How can they possibly charge $130-$150 for a house

badmojo

Wreuntzylla wrote: »

That's probably enough to make my point for even the biggest 'ZoS needs money' poster.

ZOS needs money? Who's mouth are you putting those words in? Not mine. My post was all about the fact that ZOS has built a brand and now wants to capitalize on that brands success and make money off of it. I would say ZOS is entitled to their profits, or that they are deserving of those profits, but I am also a bias customer who enjoys their product.

I am interested in where your opinion lies on the subject. Since you are countering the assumed opinion that "ZOS needs money", does that mean you think ZOS doesn't need any more money? Do you believe that ZOS should continue making ESO completely at cost from here on out? No profits allowed?

PS> I was the one who you quoted, not Rain_Greyraven

Luthivar

The prices are up to ZOS, I don't feel forced to buy something that I consider overly expensive.

But I have to admit that housing would feel more satisfying if I had to "earn" it during a guild questline and maybe seeing it grow during the quwstline, like in good old vanilla Morrowind.

Lyss1991

Ashtaris wrote: »

I knew the house was going to be expensive, and that doesn’t really bother me. But there are a few things that will probably keep me from buying the palace:

1. Even when it’s furnished, it doesn’t “feel” like it’s furnished. The palace is so large that whatever furniture allocation they have gets spread out to so many rooms and outdoors that it’s hard to tell the difference. And whatever you would need to do to furnish the palace, your notable home allocation would get used up in a heartbeat.

2. I still hate the housing ambient and direct lighting. For this house, it would probably take at least 30% of your furniture allocation just to make it feel like a home and not some dungeon.

3. And although I don’t mind paying the money for such a house, I do like to save a bit of money when I can. So if have a decent crown sale, I’m more willing to part with my crowns. Since the last sale was a joke, I’m not inclined to spend this kind of cash on a digital house. I’ll same my crowns for something I might actually need later.

Have you seen the varla/culanda stones? They are a lifesaver for lighting. Check my house out:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/412340/my-princely-dawnlight-palace-ps4-na/p1?new=1

Lyss1991

DaveMoeDee wrote: »

Wreuntzylla wrote: »

...

Subscriptions: Let's be very conservative and say that less than half of active users subscribed over the last three years. Heck, let's call it 1M. Let's use that $10 figure for the average amount of money ZoS made per month on each subscription. So, 1M x 36 months x $10.
...

I'm skeptical of 1M subs over 3 years. The majority of purchasers barely played the game, just like most games these days. I'm an active player, but I sub maybe 25% of the time since crafting bags were added. I would never consider voluntarily subbing pre-crafting bags apart from 3 months after launch. I'm not sure we have any idea how many users have been active for 3 years straight, let alone what percentage subbed.

June makes 2 years for me, And the only month I didnt sub was the first month I played.

I run a guild of over 200+ people, And our main active players all sub as well.

Out of all the people ive met on this game, There is a VERY small percentage of people who dont sub every month.

The craft bag is the main reason, But I also sub for DLC access, research time bonus, xp/gold bonus...I couldnt play this game without it. It wouldnt feel right.

notimetocare

N0TPLAYER2 wrote: »

The new house - Princely Dawnlight Palace - costs 17,500 crowns to buy furnished.

Who can justify such a large price? I don’t see how the seller OR the buyer can reasonably defend these prices.

What planet are they on? And who is buying these homes?

If you’ve spent anywhere near this price on a house please explain the justification you made to do so. I just DONT get it. Even as a guild house, the game devs really shouldn’t be asking more than $15-$30 tops for these. They’re selling houses at 7x-8x the value of the base game plus dlc. It’s mind boggling to me.

Go into development. Make a game. Add content for a price you think will cover your investment. You will learn a thing or two and probably charge nearly as much.

Life isn't free. People don't worl for free. Power and hardware is neither free nor cheap.

Don't want to pay it? Don't. Easy peasy.

Mureel

MajesticHaruki wrote: »

They only need a few hundred victims and the business becomes profitable.

Victims? Really?

No.

Woefulmonkey

LOL

Ok first it is because people will pay it.

Second it is not exactly like 170$ if you have a subscription and have had one for years.

You pay 15$ a month and they give you 15$ a month in crowns. If you don't have anything else to spend those crowns on then in 10 months you have 150$ in crowns to burn that you did not actually 'buy' since you were paying for a subscription which you do benefit from if you are playing regularly.

3rdly, people should be grateful to the individual who are actually buying crown in mass to get this stuff.

I sure am..

You know why?...

Because the majority of that money is clearly going to funding development costs for new content and expansions.

Zenimax has been release new content almost every other month...

