Bought crown crates and now hate the game.

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

Actually, its not that bad i guess. But wow, the whole crown crate thing is a huge turn off. My little violin plays as follows:

- Bought the physical collectors on black friday sales.
- Was only short 1k crowns for the gambling deal.
- Somehow got my hopes up of crown crate domination and bought crowns.
- Of course, even though the good angel which was just a whisper said a few times (you're only doing this as a cheap way to make up to 100 gems for a few things out of the potentiate crate and the hackey sack emote when it comes back)..
- The crown crates decided i was over my honeymoon period, and basically gave me every item from that stupid outfit, 1x the dumbest possible 100 gem mount, and 1x the dumbest possible 40 gem pet.. a convenient set of rewards i guess.

And with the collectors edition, the dlc mount, and all that crap my account is filled with so many junk cosmetics, only liked about 4 of them.. and yeah i feel buyers remorse.

Okay fine, i don't really hate the game, but im not going near that thing ever again. Eso is a great game, don't make the same mistakes i did kids.

Just in case, i got about 70 gems from the set as well (lots of superior duplicates), and some dye stamps which i don't have outfits for.

Raideen

Nothing worse than the "feeling" that you are going to get lucky but nothing materializes.

There is a reason the phrase "The House always wins." exists.

idk

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

vestahls

Well, think of it this way: you didn't pay for the crates with your money, you paid for an important life lesson.

Araneae6537

That’s why I don’t buy crates in this game: As much as I would be disappointed to get nothing useful, I hate the thought of being stuck with stuff I don’t want. Cosmetics are a matter of taste so one person’s trash could be another’s treasure — except no, you’re stuck with it. I did buy a lot of crate equivalents in SWTOR where I could post at least some of what I didn’t want on the trading post. I’m not saying it was a great deal, just that the system felt better to me.

I’ve not bought crates in ESO unless you count the one included in the Elsweyr CE and even then a hope had kindled for one of the emotes which aren’t so rare but of course I got nothing I wanted to use and so mentally gave myself a lecture to remember this disappointment if ever I am tempted to buy crates outright!

Edit: And I do hope that you can move past this disappointment to focus again on the aspects of the game that you love, but yes, not forget the lesson learned!

ZamanShah

I have been Playing Eso since 2014. Since the start of loot boxes in the croen store, i have opened over 1000 loot boxes. Spent so much money (pounds). Never once have i got an Radiant Apex mount. Not one in a >1000 crates. Some players open a few and get the radiant apex mounts.
This is what saddens me. Ive spent a lot of money on these loot crates and never got an apex i wanted. They could atleast give us a chance to buy them with worthless gems.
So i know your pain. Loot boxes are not worth it.

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

idk wrote: »

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

Because its actually crap when it happens. Before you've done it, you don't know fully how bad it really is.

vestahls wrote: »

Well, think of it this way: you didn't pay for the crates with your money, you paid for an important life lesson.

Yes. Maybe we all have to do this once. Ive never bought 15 before. There's so many reasons why i never did apparently. 15 of them.

Araneae6537 wrote: »

I did buy a lot of crate equivalents in SWTOR where I could post at least some of what I didn’t want on the trading post. I’m not saying it was a great deal, just that the system felt better to me.

Edit: And I do hope that you can move past this disappointment to focus again on the aspects of the game that you love, but yes, not forget the lesson learned!

Thanks. Yeah i spend 2 years doing nothing but grinding dailies so i could buy peoples spare cosmetics off the gtn. Played my part and some in the gambling ecosystem they set up. Had the time of my life too, apart from the super rare ones was able to get everything i wanted. The first 2-3 years they actually put effort into the gambling cosmetics before they completely abandoned the game. Shame swtor had to make up slack for bioware's spectacular creatoring.. had they just left it alone possibly similar to zos it probably wouldn't have been abandoned years ago.

Yeah everything to do with monetization and eso is fundamentally hardline and player exploiting.. they've completely nailed it shut to just wound and draw blood balanced out / disguised with a few carrots here and there. It is what it is. The "christmas" snowglobe house is 4100 crowns...

