Morrowind physical CE: wasted money

nhanschkeb16_ESO

When the images first came out for the physical CE for Morrowind I was so excited and immediately reserved my own copy. When I saw that it arrived a day early (thank you Amazon), it felt like Christmas in June. I've been playing everyday of Morrowind early access. My Warden is at max level, Vvardenfell has been wandered to death, I'm taking my time with the storylines because they are great and I don't want to rush them, and my main home is slowly being taken over by Dwemer furnishings. My point is that I bought in hard to this Morrowind chapter. Call it nostalgia, call it hype, either way, ES3: Morrowind is how I got into the Elder Scrolls, and I'm glad to be back. Unfortunately, a lot of my hype and enthusiasm for Morrowind, and ESO on the whole (I've been with this game since a late beta) disappeared when I opened up the Morrowind CE..

Advertised vs Reality: https://imgur.com/gallery/aocRh

The first glaring issue is the size of the map. Bethesda/ZOS, part of the reason I bought the CE is for that map so I could frame it and have a decent sized map of Vvardenfell on my wall. Statue is 12" tall, so the map should be at least 36" wide. Sadly, the map in reality is closer to 16" wide (forgot to measure). Why was there the need for this deception? Was printing a map at the size in the picture that much more expensive? Had I known the map was not the size as advertised, I would've hesitated when pre-ordered my CE.

Let's break for a little positivity: the book is actually nice. I haven't read much of the journal, but it's nicely done and is as advertised.

Ok, second (small) issue is the lack of crowns in the CE. I just spent $130 (eh!? dollars) on this CE, because there was no option for those that already owned game, and no crowns come with it. $100 for a 6 month membership gets you a bunch of crowns, but $130 for a CE gets me nothing? I get it Bethesda/ZOS, you need to make money, but this feels like a huge insult to those who have already given you their money, and who have continuously done so. Are you so greedy as a company now that you can't give people a financial break? Or are you guys losing that much money on this game that you need to maximize your profits in these ways?

The last thing I have an issue with is the statue. As has been mentioned on /r/elderscrollsonline (here's one example https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/6fr06r/youre_lucky_if_all_you_got_was_a_broken_leg_i_got), the statues were poorly packaged, and seem to break very easily. I was fortunate to have mine come in one piece, but overall, it's poorly crafted. I'm ok with it, I mean I have to be now, but it feels like a big piece of cheap plastic that was made in China, well, because that's what it is. What looks to be a shiny metallic statue in the pictures, is, in reality a dull piece of plastic. Had I known, I wouldn't have bought the CE.

Dont get me wrong, I love this game. It's the only one I'm playing, and my yearly gaming budget goes into it. This year I'm actually going over that budget just for the Morrowind CE. I'm so disappointed in it though. The quality isn't there. Ultimately, it feels like Bethesda/ZOS used this release as an opportunity to capitalize on the nostalgia and memories that people have of Morrowind, and the Elder Scrolls franchise as a whole.

You'll still get my money. I'll keep playing this game, and other Elder Scrolls titles as well. That's the problem though; Elder Scrolls is a universe unto it's self. One who's lore I love, and who's stories intrigue me. It's akin to the universes of Star Wars, LotR, Asoiaf, etc.. They won't die any time soon, and they have a fan base that will follow them forever. Bethesda and Zos, you have a goose that's laying golden eggs. This time though, I really feel taken advantage of. You advertised a golden egg, but sold me a cheap plastic knock-off made in China. I expected better from you. I expected you to do right by your fan base. I wish I could return my CE..

Oh well, thought I'd say something. Hopefully enough of these posts will make them wake-up. Sadly, it's too late for that.

KochDerDamonen

Your picture also makes it look like they undersold the size of the statue, heh. Well, I mean if we only had the picture to go by.


If there was a special edition that just came in the metal case (Or that + an actually nice map printed on some cloth or something) I would have been very happy with it. I do like having artbooks, even if this one feels skimpy on things we haven't seen and more tapestries of things we have. Feels like the book was where most of the value is. The statue is... something I would sell, or pass to a friend. Not much of a big-things-on-shelf kind of person. The map is flatly sad, I could have made that for myself given the image printed on it.

