Official Discussion Thread for Crown Crates

fr33r4ng3r · September 2016

Here are my constructive suggestions for how I think crown crates might be improved to the point where I would buy them:

First let me say it hurts my soul right in the gems to see how much polish this feature got when compared with the barber shop. So, since the initial investment in this feature is already disproportionately high, I want to try to constrain my suggestions to things that could be implemented within the current framework for marginal additional cost. I have 3 incremental levels of suggestions (bronze, silver and gold - in order of imagined implementation cost).

Also, I don’t have enough information on drop rates to make suggestions in that regard, so none of my suggestions include adjusting the RnG.

Bronze:

Minimum pack of 4 crates sold for 400 crowns. (With only 1, the mini-game is over so fast you can’t help but feel cheated if you weren’t very, very lucky. At least with 4 crates you get to enjoy the mini-game a little, and around 100 crowns per crate is closer to reasonable with crates that contain a majority of consumables.)
Duplicate collectables return at least 50% of the gems purchase value.
The only crown crate exclusives are the crown crate themed items (storm atro in this case). The others will be, or have been, available for direct crown purchase at some point.
Failure to get a single collectable in 16 cards automatically triggers an additional (“5th”) card which is guaranteed to be a collectable (of any tier).

Silver:
(In addition to the bronze suggestions above)

Make a “Crown Collector’s Crate” available for 600 crowns. This crate ONLY contains collectable items (no consumables) and works as follows: 4 cards are presented but you can only choose 1 of them to keep.
If the card you choose is a duplicate of a collectable you already own, you get crown gems instead (at the adjusted ratio).
If you already have all 4 cards in your collection, the NPC apologizes for the bad hand and deals you 3 replacement cards (the highest gem value duplicate is retained). This only happens once. If the new hand also only has dups then you have to choose a card and receive the gems.

Gold:
(In addition to the silver suggestions above)

New cards are added that reward gems directly. These are only available in “consumables crates”. (Getting a 400 gem card would be the royal straight flush of the mini-game). (Also, lower value gem cards could be included fairly liberally - e.g. 5 gems - and would be a good filler to offset the quantity of consumables).
A new type of crate bundle is added - e.g. “Storm Atronach Senche Mount Create Bundle”. This bundle contains 9 “consumable crates”, 6 “collector’s crates” and the Storm Atronach Senche Mount itself”. (This should be priced around 10,000 crowns which places the cost of the mount at 5200 crowns.) (This last is actually a cool choice for die hard collectors because, although the price is extreme, once you’ve paid it the interaction with the crates is all upside. This could help sweeten the bitter taste of the crates for those that strongly prefer direct purchases).
You should be able to vendor crown consumables for a small amount of gold. If I’m sitting with 200 crown store potions I don’t want I would prefer to get 1200gp instead of destroying them. This needs to be a very small amount of gold obviously, but destroying them feelsbadman.

Well, that’s it. Hopefully it all makes sense.

[edit]: removed blank lines

Doctordarkspawn · September 2016

kumatab14_ESO wrote: »

The data from the testers is showing that this is a really bad idea for the consumer while it is a win for the company. I have been supporting this game since the beginning with subscribing and purchasing random cosmetics in the store, but this is overkill.

It is starting to look like they want to make the crates the only way to get new items, and there is no way that should be acceptable. That type of gambling should be left to the weaker games. Allow users to continue to purchase the items out right or make the RNG really less painful on the wallet.

This type of change will end up driving away some of the current supporters and it might end up not being worth it. There is no way I'll be buying any crates, and if that is the only way to get new items...I guess that I won't need to spend any more money on the game.

Might not end up being worth it? It's allready not worth it.

The game design is actively working against the system that is allready there. There is no win here. If the designers force the game to make these crates seem appealing it'll just end in pain and lost sales.

This idea needs to die.

hrothbern · September 2016

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

kumatab14_ESO wrote: »

The data from the testers is showing that this is a really bad idea for the consumer while it is a win for the company. I have been supporting this game since the beginning with subscribing and purchasing random cosmetics in the store, but this is overkill.

It is starting to look like they want to make the crates the only way to get new items, and there is no way that should be acceptable. That type of gambling should be left to the weaker games. Allow users to continue to purchase the items out right or make the RNG really less painful on the wallet.

