Free Deadlands DLC

Araneae6537

TwinStripeUK wrote: »

For all those upset by this, I'd suggest going and playing Destiny 2 for a bit and then looking at this with a fresh pair of eyes...

Why?

Well, the entire game went free to play, including all of the DLC up until that point excluding the 'comet' release (think 'chapter' in ESO terms).

That was enough of a slap in the face to paying customers who'd been there since the beginning, however they then started 'vaulting' content...

To put this in an ESO context, imagine having paid for the Orsinium, Imperial City, Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood DLC, and then having it given away for free with the base game (for newer players, this actually happened, and nobody seemed that bothered at the time).

Now imagine that ZOS turned around a couple of years later and said 'okay, so we made you pay for it, then we gave it away for free, now we're removing it from the game entirely... hope you're okay with that (but we don't actually care if you're not, because it's happening anyway)' and then ending up with only 40% of the content left from the original game and it's DLC.

Further imagine ZOS claiming that it 'may return someday', without having any form of timescale... and then repeating this process annually so that once a DLC (including chapters) gets up to two years old, it first goes free-to-play and then disappears entirely!

Now take a fresh look at the situation...



In the grand scheme of things, giving away a single DLC is a very, VERY minor annoyance at worst, and utterly trivial at best. It would probably bug me more if I'd have gone out and bought it directly, rather than getting it as an ESO Plus sub, but even then it's not like it's all of the DLC I've paid for. Certainly as an incentive for all of those who bought Blackwood especially for the event, as well as those completely new players, it's a nice bit of marketing (and new players are the lifeblood of any MMO).

Plus, getting annoyed because it was 'given away' and you already owned it, when you were doing something you were already doing during the event (especially given that it was extremely unlikely the community wouldn't hit the targets with the number of people taking part), is just beyond ridiculous. I you really felt that strongly about it, you should have just stopped participating (although someone carrying around that degree of selfish entitlement needs to take a long hard look at themselves). It's not as if it's gone free forever - anyone joining the game as of tomorrow will still have to pay for it, the same as you did...

But some people wouldn't be happy, no matter what. I remember when ZOS ran the first such event and they gave away the Grand Psijic Villa at the end of it. The first comment I saw in the chat?

'It's not furnished - what a crap 'reward'....'

I believe that very few people have complained about the DLC being given to everyone who has Blackwood because they perceive a decrease in value to ESO+ and rather I think that most of us are perfectly happy about that. The disappointment is in it being the super hyped special reveal reward. So there is disappointment because anticipation was created and then the reward is not meaningful for those who only play with ESO+.

Your illustration highlights the fallacy of those saying, “Oh but you did get something because now you have it forever.” No, that’s not how online games work. We all only have access and this could change if ZOS revamps how zones or subs are done or were to “vault” zones as in your example or shut down ESO completely. Of course I’m not expecting any of that, but I hope you see my point.

Are ESO+ demanding extra? Not that I’ve seen, not in this thread anyway. I don’t think anyone would have thought to ask for anything if the DLC was announced as a reward from the start and there hadn’t been a hyped up reveal reward.

I think it’s great to express happiness with the reward or indeed any part of the game! But I get the impression that some see these rewards as gifts? It is not that but part of marketing and what we pay for. Why would I get ESO+ except that it is worth it to me? Why should I buy Blackwood this year when I will have access next year at no additional cost? This event and the rewards for participating are part of why buy even with ESO+. Now I don’t regret buying, but I do feel the event rewards were less for me this year than the previous years.

AVaelham

pdblake wrote: »

Thanks. I take it playing through the new prologue will give a taste of it?

Yes, there are so minor hints on what is to come. Deadlands DLC will essentially be the second book in the 'Year of the Dagon' trilogy with the third being the questline that comes at the end of each "Year of X". From what I've seen on this forum, we'll be visiting two very different Daedric planes, Fargrave and some sections of the Deadlands. I imagine the Deadlands DLC will be like a trip to Mordor pretty much lol.

anitajoneb17_ESO

Maya_Nur wrote: »

— And why subscribers continue to subscribe no matter what?
The first question is more rhetorical, while the second is serious. If you like the game very much, it's ok to support it even strongly, but if you are not happy anymore with what you have, just stop encouraging the wrong way of things. Isn't it quite obvious?

It's not that mathematical.
- An MMO is not only "the game", it's also all the social relationships you build up within the game. I've seen many people quit over the years, but they don't quit solo, they quit in bulks after having agreed on a new MMO or coop game to reunite. Unless that group has been formed, a single player will not leave, and they will go on subbing.
- Apart from your social relationship, you also give up all the things you've build up in the game, mostly characters and houses. It's truly like abandoning personal creations.
- If you have not, unlike me, purchased all the DLC's along the way, then you're truly stuck with subbing. Imagine, all of a sudden, if you stop subbing, you only have the base game, you cannot participate in most of your guilds' activities because you have no access to the zones, etc. that's very uncomfortable.
- It's hard to compare income, value and currencies, but I'd say ESO is not cheap. 15 USD / month is not a lot, but if you add everything up over the years, you may end up with a global expenditure of several thousand dollars. That's hard to leave behind (and start from scratch in another game).
- Imagine you have two cars, one you bought for 20000 USD and the other one for 1000 USD from your cousin. You only need one car and both cars drive properly. Which one are you going to give up ? The cheap one, of course, even if you don't like it less than the expensive one.

TLDR : the more money you've put into something, the more difficult t will be for you to get rid of it / quit. That's why subbers are more likely to "stay no matter what", and stay subbed, than non-subbers.

There are likely exceptions to the behaviour I've just described but I believe it to be the standard behaviour.