IC DLC becoming Free this September

Blacknight841

Title should read... ESO Plus getting devalued in September.

Blacknight841

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?

A more accurate comparison would be, you pay for a gym membership that comes with access to use the pool. Now they changed it to anyone, member or not, can use the pool... But you keep paying the same membership price.

BaiterOfZergs

A little too late. And without any new incentives there still won’t be many people in there.

Jeremy

VaranisArano wrote: »

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.

Again: we'll just have to agree to disagree about this. Because when it comes to the way Imperial City is designed - I believe sadistic is the perfect word to describe it.

phaneub17_ESO

What if I don't want the DLC, can I opt out of getting it? My reasoning is I want to keep my random dungeon queue free of DLC dungeons; if it gets added to my account then I'm going to be getting White-Gold Tower in them. When I want to do DLC dungeons, I'll sub to ESO+ until then I like my DLC free random dungeons.

Wayshuba

Personally I believe that if a game is going to have a variety of player types - Buy to Play, ESO+, People who bought DLC separate - the PvP elements should NEVER be behind a paywall.

BGs became so much better when they took them out of having Morrowind as a requirement and made them available across the whole game. I feel the same with Imperial City (at least the city part). They could always keep the dungeons as a separate PvE DLC (like Morrowind is still one separate from BGs), but the IC PvP/PvE area should be in the base game.

PvP NEEDS to have players for it to be fun. Best to make those parts of the game available to everyone.

turlisley

Wayshuba wrote: »

Personally I believe that if a game is going to have a variety of player types - Buy to Play, ESO+, People who bought DLC separate - the PvP elements should NEVER be behind a paywall.

BGs became so much better when they took them out of having Morrowind as a requirement and made them available across the whole game. I feel the same with Imperial City (at least the city part). They could always keep the dungeons as a separate PvE DLC (like Morrowind is still one separate from BGs), but the IC PvP/PvE area should be in the base game.

PvP NEEDS to have players for it to be fun. Best to make those parts of the game available to everyone.

Agreed.

DemonDruaga

Thats a good one. Looking forward to it

Mr_Walker

Beardimus wrote: »

Adernath wrote: »

This zone will remain dead as long as TV-Stone ganking is encouraged.

Nope, that's the reason why the zones good.

The majority of the game is PvE, there is one true hybrid zone, why ruin that? It's easy to farm Tel Var and avoid trouble if you are wise or out a percentage of effort into setup.

I'd prefer the player gank gain to go back to 80% as it was original. Getting Ganked, doing the run to base with a haul etc is part of what's fun down there. Adds spice

That would explain Imp Citys enormous and enduring popularity....

Mr_Walker

VaranisArano wrote: »

If you don't like a zone that's inherently based around the idea of risk vs reward...

... then IC may be for you! Risk v Reward is enormously unbalanced there!

Major_Lag

Mr_Walker wrote: »

... then IC may be for you! Risk v Reward is enormously unbalanced there!

Yep.
Currently, anyone - ganker or not - can just go in with 0 telvar( = 0 risk), kill 1 player, and then port/sigil away with all their shiny new telvar. This... is not how a balanced PvP zone functions.
(edit: oops, quoting malfunction )

Korah_Eaglecry

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.

Nonsense. At some point a product or service no longer provides a business revenue and a choice needs to be made, either stop producing that product/offering the service or find a new way for it to benefit the company. Since this product is a digital product that is tied into an online service and can not simply be halted in production and is now apart of the online services structure. There is no means of simply ending its access for anyone already not an ESO+ member/out right bought it without causing themselves serious backlash.

So, the only reasonable thing for the company to do is to officially retire it from the Crown Store as a purchasable add-on and provide it for free. In doing so they open the doors for more players to access the content, create goodwill for the company and hopefully entice players to spend some more time in the game which likely increases the likelihood that a player will make a purchase.

What ever money you spent on this item is no longer yours, its the companies and you were provided an item/service for that money. What you did with it is your own choice. But the company does not owe you anything beyond that. And if they choose at some point to offer that product/service for free that is there prerogative. They didnt steal from you or rip you off. They didnt pull a fast one either considering they probably sat on the lack of sales for a period of time before deciding to go this route.

This is also something that supports the overall health of the game. As the more content ZOS adds and puts a price tag to, the more difficult it is for newer players to catch up because of the cost gap between them and having access to everything in the game. At some point, that cost gap becomes too great for rational people and they begin to spend less. So making older and no longer in demand content free for all. They remove portions of the cost gap encouraging players to continue spending money.

Facefister

Blacknight841 wrote: »

Title should read... ESO Plus getting devalued in September.

The biggest reason so why many people subscribe is to patch the broken inventory system.

