. All the other exotic/special will be going for 1800 or 2500 crowns or more. It won't be long before that last guar is gone too. Recent mount releases such as that stag were priced at 4,500 crowns, much to the dissatisfaction of the community.

We also saw two hairstyles come out for a short time that went for 2,000 crowns. Typically, earlier hairstyles went for 200 to 400 crowns. Those hairstyles don't even work on all the playable races, making the price especially unattractive. At least the mounts and costumes can be used on all characters, so the price can be partially justified.

Right now there is the Dro-M'artha motif for 6,000 crowns, a price so high that you can't even buy 6,000 crowns in one transaction! I am concerned that this is a trend that will continue. It's possible that even the next set of crown crates will see an inflation in crown price, or we can see housing being upwards of 10,000 crowns or more.

If ZOS is insistent on continuing to inflate crown prices for crown store items and making them into macrotransactions, we can't do much as a community other than not use our crowns on those. I miss having the balance of microtransaction items come out on the crown store with some occasional macrotransaction items in the mix (costumes for 500-700 crowns on the lower end and Kagouti for 2,500 crowns on the higher end).

ZOS, if you are intent on continuing this trend of inflating crown store prices, at least please add an option to the store to purchase crown packs in higher bulk quantities like 7,500 and 10,000+. Having crown store items go for more than the maximum bulk amount of crowns you can purchase in one transaction is a problem. @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom if possible, please convey this concern to the sales team over at ZOS.

NewBlacksmurf

??????
Uhm no the issue is to lower the crown prices. If they want to add a ton of stuff at half the current prices people would spend the same but listing few items at higher prices and suggesting to list higher crown packs isn't logical

You're basically suggesting that they sale $80+ crown packs????

Turelus

I've seen worse. EVE Online Monocle's come time mind ($60).

At least ZOS isn't trying to convince us that it's perfectly fine because some people spend $1,000 on pants like CCP did.

Stormahawk

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

??????
Uhm no the issue is to lower the crown prices. If they want to add a ton of stuff at half the current prices people would spend the same but listing few items at higher prices and suggesting to list higher crown packs isn't logical

You're basically suggesting that they sale $80+ crown packs????

We aren't ever going to convince them to lower prices on forums, but we can at least ask for bulk discounts. What I think is currently ridiculous is having items go for more crowns than you can buy in one transaction. The best way to protest those highly priced crown store items is to not buy them at all. Having items go for more crowns than you can buy highlights the problem with the crown store price inflation.

Cadbury

You'd be surprised at the prices of some of the cash shop vanity items in Korean/Thai MMOs. Talk about sticker shock

I will say I'm glad I got the Hist Guar already. I didn't know it was being taken out.

ArcVelarian

Anyone know how to boil a frog alive? If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it'll just jump out. However, if you start out with room temperature water and then very slowly raise the temperature then the frog will just sit there.

It's kind of the same for the way they're working the cash shop.

Gorgoneus

There is always be a fanatics with excess money they want to toss into monitor.

Cadbury

ArcVelarian wrote: »

Anyone know how to boil a frog alive? If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it'll just jump out. However, if you start out with room temperature water and then very slowly raise the temperature then the frog will just sit there.

It's kind of the same for the way they're working the cash shop.

That sounds delicious.

I shouldn't have skipped breakfast.

starkerealm

Stormahawk wrote: »

For example, in a few days we will only have two costume packs left on the store (there used to be 6 or more).

Wait, which packs are getting removed? I missed this announcement.

Dawnblade

Fact is companies have realized that trying to build a game that can compete at the level of WoW or FFXIV is difficult, costly, and has a high amount of risk while appealing to a smaller group of loyal to the IP 'players' willing to drop significantly more money each month into a cash shop to rent non-playable art assets is easier, cheaper, and has much less risk.

Uriel_Nocturne

ArcVelarian wrote: »

Anyone know how to boil a frog alive? If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it'll just jump out. However, if you start out with room temperature water and then very slowly raise the temperature then the frog will just sit there.

It's kind of the same for the way they're working the cash shop.

Agreed.

ZOS even posted the 6000 Crown Motif (which is absolutely absurd in every meaning of the word) on Facebook and Twitter. While I know that those two social sites won't receive any more attention from ZOS than these Forums do (which is all but nothing...), the blow-back of negativity for this ignorantly priced motif is actually quite heated.

People are rightly pissed about this greedy listing, and I know at least on Facebook, they're letting ZOS have it in full internet form.

This is the single most ignorant thing they've done as far as the Crown Store is concerned (at least it is so far), and I have a strong suspicion that "The Lady" is behind this blatant cash-grab.

