Seriously ZOS?

jrgray93

I'm usually not one to complain about the limited time sales but this is absurd. We have three at once this time and none of them are cheap.

For FOUR DAYS, we have a home for 13,000 crowns, a furnishing pack worth 5,000, and a statue worth 3,500.

That's 21,500 crowns worth of stuff on a short timer, or just over $150 USD of items. And yes, before you say it, I know these are optional things. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy them. That said, a lot of folks do like buying things and supporting the game. Sue us.

I get that the artificial time limit is a business tactic but this is a bit too far. I don't understand making homes limited time purchases at all because they're just so expensive. If anything, make them a couple of weeks. Four days for something that costs so much is not cool.

DieAlteHexe

When I came back to the game last October and missed out on the Witches House (forget what it's actually called, sorry), I learned to start saving up my crowns against just this sort of thing. I'm not crazy about "limited time offers", in fact in RL, it's almost a surefire way to get me to ignore something but if I do want something, I save. If it happens to be offered "limited time" and I have the cash/crowns, all to the good.

I agree that there should be longer but it's bait. They are counting on folk wanting the thing (house, critters etc.) badly enough to break down and buy more crowns. Must work, I guess.

redspecter23

Blame the people that fall for these shady tactics. If people didn't rush out and buy crowns instantly when a 4 day limited time offer comes up then they would probably stop doing it. ZOS is doing what they feel is necessary to make the most money. Personally, I think they'd make more by offering things up for sale full time, but they have a highly paid marketing staff telling them otherwise. Who am I but a single random customer.

The only advice I can give is just to not buy things if you feel they are being presented for sale in a poor manner.

Jayman1000

I don't like it either. There's a particular home that I discovered existed, one with a really huge interior courtyard; I REALLY want that. But seems it must have been from a limited sale, because I can't find it anywhere. So now Im never gonna get it it's stuff like that make me less interested in playing the game, if I know I can never get those things that I REALLY want...

bloodthirstyvampire

C'mon Zos really, I mean seriously what made you think this was ok

QuebraRegra

bloodthirstyvampire wrote: »

C'mon Zos really I mean seriously what made you think this was ok

Greed. It's the standard business model these days, just look at the US mega profit corporations with employees on food assistance.

jrgray93

To be clear, I'm passing on the house.

DieAlteHexe

jrgray93 wrote: »

To be clear, I'm passing on the house.

Me too.

I dislike damp.

KiraTsukasa

My reaction is the same as when I saw that one house you can buy for 3.5 million gold: "Haha! Nope!"

LadyAstrum

If they insist on limited time, make it 10-14 days or something...four days is silly when there are multiple (costly) items.

MacCait

I'm actually speechless... that's £107.5

I'd like to buy these but also have real life. I can't justify laying out £107 sterling all at once for some digital home and furniture. I'm finding it hard to understand the logic here.

ZOS, who are you aiming this at? Do you need to be a real life millionaire to enjoy this game now?

There is a business model that if you sell things for reasonable prices, you will sell many products rather than just a few at a steap price. I'm surprised ZOS can't see that.

Even the cost of housing furniture is getting crazy. 4000 crowns (£20+) for 1 mundus stone... the same if you want a transmute station... the greed is insane

WIZZARD2K

Ch4mpTW

What house? I just woke up. z_z

SilentRaven1972

I bought the sanctuary, but I've been holding crowns for it since it previewed on the PTS. Didn't know they were gonna throw several limited items up, though. Oh well, at least I got my cave to hide in

bloodthirstyvampire

Tho if volkihar was a thing I would be a massive hypocrite

BuddyAces

What's funnier is that all the people that I know who bought this house would have bought it today whether it was up for one day or one month. The limited time thing plays no part in their decision to purchase these things. I have no clue why they don't let em stay on the store for longer. One would imagine that they would make more money in the long run by having more folks purchase it than what I'm guessing are impulse buyers who only purchase because it is a limited thing.

I could care less since I've never bought anything because it was limited time. Their decisions just boggle my mind sometimes.

SilentRaven1972

BuddyAces wrote: »

What's funnier is that all the people that I know who bought this house would have bought it today whether it was up for one day or one month. The limited time thing plays no part in their decision to purchase these things. I have no clue why they don't let em stay on the store for longer. One would imagine that they would make more money in the long run by having more folks purchase it than what I'm guessing are impulse buyers who only purchase because it is a limited thing.

