Really disappointed in the Summerset Collector's Edition art book (it's too small)

AlexanderDeLarge

I was really looking forward to having a collection of high quality art books in a similar style with the announcement of annual chapters meaning annual physical collector's editions but I was disappointed to see the dimensions of the Summerset CE art book as seen below.




Would've rather had less pages but the same dimensions as the Morrowind/base game's volumes because now it's inconsistent. Hopefully this was just a misstep and next year's volume won't be so small because this one looks really out of place on a book shelf

AlexanderDeLarge

Also there's hardly any Summerset art in this thing. Going forward if these art books are going to be lacking... Why not include art from the DLCs? Horns of the Reach and Clockwork City sections would've been appreciated. Just saying.

grizzledcroc

:<, this reminds me that the collectors guide says it has concept are for summerset, my guess ones that are not in this book.

runagate

AlexanderDeLarge wrote: »

I was really looking forward to having a collection of high quality art books in a similar style with the announcement of annual chapters meaning annual physical collector's editions but I was disappointed to see the dimensions of the Summerset CE art book as seen below.




Would've rather had less pages but the same dimensions as the Morrowind/base game's volumes because now it's inconsistent. Hopefully this was just a misstep and next year's volume won't be so small because this one looks really out of place on a book shelf

It's like some marketing guru at ZOS is like "small is the new awesome! shrink zones! shrink books!"

esotoon

That's so dissapointing. The books are a big reason I get the Collectors edition.

Nebthet78

Here's the thing though. If you look at the sites selling the Collector's Edition. It wasn't advertised as a Collection Art Book. It was specifically advertised as Razum-dar’s Journal, which would explain why there isn't a whole lot of art in it and it is smaller.

Now, if they made the statue smaller. Then I'd be pissed.

Linaleah

Nebthet78 wrote: »

Here's the thing though. If you look at the sites selling the Collector's Edition. It wasn't advertised as a Collection Art Book. It was specifically advertised as Razum-dar’s Journal, which would explain why there isn't a whole lot of art in it and it is smaller.

Now, if they made the statue smaller. Then I'd be pissed.

the thing is though, at least one of those larger books is naryu's journal. so i have to say, them not matching up in size and quality of art IS a bit disappointing

Umariel

I got my CE today as well and was SO disappointed in this as well. Why put so much effort and attention to detail into the first two if this is how you are going to make the third? Why not keep them uniform? Having the nice leather strings on the binding, it looks so nice having a uniform collection on your shelves. Why change?

One answer. MONEY.

It's very evident that thought they would just get off with making something smaller thinking, "No one will even notice. It's a journal so they probably will just think nothing of it. And look how much we save in production cost for the total cost of leather if we just scale this down. No big deal."

It IS a big deal.

We support this game because we expect a quality product in return. The price I paid for the CE was still the same, why should what I get for that $90 change? You guys are already making money hand over fist with the Crown Store and the Crates. Why would you make such a poor choice like this with your most HC fans?

And the last book for Morrowind was marketed as Naryu's journal so that argument for why this one is small is not valid.

Nebthet78

Linaleah wrote: »

Nebthet78 wrote: »

Here's the thing though. If you look at the sites selling the Collector's Edition. It wasn't advertised as a Collection Art Book. It was specifically advertised as Razum-dar’s Journal, which would explain why there isn't a whole lot of art in it and it is smaller.

Now, if they made the statue smaller. Then I'd be pissed.

the thing is though, at least one of those larger books is naryu's journal. so i have to say, them not matching up in size and quality of art IS a bit disappointing

Yeah, but the description for Naryu's journal in all advertising stated the following: "Naryu's Journal: A full-color, large-format book chronicling Morag Tong assassin Naryu's pursuit of a conspiracy across Tamriel. Illustrated with a broad array of concept art. "
So, we knew by the description we were getting a large book with Morrowind. This time around, they didn't tell us the size of Razum-Dar's Journal. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of people assumed it would be the same as the previous two.

Sadly, over the years, I've learned to read carefully between the lines when ZOS advertises something and to expect diminishing returns despite a high cost.

Umariel

I don't see how the product descriptions of the previous CE's should be an indicating factor for the reduced size of this one.

Either way, IT IS a deceptive marketing choice that they didn't indicate that this one was MUCH smaller. All they had to do was put "Mini" or " 6X9" or any descriptive adjective; I would have either scaled my expectations or would at least have the knowledge to make my own decision whether or not to order one or just get the digital CE, if I didn't feel it was worth it.

I think every person who ordered this was expecting the full size. And to not give ANY kind of heads up that it wasn't, is kind of ***.

It just leaves a bad taste in the consumers mouth. I'm not outraged, I'm just disappointed.

jssriot

Wow, that's pretty pathetic. I'm not really into the artbooks, but it's easy to see that players would have a certain expectation based on the previous art books and this just makes ZOS look cheap and scammy, which of course should surprise no one, but still.

