Since skyshard crown store bought = hireling why is eveyrone say its not P2WIn ?

david_m_18b16_ESO

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

wishlist14

Ahead of what exactly? The content in eso stays relevant unlike other games so there is no push to rush content . I've been playing eso for yrs and I can still do the same dungeons and get valid loot. You can also pick up resources while you are getting your skyshards .So it's for these reasons I stated that I do not believe it's pay to win. Accusing a game of being p2win wont phaze anyone anyway...not the devs nor the players. There is no such thing as free entertainment anymore....so if the market is there ...fact of life.

Personally I dislike the whole idea of buying skyshards with crowns and I don't think the majority will buy them.

moses1763

I don't spend my crowns on just anything I hold them till I see something in store I like for character appearances; to use crowns for skyshards when I have an addon that makes em easy to find is a waste of crowns.

As for the idea I do not see it as P2W but more a convenience for altoholics like myself; none of these gives a clear advantage to anyone and I see EVERYTHING in crown store as just fluff.

srfrogg23

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

It's not a question of whether or not you get a small amount of extra stuff. It's about defining what is being won. You figure out how having extra crafting materials will "win ESO" and people might agree with you. Until then, "Nah".

Skwor

srfrogg23 wrote: »

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

It's not a question of whether or not you get a small amount of extra stuff. It's about defining what is being won. You figure out how having extra crafting materials will "win ESO" and people might agree with you. Until then, "Nah".

Exactly except you seem to have not taken into account winning is defined by the winner AND/OR the loser. It is often a very nebulous concept.

Yes such purchases can be P2W. There are a lot of ways to win in an MMORPG.

Fact is we are seeing an increase in non cosmetic, game influencing items going up for sale, yes minor for now but still impactful. As such they can be reasonably catagorized as P2W

bharathitman

Pay to Win (P2W) should not be confused with Pay for Convenience. It's a thin line I agree, but if companies are not allowed to charge you for convenience then they are losing out on a legitimate revenue stream. In my opinion ZOS always has always managed to be on the right side of the thin line.
In most MMORPGs you are paying money to save your time, ESO+ saves you from playing the inventory management mini-game. It's always a question about how much time an individual is willing to spend.
In this case paying money for Skyshards will not grant you some extra skill which would not have been possible without paying money. Time is equal to money, you either spend extra time or money

OwnerOfSuccuby

Yes i think it is not good. Make it on account and not sell is much better. Changes like this is bad. It is like sell change class token and nerf class to abuse people change it. Very bat practice. With all this changes thay do it start to look the same to me.

Kidgangster101

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

The same can be said about mount training (it affects pvp a lot and saves time) but at the end of the day no one said it was p2w until skyshards got announced.

It really isn't hard to get 12-15 skill points extra for your hirlings if that gives players an advantage. But that is not p2w. It doesn't give player A a distinct advantage that player B can not get in game or buy the skyshards just like player A.

Now if you could buy extra skyshards that were not in the game then yes that is a huge p2w but this is a convienence at best.

witchdoctor

Who cares about the skyshards?

I'd pay Crowns to unlock wayshrines!

redspecter23

From my perspective, it's not pay to win. Everything it gives you can be obtained in game in what I consider a reasonable amount of time. Someone that pays to unlock these shards has no mechanical advantage over any other player in either pve or pvp once they both have it unlocked in the method they choose to do so.

This perspective could vary from person to person. ESO is a big game. How one person defines "winning" and therefore also "pay to win" will differ.

YaYaPineapple

The definition of "Pay to Win" is using real life cash to purchase an advantage that is not available by any means through playing the game.

An example of actual "Pay to Win" would be if there were weapons that did 30% more damage that were NOT available anywhere in game and were ONLY purchasable with Crowns (real life money).

What you are talking about is "Pay for Convenience", which is not even close to the same thing as "Pay to Win".

Universe

It is P2W, but the forums are filled with people who have no clue how broad the P2W term can be.
So no matter how hard you will try to explain it to them, they won't accept it.
In the end full P2W may be the norm in ESO and most players still left playing will deny any claim of the remaining few who won't like what ESO has become.

Skwor

YaYaPineapple wrote: »

The definition of "Pay to Win" is using real life cash to purchase an advantage that is not available by any means through playing the game.

An example of actual "Pay to Win" would be if there were weapons that did 30% more damage that were NOT available anywhere in game and were ONLY purchasable with Crowns (real life money).

What you are talking about is "Pay for Convenience", which is not even close to the same thing as "Pay to Win".

