IC DLC becoming Free this September

Mancombe_Nosehair

It's a good move by zos imo. I thought it should have been part of the base game all along tbh.

I got it as part of the gold edition anyway.

Tommy_The_Gun

If any one missed that, some info about Imperial City Celebration event was already on Scalebreaker PTS:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/486293/pts-patch-notes-v5-1-2#latest

Imperial City Celebration:
Throughout the week, the Imperial City Celebration will be available to test! This event features double Tel Var drops from all monsters, as well as double the chance of obtaining a Scamp or Skin Runebox from slaying Molag Bal's Simulacrum. In addition to this, you'll be able to earn Event Tickets by participating in Imperial City (as described below), and you can spend those Tickets on various Imperial City-themed offerings at the Impresario.

In the upcoming Imperial City Celebration, you'll be able to earn Event Tickets for participating in Imperial City. Once per day, completing one of the following sources will provide you with 2 Event Tickets:
- Defeat the final Boss from either of the DLC's two Dungeons, Imperial City Prison or White-Gold Tower.
- Slay a patrolling boss monster within Imperial City or its Sewers.
- Defeat Molag Bal's Simulacrum within the deepest reaches of the Imperial City Sewers.
- In addition to the Indrik Feathers and the four Onyx Berries needed to create an Onyx Indrik Mount, you'll also be able to purchase:
- A selection of Imperial and Daedric furnishings (1-3 Tickets apiece)
- The Ebon-Glow Indrik Pet (10 Tickets)
- The Stonefire Scamp, typically found only rarely by slaying Molag Bal's Simulacrum (10 Tickets)
- The Soul-Shriven Skin, typically found only rarely by slaying Molag Bal's Simulacrum (10 Tickets)

VaranisArano

Can't wait for another round of PVEers deliberately queueing up for a PvPvE zone and then complaining when PVP happens to them.

Holycannoli

VaranisArano wrote: »

Can't wait for another round of PVEers deliberately queueing up for a PvPvE zone and then complaining when PVP happens to them.

It's gonna be a mess. I'm looking forward to it. The forums will be almost as entertaining as IC itself.

When does event start?

ShellaSunshine

Great... after I just bought it too.

What a waste of money.

Firstmep

Can confirm its basically zergs or organised grps farming bosses these days.
Pvp is there, but definetly not small scale.
Sewers are about as dead as they can be, apart from the like 2 decent xo grind spots.
I really wish they had a system that discouraged massive grps from bossing.

tmbrinks

People arguing they should get crowns back amuse me.

Do you do the same thing when your community decides to show a movie for free that you paid to see in the theater years ago?

I paid $10 to see this movie when it first came out and now you're gonna show it for free! I want my money back!

Do you all hear how ridiculous that sounds?

Roxie5D

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

shezof wrote: »

yeah can they give my crowns back that i paid for the DLC,that would be great

That iPhone you bought 4 years ago for $1000 is now $100. Do you expect Apple to refund you $900?

Exactly, I was just about give an example like that. Can't believe ppl want their crowns back ... especially for something that's years old.

BackAndAngry

Make IC as it was meant to be before the PTS and the hilarious threads on this forum.
As a pvp zone it has 0 things to actually conquer.

Chelo

shezof wrote: »

yeah can they give my crowns back that i paid for the DLC,that would be great

At this point, even the base game should be free already... It's $10, just make it free...

Jeremy

Darkmage1337 wrote: »

Sounds like ZOS is finally making The Imperial City DLC free forever, for everyone.
Even though I purchased the IC DLC outright years ago and already have access to it constantly via ESO Plus, I would say making the IC DLC permanently free forever for everyone is a welcomed change and hopefully it will be a breath of life for that dead zone. Puns intended.

Discuss!

Don't get your hopes up.

You may see a spike in activity after this welcomed change. But as soon as these newer players experience the amazing fun of having their stones stolen by zergs and gankers killing them unfairly I can promise you they'll be leaving the zone never to return.

So I would caution all the gankers and PvP gangs out there whose mouth is already starting to water at the thought of fresh meat to prey on - your fantasy of an endless buffet of easy pickings isn't going to happen. Because it's not the costs that make Imperial City a dead zone - it's the sadistic design of the place. Most people simply have better things to do with their time and effort than line the virtual pockets of internet griefers and be their sick entertainment for the evening.

ZonasArch

O_LYKOS wrote: »

Nice i guess for newer players and those who do not sub.

But just another dlc people have paid for in the past and now they're giving it for free. Never a good move imo.