I could care less since I've never bought anything because it was limited time. Their decisions just boggle my mind sometimes.

At the very least, it should have been listed during the entire Thieves/DB event...After all, it's part of the "celebration".

greylox

I bought crowns when the update came, in anticipation...but had to wait so spent a few of 'em. I guessed at 12k but 13k it is. I got it unfurnished which was actually the plan anyway. The pack isn't my style but the statue is a must have for me, fits the cave. The 4 day thing sucks a bit but tbh I like the exclusivity and it isn't like there isn't a tonne of homes already and the fact they keep adding more at a fair rate.

TLDR planning.

TheCyberDruid

The whales are going to buy it all and that's the state the game is in now. Cater to the whales and skim off the rest. One person in my guild today was really into the new target dummy and the fact that you have to buy a 30+ € pack to get it didn't bother them. A target dummy is worth over 30 € to people playing this game, so ZOS just knows how to milk them.

Minyassa

I have to agree with this. The limited sales are actually directly impacting my crown store purchases, because I'm now afraid to spend crowns *unless* it's a limited offer because I know I'll be upset if I buy something and then don't have enough crowns for the limited thing. So right off the bat, they've cut out any purchases I would make between limiteds. And if I can't afford the limited thing, I'm not going to buy crowns to get it. I'm going to lament not being able to afford it, and I'm just going to keep buying crowns when they're on sale, not spending them until I can finally afford a limited thing, and then blowing them all on that one expensive thing, rinse and repeat. So instead of buying crowns as an impulse buy, they're forcing me to wait for crown sales and then stick very religiously to waiting to spend them. It's not fun or pleasant and more than half the time I nitpick the product to death so I won't feel bad about not getting it, instead of liking it and deciding to save up for it like I do in other games that don't do this. I spent a TON of real money on stuff in LOTRO because I saw it was going to be in the store for a couple of months, saw that this was a realistic goal, and saved up to get it. I've already spent far less in one year on ESO than in just a few months in LOTRO because of these extreme short limited time sales, and I played LOTRO for years. If they keep this up, they're going to make a lot less money on me for the duration of my interest in the game, which is likely to be several years. They'd potentially get a lot more money out of me by having their limited sales last at least a full month's pay cycle.

DieAlteHexe

TheCyberDruid wrote: »

The whales are going to buy it all and that's the state the game is in now. Cater to the whales and skim off the rest. One person in my guild today was really into the new target dummy and the fact that you have to buy a 30+ € pack to get it didn't bother them. A target dummy is worth over 30 € to people playing this game, so ZOS just knows how to milk them.

Can't milk a willing donor.

See here's the thing; I don't spend any money on going out or partying or clothes or fancy vehicles etc. I like to spend my discretionary on gaming (hardware and software), books and knitting stuff (charity work). So, the usual way to approach a purchase is factoring in enjoyment and cost. If I think I'll get enough enjoyment out of something for what it costs, I'll buy it.

If that makes me a "whale" or any other derogatory word you can come up with, I can live with that.

MacCait

even Morrowind was only £14.99. You can buy the whole of Morrowind to explore for cheaper than buying the crown only notable home (£65), not including the home and limited edition furniture packs at £108. CRAAAZZZZZZYYYYYNNEESSSS

16BitForestCat

$99.99 for the crown pack that would give me enough to purchase this place with just a few crowns left over, which almost no one else is ever going to see if it's not my primary residence--and I already have an overpriced primary residence. (Grand Topal, which I love, but also which current-me would never have bought, if I'd known how lackluster housing was still going to be a year on.)

Orrrrrrrrrrrr I could take that $99.99 of "fun money" and just go buy a bunch of complete, new games and have a nice dinner, maybe even dessert if I have room after.

The thing is, I would've snapped this place up in an instant, as well as the upcoming Dawnlight Palace, and the previous Linchal Manor, and numerous other homes and mounts, etc.--IF they had been reasonably priced. Instead of regularly getting money from me purchasing stuff at much more reasonable prices (say, $1-$10 USD per item, and really, even $10 is asking a bit much for something that's purely cosmetic), ZOS keeps getting a big fat zero from me.