Really getting tired of refuting this claptrap.

No, that is only your definition of P2W. There are many other reasonable definitions. There is no official, legal or even generally accepted definition for P2W.

Should you disagree please feel free to provide an official source (a game forum does not count by the way).

Insco851

Do mages guild books next please. I seriously can’t be bothered to do that ever again.

ArchMikem

How does farming more mats than me mean you're winning? What are you winning at, hoarding? Pot crafting?

Myrkgrav

They made it explicitly clear you cannot buy ones you haven't all ready unlocked on one toon. The lack of reading comprehension around here in favor of jerking it about P2W is astounding.

Ri_Khan

There is no reward for leveling up faster. You don't win anything for doing it in less time. This is just going to allow impatient fools to waste their money to not have to play the game. I think it's a stupid idea but greed and ignorance has no bounds apparently.

So eventually we're going to end up with a ton of beginner scrubs running around with fully unlocked and leveled crown store characters that have no idea how to play, mucking up everyone's pug runs, spamming chat for carries and exploiting the sh!t out of PVP with whatever FotM cheese build they got off YT.

Slippery slope??? Yea we'll see soon enough.

starkerealm

Skwor wrote: »

srfrogg23 wrote: »

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

It's not a question of whether or not you get a small amount of extra stuff. It's about defining what is being won. You figure out how having extra crafting materials will "win ESO" and people might agree with you. Until then, "Nah".

Exactly except you seem to have not taken into account winning is defined by the winner AND/OR the loser. It is often a very nebulous concept.

Yes such purchases can be P2W. There are a lot of ways to win in an MMORPG.

Fact is we are seeing an increase in non cosmetic, game influencing items going up for sale, yes minor for now but still impactful. As such they can be reasonably catagorized as P2W

No.

P2W comes in four three flavors. We'll add a fourth in, in a second.

You are selling a utility advantage: An example of this would be the ghillie suits from BDO. These would mask your character from the UI of other players in PvP (since the entire game is PvP past level 50.) They don't make your character more powerful, but they do grant you systemic advantages over other players.

Comparative advantages: Your are granted a minor power buff that would allow you to find victory over a player of comparable skill and commitment to the game.

Decisive advantages: You purchase power to such a degree that victory by opposing players requires significantly, or implausibly, more skill or commitment than you.

So, which one is Skyshards?

You're not really buying power you didn't already earn at least once. (There's, maybe, an argument about the Cyrodiil Temple shards, if you can assemble a completed version of Cyrodiil piecemeal from each alliance, but barring that, there's nothing here you wouldn't have already earned in order to buy it.)

So, there was an example of P2W in ESO's history. The XP acceleration scrolls when first introduced. Because the Champion Point system was (effectively) uncapped, scrolls meant that you would permanently gain a comparitive advantage over other players who'd spent the same amount of time and effort in game. The introduction of the spending cap put an end to that, and at this point there really isn't any P2W there now. Any boost is temporary, assuming you're not at the CP cap already, in which case you're just accelerating the growth of alternate characters, or accelerating the stockpiling of unspendible points on the promise that someday we'll have a use for them.

This ends up in a similar vein. You're paying to accelerate the advancement of alternate characters. Even doing so, you can never advance beyond the current total skyshards.

The fourth, "kind of pay to win" is tantrums. There's no actual power to be had, just people crying because something's gated by cash, and they want it. This comes up all the time, and it only serves to make actual arguments about P2W much harder.

Emencie

Because the goalposts of what is and what isn't P2W in a game gets moved by fans of the game every time it comes up.

There was once a time where anything that was not cosmetic only in a micro transaction was thought of as P2W. Simply put, if you can pay real money to gain any advantage over another player, then you are paying to win.

I would say it was about 10 years ago when companies started pushing the whole "No it's pay for convenience! See it's different because you can get the P2W items without paying as well." Somehow that convinced the gaming community that it was alright. So now we have games that sell level cap boosts, gear and armor, Weapons, potions and all sorts of other boosts. But because you can "earn" it in game it's not P2W.

Right now someone can roll a new character and with a credit card max out their mount, get 130+ skill points, Get all the food, Tri-pots, and soul gems they will ever need, then get enough gold to buy any non bound set and make all their gear legendary. But this isn't at all P2W because well you can achieve it in game without paying for it so it's OK.

