💰 Companions are Paywalled...

Iarao

Blacknight841 wrote: »

Of course it is paywalled. This is the “content” they are giving with this update.

Morrowind - Warden class
Summerset - Psijic skill line
Elsweyr - necromancer class
Greymoor - antiquities
Blackwood - companions

We went from classes and skill lines,... to mini games and a virtual ai friends.

dark brotherhood: BoW

JMadFour

Yes. Companions are a feature of the Expansion, therefore you need to purchase the expansion in order to access it.

Not sure what there is to question about that. That’s how expansions work.

robertthebard

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

Companions was never revealed as a base game feature or free update. Setting aside the observation that ESO should be a free-to-play title given its monetization structure, that's not how they've rolled with these things for multiple years. Of course it's "paywalled." Customers pay for yearly chapters and their main features, even if they already have a subscription because... corporate gymnastics? Let's call it corporate gymnastics.

Better question to ask is in what way is this feature going to be monetized further, if at all. Historically, ZoS has been (mostly) respectful about not monetizing major chapter features. If it weren't for last year's violation of this, I'd consider it a given that we're in the clear for that, but... last year happened.

Exactly this. Glad there is an understanding of the logic here behind why I started this thread in the first place other than the expected monochrome responses. I thought it would be fairly obvious after last year, but I digress. Anyway, I still am not sure what to think of this new system from everything I have gathered thus far. It is definitely unique but not sure it's going to be something I would use regularly and hard to be certain until the chapter is here. Having a "combat pet" like feature available to all toons though with the exception of solo and pvp content will be interesting. A lot of systems involved with them (rapport, personalities, etc) and future companions were confirmed in the reveal, so not at all going to be surprised of them turning up in the crown store just like the housing assistants. I am curious to see where ZOS takes this, could be a big hit or a miss.

I didn't take your opening post as hyperbolic, until I read your signature.

Linaleah

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Apparently. I'd be buying the chapter eventually, but I refuse to pre purchase it. I'll pick it up on sale somewhere. Though I'm not very interested in companions personally - never have been in any game I've ever played.

you may change your mind, if they work out as advertised and allow us to essentially do a lot more group content - solo. meaning even with your connection issues, you might have an opportunity to do dungeon quests. at your own pace.

spartaxoxo

robertthebard wrote: »

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

Companions was never revealed as a base game feature or free update. Setting aside the observation that ESO should be a free-to-play title given its monetization structure, that's not how they've rolled with these things for multiple years. Of course it's "paywalled." Customers pay for yearly chapters and their main features, even if they already have a subscription because... corporate gymnastics? Let's call it corporate gymnastics.

Better question to ask is in what way is this feature going to be monetized further, if at all. Historically, ZoS has been (mostly) respectful about not monetizing major chapter features. If it weren't for last year's violation of this, I'd consider it a given that we're in the clear for that, but... last year happened.

Exactly this. Glad there is an understanding of the logic here behind why I started this thread in the first place other than the expected monochrome responses. I thought it would be fairly obvious after last year, but I digress. Anyway, I still am not sure what to think of this new system from everything I have gathered thus far. It is definitely unique but not sure it's going to be something I would use regularly and hard to be certain until the chapter is here. Having a "combat pet" like feature available to all toons though with the exception of solo and pvp content will be interesting. A lot of systems involved with them (rapport, personalities, etc) and future companions were confirmed in the reveal, so not at all going to be surprised of them turning up in the crown store just like the housing assistants. I am curious to see where ZOS takes this, could be a big hit or a miss.

I didn't take your opening post as hyperbolic, until I read your signature.

I can't even see the signature.

Xargas13

What I learned over the years playing MMOs is: even if it's free, prepare to drop some cash into it at some point. That being said, ZOS is a saint considering what other MMOs do.

Starlock

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They've been monetizing major chapter features since Summerset. Jewelry crafting in Summerset, Necros in Elysweyr, Antiquities in Skyrim, and now companions in Blackwood.

I should have clarified what I meant by monetizing major chapter features. I don't mean selling it as part of an expansion. That's healthy, customer-friendly monetization and I don't have any issue with that. What I mean is creating additional macrotransactions to "expand" upon a chapter feature. "Expand" is in quotes because in practice this is typically removal of features or delivering an incomplete product so the company can charge extra or additional for it later.