Where is my dumb little lugia statue hiding...

(Though I will say, as the owner of numerous "collector's editions", they are all distinctly wastes of money. I mean really, no matter how much I like the artbook and little bauble they come with, they all end up sitting on a shelf after I look at them.)

LorenzoSober

My store actually threw in 3000 crowns upon pre ordering a CE pretty cool stuff.

animositysominab16_ESO

Well... same here.
As I opened the CE today when it finally arrived... well, i was pretty disappointed by the map!

The CE was my birthday gift... As op posted in his picture, the real "map" has not the slightest resemblance withe the advertised one. For me it's on the edge of fraud, at least it's very misleading.

Don't get me wrong here, too. I love the game, the artbook is great and the metal-box is cool as well.
But, for people who support the game that mhuch by buying the CE, the qality could be definetley better.

Hope, Zenimax recognizes that too.

I think next time, I just buy the Artbook on ebay, like I did with the Imperial one.

(Sorry for my englisch, not my native language)

Cheers

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

I agree that what was advertised does not match what you actually got. Well, at least you got yours. I pre-ordered through Amazon and have yet to get a shipping notice.

NewBlacksmurf

Looks like what they advertised....never understood why people ordered physical collectors editions. The in game digital stuff I get....I often do the same but yeah, your reaction now was my initial reaction less actually touching it

Roovin

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

jmacclureb14_ESO

I thought it was worth it, but I did get it for 20% off from Amazon, plus I got an additional 5% in rewards from using my card. But I do agree that physical collectors editions for games have gone way downhill over the past 10 years or so. I think the book is really cool, and the statue looks neat. You know it's not metal but your friends won't unless they touch it. I was hoping for a pewter statue, but oh well.

Tandor

No complaints here, it's all better than I was expecting - especially the journal - and the statue was securely packed and intact. Plus Game had knocked £30 off the price !

SchizoidMetal

GOTEM!

Seraphayel

The map is crap but the Colossus is amazing (and so is the diary). It's bigger than I thought (it's like twice the size of Molag Bal from the Classic CE when we take the "material used" as a measurement - okay, Molag Bal has a better material quality but still).

Sotihe

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

Linaleah

Tandor wrote: »

No complaints here, it's all better than I was expecting - especially the journal - and the statue was securely packed and intact. Plus Game had knocked £30 off the price !

same, well except for the discount. i got mine from amazon, with prime discount so it was more like $80. I'm very happy with my purchase, its better looking then I have expected, especially the book. Colossus aptly towers over my Alloy statue and is almost as detailed. I actualy forgot all about the map (mostly wanted statue and book), so it was a nice surprise, and I love the art of it.

Tandor

Sotihe wrote: »

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

The map is 20" by 15" and pretty standard for such things in my view.

In order to get the OP's picture in perspective, the overall box is roughly 13" by 8" by 15.5" high inside a sleeve.

Mitoice

wow.. the map is waaayyy smaller than advertised.... i hate it when they do this... deception at its fullest... thanks for sharing... next time they advertise something like this.. i wont believe them

Mitoice

Sotihe wrote: »

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

dont know if they send the measurements... but looking a the picture comparison.. its pretty obvious its done with photoshop and not the actual item you are receiving...

nhanschkeb16_ESO

KochDerDamonen wrote: »

(Though I will say, as the owner of numerous "collector's editions", they are all distinctly wastes of money. I mean really, no matter how much I like the artbook and little bauble they come with, they all end up sitting on a shelf after I look at them.)

Haha, they really are, which is why this is only the 2nd CE I've ever purchased, and the first statue I own. Now where's my GTA IV lockbox to store my tiny map..

