Rampeal wrote: »

@Zorrashi

Just curious how would you do the toggle? I don't think having people float/riding in mid air will work lol

One would imagine that it would work similar to how they handle multiple copies unique followers. Just like that unique NPC from your quest will appears as a generic NPC to others (for instance, a mage by the name of "Arawel" appearing as a "mage apprentice" to other players) one would think it is possible to convert the Nightmare Courser into looking like a generic horse from the game.
One particular problem lies is if/how this 'skin' should apply to mount models that are not horses. Like the senche and guar. While one could argue that they are lore-friendly enough to have the toggle not apply to them, some may want to opt out of seeing them as well. In which case, the only thing I can think of is that perhaps their 'reskin' will essentially be the same as the method aforementioned (convert to horse skin) only scaled down significantly (curiously, mounts already scale down to the heights of the player, which is why some horses appear smaller than others). It's actually quite fun to think about.

who cares? it's for Halloween. Its supposed to be fun. Why don't we focus complaints on crap that matters like broken guild banks, broken guild traders, broken eso plus, exploits, etc. You little boys will simply cry about everything. I'll make you some warm milk so you can take a nap and wake up less grumpy. On a side note, these look awesome. Now please give us some holiday events for the month! I'd much rather see these as rare event unlockable instead of crown store items...like the good ok days of MMO gaming. Lets not lose focus here, ZOS. We still paid full price for this game disc, regardless of a subscription model. We want events.

Soul_Marrow wrote: »

who cares? it's for Halloween. Its supposed to be fun. Why don't we focus complaints on crap that matters like broken guild banks, broken guild traders, broken eso plus, exploits, etc. You little boys will simply cry about everything. I'll make you some warm milk so you can take a nap and wake up less grumpy. On a side note, these look awesome. Now please give us some holiday events for the month! I'd much rather see these as rare event unlockable instead of crown store items...like the good ok days of MMO gaming. Lets not lose focus here, ZOS. We still paid full price for this game disc, regardless of a subscription model. We want events.

For many, lore abidance/artful lore implementation is part of what made TES fun. Hence why we care. Many consider it part of the 'TES experience' to have the details come together to make a cohesive world.
You don't even have to remove the mounts/costumes in question, just add an in-game note/journal entry or something to make their existence more comprehensible. Or, as person suggested, put the mounts in the game world.

Soul_Marrow wrote: »

Last time I checked, these were not out. Maybe they will do that and maybe they won't. The point is that there are simply FAR more important things to worry about than non-canonical lore at those point. Broken game design and hugs br3am the immersion far more than an optional costume. 1ST world e-problems. Get over it.

There are always "far more important things to worry about" all the time. In a great many polls and suggestion threads there is usually the obligatory "Sure. But only AFTER they fix the bugs/get rid of lag/etc." post.
That is not to say they aren't important. They are. But they are common enough to the point where I am faithful hat they are already being addressed in some form (weather competently or not is up for debate). Technical difficulties on such a wide scale almost always attract ZOSs attention.

But hardly do I view it as an excuse to not address a topic I'm personally interested in. If you simply don't view the topic as important than that is your opinion. Likewise, it is simply my opinion that this topic is of any interest at all. But I do not currently see a reason be detracted away from this topic just because there are 'more important things'.

It's nothing personal, mate, but those 'more important things' simply do not interest me as of late due to their repetitiveness. If they were not being addressed, then I most likely participate in a few threads myself, but most of the time these sort of big technical issues simply are not ignored by ZOS forever.

This sort of complaint is one that I find highly amusing.

The Elder Scrolls IP draws an immense amount of its' inspiration from real world cultures, from the "Romanesque" Imperials, to the "Arabised North African" culture of the Redguards, to the "Norse" Nords, the "British" Bretons and so on.

It is part of what I find personally appealing in the franchise, while having new stories, they are set in a mythologically somewhat familiar setting -- the storytellers don't really have to go into a huge amount of backstory to explain what a Wisp, Draugr, etc. is unless doing so enhances the overall story.

And with that said, none of the additions clash with the mythos that the Elder Scrolls uses as its' source of inspiration. Are folks who are so enraged by the Jack O'Lantern polymorph equally offended by Imperial places of worship that obviously are inspired by Medieval Catholic Churches, even including stained glass, and the vast multitude of similar items obviously inspired by real world culture?