I bought mine less than 4 months ago and I'm not mad. Anything that further increases access to the game, I like. Means we'll get renewed interest and that's what makes the game survive... Kinda.

anadandy

It's about time, they should just add the Imperial race while they're at it. And I say this as someone who bought both from day one.

Major_Lag

Firstmep wrote: »

I really wish they had a system that discouraged massive grps from bossing.

There's already an automatic and severe punishment for those who would engage in the dubious practice of telvar farming.
That punishment is called "telvar farming"

And there's already the telvar split mechanic which is supposed to discourage large groups from farming.
But when you have enemy zergs rolling around the place, the only viable solution is to bring a bigger zerg of your own... well, that escalated quickly

Jeremy wrote: »

But as soon as these newer players experience the amazing fun of having their stones stolen by zergs and gankers killing them unfairly I can promise you they'll be leaving the zone never to return. (...) Most people simply have better things to do with their time and effort than line the virtual pockets of internet griefers and be their sick entertainment for the evening.

This.

If I wanted smallscale PvP - there's BGs for that, or Cyro rockhumping.
For largescale PvP, there's Cyro open world.

IC is a waste of my time. Crappy rewards and repeatedly getting either ganked or ran over by zergs - thanks, but no thanks.

IMO, a simple solution to the problem of IC being dead would be to reduce the telvar loss somewhat (to 25-35% maybe?) AND add a base telvar reward to EVERY PLAYER KILLED even if they were carrying 0 telvar.
Make the base telvar reward diminish with repeated deaths, so that killing a player who has recently died a lot gives only a small reward.
This would encourage ACTUAL PvP instead of only ganking/zerging down the mob farmers.
There, problem solved

SidraWillowsky

Nairinhe wrote: »

O_LYKOS wrote: »

Nice i guess for newer players and those who do not sub.

But just another dlc people have paid for in the past and now they're giving it for free. Never a good move imo.

fetito666 wrote: »

If I already own that DLC through the Crown Store, will I get crowns back?

People, this DLC is four years old, come on

The wifi at the airport here is free and has been for a few years.

But years ago, I paid for wifi when it was NOT free.

Can I get my money back?

Keledus

Just the zone? might aswell make the race free too.

LukosCreyden

Sounds good. I always appreciate it when Devs give free stuff away

Besides, that DLC is pretty old now, whilst still providing a unique experience within ESO. Hopefully, this will revive the content a bit. I miss the massive 3-way brawls we used to have in the Arena District.

Katahdin

They better put up enough instances of IC for the event.

VaranisArano

Jeremy wrote: »

Darkmage1337 wrote: »

Sounds like ZOS is finally making The Imperial City DLC free forever, for everyone.
Even though I purchased the IC DLC outright years ago and already have access to it constantly via ESO Plus, I would say making the IC DLC permanently free forever for everyone is a welcomed change and hopefully it will be a breath of life for that dead zone. Puns intended.

Discuss!

Don't get your hopes up.

You may see a spike in activity after this welcomed change. But as soon as these newer players experience the amazing fun of having their stones stolen by zergs and gankers killing them unfairly I can promise you they'll be leaving the zone never to return.

So I would caution all the gankers and PvP gangs out there whose mouth is already starting to water at the thought of fresh meat to prey on - your fantasy of an endless buffet of easy pickings isn't going to happen. Because it's not the costs that make Imperial City a dead zone - it's the sadistic design of the place. Most people simply have better things to do with their time and effort than line the virtual pockets of internet griefers and be their sick entertainment for the evening.

If you don't like a zone that's inherently based around the idea of risk vs reward, you aren't going to like Imperial City, plain and simple.

That doesnt make it sadistic.

It just means that game mode isn't to your liking.

Fortunately, not all game content has to cater to any one playstyle, or else we'd all be SOL.

I'm delighted its free soon. More players get to try it out and see if its to their liking or not.

ArchMikem

shezof wrote: »

yeah can they give my crowns back that i paid for the DLC,that would be great

You basically paid for early access. So no refunds.

DLM

Does that mean that both IC dungeons will be part of the base game? So after the ESO+ crowd crying about DLC dungeons being included in their random vet and asking for separate queues, now we are going to get every noob crying about these 2 dungeons being too "hard" for their random.

Darkmage1337

Aside from the PvE questline and PvP for the sake of PvP, the main objective of The Imperial City is the unique Tel Var Stone currency, which cannot be gained anywhere else. I think everyone can agree on that.

I think for IC to truly become more active and populated for the long-term, there needs to be more, greater rewards purchasable with the Tel Var Stone currency.
There is currently only a small handful of decent things to be acquired with Tel Var Stones: alchemy satchels, Hajeiko enchantment runes, storage furniture chests, polymorphs, and a few decent situational gear sets. Did I miss anything else?