Seriously the line where that is crossed is so blurred that even games like BDO which sales top end weapons and armor for real money while being a PvP focused game is considered not P2W by The community because "You can also earn them in game"

YaYaPineapple

Many supposed P2W complaint threads can really be boiled down to: "I personally can't, or don't want to spend money for X, so no one else should be allowed to." When I see the definition of Pay to Win being stretched, this usually applies.

When P2W is clear, I'll join in calling it out. This isn't one of those cases.

I bet the OP doesn't want to grind those skyshards again, either.. Shown by the fact that they haven't gotten hirelings for those poor alts of theirs yet. Sheesh even my level 10 alt has all hirelings. Stop being so lazy OP! Hehe

YaYaPineapple

Now.. if you want to make the argument that account-wide skyshards should be included for everyone in game at no extra charge, similar to CP... I agree. Lots of people have asked for this. Unfortunate that they decided to implement it this way.

Kiralyn2000

Skwor wrote: »

Really getting tired of refuting this claptrap.

No, that is only your definition of P2W. There are many other reasonable definitions. There is no official, legal or even generally accepted definition for P2W.

And just like "immersion" ("ZOMG, mah immershuns RUINED!!11!one!"), "p2w" has become an utterly meaningless term because of people throwing around "many" varying & broad definitions of it. Once a definition becomes "whatever annoys me" it's no longer a useful term.

---

re: hirelings and skillpoints.
Outside of a handful of super-obsessive people who either Must Have All The Skillpoints or Must Have Every Skill Because I'm Gonna Respec For Every Task I Do, there's little need for a character to have hundreds of points. When you can have your build (and crafting skills) without getting anywhere near most of the skyshards, it's hard to see "pay to unlock a few skyshards" as anything approaching "necessary" or "winning".

Personally, I've been taking advantage of the cheap respec costs after major character changes, to remove the hireling points from many of my characters. Because I realize now that I don't need most of those random mats & dealing with the daily mail is mostly just annoying. Being able to put a few SP into hirelings isn't even in the same country as "winning".

starkerealm

Emencie wrote: »

Because the goalposts of what is and what isn't P2W in a game gets moved by fans of the game every time it comes up.

There was once a time where anything that was not cosmetic only in a micro transaction was thought of as P2W. Simply put, if you can pay real money to gain any advantage over another player, then you are paying to win.

I would say it was about 10 years ago when companies started pushing the whole "No it's pay for convenience! See it's different because you can get the P2W items without paying as well." Somehow that convinced the gaming community that it was alright. So now we have games that sell level cap boosts, gear and armor, Weapons, potions and all sorts of other boosts. But because you can "earn" it in game it's not P2W.

Right now someone can roll a new character and with a credit card max out their mount, get 130+ skill points, Get all the food, Tri-pots, and soul gems they will ever need, then get enough gold to buy any non bound set and make all their gear legendary. But this isn't at all P2W because well you can achieve it in game without paying for it so it's OK.

Seriously the line where that is crossed is so blurred that even games like BDO which sales top end weapons and armor for real money while being a PvP focused game is considered not P2W by The community because "You can also earn them in game"

The only people who look at BDO and say it's not P2W are suffering from a serious case of Stockholm syndrome. (Or, more honestly, suffer from the sunk cost fallacy, or some errant tribalism. But, Stockholm gets the point across and is slightly punchier.)

You're correct that the goalposts have migrated over time. The problem is, there are a lot of people who will gleefully scream P2W over everything. Use the search functions on these forums and you will find people, legitimately, claiming that the costumes are "P2W." I'm not kidding. At that point, the noise drowns out everything else. So it does make it significantly harder to make credible arguments on the subject, because the term has been overused.

Thing about skyshards is, it skews the progression curve, but not by much, and not consistently. If you're buying 135 skill points at level 1, you can't really do much with that. You do get access to some abilities faster, because you're not choked for skill points, and by the time you've gotten to around level ~20 - 30, there will be a significant, but temporary, power imbalance versus players who are simply progressing through the game on their own. Once you've gotten to 50, most of that evens out again, because competing players will start catching up. Most builds only run off around 90-110 skill points, so the biggest gain is being able to sink those skill points into a wider range of skill lines.

I'm much more worried about skill line purchases. Because that will result in some very potent abilities, like Meteor or Dawnbreaker, making a mess out of low level PvP. Combined with Skyshard purchases (which will facilitate significant power spikes in this case), it's not a good situation.

A lot of stuff is possible with careful acceleration, like seeing Dawnbreaker in Sub-50 PvP, but you really need to know what you're doing to get there. This specific combo of purchased skill lines with skyshard skill points would be a real mess.

reg369

YaYaPineapple wrote: »

The definition of "Pay to Win" is using real life cash to purchase an advantage that is not available by any means through playing the game.

