I understand everyone has their opinion but mine is that the house is great and made to be like the original home in Skyrim, with all new furnishings. I'm very happy it's avaialable both ways and I feel that the housing community has been listened to because of its limits and rooms. I personally love both types of houses, the notable places and smaller places for different reasons. I think more features will probably be added over time. I haven't tried WOW's garrisons because I stopped playing just prior but they didn't inspire me at the time but I'll look into them and maybe if there's good ideas to be had why not? I get the feeling it's a very differen't kind of home though.
I was touring the furnished version of Proudspire. I admit that I am not a housing person on here, but is it normal for the chairs and benches to be just for looks, no option to sit?
I was touring the furnished version of Proudspire. I admit that I am not a housing person on here, but is it normal for the chairs and benches to be just for looks, no option to sit?
Once you own the house you can sit on the chairs/benches.
You can't sleep in the beds unless you do the /sleep emote, though and you can't even do that on the canopy style beds.
AyeshaBelladonna wrote: »I was touring the furnished version of Proudspire. I admit that I am not a housing person on here, but is it normal for the chairs and benches to be just for looks, no option to sit?
Once you own the house you can sit on the chairs/benches.
You can't sleep in the beds unless you do the /sleep emote, though and you can't even do that on the canopy style beds.
Dark Elf Canopy bed you can. also, for those using the /sleep or /sleep2 (laying on side or back respectively) you will always lie down with your head to the right of where you are facing. so if you face north and do a /sleep you will wind up perpendicular with your head then too the east. just a small /sleep tip.
Anotherone773 wrote: »[Snip] A majority of the housing community is unhappy with the general neglect by ZOS of this cash cow.
1) Most of the homes are just stripped versions of a building in the zone they are in. They dont even put any real effort into most of them.
2) The furnishing limits are way to low for large and notables ( and most mediums) You run out of slots before you even get it half completed.
3) When we got the Homestead feature we were under the impression that they would be releasing future GOLD homes. Most newly released homes have been crown homes with very little given to those who dont buy crowns and to those who want smaller homes( example: why not 3 small homes in a zone instead of one notable?)
4) Many of the crown homes are limited release. For example Grand Topal Hideaway is like a single weekend in the spring and that is it. They think this artificially drives demand... it actually just annoys their customers.
5) Homes are fine for decorating but they do lack functionality many of us would like to have. For example fishing in ones that have water, the ability to plant gardens or crops, some would like way shrines in their home, some would like to be able to store stuff in furniture., etc.
Overall they put just enough effort into it( almost none) in order to get people to buy crowns, which is basically how ZOS runs the entire game. Just enough effort to get people to open their wallet and that is it.
[Edited for bait]
dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »The point of housing is different for everyone. Some will place items and call it a day but the majority of the housing fans make custom builds.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the case. Most of my guildies who enjoy houses enjoy furnishing pre-made homes. They often talk in guild chat when they buy a new house and tell us when they finished it, inviting people to look at it. It almost never has custom built houses.Not sure that is true.dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »The point of housing is different for everyone. Some will place items and call it a day but the majority of the housing fans make custom builds.
Pretty sure most people place things in existing homes more than they build homes from scratch.
Might be different if the item caps for empty plots were higher and there were more extensive structural item options, but they are both what they are.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the case. Most of my guildies who enjoy houses enjoy furnishing pre-made homes. They often talk in guild chat when they buy a new house and tell us when they finished it, inviting people to look at it. It almost never has custom built houses.Not sure that is true.dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »The point of housing is different for everyone. Some will place items and call it a day but the majority of the housing fans make custom builds.
Pretty sure most people place things in existing homes more than they build homes from scratch.
Might be different if the item caps for empty plots were higher and there were more extensive structural item options, but they are both what they are.
I'm not a member in a housing guild (only PvE, trading, and social guilds), so the situation may be different in purely housing guilds. But based on what I've seen I doubt that most housing fans make custom builds.
If you don't like the houses they provide, you can always make your own custom structures or fully reskin existing structures. It would make it unique. Plus cobbling is fun.
^^all are either full custom builds or full reskins that entirely transform the original property. None of them actually show the original homes actually, except some of the mud in the treehouse shot is the exterior walls of the original house.
and if you dont like the furniture, well, you can make your own as well:
^^is not a decor in the game, but 14 decors and 2 undaunted busts put together to make one piano. You can do this for pretty much anything you want to make - its a lot of fun.
So... no, I am not disappointed generally with the housing options, so long as I am given a sufficient ceiling height to work with. I'm just going to put my own stamp on it anyways.
