Crown gem exclusives need to stop

AefionBloodclaw

I just saw that the Pocket Watcher is a crown gems exclusive. This annoys me, I was looking forward to getting this. Can you guys please get rid of crown gem exclusives and just make these things available to purchase as normal instead?

VaranisArano

They won't, as long as Crown Crates exist. Crown Gem Exclusives encourage players to spend their gems instead of saving them to get stuff from new crates. Thus gem Exclusives result in more crate sales, either to get items or get more gems for gem exclusives. They are gem sinks.

Unfortunately, ZOS won't get rid of Crown Crates either because they make more money by making players gamble for want they want instead of just selling each item.

Its sad, but its all about the $$$.

Dalsinthus

It’s sad when one has to buy crowns to buy crates to get duplicates to convert them to gems to accumulate enough gems to buy the thing you want. Gems are in game currency derived from purchases made with in game currency purchased with real world money. Try explaining that to someone unfamiliar with the game. It doesn’t make for a good user experience at all but I guess it makes ZOS money so [shrug].

Strike_Maximus

While I understand why they do this it really is a downer. I too was looking forward and very excited for the pocket watcher only to find myself with a few gems to spare (not going to be enough for the pocket watcher I imagine) just having spent gems on the ghost netch. Myself along with many others would be more compelled to buy things outright and not have to buy crates. Don't get me wrong crates are sometimes ok and I understand why they are a thing, but I just want to be able to buy what I want because, in the end, I WOULD BUY MORE things if I could pick and choose what I want and not play with RNG (mine is horrible). I get so excited about certain things only to find that they can only be bought with crown gems it's definitely a disappointment.

LadyAstrum

It's abysmal on ZoS's part, but it's all about those profits! I absolutely enjoy ESO, but there's a reason I can only stomach it for a few months at a time before I have to take a break and play something else.

I suppose burying items behind "crown exclusives" is a way of bypassing the charge of gambling crates. Their defence is that you're not gambling to accrue the required gems, but they are encouraging players to buy crap they don't want just to get to get to what they do want.

"Sir, you want a popping candy-coated chocolate bar? Well, you need to buy thirty boxes of honey-soaked raisins first and maybe, if you're lucky, you'll collect enough gems to buy that chocolate bar. If not, keep flashing the cash until you do. It's only money."

Starlock

LadyAstrum wrote: »

It's abysmal on ZoS's part, but it's all about those profits! I absolutely enjoy ESO, but there's a reason I can only stomach it for a few months at a time before I have to take a break and play something else.

I suppose burying items behind "crown exclusives" is a way of bypassing the charge of gambling crates. Their defence is that you're not gambling to accrue the required gems, but they are encouraging players to buy crap they don't want just to get to get to what they do want.

"Sir, you want a popping candy-coated chocolate bar? Well, you need to buy thirty boxes of honey-soaked raisins first and maybe, if you're lucky, you'll collect enough gems to buy that chocolate bar. If not, keep flashing the cash until you do. It's only money."

I doubt this is why gem exclusives were created. They were probably created because Zenimax has gone down the unfortunate road of demanding ever-increasing profit margins from quarter to quarter. All that matters is making more money than they did last quarter. They will use whatever means they can get away with legally to make that happen, ranging from exploiting flaws in the tax code to downsizing the workforce in spite of record profits. And, of course, they'll try to exploit as much cash from their players as possible by coercing them into the cash shop. Never mind that perpetual growth is inherently unsustainable and will cause them to crash and burn in the near future. Never mind that incorporating more and more unethical and predatory microtransactions destroys the company's reputation and player goodwill. The investors don't care because when this bubble bursts, they'll sell it off and leave it in shambles while they take their billions elsewhere. Which is a damn shame, because this is a good game.

On the plus side, there are still plenty of game developers who remember what it really means to make a good game instead of obsessively fixating on ever-increasing profits.

Araneae6537

It aggravates me as well and the Crown Gem items aren’t even giftable (I was going to see if I could arrange a trade for an item I wanted). I guess it must make enough people buy tons of crates... But I won’t because I want to pay for what I want, not RNG and potentially be stuck with some over-the-tip glowy firey ridiculous mount or mutant skin!!! I hate that things I would like to buy are locked behind buying Crates and it just makes me more set against buying them. ZOS knows I will pay real money for things I like and I really wish that the costumes, hairstyles, pets, etc. available for Crowns rotated like the Gem items do. It doesn’t have to be the same stuff or even new stuff. That would make me happy.

Vlad9425

Such a shady business practice which doesn't get nearly as enough criticism as it should. If they had any decency they would sell the items for Crowns so we can buy them straight up without buying BS RNG crates. Its all about the money though I guess.

Radiance

I was just about to write this exact thread except mine would have been a bit more direct

Crown Crates Suck!