Taleof2Cities

Did not get the Physical Collector’s Edition myself, but really empathetic for players who thought they would be given a similar art book as in the past.

red_emu

Art books got nerfed? Probably too OP. Did they also remove the stun from Page 17? That page was cancer in PvP.

grizzledcroc

Why is it every month something new pops up showcasing another thing that's fing over the consumer.

ZOS_JesC

Greetings, we've removed a few baiting comments, please remember to keep personal insults out of your posts. They only derail the thread into arguments. Thank you for your understanding.

esotoon

RE: Comparing the photos.

Just for the record, these images are linked directly from ZOS's server and the ones they use on their website. I'll leave it to readers to decide if the size difference was obvious from the photo alone.

Original Game:




Morrowind Expansion:




Summerset Expansion:




OP's real life comparison:

AlexanderDeLarge

esotoon wrote: »

RE: Comparing the photos.

Just for the record, these images are linked directly from ZOS's server and the ones they use on their website. I'll leave it to readers to decide if the size difference was obvious from the photo alone.

Original Game:


Morrowind Expansion:



Summerset Expansion:


OP's real life comparison:

Seeing it all laid out like that... Wow, that's deceptive as hell.

Umariel

AlexanderDeLarge wrote: »

Seeing it all laid out like that... Wow, that's deceptive as hell.

Yep, some serious photo editing was done there.

Seraphayel

I am so happy I canceled my pre order of the CE. So not only the DLC called "Summerset" is an utter disappointment but the CE is as well. "Classic" and "Morrowind" CE were amazing and I bought them because I really enjoyed the journals and statues. But this is it for Summerset? That's just pathetic and feels even more as a rip off, even with the cheaper price tag.

AlexanderDeLarge

Seraphayel wrote: »

I am so happy I canceled my pre order of the CE. So not only the DLC called "Summerset" is an utter disappointment but the CE is as well. "Classic" and "Morrowind" CE were amazing and I bought them because I really enjoyed the journals and statues. But this is it for Summerset? That's just pathetic and feels even more as a rip off, even with the cheaper price tag.

I have until May 30th to decide because Best Buy/Amazon didn't get inventory it seems.

esotoon

Being forewarned by this thread took the sting off it a bit, but man, now having the book in person... so disappointing.

I really hope ZOS listen to the feedback to this thread and next time either (preferably) revert back to the original format size, or alternatively, make it crystal clear in their advertising the size of the book you will be getting.

To their credit, I have absolutely no complaints about the statue. It's really detailed and looks great.

Narapara

I'm going to throw my name into the ring of disappointment as well. Not only is the journal small but it just feels all around cheaper,especially with the quality of the pages. I'm glad someone posted the marketing pictures for comparison because there was no way to see the size and quality difference in the pictures. I really hope next expansion won't cheap out with the next journal.

esotoon

Narapara wrote: »

I'm going to throw my name into the ring of disappointment as well. Not only is the journal small but it just feels all around cheaper,especially with the quality of the pages. I'm glad someone posted the marketing pictures for comparison because there was no way to see the size and quality difference in the pictures. I really hope next expansion won't cheap out with the next journal.

Glad you were able to find the thread. For some reason it hasn't been appearing on the front page when people have posted in it, so it has been buried. The forum seems to think the last post made was 20th May.

sixstoriesunder_ESO

Wow, I just got mine today. Kinda wish I saw this thread earlier. I even had to re-order the collector's edition two days ago because Amazon screwed up my order despite having ordered it a month in advance. But I was super disappointed by the quality of the art book. Not only is it like half the size, but the materials are quite a bit cheaper. On the bright side, the new statue is my favorite one.

Cynalus

Opened mine today.
Had the Morrowind CE last year.

Impressions --
-- Box was smaller (looks like it's a mini-edition next to the Morrowind one).
-- Statue was smaller (again, next to the Morrowind figure why exactly couldn't this be upsized to similar dimensions/etc).
-- Book was smaller (I'm certain the lore is well-written; but concur with others -- cheaper all around; this made me most disappointed by far; I was so looking forward to another beautiful volume).

I've played every Elder Scrolls since Arena. Not nearly as much time now as when I was a teenager in the 90s.
Nowhere near high level / end content in ESO (it's just nice to explore, music great, etc etc).
I've always tried to get the CEs as I love the ESO lore and affiliated content.

But man. I was as densely sad as I was disappointed in the CE as I opened it due to the dimensions/proportions/size.
Frankly if Morrowind hadn't been enormous in comparison, wouldn't have been as big a deal.
But when you're expecting, well...something...quite analogous, it's just a touch of a bummer after the time spent waiting.

This was, well, a bit of a downer (literally sighed a few times opening it while laughing at myself for caring at all but whatever) due to the expectations vs reality.