Kaalgrontiid statue price

daemonios

January1171 wrote: »

Honestly, this is all part of a bigger conversation about monetization in games.

As time goes on, games are getting more expensive but the price is staying the same. Prices for games have not changed significantly for a very long time. Half-Life was $50 when it came out in 1998- that's only $10 cheaper than buying Greymoor+base game.

If I'm generous, this is a one-sided argument that completely assumes any sort of premise. The games market is many times larger than in 1998, especially in games like ESO that are on multiple platforms. Games don't always cost $60 today, this is a long-running trope that ignores special editions, pre-orders, seasons' passes, collectors' editions, DLC and in-game monetization.

January1171 wrote: »

Yet how much more infrastructure does ESO have than Half-Life? They have a significantly larger team designing the game, there's server maintenance and forum maintenance and future development they have to fund. So ESO has to find other ways besides selling copies of the game in order to fund anything. Subs can only cover part of that cost.

Do they? I wouldn't know, ZOS' financials are not public. I can assume that is the case, but it is just an assumption. Plus, as mentioned earlier, the potential revenue is also many times that of a game like half-life 20 years ago.

January1171 wrote: »

Enter the Crown store. Not to mention the extra server strain caused by some things (houses, items with particle effects, etc) cash shops are trying to recoup the loss caused by a live game vs. a static one (like half-life/skyrim/etc). Companies are still trying to find the right balance in order to make a profit on items to fund the rest of development.

An in-game store is not inevitable, and is not the only model available. A publisher opts for a store because it brings in more money, period. Not because it makes a better game. Not because (or at least not always because) it would shut down the game otherwise.

The in-game store is what allows publishers to then start using all sorts of predatory tactics to squeeze every last cent out of players. They exploit compulsive purchases. They exploit gambling addiction. They exploit social pressure to own the largest houses and the shiniest mounts. The greatest sin of in-game stores is that publisher have NEVER shown any kind of restraint when it comes to how much money people can spend in them. If these stores were simply a way to recoup costs, you should only be able to spend so much. But by way of consumables and "convenience" items, they are turned into bottomless pits that as far as I know have no relation whatsoever to the publisher's actual costs. As long as this is true, I will never believe the lies and spin game publishers use to justify these practices.

January1171 wrote: »

I'm fine with a 4k+ price if it adds significant new functionality to my gameplay. Houses, merchant/banker, dlc, expansions- all add and directly effect how you play the game. A statue with (albeit impressive) lights, does not have the same effect.

Some people are fine with the 4k crown price for this item. Some people aren't. ZOS still has to find the right balance between the two, and IMO, this is not it. Such high prices are alienating. Yes, they will never hit a point where everyone agrees with the price, but they can hit a point where the majority of players (even players who don't think it's worth it for themselves) accept the price as fair.

As I said earlier, no price is really acceptable IMO. It's a useless discussion. In fact I find it hilarious that some people are saying 4000 clowns is too much, but for 2500 they'd jump right in. It's still far too much money for something that costs zero to produce after the initial development cost.

At the end of the day, publishers will do whatever they can get away with to make more money. That is a fact. What I find sad is that players will happily flock to in-game stores and drop money on them, because this is making games worse for everyone.

Iccotak

I_am_Groot wrote: »

I'm a whale...I purchased 3 of them last night and placed them in my house in such a way that all you see is the flames rising up from the floor
~ Cheers

Brandathorbel

For the people that say its their choice. I get that, but you have to realize your choice is affecting other people.

They only get away with those prices because people buy them, but the vast majority of people won't.

If those that see as their choice step back, they will have to lower the price and that is a win for you too.

Hamish999

xbobx15 wrote: »

For the people that say its their choice. I get that, but you have to realize your choice is affecting other people.

They only get away with those prices because people buy them, but the vast majority of people won't.

If those that see as their choice step back, they will have to lower the price and that is a win for you too.

So in your example, to get what I want, but a price that *might* benefit more people, I have to not get what I want?

Edit: I want a Ferrari, so I should petition all the people that buy Ferraris to stop buying them so the price drops. I'm pretty sure that's not how a free market works.

Elsonso

xbobx15 wrote: »

For the people that say its their choice. I get that, but you have to realize your choice is affecting other people.

If those that see as their choice step back, they will have to lower the price and that is a win for you too.

It is true that people buying this stuff perpetuates the problem of expensive and premium items, and that causes other problems, to boot. I have said this for years about Crown Crates and how they can end up encouraging the studio to just do Crown Crate content and scale back new game content.

The other side of the coin is that it is pretty apparent that "stepping back" does not happen, and complaints in the forum are met by a tired "meh" from the studio monetization people.

