What do you think of Crown Crates? -- New Poll for PTS Implementation

Elsonso · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

Smasherx74 wrote: »

Great thread, hopefully they take RNG boxes out and jack up the prices on rare mounts or maybe just maybe... give quests for them.

Careful. You would not want to be responsible for some marketing person having a stroke. You can't just blurt out radical ideas like this. Actually play the game for rewards? Free rewards? Preposterous!

e1team · September 2016

Neutral: I have NOT tested the crates, and my feelings are neutral, noncommital, or do not apply.

Sorry guys. I never meant to offend anyone. Seems I just can't understand all the rage about a game.
There are just so many more important and significant things out there, that all this fuss about lockboxes is incomprehensible to me.

SantieClaws · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

We do not wish to be angry with each other no.

Time to PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) for the thoughts yes?

The reason for the anger, above all other reasons, is that we care. We care for Tamriel and its stories and the friends we have made there yes. We care for the art of the landscape, we care for the way the water flows, we care for every beautiful carved piece of the stone.

We care for the taverns, the fishing, the dark dungeons, the snowy mountains.

We care for all of this yes and this is why we hurt when we see these boxes being waggled in front of us like the things this one has seen waggled in some of the Dunmer taverns. We see Tamriel being cheapened and soiled by this waggling.

We would not be angry if we did not care.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - say oh no no to the Crown Crates yes!

jcasini222ub17_ESO · September 2016

I'm just curious why some of the drops from the boxes can't be traded or sold on guild vendors.

It solves a bit of the duplication problem.

More visibility for some items may entice people to buy crates. So someone sees something neat on the vendors but goes whoa not for 600k they may end up buying a crate.

People will buy crates for the sole purpose of selling. So getting people to dump cash in crates. While it may seem absurd it goes on in swtor.

Doesn't have to be all drops. Say someone wants an apex reward, that's not one of the items allowed to be traded or put on vendor, they may become discouraged after the 10 crate with no reward they desire. However, if they are able to offload the things they have no desire for it may keep them buying. So no crate really is a "loser" if you can potentially get some gcs out of the process. It'll also force a decision point whether to refund for gems or make gcs. They wouldn't need to increase the gem conversion rate all that much higher, since the player has an option to offload goods in game world, so more crates sold before the gem level is hit for x item.

Anyone with some high level marketing/pysch experience can shed light on why at least some items aren't able to be traded or vendored? Do metrics show restricting increases these micro transaction?

Phinix1 · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

e1team wrote: »

Sorry guys. I never meant to offend anyone. Seems I just can't understand all the rage about a game.
There are just so many more important and significant things out there, that all this fuss about lockboxes is incomprehensible to me.

No one was ever mad at YOU. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult for you to comprehend? You come to the thread making posts that you don't understand, apparently not bothering to read the 7 pages of previous posts explaining the reason, then when several people go out of their way to politely and calmly explain it to you, you seemingly ignore it completely and repeat that you just don't understand the anger.

What anger? Who are YOU? The only anger I see is frustration at a beloved company turning into a shameless addiction peddling scum merchant before our very eyes.

As several long-term respected members of this community have KINDLY and CALMLY attempted to point out to you:

noxayloxub17_ESO wrote: »

I think you can place the anger in to one of three camps.

1) RNG boxes are a predatory practice that preys on people with addiction and this is unethical.

2) If you do participate, the system is rigged to be a cash grab. The majority of the time contents of these boxes is not even worth the 400c that they cost.

3) Too many exclusives in the box. What could have been offered as a normal Crown Store purchase is now being locked behind a gambling requirement which (see above) is blatantly rigged to force you to spend hundreds of dollars to only have a CHANCE at getting the item.

Yes it is a rip off only if you allow it, but it also means that someone who once was willing to spend money to buy a crown store item no longer even gets the OPPORTUNITY to purchase the item. It is frustrating as a consumer to be put in the situation that the only way of buying something is to gamble potentially hundreds of dollars.

That is the main frustration.

TL/DR:

THAT NEW ITEMS PEOPLE NEVER GET A CHANCE TO BUY ON THE CROWN STORE NOW GO STRAIGHT INTO UNETHICAL CASINO CRATES AND FORCE YOU TO GAMBLE WAY MORE THAN THEY WOULD BE WORTH TO MAYBE GET THEM OR SIMPLY STOP SUPPORTING THE COMPANY.

It seems like ZOS wants to close shop and shut the game down. It is the only sane explanation to me.

I know I'll be back to playing/modding Skyrim if they insist on turning this into another Korean-style casino shop.

Shame, shame, shame on ZOS for allowing a couple marketing dito-heads to destroy a great company.

Dakrana_Thrazvoth · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

SantieClaws wrote: »

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - say oh no no to the Crown Crates yes!

Can I add that in my signature please ?

(Even if I don't have a khajiit as character ?

).

