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Grand Topal Hideaway - Available Purchase Time = 4 Days?

Shadzilla
Shadzilla
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I mean I'm no business expert or anything, but making your highest priced item in the crown store purchasable for only a 4 day period...... LAWL That is downright hilarious. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't spend that kind of real life money on a video game house anyways. The one thing I do think about, is how more money in ZOS' pockets will lead to possibly better servers/dev teams. Regardless, makes me laugh when something that will likely cost well over $100 US per player is only for sale for 4 days... Is there some sort of business logic behind this move that I do not see or understand? I mean I'm trying to calculate in my head the revenue that it would generate over 4 days, and compare it to say 4 months? The difference seems like it would be astronomical. Then again, this is the same company that attempts to balance this game. Massive amount of melee abilities that have 2 magicka morphs only... Stamina literally being non existent in top tier competitive PVE anything for 90% of this games life... Yet still gets nerfed repeatedly. Gotta love it.
Edited by Shadzilla on April 4, 2017 7:07PM
  • NewBlacksmurf
    NewBlacksmurf
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    People make dumb decisions everyday
    People spend money in other currencies as they tend to loose logic on actual cost
    People have accumulated crowns from subs or sales and consider those out of context in real money comparisons
    People.....mean well and know that when forced to decide, large groups make impulse decisions


    That help explain why......
    -PC (PTS)/Xbox One: NewBlacksmurf
    ~<{[50]}>~ looks better than *501
  • Smmokkee
    Smmokkee
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    Shadzilla wrote: »
    I mean I'm no business expert or anything, but making your highest priced item in the crown store purchasable for only a 4 day period...... LAWL That is downright hilarious. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't spend that kind of real life money on a video game house anyways. The one thing I do think about, is how more money in ZOS' pockets will lead to possibly better servers/dev teams. Regardless, makes me laugh when something that will likely cost well over $100 US per player is only for sale for 4 days... Is there some sort of business logic behind this move that I do not see or understand? I mean I'm trying to calculate in my head the revenue that it would generate over 4 days, and compare it to say 4 months? The difference seems like it would be astronomical. Then again, this is the same company that attempts to balance this game. Massive amount of melee abilities that have 2 magicka morphs only... Stamina literally being non existent in top tier competitive PVE anything for 90% of this games life... Yet still gets nerfed repeatedly. Gotta love it.

    That Superbowl commercial was expensive, bud.
  • Shadzilla
    Shadzilla
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    People make dumb decisions everyday
    People spend money in other currencies as they tend to loose logic on actual cost
    People have accumulated crowns from subs or sales and consider those out of context in real money comparisons
    People.....mean well and know that when forced to decide, large groups make impulse decisions


    That help explain why......

    Nope. Are you arguing that more revenue will be generated if its only for sale for 4 days because people make bad impulse decisions? I would have to think much more revenue would result from a longer sale time. Although I'm not great in business, just going off common sense and logic.
  • Shadzilla
    Shadzilla
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    Smmokkee wrote: »
    Shadzilla wrote: »
    I mean I'm no business expert or anything, but making your highest priced item in the crown store purchasable for only a 4 day period...... LAWL That is downright hilarious. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't spend that kind of real life money on a video game house anyways. The one thing I do think about, is how more money in ZOS' pockets will lead to possibly better servers/dev teams. Regardless, makes me laugh when something that will likely cost well over $100 US per player is only for sale for 4 days... Is there some sort of business logic behind this move that I do not see or understand? I mean I'm trying to calculate in my head the revenue that it would generate over 4 days, and compare it to say 4 months? The difference seems like it would be astronomical. Then again, this is the same company that attempts to balance this game. Massive amount of melee abilities that have 2 magicka morphs only... Stamina literally being non existent in top tier competitive PVE anything for 90% of this games life... Yet still gets nerfed repeatedly. Gotta love it.

    That Superbowl commercial was expensive, bud.