If you don't like the houses they provide, you can always make your own custom structures or fully reskin existing structures. It would make it unique. Plus cobbling is fun.
^^all are either full custom builds or full reskins that entirely transform the original property. None of them actually show the original homes actually, except some of the mud in the treehouse shot is the exterior walls of the original house.
and if you dont like the furniture, well, you can make your own as well:
^^is not a decor in the game, but 14 decors and 2 undaunted busts put together to make one piano. You can do this for pretty much anything you want to make - its a lot of fun.
So... no, I am not disappointed generally with the housing options, so long as I am given a sufficient ceiling height to work with. I'm just going to put my own stamp on it anyways.
Still, I don't understand why houses, of all things, are not all available at all time. I'm sure LOTS of people would get the Colossal Aldmeri Grotto or the Grand Topal Hideway or Hunter's Glade if they had the option. " though.
kyle.wilson wrote: »Marketing has discovered that people are more likely to buy, when faced with a limited time offer.Still, I don't understand why houses, of all things, are not all available at all time. I'm sure LOTS of people would get the Colossal Aldmeri Grotto or the Grand Topal Hideway or Hunter's Glade if they had the option. " though.
It's the same reason why the McRib is popular. When it was just a menu item, no one cared and it didn't sell.
With the houses the FOMO pushes people that don't really need it into purchasing it.
kyle.wilson wrote: »Marketing has discovered that people are more likely to buy, when faced with a limited time offer.Still, I don't understand why houses, of all things, are not all available at all time. I'm sure LOTS of people would get the Colossal Aldmeri Grotto or the Grand Topal Hideway or Hunter's Glade if they had the option. " though.
It's the same reason why the McRib is popular. When it was just a menu item, no one cared and it didn't sell.
With the houses the FOMO pushes people that don't really need it into purchasing it.
Limited Time Offers only work on people who are already on the fence about the item.
There have been tons of LTO pets, and I have bought exactly 0 of them because I don't care.
I've seen Pariah's and Erstwhile return at least 3 times, haven't bought it a single time.
So yes, maybe LTOs manage to convince a small number of people who were already considering buying the item to buy the item for sure... but how many potential buyers does the item lose out on because it was only available for 7 days? There are tons of 'I would like to buy this ZOS, bring it back' threads that are purchasing willingness and ability going to waste, and many of these players may even stop playing ESO by the time their items would return.
a) Players who won't buy the item at all because they simply don't care for it
b) Players who buy the item only because it was limited time but wouldn't otherwise
c) Players who bought it as limited time but would have bought it anyway because they like the item
d) Players on the remaining 358 days who would totally buy the item but can't do so because they weren't playing when the LTO was removed from the Crown store, because they didn't log in during the sale, because they didn't have Crowns then, etc.
Is group B greater than D? I don't think so. So I really doubt LTOs are worth it.
So I really doubt LTOs are worth it.
There were several points that were not covered. Mostly because I didn't want to go into details on an unrelated thread. But I think b) covered your e) already. At least, for all intents and purposes they seem to be the same. Anyway, here's a more detailed comment about the LTOs and some other aspects that play into them as well.
Yes, absolutely agree. ZOS's 'Limited Time Offer' mentality always seemed like a wasteful business model to me. They are assuming that an item will generate more profit over a 4 days LTO than it would over 365 days.
From any Crown Store item's perspective, players fall into these groups:So it comes down to ZOS's assumption that Group 2 outweighs Group 4. Which I'm pretty sure is wrong.
- Players who will never buy it because they don't want it under any condition
- Players who buy it only because it was 'limited time' but would not want it if it wasn't scarce
- Players who buy it and would have bought it anyway even if was common because they like the item
- Players who would buy the item in the remaining 361 days of the year, but missed out on its brief limited time sale (didn't log in during the 4 days it was available, didn't have Crowns at that time, they weren't even playing the game yet when the item was available, etc.)
Because, let's be realistic here, of all the players who would ever pay for that item, how many did that 4-day LTO reach? How many would-be-buyers were taking a break and didn't log in during those 4 days? How many items did potential customers miss out on, just because the items were put up for 4 days and then removed, before they even joined the game? How many of the players who would buy the item right then and there had the funds to convert that willingness into a successful sale?