To the argument that these items were (or will be) just popped in with no explanation, in a massively multiplayer game that is just plain silly. You meet new people ingame every single day and you were not there when they bought a mount at a stable (if they did so) and so on. Part of the fun of the Elder Scrolls for me has always been the exploration and surprises. In this MMO version, sometimes the surprises can be some style or item that another player is sporting that I had not noticed before.

I could understand folks being upset if they were introducing space ships or machine guns, but none of the items shown in the OP look out of place at all in a medieval fantasy setting -- which is what the ES franchise is.

New mount coming soon to Crown shop:

More content>staying to lore restrictions, this is high fantasy after all. I'm not advocating for a bunch of crazy stuff that would obviously look completely out of place in the universe but all the stuff in the pics and stuff like it look fine IMO.

drogon1 wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

drogon1 wrote: »

None of those breaks immersion for me. It's a darn video game, and none of that seems so outlandish as to not fit. Lightsabers would break immersion, but nothing you posted showed that.

What if they were called Soulswords and instead of all that fancy tech they were simply enchanted Telvar hilts with soulgems imbedded inside. The Soulsword would consume the enchantment when used and would need to be recharged to continue to be used.



Would THIS break immersion too? I'm honestly asking @drogon1, not just being silly.

Those are some wonderful graphics. Honestly, I'm not sure that would break immersion for me personally. Clearly I have a high threshold, no doubt higher than the average player.

Having said that, I would not want those in the game. They too closely resemble actual Star Wars lightsabers.

I think many crazy things can be put into the game if it fits the "aesthetic" of the game, in contrast to the lore. Lore can always be constructed. It's less what the object is, then how it is represented in the game according the particular aesthetic that is ESO - that maintains immersion I believe for most. Which is why outlandish fairy tale movies can create immersion if there is a consistent aesthetic, physics, and overall logic to the particular built world.

Ah, and there's the rub. You don't like the soulswords because they too closely resemble lightsabers. Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

That being said you are 100% right. Lore can be constructed, and for many of us, that's the issue. Lore is NOT being constructed. These items are unceremoniously being dumped in the crown store and ZOS is all...

Gidorick wrote: »

Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

More than 99% of contemporary fantasy has a common ancestral thread that borrows from real-life theology, mythology, folk tales, oral horror (ghost stories), and classic literature. Almost everything put in a fantasy video game has been borrowed from some sort of written or oral history.

Very little of Elder Scrolls is original fantasy. It's an old idea with a new name and morphology. Calling out crown store items as too generic is holding up a mirror and seeing that fantasy as you know it now is generic. The only thing that changes is the technology it's viewed on.

ZOS doesn't just have Elder Scrolls to draw inspiration from. They have the entire fantasy playbook, which is both familiar and reliable. When Luwin said on Game of Thrones, "Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore" he pretty much made the most mainstream assertion that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. History forgets a lot of things. Rarely do you have an opportunity to really explore them.

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

Acrolas wrote: »

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

This is poor justification for items that have never been spoken of or seen in the Elder Scrolls universe before.

Zorrashi wrote: »

[I suppose it is the HOW and not so much the WHAT that we concern ourselves with as far as the new crown store items go. With how they are implemented, the subjects present in the crown store currently seem to exempt themselves from all prior logic from which the rest of the game world spawned.

QUITE true. I am ready to accept pretty much anything in TES... if the lore and setting is given enough respect to actually justify the item existing.

Dwemer Laser Rifles? Sure... why not. As long as they explain WHY there are Dwemer Laser Rifles and don't just drop them in like Sheogorath ate something funny and used mundus as his toilet.

Orthodoxa wrote: »

Zorrashi wrote: »

Acrolas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

More than 99% of contemporary fantasy has a common ancestral thread that borrows from real-life theology, mythology, folk tales, oral horror (ghost stories), and classic literature. Almost everything put in a fantasy video game has been borrowed from some sort of written or oral history.

Very little of Elder Scrolls is original fantasy. It's an old idea with a new name and morphology. Calling out crown store items as too generic is holding up a mirror and seeing that fantasy as you know it now is generic. The only thing that changes is the technology it's viewed on.

