Storage in ESO, can we improve it?

Oldar

Hello there great community of ESO,

I wanted to discuss with a constructive way, a matter that it came up a lot of times before but I wanted to analyze it and suggest some ideas from a different perspective trying to contribute for a solution after adopting a different approach.

So, long story short, the current storage system in ESO if you are non-ESO+ member and you want to experience crafting mechanics, sucks. Those who do not care about such things, they will find themselves very comfortable, but those who like to craft, such as myself, they will have a bad time finding out ways to store all of the crafting materials somewhere in order to level up their crafting skills. It is not impossible but why such a frustrating method?

Zenimax, took great care in ESO+ players as it offers them double Bank space at the same in game gold cost as the non ESO+ members and the unlimited crafting material bag, showing them their appreciation for their monthly support and I am totally agreed with that move. But what about all the other players who are actually support Zenimax with regularly Crown and expansion buys and they find themselves struggling into an item management puzzle? Don’t they deserve a little sympathy as well?

If the game was F2P, then I would never write this thread. But, ESO is not F2P. You need to buy the basic game, and if you like to explore additional content you need to buy the Expansions and either buy the DLCs one by one from the Crown Store or pay for ESO+ membership. That being said I cannot understand why a game such great as ESO with SO many SOLO content, treat their non ESO+ members, who they also support the game, as second class players.

My biggest entertainment in almost every MMO game is the interaction with other players, doing group content and experience the crafting system the game has to offer. ESO at the last part took a serious hit over the years with the current storage policy. The current storage design does not take into consideration 2 basic aspects of the game:

A. The number of the Crafting materials there are
In Summerset we experienced another crafting skill coming all the way. That meant new crafting materials added into the current ones BUT we did not receive a proper expansion option for our Bank Slots number. Yes, they implement Housing storage, but let’s be honest here: the way this idea have been implemented into the game, does not help at all with the crafting routes, rather with more space for armor, weapons etc. which is a welcome addition but not so for crafting.

My suggestion would be for Zenimax, to take their time and write down how many single stacks of crafting materials there are in the game at this current moment.

For example let’s say there are 300. Then, 300 will be the maximum number of slots the Bank should have. So, the players who unlock all their bank slots, they will be able to store every crafting material in there for their crafting creations. If we want to be fair here, I suggest an addition of 20-30 slots to the final storage number of slots in order to have the needing space to switch gear, recipes, items etc from a character to another. If more crafting items will be come, the above number will increase accordingly to the new materials (+10, +20 etc.)

Following this route, the crafting storage design will never exclude the non ESO+ players out of the crafting experience, the ESO+ members will have more space AND Zenimax will have more Banking slots to sale at the crown store. It is a win-win-win situation.

B. The players who are actually want to experience the crafting system but they are not ESO+ members.
It would be a great crafting design IF the players who really want to taste the crafting system and they are not ESO+ members, expand their Inventory Slots through crafting.

For example: Let’s say I begin my journey in the crafting scene leveling the Provisioning Profession. Once I level up that skill line to level 10, I earn an achievement AND the option to expand my character's Inventory space to +10 Slots FOR crafting materials ONLY for a nominal gold OR crown fee. That means, I can only store in there crafting materials and no other items such as armor, weapons etc. Reaching Provisioning level 20 I can unlock with in game gold another 10 slots for crafting bag and so on up until 50. That way a player who like to craft, can find a very convenient and rewarding solution to the current storage problem playing the game.

In this case, the inventory crafting bag, will be bound to the character we invest time and gold to level up its crafting skills. Another idea will be, to add that additional space not into the character I level up its crafting skills but into the Bank Section as a second tab. That way we can have the necessary space to craft our favorite creations and rewarding our efforts for doing that.

Inventory or Bank expansion, as a reward from the crafting system I believe is an awesome idea. Players without ESO+ Membership, can at last enjoy the crafting system of the game while playing the game. ESO+ Members, have nothing to worry about, as they will save gold with their current Unlimited bag. Zenimax, will have another item in the crown store for sale only if you have completed the achievement. That means that if I have all the professions below Level 10, I will not be able to buy those slots from the crown store.

Thank you for your time and forgive me if that was too long.

Best Regards
Oldar

Chrysa1is

Yes. let players that are allowed to visit place a storage chest at your guild hall for them to use

VaranisArano

The whole point to having a storage shortage is to incentivze people to subscribe with ESO+ so they can get the crafting bag. ZOS is unlikely to do anything that might encourage crafters and farmers to not subscribe for the crafting bag.