This type of change will end up driving away some of the current supporters and it might end up not being worth it. There is no way I'll be buying any crates, and if that is the only way to get new items...I guess that I won't need to spend any more money on the game.

Might not end up being worth it? It's allready not worth it.

The game design is actively working against the system that is allready there. There is no win here. If the designers force the game to make these crates seem appealing it'll just end in pain and lost sales.

This idea needs to die.

I do not think this idea needs to die
And like somebody already mentioned, too much at stake with ZOS playing this card

ZOS only needs to redo running the numbers with classic min-maxing
If they stick to the current returns from drop chance and Crown Gem refunds: little sales, but steadily dripping in for a very long time
If they increase the returns on the drop chances and Crown Gem refunds: much higher sales but not for an indefinite time.

And money made in the first quarter after launch is much more valuable as money made in the next quarter or next year, all the more in an already profitable company.

So
It is very easy to turn this Crown Crate project in a success at the expense of an earlier drying up of the well.
So what.
No marketing suit will notice it because that would be inconvenient
No beancounter will notice it in the multitude of other Crown Store initiatives yet to come like Housing.
And.
If you look carefully to the Crown Crate tab
You see there is enough room to expand the Storm Atronach line with a Fire Atronach line, a Frost Atronach line, etc.

The bottom line:
ZOS has to make the right move with the right size of effect.

milesrodneymcneely2_ESO · September 2016

So, are they going to turn Mimic Stones into Gamble Puddy?

Doctordarkspawn · September 2016

hrothbern wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

kumatab14_ESO wrote: »

The data from the testers is showing that this is a really bad idea for the consumer while it is a win for the company. I have been supporting this game since the beginning with subscribing and purchasing random cosmetics in the store, but this is overkill.

It is starting to look like they want to make the crates the only way to get new items, and there is no way that should be acceptable. That type of gambling should be left to the weaker games. Allow users to continue to purchase the items out right or make the RNG really less painful on the wallet.

This type of change will end up driving away some of the current supporters and it might end up not being worth it. There is no way I'll be buying any crates, and if that is the only way to get new items...I guess that I won't need to spend any more money on the game.

Might not end up being worth it? It's allready not worth it.

The game design is actively working against the system that is allready there. There is no win here. If the designers force the game to make these crates seem appealing it'll just end in pain and lost sales.

This idea needs to die.

I do not think this idea needs to die
And like somebody already mentioned, too much at stake with ZOS playing this card

ZOS only needs to redo running the numbers with classic min-maxing
If they stick to the current returns from drop chance and Crown Gem refunds: little sales, but steadily dripping in for a very long time
If they increase the returns on the drop chances and Crown Gem refunds: much higher sales but not for an indefinite time.

And money made in the first quarter after launch is much more valuable as money made in the next quarter or next year, all the more in an already profitable company.

So
It is very easy to turn this Crown Crate project in a success at the expense of an earlier drying up of the well.
So what.
No marketing suit will notice it because that would be inconvenient
No beancounter will notice it in the multitude of other Crown Store initiatives yet to come like Housing.
And.
If you look carefully to the Crown Crate tab
You see there is enough room to expand the Storm Atronach line with a Fire Atronach line, a Frost Atronach line, etc.

The bottom line:
ZOS has to make the right move with the right size of effect.

If this is what it takes for the game to keep going, I would rather it die with dignity.

I HIGHLY doubt this is being played more to cover some loss.

The parrent company of Zenimax online and Bethesda's lawsuit against the Oculus Rift might have more to do with it.

If their in serious financial trouble, than one of two things is happening. People are leaving because of ballance issues, monitization disagreements, and other things. In which case, Only replacement of dev staff will fix those issues. This will just put the game on life support.

But this is as much concious effort as I'm going to spend on this. I'm going to pretend it does not exist, it's very likely not going to make money in it's current form.

nimander99 · September 2016

So much work was put into this system... Just like all those flashy lights in a casino. We got this instead of Spell Crafting or Horse Racing.

5 to 13 gems per double that you only get once every couple hands. We are talking hundreds and hundreds of dollars just to get one 'special' item. This is even worse than I thought it would be.