She's started a trend with the Crown Store, that is actually generating very negative opinions about ZOS. First it was the Scam Crates (never buy those rip-off boxes!), then a 4500 Crown Mount (which was ignorant in it's own right), and now a 6000 Crown Motif!? (which is about $50+ USD... for a *** MOTIF...)

ZOS, while I will never advocate firing someone, you have to do something to reign in "The Lady". Since you let her have unmitigated control of the Crown Store, the public opinion of your company keeps plummeting to more and more negative levels.

I know allowing her to make moves like this has made me rethink buying ANYTHING from the Crown Store, and my wife and I are really rethinking subbing. I know ZOS is a business, and you guys have to make money somehow, but if you price items much more reasonably, people will buy more items, which means spending more on Crowns, which means not only more money, but also a longer lifespan for the game, as you won't be chasing people away with your greed.

This needs to stop, or you will kill your own game with your omnipresent greed.

Stormahawk

I like the customization options that crown store costumes and pets/mounts (especially costumes) provide. However, it feels like there is a decrease in the quantity of new costumes/mounts added while there is an increase in price. Overall, it feels like there is an overall decline of new crown store items added while an increase in the prices.

Here is an example of the crown store showcase from April/May to now in January just to highlight the difference:

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2016/04/29/crown-store-showcase--april-29th-2016

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2016/05/27/crown-store-showcase--may-27th-2016

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2017/01/04/crown-store-showcase--january-4th-2017

Note the difference in the number of new pets/mounts/costumes. Also keep in mind that some of the ones in January are much higher in price than the ones added in April/May (the witch costume is 1,200 crowns).

starkerealm

starkerealm wrote: »

Stormahawk wrote: »

For example, in a few days we will only have two costume packs left on the store (there used to be 6 or more).

Wait, which packs are getting removed? I missed this announcement.

Oh, huh, the Nedic and Pirate costume bundles are getting rotated out.

SickDuck

Micro transactions usually found in a context where not buying them would severely impact or block you game experience. To my best knowledge ESO CS has zero items that would fall into that category. It is 'pay as you like'. As long as it remains the same I don't care how ZOS sets their pricing strategy.

Spent 25k crowns on crates (no regrets), and made the same observation as OP that there could be 1 or 2 bigger packages. For comparison Apple Store (probably Google too) in-application purchases usually top at $100 for the biggest package and people very much buying those in cr@ppy little nonsense games.

BlueViolet

I really don't understand why they must rotate things in and out. Why can't they just leave them there? Surely having a large selection will provide their players with far more to choose from, and perhaps encourage newer players to buy the older items.

Unless of course it's not about making steady sales over time, but just quick blocks of huge blatant cash grabbing, as illustrated by the ludicrous pricing of the Dro-mathra Motif.

I used to think the CS prices were quite reasonable in the beginning. Now... it just seems like someone setting prices has been bitten by the all encompassing greed bug.

Danikat

All we can realistically do is vote with our wallets. If you think something is over-priced or simply not worth buying don't get it (even with "free" subscription crowns) and let ZOS know why you made that decision.

No, one person on their own won't make a difference, but if patterns start to emerge I'm confident ZOS would react to it because it's good business sense. Selling things your customers don't want, or charging so much they choose not to buy it, ultimately leads to fewer sales and lower profits.

NewBlacksmurf

Stormahawk wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

??????
Uhm no the issue is to lower the crown prices. If they want to add a ton of stuff at half the current prices people would spend the same but listing few items at higher prices and suggesting to list higher crown packs isn't logical

You're basically suggesting that they sale $80+ crown packs????

We aren't ever going to convince them to lower prices on forums, but we can at least ask for bulk discounts. What I think is currently ridiculous is having items go for more crowns than you can buy in one transaction. The best way to protest those highly priced crown store items is to not buy them at all. Having items go for more crowns than you can buy highlights the problem with the crown store price inflation.

@Stormahawk

While I agree customers can choose not to buy, I don't agree that voicing opinions on the forums won't result in change.
You have to share how you feel if you want someone to know. Whether or not they care to change doesn't matter.

We have a platform currently to share comments so this is one way I know of that clearly communicates and if it's backed by not spending crowns or by not purchasing crowns that allows them to draw the reasons.


Offering more sales does nothing. You do understand that for each sale offered we've began to see crown prices go up AND it brought about the crown crates. That suggest people are sitting on crowns and perhaps ZOS assumed if they raise the price in the crown store as well as post limited time high crown priced items...., it'll offset the large number of crowns sitting.

