Free crown crates remind me why I won’t buy crown crates.

LadyAstrum

Boggles my mind how people are spending hundreds of dollars/pounds/euros at a time to buy crates. Even if one is wealthy, it seems excessive.

When you consider the cost of gem items, and how much it costs to accrue those gems, it makes the crowns we get with ESO plus seem paltry in comparison.

Banana

They wont be getting a dime out of me for that ***

Daedric_NB_187

Remag_Div wrote: »

Ihatenightblades wrote: »

i always believe you should earn every skin you get.

Getting skins in crates isn't "earning" them, it's buying them. Earning skins would imply that you get them by accomplishing things in game, like say....achievements?

If it were up to me, everything in the game found in the crown store and crates would only be able to be acquired via some in-game achievement. The better the reward the harder the achievement to acquire said item.

Alas, this doesn't pay the bills.

Yeah. Same here. That's how games used to be once upon a time. When games were actually made by gamers, for gamers. Those days are long past.

mirta000b16_ESO

Honestly with so much talk going about crown crates, why not start a petition going or something to make the developers see how many people would like them to change their business model, or at least tweak it a little bit?

SantieClaws

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

Honestly with so much talk going about crown crates, why not start a petition going or something to make the developers see how many people would like them to change their business model, or at least tweak it a little bit?

Ah traveller. This disquiet about the crates is not something new. There was great concern and very significant opposition within the community before they were even introduced. You may notice PAWS in many signatures. This relates to the time before the crates were launched. We were as vocal in our opposition then as we are now.

No one we communicate with here has the power to change this. The crates are an intentional monetization policy that comes from suit daedra at ZOS who have probably never even set foot in Tamriel - or any other realm beyond their own.

This is why Khajiit continues to press the message that they are bad for business - they do not care that they are bad for Tamriel but they may eventually listen if they feel there are alternative and more profitable ways of squeezing coin from travellers - that alternative is to provide a well stocked shop with a large range of items that are not often removed. That way when a traveller is looking for an item that meets their needs they have a better chance of getting it.

For example Khajiit may have had no idea six months ago that she would need, say, a goat right now. However Khajiit cannot presently buy a goat because there is no goat. If there was a goat Khajiit could put money into the pockets of the suit daedra. Khajiit gets goat. Suit daedra gets coin. A better business model for all yes.

Khajiit has no idea if there is a goat. She uses this an example yes.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

mirta000b16_ESO

SantieClaws wrote: »

No one we communicate with here has the power to change this. The crates are an intentional monetization policy that comes from suit daedra at ZOS who have probably never even set foot in Tamriel - or any other realm beyond their own.

Surely if Battlefront II crate outrage can put EA in complete nightmare mode, then if enough people yell loudly enough, ZOS has to listen, yes?
We don't even need to yell as loud as Battlefront II players. That got the governments involved. Even yelling 50% as loud as them should turn some heads. Unfortunately there's no yelling. Just bickering.

Heck a multi-guild protest in-game, on a single server, if big enough, would get game journalists involved. And that does things.

R4TTIUS

SisterGoat wrote: »

A guildie told me 2 people who happened to be college students spent thousands of dollars to try to get radiant apex mounts and they're already in debt to student loans. Why would you do that??

Its called addiction

Bigevilpeter

yup scam crates, got *** in my 3 free ones and was really happy that i never paid money for that ***.

SantieClaws

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

SantieClaws wrote: »

No one we communicate with here has the power to change this. The crates are an intentional monetization policy that comes from suit daedra at ZOS who have probably never even set foot in Tamriel - or any other realm beyond their own.

Surely if Battlefront II crate outrage can put EA in complete nightmare mode, then if enough people yell loudly enough, ZOS has to listen, yes?
We don't even need to yell as loud as Battlefront II players. That got the governments involved. Even yelling 50% as loud as them should turn some heads. Unfortunately there's no yelling. Just bickering.

Heck a multi-guild protest in-game, on a single server, if big enough, would get game journalists involved. And that does things.