Count me out.

hrothbern · September 2016

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

hrothbern wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

kumatab14_ESO wrote: »

The data from the testers is showing that this is a really bad idea for the consumer while it is a win for the company. I have been supporting this game since the beginning with subscribing and purchasing random cosmetics in the store, but this is overkill.

It is starting to look like they want to make the crates the only way to get new items, and there is no way that should be acceptable. That type of gambling should be left to the weaker games. Allow users to continue to purchase the items out right or make the RNG really less painful on the wallet.

This type of change will end up driving away some of the current supporters and it might end up not being worth it. There is no way I'll be buying any crates, and if that is the only way to get new items...I guess that I won't need to spend any more money on the game.

Might not end up being worth it? It's allready not worth it.

The game design is actively working against the system that is allready there. There is no win here. If the designers force the game to make these crates seem appealing it'll just end in pain and lost sales.

This idea needs to die.

I do not think this idea needs to die
And like somebody already mentioned, too much at stake with ZOS playing this card

ZOS only needs to redo running the numbers with classic min-maxing
If they stick to the current returns from drop chance and Crown Gem refunds: little sales, but steadily dripping in for a very long time
If they increase the returns on the drop chances and Crown Gem refunds: much higher sales but not for an indefinite time.

And money made in the first quarter after launch is much more valuable as money made in the next quarter or next year, all the more in an already profitable company.

So
It is very easy to turn this Crown Crate project in a success at the expense of an earlier drying up of the well.
So what.
No marketing suit will notice it because that would be inconvenient
No beancounter will notice it in the multitude of other Crown Store initiatives yet to come like Housing.
And.
If you look carefully to the Crown Crate tab
You see there is enough room to expand the Storm Atronach line with a Fire Atronach line, a Frost Atronach line, etc.

The bottom line:
ZOS has to make the right move with the right size of effect.

If this is what it takes for the game to keep going, I would rather it die with dignity.

I HIGHLY doubt this is being played more to cover some loss.

The parrent company of Zenimax online and Bethesda's lawsuit against the Oculus Rift might have more to do with it.

If their in serious financial trouble, than one of two things is happening. People are leaving because of ballance issues, monitization disagreements, and other things. In which case, Only replacement of dev staff will fix those issues. This will just put the game on life support.

But this is as much concious effort as I'm going to spend on this. I'm going to pretend it does not exist, it's very likely not going to make money in it's current form.

IDK in how far this law suit influences OPS decisions of ZOS re a project started long time ago,
and regarding that balancing... it seems most people have firm points of view on that, but that has imo little to with a new project for the Crown store, the subject of this thread.

You say: "If this is what it takes for the game to keep going, I would rather it die with dignity".

The Crown Store is like the merchandising in sport: it is reality and it is huge
And it is not done to rescue a company, but done because it can be done and it works.
And to each his own to buy stuff or not.

Just look at the figures of the footbalclub Manchester United:
25% direct Revenue, 25% from Broadcasting and 50% (!) from Commercial, mainly merchandising.

KLKPWGu.png?1

Lluanda · September 2016

I would just like to thank you, and I'll explain why:

I have been a subscriber from the Xbox release, but I still bought a lot of crowns outside ESO+ because I like many of the items and since ESO is the only game I play, I could afford to do this as I don't mind spending money on things I enjoy. I like the mounts, costumes, hairstyles and what not. I got super excited knowing that certain items are still to appear in the crown store and so I made sure I have a good stack of crowns ready to purchase these new things, like that cute clouded senche cub or that little doom wolf to match my mount.

I wasn't a fan of the gambling box idea, mostly because of the exclusive items. But I thought it would probably not be that bad. Maybe one super cool mount that would be like that, a handful of items at most. The amount of faith I had in you to not mess this up actually makes me giggle a bit now. I was really naive (which is a nice feeling as I thought I lost that in my teens, makes me feel young again!). It reminds me of a sentence that companies over here have to add at the end of their commercials here when their business is deemed financially risky: past results are no guarantee for the future. Just because you've been doing well not crossing that sell out line, clearly doesn't mean you never will.

Now that I have seen what is going on, I doubt that most of the eagerly awaited items will ever be for sale outside of your gambling business. You might throw us a bone every now and then, but the best stuff might be placed in crates. And to make it more fun, you will probably replace them regularly so there's that extra pressure to spend that money before the time runs out. I am glad to know this now before I spend more money on crowns I'll never get to use. I will sit and wait to see if there will ever be anything worthwhile in the store outside of gambling boxes. If not, then there's no need for me to spend more money either.