It would be nice if there were more collectibles (furniture, costumes, mementos, and other cosmetics, maybe even an expensive IC/PvP war-torn Imperial-themed house?) as well as more exclusive things to purchase with Tel Vat Stones, in general. Those were just a few ideas off the top of my head.

I, for one, have ~2mil Tel Var just sitting in my bank. I already have all 3 Polymorphs, multiple sets of Imperial Physique for the characters that need them, and plenty of Phoenix, Black Rose, Shieldbreaker, Reactive, etc to go around.
The only thing I can effectively do with my Tel Var Stones is convert them for more Hajeiko enchantment rune stones or alchemy satchels for gold or personal use, and that's just boring after ~4 years. My bottomless pit crafting bag is full of mats. I think for Tel Var Stones to become more valuable and sought-after, they need to be able to purchase more things (items, gear-sets, cosmetics, whatever), then maybe more people will do IC activities more regularly.

With Alliance Points & Gold, players can currently purchase overland zone gear sets and monster sets from the weekly weekend Golden Vendor NPC in Cyrodiil. What if The Imperial City had its own unique weekend golden vendor with Tel Var Stones?
An IC weekend Golden Vendor NPC (stationed in the alliance faction's sewers base) could potentially offer the more sought-after/rarer monster helm/shoulder sets & gold jewelry; or even simply offer the ones on the opposite calendar rotation/timer than what the current Cyrodiil weekend Golden Vendor provides. (E.G. the Cyrodiil weekend Golden Vendor is currently supplying Selene/Chudan Helm and Warlock/Swamp Raider jewelry [and whatever else] right now; what if the hypthoetical IC weekend golden vendor offered a different set combination selection.)
Perhaps an IC weekend Golden Vendor could offer the previous week's rotation for late-comers, or a sneak-peak at the next week's rotation, or offer gear sets on the opposite end of the rotation calendar; thereby effectively cutting the gear-chase rotation/wait-time in half, especially as more Chapters, DLCs, zones, and content keep adding more and more overland and monster gear sets to the game.

TL;DR: Players can currently purchase various on-rotation monster sets and gold jewelry sets for 200k-500k AP and 100k-250k gold, but why not for 50k-150k Tel Var Stones?

I think some variation of this 'IC weekend Golden Vendor' concept would be a welcomed good idea.
I know dozens of players with millions of Tel Var Stones just collecting dust in their banks, including myself.

idk

It makes sense. After a few years offering it to the base game isn’t a loss for anyone who bought it. It could keep and bring back some virtual free players who may buy some crowns while here and doesn’t really hurt the rest of us.

idk

r34lian wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

shezof wrote: »

yeah can they give my crowns back that i paid for the DLC,that would be great

That iPhone you bought 4 years ago for $1000 is now $100. Do you expect Apple to refund you $900?

That iPhone has altogether way more value than some digital content.

Not really relevant as the post you quoted is a very appropriate analogy.

luen79rwb17_ESO

This will still be a dead zone after a few weeks, only that some people lost their money buying the DLC it seems

Acrolas

As Imperial City was the only DLC to not have a DLC Loyalty Reward attached to it, it might be nice to throw in some sort of collectible for everyone who entered it at some point before going free. No DLC Loyalty achievement points attached to it, though. Just a simple emote or something that isn't disabled for PVP zones.

lemonizzle

As long as you lose telvar on death, the zone will remain unpopulated. There are lots of people who don't go to Cyrodiil because "long rides, and being dead all the time". Combine this with them 'gathering their courage', farming 30 minutes, then on the way back they are two shot before the sewer entrance, losing half of their work and time. Not really encouraging, said player either tries long enough and toughens up, or will decide this is not worthy of my efforts.

Also, traversing design - very confusing for newcomers. "I'm in the base, then I go out in the sewer, where is overland? The ladders? Ok I am finally up, and actually managed to find the quest area. Someone killed me without taking a single point of damage in return? I guess I have to go around again. Alright, now back to the base.. what do you mean I have to run from Arena to Elven Gardens, down the sewers, and run past the mobs, gankers, ballgroups and patrolling mobs, just to secure my hard earned 1000 stones? Just buy loads of retreat stones bro lmao"

And even if you get familiar with the tactics, can handle yourself in pvp, after 10k stones it is pressure to bank it as soon as you can. Holding more is asking for trouble, unless you are grouping in off hours, or are 1% pvper in imperial physique.

"But there needs to be risk and stone sink!" True, and yet you can see the results. There are players who could not only survive 20 newcomers but also own them all at once. What if there were no multipliers based on how much you hold, but in turn you would not lose telvar on player death, only on npc death - for example?