To give an example, epic items were a big sales point for antiquities. What ZoS didn't tell us up front is that only some of these epic items could be completed by purchasing the chapter alone. So if you thought you were buying a complete product, think again - to finish several epic items you needed to make an additional purchase (DLC or sub) to get access to the lead to finish the item. That's the kind of ploy I'm talking about. The other stuff they've done so far is really just an extension of the game's overall bad monetization (e.g., selling cheats to speed up jewelry research for example) and nonspecific to chapter features.

After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

spartaxoxo

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

Linaleah

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

see this is all fine, but.

the problem with antiquities is that the actual gear items require acess to DLC's. its not that there are individual leads in DLC's but rather to fully create an item - you HAD to have DLC acess. and to qualify for a golden coin, you also had to have acess to all the DLC content. that there are leads everywhere - is nice. but compound items should have never required anything outside of Skyrim and base game. IMO. it was a very sneaky and kinda not so nice way to push DLC (or subscription) sales.

Zenzuki

^^ Or a person could simply wait for a "free play" time period or Free ESO+ Week(end) which they do quite often (they're doing one now) and grind whichever zone the lead they need is in.

They offer these "free play" periods enough each year that a person can still get in on some of these "locked" features (even the craft bag) still, without paying a penny for whatever actual piece of content they normally don't have access too.

If anything, at most, some of ESO's features could be better listed as "time gated" versus "pay walled".

Xebov

Expansions and DLCs are a natural thing, i dont get it why there always has to be someone coming around the corner with a "Paywall" argument.

StormWylf

@scorpius2k1 You have been posting for almost 2 years. In that time you have posted ~777 times. You have 6 stars under your name. I find it hard to believe that you are surprised that, "... we must purchase the new chapter to even have the companions feature, same as Scrying being locked behind the Skyrim chapter purchase?"

There is nothing new, surprising, evil, misleading or a change in the way this game been handled. There is no free lunch. This is normal, [Snip].

[Edited for minor bait]

robertthebard

Linaleah wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

see this is all fine, but.

the problem with antiquities is that the actual gear items require acess to DLC's. its not that there are individual leads in DLC's but rather to fully create an item - you HAD to have DLC acess. and to qualify for a golden coin, you also had to have acess to all the DLC content. that there are leads everywhere - is nice. but compound items should have never required anything outside of Skyrim and base game. IMO. it was a very sneaky and kinda not so nice way to push DLC (or subscription) sales.

So your problem is that they didn't put everything you need for something on one map?

ArchMikem

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Edit for the monochromatic-minded: It's blatantly obvious this is the "big feature" behind this years chapter, the concern and reason for this topic however - are we going to see something further locked behind this paywall like we did with the mythic gear being locked behind scrying?

---

Locked...as in you have to play the Scrying mini-game to "unlock" the item? So you'd rather the Mythic gear just given to you?

Blacknight841

Iarao wrote: »

Blacknight841 wrote: »

Of course it is paywalled. This is the “content” they are giving with this update.

Morrowind - Warden class
Summerset - Psijic skill line
Elsweyr - necromancer class
Greymoor - antiquities
Blackwood - companions

We went from classes and skill lines,... to mini games and a virtual ai friends.

dark brotherhood: BoW

Dark brotherhood didn’t ask us to fork over 40$ like other chapters. But I agree it is also paywalled behind eso plus. However dark brotherhood came out before Zos started asking us to pay for the chapters, up until that point eso plus was a yearly subscription that brought 4 updates, one in each quarter. Containing a full zone expansion (wrothgar) and smaller ones like Gold Coast. After that year, eso plus was only 3 updated in a year and one $40 chapter.... because why give wrothgar for free to subscribers when they will pay for it instead.

Keep in mind ESO plus “grows every year” and “will gain new features” ,... it just hasn’t gained any new features 3 years. Inventory was an issue before housing, so they doubled the inventory space with eso plus. Then they released housing and gave us 8 storage coffers and 2 pay to win pets for 10 slots, despite adding over 4000 more unique items to the game. Completely backtracking any progress made with inventory. It has been 4 years since housing came out and they still have not given us a way to deal with the inventory issue, and yet they add new furnishings every week. Why is it so difficult to add a furnishing storage bag like a craft bag, and make eso plus worth it. Instead all we get is a further gutted chapter every year. Next year they will probably take out the zone as well and say that it is the “biggest year to date”.

One thing is for sure, there were 80k viewers in the twitch stream for the greymoor preview event last year ... but only 30k viewers in the twitch stream for this year.

