Is the game being designed to force people to use the Crown Store?

Reykice · January 2017

So here is my logic: everything they add now is so hard to get in the game... like the new XP Potion or Houses or Furniture... that unless you are one of the most hardcore players you will most likely not get it.

But, as they are quick to mention, you can use the Crown Store.

So my logic is: they figured out that if they make it really hard to get in the game people will use the easy way and buy it. This will impact every design decision from now on if it works and people do not object.

Basically they are trying to make as much money as they can i get it but at what point do you start questioning if they should also look at ethics and look at making the game better regardless of the "for profit" reason.

The largest MMO, WOW, got so rich first because it had a lot of subscribers and those people stayed subscribed because for its time the game was good. I`d like ESO to focus on that and less on "let`s see how much money we can squeeze out of people". Subscribing should be enough but at the current crown prices they are pushing you to buy a lot more if you expect to keep up with the things they add.

What do you think?

polar · January 2017

No.

Crowns are only an option, and if you pay the sub, you get crowns you can spend on stuff. If you dont pay the sub, you can get it free by making gold. All seems pretty fair to me. Someone, somehow has to pay for ongoing development.

Anhedonie · January 2017

No.

Hard to get =\= impossible to get.
Also, you should play asian mmo to really understand what "forced to buy" means.

Stovahkiin · January 2017

No.

Absolutely not, while I don't agree with all of Zeni's recent marketing decisions, we certainly are not being forced to buy things from the CS. After all, the majority of items in the crown store are cosmetic anyway; and the last time I checked, I was not being forced in any way, shape, or form to pay for them.

If you feel the unbearable urge to quickly and easily buy items that are also available through other methods, then that's your problem, no one is forcing it on you.

Sigtric · January 2017

They obviously need and want to drive people to the crown store. That's fine. If the game isn't making money we won't have it to play.

Outside of just a couple items on the store, everything inside it is exactly the perfect kind of items to be placed inside the store. This is good too.

Reykice · January 2017

Yes.

Stovahkiin wrote: »

Absolutely not, while I don't agree with all of Zeni's recent marketing decisions, we certainly are not being forced to buy things from the CS. After all, the majority of items in the crown store are cosmetic anyway; and the last time I checked, I was not being forced in any way, shape, or form to pay for them.

If you feel the unbearable urge to quickly and easily buy items that are also available through other methods, then that's your problem, no one is forcing it on you.

So... you think its reasonable to ask the average player to have 25 milion gold for the houses and who knows how much more for furniture?

Do you have that much gold? Would you spend it all on this IF you wanted it?

SantieClaws · January 2017

Yes.

Forced no.

But encouraged certainly yes.

The housing system as it stands makes it very difficult for new players to fully participate and decorate their homes to any reasonably desirable standard yes.

The crown store enables a massive shortcut to this by offering houses and all the furniture. The imagination limited only by the wallet yes.

This one she wonders if the system was designed to be so material and time intensive as to make the store seem the preferable option yes?

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

bubbygink · January 2017

No.

Some players may gripe about a few of the decisions ZOS has made regarding the crown store (really expensive mounts, crown crates, etc.) but I personally think ZOS has done a fantastic job of avoiding "play to win" type of items in the crown store. I have never remotely felt like I needed to buy something in the crown store to compete. Everything is merely cosmetic or convenience.

Carbonised · January 2017

Yes.

SantieClaws wrote: »

Forced no.

But encouraged certainly yes.

The housing system as it stands makes it very difficult for new players to fully participate and decorate their homes to any reasonably desirable standard yes.

The crown store enables a massive shortcut to this by offering houses and all the furniture. The imagination limited only by the wallet yes.

This one she wonders if the system was designed to be so material and time intensive as to make the store seem the preferable option yes?

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

I'm pretty much in agreement with the cat.

Reykice · January 2017

Yes.

SantieClaws wrote: »

Forced no.

