Lakemire Xanmeer Manor

AefionBloodclaw

So, as expected ZoS continue their obsolete and bad marketing strategies of only making this amazing house available for an extremely limited time. When are you guys going to stop doing this, and realise you can't make money off something which isn't available? I know there will be people who will want this house, but won't be able to purchase it, because of your absolutely unreasonable demands that they have to have the money within a strict time frame. Ultimately, this is just hurting your professional reputation, and turning other players off from purchasing anything from your store at all.

bharathitman

I am pretty sure that every company uses data in order to make sound decisions. You might feel that the marketing strategy used here is obsolete but obviously the data points in the other direction. ZOS is in the business of making money and they know that artificial scarcity works. Lot of people who’ are considering to purchase the manor will be forced to make a purchase decision sooner

AefionBloodclaw

Disagree, you're still not making as much money as you could be, if the house was available at all times. That's common sense, plus I've seen tons of people actually wanting to spend the money on houses they can't get. So the evidence points in the other direction. Also there are so many players angry at ZoS over their marketing blunders on these forums so I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong here.

B0SSzombie

AefionBloodclaw wrote: »

Disagree, you're still not making as much money as you could be, if the house was available at all times. That's common sense, plus I've seen tons of people actually wanting to spend the money on houses they can't get. So the evidence points in the other direction. Also there are so many players angry at ZoS over their marketing blunders on these forums so I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong here.

It's all about demand.

If you know something will be extremely limited, the average person that is undecided about it will be more likely to make a snap decision and buy it. If it's available at all times, most people will just look at and say "Well, I can buy it whenever I REALLY want it..." It's all psychological.

It works for Digital content, Collector's Editions, and even Girl Scout Cookies.

AefionBloodclaw

Yes but there are more players that won't buy it than will buy it... so ZoS being part of a multi-billion dollar company could easily just make the houses available at all times and over time make more money than putting them up for only 2 days.

O_LYKOS

People might not be able to buy it. But once people do buy it. Decorate it. More people will want it. Therefore make sure the next time it comes available they will have the crowns for it.

Jayne_Doe

First of all, the window to purchase this home is longer than some in the past. Tel Galen was available for only several days, whereas Xanmeer is available for TWO WEEKS. Hardly the "2 days" you claim.

Also, they've brought back most of the houses at least once already, AND most of them were recently on sale for 30% off during their Black Friday sale. I strongly doubt that this month with be the only opportunity ever to purchase it.

I would argue that they have looked at data and discovered that a longer window (early exclusive homes were only on sale for a few days) yields more sales. Heck Pariah's Pinnacle was on sale for an entire month when it was first introduced and has returned twice already. This past month, the Snowglobe home was around for a month. Two weeks is a shorter window, to be sure, but it's half a month, so plenty of time for most.

Plus, many players have been waiting for this house, so I'm pretty sure most players who actually want to buy it have been saving their Crowns or took advantage of the recent sale to stock up on Crowns. If you didn't plan ahead, then you can get it next time it comes around.

EDIT: Regarding Pariah's Pinnacle, it may be that the second time it came around was when it was on sale for almost a month and the first time was a shorter window. But, it's come back twice and then was in the recent Black Friday sale.

thumpthing

...and of course, it doesn't go on sale until the 17th, so there's another couple weeks to scrounge up some crowns.

AefionBloodclaw

And yet, if you look at recent posts, including a poll that I saw, people's faith in ZoS has plummeted massively, especially in the marketing team. And Tel Galen has never come back, and that's the one I actually would've liked to get. There are plenty of posts about it if you bother doing the research.

zyntex

As other pointed out it is about demand. If you keep the house away for a longer time and peoples demand of it is getting higher and higher (they maybe saving up on it) you will have more sales once it returns.

ploddab16_ESO

Ahhh, here we go again.

Don't you miss when a house was part of the game and purchasable for coin as a long term reward, instead of being a limited time exclusive you buy on top of it's DLC that costs more than the box price of the DLC itself? In fact, scrap that, for the price of these 'exclusive' houses you could buy ESO and all of it's DLC and still have about £20 to spare!