I like to look at the positive side though, if my current expectations are true then the money that I spend in this game is going to drop a few hundred euros compared to last year. This means I can save up for something really cool, like a real life senche, or in this case a kitten. It had been on my mind for a while, but I think I might actually go for it. The lifespan will probably be much better than this game and I can get a kitten from the shelter for €90,- GUARANTEED, and then I don't have to worry about a turtle or ferret coming out of the box either. I know this to be true as I've got one already, and they don't have gamble crates at the shelter just yet.

So if all if this is ends up as I expect right now: Thank you. This might save me some good money, yet still get me a really cool pet.

Iselin · September 2016

This has all the signs of something that will be long remembered as "the day ESO jumped the shark."

Doctordarkspawn · September 2016

hrothbern wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

hrothbern wrote: »

Doctordarkspawn wrote: »

kumatab14_ESO wrote: »

The data from the testers is showing that this is a really bad idea for the consumer while it is a win for the company. I have been supporting this game since the beginning with subscribing and purchasing random cosmetics in the store, but this is overkill.

It is starting to look like they want to make the crates the only way to get new items, and there is no way that should be acceptable. That type of gambling should be left to the weaker games. Allow users to continue to purchase the items out right or make the RNG really less painful on the wallet.

This type of change will end up driving away some of the current supporters and it might end up not being worth it. There is no way I'll be buying any crates, and if that is the only way to get new items...I guess that I won't need to spend any more money on the game.

Might not end up being worth it? It's allready not worth it.

The game design is actively working against the system that is allready there. There is no win here. If the designers force the game to make these crates seem appealing it'll just end in pain and lost sales.

This idea needs to die.

I do not think this idea needs to die
And like somebody already mentioned, too much at stake with ZOS playing this card

ZOS only needs to redo running the numbers with classic min-maxing
If they stick to the current returns from drop chance and Crown Gem refunds: little sales, but steadily dripping in for a very long time
If they increase the returns on the drop chances and Crown Gem refunds: much higher sales but not for an indefinite time.

And money made in the first quarter after launch is much more valuable as money made in the next quarter or next year, all the more in an already profitable company.

So
It is very easy to turn this Crown Crate project in a success at the expense of an earlier drying up of the well.
So what.
No marketing suit will notice it because that would be inconvenient
No beancounter will notice it in the multitude of other Crown Store initiatives yet to come like Housing.
And.
If you look carefully to the Crown Crate tab
You see there is enough room to expand the Storm Atronach line with a Fire Atronach line, a Frost Atronach line, etc.

The bottom line:
ZOS has to make the right move with the right size of effect.

If this is what it takes for the game to keep going, I would rather it die with dignity.

I HIGHLY doubt this is being played more to cover some loss.

The parrent company of Zenimax online and Bethesda's lawsuit against the Oculus Rift might have more to do with it.

If their in serious financial trouble, than one of two things is happening. People are leaving because of ballance issues, monitization disagreements, and other things. In which case, Only replacement of dev staff will fix those issues. This will just put the game on life support.

But this is as much concious effort as I'm going to spend on this. I'm going to pretend it does not exist, it's very likely not going to make money in it's current form.

IDK in how far this law suit influences OPS decisions of ZOS re a project started long time ago,
and regarding that balancing... it seems most people have firm points of view on that, but that has imo little to with a new project for the Crown store, the subject of this thread.

You say: "If this is what it takes for the game to keep going, I would rather it die with dignity".

The Crown Store is like the merchandising in sport: it is reality and it is huge
And it is not done to rescue a company, but done because it can be done and it works.
And to each his own to buy stuff or not.

Just look at the figures of the footbalclub Manchester United:
25% direct Revenue, 25% from Broadcasting and 50% (!) from Commercial, mainly merchandising.

Your attempts to justify this fall under the "ZOS is a buisness" arguement.

I counter this with "The customer is allways right". I bought this game to play it. Not to gamble. And all this adds is a system few will touch and further infamy among the playerbase. Justification is meaningless.