DMuehlhausen

nhanschkeb16_ESO wrote: »

When the images first came out for the physical CE for Morrowind I was so excited and immediately reserved my own copy. When I saw that it arrived a day early (thank you Amazon), it felt like Christmas in June. I've been playing everyday of Morrowind early access. My Warden is at max level, Vvardenfell has been wandered to death, I'm taking my time with the storylines because they are great and I don't want to rush them, and my main home is slowly being taken over by Dwemer furnishings. My point is that I bought in hard to this Morrowind chapter. Call it nostalgia, call it hype, either way, ES3: Morrowind is how I got into the Elder Scrolls, and I'm glad to be back. Unfortunately, a lot of my hype and enthusiasm for Morrowind, and ESO on the whole (I've been with this game since a late beta) disappeared when I opened up the Morrowind CE..

Advertised vs Reality: https://imgur.com/gallery/aocRh

The first glaring issue is the size of the map. Bethesda/ZOS, part of the reason I bought the CE is for that map so I could frame it and have a decent sized map of Vvardenfell on my wall. Statue is 12" tall, so the map should be at least 36" wide. Sadly, the map in reality is closer to 16" wide (forgot to measure). Why was there the need for this deception? Was printing a map at the size in the picture that much more expensive? Had I known the map was not the size as advertised, I would've hesitated when pre-ordered my CE.

Let's break for a little positivity: the book is actually nice. I haven't read much of the journal, but it's nicely done and is as advertised.

Ok, second (small) issue is the lack of crowns in the CE. I just spent $130 (eh!? dollars) on this CE, because there was no option for those that already owned game, and no crowns come with it. $100 for a 6 month membership gets you a bunch of crowns, but $130 for a CE gets me nothing? I get it Bethesda/ZOS, you need to make money, but this feels like a huge insult to those who have already given you their money, and who have continuously done so. Are you so greedy as a company now that you can't give people a financial break? Or are you guys losing that much money on this game that you need to maximize your profits in these ways?

The last thing I have an issue with is the statue. As has been mentioned on /r/elderscrollsonline (here's one example https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/6fr06r/youre_lucky_if_all_you_got_was_a_broken_leg_i_got), the statues were poorly packaged, and seem to break very easily. I was fortunate to have mine come in one piece, but overall, it's poorly crafted. I'm ok with it, I mean I have to be now, but it feels like a big piece of cheap plastic that was made in China, well, because that's what it is. What looks to be a shiny metallic statue in the pictures, is, in reality a dull piece of plastic. Had I known, I wouldn't have bought the CE.

Dont get me wrong, I love this game. It's the only one I'm playing, and my yearly gaming budget goes into it. This year I'm actually going over that budget just for the Morrowind CE. I'm so disappointed in it though. The quality isn't there. Ultimately, it feels like Bethesda/ZOS used this release as an opportunity to capitalize on the nostalgia and memories that people have of Morrowind, and the Elder Scrolls franchise as a whole.

You'll still get my money. I'll keep playing this game, and other Elder Scrolls titles as well. That's the problem though; Elder Scrolls is a universe unto it's self. One who's lore I love, and who's stories intrigue me. It's akin to the universes of Star Wars, LotR, Asoiaf, etc.. They won't die any time soon, and they have a fan base that will follow them forever. Bethesda and Zos, you have a goose that's laying golden eggs. This time though, I really feel taken advantage of. You advertised a golden egg, but sold me a cheap plastic knock-off made in China. I expected better from you. I expected you to do right by your fan base. I wish I could return my CE..

Oh well, thought I'd say something. Hopefully enough of these posts will make them wake-up. Sadly, it's too late for that.

Don't know what you're talking about it. I got the game for free. The statue was worth the 99$ for me.

nhanschkeb16_ESO

LorenzoSober wrote: »

My store actually threw in 3000 crowns upon pre ordering a CE pretty cool stuff.

Wow! That's amazing! What store did you get your CE from?

nhanschkeb16_ESO

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

I agree that what was advertised does not match what you actually got. Well, at least you got yours. I pre-ordered through Amazon and have yet to get a shipping notice.

I'm sorry to hear that.. I hope you don't lose access to Morrowind because of this delay.

nhanschkeb16_ESO

Sotihe wrote: »

dont know if they send the measurements... but looking a the picture comparison.. its pretty obvious its done with photoshop and not the actual item you are receiving...