But encouraged certainly yes.

The housing system as it stands makes it very difficult for new players to fully participate and decorate their homes to any reasonably desirable standard yes.

The crown store enables a massive shortcut to this by offering houses and all the furniture. The imagination limited only by the wallet yes.

This one she wonders if the system was designed to be so material and time intensive as to make the store seem the preferable option yes?

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Exactly. There is another poll where most say that in a month they would make 1 million.

So they would need 25 months + more for furniture to buy the houses.... OR get them instantly via Crowns.

So the Crown option is the only option for most as it takes so much less to get the real life money vs trying to get gold in the game only people with no income but tons of time would even consider going for the "in game" option.

When you make the balance of things so much in favor of the Crown Store i think the game suffers as the Crown Store will dictate what gets added to it and how it will be.

WalksonGraves · January 2017

No.

Yeah they force you to buy cosmetic items and consumables you can easily find for yourself.

Reykice · January 2017

Yes.

Anhedonie wrote: »

Hard to get =\= impossible to get.
Also, you should play asian mmo to really understand what "forced to buy" means.

Maybe i am wrong but somehow i think their pricing was made so only the 1% has the gold to buy it.

Since making content for 1% is a bad decision... what else could motivate them? Oh right, you can buy them with Crowns.

Stovahkiin · January 2017

No.

Reykice wrote: »

Stovahkiin wrote: »

Absolutely not, while I don't agree with all of Zeni's recent marketing decisions, we certainly are not being forced to buy things from the CS. After all, the majority of items in the crown store are cosmetic anyway; and the last time I checked, I was not being forced in any way, shape, or form to pay for them.

If you feel the unbearable urge to quickly and easily buy items that are also available through other methods, then that's your problem, no one is forcing it on you.

So... you think its reasonable to ask the average player to have 25 milion gold for the houses and who knows how much more for furniture?

Do you have that much gold? Would you spend it all on this IF you wanted it?

Is there actually a house on the pts that costs that much or are you making that number up to make you feel better about your arguement? I haven't been on the pts myself but the most I've heard of a house costing was like 3m

Runs · January 2017

No.

None of those items are essential to game play.

For the love of god why would you feel the need to own every home? Perhaps they weren't intended for everyone to own everything immediately.

Soella · January 2017

No.

The game is designed to get paid for developers/support/management work.

I appreciate that ZOS is trying to avoid P2W. I don't like crown crates, and I think that marketing decision like 4.500 for a mount are wrong, and I am afraid of what decisions will be next - but for now ZOS did not cross the line.

Valen_Byte · January 2017

Yes.

I wouldnt think we need a poll to know this is true....dur.

Asardes · January 2017

No.

I haven't used the crown store until I was at the CP cap. And since then I've only used it do buy the DLCs and the additional character slots. I have no intention of buying any "utility" items or cosmetic fluff in the future. And that includes housing which I won't spend a dime of my game gold, unless it offers ample storage - in the proposed release it doesn't so it has no utility for me whatsoever.

Osteos · January 2017

No.

Stovahkiin wrote: »

Reykice wrote: »

Stovahkiin wrote: »

Absolutely not, while I don't agree with all of Zeni's recent marketing decisions, we certainly are not being forced to buy things from the CS. After all, the majority of items in the crown store are cosmetic anyway; and the last time I checked, I was not being forced in any way, shape, or form to pay for them.

If you feel the unbearable urge to quickly and easily buy items that are also available through other methods, then that's your problem, no one is forcing it on you.

So... you think its reasonable to ask the average player to have 25 milion gold for the houses and who knows how much more for furniture?

Do you have that much gold? Would you spend it all on this IF you wanted it?