    That it was. It was also a solid move, and should bring many newbs to morrowind. I still want to see the company make more money... Having something this expensive for sale for such a short time doesn't seem like the best idea to me.
  • waterfairy
    waterfairy
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    You've got it twisted, it's the small sale window that will provoke people to spend money now and regret it later. A long time period would give people a chance to think it over.
  • Mettaricana
    Mettaricana
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    Shadzilla wrote: »
    People make dumb decisions everyday
    People spend money in other currencies as they tend to loose logic on actual cost
    People have accumulated crowns from subs or sales and consider those out of context in real money comparisons
    People.....mean well and know that when forced to decide, large groups make impulse decisions


    That help explain why......

    Nope. Are you arguing that more revenue will be generated if its only for sale for 4 days because people make bad impulse decisions? I would have to think much more revenue would result from a longer sale time. Although I'm not great in business, just going off common sense and logic.

    Exactly like the dromatha motif or the mount etc high cost avaliable for like 4 days? I was gonna buy one but ya know payday didnt come til 2 days later so zos lost my money and im still 40$ richer
  • Bigevilpeter
    Bigevilpeter
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    To take advantage of idiots who would buy anything if its only for a limited time cause these are the only ones who would pay over 100$ for a virtual house in a single game
  • andreasranasen
    andreasranasen
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    Vigarr wrote: »
    You've got it twisted, it's the small sale window that will provoke people to spend money now and regret it later. A long time period would give people a chance to think it over.

    ^ This
    #VMATOKENSYSTEM #WEAPONDYE #TRAITCHANGE #CROWNCRATELOVER
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    • Mag Sorc: Arya Rosendahl - Altmer - Highelf
  • FlyLionel
    FlyLionel
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    Shadzilla wrote: »
    I mean I'm no business expert or anything, but making your highest priced item in the crown store purchasable for only a 4 day period...... LAWL That is downright hilarious. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't spend that kind of real life money on a video game house anyways. The one thing I do think about, is how more money in ZOS' pockets will lead to possibly better servers/dev teams. Regardless, makes me laugh when something that will likely cost well over $100 US per player is only for sale for 4 days... Is there some sort of business logic behind this move that I do not see or understand? I mean I'm trying to calculate in my head the revenue that it would generate over 4 days, and compare it to say 4 months? The difference seems like it would be astronomical. Then again, this is the same company that attempts to balance this game. Massive amount of melee abilities that have 2 magicka morphs only... Stamina literally being non existent in top tier competitive PVE anything for 90% of this games life... Yet still gets nerfed repeatedly. Gotta love it.

    Crown sales. Probably on the last day or two, maybe starting right after it is done? It is that time of the year thoo. Morrowind, I can smell it.
    The Flyers
  • WarpigFunk
    WarpigFunk
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    Shadzilla wrote: »
    ... Is there some sort of business logic behind this move that I do not see or understand? .


    Yes.

    "Limited Time Only", is one of the most basic principles in marketing for manufacturing demand out of thin air.

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  • NewBlacksmurf
    NewBlacksmurf
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    Shadzilla wrote: »
    People make dumb decisions everyday
    People spend money in other currencies as they tend to loose logic on actual cost
    People have accumulated crowns from subs or sales and consider those out of context in real money comparisons
    People.....mean well and know that when forced to decide, large groups make impulse decisions


    That help explain why......

    Nope. Are you arguing that more revenue will be generated if its only for sale for 4 days because people make bad impulse decisions? I would have to think much more revenue would result from a longer sale time. Although I'm not great in business, just going off common sense and logic.

    @Shadzilla

    No I'm not arguing or even suggesting more revenue will be generated ....

    I'm simp,y stating why these types of situations exist. I would like to argue that EVERY limited time offer, that I've seen in my almost 40 years of living, only have limited perceived value due to a lack of details under a limited time of availability. There are many people who have accepted the mindsets that this means they must have it in order to be special.