As nice as your suggestions would be for someone who doesn't subscribe, like me, ZOS will never do it. Storage shortage is a feature meant to drive players towards subscribing. They aren't going to fix something that, to them, is working exactly as intended.

NickStern

NO

Oldar

Thank you for your replies.

I agree that one of the biggest selling points of ESO+ memberships is the crafting bag. But it is also the access to all DLCs as the bonus Crowns you get. I won't talk about other bonuses such as more experience, more gold etc. If Zos thinks something like that will make ESO+ membership's bonuses weaker, they can make those slots I am referring to, unlock not only with gold, but maybe some with gold and some with other currencies such as Tel Var stones etc.

But as I mentioned in my OP, ESO is not F2P. Why is that a paying customer cannot experience the crafting routes the game offers?

Ragebull

They won't do anything If it can possibly hurt the crown store. That's not just consumer angst talking, every decision can easily be traced back to the crown store in some way. It's how they decided to fund their pockets... I mean product

Oldar

But having more options to buy from the Crown store ins't that a profit for them?

The ESO+ players will have all these payed as the content from the DLCs. That means they will already save a big amount of time and gold.

Taleof2Cities

Just wanted to recap how much inventory space players actually have without the crafting bag ... since these kinds of threads get somewhat tiring:

- 15 characters with in-game gold or crown purchased bag upgrades (up to 140 each character) = 2,100 slots
- Mount bag space upgrades (15 mounts x 60) = 900 slots
- Personal bank space (with upgrades & ESO+) = 480 slots
- Home storage bins = 360 slots

Total: 3,840

Personal Guild Banks = 500 slots each (up to 2,500); limit of 5 guild banks


If a player doesn't have any personal guild banks, we're still approaching 3,900 inventory slots ... not including the crafting bag or stacked inventory.

So, the first question for any player feeling constricted on inventory ... have you hit 3,840 character and bank slots yet? Even without ESO+ you’d only subtract the double bank space (240 slots).

If you can't manage what you have in that allotment of inventory slots that's your own fault [shrug].

NeroBad

As @VaranisArano wrote, the shortage is encourage players to subscribe. I can manage without subscription but it gets harder with each new chapter.

I only suggest that with each new chapter there could be a one more 10 slot upgrade only buyable at the new chapter zone. It wouldn't be enough most of the times for non ESO+ but a little less overwhelming, so that way those who buy the new chapter but are not ESO+ members (and crafters) won't have such a hard time enjoying the new content.

TheCyberDruid

VaranisArano wrote: »

The whole point to having a storage shortage is to incentivze people to subscribe with ESO+ so they can get the crafting bag. ZOS is unlikely to do anything that might encourage crafters and farmers to not subscribe for the crafting bag.

This. I can understand that people without ESO+ feel like it's unfair, but let's face it: nobody 'subscribes' for the 10% more XP and gold or the double bank space (maybe for the double housing slots...). It's a pain in the behind to manage your crafting mats without ESO+ for a reason.

Nerftheforums

I play without eso plus for 10 months a year.
How I mange it is by having a guild with inactive ayers (friends that left because of proc sets in 1t, just saying) that grants me access to a personal guild bank where I keep excess of materials. Personal bank is maxed out, and I have 8 characters with an average inventory of 150. Lastly, I have all house storage boxes filled in my house. The whole thing is manageable also without the guild bank, I swear, but it will require a lot of inventory management if your produce a lot of materials.

jedtb16_ESO

do what we did before the craft bag....

make mules.

AlienatedGoat

jedtb16_ESO wrote: »

do what we did before the craft bag....

make mules.

Pretty much mules.

You don't start off the game with maxed bag and bank space, or all the storage chests for homes.

You do start off the game with the ability to create 8 characters with 60 bag space apiece. Use it.

That being said, the 240/480 bank space triggers me somewhat. I need it to be an even 250/500.

G1Countdown

No. The entire point of the craft bag is to handle all of the crafting materials. Your suggestion simplified is to make sure the bank has enough slots to handle a stack of each of all the crafting materials.

rootimus

The issue is less about the number of slots and more about the lack of ability to organise our stuffs. Being able to label our storage crates would be neat, as would more crates in differing sizes. It would also be nice to be able to turn all 14 chapters of any motif into a full book, and perhaps the same with recipes from each of the annual events.