NoSoup

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

Actually, its not that bad i guess. But wow, the whole crown crate thing is a huge turn off. My little violin plays as follows:

- Bought the physical collectors on black friday sales.
- Was only short 1k crowns for the gambling deal.
- Somehow got my hopes up of crown crate domination and bought crowns.
- Of course, even though the good angel which was just a whisper said a few times (you're only doing this as a cheap way to make up to 100 gems for a few things out of the potentiate crate and the hackey sack emote when it comes back)..
- The crown crates decided i was over my honeymoon period, and basically gave me every item from that stupid outfit, 1x the dumbest possible 100 gem mount, and 1x the dumbest possible 40 gem pet.. a convenient set of rewards i guess.

And with the collectors edition, the dlc mount, and all that crap my account is filled with so many junk cosmetics, only liked about 4 of them.. and yeah i feel buyers remorse.

Okay fine, i don't really hate the game, but im not going near that thing ever again. Eso is a great game, don't make the same mistakes i did kids.

Just in case, i got about 70 gems from the set as well (lots of superior duplicates), and some dye stamps which i don't have outfits for.

hahah at least you got a mount, all I got was the axe and a more experience scrolls (apparently 14 max levelled characters isn't enough)

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

NoSoup wrote: »

hahah at least you got a mount, all I got was the axe and a more experience scrolls (apparently 14 max levelled characters isn't enough)

Oh hey.. wow i really feel bad for you Know how that works. Hopefully there's enough gems for something you want.

idk

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

Because its actually crap when it happens. Before you've done it, you don't know fully how bad it really is.

But you knew it was before you bought the crown crates. In reality, these threads are complaining about the decision we make and not the crates.

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

idk wrote: »

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

Because its actually crap when it happens. Before you've done it, you don't know fully how bad it really is.

But you knew it was before you bought the crown crates. In reality, these threads are complaining about the decision we make and not the crates.

Oh yeah of course. And if i can add data to someone elses research so they read my story and save themselves, that's the whole point.

Michae

Wow, some bad luck here. I learned not to expect mounts after getting disappointed with Dwarven crates and now I have much healthier relationship with them. I usually don't really care about mounts anyway. Now I buy 15-30 crates with gold every season since I like the emotes and costumes which you can usually get with that amount. I also have gems saved up in the amount enough for a mount if something would strike my fancy. I was lucky with Sovngarde crates since I got radiant apex cat mount in my eighth crate, before I got radiant apex in 45 Baandari Crates (and two apex too in those). And that's all when it comes to mounts, but I guess I'm still extremely lucky.

TL;DR Don't buy crates only for mounts. If you like enough 16 and 40 gems stuf then buy away if you think it's worth it, but never expect anything more and you'll spare yourself some disappointment.

EDIT: Spelling here and there.

Kiyakotari

www.crowncrates.com

It is worth noting that in the years since I became aware of that addon, which was close to the beginning of its existence, the drop rates for rewards (at the Legendary, Apex, and Radiant Apex levels) have been getting worse and worse. Some users will pull up older crate seasons and argue that while the numbers are better, they're not *significantly* better, however they fail to take into account the increased use of the addon for greater numbers of crate purchases when players have the opportunity to make purchases of the crates during the lmited-time returns of older crate seasons. The new odds are *so bad* that they are tanking the old numbers in the addon system. I would be interested to see a comparison of numbers from the addon that broke down the various crate seasons, showing numbers from their initial release, and then the data from newer limited period releases.

Raideen

idk wrote: »

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

Because its actually crap when it happens. Before you've done it, you don't know fully how bad it really is.

But you knew it was before you bought the crown crates. In reality, these threads are complaining about the decision we make and not the crates.

Easy answer, because this is the only way (by design) to get certain items. It's also a bit of a slap in the face because drop chances have been changed to entice people to spend more money, which imo is a shady practice and not considerate of the customer, in fact its the opposite.

Jaimeh

It's hella disappointing, and it feels like a waste, but at this point, after all the documentation of the super low odds, and all the accounts of people spending massive amounts with no returns, it's not surprising it didn't go differently. If you want to buy crates, buy a specific amount, and just that, and don't have your heart set on anything--this way you won't overspend, you'll just experience it as a fun opening of a surprise box, and you won't be disappointed.

Auberon1983

When I started playing about four months ago, I bought one of those 15 pack crates things, thinking "why not?". I don't care much for mounts, in all honesty I prefer walking, as it's easier to harvest alchemy ingredients and nodes.

I got a whole bunch of those 100% and 150% xp scrolls, and some other duplicates. Being new and not knowing any better, I traded them all for Gems.

Now I have almost 200 Gems and nothing I want. I tried to gift some guildmates some stuff, but you can't gift Gem items. Maybe the Holidays themed stuff will catch my eye.