And I honestly could've bought all of those, but I refuse to because the price-gouging leaves such a bad taste in my mouth, and makes me furious on behalf of all the people who CAN'T drop nearly $50-$100 on every single rare, limited-time thing that comes to the store. Same reasoning behind why I don't bother with crown crates that I don't get for free as a normal part of gameplay.

I also scoff at the "exclusivity" aspect of premium items because it's not like the house has your name on it when random players walk up. At least players can see you on a rare mount and know it's yours (the answer of whether they CARE that you shelled out crowns/gems for it is most likely "Not in the slightest. Quit being so damn full of yourself.") But even in that case, giving mounts/other rare items a high price is still extremely distasteful to me. Add the "LIMITED-TIME OFFER! BUY IT NOW! NOW NOW NOW!!!!" bullcrap, and I'm just done--instead of adding another cool piece to my Collections, I save my pocket money for things that are going to give me a better return: other video games, shows, conventions, etc.

But seeing as a certain living Cheetos Snack's brother is on the Zenimax board of directors, color me completely unsurprised that ESO would be going for the short-term price-gouging cash grab instead of long-term profits at a more reasonable rate.

You do better in the long run to sell low and provide wide access, but the number of businesses that price themselves out of business shows that some people still have problems figuring this out. I run a gardening side-business, and one of the reasons it keeps trucking along very successfully is because I don't mark way up and sell limited quantities when I have rare plants to sell--I keep growing more of that rare plant and never stop selling it, while providing it at a decent price anyone can afford. Even if a customer can't buy that plant TODAY, they'll be able to buy it later, which is a win for both them and me--they get their plant, and I get money. As opposed to, say, them seeing I'm only selling that rare plant species at $100 each, for four days only, and them subsequently not buying from me at all. Then no one gets anything they want.

Raideen

jrgray93 wrote: »

I'm usually not one to complain about the limited time sales but this is absurd. We have three at once this time and none of them are cheap.

For FOUR DAYS, we have a home for 13,000 crowns, a furnishing pack worth 5,000, and a statue worth 3,500.

That's 21,500 crowns worth of stuff on a short timer, or just over $150 USD of items. And yes, before you say it, I know these are optional things. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy them. That said, a lot of folks do like buying things and supporting the game. Sue us.

I get that the artificial time limit is a business tactic but this is a bit too far. I don't understand making homes limited time purchases at all because they're just so expensive. If anything, make them a couple of weeks. Four days for something that costs so much is not cool.

21500 crowns is $215.00 if you purchase the second tier pack, its even more if you purchase the first tier pack.

Ch4mpTW

TheCyberDruid wrote: »

The whales are going to buy it all and that's the state the game is in now. Cater to the whales and skim off the rest. One person in my guild today was really into the new target dummy and the fact that you have to buy a 30+ € pack to get it didn't bother them. A target dummy is worth over 30 € to people playing this game, so ZOS just knows how to milk them.

I don’t know about that. The forums labeled me a “whale” upon my purchases of the Grand Topal Hideaway, and the Linchal Grand Manor. And I even passed on the cave. It’s price tag is too high for what is being offered.

I mean, look at the 2 previous properties I mentioned. For their asking prices, you were receiving extreme luxury. Highly spacious properties even, as the island is the size of its own zone just about. These new limited-time homes can’t compare to the level of extravagance once previously offered. The Nebanese manor? Essentially a mansion and or villa. Including a pool, college, garden, barn, backyard, etc.

Edit: I did buy 2 of the furniture packs, however. Needed that Air Atronach DPS dummy, and my leopard cub needed 1 too.

MacCait

Here's some fun, but ilogical maths and a pop quiz... What's the best value pack?:

21000 pack = 21 x 1000
UK PS4 price: £109.99 (£110)

110 divided by 21 = 5.24

1000 crowns = £5.24


14000 pack = 14 x 1000
UK PS4 price: £74

74 divided by 14 = £5.28
1000 = £5.28


5500 pack = 5.5 x 1000
UK PS4 price: £24

24 divided by 5.5 = 4.36
1000 = £4.36


3000 pack = 3 x 1000
UK PS4 price: £15

15 divided by 3 = 5
1000 = £5

1500 pack = 1.5 x 1000
UK PS4 price: £9

9 divided by 1.5 = 6
1000 = £6

Ratzkifal

@MacCait
Don't forget that 1500 crowns cost the same as one month of ESO+ (at least in €). That is funny, because one month ESO+ also gives you 1500 crowns and also more.
ZOS' true profit lies in the illusion of 1500packs sounding like a good deal.