The developers do work for less money than they could get working almost anywhere else but they don't work for free.

I just bought 100$ in crowns because they were on sale... not to buy one of these houses but just because I wanted to support further development for a game I love and I know I will use those crowns probably on Motifs in the near future.

Kuramas9tails

I bought it unfurnished. Love it!

angelncelestine

I didn’t buy this one due to the house being so huge. I wouldn’t have been able to furnish it the way I would of wanted to with only 700 slots. It is a beautiful home though, and I am looking forward to seeing what people do with it. I don’t see a problem with people buying these homes if they want to. I bought the cave, and I spent weeks having fun decorating it. For the same price I paid for cave I could have easily spent the same going out to dinner and a movie with my husband. That is only one night of fun. So, it really is how you look at things.

notimetocare

Woefulmonkey wrote: »

LOL

Ok first it is because people will pay it.

Second it is not exactly like 170$ if you have a subscription and have had one for years.

You pay 15$ a month and they give you 15$ a month in crowns. If you don't have anything else to spend those crowns on then in 10 months you have 150$ in crowns to burn that you did not actually 'buy' since you were paying for a subscription which you do benefit from if you are playing regularly.

3rdly, people should be grateful to the individual who are actually buying crown in mass to get this stuff.

I sure am..

You know why?...

Because the majority of that money is clearly going to funding development costs for new content and expansions.

Zenimax has been release new content almost every other month...

The developers do work for less money than they could get working almost anywhere else but they don't work for free.

I just bought 100$ in crowns because they were on sale... not to buy one of these houses but just because I wanted to support further development for a game I love and I know I will use those crowns probably on Motifs in the near future.

The rare logical forum user. Kudos my friend

Aurie

N0TPLAYER2 wrote: »

The new house - Princely Dawnlight Palace - costs 17,500 crowns to buy furnished.

Who can justify such a large price? I don’t see how the seller OR the buyer can reasonably defend these prices.

What planet are they on? And who is buying these homes?

If you’ve spent anywhere near this price on a house please explain the justification you made to do so. I just DONT get it. Even as a guild house, the game devs really shouldn’t be asking more than $15-$30 tops for these. They’re selling houses at 7x-8x the value of the base game plus dlc. It’s mind boggling to me.

I for one buy these houses. I am one of your so-called whales. I live firmly on Planet Earth.

Why?

Without going into ZO$' business plans, although I would raise an eyebrow if prices went up any more:-

1. I have around thirty properties, some of which are near the price of this one.

2. I buy them because housing is my thing in ESO, although far from exclusively as I adventure and craft as well. I enjoy the challenge of decorating a property like PDP in spite of the item limit. I enjoy decorating ESO homes full stop.

3. As the buyer I don't feel the need to defend these prices, or justify buying the houses. If I did, I wouldn't be buying in the first place. However, you wanted to know.....although I doubt it will unboggle you.

4. Lastly, I buy them because I can.

MerlinPendragon

150 bucks is very cheap. There are many people who play this game as a full time hobby and it is money well spent for their enjoyment.

If you have ever played other MMOs, like Ultima Online, houses are sold player to player and reach into the hundreds and even thousands for prime spots, even for a 20 year old game.

Money talks and BS walks.

bellatrixed

I love the shocked outrage and morality in these threads.

How do you justify ANY entertainment expense?

How do you justify going to a concert or a movie or buying a new DVD or dropping $60 on a AAA game when people are starving?

Personally I drop a lot of money on houses because I run a RP guild and people use my houses to RP in when I'm not even online. I adore decorating and love building community areas. ESO is also my primary entertainment expense. I'm NOT going to concerts or buying DVDs or AAA games, so I splurge on ESO. So sue me, lol. Who cares?

I've decorated five notables at this point as an aside. An I have most definitely gotten my money's worth. I've used my houses daily for the 15 months housing has been out whereas if you go see a concert or movie it's a one time experience and over.

idk

N0TPLAYER2 wrote: »

The new house - Princely Dawnlight Palace - costs 17,500 crowns to buy furnished.

Who can justify such a large price? I don’t see how the seller OR the buyer can reasonably defend these prices.

What planet are they on? And who is buying these homes?

If you’ve spent anywhere near this price on a house please explain the justification you made to do so. I just DONT get it. Even as a guild house, the game devs really shouldn’t be asking more than $15-$30 tops for these. They’re selling houses at 7x-8x the value of the base game plus dlc. It’s mind boggling to me.

Simple. People buy it. Zos sells it. Rinse and repeat.

It does not matter if you or I think the price is to high for us. What matters is if the revenue from it is good for Zos and clearly it is.