I remember when people complained about the malachite shards and glass motif fragments. Fast forward to 2020. None of us would have ever imagined that we would be required to farm chests to get a treasure map so that we can use that treasure map to get a lead, only to have to play a mini game that we had to pay 40$ for.... just to be able to get a motif page, then repeat it 14 times. Lol

Goregrinder

How else are they going to keep their lights on? This isn't a charity.

ForzaRammer

This game is buy to play anyways.

Starlock

Zenzuki wrote: »

^^ Or a person could simply wait for a "free play" time period or Free ESO+ Week(end) which they do quite often (they're doing one now) and grind whichever zone the lead they need is in.

They offer these "free play" periods enough each year that a person can still get in on some of these "locked" features (even the craft bag) still, without paying a penny for whatever actual piece of content they normally don't have access too.

If a customer buys a product to have access to a major chapter feature, that shouldn't come with conditions that aren't made 100% transparent to the customer at the time of purchase. All they would have had to do is add a disclaimer "additional purchases necessary to complete some mythic items and to obtain antiquities in DLC zones." They weren't transparent about this, and that is not OK - at best it is misleading advertising. Free ESO+ weeks doesn't excuse that ZoS wasn't transparent about the fact that completing some mythic items - a major selling point for the chapter - required additional purchases. While this wasn't an issue for me, personally, I really dislike that they did this at all and it means I do not trust chapter features I purchase in the future to be complete.

Blacknight841

Zenzuki wrote: »

^^ Or a person could simply wait for a "free play" time period or Free ESO+ Week(end) which they do quite often (they're doing one now) and grind whichever zone the lead they need is in.

They offer these "free play" periods enough each year that a person can still get in on some of these "locked" features (even the craft bag) still, without paying a penny for whatever actual piece of content they normally don't have access too.

If anything, at most, some of ESO's features could be better listed as "time gated" versus "pay walled".

They can’t get greymoor in the free eso plus trial events until June. So technically they would have to wait a year to get access to it. On a different note I pay for 365 days of eso plus through my subscription. If they do 4 free to play events a year, all one week long. I pay a full year of eso plus still. They used to give a crown crate as compensation for paying for the time that others get for free. Then they transitioned it into a simple free minuscule statue each month. Now I pay 11 months of eso plus, get my one month for free like everyone else from the free eso plus trial events, and I pay $15 for 12 tiny statues.... they are absolutely NOT free.

Linaleah

robertthebard wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

see this is all fine, but.

the problem with antiquities is that the actual gear items require acess to DLC's. its not that there are individual leads in DLC's but rather to fully create an item - you HAD to have DLC acess. and to qualify for a golden coin, you also had to have acess to all the DLC content. that there are leads everywhere - is nice. but compound items should have never required anything outside of Skyrim and base game. IMO. it was a very sneaky and kinda not so nice way to push DLC (or subscription) sales.

So your problem is that they didn't put everything you need for something on one map?

how do you take "it should have been kept to base game" as one map?

my problem is that compound leads require DLC. I LIKE that there are leads everywhere. that there are unique furnishings, etc in every single zone. i do NOT think its good design that some of these things have leads that start in base game but cannot be completed unless you have acess to DLC as well. that is what makes antiquities different from other expansion features.

and bear in mind. I have subscription. it doesn't affect me personaly. but that doesn't mean that its a o'key to do.

scorpius2k1

ArchMikem wrote: »

scorpius2k1 wrote: »

Edit for the monochromatic-minded: It's blatantly obvious this is the "big feature" behind this years chapter, the concern and reason for this topic however - are we going to see something further locked behind this paywall like we did with the mythic gear being locked behind scrying?

---

Locked...as in you have to play the Scrying mini-game to "unlock" the item? So you'd rather the Mythic gear just given to you?

No, not at all lmao. I actually like to play the game (see my sig). You completely missed the entire point and obviously don't understand everything that happened last year. It was kind of a big deal. Search the forums.

Goregrinder

Linaleah wrote: »

robertthebard wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

see this is all fine, but.

the problem with antiquities is that the actual gear items require acess to DLC's. its not that there are individual leads in DLC's but rather to fully create an item - you HAD to have DLC acess. and to qualify for a golden coin, you also had to have acess to all the DLC content. that there are leads everywhere - is nice. but compound items should have never required anything outside of Skyrim and base game. IMO. it was a very sneaky and kinda not so nice way to push DLC (or subscription) sales.

