Crown crates = stopped recommending ESO to friends

ChaosWotan

Have always recommended ESO to friends and acquaintances, but don't do it anymore, because when new players see all the cool gear and mounts they will get disappointed when hearing that these items are from the crown crates and are therefore either not available anymore or they cost like 100 dollars for a regular apex mount or perhaps 200 dollars for an "extremely rare" apex mount.

When introducing ESO to new people now, I start by telling them that one single mount can cost 100-200 dollars. At that point they just laugh.

Btw, in earlier threads I have defended the crown crates, and I used to be a "whale" myself in the CS, because I was naive enough to think that more money to ESO would result in better DLCs, but after seeing that 1) quarterly DLCs are too small, 2) the greedy ones have now introduced "extremely rare" apex mounts, not available through gem transactions, and 3) Cyrodiil still lacks new content since 2014, even an ESO addict like me must admit that the game isn't worth it.

Fodore

Oh right ok, thanks for sharing I suppose

MLGProPlayer

I've never bought a single loot box in any game I play, and they are in almost every game I play. Guess what, that decision didn't affect my gameplay in any way. These are cosmetic items. Who gives a *** if someone else has them? Play the game as if those items aren't available to you (and they aren't, if you choose not to buy them). There are plenty of cool things you can unlock in game or for straight cash purchases.

Grabmoore

Meanwhile here I am, 5000+ ingame hours and much to do, without having purchased a single Crown Crate.

Iccotak

I can understand where you are coming from.
It is unfortunate but the simple truth is that ESO has to make up for loss in profit from required subscription.
WoW can put out tons of content because of the consistent income from required subscription. Each update on their own brings a whole lot of content to the table. Each expansion literally changes (for the most part) what is going on in all the zones.
When ESO had required subscription they were able to bring Craglorn to the game.
But now ESO has to make money in other ways. This means most cosmetics are going to be in the Crown store. This means that they have to monetize other things.
I do not support loot boxes because that is pretty much wasting $$ on random stuff with results you can't know.
BUT these Lootboxes are Not tied to character/game progression. (like Battlefront II) Meaning that the only incentive is that they are cooler things in the game. That being said there should be parental controls on accounts that have underage players on them. This way to prevent kids from making transactions without parents knowing.
Personally I do not care for alot of the apex mount rewards, I think they look silly.

Iccotak

also are you telling them that all the mounts cost up to $100-$200? Because that is simply not true

Slick_007

ChaosWotan wrote: »

When introducing ESO to new people now, I start by telling them that one single mount can cost 100-200 dollars. At that point they just laugh.

why are you still playing if you go to this length to stop your friends playing? do you also tell them they could get it for 400 crowns, which is what, $5? or do you choose to deliberately mislead your friends by only giving them select parts of the story?

who doesnt want their friends to play the same game with them? nobody. so that means your story is fake in some way. either you dont do this, or you dont have friends.

DieAlteHexe

I prefer to let my friends make their own decisions and respect that I will make mine. I'm their friend, not their mommy or daddy.

ChaosWotan

Slick_007

When I wrote that I'm an ESO addict, you should have been able to deduce that I tell people about the pros and cons of the game, but can't generally recommend a rpg game when many of the coolest items have to be bought, at an insane prize, and not earned as achievements in the game.

One can say much about capitalism, but one of the advantages of this system is that companies care about their reputation and (often) change strategy when noticing that they are losing a significant amount of customers.

The game will suffer if not more players are protesting when ESO is going down a path that is laughable - to the point of becoming speechless when seeing that the annual cost of cosmetic items can now be equally expensive as a pretty decent hardware upgrade, like a new CPU or GPU.

People are different, so if a person just wants some casual free to play rpg, then ESO is still a great game obviously, but in it's current state today I don't generally recommend ESO to anybody who are looking for an addictive rpg, because it costs too much.