Red_Feather

Acrolas wrote: »

As Imperial City was the only DLC to not have a DLC Loyalty Reward attached to it, it might be nice to throw in some sort of collectible for everyone who entered it at some point before going free. No DLC Loyalty achievement points attached to it, though. Just a simple emote or something that isn't disabled for PVP zones.

I think that is a wonderful idea. For people who own the DLC already they get some appreciation item once the DLC goes free.

Guild Wars 2 just did that very thing this week. Heart of thorns is free with path of fire now, and the people who owned heart of thorns got a cool glider skin and black lion chest in an appreciation package mailed to their account.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Customer_Appreciation_Package

Major_Lag

lemonizzle wrote: »

they are two shot before the sewer entrance, losing half of their work and time.

Lol, why even USE the dreaded sewer entrances - just port to Cyro from anywhere inside IC districts

lemonizzle wrote: »

What if there were no multipliers based on how much you hold, but in turn you would not lose telvar on player death, only on npc death - for example?

I don't think that would be viable. Then telvar would be no different than alliance points, just a separate currency with nearly identical mechanics - which would devalue the whole principle of the IC.

I'm not really sure what the "optimal" solution would be, but I'd say that there needs to be at least SOME element of risk involved.

In the past threads about a hypothetical IC rebalancing, some players have suggested implementing a hard cap on the amount of telvar you can "harvest" from a killed player, based on the amount you are currently carrying.
This sounds like a more sensible option.

turlisley

Darkmage1337 wrote: »

Aside from the PvE questline and PvP for the sake of PvP, the main objective of The Imperial City is the unique Tel Var Stone currency, which cannot be gained anywhere else. I think everyone can agree on that.

I think for IC to truly become more active and populated for the long-term, there needs to be more, greater rewards purchasable with the Tel Var Stone currency.
There is currently only a small handful of decent things to be acquired with Tel Var Stones: alchemy satchels, Hajeiko enchantment runes, storage furniture chests, polymorphs, and a few decent situational gear sets. Did I miss anything else?

It would be nice if there were more collectibles (furniture, costumes, mementos, and other cosmetics, maybe even an expensive IC/PvP war-torn Imperial-themed house?) as well as more exclusive things to purchase with Tel Vat Stones, in general. Those were just a few ideas off the top of my head.

I, for one, have ~2mil Tel Var just sitting in my bank. I already have all 3 Polymorphs, multiple sets of Imperial Physique for the characters that need them, and plenty of Phoenix, Black Rose, Shieldbreaker, Reactive, etc to go around.
The only thing I can effectively do with my Tel Var Stones is convert them for more Hajeiko enchantment rune stones or alchemy satchels for gold or personal use, and that's just boring after ~4 years. My bottomless pit crafting bag is full of mats. I think for Tel Var Stones to become more valuable and sought-after, they need to be able to purchase more things (items, gear-sets, cosmetics, whatever), then maybe more people will do IC activities more regularly.

With Alliance Points & Gold, players can currently purchase overland zone gear sets and monster sets from the weekly weekend Golden Vendor NPC in Cyrodiil. What if The Imperial City had its own unique weekend golden vendor with Tel Var Stones?
An IC weekend Golden Vendor NPC (stationed in the alliance faction's sewers base) could potentially offer the more sought-after/rarer monster helm/shoulder sets & gold jewelry; or even simply offer the ones on the opposite calendar rotation/timer than what the current Cyrodiil weekend Golden Vendor provides. (E.G. the Cyrodiil weekend Golden Vendor is currently supplying Selene/Chudan Helm and Warlock/Swamp Raider jewelry [and whatever else] right now; what if the hypthoetical IC weekend golden vendor offered a different set combination selection.)
Perhaps an IC weekend Golden Vendor could offer the previous week's rotation for late-comers, or a sneak-peak at the next week's rotation, or offer gear sets on the opposite end of the rotation calendar; thereby effectively cutting the gear-chase rotation/wait-time in half, especially as more Chapters, DLCs, zones, and content keep adding more and more overland and monster gear sets to the game.

TL;DR: Players can currently purchase various on-rotation monster sets and gold jewelry sets for 200k-500k AP and 100k-250k gold, but why not for 50k-150k Tel Var Stones?

I think some variation of this 'IC weekend Golden Vendor' concept would be a welcomed good idea.
I know dozens of players with millions of Tel Var Stones just collecting dust in their banks, including myself.

This would be a great idea.
At the moment, Tel Var stones have very little value and purchasing power in comparison to other currencies like AP and gold.