Elsonso · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

Aerin wrote: »

SantieClaws wrote: »

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - say oh no no to the Crown Crates yes!

Can I add that in my signature please ? (Even if I don't have a khajiit as character ? ).

I did... or close enough.

Tavore1138 · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

e1team wrote: »

Sorry guys. I never meant to offend anyone. Seems I just can't understand all the rage about a game.
There are just so many more important and significant things out there, that all this fuss about lockboxes is incomprehensible to me.

Once again struggling with those complex human emotions?

Think of it like this - you have a favourite holiday destination where you have been going for years, maybe even decades... it has a feel, and ambience that you take pleasure in simply being immersed in and you back again and again... you take friends and family... and then...

You go back one year and someone has built a great big neon lit crack den in the middle of it... sure you don't have to go in and buy the crack although every billboard around town will be smothered in adverts for it... but you know it's there and it tarnishes everything around it simply by existing...

notimetocare · September 2016

Neutral: I have tested the crates, and my feelings are neutral, noncommital, or do not apply.

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

Elsonso · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

And still, nothing to lose by saying it.

GhostwalkerLD · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

SantieClaws wrote: »

To all those saying this is just another way to make profit khajiit she would say this.

They could make profit by putting these items straight into the store. Why do they not do that? From what this one she has read they are likely to make a good profit that way.

What kind of other transaction with a merchant would you accept where you do not know what you even buy? A mystery bag of groceries where you wanted to buy sweetrolls and came away with a bag full of beets perhaps? Then you are left with nothing but regret and beets.

There is profit yes and then there is that which goes beyond mere profit - the word scam has been mentioned once or twice khajiit she recalls.

Perhaps we are not so gullible and easily manipulated as someone somewhere appears to think yes? We can show them this only by our actions.

The paws of this one shall never hand over crowns for a mystery crate. Khajiit is quite sure of this.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

As ever, Santie speaks wise. This one applauds!

WhiteCoatSyndrome · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

lordrichter wrote: »

Aerin wrote: »

SantieClaws wrote: »

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - say oh no no to the Crown Crates yes!

Can I add that in my signature please ? (Even if I don't have a khajiit as character ? ).

I did... or close enough.

Guess I need to standardize mine... *goes off to do so*

GhostwalkerLD · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

SantieClaws wrote: »

We do not wish to be angry with each other no.

Time to PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) for the thoughts yes?

The reason for the anger, above all other reasons, is that we care. We care for Tamriel and its stories and the friends we have made there yes. We care for the art of the landscape, we care for the way the water flows, we care for every beautiful carved piece of the stone.

We care for the taverns, the fishing, the dark dungeons, the snowy mountains.

We care for all of this yes and this is why we hurt when we see these boxes being waggled in front of us like the things this one has seen waggled in some of the Dunmer taverns. We see Tamriel being cheapened and soiled by this waggling.

We would not be angry if we did not care.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - say oh no no to the Crown Crates yes!

Now we just need a t-shirt and we're set! Bravo, Santie!

PAWS!

WhiteCoatSyndrome · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!

There we go! Now anyone who wants it can just copy and paste.

GhostwalkerLD · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!

There we go! Now anyone who wants it can just copy and paste.

I'm afraid I have no idea how to make it a different color like you can! But still supporting!

WhiteCoatSyndrome · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

@GhostwalkerLD : This is why I made it copy-and-pasteable.

It's not in the default buttons provided that I saw. But for future reference, it's

[color='purple']Text goes here[/color]

GhostwalkerLD · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

@WhiteCoatSyndrome

Ahhh! Awesome

Thank you!

notimetocare · September 2016

Neutral: I have tested the crates, and my feelings are neutral, noncommital, or do not apply.

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

And still, nothing to lose by saying it.

Wasted time is something lost, no?

Abeille · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

notimetocare wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

And still, nothing to lose by saying it.

Wasted time is something lost, no?

"At least I tried" is still a better feeling than "I wish I said something when I had the chance". At least in my opinion.

BlueViolet · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

GrumpyMuffin wrote: »

I was pondering this from a different direction, maybe there is too much hoarding of crowns taking place - people stocked up well in sales and ESO+ users. This means very little new income when new items are added to the crown store. It may be a new expense for us, but ZOS won't see that money.

The Crown Boxes might help 'relieve' people of some of their crowns and so when a hot new mount is added to the store - time limited, so you cannot wait for a sale - you'll have to buy some more.

I have thought about that too but really, common sense suggests that Zenimax should have increased the offerings in the crown store, rather than having things there for five minutes, taking them away and then shoving them into a gambling box.
A really good selection would surely encourage more purchases from the crown store instead of leaving it as sparse as it currently is.

Mind you, many things Zenimax do don't seem to make sense so I'm not sure why I expected anything different this time around.

Farorin · September 2016

Neutral: I have NOT tested the crates, and my feelings are neutral, noncommital, or do not apply.