I'm not leaving, but I'm not supporting this idiocy either. I'm going to warn anyone who will lisen off these things. ZOS can make money with DLC updates, they have shown it to be their primary income along with cosmetic doo-dads, and I see no one who cant buy those touching these.

Eitherway. This arguement, I've seen it before. It rung hollow then. It rings hollow now.

Enodoc · September 2016

phreatophile wrote: »

Looking at the videos, I am amazed at just how polished this mini-game appears in comparison to just about everything else.

I'd bet the contents of a few crown crates or about $1 that they outsourced this. If not, I'd love to know why our crafting, banking, dyeing, grouping, store, and guild interfaces are so incredibly Duplo in comparison.

Agreed. I can't believe they wasted their animators' time on this when a UI box is all that was needed.

Palindiil · September 2016

Lluanda wrote: »

I like to look at the positive side though, if my current expectations are true then the money that I spend in this game is going to drop a few hundred euros compared to last year. This means I can save up for something really cool, like a real life senche, or in this case a kitten. It had been on my mind for a while, but I think I might actually go for it. The lifespan will probably be much better than this game and I can get a kitten from the shelter for €90,- GUARANTEED, and then I don't have to worry about a turtle or ferret coming out of the box either. I know this to be true as I've got one already, and they don't have gamble crates at the shelter just yet.

So if all if this is ends up as I expect right now: Thank you. This might save me some good money, yet still get me a really cool pet.

I'm in the same boat - extra plants and beetles for my crested gecko's tank...

ZunaRoath · September 2016

Seeing what the people say here, I insist on hoping and asking you to please do something about this.

You keep this = People won't spend their money on it. You don't add the cool things to the normal crown store = people not buying much stuff. All this = No more content, game dies, people leave, RIP ESO.

So please, ZOS

Norakai · September 2016

There is so much hate against gambling in this thread... Gambling works great in many games and People love it in many games... So the idea to introduce it in ESO isnt wrong in my opinion.

The Problem I see in these Crown Boxes is the high amount of trash nobody wants... So if i compare the amount of crowns i spend in the crown store for something really cool to the amount of crowns i have to spend in this gambling thingy is far from good and evil.

actually i would enjoy a gambling with exclusive items only, that would make me feel like getting something new everytime i spend money on these boxes. But instead there will be something new in maybe 1 out of 10 boxes... does anyone even want or use these stupid potions and stuff ?

I think this is the main reason for People to not enjoy this. If there was just 1 Item in these Boxes... Something i dont own yet, something dont know yet or whatever, it would not feel like trashing my crowns... it even feels wrong on the pts right now

I will definetly not spend crowns in this for potions and mime stones i will never use!

You could make these boxes less cheaper or incrase the drop rate of "good" stuff to make this feel a little more rewarding, you could even kill all these potions and drop only crappy cards like a hairstyle and so on, let me collect 10 crappy grey cards and swap them against a green card... let me collect 10 green cards and swap them against a blue card and so on... this would not feel like trash... these potions do feel like trash.. sorry

since you let us test the current system, i´m pretty sure you have to change something to make it feel rewarding...

Lluanda · September 2016

Palindiil wrote: »

I'm in the same boat - extra plants and beetles for my crested gecko's tank...

May they be happy and full at all times! It is best to make the most out of a situation you don't like. There is always more maelstrom to farm, and while the RNG there is bad too, at least it only costs time and not crowns.

Jackey · September 2016

1. Remove all the food, drinks and potions from the RNG.
2. Reduce the price to 200 crowns.

Talek · September 2016

Current drop rates are worse than worst i expected before they show it (i expect 1% for this super rare mounts, but normal stuff especially retired on 5-10% ratio with cheap stuff like costumes from packs or pet that aren't worth even 400 each on bigger, maybe even multiple in one crate). ~1% for "legendary" tier items which are basically crown store items from price range of 1200-2500 crowns. 1% to get an item that you could buy before for the avg price of 4 boxes. Like i don't even know what to say about this. And this consumables...that's even bigger reason to not buy this stuff, i don't want that crap ever, if i ever lose my sanity and go for gambling boxes i would take this crates for 300 crowns with just single cosmetic than for 400 crowns filled with this crap that 99% of players don't want (except new p2w exp scrolls).

SantieClaws · September 2016

After having so much fun with the New Life Festival khajiit just feels like these two things are from in different worlds.

