Alienating Customers

stewhead2ub17_ESO

Sorry OP, swing and a miss.

Twenty0zTsunami

AuldWolf wrote: »

(Steam Charts reveals this)

Plenty of people play the game outside of the steam client, even on pc. I'm not even considering console numbers.

VaranisArano

AuldWolf wrote: »

Let's look at some notions...

Corporate Thinking: People need to be addicted to grind, that's why they keep paying us. Nerf all of the things!
Player Thinking: I enjoy alts and roleplaying! I'm stuck on one character, though, and I can't have alts. If I start a new character it'll take the rest of my life to build them up. So this is dull, and I don't have the life to waste on this. And every now and then they break my character, anyway, just to set me back. I'll just give up.

This might have been true pre-One Tamriel, where building up a second or third character to Vet 16 would truly be a labor of love. Now that we've got One Tamriel and thus the ability to grind levels without out-leveling content, Skyreach runs, exp pots, double exp events, and the ability to level characters extremely quickly using crafting vouchers exp...I don't really see it taking the rest of someone's life to get their alts to max level.

I've gotten 6/8 alts to level 50, CP 690 and the only reason the other 2 aren't are because I'm satisfied enough with my other 6 that I don't focus on leveling those 2 low level ones quickly.

Which is to say that I'm not really buying that making a new character is quite the hassle for most players that you suggest it is, at least not to the extent that the hassle of making a new alt is preventing a substantial enough number of players from adjusting to changes in the game and quitting en masse because their only character/role got nerfed. A hassle, yeah, sure I'll allow that its a bit of a chore to get yourself everything you "need" for end-game content if that's the sole goal of leveling a new character. But enough to give up? Whatever floats your boat, but there are a lot of ways to level up a new alt relatively quickly and it doesn't even take that long if you level up by questing without grinding.

Zypheran

Sorry OP that you feel that way but as many others have shared, I disagree with your perspective.
Is the crown store over priced? - yes (imo)
Do you get value for money in housing? - defo not (imo)
But all these items are purely cosmetic. At its core this is a graphically awesome, deep and immersive game with a strong community. I for one actually want to see ZOS make a profit so that they will continue to invest in new content for many years to come.
I also disagree with the assertion that the game is in any way dying. It feels as alive as ever and I for one am more excited about this year than ever before.

Jayman1000

So drop the lootboxes, eh? And how do you propose they make all that money that they now can't make from lootboxes? Please, you wrote a long wall of text but you did very little to offer up any realistic alternative to how they can achieve a better income. I'd like to know how, getting rid of lootbox economy would be great. But don't tell me you think ESO+ subs or crown spending would somehow magically skyrocket because of reduced the grind or more boosting instead of nerfing? You at the very least need to explain this in detail if you are to make anyone believe this can be any sort of solution, at all. Methinks you are just dreaming up a fairy tale. Beautiful as it is you need to explain how to get there. Details of implementation is the problem any idealist face, and often stumbles on.

Shadowmaster

ZMI makes all the decisions you dont like. ZoS just wants to make great games. When you get frustrated the game is over-monetized, direct your hate to those corporate lawyers sitting happily in Rockville, rather than the good developers and employees in Hunt Valley.

Jayman1000

Shadowmaster wrote: »

ZMI makes all the decisions you dont like. ZoS just wants to make great games. When you get frustrated the game is over-monetized, direct your hate to those corporate lawyers sitting happily in Rockville, rather than the good developers and employees in Hunt Valley.

Even better: suggest actual alternatives, which OP still hasn't. It's far far easier to complain and dream up a better world, than it is to actually figure out HOW to get there.

Banana

I agree with the alts part. Leveling a new character is like pulling teeth.

opallithia

Yes, to everything in this post. I have been thinking the same thing for a while. Prices keep going up, and sooner or later nobody but the most wealthy players are going to be able to afford anything and the rest of us will quickly lose interest and move on. This is always what happens to games that start pulling cash-grabby nonsense like charging $40+ for a mount or $15 for an outfit slot on every single character.

I think that this is one of the best MMOs out there and that is why I've been happy to support it for so long. But, the more this goes on, the less and less thrilled I am about the business practices happening in the cash shop. I understand there a lot of people playing this game and that it is not cheap to maintain, and that we are not required to have subscriptions. But, there must be ways to compromise with your customers so they don't start feeling alienated. If you made things more accessible, maybe more people would buy them.

You really don't want your players to start feeling like your business practices are unethical. And that's how it's starting to feel.

I shouldn't need to start drawing connections to SWTOR, but those who know can see the similarities. If things continue in this direction and prices keep inflating, I'll end up cancelling my sub and moving on. I know they are "just" cosmetic items, yes, but that is still a large part of the game that people enjoy and not having access to that is going to turn people away without a doubt.

I hope you start to think about ways to make the cash shop more accessible to everyone!

JD2013

Ah we haven’t had a “game is dying” thread in a little while.

Definitely update day.

Slick_007

Ratzkifal wrote: »

I stopped reading at "steam charts reveal this". Most players don't play over steam. At least most players on the forum don't, which I think is representative.

i stopped reading at 'i have feelings about things'. that wasnt a good opening line

Reverb

As mentioned, Steam accounts for a small number of PC players. You are looking at a fraction of the population on one of three platforms and making huge assumptions.

Also, not one of your "player thinking" statements accurately represents my views.

I'm genuinely glad you enjoy ESO and want it to get better, but I think that your lens is too narrow for your ideas to have real impact.

magictucktuck

Peekachu99 wrote: »

show previous quotes

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

zaria wrote: »

Steam is between 1/2 and 1/3 of pc players, pc is 1/3 of all players.

Source ?

His source falls asleep when on a cushion for too long and also makes the occasional obstreperous noise that stinks.

ZOS said this in a statement,after there 10 million announcement. trying to clear things up since we all talked about it. if you wanna find it that might help u

AuldWolf

And now 1500 for an outfit. Per character.

1500 would be tolerable if it were one outfit slot for the entire account, rather than per character. But really, 1500 crowns at the current crown price for one, mere character?

There are some MMO management decisions that feel just shy of corporate sabotage to me, this is another one of those. I can't imagine what would lead a company to rationally think that this kind of hyper-exploitative nickel-and-dime behaviour is attractive to new players.

Oh, ZOS...

Edit: This also locks people into certain characters rather than letting people have alts. The vast, vast majority of people who actually stick with MMOs beyond a tiny niche of hardcore raiders are the roleplayers who love alts. You need to support alts! This is actively detrimental to alts, it's telling people that ESO is a bad game for alts. And if it's a bad game for alts, it's a bad game for roleplayers.

And isn't that contrary to what ESO should be doing? I don't think their marketing division/corporate management understands the game they actually have and are trying to sell. PROTIP: It's not WoW.