    It's an emotional response driven business plan which applies to anything.
    Pre-orders
    Jordan's
    New consoles
    New Games
    New PCs
    New Credit Cards
    New Phones/tablets
    New digital items


    See, the only way to establish monetary value for something which has little to no value, it's to make it available only in limited circumstance. This creates what's known as demand....as well as buyers remorse as well as "keeping up with the Jones'" mindsets.

    If I asked people to tell me why a house is worth X amount of crowns.....we would never get to any real monetary value, therefore all houses in the game have no real money value, therefore ZOS had to create this. First it began with taking their old sub model and building in a false currency.
    Next came the items in the store
    Later came crown sales
    Lastly was DLC gated

    Now subscribers and crown buyers associated crowns with items and not with real money as there's too much fluctuation and no way to determine overall what's something costs so customer create these ideas themselves.

    They feel they have to use the crowns because then they would feel that they waisted their money otherwise......funny....

    That's the reality of it all and it boils down to my first comments.
    Edited by NewBlacksmurf on April 4, 2017 7:53PM
    -PC (PTS)/Xbox One: NewBlacksmurf
    ~<{[50]}>~ looks better than *501
  • Alchemical
    Alchemical
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    I'll never understand why they remove things they put time and resources into developing. These items don't cost nothing to develop, even the extremely lazy recolored mounts required paying an intern to open photoshop, the ones with actual effects and unique animations are not cheap at all. They put the time, effort, and money into making something and then remove it when it would cost them nothing to leave it available for purchase and continue to profit off their investment indeffinetly.

    Yes, there are people who will buy it because it's limited time, impulse control is not a virtue in today's society. Yes, it probably makes them a metric ton of money off buyer's remorse. But it's short term profit, and it also buys them a lot of bad will and resentment from people who then feel cheated by their own bad decision. Unhappy customers are less likely to be repeat ones.

    And like someone else said, not everyone gets paid at the same time. I've lost out on things I want because I get paid days, one time hours, after a sale concluded. That's just Zeni leaving money on the table. Rotating items monthly, or even biweekly would make them a lot more money than 4 days. It gives people time to get money but still applys the 'buy it now or live without it pressure'.

    Though I would prefer they just leave things for sale forever, so I could one day feasibly complete my collection and own every mount/pet. Which would be a whole lot of money over time, probably a lot more than they'd make in 4 days of house sales. But knowing that I never can makes me MORE hesitant to spend anything on cosmetics, because it doesn't have a 'point'. Something being limited time makes it worthless to me, compared to more valuable to others, but that's just my perspective. I assume Zeni has some sorta insight I don't on the matter.
  • Kodrac
    Kodrac
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    Vigarr wrote: »
    You've got it twisted, it's the small sale window that will provoke people to spend money now and regret it later. A long time period would give people a chance to think it over.

    This guy gets it. Impulse buys.
  • Shadzilla
    Shadzilla
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    Vigarr wrote: »
    You've got it twisted, it's the small sale window that will provoke people to spend money now and regret it later. A long time period would give people a chance to think it over.

    Valid point, I still think they would generate more income over a longer time period though.
    Shadzilla wrote: »
    People make dumb decisions everyday
    People spend money in other currencies as they tend to loose logic on actual cost
    People have accumulated crowns from subs or sales and consider those out of context in real money comparisons
    People.....mean well and know that when forced to decide, large groups make impulse decisions


    That help explain why......

    Nope. Are you arguing that more revenue will be generated if its only for sale for 4 days because people make bad impulse decisions? I would have to think much more revenue would result from a longer sale time. Although I'm not great in business, just going off common sense and logic.

    Exactly like the dromatha motif or the mount etc high cost avaliable for like 4 days? I was gonna buy one but ya know payday didnt come til 2 days later so zos lost my money and im still 40$ richer

    That is the main thing I'm thinking of.

