For their price, assistants should do more...

vivisectvib16_ESO

5000 crowns is about $50CAD. That is almost the cost of a game. For this price-point, assistants should do everything their city dwelling game world counterparts do.

Specifically repair for the merchant and access guild banks/stores for the banker. I'm also inclined to suggest that for this price-point they should even be usable in Cyrodiil, or at the very least Imperial City/Sewers.

I see nothing "game breaking" about enabling these features for these high cost crown items. So what's holding ZOS back?

Acrolas

Assistants would provide an unfair advantage in PVP zones, both with resources available and being able to bank currencies.

If they're not worth the price to you for the conveniences offered, don't buy them and spend the money on something you'll enjoy more. There's an opportunity cost for everything, and no right answer.

ghastley

The merchant restrictions are harder to fathom than the banker ones. I can see how Guild facilities at home would involve more independent systems having to communicate, and I'd want that to be fixed with guild halls, rather than changes to home facilities. The difference between merchant repair and self-repair using a repair kit is obscure, as is why the merchant can't sell anything (such as racial style materials, or repair kits).

Restrictions on what they can do when summoned don't have to be the same as those when placed at a player home, but they are. That's likely to be part of the problem.

Wayshuba

Acrolas wrote: »

Assistants would provide an unfair advantage in PVP zones, both with resources available and being able to bank currencies.

If they're not worth the price to you for the conveniences offered, don't buy them and spend the money on something you'll enjoy more. There's an opportunity cost for everything, and no right answer.

I don't understand why you say this. If you go to pull up an assistant in a PvP zone it tells you they are unavailable in that zone. I am not in front of game right now, but I believe it also tells you this in the description when you purchase them.

So, since they are only available in PvE, I do agree with the OP that for their price they should do everything their counterparts do in the game.

crowfl56

They are fine as is, if you don't feel that way don't purchase.

Very easy choice.

vivisectvib16_ESO

Stop acting like this is me complaining that I don't want to pay that much for them. I already own them, in fact (including two versions of the banker). I'm saying for their current cost, the value-add is unbalanced and therefore they should do more.

FlopsyPrince

What annoys me the most now with them is that they are incredibly slow to come to you when a distance away, but they run as fast as they can to get away from me when I am trying to select them.

I paid them to be available, not hide!

All the while my pet flies right in front of me all the time....

Roxie5D

I finally bought it, and it's super convenient and a time/ life saver! But it should definitely do more for the price lol.

Hazurko_RaShan

Yah, in pve zones where you are actually using them, they should do everything any other merchant does. If i meet a merchant on the road they repair my equipment, so it makes no sense that my hireling would do less than that.

AcadianPaladin

I very much agree with OP that the merchant should repair and the banker should access guild banks.

As a PvEer, I'll defer to the PvP folks on whether Cyrodiil use is a good thing or not.

FierceSam

The Banker is simultaneously the most overpriced and outrageously useful purchase I have made.

It would certainly be really useful if he also allowed me to access my guild stores... I know I would do a load more trading that way.

Although I want to kick his ugly butt every time he tries to walk past me when I call him.....

FlopsyPrince

FierceSam wrote: »

The Banker is simultaneously the most overpriced and outrageously useful purchase I have made.

It would certainly be really useful if he also allowed me to access my guild stores... I know I would do a load more trading that way.

Although I want to kick his ugly butt every time he tries to walk past me when I call him.....

Or beams someplace when you do manage to select him....

buttaface

Agree that they should do more. The plain reason they don't, though, is to keep the town centers looking busy with player characters running around who still need to go to merchants to repair and bankers to access guild traders.

If players could put writ boards and turn ins in their houses, crown store merchants repaired and bankers accessed guild traders, there would be significantly less player foot traffic visible. They have evidently decided they'd rather have the foot traffic "busy" appearance than the extra $$ received from players buying these functions. It's probably the correct choice, because, and also explains why the atrociously bad trading system, worst in any MMO ever, is still in place.