Not tested them, don't care for them, probably will buy one to see how it is, and leave it at that.

So long as there is no pay to win, I will be okay, but if they add pay to win, I will definitely be annoyed, I am not going to play a pay to win game.

DYSEQTA · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

Sadly, I think you are probably right. However, I am keeping a capture log of every page of this thread, along with constantly updated captures of the poll as this goes on. If ZOS puts these crates on 'live' then this archive will act as the evidence basis for a complaint to the ACCC on ZOS business practices and a complaint against online gaming monetization practices in general.

Now feel free to mock me, saying that I am wasting my time or that it will have no effect, I'm sure if ZOS marketing or finance is reading this then that is exactly what they will be doing. But, I will have done something to take a stand against consumer abuse and unethical business practices and I will feel much better for it. If others were to do the same and make a report to their country's consumer protection authorities then maybe somewhere traction on the issue will be found.

If consumer protection doesn't take it seriously then perhaps media outlets will. I figure a spin spin on illegal gambling targeting children and young adults in online gaming might grab some media execs attention. That in turn might cause consumer protection authorities to take second look.

All in all nothing is ever achieved by doing nothing.

Mush55 · September 2016

Other: My feelings are more complex than the above sentiments. (Comment below.)

As I'm on console I wondered what all the fuss was about so I went and watched a bit of UTube.

Made me smile in a sad way as It was just what I expected with the way rng is one of the major poor implemented things in the game.

No sane person would spend £100's on these boxes just for the chance of a new mount .Think zos would have got more understanding if they had put these in the crown store even if they inflated the price to 15,000 crowns, they would have still made money and players would at least get a thing they wanted instead of some random crap.

There is no way that I will participate in what is blatantly a money making rip off but those who do know what they are in for so who am I to judge. I can some what understand the anger and disgust in the thread but no one is forced to participate if zos go ahead with this decision.

Got a feeling the free to play model is not working out and should never have been introduced I have payed a sub for most of the mmo's I have ever played and never had a problem with it when on Pc.

Elsonso · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

notimetocare wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

And still, nothing to lose by saying it.

Wasted time is something lost, no?

"It's better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would've happened if I had tried."

GhostwalkerLD · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

And still, nothing to lose by saying it.

Wasted time is something lost, no?

"It's better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would've happened if I had tried."

Exactly. It's my same attitude here that I had with our previous thread. Even if nothing happens (which, let's be honest, we aren't really expecting anything to happen), we can at least say we voiced our extreme displeasure with it, and will likewise be voting with our wallets on the issue as well.

It's also an earnest plea to ZOS. I was (and still am) quite serious when I said that if they recant this despicable idea and decide "Nah, let's just stick with the regular crown store" then I will happily re-sub. But unless, and until, that happens? Nope.

Besides. It's a forum. Even though ZOS seems to prefer REDDIT to their own official game forum, this is still, technically, the place that people are supposed to go to speak their minds to the game developers and representatives, so that's exactly what we're doing.

hrothbern · September 2016

Other: My feelings are more complex than the above sentiments. (Comment below.)

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

notimetocare wrote: »

Nothing anyone says will prevent them from coming.

And still, nothing to lose by saying it.

Wasted time is something lost, no?

"It's better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would've happened if I had tried."

+1

Dahveed · September 2016

Negative: I have NOT tested the crates, and I dislike the idea/direction and/or I dislike what I have read.

All I can say is that there are suckers born every minute.

I think the crates are idiotic as well.

But you know what?

So are the idiots who pay for them.

The only way companies will stop exploiting consumers is if the consumers simply get smart and stop forking over their money.

I don't blame ZoS for this. I blame the players, 100%. Stop being idiots and keep your money in your pockets.

It's like blaming MacDonald's for being fat. Get off your fat ass and do some pushups instead, AND STOP EATING AT MACDONALDS.

Cazzy · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

I test them vicariously through MizzBizz's Vidz.

Genomic · September 2016

Mush55 wrote: »

No sane person would spend £100's on these boxes just for the chance of a new mount .

Aye, therein lies the rub. People will and do spend this much and more. ZOS is counting on it. They're using psychologically manipulative techniques (RNG manipulation, Skinner box) to target people with impulse control issues. As many people that will quit over this they will make much more $ on the few who will spend thousands because they literally can't help themselves.

Gambling addiction is far more common than people realise and many online games are overtly and unashamedly targeting this through some very obvious techniques developed by casinos ('whales' is a casino term) and now perfected by gaming companies (all the previous operant conditioning techniques boosted by 'virtual' gold for actual $, etc). It's utterly cynical and disgraceful and a path I never thought ZOS would follow, despite all the stumbles along the road.

Rohamad_Ali · September 2016

Negative: I have tested the crates, and I do not want this feature to be implemented in the game.

Id rather eat street crayons and burp chalk for prizes .