ZOS doesn't just have Elder Scrolls to draw inspiration from. They have the entire fantasy playbook, which is both familiar and reliable. When Luwin said on Game of Thrones, "Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore" he pretty much made the most mainstream assertion that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. History forgets a lot of things. Rarely do you have an opportunity to really explore them.

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

As right as you are, that hardly explains the poor method by which these crown store items are introduced. They stick out like a sore thumb when compared to previous TES games. Even mystical mounts like Shadowmere and Arvak were presented in a more respectable manner.
Part of what encompasses what some consider 'good writing' is how exactly they decide to "rehash" (for lack of a better term) their real life inspiration. Like most songs of today, plot devices and creatures are often taken from old-source inspirations within the same medium. Few things have not been done before anymore. But like the songs of today also, the reason people don't really identify them as the X things from which the new piece was inspired is because the modern incarnation has a significant amount of changes to make it seem original.

That 'pseudo-distinction' is what these crown store items seem to lack.

For all of the Celtic inspiration in the old ruins and structures of TESV:Skyrim, there was always a bit of a twist to how it was presented so that most people think "Skyrim architecture" instead of "Celtic architecture". I am not sure if I am communicating the idea adequately but....I suppose it is the HOW and not so much the WHAT that we concern ourselves with as far as the new crown store items go. With how they are implemented, the subjects present in the crown store currently seem to exempt themselves from all prior logic from which the rest of the game world spawned.

And sorry, for me at least, when I see things in the game based upon real world culture, I don't think "Skyrim architecture", I think of their real world precedents moved into this fantasy world. And so a Pumpkin Head costume isn't out of place at all, nor are skeletal mounts. Both are featured in the mythologies that the Elder Scrolls uses as its' inspiration.

Which mythologies had the pumpkin head?

Orthodoxa wrote: »

Zorrashi wrote: »

Acrolas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

More than 99% of contemporary fantasy has a common ancestral thread that borrows from real-life theology, mythology, folk tales, oral horror (ghost stories), and classic literature. Almost everything put in a fantasy video game has been borrowed from some sort of written or oral history.

Very little of Elder Scrolls is original fantasy. It's an old idea with a new name and morphology. Calling out crown store items as too generic is holding up a mirror and seeing that fantasy as you know it now is generic. The only thing that changes is the technology it's viewed on.

ZOS doesn't just have Elder Scrolls to draw inspiration from. They have the entire fantasy playbook, which is both familiar and reliable. When Luwin said on Game of Thrones, "Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore" he pretty much made the most mainstream assertion that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. History forgets a lot of things. Rarely do you have an opportunity to really explore them.

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

As right as you are, that hardly explains the poor method by which these crown store items are introduced. They stick out like a sore thumb when compared to previous TES games. Even mystical mounts like Shadowmere and Arvak were presented in a more respectable manner.
Part of what encompasses what some consider 'good writing' is how exactly they decide to "rehash" (for lack of a better term) their real life inspiration. Like most songs of today, plot devices and creatures are often taken from old-source inspirations within the same medium. Few things have not been done before anymore. But like the songs of today also, the reason people don't really identify them as the X things from which the new piece was inspired is because the modern incarnation has a significant amount of changes to make it seem original.

That 'pseudo-distinction' is what these crown store items seem to lack.

For all of the Celtic inspiration in the old ruins and structures of TESV:Skyrim, there was always a bit of a twist to how it was presented so that most people think "Skyrim architecture" instead of "Celtic architecture". I am not sure if I am communicating the idea adequately but....I suppose it is the HOW and not so much the WHAT that we concern ourselves with as far as the new crown store items go. With how they are implemented, the subjects present in the crown store currently seem to exempt themselves from all prior logic from which the rest of the game world spawned.

Then your problem is the MMO type of game, IMHO.

The reason why the previous Elder Scrolls games presented new things in a different way was because they were all single player games. They didn't have a "Crown Store", because that wasn't how they were designed to generate revenue. They were one-off purchases with some of them having later purchasable DLCs with additional content.

This is an MMO. Cosmetic purchases such as re-skinned mounts or costumes are commonplace in MMOs. In a multiplayer game, many people like to customize their characters. In DC Universe Online, for example, you can buy different costume pieces, auras, different travel powers, etc. Since it's an MMO, in that game you don't have to have a detailed explanation for your new costume, etc. If roleplayers want to create a backstory for the change, they of course are free to do so. But these purchases allow further customization by individual players.