Ya, I noticed that as well, but chalked it up to them having only individual images of the items. No more benefit of the doubt.

nhanschkeb16_ESO

DMuehlhausen wrote: »

Don't know what you're talking about it. I got the game for free. The statue was worth the 99$ for me.

I'm sincerely happy for you. I really wish I could feel that way.

Morimizo

Tandor wrote: »

Sotihe wrote: »

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

The map is 20" by 15" and pretty standard for such things in my view.

In order to get the OP's picture in perspective, the overall box is roughly 13" by 8" by 15.5" high inside a sleeve.

The original TES3: Morrowind map is 18" wide by 21" tall, just for comparison.

nhanschkeb16_ESO

Morimizo wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Sotihe wrote: »

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

The map is 20" by 15" and pretty standard for such things in my view.

In order to get the OP's picture in perspective, the overall box is roughly 13" by 8" by 15.5" high inside a sleeve.

The original TES3: Morrowind map is 18" wide by 21" tall, just for comparison.

Thank you for sharing that! I have that game stored away at my parents and couldn't remember how big the map was.

Morimizo

nhanschkeb16_ESO wrote: »

Morimizo wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Sotihe wrote: »

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

The map is 20" by 15" and pretty standard for such things in my view.

In order to get the OP's picture in perspective, the overall box is roughly 13" by 8" by 15.5" high inside a sleeve.

The original TES3: Morrowind map is 18" wide by 21" tall, just for comparison.

Thank you for sharing that! I have that game stored away at my parents and couldn't remember how big the map was.

Yw! I confess it still is on the wall, laminated for lasting glory...still one of my favorite game maps of all time.

Blacknight841

Just so the gravity of the poor packaging doesn't go underplayed. Mine also has a broken leg. Had i not bought the digital upgrade as well, so i can play the game right at launch, i would have been out of luck in playing it at launch. Definitely a disappointment.

And yes i would also consider the map under false/misleading advertisement, as it is no where near the size displayed on the promotion

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AoEAeG1-t2J6gTISrprwAvbenT5n

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AoEAeG1-t2J6gTHrdfvuHdXzl40l

nhanschkeb16_ESO

Blacknight841 wrote: »

And yes i would also consider the map under false/misleading advertisement, as it is no where near the size displayed on the promotion

Further to this, I saw a post on /r/elderscrollsonline today saying the map was originally supposed to be cloth. Every official source now says paper map but I found a couple copied posts from the original CE announcement saying cloth

http://houseravnore.enjin.com/mobile/forum/viewthread/m/32483600/id/29527899-eso-morrowind-dlc

http://www.ps4blog.net/2017/02/the-elder-scrolls-online-morrowind-out-on-june-6/

With the misleading size and the unannounced change from cloth to paper, this is definitely misleading.

@ZOS_GinaBruno Was it ever announced that the map would be paper instead of cloth? If so, where's this post?

Balamoor

In every situation like this some are going to be happy some not so much, from what I have seen I am perfectly happy with the CE.

No opinion is worth more than another.

Rouven

The little paper map was disappointing (the print itself is nice). I seem to remember talk about cloth as well, but it's been a while.

The book blew me away, the faux leather - nice binding and not some cheap glue job where you will lose the pages eventually. This alone totally worth it for me.

I had a little knick as well on the statue, the comb on his head broke half off - funny that I was not able to find all of the broken pieces in the box, regardless I like it better that way actually and will fix that. I like the quality of the statue, it's better then what I expected for this price point.

Tandor

Morimizo wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Sotihe wrote: »

Roovin wrote: »

They clearly stated what you were getting. There is no deception at all.

did they clearly state the size of the map? if not and all they provided was a picture then yes they mislead people because the map on the picture is way bigger than they one they send.

The map is 20" by 15" and pretty standard for such things in my view.

In order to get the OP's picture in perspective, the overall box is roughly 13" by 8" by 15.5" high inside a sleeve.

The original TES3: Morrowind map is 18" wide by 21" tall, just for comparison.

The hugely detailed map that comes with the ESO Morrowind hardback guide is about 27" by 27".

strikeback1247

Bamboozled again.