Araneae6537

Auberon1983 wrote: »

When I started playing about four months ago, I bought one of those 15 pack crates things, thinking "why not?". I don't care much for mounts, in all honesty I prefer walking, as it's easier to harvest alchemy ingredients and nodes.

I got a whole bunch of those 100% and 150% xp scrolls, and some other duplicates. Being new and not knowing any better, I traded them all for Gems.

Now I have almost 200 Gems and nothing I want. I tried to gift some guildmates some stuff, but you can't gift Gem items. Maybe the Holidays themed stuff will catch my eye.

I think there are some new crates coming out in January I think? But I think you made the right decision to trade those in for Gems since we often get XP scrolls as daily log in rewards whereas that is the only way to get Gems. There are sometimes some really nice costumes, emotes and pets available for under 50 Gems. Of course, I wish they were available to buy outright, but I save the rare Gems I can extract from free crates for something I really like but couldn’t have otherwise.

LadyAstrum

I stopped buying them a while ago. I'm under no illusion that I'm going to get lucky because chances are I won't and it's not a pleasant experience to feel like I've wasted money on what seems like very low RNG numbers.

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

Yeah so i've come around a bit on a few of the items.. the wolf mount i won turns out to be one of the best colored wolf mounts to date, if you ever wanted one. I got the dog as well which isn't too bad.

I just wanted to share an experience though that on reflection was particularly terrifying. I don't know what this says about my personality, but it doesn't matter.. its more the fact this happened.

When you get 15 crates, its possible to make the mistake of expecting something nice. So what happens is, when you start to open them, you don't get anything nice. There's something else really interesting that happens though, the cat ui starts getting rude at you. He actually tells you he's getting impatient, and asks you to hurry up, his tone becomes borderline literally aggressive. This is an interesting design, because at the same time, my expectations were growing, yet the string of nothing but bad green prizes was just growing.

The combination of getting nothing good, the cat being impatient feeding into my own head sort of made time slow down, specifically like the cases in life when you KNOW you are getting ripped off as it happens (it takes time to open the crates). This hasn't happened to me that much, in the schoolyard and when dealing with real estate agents are from my life. I was going to save them as someone else had done, but after a few more crates, i just wanted to get the whole concept out my head, and be done with it. I was literally relieved when it was all over.

I'm not sure what the intention of the cat suddenly becoming nasty once you have 15 crates is.. maybe its to make you open them all, give you nothing, and make you buy some more.. maybe that's how people claim to spending thousands on these things.

But to me, wow that was something else entirely.

Raideen

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

Yeah so i've come around a bit on a few of the items.. the wolf mount i won turns out to be one of the best colored wolf mounts to date, if you ever wanted one. I got the dog as well which isn't too bad.

I just wanted to share an experience though that on reflection was particularly terrifying. I don't know what this says about my personality, but it doesn't matter.. its more the fact this happened.

When you get 15 crates, its possible to make the mistake of expecting something nice. So what happens is, when you start to open them, you don't get anything nice. There's something else really interesting that happens though, the cat ui starts getting rude at you. He actually tells you he's getting impatient, and asks you to hurry up, his tone becomes borderline literally aggressive. This is an interesting design, because at the same time, my expectations were growing, yet the string of nothing but bad green prizes was just growing.

The combination of getting nothing good, the cat being impatient feeding into my own head sort of made time slow down, specifically like the cases in life when you KNOW you are getting ripped off as it happens (it takes time to open the crates). This hasn't happened to me that much, in the schoolyard and when dealing with real estate agents are from my life. I was going to save them as someone else had done, but after a few more crates, i just wanted to get the whole concept out my head, and be done with it. I was literally relieved when it was all over.

I'm not sure what the intention of the cat suddenly becoming nasty once you have 15 crates is.. maybe its to make you open them all, give you nothing, and make you buy some more.. maybe that's how people claim to spending thousands on these things.

But to me, wow that was something else entirely.

The flashing animations, cat, the twinkle on the Crown Symbol on the UI, are all designed intentionally to extract a specific response. You were feeling the way you do because much of these tools are designed specifically to persuade you, it feels intrusive because it is intrusive. Imo, its abuse, but sadly laws have not caught up with the video game industry.