So your problem is that they didn't put everything you need for something on one map?

how do you take "it should have been kept to base game" as one map?

my problem is that compound leads require DLC. I LIKE that there are leads everywhere. that there are unique furnishings, etc in every single zone. i do NOT think its good design that some of these things have leads that start in base game but cannot be completed unless you have acess to DLC as well. that is what makes antiquities different from other expansion features.

and bear in mind. I have subscription. it doesn't affect me personaly. but that doesn't mean that its a o'key to do.

I don't see how it matters that leads are available in all zones, you can't dig them up without unlocking antiquities anyways. That's like saying "You should only be allowed to wear the new gear from the new DLC in that DLC zone...". No, you need the DLC to unlock access to the gear, but that gear should definitely exist in all zones, even outside of said DLC zone. Your argument makes no sense to me.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Also, water is wet. Each chapter has introduced some sort of system that requires you to purchase it to use it. Devs gotta eat.

coop500

I am... not sure why this is even a topic?

You expected this for free? Does anyone expect this for free?

poodlemasterb16_ESO

Companions. ROTFLMFAO! No, I solo the game anyway, so I do not need, or want help from an NPC.

I tolerate the ones I'm stuck with for a mission, but they are generally useless anyway. In Skyrim all my Companions just die, so early on I stopped that nonsense. In the Dawnguard DLC there is Serena, the only Companion I have actually tried to kill, so no. No Comapions for me.

scorpius2k1

coop500 wrote: »

I am... not sure why this is even a topic?

You expected this for free? Does anyone expect this for free?

Try reading the original post again a few times.

scorpius2k1

poodlemasterb16_ESO wrote: »

Companions. ROTFLMFAO! No, I solo the game anyway, so I do not need, or want help from an NPC.

I tolerate the ones I'm stuck with for a mission, but they are generally useless anyway. In Skyrim all my Companions just die, so early on I stopped that nonsense. In the Dawnguard DLC there is Serena, the only Companion I have actually tried to kill, so no. No Comapions for me.

I am thinking the same for me tbh after seeing what this feature is all about. I'd rather focus on my rotation and play style, not some automated npc that needs constant attention to use properly.

Linaleah

Goregrinder wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

robertthebard wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

see this is all fine, but.

the problem with antiquities is that the actual gear items require acess to DLC's. its not that there are individual leads in DLC's but rather to fully create an item - you HAD to have DLC acess. and to qualify for a golden coin, you also had to have acess to all the DLC content. that there are leads everywhere - is nice. but compound items should have never required anything outside of Skyrim and base game. IMO. it was a very sneaky and kinda not so nice way to push DLC (or subscription) sales.

So your problem is that they didn't put everything you need for something on one map?

how do you take "it should have been kept to base game" as one map?

my problem is that compound leads require DLC. I LIKE that there are leads everywhere. that there are unique furnishings, etc in every single zone. i do NOT think its good design that some of these things have leads that start in base game but cannot be completed unless you have acess to DLC as well. that is what makes antiquities different from other expansion features.

and bear in mind. I have subscription. it doesn't affect me personaly. but that doesn't mean that its a o'key to do.

I don't see how it matters that leads are available in all zones, you can't dig them up without unlocking antiquities anyways. That's like saying "You should only be allowed to wear the new gear from the new DLC in that DLC zone...". No, you need the DLC to unlock access to the gear, but that gear should definitely exist in all zones, even outside of said DLC zone. Your argument makes no sense to me.

consider for a moment. that you are a returning player and only bought the most recent expansion UPGRADE for its features. you can learn it and you can start finding leads... but you cannot complete the items because you need to subscribe or buy additional dlc's? how are you still missing the point here?

and here is the thing its NOT the same as DLC gear. DLC gear that is BoE can be sold on guild traders. I'm NOT complaining that there are leads in every zone. I'm complaining about things like THIS https://eso-sets.com/set/ring-of-the-pale-order base zone, base zone, base zone, woops - have to buy Wrothgar and Markarth to finish this item. you were teased with leads found in the base game... but nope. can't complete it unless you pay extra. syke!

imagine if you are trying to assemble a pet that was released with Summerset... but you cannot finish it, because some of the parts are hidden in Elsweyr. this is what we are dealing with here.

clockwork precursor for example has you going around different zones. but... other then clockwork DLC itself, it only sends you to base game zones. which is how it SHOULD be.

jssriot

I'm honestly surprised anyone actually wants the companion feature. It seems pretty...idk, meh and I don't really recall players ever asking for it. It's like now that it's a thing, people think they need it? Ah, capitalism!