    Shadzilla wrote: »
    People make dumb decisions everyday
    People spend money in other currencies as they tend to loose logic on actual cost
    People have accumulated crowns from subs or sales and consider those out of context in real money comparisons
    People.....mean well and know that when forced to decide, large groups make impulse decisions


    That help explain why......

    Nope. Are you arguing that more revenue will be generated if its only for sale for 4 days because people make bad impulse decisions? I would have to think much more revenue would result from a longer sale time. Although I'm not great in business, just going off common sense and logic.

    @Shadzilla

    No I'm not arguing or even suggesting more revenue will be generated ....

    I'm simp,y stating why these types of situations exist. I would like to argue that EVERY limited time offer, that I've seen in my almost 40 years of living, only have limited perceived value due to a lack of details under a limited time of availability. There are many people who have accepted the mindsets that this means they must have it in order to be special.

    It's an emotional response driven business plan which applies to anything.
    Pre-orders
    Jordan's
    New consoles
    New Games
    New PCs
    New Credit Cards
    New Phones/tablets
    New digital items


    See, the only way to establish monetary value for something which has little to no value, it's to make it available only in limited circumstance. This creates what's known as buyers remorse as well as "keeping up with the Jones'" mindsets.

    If I asked people to tell me why a house is worth X amount of crowns.....we would never get to any real monetary value, therefore all houses in the game have no real money value, therefore ZOS had to create this. First it began with taking their old sub model and building in a false currency.
    Next came the items in the store
    Later came crown sales
    Lastly was DLC gated

    Now subscribers and crown buyers associated crowns with items and not with real money as there's too much fluctuation and no way to determine overall what's something costs so customer create these ideas themselves.

    They feel they have to use the crowns because then they would feel that they waisted their money otherwise......funny....

    That's the reality of it all and it boils down to my first comments.

    All very valid points, and much clearer than your first post.
  • Zunkis
    Zunkis
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    Any date tho of the release?
  • Jim_Pipp
    Jim_Pipp
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    Alchemical wrote: »
    I'll never understand why they remove things they put time and resources into developing. These items don't cost nothing to develop, even the extremely lazy recolored mounts required paying an intern to open photoshop, the ones with actual effects and unique animations are not cheap at all. They put the time, effort, and money into making something and then remove it when it would cost them nothing to leave it available for purchase and continue to profit off their investment indeffinetly.

    Yes, there are people who will buy it because it's limited time, impulse control is not a virtue in today's society. Yes, it probably makes them a metric ton of money off buyer's remorse. But it's short term profit, and it also buys them a lot of bad will and resentment from people who then feel cheated by their own bad decision. Unhappy customers are less likely to be repeat ones.

    And like someone else said, not everyone gets paid at the same time. I've lost out on things I want because I get paid days, one time hours, after a sale concluded. That's just Zeni leaving money on the table. Rotating items monthly, or even biweekly would make them a lot more money than 4 days. It gives people time to get money but still applys the 'buy it now or live without it pressure'.

    Though I would prefer they just leave things for sale forever, so I could one day feasibly complete my collection and own every mount/pet. Which would be a whole lot of money over time, probably a lot more than they'd make in 4 days of house sales. But knowing that I never can makes me MORE hesitant to spend anything on cosmetics, because it doesn't have a 'point'. Something being limited time makes it worthless to me, compared to more valuable to others, but that's just my perspective. I assume Zeni has some sorta insight I don't on the matter.

    So much sensible! I'm going to do a tldr for anyone who missed this.

    1) they made a digital product they could resell indefinitely, so the only economic reason not to keep selling it is to get money from panic buying.

    2) zos don't give a flaming nix about the buyers remorse caused by panic buying. They will make money but obviously there is going to be a lot of negativity about this in the community.