This video could help you better understand what you went through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

Raideen wrote: »

The flashing animations, cat, the twinkle on the Crown Symbol on the UI, are all designed intentionally to extract a specific response. You were feeling the way you do because much of these tools are designed specifically to persuade you, it feels intrusive because it is intrusive. Imo, its abuse, but sadly laws have not caught up with the video game industry.

This video could help you better understand what you went through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4

Wow, i hope people watch that, was worth for the whole duration.

Given this is eso's forums, going on about the negatives is probably not needed, and completely obvious...

But there are a few characteristics of the approach eso has taken to monetization that make it stand out in a positive and respectable way as well. Adding to that, something they're probably kicking themselves over.. but the fact that its really easy in eso to be content forever once you have one of everything you want is something i enjoy. It also means you can indulge in spending and actually stop. In other games because of the lower quality bar its easy to want things endlessly. The quality combined with the over the top investment required for just one character in crafting makes it much easier to "be content and done". Maybe i should have said that :P

Raideen

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

Raideen wrote: »

The flashing animations, cat, the twinkle on the Crown Symbol on the UI, are all designed intentionally to extract a specific response. You were feeling the way you do because much of these tools are designed specifically to persuade you, it feels intrusive because it is intrusive. Imo, its abuse, but sadly laws have not caught up with the video game industry.

This video could help you better understand what you went through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjI03CGkb4

Wow, i hope people watch that, was worth for the whole duration.

Given this is eso's forums, going on about the negatives is probably not needed, and completely obvious...

But there are a few characteristics of the approach eso has taken to monetization that make it stand out in a positive and respectable way as well. Adding to that, something they're probably kicking themselves over.. but the fact that its really easy in eso to be content forever once you have one of everything you want is something i enjoy. It also means you can indulge in spending and actually stop. In other games because of the lower quality bar its easy to want things endlessly. The quality combined with the over the top investment required for just one character in crafting makes it much easier to "be content and done". Maybe i should have said that :P

I would agree, except that crown crates go against your proposal.

The odds are so low on some items, a player would have to (and some have) spent literally thousands of dollars, and still not obtained the item. Its psychological abuse and should not be tolerated.

Thankfully some countries like Belgium have recognized this and banned loot crates. If justice is based on morality, we will see the same, if justice is based on who can buy the judge, then the system will continue as it is and companies will make billions at the cost of some folks livelihoods.

Araneae6537

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

Yeah so i've come around a bit on a few of the items.. the wolf mount i won turns out to be one of the best colored wolf mounts to date, if you ever wanted one. I got the dog as well which isn't too bad.

I just wanted to share an experience though that on reflection was particularly terrifying. I don't know what this says about my personality, but it doesn't matter.. its more the fact this happened.

When you get 15 crates, its possible to make the mistake of expecting something nice. So what happens is, when you start to open them, you don't get anything nice. There's something else really interesting that happens though, the cat ui starts getting rude at you. He actually tells you he's getting impatient, and asks you to hurry up, his tone becomes borderline literally aggressive. This is an interesting design, because at the same time, my expectations were growing, yet the string of nothing but bad green prizes was just growing.

The combination of getting nothing good, the cat being impatient feeding into my own head sort of made time slow down, specifically like the cases in life when you KNOW you are getting ripped off as it happens (it takes time to open the crates). This hasn't happened to me that much, in the schoolyard and when dealing with real estate agents are from my life. I was going to save them as someone else had done, but after a few more crates, i just wanted to get the whole concept out my head, and be done with it. I was literally relieved when it was all over.

I'm not sure what the intention of the cat suddenly becoming nasty once you have 15 crates is.. maybe its to make you open them all, give you nothing, and make you buy some more.. maybe that's how people claim to spending thousands on these things.

But to me, wow that was something else entirely.

Wow, that sounds really obnoxious! In addition to my not liking being stuck with whatever “collectibles” you get in crates, I never cared for the way opening the crates was designed in this game — with flipping cards instead of seeing all the contents of a crate at once and especially an NPC commenting on the items and pushing you to buy crates. Maybe those who enjoy getting crates have the audio off or otherwise ignore it?

Eiagra

I want to say my first gacha experience was way back in the early days of MapleStory. At the time, it was just a way to support the developer of a game I enjoyed. Later on, it became a way to try and get things I could sell for in-game currency, and then trade that currency for what I actually wanted. It started to feel bad, so I stopped, and my focus turned to other things soon after.