In the end all you and I can say is it is more than we would spend since the mighty dollar speaks volumes.

sudaki_eso

Its like in the real world, its not about how much something is acutally worth, its about what people are willing to spent. As long as enough people buy it for the price they will continue selling it overpriced.

DoctorESO

Violynne wrote: »

N0TPLAYER2 wrote: »

Who can justify such a large price?

Consumer, usually with disposable income. The perfect target. Also called "whale".

What planet are they on?

A business will always sell to a market they think will accept the price.

The only way to reduce the price is to not buy the product.

And who is buying these homes?

See above

My limit for a digital good is $50. Anything above this is an automatic no sale.

What if the palace were $51? Would you budge then?

BretonMage

bellatrixed wrote: »

How do you justify going to a concert or a movie or buying a new DVD or dropping $60 on a AAA game when people are starving?

This is my first MMO and I am seriously having difficulty with the prices they are asking. I'm used to spending $60 on a game - I often spend about $100 if you take DLCs into account... But $60 on a house in a game, let alone $100? That just strikes me as bizarre.

Obviously people do it and do justify it to themselves. I myself haven't been able to get over that hurdle.

Also... what does it mean now for games that are $60? Does that mean they are massively underpriced?

Marginis

BretonMage wrote: »

bellatrixed wrote: »

How do you justify going to a concert or a movie or buying a new DVD or dropping $60 on a AAA game when people are starving?

This is my first MMO and I am seriously having difficulty with the prices they are asking. I'm used to spending $60 on a game - I often spend about $100 if you take DLCs into account... But $60 on a house in a game, let alone $100? That just strikes me as bizarre.

Obviously people do it and do justify it to themselves. I myself haven't been able to get over that hurdle.

Also... what does it mean now for games that are $60? Does that mean they are massively underpriced?

It is fairly commonly known that $60 for a full game is not near enough by itself to account for all the work that goes into it, at least for a triple A title with a decently sized dev team behind it. Games have pretty much always bee worth that, so while the price stayed the same, and gamers got used to that, game devs and publishers found themselves wanting for more. Not to say that the current monetization models are solely because of game retail prices not changing, but it is a factor, and was at least one of the current trend's initiating factors. Now, it's moreso that publishers like money and the current models get them loaded (if the game is popular, at least).

But to answer your question, yeah, games are actually pretty underpriced these days, and it's sad when gamers complain if a game costs one cent over $60 USD, because if game prices were actually adjusted, it's a lot less likely that we'd have such a problem with shady business tactics like loot boxes and microtransactions.

Also, notable houses in ESO cost WAY more than just $60 worth of crowns.

Path

I toured the house. Awesome place however, just as in real life, I can't afford the square footage or the staff to maintain it.

Such is life. Virtual or real.

BretonMage

Marginis wrote: »

But to answer your question, yeah, games are actually pretty underpriced these days, and it's sad when gamers complain if a game costs one cent over $60 USD, because if game prices were actually adjusted, it's a lot less likely that we'd have such a problem with shady business tactics like loot boxes and microtransactions.

I agree with you. Tbh, I've always thought that the years of entertainment I got from TES games were worth much more than the $60-100 I spent on them.

DoctorESO

N0TPLAYER2 wrote: »

How can they possibly charge $130-$150 for a house?

The raw, simple answer is: Because enough people are ready, willing, and able to pay that much.

AverageJo3Gam3r

How can they possibly create yet another thread whining about crown store house prices?

DoctorESO

Believe it or not, the Princely Dawnlight Manor is not the most expensive house.

The Grand Topal Hideaway cost 18,800 crowns furnished. This house was a private island - http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Grand_Topal_Hideaway

DoctorESO

One other thing to keep in mind is that the Linchal Grand Manor also cost 17,500 crowns. But the Princely Dawnlight Manor is much larger and has more unique features, like golden steps, a swimming pool (the manor only has a reflecting pond that's not deep enough to swim, an elaborate indoor fountain system, etc. And the entire estate is much larger than the Manor. Yet both properties cost 17,500. So you can argue that the price of housing has gone down. You're getting much more with 17,500 crowns than you did last year with the Linchal Manor.

DoctorESO

angelncelestine wrote: »

I didn’t buy this one due to the house being so huge. I wouldn’t have been able to furnish it the way I would of wanted to with only 700 slots. It is a beautiful home though, and I am looking forward to seeing what people do with it. I don’t see a problem with people buying these homes if they want to. I bought the cave, and I spent weeks having fun decorating it. For the same price I paid for cave I could have easily spent the same going out to dinner and a movie with my husband. That is only one night of fun. So, it really is how you look at things.