    3) if zos don't think they would make more money leaving these items up for longer then maybe they aren't worth as much as they are charging.
    #1 tip (Re)check your graphics settings periodically - especially resolution.
  • smacx250
    smacx250
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    There isn't anything to say this is a one-time offer - just that this April offering is for a limited time. There is nothing to prevent them from offering it again in the future at whatever terms they decide is appropriate at the time. Maybe the May crown store offering has it for 8 days, and the one in June for 12. Or maybe it isn't offered again for a year. Really, it is whatever they decide works for them - but all they've announced is this first 4 day offering.
  • deepseamk20b14_ESO
    deepseamk20b14_ESO
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    Lol what constitutes a bad decision? Because in your opinion it is? I'm debating on getting it. Why? It's really cool. How? I have a job that makes good money and already have crowns saved up. It's not an impulse buy because I've been pondering getting it for a couple of months. You assume much when it comes to people reasons for spending their own money.

    You do have some good points but your own reasoning is really skewing the reality of it. Why and how people are going to get this home doesn't simply fall into one category of "impulse buyers will have buyers remorse so it's a bad decision".

    I could spend that money on vodka. But instead I'll possibly spend it on an in game home....and still get the vodka. Did I mention I like vodka?
    Hey everyone! Look! It's a signature!
  • Molydeus
    Molydeus
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    I'm annoyed that it's a limited-time purchase because I want the island but I am risk averse, so tend to mull over an expensive decision for a long time before deciding what to do. Making Grand Topal limited-time only means I probably won't buy it now.
  • Alchemical
    Alchemical
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    smacx250 wrote: »
    There isn't anything to say this is a one-time offer - just that this April offering is for a limited time. There is nothing to prevent them from offering it again in the future at whatever terms they decide is appropriate at the time. Maybe the May crown store offering has it for 8 days, and the one in June for 12. Or maybe it isn't offered again for a year. Really, it is whatever they decide works for them - but all they've announced is this first 4 day offering.

    To my knowledge, they have never put any 'limited time offer' items back up for sale, with the exception being items put into crates (which is hardly the same, since you are buying chances and not actually buying the item itself). Most accept that once gone it likely won't come back. But this is the first house that's being sold in such a way and for a whole zone of the game, even if its just an instanced zone, to be available for a few days and then access to it lost forever does seems very odd. Doing housing zones must cost MUCH more than mounts or pets as well, and the long term value of them is much greater, since you can customize a house at will and they do provide some, albeit currently very limited, utility.

    They're effectively trying to sell a house the same way they sell a car, which doesn't make sense. Even if you argue it's all just cosmetic be it house skins or car skins and the utility is all the same, different types of items obviously appeal to different people and the buying habits and psychology of your customers is something to keep in mind when you're marketing something to them (especially things that are very expensive). Houses are big investments, not just upfront but on going, just like real life. You have to buy thousands in crowns and gold worth of furniture, not to mention the time investment into decorating everything. They're long term projects for long term people with large amounts of currency to sink and many accolades to display. They don't necessarily appeal to the same crowd who buy a new car (or horse or guar, or whatever) every month just because it's new. Or, to scale it down, it's like buying a new video game on impulse versus buying a new console on impulse.

    Maybe they're trying to get a feel for if this marketing tactic will be as successful for houses as it is for mounts? Earthtear Cavern was put in as a permanent installment, with this being time limited. Maybe they're going to see which made more money faster and use that as a metric for house pricing going forward? There will obviously be completionists that will buy every house despite not spending a single minute in them because that's how they are, but relying on them to drive the housing market seems like, at best, a dubious decision. Panic and completionist buying probably does net them a tidy profit, but I still think they're just leaving money on the table by telling any future customers (you know, like the TON who will be joining up for Morrowind who didn't even have a chance to buy the house) who want to make a long term investment in the game "Sucks to be you! If you're lucky we might put the deed in a gachapon machine some time in the future."
  • redspecter23
    redspecter23
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    Limited time makes it feel more exclusive and also adds a deadline. Impulse buyers will get crowns now and buy it knowing it may never be available again, even though ZOS will probably release it for a second time at some point. It's also in the best interest of the company to keep the sale window between crown sales. You don't want players waiting to buy until after a crown sale when you can force them to buy at a time when there isn't one.