R4TTIUS

I'm still rocking the piebald

supaskrub

Slick_007 wrote: »

ChaosWotan wrote: »

When introducing ESO to new people now, I start by telling them that one single mount can cost 100-200 dollars. At that point they just laugh.

why are you still playing if you go to this length to stop your friends playing? do you also tell them they could get it for 400 crowns, which is what, $5? or do you choose to deliberately mislead your friends by only giving them select parts of the story?

who doesnt want their friends to play the same game with them? nobody. so that means your story is fake in some way. either you dont do this, or you dont have friends.

I think you are confusing Crowns with Gems... it takes a heck of a lot of Crown Store repeats to make up 400 gems... that in itself is probably well in excess of a $200 initial spend...

Jade1986

Even though I love the game, I fell in love withit before scam crates became their primary focus. When dlc and content was their primary focus. Which is when we got jewels like wrothgar. Ever since then the dlcs have suffered tremendously becaus ethey spend SO much time hyper focusing their greed into scam crates. I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to people now a days. Nope.

Jade1986

R4TTIUS wrote: »

I'm still rocking the piebald

I spent my monthly crowns on a bear once, and the leapard senche, that is it tho, lol.

Biro123

I simply don't understand people who just 'must' have cosmetic stuff.

I equally don't understand people who also think that cosmetic items is what differentiates casual and addictive gameplay...

I always thought it was the gameplay that did that

Much as I don't like saying stuff like this, but perhaps the OP could look at their priorities in terms of what they really enjoy in a game..

Jade1986

Biro123 wrote: »

I simply don't understand people who just 'must' have cosmetic stuff.

I equally don't understand people who also think that cosmetic items is what differentiates casual and addictive gameplay...

I always thought it was the gameplay that did that

Much as I don't like saying stuff like this, but perhaps the OP could look at their priorities in terms of what they really enjoy in a game..

Its a mmoRPG. Some of us like role playing. There are nice motifs out there, but as for clothing? Yeah, forget it. So they took a lot of the rpg outfits and put them behind a paywall. Which is just dumb. It wouldnt be so bad if you could get some good costumes , but the ones in game are no where near the quality of some of the crown clothing outfits.

Biro123

Just roleplay someone who can't afford that stuff ?

I think there's plenty of great looking gear in the base game. But seriously,

I think that if they have to put something behind the paywall, its better to be cosmetic than p2w

I think that the simple ESO+ would give enough crowns to buy the crown store gear at a reasonable rate... If that's your spending priority.

I don't like the whole concept of loot boxes. At all. I'm just happy that not having them doesn't impact my ability to play through the content/PvP on a level playing field.

TequilaFire

These crown crate threads are getting old as ESO is not unique among MMOs in using crates or boxes purchased with some form of currency purchased with real cash. Not saying it is right but buying them is optional.
On the subject of mounts I am still riding my free striped senche tiger given to me by ZOS.
But I am sure you forgot to mention to your friends that ZOS gives out free stuff from time to time as well.

Jade1986

Biro123 wrote: »

Just roleplay someone who can't afford that stuff ?

I think there's plenty of great looking gear in the base game.

I think that if they have to put something behind the paywall, its better to be cosmetic than p2w

I think that the simple ESO+ would give enough crowns to but the crown store gear at a reasonable rate... If that's your spending priority.

I don't like the whole concept of loot boxes. At all. I'm just happy that not having them doesn't impact my ability to play through the content/PvP on a level playing field.

Thats what I do. Spend my crowns each month on those things. However, it would be nice if we had a single good clothing outfit in the base game. As of now , I dont think there is a single one. There is a lot of HA, a lot of medium armor, some light armor, but no clothing.

Anyway that isnt my major grip. My gripe is with crown crates and how much effort they put into them, and how little they put into dlc lately.

ChaosWotan

Biro_123

Obviously, storyline, cool maps, and game play is the essence, but when a new player enters the large towns for the first time, he or she will see all the cool cosmetic items and think: "Wow, cool! I want to play this game in order to get all this amazing gear and awesome mounts". Only to discover that much of it is no longer available, and the new stuff can cost up to 200 dollars. That is when any reasonable person will start to feel that ESO is not a game you want to get attached to, unless you are rich and don't have to care about money, or don't care much about the rpg aspect in the first place.

