Crowns are the better to buy a House... Unless you're rich. Well done ZOS?

mb10 · January 2017

Ive been thinking about the value of coins and they're actually going to increase due to the potentilly billions disappearing due to purchases of houses. Unlike the real world economy, you can't sell you're house and get your money back (or more) on ESO. So are crowns the way to go?

Lets say a 1m or 350k coin house is 10k crowns, its easier to get 10k crowns time wise than it is to make 350k or 1m on ESO. The "free" update isn't free at all.

I have the money to buy some houses up front but I doubt I will now. Getting decoration is a whole different grind and you're going to rely on buying certain the mats and instructions for each decoration from other players.
The gold I have, Id rather put towards decoration tbh and Im glad Ive watched a few PTS videos to find that out from now as oppose to spending most my coins on a empty house.

Over to you ZOS, the power you have at the moment is remarkable and I actually kinda admire how you've managed to increase demand of your product so high as a business. Also, offering an alternative to buy houses (coins) knowing that crowns is the much better way to buy your house, you've fooled people into thinking they have the freedom of choice which they technically do, but the coins choice in the not so long run is incredibly poor.

Mix that with the evident addictiveness of the game and the results of crown crates/dro m'Artha mount etc to support that, you are now able to pretty much charge however many crowns you want knowing people will stay pay.

My prediction: Houses will be ridiculously priced on the crown store, people will rage all over the forums, most people will still pay anyway (as usual).

P.S - If you're one of the people with millions and millions, this doesnt apply to you. You hold a degree of power against ZOS and are truly able to make up your own choice as well as having the ability to buying houses and decoration with just in game gold.
Unfortunately, I'm not of you guys lol
I dont have the option to buy mats, armour, tempers etc through the crown store but I do have the option to buy a house from there. Therefore, I personally would rather spend my ingame gold on something that I am unable to use real money for as I dont have the 10s of millions to have both options.

Your thoughts? How will you buy your house if you even do?

itehache · January 2017

While I agree with you since it's "easier" to spend real money for an already decorated house than milions of gold on an empty one, they give us the chance to buy everything with in-game gold, which is good.

I know there are 2 houses that are exclusive from the crown store, but other than that, everything is available with in-game gold. It could be worse.

I wanted to purchase a big house but I decided I will get a medium one, so it won't feel empty with few decorations. I will use in-game gold as much as I can, but we still do not know the crown-prices, so it is difficult to make a decision now.

anitajoneb17_ESO · January 2017

Your statement that crowns are the better way to go is purely your opinion. ZOS offer 3 options : furnished/crowns, unfurnished/crowns, unfurnished/gold. All three options are valid and there's no way to tell which one is "better" - especially since we don't know the prices in crowns yet.

I for one will buy my house in gold (I have a couple of millions but even if I didn't I'd still go for gold, since furnishing is most of the fun). That said, the designers did an excellent job on furnishing so I guess furnished is a good option too.

I like the way ZOS did this. It's both clever and fair - and also blends quite seamlessly with the game. Good job ZOS.

mb10 · January 2017

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

Your statement that crowns are the better way to go is purely your opinion. ZOS offer 3 options : furnished/crowns, unfurnished/crowns, unfurnished/gold. All three options are valid and there's no way to tell which one is "better" - especially since we don't know the prices in crowns yet.

I for one will buy my house in gold (I have a couple of millions but even if I didn't I'd still go for gold, since furnishing is most of the fun). That said, the designers did an excellent job on furnishing so I guess furnished is a good option too.

I like the way ZOS did this. It's both clever and fair - and also blends quite seamlessly with the game. Good job ZOS.

Of course its my opinion. I never stated that it was a fact and that everyone should listen to me lol

One fact is, its definitely easier to attain crowns that it is to attain large amounts of in game gold.

If you've seen any PTS gameplay, you'll see the grind thats incoming regarding your own decoration.

imnotanother · January 2017

I don't think there is any sorcery going on by ZOS.

You can buy everything with coins and not spend any cash at all. (That is my plan)

As for making gold in game, it is all about discipline. Try making/crafting/farming your gear and supplies. You'll save all your gold.

I made a million gold in the last 10 days. It is easy if you try.

NewBlacksmurf · January 2017

I think gold is the better way to approach this.