    With all that said, 4 days is still an extremely short period of time. A week or two would seem more appropriate.
  • johu31
    johu31
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    I was considering buying it but this type of marketing pisses me off to where I won't do it.
  • Tholian1
    Tholian1
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    I had expected them to do this with the cavern too. I'm guessing a crown sale will be happening shortly after the island is no longer available. I'll wait for the sale and buy other stuff I have been wanting.
    PS4 Pro NA
  • VampiricByNature
    VampiricByNature
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    :'( 4 days is... a very short amount time to pawn my things and sell my family to a life of servitude. [I mean, it's worth it. Amiright?]
  • Rygonix
    Rygonix
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    ZoS has been doing this for a long time. Anyone remember
    https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/189897/limited-frost-mare-mount-available-in-the-crown-store/p1
    I still have dissenting thoughts of that mount even though it's been almost 2 years since because of that move they pulled.
    Edited by Rygonix on April 5, 2017 1:14AM
    Ceres Des Mortem-Dark Elf Templar, EP
    PC-NA
  • StackonClown
    StackonClown
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    Classic case of 'manufacturing demand and scarcity' .

    Apple uses this very effectively also - always under-supply new products, let it sell out and the fans 'will beg for more'.

    Another classic technique is the '1 concert only' music concerts that suddenly have '5 new shows scheduled due to huge demand!

    Relax everyone, they will make it available beyond the 4 days.

    Zenny - please stop trolling us and L2P 'be kind to your user base'.
  • Shadzilla
    Shadzilla
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    Classic case of 'manufacturing demand and scarcity' .

    Apple uses this very effectively also - always under-supply new products, let it sell out and the fans 'will beg for more'.

    Another classic technique is the '1 concert only' music concerts that suddenly have '5 new shows scheduled due to huge demand!

    Relax everyone, they will make it available beyond the 4 days.

    Zenny - please stop trolling us and L2P 'be kind to your user base'.

    I'm not sure they will be extending it past the 4 days. They will prolly have another limited time sale in the future though. I would have to guess a couple months after morrowind drops, to suck out more cash from the newbs. Still doesn't make much sense to me from a business perspective.
  • PieMaster1
    PieMaster1
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    Shadzilla..this is the perfect model though. Limited edition. If something is available for 4 days, and it's popular enough/within budget, people WILL buy it by the digital metric ton. Exclusivity in people's minds = "Oh, it's only able to be purchased for 4 days! If I buy it, then I'll be a SPECIAL and EXCLUSIVE owner of this RARE home that no one else will have because it's in a time window". Next thing you know, everyone has bought one because of the grandeur surrounding it. Relatively large profit for the business.

    This works especially well with younger folk such as myself :P

    By the way..I want everyone here to try Entropia Universe. After you bid on some housing/production on that game, come back and tell me how unfair ZoS is. Literal millionaires are on that game and play monopoly with it, actually buying property as if it was real. A man bought a mansion on Entropia for $400,000.
    Edited by PieMaster1 on April 6, 2017 2:47AM
  • leepalmer95
    leepalmer95
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    Don't worry about it, everything thats 'limited' time in the crown store has always come back.

    May take a few months but yeah, it'll come back.
    PS4 EU DC

    Current CP : 756+

    I have every character level 50, both a magicka and stamina version.


    RIP my effort to get 5x v16 characters...
  • Duiwel
    Duiwel
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    Lucky for me I spent over $300 on my girl today so I have no money for ZoS (unless they bring a sale)
    @Duiwel:
    Join ORDER OF SITHIS We're recruiting! PC EU

    "Dear Brother. I do not spread rumours. I create them..."
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