If the house itself was 5000 crowns, perhaps. As it stands it does nothing but look pretty and possibly serve as both a bank, AH, fence, dye station and crafting center for players (provided they've paid through the nose for these privileges beforehand, of course) and direct them back to the crown store to get it's associated furnishings which are, that's right folks, timed crown store exclusives as well, that can only be bought in massive packs when you only really want the one item!

I just wish that the folk who see this and go after it would pause, take a few deep breaths, and then ask themselves if a digital item that holds no real relevance to the rest of the game, other than serving as a way to avoid having to use cities for anything other than the guild stores, is actually worth the price of Skyrim Special Edition, Oblivion, Morrowind AND Fallout 4 combined.

When does it finally reach the point when we say 'enough'?

AefionBloodclaw

So I've just been made aware of a visual bug that is present in the Lakemire Xanmeer Manor, and it hasn't been fixed. You can see this video for details of the bug:

https://youtu.be/UYc-Jgdyo_M

I have no idea if they know about this bug, because most of the time they seem to refuse to acknowledge bug reports, and judging by their history of not fixing bugs I highly doubt they will fix it before the manor becomes available. So now ZoS think its ok to sell houses that have massive visual glitches, parts of stairs that don't render properly? And they'll be making money off this? This is disgusting behaviour.

See this thread for another previous bug which ZoS doesn't acknowledge or fix, and this one is present in the psijic villa:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/449428/psijic-villa-stairs-not-functional#latest

Turelus

B0SSzombie wrote: »

AefionBloodclaw wrote: »

Disagree, you're still not making as much money as you could be, if the house was available at all times. That's common sense, plus I've seen tons of people actually wanting to spend the money on houses they can't get. So the evidence points in the other direction. Also there are so many players angry at ZoS over their marketing blunders on these forums so I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong here.

If you know something will be extremely limited, the average person that is undecided about it will be more likely to make a snap decision and buy it. If it's available at all times, most people will just look at and say "Well, I can buy it whenever I REALLY want it..." It's all psychological.

This is literally how I make my purchases. I don't have the Alliance War mounts yet for this very reason. I do however own every Dunmer item which was limited time.

E7216

B0SSzombie wrote: »

AefionBloodclaw wrote: »

Disagree, you're still not making as much money as you could be, if the house was available at all times. That's common sense, plus I've seen tons of people actually wanting to spend the money on houses they can't get. So the evidence points in the other direction. Also there are so many players angry at ZoS over their marketing blunders on these forums so I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong here.

It's all about demand.

If you know something will be extremely limited, the average person that is undecided about it will be more likely to make a snap decision and buy it. If it's available at all times, most people will just look at and say "Well, I can buy it whenever I REALLY want it..." It's all psychological.

Doesn't work with houses, as everybody who can afford the high prices can get it through support, even years after its appearance in the shop.

AefionBloodclaw

Just logged in to check the manor, its still bugged, absolutely disgusting textures on the stairs and doorframes, absolutely disgusting behaviour from ZoS that this wasn't fixed in time, and its not even on the PTS, its only on the real server. Zos should be ashamed for this greed, asking 15K for a digital house is bad enough but now selling what is essentially faulty goods, and asking people to pay over a hundred dollars for it... are there any levels to which they won't stoop. Pathetic >:(

AlienSlof

AefionBloodclaw wrote: »

Just logged in to check the manor, its still bugged, absolutely disgusting textures on the stairs and doorframes, absolutely disgusting behaviour from ZoS that this wasn't fixed in time, and its not even on the PTS, its only on the real server. Zos should be ashamed for this greed, asking 15K for a digital house is bad enough but now selling what is essentially faulty goods, and asking people to pay over a hundred dollars for it... are there any levels to which they won't stoop. Pathetic >:(

^ So much this. ^

They put out a bugged product - a high-priced one at that - and expect us to pay for it.

Sloppy, ZOS, very sloppy.

Jayne_Doe

AefionBloodclaw wrote: »

And yet, if you look at recent posts, including a poll that I saw, people's faith in ZoS has plummeted massively, especially in the marketing team. And Tel Galen has never come back, and that's the one I actually would've liked to get. There are plenty of posts about it if you bother doing the research.

What does that have to do with this topic? Are you trying to say that if they offered the home for longer that players will suddenly have more faith in ZOS? Are you trying to angle for a longer time by trying to convince ZOS that if they do so, they will suddenly have an entirely happy player base that will never complain about anything? We've all seen posts and entire threads complaining about one thing or another. No research is needed to know that. I just don't get your point here.