An example of actual "Pay to Win" would be if there were weapons that did 30% more damage that were NOT available anywhere in game and were ONLY purchasable with Crowns (real life money).

What you are talking about is "Pay for Convenience", which is not even close to the same thing as "Pay to Win".

That is not the definition of Paytwowin. If so why not make armor or gold aviable for real money?

Kiralyn2000

reg369 wrote: »

YaYaPineapple wrote: »

The definition of "Pay to Win" is using real life cash to purchase an advantage that is not available by any means through playing the game.

An example of actual "Pay to Win" would be if there were weapons that did 30% more damage that were NOT available anywhere in game and were ONLY purchasable with Crowns (real life money).

What you are talking about is "Pay for Convenience", which is not even close to the same thing as "Pay to Win".

That is not the definition of Paytwowin.

Seems like the definition of p2w that I was familiar with (due to all those f2p PvP Eastern MMOs with brutal enchantment systems) for over a decade, before people starting throwing it around at anything and everything that involved a real $.

srfrogg23

Skwor wrote: »

srfrogg23 wrote: »

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

It's not a question of whether or not you get a small amount of extra stuff. It's about defining what is being won. You figure out how having extra crafting materials will "win ESO" and people might agree with you. Until then, "Nah".

Exactly except you seem to have not taken into account winning is defined by the winner AND/OR the loser. It is often a very nebulous concept.

Yes such purchases can be P2W. There are a lot of ways to win in an MMORPG.

Fact is we are seeing an increase in non cosmetic, game influencing items going up for sale, yes minor for now but still impactful. As such they can be reasonably catagorized as P2W

I tanked a dungeon without dying. I won the game. Now I can move on to other things 💩

Emencie

starkerealm wrote: »

Emencie wrote: »

Because the goalposts of what is and what isn't P2W in a game gets moved by fans of the game every time it comes up.

There was once a time where anything that was not cosmetic only in a micro transaction was thought of as P2W. Simply put, if you can pay real money to gain any advantage over another player, then you are paying to win.

I would say it was about 10 years ago when companies started pushing the whole "No it's pay for convenience! See it's different because you can get the P2W items without paying as well." Somehow that convinced the gaming community that it was alright. So now we have games that sell level cap boosts, gear and armor, Weapons, potions and all sorts of other boosts. But because you can "earn" it in game it's not P2W.

Right now someone can roll a new character and with a credit card max out their mount, get 130+ skill points, Get all the food, Tri-pots, and soul gems they will ever need, then get enough gold to buy any non bound set and make all their gear legendary. But this isn't at all P2W because well you can achieve it in game without paying for it so it's OK.

Seriously the line where that is crossed is so blurred that even games like BDO which sales top end weapons and armor for real money while being a PvP focused game is considered not P2W by The community because "You can also earn them in game"

The only people who look at BDO and say it's not P2W are suffering from a serious case of Stockholm syndrome. (Or, more honestly, suffer from the sunk cost fallacy, or some errant tribalism. But, Stockholm gets the point across and is slightly punchier.)

You're correct that the goalposts have migrated over time. The problem is, there are a lot of people who will gleefully scream P2W over everything. Use the search functions on these forums and you will find people, legitimately, claiming that the costumes are "P2W." I'm not kidding. At that point, the noise drowns out everything else. So it does make it significantly harder to make credible arguments on the subject, because the term has been overused.

Thing about skyshards is, it skews the progression curve, but not by much, and not consistently. If you're buying 135 skill points at level 1, you can't really do much with that. You do get access to some abilities faster, because you're not choked for skill points, and by the time you've gotten to around level ~20 - 30, there will be a significant, but temporary, power imbalance versus players who are simply progressing through the game on their own. Once you've gotten to 50, most of that evens out again, because competing players will start catching up. Most builds only run off around 90-110 skill points, so the biggest gain is being able to sink those skill points into a wider range of skill lines.

I'm much more worried about skill line purchases. Because that will result in some very potent abilities, like Meteor or Dawnbreaker, making a mess out of low level PvP. Combined with Skyshard purchases (which will facilitate significant power spikes in this case), it's not a good situation.

A lot of stuff is possible with careful acceleration, like seeing Dawnbreaker in Sub-50 PvP, but you really need to know what you're doing to get there. This specific combo of purchased skill lines with skyshard skill points would be a real mess.