In the end, the people who buy the stuff end up winning. The people who do not buy it are just quirky anomalies. I mean, look at me. I am probably the only person in the world that has 300+ complimentary Crown Crates, unopened, and who can say that they have never purchased, or opened, a Crown Crate on the live servers. (I did test them on PTS before they were launched) What has it gotten me? Bupkis. Some of the people reading that won't even believe me. 🤷

xF1REFL1x

I was kind of excited about these until I got a better look at them... gonna pass. They're are way to expensive... but players will buy them anyway. I just dont care for the look.

Acrolas

xbobx15 wrote: »

If those that see as their choice step back, they will have to lower the price and that is a win for you too.

Economy of scale does not affect digital goods. Digital goods do not have to please everyone. Digital goods only have to please the people who are pleased by them. There's no stake-holding in this process. Anyone can spend their crowns however they want. If it's one big 4000 crown statue, great. If it's eight 500 crown costumes, great. Just get the best mileage for your account preferences.

There's zero pressure on ZOS. Most of the crowns being spent this weekend have already been sold. Now it's just offering attractive items to spend those crowns on, across different price points.

xbobx15 wrote: »

this is not about people being happy or unhappy, people just want things to be sold at a fair price. Why is that so hard for people to understand?

Because "fair" is both subjective and an impossible standard when dealing with a multinational product. You mentioned you
run the finance department for a multi-million dollar North American company. Your one company might make more money annually than a country an ESO player originates from. Is that fair? It's complicated. But it's also the difference between you just not wanting to spend 4000 crowns on a statue, and somebody else being entirely unable to purchase anything in the crown store even if they wanted to.

It's going to be unfair for somebody no matter what. That's the weakness of that argument. It really is an impossible standard.

Starlock

Acrolas wrote: »

It's going to be unfair for somebody no matter what. That's the weakness of that argument. It really is an impossible standard.

Is it though?

I mean, we have reasonable benchmarks from within the game itself. Think about how much the game itself costs. Think about how much the expansions cost. Then compare what you are getting for your money with proper DLC expansions versus... erm... a single statue to put in your house for the same (or greater) price.

It's not that hard to look at it from this standpoint and go "gee, I can get the entire Dragonhold expansion for about $20 in ESO and this contains all this stuff... or I can pay twice as much for a single dragon statue" and conclude something's not right about that.

oxygen_thief

January1171 wrote: »

I get that it's a very unique item and should be priced higher than other furnishings, but 4000 crowns?!? You could buy an in-game home with that. That's (roughly) $40. You could buy the Greymoor upgrade with that. These prices are getting ridiculous.

That's (roughly) 1 600 000 gold coins. i dont need greymoor and this thing looks good

TigressCreed

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

Lol nope.

😂

I think it should’ve been 1500 crowns (if that) that way people would be more motivated to buy it AND more likely to buy 4 for each of the effects. ZOS should hire a psych analyst for their marketing team *cough cough me*

Elsonso

Starlock wrote: »

It's not that hard to look at it from this standpoint and go "gee, I can get the entire Dragonhold expansion for about $20 in ESO and this contains all this stuff... or I can pay twice as much for a single dragon statue" and conclude something's not right about that.

Someone can choose not to buy the DLCs, chapters, and dragon statues offered for the game. Maybe someone feels that the dragon statue that burps flames and ice is more valuable than a dungeon DLC that costs half as much. If they want to take that "$40" and spend it on another game, or a pile of McRib sandwiches, or set fire to it and watch it burn, then so what?

The statue is for sale, and it is offered fairly. We know what it does, we know what it is, we know what we will get, we know how much it costs, and how long we have to buy it. There is no perceptible deception or fraudulent intent.

PrimusNephilim

xbobx15 wrote: »

for those saying its ok because they want to help keep the lights on. do you not realize how much money they make on this game? the subs easily pay for everything they do and then some.

they probably have minimum 500k in subs.

500*15 is 7.5 mil a month. I would bet they don't pay more than 1.5 million for all expenses associated with the game. Just the cost of selling the chapters and dlc pay for all the server costs and development

there was an article way back that showed that the profit Blizzard made from wow on subs in the first year and half paid was enough to pay for the next 8 years of all costs associated with the game.

believe me, they are not struggling

I don't concern myself with what other people make, what they decide to do with their money or how they decide to operate their business, it doesn't affect me one iota, but I'm willing to bet most of the complainers in this thread have never seem a financial spread sheet, developed a financial budget, written reports on variances on the budget or is responsible for maintaining a financial budget....let alone keep track of their own insignificant checking accounts.

Here's a hint for the uneducated, business are in the business to make a profit, period...not give handouts to underprivileged gamers. Profits are a reward for taking that finical risk and profits are a good thing, so I applaud anyone pulling a profit in this current market...Bravo

You do however have a choice, play the game as the business sees fit and purchase what you can afford, stop playing the game or take the finical risk and go into business for yourself and develop your own game/business.

So many people complain without the slightest idea with what they're really talking about....and what we're left with here, is people just making noise.