But that said, every expansion has had paywalled content so what did you expect? Warden class, jewelry crafting, Necro class, now companions. It's ZOS' business model. Deal with it or I guess go play another game. And honestly the only one of these things I think shouldn't have been paywalled was jewelry crafting. That was a major screw-over and everyone at ZOS behind that decision is probably a horrible human being (granted I don't have a even modestly good opinion of everyone who works for ZOS). But companions? I've tried to care but just can't.

Goregrinder

Linaleah wrote: »

Goregrinder wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

robertthebard wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Starlock wrote: »

l
After ZoS required additional purchases to complete some epic items from antiquities last year, there's now grounds for concern that they will do something similar with the companions feature. And the companions feature just in general is ripe for additional layers of monetization - it already plugs right in to existing monetization systems. Quite clever.

Ah. I understand now. I actually strongly disagree with that. Antiquities, for what it is was, could honestly only have been monetized this way. It was sold that way imo, and I never expected anything less. If I am to be able to explore the world finding the Antiquities, I would expect to actually find good stuff all over the place. And if they hadn't monetized that way, then Antiquities would be the first major system we couldn't use anywhere we could go.

We can use the jewelry we craft anywhere and put a jewelry station in any home.
We can use necros anywhere.
We can use transmuted gear anywhere.

So why wouldn't leads also drop anywhere? I actually would have felt cheated if the antiquity system was limited to only Western Skyrim because it would have been the only major new feature that we couldn't benefit from anywhere we could go.

So naturally, I would expect leads to come from anywhere and not just Western Skyrim.

Since leads are buried treasure, that also means ofc there would be Antiquities you couldn't access if you could not go anywhere.

The same inherently limiting factor is NOT part of companions. So I very much doubt there would be any reason why you'd to go to other locations to use them, aside from perhaps romantic quests.

see this is all fine, but.

the problem with antiquities is that the actual gear items require acess to DLC's. its not that there are individual leads in DLC's but rather to fully create an item - you HAD to have DLC acess. and to qualify for a golden coin, you also had to have acess to all the DLC content. that there are leads everywhere - is nice. but compound items should have never required anything outside of Skyrim and base game. IMO. it was a very sneaky and kinda not so nice way to push DLC (or subscription) sales.

So your problem is that they didn't put everything you need for something on one map?

how do you take "it should have been kept to base game" as one map?

my problem is that compound leads require DLC. I LIKE that there are leads everywhere. that there are unique furnishings, etc in every single zone. i do NOT think its good design that some of these things have leads that start in base game but cannot be completed unless you have acess to DLC as well. that is what makes antiquities different from other expansion features.

and bear in mind. I have subscription. it doesn't affect me personaly. but that doesn't mean that its a o'key to do.

I don't see how it matters that leads are available in all zones, you can't dig them up without unlocking antiquities anyways. That's like saying "You should only be allowed to wear the new gear from the new DLC in that DLC zone...". No, you need the DLC to unlock access to the gear, but that gear should definitely exist in all zones, even outside of said DLC zone. Your argument makes no sense to me.

consider for a moment. that you are a returning player and only bought the most recent expansion UPGRADE for its features. you can learn it and you can start finding leads... but you cannot complete the items because you need to subscribe or buy additional dlc's? how are you still missing the point here?

and here is the thing its NOT the same as DLC gear. DLC gear that is BoE can be sold on guild traders. I'm NOT complaining that there are leads in every zone. I'm complaining about things like THIS https://eso-sets.com/set/ring-of-the-pale-order base zone, base zone, base zone, woops - have to buy Wrothgar and Markarth to finish this item. you were teased with leads found in the base game... but nope. can't complete it unless you pay extra. syke!

imagine if you are trying to assemble a pet that was released with Summerset... but you cannot finish it, because some of the parts are hidden in Elsweyr. this is what we are dealing with here.

clockwork precursor for example has you going around different zones. but... other then clockwork DLC itself, it only sends you to base game zones. which is how it SHOULD be.

Yes, that's content that came out after antiquities was added. Unlocking antiquities doesn't mean you've now unlocked every lead the game will ever have forever. Is that what you were expecting? That's like me unlocking the Bow skill line and expecting every bow to now be available to me forever because I paid to have the bow skill line unlocked by buying the base game...not how it works.