And yes...Tel Galen hasn't returned yet, but it's possible it will during the Morrowind Anniversary Celebration.

AlienSlof wrote: »

AefionBloodclaw wrote: »

Just logged in to check the manor, its still bugged, absolutely disgusting textures on the stairs and doorframes, absolutely disgusting behaviour from ZoS that this wasn't fixed in time, and its not even on the PTS, its only on the real server. Zos should be ashamed for this greed, asking 15K for a digital house is bad enough but now selling what is essentially faulty goods, and asking people to pay over a hundred dollars for it... are there any levels to which they won't stoop. Pathetic >:(

^ So much this. ^

They put out a bugged product - a high-priced one at that - and expect us to pay for it.

Sloppy, ZOS, very sloppy.

Now this, I can agree with. Putting out a bugged product without fixing it first, even after being made aware of it, is, frankly, crappy.

As for the high prices of CS only homes, they are too pricey for me, so I don't generally buy them. I did buy Tel Galen, which was 10k crowns, but I really wanted it. Yes, homes and most of the fluff items in the CS end up costing more than the actual game/DLCs, and that's fine. The actual game content is priced lower, and all the fluff that WE DON'T EVEN NEED TO PLAY THE GAME is where ZOS makes its money. Now, that's not to say that I don't think most of it is overpriced, but it's also stuff I don't need.

And as for those that do buy those houses, who cares? If that's what they want to spend their entertainment/hobby budget on, let them. How many people spend hundreds of dollars on concert tickets or sports games for only a couple of hours of entertainment. Sure, you can buy a souvenir or save your ticket stub as a souvenir, but you don't really have anything substantial to show for those 2 hours of entertainment. Just memories of a good time. These digital houses, on the other hand, can provide hours and hours of entertainment for some players, and they can enjoy it for much longer than that football game or rock concert. Sure, at some point the servers will shut down, but they'll enjoy that house much longer than that concert.

Tigerseye

I'm passing on it.

I'd quite like to have it, but it's very expensive for what it is and I have already spent way too much on this game.

My ESO+ membership is coming up for renewal fairly soon, but too late for this house.

Even if it would be in time, I just don't really want to spend that many Crowns on a nice, but not amazing, house.

Matchimus

Stupid. I love it and really want to buy it and would but the nearest Wayshrine is 3 days away. No buy. I just dont get it.

Edit...I could teleport to another home close to a wayshrine...contemplating

AngelaWasp

Matchimus wrote: »

Stupid. I love it and really want to buy it and would but the nearest Wayshrine is 3 days away. No buy. I just dont get it.

Edit...I could teleport to another home close to a wayshrine...contemplating

Teleporting works for me. It's such a beautiful area, great for fishing and I think the house is amazing. I've already spent a lot of hours there, just enjoying being there and listening to the music. Good luck with your decision

Tigerseye

Matchimus wrote: »

Stupid. I love it and really want to buy it and would but the nearest Wayshrine is 3 days away. No buy. I just dont get it.

Edit...I could teleport to another home close to a wayshrine...contemplating

Well, that is part of its attraction, surely?

That, if you're doing the dailies in that area, you can port to your house, instead of having to run from a wayshrine miles away.

Matchimus

Tigerseye wrote: »

Matchimus wrote: »

Stupid. I love it and really want to buy it and would but the nearest Wayshrine is 3 days away. No buy. I just dont get it.

Edit...I could teleport to another home close to a wayshrine...contemplating

Well, that is part of its attraction, surely?

That, if you're doing the dailies in that area, you can port to your house, instead of having to run from a wayshrine miles away.

I think you are saying I buy this house and I am close to some dailies?...seems a lot to spend for that purpose.

And I have decided against purchase. Yep I like the waterfalls and is a must have in my first big purchase home but I think the aquarium is what caught my eye, except after a few visits and spending some time looking at it, it seems rather bland of activity.

I sat down and asked myself what do I want in a home. I looked at all the homes and worked out my ideal house would have a waterfall and access to the ocean because I like those sounds, and the Sun. Did some research and nothing available has those features except *sigh* the Grand Topal Hideaway. Knowing this exist means anything I buy for big crowns will come with thoughts 'this isn't what i really wanted'. So I'm staying with my little Jungle House.

