Hey there, folks!

Might be a big read, no TL;DR; - This is a discussion forum, not Twitter.

Ok, first things first! The next few paragraphs will probably repeat a lot of stuff people are aware of, but I need to set the mood: let's be honest with ourselves. Games needs money, this is not a sin or a crime. A game with plenty of money is able to deliver new, better things and everyone is happy in the end of the day. The tricky part, however, is: how to make money?

I'm no expert and nor do I pretend to be. What I'm going to say comes from personal experience and homebrew game development enthusiasm :P

As I see it, there are two ways to earn money in games with Cash Shops (Our very own Crown Store) the cheap way and the nice way.

• The cheap way, as it was pointed out by many people already and was recently explored on this excellent summary by @Elloa comes in many shapes and forms. Luckily, ESO does not abuse of the worst forms: epic gear that can't be obtained in-game, advancement options that are not available through gameplay, etc... BUT ESO does abuse of the lesser forms: the 'so called' convenience of XP scrolls + CP system, the incredibly hard to acquire new motifs that you'll rather buy for crowns before going crazy to farm them, etc...
• The nice way, also present in ESO are those things that add substantial content to the game (good DLCs, etc) and purely cosmetic additions that won't affect game balance and give no advantage whatsoever. You can look as good as you're willing to afford, you can ride exotic mounts that are as fast as normal mounts, etc... You can customize your world and your experience to your liking, but the changes won't interfere with the game.

Ok, so... At first, the Crown store was mostly based around the Nice Way. However it changed. Why does it change? Because the 'nice way' was probably not profitable enough by itself. So here's the purpose of this thread: To point out the flaws of the 'Nice' side of the Crown Store and suggest some stuff that could change this scenario. If we INCREASE the income through that part of the store, we'll contribute in LOWERING the need for ZOS to add more 'cheap way' stuff. And who knows? Maybe we can even get motifs that are not fragmented again

Oh, by the way - many of those suggestions were made already by several other people. I'm summarizing them for two reasons: First because it would be nice to have a single thread with all those ideas for ZOS to profit! And secondly because they are a COMMON REQUEST from many people I talk to in-game.

CHANGES TO CURRENT STUFF

• Ability do Dye Costumes - Seriously, this is a must. I know a lot of people that are not throwing money at the store because they can't dye the costumes. Me included. The idea behind costumes bought with real money is to look different, look unique. But how can I look unique if everyone else that buys it has the same colors? This includes costumes & disguises acquired through quests and such, too.
• Inclusion of All Clothes and Disguises to Collections UI - Like a 'wardrobe', all these things should be 'unified' under the same collection: costumes, store costumes, disguises, etc. And being all dyeable, you'll start to give us a proper character customization system. This would encourage a lot of sales - I promise you. Just look at the piles of money spent on LOTRO clothing - they're incredibly customizable, they can be dyed, etc...
• Ability to Dye Mount visual equipment - This would also be a boon. Would not help sales by itself, but we'll get there soon on 'new additions'.
• More Character Slots - We have 10 races and 8 character slots. Let's fix that I'd buy them and I know many people that would, too.

NEW ADDITIONS

• Custom saddles/mount armor - Seriously thrown in custom saddles/mount armor/saddlebags + the ability to dye them mentioned above and BOOM! Profit. Horse Armor might've failed in Oblivion, but in online games everyone wants to parade their swag Not only different saddlebags, for example, but the ability to customize the 'feel' of our characters: maybe you could carry some weapons and quivers, or camp stuff (a frying pan, folded sleeping bags, etc) maybe more stylish bags, cultural stuff (from the different races) etc...
• Guild Crest Items - It would be cool to add costumes or cosmetic items that utilize your guild's crest (you could choose the guild on purchase) - like capes, tunics, etc... Maybe even a "guild dye" for shields now that shields will be dyeable
• Visual Equipment and Scabbards - I have a whole thread on the subject. Making it short, however, you could earn a lot by selling custom scabbards and such. We need scabbards, they've always been one of the unique, cool things in TES games! (people don't walk around with hanging, unsheated blades.) THIS is the thread.
• Cosmetic Top Layer Clothes - One cool thing about Tabards is that they're used on top of your armor. Unlike other costumes and disguises, tabards don't completely revamp your looks, they just add to it. You could make several new cosmetic items like this: Tunics, half-capes, togas (lol), sashes, hauberks, fur (We need fur equipment! Please - now with the cold of Orsinium it shall be desperately needed! ) etc... Things that doesn't remove our armor but instead add to it.

NEW SYSTEMS

• Housing - I suppose this is the more requested feature ever, but it deserves a place here because it has A LOT OF POTENTIAL for cosmetic stuff to be sold on the Store. Just saying.
• Music System - This has been requested before, too, but I like to always remind folks at ZOS of how amazingly beaut-freaking-fultastic the LOTRO ABC Music system is. Seriously, just Google for "Weatherstock" and tell me you don't want to see something like that in ESO?
• Cosmetic Outfits - Visual sets we could "set" and change in between them easily. Additional slots could be sold
• Card Game - Imagine a game within the game. Or think Gwent, if you've played Witcher 3. Thing is freaking addictive. A card game within ESO (based on the world's lore) could add A LOT to the game. Internal competitions, something to do when bored, more people online/staying online for longer, tournments, card collecting and trading, rare and unique cards to covet, something to brag... Maybe fixed playing stations (like card game tables on taverns) so we can even "see" people playing (just a looping animation of them sitting/moving cards/etc). There could even be a 'spectate' interaction when you're close to promote tournments and such... Oh, and of course... Random card packets can be sold on the store PROFIT!
• Simple Tavern Games - Things like checkers, chess or other simple to understand/play board games. They could be cultural (like one 'mini-game' for each race) with some being acquired for free (quests, etc) and others sold on the store. You sell the 'board' and the person can play with others by using their board. Someone that plays it but has no board of its own might be encouraged to buy it.
• Lore Friendly Annual Festivals - There are several festivals in the lore of TES that could serve as 'analogs' for real world festivities. Things like seasonal festivals instead of culturally specific celebrations like Christmas. Something similar is done in LOTRO, where you have the Harvest Festival, the Yuletide, the Summer Festival, etc... all of them are 'analogs' to Halloween, Christmas, New Year, whatever... but they fit the lore of the universe. Each season/festival could come with exclusive, temporary costumes, mounts and other fun stuff on the Store!

OUT OF GAME POSSIBILITIES

• Trials Seriously. Like... 1-week trials, 15 days if you're invited. I have a LINE of people that would like to try the game but are afraid to not like it because of the early reviews.
• Friend Recruitment Programmes - Things like... Invite a friend, if they buy the game you get 1000 crowns, etc... This works wonders, too.

That's all for now.
I might add things to the list if interesting ideas come up

Hope it helps and remember -
I say all that because I care. And because I enjoy ESO, worry about its future and want to see it grow.

- DaniAngione