The festival is fun, rewarding, enjoyable. The crates are bad, sleazy, and not good value at all.

You can produce great things - this is obvious. It just shows the best that is possible - and in the crates the very worst that is possible. Such a contrast of experience!

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

AmberLaTerra · September 2016

Did you like/use the consumables you received from the Crown Crates?
Short Answer: NO!

Long Answer: It is a pile of garbage not even worth the 400 crowns a crate costs so is a con job pure and simple. The items you usually get if they could be bought individually rarely come close to being worth 400 crowns, if you get something you do not want you are stuck with it, and the number of gems you get for doubles seems like some kind of twisted joke.

Do you have any general feedback?
You are trying to sell people a duck in the crown store but labeling it as a Ferrari in this 400 crowns to get a rare mount chance that is so slim you will have to use about 12000 crowns to get one and even then not be sure to. Sorry but it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck I am not buying it.

On top of that these major and grand XP scrolls are a slap in the face to the promise the crown store would never have things better then those that could be made in game. Where is the buff to Psijic Ambrosia to 150% XP boost to make it still better then these scrolls?

Or are you trying to kill fishing off from the game completely by making it so even the one perk we get from it becomes worthless.

Or it could be with the mass BoP changes and these crates as well as other decisions the feedback has been nothing but negative here too it could be you are just trying to drive all us players away and kill the game as well. To be honest that seems to be the only conclusion that makes any sense in all of this. As all other possibilities just come down to either sheer ignorance of what your customers actually want, or sheer poor decision making from those at the top forcing this things onto the game despite the clear objections of the players.

Forztr · September 2016

If they want to make more money from the crown store they should just sell all the stuff they've made for the store in the store. There's a lot of stuff that's come and gone that I couldn't afford at the time but would buy now if I could. I only want to pay for what I want not for a chance of getting what I want.

If the suit who came up with this idea thinks this will be as successful as the SWTOR he's so wrong. The reason the SWTOR model works is that people can sell/trade the items they don't want to other players. Which also means if you want a specific item chances are you can buy it off another player with in game currency. SWTORs crown store equivalent is used by a lot of people as a legit way to convert real world cash into in game currency.

In it's current form all this is going to do is generate bad image for the company and also reduce revenue. Why should I sub if all I can buy with my "free crowns" is gambling boxes I'm not interested in. This thread shows with all the new stuff hidden in loot crates items that people would be happy to buy are going to sit on the virtual shelf in an unmarked box.

Marto · September 2016

I'd much rather pay 600-800 crowns for a crate that has one guaranteed cosmetic item, with a chance to get 2-3...

Svenja · September 2016

In case anyone's interested, here is what i got from my first set of boxes:

Crate 1
- Crown Lethal Poison (25)
- Crown Tri-Restoration Potion (5)
- Fibonaccus Spiral Hat
- Soul-Shriven Armor Outfit

Crate 2
- Crown Warrior’s Elixir (5)
- Daedric Scamp
- Crown Crate Refreshing Drink
- Crown Spellcasters Elixir

Crate 3
- Crown Repair Cit
- Crown Invisibility Potion (5)
- Azure Brow-to-Temple Circlet
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)

Crate 4
- Wrestler’s Burr Cut
- Crown Mimic Stone
- Daedric Scamp (Duplicate)
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)

Crate 5
- Crown Warrior‘s Elixir (5)
- Crown Lethal Poison (25)
- Crown Crate Fortifying Meal
- Shornhelm Shepherd

Crate 6
- Crown Tri-Restoration Potion (5)
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Crown Soul Gem
- Soul-Shriven Armor Outfit (Duplicate)

Crate 7
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Roostertail Frills
- Shadow Striping

Crate 8
- Daedric Scamp (Duplicate)
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Crown Warrior‘s Elixir (5)

Crate 9
- Feathered Bycoket Cap
- Crown Lesson: Riding Speed
- Crown Repair Kit
- Crown Mimic Stone

Crate 10
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Crown Spellcaster’s Elixir (5)
- Crown Lesson: Riding Stamina
- Storm Atronach Transform

Crate 11
- Crown Survivor’s Elixir (5)
- Evening Dress
- Crown Mimic Stone
- Crown Lethal Poison (25)