~ Cheers

TheImperfect

It's an awesome statue but the crowns are very high but maybe it's deliberately done so you don't get the statue everywhere.

Elsonso

mrsrobot wrote: »

It's an awesome statue but the crowns are very high but maybe it's deliberately done so you don't get the statue everywhere.

It isn't like people are going to see that you have the statue. It is not a mount or pet that you run around with. It is in a house, and that limits exposure considerably.

FierceSam

Aelorin wrote: »

The moment i saw this statue on PTS i thought: They are going to ask a exuberant amount of crowns for that.

The particles are nice, but i do not like the statue that much, so I am gonna pass.

I love this comment.

They have asked an exuberant amount for it. And that’s a great way to describe it.

But I suspect you might have meant an extortionate amount...

Value is in the eye of the beholder, so each of us can make our own judgement and in this case at least there is a clear price for this item, which can be related to real money, unlike anything priced in gems, which have little or no coherent correlation with actual cash.

James-Wayne

Yeah I know they would make more money if the prices were reasonable with everyone, some of us have mortgages and families you know.

Brandathorbel

mrsrobot wrote: »

It's an awesome statue but the crowns are very high but maybe it's deliberately done so you don't get the statue everywhere.

that would be an extremely stupid business decision

Elsonso

xbobx15 wrote: »

mrsrobot wrote: »

It's an awesome statue but the crowns are very high but maybe it's deliberately done so you don't get the statue everywhere.

that would be an extremely stupid business decision

General comment... ZOS is probably making a lot of coin on this statue, at this price. It is, in my opinion, the most impressive housing item they have ever released. This is why it costs so much.

lagrue

What's even more mind boggling is that 99% of these overpriced furnitures are prexisting assets... ZOS had to do next to nothing to put them in the housing system and they still charge such prices.

Neoealth

A friend gifted me one of these last night. He also bought himself one. Looks great in the grand psijic villa.

bearbelly

Elsonso wrote: »

Personally, I have no problem with this item. It is probably one of the best housing items that they have come out with. For what it is, I think it is cheap at 4000 Crowns.

And it's not out of line with other "high-value" items that are available.
Crafting stations and mundus stones all cost 4000 crowns each.

I realize that's not a ringing endorsement that negates what people are saying here; it is just another item with a premium price tag.
My only point being that this price-point isn't anything different than what they've done for a long time.

AND it's not just ZOS. This is simply the gaming industry, as a whole, as it is today.
I remember tons of things being equally exorbitantly-priced over at SWTOR and Marvel Heroes.

Banana

I'm very happy housing doesn't interest me

Jaraal

TigressCreed wrote: »

I think it should’ve been 1500 crowns (if that) that way people would be more motivated to buy it AND more likely to buy 4 for each of the effects.

I didn't buy it, but I've seen screenshots of people who bought six or more and have them lined up in their house.

rpa

The ridiculous price is there to provide sales for people willing to sell crowns for gold. ZoS get their money, crown seller gets their gold and the buyer gets their statue without feeling like whale. Everyone profits.

SteveS

Is this some annual offer? So if I miss on this now I can buy it later?

siddique

I think it looks epic, it's expensive but it's soon going to be a rare commodity. I doubt its coming back in the crown store for a while.

Also, it's even bigger than Sithis.

LadyDestiny

January1171 wrote: »

I get that it's a very unique item and should be priced higher than other furnishings, but 4000 crowns?!? You could buy an in-game home with that. That's (roughly) $40. You could buy the Greymoor upgrade with that. These prices are getting ridiculous.

Agreed. I saw that and was like what? For one furnishing item? Should have been put on the luxury vender.

Sennecca

4000 crowns to me is 29$. I by crowns when on sale, so it was really a little over 20 dollars. Some people can argue that it is expensive for something digital and not real. Each person has their own perception of the value of an item which come from many factors. For some, it's too more than they'd want to spend I can understand that. I thought it was unique and i liked it so i purchased one.
I do agree that many things in the crown store are high priced. If some were cheaper, they'd sell more of them. However, The crown store something that supports this game. Other games cost 50-60 dollars an expansion and then you MUST pay a monthly fee to play it. Only a portion of the players pay a monthly fee and for paying it, they get over 1,600 crowns a month. So one dragon is free for those who have had eso plus for 4 months and didn't spend their crowns elsewhere. I don't think that is expensive at all.

Hallothiel

4000 crowns is just a pure profit grab.

This is not something physical, that has finite raw materials that have a cost attached, and which have to be assembled - It’s just pixels. As it has already been digitally created, it can be easily copied with absolutely minimal cost.

Comparing this discussion to wanting a Ferrari to be cheaper is missing the point.

Whilst I appreciate that people are free to spend their dosh on what they like (well, within reason), this is a bit ludicrous.

LeeNordTank