LadyDestiny wrote: »

6000 crowns.....lol Seriously?

Prices on everything seems to have been climbing and I'm not particularly sure why, except for the fact that as an MMO progresses people have a lot of pent up investment in a game both in time and money. I believe what is driving MMO's in the industry to do this is that they know that their games have a shelf-life. I would argue that a highly successful game should have a very long shelf life though. Look at WOW - amazingly that game is still going on, but it is not the only one. STO is the same way. Ships use to be $10-$15 but now on that game you'll feel lucky to spend $200. Its gotten out of control in the industry and honestly I would have been done with MMO's were it not for Elder Scrolls coming out. The only thing else that would have drawn me in would have been a Fallout game. ESO is literally the last MMO I personally intend to play because I've in many ways lost faith in the genre as a whole. I can probably find more satisfaction for the dollar in other hobbies. The only real loss will be the disconnect with longstanding MMO friends, but even in that scenario I intend to keep in touch with many of them. Before people ask, no I am not done with ESO. I'm still enjoying the game. It is simply a conscious choice for this game to be the last. MMO's in my view have become toxic and predatory in large part because of fear and greed on the part of developers. It is a highly competitive industry and they are all afraid that after their hard work they will not get a return on investment (which they rightly deserve). Due to this they have begun to soak the player base in a way no other video game has. Even in the days of the coin operated arcades it seems vastly cheaper than what we play nowadays. I really don't know the solution to the industry other than my personal decision to opt out from future MMO's once I've retired from the game.

The worst thing is out of all the player base some "poor" sap will buy it.

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

STO is the same way. Ships use to be $10-$15 but now on that game you'll feel lucky to spend $200.

Not to nitpick too much, but it used to be $20 for tier 5 ships. Now, if you're dropping $200, it's either a lockbox prize or you're walking away with 18 Tier 6 ships... of course, the way the game's set up now, you probably want the tier 6 bundles, because of their console sets.

Those saying ZOS isn't morally bankrupt and the prices aren't unreasonable couldn't be more wrong. I also play EQ2. In that game, I have over 20 something houses. In some cases, I own entire former zones. I know I have an island and a glade there. A huge house that is a zone. Like here, there are mostly unused but I buy them because why not. They're only $20 or less. I saw one guy create a Star Trek ship interior in one. I don't know the number of costumes that set me back $5. When I see ZOS's pricing, I can't help but translate 5000 crowns as $50. So, I will pay money for stupid reasons. But no, not this. I buy a couple of new costumes a month with my sub crowns. Bought a couple small furnished houses with what I had saved over the winter and that's probably it. New racial costumes as they come out probably will be it from now on.

Their greed is costing them in my case. I could easily buy lots of things at cheaper prices. No idea why. I guess I like owning stuff. I never use costumes that much. The ones I do use I got in game and that's just one. My favorite motif is Ancient Elf that I had drop for me twice. Do they want my money? Apparently not. They are targeting their devoted fans of which I apparently am not because this is inexcusable to me. Like I said, I dropped a good bit of cash in EQ2 and its a completely f2p game. Of course I think b2p is the same thing only they want cash up front. Still the same difference. There's just no way I could spend the kind of money they are asking for one item. Not because I can't afford it. But because its disgustedly priced.

EQ2 will probably continue to get money out of me. Like I said, I really don't use the things I do buy. But no. Don't try to justify these prices to me. Its a rip off plain and simple. If you just shrug, we're going to see more and more of it which we have. Prices have continued to rise regardless or how many crates and high priced housing and no longer DLCs they add. So, either they are losing money so fast they have to charge this to stay afloat (which won't work) or they just want to squeeze their fans as much as possible. Eventually they'll ensure everyone thinks ZOS is spelled with a $ sign. Its garbage, plain and simple. Stop being their patsy or at least stop trying to convenience other people that its okay. It isn't. And you have no stake in this other than to help bilk fans of their cash. That's no way to treat a fellow fan. And go on believing eventually they'll reconsider. We know they never reconsider anything. Store pricing in particular. When's the last time you saw something cut back. They can't even put the items they are removing from the store on sale for those that want them but might not can afford them currently. Like I said, disgusting especially of their most loyal fan who probably wants everything.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

STO is the same way. Ships use to be $10-$15 but now on that game you'll feel lucky to spend $200.

Not to nitpick too much, but it used to be $20 for tier 5 ships. Now, if you're dropping $200, it's either a lockbox prize or you're walking away with 18 Tier 6 ships... of course, the way the game's set up now, you probably want the tier 6 bundles, because of their console sets.

And the Admiralty cards. But yeah, the only $10-15 ships were tier 2 & 3 (lv20 & lv30). While the max level was 50, T5 were the highest end ships for $25. With the level cap increase a year or two ago, T6 were $5 more.

(and still, there's sales, they give away three new top-end ships each year, and you can exchange in-game currency for cash shop currency. I haven't spent anything on that game since 2012?... and I've got more than 3-4 dozen ships among all my characters.)