Vapirko

That’s nice but it won’t breath into it. They’re giving it away because no one pays for it.

ruengdet2515

IC DLC Free? That's good , save me crown a lot

SteveCampsOut

Good! Now I don't have to buy it for my other accounts!

highkingnm

Good choice and one I wouldn’t mind them starting to do whenever DLCs reach 4/5 years old. Older content can hard to find people willing to run and the more the merrier, particularly for somewhere like IC.

We’ve had 4 years of it now. I got it the moment it came out. That’s value for money to me. That said, I hope they drop it from Crown Store ASAP so people who don’t know don’t buy it for a few weeks of access.

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.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_BrianWheeler @ZOS_RobGarrett @ZOS_MattFiror

Imperial City Tel Var weekend Golden Vendor idea worth taking into consideration?
Players have very little to use Tel Var stones on in comparison to gold and alliance points.

SeaGtGruff

Blacknight841 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?

A more accurate comparison would be, you pay for a gym membership that comes with access to use the pool. Now they changed it to anyone, member or not, can use the pool... But you keep paying the same membership price.

Not really, because IC isn't just for ESO+ subscribers, nor are any of the other DLCs. If you choose to "pay monthly rent" for the privilege of being able to play any DLCs without outright buying them, that's your choice-- but if you cancel ESO+, you no longer have access to those DLCs unless you'd purchased them or they were given away for free (as Murkmire was). So now you can give up ESO+ if you wish, and you'll still have access to the base game, plus IC, plus Murkmire, plus any DLCs you've actually purchased instead of just "renting."

dagrdagaz_5912

This is going to be 'great', new players getting (repeatedly) ganked, t-bagged, and rage quitting.

Still not going to IC, even they pay me Crowns for it.

Reistr_the_Unbroken

dagrdagaz_5912 wrote: »

This is going to be 'great', new players getting (repeatedly) ganked, t-bagged, and rage quitting.

Still not going to IC, even they pay me Crowns for it.

This ^

I’m just glad I can get my tv stones from the daily rewards and bank them on the overworld bank

Van_Winkle

Lol PvP now is a total trash. See no reason for such "gift".

CaffeinatedMayhem

So, are all the bugged Trove Scamps (um, all but 1 at this point) going to be fixed now? How about all the bugged Treasure Scamps that never spawn?

Please? They've been broken for at least 3 years.

karekiz

Makes perfect sense with new IC update too. Battleground went though a similar situation and this goes along with it. PvP zones/maps for ESO should never be locked behind a paywall. PvP is already niche, no need to make it even harder to PvP.

Grandma

I predict a lot of stuff, sometimes incorrectly, but this was one of the things i've been saying since Elsweyr. There's just so many dungeon packs, and ICP is well established as PVP content but is oddly pay-walled, that I figured they'd begin starting from the beginning and making dlc base game. Maybe next year we'll get the second DLC set made base game- i don't remember off the top my head, it was either thieves guild, shadows of the hist, or wrothgar. I think TG. anyway. That would be nice, because the list of DLC you can buy is beginning to surpass the majority of games with dlc.

ManwithBeard9

Grandma wrote: »

I predict a lot of stuff, sometimes incorrectly, but this was one of the things i've been saying since Elsweyr. There's just so many dungeon packs, and ICP is well established as PVP content but is oddly pay-walled, that I figured they'd begin starting from the beginning and making dlc base game. Maybe next year we'll get the second DLC set made base game- i don't remember off the top my head, it was either thieves guild, shadows of the hist, or wrothgar. I think TG. anyway. That would be nice, because the list of DLC you can buy is beginning to surpass the majority of games with dlc.

We may see the Dungeon DLC packs gradually moving to base game to help off set the pledges as well older DLC content trickling in.

SidraWillowsky

thatlaurachick wrote: »

So, are all the bugged Trove Scamps (um, all but 1 at this point) going to be fixed now? How about all the bugged Treasure Scamps that never spawn?

Please? They've been broken for at least 3 years.

What faction(s) do you play? On my AD chars I never, ever see them in the AD zone, but they spawn reliably in the DC section of the sewers. Did the AD section just... not get fixed????

tmbrinks

SidraWillowsky wrote: »

thatlaurachick wrote: »

So, are all the bugged Trove Scamps (um, all but 1 at this point) going to be fixed now? How about all the bugged Treasure Scamps that never spawn?

Please? They've been broken for at least 3 years.

What faction(s) do you play? On my AD chars I never, ever see them in the AD zone, but they spawn reliably in the DC section of the sewers. Did the AD section just... not get fixed????

I farmed them on cooldown (yes, there's a pattern to them) in the EP side before Elsweyr came out. They were split like 60/40 on their spawns, but nothing drastic

Slayer62

Van_Winkle wrote: »

Lol PvP now is a total trash. See no reason for such "gift".

Kaartinen

I bought it years ago, but I like to see some of this older content made free so it is relevant to the masses.