Regardless of the amount of money anyone has to spend, this game begin with only a few crown items but now, what may consider progression, IS for sale via real money

I want to encourage more to play the game and not just spend real money.....
thats my perspective

I'm also wanting these types of behaviors to encourage ZOS to keep offering crown items but to also, offer an ingame version for any crown store offerings

anitajoneb17_ESO · January 2017

mb10 wrote: »

One fact is, its definitely easier to attain crowns that it is to attain large amounts of in game gold.
If you've seen any PTS gameplay, you'll see the grind thats incoming regarding your own decoration.

Really ? Does money grow on trees in your area ? Because I think gold is extremely easy to make in ESO. Also, there's a lot more to buy with RL money than with gold in ESO, so my decisions as to what to do with my RL money usually go to something outside the game.

But it's fine if you're comfortable with spending RL money on the game. After all, that's how ZOS lives and how the game exists. I restrict myself to ESO+ and 1 pack of crowns whenever they're on sale.

And yes I've seen the grind on PTS ! But I like that part of the game (gathering / crafting / trading) so that sounds a lot of fun to me. I'm glad there's a bunch of new activities and stuff to do with all those things we collect on our way. That's a complete renewal of the game to me and I'm totally hyped about it.

mb10 · January 2017

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

mb10 wrote: »

One fact is, its definitely easier to attain crowns that it is to attain large amounts of in game gold.
If you've seen any PTS gameplay, you'll see the grind thats incoming regarding your own decoration.

Really ? Does money grow on trees in your area ? Because I think gold is extremely easy to make in ESO. Also, there's a lot more to buy with RL money than with gold in ESO, so my decisions as to what to do with my RL money usually go to something outside the game.

But it's fine if you're comfortable with spending RL money on the game. After all, that's how ZOS lives and how the game exists. I restrict myself to ESO+ and 1 pack of crowns whenever they're on sale.

And yes I've seen the grind on PTS ! But I like that part of the game (gathering / crafting / trading) so that sounds a lot of fun to me. I'm glad there's a bunch of new activities and stuff to do with all those things we collect on our way. That's a complete renewal of the game to me and I'm totally hyped about it.

@anitajoneb17_ESO

Sorry but lets take the dro m'Artha motif thats probably going to be 5k crowns (Not worth it I know)

Buying the motif in game atm can cost anything over 500k depending on your luck with guild sellers.

If its easier to make 500k from scratch in ESO than it is to make $20 then you must be unemployed. It can take 2-3 hours on minimum wage to make that but it definitely doesnt take 2-3 hours to make 500k.

Ill stick to paying for my house with crowns and use my in game gold to buy decoration

anitajoneb17_ESO · January 2017

mb10 wrote: »

If its easier to make 500k from scratch in ESO than it is to make $20 then you must be unemployed. It can take 2-3 hours on minimum wage to make that but it definitely doesnt take 2-3 hours to make 500k.

There's no such thing as a direct time=>income conversion for most of us. If at 5pm I have a choice between working extra 3 hours (paid) and playing three hours of ESO, I might consider it this way, but for most of us, at the end of the day we're left with the money we've earned during that day, that's a fixed amount, and we choose what to do with that money. And I feel there are plenty of things more interesting/valuable to spend my extra RL money on than anything in the crown store - houses included. But that's me. Your mileage may vary.

Also, before making such blanket statements, you might want to consider that 20$ isn't much money for anyone living in a country with a strong currency, but many ESO players live in countries with weak currencies and to them, 20$ is definitely MUCH MORE than 3 hours work.

Kodrac · January 2017

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

Also, before making such blanket statements, you might want to consider that 20$ isn't much money for anyone living in a country with a strong currency, but many ESO players live in countries with weak currencies and to them, 20$ is definitely MUCH MORE than 3 hours work.

Like... Canada?

bowmanz607 · January 2017

People have to remember this is an mmo. A social game. The bigger houses, imo, areEast to bring players together and put their money together to buy and share a house. A place for guilds to spend their money. If all the huge houses were 50,000 gold, then what incentive is that to get players to work together? Zos has always been about trying to do things to make people work together. Ofcourse not always in the best or right ways.

The real shortcoming on the houses is the number of people that are allowed in the house. Let's say your guild of 250 get together and buy a house. Cool. Your guild worked together to have the money to afford a guild house. Success. But alas, only 24 people on the house??? That is what gets me. That makes no sense.