MacCait

Ratzkifal wrote: »

@MacCait
Don't forget that 1500 crowns cost the same as one month of ESO+ (at least in €). That is funny, because one month ESO+ also gives you 1500 crowns and also more.

Yh I actually think ESO+ is a great deal. It does give you a reasonable amount for what you pay monthly. I'd like to see more of this kind of reasonable pricing when it comes to crown store and housing editor products... right now its absolutely NUTS

Ch4mpTW

MacCait wrote: »

Ratzkifal wrote: »

@MacCait
Don't forget that 1500 crowns cost the same as one month of ESO+ (at least in €). That is funny, because one month ESO+ also gives you 1500 crowns and also more.

Yh I actually think ESO+ is a great deal. It does give you a reasonable amount for what you pay monthly. I'd like to see more of this kind of reasonable pricing when it comes to crown store and housing editor products... right now its absolutely NUTS

@MacCait So then the trick is to be wise with your spending. Strictly buy crowns when they are on sale, and in the mean time allow your monthly given crowns from your ESO+ subscription to accumulate. That way when expensive things come along that you want, you can go ahead and make said investments at ease.

You have to play smart, in order to play hard. And always stick to your budget. No matter what. Set hard rules, and adhere to them with a Pitbull grip.

TheCyberDruid

DieAlteHexe wrote: »

See here's the thing; I don't spend any money on going out or partying or clothes or fancy vehicles etc. I like to spend my discretionary on gaming (hardware and software), books and knitting stuff (charity work). So, the usual way to approach a purchase is factoring in enjoyment and cost. If I think I'll get enough enjoyment out of something for what it costs, I'll buy it.

I just spend over 40 € on games. You know, those things you actually play? I'm amazed how people justify spending way more money than the base game costs on 'cosmetic' things. Of course it's up to you how you spend your money, so all the best to you

MacCait

Ch4mpTW wrote: »

MacCait wrote: »

Ratzkifal wrote: »

@MacCait
Don't forget that 1500 crowns cost the same as one month of ESO+ (at least in €). That is funny, because one month ESO+ also gives you 1500 crowns and also more.

Yh I actually think ESO+ is a great deal. It does give you a reasonable amount for what you pay monthly. I'd like to see more of this kind of reasonable pricing when it comes to crown store and housing editor products... right now its absolutely NUTS

@MacCait So then the trick is to be wise with your spending. Strictly buy crowns when they are on sale, and in the mean time allow your monthly given crowns from your ESO+ subscription to accumulate. That way when expensive things come along that you want, you can go ahead and make said investments at ease.

You have to play smart, in order to play hard. And always stick to your budget. No matter what. Set hard rules, and adhere to them with a Pitbull grip.

I'm someone that actually does this to a certain extent, however...

Even if you are the type of player that buys multiple crown packs on sale, how many crown packs can the average person who has a real life mortgage, and a family, buy all at one? Most people with real life houses and a family cannot warrant spending a few hundred pounds all at the same time. ...but even if you did...

...given how frequent these things are, and how much they are going for CROWNS ONLY, plus the limited time frame... its still crazy! Even at sale price of crowns, where 1000 = about £3.50, these houses alone will cost £45.5. (US$63+) That's not including furniture!

So once you factor in furniture that can only be purchased via housing editor, the price hikes up. THEN you find yourself with just a few crowns left and just at a time when another limited 13000 thingy comes along.

On top of this, there is absolutely NO gaurantee that you're newly purchased (extremely expensive) digital home may not develop a digital leak in the roof, or mysteriously have invisible walls in odd places, or randomly come home to find areas of the home missing altogether. These are ongoing problems with most of the original homes on console, where it has been raining inside since June 2017, with no comment or aknowledgement from ZOS no matter how many bug reports or posts on the forums one makes.

(throws hands up in the air and walks away with head down)