LTOs lose out on the majority of their potential customers, and they also prevent players from making impulse purchases since they can't act on their purchasing willingness when ZOS refuses to sell them a whole bunch of things they would happily pay for. There are also some other possible things we could consider that might play a role in this, so I'll put them behind a spoiler tag, but I still think their LTOs are costing them more than whatever they're gaining through them.1) ZOS may think that LTOs force players to buy Crowns at full price as opposed to waiting for discounts if the item is available for a long time. But again, to assume that this group outweighs all their other losses is probably wrong.If I was a Crown Store dev at ZOS I would be really annoyed that my creations are only sold for 4 days, after which ZOS flushes down my hard work and all potential profits down the drain.
Of the players who would buy the item but have no Crowns for it, how many will be able to buy Crowns on the spot, and how many will be unable to do so until they get their paycheck or their Christmas money from the parents or whatever? Many players also only use their ESO+ Crowns, never actually buy any, so if they already spent their Crowns and see a LTO they would like, they won't buy more Crowns, but instead will have 1650 Crowns leftover unspent next month because the item they would have wanted is no longer available. 'Wants LTO, has no Crowns' may translate into 'Won't buy LTO' more often than into 'Will buy Crowns'. Also many people only buy Crowns during a sale anyway and stock up 5-figure amounts then, but never buy full-priced Crowns.
2) ZOS may think that leaving items in the Crown Store longer reduces demand for them since players will have more options. There's probably merit to this assumption, but I don't think it makes up for all the impulse purchases they lose out on.
For example if ZOS put up a basic Dunmer dress on the CS without a LTO, some players may wait with the purchase and then lose interest if ZOS put up a fancy Dunmer dress as well and buy that instead; while they may have bought a basic dress during a LTO out of fear of missing out, and then later bought the fancier version too. But there's also a group of players who would buy every single dress they can (because purdy dresses, duh ) even if they're not LTO. And then on top of that there's the accumulative total of every single player ever since that LTO who felt like buying Dunmer dresses but couldn't because they were removed. So again, the balance isn't on ZOS's side, I think.
3) ZOS probably greatly overestimates the role that 'scarcity' plays in Crown Store purchases.
There have been plenty of 'LTO' Pets, but I haven't bought any because I'm not interested. So 'scarcity' won't convert players from Group 1 into Group 2. A rubbish item (subjective) won't suddenly become attractive just because it's available for 4 days only. So the 'LTO' only works on people who were already on the fence about the item. And they're disregarding loads of 'Yes I would absolutely buy that item if it was available' customers in favour of the 'Maybe they'll be swayed by the LTO time pressure to buy the item' crowd. That doesn't add up to me.
4) ZOS think that the demand generated by a short LTO's 'Don't miss out! Buy now! Last chance!!!' psychology outweighs all the lost 'Ooh, shiny, I want it and I want it now' impulse purchases over the rest of the year.
Players who join the game and see the huge number of cosmetics and houses online may be totally excited and willing to buy sooo many of those cool things!!! But... can they? No, 80% of Crown Store items are permanently unavailable. Even old players, who get in the mood for some cosmetics that would be perfect can't act on those impulses. They can't buy Imperial dresses for their new Imperial character that they're leveling... and by the time those LTOs return again (if they do at all), they might be over their Imperial alt, or found a new ingame Outfit that works better, or maybe even stopped playing entirely.
Personally for example I would have bought Erstwhile Sanctuary when I was leveling my Dunmer NB through the Dark Brotherhood, but since it wasn't returning for so long, I eventually settled for Velothi Reverie. I bought it with gold, and over time customized it so much in a way that is perfect for me that I now don't even want Estwhile any more as I just see many issues since the haze of the impulse purchase lifted from my eyes.
((Anyway, sorry for the post length, I'm just confused as to why ZOS insist on LTOs when there are tons of frustrated threads already about people wanting to buy items - if only ZOS would let them, lol!!! If an economist or business person can explain to us how ZOS's LTOs make any sense, please do!))
tl;dr: Basically, the LTO system leads to player frustration most of the time, loses out on plenty of impulse purchases, and the demand generated by the time pressure probably doesn't make up for the fact that most Crown Store items never reach the majority of their target demographic, but instead just end up gathering pixel dust on a pixel shelf after only a couple of days of market time.
I'm a big housing fan, and I don't understand those who defend the state of it in this thread. The OP is right in that houses are indeed extremely overpriced (especially those that are are reused assets from existing structures), and there should always be a choice to get them with in-game gold, not wait years for something not crown-exclusive. Plus, all the recent releases have been extremely spacious, with no hope of ever making the most of all the areas with the current slot limit. ESO housing has a lot of great potential, it's incredibly creative and fun, but let's not kid ourselves that they're not blatantly milking it for all it's worth.