Besides the obvious Radiant Apex Gambling aspect, These multiple levels of game currency (Crowns to Gems) is a manipulative marketing practice to confuse currency conversion rates so you may very well be paying 5 times as much for an item compared to what it would cost to buy in the store outright.

jypcy

Bungie has quite a nice cash shop system. The monetization uses currency similar to ESO (buy one currency with irl money, if you spend it on loot boxes and get something you don’t want, you can convert it into another currency with which you can buy weekly offerings of cash shop exclusives). However, every time you level up after level 50 (which you can do indefinitely), your reward is a loot box. Plus, the cash shop vendor offers repeatable quests which you can complete for small rewards of the trade-in currency.

It’d be like getting a crown crate for every champion point you earn after a certain number and doing daily delve or cyro board quests for crown gems. Paying is still the most efficient way to get what you want out of the shop, but playing also gives the community a chance to get what they want.

PopotoSalad

I like FF14's cash shop. Most of the stuff is old event items, which they put up for sale after a year has passed. There are some store exclusive mounts and outfits, but the vast majority of cosmetic items are earned/crafted in-game.

Minyassa

I still haven't forgiven them for making me miss out on the Infernium Dwarven Spider. I will hold that grudge until the end of time.

Dusk_Coven

Dalsinthus wrote: »

It’s sad when one has to buy crowns to buy crates to get duplicates to convert them to gems to accumulate enough gems to buy the thing you want.

My impression of Crown Gems is they are a level of exclusivity above Crown Crate items. When you are a high roller and spend a lot of Crowns on Crates, you will accumulate a lot of Gems "naturally", so when Crown Gem items come up, you can buy that level of exclusivity in items. And in that indirect way show off your status as a whale.

Except that people can now put muted ZOS twitch streams in the background while they continue playing the game, and collect as many as 10 Crates afterwards to convert into gems. It's like one ZOS department missed the memo from the other ZOS department.

Delpi

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Except that people can now put muted ZOS twitch streams in the background while they continue playing the game, and collect as many as 10 Crates afterwards to convert into gems. It's like one ZOS department missed the memo from the other ZOS department.

They cut this down... you only have a chance of 0,000% of getting one of those easy crates.

Raideen

Starlock wrote: »

LadyAstrum wrote: »

It's abysmal on ZoS's part, but it's all about those profits! I absolutely enjoy ESO, but there's a reason I can only stomach it for a few months at a time before I have to take a break and play something else.

I suppose burying items behind "crown exclusives" is a way of bypassing the charge of gambling crates. Their defence is that you're not gambling to accrue the required gems, but they are encouraging players to buy crap they don't want just to get to get to what they do want.

"Sir, you want a popping candy-coated chocolate bar? Well, you need to buy thirty boxes of honey-soaked raisins first and maybe, if you're lucky, you'll collect enough gems to buy that chocolate bar. If not, keep flashing the cash until you do. It's only money."

I doubt this is why gem exclusives were created. They were probably created because Zenimax has gone down the unfortunate road of demanding ever-increasing profit margins from quarter to quarter. All that matters is making more money than they did last quarter. They will use whatever means they can get away with legally to make that happen, ranging from exploiting flaws in the tax code to downsizing the workforce in spite of record profits. And, of course, they'll try to exploit as much cash from their players as possible by coercing them into the cash shop. Never mind that perpetual growth is inherently unsustainable and will cause them to crash and burn in the near future. Never mind that incorporating more and more unethical and predatory microtransactions destroys the company's reputation and player goodwill. The investors don't care because when this bubble bursts, they'll sell it off and leave it in shambles while they take their billions elsewhere. Which is a damn shame, because this is a good game.

On the plus side, there are still plenty of game developers who remember what it really means to make a good game instead of obsessively fixating on ever-increasing profits.

From the way I read her post, she is saying the same thing you are.

WiseSky

Delpi wrote: »

Dusk_Coven wrote: »

Except that people can now put muted ZOS twitch streams in the background while they continue playing the game, and collect as many as 10 Crates afterwards to convert into gems. It's like one ZOS department missed the memo from the other ZOS department.

They cut this down... you only have a chance of 0,000% of getting one of those easy crates.

Not true I usually get a crate Everytime there is a twitch drop on.
Leave it on at 160p in settings
Mute the site
Have multiple chanels that have drops enabled, it does not help apparently to have more chanels but it does if the streamer logs off.

- A proud Apex senche mount owner from twitch drops

WeerW3ir

How about just Half the price

Goregrinder

Not everyone will be able to get everything. That is the way it goes.

Dusk_Coven

WeerW3ir wrote: »

How about just Half the price

Which ends up being the same price after they jack it up first.
E.g., target price 300. First sell it for 600. Then next year discount it 33% and the year after discount it 50%.