Sevn

rootimus wrote: »

The issue is less about the number of slots and more about the lack of ability to organise our stuffs. Being able to label our storage crates would be neat, as would more crates in differing sizes. It would also be nice to be able to turn all 14 chapters of any motif into a full book, and perhaps the same with recipes from each of the annual events.

You can label your storage crates. I have several labeled "master writs", some labeled "surveys", "housing items", etc.

Graydon

Pay the $15 a month. It’s such an easy solution.

radiostar

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Just wanted to recap how much inventory space players actually have without the crafting bag ... since these kinds of threads get somewhat tiring:

- 15 characters with in-game gold or crown purchased bag upgrades (up to 140 each character) = 2,100 slots
- Mount bag space upgrades (15 mounts x 60) = 900 slots
- Personal bank space (with upgrades & ESO+) = 480 slots
- Home storage bins = 360 slots

Total: 3,840

Personal Guild Banks = 500 slots each (up to 2,500); limit of 5 guild banks


If a player doesn't have any personal guild banks, we're still approaching 3,900 inventory slots ... not including the crafting bag or stacked inventory.

So, the first question for any player feeling constricted on inventory ... have you hit 3,840 character and bank slots yet? Even without ESO+ you’d only subtract the double bank space (240 slots).

If you can't manage what you have in that allotment of inventory slots that's your own fault [shrug].

This right here is what Z should monetize.
A 2000 to 4000 personal bag purchasable in the CS as a convenience, since you can do this in the game for gold and time.
Would sell like hotcakes.

rootimus

Sevn wrote: »

You can label your storage crates. I have several labeled "master writs", some labeled "surveys", "housing items", etc.

You are a scholar and a gentle-elf. I never noticed that until I saw your post - thank-you!

Oldar

Wow, so many replies! Thank you all for those.

@Taleof2Cities I know there are solutions for a non ESO+ player to work things out but we forget to take notice that: All the non ESO players are actually PAY for base game and for the extra content as well.

As, my personal example, I paid 2 gold editions (for me and my wife), 1 Morrowind and 1 Summerset Expansion. In addition I bought twice the 21000 Crown package from the store when it was at sale at Christmas. So, for a simple year I paid 285,00 Euros. If I would pay subscription, I wouldn't need to store additional Crowns as I would had all the DLCs available and in that case with the extra Gold Edition copy I would have paid 291,88 Euros. These 2 numbers are very close from my perspective. I just find it difficult to understand why the company I support treats me like a second class player because I find inconvenient with my real life schedule to make the subscription count for me at the present time.

I also, believe that having such a significant aspect of the game (crafting) lying behind frustrating tactics of mules and second accounts is just a failed design.

My suggestions are simple ideas that may help in this chaos when it comes to organize things especially if you want to level crafting. Of course are general ideas that Zos can take into consideration and bring them to their standards. For example for those who have not purchase the Summerset there is no need to offer more Bank slots. As @NeroBad said, in each Expansion and in each DLC I find myself struggle with the available slots as the useful items hoarding more and more. As a paying customer who pays for the DLCs and the Expansions I want from Zos to make me feel that I pay for better experience and additional content, not for more frustration and brainteasers!

Taleof2Cities

Oldar wrote: »

I also, believe that having such a significant aspect of the game (crafting) lying behind frustrating tactics of mules and second accounts is just a failed design.

You choosing not to utilize all the available storage space in the game isn’t anyone else’s problem ... especially not ZOS’s problem.

[shrugs]

Sevn

rootimus wrote: »

Sevn wrote: »

You can label your storage crates. I have several labeled "master writs", some labeled "surveys", "housing items", etc.

You are a scholar and a gentle-elf. I never noticed that until I saw your post - thank-you!

You're welcome, took me a while to notice it myself lol!

@op

If they offered any sort of storage space like the crafting bag in the crown store they'd lose tons of subs as it's really the best thing about subbing, in particular for crafters. It's the cold hard truth. The difference in my actual playtime when I have an active sub verses how much time I waste micromanaging when without is huge.

Even with the added storage crates it's so much more convenient to do crafting activities than without it since it pulls directly from your bag.

Tandor

NeroBad wrote: »

As @VaranisArano wrote, the shortage is encourage players to subscribe. I can manage without subscription but it gets harder with each new chapter.

I only suggest that with each new chapter there could be a one more 10 slot upgrade only buyable at the new chapter zone. It wouldn't be enough most of the times for non ESO+ but a little less overwhelming, so that way those who buy the new chapter but are not ESO+ members (and crafters) won't have such a hard time enjoying the new content.