Gnortranermara

Yes, they should have full functionality.

PvP though? Nah.

iamkeebler

I’m fine with them not being available in PvP. I do agree for their price that I wish they did more. Like at bare minimum make them function like actual merchants and bankers if they are placed in a home if it’s too hard to turn on repair and guild bank/store features in the open world areas.

Eirinin

I've no comment on pvp, but for pve the banker and merchant are simply overpriced for what they offer. 5000 crowns is not insignificant and for that I'd like to see the ability to access my guild stores and get repairs.

rotaugen454

If they did everything, I’d actually consider buying the cat reskins.

MLGProPlayer

They should get full functionality when placed in a house.

geonsocal

yes, i can think of a lot of extra stuff miss nuzhimeh could do for me...

yeah, okay - i know it's just pixels, but, you know - immersion and all...

BrianLovesLisa

Wait people pay gold for repairs? when getting thousands of grand repair kits is so easy and free?

red_emu

I agree. They should be sworn to carry your burdens!

kargen27

I think they are fine as is. Gives players a reason to occasionally visit the big city. I like seeing a city full of players when I visit.

I could see arguing for a lower price maybe, but what they provide shouldn't change.

nickl413

The banker is the best investment i've made with crowns. I have no complaints.

thorwyn

Repairing your stuff is certainly a feature worth thinking about. I never understood why the assistants don't do this, especially since manually repairing your stuff piece by piece is pretty annoying. I know there are AddOns for this, but in my opinion, the existence of an AddOn should not be an argument against somthing the game is missing. Plus, there are still some weird people playing ESO on consoles I hear.

FlopsyPrince

kargen27 wrote: »

I think they are fine as is. Gives players a reason to occasionally visit the big city. I like seeing a city full of players when I visit.

I could see arguing for a lower price maybe, but what they provide shouldn't change.

Many merchants are not in the big cities. Some are in the middle of nowhere. This logic fails.

Darkenarlol

they are fine as they are

if you find them usefull and worth their price - buy 'em

if you think they are not - just do not buy

JusticeForJilarga

While This One would never be against further value being added to the Merchant or Banker. This One thinks they are good value for what they are currently.

Ri_Khan

This is one of the pay for convenience features I hate about these games that have helped convince me that MMO's are not for me. They intentionally make parts of the game unbearable for anyone that wants to actually play for what it is and then sell a solution to that "problem". It's a scam, nothing more.

linoge63

FierceSam wrote: »

The Banker is simultaneously the most overpriced and outrageously useful purchase I have made.

It would certainly be really useful if he also allowed me to access my guild stores... I know I would do a load more trading that way.

Although I want to kick his ugly butt every time he tries to walk past me when I call him.....

The banker and his cohort wench regularly get called into duty in the cold harsh northern ice waters of Wrothgar...walk that off Mr Banker

Granicus

Definitely overpriced, especially given their restrictions over the in town NPCs. I bought the Merchant assistant not realizing it didn’t repair. I’m dealing with it, but do feel somewhat cheated since there was nothing about this in the description. And it’s not like the big online retailers - you can’t pack them back up and return them.

I do get some use out of it, but it should have been fully described at point of sale, and regardless costs really too much for a game item, IMO.

I’m relatively new to ESO, like playing it, but I really don’t think it’s a good consumer value. Especially with all the multi-hour long maintenance shutdowns, and I don’t mean the current spate of daily patch shutdowns. Weekly multi-hour shutdowns tells me not much planning or careful thought is generally put into updates/patches. No need to do that if you can just add your next errant thought into next week’s update? And then fix it the following week ... This all means that the Customer’s time is low/no priority. I’ve played other online/MMO games that shutdown infrequently.

LadyAstrum

I agree OP. The price is quite high considering, but it's a price many pay for convenience. They should have full functionality.