Elsonso

I have not recommended ESO to someone since 2015.

supaskrub wrote: »

Slick_007 wrote: »

ChaosWotan wrote: »

When introducing ESO to new people now, I start by telling them that one single mount can cost 100-200 dollars. At that point they just laugh.

why are you still playing if you go to this length to stop your friends playing? do you also tell them they could get it for 400 crowns, which is what, $5? or do you choose to deliberately mislead your friends by only giving them select parts of the story?

who doesnt want their friends to play the same game with them? nobody. so that means your story is fake in some way. either you dont do this, or you dont have friends.

I think you are confusing Crowns with Gems... it takes a heck of a lot of Crown Store repeats to make up 400 gems... that in itself is probably well in excess of a $200 initial spend...

He might be, but his point stands. There are two horses in the Crown Store for 900 Crown each. Saying that "one single mount" can cost $100 - $200 without mentioning that a mount can be obtained in the game for "free" or purchased from the Crown Store for $9, is deceptive.

DieAlteHexe

Jade1986 wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Just roleplay someone who can't afford that stuff ?

I think there's plenty of great looking gear in the base game.

I think that if they have to put something behind the paywall, its better to be cosmetic than p2w

I think that the simple ESO+ would give enough crowns to but the crown store gear at a reasonable rate... If that's your spending priority.

I don't like the whole concept of loot boxes. At all. I'm just happy that not having them doesn't impact my ability to play through the content/PvP on a level playing field.

Thats what I do. Spend my crowns each month on those things. However, it would be nice if we had a single good clothing outfit in the base game. As of now , I dont think there is a single one. There is a lot of HA, a lot of medium armor, some light armor, but no clothing.

Anyway that isnt my major grip. My gripe is with crown crates and how much effort they put into them, and how little they put into dlc lately.

Pretty sure that the folks who do the art for the crate contents are not the same folks who do DLC content.

Not sure what you consider a "good clothing outfit" so can't really comment there as that is going to be very subjective.

Kiralyn2000

ChaosWotan wrote: »

When introducing ESO to new people now, I start by telling them that one single mount can cost 100-200 dollars.

So, to "introduce" the game to people you start by misrepresenting the game and/or lying?

Cool story, bro.


And it's a shame that you're driving people away from a game they might enjoy, just because you're one of the rabid anti-crate people & you think that there's anything in those crates that's worth all the drama they're creating. (I really don't understand the issue with the crates - they're full of ugly mounts, outfits, and skins. And there's plenty of other ugly mounts, outfits, and skins that are available outside the crates.)

Do I think lootboxes are generally silly and not usually worth it? Sure.

But I think the anti-crate hysteria is getting out of hand. "Lootbox? Burn the game/devs to the ground!" is right up there with the fanatics who insta-trash a game because it has DLC at all, or say "30fps? PASS!" even on turn-based strategy or puzzle games because Everything Must Be 60FPS™.

Feh.

JD2013

If you think they put little effort into the DLC then if I were one of the devs, I would find this statement personally quite offensive. The writing and world building in Morrowind, Horns and Clockwork City have been fantastic. They clearly put a lot of effort into zones.

Jade1986

DieAlteHexe wrote: »

Jade1986 wrote: »

Biro123 wrote: »

Just roleplay someone who can't afford that stuff ?

I think there's plenty of great looking gear in the base game.

I think that if they have to put something behind the paywall, its better to be cosmetic than p2w

I think that the simple ESO+ would give enough crowns to but the crown store gear at a reasonable rate... If that's your spending priority.

I don't like the whole concept of loot boxes. At all. I'm just happy that not having them doesn't impact my ability to play through the content/PvP on a level playing field.

Thats what I do. Spend my crowns each month on those things. However, it would be nice if we had a single good clothing outfit in the base game. As of now , I dont think there is a single one. There is a lot of HA, a lot of medium armor, some light armor, but no clothing.