Yes, getting a "grand prize" lockbox ship by opening lockboxes can get crazy expensive (it's lottery-ticket odds).... but you can also buy them from the auction house, if you save up enough credits. Just like you can buy the three mansions in ESO with lots of Crowns, or you can be a guild-trade mogul and hoard up millions of GP. /shrug

Yeah, I'm not even sure how many ships I've got. "A lot." (Incidentally, the odds on the rare lockbox prize ships are %0.5, so the $200 dollar figure wasn't just random snark.)

That said, Cryptic does something really sneaky. They slap a real world price tag on a ton of items and systems. This creates a system where there is a lot of, straight up, pay to win. But, because you can shuffle the cost onto someone else, or can grind it out in a tiny trickle, it appears to be far less cash driven than the game is.

Gedalya wrote: »

jcaceresw wrote: »

I would pay that price if the motif were account wide not per character.

You raise another interesting point regarding Crown Store motif purchases; that they are character bound and not account bound.

yes, all other crown stuff is account wide, had the crown motifs been account bound it would make them more relevant.

AlienSlof wrote: »

Unfortunately, the marketing people are not gamers, they're accountants and pen-pushers. They're told: "Find ways to make us more money." They probably don't even know much about the game they represent.

This is the only answer worth reading. It would be like putting my folks in charge of pricing. They wouldn't have a clue.

I noticed the staff the character is holding in the Crown Store ad is different than the actual one you make. You can even see this in the preview. Anyone else notice this?

@ZOS_GinaBruno
@ZOS_JessicaFolsom
@ZOS_RichLambert

Yeah, kinda like scammers aren't they?

Turelus wrote: »

I'm pretty sure ZOS relies on people who don't know current prices or even how to use guild traders to sell their motifs.

Prof_Bawbag wrote: »

It does affect everyone these silly prices or at least those who sub. It devalues the already irrelevant amount of crowns we get from subbing. Those 1,500 crows will be only useful for those inane 1 use dyes at this rate. Seems crown store inflation is completely different to every other type of inflation surrounding crowns.

thats a good point. You would have to pay for a sub for 4 months just to afford this one single motif. which is like $60. the sub allowance is starting to really depreciate and not be as of much value.

Prof_Bawbag wrote: »

It does affect everyone these silly prices or at least those who sub. It devalues the already irrelevant amount of crowns we get from subbing. Those 1,500 crows will be only useful for those inane 1 use dyes at this rate. Seems crown store inflation is completely different to every other type of inflation surrounding crowns.

Don't really see "inflation" in the crown store, outside this motif. Services are all the same, the new costumes are the same price as earlier ones (500 for basic, 700 for fancy, 1k for v.fancy), etc. Those two limited time houses were a lot, but those were larger & fancier than the other houses, so that's not inflation, that's a higher price for a bigger item.

I suppose mounts have gotten more, depending on if one considers them "fancier" than a horse or not. /ponder

Galwylin wrote: »

It becomes a lack of morality because I think this type of stuff singles out the fan that wants everything. Its like Star Wars charging three times the ticket price for a new movie. We know only the die hard fans will put up with that. (I wait regardless myself for home release). Plus, its priced at this level and on a limited time sale. That is a trigger on who they aiming they're aiming this at. Someone that wants all these motifs (no matter how bad they look) and hasn't been able to get them in game.

Finding the value of these type things is granted, I'm sure. I am glad you mentioned special edition bras... er, I mean special edition items. Those motifs they sell once a year or whatever the time frame is. That are only available in the store not the game. That I wouldn't be surprised to be more expensive than the regular motifs. I'd have close to the same reaction if one were priced like this thing. I already think the current pricing is too much so I don't own any of them. But more expensive than year round items isn't unexpected.

But so far we've seen everything go up in price in the store just about. Is it really that expensive to take existing items and slap a price on them? Does that person need a sip of water and to sit down for a minute? Imagine how hard that job is.

I'm not sure I see a moral issue here. Maybe ethical: you know someone will pay more, so you gouge them. That's unethical, but it's only immoral if the product is something they need to survive, or if you know they'll prioritize it over their ability to survive.

This is why you'll see discussions of lucky bags (in MMOs) being immoral, rather than simply unethical. Players with addictive personalities will play them into poverty.

Similarly, the Celestial motif being 6k isn't really an immoral issue. It's possible there's someone out there so addicted to motifs that they'd go after this, but that seems kinda unlikely.

The trial motifs aren't that expensive in game. If you're actually playing, you can easily earn the funds to collect them from other players, or run the trials yourself, if you can find 11 friends and work your way through them. Pricing the motifs at 6k is exclusively aimed at people who want the cool shinies, but, for whatever reason, don't have the time to actually play and collect them.

When you raise the price and gouge consumers on a product they need to survive. For example (to abuse your snark): water, that is immoral. It's something that they have no choice about purchasing. This is especially true when you're talking about a situation where there's no market competition. Again, someone with a monopoly on water (or working as part of a cartel of water suppliers) jacking up the rates, is immoral.

Charging extra for a motif that's been in the game for six months, and can be easily purchased for gold from other players? Not so much.