And sorry, for me at least, when I see things in the game based upon real world culture, I don't think "Skyrim architecture", I think of their real world precedents moved into this fantasy world. And so a Pumpkin Head costume isn't out of place at all, nor are skeletal mounts. Both are featured in the mythologies that the Elder Scrolls uses as its' inspiration.

Regardless of the fact that this an MMO, many still consider ESO a TES game and want at least apart of its values to be upheld.
Also you seem to misunderstand what I want in terms of the crown store. I am not saying you can't put new items in the crown store, nor am I saying you can't gain revenue from cosmetic skins. But what I am advocating for is a more cohesive implementation. However this statement was made with the addendum that if they were unable to make a more cohesive implementation through the usual means, then perhaps they should stick to a more recognizable subject matter in lieu of the usual narrative/contextual devices.

It is possible to still gain revenue from the crown store without violating the integrity of TES.

Zorrashi wrote: »

Orthodoxa wrote: »

Zorrashi wrote: »

Acrolas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

More than 99% of contemporary fantasy has a common ancestral thread that borrows from real-life theology, mythology, folk tales, oral horror (ghost stories), and classic literature. Almost everything put in a fantasy video game has been borrowed from some sort of written or oral history.

Very little of Elder Scrolls is original fantasy. It's an old idea with a new name and morphology. Calling out crown store items as too generic is holding up a mirror and seeing that fantasy as you know it now is generic. The only thing that changes is the technology it's viewed on.

ZOS doesn't just have Elder Scrolls to draw inspiration from. They have the entire fantasy playbook, which is both familiar and reliable. When Luwin said on Game of Thrones, "Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore" he pretty much made the most mainstream assertion that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. History forgets a lot of things. Rarely do you have an opportunity to really explore them.

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

As right as you are, that hardly explains the poor method by which these crown store items are introduced. They stick out like a sore thumb when compared to previous TES games. Even mystical mounts like Shadowmere and Arvak were presented in a more respectable manner.
Part of what encompasses what some consider 'good writing' is how exactly they decide to "rehash" (for lack of a better term) their real life inspiration. Like most songs of today, plot devices and creatures are often taken from old-source inspirations within the same medium. Few things have not been done before anymore. But like the songs of today also, the reason people don't really identify them as the X things from which the new piece was inspired is because the modern incarnation has a significant amount of changes to make it seem original.

That 'pseudo-distinction' is what these crown store items seem to lack.

For all of the Celtic inspiration in the old ruins and structures of TESV:Skyrim, there was always a bit of a twist to how it was presented so that most people think "Skyrim architecture" instead of "Celtic architecture". I am not sure if I am communicating the idea adequately but....I suppose it is the HOW and not so much the WHAT that we concern ourselves with as far as the new crown store items go. With how they are implemented, the subjects present in the crown store currently seem to exempt themselves from all prior logic from which the rest of the game world spawned.

Then your problem is the MMO type of game, IMHO.

The reason why the previous Elder Scrolls games presented new things in a different way was because they were all single player games. They didn't have a "Crown Store", because that wasn't how they were designed to generate revenue. They were one-off purchases with some of them having later purchasable DLCs with additional content.

This is an MMO. Cosmetic purchases such as re-skinned mounts or costumes are commonplace in MMOs. In a multiplayer game, many people like to customize their characters. In DC Universe Online, for example, you can buy different costume pieces, auras, different travel powers, etc. Since it's an MMO, in that game you don't have to have a detailed explanation for your new costume, etc. If roleplayers want to create a backstory for the change, they of course are free to do so. But these purchases allow further customization by individual players.

And sorry, for me at least, when I see things in the game based upon real world culture, I don't think "Skyrim architecture", I think of their real world precedents moved into this fantasy world. And so a Pumpkin Head costume isn't out of place at all, nor are skeletal mounts. Both are featured in the mythologies that the Elder Scrolls uses as its' inspiration.

Regardless of the fact that this an MMO, many still consider ESO a TES game and want at least apart of its values to be upheld.
Also you seem to misunderstand what I want in terms of the crown store. I am not saying you can't put new items in the crown store, nor am I saying you can't gain revenue from cosmetic skins. But what I am advocating for is a more cohesive implementation. However this statement was made with the addendum that if they were unable to make a more cohesive implementation through the usual means, then perhaps they should stick to a more recognizable subject matter in lieu of the usual narrative/contextual devices.