Not everything in this game has to be for casual solo players. This is not skyrim or oblivion but eso. You want your own big house, then grind out the gold. Don't have time? Then get a smaller one or some friends. If you put in more time or are able to work together to do something, then you should get better things then other people. You should not expect a house to be handed to you cause you can only play 5 hours a day or a week or somwthing along those lines.

anitajoneb17_ESO · January 2017

Kodrac wrote: »

anitajoneb17_ESO wrote: »

Also, before making such blanket statements, you might want to consider that 20$ isn't much money for anyone living in a country with a strong currency, but many ESO players live in countries with weak currencies and to them, 20$ is definitely MUCH MORE than 3 hours work.

Like... Canada?

No.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_wage#OECD_statistics

NewBlacksmurf · January 2017

bowmanz607 wrote: »

People have to remember this is an mmo. A social game. The bigger houses, imo, areEast to bring players together and put their money together to buy and share a house. A place for guilds to spend their money. If all the huge houses were 50,000 gold, then what incentive is that to get players to work together? Zos has always been about trying to do things to make people work together. Ofcourse not always in the best or right ways.

The real shortcoming on the houses is the number of people that are allowed in the house. Let's say your guild of 250 get together and buy a house. Cool. Your guild worked together to have the money to afford a guild house. Success. But alas, only 24 people on the house??? That is what gets me. That makes no sense.

Not everything in this game has to be for casual solo players. This is not skyrim or oblivion but eso. You want your own big house, then grind out the gold. Don't have time? Then get a smaller one or some friends. If you put in more time or are able to work together to do something, then you should get better things then other people. You should not expect a house to be handed to you cause you can only play 5 hours a day or a week or somwthing along those lines.

@bowmanz607

After the PTS hit I actually disagree that the bolded parts of your comments are accurate.

Now I can forsee different ideas around it but in essence, the only way that statement applies is if ZOS were to create 13 or more manor size homes

As it stands, what has to occur is that each officer would have to have a manor so guilds with 300+ active members would need 13 or more leaders who each have pretty well built manors.

But then....whats the value for anyone in the guild to help them cause if at anytime the guild breaks up....and they do very often, .....the whole guild and player base looses out.

This is just a way for ZOS to make more real money......lets call it what it is.

mb10 · January 2017

@bowmanz607

I think your point is very interesting, thanks for your thoughts.

I was indeed seeing it from a solo, RP perspective but you've seen it from a group perspective which is cool too. I intend for my house to be just for me which is why I made my statement.

I still agree with you and see where you're coming from

danno8 · January 2017

Except to get the 350k or 1m gold you get to play a game.

To earn the 10,000 crowns you need real money, which means real work. Not game-playing that some people try to pass off as real work.

Also, real money (to purchase crowns) is far more valuable to most people than fake "gold" in a make believe world since you can use it to purchase anything in real life.

Loralai_907 · January 2017

Meh, I'm buying a large place with gold. Spending money on an in game house seems silly to me. Just my opinion. Not against other people buying with crowns.

TheShadowScout · January 2017

mb10 wrote: »

Crowns are the better to buy a House... Unless you're rich.

Did you really expect anything else???

There's still a lot of nifty houses availaibe for the small gold pouch, but if you want to go big, they made it so its less effort to spend crowns then save up the gold. Why would they not? That IS how they get the profits.
Welcome to capitalism!

mb10 · January 2017

TheShadowScout wrote: »

mb10 wrote: »

Crowns are the better to buy a House... Unless you're rich.

Did you really expect anything else???

There's still a lot of nifty houses availaibe for the small gold pouch, but if you want to go big, they made it so its less effort to spend crowns then save up the gold. Why would they not? That IS how they get the profits.
Welcome to capitalism!

@TheShadowScout

Did I not say I admire how they've done it?

You obviously read the title and responded as oppose to reading the actual post lmao

mb10 · January 2017

mommadani907 wrote: »

Meh, I'm buying a large place with gold. Spending money on an in game house seems silly to me. Just my opinion. Not against other people buying with crowns.

Agree with you to an extent. Main difference is I think spending countless hours getting that ingame gold is even more silly to me than spending IRL money.