Neverwinter (the MMO) was probably my next experience, though more in observation than personal experience. Having learned how gatcha mechanics work, I knew better than to dive deep in the waters of their lockboxes. This was my sister's first MMORPG, however, and she got hooked far worse before it started to feel bad for her. We were mostly biding our time and waiting for ESO to drop the subscriber buy-in. We left Neverwinter for ESO immediately when it no longer required a sub to play.

With us both having had our experiences with gatcha mechancs and the foul feelings it left, we expected such things to happen as soon as we saw the Crown Store, and our suspicions were confirmed as soon as Crown Crates were introduced.

I would prefer to (and have) purchase something I see and like outright (the Queen's Claw Sench-raht is a good example for me). We've both bought some crates, more to build up gems than to try and get a specific Radiant Apex mount. It still doesn't feel good. Neither of us are as active in the game as we used to be (me mostly because of work, and her mostly because it's not as fun to play anymore). Our prediction in the game being driven more by accountants than game developers is starting to come to light.

It isn't at the point of no return yet. I'm not feeling hate because my reach in the crates game isn't very deep. But it isn't feeling super great either. I continue to observe.

NotaDaedraWorshipper

ZamanShah wrote: »

I have been Playing Eso since 2014. Since the start of loot boxes in the croen store, i have opened over 1000 loot boxes. Spent so much money (pounds). Never once have i got an Apex mount. Not one in a >1000 crates. Some players open a few and get the apex mounts.
This is what saddens me. Ive spent a lot of money on these loot crates and never got an apex i wanted. They could atleast give us a chance to buy them with worthless gems.
So i know your pain. Loot boxes are not worth it.

@ZamanShah You can buy Apex mounts for gems. They cost 400.

NettleCarrier

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

ZamanShah wrote: »

I have been Playing Eso since 2014. Since the start of loot boxes in the croen store, i have opened over 1000 loot boxes. Spent so much money (pounds). Never once have i got an Apex mount. Not one in a >1000 crates. Some players open a few and get the apex mounts.
This is what saddens me. Ive spent a lot of money on these loot crates and never got an apex i wanted. They could atleast give us a chance to buy them with worthless gems.
So i know your pain. Loot boxes are not worth it.

@ZamanShah You can buy Apex mounts for gems. They cost 400.

I assume like most people who incorrectly use the term that they are referring to radiant apex. 1000 boxes is way too many to not end up with a regular apex.

ZamanShah

Yes i was on about radiant apex. Sorry for the mix up. Edited*

idk

Raideen wrote: »

idk wrote: »

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

Because its actually crap when it happens. Before you've done it, you don't know fully how bad it really is.

But you knew it was before you bought the crown crates. In reality, these threads are complaining about the decision we make and not the crates.

Easy answer, because this is the only way (by design) to get certain items. It's also a bit of a slap in the face because drop chances have been changed to entice people to spend more money, which imo is a shady practice and not considerate of the customer, in fact its the opposite.

The items are not that important and as I said, we know the drop rate is low yet some people do buy them. Maybe I am not in the majority because I can turn a blind eye to the shiny object since I know chances are low I would get any of the more desirable items.

If all or even most customers wised up just the same Zos would have no reason to continue with the crown crates.

OneForSorrow

Raideen wrote: »

idk wrote: »

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO wrote: »

idk wrote: »

I do wonder why people buy crates them complain about them in the forums. Especially so when they seem to note the long odds of actually getting something nice.

Because its actually crap when it happens. Before you've done it, you don't know fully how bad it really is.

But you knew it was before you bought the crown crates. In reality, these threads are complaining about the decision we make and not the crates.

Easy answer, because this is the only way (by design) to get certain items. It's also a bit of a slap in the face because drop chances have been changed to entice people to spend more money, which imo is a shady practice and not considerate of the customer, in fact its the opposite.

I will never stop yelling about how sooo many of the crown crate items should be available in game. From arch, dungeons, trials, world bosses, fishing, crafting... It can be stuff in DLC areas to further promote DLC content.

And I say that as someone who is usually subbed when I play.

It's not an issue of money to me, it's that in a game with horizontal progression collectibles are a big drive. It's a bummer the ones worth having can't be obtained by actually playing.

Norith_Gilheart_Flail

I do agree there needs to do a direct, set, predictable path to acquire these apex mounts that clearly have had thought, and resources dedicated to their creation.

If anything, I would argue it is insulting to the model designers to lock away acquisition by a game of chance.

Megatto

Congratulations.