It is possible to still gain revenue from the crown store without violating the integrity of TES.

"Values upheld"? "Violating the integrity of TES"?

I'm sorry, but I find this laughable. In what way would these items do either? They fit into the Elder Scrolls mythos just fine. There are animated dead in TES out the wazoo.

Orthodoxa wrote: »

Zorrashi wrote: »

Orthodoxa wrote: »

Zorrashi wrote: »

Acrolas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

More than 99% of contemporary fantasy has a common ancestral thread that borrows from real-life theology, mythology, folk tales, oral horror (ghost stories), and classic literature. Almost everything put in a fantasy video game has been borrowed from some sort of written or oral history.

Very little of Elder Scrolls is original fantasy. It's an old idea with a new name and morphology. Calling out crown store items as too generic is holding up a mirror and seeing that fantasy as you know it now is generic. The only thing that changes is the technology it's viewed on.

ZOS doesn't just have Elder Scrolls to draw inspiration from. They have the entire fantasy playbook, which is both familiar and reliable. When Luwin said on Game of Thrones, "Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore" he pretty much made the most mainstream assertion that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. History forgets a lot of things. Rarely do you have an opportunity to really explore them.

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

As right as you are, that hardly explains the poor method by which these crown store items are introduced. They stick out like a sore thumb when compared to previous TES games. Even mystical mounts like Shadowmere and Arvak were presented in a more respectable manner.
Part of what encompasses what some consider 'good writing' is how exactly they decide to "rehash" (for lack of a better term) their real life inspiration. Like most songs of today, plot devices and creatures are often taken from old-source inspirations within the same medium. Few things have not been done before anymore. But like the songs of today also, the reason people don't really identify them as the X things from which the new piece was inspired is because the modern incarnation has a significant amount of changes to make it seem original.

That 'pseudo-distinction' is what these crown store items seem to lack.

For all of the Celtic inspiration in the old ruins and structures of TESV:Skyrim, there was always a bit of a twist to how it was presented so that most people think "Skyrim architecture" instead of "Celtic architecture". I am not sure if I am communicating the idea adequately but....I suppose it is the HOW and not so much the WHAT that we concern ourselves with as far as the new crown store items go. With how they are implemented, the subjects present in the crown store currently seem to exempt themselves from all prior logic from which the rest of the game world spawned.

Then your problem is the MMO type of game, IMHO.

The reason why the previous Elder Scrolls games presented new things in a different way was because they were all single player games. They didn't have a "Crown Store", because that wasn't how they were designed to generate revenue. They were one-off purchases with some of them having later purchasable DLCs with additional content.

This is an MMO. Cosmetic purchases such as re-skinned mounts or costumes are commonplace in MMOs. In a multiplayer game, many people like to customize their characters. In DC Universe Online, for example, you can buy different costume pieces, auras, different travel powers, etc. Since it's an MMO, in that game you don't have to have a detailed explanation for your new costume, etc. If roleplayers want to create a backstory for the change, they of course are free to do so. But these purchases allow further customization by individual players.

And sorry, for me at least, when I see things in the game based upon real world culture, I don't think "Skyrim architecture", I think of their real world precedents moved into this fantasy world. And so a Pumpkin Head costume isn't out of place at all, nor are skeletal mounts. Both are featured in the mythologies that the Elder Scrolls uses as its' inspiration.

Regardless of the fact that this an MMO, many still consider ESO a TES game and want at least apart of its values to be upheld.
Also you seem to misunderstand what I want in terms of the crown store. I am not saying you can't put new items in the crown store, nor am I saying you can't gain revenue from cosmetic skins. But what I am advocating for is a more cohesive implementation. However this statement was made with the addendum that if they were unable to make a more cohesive implementation through the usual means, then perhaps they should stick to a more recognizable subject matter in lieu of the usual narrative/contextual devices.

It is possible to still gain revenue from the crown store without violating the integrity of TES.

"Values upheld"? "Violating the integrity of TES"?

I'm sorry, but I find this laughable. In what way would these items do either? They fit into the Elder Scrolls mythos just fine. There are animated dead in TES out the wazoo.