You get IRL money back but time? That just goes.

Chrysa1is · January 2017

I think whoever pays real money to buy crowns and by a house that way is shooting themselves in the foot. I've never believed in spending real money to get something in a game where you can get what you want for ''free'', with in-game currency. Yes it takes longer, but that's just the way it is. Depends on how hard you're willing to work for it. Low level new players I can understand it being difficult, but that isn't really my problem. But still, its pretty much Pay to win, and that is bad.

Eleusian · January 2017

I plan to buy up a large amount of gold mats people will sell at low rates to buy their homes. Then resell them to people at a higher price after the buzz has worn off and people need them to complete the master crafting plans. I'm sure many others will do the same. I had housing in other mmo it's boring af . Test dummy is probably all I will have in a small house.

ThePonzzz · January 2017

Time is money.

TheShadowScout · January 2017

mb10 wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

mb10 wrote: »

Crowns are the better to buy a House... Unless you're rich.

Did you really expect anything else???

There's still a lot of nifty houses availaibe for the small gold pouch, but if you want to go big, they made it so its less effort to spend crowns then save up the gold. Why would they not? That IS how they get the profits.
Welcome to capitalism!

Did I not say I admire how they've done it?

You obviously read the title and responded as oppose to reading the actual post lmao

I read the post. But... the whole thing was so completely obvious... I knew it would end up like this when they first mentioned housing, that the cheap ones would be all right for gold, but the big ones would be pricey enough that crowns were much, much easier. So people maybe start with some apartment, then get into the "I must place decorations" craze, need more space, and things go from there...

Nothing to admire. It is the most logical and completely predictable step.

And I will certainly buy my houses with gold. Even though that will mean it will be smaller homes, and not large manors - but hey, that fits my characters better anyhow...

1mirg · January 2017

mb10 wrote: »

How will you buy your house if you even do?

Personally, I think the prices for housing in game is too all over the place. But regardless I'm still thinking about buying a house with gold but if that's too pricey I'll just end up using crowns instead, as it'll be cheaper. Unless the crown store places the home at 100k crowns or something, then I'll just forget the house all together. Realistically speaking, I'll prob just buy a plot of land when Vvardenfell dlc drops since there is suppose to be 6 houses to acquire in that region or something. Knowing myself, I'll try and use ingame gold but if it's in the millions I'll just use crowns instead, unless that's too pricey for my liking too. Then I'll just forgo housing all together. The pricing for the land/ housing I like is the dotted line here. If it's too high then it's a "not worth it" but if it's too low (like 500 gold) then It's not worth getting. They need to find the sweet spot price for me to actually buy it via gold or crown means, in my humble opinion that is.

mb10 · January 2017

@TheShadowScout

nothing to admire and completely obvious? lmao okay Im assuming you're running a multi-million dollar business atm that implements the same strategy.

Mojmir · January 2017

Gold finally has a real purpose and a sink. It's also insane how easy you can make it.

rotaugen454 · January 2017

I tried to use in-game gold to pay for my real life house,but it's crowns (dollars) only.

TheShadowScout · January 2017

Nah. I just keep my eyes open.

I mean... nothing new there. Classic marketing...
ZOS - "sure, you have a choice... you can pay with gold, if you work for ages, but here's the same thing with crowns..."
player chorus - "shut up and take our money"
The very same thing happened with crown store crafting motiv books, and crown store riding lessions, and crown store XP scrolls, and... and...
Those who have more money then patience feed ZOS extra profits - that is how the whole thing is set up.

Again... why does that surprise anyone? Why should that surprise anyone? It was obvious from the day they decided to go BtP and add a crown store...

Kirameku · January 2017

What do you want, free manor for everyone?

Those who can afford big houses and manors play a lot for a long time, I think it's their privilege. If you don't play, pay real money!

Bryanonymous · January 2017

Keep an eye on this poll I made and see how much trouble the average player has making gold. Currently, the poll suggest a majority can make more than a million gold in 30 days.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/313253/hypothetically-how-much-gold-could-you-personally-make-in-a-30-day-period

A MAJORITY.

AhPook_Is_Here · January 2017

[SNIp]Have to wait and see if the spread will exist to make this work but even if it doesn't you will have an absolute exchange rate between gold and crowns.

[Edited for ToS]