Anyway that isnt my major grip. My gripe is with crown crates and how much effort they put into them, and how little they put into dlc lately.

Pretty sure that the folks who do the art for the crate contents are not the same folks who do DLC content.

Not sure what you consider a "good clothing outfit" so can't really comment there as that is going to be very subjective.

Any, lol, I cant think of a single clothing costume in the base game. Tons of various armor, but no clothing.

As for the crown crates, I know it is different people, however it is clear they put a lot of funding into them, if they didnt do that they could focus on what matters most, content and bug fixing.

Jade1986

JD2013 wrote: »

If you think they put little effort into the DLC then if I were one of the devs, I would find this statement personally quite offensive. The writing and world building in Morrowind, Horns and Clockwork City have been fantastic. They clearly put a lot of effort into zones.

The areas were great, but the quests were.....lackluster at best, save for the crows.

JD2013

Jade1986 wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

If you think they put little effort into the DLC then if I were one of the devs, I would find this statement personally quite offensive. The writing and world building in Morrowind, Horns and Clockwork City have been fantastic. They clearly put a lot of effort into zones.

The areas were great, but the quests were.....lackluster at best, save for the crows.

Which is why things are objective and opinions are not facts, as your opinion differs from my opinion and neither of them are necessarily right

Elsonso

DieAlteHexe wrote: »

Pretty sure that the folks who do the art for the crate contents are not the same folks who do DLC content.

It is a fair bet that they are. Even one of the audio guys just stated on ESO Live that he worked on Crown Store stuff.

The devs that do art (recolors) will probably be the ones to turn the lights out on ESO, so it is only reasonable to expect that they are all working on Crown Crate stuff. If they stick around the studio doing ESO work for long enough, they won't be able to avoid it. There won't be anything else to work on that is related to ESO.

Jade1986

JD2013 wrote: »

Jade1986 wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

If you think they put little effort into the DLC then if I were one of the devs, I would find this statement personally quite offensive. The writing and world building in Morrowind, Horns and Clockwork City have been fantastic. They clearly put a lot of effort into zones.

The areas were great, but the quests were.....lackluster at best, save for the crows.

Which is why things are objective and opinions are not facts, as your opinion differs from my opinion and neither of them are necessarily right

But we can both agree that if there were more effort put into them, they would be astonishing. No? Things can always be better. And they can be better with more funding .

ChaosWotan

Kiralyn_2000

Some of you guys are assuming a lot about what I say to others when discussing ESO. But why would I misrepresent a game that I love, in such a degree that I spend time writing about it in this forum here?

JD2013

The storyline content in the new DLCs is, imo, way too short for justifying the annual cost of having ESO as one of your 2-3 favourite games, not counting casual or rich players.

JD2013

ChaosWotan wrote: »

Kiralyn_2000

Some of you guys are assuming a lot about what I say to others when discussing ESO. But why would I misrepresent a game that I love, in such a degree that I spend time writing about it in this forum here?

JD2013

The storyline content in the new DLCs is, imo, way too short for justifying the annual cost of having ESO as one of your 2-3 favourite games, not counting casual or rich players.

Homestead; Entirely new systems (yeah housing wasn’t great though, I definitely think it could have been more)

Morrowind; 25 hours of questing? Let’s say that with all the side stuff and not burning through it, new trial and Battlegrounds. (Yes this isn’t included with ESO plus, but it’s still a content update)

Horns of the Reach; 2 new dungeons.

Clockwork City; 10 ish hours of quests, new (mini) trial.

So, this year they’ve added 35 - 40 ish hours of questing, 2 new dungeons, 3 new trials, Battlegrounds, and entirely new systems.

That would be a full blown expansion but it’s portioned out over a year. Granted that you have to pay for Morrowind.

ChaosWotan

JD2013

35-40 hours of content in one year is basically nothing when paying between 400 and 800 dollars on crown crates annually, in addition to lots of dollars on other items in the CS. With the introduction of "extremely rare" apex mounts the Elder Store Online has become an offensive money scheme.