I would have used "vales that many people consider pivotal to TES" [referring to story telling and lore] or maybe something like "the commonly held and debatably-popular devices of past TES instalments" but that seemed quite long.

Perhaps it is presumptuous of me, but I always thought of lore and narrative as pivotal aspects of the TES franchise. What with all of the discussions and renown of the franchise's lore/storytelling, I simply observed that it was deemed as one of the most commonly associated aspects of TES that set it apart from other games. It is so commonplace that those aspects are ones that I can readily identify and think of when TES is mentioned.
But of course it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. So feel free to give your insight on what you think the '(typical?) values' of TES are. But not here (unless you give the short version). I would recommend either a separate thread or messages.

But as for how the items in question 'violate' those supposed values, then you will find the answer already stated in this thread. Some of the answers are quite in-depth.

Orthodoxa wrote: »

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO wrote: »

Orthodoxa wrote: »

Zorrashi wrote: »

Acrolas wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Us "lore enthusiasts" don't like fire mounts, ice mounts, lightning mounts, scarecrows and jack-o-lantern all resemble other MMOs out there. They're too generic.

More than 99% of contemporary fantasy has a common ancestral thread that borrows from real-life theology, mythology, folk tales, oral horror (ghost stories), and classic literature. Almost everything put in a fantasy video game has been borrowed from some sort of written or oral history.

Very little of Elder Scrolls is original fantasy. It's an old idea with a new name and morphology. Calling out crown store items as too generic is holding up a mirror and seeing that fantasy as you know it now is generic. The only thing that changes is the technology it's viewed on.

ZOS doesn't just have Elder Scrolls to draw inspiration from. They have the entire fantasy playbook, which is both familiar and reliable. When Luwin said on Game of Thrones, "Maybe magic was once a mighty force in the world, but not anymore" he pretty much made the most mainstream assertion that just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. History forgets a lot of things. Rarely do you have an opportunity to really explore them.

Every purchase in the crown store is something that happened to somebody whether it was written down or not.

As right as you are, that hardly explains the poor method by which these crown store items are introduced. They stick out like a sore thumb when compared to previous TES games. Even mystical mounts like Shadowmere and Arvak were presented in a more respectable manner.
Part of what encompasses what some consider 'good writing' is how exactly they decide to "rehash" (for lack of a better term) their real life inspiration. Like most songs of today, plot devices and creatures are often taken from old-source inspirations within the same medium. Few things have not been done before anymore. But like the songs of today also, the reason people don't really identify them as the X things from which the new piece was inspired is because the modern incarnation has a significant amount of changes to make it seem original.

That 'pseudo-distinction' is what these crown store items seem to lack.

For all of the Celtic inspiration in the old ruins and structures of TESV:Skyrim, there was always a bit of a twist to how it was presented so that most people think "Skyrim architecture" instead of "Celtic architecture". I am not sure if I am communicating the idea adequately but....I suppose it is the HOW and not so much the WHAT that we concern ourselves with as far as the new crown store items go. With how they are implemented, the subjects present in the crown store currently seem to exempt themselves from all prior logic from which the rest of the game world spawned.

And sorry, for me at least, when I see things in the game based upon real world culture, I don't think "Skyrim architecture", I think of their real world precedents moved into this fantasy world. And so a Pumpkin Head costume isn't out of place at all, nor are skeletal mounts. Both are featured in the mythologies that the Elder Scrolls uses as its' inspiration.

Which mythologies had the pumpkin head?

[...]
The Skyrim game itself has a homage to the Irving tale, with an easter egg of a Headless Horseman who rides a spectral mount to Harnvir's Rest.

And for the folks protesting the possible inclusion of the OP's polymorphs and mounts, was there outrage that no "backstory" was given for the Headless Horseman of Harnvir's Rest? You can see him in the game, but as far as I know there isn't any sort of quest or other ingame mechanic to tell his backstory.

Funny story about that actually. Besides the fact that he is an obvious easter egg, some have theorized that he is the ghost of "Ragnar the Red" from the tavern song. You know the one, yes? Went to Whiterun, told high tales, drunk all their mead until it was "high time to bleed"? Then he was beheaded by Matilda Huesed(?).

But of course, he is simply presented as one of the many ghosts found in the game. But his backstory is an interesting thing to think about.