Crate 12
- Crown Lethal Poison (25)
- Crown Invisibility Potion
- Crown Spellcaster’s Elixir (5)
- Wrestler’s Burr Cut (Duplicate)

Crate 13
- Crown Repair Kit
- Crown Tri-Restoration Potion (5)
- Soul-Shriven Ragged Clothing
- Crown Warrior’s Elixir (5)

So, after spending 5200 Crowns on this, my inventory is full with potions and poisons I probably would never use, as I have a Max-Lvl Alchemist.
All I can say is: Please don't make all the rewards that haven't been in the Crown Store earlier crate exclusive. At the moment this seems to be what we can expect.
I'm a subscriber and got quite a lot of crowns as I don't buy stuff in the Crown Store very often. But if I do want an item from the store, I don't mind spending a "big" sum of crowns for it, I bought Dro m'athra-Senche for 4000 Crowns. I would never ever spend 4000 Crowns on the crates though, as I would probably not get the one or two items I REALLY like from there. After spending 5200 Crowns on crates I'm at only 20 of 40 gems for a pet (the purple daggerback) I really like and would buy if it was purchasable by crowns directly. Those gem rewards for duplicates have to be much higher or the crates have to be sold at a much cheaper price.

P.S.: Pacrootis lines make me cringe. ("MOOAAAR crates are always available for purchase in the crown store!!!" Greedy much?)

SlayerTheDragon · September 2016

This is a real scumbag move ZO$.

It really just drags a classy game through the dirt.

helediron · September 2016

Two addons interfered with the crown crate khajit screen. "Idle Animations" and "No, thank you!" prevented it for some reason. After 8000 crowns only a wizard hat was mildly interesting, and i expect to be able to buy it soon with 400 crowns.

Well, i prefer the addons more than the overpriced crate stuff. I'll just compose a haughty pose and say No, thank you!

Khenarthi · September 2016

In the end, I just hope the non-apex rewards become available to buy without having to gamble. One can dream, yes? Because Oblivion will freeze over before I subject myself to rng with real money.

Bad_Company · September 2016

My feedback on these crates:

1) Too many items you can get, thus reducing the chances of getting anything you want to a very very low percentage.
2) It's nice to have something else other than 1 single drop out of the crates, but the consumables are just awful.
3) There are too many items that were previously available for a very small amount of crowns and were possibly sold in bundles, but now you get each of them individually (e.g., the Soul-Shriven costumes).
4) The amount of crown gems you get is too low. I mean it, it's just awful. Either increase that or decrease the cost of all items you can buy with Crown Gems. I'll give you an example: you get 4 cards. 3 of them are consumables, 1 is a blue-quality item you already have. You just spent 400 Crowns for 5 Gems and some next-to-useless consumables.
5) I think that, being there so many possible rewards, the chance of getting not only different things from what you really want, but also items you would NEVER buy/use/wear it's too high. You should either have different crates with different items or give people the chance to refuse a reward. Refusing a reward should either award Crown Gems or allow the player to draw another card, discarding the previous unwanted one.
6) Please, consider adding "smart crates". For example, I play male characters. There would be no use for me to get a female costume. Others might dislike Argonians or Khajiit (or play as one of those races exclusively), so getting markings or adornments only accessible to those races would be upsetting. What I am suggesting is: make rewards intelligent, based on the character opening the crate (lower chance of getting female costumes/adornments if male, lower chance of getting human-only adornments/markings if Argonian, etc.).

@ZOS_GinaBruno : please, listen to the playerbase (not necessarily me) in order to prevent hate on the crates that could lead to hate on the company.

code65536 · September 2016

Acrolas wrote: »

Sketchy AF to make the crates full price on PTS instead of 1 crown so you're limited in seeing what a larger and more accurate sample size yields.

Where did we see that type of publicity management? Oh, right. Back in beta.
I guess you don't learn from past mistakes. You just try to Stonetear them.

Actually, it's good that they made it full price, so we know up-front what the costs will be. It's actually quite annoying to see everything as 1 crown and then find out later that the actual price is not anywhere what you expected it to be.

Your crowns are refilled to 5500 every day, so it's really not a big deal.