You are not wrong. It's not a huge advantage at all. But it clearly is an advantage.

What I was trying to point out was these new goalposts which is pretty much what everyone is saying in this very thread.

1 Paying to reduce time spent grinding is not pay to win. it's just a convenience and therefore not P2W.
2 There is no defined "Winning" in a MMO so since you cannot win you can never P2W.
3 If it's available to be earned outside the shop it is never P2W.

These 3 ideas mean that pretty much nothing will ever be P2W to these people. This is the very reason BDO is not considered Pay to win by its community because guess what? It hits all three of these rules as well! in a very real way BDO is less Pay to win than ESO in this regard because every single thing in their store can be purchased using in game currency. Of course you realize what nonsense this is.

Somewhere P2W has been taken literally, as in you pay money then win the game. Which is nonsense because it has never been associated with a single player or any type of game with an end. When people first spoke about P2W it was always about MMO and online played games. Games with no end, with no "win" condition. It has always meant "Pay to gain an advantage over people who don't pay."

Which is why you get some players who remember the days when a collector edition that came with a mount, would *** off the community so much because of perceived P2W that developers made the mount a skin instead and still required the player to purchase it in game.

silvermistktralasub17_ESO

With regard to wayshrines, though this is not perfect, and only works on pc (and only if you have a specific addon and a guild member who's done what I have), but it's possible to get someone who has every (or nearly ) house in the game, and use the Essential Housing tools to create a teleport hub, as such. I still need to get someone who can actually do video (I can't watch video walkthroughs because of language/visual conflict in my head, so I' won't even try to do so myself), but I currently have all released houses except topal bay (which I get later this week), and I'm hosting the guild hall (in Linchal grand manor) which I have a portal set in that to take to my portal hall (the psijiic manor)...from there, I have all non-dlc zone houses organized by alliance and region on the outer grounds, and all dlc and chapter houses with portals on the inside. I have two different guilds that use it, and both are very happy with the idea, because it makes it much easier to gain wayshrines and also allows 'shortcuts' for those of us doing a lot of surveys. Just as a way to think ahead.

Fleshreaper

No, it's not P2W and here is why, AGAIN. If you have 90 skill points and I have 130 skill points, that does not give me advantage. Why? You can only have 10 skills on both bars + two Ult. Now, you have passives and you have more than enough to unlock passives. Just look at all the "It's P2W" posts, they will tell you, there are enough skill points to unlock all passives you need. So, what advantage does having more skill points available, give me over you???? If anything, I believe this will help the game over all. This will allow for players to run different rolls without having to respect every time. So, you want to tank in PvE but you don't want to run tank in PvP, no, problem. As it sets now, the game is lacking tanks and healers, increasing que times. This will allow more people to take up those rolls and still be able to run solo PvE content without it taking 5 times longer.

So, yes, this is a convenience thing, ONLY.

Most_Awesome

Player 1 has spent 5 years playing ESO and has unlocked 500 Skyshards

Player 2 has spent 5 years playing ESO and has unlocked 500 skyshards but pays Zos £500 quid to unlock 500 skyshards for an alt.

Player 1 plays a character with 500 skyshards

Player 2 plays a character with 500 skyshards

Where is the advantage where is the WIN lol

kind_hero

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

I keep seeing these post claiming that buying skyshards give no real advantage beside time saving but the only reason I'm not running my full acount with +3 hireling on eveyr craft is due to the fact that I would need to farm even more skyshards on my alt.

This is a direct benefit from buyign skyshard but an indirect one would be that less time spent leveling/collecting etc on a alt mean more time farming mats/gear/Ap etc.

Basicaly if me and you spend the same time and effort playing the game but I spend real $ to buy time sink by pass well I will be ahead of you no mather how you try to claim tis not P2W because I have not earned anything that you couldn't aquire someday if you spend a way more time and effort then me.

Is buying with crowns rare motifs which drop in only trials (some times in fragments) P2W or not? I haven't seen people complain about that much, even though a whale could buy a lot of motifs from the crown store, and thus get better crafting writs which can generate a lot of gold. Also, crowns can be exchanged for gold now, a practice tolerated by the devs, which is more pay to win than anything.

Buying the skyshards that you have already unlocked is not really a nice business practice, but it is just about getting some skill points faster, the same you do with motifs, which you do not have to farm/buy, so like in your example, more time to gather mats or do something else. But the difference is in the fact that it is something that you have already done, not like with motifs where you are cheating with real money.