Firesong is free for High Isle owners or not?

Yas78

Not a troll post, I just dont get it.
Some say Firesong is free for High Isle owners.
I bought High Isle, but Firesong is 2000 crowns in ingame store, for me.
Could somebody explain this marketing, or I was mislead?
Firesong is not a part of High Isle and is separate content? If so, then why ads say "conclude year-long adventure"? I did not finish High Isle quest line yet, this mean I will be left half-finished and must buy another DLC to finish quesline? How does it work, like a car in terms I buy it and own it, but still must pay continuously for fuel and spare parts, otherwise I cant use it?

Bergzorn

It is free for owners of High Isdle if they claimed it as a reward of a community event a few weeks ago. If you missed that, it's not free for you.

Yas78

Did they announce that I must "claim" it and how exactly I must do it?
I dont remember anything like that, since I dont live in the game 24/7.
This looks like punishment for not participating and not paying very close attention.

Bergzorn

There were some reminders to claim the rewards (ingame, for free in the crown store) by ZOS on their webside and by players in this forum. I'd say it was announced properly. But sure, it was possible to miss it.

Yas78

Great marketing indeed. This made my day, in a bad sense.

deleted221106-002999

Contact customer support, maybe they will throw you a bone sort something out for you?

At this point, nothing to lose, given the dlc is for both servers ( if that matters to you).

But, yes, having an in-game mail or some other generally broadcast in-game prompt would have been more useful.

edit: edited comment to something less metaphorical

Yas78

I dont like the phrasing 'throwing me a bone', and I dont like this whole idea.
If Firesong is integral part of High Isle story, which it is, then why not just give it to players who bought High Isle?
Why it is exactly necessary to 'throw a bone' for only those who login at certain times and read all the tiny fonts at the back side of the contract.
I feel like I was scammed. I bought a product, but it appears it was only half of a product.

deleted221106-002999

To be fair the event article was up on the official eso news page before and throughout the event with details of the Firesong giveaway.

It's the reason that prompted me to buy the chapter sooner than I otherwise might have.

Apologies for any unintended offence caused by the 'throwing a bone' comment. Because the give-away was flagged (but not in-game which definitely would have reached more players and undoubtedly been more helpful in that regard) I doubt if zos customer services would be obliged to hand over the dlc. I'm just suggesting it might be worth a try anyway - and good luck if you do.

edit: I have edited my comment to remove the metaphor.

edit2: added the link to the firesong dlc give away news. page. Don't shoot the messenger; I am not the enemy.

Yas78

This is even better. I bought High Isle not because they promised some freebies afterwards, and its pretty much natural and easy to miss announcements. So what now, I left with half-of-DLC only because I dont come home after hard work day and instead of taking care of chores and family I jump at PC and read all the announcements from this company, because its more darn important than anything else. Marketing of next level indeed. Hey ZOS if you read this, guess what I will do when you roll out next chapter? Thats right. Open Steam and see for yourself, possibilities to spend money are literally endless, but for some bloody reason I spent those on your product and what I got in the end.

Danikat

It is normal for the chapter and the DLC to be seperate purchases. The 'year long story' refers to the fact that the storylines of all 4 releases in a year (the chapter, the story DLC and the 2 dungeon DLCs) tie together to form a larger narrative (like the different zones within an Alliance in the base game), it's not supposed to imply that buying one gets you the others for free.

This year they did a special promotion where it was possible to get Firesong for free, but that's not the case every year.

Yas78

Yes, I understand how this business-model works. When I buy a car, I dont get wheels and seat and air condition included - I must buy those separately, and I also must pay for fuel every time it runs out.
Still, I got a sore feeling as if them punished me for having a life and not paying closest attention to their ads most of the time advertising irrelevant stuff like rng crates I definitely not interested in. So much for being loyal customer all these years.
Next time I'm offered to buy something, I will consider very, very carefully.

FluffyBird

There's a fine line between living in game 24/7 and just paying enough attention to not miss a huge promo event. Event, that happens around the same time every year for the new chapter, btw.
All it takes is a follow on twitter or checking website/dev tracker forum section about once a week.

I can understand you disappointment but don't blame ZOS here.

Yas78

This game and this company is not a center of my life. I dont even have social media, and I dont visit their website, this activity is very very low in list of my everyday tasks and priorities. I only notice what is on Steam main page. I dont have time to monitor everything. If they were giving this DLC for free, why just not give it, why it is absolutely required for a customer to perform certain actions during certain time frame, like a trained dog. So what now, I bought High Isle for REAL MONEY giving this company PROFIT, unlike some other gamers who grind gold all day long then just buy crowns and have everything paying nothing, and what I left with, half-DLC with quest line breaking in the middle and an offer with a smile to BUY second part if I want to continue. It is obvious that I will not pay double price just because I didnt look into that easy to miss anoouncement during easy to miss period of time, because I have my f hands full everyday and only time I have to play is weekend, at best. Disappointment is not a proper word describes my feelings right now.

axi

It was literally advertised in game every time after logging in for few weeks in a row with a message window covering half of Your screen that You had to manually turn off every time it poped up on Your screen. Missing that is nobody else's fault than person who missed it.

FluffyBird

Yas78 wrote: »

I only notice what is on Steam main page

Then you don't care. They did have the announcements on Steam ESO page too, btw.

You had almost a month from the start of the event to notice that something is going on. But who am I to deny you the entertainment of being enraged over your own fail.

Dagoth_Rac

The giveaway was part of an event. The entire game was consumed by the event for about 2 or 3 weeks. And the giveaway was designed to encourage people to partake in the event. ZOS want people playing the game on a regular basis. Maybe not daily, but at least weekly, and hopefully more often during events. If you don't play frequently and don't participate in events, you will miss out on stuff. If you could get event giveaways anytime you want, it would reduce incentive to participate in event.

"This looks like punishment for not participating and not paying very close attention. "

There is a thin line between getting rewarded for participating in an event and getting punished for not participating. Every giveaway in the world could be seen that way if you wanted to. "Buy a large turkey and get free cranberry sauce and stuffing this week only!" "Buy a car and get free navigation system this week only!" "Buy a computer and get free memory this week only!" "Buy a game and get free DLC this week only!"

If you have to pay for your cranberry sauce or navigation system or memory because you didn't buy during event, are you being "punished"? I guess. But that is how supermarkets and car manufacturers and computer dealers (and video game companies) encourage you to participate in their sales events. "Buy X, get Y free for a limited time," is a really old sales tactic and not something shady and unprecedented that ZOS pulled out of their hat.

I also don't understand the idea that buying High Isle chapter should give you entire year long story. That is kind of like buying a DVD of Batman Begins when it comes out, and expecting that you should get The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, too, when they come out. Is it possible that there was a limited event at some point like, "Buy Batman Begins, get the entire trilogy?" Maybe. I have no idea. But I don't think anyone would reasonably expect Warner Bros to make that offer exist in perpetuity if they offered it once. Sequels and trilogies and series are usually done in the hopes that you will want to pay to see next entry in series to find out what happens. This is, again, a fairly standard practice, not something weird and unprecedented on ZOS' part.

Veinblood1965

To be fair most of us don't live in the game 24/7. We have to sleep then we go back in to the Matrix, meant ESO.

Danikat

There's also the option of signing up for the game's mailing list, then you get emails about in-game events, promotions and other stuff without needing to go to a specific website or log into the game to find out.

Katheriah

I'm not a fan of the year long adventure and I love complaining about ZOS as much as any other player, but you do kinda have to actively not care if you want to miss about the High Isle event stuff. It was basically spammed. It was also exactly a copy paste of the last 2(?) years of chapter events.