The other issue is on Xbox one, they've never resolved the ESO plus crown situation so the crowns are devalued.
We end up getting 10k to 15k extra crowns at least once a year for no extra purchase


People need to voice this stuff publicly

Stormahawk

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Stormahawk wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

??????
Uhm no the issue is to lower the crown prices. If they want to add a ton of stuff at half the current prices people would spend the same but listing few items at higher prices and suggesting to list higher crown packs isn't logical

You're basically suggesting that they sale $80+ crown packs????

We aren't ever going to convince them to lower prices on forums, but we can at least ask for bulk discounts. What I think is currently ridiculous is having items go for more crowns than you can buy in one transaction. The best way to protest those highly priced crown store items is to not buy them at all. Having items go for more crowns than you can buy highlights the problem with the crown store price inflation.

@Stormahawk

While I agree customers can choose not to buy, I don't agree that voicing opinions on the forums won't result in change.
You have to share how you feel if you want someone to know. Whether or not they care to change doesn't matter.

We have a platform currently to share comments so this is one way I know of that clearly communicates and if it's backed by not spending crowns or by not purchasing crowns that allows them to draw the reasons.


Offering more sales does nothing. You do understand that for each sale offered we've began to see crown prices go up AND it brought about the crown crates. That suggest people are sitting on crowns and perhaps ZOS assumed if they raise the price in the crown store, it'll offset the large number of crowns sitting.

The other issue is on Xbox one, they've never resolved the ESO plus crown situation so the crowns are devalued.
We end up getting 10k to 15k extra crowns at least once a year for no extra purchase


People need to voice this stuff publicly

I think forums are a perfectly valid place to voice these opinions, and I think we should continue to voice those concerns. However, I see a lot of forum posts that go like "ZOS is greedy and sucks, crown store sucks," which ZOS may overlook due to their inflammatory nature.

As I said, I think the best way to protest these highly inflated crown store items is to not buy them at all. By pointing out that they need to increase the amount of crowns you can purchase in bulk just to keep up with new prices of a single item, I am highlighting the problem with how out of hand the trend of crown store price inflation has gotten. It has reached a point where the price of a crown store items exceeds the amount of crowns you can purchase.

I still think they should add more crown store packages since they added more items to the crown store overall (hair style packages, personalities, DLCs, crown crates). And once again, having crown store items go for more than the maximum bulk amount of crowns you can purchase in one transaction is a problem.

I am unaware of the Xbox One issue. If Xbox One players are getting bonus crowns for free, maybe they should have separate crown store pricing for them. I don't play ESO on Xbox so I can't comment on it much.

JKorr

BlueViolet wrote: »

I really don't understand why they must rotate things in and out. Why can't they just leave them there? Surely having a large selection will provide their players with far more to choose from, and perhaps encourage newer players to buy the older items.

Unless of course it's not about making steady sales over time, but just quick blocks of huge blatant cash grabbing, as illustrated by the ludicrous pricing of the Dro-mathra Motif.

I used to think the CS prices were quite reasonable in the beginning. Now... it just seems like someone setting prices has been bitten by the all encompassing greed bug.

Not necessarily "someone". They hired one person with a background in doing exactly this; monetizing everything as much as possible. Many people here feared this is exactly what would happen. Not really surprising that they were not wrong; past events/past history of other games is there.

SolarCat02

To put this price in perspective, for the cost of this motif, I could pay my water bill for two full months. Or 1/3 of my electric bill.


Regarding the "Xbox Crown Issue":

Xbox One, because they don't always give the Crowns with the ESO+ as promised, people end up short Crowns. IF they complain, and IF the Crowns are eventually given, sometimes a few extra are thrown in as an apology.
Then a month ago they claimed the issue was fixed, and sent out Crowns to those who were impacted by the bug. Except the issue isn't fixed, some of the people who got the Crowns had already received them via tickets, and some accounts were incorrectly credited Crowns even though they had never purchased ESO+, because everything about this game is buggy. Also, many of the people who should have received Crowns did not get them.
So I would not say they are devalued! I don't know anyone personally who was impacted by this, whereas I know several people who never received Crowns from their subscription, and others who separately purchased Crowns that never arrived. Crowns are buggy as all getout on Xbox, just like everything else in this game on Xbox.