Some_Guy · September 2016

I'm willing to bet all of my crowns that they are going to say that they're going to increase the drop rate by some miniscule amount, and they're going to increase the return rate, also by some miniscule amount to show that they're "listening to us", but it still won't be worth it. And that's assuming that they ever actually respond to this thread that THEY started.

Rosveen · September 2016

day 3:
After crate 38, or 15200 crowns, I finally have enough gems to buy the Red Pit Wolf. I received one Apex reward (atronach bear mount) and one legendary reward (clouded senche leopard cub). I also received two lower rank items I'd see myself using: wizard hat and feathered bycoket cap. Technically spiral hat too, but it's practically the same as wizard hat, so I don't count it.

Considering that I'd never buy any atronach mount if it was a regular offer, I'm not terribly happy with ending up paying 10+k for a wolf mount. I'd probably have to buy another 10k worth of crates to get the Orchid Nixad, a pet that would normally cost 700 crowns.

So instead of my 3200 crowns for the mount and the pet (and more for other items, I'm just focusing on these two for testing purposes), ZOS will be getting 0. It's fine though, I'm sure there's someone out there so enamored with atronach mounts that they'll cover the difference many times over. We always knew this system isn't aimed at people who strongly prefer direct purchases, so I'm not really saying anything new here. Working as intended.

Cously · September 2016

fr33r4ng3r wrote: »

Here are my constructive suggestions for how I think crown crates might be improved to the point where I would buy them:

First let me say it hurts my soul right in the gems to see how much polish this feature got when compared with the barber shop. So, since the initial investment in this feature is already disproportionately high, I want to try to constrain my suggestions to things that could be implemented within the current framework for marginal additional cost. I have 3 incremental levels of suggestions (bronze, silver and gold - in order of imagined implementation cost).

Also, I don’t have enough information on drop rates to make suggestions in that regard, so none of my suggestions include adjusting the RnG.

Bronze:
Minimum pack of 4 crates sold for 400 crowns. (With only 1, the mini-game is over so fast you can’t help but feel cheated if you weren’t very, very lucky. At least with 4 crates you get to enjoy the mini-game a little, and around 100 crowns per crate is closer to reasonable with crates that contain a majority of consumables.)

Duplicate collectables return at least 50% of the gems purchase value.

The only crown crate exclusives are the crown crate themed items (storm atro in this case). The others will be, or have been, available for direct crown purchase at some point.

Failure to get a single collectable in 16 cards automatically triggers an additional (“5th”) card which is guaranteed to be a collectable (of any tier).

Silver:
(In addition to the bronze suggestions above)
Make a “Crown Collector’s Crate” available for 600 crowns. This crate ONLY contains collectable items (no consumables) and works as follows: 4 cards are presented but you can only choose 1 of them to keep.

If the card you choose is a duplicate of a collectable you already own, you get crown gems instead (at the adjusted ratio).

If you already have all 4 cards in your collection, the NPC apologizes for the bad hand and deals you 3 replacement cards (the highest gem value duplicate is retained). This only happens once. If the new hand also only has dups then you have to choose a card and receive the gems.

Gold:
(In addition to the silver suggestions above)
New cards are added that reward gems directly. These are only available in “consumables crates”. (Getting a 400 gem card would be the royal straight flush of the mini-game). (Also, lower value gem cards could be included fairly liberally - e.g. 5 gems - and would be a good filler to offset the quantity of consumables).

A new type of crate bundle is added - e.g. “Storm Atronach Senche Mount Create Bundle”. This bundle contains 9 “consumable crates”, 6 “collector’s crates” and the Storm Atronach Senche Mount itself”. (This should be priced around 10,000 crowns which places the cost of the mount at 5200 crowns.) (This last is actually a cool choice for die hard collectors because, although the price is extreme, once you’ve paid it the interaction with the crates is all upside. This could help sweeten the bitter taste of the crates for those that strongly prefer direct purchases).

You should be able to vendor crown consumables for a small amount of gold. If I’m sitting with 200 crown store potions I don’t want I would prefer to get 1200gp instead of destroying them. This needs to be a very small amount of gold obviously, but destroying them feelsbadman.

Well, that’s it. Hopefully it all makes sense.

[edit]: removed blank lines

I loved your suggestions. Whilst I hate the fact that kind of gambling will come to our game, these suggestions makes it feel less bad to spend money in such feature. It makes it quite attractive to be fair.