This one does believe there were some attempts to gain the interest of the media, and indeed some media reports at the time, regarding the crates.

Suit daedra tend to care little about bad publicity if travellers keep buying the crates. The only way to defeat the crates is to stop buying them.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

mirta000b16_ESO

SantieClaws wrote: »

This one does believe there were some attempts to gain the interest of the media, and indeed some media reports at the time, regarding the crates.

Suit daedra tend to care little about bad publicity if travellers keep buying the crates. The only way to defeat the crates is to stop buying them.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Depends. Currently crown crates are highly controversial to a point that most companies that have them are getting publicly lynched. Suit daedra might care.

MBite

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

Depends. Currently crown crates are highly controversial to a point that most companies that have them are getting publicly lynched. Suit daedra might care.

I dont know, we arent that big as star wars franchise. Not counting that our scamboxes dont have anything to unfairly boost you in game(potion poisons are just junk). The only bad thing is that they know how people like shiny stuff, and they are using that to develop gambling addiction.

Unless they do a mistake, we have nothing to prove how bad they are, plus we will be screamed by people saying "its just a cosmetic herp derp".

Streega

I fully agree with OP, but I must admit I caved in a bit... I've purchased 750 Crowns to buy 2 Crates, because I needed few more gems for this beauty:
I'm very ashamed of myself, but in the end I was quite lucky with the contents. I have my sweet kitty now, and the red lipstick which looks fantastic on my Vampire Dunmer. However, it was a very calculated risk, because I knew I will get what I want for a price I would spend in the Store anyway. I would NEVER gamble for something I'm not sure I will get in the end.
I'm a disgrace for PAWS, but I'll remain your huge supporter - please forgive me this moment of weakness, but... the little Khajiit with those flappy ears!... She is soo... irresistible!

Jade1986

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

Sometimes I wish loot boxes were monitored the way liqueur, gambling (ie Vegas) lottery tickets and tobacco was. Have to give a disclaimer that this may lead to an addiction. I feel awful for future gamers. How far will companies go with their greed?

I honestly don't mind, as long as the loot boxes only contain cosmetics.

I've never bought a loot box, but I know people who have spent thousands of dollars on them. Their addiction helps keep the servers running.

The thing is, all the good cosmetics are in those damned scam crates, and there is NO possibility to get new hair, new makeup, new mounts, etc IN game. Scam crates are a perfect measurement of a gaming companies greed. Anyone who does it should be ashamed. The day is coming tho where they will no longer be allowed. what ever happened to the days of earning this stuff in game? Crown crates should be presents that ESO+ members get each month for subbing. The items in them should be available to all as direct purchase.

Eyesinthedrk

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

Honestly with so much talk going about crown crates, why not start a petition going or something to make the developers see how many people would like them to change their business model, or at least tweak it a little bit?

No need for a petition. Or maybe this is one? If this thread turned into 20 pages of “me too” then you’d have it. May even be enough for them to start weighing cost benefit analysis.

mirta000b16_ESO

Eyesinthedrk wrote: »

No need for a petition. Or maybe this is one? If this thread turned into 20 pages of “me too” then you’d have it. May even be enough for them to start weighing cost benefit analysis.

I have seen 11-12 page threads here recently full of me toos, but ultimately the moment they die down they're forgotten having made no impact.

Vimora

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Vimora wrote: »

I'm just gonna leave this here. Make of it what you will...
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/11/28/eas-day-of-reckoning-is-here-after-star-wars-game-uproar.html

SWBF2 loot boxes were P2W. ESO loot boxes only contain cosmetics and consumables.

Imagine if loot crates contained passive abilities and exclusive weapons. That's what SWBF2 was.

I thought this was more about gambling than p2w, or maybe a vicious combo of the two. Some major games came out p2w or turned into one very quickly and there wasn't this massive outcry. Thinking of Archeage and Black Desert. But then again, those are the most rng-heavy games as well. Maybe people are just tired of game-makers screwing them in every possible way.