Is there actually a house on the pts that costs that much or are you making that number up to make you feel better about your arguement? I haven't been on the pts myself but the most I've heard of a house costing was like 3m

No there isn't. The most expensive are the manors which are 3.7 million. The is a nice variety of houses for all types of people with all types of gold. Twin Arches is a really nice small house with an outside courtyard that is 70,000! It is one of my favorite houses

I also want to ask, What role do players have in pushing people to the crown store? Honestly most items in guild traders are vastly overpriced right now. During the festival many players tried to extort large sums of money from their fellow players for random drops. Will it be different with furniture schematics? I highly doubt it.

It will be the players that decide how expensive furniture will be, not zos.

Gedalya · January 2017

No.

*Aghh*, "Halp! An invisible force is making me buy crowns! I have no will to stop it!"

LadyNalcarya · January 2017

No.

Well, the only thing I really dislike about crown store are crown crates. I just think its not consumer-friendly.
But even then, ESO' cash shop is not bad at all compared to many other mmos. Psijic ambrosia (both versions) is in guild stores, and there's plenty of houses available for ingame gold. Costumes and other cosmetics dont have stats, and all these mounts have the same stats as basic brown horse.
Housing seems to be designed as a gold sink, and imo its fine this way. Yes, Count/Countess title will probably be pretty rare, but so is "Master Angler", "Grand Overlord", "Dro-m'Athra destroyer" and some other titles, nothing new here. I know there are some people who bought their Emperor or Flawless conqueror titles and Dro-m'Athra skins, so there's already a possibility for that. Its frowned upon, yes, but its there. And unlike houses these are linked to actual ingame achievements, not to buying something.
Of course, some people will buy these castles with crowns. I personally dont see any reason to pay in order to skip playing the game, but its their choice.

BlackSparrow · January 2017

No.

Anhedonie wrote: »

Hard to get =\= impossible to get.
Also, you should play asian mmo to really understand what "forced to buy" means.

Having come from an Asian grindfest F2P MMO, I totally agree with this. They made anything you wanted to do near endgame cost a ridiculous number of materials, then sold those materials in gigantic stacks in the cash shop... same with materials to improve your gear, and potion packs, and the fastest mounts (which cost upwards of $100 in real money). All cash shop items were tradeable, which meant that there was essentially a way to convert real money into in-game cash very easily... which meant price inflation was insane.

ESO is positively angelic compared to that. There are no P2W items in the Crown Store... the most you get of actual utility beyond the cosmetic are fairly low value and easy to find in game (a few potions, soul gems, etc), and those are not tradeable.

Of course they encourage you to use the Crown store... it's their primary revenue stream outside subscriptions. They need people to buy stuff from the Crown Store, or else they can't pay their own employees to keep working on the game. It's just a question of where the balance lies between "nudging" you toward the Crown Store and shoving you into it while screaming "Buy your furnishings here or spend a month grinding to get a single plate!" I think they're toeing the line right now with the furnishing crafting system... but I reserve judgment for once housing comes off the PTS.

Dawnblade · January 2017

No.

I vote 'NO' for now being that nothing in the store conveys in-game power / advantage over someone not using the store, so it isn't at all what I would call 'forced'.

I will agree with those that feel the new housing system is a bit heavy on monetization and trying to 'encourage' as many players as possible to drop money in the store, but at least it is optional (as in no one has to buy a DLC to get a house, and homes are not required to play the game).

Now if they started selling gear with better stats than in-game items or something that provided real in-game power, then one could call it 'forced', but having a home to decorate isn't required to play the game and stay competitive.

AzuraKin · January 2017

Yes.

yes, while its true you get crowns for subbing, at best you can buy 2 - 4 items of crown store. eso is slowly going the way of all other mmo's with crown store. play swtor and you will quickly see, if you not sub in swtor, you gonna have huge issues playing the game from not being having the best gear, to less inventory space, less gold, ect. every mmo i have played, has around the 2nd to 3rd year mark started becoming focused heavily on pushing crown store over content.

CapnPhoton · January 2017

No.