I think it's quite ironic that people will say it's crazy to spend $120 on the Princely Dawnlight Manor or some other ESO house and then go out and spend $120 buying 5 cocktails and 3 tapas.

DoctorESO

Aurelle1 wrote: »

N0TPLAYER2 wrote: »

The new house - Princely Dawnlight Palace - costs 17,500 crowns to buy furnished.

Who can justify such a large price? I don’t see how the seller OR the buyer can reasonably defend these prices.

What planet are they on? And who is buying these homes?

If you’ve spent anywhere near this price on a house please explain the justification you made to do so. I just DONT get it. Even as a guild house, the game devs really shouldn’t be asking more than $15-$30 tops for these. They’re selling houses at 7x-8x the value of the base game plus dlc. It’s mind boggling to me.

I for one buy these houses. I am one of your so-called whales. I live firmly on Planet Earth.

Why?

Without going into ZO$' business plans, although I would raise an eyebrow if prices went up any more:-

1. I have around thirty properties, some of which are near the price of this one.

2. I buy them because housing is my thing in ESO, although far from exclusively as I adventure and craft as well. I enjoy the challenge of decorating a property like PDP in spite of the item limit. I enjoy decorating ESO homes full stop.

3. As the buyer I don't feel the need to defend these prices, or justify buying the houses. If I did, I wouldn't be buying in the first place. However, you wanted to know.....although I doubt it will unboggle you.

4. Lastly, I buy them because I can.

It's your money. You are entitled to do what you want with it without others attacking you for it.

DoctorESO

BretonMage wrote: »

bellatrixed wrote: »

How do you justify going to a concert or a movie or buying a new DVD or dropping $60 on a AAA game when people are starving?

This is my first MMO and I am seriously having difficulty with the prices they are asking. I'm used to spending $60 on a game - I often spend about $100 if you take DLCs into account... But $60 on a house in a game, let alone $100? That just strikes me as bizarre.

Obviously people do it and do justify it to themselves. I myself haven't been able to get over that hurdle.

Also... what does it mean now for games that are $60? Does that mean they are massively underpriced?

It's like airfare.

Coach class is the basic game, and you pay $200 for it. If you want the extra luxuries like a bigger seat, quicker service, better food, then you pay an extra $600 to upgrade to first class. You don't need the extra luxuries, of course, and coach class will get you from point A to point B just fine.

The base game is fine on its own. You can get the extra luxuries (the expensive houses), but, like upgrading to first class on a plane, it will cost more than the price of the game.

MLGProPlayer

BretonMage wrote: »

bellatrixed wrote: »

How do you justify going to a concert or a movie or buying a new DVD or dropping $60 on a AAA game when people are starving?

This is my first MMO and I am seriously having difficulty with the prices they are asking. I'm used to spending $60 on a game - I often spend about $100 if you take DLCs into account... But $60 on a house in a game, let alone $100? That just strikes me as bizarre.

Obviously people do it and do justify it to themselves. I myself haven't been able to get over that hurdle.

Also... what does it mean now for games that are $60? Does that mean they are massively underpriced?

It depends how long you play a game for. You'll typically pour over 1000 hours into an MMO, while most single player games are over in 10-20 hours.

Lyss1991

Because I can

Because in 2017 alone, I played over 3000 hours of ESO. (Im a stay at home mom)

Im not a fancy person...I dont go shopping often, I dont go on lavish trips, I dont drink so I dont go to bars, I stopped clubbing before I was 21....

THIS IS WHAT I DO. IM A GAMER.

I have subscribed 22 out of 23 months ive been playing this game.

Ive invested over $1000 into this game, Including subscription fees, ps+, and I make a point to buy extra crowns every month, Sale or not.

Why, You ask?

Because I enjoy this game. This is all I play, Except for the occasional time I pop Skyrim in when theres maintenance. I spend ALOT of time playing this game. I want more content, I want more stuff to customize my characters. Without support and funding, We either get no new content, Or the content we do get will be crappy. I can afford it. My bills are paid. My kids are spoiled. I deserve to spend money on whatever I like. And what I like so happens to be a video game and virtual houses.

This game is projected to last at least 10 years. We arent even at the halfway point of that timeframe. I have many years to keep playing and getting use out of my houses, outfits, mounts, hair, makeup, accessories, etc. that I bought.

Its not a waste if you enjoy what you are doing.

Dont knock people who like to buy the extras and support the game because you dont want to.

Synnastix

$80 on steak and lobster dinner that i enjoy for 30 mins then turn into poo vs $120 on something that will keep me entertained for 20-30 hrs. You figure out the ROI on that one