Hokiewa

Jade1986 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

Sometimes I wish loot boxes were monitored the way liqueur, gambling (ie Vegas) lottery tickets and tobacco was. Have to give a disclaimer that this may lead to an addiction. I feel awful for future gamers. How far will companies go with their greed?

I honestly don't mind, as long as the loot boxes only contain cosmetics.

I've never bought a loot box, but I know people who have spent thousands of dollars on them. Their addiction helps keep the servers running.

The thing is, all the good cosmetics are in those damned scam crates, and there is NO possibility to get new hair, new makeup, new mounts, etc IN game. Scam crates are a perfect measurement of a gaming companies greed. Anyone who does it should be ashamed. The day is coming tho where they will no longer be allowed. what ever happened to the days of earning this stuff in game? Crown crates should be presents that ESO+ members get each month for subbing. The items in them should be available to all as direct purchase.

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

mirta000b16_ESO

Hokiewa wrote: »

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

some states are looking into it in US too already too.

Hokiewa

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

Hokiewa wrote: »

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

some states are looking into it in US too already too.

Hawaii so far, however, circuit courts have already established precedent on this (in favor of the gaming companies). Even if this does happen, it will have the opposite effect that you and others are looking for. They will simply move everything to the Crown Store and prices will simply skyrocket. No company is going to willingly suffer a loss of profit without exploring other avenues to maintain and even increase the bottom line.

mirta000b16_ESO

Hokiewa wrote: »

Hawaii so far, however, circuit courts have already established precedent on this (in favor of the gaming companies). Even if this does happen, it will have the opposite effect that you and others are looking for. They will simply move everything to the Crown Store and prices will simply skyrocket. No company is going to willingly suffer a loss of profit without exploring other avenues to maintain and even increase the bottom line.

we already have 80$ houses. How far do you think prices can even skyrocket? And that being said, still would prefer the no gambling system, so I don't know how this would have the opposite effect on me. 100-1000$ mount versus a possibility of never getting that mount at all. Would you really prefer to never get that mount at all?

Jade1986

Hokiewa wrote: »

Jade1986 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

Sometimes I wish loot boxes were monitored the way liqueur, gambling (ie Vegas) lottery tickets and tobacco was. Have to give a disclaimer that this may lead to an addiction. I feel awful for future gamers. How far will companies go with their greed?

I honestly don't mind, as long as the loot boxes only contain cosmetics.

I've never bought a loot box, but I know people who have spent thousands of dollars on them. Their addiction helps keep the servers running.

The thing is, all the good cosmetics are in those damned scam crates, and there is NO possibility to get new hair, new makeup, new mounts, etc IN game. Scam crates are a perfect measurement of a gaming companies greed. Anyone who does it should be ashamed. The day is coming tho where they will no longer be allowed. what ever happened to the days of earning this stuff in game? Crown crates should be presents that ESO+ members get each month for subbing. The items in them should be available to all as direct purchase.

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

Its already happening, in hawaii and a few other unnamed states. The ball is rolling.

Jade1986

Hokiewa wrote: »

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

Hokiewa wrote: »

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

some states are looking into it in US too already too.

Hawaii so far, however, circuit courts have already established precedent on this (in favor of the gaming companies). Even if this does happen, it will have the opposite effect that you and others are looking for. They will simply move everything to the Crown Store and prices will simply skyrocket. No company is going to willingly suffer a loss of profit without exploring other avenues to maintain and even increase the bottom line.

Except they didnt have profit issues before crown crates were introduced.

But, then again, Trumps family memeber is on the board in zos, so I expect more greed asap.

Hokiewa

Jade1986 wrote: »

Hokiewa wrote: »

mirta000b16_ESO wrote: »

Hokiewa wrote: »

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

some states are looking into it in US too already too.

Hawaii so far, however, circuit courts have already established precedent on this (in favor of the gaming companies). Even if this does happen, it will have the opposite effect that you and others are looking for. They will simply move everything to the Crown Store and prices will simply skyrocket. No company is going to willingly suffer a loss of profit without exploring other avenues to maintain and even increase the bottom line.