It's not only to encourage players to subscribe, it's also to reward those who already do so.

Troneon

They turned the game into Elder Scrolls Inventory Management Online on purpose to push crown store sales of storage and sell ESO Plus crafting bag.

Silver_Strider

Considering that you don't need any of the low level mats once you pass CP160, you can cut out all those mats entirely from hording, which cuts out about 60% of mats.

The 10 racial styles can all be thrown out since you can buy them from vendors and Daedric Hearts are common as dirty as are some other crafting stones, like those for Ancient Elf and OotH, that it's entirely on you if you want to throw those out as well but the rarer ones like The Great House style stones should be kept.

I mean, you have 600 storage space with a Max Bank and all Storage coffers alone and each character can hold 200 max bag space and there's only so much stuff a character needs to absolutely needs (handful of sets per character, food+pots) with everything else being mostly filler items, like maps or stolen goods, that you get around to getting rid of over time anyways that it shouldn't be difficult to manage, at least in comparison to launch when there wasn't a crafting bag or storage coffers.

Oldar

Thank you all for your contribution in this thread!

My main purpose is not to make ESO+ membership worthless. I just wondering why they do not implement an idea such as the Crafting bag, with limited slots if you want to level crafting professions. I am not talking about all the other items the game offers such as Weapons, Armor etc. I am talking exclusively for the crafting aspect of the game. I do not think giving us e.g. 200 slots if you manage to level all the crafting professions will be such a tragic difference for the ESO+ members.

We can earn +25 slots of crafting bag (5 slots every 10 levels of profession line) with each level 50 Profession, and they can add a +25 if a character managed to level all the current professions to level 50. I do not see how that will hurt the double Bank space and the Unlimited bag of ESO+ which they grand those from the moment they subscribe. All the non ESO players must work their inventory expansion through leveling all the crafting professions. They can make that bind to the character the player decide to level the professions and not even account wide which will be a drastic difference between the ESO+ members and the rest of the players. If a player would like to unlock this feature to another toon, he must level all the professions there too.

In the bottom line, I believe there are still ways to implement such ideas without losing the current balance of the game. As I already stated, they are not only the ESO+ members who are bringing money to ZOS. There are all the others who purchase various items from the crown store and I believe they deserve some attention too.

Kiralyn2000

The storage crates "just holding armor/weapons/etc" thing helps because it gets that stuff out of your bank. So your bank can hold more crafting things.

I also manage my crafting without ESO+ by judiciously using the periodic "5 day free ESO+ trial" events. I save my crafting surveys until then, gather all the new materials, refine all the ore, etc. This reloads my crafting bag until the next time. My bank is just used for the stuff I gather in between free ESO+ events.

I offload extra stacks of unrefined ore/cloth/etc to a mule, until I need to refine more stuff.

Extra, rarely-used style materials, are in a storage chest. Survey, motifs, and master writs I can't use yet/don't need yet, are in a storage chest.

Honestly, I don't even have my personal storage or bank maxed out, and I run daily writs on multiple characters.

Oldar

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

You choosing not to utilize all the available storage space in the game isn’t anyone else’s problem ... especially not ZOS’s problem.

[shrugs]

It is not the solution to the problem to log in and out 30 times a day with different toons when I want to play and have fun. And since I am paying for all the content ZOS gives us, if I find those tactics stressful and frustrating I may consider to stop playing their game. I do not think ZOS want this to happen so in the bottom line I believe they will eventually have problem too.

Oldar

Sevn wrote: »

If they offered any sort of storage space like the crafting bag in the crown store they'd lose tons of subs as it's really the best thing about subbing, in particular for crafters. It's the cold hard truth. The difference in my actual playtime when I have an active sub verses how much time I waste micromanaging when without is huge.

Even with the added storage crates it's so much more convenient to do crafting activities than without it since it pulls directly from your bag.

My friend, I never said to add the unlimited bag to the store. That would be a suicide. I do not want to suggest ideas that will harm their revenue at all. On the contrary. I am only saying for those who want to experience the crafting aspect of the game to have an alternative way to do it so with less frustration. The slots will be in the store de-activated. When a character of your account reaches a profession level 10, then and only then you can choose to unlock 5-10 slots of the crafting bag with in game currency OR with crowns and only that amount. In every 10 levels of a crafting profession you then can buy these slots from the store. But the double bank space, the unlimited space of the crafting bag and the privileged to have it in every character of your account would be exclusively privileges of the ESO+ membership.