AefionBloodclaw

Matchimus wrote: »

Tigerseye wrote: »

Matchimus wrote: »

Stupid. I love it and really want to buy it and would but the nearest Wayshrine is 3 days away. No buy. I just dont get it.

Edit...I could teleport to another home close to a wayshrine...contemplating

Well, that is part of its attraction, surely?

That, if you're doing the dailies in that area, you can port to your house, instead of having to run from a wayshrine miles away.

I think you are saying I buy this house and I am close to some dailies?...seems a lot to spend for that purpose.

And I have decided against purchase. Yep I like the waterfalls and is a must have in my first big purchase home but I think the aquarium is what caught my eye, except after a few visits and spending some time looking at it, it seems rather bland of activity.

I sat down and asked myself what do I want in a home. I looked at all the homes and worked out my ideal house would have a waterfall and access to the ocean because I like those sounds, and the Sun. Did some research and nothing available has those features except *sigh* the Grand Topal Hideaway. Knowing this exist means anything I buy for big crowns will come with thoughts 'this isn't what i really wanted'. So I'm staying with my little Jungle House.

Plus, do you really want a house in which entire sections get derezzed with ugly pixelated textures as soon as you get close?

AngelaWasp

I've seen the videos and I've searched for the bad textures at the house, but mine is fine, nothing wrong with it at all, I'm on xbox eu.

AngelaWasp

Matchimus wrote: »

I sat down and asked myself what do I want in a home. I looked at all the homes and worked out my ideal house would have a waterfall and access to the ocean because I like those sounds, and the Sun. Did some research and nothing available has those features except *sigh* the Grand Topal Hideaway. Knowing this exist means anything I buy for big crowns will come with thoughts 'this isn't what i really wanted'. So I'm staying with my little Jungle House.

I hope Grand Topal Hideaway will come back at some point this year.

AefionBloodclaw

Matchimus wrote: »

Tigerseye wrote: »

Matchimus wrote: »

Stupid. I love it and really want to buy it and would but the nearest Wayshrine is 3 days away. No buy. I just dont get it.

Edit...I could teleport to another home close to a wayshrine...contemplating

Well, that is part of its attraction, surely?

That, if you're doing the dailies in that area, you can port to your house, instead of having to run from a wayshrine miles away.

I think you are saying I buy this house and I am close to some dailies?...seems a lot to spend for that purpose.

And I have decided against purchase. Yep I like the waterfalls and is a must have in my first big purchase home but I think the aquarium is what caught my eye, except after a few visits and spending some time looking at it, it seems rather bland of activity.

I sat down and asked myself what do I want in a home. I looked at all the homes and worked out my ideal house would have a waterfall and access to the ocean because I like those sounds, and the Sun. Did some research and nothing available has those features except *sigh* the Grand Topal Hideaway. Knowing this exist means anything I buy for big crowns will come with thoughts 'this isn't what i really wanted'. So I'm staying with my little Jungle House.

Hunding's Palatial Hall is my main house, and though it doesn't have a waterfall it does have a lot of sun and swimmable water.

AefionBloodclaw

AngelaWasp wrote: »

I've seen the videos and I've searched for the bad textures at the house, but mine is fine, nothing wrong with it at all, I'm on xbox eu.

Seems like the bug is on PC, but still no reply, seems like they don't even care about this issue one bit. They probably think its ok to sell bugged houses for $150.

rexagamemnon

Limited time offers are a very good marketing strategy. It makes people conduct impulse buys.
I would have purchased it if it wasnt in the argonian style. I lived the idea of a massive fish tank. Just didnt like the argonian architecture

MasterSpatula

Like other prestige items, the only way they'll ever get anyone to purchase it at a price this ludicrous is with artificial scarcity. Making it available for too long would make people sit on the question of whether or not they can bring themselves to pay such a nonsensical amount of money for a house in a game. Making it short-term makes people who are waffling pull the trigger.

I can't get annoyed too much. Artificial scarcity is sleazy as all hell, but it doesn't hold a candle to charging 15,000 for a house. They could have made it permanently available or available for 30 seconds; nothing was going to make paying that much something I could justify to myself.