Except they didnt have profit issues before crown crates were introduced.

But, then again, Trumps family memeber is on the board in zos, so I expect more greed asap.

You don't know that (re: profit issues), that's pure speculation since Zenimax is a privately owned company. Ah the greed complaint. Greed is also very subjective. Limiting growth for a company is NEVER good for a consumer.

Giraffon

I'm starting to like these free crate events. I'm starting to pile up some gems on the side. I have several accounts and most of them have banked 40-50 gems at no cost to me. A couple more of these free crate events and I'll be able to start buying the entry level mounts that cost about 100 gems.

And while I'm at it, I'm quite pleased to have snagged 2 mounts (fire wolf and leopard) from this round also. :-)

Izaki

What would really be good is items not being automatically put into Collections. That way, if you got an item you don't like, you can swap it for Crown Gems.

billp_ESO

I'd prefer that things go back to the "good old days", where if you had a fantastic mount, it meant you accomplished a fantastic thing. Only the best and most accomplished players had the top stuff.

In ESO today, when you see someone with a fancy mount, you know they either just paid for it, or gambled for it.

Giraffon

billp_ESO wrote: »

I'd prefer that things go back to the "good old days", where if you had a fantastic mount, it meant you accomplished a fantastic thing. Only the best and most accomplished players had the top stuff.

In ESO today, when you see someone with a fancy mount, you know they either just paid for it, or gambled for it.

Well yes, that's true. I can only think of a few things that you can earn in game that generally get respect from the player base as a whole:

High PvP Rank
Pot Head (done all quests in all factions)
Master Fisherman title (what a pain that must be)
Vet Maelstrom Arena Title (can't remember what it is at moment)
Top level CP is pretty common, but still deserves some credit as well
Tiger Mount (first year subs only)
Monkey (beta tester)

anadandy

billp_ESO wrote: »

In ESO today, when you see someone with a fancy mount, you know they either just paid for it, or gambled for it.

Or got it in a free crown crate, even though they didn't want it, and couldn't trade it in so they might as well use it.

victoriana-blue

Hokiewa wrote: »

Jade1986 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

Sometimes I wish loot boxes were monitored the way liqueur, gambling (ie Vegas) lottery tickets and tobacco was. Have to give a disclaimer that this may lead to an addiction. I feel awful for future gamers. How far will companies go with their greed?

I honestly don't mind, as long as the loot boxes only contain cosmetics.

I've never bought a loot box, but I know people who have spent thousands of dollars on them. Their addiction helps keep the servers running.

The thing is, all the good cosmetics are in those damned scam crates, and there is NO possibility to get new hair, new makeup, new mounts, etc IN game. Scam crates are a perfect measurement of a gaming companies greed. Anyone who does it should be ashamed. The day is coming tho where they will no longer be allowed. what ever happened to the days of earning this stuff in game? Crown crates should be presents that ESO+ members get each month for subbing. The items in them should be available to all as direct purchase.

There is no evidence to suggest that this "banning" will occur anytime soon for the entire world. It's disingenuous to suggest otherwise based upon a non-finalized review by one country in the EU. Yes, I'm aware that a few others are looking at it but it is a remote possibility that this would happen in the U.S.

I'm not expecting a ban either, because companies have put a lot of time and money into these stupid things. I think a transformation is more likely, such as a legislated "buy direct" option on items (without the gem system) or a requirement to make opening the crates less slot machine-like. Or an ineffective age gate to satisfy the "protect our children" people.

Don't get me wrong, I'm watching the proceedings in Belgium and elsewhere with glee, but I've watched so many well-intentioned investigations & laws be rendered toothless by lobbyists that I'm not expecting a total ban.

victoriana-blue

anadandy wrote: »

billp_ESO wrote: »

In ESO today, when you see someone with a fancy mount, you know they either just paid for it, or gambled for it.

Or got it in a free crown crate, even though they didn't want it, and couldn't trade it in so they might as well use it.

Or bought it last year and now hates that they look like they're advertising the crates. >>;