Elwendryll

Well, I didn't read all this thread in fact. But, why are you complaining about a commercial company trying to make money by selling pure cosmetics?
I agree with the OP about the fact they could increase the amount of crown in a single pack to match this prices, but that's all. In my opinion, no one could say they're making stupid decisions about their store, as they are made by professional commercials. This prices seems too high for you, and you're frustrated because you can't reasonably buy it, so in your opinion ZOS is a big bad capitalist company, but you know what? If you don't buy it, other people will. I played other games where people were spending thousands of dollars a month to stay competitive. In my opinion, Eso shop is one of the less game impacting shops I've ever seen, behind the MOBA's shops.

I'm not talking to someone in particular, I didn't read all the thread, it's my answer to all the crown store complaining threads. So, my post is aimed at you only if you feel concerned about what I'm saying.

Elsonso

Turelus wrote: »

I've seen worse. EVE Online Monocle's come time mind ($60).

Honestly, I am not all that interested in ESO being "better than the worst". Whenever I see someone say that Game X is worse, I cringe on the inside. Game ESO is "bad" for doing something, whether or not Game X is better or worse than Game ESO.

Stormahawk wrote: »

For example, in a few days we will only have two costume packs left on the store (there used to be 6 or more). Costume packs let you get 3 themed costumes for just 700 crowns. The last couple of new individual costumes have been going for 1000 crowns or more in comparison.

Guar mounts (1300 crowns) have been cycling out too. We will be losing the hist guar (1500 crowns) in a few days. There used to be four guars for 1300 crowns, now there is just one, making it the cheapest non-horse crown mount in the game. All the other exotic/special will be going for 1800 or 2500 crowns or more. It won't be long before that last guar is gone too. Recent mount releases such as that stag were priced at 4,500 crowns, much to the dissatisfaction of the community.

We also saw two hairstyles come out for a short time that went for 2,000 crowns. Typically, earlier hairstyles went for 200 to 400 crowns. Those hairstyles don't even work on all the playable races, making the price especially unattractive. At least the mounts and costumes can be used on all characters, so the price can be partially justified.

Right now there is the Dro-M'artha motif for 6,000 crowns, a price so high that you can't even buy 6,000 crowns in one transaction! I am concerned that this is a trend that will continue. It's possible that even the next set of crown crates will see an inflation in crown price, or we can see housing being upwards of 10,000 crowns or more.

When they started, there was no in-house "expert" in cash stores. They have had time to get one, and they have been educated on all the things they did wrong at the start. Conveniently priced costume packs, being one of them.

I like those conveniently priced costume packs. Same with other packs. I am more likely to drop Crown on one of those than individual items selling for more.

My base price for a costume is 700 Crowns. These three packs usually only have one costume that I am interested in, and ever wear, and that is the one I am spending the 700 Crowns on. Given that the quality of the costume is not reflected in the price of the costume, I rarely find the expensive costumes to be worth it.

Thealteregoroman

Stormahawk wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

??????
Uhm no the issue is to lower the crown prices. If they want to add a ton of stuff at half the current prices people would spend the same but listing few items at higher prices and suggesting to list higher crown packs isn't logical

You're basically suggesting that they sale $80+ crown packs????

We aren't ever going to convince them to lower prices on forums, but we can at least ask for bulk discounts. What I think is currently ridiculous is having items go for more crowns than you can buy in one transaction. The best way to protest those highly priced crown store items is to not buy them at all. Having items go for more crowns than you can buy highlights the problem with the crown store price inflation.

How can we do that when the people on the forums represents a small fraction of the player base? Without any numbers on our end to know anything people are gonna buy it. I completely understand what you are saying but I guess we will wait to see what the road ahead or what ESO live today is going to be about. I remember costumes being like 700 crowns and mounts as well............

But saying not to buy them wont work. Someone is going to have to make a campaign and someone connect to ESO players about it, but even THAT would be a up hill battle. I enjoy the game, however I would rather everyone stay on a subscription plan.......so that the crown store would be so expensive.

alexkdd99

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

??????
Uhm no the issue is to lower the crown prices. If they want to add a ton of stuff at half the current prices people would spend the same but listing few items at higher prices and suggesting to list higher crown packs isn't logical

You're basically suggesting that they sale $80+ crown packs????

I would say they do research and are making more money with the current model. After all it would be illogical to go with a model that nets a lower profit. So to say what they are doing is illogical is just speculation. We don't know how many of each thing they sale.

But I would guess that they are making more money with this trend or they wouldn't continue doing it.

Rouven

ArcVelarian wrote: »

Anyone know how to boil a frog alive? If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it'll just jump out. However, if you start out with room temperature water and then very slowly raise the temperature then the frog will just sit there.

It's kind of the same for the way they're working the cash shop.