I was just commenting on another thread how it was nice to see a post about WoW that was not telling people that this game should be more like it

...and now here is another 'Let's WoWify ESO' post.

I don't feel forced to use the Crown store.

The popularity of WoW exploded simply because people jump on bandwagons and they want to play where there friends are. However, now it is in a state of decline and has been for some time now. If this game was like WoW I never would have played it in the first place. It's no secret that I despise that game for a number of reasons.

There are games out there and lots of them, not just MMOs that are 'pay to win'. This is not one of them.

Danikat · January 2017

No.

Reykice wrote: »

Stovahkiin wrote: »

Absolutely not, while I don't agree with all of Zeni's recent marketing decisions, we certainly are not being forced to buy things from the CS. After all, the majority of items in the crown store are cosmetic anyway; and the last time I checked, I was not being forced in any way, shape, or form to pay for them.

If you feel the unbearable urge to quickly and easily buy items that are also available through other methods, then that's your problem, no one is forcing it on you.

So... you think its reasonable to ask the average player to have 25 milion gold for the houses and who knows how much more for furniture?

Do you have that much gold? Would you spend it all on this IF you wanted it?

You only need 25 million if you want to buy every single house in the game. Do you really think the average player is going to do that?

Most people I've seen are planning to buy one house, and maybe get others later. I've seen a few people saying they're going to get all the apartments for quick travel, but that only costs you 36k.

Drelkag · January 2017

No.

No. No one in this thread is offering any reasons for why you have to use the store either.

As others have said, you're encouraged to if you don't want to grind out the gold and such yourself. Totally different than forced.

DeadlyRecluse · January 2017

No.

If anything, it is designed to make you sub.

Can't live without crafting bag anymore!

Kendaric · January 2017

Yes.

SantieClaws wrote: »

Forced no.

But encouraged certainly yes.

The housing system as it stands makes it very difficult for new players to fully participate and decorate their homes to any reasonably desirable standard yes.

The crown store enables a massive shortcut to this by offering houses and all the furniture. The imagination limited only by the wallet yes.

This one she wonders if the system was designed to be so material and time intensive as to make the store seem the preferable option yes?

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

That cat got it right.

DaveMoeDee · January 2017

No.

Not at all. I don't really see anything there tempting apart from DLC, which we should be paying for somehow, character slots, and assistants. The rest is fluff or shortcuts.

ZOS is also not "squeezing" money out of anyone. People infatuated with houses will choose to do what they choose to do. But for most people, the game is sufficient with the base game and a few DLC.

DaveMoeDee · January 2017

No.

AzuraKin wrote: »

yes, while its true you get crowns for subbing, at best you can buy 2 - 4 items of crown store. eso is slowly going the way of all other mmo's with crown store. play swtor and you will quickly see, if you not sub in swtor, you gonna have huge issues playing the game from not being having the best gear, to less inventory space, less gold, ect. every mmo i have played, has around the 2nd to 3rd year mark started becoming focused heavily on pushing crown store over content.

I have never played SWTOR, but I have heard enough about it to know that this is nothing like SWTOR. SWTOR lets you get gear you can only use if you sub. In ESO, there is no teasing. If you can get it, you can wear it forever. In ESO, if you want to grind out gear in DLC zones, sub one month and take a 4 week staycation.

billp_ESO · January 2017

Yes.

Yes, except nobody is actually being FORCED to buy anything. When essential items are locked behind the paywall, that's the day I will quit.

So far, it's just the cosmetics, nice-to-haves, etc, that is for sale.

Bottom line: is it possible to have a great time without spending a cent in the Crown Store? Yes.
Is it possible to have everything in the game without spending a cent in the Crown Store? No.
Is ZoS taking advantage of the fact that Crown Store items are trivial to create, versus actual content, and are much more lucrative? Yes.

The Elder Scrolls Online

Is the game being designed to force people to use the Crown Store?

Is the game being designed to force people to use the Crown Store? 424 votes