It sure feels like some social experiment sometimes. Definitely a lot of headology involved.

corrosivechains

this thread kinda says it all. If they're releasing motifs and mounts for $45-60, how much do you think future DLC releases that actually add to the game will cost? Even at $45-60, it is unreasonable to expect your customers to pay that for quality of DLC they've already released...those are full release new game prices, not a zone with 15 quests, 4 delves, and a dungeon.

ZoS really needs to reign in whoever is determining prices in their crown store because whoever it is has a serious disconnect from reality as to what is affordable for the average minimum wage gamer. Not all of us grew up with daddy's platinum status credit card.

srfrogg23

Stormahawk wrote: »

I noticed a trend over the last half year with microtransactions in the crown store turning into "macrotransaction." Cheaper mounts, costume packs, and pets have been cycling out of the crown store and are getting replaced with more expensive ones.

For example, in a few days we will only have two costume packs left on the store (there used to be 6 or more). Costume packs let you get 3 themed costumes for just 700 crowns. The last couple of new individual costumes have been going for 1000 crowns or more in comparison.

Guar mounts (1300 crowns) have been cycling out too. We will be losing the hist guar (1500 crowns) in a few days. There used to be four guars for 1300 crowns, now there is just one, making it the cheapest non-horse crown mount in the game. All the other exotic/special will be going for 1800 or 2500 crowns or more. It won't be long before that last guar is gone too. Recent mount releases such as that stag were priced at 4,500 crowns, much to the dissatisfaction of the community.

We also saw two hairstyles come out for a short time that went for 2,000 crowns. Typically, earlier hairstyles went for 200 to 400 crowns. Those hairstyles don't even work on all the playable races, making the price especially unattractive. At least the mounts and costumes can be used on all characters, so the price can be partially justified.

Right now there is the Dro-M'artha motif for 6,000 crowns, a price so high that you can't even buy 6,000 crowns in one transaction! I am concerned that this is a trend that will continue. It's possible that even the next set of crown crates will see an inflation in crown price, or we can see housing being upwards of 10,000 crowns or more.

If ZOS is insistent on continuing to inflate crown prices for crown store items and making them into macrotransactions, we can't do much as a community other than not use our crowns on those. I miss having the balance of microtransaction items come out on the crown store with some occasional macrotransaction items in the mix (costumes for 500-700 crowns on the lower end and Kagouti for 2,500 crowns on the higher end).

ZOS, if you are intent on continuing this trend of inflating crown store prices, at least please add an option to the store to purchase crown packs in higher bulk quantities like 7,500 and 10,000+. Having crown store items go for more than the maximum bulk amount of crowns you can purchase in one transaction is a problem. @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom if possible, please convey this concern to the sales team over at ZOS.

Yep. The prices have gotten a bit ridiculous.

These things usually work themselves out organically though. As prices continue to rise, fewer people will purchase the stuff. The price might balance out the lack of sales for a while, but eventually it will tip the scale towards a loss.

When the cost exceeds the income they'll be forced to revise their strategy.

Or... I could be completely off base and enough people will continue to shell out $50 for motifs and mounts that the direction of the cash shop will be completely justified from an accounting perspective.

Personally I would have recommended that Zos stick with large numbers of low priced items to offset development costs through volume of sales, but que sera.

scorpiodog

Like all businesses, they are trying to establish their price points.

A price point is basically the amount customers are willing to pay. Every product everywhere has a price point.

So long as some customers are willing to pay the price point for a given item, some items will show up at that price.

If a certain larger amount of customers are willing to pay that price point, they will release another item at a higher price.

That is why you see $500 sunglasses and $15,000 handbags in some stores.

As long as there is a sucker born every minute, this will be how capitalism and a free market works.

I personally only buy DLC's from the crown store so if I ever stop my subscription I will still have them. In this way I am also "voting" with my dollars on the future of the game. (Oh, I also bought the Wolf Mount).

The only thing you can really do is "vote" with your dollars. Or maybe shame people in game if you really feel strongly, lol.

Saucy_Jack

My perspective is this: out of all the resources I have, the most valuable is my *time*. Not money; I can always go out and earn more; but I only have a set amount of time on this earth, future discoveries regarding nanomedical and consciousness-download technologies notwithstanding.

So then I look at a 6000-crown item in the store and I think to myself, "ok, that's about $50. What are other things I could spend $50 on? Going out for a decent dinner with my wife, a new game for a console or on Steam, etc. etc."

And then I think, "ok, which one of these things is going to give me the most enjoyment for the time that I use it?"

HINT: being able to craft Dro stuff, or wearing any of the outfits in the crown store, or frankly anything from the crown store, is never the answer to that second question.